John Parry, Author at Backseat Mafia

Album Review : Don Glori – ‘Don’t Forget To Have Fun’ : Fresh, funky and inspired soul jazz from the revitalised and relocated multi-instrumentalist.

Now this is a bit different. An album of contemporary instrumental music shaped within the mundane pressures of the day to day, paying the rent, food on the table, making…

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Album Review: TC & The Groove Family – ‘We Have Each Other’ : UK Nu-jazz collective forge ahead with a powerful, passionate EP.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from TC & The Groove Family but you can’t keep a good collective down. Led by drummer Tim Cook (TC) and based around…

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Track/Video: Icelandic composer/multi-instrumentalist Davidsson previews his emotional debut album with the restorative ‘On Thin Air’.

Revered Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds’ new OPIA project (a part festival, part musical community, part record label kind of thing) is adding another artist to its roster to keep emerging…

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Album Review: Ezra Feinberg -‘Soft Power’: sensational music of gentle persuasion from the New York guitarist/composer.

There is a cosmos of ambient instrumental music out there, so finding something with a distinctive sparkle, which really adds to the dimension can be time consuming. This is where…

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Album Review: Inês Loubet – ‘Senga’: vibrant samba-fusion sounds from a song-writer to watch.

Portuguese, London-based singer-songwriter Inês Loubet makes Tropicalia toned music of openness and honesty, which reaches out to people while following its own course. She was vocalist and co-writer in the…

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Track/Video : Illusive and illustrious shoegaze duo Belong return to announce new album ‘Realistic IX’.

New Orleans ambient shoegaze duo Belong might come across as determinedly illusive, maybe even deliberately opaque. Their music seems to arrive from nowhere, marked by increasing time voids between each…

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Album Review: ‘Go-to’ guitarist and collaborator Alessandro ‘Asso’ Stefana delivers a distinctive and tender solo album in his own name.

You could use up a whole review word count with guitarist/producer and multi-instrumentalist Alessandro Stefana’s illustrious CV but some snapshots and name drops will give the flavour. He’s played on…

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Track/Video: Revered multi-instrumental improviser Colin Fisher previews upcoming new album with the spectacular, guitar sculpted ‘Acts Of Light’.

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Colin Fisher has been energising the Toronto music scene and beyond for around two decades now. A virtuoso guitarist, acclaimed sax player, drummer and more, a brilliant…

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Album Review : Ghana Special Volume 2 : a thrilling ‘burger-highlife’ compilation charting the roots of today’s afro-beats and so much more…

So, what makes a great compilation album? It so much more than flinging a gaggle of tracks together which have got a loose connection to a time or place or…

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Track/Video: Exquisite ambient music for a living city – Hong Kong based composer Olivier Cong announces new album ‘Tropical Church’.

A label with discernment is what you need to help you navigate the oceans of ambient electronica. Lawrence English’s Room40 provides such a service, “a beacon of sound…ringing out from…

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