John Parry, Author at Backseat Mafia

Track/Video : Revered Soukous musician Vumbi Dekula announces his first solo album ‘Congo Guitar’ with the joyous ‘Maamajacy’.

Incoming alert from the indispensable Hive Mind Records of a new pop thrill for the Autumn. Teaming up with Stockholm label Sing A Song Fighter they’ve conjured up the release…

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Track/Video: Lo-fi songsmiths Ernold Same preview new EP ‘The Reader’ with the weary pop wonder of ‘Together’.

DIY troubadour, singer-songwriter and purveyor of lo-fi lucidity Chris Barrett reveals his new post Post Yoga project, the Syd B/Blur referencing Ernold Same. Working with fellow Bristolian resident, musician and…

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Album Review: Brin & Dustin Wong – Texture II : An intense connection of micro-beats and shifting loops with a free jazz spirit.

Imagining the outcome of this collaboration is in many ways a bit of a stretch. First there is guitarist Dustin Wong, in the past a key member of the under-valued…

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Track/Video: Basinski’s slinky electro funk combo SPARKLE DIVISION introduce new album ‘Foxy’ with the punchy title track.

If you have seen the seminal electronic musician William Basinski live you will know that he’s far from the experimental scene stereotype, more glamour than gloom, maybe in leather or…

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Track/Video : Producer/drummer SHOLTO previews incoming cinematic soul ep ‘The Changing Tides Of Dreams’ with the dramatic ‘Vampire’.

You’ve probably latched onto the music of producer, composer, drummer and instrumentalist Oscar ‘SHOLTO’ Robertson, many times without ever knowing it. He was part of the indie/r&b leaning, Deltasonic-signed Hidden…

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Track/video : James Heather re-imagines his poignant track ‘Hidden Angel’ to uncover new dimensions.

This is in many ways a brave record. Neo-classical composer and pianist James Heather has just released the a new version of his track ‘Hidden Angel’ via Coldcut’s label Ahead…

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Track/Video: Soundway announce re-releasing the pre-ambient classic ‘Circus Underwater’ with groovy preview ‘The Surface of the water’.

This feels a bit like Light In The Attic territory but the wonderful Soundway Records have scooped a real lost gem here. They’ll be re-releasing the one and only self-titled…

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Album Review: Oiro Pena – ‘Puna’ : An intense and essential take on spiritual jazz-tones.

You have to be paying close attention to pick up on the whispers and murmurings from the dynamic Finnish underground scene but when you catch the signals it’s usually something…

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Track/Video: Vibrant and vital nu-jazz vocalist And Is Phi previews debut album ‘Double Pink’ with the bite and beauty of ‘White Noise’.

Maybe vocalist, song writer, dancer and visual artist, Andrea Isabelle Phillips (aka And Is Phi) has finally found the creative anchorage that she has been looking for. On a journey…

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Album Review: Jim Wallis – In Huge Gesturing Loops: moving ‘ambient country’ way beyond passive mood music.

Drumming and making ambient soundscapes is not a well populated intersection on the musician directory Venn diagram but Jim Wallis sits comfortably within that quirky enclave. Perhaps best known for…

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