John Parry, Author at Backseat Mafia

Album Review: Emma Rawicz & Gwilym Simcock – ‘Big Visit’: A sax/piano jazz connection that sets new standards.

The similarities in the musical pathways between saxophonist Emma Rawicz and pianist Gwilym Simcock are a bit uncanny. Both studied at Chethams School Of Music and The Royal Academy, both…

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Track/Video: Passepartout Duo’s sonic travelogue ‘Pieces From Places’ begins with the tantalising ‘From Taipei’.

Passepartout Duo, the sonic partnership between pianist Nicoletta Favari and percussionist Christopher Salvito, thrives on constant travel, seeking out new collaborations as well as inspirational settings for recording and performance.…

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Album Review: Nick Storring – ‘Mirante’: A unique percussive and orchestral panorama from the Canadian multi-instrumentalist.

Delving into the musical potential of the humbucker pick-up and other electro-mechanical instruments, getting inspired by ghost towns in Ontario, recording a whole album from a pedestrian bridge near to…

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Album Review: Shelagh McDonald –‘Stargazer’: A long lost folk rock treasure returns to the shelves.

Vinyl reissues over the past few years have seemed to have been seized upon by majors gagging to maximise the current appetite for buying black (but now probably re-coloured) plastic.…

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Album Review: T. Gowdy – ‘Trill Scan’: Inspired Early music and darkwave alchemy.

It was a question of time before Canadian producer/audio-visual artist T.Gowdy’s background filtered through to his engrossing electronic music and that time is now. Gowdy’s new album ‘Trill Scan’, his…

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Album Review: Joni Void – Every Life Is A Light : The Montreal sound artist delivers a new experimental-pop touchstone.

Pinning, hash-tagging, mood-boarding, even crisply describing Joni Void’s music gets no easier. Maybe the role Void plays is as a post post-sampling, cut & paste collagist or re-imaginer of the…

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Track/Video: The irrepressible Steve Von Till previews new solo album with the sombre grace of ‘Watch Them Fade’.

Steve Von Till is a creative tour de force: guitarist/vocalist/lynch pin of seminal post metal pioneers Neurosis plus their experimental offshoot Tribes Of Neurot; curator and founder of the essential…

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Album Review: No Frills –”Sad Clown” : Honest songs that chime and chill from Toronto’s Lo-fi indie realists.

It’s been a while since anything’s been heard of Daniel Busheikin and his No Frills buddies. The Toronto band’s self-released debut album ‘Downward Dog’ trundled into the US college radio…

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Album Review : Adam Ben Ezra – ‘Heavy Drops’ : funky and reflective jazz fusion from the irrepressible bassist.

Jazz musician and ‘YouTube sensation’ may seem an unlikely combination but double-bass player Adam Ben Ezra straddles both camps with a natural ease. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, born in Israel and…

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Album Review : Nina Garcia – ‘Bye Bye Bird’ : Taking noise guitar deeper and further.

You could say that guitar led experimentalism is having a moment. Away from the revered Frith/ Orcutt/Ambarchi/Anderson/Connors conclave, a new wave of fretboard deconstructors are cranking up their own kind…

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