Album Reviews
Album Review: Kishi Bashi – Sonderlust
Singer. Songwriter. Violinist. Producer. Multi-instrumentalist. All words I should be using to describe Kaoru Ishibashi AKA Kishi Bashi. But to me I can describe him simply as a creator of beautiful things. I first became aware of his work on the release of his song ‘Manchester’; a song about writing a novel. Lyrically it stood head …
Album Review: Bastille – Wild World
Bastille took the country by storm with the resounding “Pompeii” way back in 2013 after a slowly slowly catchy monkey approach of releasing a series of limited edition singles and EPs from the band’s formation in 2010 and then a whopping YouTube assaulting campaign where the track seemingly played before any video you tried to …
Say Psych: Album Review, Anachronicle by Big Mountain County
Big Mountain County began in Rome in 2012, formed initially by members of garage band The Boilers, building up a live reputation on the Italian punk and garage circuit. After self-releasing a single and touring throughout continental Europe the band brought out a well received first album, ‘Breaking Sound’ on Gas Vintage Records. This seemed to mark something …
Say Psych: Album review, Astragal by Broken DC
As summer turns to autumn there’s a certain melancholia in the air. It’s often a time for introspection, for remembering the (relative) warmth of the season gone by; while at the same time looking forward to the beauty of what is to come. The colours that arrive as leaves gradually lose their sense of purpose. …
Say Psych: Album Review, Is God’s Creation by Nudity
Sometimes, just sometimes, something comes along that stops you in your tracks. You put the thing on not knowing what to expect and BAM! it fucking slays you from the outset. That’s what happened when I first heard this double album from Nudity, a band that was totally new to me. Wait though, to my …
Album Review: Silver Apples : Clinging To A Dream
I have to be honest, besides a vague awareness of the name I wasn’t all that familiar with Silver Apples. I knew they were instrumental in pushing electronic music into the ears of folks that would go on to revolutionize the genre. Experimental electronic, Krautrock, motorik beats, and the whole German electronic music scene of …
Album Review: Drugdealer – The End of Comedy
I really didn’t know what to expect when I was asked to review the new album by Mike Collins, the man who is Drugdealer, all I knew was that Collins had been on the LA music scene for a number of years and that he had a reputation for his Carole King-esque piano playing. I …
Album Review: Various Artists – Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985
For regulars at Alice in Wonderland and the Bat Cave some of Londons more obscure 80`s nightclubs the Psychedelic scene in the mids 80`s was thriving, many bands featured on the Cherry Red box Another Splash Of Colour Psychedelia in Britian 1980-1985 frequented and played at these clubs, as were other small clubs all over …
New Music: Stephen Marley Review – Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit of Life
Hip hop owes a debt to reggae although it’s one that is not always appreciated or acknowledged. Jamaican foundation DJs of the early 1970s, like U Roy and Big Youth, chanted over riddims that were usually instrumental versions of popular songs in Jamaica and individual sound systems battled to rule the dancehalls. Fast forward to …
Psych Insight: Album Review, Sabdatanmantra by Ramayana Soul
After what seemed like a slow start Japanese label Guruguru Brain really seems to have taken off this year with a string of releases from different parts of Asia. In the coming month or so I hope to be reviewing quite a few of them, culminating in seeing quite a few of the bands on …