Album Reviews
Album Review: Cabaret Contemporain – Club Sensible
It has been almost 15 years since Cabaret Contemporain embarked on its fearless musical adventure and asserted a distinctiveness within the current scene. Resolute advocates of experimentation, its five members – Giani Caserotto, Ronan Courty, Simon Drappier, Julien Loutelier, and Fabrizio Rat– primarily employ acoustic means, skillfully manipulating their instruments using the famous „prepared piano“ technique …
Album Review: Jeff Mills – The Trip: Enter The Black Hole
Since the beginning of humanity, man has always wondered about what lies beyond the Stars. The relevance to what and who we are, but also what we will eventually become and where we need to go. And to exercise our minds for such possibilities, the storytelling of impossible adventures can help us with understanding how …
EP Review: London duo Nudista’s raw new vision on ‘Nothing Makes Sense Until It Does’
London based duo: Nudista are back on form with their newest EP since the lockdown-recorded folk rock outing: Halfway Here. When I reviewed that record, I was struck by the songwriting chemistry of the two key members: Pilar Matji Cabello and Robbie Carman. They work way more as a partnership than most bands, and though …
Album Review: Leonard Maassen – Inside Cycles
Leonard Maassen’s debut 9 track album is a vibrant journey through atmospheric electronics and experimental psychedelic ideas, adorned with a rich sense of musicality and beauty. Opening with the glitching vocal cuts and cinematic soundscaping of ‘Contect (Intro), Maassen sets the scene with a track which would fit on the sound track for Bladerunner or …
EP Review: Mary In The Junkyard – This Old House
Mary In The Junkyard are an exciting experimental rock trio composed of guitarist and vocalist Clari Freeman-Taylor, bassist and viola player Saya Barbaglia, and drummer David Addison. With several live shows under their belts and a handful of singles, they have released their first EP, ‘This Old House’. It’s zany, exceptionally written, beautifully delivered, and …
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 latin-jazz, fusion-facing ensemble Caravela whose intoxicating album ‘Orla’ sent the UK scene slightly giddy in 2021 (see Backseat’s review HERE). That document was shaped during …
EP Review: Elandra – Elandra
Brighton Psych-Indie newcomers Elandra have released their vibrant new self titled EP, a blend of Tame Impala-esque psychedelic-synth-rock and at times, high octane art-rock. Opening with the shuffling rhythms of ‘I Don’t Know’, the band’s psychedelic tendencies are brought to the fore immediately on a track that would easily fit the backdrop of a Tarantino …
Album Review: Elaine Palmer – Half Moon Rising
After heading out to California at the latter end of 2023, Elaine Palmer set up at Half Moon Lodge up in the San Diego hills with Producer Mike Butler (Norah Jones, Ray LaMontagne, Phoebe Bridgers and The Pretenders) a bunch of incredible musicians Matt Lynott (The White Buffalo drummer), Bobby Furgo (Leonard Cohen’s violinist) Patrick …
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 albums by Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton (Mondo Cane), Micah P Hinson (I Lie To You), Penguin Café (Rain before seven) and Calexico (El …
Album Review: Pallbearer – Mind Burns Alive
With a difficult birth, the album took five years in the making. The band started in 2020 but were delayed for obvious reasons. A second attempt in 2022 saw yet another roadblock with Campbell remarking, “After so much time, and two aborted attempts to record, it was beginning to feel like the album was cursed.” …