Album Reviews
Album Review: The Body & Dis Fig – ‘Orchards of a Futile Heaven’: One extraordinary partnership delivers an experimental doom statement piece.
For seminal Portland doom metal duo The Body, co-working with other musicians has long been part of their modus, ensuring their music never stands still. Alongside the influential releases carrying ‘The Body’ nameplate, Chip King (guitars etc) and Lee Buford (drums etc) have unleashed around fifteen collaborative albums since 2011. Recently these efforts have diverged …
Album Review: Amigo The Devil – Yours Until The War Is Over
‘Yours Until The War Is Over’ is Amigo The Devil’s (Danny Kiranos) third studio album and the first to be entirely recorded, produced and engineered in-house. The album title is a reference to the love affair between Ernest Hemingway and his nurse Agnes von Kurowsky in the closing months of World War I, a (trauma) bond …
Sam Stokes Offers Thoughtful Songwriting & Experimental Undertones On New Album ‘Common Ground’
Moving between reflective acoustic songwriting and moments of sprawling, fuzz-laden experimentation, the new album ‘Common Ground’ from Sam Stokes is brilliant on many levels. Comparable to Joni Mitchell while offering a more contemporary vibrancy and freedom akin to Jacob Collier, the album’s 12 tracks display an innate understanding of intricate yet commercially viable craft and …
Album Reviews : Transportive albums from Rune Clausen and Bobby Jewell which guide us beyond ourselves.
For their February releases the ever – probing Katuktu Collective label have delivered two impactful albums from the new age of new age. ‘Svartor’ by Rune Clausen and Bobby Jewell’s ‘Wind & Water’ present intensely contemplative sounds less concerned with self-improvement, or finding the inner calm and more at looking beyond the ‘me’. Both albums …
Album review: Giving It Away by Claire Anne Taylor
If there is one name that is synonymous with independent folk and folk-rock in Tasmania today, it is Claire Anne Taylor. The girl with the fiery red hair and the smoky, gravel-tinged voice has announced her third long-player in the form of her latest offering, Giving It Away. Following on from her 2016 debut, Elemental …
EP Review: Läserstein – Sonic Royale
Prepare to be mesmerized by the hypnotic sounds of the underground as we unveil the “Sonic Royale EP” – a musical masterpiece brought to you by the producer-duo Läserstein. This EP is a sonic voyage like no other, featuring four tantalizing techno tracks that promise to captivate your senses. Leading the journey is the first …
Live Music: IDLES drop surprise album launch show in Leeds
We previewed IDLES latest album – TANGK- a couple of weeks ago – https://www.backseatmafia.com/news-idles-drop-new-album-tangk-where-music-meets-onomatopoeia-in-a-punk-rock-explosion – and now, they’ve announced a surprise launch show at Leeds’ Project House this Thursday. Teaming up with local record shop legends Crash Records, the band will perform a special out-store gig at one of the newest venues in Leeds on …
EP Review: Millsart – X-Ray Zulu
The Axis Expressionist Series continues in 2024. For Part 04 ‘X-Rax Zulu’ Jeff Mills went into the studio again and created ‘Just Like A (Vernacular Objects)’, a new mix of ‘Vernacular Objects’ (previously released 2020 only in digital as ‘Every Dog Has Its Day. Vol. 13’) and produced three new tracks exclusively for this vinyl edition. …
Album Review: Eilish Gilligan is ‘The Final Girl’ – a cathartic journey through pop’s dark labyrinth.
A longtime favourite of ours here at Backseat Mafia, Eilish Gilligan continues to release the most evocative and distinctive music that is without peer. Her electronic pop is differentiated by her ethereal vocals and her passionate delivery, soaked in an air of pain and regret and yet distilled by a resilience and strength that creates …
Album Review: Royel Otis make a stunning debut with their luminescent album ‘Pratts & Payne’ ahead of Australian, North American and European tour
We here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia have followed Royel Otis (consisting of members Otis Pavlovic and Royel Maddell) ever since hearing their single ‘Oysters In My Pocket’ back in 2021 with great fascination. This single has been followed by a series of indelible releases that have cemented their place in indie pop royalty. Undoubtedly …