Album Reviews
Album review: Tom Dissevelt – ‘Fantasy In Orbit’: seminal Dutch space-age electronica gets a deserved reissue
WELCOME. Now, before we fasten your belts – they’ll keep you safe against the enormous Gs as we break the atmosphere, gain the vast promised land of outer space – it’s as well as we run through a final checklist to ensure a safe and enjoyable journey. So. Question. When names like Broadcast, Stereolab, Vanishing …
Album Review: Mess Esque (with members of Dirty Three and McKisko) release a dreamy visceral masterpiece in debut self titled album
If you ever listened to or seen Dirty Three, you will appreciate that their music and presence could be described as barely constrained chaos: a mesmerising and full tilt sonic experience emulating a series of small explosions. Mick Turner, guitarist from The Dirty Three has joined forces with Helen Franzmann from Brisbane band McKisko to …
Album review: Devin Hoff – ‘Voices From The Empty Moor (Songs of Anne Briggs)’: the canon of the Notts folk free spirit judiciously reinvented
BASSIST Devin Hoff may well be one of those names little known to you, but whose invaluable contributions to a record you’ve likely loved; as a four-string sharpshooter of absolute repute he’s contributed to not far shy of a hundred releases by the likes of Julia Holter, Nels Cline, Xiu Xiu, Cibo Matto, Sharon Van …
Album review: Poppy Ackroyd – ‘Pause’: solo piano pastoralism excellently captures a life lived this past year
WITH four albums proper, so to speak, under her belt – Escapement and Feathers from further back last decade, and a brace for what’s now One Little Independent in 2017, an acoustic mini-album, Sketches and the full-length Resolve – we really haven’t heard nearly enough from Poppy Ackroyd in recent times; but then what with …
Album Review: Steve Conte – Bronx Cheer
The children of musical parents have a mixed blessing when it comes to career springboards; some find the understanding and support (and potentially the genetic passing on of whatever ‘talent’ actually is) a huge help. Others, it seems, find a famous parent a millstone that’s difficult to escape from. For Steve Conte, and brother John, …
EP: Pam Risourié – So Be It Eternity
Out on Indie label Shore Dive Records (based in Brighton, England), is the second EP by the Paris based Dreampop/Blackgaze band, Pam Risourié. The EP is called ‘So Be It Eternity’ and is available through Shore Dive Records Bandcamp Page here Opening with the gentle, softly first track, ‘Holding You As A New Past’, Pam …
Album Review: Nigh/T\mare – Katharsis
Overview: From the depths of an ancient dark underworld, Nigh/T\mare has conjured a powerful offering of burning emotions that light the fires of one’s demons and invite thebeginning of an epic journey through the unknown. Via Thrènes Records from Switzerland, this offering is on point with their consistent releasing of top quality industrial/experimental techno. Entitled …
Album Review: Portico Quartet – ‘Monument’
I can still remember the kerfuffle Portico Quartet sparked off at Womad 2012…Where’s the hang drum? What’s this, loops? Is this dance music? For a crowd expecting the pastoral acoustic soundscapes of their first two records, the Mercury nominated ‘Knee Deep in the North Sea’ and follow up ‘Isla’, the sweeping electronica fused with upfront …
Album Review: Venus Grrrls – Potions EP
Venus Grrrls have released their new EP, ‘Potions’ on November 5th 2021 via Monomyth Records. The EP is a collection of songs that digress into integral parts of human emotion and consciousness. Exploring themes such as friendship, body image, and love, the band showcase their most intimate body of work yet. The band are also …
Album Review: JESSICA’s ‘With Reverie’ has a gorgeous ghostly presence filled with longing and loss.
With a delicate piano filigree dusting a series of gorgeously quiet and reflective songs, the new album from Sydney artist JESSICA has the elegance and enigma of an Eric Satie piece fronted by Dusty Springfield. ‘With Reverie’ is essentially a series of haunting vignettes deliciously encapsulated into (mostly) three minute interludes, filled with emotion and …