Album Reviews
Album Review: Wolfgang Pérez-‘Só Ouço’: Bringing a new avant-pop, no-wave edge to MPB lushness.
Chance happenings sometimes take music to the right place. For Spanish-German, Cologne-based singer-songwriter/arranger Wolfgang Pérez that place is his new succulent album ‘Só Ouço’ out now via Hive Mind Records. Two albums into Pérez’s pop fusion experimentation, ‘Who Cares Who Cares’ from 2021 and last year’s ‘Ahora’, the thrilling tones of Música Popular Brasileira were …
Album Review: Wet Leg’s Second Album Moisturizer Is a Middle Finger Dipped in Lip Gloss
Wet Leg fight, flirt, and flex their way through album two.
Album Review: Reginald Omas Mamode IV – ‘Rivière’ Noire’: Forward-thinking lo-fi funk and hip hop with a bold, direct message.
Dalliance or daring, ‘Rivière’ Noire’ the fourth album from singer, producer and beats aficionado Reginald Omas Mamode IV is, whichever way you look at it, a bit of a leap. This Anglo-Mauritian musician has since 2012 been at the forefront of the UK soul jazz, groove scene, lauded by Giles Peterson, loved by Mojo, The …
Album Review: Blackbirds F.C. release the magnificent ‘Desire Lines’ – a treasure trove of pure pop delights – ahead of live dates.
One of our favourite bands here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia, Melbourne’s Blackbirds F.C., has just released their third album ‘Desire Lines’ and it is a dreamy treasure chest filled with delicious pop jewels. Songwriter Jeremy Gronow, a fan of homegrown Australian artists, says of the new album: This is a record that is …
Album Review: The Circling Sun –‘Orbits’: the spiritual jazz collective return refreshed and vital as ever.
The ever-orbiting Aotearoa/New Zealand based cosmic jazz big band The Circling Sun are clearly on a roll. After building a live reputation on the NZ scene for well over a decade, their first album ‘Spirits’ appeared in 2023 and made some commotion beyond their home shores. Here was a massive new sound, a fermentation of …
Album Review: Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird unveil stunning new album ‘Rosewater Crocodile’ – a powerful beacon of luminescence.
The sonic behemoth that is Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird (CTBNF) arises again. My love for and admiration for this magnificent and criminally underrated band knows no bounds, and there is a delicious and satisfying sense of joy when each new release further confirms their position as one of the most exciting bands around at the moment. …
Album Review: Charbel Haber, Nicolás Jaar and Sary Moussa- ‘Crashing waves…’: A breath-taking electro-acoustic journey which reaches beyond the moment.
Disseminating experimental/alternative music from the myriad of vibrant scenes across the SWANA region to the wider world has been Ruptured Music’s generous undertaking for over fifteen years. Its creative source keeps giving and its curational insight keeps providing. Enter amongst the label’s significant June releases, the poignantly titled ‘Crashing waves dance to the rhythm set …
EP Review: Sand Brothers sweep elegantly into the world with the glorious ‘Shadows In The Square’ EP
It’s been a while since we heard from Sand Brothers and their album ‘Too Much Sky’ (see my review here) but in surprise announcement they are back with a new EP entitled ‘Shadows in The Square’ and it’s business as usual for these purveyors of the finest indie pop. These track didn’t make the original …
Album Review: Merpire immerses us in the beautiful tender embrace of ‘MILK POOL’.
It’s been four years since we reviewed Merpire‘s last official release, the album ‘Simulation Ride’, and the Naarm/Melbourne-based award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter (the nom-de-plume of Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt) is back with her new album ‘MILK POOL’: a marvellous sonic journey that puts to the fore her immersive vocals and wry intelligent delivery. Merpire shares of the album: I …
EP Review: Tasmania’s own Golden Sunbird unveil 4 tracks of pure space gossamer in latest offering – Heart of the Universe
Tasmania’s cosmic overlords, Golden Sunbird, have released their latest single, Heart of the Universe amidst a four track EP brimming with the timeless wonders of space and time. The EP serves as a wrap around for the single, and second track on the EP, Heart of the Universe, with the remaining tracks being predominantly instrumental, …