Features Archives - Page 12 of 19

Droppin’ Knowledge: On His LP Border Patrol, Singer-Songwriter Farees Turns Trauma Into Art, With Humor, Grace and Righteous Anger

When Farees, the singer-song writer, released his stirring debut solo album in 2015, Mississippi to Sahara, (under the name Faris), he did what many artists do; he planned a tour…

View Post

View Post

Meet: The Coral’s James Skelly takes us through the inspirations for the new album ‘Coral Island’, the magic of memories, and how The Coral are the Robbie Fowler of the music industry.

The new double album by indie magicians The Coral, entitled ‘Coral Island’, is a magnificent snapshot of an imagined place that existed in childhood memories – a fairytale land that…

View Post

View Post

Droppin’ Knowledge: In Chi-Town, Rashid Hadee Is On The Beat. And The Mic, Too.

In hip hop, a sample can sometimes lead you on an unexpected journey. Rashid Hadee’s first box of vinyl records came from his uncle. The Chicago rapper and producer discovered…

View Post

View Post

Scratch The Surface: The Jasmine Minks – Scratch the Surface (Creation Records, 1989)

Formed in Aberdeen in 1983 by Jim Shepherd (guitar/vocals), Adam Sanderson (vocals/guitar), Martin Keena(bass guitar), and Tom Reid (drums/vocals), The Jasmine Minks were a staple on the 80s indie scene,…

View Post

View Post

Feature: Shrines give us a track by track lowdown on their new EP, Ghost Notes

Making a compelling case as London’s heaviest post-punk outfit, Shrines are gearing up for the release of their new EP ‘Ghost Notes’ this coming Friday, March 26th via Apocalyptic Witchcraft…

View Post

View Post

Scratch the Surface: The Passmore Sisters – First Love, Last Rites (Sharp Records, 1988)

Scratch the Surface is a pretty new development in the Backseat cannon, providing long reads of forgotten, under-appreciated or just classic albums from the outskirts of pop music. Bradford’s The…

View Post

View Post

Boston MC Billy Dean Thomas Reminds Us That “Hope Is A Song In A Weary Throat”

Last year seemed like the year that Billy Dean Thomas would finally break through. The Boston-based hip hop artist, poet and writer had accumulated a steady list of accomplishments. Thomas…

View Post

View Post

Say Psych: Feature: Top 5 Albums of 2020

5. Sei Still – S/T Though their taut, driving motoric music might scream of 70’s West Germany, Sei Still are, in from Mexico City. Their machine-like sonic experimentations emerging not out acid-fuelled…

View Post

View Post

Backseat Downunder: Favourite Releases from Australia/New Zealand in 2020

Last week Backseat Mafia released its Top Fifty Albums of 2020 – a incredibly rich and diverse list of albums from across a wide range of writers with different tastes…

View Post

View Post

Feature: The 50 best albums of 2020

Well, it’s been a bit of a year, hasn’t it? Global pandemics, George Floyd, environmental issues, terrorism, dissatisfaction with those in charge, not least in the ongoing (it seems) fallout…

View Post