Features
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 the box in a closet, and decided to listen to the LPs, one by one, and create beats from what he found. Hadee’s uncle was …
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, and after sending a demon to Melody Maker, were gobbled by Alan McGee’s fledgling Creation Records. From there they released four albums and four singles …
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 Recordings. It’s available in both digital and cassette form as well as a die hard bundle containing a T-shirt, A4 print of the artwork as …
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 Passmore Sisters are a case in point. Formed by Howard Taylor, Martin Sadofski, Peter Richardson and Adrian Lee, they clearly weren’t sisters, but through a …
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 had performed on The View, was nominated for a number of music awards, including a Grammy, and had won grants that enabled Thomas to worry …
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 jam sessions in some underground communal space tucked away in this or that German city but, instead, three friends taking a random trip to desolate …
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 and a huge spread of genres; a magnificent task delivered well. At the end of a particularly challenging year, I wanted to highlight the outstanding …
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 from the American Presidential election. None of that has stopped artists from all persuasions and genres making some fantastic music over the last 12 months. …
Feature: The rise of the reaction video – and anyone can do it
YouTube. What would we do without it, right now? One of the few ways that remain of accessing ‘live gigs’ for starters – the ones you attended at least, whether they were filmed professionally or shakily on a ‘phone – or your favourite ones that you didn’t attend. A trip down Memory Lane in the …
Droppin’ Knowledge: World Premiere – Rapper Hernon & Producer Frowns Share Their New Album Masterplan, Discuss Its Creation
The artists discuss their new album and share it with Backseat Mafia. Virginia rapper Hernon and Toronto-based producer Frowns met the way many artists meet each other today, on social media. After exchanging some direct messages on Instagram, they began to collaborate on a project together, their new album, Masterplan. While the process of creating …