Interview
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 …
Meet: We talk to Stuart A. Staples of Tindersticks on new album ‘Distractions’, lockdown and more
TINDERSTICKS are in danger of becoming a national treasure. After all they’ve (or more pertinently lead figure Stuart A Staples has) since 1991, largely making thought-provoking dark pop and emotive vignettes, always concerned with mood as well as just melody and structure. To that end, they have always turned ears and drew people towards them. …
Rising: We meet brilliant Sheffield quartet Sister Wives ahead of their new release
Those scamps at Delicious Clam always manage to grab our attention, and they’ve struck gold again, signing brilliant Sheffield band Sister Wives to their roster. We’ve already fauned over ‘I Fynwy Af/Rise’ one side of their new release, and with flip side Crags being about strange witch markings found at Creswell Crags in Worksop we’re …
Interview: we talk to Jean-Phi Dary & Jeff Mills about their collaboration ‘The Paradox’ and discuss the new album: Counter Active
Paradox: a doubtful statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true. When a spark ignites between two musicians, the state of flow can be achieved. Usually, a fleeting sensation, but when captured, it is an unstoppable force. The coming together of Jeff Mills and Jean-Phi Dary came …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards with Boston’s Musical Polymath, Rilla Force
And we back… Boston music scene stalwart Rilla Force is a musical polymath and a man with a distinct sound and vibe to his art. He is equally at home both behind and in front of the boards. Force, who raps, produces, mixes, masters, engineers, DJs and manages other artists, is adept at helping musicians …
Meet: We put dream pop maestros Heligoland under the microscope and review their shimmering new album This Quiet Fire
Heligoland began life in Melbourne before adventurously packing up and moving to Paris, where they have produced a series of stunning albums and EPs with the production skills of Cocteau Twins luminary Robyn Guthrie adding a certain lustre. Their new album, ‘This Quiet Fire’, has all the hallmarks of classic dream pop music that bears …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Despite Life’s Ups & Downs, Virginia MC Chuck Dolo Is Doing “Aight”
Late last year, the rap artist Chuck Dolo released his first official music, the single “Late Nights,” and the EP Amnesia. Both are atmospheric slices of hip hop, with trauma and recovery as their abiding themes, the music cathartic and clear-eyed, with a story teller’s attention to the small details of every day life. Dolo’s …
Meet: We speak to Bradford ahead of their new album
Rather than the global recognition they so richly deserved, 90s indie band Bradford were relegated to corners of second hand record shops, names on old gig listings and, sadly, a footnote. But it didn’t end. They were always that little gem on a mix cassette, a ‘do you remember?’ Or ‘did you ever hear’ in …
Meet: Leeds witch-rock duo Faux Machismo, and listen to their new single ‘Artemisia’
We’ve long been in thrall of Leeds’ stoner-witch-doom-rock duo Faux Machismo (even the description makes us shiver with excitement), and they’re releasing their new single Artemisia today, February 5th, via Muzai Records. The pair, singer/guitarist Maeve Munro and drummer Anna Ridley, have based their track on a painting from the early 1620s by Italian painter …