Music
Live Review: Zuzu / Frankie Beetlestone / Luxury Goods – The Leadmill, Sheffield 14.12.2021
A trip to the now iconic Leadmill in Sheffield for what promised to be a great night. First up was Luxury Goods a band unknown to me before tonight, performing their first gig since before lockdown. This Sheffield based band hit the stage and from the off some catchy tunes followed. Charismatic singer Leonie charmed the audience …
Live Review: Hands Off Gretel / Edited People / Luke Appleton – The Birdwell Venue, Barnsley 18.12.2021
On a cold December afternoon, I drove my son, his girlfriend and my daughter 85 miles through the fog for our last gig of the year, Hands Off Gretel in Barnsley. The Birdwell Venue is a revamped old Working men’s club with a seriously impressive live space: The Lighting and sound are excellent, the stage is both …
Exclusive: Rome DJ/Producer Leone510 records Backseat Mafia takeover mix ahead of his It’s Our Time EP
Ahead of the release of his new EP, It’s Our Time, which drops on Lorenzo Dada’s Electronic Music Division on February 7th next year, we’re delighted to have a Takeover Mix from Rome based DJ / Producer Leone510, aka Giordano Leone. Full of jazzy chords, sweeping bass tones and sprawling breakbeats mark out the EP …
Live Review: Mick Flannery + Susan O’Neill / John Blek – The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny 12.12.2021
Mick Flannery & Susan O’Neill were set to have one date in The Watergate Theatre Kilkenny, which was a sell out, but due to new Covid restrictions which have brought venues back to only 50% capacity it had to be split into four shows over two days. This being an early evening show and a …
News: Bitchin Bajas bring their Sun Ra moogfest out on the road Stateside and in Europe
COOPER CRAIN’S side-alley Moog buccaneers Bitchin Bajas are taking their their latest album, a re-exploration of the works of Sun Ra purely for synth and keyboard, out on the road in the new year. That album, Switched On Ra, their seventeenth, sees them apply the concepts of one avant-garde legend to that of another: Cooper …
Backseat Downunder: A Personal Top Fifty List of Favourite Australian/New Zealand Albums and Singles from 2021
This has been another extraordinary year which has seen musicians reach peak creativity locked away in their bedrooms, recording studios, recording studios in their bedrooms and all manner of locations – a side effect of the lockdowns that have beset both Australia and New Zealand. The sheer volume of releases seems to me to have …
Live Review: LIFE / Isabella Strange – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh 15.12.2021
In January 2020 at Rockaway Beach festival the Hull four-piece LIFE produced an electrifying set in an afternoon slot. Chatting to bassist Lydia after the gig, they said they were all set for a spring tour, including my home town of Edinburgh at the independent venue Sneaky Pete’s. Little did we know what was around …
Rising: Meet New Hardcore Band Breacher As They Set Out To Make 2022 Their Year
After blowing us away with the recent track ‘Hollowed Out’ we caught up with one of the Uk’s new hardcore band Breacher to find all about the band and their music. Give us a potted history of you / the band (when did you start, how long have you been going, where are you, what …
Track: PYNGU’s ‘Everytime’ brings uplifting, bittersweet dance-pop futurism to the Christmas run-in
SOMETIMES it’s best to keep it short and sweet and let a track speak for itself. PYNGU is the reincarnation of the German DJ, artist and producer who could formerly be found working as Kyco, under which moniker his work achieved some 27 million streams. His first single newly baptised and capitalised as PYNGU was …
Live Review: LCD Soundsystem – Brooklyn Steel, New York City 5.12.2021
As a native New Yorker, I have a really embarrassing confession to make – I had never seen LCD Soundsystem live before. Kinda sad, right? But, thanks to their 20-night residency at Brooklyn Steel, spanning from late November to mid-December, I was finally able to correct that. It’s not like I haven’t been a fan …