Music
Track: Bradford return with first new music in three decades with ‘Like Water’
We (well, I..) here at Backseat Mafia have loved Bradford for a long time. So the excitement generated by the bands first new material in over three decades here at our offices (my kitchen) has generated a palpable sense of excitement. Numbering original members Ian H. (vocals) and Ewan Butler (guitar) joined by the producer …
Album Review: A. Swayze and the Ghosts release the brilliant debut album ‘Paid Salvation’
Emerging from Hobart at the very edge of the settled world, A. Swayze and the Ghosts (AS&TG) are loud, noisy, abrasive, shouty, opinionated and – did I say loud? They are also, somewhat antithetically, the purveyors of some of the greatest intelligent pop songs around. ‘Paid Salvation’, their new album is a triumph – full …
SEE: Neil Cowley’s ‘Eureka Pulse’: solo piano grace from new triptych of EPs
NEIL COWLEY is someone who has lived and breathed music his whole life. He took on a Shostakovich piano concerto at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall at the age of 10; not so many years later he developed a reputation as a go-to pianist and keyboardist in British funk, working with Zero 7, Gabrielle and The …
Premiere: Cobra Man release new visuals to ‘Heatwave’
Los Angeles power disco duo Cobra Man have released new visuals for their recent single Heatwave, which caught the ear of the great and good (and probably not so good as well) in the blog / radio worlds, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere the video right here on Backseat Mafia today. Of …
TRACK: Cardiacs release previously unheard track, ‘Vermin Mangle’
CARDIACS have shared a poignant farewell in the form of a previously unreleased song. “Vermin Mangle” was shared to mark the funeral of bandleader Tim Smith, who died in July aged 59. Along with the new song, the band shared a touching tribute: “Of stars and planets,of darkness and light,of all universal energies issues forththe …
News: Mr. Bongo announce new compilation, ‘Volume 4’, for November
We’ve been a fan of Brighton-based record company Mr. Bongo for some time, with many of their brilliant reissues of world/Latin music appearing on our collective shelves over the years; and we’re delighted that their news of their latest release, volume four of their lauded compilations, has been sent our way (plea directly to Mr …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Bei Ru
And we back… Bei Ru, the Los Angeles based musician, beat maker and budding vocalist, has been making interesting and compelling music since the early oughts. In 2010, he raided his parents collection of Armenian pop music and released his first full-length, Little Armenia (L.A.), a funky amalgam of hip hop beats and Middle Eastern …
See: Maxïmo Park return with new track ‘Child of the Flatlands’ and visual art piece
After a gap of four years, Maxïmo Park have returned with a new track, Child Of the Flatlands, and an accompanying visual art piece from experimental designer, visual artist, and recent Daniel Avery collaborator Greg Hodgson. Casting its lyrical net into the waters of urban life, surrounded, indeed often overtaken by the persistent grip of …
Track: Sally Anne Morgan releases ‘Polly On The Shore’
It’s getting mighty crowded in the psych-folk district right now. So to stand out you need that little something else … enter Sally Anne Morgan. A fiddler, banjo player and vocalist with a growing reputation as a member of the Black Twig Pickers and the duo House and Land, the time is so right for …
Track: PET SHIMMERS announce new album, share lead single ‘IMBER’
Indie Bristol-born outfit Pet Shimmers have announced their second album of 2020, Trash Earthers, also sharing the first single ‘Imber‘. The album will be released on 2nd October via their own PS Records. Speaking on the new record, vocalist Oliver Wilde states: “During this time, all we’ve been fed is what’s happening in the news, and it quite …