Playlists: Our Picks
Her Voice : A playlist for International Women’s Day 2021
Although it has it’s beginnings way back in 1911, International Women’s Day has an increasingly important role to play in our society. Every March 8th, the day is an important day to celebrate Women’s achievements, equality, gender parity and also to fundraise for female-focused charities. This year the focus of the day is #choosetochallenge – …
Droppin’ Knowledge: A 10 Song Hopeful Playlist For A Time That Strains Hope
If you’re feeling a deficit of hope lately, don’t fret. You are not alone, Hope is an intrinsic human attribute that allows us to appreciate the idea that it is often darkest just before the dawn. Mental health experts advise that hope is a powerful, inspiring feeling that is necessary and vital, particularly if you …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Listening To Music During a Pandemic – 10 Hip Hop Songs To Help You Carry On
By October, music had failed me. In the beginning of the pandemic, music from my youth carried me through the ups and downs of navigating life during a global health crisis. The music I returned to again and again was a strange mix of songs that I associated with specific periods in my life: Motown, …
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. …
Soundtrack of our lives: The Fall – Album Definitive Quagmire. In memory of Mark E Smith
I don’t really know why I’m a fan of Mark E Smith and The Fall. Is it the uanabashed Northernness? Is it the mastery of prose? or maybe the fact that he never forgot his roots? I don’t know, but what I do know is that for whatever reason once I’d entered the Wonderful and Frightening …
Playlist: Robot Rock
Robots! They are coming for you, taking our jobs, driving our cars, offering to help you over the internet, it’s all part of their dastardly plan to take over the world. Despite recent high profile robotic embarrassments, songs about robots have always been popular. This playlist avoids the most obvious, but gives an overview of some …
The Best Sheffield Artists & Bands of 2016
Whilst Backseat Mafia now boasts writers and readers from all over the world, it all started in the northern city of Sheffield. We’re a proud lot here, and are particularly proud of the great musical acts we have brought to the world. Pulp, Richard Hawley, Joe Cocker and Arctic Monkeys are our crowning glories. But …
Feature: Best Hip-Hop Tracks of 2016
Last year for the first time we put together our favourite hip-hop tracks of 2015. With 2016 being an equally strong year for the genre, it only seemed right that we do another year end round-up. It seemed clear from the offset that we couldn’t possibly pick one favourite, so in no particular order, these are …
Playlist: R.I.P. Muhammad Ali – 10 songs
And so the champion made his exit, and the man born Cassius Clay, the ‘Louisville lip’, the three time Heavyweight champion of the world left us, surrounded by his family at the age of 74. Ever since winning Olympic gold medal at the 1960 games and turning professional he told us he was the greatest, …
Playlist: Backseat Mafia Staff’s Favourite Prince Songs
The world is still in mourning after the loss of one of music’s greatest stars, Prince. At the time of writing this, still little is known as to the cause of his death. But to his fans it seems unimportant. He is gone, and regardless of why it happened, nothing will bring him back. Prince …