chicago
SEE: Slow Pulp – ‘Idaho’: graceful and languid guitar pop
I MEAN, as if the depredations of the coronavirus weren’t enough; try having the year that Emily Massey, singer-guitarist of Wisconsin-formed, Chicago-based, languid guitar venturers Slow Pulp has just lived through. Off the back of their Big Day EP – their fifth release, but their first venture into the physical format, they began work on …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Behind The Boards With Spectacular Diagnostics
Producer and creator of instrumental hip hop, Spectacular Diagnostics, just dropped his latest instrumental LP, thebeautifulmusic. Backseat Mafia is fortunate to host him for this week’s episode of Behind the Boards. The Chicago-based artist mixes and mashes a variety of sounds for the new record, to create a jazzy and dusty collection of songs that …
SEE: Ganser’s ‘Emergency Equipment & Exits’ explores just walking away
ILLINOIS quartet Ganser have just released their second single of 2020, “Emergency Equipment & Exits”, an exploration of that universal human experience, the sudden, instinctual urge to just up and leave; and what would happen if you gave into that urge? The video to the song, beautifully self-directed by the band, finds the quartet in …
See: Dehd release new single/video – ‘Loner’
Chicago trio Dehd – aka Emily Kemp on vocals and bass, Jason Ball on vocals and guitar and drummer Eric McGrady have announced their new album ‘Flower of Devotion’ is out on July 17th via Fire Talk, and ahead of it they’ve released a new track/video for lead single ‘Loner’. “It’s okay to be lighthearted …
See: NIIKA shares new video for The Cage
Chicago art-pop artist NIIKA has shared a new video for her single The Cage, at the time news is out that her album ‘Close But Not Too Close’ has been put back until May 15th. It’s a kick back and relax sort of a tune, the hypnotising accompaniments in the verses constasting with NIIKA’s intoxicating …
See: Ohmme reveal new video / Single ‘Ghost’
Ohmme, aka Chicago duo Sima and Cunningham have released a new single and accompanying video ‘Ghost’, from their forthcoming album Fantasize Your Ghost, out on June 5th via Joyful Noise. It’s a joyfully scruffy, messy indie pop, with these beautiful harmonies in the vocals backed by wobbly synths and insistent piano/electronics, with this buzzsaw guitar …
Album Review: Impulsive Hearts – Cry All The Time
‘Cry All The Time’, the new album from Chicago band romantically named Impulsive Hearts is an instantly adorable release that captures an indie low fi dynamic adorned by brilliantly exotic instrumental flourishes. The album is exemplified by singer Danielle Sines’s gorgeous expressive voice – loaded with yearning and melancholia, melodic and evocative that pours over …
News: Djunah Release Single, Announce Album
Chicago noise punk duo Djunah released a new single, ‘Animal Kingdom’ (below), on August 21st, and have announced the release of their Kurt Ballou-produced debut album, ‘Ex Voto’, via Triple Eye Industries on November 1st. The band also opened for Ballou’s metalcore band, Converge, and Ohio indie rockers Cloud Nothings at Chicago’s House of Vans …
Premiere: Trick Shooter Social Club – Boxcar Racer
Chicago Americana/Rock outfit Trickshooter Social Club make the sort of warm, intelligent rock and roll that lumps them in with the likes of Wilco and The Black Keys, although on Boxcar Racer, which we’re delighted to premiere today on Backseat Mafia, there’s also just a whiff of the likes of The Rolling Stones and even …
See: In Tall Buildings release new video for Curtains
Following on from his recent ‘Beginning to Fade’ single, In Tall Buildings, aka Chicago songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Erik Hall, has just released a new video for its follow up, ‘Curtain’. Both are taken from his forthcoming album Akinetic, out on 2nd March via Western Vinyl. It’s a mix up of bubbling synth lines and snatches of guitars, …