experimental
EP REVIEW: JOCKSTRAP – Wicked City: we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto
WARP debutantes Jockstrap – the duo Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye, jazz and electronics students respectively in a previous life – really do screw with the ol’ head, in the nicest possible way. It’s not like you haven’t heard many of the influences they draw on before, perhaps; but it’s the insouciant way they combine …
Premiere: Tristan Welch – Asset / Defect
Washington D.C. experimental artist Tristan Welch has returned with a new single Asset / Defect, out tomorrow and taken from the cd of the same name and we’re delighted to premiere it today on Backseat Mafia. Welch specialises in creating soundscapes using electric guitars and effects, and has active since the early 2000’s, his outlook …
Album review: Windy & Carl – Allegiance and Conviction
DEARBORN, Michigan, isn’t necessarily a name that trips off the tongue when you think of musical powerhouses; but this little satellite city of Detroit is a quiet mecca for fans of the more blissed-out, ambient end of the post-rock spectrum. It’s where you can find Stormy Records, the secondhand collectors’ vinyl joint run by husband …
Album Review: Warmer – Wooden Box with Strings
Warmer is the project of Nature Strip’s John Encarnacao – Backseat reviewed their last EP, Past Pacific, back in 2018. More recently the other main songwriter in The Nature Strip, Pete Marley, released ‘Savoury-toothed Tiger’ under the name Marveline which I reviewed last last month. With the release of Warmer’s new album ‘Wooden Box with …
ALBUM REVIEW: ONO – RED SUMMER
Before Saul Williams graced us with his imprints of experimental hip hop, Chicago’s ONO were creating divergent works that drew from both industrial music and gospel. The comparisons between the two are very much conscientious – both pushed the envelope for their respective genres, discussing themes about race and what it means to be a …
TRACK – 4’33 – THE NORMAL
Despite creating Mute Records, launching Fad Gadget and Depeche Mode, and then blazing a trail with Yazoo, The Birthday Party and a zillion more to become the indie label of all time, founder Daniel Miller’s moniker, The Normal has been strangely quiet since 1978. His one release, ‘TVOD/Warm Leatherette’ that initially launched the label was …
News: Magma to release new album “Zëss”, see review trailer
Legendary French experimental/prog band Magma have announced they are to release a new album – “Zëss” on June 28th via Seventh Records. It’s taken the band some time to pull it together into a studio recording because the first drafts were made in 1977. After a gradual process finishing the record, the band debuted it on …
Track: Horror In Clay – Heck Cattle Grazing
“Heck Cattle Grazing” is the first work to be released by Auckland art-folk/experimental group Horror In Clay. The group, featuring former members of popular group Girls Pissing on Girls Pissing, recorded the work with local engineer Rohan Evans and revealed the track last week with little-to-no warning except for a post on their label MUZAI Records‘ …
Track: Farai – Rebirth Remixed
“Bankers are gangsters” – that was the immortal line that beckoned listeners to the works of Farai late last year, as Big Dada released the producers work, Rebirth, to critical acclaim. “National Gangsters” happened to be one of the stand out tracks among the admittedly many great songs Farai and producer TONE dropped on their release, so it …
New Music – Aniseed – Geranium EP
Aniseed is a musician working quietly in the Norfolk countryside who over the years has been building a catalogue of work and sound experiments across a swathe of styles. This single release comprises of music recorded through a combination of magnetic tape and modern recording techniques, with roots in both electronic and acoustic traditions. Fragments …