Sonic Cathedral
EP Review: Chapterhouse – White House Demos; early psych-fuzz brilliance from Shoegaze legends
Long before they carved out a legacy as one of the defining names in shoegaze, Chapterhouse were just four gigs in and brimming with raw psychedelic energy. White House Demos, recorded live in a single day in January 1989 at The White House studio in Weston-super-Mare, captures the band in their earliest and perhaps most primal …
Track: Andy Bell signals new album with hazy cover “I’m in Love”
Andy Bell’s cover of The Passions’ 1981 post-punk gem, I’m in Love with a German Film Star—retitled i’m in love…—is a lush reimagining that doesn’t stray far from the original but adds its own hypnotic texture. Featuring whispered, ethereal vocals from Dot Allison and layered guitars courtesy of Michael Rother (Neu!), the track envelops you …
Live review: The Charlatans and Martin Carr, Exeter University, December 14th, 2021 plus gallery
A GREATEST hits tour, from The Charlatans, you say? Actually, I thought: with the increasingly Kafkaesque qualities of everyday life in the political, viral and, it being December, the actual darkness of the UK at the fraying, fag end of 2021, that would be an absolute tonic. Too right I’m in. The Charlatans have been …
Track: bdrmm’s ‘Port’ gets some loving electro remix action from Working Men’s Club – come trance out
IT’S AN excellent, mouthwatering battle of two very cred, very excellent Yorkshire bands, duking it out. In the left corner, grapple fans, we have Hull’s bdrmm, the premier next now generation shoegazers; and over there, representing Heavenly Records, it’s Working Men’s Club, who are in the arena ready with a remix of “Port”, the first …
News: Former Boo Radley Martin Carr signs for Sonic Cathedral; see the classy, dubby pop of ‘Flames’. He’s supporting The Charlatans on tour, too
ONETIME Boo Radleys singer, songwriter and guitarist and also Wichita Records’ Brave Captain, Martin Carr, is now working with Sonic Cathedral on a follow-up to his most recent album, 2017’s New Shapes Of Life. And here’s the first release of this new partnership: the bright, breezy pop of “Flames”, completely showcasing Martin’s way with a …
Live review: Mildred Maude, Falmouth, October 23rd 2021
CUSPING exploratory instrumental trio Mildred Maude, newly signed to that reliable imprimatur Sonic Cathedral and with their second album, the incendiary, (mostly) longform stylings of Sleepover (our thoughts on that here) newly in the racks, decided to come home for their album launch do; and not just to Cornwall, but to the venue where they …
See: Cornish guitarsmiths Mildred Maude drop the video for the sweet noise arrow of ‘Chemo Brain’ – catch ’em on tour
CORNISH post-rock/shoegaze/post-rock trio Mildred Maude really are the coming men, with their first album for the excellent Sonic Cathedral out tomorrow and a tour to follow. The intersection of guitarist Matt, drummer Louie and bassist Lee is a bloody beautiful noise in the live arena and, it transpires, fully over the four tracks of their …
News: Cheval Sombre to release a new EP, including a Dead cover – see the video for ‘Althea’
CHRIS PORPORA, the artist whose twin album releases from earlier this year, Time Waits For No One and Days Go By, are the gentlest, brittlest sucker punches to the heart and so should be in your turntables if not your Christmas list, isn’t done with dirty old 2021 yet; he’s looking to round off a …
Album review: Mildred Maude – ‘Sleepover’: From Cornwall with beautiful, incendiary love
SONIC CATHEDRAL: it may not be the most prolific of labels in terms of releases – but never mind the width; feel the quality. Just take a look back, wouldya, over the past year and a bit of releases: an excellent, excellent new generation of the ‘gaze debut from East Yorkshire’s vowel-free but guitar thrill-replete …
Album review: Sennen – ‘Widows (Expanded Edition)’: now twice the size, Noughties shoegaze torchbearers’ debut packs a glorious punch
WHEN shoegaze was so cruelly traduced by the British inkies, dazzle-eyed by their enthralment with the twin coming of grunge and early Britpop, us aficionados shed a quiet tear for a lovely sound, a gorgeous aesthetic seemingly consigned to the history books; but you can’t, as we can see in retrospect, keep a great idea …