ALBUM REVIEW: Lee Fields & The Expressions – ‘Big Crown Vaults Vol.1 – Lee Fields & The Expressions’
BIG CROWN. Big. Crown. Roll that collocation of words around your mouth; if you’re a real music lover, you know these guys, Leon Michels and Danny Akalepse, are indeed proper royalty for the love, the care and the level of curation they bring to such a fine stable of artists: The Shacks, Lizette & Quevin, …
ALBUM REVIEW: Skinshape – ‘Arrogance Is The Death Of Men’: chilled guitar odysseys
Arrogance Is The Death Of Men is such a different creature to Skinshape’s last, Umoja. It’s got that guitar thing going that Will does so wonderfully; lyrically, you can hear the catharsis of this year, the trials and tribulations. It’s a lovely record full of emotion and guitar that helps usher in the end of this year. Win.
TRACK: Sturle Dagsland – ‘Harajuku’: the new prince of intense, avant-garde pop
DO YOU remember the first time you heard The Sugarcubes, Sigur Rós? How music seemed to have subtly recombined in weird and exciting new ways that spoke of another direction? Maybe, like me, you’ll have the that same kinda bright-rush when you hear the music put together by Sturle Dagsland. He’s just released a track …
TRACK: Bastian Benjamin – ‘Threshold’: bright, organic ‘tronica
EXPERIMENTAL audio-visual producer Bastian Benjamin, born and based in the small city of Deventer, in the Netherlands, some 100km east towards the German border, has just dropped the bright, organic, atmospheric sweep of “Threshold”, the final single he’s releasing ahead of his next album, Two Truths, which will be with us in the first week …
SEE: Busty and the Bass – ‘Eddie’; cool Canadian jazzers also announce live stream
MONTREAL’S crisp, sprawling (there’s eight of ’em) soul-jazz outfit Busty and the Bass have just released the video for the title track from their August album, “Eddie”. We reviewed the album back in the summer and applauded its sophisticated jazz-funk stylez, with both Macy Gray and George Clinton climbing aboard for guest slots; and one …
TRACK: Mandrake Handshake – ‘Gonkulator’: Oxford dectet debut the new acid
THEY may be one of the most populous bands you’ve seen this side of My Life Story and The Polyphonic Spree in their pomp – but Oxford psych dectet Mandrake Handshake breathe new and trippy life into that old adage: the more, the merrier. They’ve signed on the dotted for cult British indie imprint Nice …
NEWS: The Orb announce live stream date and remixes album – hear David Harrow’s rerub of ‘Haze’
SEMINAL techno groovesters and occasional pranksters of legend The Orb have a brace of excellently exciting news announcements for all you space cadets out there. Firstly, they’re gonna play their first-ever livestream gig to bring a little festive cheer, from 10pm on Saturday, December 19th, entitled ‘This Is Not Here’. What promises to be an immersive, …
NEWS: M. Ward announces Billie Holiday covers album; hear ‘For Heaven’s Sake’
YOUR humble scribe has loved Portland’s M. Ward since right back in the days of The Transfiguration of St Vincent – his beautiful 2003 album full of his mellifluous voice, incredible guitar skills (if you’ve ever seen him live, you can pay testament to him somehow being two or three guitarists at once) and songs …
PREMIERE: Modern Hinterland – ‘California (August 16th 1998)’: some much-needed Americana sun
CHRIS HORNSBY’S Americana outfit Modern Hinterland are all set to release their new album, Diving Bell, on January 29th – almost a year to the day since their last, The Longest Part Of The Night. Chris and the band, Simon Shippey, Tim Thackray and Colin Marshall, found a new creative level, laying down the album …
SEE: Adam Beattie – ‘Lovers Old & Lovers New’: a sweet yearn for lost nightspots
ADAM BEATTIE is a musician with a deep, noir romance beating in his chest, a romance tinged with the sadness of what we have lost; and this is particularly illustrated on his lovely latest single drop, “Lovers Old & Lovers New” – evoking those brilliantly bleary, boozy times in night town at bars and music …