TRACK: Magick Mountain – ‘Infinity X2’: a garage-punk rush outta Leeds
LEEDS’ psychedelic scuzz-rock power trio Magick Mountain have been around the block a bit to get to a place of infinity times two. Singer Lins Wilson has found the ideal three-piece environment in which to let that red hair flail and make that garage guitar fuzz and howl. She’s served her time on the Leeds …
ALBUM REVIEW: Less Bells – ‘Mourning Jewelry’: absolutely affecting drone-post classical forged in loss
JULIE CARPENTER, who records for Texas’ home of boundary-pushing out-rock and drone beauty Kranky, has journeyed from musical academia at the University of North Texas, through session work as a violinist for bands such as Eels, to finding her own musical self as Less Bells. She released a graceful and beautiful set, Solifuge, for the …
ALBUM REVIEW: Paul Molloy – ‘The Fifth Dandelion’: psych-pop sunshine beamed forward from ’68
SOMEONE put music journalist and band connections-mapper Pete Frame on speed dial, because the various groovy psych-pop iterations spiralling off from The Wirral’s The Coral are like a Mandelbrot set these days and more than worthy, surely, of one of his fantastic Rock Family Trees. Besides the sprawling, sea-shanty psych majesty of The Coral themselves, …
TRACK: Alex Jayne – ‘Backseat’: the city from a taxi with an acoustic guitar
ALEX JAYNE, the London grown-up pop songwriter with an eye for the odd side of life, has revealed her latest track, “Backseat”. She’s following “90s Dream” , in which, surreally, she imagined attending her own break-up movie, with this sweetly sung, intelligent slice of acoustic pop, observing the city from her taxi home. She said: …
TRACK: Pole – ‘Röschen’: Berlin textural ‘tronica legend is back; new album in November
BERLIN’S Stefan Betke, digidub mastering legend and masterful glitchtronica/deep groove recording artist in his own right as Pole, has announced details of his new album for Mute, and has also shared the first teaser for it in the shape of “Röschen”: listen with us, it’s embedded below. His eighth straight studio set – leaving aside …
SEE: Marie Davidson & L’Oeil Nu – ‘Renegade Breakdown’: electro chill and strength
MONTREAL’S Marie Davidson, veteran of that city’s DIY scene, musical polymath, fierce declaimer; like Grace Jones, you wouldn’t mess, frankly. Have a watch of the lyric video for the latest track “Renegade Breakdown”, which she’s just dropped for Ninja Tune and see if you’d dare. It’s a pulsing, dirty slice of electro-house over which Marie …
SEE: HAAi – ‘Rotating In Unison’: expansive future tech for Mute
LONDON-based Teneil Throssell, who records for Mute as HAAi, has certainly undertaken a deep geographical and musical journey to where she is today: poised to release her second EP for Mute, one full of future techno experimentation. Born in Western Australia, she was a teen guitarist who moved uptown to Sydney for a dive into …
SEE: Icarus Pheonix – ‘Zero One, For Will Sartain’: gloriously warm-hearted confessional indie teases cassette-only album
COMING at you out of Missoula, Montana, after a long period creating in Utah, Drew Danburry – who debuted in the world of music with 2005’s brilliantly, almost David Foster Wallace-entitled album, Besides: Are We Just Playing Around Out Here, Or Do We Mean What We Say? has emerged from a retreat, dealing with his …
SEE: Damn Vandals – ‘Into The Light Of Love’: rock ‘n’ roll with the lockdown monkey
LOCKDOWN monkey – now there’s a cool concept. I wonder if he’s a distant, cross-channel of Mr Oizo’s Flat Eric, sold not on deep techno squelch but the eternal blessings of good ol’ scuzzy rawk ‘n’ roll. Damn Vandals, who crawled up and into our heads toting proper sleazy and squealy axe abuse are following …
SEE: Adam Stafford – ‘Erotic Thistle’: a warm and confessional folk fingerpicking gem
FALKIRK’S Adam Stafford is one of them; he’s good at stuff. Grrr. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and film-maker, who necessarily has used the purdah of lockdown to create; for what else are our culture’s guiding lights, the creatives, to do? For him it’s proved a creatively fruitful time that has helped him fashion up an entirely …