See: The video for the nocturne dreampop glide of Wyldest’s ‘Beggar’: her album’s out late May
WYLDEST, the lyrically acute, gloriously dreampop project of Londoner Zoe Mead, has followed up her intelligent self-empowerment single drop from last month, “Hollow” (which you should so check out too) with “Beggar”, a chiming, nocturnal study that draws on that guitar swoon and glide of early Lush and wraps it up with her vocal verdancy …
Album review: E.R. Jurken – ‘I Stand Corrected’: a psych-folk debut full of catharsis and melody
E.R. Jurken’s first full missive into the world reveals quite the saddest tale at an angle, never telling, always hinting. It also shows an absolute grasp of songcraft, of melody, and an abiding love of British psych-pop and later American geniuses such as Neutral Milk Hotel and Elliott Smith
Album review: Tristan Kasten-Krause – ‘Potential Landscapes’: a debut quartet of potent longform drones
Tristan’s solo debut is a quartet of pieces that all head out from the same wellspring in different directions, different emotions; yet with a unity of feeling. If you worship at the altar of a well-executed drone-based record, then this one is mightily pleasing, if it doesn’t break new ground, it takes you for a different look round places you thought you knew and introduces them afresh. Classy
See: The acid prism of Plankton Wat’s ‘Modern Ruins’: a delicious psychedelic instrumental response to our fracturing world
DEWEY MAHOOD, the atmospheric psychedelic guitarist who released his twelfth album as Plankton Wat for Thrill Jockey, Future Times, in late February, has dropped the shroom-surreal video for one of that excellent album’s standout tracks, “Modern Ruins”, a track all garlanded about with echo and twang-shimmer and flutes – you can watch that below. The …
See: Ben Seretan – ‘Rain & Cicadas’: the piano in meshed susurration with the Appalachian rain
A FEW weeks ago we blissed into Sunday with New York songwriter and composer Ben Seretan’s absolutely luscious “Fog Rolls Out Rabun Gap”, the hero and protagonist of the piece at the piano and very much also in the world, his environment at the artist’s residency he was undertaking in the small community of that …
Album review: Secret of Elements – ‘Chronos’: the worlds of classical and electronic pirouette
A decade in a life lived richly and well, presented on an album which straddles two worlds which are becoming ever better acquainted – modern classical and electronica; when Johann really hits home the two pirouette gloriously. At times worthy of a billing on Erased Tapes or the like, at times closer to J.Willgoose’s warm analogue ambience as Late Night Final, if we can take one thing away, it’s to endeavour to live as boldly, as clearly and as truly as Johann has
Track: Rhys Langston – ‘a two state solution to soak eye contact’: cracking the political lyrical prism with an Anticon touch
ATTENZIONE, lovers of rhyme and lyricism transmitting in from the leftfield; come May 19th, POW Recordings will be presenting a new album from Los Angeles’ Rhys Langston, splicing oblique but conscious verbiage with the indie rock spirit of bands such as TV On The Radio, taking on the dominant power structures, throwing in Yiddish slang …
Track: Bobby Oroza – ‘Loving Body’: a waking lover’s dream of a soul nugget
RAISED in Helsinki’s east side by a Latin mother and a jazz guitarist father, the music seized Bobby Oroza from an early age; an excellent familial record collection included Motown, doo-wop, crooners and South American folk and set him on his path to a deal with the lovely Big Crown – a great dovetailing. And …
Track: Dutch Wine – ‘Whisky’: Glaswegian indie trio mourn a lost love in mantric guitar
BE IN no doubt; the Glaswegian indie scene is one these isles should be thankful for. Having produced so many great bands since the days of the post-punk – c’mon, need we name them all? – the new crop of acts coming through are carrying the proud tradition and knocking out some superb tunes. In …
See: School of X – ‘Away’: MØ’s drummer sets sail on an more wistful course left of centre
IF YOUR particular thing is international pop then you may have come across the Danish popster MØ, who hit no.1 on the UK charts in collaboration with Major Lazer and Justin Bieber with “Cold Water”, and no.2 as guest vocalist again with Major Lazer’s “Lean On”; and let’s just change our lenses here a sec …