Track: LUMP – May I Be The Light
Coinciding with the release of their debut album (eponymously titled), and fresh from the requisite ‘Later…’ performance, Lump release their third and last single from the LP. ‘May I Be The Light’ is a beguiling listen, running through three phases: the childlike plink and detached vocals of the verse, the electronic shudder that underpins the …
Track: Kamasi Washington – Street Fighter Mas
Baby Huey and a cosmic jazz orchestra made a child amongst the stars. In their benevolence and love, they gifted us their firstborn, Kamasi Washington. He has a new album out this month, Heaven and Earth (released 22 June on Young Turks), his attempt to tackle “global chaos”. Leading off that LP is “Street Fighter Mas”, …
Album Review: Ben Abraham – Sirens
There have been several moments in reviewing this album where I have wanted to give it a ‘6’. ‘Sirens’ has a warm, lush sound, and the straightforwardness of his delivery and songs suggest a singer-songwriter that believes in his material. You feel like this guy’s alright. Surely he’s better than a ‘5’ ? But that’s not …
Album Review: Treetop Flyers – Palomino
I don’t know if it’s about getting older and wanting to ensure that I spend my time only listening to what I really like, or just a shorter attention span. Thing is, I’ve not got as much space to allow music to settle. Maybe that’s unfair. That’s just how it is, though. Ok ? So if …
Album Review: Lissie – My Wild West
Ultimately this is a decent effort, wearing a number of flaws on its sleeves. It’s an album whose pop landscape is broken up by howls of anguish, discordant laments and, ironically, trying too hard to be things other than itself. As well as disrupting its own coherence, there are other missteps. Not enough is made of the …
The Provincial Archive: Bad Connection
“But Craig, isn’t rock ‘n’ roll dead ?” No. Turns out that our Edmonton heroes, The Provincial Archive, are reincarnated proof. Back as a three-piece, having said good bye to Ryan Podlubny and Nathan Burge, new single ‘Bad Connection’ finds them in fine, punching form. Singer and guitarist Craig Schram, and drummer Bramwell Park, have been …
Live Review: The Staves – The Roundhouse 9.11.15
School night out. Early start in the bar of the Roundhouse. Camden Brewery beer. Hot dogs and ale over the road at Joe’s. More beer back in the venue. Beautiful music from the Staveley-Taylors. Back into the bar for more beer. Urgh. And an über taxi home. Dirt. I think I’ve just about recovered and …
Album Review: Richard Thompson – Still
Good grief. I’ve had this album forever and I’ve been totally unprofessional and sat on it, and sat on it, and sat on it. Why? Well firstly, because I had been hoping that it would be as good as ‘Semi-Detached Mock Tudor’, which is the best of the, er, two Richard Thompson albums that I own. …
Film Review: The Survivalist
We’re used to experiencing the post-apocalyptic world: explorations on both big and small screens have taken us through countless interpretations. But as I began to watch The Survivalist, playing at this year’s London Film Festival, I struggled to recall to mind one that combined a verdant environment and isolation. What we have become used to …
London Film Festival: What We Become
Fu*k. I’m on the London overground heading home from Rich Mix cinema where I’ve been brutalised by Danish zombie horror “What We Become”, part of the Cult strand at this year’s London Film Festival. I think I feel worse than I did when walking out of the “Dawn of the Dead” remake, and I was …