Album Reviews
Album Review: Deerhunter-Monomania
I’ve been sitting with this new Deerhunter record for well over a month now. I thought like all of their past records there were layers that took time to reveal and that I shouldn’t jump the gun on some opinionated 500 word piece on it. Much like the owl trying to get to the center …
Album Review: Camera Obscura – Desire Lines
My falling for Camera Obscura was a whirlwind romance, some years ago. I heard them on John Peel on the Tuesday (Disclaimer: before we go any further, these dates may be wrong in my head), went to see them at the Water Rats in London on the Wednesday, and popped into my local cd/record emporium …
EP: Ty – A Kick Snare and an Idea part. 2
We like Ty here on Backseat Mafia. We loved A kick snare and an idea part.1, and he was an entertaining and engaging subject when we interviewed him earlier in the year. Now, just out, is part two. For those people who have passed him by, the important information you need to know is that …
Album Review: Boards of Canada-Tomorrow’s Harvest
From the opening horns of “Gemini” to the fading strands of album closer “Semena Mertvykh” there isn’t a moment on Boards of Canada’s Tomorrow’s Harvest where you wonder whose album this is. There has been a veritable silence from the direction of Scottish brothers Marcus Eoin and Mike Sandison since 2006s Trans Canada Highway ep. The silence has ended …
Album Review: Curry Quiche – One Seed, No Leeches
Coming out of nearby Rotherham, which is just about as close to Sheffield as you can get, are alt-rockers Curry Quiche The band, Steve Fidler on Vocals & Guitar, Shaun Sowray on Vocals & Keys, Bassist Jonny Haynes, Adam Flannagan on Guitar and Brian Waller who (according to the band) does Drums, Mixing and is …
New Music: Braxton Hicks – The Bench EP
Yeah, I know, you’ve heard the name. I’m not saying we don’t have history, or at least I don’t have history with Braxton Hicks. I’ve known lead singer Joe Hovis (think about it) for years, and recently he write a couple of things for us about punk for Backseat Mafia. But this is no kiss-ass …
Album Review: Deafheaven-Sunbather
Deafheaven’s Sunbather is one of those anomalies that happens every so often in metal music where you’re moved to your core listening to the aural violence. Singer George Clark sounds like Deftones’ Chino Moreno having some sort of attack as songwriter/guitarist Kerry McCoy creates transcendent -albeit bludgeoning- music that sweeps you up in the drama …
Album Review: Saltland – I Thought It Was Us But It Was All Of Us
There are some record labels, and Seattle’s Sub Pop comes immediately to mind, where you know that whatever they release is going to be at the very least interesting. Others have the sort of design style where you only have to look at the artwork to know what label is behind it, such as Germany’s …
Album Review: Still Corners – Strange Pleasures
Every once in a while you have to put away the Morbid Angel and N.W.A. and just chill out. It can’t all be bloodlettings and drive-by shootings. Sometimes you need a breathy voice and a mellowed-out vibe to bring you back down to earth for a bit. Well, Still Corners is here to do just …
Not Forgotten: John Grant – Queen of Denmark
It took three years but I finally found the proper follow-up to Midlake’s The Trials of Van Occupanther in John Grant’s Queen of Denmark. Man, I can’t believe I’d never listened to this album. It’s filled with Midlake’s penchant for creating these wooded landscapes and D&D-lite atmosphere, but since it’s NOT their album the melancholy …