Features
Feature: Asian Death Crustacean give us an exclusive track by track from new album Baikal
We’ve been incredibly excited by experimental metal band Asian Death Crustacean here on Backseat Mafia, with the London quartet bringing elements of Jazz, post-rock and Ambient / Electronic music into the mix, surrounding it with gritty, muscular music that hits you like a punch to the head. Their new album Baikal, out today, has to …
Feature: London-based producer Kamau Kuru gives us a track by track on his new album, Oxydental
London-based producer and beatmaker Kamau Kuru has today released his new album Oxydental – a project he described to us as ’a fusion of back-catalogue samples from 70s-era India, Turkey, and Persia, with gritty lo-fi hip-hop beats, with the overall narrative driven by British colonial-era newsreel snippets.‘ How could we not be intrigued with that …
Feature: Ohmme give us an exclusive track by track of their new album Fantasise your Ghost
Out last Friday via Joyful Noise was the new album from the Chicago based duo of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, aka Ohmme. Called Fantasize Your Ghost, the album was the result of the pair spending more time on the road than in Chicago, and looking at the concept of home, as well as ideas …
Say Psych: Feature: Italians Do Psych Better, Part Three
I’ve been involved in the world of psychedelia for years now, in many capacities, and certain things start to stick and draw you ever deeper; like Alice and the infamous rabbit hole. One of the things I’ve noticed and indeed gone down said hole with, is the insane quality of psychedelia emerging from Italy, in …
Feature: Scratch the Surface – 14 Iced Bears self-titled album, and an interview with Rob Sekula
14 Iced Bears: ‘14 Iced Bears’ ( Thunderball Records 1988 ) “Only the dust remains…” Background Formed in 1985, 14 Iced Bears released three excellent records on the short lived Frank label before moving to Sarah Records in 1988.There they released a three track 7” single ( two songs of which also appeared on the …
Feature: Smoove and Turrell give us an exclusive track by track breakdown of new album Stratos Bleu
Out today via the magnificent Jalapeño Records is Stratos Bleu, the new album from Newcastle’s finest electro-jazz/soul pioneers Smoove & Turrell, essentially producer Smoove and lyricist / singer John Turrell. At the helm of a formidable funk machine, Smoove & Turrell are capable of throwing out funk / soul / house mash-ups or quite as …
Feature: Transglobal Underground give us a Track by Track on their latest album, Walls Have Ears
There’s always been a slight mystique around Transglobal Underground, and they’ve always determinedly followed their own path. With some made up names and a squad of collaborators than have revolved and evolved over time, they’ve been fusing together elements of Western, African and Asian music since they burst onto the scene in 1991 with Temple …
Droppin’ Knowledge: Hip Hop As A Vehicle For Protest And Social Change
Since its creation, in the New York City borough of the Bronx, hip hop has always addressed topical concerns. The music that Public Enemy’s Chuck D called “Black America’s CNN” often addresses systemic problems in the United States, and has the ability to powerfully articulate the traumas perpetrated on the Black community on a daily …
Excerpt From King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail
“I must make two honest confessions to you… First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux …
Feature: Breathless give us a track by track rundown of The Glass Bead Game – Reissued today
Reissued today is the 1986 debut album from dark indie band Breathless. Called The Glass Bead Game, it saw the band – bassist Ari Neufeld, singer, keyboardist Dominic Appleton (who went on to guest in indie supergroup This Mortal Coil), Guitarist Gary Monday and drummer Tristram Latimer Sayer, go into the Blackwing Studios with John …