Music
Live review: King Charles, Hebden Bridge Trades Club. 13/2/15
It might have been Friday the 13th, but for King Charles’ hardcore band of fans it wasn’t unlucky as he turned in a powerful greatest hits set with some new tracks thrown in. There’s some serious money behind Charles Costa – who has one minor hit behind him – as there is a double decker …
Album Review: The Dodos : Individ
The Dodos have been doing their thing now for a few years. It seems like we’ve gone from their 2008 album Visiter to their new album Individ in the blink of an eye. I know that’s not the case, as Meric Long and Logan Kroeber have put out some truly great music in the years that followed that defining 2008 …
Not Forgotten – ZZ Top – Tres Hombres
The couple of previous albums had been an effective run-up, but Tres Hombres is where the career of ZZ Top really took flight. This is the album that saw them morph from solid but unspectacular Southern-friend boogie rockers, to one of the finest rock bands on the planet. Of course, “La Grange” remains a staple …
See: Alex G – ‘Proof’ Music Video
Continuing with the idea of releasing a music video for every track from the debut album, Alex G has just released the video for ‘Proof’. What makes this one stand out is that it’s performed live from one take, although visually edited together from different takes, the audio represents the song in the best way …
A Beginners Guide to Bob Dylan
Over the last fifteen months we here at Backseat Mafia have been publishing a series of Buyers Guides on a number of musical acts. Sometimes these guides have covered a specific period in an act’s career, sometimes it has been a more general overview. There are some acts though, where an exhaustive overview can be …
News: Dead Kennedys announce EU Tour
Although still Jello Biafra-less, legendary punks Dead Kennedys have announced a string of dates across the UK and Europe this coming June. Legendary for their social commentary and fiercy anti-fascist lyrics, all wrapped up in a strange combination of almost Zappa like experimentation and humour, as the band passed through a variety of styles as …
Album Review: Troyka – Ornithophobia
Ornithophobia is the third album from experimental jazz trio, Troyka. Following on from their last recording, Live at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, which showed they could adapt their wilful experimentalism to other formats, the trio – keyboardist Kit Downes, guitarist Chris Montague and drummer Joshua Blackmore make their first outing for Naim Jazz, the sound of …
Album Review: Jonas Munk – Absorb Fabric Cascade
Jonas Munk has very few contemporaries exploring aural landscapes in quite the same way that he does. He seems to create musical canvases that are labyrinthine in scope; yet still as intimate as a warm embrace. His first solo outing, Pan, was warm and bubbling. It floated along a cloud of analog synth chugs and phased …
Not Forgotten: Crowded House – Woodface
The career arc of Crowded House through their initial phase was really rather odd. Over four albums they recorded some of the finest pop songs of the era, the first two being hits and successful in North America, while their profile in Europe was negligible, their last two were huge hits in Europe, but barely …
Album Review: The Wave Pictures – Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon
With a name like Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon, you would expect The Wave Pictures’ incredible 14th studio album to be quite exuberant. But really, Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon is less bells and whistles and more straight talking Bluesy Rock. The Wave Pictures have taken a modernist blues sound and mixed it with lyrical …