Music

See: Solomon Grey releases new video for the pulsating electronica of ‘Firechild’
You can’t help but wonder about the lives of others. According to their bio, the duo who make up Solomon Grey (Oxford friends Tom Kingston and Joe Wilson) pursued their muse in a lighthouse in Cork vacated by one of their relatives, where they recorded in splendid isolation, before then moving to another remote property …

See: Girl Called Johnny releases new visuals for single, Hey Jackie
Sometimes a break up makes you stronger, however hard it might feel at the time. That seems to have been the case for Brighton-born, London-based singer songwriter Karen Anne, aka Girl Called Johnny. But it wasn’t a romantic liaison that bit the dust, it was her former band Ramona. After forming a band, there was …
NOT FORGOTTEN – U.N.P.O.C. – FIFTH COLUMN
I’ve been writing for Backseat Mafia for a while now, prior to that I honed my music reviewing on a website where members of the public were encouraged to review the music in their collection. It was as a tiny part of this small but enthusiastic online community that I first encountered Fifth Column, the …

Feature: A dozen reasons to See The Blue Aeroplanes December Tour (Playlist)
My daughter brought home some maths homework that really didn’t make any sense to me. I wondered if it was just me, but the more people I showed this homework to, the more people who were confused and baffled by it. There just seemed to be something wrong with the whole thing. The often feel …

See: Fanfarlo’s video for ‘A distance’
I needed cheering up today. I had to go to the hospital and have a camera inserted into my stomach via my throat. I won’t bore (read, gross you out) with the details, suffice to say that my gag reflex is about the most healthy part of my body, or so it seemed. I was …

Album Review : Andrew Bird- I Want to See Pulaski at Night
I’ve seen Andrew Bird live twice in my life. The first time was at the Chicago Opera House back in early 2009. The second time was at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis, IN in the fall of 2009. Both shows were stunning, Bird displaying a mastery of musical art like no other. But both shows …

Album Review: Youngblood Brass Band – Lux Volumi
Seems there’s a bit of a renaissance for brass bands at the moment. Not the colliery sort, instead these genre hopping, New Orleans ensembles, packed full of incredible players that, as well as being able to do things on their instruments that are almost beyond belief, they have this groove that is just infectious. Across …
NOT FORGOTTEN – SPARKS – HELLO YOUNG LOVERS
Once in a blue moon a new album is released by a well established act that stands out as the best of their career. It’s a rare thing for sure and it almost invariably only happens to acts that have not previously experienced the level of success that they had so richly deserved (the trappings …