Indie
Track: Alfred Hall – Safe and Sound
Norwegian duo Alfred Hall might be a new name to some of us here in the UK, but the that’ll more than likely change very soon with the release of their Safe & Sound EP on March 25th, the first time their music has come out here. The pair, engineering undergrad Hans Thomas, and medical …
Track: Witching Waves – Pitiless
Taken from their forthcoming album ‘Crystal Cafe’, out on February 26th via HHBTM Records (US)/Soft Power (UK), London trio Witching Waves have released a second single, Pitiless – aka Emma Wigham, Mark Jasper, and Ed Shellard. Opening with this twisting guitar line, it soon unfurls into this driving indie rock gem, mixing up elements of …
Album Review: The Callas – Half Kiss Half Pain
Brothers Lakis and Aris lonas started The Callas in Athens, Greece back in 2005. Both filmmakers and musicians, the brothers lonas took a more dissonant and theatrical approach to their music by taking inspiration from both Sonic Youth and The Fall. The Callas, who also feature Chrysanthi Tsoukala (guitar, vocals) and Marilena Petridou (Drums) have recently …
Album Review: Field Music – Commontime
Sometime in the gloriously messed up late 80s I remember a friend playing me the ’25 ‘O Clock’ mini-album by ‘The Dukes of Stratosphear’, a blast of fabulous neo-psychedelia, that even in our stoned state, a few tracks in, we collectively began to realise was XTC getting their rocks off under an alter-ego. Their follow-up …
See: Heavy Heart Release video for Time will stand still
From the smoggy streets of Southeast London comes a scintillating new sound which in no way reflects the location of their inception. After releasing their initial EP, winning a competition to perform at a festival in Spain and playing shows in New York for CMJ Music Marathon 2015, the newly founded band Heavy Heart have …
See: The Dumplings release video for Technicolor Yawn
Let’s get this straight, The Dumplings are not a (completely) new band. The Polish duo’s protagonists, Justyna Święs and Kuba Karaś first met at a song competition in 2011, and have released a couple of albums, No Bad Days and Sea you later, through Warner Music Poland. It’s just the rest of the world (including …
Album Review: Diiv – Is The Is Are
Diiv tapped into that wandering soul we all have buried deep down(some deeper than others) back in 2012 when they gave us their big and dreamy debut Oshin. Guitars swelled in waves of reverb, as did pretty much everything else, as Zachary Cole Smith sang songs like he was lost in thought while emoting into the …
Track: Lila Rose – All the beauty
California based rising singer songwriter Lila Rose has just released her new single, All the Beauty. Apparently cursed with ‘ultrasound sensitivity’ but drawn to spend her life making music, she describes it (or at least her press people do) as being both a curse and a gift. All the Beauty is part Florence Welsh, with …
Live Review: Fun Lovin Criminals Leeds 4.2.2016
The Fun Lovin Criminals burst onto the scene 20 years ago. A cock sure, smooth talking, trio that liked a toot and more than a few shots of tequila. With no regard for genres or boundaries,the self-professed Kings of New York took us a little bit by surprise, providing a welcome alternative to the over …
Track: Sam Fowke – Red Handed
Yeah, he’s got a beard, that Sam Fowke. What of it, so loads of those singer songwriter types these days. As well as beard cultivation, the Gloucester-born, Cardiff based musician also likes fine jumpers and long walks on the beach, and probably days when he can combine the three. And I didn’t even make that …