Indie
Album Review: Sarah Cracknell – Red Kite
In 1993 I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah Cracknell at a signing at an HMV store. It was Sheffield sound city and the Saint Etienne were doing the signing ahead of their set. I took along my copies of ‘Foxbase Alpha’ and ‘So Tough’. I had never really met any singers or bands before …
Track: Candy Darling – Going Straight
I was introduced to Candy Darling last July and was so happy to receive Emily’s recent email sharing their two new tunes. With ‘Going Straight’ they have moved away from the pulsing electronica of ‘Money’, as it opens with Spector-esque drums and The Jesus and Mary Chain guitars. There is a definate heartbreak feel to …
Live Review: Teenage Fanclub – Trades Club, Hebden Bridge 26.05.2015
It’s been a strange couple of days for arguably our nation’s best songwriting team. Tonight they are playing a small socialist club in West Yorkshire to 180 hard core fans, and tomorrow they face 50,000 as they support Foo Fighters at Old Trafford cricket ground thanks to a direct request from Dave Grohl. This might …
Live: Bearded Theory Festival 21-24.5.15
Catton Park, South Derbyshire, last time I was here I spent 24 hours sweating and panting my way around the park on a mountain bike, supposedly for fun. This time we are here for the Bearded Theory Festival and I was swapping the energy drinks, pasta and anti-chaffing cream, for good beer and great music, …
Track: SOAK releases new single, Digital Witness
At the start of each year there are the usual polls put together by the music press to tell us who we will be listening to over the next twelve months. It’s always interesting to follow the careers of the chosen ones, to see which out of them will measure up, and which will fade …
Track: California’s The Silhouette Era release a new single, ‘Exhale’
Produced by Jay Pelliccci at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco, Beacons is the new album from North California’s The Silhouette Era. Out in July on Breakup Records, its full of dreamy surf pop and tales of death and heartbreak. From it, the band have released a new song, Exhale. Opening with this reckless drum kit …
Meet: We talk to David Gedge from The Wedding Present / Cinerama on ‘Valentina’
Any indie kid can instantly identify the trademark Wedding Present choppy guitars but main man David Gedge has a fascinating side line as Cinerema where he experiments with very different sounds. He’s really gone for this time on Valentina which is a radical recording of the Weddoes album in the style of a louche Vegas …
Video: Samuel Ford records exclusive session for Backseat Mafia
London based, but born in Rye, Sussex, Samuel Ford has been performing only a short time, but he’s spent his life immersing himself in music. Ahead of his debut EP, out on July 28th, we managed to persuade him to take time out from performing at Live at Leeds, to record us a couple of …
Not Forgotten – Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs
Like their sister-band The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev took the scenic route to success. After a messy debut album and an equally messy follow-up they ditched their front man and took a gentler and much more interesting career path, with the jazzy, dreamy and startling See You on the Other Side being a charmingly rough …
Meet: Fink: music business is a big gamble
In the world where music is a product of consumption, often cheap, short on nutrition values, and is easy to dispose of when one gets bored of it, finding artists with timeless compositions, gently and with care sewn together, making you leave all your work and thoughts aside and dive deep into the intricate world …