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Saturday 29 September 2018
Watch! - Reed & Caroline - Digital Trash
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Friday 28 September 2018
Thursday 27 September 2018
Wednesday 26 September 2018
Tuesday 25 September 2018
Monday 24 September 2018
Listen! - Reed & Caroline - Laurie's Beagle
Listen! - Yazoo - Winter Kills (Minute Taker Remix)
Saturday 22 September 2018
Review - Sisteray – Sisteray Said
Vinyl / CD / DL
Out Now
British punk-rock quartet release their new EP.
Sometimes when you hear a band for the first time you know
that there is just that little ‘je ne sais quoi’ about them. Something that sets them aside slightly,
something that makes you sit up and pay attention as they distance themselves
from the rest of their counterparts.
Yes, you’ve guessed it, Sisteray are one such band.
Hailing from Camden and formed three years ago, they have
already released a stream of singles and EPs and, built up a steady following
and reputation as a great ass-kicking live act through a series of ‘guerrilla
gigs’ persuading promoters to allow them first support slots at many a
venue. Their appeal is instant, lively, and
aggressive almost with hints of The Clash and maybe even The Buzzcocks. A guitar heavy guitar band with a punk twist
and enough pop to see them gain access to the hearts of the waiting media.
Recent remixes by electro-punk duo Feral Five have seen
White Knuckle Joyride and Algorithm Prison (original version featured on this
EP) take on new personas and the time seems to be just about right for Sisteray
to finally get that break that they so richly deserve.
This four track EP, at little over eleven minutes is packed
with catchy, guitar jangling, bass pounding, drum thrashing, vocal angsty class. Opener Wannabes maybe points a finger at TV talent
shows, maybe not, but it is one of the catchiest things you’ll find this side
of Britain’s biggest fishing farm. Try
not to sing along and you will undoubtedly fail.
Rumour Mill begins with a brilliant Burundi beat and little
else until it explodes into a cavalcade of sound on the one minute mark. Guitars screech and scream in the background as
Niall’s vocals demand centre stage in a track that skilfully moves from sparse
to being jam-packed with sound and yes, one of those choruses that just won’t
go away.
By the time that the punk rotted Algorithm Prison appears it’s
all very clear that Sisteray are something special. With backing vocals from Lucie Barat of The
Au Revoirs (and sister to Libertine, Carl) and Kat Five from Feral Five, it
rips a hole where a hole didn’t previously exist. Catchy, punchy and just damned good it stands
as a benchmark that few will reach – “we ain’t your target market”.
Closing with Sisteray Said another track with its roots
embedded in classic punk pop it roars from the start and is easy to imagine as
a live favourite with mosh pits and leaping bodies aplenty. Just two minutes is all it takes to impress
proving that Sisteray are most definitely quality over quantity.
Jump on the Sisteray train, the journey is going to be wild.
Thursday 20 September 2018
Listen! - Galaktlan - Elealo
Wednesday 19 September 2018
Review - Gazelle Twin - Pastoral
Gazelle Twin – Pastoral (Anti-Ghost Moon Ray)
Vinyl / CD / DL
21 September 2018
10/10
adjective: incredible
1. impossible to believe.
"an almost incredible tale of triumph and
tragedy"
2. difficult to believe; extraordinary.
"the noise from the crowd was
incredible"
|
|
Informal
Very good; wonderful.
“I was mesmerised”
|
|
And so begins the new album from Elizabeth Bernholz aka
Gazelle Twin. The clue to its success
lies above. As the words of opening opus
Folly exclaim – “What species is this?
What century? What
atmosphere? What government?” – so Pastoral
can be summed up as “What the fuck?”
This album is like nothing you have ever heard before. If it doesn’t hit you immediately, if your
brain doesn’t feel like it’s melting and dripping out of your ears, then stick
with it, it will. You head might feel
like it’s about to explode, you may be convinced you’re living in a fantasy,
another world, a nightmare. The kitchen
sink is probably included in an album of skilfully repetitive sounds, field recordings
and genius, the latter making this album a landmark in modern music.
It challenges everything that has gone before – pop, punk,
avant garde – you name it, this sets a new standard. Pastoral is horror hidden in the peaceful
villages and public places of Middle-England, a comment on modern Britain set
to the background of grinding loops and unimaginable sounds. Better In My Day remarks on the stature of
the youth over a Pastoral characteristic of pounding percussion and basslines
and Little Lambs introduces a controlled anarchy in danger of breaking free with
broken fragments of hip-hop and house thrown in for good measure.
Pastoral was four years in the making and it’s easy to see
why as it gels its fourteen tracks together in a truly mind-blowing order. Harpsichord and recorder are sampled to
create incredible screeches in this hell-on-earth production. Dieu Et Mon Droit (the motto of the British
monarchy = God and my right) comments on the state of the nation and our
ignorance to its difficulties and Mongrel includes electronic blips and bleeps
over another evil commentary.
Be very scared at Tea Rooms – you will never enjoy your
waitress-served hot beverage and cream scone again without constantly looking
over your shoulder and wondering what goes on where the eye can’t see. Jerusalem sounds like it contains snippets of
The Blue Meanies from Yellow Submarine or maybe it’s just a devil possessed
Punch post ‘disposal’ of Judy?
With recent single Hobby Horse comes maniacal voice and swirling
sounds which ingrain themselves in your now permanently aroused ears whilst
distortion balances on a knife edge. Pastoral
is not for the light-hearted but instead for the musically hungry, the desiring
of the unique with a thirst for true original and a hint of terror and
revulsion.
Classic:
adjective.
judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.
noun.
judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.
noun.
a work of art of recognized and established value.
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Monday 17 September 2018
Review - Stella Chiweshe - Kasahwa: Early Singles
LP / CD / DL
14 September 2018
African music icon re-releases early singles.
You may not be familiar with the Mbira, an ancient mystical
music or an instrument made from a series of metal keys on a wooden board. You probably don’t know of Stella Chiweshe
either but that could well change with the release of eight remastered singles
from the 70s and 80s in the form of Kasahwa.
Born in Zimbabwe in 1946, she is still one of the few female
players of the mbira dzavadzimu which she learned to play in the late 60s when even
fewer women did so. A traditional
instrument of the Shona people for over a thousand years it is played by holding
in the hands whilst plucking the ‘tines’ with each thumb. The sound is one of a piano style maybe fused
with that of a xylophone or glockenspiel but with the inevitable pluck sound
and is completely enthralling, almost dreamlike in fact, one could even say
that it may be the beginnings of the ambient sound.
Believed to be a ‘telephone to the spirits’ it is indeed beautiful
and often mesmeric. With Stella’s sometimes
raw but earthy vocals it seems to bond perfectly and elevates each track to a
state of complete euphoria no doubt one of the reasons that she recorded two sessions
for John Peel.
Kasahwa is the first release for more than ten years. Skilfully remastered by Nick Robbins, the
tracks sound new and fresh and nothing like the forty years old that they
are. Fans of ambient and drone should
lap with album up with gusto as it transcends into an almost supernatural reverberation
of often beautiful sounds.
From as early as opener Ratidzo, the stall is set and you’re
transporting to a dreamlike state.
Scales and whistles and mesmerising melodies which seem to drift away to
the distance and immediately echo backwards.
It’s all in a similar vein, not repetitive as such but, a comforting
familiarity that has warmth and glow that you will rarely hear. Mayaya is one such track, a distinctive vocal
hook that resonates throughout and playing of the mbira that will have you drifting
away with your inner calm in no time at all.
A true gem and a collection worthy of at least a listen –
suggested alone whilst driving or with quality headphones. Kasahwa is fascinating.
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