Indie, alternative, and experimental music
Vinyl records a specialty!
Steve Moore And Majeure
Brainstorm
Album of the week
OH! Steve Moore / Majeure (a.k.a A.E.Paterra) split LP on Temporary Residence? Yes please sir. As you may know these two characters are the also known collectively as Zombi - a group who extend upon the works of Horror/Sci-Fi soundtrack pioneers such as John Carpenter, Vangelis and Goblin to name but a few. Steve’s work is always a pleasure to hear, his composition skills are truly outstanding and his synth work encompasses the age of 70&...read full review.
Dalai Lama Rama Fa Fa Fa
You Make Me Crazy/ Sun
Single of the week
It’s Hookworms (France Edition)! Damn! That was quick. So, Dalai Lama Rama Fa Fa Fa are young Parisians with a taste for all things Spacemen 3-esque. Infact, they are pretty much wholesale ripping on their style. Totally valid in my mind as long as it’s done right. Opening tune ‘You Make Me Crazy’ dives head first into the psych-rock abyss and sees the lads steadily groove their way through an ocean of echo and wahtar wit...read full review.
Expo '70
Journey Through Astral Projection
Expo 70 has been releasing Kosmische style drone for knocking on a decade now. That’s ages... seriously that’s a long time. ‘Journey Through Astral Projection’ was recorded at the same time as ‘Where Does Your Mind Go?’ with the able bodied help of Matt Hill (Umberto) on bass and drum machine. Justin Wright locks into his groove with guitar, realiistic moog and crumar (an Italian vintage synth from the 60&rsqu...read full review.
Ilyas Ahmed
With Endless Fire
Super tasteful psychedelic gatefold sleeve on this one, and some mystical loveliness on the wax, too! Ilyas Ahmed is back to weave more of his slow-burning spirituals with rock and drone and psych-folk elements, but always beautifully measured and hypnotic. This is music that really takes you somewhere interesting, with Ahmed’s hushed voice peeking out over layers of twinkly repetitive acoustic guitar and simple, primal rhythms, occasiona...read full review.
James Ferraro
Rapture Adrenaline (& Extra "Welcome To Candyland" Exclusive Interview)
I got this on VHS last year for some stupid price (28 duckets i believe...thanks David K) so I was mildly bummed to discover a DVD with bonus material was gonna hit us anytime - mainly ‘cause my VHS player is now fucked...shouldn’t have played that moldy copy of Teen Wolf I taped off telly in 1988. Anyway, ‘Rapture Adrenaline’ is a video mash-up project that echo’s Ferraro’s work as a musician. Here Ferraro ta...read full review.
Harmonious Thelonious
Listen
Stefan Schwander a.k.a Harmonius Thelonious returns with his sophomore effort on Italic. I was super impressed by his debut ‘Talking’ so it’s a pleasant surprise to see him on the review pile again so soon. ‘Listen’ picks up where ‘Talking’ left off with it’s fusing of hard hitting African rhythms, American structural minimalism and quirky European sequencing sounding as fresh to my ear as it did f...read full review.
Sharon Van Etten
Tramp
Don’t recall hearing Sharon Van Etten’s previous two LP’s though I have packed quite a few copies so it’s fair to assume she’s a popular young lady. ‘Tramp’ is her first LP for Jagjaguwar and boasts The National’s Aaron Dessner as producer and Zach Condon (Beirut), Julianna Barwick, Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak) as guest players. With or without these excellent contributions it’s unlikely that Sharo...read full review.
Andrea Belfi
Wege
Andrea Belfi has been knocking about for a bit now. This is his fourth album and he creates experimental soundscapes whilst being the king of all things percussion. The music has been created using a new device created by Belfi and in his own words... “This device creates feedbacks on two drums on my drum kit, and I can modify it by stopping and stretching the drum skins with hands and various kinds of sticks, mallets and brushes, and/or...read full review.
Cloud Nothings
Attack On Memory
I like this! Cloud Nothings are bringing back the post-grunge tones with a modern epic indie slant to them on this lively little album. When they really kick off there’s definitely a mid-’90s power-pop feel, but then there’s also these krauty psychedelic passages that are really moody and absorbing with simple, churning grooves that build into bubbling psych-rock workouts. With Steve Albini twiddling the knobs it sounds great,...read full review.
Lindstrom
Six Cups Of Rebel
Brian keeps trying to make me listen to this record at the “right speed” of 45rpm, where it’s a technicolour romp of bouncy “cosmic disco” that flashes by at a queasy pace, but you should try this shit at 33. Seriously, it’s a squelchy dub-disco workout with weird detached pitched-down vocals and bubbling arpeggios and filthy primal dance grooves that’s bringing to mind that amazing Aristocrat P Child ta...read full review.
Vazz / La Bambola Del Dr Caligari
Whisper Not / The Wrong Holiday
Now this is something quite special, I was intrigued by the brief clips I managed to crowbar off Boomkat's Fort Knox-like cryptic site of esoteric goodies and as far as the collection of tracks by Vazz go I am not remotely disappointed. This Glasgow outfit flitted around the post punk and new romantic scene in the early 80s and really do sound like they've crash landed in a time capsule and come wearily knocking on your door at five in the morn...read full review.
Radioactive Man
Engine EP
Now long term sufferers, I mean readers, of my reviews (if there really is anyone still trawling through the word-porridge I habitually cough up these days) will recall my old fondness for Kevin Badmintonforest of Trotters Tennis Club fame. He's the one who made 2 Lone Swordsmen cool for about ten minutes around the millennium. His records are still in my collection which is a sign of some quality waxage I tell thee, I am such a fickle bugger s...read full review.
Nick Nicely
Elegant Daze - Songs From 1976-1986
When the internet was first up and running I once spent several evenings trying to find an mp3 of ‘Hilly Fields (1892)’ by Nick Nicely. It’s one of those eerie, dreamy tracks that somehow is totally out of its time, transporting hazy late 60’s marijuana soaked psychedelic pop to the post punk days of 1981. A record which was justifiably lauded at the time and purportedly kickstarted Andy Partridge (XTC) into starting the...read full review.
Loops Of Your Heart
And Never Ending Nights
This is a dude from The Field who are well popular now. If I hear another person banging on about the Field I’m gonna proper stab someone up. Nothing wrong with ‘em at all... in fact I quite like ‘em it’s the banging on I have a problem with. The album is supposed to reflect Alex’s experience in Germany (he’s from Sweden you see). This sounds pretty lush from what I’ve heard. Essentially it’s decen...read full review.
Laura J Martin
The Hangman Tree
This is an intriguing little release. I’ve come to expect to certain level of quality from the Static Caravan and Laura J Martin’s debut for the label is no exception. LJM uses a loop station, flute, mandolin and her almost magical voice to translate her take on what the press release describes as ‘Dark Folk’ but to me sounds much quirkier and progressive than that. Her voice is hard to pin-down. Comparisons to Kate...read full review.
Various
Pop Ambient 2012
I don’t feel qualified enough to review this Pop Ambient collection. Sure, I dig ambient sounds but with Kompakt we’re talking serious business - proper studious Ambient music made by proper grown-ups. You’ve only got to look at the contributing artists to know they ain’t messin’. We’ve got BV DUB in the house, WOLFGANG VOIGHT is in the house, SIMON SCOTT and MARSEN JULES are in the house to name but a f...read full review.
Tom James Scott
Crystal
Well, this one’s lovely! Tom James Scott has here put together three lengthy pieces of experimental minimal type goodness that falls very much in the soothing and therapeutic camp. Opener ‘Skire’ has a repeated chiming guitar refrain with heavy reverb over high, glassy drones and field recordings of waves crashing onto a beach, while its counterpoint on the first side, ‘Lown’, has swelling processed and synthesised...read full review.
The Babies
Cry Along With...
New on Matt Mondanile’s New Images imprint we’ve got this six-song mini-LP of acoustic demos from indie-rock supergroup The Babies, recorded in 2010 and 2011. We’ve been shifting their recent split 7” with His Clancyness by the bucketload (and rightly so because their song on that split is an absolute beauty). On this platter we’ve got a hushed acoustic take on that and five other Babies songs. This one’s as l...read full review.
Cleared
Breaking Day
Well, when I first started spinning this record I thought I was in for a long and uncomfortable ride, since it starts with an almost concretey intermittent static noise and little else, but then that was joined by a fast, regular cymbal to create a rhythmic structure as drones and creaks are gradually layered on top, to be joined by pulsing sub-bass drum beats and electrical howls as the fast and frantic cymbal beats become more intricate. You&...read full review.
Peaking Lights
936 Remixed
What a delightful moment I had on Christmas day when I unwrapped that Peaking Lights LP I’d wanted. Actually a more exciting moment occurred when I put the needle on the record and realised what I suspected all along that it was a very very fine record indeed. Here we have a new remix 12” on Silk records which contains mixes by Ital, Xander Harris, Innergaze and Cuticle. The Ital is a little bland, generic house, the Xander Harris u...read full review.