ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 4 AUGUST 2023
Here is a chance to browse through the Silent Radio rack of this week’s album releases, an intriguing array of generally newer artists to discover. Oiro Pena Puna Finnish jazz collective creating a mix of lo-fi spiritual jazz, experimental, and avant-garde music forms. It includes four vocal tracks recorded with Merikukka Kiviharju, which feature both original lyrics and those sourced from traditional Finnish folk songs. Emil Amos’ Zone... Read More
INTERVIEW: THE LAST DINNER PARTY
Ahead of a stellar Deaf Institute show on 28 July, Silent Radio caught up with one of the most talked about bands of 2023, London’s The Last Dinner Party. The five-piece are exceptionally unusual in that they have built their fledgling reputation based largely on their live reputation. Halfway through their second year of hype, the group still only have two songs available to buy or stream anywhere, but their name has filled the most sought-after music magazine pages and websites... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – HOLY WAVE: FIVE OF CUPS
At a Tarot reading during the pandemic, Ryan Fuson of Holy Wave was struck by the Five of Cups card which signifies loss and grief. A cloaked figure with a bowed head looming over three spilled chalices while ignoring the two full vessels, it is seen as symbolising dwelling in a negative past rather than enjoying the positive aspects of the present. He was fearful that the music industry was finished and about on-line aggression being at an all-time high. Fortunately, rather than... Read More
INTERVEW: OISIN MOD – BILL RYDER-JONES PRODUCED HIS DEBUT ALBUM, A SERENE YET CAPTIVATING COLLECTION OF SONGS FROM THE NEW GALWAY BASED SONGWRITER
Hailing from Galway, Oisin Mod has created a debut album that brims with a calmness and sense of serene yet vibrant melodies. It’s no wonder that Bill Ryder-Jones liked his songs so much he ended up producing his debut album, as the two operate in the same realms of gentle vocal sounds mixed with dreamy guitar lines – never delving into melancholy but always skating around the darkness on the edge of town, never overtly pop, but always ensuring a clever melodic line... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: KAMIKAZE PALM TREE – MINT CHIP
The art of falling apart, a theory put forward by those wise philosophers Soft Cell, serves as a succinct manifesto for creating thrilling songs. There is little more delightful than music which is beguilingly odd and unlikely yet still has immediate fluency. ‘The Hit’ by Kamikaze Palm Tree is a prime example, beginning with an attention-grabbing piano line, throwing in plentiful melodic twists, delightfully twisted guitar lines and bits of 1960s organ whilst teetering on... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: TY SEGALL – HELLO HI
Just when you think you know Ty Segall as the modern king of psych rock, he blasts any preconceptions you have of him into outer space, as the ‘Whirlybird’ soundtrack released earlier this year demonstrated. Hot on the heels of that epic, comes his latest studio album ‘Hello, Hi’. There’s always been a touch of T. Rex and even Bowie in Segall’s vocal delivery, and on tracks like the opening two ‘Good Morning’ and ‘Cement’ ... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: HOWL IN THE TYPEWRITER – THE SOUND OF MUSICK and THE RED ALBUM
During ‘Vietnam Tabloid’, the closing track on ‘The Sound of Musick’, Stan Batcow launches into a spoken description of what it takes for a piece of music to become popular, arguing that it merely has to become familiar. In safe, formulaic music, the listener can easily predict the chord changes, where the chorus and instrumental breaks may arrive, even guess the words before they are song, an approach that suits the music industry and faceless businessmen because “after... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: CHUBBY AND THE GANG – THE MUTT’S NUTS
Blasting out of the speakers at a hundred miles an hour, Chubby And The Gang manage to combine the best bits of UK hardcore with a hefty dash of Motorhead style rock, and it’s a recipe that’s conjured up one of the most exciting albums of the year. There’s also a hefty swagger to their razor sharp riffs on songs like ‘Coming Up Tough’ and ‘On The Meter’ finds the band bringing some great melodic hooks to their heaviness. From the same label as Idles and Fontaines... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: THALIA ZEDEK BAND – PERFECT VISION
I first discovered the music of Thalia Zedek via her previous band Come, who in the 90’s released a string of brilliant albums which although rooted in US alt rock, always seemed to push the boundaries of what melodic guitar music could do. Now more than twenty years into a solo career Zedek releases her eighth solo album ‘Perfect Vision’. Opener ‘Cranes’ has subtle slide guitar underneath the americana infused melodies, whereas ‘Queasy’ is an all out rocker... Read More
EP REVIEW: FAKE NAMES – FAKE NAMES EP
Effortlessly combining great melodies with blistering riffs, Fake Names’ new EP is further evidence of their great rock heritage. The band consists of former members of Fugazi, Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Girls Against Boys, Refused, S.O.A. and if that’s not enough to whet your appetite, you need your ears retuning! ‘It Will Take A Lifetime’ has guitar lines which weave in and out before a huge melodic slab of a chorus kicks in. ’Running’ has pounding drums which gallop... Read More
