ALBUM REVIEW – YUSSEF DAYES: BLACK CLASSICAL MUSIC
An anonymous source told this reporter, of Yussef Dayes: “He’s heavy on grooves. I first heard him with United Vibrations. After that, he played with Kamaal Williams in the project Yussef Kamaal, which got a lot of recognition by the likes of Giles Peterson. I saw him play a solo tour after that and he’s gone from strength to strength.” “He plays more on feel, rather than straight up technical; he’s a master of drum texture and groove, which creates a signature sound-and-feel... Read More
NEWS: THE BUG CLUB ANNOUNCE FORTHCOMING ALBUM
The continually prolific Bug Club have announced their new album, ‘Rare Birds: An Hour of Song’. A double album weighing in at 64 minutes, it contains (count them) a colossal 47 songs and is touted as the Faust Cycle for people with shorter attention spans. The songs were written at home in their garden which is why they are vaguely about birds. The album includes 23 Ivor Cutler-esque spoken word pieces telling a surreal story to place alongside their trademark concise garage... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: SUPER DUTY TOUGH WORK: PARADIGM SHIFT
The debut album from Canadian art-rap collective, Super Duty Tough Work, sets out to celebrate resistance-based debauchery and internationalism, stating its aim of opposing the homicidal ruling class the planet is forced to endure while not forgetting to have fun. Yes, ‘Paradigm Shift’ is an ambitious record. The content has moments that are as revolutionary as early Public Enemy, while refraining from their delightfully incendiary noise, instead opting for a primarily laidback... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING / BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA / JULES BUCKLEY – THIS NEW NOISE
No band could have been more suited to performing at a Proms celebrating the centenary of the BBC than Public Service Broadcasting. Their name alone, let alone that their 2013 debut album was titled ‘Inform – Educate – Entertain’, the mantra of original BBC Director General, John Reith, as to the Corporation’s role, make them the perfect fit. J Wilgoose Esq and his accomplices set out to “teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future” and their sample... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – PUMA BLUE: HOLY WATERS
Holy Waters is the second album from London singer-songwriter and producer, Puma Blue. In a few words it’s a sombre and melancholic reflection on life and death, yet it’s less morbid than it may at first appear. Describing the album as a “chronicle of the graciousness within each repeated cycle of life, death and rebirth,” there is a clear message that Puma Blue wants to tell both the listener and himself. Don’t let the dark take you whole. Written from personal experience,... Read More
LIVE REVIEW: BE YOUR OWN PET – DEAF INSTITUTE 31/08/2023
Attitude, energy and a lack of pants is what Nashville punk band Be Your Own Pet are serving up. And I’ll absolutely be ordering more. Feeling as if I’m in a foreign land outside Deaf Institute in Manchester, I do what anyone would do and take a quick look around. Seems as if I’m in the wrong queue, looks like I’m waiting for a Metallica tribute band or something. How weird. The doors open and I’m hesitant yet optimistic, this is where the first revelation of the night... Read More
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 1 SEPTEMBER 2023
The Autumn release schedule limbering up nicely with this week’s selection summarised here. Lathe of Heaven Bound by Naked Skies American band taking their name from an Ursula Le Guin novel and their literary influences are balanced with their debt to new wave and post-punk. Puma Blue Holy Waters A chronicle of the graciousness within each repeated cycle of life, death and rebirth. Musically inspired by luminaries from Jeff Buckley... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: BJORK – FOSSORA
Bjork occupies a unique place in pop music, famous enough to be accorded a Channel 4 documentary with David Attenborough and to be an answer in prime-time TV quiz shows, yet the creator of increasingly unlikely music. From the early wonky indie of the Sugarcubes, through the first two dance-inflected solo records that made her a chart regular to her previous album, ‘Utopia, a harp and flute feast, she has been someone to whom repeating her earlier triumphs is anathema. Each... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: KRAMIES – KRAMIES
Kramies is a Dutch singer songwriter from Ohio, who on his latest album has created eight tunes which he states are a like a “polaroid scrapbook of his life”. With inspiration for each song originating in the different life stages and situations he’s encountered over the years it could have made for a disjointed listen, yet Kramies strength is in managing to bind the themes and emotions all together with his own brand of musical glue. Finding like-minded souls... Read More
LIVE: SOCCER MOMMY – 20/09/2022
– Ritz, Manchester – Soccer Mommy Sophie Allison’s music as Soccer Mommy has always had a cathartic edge (see tonight’s encore closer ‘Your Dog’ from her debut album Clean, with the positively holler-able opening line “I don’t wanna be your fucking dog”), but rarely has it been so goddamn dark as it is on her latest LP Sometimes, Forever, her third and possibly best effort yet. Produced with Dan ‘Oneohtrix Point Never’ Lopatin, it’s a deeper... Read More
