EP REVIEW – THE ORCHESTRA (FOR NOW): PLAN 76

To anyone unfamiliar with London’s Windmill scene, The Orchestra (For Now) offers the perfect introduction. Named after The Windmill pub in Brixton, the scene offers a brand of art rock characterised by jagged urgency, regular stylistic spasms, and lyrics that read more like raw poetry than conventional songs. Black Country, New Road rode the sound […]
The biggest constant throughout over half a century of Sparks has been their willingness to try something new. In the case of ‘MADDER!’, it is one of their least revolutionary acts, merely their first ever EP, and acts as a companion piece to ‘MAD!’ which achieved their highest ever UK album chart position. What is […]

EP REVIEW – SPARKS: MADDER!

EP REVIEW – HOLYBONES: I GOT A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

When I was 16/17, I got really into writing poetry. That was largely because I was consuming a lot of bands that did spoken word set to music and the stuff I was writing massively ripped off the likes of Listener or whoever else I had on rotation at the time. I cringe to think […]
A week before the release of his new EP, Manchester-based musician Lei Hope shared the dictionary entry of ‘inertia’ in a social media post: “a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged” or, in physics, the property of matter that causes it to rest or move in a straight line, unless an external force […]

EP REVIEW – LEI HOPE: INERTIA

EP REVIEW – DEADLANDS: SEVEN

People all process emotions differently. It is part of what makes us unique. Music for a lot of us is our outlet to let emotions such as grief, stress and anxiety come out, and that is why music tends to be so relatable. This is what metalcore duo Deadlands strive to emit through their music, […]
If you took lemonade, Pop Rocks, a little bit of mud and some glitter you would get something that resembles how this EP from Farmer’s Wife sounds. It comes as part of the ongoing shoegaze renaissance bringing a sort of backwoods goth vibe to the genre. I’m talking about the feeling of soil on bare […]

EP REVIEW – FARMER’S WIFE: FAINT ILLUSIONS

EP REVIEW – PUBLIC ORDER: HELLO

Capturing the familiar sentiment that comes with your teenage years alongside the heartbreak and relationship struggles that are also a part of youth, Public Order’s ‘Hello’ is a detailed journey through love, nostalgia and vulnerability. The group’s sun-soaked debut single ‘Feels like summer’ has quickly launched the band onto introducing playlists and festival lineups even […]
As post-punk and artists influenced by that era have been a large part of my musical diet for the past 40 years, it is understandable that music broadly linked to that genre has become jaded to my ears. Under those circumstances, it makes the excitement generated by Gdańsk, Poland trio Trupa Trupa’s new EP all […]

EP REVIEW – TRUPA TRUPA: MOURNERS

EP REVIEW – ARTHUR HILL: IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE

Intertwining heartbreak, romance and a sprinkle of flintiness, Arthur Hill’s In The Middle Of Somewhere is laced with undeniably honest lyrics. ‘Hey Arthur,’ the EP’s enticing first single and opening track begins with a quirky conversation. “Hey Arthur, who’s that girl who ruined your life,” a women’s voice asks, preparing you for the sincere, heartbreak […]
“So we gave them something to show them who WE were—Dale Coopers with our black coffees.” This is how Bill Callahan describes this December 10, 2001, Peel session. While I write this, I see the light sneaking in the horizon of Moss Side. It’s early, cold, and my coffee is not black because I always […]

EP REVIEW – THE HOLY GRAIL: BILL CALLAHAN’S “SMOG” DEC. 10, 2001 PEEL SESSION