• Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness

    Explosions In The Sky are curious sort of band. While their influence and legacy loom over the entirety of the post-rock genre, they for a long time represented the most pedestrian elements of one of the most compelling sub-genres in recent years. Their songs followed a typical format and structure that could be dubbed “squarewave”. It’s a form based around the contrast of the extremes of silence and noise, like a square waveform. Sparse, twinkling legato and staccato guitars lull you into a sense of tranquility, which is sharply interrupted by an onslaught of wailing guitars, crashing drums and thick…

  • Label Mixtape: Bella Union

    In the second installment of Label Mixtape, we take a look at one of the UK’s finest ever independent record labels, Bella Union. Initiated in 1997 by Cocteau Twins‘ founder/lead guitarist Robin Guthrie and the band’s bassist Simon Raymonde, the label has went on to put out records – many of them debut releases – by some of the greatest songwriting voices of the last twenty years. With a implicit penchant for artists masterfully meddling in the realms of indie rock, alt-folk and dream-pop, the label won the 2010 Independent Record Company of the Year – an accolade very much coinciding with releases…

  • Optimus Primavera – Day Three

      It feels like the festival’s only just begun, but the third and final day of Optimus Primavera Sound 2013 is already here. With it comes that bittersweet feeling one only gets when facing into the last day of a great festival weekend – there’s excitement for another day full of promising live shows, but also disappointment that it’s not lasting for another day at least. The only thing that can be done, though, is to make the most of the time that’s left. So, with a timetable in one hand and a beer in the other, The Thin Air sets…