• A Grave With No Name – Passover

    January 18, 2018 - By 

    Death has always been and always will be a rich and necessary well for songwriters. Think back to the likes of Neil Young on Tonight’s The Night, Warren Zevon’s The Wind or, recently, Mount Eerie’s sublime A Crow Looked At Me. The finality of shuffling off the mortal coil can really bring out the best work from an artist. They’ve got a single shot to say goodbye correctly and if they’re slightly off then a well-intentioned farewell can become as unbearable as Puff Daddy’s ‘I’ll Be Missing You’. Writing about the passing of a life offers such a vast treasure…

  • BØRNS – Blue Madonna

    January 18, 2018 - By 

    Returning with his highly anticipated sophomore effort Blue Madonna, Michigan born Garrett Børns captures the momentum from his debut Dopamine and transforms it into a catalyst for experimentation. Gone is the typical homogeneous album setup, replaced instead with kicks and flares from a medley of instruments that spring up from the spaces that break up the noise.  Where Dopamine reclined into a suave sofa of plush electro-pop beats, Blue Madonna erratically paces across a floor of glossy, facet tiles. Opening with the relatively reserved ’God Save Our Young Blood’, BØRNS‘ pace and tone matches that of his collaborator, one Lana Del…

  • Panda Bear – A Day With the Homies

    January 16, 2018 - By 

    Often reserved for moments of awkward silence, Noah Panda Bear Lennox has decided to open his latest solo work with the sound of crickets chirping. At the 25-second mark, they are joined by the rhythmic tapping of cymbals before being silenced altogether by Lennox’s bouncing vocal harmonies. And so begins ‘Flight,’ a song which comes across as something of a mix between the gospel singing of a dub-infused Louisiana tent revival and the electronic emissions of a SEGA Genesis. This image of a unified congregation is only further strengthened by the joyful, harmonious proclamation that “We’ve got the good crew”. While…

  • Typhoon – Offerings

    January 12, 2018 - By 

    Memory loss is terrifying on the deepest existential level. It’s a condition that slowly gnaws away at every part of an existence. It leaves only a shell with no ghost. Unfortunately, it is also a disease with an impact that is increasing annually. As we remove natural predators and previously untreatable conditions from the gene-pool-culling Olympics, more of us may eventually succumb to this trembling inducing fate. It’s a tough idea to face and an even harder one to explore artistically as it’s too frightening to bear thinking about for extended periods of time. But there is this inherent layer…

  • Brockhampton – Saturation III

    December 19, 2017 - By 

    Every great party has a moment where you wish it would go on forever. That point where you look around the room and hope against all hope that it could just go on and that the obligations that tomorrow always brings might never arrive. But part of you knows they will. Brockhampton’s latest record feels like the sonic equivalent of that moment. Saturation III is the end of one era for this 14 man boyband, troupe that seems simultaneously assured of itself and its future, but also not quite ready to let go of that perfect moment before reality sets in.  There are few stories from…

  • Nava – Tapestry

    December 14, 2017 - By 

    On paper, it might not sound like the most symbiotic of sonic juxtapositions (depending on taste, obviously) – “a groundbreaking group of young musicians exploring the relationship between the ancient musical cultures of Ireland and Persia.” But in Nava’s self-released debut LP Tapestry, what could easily have fallen into cacophonous territory instead finds its feet in blissful euphony; as much in thanks to the unconventional folk outfit’s mixed bag of musical lineages as the sheer musicianship of its members. Half exploration of traditional expressions of Irish folk (courtesy of Paddy Kiernan and Niall Hughes) and half observance of traditional Persian folk mediums…

  • Mango & MathMan – Wheel Up

    December 13, 2017 - By 

    There’s a storm brewing on this island. For a nation of people who pride ourselves on our artists’ ability to twist and contort the English language masterfully, it’s surprising that our hip-hop scene has taken so long to come to fruition. Where in the past we would have had the likes of Messiah J and The Expert to represent us on the international stage, we’ve slowly but surely been building up a roster of top-tier artists. In recent years, Rejjie Snow, Kojaque, Hare Squead and Limerick’s Rusangano Family – to name but a handful –have proven without much doubt that we…

  • Glassjaw – Material Control

    December 11, 2017 - By 

    Oddly specific as this is, 2017 might be the year for semi-defunct post-hardcore bands from the early 2000s to release long-awaited followups. At The Drive-In dropped In•ter a•li•a in May after a 17-year gap. Before the news of Jesse Lacey’s alleged history of sexual exploitation saw the band being rightly cancelled, Brand New released Science Fiction. Even Quicksand released Interiors nearly two decades after their last broadcast. Now, almost out of the blue, Glassjaw who, aside from a few scattered EPs, have been silent since 2002’s Worship and Tribute have quietly released Material Control. Glassjaw were never as influential as ATD-I or inspired quite the level…

  • Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Union Cafe

    December 9, 2017 - By 

    Fact: penguins are not festive. Don’t be fooled every time you see one stuffed into a garish Christmas jumper on the front of your greeting cards, and join me and my national campaign in returning them to the sender with a ‘must do better’ message attached. Some species live in areas as tropical as the Galapagos Islands, whilst none, whatsoever, live in the northern hemisphere, supposedly the headquarters of Father Christmas’ operations. Every time we see the ludicrous line up of one fuzzy friend between the big man himself and a polar bear part of my zoological soul dies, and…

  • U2 – Songs of Experience

    December 5, 2017 - By 

    When was the last time you were really excited by anything U2 did? You could say The Joshua Tree tour, but really that was just multimillionaires hawking nostalgia at exorbitant prices. Musically, U2 haven’t crafted anything of real weight in over a decade. The last album that most people seem to unambiguously like is All That You Can’t Leave Behind, but all that should be cited as is the ultimate example of playing it safe. Consider their previous LP, Songs of Innocence. What do you remember? Odds are the only thing that comes to mind from that fustercluck of a…