• Sleaford Mods – English Tapas

    March 6, 2017 - By 

    Sleaford Mods are some of the last punks standing. Their songs are slim, no muss, no fuss affairs. Like ESG before them, the pair rely on a basic setup of bass and drums to carry hip hop infused vitriol to the listener. They are lyrically snotty and upfront with tales of frustration and degradation at the hands of a society which has bred and demeaned them. What their words offer is an insight into the world of the marginalised; people feeling the impact of austerity politics, Brexit and the complacency of the South to the suffering of the North. Yet it…

  • Ibibio Sound Machine – Uyai

    March 3, 2017 - By 

    Ibibio Sound Machine are back with their second album, Uyai. The scintillating record which lands today via Merge shows the group on top form with a sound that is bigger, bolder and funkier than ever. The London-based collective, led by front woman Eno Williams, have returned with an assured mastery of their sound. Inspired by the golden era of ‘70s and ‘80s disco and funk, the overall tone is a colourful fusion of West-African grooves, brassy electronics, modern pop tempos and powerful synths. There’s an air of fearlessness about this release. Focusing on themes of empowerment, freedom, courage and the…

  • Dirty Projectors – Dirty Projectors

    February 28, 2017 - By 

    Last week Dave Longstreth, founder of American indie outliers Dirty Projectors, made an announcement; “It’s been 4 years, 7 months and 11 days – long enough.” With that Dirty Projectors, the most revealing album of the project’s discography, was shared online three days earlier than its original release date. Everything about Dirty Projectors is new, it signifies a journey of coming to terms with a new identity. Longstreth is solo – both professionally and personally – for the first time since the infancy of this project, which he began in 2003. None of the previous members of the band are present…

  • Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer

    February 27, 2017 - By 

    Almost fifteen years after bursting out of East London, grime has officially taken over the mainstream. The genre, originally popularised by the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Kano, has had a sudden second wave and has been creeping up AOTY lists and making loud impressions at the Brit Awards. Out of this second wave has emerged Michael Omari AKA Stormzy. The Thornton Heath based 23 year old racked up a ‘One To Watch’ nod at BBC’s Sound of 2015, has won Best Grime Act twice at the MOBO Awards and has scored a summer of appearances at some of the UK’s…

  • Sun Kil Moon – Common As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood

    February 24, 2017 - By 

    In his fifty years on this earth Mark Kozelek has, as he informs us on this new record, lived many lifetimes. His listeners have lived a large part of them too – from his Red House Painters days in the ‘90s, through his solo work and with Sun Kil Moon, Kozelek has never shied away from baring the hard truths and hurts as well as indulging in the simple joys. Album number eight, despite being a double, is a more condensed temporal experience, recounting the same number of months in the singer’s life from January to August in 2016 while…

  • Los Campesinos! – Sick Scenes

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    Remember when we thought George W. Bush was as bad as it could get? What idiots we were. That’s the thing about getting older; hindsight will always make even your deepest insights ridiculous and your perception of what’s truly bad a constantly rising gradient on a graph that ends in a point with a flaming eye at the top. Or something. The point is that looking backwards has a way of creating context but also highlighting some of the folly of our endeavours. So it’s best to take it with a pinch of salt. Case in point is Los Campesinos!…

  • Molly Burch – Please Be Mine

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    Love hurts and yet all you need is love. The myriad of feelings that love rouses – infatuation, euphoria, inner-peace, anguish, despair, heartache – is steady inspiration for songwriters. Beautiful songs have been written about the splendour of being in love but even better songs are been born from a lovelorn place. Patsy Cline enjoyed incredible success singing about feeling lonesome and driven to despair by love. Commercially, if you were a female vocalist (solo or in a group) to sing about an unrequited or prematurely ended romance meant that you were relatable and accessible. It’s an ageless and universal…

  • Hanni El Khatib – Savage Times

    February 17, 2017 - By 

    Having released five EPs last year, Hanni El Khatib has returned with a newer, fuller collection Savage Times. A colourful, 19-track release that mixes everything from garage rock to punk and disco the LP embraces diversity and celebrates taking pride in who you are. The record seems a little messy and disjointed upon the first listen, hopping from grungy garage-rock stylings to funky, disco-infused melodies and on to bluesy crooner tracks. It doesn’t immediately betray a typical album smoothness. . .  but that’s kind of the point. The San Francisco native was born to parents from Palestine and The Philippines,…

  • Cloud Nothings – Life Without Sound

    February 15, 2017 - By 

    Cloud Nothings make their return this year with their fifth album, Life Without Sound. Dylan Baldi’s bedroom recording project has evolved over the years, from the lo-fi stylings of the self- titled debut, to the classic indie rock of Attack On Memory and then into the throat-shredding intensity of 2014’s Here And Nowhere Else. The latter was undoubtedly the highlight of their career so far, mixing great songwriting with forceful production and furious performances from Baldi and his band. So, to 2017 and Life Without Sound. On first listen the album is underwhelming when compared to previous efforts. Baldi has…

  • William Basinksi – A Shadow In Time

    February 14, 2017 - By 

    It is with great trepidation that I approach A Shadow In Time, the new album from William Basinski, that titan of ambient music. An artist with a staggering work rate and whose most well-known work, 2002’s Disintegration Loops, is one of the most important pieces of sound art created in the 21st century given its context in proximity to the attacks on New York City on September 11th 2001. A Shadow In Time is his twentieth album under his own name, along with many collaborative works in various other mediums. It is yet another daunting work, comprised of two tracks…