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Articles by Jon Bryan
Album review: Parannoul - ‘To See The Next Part Of The Dream’: a window into catharsis
The Breakdown – 80% INSPIRING stories have been hard to find in recent times, so hopefully it will sound refreshing that a project from a South Korean bedroom artist has risen to global attention, on par with Lana Del Rey or Nick Cave’s latest releases. It’s probably better not to even think about what the pandemic has done to musicians and artists at large, more than previous digital transformations have brought about.
Premiere: Lowpines - ‘Weight Of The Water’: tumbling in the waves of some lusciously bright, transatlantic Americana
LOWPINES come to us with Americana brightness and glimmer from Brooklyn – by way of the Lake District, of all the seemingly unlikely locations. And today at Backseat Mafia we’re more than a little honoured to be premiering the first single from his new album, Sun Down Over The East River Shore. That track’s called “Weight Of The Water”, and it’s rather lovely, as you can hear below; the gleam of evening sun over easy guitar, warm harmonies in a Sam Beam vein and a little electric bite.
See: The layered monochrome stylings of MICROCORPS’ ‘UVU’: a dark electronic language for a dark age
MICROCORPS, the new project of Alex Tucker, lurches us forward into a near-future dystopia part-flesh, part-microprocessor, and achieves eerie beauty; as you can hear below with the second track to be revealed from next week’s XMIT album, “UVU”, the steel grey visuals for which you can see below. The album takes us out deep and dark into a world in which Alex shares his journey with Gazelle Twin, Nik Void, Simon Fisher Turner and Astrud Steehouder.
Track: Tomas Nordmark feat. Waterbaby - ‘Ghosts’: eerie, amniotic, ink-black choral electronica preludes his May album
LIVING these days in London, but hailing originally from the small Swedish coastal town of Västervik, some 280km further down the coast from Stockholm, Tomas Nordmark is a electronica producer and soundscaper with a very complex and organic musical vision. His interest in the sonic avant-garde was brooked by the 1960s’ art scene in New York.
Track: Nightshadow - Ripper
Nightshadow returns in 2021 with their forthcoming album ‘Strike Them Dead’ which follows up from their 2017 self-titled debut EP. The album is due out May 7th and in lead up to its release, the band is sharing their first single ‘Ripper’. The track is a story from the point of view of the malice mind of Jack The Ripper. Regarding the album the band comments: “We are very happy that this album is finally seeing the light of day.
News: Matador to give a quarter-century repress to Bardo Pond’s classic ‘Amanita’; hear the previously unreleased ‘Shadow Puppet’
AS PART of its continuing sifting of absolute gems already in the catalogue, Matador has announced its marking the quarter-century of Bardo Pond’s none-more-hallucinogenic debut for the label (and the band’s sixth overall, by a Discogs reckoning), Amanita, will be getting an empurpled and deluxe anniversary edition pressing, out October 8th. Good news for major heads.
Album Review: Taylor Swift - Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
The Breakdown In a Fearless act to regain control over her art, Taylor Swift effortlessly exhibits her growth and strength as both a musician and a person. Big Machine Records – 9.0 A nostalgic and powerful revival of an old classic. As a young, naive Taylor Swift entered the music industry in 2005, she signed a contract with Big Machine which was arguably a bittersweet start for the star in retrospect.
Album review: Spirit of the Beehive ‘ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH’
New album from Spirit of the Beehive on new label, Saddle Creek, out April 9th this is Entertainment, Death. The shape shifting Philadelphia trio return with a new work for a new label but remaining true to their spirit of noise rock immersion with their work being less music but pop music just not as you know it. Following on from the much praised 2018 release hypnic jerks, SotB modus operandi of creating a smorgasbord of influences from music, film and television.
New music: Mt.Misery ‘In The Blink of an Eye’
Brand new single from Hartlepool based three-piece Mt. Misery Firmly entrenching themselves as the best thing to come out of the seaside town since Jeff Stelling, the trio who came together in 2019 are also proud to announce the release of their debut album ‘Once Home, No Longer’ on 25th June via Prefect Records.
Track: Reigning Sound - ‘Oh Christine’: a sweet Americana lament from returning Memphis cult heroes
RETURNING Memphis prodigals Reigning Sound have followed up the the classy garage-rock soul of “A Little More Time” from last month with another little cracker on the path to their first album in seven years. That’s called “Oh Christine”, it’s herein, and it comes with a quality assurance from the man himself, Greg Cartwright, who rates it as one of his favourite songs on the new LP.
Premiere: Los Esplifs - ‘Perro Rabioso’: Tucson psych-cumbia outfit go roamin’ for a (rabid) hot dog
DO YOU have a particular penchant for those liminal musical zones, the subduction zones where musical tectonic plates bend and upheave and buckle and melt into one another? Particularly, perhaps, when you’re left with a wide grin and a begged question: just how did they get there, exactly? You know the sort of thing I mean. Olivia Tremor Control. Incredible String Band. Os Mutantes.
News: Sub Pop unearth early Iron & Wine recordings, set for a release in early May; hear ‘Calm On The Valley’
BLOWING the dust off some buried aural treasure, Sub Pop have announced a little treat for fans of Sam Beam’s Iron & Wine: the label has brought to light a set of recordings dating back to the late Nineties, a time when Sam was attending Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts – and a full three years or so before The Creek Drank the Cradle really launched that whisper-quiet early incarnation of Iron & Wine on the world.
Track: Andy LaPlegua Reveals New Solo Project: LAPLEGUA And Shares Debut Single ‘I Will Heal’
Norwegian artist Andy LaPlegua of Combichrist has unveiled his new solo project – LAPLEGUA and shares the debut single – ‘I Will heal’ Andy LaPlegua comments on the project and debut single: “LAPLEGUA is my most personal musical project to date. It gives me the freedom to write exactly what I want, and express exactly how I feel. ‘I Will Heal’ sits very close to home.
Track: Sydney electro-pop duo Micra release luscious double singles ‘Undercover Lover’ and ‘I Should’ve Listened’
Ivana Kafedjiyska and Robbie Cain together are the Sydney-based duo Micra and they have just released a luscious pair of tracks that are awash with dream pop motifs and a languid air. Centred around Kafedjiyska’s ethereal vocals and a soft and billowing synth bed, ‘Undercover Lover’ has a classic pop melody and a wistful pace. It’s all lazy summer days on Bondi Beach under the bright blue cloudless sky and burning heat.
Premiere: The Bliss reveal new video for Give Me More; see it first, here
Taken from their ‘Retrograde’ album, which dropped on March 5th, Boston electro-pop band The Bliss have returned with a new video for the track Give Me More, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere it right here on Backseat Mafia today. Built on electro pop roots with a nod towards trip-hop, GIve Me More has this stuttering, skittish accompaniment, and resolutely melodic nature, with echoing vocals and this bubbling percussion.
NEWS: Seefeel’s mid-90s’ Warp and Rephlex material gets repressed, expanded and there’s a new compilation too; hear the Autechre remix of ‘Spangle’
SEEFEEL, the brilliant British dub-ambient-electronica outfit who recorded beautiful, eerie and hypnotic work for Too Pure, Warp and Rephlex through the Nineties are the subject of a long-overdue reissue campaign, arriving in May – and there’s a comprehensive new compilation, too. The band, who released the hallucinatory and dubby Quique for Too Pure in 1994, signed for Warp almost immediately afterwards, the legendary Sheffield label’s Steve Beckett beng wholly beguiled with them.
Track: Possum invite you to the psych ‘Gala At The Universe City’ - climb aboard and get your head ready for their second album
TORONTO PSYCH-space explorers Possum are gearing up for their second album in July for Ideé Fixe, and if you’re at all down with the du-jour King Gizzardy multicoloured six-string swirl, you’d do well by booking a place on their particular magic carpet ride. Here’s a first single from that high-summer long-player, “Gala At The Universe City” which they’ve invited you to attend with them.
Track: Glass Animals release new version of ‘Heat Waves’ ft. Iann Dior
The heat continues to rise for Glass Animalsas singleHeat Wavesgets a dynamic rap rework from next-gen US star Iann Dior (emotions, gone girl). The original track continues to hold strong in the singles charts, still at #1 in Australia and in the Spotify Global Top 50. Spotify showed a monthly peak of 15.5 million listens, surpassing artists Tame Impala, Gorillaz, The 1975 and The Strokes.
Track: Hear Jim Stewart’s ‘Dead Sea’: the composer responds to a Paul Nash painting, taken from the forthcoming ‘Stills 01’ music and painting project
STILLS 01 is the first, beguiling three-track release from new imprint String and Tins Recordings that looks to marry the disciplines of music and fine art, insomuch as each piece of music recorded and issued in the series is a direct response to a painting in the collection of Tate Britain. The first in the series is due out in just a fortnight – you can find out where to get it, below – and includes music inspired by paintings by Paul Nash, Mary Martin and Arthur Hacker.
Track: Western Australian psych exponents Pond return with a blistering single ‘Pink Lunettes’ and announce tour news
The history of enigmatic Western Australian band Pond is inextricably linked with fellow mega star exports Tame Impala, with common members revolving in and out of each others bands over time. As a collective, the band has an impressive resume – eight studio albums with the release of their most critically acclaimed album to date, ‘Tasmania’ in 2019, charted highly in Australia. The band is back, and back with a massive statement of intent as well as tour news.
Track: Talk Show Release Their Version Of Trouble In Collaboration With Eli Brown
London punks Talk Show have been working on a collaborative two-part project with Polydor Records-signed producer Eli Brown (known to many as part of Calvin Harris’ Love Regenerator project) and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard.
Track: Heka releases ‘ (A) wall- a cinematic composite of sound, space and poetic verse
Singer-songwriter Heka (Francesca Birerley) hails from the rolling hills of Italy, now based in London. This young up and coming multidisciplinary artist brings a refreshing and vibrant twist to experimental folk, evident in the lush undertones of her newly released single ” (a) Wall”, the single release from her upcoming debut EP (a). It is Heka’s first release with Balloon Machine Records, with stellar contributions from Ed Tullet (Novo Amor, Hailaker) and featuring Jemima Coulter (Hailaker).
Grimmfest Review: Rendez-Vous
Each filmmaker approaches their craft in a unique and individual way. This goes all the way back to the basics of how they write or approach a script to the choices made around filming and the equipment they’re going to use. One of the most complicated and complex ways of producing a film is by just using one single take. Despite the best attempts of marketing companies, the likes of 1917 and Victoria only look that way. Rendez-Vous is the real deal.
Album review: The Natvral - ‘Tethers’: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart frontman returns with a more Laurel Canyon thing
FOLLOWING the disbandment of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart in 2017 after the release of The Echo of Pleasure, Kip Berman found himself at a creative crossroads, having written about young adult life in New York City with maturity and a fine ear for a tune. Tethers is the further maturation of Berman as a songwriter in a new guise as The Natvral with an observation of the changes in his life marking this as a self-portrait of sorts.
Track: TeenCanteen - ‘How We Met (Cherry Pie)’: Glasgow indiepoppers dust down their early recordings and find treasure
WITH five years passed now – what? It’s really that long? – since Glasgow’s sweet indiepop quartet TeenCanteen released their debut album, Say It All With A Kiss, the band have been digging in the vaults, blowing the dust off a collection of recordings that by rights should’ve formed their debut album proper back in 2012. One day, we’ll get to hear that tale.
Track: LoneLady - (There Is) No Logic
Today, Manchester’s LoneLady returns with new single “(There Is) No Logic”, a punchy electro and R&B tinged track, released via Warp Records. “(There Is) No Logic” fuses humanity and hardware, with unruly chopped-up vocal samples layered over twisting machine-funk rhythms. The song was written, produced and performed by LoneLady whose real name is Julie Campbell. Speaking on the track, LoneLady says, “it just really encapsulates so many cool electro sounds and even some r’n’b vocal stylings.
Track: Play Dead - Hide
South London punk newcomers Play Dead released their debut EP Skint last month via Blitzcat Records. Following the release of eagerly-received lead single ‘Shaun’ earlier this year, the band are today sharing latest single ‘Hide’ Commenting on the track, guitarist Joe Blair says: “’Hide’ was written on a very hungover morning in late 2019. I was being asked by a few mates to come out and meet and I couldn’t be bothered.
EP Review: Garsa unveils debut EP ‘The Unfairity’ - a collection of intimate and sparkling jewels
The Breakdown 'The Unfairity' is no pastiche of influences or a rehashing of those who came before, but the embarkation on a totally new sonic vessel that is unique, fresh and intriguing. It has an intimacy and an expressive and understated passion delivered through yearning melodies that makes it so very special.
Track: Queensland resident LT releases the dreamy pop anthem ‘Hold Ya’ and announces live dates.
Queensland artist LT (formerly Leanne Tennant) has just released an absolutely gorgeous track ‘Hold Ya’ which sparkles with a deep yearning and a celestial, anthemic chorus. LT’s vocals are an absolute delight – with a massive range and an endearing local diction. ‘Hold Ya’ is classic pop – indelible melodies and a dancing, insistent instrumentation with a shining lyrical romanticism – I’ll hold ya, I’ll hold ya, but do you, do you, do want to stay?
SEE: The three-colour, macroscopic delicacy of Loscil’s ‘Vespera’ announces a new set of textural electronic bliss for Kranky
SCOTT MORGAN, the textural, amniotic electronic artist responsible for such deep, pulsing and fathoms-deep works as the sublime Submers and Sketches From New Brighton, is releasing the tenth album of his Kranky career in May. It’s entitled Clara, it’s a meditation on light and shade and decay, and you can watch the three-colour macroscopic video for lead track “Vespera” herein.
Track: Bloody Hell - In The Night We Burn
Taking a hiatus after releasing two EPs, Hangover Riders (2010), What The Hell (2003) and a self-titled album (2015), Finland’s Bloody Hell return to continue the party as grumpy old men with strong 18-year-old angst. Their new record ‘The Bloodening’ is due out 30th April via Rockshots Records.
Track: Sam Barnes of Boy Azooga releases beautiful new single, Wired World
Welsh composer, musician and songwriter Sam Barnes has released his new singles ‘Wired World’, on the Rose Parade Recording Co. Although it’s a stand-alone affair, it comes as q prequel to his debut album, due out in August. He’s a bit of a musical polymath, writing and recording since the age of 10, and writing for television and film – Hinterland and Hidden included, and performing with the likes of Boy Azooga, Teddy Hunter and Rhodri Brooks.
Patrick Belaga - ‘The Tunnel Is A Tower’: off-kilter ambience where electronica plays against cello
AS YOU can pretty much deduce from the photo, Patrick Belaga isn’t your common or garden cellist. Classically trained, natch, he loves to bust out of convention – whether that’s collaborating with performance artists such as Wu Tsang, or scoring Lady Gaga’s Netflix documentary. Life – and music, and art – are for living. His new album, Blutt, is conceived of as being music for an unruly imagination.
Track: Jeshua - ‘IDK (mnlghtr remix)’: classy Scottish dreampop gets a blissful breaks rerub
IT WAS only a month back that we covered the third single drop from rather obscenely talented upcoming Glasgow tunesmith Jeshua, “IDK”; and it was another fine entry in his fledgling catalogue. I mean, he’s been releasing tunes for such a short length of time. And they’re all effortlessly cracking.
News: The Lathums announce rescheduled dates, including a massive homecoming show
WIGAN’S indiepop cuties The Lathums have announced their ‘rona-postponed, rescheduled British tour for the autumn – and it now includes a massive homecoming Lancashire show at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse. The tour has also been extended to 21 dates, with Glasgow Barrowlands and the capital’s Kentish Town Forum now added to the dates. Their last headlining tour in February 2020, just sneaking under the wire before the pandemic descended, sold out in 60 seconds – playing much smaller venues.
Track: Kaktus Einarsson - ‘Kick The Ladder’; Fufuna frontman steps out with intelligent, post-rock pop
YES, THERE are glacial guitars; deep, granular textures, broad-spectrum instrumental effects that see you soaring over the landscape in your mind’s eye; it would be all too easy to stop here and reference back to fellow countrymen Sigur Rós. But then the sweet male vocal makes itself known and the dramatic scenery of the song pulls in an irresistibly intelligent pop direction, and things begin to look a different; sunlight dapples the rolling hills.
Track: Down for Tomorrow release the driving punk anthem ‘Good Person’: a welcome blast of positivity
Sydney-based band Down for Tomorrow have just released an anthemic and thundering single ‘Good Person’ that shouts a positive message in an effervescent quite/loud blast. It is a song of many parts – reflective verses that are smashed aside by a vaulting chorus and razor-sharp guitars. The track takes a massive turn half way through for a moment with a heavy full-throated death metal roar before pulling back. It’s a very cathartic ride.
Track: Melbourne’s Tim Ayre launches low-fi dream pop delight ‘Mexican Holiday’ and announces news of EP
The story behind the new single, ‘Mexican Holiday’, from Tim Ayre has all the hallmarks of a Hunter S Thompson fable involving unhinged characters, consumption of illicit substances, wild journeys and all manners of excess. Appropriate, then, that the song and accompanying video has a bright effervescent indie pop low-fi vibe that exudes a whiff of unusual chemicals and a bucket full of cheer.
News: Indie royalty Ed Kuepper (Saints, Laughing Clowns) and Jim White (Dirty Three and Xylouris White) announce live shows together
Coinciding with the release by the legendary Ed Kuepper of his forty year career highlights on vinyl (see more here), Kueper has just announced a series of Australia-wide gigs with the equally legendary Jim White, whose drumming in trio Dirty Three is an entire orchestra in itself. With Kuepper’s much underrated and underappreciated phenomenal guitar skills, this is truly a match made in indie heaven.
Track: Inception Of Eternity - The Cradle Of Darkness
‘The Cradle of Darkness’ is the first track to be released by Inception Of Eternity from their second studio album, Last Exit To The Past . We hear falling rain and chanting as the track begins and we get a duet between between singer SINtana and guitarist Marc Vanderberg’s melodic lead playing, who’s flourishes bring some welcome colour to the gothic rock. If you are looking for some melodic dark rock with powerful vocals and tasty guitar licks, then this is the band for you.
Track: Gazelle Twin ensures you won’t sleep easy with ‘The Well’, from the soundtrack to forthcoming British horror ‘The Power’
WITH her seductively dark beckon to the dark sides of a dankly merrie old country in cahoots with NYX, Deep England, now out and wreathing like evening mist around the collective consciousness, you may well be forgiven for thinking Elizabeth Bernholz, aka Gazelle Twin, could rest easy, her work here done at least for the moment; but not a bit of it, oh no.
Blu-Ray Review: Lost in America
Most of us spend much of our lives working, often in grey office blocks in some soulless and essentially pointless white-collar profession. Doing much the same thing, day in, day out. Never really making enough money to do much more than take a holiday every year. Maybe buy a house, start a family. Some people reach a point when enough is enough. Decide on the spur of the moment to give up everything and start a new life. This is the case in Lost in America.
News: Kid Millions and Mouse On Mars’ Jan St. Werner announce exploratory album for Thrill Jockey; hear ‘Sorrows And Compensations’
IF YOU like your experimental tunes wholly exploratory and improvisational, then the news that Kid Millions, known elsewhere for his work with Man Forever and Oneida, and Mouse On Mars’ Jan St. Werner have got together to shake down some music caught in the moment is something to put a smile on your face.
Track: Rianne Downey - ‘Stand My Ground’; Scottish country riser keeps both feet firmly planted
COMING armed with a clutch of proper old-skool, downhome country tunesmithery from the east of Glasgow, Rianne Downey is singing proud and strong on what’s only her second single drop, “Stand My Ground”, the proper rootsy pop inflections of which you can hear below. It’s as if our very own Dolly P had got her groove on in Motherwell or Airdrie, dusted herself down after a no-good broke her heart, picked up her guitar.
See: Nuha Ruby Ra reveals new video for Run, Run
It’s not very often that music videos are interesting. I’ve never truly participated in them for that exact reason and I haven’t rewatched more than a handful of them since I had a VHS of clips of nü-metal videos interrupted by Carson Daly. The video for Nuha Ruby Ra’s new single “Run Run” changes that. Visually, it’s Carl Jung meets Nintendo 64. Sonically, it’s Birthday Party with a shaman.
Track: Leddie MC - Life’s A Bitch Ft. Jister
Continuing her impressive output, North East artist Leddie MC has dropped another new track titled ‘Life’s A Bitch’ Featuring Hip Hop artist Jister the track is produced by Leddie herself and mixed and mastered by Jamie Donnelly. A more rockier track with a swaggering guitar with a touch of the funk in the drumming. The vocals are right at the forefront with Leddie and Jister complimenting each other. Leddie’s quick rhythmic contrasting against Jisters more laidback approach.
See: The video for the theatrical, trippy and dubby ‘Glass’, from Hackney’s This is the Deep
A HAZY, freewheelin’, eclectic and trippy septet bringing you the groove from London, This is the Deep are finally springing forth from the live arena out east of The City, where they’ve made quite a name for themselves with a debut EP hitting our ears in a month’s time. The multimedia psych-pop collective’s EP will be out on May 21st, and comes heralded by a single, “Glass”, and its accompanying video, which you can see herein, Over the period back when gigs were a thing – remember that?
Track: Hiatus Kaiyote shine with ‘Get Sun’ feat Arthur Verocai ahead of album ‘Mood Valiant’.
We’ve all been waiting for a new Hiatus Kaiyote album to drop. Well, at least those who saw them perform whilst they were on the road to jazz fame at the Love Supreme Festival of 2016 . The band , fronted by Singer-Guitarist Nai Palm brings a fresh new and wonderfully mature sound to it’s already impressive past work.
Premiere: Felix And The Sunsets release new single ‘Leaving on the next train’; get an early listen here
Leaving on the next train is the new single from Scottish band Felix and the Sunsets, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere it right here on Backseat Mafia this today. taking inspiration from figures in classic rock such as Zappa, Santana, Bowie and the Velvet Underground, the band bring elements of alt-rock, garage and even a touch of psychedelia into plays.
Soundtrack of Our Lives: New Bum’s Ben Chasny takes us for a musical trip
NEW BUMS is the collaborative shore of of Six Organs of Admittance’s prolific psych voyager Ben Chasny and Donovan Quinn, of erstwhile Jagjaguwar psych-folk mainstays Skygreen Leopards. The duo first ventured into the world of recorded sound for Drag City six? Nope, seven years ago now, their debut album Voices In A Rented Room containing such raggedy lovelies as “Black Bough” and “Your Girlfriend Might Be A Cop”.
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