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Another massive year of listening to new albums in this 15th year of Doubtful Sounds. As always, it’s been a pretty amazing 12 months for new albums. A deluge of sorts, from a myriad of genres and a noticeable proclivity for many artists to expand their sound and explore other genres, often within a song. Read on to check out our favourite indie, alt-country, psych, … Continue reading FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2023
Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Hallelujah Picassos continue to impress with their renewed activity and renaissance in recent years. Always a band to ignore genre limitations, they’ve explored hardcore, reggae, dub, indie rock, rockabilly and electronic styles – always with intriguing results. If you’re new to the band, make sure you head back and check out the Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland band’s brilliant 18 song retrospective compilation Rewind The Hateman … Continue reading HALLELUJAH PICASSOS RELEASE AGILE AND POLYRHYTHMIC NEW SINGLE ‘TAX THE RICH’
The Fragments are an indie rock band from Sydney, originally active from 2001 to 2006, and reformed in 2022. While active, The Fragments only put out two singles! So, in 2019, they released ‘Transporter Volume I’ and ‘Transporter Volume II’, a double album compilation of music recorded in the 2000s. The two volumes are available on Bandcamp and streaming services. In 2022, the band set up a mobile recording studio in a … Continue reading SYDNEY BAND THE FRAGMENTS RETURN WITH FIRST NEW SINGLE IN NEARLY 20 YEARS
Screaming Bones is the one-man project of Mike Ludwig who lives near Darmstadt in Germany. Browsing through his Bandcamp page it quickly becomes clear that he’s a creative spirit, with a collection of EP and album releases under Screaming Bones name. ‘Not Welcome’ slowly unfurls across seven minutes of dubbed out sensory immersion. The repeating synth/bass motif casts a nod to ‘Papa Was A Rolling … Continue reading SCREAMING BONES STRETCH OUT THROUGH DUB, POST ROCK AND PSYCHEDELIA
Khruangbin Mordechai Dead Oceans / Inertia After a busy few years touring and riding the wave of attention that their last album Con Todo El Mundo brought them, Khruangbin retreated to their Texas studio to begin work on their third album. Earlier this year we got a mixed bag EP with Leon Bridges but that was a stop gap. Mordechai is the band spreading their … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Khruangbin – Mordechai
Here’s a recently released new track from NZ’s Ria Hall, written with Laughton Kora. It’s a great slice of Pacific reggae but one that rides a minimal and dark rhythm instead of hitting summer jam heights. That works in its favour. Don’t get me wrong, it still gathers momentum and swings along with a real hook to it but it’s definitely on the lowdown tip. … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Ria Hall – Walk
Khruangbin, Harvey Sutherland Metro Theatre 14 March 14th, 2019 by Chris Familton This was a night of very few voices given that both acts on the bill were primarily instrumental trios. It was the music that did the talking and it transformed the Metro into a wall-to-wall sea of bodies-in-motion and conjured up a celebratory vibe in the room. Harvey Sutherland, the self-described funk-synthesist, was … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Khruangbin @ Metro Theatre, Sydney
We’ve got a new series of mixes happening over on Spotify. As is our want, these are all over the show. One minute you’re in downtown LA in the 80s, next you’re off to New Orleans in the 20s before a quick jaunt to Auckland in the 1990s. Dub, post-punk, glam metal, ambient, pop, country and jazz. Anything goes. Catch up with the first three … Continue reading DOUBTFUL SOUNDS – Spotify Mix Series
It has been five years since The Black Seeds released their last album, but after internal changes and abandoned recordings the Wellington reggae/soul outfit are back and firing on all cylinders with their new album Fabric. Back in 2014 The Black Seeds were immersed in the recording of a new album, one that head Seed Barnaby Weir was touting as ‘a Black Seeds fully original … Continue reading INTERVIEW: The Black Seeds
One of New Zealand’s finest polymorphic, dubbed out and skanking rock ‘n’ roll bands Hallelujah Picassos will release their new single ‘Dirty Suits’ this Friday, Dec 9th. It follows their earlier EP The Bullet That Breaks The Key. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Hallelujah Picassos – Dirty Suits
It’s only been two years since the release of Blackbird, making this a quick follow-up in the world of Fat Freddy’s Drop. The reassuring thing about the Wellington band is that as their stock has risen they haven’t compromised their musical approach by shortening songs or devolving them to standard structures in the pursuit of hit singles. They continue as they left off on the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Fat Freddy’s Drop – Bays
by Chris Familton Fat Freddy’s Drop don’t rush things with this only their third full length album in 14 years (excluding a pair of live albums). That steady approach is also one of the defining aspects of their sound and their propensity for slowly evolving electronic, soul, dub and funk workouts that equally nurture listener’s limbs and ears. Blackbird is without doubt their most cohesive … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Fat Freddy’s Drop | Blackbird
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