Wooden Shjips have been mining the same rich vein of droning, psychedelic space rock over three albums and a couple of compilations yet here, on their fourth, they show no signs of going stale as they slyly inject subtle variations into their tried and true style. If Back To Land has anything to differentiate itself from previous releases it is in the looser and lighter … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Wooden Shjips | Back To Land
Chad VanGaalen has a knack for writing skewed interstellar pop music that sounds both childlike and futuristic at the same time. His album Soft Airplane was a particular favourite of mine (among the four he’s released) so it’s exciting to read he has a new LP Shrink Dust coming out on April 19th via Sub Pop. PREORDER Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Chad VanGaalen | Where Are You?
Jamie Hutchings’ new band Infinity Broke is something of a return to the noisier exploratory guitar rock that he mastered so well with Bluebottle Kiss. As well as featuring Scott Hutchings and Rueben Wills the quartet also includes Jared Harrison (Bluebottle Kiss) on drums and as they enter the final stages of pressing up vinyl copies of their debut LP they’ve just released a clip for … Continue reading INFINITY BROKE | New video + new single
EMA (Erika M. Anderson) has a new album The Future’s Void coming out in Australia on April 4th (7th USA) and if this first single is anything to go by she’s headed in much more of an electronic direction. Satellites is full of bursts of static, distorted synths and vocal hooks that could easily pass as something from the visceral end of a Depeche Mode’s … Continue reading WATCH: EMA | Satellites (2014)
Damon Albarn only just announced the details of his first solo record a few date ago and now he’s ushered the video for the title track out into the virtual world. Everyday Robots is a synthetic, melancholic track with shades of trip hop that sounds utterly Albarn, the logical combination of his work in Blur and numerous other musical projects. Everyday Robots is out on … Continue reading WATCH: Damon Albarn | Everyday Robots
It’s great to have Dallas Crane back on the scene. They’ve had one of the best live sounds over the last 15 years and now more than ever they are sorely needed to breathe some life back into the stagnant swamp of Australian rock. Here’s the video for their comeback single I’m Sorry Darling. Continue reading WATCH: Dallas Crane | I’m Sorry Darling
Austin Psych Fest has quickly become the benchmark psych festival on the planet, growing in stature each year while still retaining its core values. Below you can watch the 2012 event in full. It’s only 240p resolution on You Tube but hey, its better than nothing right? The good news is that they’ve also made the concert film Beyond The Third Sound of last year’s festival … Continue reading WATCH: Austin Psych Fest 2012 (in full)
J Walker returns with a new collection of dreamy and inventive songs that simultaneously serenade and gently challenge the listener. Ostensibly the solo project of J Walker, Machine Translations is now eight albums deep in a discography that has proven to be one overflowing with inventiveness, creativity and in many cases unassuming genius. Walker is one of those musicians who flies under the mainstream radar … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Machine Translations | The Bright Door
Ahead of the release of their 2014 LP Rave Tapes (out 21st January), Mogwai drop the second taster in the form of this Antony Crook directed video clip for The Lord Is Out of Control. Continue reading VIDEO: Mogwai | The Lord is Out of Control
Damien Jurado has been on a mighty fine roll with his last few albums and particularly now that he has hooked up with Richard Swift as collaborator and producer. That relationship continues on his 12th album Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son which is due out January 20th via Secretly Canadian. Here’s the first single, Silver Timothy. Continue reading WATCH: Damien Jurado | Silver Timothy (NEW)
Anna Calvi’s debut album in 2011 marked her as a bold and confident songwriter that was matched by her exceptional voice and guitar playing. Two years later we have One Breath, a record that finds her retaining the dramatic and virtuosic elements of her music but also expanding its sonic scope by experimenting with new sounds and song structures. Eliza is an early standout with … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Anna Calvi | One Breath
The Grand Rapids’ debut album possesses a striking sense of purpose and confidence. This isn’t the skinny, frazzled-nerve psych rock that many contemporary acts trade in, this is muscular music; widescreen and bold. They employ many of the classic elements of drone and psych rock (effects, repetition and tumbling rhythms) but nothing sounds particularly generic, referencing all manner of rock from Jane’s Addiction to The … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Grand Rapids | Great Shakes
Doubtful Sounds 