Lost In Music: Kaputt- Gone West

Glasgow chaos merchants Kaputt are back! The post-everything band return with a typically energetic slice of skronk to make life substantially better. If this doesn’t get your pulse racing, I can’t help you. Find more on Kaputt at Upset The Rhythm and Bandcamp http://www.upsettherhythm.co.uk http://www.kaputt1.bandcamp.com

Generic White Middle-Class Performance Poet

I’m getting so bored of this crap that I thought I’d homage them myself. Took me roughly three minutes. Ooh, it’s enough to make you spit out your flat white in Costa Coffee. Generic White Middle-Class Performance Poet I’m jabbing at you Jabbing with my ire With my flat tyre Flat out, tired Well-worn dropletsContinue reading “Generic White Middle-Class Performance Poet”

Album Review: Holy Other- Lieve

Stockport musician and producer David Ainley has created a wonderful piece of post-ambient beauty here. It invokes the illogical themes of dreams: figures with heads that are never seen, fragmentary buildings, the sense of hazy, unresolved issues. Glitches, sighs and ghostly soundscapes permeate throughout the album. The title track, featuring saxophonist Daniel Thorne, fizzles andContinue reading “Album Review: Holy Other- Lieve”

Why Midnight Cowboy Remains Relevant

It may be nigh-on impossible to watch any Dustin Hoffman these days without hearing Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon parodying his nasal New York accent, but I watched John Schlesinger’s classic Midnight Cowboy the other night and it still remains an astute metaphor for the mess America is in, now as then. Joe Buck (JonContinue reading “Why Midnight Cowboy Remains Relevant”

Beach House Are Back

Finally, some much needed good news, in what has been a difficult and sad year. Baltimore dreampop duo Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, aka Beach House, are back with a surprise announcement of both a forthcoming album, Once Twice Melody, coming out in February, and tour in May. They have previewed some beautiful songs andContinue reading “Beach House Are Back”

Overlooked Classics: Soft Cell- The Art Of Falling Apart

This album, my god, this album. English synth-pop duo Soft Cell sealed their reputation as one of the most original acts of the early 80s, thanks to brilliant debut Non -Stop Erotic Cabaret, with massive hits Bedsitter, Say Hello,Wave Goodbye and their unstoppable cover of the Gloria Jones Northern Soul stomper Tainted Love, but theContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Soft Cell- The Art Of Falling Apart”

Album Review: Modern Nature- Island Of Noise

Imagine this. You’re in the Lake District perhaps, or by a boathouse. Take a moment to lie down in the still of the night. Can you hear it? There’s a bàbbling stream. Birds twitter. There’s no Twitter, no social media, no hassles here. Modern Nature have created an album that is sheer bliss, as ifContinue reading “Album Review: Modern Nature- Island Of Noise”

Album Review: Marconi Union- Signals

In an increasingly chaotic world, the need to find some kind of respite is important. Ambient music has always provided a way in, and so it is with enigmatic Manchester artist Marconi Union. Signals, their thirteenth album, is a seductive and moody proposition. Cycles Repeat sounds like Ry Cooder jamming with Gold Panda (imagine) andContinue reading “Album Review: Marconi Union- Signals”

Album review: Joan As Police Woman/ Tony Allen/ Dave Okumu- The Solution Is Restless

What an ambitious, gorgeous, sexy record. Soul pop goddess Joan Wasser, aka Joan As Police Woman, recently teamed up to collaborate with drummer Tony Allen and The Invisible’s Dave Okumu to create a jazzy, funky soul epic pulsing with the ghosts of Aretha, Curtis, Laura, Prince and Isaac.This is the result, and it’s a triumph.Continue reading “Album review: Joan As Police Woman/ Tony Allen/ Dave Okumu- The Solution Is Restless”

Lost In Music: Bowie-Boys Keep Swinging

Released in April 1979 and taken from Lodger, Boys Keep Swinging was what Bowie described as an “attempt at writing a really chauvinistic song. I find it very amusing”. David Mallet’s cheeky video references the art of Berlin drag acts, who smeared their makeup after each performance, thus drawing attention to artificiality, the ephemeral natureContinue reading “Lost In Music: Bowie-Boys Keep Swinging”