Overlooked Classics: The Birthday Party- Junkyard

Few albums sound like their cover art. Junkyard is one such record. The follow-up to debut Prayers on Fire, it’s a riot. The Birthday Party were like a marauding razor gang. Every track is a little electric shock: pure viciousness, matching the Ed Roth/ Dave Christensen artwork. GrIpped by drugs and demons, the Australian post-punkContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Birthday Party- Junkyard”

Album Review: Boris-W

For well over two decades, Japanese experimental doom band Boris have been treading their own path, through line-up and label changes. Too avant-garde for the mainstream, they nonetheless have a loyal fan- base, not least because of working alongside collaborators like Sunn 0))). This, their first album for Sacred Bones, has enough light and shadeContinue reading “Album Review: Boris-W”

Oh! Brother Podcast

You have probably gathered by now (especially if you read our previous blog The Tempo House) that we’re fans of The (Mighty) Fall. So I thought it was time to write about the podcast which references all things concerning The Fall, Oh! Brother. Hosted by the band’s classic rhythm section, Paul and Steve Hanley, theyContinue reading “Oh! Brother Podcast”

Overlooked Classics: That Dog (1993)

That Dog’s debut eponymous album is just the epitome of perfection to me. The combination of indie pop and strange classical and jazz elements is still quite unlike anything I’ve heard. The band are perhaps like a less brutal Miranda Sex Garden, or softer Slits or Raincoats. Songs- and harmonies- don’t quite go where theyContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: That Dog (1993)”

Album Review: Sanctuary

A mighty collaboration between the Colombian composer Jose Parody and Grayson Sanders and Leviticus Penner, Sanctuary Vol. 1 and 2 is steeped in the kind of quietude that is neither comforting nor kind, but still incredibly beautiful. Truth is meditative, sparse and features voices that weave in and out drones. Smoke In The Halls isContinue reading “Album Review: Sanctuary”

Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Once Upon A Time Is 40

Siouxsie and The Banshees emerged fully formed from the punk scene- Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin were part of the Bromley Contingent who followed the Sex Pistols- and gained notoriety for a spiky, atonal and extended version of The Lord’s Prayer during the spit, vomit and snot heyday. However, by the time of this, theContinue reading “Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Once Upon A Time Is 40”

A John Waters Christmas

Good taste? Bad taste? It’s all so subjective, dahhling. One man who has no such quibbles in these matters is peerless movie director John Waters. As befits the man dubbed The Pope of Trash by William S Burroughs, Waters’ seasonal picks are as kitsch and hilarious as many of his films. Not for him, theContinue reading “A John Waters Christmas”

Album Review: Laura- Mary Carter- Town Called Nothing

Blood Red Shoes frontwoman Laura-Mary Carter has always been a wonderful musician, and her new solo project is equally fascinating, but this time, her post- grunge shredding has been replaced by a country noir mini-album. Town Called Nothing invokes dusty, ominous Westerns, the eerie moment before the showdown. It starts off deceptively pretty, with fineContinue reading “Album Review: Laura- Mary Carter- Town Called Nothing”