Overlooked Classics: Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition

Overlooked may be a strong term, but this album by Danny Brown remains, for me, a trailblazer. There’s an old adage that goes, “you’re only as good as your friends” . I believe this is as true of artists and their collaborative colleagues. Featured here are Kendrick Lamar; Kelela, Be Real, Petite Noir and EarlContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition”

Kim Gordon Returns

The mighty Kim Gordon has just released one of the year’s best singles,in my opinion. Takes from her forthcoming second album, The Collective, Bye Bye is a stormer, with ESG influenced noise, trap beats and Gordon’s unmistakably defiant, half sung, half purred vocals. With a video to accompany the single starring her daughter Coco asContinue reading “Kim Gordon Returns”

Overlooked Classics: AC Marias -One Of Our Girls

Formed by Wire’s Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis, with film maker and singer Angela Conway, AC Marias made an album which pretty much seemed to disappear into the ether as soon as it had arrived. That’s probably as apt a metaphor as you could wish for, given the strange nature of this beautiful album. EvenContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: AC Marias -One Of Our Girls”

New Release: Soho Rezanejad, Agnese Menguzzato and Simone Antonioni- Exit Blue Klein

This is simply beautiful. Electronic composer Soho Rezanejad has teamed up with musicians Agnese Menguzzato and Simone Antonioni for this collaboration, Exit Blue Klein. As she title suggests, it’s alluding to the controversial painter Yves Klein, and his predilection for the colour blue in his work. An ethereal, reverby piece using guitar, cello and vocals,Continue reading “New Release: Soho Rezanejad, Agnese Menguzzato and Simone Antonioni- Exit Blue Klein”

Album Review: Hilary Woods- Acts Of Light

Irish artist and composer Hilary Woods makes uncompromising, experimental music. This new album is beautiful and challenging, entrenched in past, present and future worlds. From drones to elegiac strings, field recordings and choral sections it’s restless and stately. The film accompanying ‘When The Bough Has Broken’ is comprised of old reels depicting life in DublinContinue reading “Album Review: Hilary Woods- Acts Of Light”

Overlooked Classics: Deerhoof- The Magic

You never know what you’ll be served by the mighty Deerhoof – will it be the melancholic strangeness of Milk Man, or the effervescent avant pop of Vs Evil? With The Magic, it’s both, and more. It’s widescreen Deerhoof, but still with that experimental side. It’s Deerhoof at angles, which is to be expected. ThisContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Deerhoof- The Magic”

Put Blood In The Music: Sonic Youth and John Zorn

This film, directed by Charles Atlas for The South Bank Show in 1989, was what made me fall in love with SY, and admire Zorn. Using a fanzine type approach to his montage – talking heads floating in front of New York street scenes, it’s a typically playful approach from Atlas (more of whom, later).Continue reading “Put Blood In The Music: Sonic Youth and John Zorn”

New Release: Gazelle Twin- Black Dog

Just in time for Halloween, or Samhain if you’d rather, Gazelle Twin is back, with a new album titled Black Dog. As Elizabeth Bernholz explains, it’s inspired by nightmares going back to childhood trauma, and essentially,”It’s all about confronting fear”. The title track is out now, with Bernholz’ trademark pitchshifted growls and whispers set againstContinue reading “New Release: Gazelle Twin- Black Dog”

The Future’s Here Today: Miso Extra

Not just a witty pseudonym, Miso Extra is a brilliant artist who sings as sweetly as she raps. With bilingual lyrics which reflect her dual heritage and thought processes, she’s part of the new wave of British hip hop that draws from eclectic sources. Creating her own “Misoverse”, the young eccentric wears vintage Japanese footballContinue reading “The Future’s Here Today: Miso Extra”

Album Review: Mary Lattimore- Goodbye,Hotel Arkada

Don’t let the title fool you – the fifth studio album from LA harpist Mary Lattimore isn’t a hippy-dippy concept album. Rather, it invites adjectives like “ethereal” and “otherworldly” . Very much a collaborative project, Lattimore has again created music that exists in liminal spaces, dense but delicate, and powerful even when calm. The blurringContinue reading “Album Review: Mary Lattimore- Goodbye,Hotel Arkada”