by Ed Biggs When Holy Fuck emerged onto the scene way back in 2005, their approach was more or less completely different to anybody else on the electronic music scene, setting them apart even in a field containing LCD Soundsystem, Crystal Castles and Hot Chip. Eleven years later, their style has become much more commonplace, with dozens of artists cleaving to their template of pulverising rhythms and gibbering, disintegrating synths –
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by Ollie Rankine EDM’s struggle to find an appropriate balance between innovative songwriting and the pursuit of commercial viability has plagued the genre’s potential artistic growth since the early days of its existence. Harley Streten, or as he’s better known to his ever extending fan base, Flume, carries little association with this view. The 24 year old Australian beat master’s latest record, Skin may be slightly less digestible than his self-titled
by Ollie Rankine Earlier this year, Band Of Skulls fans were left in state of eager anticipation after guitar and vocalist, Russell Marsden labelled their upcoming fourth record, By Default “a new era”, having spent the best part of decade dwelling in the hinterlands of British rock. Choosing the unusual setting of a central Baptist church to facilitate the Southampton trio’s busy rehearsal schedule, the forecast for By Default appeared to
by John Tindale It seems strange for a musician to build an entire concept about something a taxi driver said in passing – but that is exactly what eccentric London producer, Gold Panda, did upon the release of third original record Good Luck And Try Your Best. The meeting with the unknown taxi driver came during a trip that Panda took to Japan with the photographer Laura Lewis in a bid
by Ed Biggs The hybrid genre of so-called ‘folktronica’ is more in vogue now than in any point in last 20 years, but English singer-songwriter Beth Orton was laying languid beats underneath acoustic guitars when the likes of Alt-J were still learning to walk. As a regular guest vocalist for The Chemical Brothers, Orton was the comedown queen, a sultry siren guiding bleary-eyed ravers back to reality. Subtle flourishes of electronica
by Ed Biggs With their debut studio album marking its 20th anniversary of its release in May 2016, it is well beyond time that the Super Furry Animals were recognised as the geniuses they are. With the exception of the globe-conquering success of Radiohead, the Furries are the most original and consistently inventive British indie group of the last quarter of a century. Arguably the last great Creation Records band and
by Ed Biggs Any discussion of Smashing Pumpkins’ career tends to get dominated by their twin masterpieces, Siamese Dream (1993) and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995). Which is fair enough, as these are unquestionably two of the greatest alternative rock records of the nineties, testament to Billy Corgan’s unique vision for heavy rock, but crucial in explaining those albums’ successes is the group’s debut Gish.
by John Tindale It took six albums for Marissa Nadler to find her true voice and there is no better attribution to that than the Bella Union record label which housed the 2014’s record July, a breakthrough for the singer. Since that record, Nadler has found her style as a pop virtuoso set to a brilliantly descriptive backdrop and that is never more present than in seventh record Strangers.
by Ed Biggs No amount of hypnotherapy will make anyone who heard it forget how poor Richard Ashcroft’s last album United Nations Of Sound was back in 2010. To hear this totemic figure of Britpop, who defined the zeitgeist in 1997 with The Verve’s multi-million selling masterpiece Urban Hymns, stoop to such depths in a flawed attempt to re-brand himself would have been hilarious if Ashcroft hadn’t been responsible for such
by Ollie Rankine Historically speaking, Australia has never fully been able to keep hold of its reputation of being a regular breeding ground for quality popular music. Recently going to spectacularly impressive lengths to prove us wrong, it seems the Aussies have finally got their act together by giving birth to Tame Impala, Courtney Barnett, Pond and Jagwar Ma to name just a few.
