Track of the Week 01/08/16

Yes, holy shit it’s August. Yes, I know this year has gone by crazy fast. No, I’m no less terrified of the future and growing old than anyone else. But you know what, let’s just listen to some music, shall we?

Hampshire wunderkinder Blaenavon have been on the scene since 2013. With their more than convincingly weird twitter account and a reputation for some of the best live shows you can see in dingy pubs as well as bigger venues they now have an album coming up. And for the people who are just as excited about that as me, they’ve brought out another single I’ll have on repeat for at least two weeks.

A bit of The Smiths, a bit of the Cure, a lot of bittersweet happiness and melancholy on summer evenings and a “let’s pray for death” chant to match it all. It’s Let’s Pray.

 

Best of July 2016 – The Playlist

Album Review: Jamie Isaac – Couch Baby // Jazzy Summer Nights

Jamie Isaac, the London-based artist who’s been gathering quite a bit of hype, is one of the good ones. He started making music a few years ago, but he learned to play the piano in his early years, inspired by his grandma and the jazz music that was always playing at his parents’ house.

And these influences are clear as crystal and beautifully integrated into the tracks of his debut record. Couch Baby is one of those albums you listen to on warm summer evenings. It’s just getting dark and you’re sitting outside, the sound of the music trickling through the half-open door. Isaac works in that luscious, deep, dark bass drum with rippling trip-hop beats, uses guitar and synth reverb alongside the quiet centerpiece of his work – jazzy piano and rhythms.

All of this catches that one certain, kind of European, neo-jazz, soulful, cool, lounge sound that’s been the biggest trend of the trendless for a few years, simmering just out of sight of the commercial side of things. Isaac creates a wonderful atmosphere that just swallows you up.

And while the songs are beautifully detailed, the distinct lack of changes in the bpm department is not everyone’s cup of tea. But overall, Jamie Isaac is definitely one of those we have to watch, because he might just be the next big thing.

Track of the Week 11/07/16

Fresh off my hiatus (which may or may not have been because I was actually doing some grown up work for an actual company and not blabbing away irrelevance into the vast chatter of the internet) here’s my track of the week to get back into writing.

For the ultimate chill, dreamy vibes to start the week off, have some Tycho. It’s been a while and I’m glad to see him back out with new and even cooler stuff. For more of my words in a more elaborate review, head on over to Can You Ear It and check out the first thing I wrote for them.

Have a beautiful week, everyone!

 

Album (P)Review: Let’s Eat Grandma – I, Gemini // Mad Princesses, Fairytales and Hallucinations

Due to a distinct lack of albums in the last week that tickled my fancy, this week’s review is a bit more of a preview, or as like to call it, an “I’m way too excited about this album not to talk about it” post.

Let’s Eat Grandma are Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton, two teenagers from Norwich. And they are weird in the most wonderful sense of the word.

Track of the Week 06/06/2016

This week’s Track of the Week is a bit of a cheat because I want to introduce you to Sir Was.

The Swedish artist’s latest EP Says Hi is a beautiful example of how free and effortless music can sound. With a mixture of sounds he picked up with his phone (for example the sounds of a pet store on Falcon), the soulful feeling of jazz and the slightly more serious-sounding electronic elements it’s an EP I can’t just pick one song from, because it works best in its entirety.

Stream Says Hi below

Best of May 2016 – The Playlist

Track of the Week 30/05/2016

When it keeps raining and raining and raining and it feels more like late March than almost June, we could all use some music that takes us to a faraway planet where the sun keeps shining.

Here’s Surf Philosophie’s latest track Coconut Parfum that you should definitely check out for 8 minutes of escapism and psychedelic goodness.

Album Review: Twin Peaks – Down in Heaven // Summer, Summer Summer!!

You know what I can’t stand? Country Music. You know what I love? Twin Peaks.

Because when you remove all the stupendous lyrics, whiny voices and the general vibe of the conservative Southern United States (exactly what turns me off it so much) and substitute them with garagey indie chords and the rasping but gentle vocals of the same nature you get Twin Peaks.

The band from Chicago are the music industries current phenomenon, and rightly so. Their new album Down in Heaven is a summer album that comes at exactly the right time for rainy, cold England that’s only just experiencing the first soft touches of something that remotely feels like what this album sounds like.

Down in Heaven is not only so good because they make me like the Country vibes and instruments they got, it’s also a refreshing, original mix of genres. Added it in is a little 60s jingle jangle fun and noughties Strokes coolness.

They are definitely not new on the scene but they have created an album that will accompany so many people through a joyful summer, whether that’s in the city or in the countryside, at barbecues or on roadtrips with the windows down, sitting in the sun with friends or just lazing around by yourself.

Track of the Week 23/05/16

With a bit of post-Great Escape depression I’m looking back on one of my favourite acts of the weekend.

REVILO is the London-based singer, songwriter, goth pop prince that you need in your life. He spices up his guitar heavy indie rock with incredible pop hooks and a voice that will melt your heart.

Check out his recent single Lure below.