Ten German musicians in an ornate London venue playing music that sounds like the culmination of 60 years of Western composition, with instruments that were almost all invented more than two centuries ago, is more than a gig, and it is more than a performance. Josh Hall investigates.
May, 2011
Sebastian Rochford and Pamelia Kurstin – Ouch // Song Of The Day #251
Drummer Sebastian Rochford and theremin player Pamelia Kurstin have made an album of thudding, bass-heavy jazz that sits between Archie Shepp and Venetian Snares. ‘Ouch’ is today’s Song Of The Day.
Shoes And Socks Off – Made
Watch the video for ‘Made’, the latest track from Shoes And Socks Off, whose forthcoming fourth album will be out on Big Scary Monsters later this year.
Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
The post-everything New York experimentalists offer another multi-sensory journey through space and time with their fifth album, which combines the grit of God’s Money with the gloss of Saint Dymphna.
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – Marble Son
Jesse Sykes returns with a record kind enough to revisit familiar terrain, daring enough to brawl and swagger whereas in the past the band would’ve courted the listener’s affections with more introverted means. A triumph, in a word.
Okkervil River – I Am Very Far
Okkervil River’s sixth studio album has all the ingredients of a good record, but all too often frustrates by not combining them coherently. At times brilliant, at times very frustrating, it never lives up to its own promise.
Timber Timbre announce new single
Due out on 20 June via Full Time Hobby, ‘Creep On Creepin’ is the title track from Timber Timbre’s most recent album.
I Break Horses – Hearts
Swirling, textural landscapes meld with the fizzing momentum of an otherworldly melody in the video for I Break Horses’ ‘Hearts’.
Hardcore quirks: TLOBF meets Lone
Nottingham’s Lone crafts catchy, danceable tracks that pay homage to ’90s British house. We spoke to him about his most recent EP, Echolocations, and the trials of running a label.
She Keeps Bees, Sam Amidon, Peggy Sue confirmed for London-rooftop summer shows
Dalston Roof Park and The Allotment are teaming up this summer for a string of shows. Featuring outdoor performances from Allotment regulars such as She Keeps Bees, Sam Amidon and Peggy Sue, and outdoor cinema with the films chosen by the bands themselves, The See Hear Club kicks off on 9 June.
Jensen Sportag – The Wet Mix // Song Of The Day #250
‘The Wet Mix’ is a 14-minute recasting of Jensen Sportag’s ‘Pure Wet’ EP. It’s like a too-short DJ set in the world’s most laid-back club.
O’Death – Bugs
Taken from their forthcoming album ‘Outside’, new single ‘Bugs’ is another gently rolling folk number from New York quintet O’Death.
I am learning to say NO: TLOBF meets Marissa Nadler
“I am content to live in a world where I never achieve major success if that means I have control over my own work. I am content to live forever in anonymity if it means freedom.” Marissa Nadler talks to Annette Barlow about independent labels and fan-funded albums.
Stubborn Heart – Need Someone
With ‘Need Someone’, the mysterious Stubborn Heart has crafted an understated song of real beauty, with the kind of sparse arrangement that manages to be emotive whilst showing real restraint.
Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells – Everything’s Getting Older
Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells draw upon their great wealth of aged experience to show us into a gloomy world of debauchery, drunkenness, iniquity and death. And it sounds stunning.
Richard Walters – Pacing
Richard Walters returns with a second album which impresses with its professionalism and earnestness, but lacks that magic spark.
