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Photo by Paul HudsonThose sufficiently long in the tooth may remember Margaret Thatcher’s purported praise of senior Conservative Party politician William Whitelaw: “Every prime minister needs a Willie”. For americana enthusiasts, their Willy could well be a Vlautin, songwriter for The Delines. Americana UK writer Andy Davidson suggested in his Top 10 Americana Songs of All Time feature that ‘Willy Vlautin should be in the White House’. Whether or not there’ll be a ‘Vote Vlautin’ badge signifying a run for candidacy in 2028, the bard of Portland has already cemented a place on my personal Mount Rushmore of Americana. Representing…
Will Atkinson opens his record box to reveal 10 tracks that continue to shape his approach to high-energy electronic music. Pulling influence from Hard Trance, Techno, Hard House, and Tech Trance, these selections reflect the fast-paced, euphoric, and uncompromising sound that has become synonymous with his sets and productions. Known for refusing to be confined by genre, the Scottish producer has built a reputation by creating explosive moments on the dancefloor while balancing nostalgia with forward-thinking production. The selections also arrive alongside his latest release, ‘What Is Happening (WTF) feat V I N K’ on Filth On Acid, another peak-time…
When Brian Eno was first introduced to Canadian pedal steel player and budding producer Daniel Lanois in the late 1970s, neither man can have anticipated the lasting impact of their collaborations. Their 1983 album Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks is now regarded as the foundation stone of the entire Ambient Americana genre, while their production work on U2’s The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree defined the sound of big, questing ’80s and ’90s rock. Lanois went on to apply his inventive, expansive techniques to albums by Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Sinéad O’Connor, Neil Young, Willie Nelson,…
Photo by Carlos Cruz courtesy of KEXP Today, MONO unveil shimmering 7-minute epic ‘Gerbera‘, taken from their upcoming album ‘Snowdrop’ releasing on June 12th. Japanese post-rock legends MONO recently announced details on their new album ’Snowdrop’ set for release on 12th June viaTemporary Residence. This is the band’s first album made with Brad Wood (Touché Amore, The Smashing Pumpkins), following the passing of longtime collaborator and friend, Steve Albini. For ‘Snowdrop,’ the band wishes to express their eternal gratitude to those precious people who have walked alongside them on their journey of life, by incorporating the messages imbued in flowers…
Though still young enough to have as much future stretching ahead as past behind him, Kevin Morby has already clocked up nine albums that track his migrations – first from his native state of Texas to Kansas, then to NYC, LA and back to Kansas (City) – while fine-tuning his countrified folk-rock. Both Harlem River and City Music stand as odes to New York, while Sundowner documented his Midwest homecoming, and 2022’s This Is A Photograph was inspired by Memphis and largely written during a stay there in its historic Peabody hotel. On Morby’s 10th, specific places (and events connected…
The Handsome Family’s sixth album is possibly best remembered for “Far From Any Road”, the track that ended up in 2014 as the theme for the first season of the HBO TV series True Detective. It was set among Louisiana’s Gulf Coast bayous, a location almost as eerie as anything in the peerlessly weird musical worlds created by Brett and Rennie Sparks across a Handsome Family repertoire that by 2003’s Singing Bones was regularly turning songs into warnings, omens, anticipations of breakdown, predictions of trauma and disturbance; the musical equivalent of flapping ravens’ wings, something like that. It was the…
Film Name: Dept Meat Director: Benji Edward Writers: Benji Edward Starring: Laya Lewis, Keegan Carr, Jane McDowell, Paul Tonkin, Alex McKeown In a new interview on Blazing Minds ahead of the play’s short run at the Drayton Arms Theatre, I got a chance to ask SFX Artist Jason Jay Lowe a few questions about his involvement in ‘Debt Meat‘ Debt Meat will have a limited run at the Drayton Arms Theatre from 17th – 18th May. Q. You are involved in the new stage production Debt Meat. Can you tell us a bit about your role as the SFX Artist…
NAT ‘KING’ COLEUnforgettableCAPITOL, 1952That’s one of the first records I can remember. Sometimes we spend time with our grand-aunt, and she like that type of singing. So I think the first time I was exposed to Nat ‘King’ Cole was her playing some of his records, and it did get my attention. It has been a part of my consciousness from the first time I heard his voice. I never heard anybody sing like that! I’m in Jamaica, I don’t hear that type of singing. In my house, with my mother and father, we didn’t have Nat ‘King’ Cole. He…
The Mighty Lemon Drops are the latest band to get a limited ‘dinked’ edition to mark the 40th Anniversary of their debut album, Happy Head.Dinked is a collaboration between some of the UK’s most proactive and industrious independent music retailers and run by Natasha Youngs (Resident, Brighton) & Rupert Morrison (formerly of Drift, Totnes), alongside their respective day jobs, purely, they say ‘for the love and the buzz’. The duo has released vinyl from new artists, established acts along with future stars and Legends, with no genre being off limit. Amongst the diverse range of artists are Geese, Fat Dog,…
RADIOHOP are a four piece jazz/hip hop band from Amsterdam, exploring the boundaries between groove, texture, and improvisation. HARD TO HANDLE is their second album and the first drop on Melting Pot Music. As the title suggests, RADIOHOP are going hard on this one.When HARD TO HANDLE hit our inbox, the band labeled the 12 track project a “beat tape”. The music is raw, loud, and unapologetic. No polish, no garnish, straight from the source. But describing HARD TO HANDLE as a beat tape would not do justice to the quality of the music, that’s why we release it as…
Following last year’s Beaming EP with Vancouver wordsmith Moka Only, producer Rad Brown has set his sights on the legendary Detroit flows of Guilty Simpson with the 5-track project, Higher Level.Known for his impactful working relationship with the late J Dilla, Guilty is world-famous for his ghetto-repping tuffness. Rad Brown has swooped in with a fresh soundscape recipe, all emotive minor chords and atmospheric, layered joints.That emotional connection in the production isn’t random, reflects Rad.“I started building these beats around samples that have left their imprint on my life in one way or another. The most prominent sample in War…
“MUTE TV”, an alternative rock band based in Bath, England, deliver a gripping debut with “Drag Me Down”. The track was recorded live and honestly sounds like it was meant to be. You can easily hear their energy full on with this track…. araw, high-voltage debut that feels like a livewire hitting straight through the speakers.It is unfiltered, raw, energetic, and is a song that could be their calling card for people to get into their sound. It has that energetic FIFA soundtrack vibe about it. It is short, snappy, full-on, and has hooks left, right, and centre, with vocals…