Categories
Music

Marina Zispin – The Bells (time will tell)

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is the brilliant debut LP from Marina Zispin, the project of Bianca Scout and Martyn Reid. Scout, a composer and vocalist, has built a reputation for blending ambient, spoken word, and contemporary classical elements, with past work including The Heart of the Anchoress and last year’s incredible Pattern Damage. This new collaboration continues her exploration of fragmented memory and shifting perceptions, but with a (mostly) more upbeat tone that much of her previous work.

https://scenicroute.bandcamp.com/album/now-you-see-me-now-you-dont

Categories
Music

Japanese Breakfast – Mega Circuit

To celebrate the best Glastonbury lineup in years, here’s a recent track from one of the many acts I’m extremely excited to see. Mega Circuit presents a darker, guitar-driven sound, reflecting on contemporary masculinity and the search for identity in challenging times. The track features renowned drummer Jim Keltner, known for his work with artists like Jackson Browne and Dolly Parton. ​The accompanying music video, co-directed by Zauner and collaborator Adam Kolodny, complements the song’s introspective themes. Which, yes, isn’t exactly three pingers deep in a field vibes, but is still excellent.

https://michellezauner.bandcamp.com/album/for-melancholy-brunettes-sad-women

Categories
Music

serpentwithfeet – BEG QUIETLY

serpentwithfeet spends a lot of time in bed, and would like to tell you about it. His new GRIP SEQUEL release features six new compositions alongside alternative versions of three tracks from last year’s GRIP: a new version of ‘Lucky Me’ with strings, and remixes of ‘Spades’, featuring Ogi and Destin Conrad, and a ‘Damn Gloves’ remix by Baile Funk featuring Ty Dolla $ign, TH41 & Azzy. “I created GRIP SEQUEL because I had more to say [about sex]*” says serpent “I had more [sexy]* questions about intimacy [and sex]* and this was a fun [and sexy]* way to explore.

*my [sexy] additions

https://serpentwithfeet.bandcamp.com/album/grip-sequel

Categories
Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Puma Blue

The Atlanta-based artist on the overwhelming emotion of a seminal live performance

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Emerging from London’s DIY scene, Puma Blue’s early work stitched together smoky jazz, lo-fi R&B, and dreamlike alt-pop, earning comparisons to King Krule and Jeff Buckley. His 2021 debut In Praise of Shadows was a nocturnal fever dream of hushed falsettos and submerged drums, but with his latest LP antichamber, he takes an even starker approach – paring everything down to its barest, most vulnerable form.

Recorded alone in a house in Decatur, Georgia, antichamber is a ghostly exhale of a record, a collection of hushed confessions and vaporous melodies that feel like they might dissolve if you listen too hard. The sultry groove of his past work is gone, replaced by something even more fragile – just an acoustic guitar, some distant echoes, and a voice that sounds like it’s whispering secrets into the void.

For his One Track Mind selection, Puma Blue breaks the rules and picks a deeply affecting live performance of two songs from a jazz legend.

Continue reading “One Track Mind: Puma Blue”
Categories
Music

Demdike Stare, Kriston Pilon- Belly Up

I have fond, if slightly intense, memories of Demdike Stare’s Before My Eyes nights they used to put on in a tiny London basement, especially one where my friend took too much K and ran, pretty much crying, from the room. Their new album sees them in their usual chaos mode, as they destroy and piece back together piano and vocal recordings by US filmmaker-musician Kristen Pilon, with unsurprisingly unsettling results. For fans of The Caretaker, crunchy drums and feeling generally a little bit tense.

https://boomkat.com/products/to-cut-and-shoot

Categories
Music

Adam F – Circles Revisited

Celebrating the re-release of one of the influential drum & bass singles of all time and the album from which it came, Adam F’s 1997 debut Colours. To record new versions of the tracks Adam F dug out all his old hardware which had long been hidden away. Over a span of two years he reworked the original music, from restoring vintage instruments like his Fender Rhodes piano to enlisting UK jazz legends like Julian Joseph. Vocalists including Kirsty Hawkshaw and the late MC Conrad re-recorded their parts, while new solos from contemporary artist added fresh life to the tracks. Circles still sounds as good as is always has – a true classic.

https://adamf.bandcamp.com/album/colours-revisited

Categories
Uncategorized

Tim Hecker – Sunset Key Melt

Tim Hecker Konoyo comes out Sept. 28.

Tim Hecker saves the best until last on his new album Shards with this extraordinary, amorphous ambient/electronic closing track. Released last week on krany, Shards is a collection of pieces originally written for various film and TV soundtracks Hecker has scored over the last half decade, with compositions originally written for scoring projects including Infinity Pool, The North Water, Luzifer, and La Tour.

https://timhecker.bandcamp.com/album/shards

Categories
Uncategorized

1000 Artists – Is This What We Want?

Over 1,000 artists – Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox, and more – have released a (largely) silent album, Is This What We Want?, as a protest against UK government plans that could let AI companies use copyrighted music without permission. The album, made up of recordings of unused studios, is a statement on what happens when artists’ voices are taken away.

The musicians credited as co-writers include Tori Amos, Billy Ocean, the Clash and the Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, and profits from the album will be donated to the musicians’ charity Help Musicians. According to the Guardian, Kate Bush recorded one of the dozen tracks in her studio. I’m choosing to believe this is true, and reckon it’s probably the track To as you can hear lots of bird in the background, which would be very Kate.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/25/kate-bush-damon-albarn-1000-artists-silent-ai-protest-album-copyright

Categories
Music

Elori Saxl – It Will Be Gone

New York-based composer Elori Saxl’s score, Texada, is the official soundtrack for the film of the same name. Directed by Claire Sanford and Josephine Anderson, and produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the film charts life on Texada Island off British Columbia’s coast. On tracks like lead single It Will Be Gone, Saxl translates the island’s geological and human narratives into sound. Employing analog synthesisers, processed baritone saxophone (performed by Henry Solomon), and subtle field recordings, the score maps textures ranging from stone and water to the hum of industrial activity.

https://elorisaxl.bandcamp.com/album/texada-original-score

Categories
Music

Puma Blue – whilst my heart breaks

Lots of good music out today but this is the bleakest aka the best. Taken from the new album antichamber which sees him stepping away from the full-band setup, focusing instead on stripped-back electronics and acoustic textures. Ideal listening for the bleak midwinter.

Puma Blue – antichamber