Mac McCaughan - Happy New Year (Prince Can't Die Again), single review

So.... 

that was 2016...

And for the majority of responsive adults that managed to keep their eyes open and senses as far from dulled as was humanly possible for the entire twelve months, it is perhaps a fair conclusion to make that it was a rather messed up year.

I'm not here to document every notable passing or offer commentary on human tragedies and political unrest, I'm simply here to bring everyone's attention to a little ditty that was recorded on Christmas Eve of this year, and rings true with many of the sentiments that we have felt flowing through us at some point or another.

Happy New Year (Prince Can't Die Again) is joyful in its sadness, it is poignant in its power of empathy, it is good-spirited in the face of another year that will soon be upon us before we've barely got to grips with this one.

none of us know what will await us, and it almost felt as if all hope had left us in 2016 and that 2017 is just another impending threat... but we can greet it with a song on our lips more apt than Auld Langs Syne...

Happy New Year.

Flo - Spiritual, single review

Musical reinvention is certainly nothing new within the industry.

However having the opportunity to see homegrown musicians change and shape their own destinies over the years brings out a pride in me that I cherish, and so it goes with Flo...

My first encounters of Flo was when she was fronting an indie-synth-pop band in the midst of the heady MySpace era (two mentions of MySpace in a week? I must be feeling nostalgic...), and even dedicated column inches to her when she became 'just another' bedroom musician, but more than just changing her sound over the intervening years, Flo is now releasing her own take on laid-back neo-soul music that carries a sobering sense of maturity.

This first release from True Unity Records follows the path laid out with her hip-hop inspired 2014 Mixtape, the 90’s evoking boom-bap beat is the musical playground for the gentle reflection delivered through the lyrics, lyrics that speak loud and clear of self-worth, trust and growth, the quiet-storm of Flo's vocals drift dreamily across the track and weaves itself wistfully with a tasteful Minnie Riperton sample.

And Flo's involvement with True Unity Records marks them out as a new label to watch, as hot on the heels of the solo single comes this collaborative track with Dotz and Max Runham, fixing to raise funds and awareness for the plight of homelessness in the UK.

Out now via True Unity Records

Hunchbakk - A Song For Ducks, single review

what is the point in curating a contributing to a mildly influential music blog if you can't take advantage of such a lofty and revered social-standing.

so now we are going deep into the rabbit hole as I attempt to review my own single...

The latest musical output from pseudo-experimental auteur, Hunchbakk, is something of an oddity, as if anyone would expect anything less.  Appearing as a special Leap-day release, A Song For Ducks started life as the soundtrack to an artistic YouTube video that documented the creation of a giant Frank Sidebottom style papier-mâché head, but the beat driven machination refused to settle for merely sitting on the sidelines so now it is available in three flavours as a pay-what-you-feel download.

Headlined by the shorter-sweeter edited video version, clocking in at a mere 104 seconds, it is all bleeps and squelches, tastefully adorned by fragmented audio snatches of news reports that add a vague and unsettlingly sense of menace, it it is over almost as soon as it has started.  The other options available for your delectation include the slightly extended full version that packs a little more electronic meandering into the sub-3 minute running time, or the bare bones instrumental that is bereft of fear-mongering newscasters.

Playful....  Puerile.... Prophetic.... Who knows, just give it a little listen....

out now via Bandcamp

Linus - Linus, album review

Whilst 'Stealth' album releases are amongst the latest fads to be realised by a record industry that is still pondering how to be relevant in a digital age, as utilised by Beyoncé, Thom Yorke and Drake, it is altogether less newsworthy but certainly a massively interesting concept to behold when even the birthing of a new creative identity flies under everybody's radar.

When a facebook acquaintance made during my time covering Enfield's music scene, nonchalantly posts 'I did a thing' with a link to a 9 track album it was perhaps fortunate that it neatly coincided with some rare downtime and a need to drown out the sounds of the polish builder working on next door.

I'll admit that I know little of Josef Kirby, I know of him as the lead singer of local Djent-Metal rockers UNX and I gave the band a glowing review for their debut EP a little over two years ago, and much like that EP, it is the developing progression of sound and style that creates a truly listenable body of work.

The age old contrasting of light and dark, quiet and loud, are characteristic of the eponymous nine track instrumental album released under the guise of LinuS, and it is the thoughtful crafting of these nine tracks that is wonderfully realised, with the absense of an intimidating vocal presence the entire focus is solely on the music, and whilst there are a handful of whirling maelstroms these are few and far enough between with far more time spent on the building of clearly defined roles for the instruments involved, the instrumentation certainly is not sparse, but simply has had all but the most essential elements stripped away and each detail is given appropriate room to breathe, relying as much on what is not included as what is.

My knowledge of metal's musical touchstones is woefully lacking, I can recognise the required moshpit baiting and neck breaking guitar riffs and driven drum rhythms even if I cannot match them to the tide of bands that have served as inspiration, but I can hear the sci-fi epic nature of Muse's output that has launched them into a stadium filling stratosphere upon ... And Here They Come, In There Thousands, at near 7 minutes long it is buoyed by a lightness and woozy atmospheric that serves it well and it is telling that this has been chosen as the showcasing track when the album loads in the bandcamp player, it is not merely a midway point on the album chronologically but also thematically as it heralds some lengthy movements that retool the albums already accessible take on metal with an added ambience.

It is from this point forward that the debut long-player emboldens itself with magnificent opuses that are wonderfully crafted and bely the fact that they were uploaded on a whim.  

Self-produced using Cubase and with all guitar parts and bass played solely by Josef himself alongside programmed drums, the arrival of Linus in the world, as a musical identity and as an album, may go unnoticed by many but it has certainly not gone unnoticed by me, and I hope future musical endeavours are announced to a wider audience with more than just a four word facebook status.

Hanna's Marines - Be Bolder, single review

It is with a sense of social pride that I will always stand by and support local artists, but when you've seen an undeniable talent blossom over the years and can still be staggered by the depth of their music then you've got to put that down to more than just rooting for the home team.

Such is the case of Hanna Mehmet, front-woman of Hanna's Marines, on the campaign trail to push their new single Be Bolder she drops me a line to see if I'd give it a little push, and why wouldn't I?

But I wasn't prepared to be stopped in my paces by it. I stick it on to give it a listen and see if I can form a few opinions on it, and when Hanna begins singing the track suddenly takes on an intensely intimate quality, the song itself earnestly implores for commitment, for a show of strength, the strong vocal display juxtaposed perfectly against the fragility of the emotion, all of which is echoed through the slow-burning, epic qualities of the music that swells and beats a yearning pulse, truly coming to life to soundtrack the ache of wounded hearts.

It is a gut-wrenching three minutes, delivering voyeuristic chills up my spine with each insatiable listen.

I listened to it through a sense of social duty.

But I love it and continue to listen to it with the most well deserved sense of social pride.

 

Be Bolder is available now via Bandcamp and Soundcloud

Tayalarz vol.5: Lemons Rubik

so far, the emphasis of the Tayalarz mixtapes has been discovery, finding new artists and new music, but as is traditional of us muso types, as one year ends and another begins, we like to look back over what has shaped the previous 12 months

and so to put a Tayalarz spin on things, the January mixtape has tracked down unique versions of songs from some of the biggest artists of 2013, all available to download for free via various blogs and such

as always, the following tracklisting provides all of the appropriate links needed to garner these tracks from their sources and for the second month Ted Joyce has provided the wonderful artwork yet again

1.  Jay-Z - Tom Ford (Crizzly remix) (available via Music Ninja)
2.  Lordes - Royals (La Felix Remix)
3.  Katy Perry - Roar (Brillz radio edit) (available via The Music Ninja)
4.  Kanye West - Black Skinheads (Donovans Rewerk) (available via Nerdy Frames)
5.  Justin Timberlake - Suit and Tie (A Few Thangs Rmx) (via Mad Decent)
6.  James Blake - Retrograde (Minorstep remix) (available via Hilly Dilly)
7.  Arctic Monkeys - Just Hold On We're Going Home (Drake cover) 
           (available via We All Want Someone To Shout For)
8.  Haim - Let Me Go (Ancient Mermaids Remix) (available via Hilly Dilly)
9.  Silver Swans - Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus cover) (available via Indie Shuffle)
10. Daft Punk - Lose Yourself to Dance (La Felix Remix) (available via Acid Stag)
11. Robin Thicke - Give it to You (Trippy Turtle Remix) (available via Pigeons and Planes)
12. Angel Haze - Same Love (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis cover) (available via Brooklyn Vegan)

In the tracklisting above are links to the artist's bandcamp/soundcloud/website if you click on their name, and clicking on the track name or blog link will direct you to where I originally encountered their music, good luck hunting it all down...   
and shortly the Tayalarz series will be looking ahead at the artists others have been touting big things for in 2014 along with a few of our own personal discoveries

Tayalarz: The Fanfaronade of Guido

Welcome back to the third in our recently established series of Tayalarz mixtapes.

For November's instalment, a slightly different approach has been taken, for both Volumes 1 and 2, the tracks were sourced exclusively via popular blog aggregator, hype machine, searching for words that reflect the particular time of season, and hunting down recommended tracks via blog posts.

This time around i decided to sniff out the good stuff myself, heading straight to bandcamp in order to siphon another 12 tracks that the artists themselves have made available for absolutely zilch, or on a pay-what-you-like basis.

Prior to compiling this mixtape, i had not heard of any of the artists featured, and i hope that their inclusion here will help to shed a little more light on their cause, and yet again i have been overwhelmed with the end product that plays as a complete musical journey from start to finish and back round again.

And i must admit, that in the course of compiling this labour of love, i think i may have crafted the best mixtape in the series so far...

Opening with an astonishingly heartfelt and bereft piece of spoken word,  Malanda J. Poetry sets the tone for a bleak wintery soundscape that shrugs off the joyful summer frivolities and yearns to nestle by the fire in your soul, a thoroughly modern, down-tempo journey across oceans and genres, embracing hip-hop, folk, poetry, hypnotic beats and downright experimental sound collages that may prove conducive to hibernation should you wish to wait out the cold weather until spring.

And since this has felt so wonderfully thematic as a whole, i am also looking to share a unique vision with you in the near future, with previous volumes, i have reworked the tracks so that they run into each other in one cohesive long mix, mostly for my own ends, however, Volume 3 leant itself to this practice so well that it seemed emphatically absurd not to share it with you.

I shall allow you to track down the components of this mixtape and discover the artist involved yourself before gracing your ears with the definitive article, and conjoined version of previous volumes will also present themselves at such time.

but for now, wrap up warm, pour a soothing dram of whisky and dive into November's handpicked selections.

1.  Malanda J. Poetry - Story She Never Told

2.  Ivan Scutt - Potato Waffles

3.  Kevlar - Ebony Queen

4.  xXxAlExBaLsOnxXx - Chillwave8

5.  The Implicit Order - Money Kills

6.  Lotus - Atlas Shrugged

7.  Lafa Taylor - Almost Perfect

8.  Ciao Lucifer - Walk To Say Goodbye

9.  Karl Verkade - Laid Down All Over

10. JT ,SELENA an ANDRIA - dont FADE away

11. Shak - Dmnds

12. The Implicit Order - On Sundays They Went To Church

In the tracklisting above are links to the artist's bandcamp/soundcloud/website if you click on their name, and clicking on the track name or blog link will take you directly to the track in question, once again, artwork for this volume was provided by Ian Byford, good luck hunting it all down...

in conversation with Ciaran Lavery

The main aim when starting the Tayalarz mix series was to create a cohesive compilation of music that is currently up for grabs and won't cost a penny to source, offering a little guidance as we pull together a playlist to save you the hard work.

Yet, as we have been putting the finishing touches to November's instalment, Volume 2 from last month has still been on heavy rotation and one artist's efforts in particular have stood out and caused persistent earworms.

So we caught up with Ciaran Lavery to discuss cover versions, musical discoveries and to further spotlight a singer/songwriter that we feel fortunate to have found in the process of plucking ripe mp3s from the unfathomably large world wide web.

my approach to this mixtape in particular was to simply search hype machine for particular words or phrases and see where it would take me, i came across yourself after searching for 'killer', influenced by halloween that was right around the corner and finding your version of Psycho Killer, what is the strangest way or place you have stumbled across music that has truly impressed you?

I most usually find my music on amazon, I have been doing that for years. I like that feeling of stumbling across something new to my ears, for a brief period it feels like I'm the only one in the world who knows about them, then when I research further I tend to find I'm the last to know and it takes that magic feeling away. If I had to say the most random though it would maybe have to be finding a Grateful Dead LP inside a Wu Tang Clan CD case..you couldn't make that up

were there any cover versions that didnt make the cut, or that you wanted to make work but couldn't find a way?

I had originally tried to re-work just random covers of all decades but it just so happened to work out that the most appropriate were in and around the same time. I think around that time I had demoed some Lykke Li and New Order but they never made it to studio




i have only discovered you recently, but your debut album was released in march of this year, what has the reaction been to it so far?

The album was such a great thing to make just on a personal level. I have read some really nice things from people I've always respected in the music world who seemed to think it was quite special, and I still randomly get people coming up to me and telling me how much they enjoy listening to it. The other day I heard how someone has listened to the album for a straight week - that's kind of mind-blowing. At the end of the day when I finished recording and the day it was released it's no longer mine anymore, but rather it belongs to whoever bought or downloaded or copied it. At the same time I didn't expect it to be welcomed in with open arms by all types of music lovers, it can be a very personal album. In other words it's never going to be played at a party, unless the idea is to clear the place

presumably the Covers EP is a stopgap between the album and your next full length project or release of original material, what plans are you developing right now and when will we next hear the fruit of your labours?

I think it's pretty typical of songwriters to always be writing and scheming some sort of plans and I'm no different. I have a lot of songs that I've been test driving at gigs over the past while and initial plans to record again are in place so I'm excited about that. I would never want to go in and record the same sounding record so the covers EP was important for me to get away from a sound I could have been pigeonholed with and I intend to do the same when it comes to recording my new material

any plans for a christmas single perhaps? get it right and you could see those Noddy Holder style royalties rolling in each year... 

No, no - I think it's hard to beat Noddy Holder's effort. Christmas singles can be really hit or miss these days, it's not like the 80s when there were so many good songs out every year competing. When you think of those compilation CD's at Christmas time, a hell of a lot of the good stuff is based in that decade. There will never be another Wizard or Slade single, which is sad. At least Christmas jumpers are back..it's a step in the right direction

do you have a favourite cover version? 

That's a tough one because there are so many and probably a lot that I have yet to hear but based on the knowledge of them that I have I would have to say it's a toss up between Bon Iver's version of 'Love More' originally by Sharon Van Etten and Rage Against The Machine's take on 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' by Bruce Springsteen



what was it that drew you to record those songs featured on 'Other People Wrote These'?

It was a project I had wanted to do for a long period, but the chance never really reared its head until maybe a few weeks before I went in to record the tracks. One day I said to myself "ok, it's time to do this for real" and that was that. The whole process was like that really. There was no massive time lapse between any part of the process, the whole thing was started and finished inside three days. I wouldn't have it any other way. The songs weren't particularly personal to me before the process, but I knew that when selecting them I wanted to have the room to almost reshape them, and these songs just seemed to lend themselves to the process best. I also felt it important to break down any boundaries on song selection that may have been there based on my own self written material

Our mixtapes so far have skirted between down tempo beats, trap music, folk, dubstep and a few other genres besides, when was the last time you compiled a mixtape and what was on it?

Ah god, I'm not entirely sure. I used to help compose travel CDs that ranged from the most outrageous, to the cheesy. But I guess a mixtape..it would have been a long time ago. I was actually clearing out in the attic the other day and I found a cassette tape, it got me thinking about mixtapes and how much effort went into making them. Maybe one day I'll make one real soon just to say I did it and feel nostalgic again

and in the spirit of discovering new music, we think that you should perhaps check out Benin City and what they have been doing recently, who would you suggest we take a listen to that is deserving of the exposure right now?

In no particular order check out The Emerald Armada, Joshua Burnside and Ian O'Doherty - each amazing in their own right






a massive thank you to Ciaran Lavery for taking the time to answer our questions

and to stay up to date, be sure to follow Ciaran on Twitter and Facebook

Tayalarz vol.2 - The Rime of Tabala (october 2013)

you join us for the second instalment of our brand-new mixtape scavenger hunt series just as the clocks have turned back and journeys home from work have descended into darkness

once again, i have scoured hype machine for the finest crop of songs available to download for free and compiled them into a cohesive musical journey made to reflect the darker days of October as 2013 now draws to a close

fill your ears with the sound of autumnal sunshine that still casts a magnificent glow across fallen leaves, the sound of evenings winding down and daylight hours shortening

october's mixtape eases us in with a more folky approach, readying us for the cosy winter days with a down tempo selection before giving way to some lazy beats featuring a number of more familiar names that take the journey full circle as electronic bleeps fall away and the folk element creeps in again like a cold draught creeping in through the crack under the door.

You may recognise an Aaliyah sample within the selection, and Rihanna goes back to back with herself alongside Theophilus London, a new guise for Flying Lotus is accompanied by MF Doom and Earl Sweatshirt and singer/songwriter Ciaran Lavery makes an early appearance in the mix as well as closing proceedings with a couple of cover versions from his recent 'Other People Wrote These'

once again, links to the wonderful blogs that have provided me with this great new music have been provided in the tracklisting below, along with links to the respective artists websites, and Ian Byford has designed the second of three accompanying pieces of cover art

1. Kill Emil - Autumn Sun (available via Serial GK)
2. Ciaran Lavery - Psycho Killer (available via Metaphorical Boat)
3. Cold Country - Missing The Muse (available via Indie Rock Cafe)
4. Abrigo  De Pelos - Julio (available via acid ted)
5. Skeng - Cold Sweat (available via Jack Plug)
6. Bamf - Hold Me Close (available via unholy rhythms)
7. Rihanna + Evil Needle - Pour It Up (Duncan Gerow mash-up) (available via The Music Ninja)
8. Rihanna - Jump (Club Cheval rap Remix feat. Theophilus London) (available via Frenchy Symphony)
9. Captain Murphy feat Viktor Vaughn, Earl Sweatshirt and Thundercat -
     Between Villains (available via Faronheit)
10. Chronic City ft Florian Horwath - The Man Who (available via The Sound Of Confusion)
11. Autumn Owls - All The Lights In New York (available via The Sound Of Confusion)
12. Ciaran Lavery - I Drove All Night (available via Metaphorical Boat)

In the tracklisting above are links to the artist's bandcamp/soundcloud/website if you click on their name, and clicking on the track name or blog link will direct you to where I originally encountered their music, good luck hunting it all down...

New Mixtape Project: Tayalarz vol.1: The Queen of Sheba (september 2013)

and how has your music blogging experience been recently?

certainly from myself, you will have had features and opinions on new artists and albums, some of whom i sincerely hope you have taken a shine to.

but one of my favourite ways of discovering and sharing music is via the art-form that is the humble mixtape.

whilst i am buzzing about various other blogs looking for new and exciting music in much the same way that a bee collects pollen, occasionally these odd tracks from here there and everywhere haphazardly join my massive i-tunes library, and are promptly forgotten about until a shuffle throws up a track that could be months or could be years old.

but those special tracks, those chosen ones, those are the ones that find company within a playlist or a mixtape, a coherent hour or so of music that encompass my new finds and my new passions.

they live on my i-pod, sometimes i'll burn a copy for my girlfriends car.

but why not share it further...

and so my new mixtape series begins

all tracks included have been sourced via music blogs found on hype machine, and all tracks have been made available by the stated blog or by the artist themselves

since the purpose of this is discovery, i have provided links to the blogs and the relavent post, so you yourself can compile the same mixtape in a type of digitally based scavenger hunt... sharing a little love for blogs and for new artists that i find along the way

September's mixtape is the sound of the last embers of Summer, bright evenings drawing to a close, the first glimpses of winter waiting around the corner and catching you unaware on a chilly morning, shocking you into digging out the warmer layers and sticking the heating on when yesterday you was parading around in shorts still.

It is the sound of repressed chill wave and dub beats, fidgetting dance, block party bangers, multicultural electicness and more besides, taking you on a journey that reflects the time of year and my current tastes.

Massive love to the blogs that have expanded my musical horizons so far, and thanks to Ian Byford who shall be providing the artwork for the first three mixtapes in this new series.


1. Bear Mountain - Congo (available via The Morning After)
2. Joor Nith - Going Home (available via acid ted)
3. mvnners - we stay in, it rains all night (available via deepmuzik)
4. Dickystixxx - Make Me Feel Better (available via Caveman Sound)
5. Iamnobodi - Maputo Dance (available via Spread The Word 96')
6. Sidi Touri - Bon Koum (available via Draw Us Lines)
7. Psapp - Everything Belongs To The Sun (available via Burl Veneer Music)
8. The Gremlins and Primal - Criminal Scum (THE GREMLINS GOT FED AFTER MIDNIGHT VIP) (available via Bwomp! Beats)
9. DJ Snake x Yellow Claw x Spanker - Slow Down (available via Dani Deahl)
10. J.Nolan - Coming Down (Crash The Internet) (available via Word Is Bond)
11. Old Haunt - Ghost Town (available via Wake The Deaf)
12. Yoofs - Hazy dayz (available via Hearing Gold)


In the tracklisting above are links to the artist's bandcamp/soundcloud/website if you click on their name, and clicking on the track name or blog link will direct you to where I originally encountered their music, good luck hunting it all down...





And keep an eye out for Octobers instalment reflecting the darker time of year.

E.m.m.a: Blue Gardens

As an 80s baby, the 16 and 8-bit noises of old consoles and gameboys will always tug at my heart strings, wrestling me from this interconnected world and taking me back to a time when the Tetris end screen figured pretty highly into my life goals.

Enter E.m.m.a, wielding a debut album that swings wildly for my memories, taking swipes at my past both distant and more recent, Kirby's Dreamhouse and Streets of Rage are mashed up with the pirate radio stations that used to blast out of our 6th form common room and the garage nights where a friend of a friend that owned their own decks and a boxful of vinyls would provide the gateway drug to real going out when we'd finally all turn 18.

Chuck in some Notting Hill carnival vibes for good measure and a healthy dose of Burial style dubstep and that pretty much sums up the listening experience, an experience that feels tailor made to my own personal tastes. Whilst the experimentation with chip-tune may be nothing original, the way it is presented here certainly feels different, atmospheric yet edgy, a balance of light and dark, dreamy soundscapes and devastating bass.

And I doubt I could tire of it, seemingly fresh and yet overwhelmingly nostalgic, for me at least, those that haven't revelled in a fondness for clubbing and late 80s/early 90s gaming may not understand the virtues I am extolling, but others of my generation will surely find this to be a culturally rich sonic masterpiece.