...operates on a smaller scale than previously, dealing with stand-up comedians as opposed to rock stars (A Star Is Born) or master conductors (Maestro). Thus it feels like a return to the roots, an origin story for an ordinary but talented Joe who gets his break. He’s more interested in the neurotically funny camaraderie of a street-level scene, rather than the curse of individual high-functioning genius.
Yearly Archives: 2026
172 posts
Mattias brings his trademark textural sax and synth backdrops while Black Koyo bring the ritual chants, guimbri (a three-string bass lute), the qraqeb (a kind of metal castanet) and a sense of mystery. Together, these disparate acts make a six-part suite that offers Gnawa traditionals in expansive and often dreamlike settings.
To their credit, the film-makers at least try to build a more interesting arc for its central character than the simplistic 1980s cartoon ever bothered with; then it blows up his colourful world into three dimensions, telling his tale in a mostly playful register cribbed most obviously from Thor: Ragnarok.
The initial impetus for Green Prism came from composer Hilary Jeffery asking the late Keith Tippett to compose some music for Berlin-based group Zinc & Copper. This was originally premiered in Berlin in 2019, but unfortunately Keith was too ill to attend and sadly died soon after. In a form of tribute, Hilary took some of the pieces that Keith wrote and re-imagined them for a brass ensemble.
With getting on for forty people lined up to play covering trumpets, trombones and horns as well as reeds, viola, percussion and keyboards, their first album, The New Atomic, is a wild and unpredictable ride taking in big band swing, soundtrack tension, bluesy stomps, funky soul stylings and even torch song jazz.
The last forty years seem to have treated the members of the Loft well and with their musical history put through a prism of those years, the quality of the song-writing and playing shines through. Two albums in twelve months is good going and by the strength of this there will be more to come.
I knew I’d love this even before listening and when played its bleached-out summery disposition wove quite a spell, blistered with unexpected alt-pop moments that ear-wormed in the there and remained. So glad to see this back in print coupled with its reworked cousin
They wish to bring these classic folk forms into the twenty-first century and although there is still something ancient in the tone, there is enough modern inspiration and desire for deconstruction to make Vindespel resonate with today’s listener.
...plasticised blurs affixed to a melodic underling. Enveloped and overlapping textures feed in some nice weirded-out drone candy, slamming to full-on rock-out surprise before getting softly celestial. Intriguing shapes stippled and percussively bubbled, fluxing in hissy transits and snake-charmed loops.
...Both sides show the band working well but in different ways and the more you play, the more you discover... with five members bringing ideas and two vocalists with contrasting approaches, you know the outcome will be diverse.
...it’s time to commence one of the best weekends in London for lovers of all that’s loud and heavy, as Desertfest celebrates fifteen years of taking over Camden venues and turning them into temples to The Riff
...they have constructed four pieces over two volumes that use rhythmic repetition and respectful interplay to propel the listener into previously unconsidered realms. With trumpeter Ellen Kirkwood and sax man Matt Otignon as well as incisive drummer Evan Mannell, these extended improvisatory journeys are a breathtaking discovery.
Strange angels pouring into the on-screen fractal shapes and patterned orbits. Jarboe silhouetted, long hair flowing over her face, upturned hands to her solemnly pointed words, occasionally raising them in alter-like reverence to the intensity
... it’s hard to advise against grabbing all three of these quite limited Brown Spirits reissues in one go. Whilst your bank account and storage space might not thank you in the moment, your ears will do long into the future.
...the perfect encapsulation of their ability to wrap the elements of boredom and frustration in a fizzy coating that makes the truth easier to swallow. The whole album can be taken in one sitting and then played again straight away while other bands are still lumbering to a conclusion. Power Of Now is well worth the effort.
...an agricultural dystopia with drones derived from snoring livestock and battered tractors to create an otherworldly sonic texture suggesting sleeping horrors to be awakened.
Recorded at the Church Of The Immaculate Conception in Budapest, this suite of pieces fuses circular breathing techniques, intense rhythmic attack and percussive textures into a whole that flickers across light and dark as if watching a projector film of seabirds at play.
...hiccuping hypnotics and slivering interchange shot through with darkened instabilities. A heady otherness The Stargazer’s Assistant have been worshipping from the get-go, imbued with ghostly burrs and vocalising vapour, spidering into a noisy abstractive rub.