Malumi – ‘Monsters And Fireflies’ [Review]

Malumi - Monsters And Fireflies - Album Review

A jack of all trades is a master of none.

Or so we’re told. It sounds like common sense – and it is. But common sense isn’t always accurate.

Between them, Klaire de Lys and Sara Rose have almost every art, craft, and entertainment-related outlet covered. From comedy writing and lifestyle blogging to award-winning YouTube makeup tutorials, fantasy novels, webcomics, sculpture, visual art, and a head-spinning range of future projects in the pipeline, Klaire and Sara are both pretty busy, to say the least.

So, that makes them jacks (or Jills?) of multiple trades. Following the apparently immutable logic of common sense, Malumi and their debut album Monsters And Fireflies should be mediocre at best. This review, in turn, should be Read more…

Posted on 16 March 2016

Hayden Calnin – ‘Cut Love Pt.1’ [Review]

Hayden Calnin - Cut Love - Review

With so much hectic intensity permeating TMMP of late, it’s time to bring things back down for a bit.

Hayden Calnin has been billed as Australia’s answer to Bon Iver – and the comparison certainly fits. Fans of Cinematic Orchestra will also find themselves immediately at Read more…

Posted on 04 March 2016

DNKL – ‘Otherside’ [Review]

DNKL

Strutting urbanized beats. Smoothly flowing synth melodies. Spacious and epic vibes. Sparsely and perfectly placed vocals. Music tailor-made for long city walks, laser-lit clubs, and bouncing beach parties on idyllic islands.

Sound like your thing?

Then Read more…

Posted on 15 September 2015

Matt Emery – ‘L For Luna (Turtle Rework)’ [Review]

Matt Emery

Things have been a tad intense on TMMP recently – so here’s something much more chilled.

Matt Emery made a real impact during a recent live set supporting Portico at Read more…

Posted on 29 April 2015

Portico (ft. Jono McCleery) / Sea Stacks / Matt Emery [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 13/3/15]

portico press shotThis past Friday night, Guildford’s residents were offered a prime opportunity to catch three fascinating acts in the act of creating incredible music. It’s rare to experience a gig crammed this full of uncategorizable music – but then, the Boileroom isn’t your average venue. Kudos first has to go to the booking brains behind this show; that kind of talent isn’t Read more…

Posted on 14 March 2015

Naomi Scott / Fifi Rong / Geovarn / Princess Slayer / Jungle Doctors / Bella Figura [Live Review – Under The Bridge, London, 26/2/2015]

music week radarAs a music venue embedded into Stamford Bridge (the stadium called home by Chelsea F.C.), Under the Bridge was an appropriately unique venue for this unique show. An industry showcase set up by trade paper Music Week, networking hub MusicConnex, promoters ILUVLIVE, and south coast music school BIMM, it goes without saying that the high-profile nature of this show inevitably brought its own special set of performance pressures. A quality showcase set has the potential to push an act to the next level, while a duff performance can see a band crossed off “Ones To Watch” lists in the blink of an eye.

On top of the potential for mind-freezing attacks of performance anxiety, this was not Read more…

Posted on 27 February 2015

Beardyman [Interview]

beardyman press

Imagine you’re a beatboxer. You’re pretty good, so you enter the UK Beatbox Championships. You win. You eat, breathe, sleep and sweat beatboxing for a solid year before returning. You win again. Things get a bit crazy. A comedy video you made in a kitchen gets uploaded to YouTube (as freshly purchased by Google). In time, it will attract over 5 million views.

Over the next several years, you take solo beatboxing as far as it can possibly be taken. You play underground comedy clubs, TV shows, festivals. Your YouTube presence grows. You begin experimenting with live looping technology, battling not rival MCs but inefficient circuitry and user interfaces in the name of getting the ideas in your head into other people’s earholes. You find yourself in a studio, recording an eclectic collection of tracks that takes in everything from dubstep and hip-hop to almost every international folk music style recorded by history. Your debut album gets released; it sells nicely.

Finally, you hit on a pair of serious problems.  Read more…

Posted on 26 February 2015

Tusks – ‘Ink EP’ [Review]

tusks ink epSometimes, an EP is so good that you can’t quite get your head around it. So Read more…

Posted on 17 January 2015

Eliza Doolittle & THOS / Bat and Ball / Tweed & Hyenas / Tusks [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 9/1/15]

smile for hattiThe fact that this show even happened is a true testament to the strength and indomitable passion of its organisers. Few life experiences are as devastating as losing a friend or family member to cancer; when that happens, most of us would become too overwhelmed to function, and with good reason. Nobody would have blamed Tom Morley and the team behind Smile For Hatti (a campaign set up to support the courageous and inspiring Hatti Sandall, who sadly passed away only three days before this gig) had they rescheduled or cancelled this fundraiser – but they didn’t. For that, they deserve all the respect in the world – not to mention the sheer success of this awesome event, which raised over £2000 for Smile For Hatti (which is in the process of becoming a new charity, to which future donations will be directed) and Sarcoma UK.

As far as opening acts go, Read more…

Posted on 10 January 2015

TMMP’s Top Albums Of 2014

The “death of the album” has been declared many times in recent years – but nonetheless, musicians keep making them and are showing no signs of stopping (and thank God for that!). Almost a decade and a half into the twenty-first century, there still exist bands and artists capable of composing immersive, engaging, and fully satisfying collections of songs that stand up to repeated, unshuffled listens. Here are fifteen of them. Read more…

Posted on 29 December 2014

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