Absorbing rather than alienating, feel-filled instead of soul drainingly self-indulgent, and valuing honesty over obfuscation and pretentiousness: Artery is the kind of album you’ll be listening to until you’re old and grey if you afford it the time to sink beneath your skin. Read more…
Although I’ve already reviewed Simeon Baker’s EP, I wanted to come back to this brilliant piece of acoustic virtuoso mastery and bask in its rays for a bit. Read more…
Since I reviewed Marco Minnemann’s latest album EEPS, I’ve become more and more intrigued by the world of drumming and rhythm. Lush harmonies, hooky melodies, and touching lyricism are all great things – but a great groove makes you want to move, and gets your body as well as your mind engaged. Traditional songwriting usually appeals to the intellect, but it’s rhythm that really connects with the heart – aka the body’s rhythmic centre. Read more…
The Bellerophon Project certainly know how to pack every last microsecond with something, whether it be hyper-distorted, none-more-syncopated riffage, elegantly soaring synthetic layers, jazzy and serene clean tones, or even – on occasion – silence. Read more…
Today has not been a good day. Less than an hour in, and the minutes have all been uniformly packed with stress. My mind’s agitated, and my nerves are shot.
At least, they were. All I can say is, thank God for artists like Steven Gizzi. Read more…
Since founding TMMP, I’ve been forced to cut the phrase “I’ve seen it all” from my vocabulary. Although I already knew that the world of music is an incredibly vast and varied space before starting the journey chronicled via this blog, I really didn’t think I could be surprised any more.
Needless to say, I was very wrong.
Mind Over Matter is a heavy-duty genre-terrorising masterclass from a virtuosically talented multi-instrumentalist. Whatever you’re into, you’ll probably find it shoved mercilessly into Mind Over Matter at some point, not to mention delivered with immensely delicious style and idiosyncratic talent. This isn’t merely a collage of cool stuff – each section flows into the next almost seamlessly, and where there are sudden tangential shifts it’s obviously a consciously chosen act of creative decision-making. Overall, Mind Over Matter is just jaw-dropping, and almost as addictive as those drugs your parents and teachers always warned you to stay away from. Read more…
As this blog’s name suggests, I love variety. Nothing gets my ears twitching and brain cells firing quite as readily as the discovery of a fresh new band capable of delivering healthy doses of genre-hopping brilliance. Parachute For Gordo are, therefore, a godsend to me. Read more…
Genrebomb and the Boileroom are always a great combination if you’re looking for an epic night out. Throw in local promoters GU1 PUNX, and you’ve got something really special; an eclectic evening of varied and exciting bands. Read more…
In a world so dominated by and dependent upon the Internet, Afterlight‘s opening tune Antisocial Media is a uniquely intriguing musical statement. Its followers are no less effective: Vocal-free and well produced, each track manages to capture the thoughts, ideas and insights associated with its respective title while working as a downbeat but welcoming piece of music. Read more…
This is an instrumental math/noise EP, and the collective name under which its creators work references anime (either this TV show or this movie – or perhaps both?).
No matter what the mainstream magazines might have you believe, it just doesn’t get any cooler than this. Read more…