There’s a feeling of spring in the air and festivals both online and live are tantalisingly looming on the horizon. The following week is good place to begin, with a brand new event to go out online. Called Gŵyl 2021, it showcases contributions from four Welsh festivals: Focus Wales, Festival of Voice, Aberystwyth Comedy Festival…
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The final, outstanding release of the London based experimental duo Tomaga will be unveiled on 26th March. Tomaga – Tom Relleen and Valentina Magaletti – worked together since 2013. This work titled Intimate Immensity was finished just before Tom’s passing in August 2020 and distils two years of new creative enhancement. The tracks which have…
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The Calder Valley, West Yorkshire is a veritable hotbed of talented new artists. So when a well-loved venue runs into financial difficulties, local bands rally to help. Working Men’s Club and W H Lung have contributed exclusive tracks to help the Golden Lion in Todmorden. Yes, Todmorden’s The Golden Lion has set up its own…
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The Besnard Lakes don’t make things easy for themselves, publicity wise. The new album which launched on January 2021, The Besnard Lakes are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings isn’t a title that fits neatly into social media posts, as I’m sure they know. But the Canadian outfit don’t particularly care – nothing is…
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The Weather Station has released a new single and video called Atlantic, from forthcoming album Ignorance (5th February on Fat Possum). The Weather Station is a project lead by Canadian singer songwriter Tamara Lindeman. This latest work is intensely personal (Tamara also directed the video) and it captures the present mood of uncertainty, with climate…
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Let’s go with the positive. This year there has been a plethora of amazing new music from artists both well established and emerging. For many people, listening to music has been a lifeline to turn to in these troubled times. And with lockdown, some have been able to rediscover the pleasure of playing an album…
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The simple and rather beautiful drawing on the cover of Waves of Haste offers a hint of what awaits listeners of this new album by Danish artist Hjalte Ross, his second so far. The illustration by Kasper Eistrup is of the head of a young man – perhaps Hjalte himself. He is lying on a…
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Alabaster dePlume new release To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol 1 on Lost Map Records in collaboration with Chicago-based avant-jazz label International Anthem and the Total Refreshment Centre in London. I had to check if this was the same Alabaster dePlume who sang a couple of humorous songs at a Union Chapel daytime session I attended. Although there couldn’t…
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If you haven’t heard Danish singer songwriter Hjalte Ross before, Thinking About You, his latest track, is a good place to start. Opening with an upbeat blast of brass that gives way to Ross’s surprisingly deep and soulful vocals, the path leads you further on into a gorgeously expansive piano section. Thinking About You takes…
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It has been a thrill in these dark times to hear the announcement of new music from The Besnard Lakes. The Montreal band’s impending album, to be unveiled 29 January 2021, is titled – in their typical prog-influenced style – The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings. I’ve been obsessed with…
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