100 words music reviews
On her maximalist fourth album, Gaye Su Akyol again makes expressive use of the burnt tremor in her voice, this time singing directly to Istanbul. Through its baroque psych-rock, the record blazes through its themes without deference to taste and/or accessibility. This is certainly Akyol’s most anti-pop album to date, as she takes the scenic […]
Drugdealer makes no secret of his musical influences, jokingly describing his brand as ‘Derivative Rock’. The multi-instrumentalist toes the line between tasteful pastiche and total plagiarism of 70s soft rock, but comes with enough charm to make ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ a joy. His third record brings a funkier edge to his psychedelic sound and […]
HHSCFETWAS is, in a word, busy. Ashanti Mutinta has now charged three records with her tectonic energy—here, we are pulled through to the trilogy’s cataclysmic end. For all that this record is, it is hip-hop first. It’s a shame that this album provides its least inspiring elements in that genre. The beats don’t offer enough […]
“Landing bolts” is a skating term that means executing a trick perfectly with both feet on the bolts of the board. Hagop Tchaparian uses the skate aesthetic, but his debut album is frayed, not clean. He is concerned with the gravity of thought before pumping blood; Bolts sets up its bold techno ambushes with considerable […]
The singles from The Beths’ latest record feature rousing riffs lightly glazed with an optimistic grunge (it exists, by the way). The ocean into which those singles were flowing, Expert in a Dying Field, shouldn’t necessarily be better, but greater. It’s that memorable critique of indie albums, that I feel hesitant to write: a lot […]
Speedy Wunderground, record label/verb. to rise with acclaim, while wearing expensive-looking baggy clothes and having a shaky voice. Label manager Dan Carey (previous producer for Franz Ferdinand, black midi, Fontaines D.C. and TOY) has a definite ‘type’. This is an impassioned debut album with riveting moments that nonetheless needs a weightier voice. To make more […]
On a fascinating collaboration, Joe Armon-Jones and Mala play with their lighter sides without sacrificing the undercutting darkness of dub. It’s central pitfall is that it works with the odds: the stakes are low and the payoff is expected. But it would be rude to say too much more—this is a gently titillating listening experience […]
There’s a playfulness to ‘Hour of Green Everything’’s opener. It feels like a scratchy video of childhood, that is then taped over by the adolescent angst of track two. The Chris Isaak/Radiohead influence at the beginning of the album is a little on the nose, feeling like a timid recreation, hesitant to delve or truly […]
Wu-Lu’s South London is being gutted: the vibrance that gave it a life is now filtered through unforgiving pipes of amoral opportunism. However, ‘LOGGERHEAD’ is a lone howl, not a rallying cry. It is the second storm that followed the first. The instruments embody this anxious, angular self-reflection, but Wu-Lu’s vocal performances are often swallowed […]
100 words music reviews 