
EarthGang are great – they’re about as psychedelic as hip hop gets in the current climate, mixing elastic funk with future trap, and generally, they’re making people who yearn for the times of Missy and OutKast very happy indeed. ‘Mirrorland’ is one of the great modern hip hop LPs and they’ve been releasing stuff since…

Arguably the best group to come from the Indie Sleaze period are Brazil’s CSS, who managed to manage their spontaneity with fabulous grooves and playfulness. For the first time in over a decade, they’re going to be doing a European tour called ‘It’s Been A Number Of Years’, which it has! Remember how good ‘Off…

Oh, the fractured and chequered history of the mighty Sugababes. There’s been six members, and you could only really argue that four of them really count, and the puritans, three. Obviously, the holy trinity are Mutya, Keisha and Siobhàn, but Heidi’s tenure involves some of the group’s most iconic moments, even if deep in our…

BBE Music put out good shit, and if you’ve heard their J-Jazz compilations, you’ll know that they’re some of the finest, most adventurous comps around. In addition to that, they’ve put out a brilliant book chronicling Japanese jazz called J Jazz: Free and Modern Jazz From Japan 1954-1988, which is a look at some super…

Khruangbin are back everyone, and yes, they’re wigs! The new song is called ‘May Ninth’ and, for fans of the trio’s sound, it sounds like Khruangbin, so no worries – they’ve not pivoted to sounding like dubstep or anything. It’s taken from the imminent ‘A La Sala’ and it’s gently psychedelic, woozy stuff. The album…

It’s 2001 and the USA, UK and pals are carpet bombing the Middle East. January, George Dubya Bush is sworn in thanks to some hanging chads, Apple launches iTunes and, later that year, 9/11 would change everything forever. While US democracy looked shaky, while war saw people taking to the streets in protest, people set…

When Mr Bongo say they’ve got a record in and describe it as “a heavy Boogie-Funk gem from 1984”, your ears should really prick up. That track is ‘Take A Chance’ by Marshall Titus (re-issued by Peoples Potential Unlimited), and it slaps. If you’re into super hot, sleazy ’80s disco that’s got a whiff of the…

It’s tough out here in these music criticism streets. If you have staff that need paying, you need to get the clicks in so the ad revenue, revenues. Is writing reviews about up-and-coming artists who might be future superstars going to cut it? Well, you have to wait ’til they become famous, and then link…

Mclusky have a small but devoted fanbase and, rightly so, even if occasionally the reaction to adoration from the band can seem fractious at times. It’s all part of nervous, tense fun, obviously. They’ve announced a new album called ‘The World Is Still Here and So Are We’, which is their first in 21 years.…

Pearl Charles is great. She’s made shimmering ’70s pop, glitterball disco, and cosmic singer-songwritery stuff. It’s the latter that her latest release errs on the side of, and it’s one of her best songs to date! She’s been working with the brilliant Michael Rault on her new music, and ‘Step Too Far’ is a brooding,…

Kanye has been at it recently and a lot of people have been talking about him being off the meds, which illness his brain has, how he’s not been the same since his mother died, and on and on and on and on and on and… It’s obvious that attention is one of the major…

Look, you should already be subscribed to BANDSPLAINING on YouTube. If you’re not, this is your heads-up. The latest video explains Library Music, so if you’ve been jonesing for someone to dissect what it is, what’s good about it, and who it influenced, this is a great primer to get you going. If you’re already…
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