
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…

Steve Albini is no longer with us, but his productions remain. And the last record he was working on was one with FACS, and you can hear some of the fruits of that labour right now. It’s a skuzzy, angular thing called ‘Wish Defense’ and there’ll be a new album of the same name out…

What is there to say about Quincy Jones that everyone hasn’t already said since his passing this weekend? What an extraordinary human and what a life! He produced ‘Thriller’, which is enough for any other mere mortal, but he worked for 75 glorious years, including 28 Grammies, collaborations with Sinatra, Ray Charles, helped shape ‘We…

The wonderful Pet Shop Boys have announced a new set of fine bone china, because why the hell not? They’re the Pet Shop Boys – they can do whatever they want. This set celebrates their first release and is part of the ‘Pet Shop Boys Since 1984’ range and was designed by Farrow, along with the…

Yacht Rock is, whether you like it or not, a very specific thing with a specific set of parameters. There’s a jazziness too it, a smooth groove, usually flashy musicians trying to keep it tasteful, and there’s a whole list of songs which help you learn what these songs are from the people who coined…
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