
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…

We’ve been waiting for a new LP from Tchotchke, and now we know there’s one is coming, what with a brace of new songs. The latest new track has a fun glam-boogie beat and is the usual great bubblegum rock that we love so much from the girls. It’s called ‘Poor Girl’ and press play…

The influence of African music on pop culture is obvious, but it really feels like it has been roundly overlooked in full discourse. Either way, the influence is evident on the new track from Ghanaian/American singer, Amaarae’s new single. Melding R&B, dance, afrobeats, pop and more, Amaarae has been turning heads with forward thinking music,…

The Kokoroko collective have shared a fine new track by the name of ‘Just Can’t Wait’, which is taken from the imminent ‘Tuff Times Never Last’ LP, which is due out on July 11th. Not long to wait! “It’s a song with a congregational feeling for the steppers,” says Sheila Maurice-Grey, which is exactly the…

As much as R&B is one of our favourite genres, it’d be remiss of us to not acknowledge that it falls for fashionable tropes a little too often. This is one of the pitfalls for a genre that is so keen to innovate and stay on the cutting edge, as artists and producers indulge in…
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