Five Songs for Winter

It's mid November (how did that happen?), but as Glasgow residents will know, winter here lasts from October to about March. I like winter - although I prefer it drier than Glasgow's - which has so far plunged the city into a cycle of continuously grey skies, intermittent mild rain, and absurdly violent wind. Thanks to my upcoming … Continue reading Five Songs for Winter →

Prurient – Frozen Niagara Falls

As an amateur noise enthusiast, I was vaguely interested in Dominick Fernow's main project Prurient back in his long-haired howling feedback with a microphone and an amplifier days, but it wasn't until Bermuda Drain that I became enraptured. That album is basically a darkwave/noise crossover record, a nightmarish vision of synthpop, and I was very into it. Frozen Niagara Falls feels like a magnum opus for … Continue reading Prurient – Frozen Niagara Falls →

Björk – Vulnicura

I realised a couple of years ago that I quite like Björk. Of course, I only realised this after I had already accidentally collected every one of her non-soundtrack albums. This is the kind of weird situation I find myself in sometimes when I buy more records than I can actually absorb in reasonable time. Vulnicura … Continue reading Björk – Vulnicura →

Jeff Bridges – Sleeping Tapes

Sleeping Tapes is - get this - an ambient spoken word concept record from Jeff Bridges, noted actor and all round cool dude, in collaboration with prolific composer Keefus Ciancia. Created as a website/album for a Squarespace ad campaign and sold on a donation basis, its profits go to Jeff's charity campaign, No Kid Hungry. It's also … Continue reading Jeff Bridges – Sleeping Tapes →

Torche – Restarter

While I couldn't help but fall in love with Torche's previous full-length, Harmonicraft, that record did represent a conscious shift toward the band's poppier and more accessible influences. Despite the warm day-glow punk euphoria of that album, the lack of their signature crunchy "bomb string" guitar was noted with some sadness. Their Harmonslaught single from that same year … Continue reading Torche – Restarter →

Pyramids – A Northern Meadow

Recently some mainstream folks have been really excited about Deafheaven, a kind of indie/shoegaze-inflected take on black metal that undeniably has its merits. Personally I don't really get the big deal. There have been bands doing interesting and more palatable versions of black metal for years, and they haven't risen to the same level of … Continue reading Pyramids – A Northern Meadow →

Siskiyou – Nervous

The music of Siskiyou hit me in an unexpected place a few years ago, and it continues to do so. It's somehow been four years since the last release, and three years since I first picked up their self-titled. Reading the story of Colin Huebert's recent health troubles with sound sensitivity, you might think Nervous would somehow … Continue reading Siskiyou – Nervous →