Now that it’s been three years since David Bowie’s death, festivals and tributes have become more of a celebration rather than the genuine loss felt in the direct aftermath. Like the passing of Prince a […]
Category: Gig previews
Get in there a day early – Open Ear jumps the gun on NYE
With much of the summer taken up by blockbuster festivals that simply hoover up all the biggest buzz bands to sell tickets, or a big race to the middle of road, Open Ear is a […]
Mango x Mathman’s last taps-aff rave of the year
Around a year ago I interviewed duo Mango x Mathman about the amazing 2017 they’d had — and they’ve only gone and doubled and tripled their efforts this year. From their usual festival shut-downs, to […]
Fontaines DC: Taking Liberties
Dublin punk act Fontaines DC started 2018 with an underground ‘ones to watch’ ripple, and ended the year with four brilliant EPs unapologetically rooted to their Liberties roots, cock-sure festival performances and support slots with […]
DENZEL CURRY: Punching up through SoundCloud
It seems odd that Florida hip-hop star Denzel Curry made his name as a figurehead in SoundCloud rap — with him crossing over into the relative mainstream with reviews and interviews on all the big […]
Gangsta rap revivalist YG keeping it Cocky
Compton gangsta rap revivalist YG did his bit for political discourse in 2016 with his anti-Trump hit-job FDT (you can guess what he did there), and his Still Brazy album was a narrative-driven deep listening […]
Julia Holter’s constant reinvention
Julia Holter’s latest album Aviary opens with Turn the Lights On – a wall of sound that sounds like a passage in a Swans song when they’re in full transcendent mode. And it gets more […]
Low Sea: Like the Drive soundtrack reimagined by Mazzy Star
Ireland-based duo Low Sea cast a dusky coldwave dream pop spell on their third album Portals, out this month after years on hiatus. The album is another dip into wispy synths, high-fret post-punk basslines and […]
Don’t expect a safe space at a Lauryn Hill show
The 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is one of the all-time classics — but it’s also an album that Hill ran from for nearly 20 years. It’s a classic crossover record that blurs […]
Ulrich Schnauss: Been there, drone that
German producer Ulrich Schnauss has been making outlier electronic music for around 20 years, with a droney ambience that recalls the more delicate passages of Tim Hecker or Brian Eno. Earlier albums channelled floaty Tangerine […]
Christine and the Queens: Getting to the art of pop
French artist Heloise Letissier takes the art of pop music seriously, saying her new album Chris is an attempt to “give justice to being someone complex in the pop world”. Her second record as Christine […]
Good Karma: Boy George still looking ahead
At a recent gig, Boy George introduced Culture Club as “a soul-funk-pop-reggae combo from the United Kingdom, where we have two queens”. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but Culture Club are so much more […]
Objekt’s hyperreal techno abstractions
Berlin-based producer and DJ Objekt has just released one of the best electronic albums of the year, and it’ll end up in many of the cross-genre lists over next few weeks. Cocoon Crush is a […]
SCIENTIST’S COSMIC DUB JOURNEYS
Overton Brown scored his Scientist nickname for being one of Jamaica’s most technically gifted producers, a second generation dub wizard who took King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry’s teachings into far-out cosmic territory. His presentation […]
Praise be to Shame…
Along with IDLES and the more erratic Fat White Family, Shame are another English lad guitar band who are thankfully miles outside the usual dead-end indie-rock channels that have all but smothered guitar music’s grip […]
Moo Kid 