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Showing posts from March, 2019

Anteros, When We Land, Album Review

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Anteros When We Land Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple music Anteros is a band that I have been aware of now for quite some time. But rather than knowing them through any previous recordings or Spotify suggestions, I was lucky enough to see Anteros live when the group headlined a show in Brighton which I will always remember fondly as one of the very last shows I would see at Sticky Mikes Frog Bar prior to the venue closing for good on New Year's Eve. So with that being said, I was definitely looking forward to the release of the very first full-length album from this incredible group. Just as an overview of what Anteros are like stylistically, they have a fantastic sense of charisma and coolness to them. Listening to them is a lot like listening to Wolf Alice or Black Honey, only their sound is far more authentic and raw. A lot of the tracks on When We Land also have a nice sense of warmth to them, making it a very good listen with the spri

Jafaris, Stride, Album Review

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Jafaris Stride Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music This debut full-length release from Irish rap artist Jafaris, Stride was an album recommended to me through Spotify, and one that I have been meaning to review for quite some time now. My initial thoughts in terms of the up and coming nature of Jafaris himself was one that reminded me a fair bit of the American rap artist Buddy and his masterpiece of a 2018 album Harlan & Alondra . And when skipping over the album slightly for the first time, I did indeed get a few inklings of the same kind of aesthetic, both in the mixture of rapping and vocals as well as its soulful production. But when delving deeper into Stride , theres a somewhat darker and more thought-provoking piece than what may lie on the surface. It gave me the impression that this album (similarly to another amazing rap album released this month) was one that stands as a very self-reflective record. You could clearly tell that

Mark Morton, Anaesthetic, Album Review

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Mark Morton Anaesthetic Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music This latest solo project from Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton is an interesting one of that and had me intrigued from the moment I heard the incredible teaser track "Cross Off" which you could tell was in development for a long time thanks to the overall quality of the finished track and the guest feature from Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, who did his part and more on this brilliant song before his unfortunate passing. I can never say that I am that knowledgeable of the Lamb of God discography without telling a great white lie. But one thing I do know is that Mark Morton shows just how talented and versatile he is as a guitarist with this album. He certainly achieves a great diversity with Anaesthetic and allows each track to be instrumentally tailored to suit each member of the impressive cast of guest features. The vocal talents that aid Mark Morton in this pr

Foals, Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Album Review

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Foals Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Album Review   Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Not only was a new record from Foals one of the most highly anticipated things of mine for 2019, but ever since I listened to their phenomenal previous album "What Went Down" which was released way back in 2015. Not only were my prayers for a new Foals album answered with the announcement of this album and the release of their single "Exits", but also with the promise of yet another album following it in the later half os this year. That's right folks, we are being promised not one, but two Foals albums in 2019! Given that the title of this album is the first part of a two-part project, I wasn't expecting any more than 7 tracks or so. However, this latest release provides fans with quite a generous helping with  all things considered. Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost has a total of ten tracks if you include its interlude;

Sundara Karma, Ulfilas' Alphabet, Album Review

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Sundara Karma Ulfilas' Alphabet Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music What could quite possibly be two of the best albums of the year so far came out this Friday just gone. One of which was the phenomenal step forward for Little Simz in the form of GREY Area  and the other being this album. But while I have been aware of Little Simz and her music for quite some time, this band is far more of a newfound artist that I have spontaneously and rapidly learned to adore. While the name "Sundara Karma" has been swimming around in my life for a fair while, the closed minded and naive side of myself would register this group as just another indie band. But that was until I came across the music video for one of this albums teaser track "Higher States" which quickly became one of my favourite tracks of last month (technically it came out at the very end of January but I digress). And with that, I discovered a more recent teaser s

How The Prodigy changed the way I see music (A tribute to Keith Flint)

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How The Prodigy changed the way I see music A tribute to Keith Flint Today, death unfortunately caught up to another superstar. Keith Flint, the clown-haired mastermind and vocalist for punk-rave pioneers The Prodigy has passed away, age 49. With the group releasing their latest record No Tourists  only back in November of last year, I can imagine that this must've been very sudden to a lot of people. And looking back on it now, I definitely don't think I'd be nearly as much of a creative person and have such a diverse palette for different genres if it weren't for Mr Flint and The Prodigy. The overall craziness of their aesthetic was one of the few musical things to really wow me as a kid. The first track I remember listening to from The Prodigy was either "Firestarter" and "Breathe". It's still quite foggy as to which one I liked first, but one thing I do remember clearly was that I seemed to like both for the same reasons.

Little Simz, GREY Area, Album Review

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Little Simz GREY Area Album Review Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music The first I had heard of UK rap artist Little Simz was when she was announced as the support act for a live show from Gorillaz at The Brighton Centre back in late 2017. That being said, I was interested enough that I ended up listening to and enjoying her 2016 record Stillness in Wonderland as well as the Gorillaz cut that she features on titled "Garage Palace". But with 2019 on the horizon, Little Simz heralded the coming of a new record with a handful of teaser tracks which presented a far more fleshed-out sound and seemed extremely promising. And now that this latest record GREY Area is finally here, I must say than it is even better than I expected. The whole album carries through the fleshed-out sound I mentioned earlier when looking back on the teaser tracks. Its far more of a gritty, reflective and thought provoking album than the more colourful Stillness in Wonderland ,