Posts by William Lewis

[rating=7.00] Sean Carey may have spent much of his career caught in the formidable gravitational pull of the infinite mass that is Justin Vernon as “that other guy from Bon Iver”, but such designations are perhaps unfair. His solo career as S. Carey has produced a body of work that stands on its own, forcing […]

[rating=8.00] It’s perhaps no coincidence that both Seun and Femi Kuti – the sons of Nigerian Afrobeat legend and pioneer Fela Kuti – have both released new albums a week apart in the wake of the raging success and subsequent high-profile discourse surrounding Marvel’s Black Panther. It’s a film that brought the grievances toward colonialism, […]

[rating=9.00] When Marlon Williams’ excellent and critically acclaimed self-titled album was released two years ago the narrative around it was predictably uniform, is a Kiwi the greatest hope for Americana country and folk music? The New Zealander’s sound was easy to fall in love with as he evoked the great 50s and 60s voices of […]

[rating=8.00] Campfires and the cosmos feel like they share something fundamental at their core. Mysterious and elemental, they can conjure great loneliness and deep belonging; an eternal catharsis lying in the beauty of their steadfast indifference to the affairs of humans. One often burning in futile defiance beneath its colossal heavenly cousins, the two join […]

[rating=7.00] Tune-Yards and driving force Merril Garbus have always done two things very well, experiment with sound and style to undeniably innovative results and produce whip-like commentary through the music’s wordplay. I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life is no different with Garbus, now officially joined by bassist Nate Brenner as a duo, […]

[rating=7.00] Five years it’s been since we last saw a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club record. It’s a lengthy spell between meals for any band, but it somehow feels right for the California rockers. It seems an age since they burst onto the scene with B.R.M.C. in 2001 and it’s been a long and often bumpy road. Theirs […]

[rating=6.00] Music and politics has a weird relationship. Of that there is no doubt. Inextricably linked and invariably representative of the vast diversity inherent in both aspects of life, over the years music has worked as vehicle social and political change, a powerful tool of protest, a precious cultural asset and a controversial subject in […]

Go to the Youtube video of The War on Drugs’ performing “Holding On”- the lead single to their new album A Deeper Understanding – on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and you’ll find a wonderfully droll top comment, “needs more guitars and keyboards”. It’s not being particularly critical or mean, just simply a humorous […]

[rating=8.00] Prolific, acclaimed and consistent; Stephen Wilkinson’s Bibio project has garnered somewhat of a cult following over the years and has become a sort of quiet royalty alongside the likes of Aphex Twin, Mount Kimbie and Four Tet in the electronica and ‘IDM’ scene. The whole intelligent dance music idea may be more than a little facile, […]

[rating=8.00] It’s a common instinct among people, to link music to the phenomena of the world around us. From the inextricable connection to the land of early indigenous music to Bach’s invocations of color to the array of modern artists using visual backdrops for live shows. Natural imagery often acts as inspiration for the sounds we create as […]