Browsing Tag

radiohead

Jeff Goldsmith – Tied to the Track: Melt Into the Darkly Ambient Melancholy

Posted on 15 November 2022

Following the resounding success of his former releases, the Minneapolis composer, musical sound designer and producer Jeff Goldsmith unleashed the lamentfully arrestive atmosphere of his latest score, Tied to the Track.

With the art rock nuances of Radiohead, the progressive feel of Fear of a Blank Planet era Porcupine Tree and deserty Josh Homme-Esque vocals bleeding into the darkly ambient neo-classic electronic arrangements, succumbing to the cinematic melancholy of Tied to the Track is non-optional.

Goldsmith started his venture into creativity aged four at the Suzuki Music Academy, where he learned to play the violin by ear. In 2020, he made his debut with the album, Vodu, subsequently followed by his poetically titled scintillating sophomore album, May You Find the Light Before the Devil Knows He’s Right, in May 2021. In addition to his solo work, Goldsmith scores for TV and film and works with a myriad of other artists, such as Austin Texas’s Sparta. 

After hearing Tied to the Track, I know I will never stop turning to Goldsmith’s visceral sonic proclivities which innovatively amalgamate ambience with exultant ingenuity. He isn’t just one in a million, his presence on the airwaves can’t be quantified. I can’t recommend him enough.

Tied to the Track is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Koyama gave classic art rock a modern psychedelic twist in ‘Desolation of America’

Posted on 24 October 2022

The Desolation of America is the second album from the multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Koyama, who fuses classic art rock tones with modernist sound designs. The Radiohead influence is tangible through the complexity of the percussion and the ebbing and flowing vocals that drift in and out of focus around the psychedelic synthetics, especially in the politically melancholic single, Desolation of America.

If Koyama is this talented at 18, he has an exceptionally bright future ahead of him. Especially with his gift of lyrically gnawing away at socio-political themes while psychedelically stripping the dismay from the equation with his artful vocal pitches that complement the colourfully kaleidoscopic chords and droning keys. It’s almost impossible to believe that Koyama only started to write and produce songs in his bedroom during the pandemic. He is definitely one to watch.

Desolation of America is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fleeting artfully revived the alt-90s take on dream pop with his latest single, Enso

Posted on 4 June 2022

The angular indie ambience in the latest single, Enso, from the Philadelphian bedroom producer Fleeting is something for every alt-90s fan to get excited about.

Beyond the Gorillaz and Radiohead influences are the hazy textures of dream pop and Slowdive-Esque shoegaze guitars spliced with the trippy discord of the downtempo artfully placed breakbeats that keep you centred in the mostly instrumental mix. For even more catharsis, turn to the other 24 artfully orchestrated hits in his 2022 self-titled album. We know we will. Repeatedly.

Enso is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Glass Image reached the pinnacle of evocative riff-driven alt-indie alchemy with their latest single, Again

Posted on 30 April 2022

On the basis of their latest single, Again, Glass Image is the entire pensively intellectual alt-rock package. With the artfully evocative gravitas of Radiohead, the monolithically melodic guitars and the raw yet honeyed indie alt-rock vocals, it’s enough to aurally lull you into an emotionally heightened state of intense appreciation of their candour and signature brand of riff-heavy alchemy.

After forming in 2018, the NY-hailing outfit got to work on their debut 2019 EP, which stood as a testament to their proclivity to always weave a meaningful narrative around melodic riffs. Following the release of Again, they are set to release their debut LP in 2022. Notably, they’re one to watch.

Again is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Juliya – Power Lines: A high-vibe lo-fi alt-90s fever dream

Posted on 21 January 2022

With two EPs under their belt, the up and coming alt-indie sensation, Juliya, has unleashed their fever dream of a high-vibe low-fidelity track. Power Lines is as sonically boundary-less as Sonic Youth and Radiohead, and just as ruggedly sweet as Neutral Milk Hotel and Elliott Smith. And there is plenty of room for their garagey no-wave alchemy in between the reminiscences.

There’s scuzz by the smorgasbord, yet, that doesn’t get in the way of the grip of the angular indie guitar notes atop of all the discord. It may be a short and sweet track, but it’s also a sure-fire hit of serotonin in a sentimentally blissful alt-90s time capsule. With enough tracks in the same vein as Power Lines under their belt and the right attention, there is no reason Juilya couldn’t climb the indie charts with ease. Give them a hand on their ascent and stick them on your radar.

Power Lines is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Gold Supply have made their ethereal debut with Completely Underwater

Posted on 5 September 2021

The recently formed avant-garde powerhouse, The Gold Supply, consists of ex-major label artists exploring outside capitalist confines; their debut EP, Completely Underwater, unravels as an ethereal art-rock-meets-trip-hop masterpiece.

The catharsis-laden standout single, Cold Water, sonically sits between sounds you will be accustomed to from Radiohead, Portishead, Interpol and Trent Reznor. What you may not be used to is the meditative effect of the tranquil electronic soundscape and the chilling vocals that give Cold Water even more cold dark atmosphere for the listener to swim through.

The Gold Supply formed during the pandemic, with the intent of reflecting the turmoil of the world at it through ambient sounds; depending on your current mentality, it will either comfort or disturb. David Lynch would be proud.

Delve into Cold Water yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lucy Burke has released her hauntingly intimate ambient acoustic pop single, Please Stay.

Posted on 30 July 2021

It is practically a given that any artist drawing influence from Radiohead, Portishead and Norah Jones and pouring the inspiration into an ambient acoustic pop-jazz soundscape is going to leave you floored but Lucy Burke’s latest single, Please Stay, surpasses all expectation.

The haunting grip of the intimate single breathes through the entire duration. The gentle melodic guitar and piano notes cradle the Sydney-based singer-songwriter’s succinctly urgent vocals that hit with bruising evocative impact.

Please Stay is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Elective Theatre served bitter-sweet fuzzed-up soul in their latest indie grunge single, ‘False Start’.

Posted on 22 July 2021

It seems hyperbolic to state that Elective Theatre’s latest single, False Start, contains the same level of bitter-sweet soul in Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees while sounding completely authentic, but that is exactly what they achieved with this cuttingly melancholic seminal single.

The spiralling, shoegazey guitars reel you further into the pensive heart of the single with every psych-tinged fuzzed-up note. Art rock, grunge, shoegaze, 90s Britpop and indie fans alike should be internationally scrambling to make Elective Theatre a staple on their playlists.

False Start is easily one of the most masterful singles we’ve heard this year. We can’t wait to hear more from the indie rock outfit.

You can check out Elective Theatre’s spacey indie grunge track for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lee Smythe raises a smile with ‘It’s Me’

Posted on 25 June 2021

How to describe Lee Smythe; well, if there’s a word somewhere specifically for that  anachronistic blend of quirky indie vibe perfection and total mainstream pop hit, then that would be a starting point to jump off.

‘It’s Me’, the follow-up to recent EP ‘King Of Cups’, is exactly that – something indescribably great that doesn’t quite fit into any pigeonhole you might have set aside for it. In the same vein as artists like the Urban Voodoo Machine, The Great Malarky, or the Jim Jones Revue, Smythe seems to straddle stylistic boundaries without ever really even noticing they’re there – part old-time London pub sing-along, part indie-pop cool, part alt-jazz musicality.

There’s touches of Daniel Powter, Jamie Cullum, and Harry Connick Jr. in here, but all with a mainstream pop take, and some cute-as-hell little vocal asides-to-camera; it’s just catchy as hell cool-as-fuck indie-pop awesomeness, and it’s absolutely grin-inducing.

Perfection in 4 minutes 12 seconds.

Check out Lee Smythe on Spotify and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Jakliu – Frustration, stagnation, isolation, and loneliness with “CATSPIT”

Posted on 25 June 2021
Jakliu

Hot on the heels of his recent remix of Irish electropop artist Ae Mak’s ‘Jamie’ comes this, Jakliu’s debut single ‘CATSPIT’. Gentle, pulled-back vocals mixed with repeating drone notes and electronic drum loops, ‘CATSPIT’ is a mix of ambient, electropop, and electronica, taking in later Radiohead and Thom Yorke’s solo work, bits of the Aphex Twin, Dave Monolith, Caribou, Beatwife, Luke Vibert, and the whole gamut of Warp and Rephlex records stablemates.

It’s chilled and mellow yet challenging and forthright, inspired by themes of stagnation and isolation and Jakliu’s frustration at the mediocrity of everyday life and at the slow decline of creativity and arts in a world fixated on cheap, easy fame and fleeting Social Media celebrity.

You can check out Jakliu on SoundCloud and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes