Just a heads-up, in case you didn’t already know – gorgeous experimental folk trip Daughter (Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli, and Remi Aguilella) play at Mascotte, ZH, on Wednesday 17 April 2013. Also, I just saw that Igor, Daughter’s guitarist, is actually Swiss – I bet he’ll have a warm welcome home from the audience. Here’s … Continue reading »
The wonderfully hirsute and eloquent singer-songwriter John Grant certainly has many stories to tell, should he choose to tell them – years of poverty, depression, and addiction issues, his albums with previous band the Czars, and an HIV diagnosis, all set against a backdrop of New York, Berlin, Sweden and Iceland. And tell them he does, … Continue reading »
Earlier this year, seminal German indie rock band Blackmail released II, their eighth studio album, and their second with new frontman Mathias Reetz (who replaced original singer Aydo Abay in 2010). With a touch of psychedelic 70s rock, some indie melodicism, and edgier, more powerful guitars than ever, II is yet another singular force of nature … Continue reading »
Well, that’s m4music over and out for 2103! I was a bit bleary-eyed yesterday after the weekend’s revels, but it was a fun couple of days, as always. Some highlights: Australian indie rockers The Jezabels played a intense and electric set at Moods on Saturday night which left the audience screaming and begging for more – … Continue reading »
Five clubs, three nights, two cities and over 40 acts – yep, it’s that time of year again, time for the m4music Festival, Conference and Demotape Clinic. This year’s line-up includes Foals, Jamie Lidell, Beardyman, The Jezabels, Veto, Delphic, FM Belfast, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Le Corps Mince de Françoise (LCMDF), Sheila She Loves You, ME, … Continue reading »
No, and no – Egyptian Hip Hip are not Egyptian, and nor do they play hip hop (go here for some of that if you are interested). Rather, Egyptian Hip Hop the band formed in 2009 in Manchester, four teenage friends who got together to bash out some psychedelic pop guitar riffs and found themselves attracting the attention … Continue reading »
Minneapolis indie electro band Poliça (Ryan Olson, Channy Leaneagh) were responsible for one of my favourite albums of last year, 2012′s Give You The Ghost – indeed, ‘Fist, Teeth, Money’ was one of my Top 11 songs of the year. Channy Leaneagh’s gloriously distorted Auto-Tune vocals were a revelation – grating to the ear at first, but … Continue reading »
Zurich music lovers, we’re in for a treat on Sunday night, with what I’ve dubbed the ‘Belgian Night of Wonders’ at El Lokal – gorgeous Belgian folksters Douglas Firs (a solo Gertjan Van Hellemont) and The Bony King of Nowhere (Bram Vanparys) in a double bill that is a perfectly luminous and sublime counterpoint to … Continue reading »
DAVID BOWIE. TILDA SWINTON. TOGETHER, IN ONE VIDEO. CUE AWESOMENESS, ANDROGYNY AND GREAT HAIR. Bowie and TILDA star as a married couple who get some new celebrity neighbours, as directed by Floria Sigismondi. Now if only Jim Jarmusch would convince Dave to make a cameo in his upcoming vampire lover flick Only Lovers Left Alive … Continue reading »
I met Todd Mitsuda of Countdown Media on the bus from Nice airport to Cannes the night before Midem started. We bumped into each other at various points during the next few days, so I hit him up for a quick interview in the Countdown Media booth. Todd works in the ever-burgeoning field of sync … Continue reading »
