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 »
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 »
The last time I saw UK singer songwriter Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger, he told a hilarious story about staying with an old man in outback Australia that had the audience in stitches. During his set at Papiersaal last year, he took requests, told jokes and charmed the pants off every single person in the room. With an effortless … Continue reading »
What is it about Belgium? There are a whole slew of amazing bands coming out of there at the moment – Amatorski, Oscar and the Wolf, Bony King of Nowhere, Douglas Firs…Is it something in the water, or perhaps beer? Well, greatness doesn’t go unrecognised for long, and as ever, the One Of A Million … Continue reading »
Last winter I took a punt on a small festival I’d never heard of, but which had an intriguing line-up of bands that I’d only caught vague whispers of – the One Of A Million Festival (OOAM) in Baden. I had to practically force myself to leave the city limits (well, it was in the … Continue reading »
