“Movin' On Up” by Primal Scream Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. What song makes you feel like you’re breaking free? Avoiding the Queen loaded phrasing of the question, I found myself wondering what breaking free actually feels like. As a completely unrepressed white male, the only things I’ve ever really broken free from were of my own making and tend to be accompanied with as much shame —that I got myself into that situation— as elation at being out of…

Just before starting in on the James Bond theme, the Danish Symphony Orchestra had their conductor “assassinated” live on stage. That visual, followed immediately by the opening bars of the Bond theme is just legendary.

Having previously graced labels such as Good Morning Tapes, Gi Gi brings their sample-based sorcery to Mood Hut with a 10-track set titled “In Lieu”. A cool quote from the press one-sheet neatly lays out the method, and thinking, behind the music: “A borrowed sound, looped and bent, eventually forgets where it came from; it stops referencing anything but itself.” This is the essence of everything here. The tracks may be built on samples, but no clues remain of their sources. Tiny snippets are…

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Hanif Abdurraqib, Andrew Sean Greer, Roxane Gay, and many others. Devyn Defoe’s novel Burnside is a brilliant surreal and satirical debut. The Chicago Review of Books wrote of the book: “This Lynchian nightmare is stitched tightly with the horrors of…

Charli XCX “Camera” The aesthetic premise of Music, Fashion, Film is basically “pop-punk, but aesthetically interesting.” Charli XCX has been toying with rock sounds through her entire career, so it’s not surprising she’d tip in this direction. If anything, she’s always been a punk making pop and dance music, and not the other way around. The intriguing thing about this body of work is how she and collaborators AG Cook and Finn Keane reinterpret a very 00s version of rock music. They clearly…

Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 19th June 2006 I had recently read an article on Loudwire about bands who had peaked on their last records, and was pleasantly surprised to find Swedish technical death metal legends Anata on there, and their 2006 classic ‘The Conductor’s Departure’, an album I hold very dear. I was my first experience with them, and I have since gone back to collect the full set but this is still their peak, an album of technical death metal at its absolute apex of…

Mix by DJ STUXNET Intertext · Digital Listen & Download Tracklist cd LOST_DIR && ./DISAPPEAR (59:24) Notes I have grown tired of the struggleAnd I've grown tired of making plansI think I'll quit to the valleyRegain my strength and start again Credits STUXNET is Tyler Etters.

Klook defined the evolution from swing to bop and, in 1961, was already in business for twenty-five years, off to a good start with his European clique in Cologne. [row-start] [half] [/half] [half] Personnel Dusko Gojkovich (trumpet), Derek Humble (alto saxophone), Raymond Droz (alto horn), Karl Drevo (tenor saxophone), Chris Kellens (euphonium), Francy Boland (piano), Jimmy Woode (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums) Recorded on May 18 & 19, 1961 at Café Campi in Cologne Released as Blue Note 5001 in…

My Instagram keep throwing up reels of Charlotte de Witte, who apparently is one of the biggest deejays in the world. I thought I'd check out her stuff, so tried the Mixmag mix she did in 2021Where I heard this: Thought it might be some old skool acid from back in the day I'd never heard - but it was originally released in 2019 by one Robert S.I cannot believe this kind of thing is still being churned out. It's a 39 year old sound! I used to grumble about the eternal returns of acid in the…

When you complete the first set of puzzles in the game Big Walk, you’re rewarded with a chill-out amphitheater that overlooks the ocean, where you can sit and relax and listen to the music broadcast on speakers that surround you. The music in the game was done by aksfx, and I believe the track that was playing when we arrived was called “12:00 AM Motif.” It certainly sounds familiar, but I could be mistaken because almost all of the music (apart from the main theme) kind of blends together in…

This is part of Hardfloor's collection of rarities that had never been released on their own. I was turned onto it when a friend was talking up a soundtrack that happened to have licensed this third track, and while I've never actually played the game it is a great track.

Obsessing over Charli xcx's [new album](https://open.spotify.com/album/4bR7pd6TVS53l24qFV4wI8?si=7AWV7F-DRu6RhyD4iMbaiA)

“Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. What’s your favorite song about second chances? As someone who often stares at a blank page, who tends to start new ventures by writing about them, and who has had many second chances throughout his life, I can feel the beginnings of that sense of “ok, let’s go again” in this song. The fact it is a glorious, uplifting, positive affirmation of grabbing that second chances, of using it to…

Colorado-based trio Prairiewolf’s latest long-player for La Selva Beach-based label, Centripetal Force, blurs the boundary between live and studio recording. The band have taken tapes of 2 club performances, edited, layered, collaged them, and added overdubs to construct 6 new tracks. The music, in their own words, was then “mixed for the hallucinations.” If this is a trip, though, it’s micro, not macro, dosed. The 40 minute journey we experience is not mind-bending, but mellow. The music…

Eternity and a Year gathers music from ECM’s 2002 production year, the label’s 33rd, when more than 40 recordings appeared. The double album forms a two-way mirror. Disc 1 returns the listener’s altered image; Disc 2 stands behind the glass, observing that reflection and discovering its afterlife. Jazz and classical music become opposed memories: one improvises its ancestry, while the other remembers futures that never arrived. Disc 1: The Silvered Face On Kyanos (ECM 1822), Jon Balke &…

No time for bloviating very much about this at the moment, but I’ve just released the first track of a planned album on Bandcamp for free (or pay-what-you-like): Here’s a Mastodon thread where I said a few things about it: New song release for Bandcamp Friday! It’s just a little thing, only one song for now, but it represents a bit of a milestone for me, and is the first thing I’ve ever released under my given name. For those who follow my music a bit: this is a produced song, not improvised…

Having such a mix of instrumentation doesn't clutter proceedings at all. It merely makes the album flow in more captivating style. One might expect that the title track, which weighs in at over nine minutes, would have you reaching for the skip button at some point. But no it doesn't. It's an engrossing, earnest listen that comes across like a twisted cowboy movie soundtrack - it would provide the ultimate accompaniment to walking alone late at night in a semi-rural landscape. Source: Drowned…

With the whole “BrooklynVegan presents” part of their upcoming tour seemingly unaffected by the whole “BrooklynVegan gutted” news cycle last week, Swervedriver are set to perform “Raise at 35″ starting in a week and a half and are offering a new (old) release to go with it in the form of raise:demos, a collection of […] The post Swervedriver – “Flawed” appeared first on Space Echo.

OMG! If you remember A/S/Ling your way through MSN to fill in your MySpace top 8, then you'll love this show. You're also over 30 and, therefore, old. Ew. The stage is littered with a Nokia 3310, Bliss Magazine, and Charlie Red. Katie (15/F/UK) talks us through the complexities of her nascent love life, what shag band colours mean, and which quotes sum up millennial angst. All the while serenading us with her musical takes on the tragic Aniston/Pitt split. Consistently funny and just the right…

Interesting new album from Greg Foat, who I've played on here before. This one's a collaboration with a Greek traditional music trio, blending in both instruments and a lot of musical styles of traditional Greek music. Particularly liking The Golden Jackals of Samos and the piano line on Liberta.

The Lewes pound was a local currency in the town of Lewes in East Sussex. It was introduced in 2008, but was discontinued in 2025 due to the growth of cashless payments and a general lack of interest. The Lewes Pound was fixed at £1 (GBP) and was usable in around 100 shops as of 2023. It was the last surviving local currency in the UK at the time of discontinuation. Bank notes (above) featured a picture of the South Downs and Thomas Paine, one of the US’s “Founding Fathers”, on the front and a…

Welcome to part 110 of my Never Ending Mixtape where the latest additions take us from 5,012 songs to 5,074 with the addition of Here Come The Tears by The Coral (pictured below).Over 5,000 songs! The idea behind this playlist was simple - I'd just add songs in no particular order, with no thought behind the song, artist, genre ... or anything. The complete opposite of the old days when I would make mixtapes or mix CD's! The result is pretty eclectic!Thanks so much if you are one of the 385…

Tokidoki, the boy/girl duo formed by Nora O’Conner and Peter Schaefer, first release came in 1996. I didn’t know that. I was always only aware of their 2000 self-titled album on Sunday Records. I guess I should do my homework and do a little digging about them. As mentioned, they released a 7″ EP in 1996 on the label Tiny Shoes Records. It was the first release on this label. The label was to release a 2nd record the year after by the English band The Pictures. I haven’t heard it. And I didn’t…

Ayami Suzuki & Rob Noyes - Classic Fevers and ChillsRecorded and released in limited quantities a few years back, this excellent collab between vocalist Ayami Suzu and guitarist Rob Noyes recently got a vinyl edition via Feeding Tube Records. Well deserved — Classic Fevers and Chills is a captivating listen, with Suzu’s (often wordless) voice meshing wonderfully with Noyes’ acoustic 12-string. The songs feel like they’re being conjured up in real time, the duo listening closely to one another,…

I have published two videos demonstrating a soundfont created with the wave samples of the Ensoniq Soundscape S-2000, a sound card also sold under the names Reveal SoundFX Wave 32 (SC600) and V7 Spea MediaFX. I think the Soundscape has one of the best wavetables, and the font makes a good job in reproducing that. Sure, I am a biased judge since the SC600 was my first soundcard, but listen to the Doom fragment and judge for yourself. I cannot share the soundfont for copyright reasons, but this…

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Hanif Abdurraqib, Andrew Sean Greer, Roxane Gay, and many others. Seb Doubinsky’s Book Notes music playlist for his novel Liberation Now! is as captivating as it is inventively told. Publishers Weekly wrote of the book: “The heady standalone conclusion to…

It’s Monday, right? I drove from Wilmington, Delaware to Jacksonville, Florida yesterday which was overall pretty pleasant (except South Carolina). I was able to get in some quality listening on my drive and enjoy 12 innings of borderline comical Phillies baseball. This is not a baseball or travel blog (you’re lucky South Carolina!), but it is Monday and that means music Monday. On my drive, I listened to three Johnny Coles albums. Coles is an underrated (and by the standards of the day,…

Flirtations advert, Record Retailer, 29 May 1969, page 21 Originally formed as The Gypsies with three sisters – Betty, Ernestine and Shirley Pearce plus their friend Viola Billups, New York-based The Flirtations were originally brought to England by promoter Roy Tempest in December 1967 for a nationwide tour backed by Dagenham, east London outfit, The Trend. Betty Pearce had departed before this tour commenced and the trio performed as The Fabulous Marvelettes. Despite the confusion and anger…

“Confess To Me (feat. Jessie Ware)” by Disclosure Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. What song makes you want to stay up all night? It’s time to leave. Almost time to leave. But the music is still playing. The floor still pulsing. You aren’t that tired, are you? Maybe one more song. Ohh this is a good one. Right time go… wait, ok after this one! OK, definitely time to go. Except, is this a new mix? Ohh this is gooood. No, I need to go. Fine, one more song……

On Sundays I try to at least quickly note some of my favorite listening from the week prior — things I would later regret having not written about in more depth, so better to share here briefly than not at all. ▰ Based in Malta, Robert Farrugia is a fairly prolific ambient musician. The track “Projections” is a melody-intrigued bit of ambient released in advance of his forthcoming full album, Still, due out next month. His website, robertfarrugia.eu, is enjoyably old-school — like, late-’90s…