Last Ex’s eponymous debut album

04 November 2014

Last Ex - Last Ex

Montreal-Hull-Ottawa instrumental duo Last Ex are one of the most recent additions to the evermore impressive Constellation roster. Simon Trottier and Olivier Fairfield, the core members of Timber Timbre, are the pair behind the project. Last Ex, seeded from the 2013 horror film The Last Exorcism Part II for which they wrote the score, sees them bring “their obsessions with sound collage, tape-based music concrète and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to bear on the cinematic lyricism of the initial widescreen guitar- and string-based material”, as the press release explains.
Their self-titled debut album, out for three weeks now, combines these elements with other influences and genres within the experimental realm, krautrock, ambience and post-rock, making it “a vivid, concise and expressive instrumental album that sits snugly between fellow label acts Do Make Say Think and Exhaust on the one hand, Hrsta, Tindersticks and Evangelista on the other”.
Here’s the two excellent singles previously released, ‘Hotel Blues’, and ‘Girl Seizure’, the latter in the form of a video animation made by filmmaker Gabriel Mangold. Enjoy.



Last Ex is out now via Constellation.

LoneLady drops new single ‘Groove It Out’

03 November 2014

Lonelady - Groove It Out

On a grey rainy day like today, LoneLady AKA Julie Campbell’s new single ‘Groove It Out’ is the perfect funky and dancy tune to blow away the gloomy weekday blues. LoneLady hadn’t released any solo material since her 2010 debut album Nerve Up but she’s been busy contributing guitar and vocals to other artists and albums. The new single is set to be released on 12” and digitally on November 17th via Warp. A full-length album, recorded in an industrial region in the US using an 8-track tape recorder, will follow in 2015. Here’s what Campbell said about it:

“I travelled there in October ’13 and again during the ‘Polar Vortex’ freeze that descended on the States in January ’14. Both trips were real adventures, injecting the final phase of album making with a renewed energy.
I found it a totally sympathetic environment to be in and found a shared aesthetic in Bill (Skibbe, co-producer); I knew he’d sensitively aid the finishing of the songs and not impose on or disrupt their character. We’d often dig out Youtube clips for the other to enjoy; these exchanges included ‘Sharevari’ at The Scene, George Clinton’s ‘Loopzilla’, John Carpenter’s ‘Assault On Precinct 13’ and many more.”

Now listen to ‘Groove It Out’.

Zun Zun Egui share first track from upcoming somophore album

30 October 2014

Zun Zun Egui - Shackle's Gift

Almost five years ago to the day, I was lucky to be at one of the most frantic, mad and incredible live shows I’d ever been to. Playing a support slot at The Luminaire, Bristol based quartet Zun Zun Egui stole the show beginning with lead singer and guitarist Kushal Gaya out of the blue breaking out into a bonkers multilingual tribal chanting right in the middle of the audience. From there, they’ve won everyone over with their fast-paced tropical and funky wall of sound.
We’ve been keeping tabs on what they’ve been up to ever since, and Zun Zun Egui have just announced the release of Shackle’s Gift. which follows their 2011 debut Katang. The album. recorded in London and produced by Fuck Button’s Andrew Hung, drops on January 26th via Bella Union.

Kushal described Shackle’s Gift as a “British rock record made by a British group” and the first track to be unveiled, ‘I Want You to Know’, serves as a taste off it. Here it is.

First new cut from Poppy Ackroyd’s upcoming second album unveiled

28 October 2014

Poppy Ackroyd - Feather

We’re excitingly close to the release of Poppy Ackroyd‘s new album. Entitled Feathers, the effort follows her magnificent 2012 debut Escapement and it drops on November 14th via Denovali. In support of the new album, Poppy has announced a string of live dates in the UK and Europe kicking off on November 19th in Opwijk, Belgium and closing gloriously on December 20th at Cafe Oto in London as part of a tremendous bill also featuring Carlos Cipa and Piano Interrupted. Head over here to check all the dates and more info.
Ahead of the album release, the imaginative and talented composer and musician is enticing us with a sublime track off it, ‘Roads’. Enjoy.

Serengeti set to release new album as Kenny Dennis

27 October 2014

Serengeti - Kenny Dennis III

Chicago rap experimentalist David Cohn aka Serengeti has a new album coming out. Comes November 11th, the man will unveil the continued saga of his alter-ego Kenny Dennis with the release of Kenny Dennis III. If you’re not familiar with the character, he’s “a cross between Ron Swanson, a Bill Swerski superfan, and the best Golden Age rapper that you never heard”, as the press release describes. “Kenny Dennis is the most whimsical, hilarious, and strangely poignant fictional character in hip-hop history—a true blue collar hero of modernity.”
Serengeti first brought Kenny Dennis to life in 2006 and years on, the upcoming album sees Kenny Dennis going through a mid-life crisis. At the same time, he forms a rap group, Perfecto, with long-time rap partner, Ders (Anders Holm from Workaholics) who narrates their tales across the Midwest.
The record was produced by Odd Nosdam and it’s coming out via Joyful Noise Recordings.
‘No Beginner’ serves as an excellent taste of what Serengeti is throwing our way. Listen to it below.