Browsing Tag

Art Rock

The Gold Supply take us ‘Completely Underwater’ in their artfully ethereal debut EP.

Posted on 29 September 2021

September saw the debut of The Gold Supply, a collective of ex-major label artists seeking to infringe ambience on the external chaos in the world with their artfully ethereal presence during the pandemic.

Their debut EP, Completely Underwater, reflects the dystopia that may as well be in the water at this point before poetically finding a way to say “mate, same” to everyone who knows how it feels when no sigh is deep enough to take the weight off your lungs.

In the same way that shoegaze icons surrender your soul to the serenity of their soundscapes, the Gold Supply efficaciously leads you to tranquillity through the delicacy of the sparse yet resounding instrumental layers. With a similar sonic palette to Pet Deaths, they’re definitely ones to watch.

Completely Underwater is now available to sink into on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shoegaze thrashes against No-Wave in Mild Horses’ standout single Failing Upwards.

Posted on 24 September 2021
Ignorance To Enlightenment And Back Again by Mild Horses

If your 90s Shoegaze records aren’t quite hitting the same these days, introduce yourselves to Slowdive’s noisier cousin, the London-based solo artist, Mild Horses.

The standout single, Failing Upwards, from their debut album, Ignorance to Enlightenment and Back Again, is comparable to a cocktail of the most indulgent elements of the Pixies, My Bloody Valentine and Interpol.

Listen intently, and you will get to keep hold of the sway-worthy bitter-sweet melodies that resound around the harsher no-wave elements that adrenalize the mix without ever chipping away at the ethereal soul of the release. Towards the outro, Mild Horses builds a wall of noise in his own psychedelically sonic style, making Failing Upwards all but impossible to forget.

Failing Upwards is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jon Fritz will take you a ‘Million Miles Away’ with his acoustic rock ballad.

Posted on 23 September 2021

Attempting to capture the sheer artistry and beauty in Jon Fritz’ standout single, Million Miles Away, isn’t an enviable task. The orchestrally scored, cinematic rock ballad shows its 70s folk-rock roots while greeting you as a contemporary panoramic soundscape that you will lose yourself in time after time.

Million Miles Away will undoubtedly enamour any fans of Cat Stevens while the extra sonic power and distinction in the intricate melodies put the single on the Eddie Vedder solo album level. It may seem unthinkable to minds outside of the industry that such talent can fly under the radar but Jon Fritz’ proves that the traditional art of storytelling is upheld, even if most people would rather bemoan what is on the radio rather than seek out talent. He’s so much more than a virtuoso for the way that he triggers evocative responses with his clever arrangements and vocals that hit as hard as Tom Yorke’s.

Million Miles Away is now available to stream on YouTube.

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

Latin artist Aaron Andreu takes on shoegaze art-rock with ‘Piedra Solar’.

Posted on 13 August 2021

With his EP, Luna, Latin artist Aaron Andreu proves that shoegaze and art-rock aren’t exclusively just for UK and US artists. The standout single, Piedra Solar, consistently and seamlessly switches between cuttingly angular guitar notes that any fans of Slowdive will feel familiar with and effect-laden chords that bring an evocatively tumultuous gravity to the release. Long after the abrupt intro, Piedra Solar will stay with you, Unilingual minds won’t be able to abstract the poetry from the lyrics, but the artful alchemy that melodies spill is blissfully universal.

Aaron Andreu’s debut EP, Luna, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Apres Pompeii has released his poetic folk-rock single, Clay.

Posted on 3 August 2021

‘Clay’ is the latest poetic folk-rock single released by singer-songwriter Apres Pompeii. What starts as a conceptually intimate and bleary soundscape seamlessly builds into a sonically choral indie hit with sweet psychedelic kicks in the percussion and plenty of colour in the artfully crafted melodies.

After a sonic crescendo of angular indie guitars, the Pittsburgh-based artist brings the tempo back down to conclude the single on a note that will enamour any fan of Violet Femmes, Frightened Rabbit or Manchester Orchestra. If you are always on the lookout for the Elliott Smith of our generation, hit play.

Check out Apres Pompeii’s latest single on SoundCloud.

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

The Television Of Cruelty go out of this world with ‘The Winchcombe Meteorite’

Posted on 18 June 2021

Eclectic is a word that gets overused in music reviews, but there are few that fit The Television Of Cruelty better; unexpected, often eerie and unsettling, ‘The Winchecombe Meteorite’ is a narrative tale telling the story of a big chunk of space debris which landed on the driveway of a house smack in the middle of Suburban England in February 2021, amongst the lockdown of the Coronavirus pandemic and the echoing divisions of Brexit and the Black Lives Matter protests.

Musically, there’s a mixture of folk, prog, and out and out rock; guitars, yes, and drums, but also flutes and a melodica. It sounds a little like New Model Army back in their ‘Vengeance’ and ‘Thunder and Consolation’ perfection heyday, mixed with ‘Space Oddity’-era Bowie and dashes of Pink Floyd and Yes. It’s gentle, poetic, storytelling folk-prog that’s a perfect introduction to the ToC’s new album ‘England’s Wyrding’. Stellar (sorry).

Check out ‘The Winchcombe Meteorite’ on Soundcloud; follow the Television of Cruelty on Facebook and Twitter.

Review by Alex Holmes

8udDha bl0od gives us the indie jazz blues with his single, ‘Fr33 jA2234 5UPeRm00n’.

Posted on 23 May 2021

There is seemingly no end to the Brighton-based experimental artist 8udDha bl0od’s versatility; in his discography, you’ll find it all, from drone electronica to Alt indie 90s rock to 70s psych. With his latest release, he has bestowed upon the airwaves a stunning fusion of Jazz and Blues that carries the same stylish cinematic air as a neo-noir classic.

With Fr33 jA2234 5UPeRm00n, 8udDha bl0od proved that Jazz is as accessible as the other genres he virtuosically dabbles in; those complex time signatures quickly start to feel like home when they are up against blues scales and guitar chords that work a little indie garage rock accordance into the mix.

You can check out 8udDha bl0od’s latest single by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast