• Music

    The Secret Society of the Sonic Six – Out Of The Past EP

    A decade or two ago, there were only four bands who I would bother to make the trek out from the suburbs to the ‘great’ metropolis that is Los Angeles: Farflung, Tunnelmental, The Flash Express and The Secret Society of the Sonic Six.  Each were brilliant in their way, and in the end, The SSotSS won out for me because no one was able to weld together 50’s horror movie soundtracks, cold wave à la Americana, avant-funk, weirdo pop in the vein of Yello or other Ralph Records bands, and a stage show that kept you far away from gawking…

  • Music

    Y Bülbül – Fever

    What a charmingly weird discovery this is!  Yiğit Bülbül is a London-based musician whose roots are in Turkey, and this mini-album combines the experimentation of artists like Holger Czukay with the dulcet sounds of Serge Gainsbourg’s backing band in their calmer moments.  A surreal release this one…

  • Music

    Dominique Figaro & Steve Shehan – Figaro​.​.​. Si!

    I had no idea what to expect with this album except that it was promoted by Carbon 7 record label impresario and former Univers Zéro bassist Guy Segers.  His taste tends to be outstanding, so I gave this a shot.  Quite pleasant, actually. Dominique Figaro’s voice reminds me of a lot of 80s female avant-pop which was coming out in the 1980s or 1990s, and though the sound is a bit too compressed for my liking, the music is quirky enough to hold my attention throughout.  It is as if Sade fronted Tuxedomoon for a session.  Yes, that quirky, and…

  • Music

    Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel 1 (Car)

    It’s safe to assume that the vast majority of my friends and readers know who Peter Gabriel is.  I don’t think there’s been a more important pop singer in the last 40 or so years, and it’s really a pleasant surprise to see him put the whole of his catalog on Bandcamp. This album is my favorite of the back catalog, as it was his first after leaving the band Genesis.  Car is a collection of songs that sound like Gabriel was undergoing a creative explosion, mixing heavy rock, progressive, and you could hear a strong imprint from guest musicians…

  • Music

    Venus Berry – Shibari

    This is perhaps the coldest of cold wave releases I’ve ever had the pleasure of reviewing.  Venus Berry is the nom de plume of Anouk Allard, who is not only a musician but has a background in visual art.  Her style covers not only the aforementioned cold wave which the French seemed to dominate during the 1980s, but also aspects of modern synthwave, electro and a weird sort of avant-pop that reminded me of Isabelle Antena. She is joined on this album by Antoine Sapparrart on bass and Jules Méli on guitar.  Quite an enjoyable album.