Blog: Crack In The Road

Having released Part I of Lumberjack Loveshack earlier this year, I've eagerly been anticipating the second part to the series, and it doesn't disappoint. Combining the two sections, Lumberjack Loveshack comes in at just over nine minutes, and is far and away one of the most ambitious 'indie' compositions of recent times. Toying with the jangly Foals inspired guitars, and slightly rough yet unique vocals, with a grander production budget, and a full PR blast behind them, Twin Haus could really go somewhere.

I'm such a sucker for the crisp, almost sorrowful guitar sound that Bel Air absolutely nail on their debut track, simply titled Song A . Recorded by Michael Belsar from Victoria outfit Hunting Grounds , it's melancholic, remorseful and desperately beautiful. So the home recording leaves the vocals slightly rough at times, but it's all the more haunting, especially when coupled with the lyrics 'I was never told my name, but what does it even say? '. One of the finest debut tracks of 2013.

Having released their debut album earlier this year, Californian slick-hop outfit The Neighbourhood are set to head out on a full US tour with The 1975 , Lovelife and JMSN in tow. To mark the beginning of their first headline tour, the group are releasing a series of limited split 73's featuring all the artists set to hit the road, with the first cut coming from The Neighbourhood themselves. Easily their most out-and-out hip-hop jam to date, West Coast is drenched in early 002s rap vibes, showcasing a potential future direction [...]

San Francisco's There's Talk , the project of Olivia Lee , may be less than a year old, but new track, and first single proper, The Salt, is one of the most ambitious tracks of 2013 thus far. Capturing the raw emotion of Youth Lagoon with the refined edge of Oupa , it's a stirring, tearful ballad, that's both remorseful and overflowing with hope. Check out The Salt below.

It's been a minute since we last heard from Melbourne multi-talented producer Oscar Key Sung , and what better way to announce your return than with a Miguel cover? The B-side to new single It's Coming , Oscar Key Sung's take on Sure Thing is choppy and slightly distracted at times, a fitting accompaniment to the flip-side, a soulful R&B number, that mixes his unconventional stylings with more modern, hip hop arrangements. Check out both below.

Situated in a room looking like something out of an episode of Dexter. Yuseff Hu, tired and probably nauseous, staggers round the room full of nervously laughing spectators, preparing for each stage of his performance, Resting on a sharp point . 2013 The task executed is to spear what looks like massive carcass sacks filled with balloons pumped full of ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and brown sauce. The oozing condiments leak into a bucket placed below this hoisted pack and the artist, [...]

Having collaborated with Parisian beatmaker ANDREA on a couple of tracks, the silky voiced Julia Losfelt has released her first original track. The dreamy Away has all the makings of a blog hit, a blossoming number, building to an epic finale of reverb heavy vocals and hypnotic clicks. Check out Away below.

Its been like getting blood from a stone when trying to get the skinny on the ideas behind Joe Evans 's work. Until I received an email the other day, offering no explanation apart from a request to use this quote in the article.   “Sometimes he wondered what zone of transit he himself was entering, sure that his own withdrawal was symptomatic not of a dormant schizophrenia, but of a careful preparation for a radically new environment, with its own internal landscape and logic, where old categories of thought would merely be an encumbrance.” [...]

I've been trying to get the skinny on the ideas behind Joe Evans 's work for a while, its been like getting blood out of a stone. Until I received an email the other day, offering no explanation apart from a request to use this quote in the article.   “Sometimes he wondered what zone of transit he himself was entering, sure that his own withdrawal was symptomatic not of a dormant schizophrenia, but of a careful preparation for a radically new environment, with its own internal landscape and logic, where old categories of thought [...]

London is getting exciting. The art world is preparing itself for another cohort of fantastic talents to shift their attentions from hanging their degree shows to what the big bad world has to offer them. With the Slade easing us into the season tonight, many long nights of free booze and cultural chit chat are to follow. Kicking it off is the fantastic artist run space called The Institute of Jamais Vu . This week they welcome French artist Fabrice Azzolin for a weeklong residency running from today until May 24th at their [...]

London is getting exciting. The art world is preparing itself for another cohort of fantastic talents to shift their attentions from hanging their degree shows to what the big bad world has to offer them, anyway many a long night of free booze and cultural chit chat are sure to follow. Kicking it off this week are  The Institute of Jamais Vu . They welcome French artist Fabrice Azzolin for a weeklong residency running from today until May 24th at their fantastic space in Manor House, North London. The week will also include public workshops and [...]

"Why is everyone here so fucking happy?" Slow down a minute. That can't be right. It took me at least four listens to get round to the sentiment of  Tidal Wave , latest cut from UK beatsmith   FTSE , because all its weapons-grade sadness (and make no mistake, sadness it is, misery of the highest fucking calibre) is dressed up in the kind of groove and slinking glimmer that was only hinted at on the downcast bedroom sketches of his debut BEGIN [...]

Ryan Hemsworth , without running it by anyone worthy of making such a large decision, has decided to become one of the most sought after producers in hip-hop. Meanwhile he’s still belting out funasfuck instrumentals, that according to the man himself will be slight in comparison to the featuring tracks that make up his debut LP. I’ll be interested to see what the split is. Perfectly , taken from his EP  Still Awake , is due to drop next week and gives us an idea of what the collection of tunes may sound like. This is [...]

Oh HEY. It’s nearly festival season, so what better to celebrate the turn of the seasons than with this euphoric, ecstasy ridden new jam from Benin City ? I don’t know if I can answer that question, but what I do know is that Disappear , the cut in question, is probably one of the most festival ready tunes I’ve heard in a long time. Now it’s funny I should mention that because Benin City are headlining Brainchild Festival , our sister/mother/brother collaboration ‘thing’. They’ll probably play this, that’s worth £50. [...]

High and low culture mixed together, died fluorescent and poured into a mould. ‘ Pornaments ’ puts a range of kitsch ornaments into shiny, new visceral forms; nudes, next to cats, next to well to do ladies from the turn of the 19 th century. The works have a Jeff Koons vibe, without the need to scale them up to ginormous sizes. They nod towards an art historical tradition (Venus) and the origins of taste in antiquities (with something getting lost in the translation from porcelain to plastic- from expensive china plates to gaudy pound-shop ducks). The gloopy sculptures [...]

Announcing himself with his rather fantastic debut track Pieces , French dark-pop maestro Wolvs has dropped his second offering, the seductively simple Stumble . The structure may be desirably straight forward, but the sound itself is telling hard to pin down, neither giving in to the pop tendencies, nor distancing itself entirely from synth drive pop hits. Check out Stumble below.

So with the release of Mount Kimbie ’s sophomore effort edging steadily closer, we’ve been gifted with one of the most anticipated collaborations from the record. It features the 2 artists working together amongst diverging currents, Kimbie are established, Krule is perfecting and honing his craft. Sonically this sentiment is mirrored, with the instrumentation allowing Krule to centre stage. A stage that Krule finds himself incredibly comfortable on, loosing his apathetic drawl at times in favour of a growl or a howl. The whole thing is a mass of claustrophobic urges [...]

So if you haven’t already guessed, we’re pretty massive fans of this gurl called LAW . So much so, that we booked her for her first headline London show on the 30 th of May. The EVENT is HERE. You should come. We booked her after the release of one track, so as you might imagine, it was actually a pretty nerve wracking experience watching this new puece for the first time. Thankfully, this girl is FIRE. Like, next level FIRE. FUCK. This is one intriguing bit of [...]

First off, in the interests of a new, humble, and wholly transparent blogosphere, big up Rob Leedham and his ever-more-humourous DiS Does Singles column for turning me onto Bristol miserablist Oliver Wilde . If I hadn't been suitably piqued by a description of Flutter as sounding like the product of Kurt Vile forming a Doves tribute band, I wouldn't have spent all today drifting in and out of a vague, pseudomedicated haze, Wilde's tracks on repeat in my headphones, ignoring my colleagues and my workload. It was one of the best workdays in [...]

Sitting perfectly between spoof and homage “Deutschland sucht den Megastar” splices faultlessly imitation graphics, with glitchy rips of reality shows and fuzzy Eurovision footage; edging close to taking the piss, it ultimately celebrates a love for the trashy ploys and set formulas in this genre. Building like a music video with no resolution- DSDM uses the language and form of this all too recognisable subject matter- creating something that feels like the guy in the ‘pop-star/idol in your factor’ editing room- took acid. The delectable car crash mix of sexiness and sadness that the shows shamelessly employ pushed [...]