Thirty years in is a long career to lead up to a debut album so you would hope that the band are happy with it. They certainly should be because this is a very good bit of electric Blues and you have to ask why no-on has recorded this guy before?

The album kicks off with a raw and powerful piece in ‘Breaking The Stones’ – a bit of slide noodling leading in to some kickass funky Blues with the guitar to the fore – definitely a Gibson sort of sound and ably matched by Grigor Leslie & David Innes on bass & drums and some fine harmonica courtesy of Peter Narojczyk. This ain’t your normal bedroom recording project, these guys can play!

‘Black Rain’ is a moody Texas style Blues and ‘Two Time Lover’ is a jaunty and raunchy piece of bar-room howl featuring a great harmonica lead – the band might have Gerry Jablonski’s name at its head but this is a real band performance. Read more…

Huge, portentous chords open this album but it isn’t ‘Thriller’ it is ‘Fresh’ – Devo back after 20 years and doing all those things they do best.

This sounds like the most eighties album you ever heard in your life. Synth beats and and that thing where the vocal is set just back from the front and you can hear a real lineal trace from the last Devo album ‘Smooth Noodle Maps’ except, frankly, this pees over anything the have done since ‘Freedom of Choice’ or maybe even ‘Duty Now For The Future’ – geddit?, this is stunning and it would be in 1979, 1999 or 2010.

The lyrics are classic Devo, none more so that ‘What we Do’ where the vocals loom out from a miasma of synth and beats – ‘What we do is what we do cos all we do is what we do’, a diatribe against the modern society and its addiction to communication by electronics. Brilliant counterpoint as they have found themselves in sync with modern society and aren’t exactly happy about it!

The overriding sound of this album is beats, fast beats, slow beats, twisted beats, rock beats, you can dance to all of it but when you listen closely the lyrics are telling stories you might not be comfortable with but this has always been Devo’s way. Read more…

Peaches was chosen as the latest feature Artist for The Creators Project, a creative venture sponsored by Intel and Vice Magazine.

Peaches joins innovators in the fields of music, media and design such as; Phoenix, N.A.S.A., Diplo, Richie Hawtin, Mark Ronson, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner, Fool’s Gold, Laurent Garnier, and filmmaker Spike Jonze.

The Creators Project can be described as a media channel, roving event space, and intellectual studio that ‘brings together innovators in music, design, and art’ ; Read more…

One man, many faces, many innovations. Like the man, Davis’s music is based largely on samples from several influences, including hip-hop, electronica, rock, r&b, soul, and alternative. It’s as though he views music like technology, he may not come up with tool, but he finds new ways to use what has already been developed; the art of sample based music.

With his third full release as DJ Shadow, The Private Press, Davis asserts himself as an artist ever pushing the envelope in his genre, and in musical creativity as whole. In “Giving Up The Ghost” Shadow relies on his characteristic organ. But this time around he layers it well beneath a driving snare and bass drum, which is further masked by a feather-light picked guitar. The combination results in an exhaustive contrast between light and dark, good and evil. “Six Days” continues with the darker side, exploring the grim look of war.

The second half of Private Press introduces the listener to a more energetic and playful DJ Shadow, with the break heavy “Right Thing/GDMFSOB” and the high strung “Mashin’ On The Motorway.”

Private Press does not contain any single standout cut. Each individual listener, however, will associate themselves with certain elements of the album, depending on their musical background. With Private Press, Davis continues his quest to inspire listeners and artists alike.

Face it. We live in a world where electronic samples and beats have become part of our everyday music. This “poptronica” revolution has started to envelope our mainstream music industry. It seems most everything released these days is trying to sound “techno.”

Behind these attempts at sounding hip are true electronic acts such as Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers, whose increased popularity has made this electronic music chic. But then there is Death in Vegas, a band whose sound is not so easily referenced.

Electronica? Alternative rock? Trance? Trip hop? Just what the hell kind of music is Death in Vegas anyway?

Damn cool - this would be the simplest description. However, this doesn’t explain much. Perhaps a better description would be “an aural barrage of psychedelic musings which can induce a trance-like state where nothing matters but ourselves and the musical world we are existing within.” Or, perhaps you could take a listen to Death in Vegas’s sophomore effort The Contino Sessions and experience it for yourself.

If you are at all familiar with DIV’s first release Dead Elvis, your initial response may be one of surprise; the boys have come a long way since then. The new album, recorded in The Contino Rooms, London, marks a leap ahead for the band. Featuring guest vocals by Iggy Pop and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, DIV have released what may be one of the most innovative albums of the year. Read more…