Underground music & arts magazine with a penchant for the more obscure
Words by Grey Malkin João Branco Kyron, known for his role within the formidable and innovative Beautify Junkyards, also has solo pedigree, having previously released 2022’s alluring ‘Ascending Plume of Faces’, an eerie and psychedelic piece of experimental electronica influenced by the occult artist Austin Osman Spare. Whilst Beautify Junkyards gear up for their fifth album … Continue reading Album review: Kyron – Dreaming Eden
Words by Lady Godiva Stemming from Alessio Ferrari’s vivid imagination and bucolic surroundings, The Golden Pond is Upupayama’s new release following his promising self-titled debut from last year. As the artwork may manifest, Upupayāma (literally mountain hoopoe), a semi-fictional bird, still flies over the most outstanding and lush greenery. A mere glance at the sleeve … Continue reading Album review: Upupayāma – The Golden Pond
Words by Grey Malkin Library Music: Volume One is a welcome compilation from North London’s The Leaf Library, gathering together fourteen years’ worth of singles, compilation tracks and one offs, essentially giving these tracks a permanent, proper home and allowing listeners to delve into a stylistically more varied and deeply fascinating ‘other’ side of the band. Songs that … Continue reading Album review – The Leaf Library – Library Music: Volume One
Words by Lady Godiva Carrying on their epic astral trail, Hooveriii are back in force with their third album A Round of Applause, reaching a new milestone on their sound quest. Their music is like a colossal spaceship that flies across the solar system and their trajectory is literally interstellar. "See" greets you into familiar … Continue reading Album review: Hooveriii – A Round of Applause
Source: Album artwork Words by Grey Malkin NYC/Philadelphia based Elkhorn - Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner - are becoming increasingly renowned for their cosmic and widescreen, yet often intimate, guitar symphonies, with their melding of Jack Rose/Robbie Basho style acoustic work with sacred Popol Vuh atmospheres. Previous albums have offered beautiful and sonically adventurous improvisations recorded whilst being … Continue reading Album review: Elkhorn – Distances
Words by Gareth Thompson At a Brazilian music festival in 1966, the audience openly jeered spoony balladeers or complex composers. Sérgio Ricardo was deemed the latter and his number ‘Beto Bom de Bola’ got roundly heckled. Despite the song being critical of Brazil’s dictatorship, its melody and orchestration were too intricate for mass approval. Ricardo … Continue reading Album review: Tim Bernardes – Mil Coisas Invisíveis
Photo credit: Laura Moreau Interview by Brandon Pestano We discuss origins, inspirations, magic and mysteries with visionary musician and artist Lionel Williams of the Los Angeles based celestial-pop band, Vinyl Williams. Their six studio albums: Lemniscate (2012), Into (2015), Brunei (2016), Opal (2018), Azure (2020) and Cosmopolis (2022) have been described as 'retro-futurism', fusing esoteric themes … Continue reading Psyched To Meet You: Vinyl Williams
Source: album artwork Words by Grey Malkin Paul Roland should need no introduction, his position as a major mover in the underground psych scene from the 1980s onwards led fellow traveller Robyn Hitchcock to describe him as ‘the male Kate Bush’, with barque chamber folk albums such as Cabinet of Curiosities and eclectic psych jewels such … Continue reading Album review: Paul Roland & Mick Crossley – Through The Spectral Gate
Album artwork Words by Alexandra Dominica As a contrast to the more lo-fi releases of yesteryear such as the rustic Moon Zero and folksy Moon Egg Yama Warashi have emerged from their creative chrysalis with Crispy Moon, a much more understated yet majestic contribution to their magical opus. Having ventured from the world of experimental … Continue reading Album review: Yama Warashi – Crispy Moon
Words by Grey Malkin Sharron Kraus is well established as one of the UK’s most fascinating and endlessly creative psych folk artists, from her solo work to that with Meg Baird and Helena Espvall of Espers, as Rusalnaia with Ex Reverie’s Gillian Chadwick, and with Tara Burke (Fursaxa) as Tau Emerald. She also recently published … Continue reading Album review: Justin Hopper and Sharron Kraus – Swift Wings