Journalism Portfolio: featuring words for Gigwise, Middle Boop Mag, FrenchEntrée, Mixmag and from a variety of my previous University's student publications
It’s been a year since California’s favourite revivalist duo Best Coast released their second album, The Only Place. Their new seven-track EP, Fade Away, featuring lead single ‘I Don’t Know’, shows Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno carrying on perfectly complimenting one another lyrically and sonically.
Opener ‘This Lonely Morning’ is a sunny grunge gem; Cosentino’s voice coming together with the track’s hazy guitars for a west coast gem. ‘I Wanna Know’, meanwhile, is a romantically yearning, girl-pop number, and in that classic Best Coast way, Cosentino’s self-deprecating charm is executed perfectly once again.
Title track ‘Fade Away’ ironically features the couplet, “I won’t change/I’ll stay the same.” And, that’s exactly what they’ve done. A couple of tracks into the EP, it becomes clear that Best Coast don’t plan on changing a single thing about their direction. ‘Baby I’m Crying’ leans towards more of a classic, sixties pop hue, with Bobb expertly matching Cosentino’s sentiment with each chord wrung from his guitar.
At times Fade Away is very self-indulgent, but it’s real and is a much needed, sun-drenched dose for fans to enjoy; sticking to much the same formula as their previous material. So, as you prepare to delve into the next chapter of Cosentino’s indie rock diary, get set for more heart-on-sleeve lyrics, unrequited love and hating on boys.
New York-based Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion aren’t just sugary pop duo Cults, they were also lovers, but this has recently changed. Static is not just a farewell record, it’s a break-up record: perfectly channelling both sides of their split, but sadly putting a hold on Cults for the foreseeable future.
The pair first brought us their debut self-titled album in 2011. Static however sees them leave behind the twinkling dream pop haze of tracks like ‘Go Outside’ and other xylophone-based gems in favour of darker, more serious coming-of-age tracks.
The fact that they are creatively and quite literally parting ways adds additional intrigue to the aura of the record, and has manifested itself into their sound, pushing starry-eyed optimism out of the door. Second track in ‘I Can Hardly Make You Mine’ flows with that particularly surf-oriented strain of classic-but-treated rock that Best Coast do so well. Paired with shimmering synths and the scrummy vocals of cutie pie vocalist Follin, it has hit written all over it.
‘Always Forever’ is soothing and raw: “We could stay alone//together.” ‘High Road’ follows on in much the same tone, but is laced with a stinging, bittersweet taste. ‘Were Before’ treats us to an intimate back-and-forth vocal arrangement from both Follin and Oblivion, sounding tender and heart-rending.
‘So Far’ and final track ‘No Hope’ are charged, powerful numbers and finish the record on a high. What Cults do best is to skilfully unionise and pay homage to the past while weaving in the best from the current zeitgeist. Every track here sounds familiar but incredibly fresh all at once as a result. Static is a natural progression for them, and they have lost none of their original charm. Get set to be wowed and moved by this incredible collection of raw and incredibly personal love songs.
Jagwar Ma, comprised of Gabriel Winterfield and Jono Ma, and hailing all the way from Sydney, Australia, are already turning out to be one of this year’s most interesting new bands. Their debut single ‘The Throw’ snowballed them into just about every platform of the UK’s music press with a blend of dream pop and acid house that instantly turned heads. With their debut album, Howlin, already turning heads, and having supported the likes of The xx and Foals on tour, the antipodean duo look set to only further their cause across the rest of 2013.
PlanetNotion caught up with one-half of the outfit, Jono Ma, to talk their crammed summer of international festival appearances, the isolation of Australia and avoiding dance music when you’re ill – Jono reckons classical is the only way to soothe a bad head…
PlanetNotion: How did Jagwar Ma form? How long have you known each other?
Jono Ma: Gab and I have known each other for years. We both played in our own bands in Sydney prior to us starting to collaborate. I started this side project called FLRL and asked Gab to join in for one gig, and that was the first time we made music together.
A few years later, we were playing each other respective songs we’d been working on, and Gab ended up singing on a track of mine. That was the very first Jagwar Ma song, and we then formed the band after we realised our skills were quite complimentary to each other.
PN :How does it feel to be acknowledged and celebrated across the UK’s music press?
JM: It really does feel amazing. We’d never imagined this sort of reception from the UK. It’s hard enough getting some recognition in our hometown Sydney, let alone the UK – one of the cultural epicentres of modern music.
PN: Did you imagine ‘The Throw’ was going to go down so well when you were writing it? Did you feel like it was a special track from the offset?
JM: We had no idea it was going to be so well received. We generally don’t think about that stuff when we write. It’s quite toxic for the decision making process I believe. It definitely felt like something good was happening as the song was evolving.
PN: You have been repeatedly compared to the ‘Madchester’ acid beats sound, is this purely accidental or was this something you wanted for your music? JM: It definitely wasn’t intentional. We were initially inspired by loads of 50s and 60s R&B, soul, garage, particularly the old records from Chicago and Detroit. But, I really wanted to keep the production and programming side of things quite modern sounding. Somehow it ended up having a bit of a Manchester house vibe, which is fine by us, but wasn’t something we had set out to do.
PN: Australia is readily exporting a whole host of musical talent recently. Have you found the Australian music scene to be much different from the UK’s? If so, what are the main differences? JM: Yes, very. It’s much smaller to begin with. It’s also much more fractured in that each city is so geographically far apart. It makes touring and cross-pollination difficult. I guess as a result there’s a sense of isolation in Australia as a musician, not only from other musicians in Australia but from the rest of the world. Being in the UK, there seems to be much more of a sense of inclusion and cross-pollination and a feeling of being connected with the rest of the world.
PN: What music are you listening to at the moment, new and old? JM: At the moment, in all honesty, I’ve pretty much just been listening to classical. So, only old. It’s strange but I’ve never really committed myself to classical music and I’ve been quite sick lately and wanted to avoid electronic music and contemporary music for the moment because it made my mind so active. I’ve found some great classic compositions that just let my mind drift off somewhere else.
PN: Which new bands/artists are you rating? JM: We love our fellow Aussies, Tame Impala: they’re pretty hard to look past aren’t they. We love Foals, of course. I need to get out and see some more new bands though. We’ve just been so busy touring and promoting.
PN: What kind of responses have you had from your album so far? JM: It varies. Things like: it’s too long; it’s too short; very Manchester; sounds like the 90s; sounds like the 80s; sounds like the 60s; it’s great; it’s late. It’s mostly been very positive stuff so far, though. We’re not particularly nervous about its release, more excited for it to finally be out there.
Ireland’s MMOTHS, formally Jack Colleran, is an electronic musician who managed to bag a support slot on The xx’s most recent tour. This – without having anything but a single released – stands up as pretty good going for a virtually unknown, 19 year-old bedroom producer. His fans also include superstar DJ Annie Mac, who featured his track ‘Over You’ on her esteemed Annie Mac Presents compilation released late last year, and with a nod of approval from Flying Lotus too, his future is looking startlingly bright.
Diaries draws its title from a succession of photographs that Colleran (a keen photographer) took, one of which is the EP’s artwork. At six tracks long, it serves as a sumptuous spectrum of his multifaceted abilities, showcasing his alt-electronic dexterity flawlessly.
The EP’s debut single – and one of the two only vocally led tracks – ‘All These Things’ is rich in experimental technique and resonance, borrowing vocals from Brooklyn based singer-songwriter Holly Miranda; its clangs and echoed vocals resonate an acute sense of emotion. Meanwhile, opener ‘One’ sounds very much like the xx, constructing an entire atmosphere within a few seconds – and keys – of its introduction.
‘For Her’, which features Young & Sick, is a chillwave gem with a treated vocal; a technique employed again in the EP’s final track ‘Too Real’, which sounds like a throwback from the 80s, but maintains an incredibly fresh and crisp stance.
Colleran’s music finds itself in much the same vein as acts like Kodiak, Roosevelt and Aussie producer Flume: executing an infinite aptitude for creating multi-layered and interesting beats, but it’s art – and not just music – that resides in his mind’s eye.
