BlackLab are a sludge, doom and fuzz metal duo from Japan. Their album ‘Under The Strawberry Moon’ was released in 2017 in a very limited pressing. Recognising their potential to appeal to an overseas audience, UK indie label New Heavy Sounds remixed the album, beefing up the overall sound and subsequently gave it a broader distribution. The resulting ‘Under The Strawberry Moon 2.0’ isn’t just heavy. It isn’t just doomy. It’s positively devastating.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
CHRIS STILLS – Don’t Be Afraid
At the beginning of 2008, singer-songwriter Chris Stills released his debut album ‘100 Year Thing’. A semi-acoustic collection of songs it not only drew influence from his father Stephen – most notably in the vocal tones of the title track – but also seemed to be inspired by then more contemporary sounds, with some songs carrying traces of influence from Days of The New and Alice In Chains’ acoustic material. A follow up didn’t appear until 2005, by which time, his material had seemingly absorbed bits and pieces from Jeff Buckley’s small legacy as well as further showcasing his own talents.
MIKE PACE AND THE CHILD ACTORS – Smooth Sailing
Previously of Oxford Collapse, singer-songwriter Mike Pace takes a different approach on his 2018 LP ‘Smooth Sailing’. Recorded with his other band The Child Actors, the album moves away from the indie rock of their 2015 LP ‘Best Boy’ and is – in Mike’s own words “a big pop record…or something like it, recorded by a forty year old who grew up on indie rock and later discovered the joys of soft singer-songwriters, AOR and prog through bargain bins.”
SIMON HINKLER – Moving On EP
Simon Hinkler (aka The Wing Commander) was the guitarist with a formative line up of Pulp, playing guitar on their 1983 album ‘It’ long before Britpop was even a twinkle in the NME’s eye. He’s guested with Eden House and The March Violets and had an on/off solo career. For many, though, he will be best known as guitarist with The Mission, playing an invaluable role in the creation of their first four – and best – albums between 1986 and 1990.
Hinkler’s 2018 solo EP ‘Moving On’ might be short, but it draws heavily from years of experience and dabbles with different styles and moods, all with equal charm. The sharp changes in mood are probably due to the songs being written across a decade or more, but as an overview of a sometimes underrated talent, it all works brilliantly.
DARTO – Fundamental Slime EP
Formed in Seattle in 2010, experimental electronic act Darto have spent years carving themselves a niche in the musical underground. Their music, while always interesting, isn’t always completely accessible; that said, somewhere within its darkness – for those able to invest the time – haunting songs eventually emerge. Don’t expect big hooks, though, since Darto are all about the overall mood. On their 2018 EP ‘Fundamental Slime’ (recorded by the legendary Steve Fisk), the songs take many cues from the darker and artier side of the late 70s – a period after Roxy Music had all but abandoned art for pop sheen and Ultravox were not the worldwide hit makers known to millions, but a Roxy/Eno obsessed synth band.