Offbeat Music

Reviews · Interviews · Playlists from the alternative music scene

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Roadkill Ghost Choir

Roadkill Ghost Choir

Our local singer-songwriter Skoob who is also a coach for emerging bands for our region as well as being part of five bands if I am counting correctly, thus a musician and music lover through and through, claimed the other day that as we get older we all start liking Americana. Well, for me this is certainly true. Is it about the world closing in as you get older that you long for freedom, wide open roads, getting away from it all, starting all over again? Is it that you long for that warmth u

· Alice Peters-Burns · 2 min blog
Orphan Boy
live

Orphan Boy

Today in a radio broadcast from the BBC 6 Music Festival, there was a discussion going on about the difficulty of labelling bands and their music. A special mention was made, in how far for instance Newcastle bands have it easier than Manchester bands to break free from the city’s musical history. A story Orphan Boy are only too well acquainted with: Originally from Cleethorpes and then moving to the big shmoke of Manchester, they were pegged as a “lad band” for maybe as little as the clothes

· Alice Peters-Burns · 2 min Coastal Tones Grimsby
Neal Hoffmann (Amphibic)

Neal Hoffmann (Amphibic)

When I ventured out into the rain this afternoon, I caught soundbites of the neighbour’s daughter happily singing along to a karaoke backtrack in that kind of vocal that suits the casting shows but not necessarily the singer. She thinks, she is going to be a star. Bless her. I try not to sound too sarcastic but it does take a lot more than that, and luck. True, in all unfairness, it only takes luck for some. And those who put in a lot of work, talent, craftmanship, go without. I wish this wo

· Alice Peters-Burns · 1 min blog
The Weekend People

The Weekend People

If music comes my way that says “from Melbourne, Australia” I am, admittedly – not very objectively – already raising thumbs. This very cauldron of great music has cooked up another great band – The Weekend People. They describe themselves as such: Alt-country tinged indie rock swagger. Somewhat unhinged live performances. Nice lyrics, if a little dark at times. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Originally The Weekend People were just Mark Woodward (no relation to Jay who features in this blog,

· Alice Peters-Burns · 1 min blog
Sharon van Etten
interview

Sharon van Etten

What on earth can I say about Sharon van Etten that she has not divulged in interviews (to the point that I wanted to throttle her interviewer, poking on when she was already in tears) or, of course, first and foremost, in her music. Multi-instrumentalist, power-voiced Sharon has a knack for writing music, especially harmonies and then come the lyrics. Lyrics that tell of lost love, painful relationships, giving up herself, sacrificing herself, hit you, once you listen in as if you had a choic

· Alice Peters-Burns · 2 min music Sharon Van Etten
CAIRO

CAIRO

The indie gran (yep, me) is in a right narky mood today. Ah, the old times were so much better. When we still had to go to an actual record store (preferably 8 km away on a bike in the freezing cold) and rifle through the records and communicate (indeed) with people in the store on what kind of music they buy. None of that “other customers who bought also bought…” nonsense. We talked. And oh dear, if you missed the name of the band or the title on the radio, tough, no online playlists, no, heave

· Alice Peters-Burns · 1 min blog
J.P. Kallio

J.P. Kallio

On days like these, having just returned from a close to four hours carnival’s parade with lots of singing, dancing and bending down to pick up sweets, minding that the wig and feather eyelashes don’t come off, I often wonder where other people take their energy from. One springs to mind especially and that is musician J.P. Kallio originally from Finland who lives in Dublin, Ireland. He has his roots in punk music (did I read that right?), picked up Irish traditional music like a breeze and is

· Alice Peters-Burns · 1 min blog
The Unthanks

The Unthanks

Having been out to watch the Carnival’s Sunday parade (the big one of approximately 4 hours duration is tomorrow, yikes), I am already in serious need of some soothing, beautiful music – such as music by The Unthanks. Sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank’s new album “Mount the Air” is deservedly getting praised in all the high places, so who am I to comment. Especially when you also have Martin Freeman and Robert Wyatt saying wonderful things about you? But I would simply like to express my thanks

· Alice Peters-Burns · 1 min blog

Jay Woodward

When I first listened to Jay Woodward’s music it struck  me how well produced his recordings sounded but not overly so – indeed he prefers a classical approach like in the 60s and 70s. He is absolutely not making up with production what is missing in music. The music of Jay Woodward, as someone put it so nicely, renders itself perfectly for a drive through the desert. Now, I am in severe want of desert landscape here, but it works just fine in the woods and moors. Nature features big in Jay Wo

· Alice Peters-Burns · 1 min Howl Indie
Great Caesar

Great Caesar

Great Caesar… …found me and I am glad they did. They hail from Brooklyn, New York, and not only are they absolutely sound people (of course I only choose the lovely people:-)) – they are hard-working performers and this shows in the reaction of their audience to the gigs! The audience is overwhelmed. Would love to see them live in Europe but in the meantime, we must make do with their recordings. And they ain’t bad either. There is a very distinctive sound to Great Caesar due to the brass s

· Alice Peters-Burns · 1 min Great Caesar music