The Go! Team – Semicircle Song
Their upcoming album is due 19th January. The first track to do the rounds is the title track ‘Semicircle Song.’ Bandleader Ian Parton gathered samples across the Midwest, with an emphasis on capturing the voices of young musicians. ‘Semicircle Song’ manages to combine the group’s usual everything including the kitchen sink approach to produce a song that is a three-minute pop marvel. Utterly gorgeous, like sunshine on your stereo. (EJ)
Cross Wires – Walking Wounded
Cross Wires release a new mini album called Living In A Radio City soon. Not quite an album but not an EP, it features the double AA side single ‘I Want Radio’/’Pink Dogs’ and the single ‘We Call The Shots’ plus other tracks including a brand new version of previous Interaction/Dislocation EP ‘Walking Wounded’. A frankly fantastic kick ass, nihilistic post-punk anthem that rattlers with the ghosts of the Replacements. (BC)
Magic Panda – Citadel
Jamie Robson aka Magic Panda recently released his new Cloud FForest EP – a collection of epic, expansive tracks. With ‘Citadel’ he crafts a tapestry of whirring electronic patterns and gazy guitars, it’s like standing back and watching a Catherine wheel in full affect. Majestic and otherworldly, unique yet somehow familiar. (BC)
Silent Forum – When I See You Shake
Odd Box Records are releasing a limited edition cassette by Cardiff’s Silent Forum. A five-piece that have been active over the past 18 months in Cardiff, this tape release gathers together all recordings to date. From the new EP Sanctuary comes the frantic ‘When I see You Shake’ that matches tumbling post-punk percussion to anxious vocals that detail relationship turmoil. The Cassette will be out on Friday 24th November in an initial run of 50. Silent Forum play a launch show on 16th November in Cardiff. BC)
Xenoula – Luna Man
Fabulous futuristic funk and odd pop collide in a bubbling primordial stew, undulating percussion and twitching keys, Xenoula’s vocals are at once enticing and unsettling, the video for ‘Lunar Man’ is like a scene from Blade Runner 2049 following the apocalypse. (BC)
