Radio Free Alice – Radio Free Alice EP

È stata una fine d’anno convulsa per chi scrive. Un nuovo e del tutto imprevisto trasloco -il secondo in meno di un anno, ad esser pignoli-, fatalmente combinato ad un’altrettanto imprevisto quanto inesorabile semi-esaurimento psicofisico, hanno fatto sì che alla musica potessi dedicare negli ultimi mesi una minima parte del (poco) tempo a disposizione. Peraltro quasi mai la migliore, con mio inconsolabile rammarico.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 137: Atka

Atka

Atka is a Brandenburg-born, London-based, songwriter and producer who released her debut EP The Eye Against The Ashen Sky on Nov 3rd. Although Atka has been writing, producing and recording her own music for years, she has so far remained in the background of the music industry. Growing up in a tiny village in Germany, she moved to the beaches of the Gold Coast in Australia at the age of 15 and later to the snowy mountains in Squamish, Canada, until she found a home in London. Initially pursuing a career in sustainability research and politics, Atka quickly became disillusioned by the bureaucracy of the political system and instead considered going into filmmaking. A few self-directed short films, runner- and costume assistant jobs later, she however returned to music as a journalist for Rolling Stone, Groove and Musikexpress and others. With her own sound however, she has only been tinkering in private – whether on her walks through St. James Park to procrastinate writing her master’s thesis, on the tube on the way to Soho or in her improvised home studio in East London. A versatile musician who cites Joy Division and Kraftwerk as her most formative influences, she wrote her first song at the age of ten and later gained the attention of big names in the music scene for her poetic lyrics and unique flair for music production and composition. The artist, whose real name is Sarah Neumann, wrote her debut EP The Eye Against The Ashen Sky last year in London parallel to completing her master’s degree in philosophy, in which she intensively studied the French philosopher’s, Jean-Paul Sartre’s, theory of the gaze.

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Ghost Marrow – earth + death

Abbandonarsi alle sensazioni, lasciarle fluire privandole di qualsiasi argine determinato da sovrastrutture mentali stringenti. È l’urgenza comunicativa e l’immediatezza realizzativa a contraddistinguere il terzo album di Ghost Marrow, progetto solista di Aurielle Zeitler, nota quale ex-componente dei Giant Squid e per aver collaborato tra gli altri con musicisti del calibro di Suzanne Ciani, Chelsea Wolfe ed Emma Ruth Rundle.

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David Holmes ft. Raven Violet – Blind On A Galloping Horse

Un manifesto elettronico con filo conduttore, l’ultima decade vissuta in Gran Bretagna. Progetto arduo, ma che grazie all’esperienza e al talento di David Holmes si realizza in quattordici brani tra techno, dub, acid house e psichedelico rock’n’roll che ne segnano il ritorno come artista quindici anni dopo “The Holy Pictures”.
Ricordando, nel mezzo, il lavoro svolto al fianco di Primal Scream (More Light) e Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (Who Built The Moon).

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 136: The Jasmine Minks

The Jasmine Minks (©Gary Sloan)

The Jasmine Minks formed in Aberdeen in 1983, they signed to Alan McGee’s Creation Records after submitting a demo tape to Melody Maker magazine. They released a mini six track album in 1984 before releasing their self-titled debut in 1986. The band ceased activity for a few years following albums Another Age and Scratch the Surface but reunited in 2000 to release album Veritas. They signed to McGee’s Poptones label and released Popartglory in 2001. After a period of inactivity, The Jasmine Minks began to play live regularly and record new material in 2017. We Make Our Own History is their first album in 22 years and it is out now via Last Night From Glasgow. The actual line-iup of the band is Jim Shepherd (Vocals, Guitar), Martin Keena (Bass), Dave Musker (Organ, Synths, Theremin, Electric Piano), Tommy Reid (Vocals, Drums, Guitar), Wattie Duncan (Guitars) and Chris Narayan (Tambourine, Road Manager).
The Jasmine Minks were the first real Creation band – their single ‘Think!’ was the fourth single we put out. An amazing unknown gem of a band. Working-class heroes – to me, anyway.” – Alan McGee

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