The Big Indie Playlist: Curated by Big Long Sun
Winter drags on, maintaining those gloomy skies and regular showers, but this week has also brought the exciting signs of spring to come in all its blue-skied, light-jacket glory.
Fittingly, for a week which has seen the collective weather-dictated spirits of the UK rise sharply, this week has also brought with it a deluge of incredible music, which we endeavour to cover here in The Big Indie Playlist.
It has been a particularly bumper week for releases, too, with old favourites like Gorillaz and American Football making their triumphant returns, while a plethora of future favourites endeavour to make their mark, too. It has been a notably good week, for instance, for the ever-productive music scene of Leeds, with stand-out releases from up-and-comers Bathing Suits, newly signed to Underplay Records, and sludgy cinematic newcomers Werewolves on Wheels, too.
In our efforts to cover as many new releases as humanly possible, for your listening pleasure, this week we have stolen some time from Brighton-based Big Long Sun, ahead of their upcoming album release, to curate a selection of their favourite listens of the week.
As always, you will find everything covered here from northern soul rediscoveries to indie smashes and underground experimenters – the Big Indie does not discriminate. So, whether you’re hunkering down for another few weeks until the sun returns, basking in the fleeting rays of early March, or are simply in need of something to listen to on your daily commute, we have certainly got you covered.
Must-hear: Curated by Big Long Sun
Good Sad Happy Bad – ‘Frontline’: “A band that always channels a childlike voice in a scarily real setting. Swaying in comfortable malaise”.
Joanne Robertson, Oliver Coates – ‘Always Were’: “A sea of divine romance. Joanne’s aquatic sonic footprint merging effortlessly with Oliver’s siren strings. If only we could breathe underwater”.
YHWH Nailgun – ’Changer’: “An ecstatic Mosh pit music for philosophical toddlers who have had too much sugar”.
Tracer – ‘Character Building’: “A distorted fanfare-like pop song that tackles the ego in two minutes”.
between the air – ‘big beat mark4’: “A flabby wash of bass and tight rhythms with plenty of artefacts. Some may start their day by listening, as would someone battling strobes in their favourite dark room”.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – ‘Death Comes From The Sky’: “After extensively listening to UMO for 5+ years, we are still caught in his web of silky melody. Reuben has the ability to conjure new worlds from old ideas”.
The best new music of the week:
American Football – ‘Bad Moons’: Coming somewhat out of left field this week, Illinois’ midwest emo titans returned with the first single from their newly announced album, a song which fittingly begins with the lyric “surprise”. An intimate, vulnerable, eight-minute offering from the group, perhaps, wasn’t what fans expected from their first single in five years, but there is very little to complain about within the song, whether you’re a veteran emo or not. [4/5]
Gorillaz – ‘The Moon Cave’: Gorillaz dropped their collaboration-focused The Mountain this week, and one of its ultimate stand-outs was ‘The Moon Cave’, boasting the collective power of disco-jazz queen Asha Puthli, soul legend Bobby Womack, De La Soul’s Dave Jolicoeur, Black Thought of The Roots and Jalen Ngonda. A grand, orchestral offering blending Albarn’s typical output with a genre-defying cacophony of influences, the song is as multi-faceted as it is infectious. [4/5]
Bathing Suits – ‘Empathy’: Alongside the news that one of Leeds’ most exciting groups have signed to Underplay came this eight-minute storm of pounding techno and abrasive post-punk darkness, reaffirming the unique sonic menagerie at the heart of the band’s ever-expanding appeal. [4.5/5]
Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng – ‘Helicopters’: Another brilliant release from the upcoming War Child project HELP(2), this time in the form of a match-made-in-heaven collaboration between jazz giants Ezra Collective and Greentea Peng, who come together under a reggae-styled single anthem for peace. [4/5]
Courtney Barnett – ‘Mantis: One of Eora country’s greatest indie songwriters provides us all with another choice preview from her upcoming and hotly anticipated Creature of Habit album, in this sun-kissed, self-aware exploration which will undoubtedly form the centrepiece of the final tracklisting. [3.5/5]
Werewolves on Wheels – ‘Black Magic Pussy Machine’: Opening into a soundbite from Jack Nicholson’s The Trip, Leeds-based newcomers Werewolves on Wheels sink into their unique realm of giallo grindhouse doom rock on this, the opening track of their Glossolalia EP, bringing a much-needed taste of old-school acid horror to these winter months. [4.5/5]
Billiam – ‘Now What?’: Nashville’s Knuckles on the Stun put out an infectious egg-punk benefit tape for the UN World Food Bank this week, and the entire release is well worth delving into, but this energetic inclusion from Naarm’s premier eggy DIY king Billiam is a particular stand-out. [4/5]
Yossari Baby – ‘New Brutality’: Some more pounding post-punk electronica courtesy of Yossari Baby and Manchester’s Alphaville Records, with this eight-minute earworm that sounds as though it could have been lifted from the nightclubs of a Cold War era nightmare. [4/5]
Aimée Fatale – ‘The Way It Goes’: Hull’s retro-styled songstress returns with a yearning, Lana Del Rey-esque cinematic track, forming a fitting closer for her newly released EP A Modern Girl, perfect if you fancy envisioning yourself as the troubled lead of a coming-of-age film. [3/5]
Lime Garden – ‘All Bad Parts’: Brighton’s premier indie outfit gear up for the summer and, crucially, festival season, with this upbeat indie anthem existing somewhere between a sweaty nightclub and rolling green fields full of tents and pissed-up music lovers. [3.5/5]
cavegirl stomp – ‘I’d rather kiss you’: High-adrenaline synth-punk excellence from Amsterdam-based cavegirl stomp, this three-minute flash of energy is the third of three tracks on EP ughhh…, and it acts as a good reminder of just how incredible the grassroots punk realm is doing these days. [4/5]
Off The Beaten Track: Left-field sounds
Fauna – ‘Dunans torka’: Experimental dance-psychedelia is not a genre that demands its own section in a record store, but Gothenburg’s Fauna might change all of that based on the strength of this single, taken from their rather exciting debut album, Taiga Trans, set for full release in April. [4.5/5]
Closed City – ‘Closed City’: A fittingly eerie, atmospheric effort from Mathias Kom and Michael Cloud Duguay, exploring the Cold War-era ‘closed cities’ through their impactful avant-garde, orchestral drone sound, and setting themselves up for a particularly interesting concept album, due out next month. [3.5/5]
Homer – ‘New Wellness’: If you are in need of a lift, look no further than this percussive, soulful instrumental from rapidly rising producer, songwriter, and drummer Homer, courtesy of the infallible output of Big Crown Records. [3.5/5]
The Three Seas – ‘Prithibi’: Recorded live in the picturesque surroundings of northern India, this spiritual offering from Sydney-based Australian-Bengali is a folk-rock rendition of a beloved Bengali anthem that seems to defy the limitations of both time and genre. [4/5]
Lovemasters – ‘Pushin’ And Pullin’’: Dedicated soulies will already be well-aware of Kent Records and its penchant for dragging sought-after obscurities back to the surface, and this new seven-inch from the archives of Darrow Fletcher reintroduces an incredible oldies dancer to the scene. [4.5/5]
