The Isle of Wight Festival is set to kick off this weekend, and so what are you most looking forward to in set performances and artist appearances?
After Gallagher’s triumphant return to the main stage belting out Oasis classics – and falling out of a helicopter after – it certainly brings out the festival in a new, raucous light.
“Who said Rock ‘n’ Roll is dead, Keith Moon eat your drum skin out.”
As prestigious from his masterclasses to his independency in artistry and musicianship, Plini is one artist who is a devoted forward-thinker and has created a magnificent blend of instrumental progressive rock.
–All hand-crafted and recorded from his own bedroom studio.
FIRST THOUGHTS
Truth be told, instrumental prog rock is never a genre I have tapped into almost entirely during a music session. But, holy hell. What an artist to discover this genre. A mind-bending genre in its own right.
Beautifully harmonic, illustrious in creativity and composure, Plini is a mastermind on the guitar.
Using oh, so many strings and no headstock allowing you as a musician to manipulate its work that little bit more, his craft is a complex cavity of musical brilliance that is flawless and – hard to grasp when you realise its just one Australian fella behind it all.
LISTEN
You can have a listen to his EP from last year named, Impulse Voices below. This most recent display of work shows off the sunset offerings of I’ll Tell You Someday and The Glass Bead Game. Going back further, is the witnessing of 2016’s EP of Handmade Cities. An album that is far more contemplative and reserved than his follow-up, it features Electric Sunrise and Every Piece Matters.
Even if you were not an avid investor of progressive rock similar to myself, I implore you to have a listen. …Even if it’s just for a couple?
Handmade Cities:
Impulse Voices:
For something extra, witness Plini’s mindset as he takes a walkthrough of his song, Pan.
The song of the day today is Black Foxxes’, Witch Mountain. An ‘airy’ magnificence which lingers that bit longer even when finished.
Like the swirling atmosphere you begin to imagine at a summit of such a place like ‘Witch Mountain’, the song has a certain sense of odd beauty, uncertainty and important spacing throughout.
Recently discovering Black Foxxes as an iconic indie collective abound with emotion and musical arching, and are certainly prevalent on any chill playlist I wish to play on a weekend afternoon. Best during those overcast kind of days.
Give it a spin – or have a blast through their catalogue so far – and let me know your thoughts on the raw and husky works of Holley and co.
This is BLACK FOXXES.
YouTube Music has since become one of the fastest growing music subscriptions out there after passing an impressive score of 50 million subscribers – paying and otherwise – over the past month. This has resulted in 1.8 million subscribers joining the roster of YouTube music since October 2020.
Now, whether it’s the resurgence of staying inside from lockdown, or whether it’s the tarnished reputation the likes of other streaming services are getting, everyone else better watch out. I’m looking at you Elk over there at Spotify.
Let me know your thoughts on this one: is it the sign of the times? Are we started to enjoy music videos again? Is YouTube Music the new MTV?
Trawling from the back of her sombre tellings of Melodrama back in 2017, sultry soprano superstar Lorde returns with her critically acclaimed brazen-faced album of Solar Power.
Embracing like the warmth of a sun and relaxing like that of a smooth timbre, Lorde encapsulates a summer of love and friendship. Self-titled, Solar Power and Stoned at the Nail Salon portray a rich reimagining of lyricism and clever portrayals of summer anthems that enter familiar waters of how summer anthems often go.
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Welcome to sadness
The temperature is unbearable until you face it
Thank you for flying with Strange Airlines
I will be your tour guide today
Your emotional baggage can be picked up at carousel number 2
Please be careful so that it doesn’t fall onto someone you love
When we’ve reached your final destination
I will leave you to it
You’ll be fine
–Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen it All) – Lorde
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Shedding away the electronic trails of her past works, Lorde becomes more within herself as it features far familiar stripped-back acoustic works of her embellished song-writing, that has been adored ever since she graced us with Royals back in 2013.
Although sounding oddly repetitive at times with the same rhythms coming from the drum kit, the songs are sultry and relaxing enough to get lost in it – all in one big song.
