Higher Plain Music

Sitting somewhere inside a vaporwave video game arcade, on a corner table, watching the gaming world tumble by, is ‘hibeams’, the new single from electronic artist devonwho. It’s the lead single from the Portland-based producer’s forthcoming new album, ‘TV2’, and devonwho describes it as “modern instrumental synthesiser funk therapy”.

It’s been five years since devo...

This is one of the most public service broadcast announcement posts I’ve ever written. Piano Magic was a sorrowful, downcast, unconventional gothic-ish folk rock band. They mixed ethereal elegance with sad guitars, gentle vocals, and a lot of piano and synth work. I’d describe their sound as similar to Tunng, but if they toured with Unto Ashes rather than went to the pub firs...

Yesterday, electronic producer Àbáse announced his new album ‘Nefelejcs’ and described it as a “full-circle moment”. Hungarian for the forget-me-not flower, it was Àbáse’s late mother’s favourite. Whilst Àbáse has spent the last seven years in Berlin, the loss of his mother and a search for identity compelled him to explore his roots with this new album.

Across 18 t...

Embracing her cowboy western era with her latest album, ‘Graceland Way’, Mikaela Davis recently performed on KEXP. KEXP is easily one of the best places for artists to get a bigger radio stage and a mighty fine video production, and once again they don’t disappoint. Whilst cowboy western music is a bit outside my usual wheelhouse, Mikaela Davis’ earlier music was more alterna...

Mother Earth in primal form, visiting a Bulgarian choir.

I love it when you stumble across a true hidden gem, and it appears I had the same visceral spark in my heart as Billo Traeger had upon hearing Elizabeth Vogler for the first time. Billo, an underground German rec...