Softlander Floating with Professional Ghosts
Out now via Oh, Sister Records is “Professional Ghosts”, the second album from Softlander. A quartet formed by familiar faces from various well-known bands from Zurich and Berne, including Alois, Dino Brandão and Jon Hood, Softlander appear to serve their members as a peaceful refuge from their other, more experimental and/or wilder projects. Sound-wise, they […]
Berceuses – Lullabies for Eight Voices
“Berceuses” is both the name of a hydra-like ensemble of multi-instrumentalist and singers, and their debut album. Recorded in the space of only four days and released a few weeks ago by Humus Records, the project is a fine illustration of the label’s ethos of experiment and collaboration. Formed as a sort of creative cauldron […]
Linda Wolf Urges You to “Dive Right into Yourself”
“What if it All Works Out”? Good question. What if? Would we be shocked because we never expected it? Simply satisfied? Or disgruntled because we have nothing left to be sour about? We are asking this question because it is the title of Linda Wolf’s mostly bouncy and always beautifully sung debut album, available now […]
Mount Jacinto Discover a Silver Lining
Fronted by Costa Rican singer and guitarist Sonya Carmona, Mount Jacinto also include Annie Taylor’s Gini Jungi on guitar, drummer Adrian Oesch and Joel Morales on bass. After a handful of EPs, “Silver Lining” is their debut album. It is available on Taxi Gauche Records. Nomen est omen, as they say. When, in the middle […]
Marie Jay Zipping Along on her Trottinette
Having prepared the ground locally with a handful of singles over the past seven years, Marie Jay is at last ready to launch herself on the wider world with her debut EP, “Trottinette” (engl., scooter). A superbly talented singer (witness this EP’s title track!) and still only 22, Marie Jay studied the basics of her […]
Melicious Reflecting on Loss and Hope
If the title of Melicious’s new EP – “Ugly Starts and Promises”, out now via Irascible – suggests music drenched in minor chords and anguished cries, quite the opposite is the truth. The songs may touch on difficult themes and ideas – but they are delivered on the back of some gorgeously crafted pop tunes […]
Switzerland Meets Linecheck
A festival/conference with a genuinely fearless and idiosyncratic music programme, Linecheck has established itself over its ten years of existence as a place to discover music – often experimentally electronic – that rarely gets a look-in at the more conventional European business get-togethers. This year, the programme ranges from the anarchic style-mash-up of Kenyan producer […]
At Last – Meimuna’s Debut Album
It’s been taking a while – but here it is, the debut album from Meimuna, the singer/songwriter from the Canton of Valais who has created more than just a ripple of excitement with a series of five beautiful and well-received EPs. Entitled “c’est demain que je meurs”, it is out now via Radicalis Music. The […]
Mel D is Not Crazy – and Not a Newcomer Either
Out now from Two Gentlemen is “Not Crazy”, the striking debut EP from Zurich-based singer-songwriter Mel D. Not to be confused with a certain ex-Spice Girl, this particular Mel D has been part of Zurich’s rich musical tapestry for quite some time. She was previously known as half of mischgewebe, a duo born from a […]
La Nefera Learning to Live
“Aprendi a Vivir” (“learning to live”) is the award-winning Basel-based rapper La Nefera’s second album in two years. Available now, it documents her struggle to come to terms with various fundamental changes in her life, including her decision to devote her considerable energies exclusively to music. Featuring a six-piece line-up for her gigs which at […]
