Ikarus flying high
“Mosaismic”, the new, third album by the young Zurich-based quintet Ikarus, was released on 5 April via Ronin Rhythm Records. The house label of zen-funk pianist Nik Bärtsch and related acts is a guarantee for intriguing, complex and often mesmerising music. Ikarus are no different. What makes them so fascinating is their use of the […]
Lord Kesseli & the Drums reaching for immortality
Just as well Lord Kesseli hasn’t thought of starting a religious cult yet. With the hypnotic, dark and yet – paradoxically – deeply psychedelic sounds emanating from his alchemically addled brain, a following of Pied Piper of Hamelin proportions would be an absolute certainty. 23 November sees the release of Lord Kesseli & the Drums’ […]
Emilie Zoé goes back to the Very Start
Emilie Zoé’s eagerly awaited second album, “The Very Start”, is at last released on 9 November. In turns bracingly honest and sweetly tender, Emilie Zoé has never shied away from difficult emotions in her songs. A little older and a little wiser, she has now harnessed her unique talent in a beguiling album full of […]
Futureman is here!
If the end is nigh, so is the new beginning. „Futureman“ to the rescue! „Futureman“ is the creation of Harvey Rushmore & the Octopus, a collection of humans, instruments, machines and images dedicated to the exploration of the weird and wonderful in us all. „Futureman“ was released on A Tree in a Field Records on 26 October, distributed […]
Hard, heavy and Ølten
Ølten are a three-piece committed to the basic power of guitar, drums, bass – and no vocals. “Ambiance”, released on 2 November on Hummus Records, is their second album. If the title conjures up visions of smoky jazz clubs or even ambient electronica, nothing could be farther from the truth. Ølten’s music is loud, intense […]
Wolfman calling Mad Woman
They are hungry, these wolves! Barely a year has passed since Wolfman’s last album, and already they have completed the next. Preceded by the single, “Mad Woman”, in June, the album, also entitled “Mad Woman”, is released on 5 October on Irascible Records in Switzerland. It is distributed in Germany via Cargo Records. Wolfman are […]
The Rebels of Tijuana do it in French
The Rebels of Tijuana have been going for ten years and they’re wearing the coolest shirts in this month’s SME newsletter. This gives them the right to describe their new album – a double! – themselves: “Recorded on analogue tape at the “Back To Mono” Studio with Christian Hierro. Shifting into surreal French, the songs […]
Long Tall Jefferson is a “Lucky Guy”
Long Tall Jefferson aka Simon Borer is a very busy man. Apart from playing over 200 shows in eight countries in two years, he, along with a chap called The Fridge, is also the prime mover and shaker behind the Zurich-based musicians’ cooperative Red Brick Chapel which is at present working with fourteen acts. Somehow, […]
Pyrit takes “Control”
Pyrit is the name Thomas Kuratli has given to his on-going “cosmic desert music” adventure. Swiss artist Pyrit is now residing in Paris, plays guitar and cymbals with an occasional dash of electronica. “Control” is his second album. It was released on Paris-based Bookmaker Records on 6 April. Distribution is via Modulor Music (France), Irascible […]
Sunny vibes from Wintershome
“Around You I Found You”, that is the pleasingly circular-sounding title of the debut album of Wintershome, a six-piece hailing from the famous winter resort Zermatt in the shadow of the Matterhorn at the heart of Switzerland. It is released on 6 April in Switzerland via Irascible and on 27 April in Germany via Rough Trade. […]
