BarryGruff’s March 2015 Playlist

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A regular monthly feature to the blog; a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured during the month.

It was a pretty big month for the blog to be fair. We celebrated 5 years of BarryGruff with GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging. If somehow you missed all the hoo-ha about ‘GruffWuff’, there’s more info here & you can download / stream it here: Bandcamp / Soundcloud.

Aside from this rather significant milestone, there was the return of Tame Impala, Applescal, Crocodiles and Cian Ciaran with new tracks ahead of their respective albums, and new singles from Teleman, Telegram, Girls Names, Tandem Felix, The Dead Heavys, CaStLeS and Spies. Also featuring on the playlist are: Django Django, Ulrika Spacek, By The Sea, Hippies Vs Ghosts and O Emperor.

Listen to BarryGruff`s March 2015 playlist below. The track listing is after the jump:

 

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Celebrating 5 Years of BarryGruff with ‘GruffWuff’: A 19 Track Compilation Album [Out Now]

So, the day has finally arrived; ‘GruffWuff‘ is out now!

I’ve been itching to share this with everyone and I very, happy this day has finally arrived. The past five years have been very interesting and for the most part, ever so much fun. I think this is a pretty special way to mark the occasion and I really hope you all enjoy the compilation as much as I do. Initially I thought an idea such as this was just a pipe dream and one that would remain just that. However, the enthusiasm that met my initial inquiries bowled me over, I couldn’t believe how eager everyone was. It is something that’ll stay with me forever and it means an awful lot. Hopefully it will shine a light, brief as it maybe on some of the acts that have brought me the most joy over the past few years.

Thanks to Stevie for all his assistance, Caroline for all her support and putting up with me, Peter Lee for mastering & all the artists who provided tracks for the compilation. A huge amount of credit must go to the artists involved for their eagerness and the ever so brilliant music.

So, to mark 5 years of BarryGruff, here is ‘GruffWuff’; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging. There is an act by act guide after the jump, I really hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did putting it together.

It’s yours now, just ‘name your price’ – which includes zero, so technically it’s free.

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Celebrating 5 Years of BarryGruff with ‘GruffWuff’: A 19 Track Compilation Album

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BarryGruff is 5 years old today!

Those five years have been interesting and fun. The blog has ebbed and flowed in parallel with my own life which has moved on somewhat from where it was back in March 2010. Since my early teens spouting about music has always been part and parcel of my life but I’m very grateful to have been in a position to share those musings and whatnot with a wider audience than my mates (or whoever is willing to listen).

Blogging has become quite a big part of my life and while listening to and discovering new music etc. is something that comes rather natural, a lot of my free time is devoted to the upkeep of the blog and how much longer I can continue to do so is anyone’s guess. It might be one year or another five, who knows? So with that in mind I really wanted to do something really special to mark the occasion and I’m pretty damn chuffed with this one.

Without further a do, to celebrate 5 years of BarryGruff is ‘GruffWuff’: A 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging. While I initially thought it was just a pipe dream and one that would remain just that, the enthusiasm that met my initial inquiries bowled me over, I couldn’t believe how eager everyone was. It is something that’ll stay with me forever and it means an awful lot. Hopefully it will shine a light, brief as it maybe on some of the acts that have brought me the most joy over the past few years. The enjoyment music brings me can’t be overstated, be it happy times or sad times, there’s one constant; music.

Thanks to Stevie for all his assistance, Caroline for putting up with me, Peter Lee for mastering & all the artists who provided tracks for the compilation. A huge amount of credit must go to the artists involved for their eagerness and the ever so brilliant music.

‘GruffWuff’ will be released through Bandcamp on Thursday, March 19th and the tracklisting is below for your perusal. I’m really, really excited for people to finally hear what everyone’s been working away on for the past 9 months.

Celebrating 5 Years of BarryGruff with ‘GruffWuff’:

01. Fold – ‘Where Are You’

02. Oh Boland – ‘White Boy’

03. Seazoo – ‘DIG (Demo Version)’

04. Mr Huw – ‘Bai Neb Ond Fy Hun’

05. Dan Amor – ‘Can’t Sleep’

06. Oisin McCole – ‘Far From The Sea’

07. Anderson – ‘The Way The Stream Flows’

08. Knoxville Morning – ‘Bridget’

09. Nathan Conway – ‘Babycheeno’

10. Disconcerting P – ‘Treated You Rough’

11. The Expert – ‘Swapsies’

12. SertOne – ‘Seventeen’

13. Imploded View – ‘Barry’s Game’

14. Channel Swimmer – ‘Racket’

15. Monto – ‘Yeuh’

16. Open Window – ‘003 (Africa)’

17. Captain Moonlight – ‘What is Property?’

18. GEM_DOS – ‘Mag D’Allen’

19. Hippies Vs Ghosts – ‘Three Shadows’

 

Hippies Vs Ghosts – Pin i’r Swigan E​P

 

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Since hurtling on to the scene close to two years ago, Hippies Vs Ghosts, the side project from We Are Animal guitarist & vocalist, Owain Ginsberg, has regularly and monumentally blown us away with his kaleidoscopic, instrumental Morricone meets krautrock sound.

It has been a fruitful two years, during which he’s served up numerous quality EPs, one off tracks and a sublime debut album, Mother Tongue (one of last year’s finest). It’s fair to say keep tabs on Hippies Vs Ghosts has been nothing short of breathtakingly exciting, and the first offering of 2015 is Pin i’r Swigan E​.​P. The EP captures the very essence of Hippies Vs Ghosts; krautrock indebted psychedelia, of epic proportions and recent single ‘Wazo’, leads the charge. Propelled onward by a chugging bass and persistent percussives, it hurtles along at breakneck speed with menacing intent, bending and contorting through a sea of swirling noise and scorching riffs. Urgent, catchy, and oh so irresistible! Title track ‘Pin i’r Swigan’ is sort of similar in that sense as it takes us on free-wheeling psychedelic journey through a fascinatingly imaginative, experimental and spaced-out world where Hippies Vs Ghosts’ krautrock indebted psychedelia meets early Joy Division. Closer ‘Hibou Calling’, meanwhile, is a much more tempered affair. A gentle acoustic strum, soft percussion and hushed repeated vocals fuse with some floaty sonic sounding atmospherics to soothe the soul and whisk ones mind away to a lofty transcendental plain. Truly exceptional stuff from Hippies Vs Ghosts once more, this is a creative talent that knows no bounds!

Pin i’r Swigan E​.​P is out now, for it be yours all you gotta do is ‘name your price’ here.

BarryGruff’s Albums of the Year 2014

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So, it’s that time of year again, yeah, it’s favourite albums of the year time. Loads of great music this year, some old faces and plenty of new ones too but for those of you who care, here are my 25 albums of 2014. Enjoy!

25. Second Storey – ‘Double Divide’

24. Beach Day – ‘Native Echoes’

23. Globelamp – ‘Star Dust’

22. Sex Hands – ‘Pleh’

21. The #1s – ‘The #1s’

20. Attaque – ‘ON LY YOU’

19. Shit Robot – ‘We Got Love’

18. Mowbird – ‘Islander’

17. Oh Boland/Me & My Dog – ‘Delphi’

16. Jamie T – ‘Carry on the Grudge’

15. Pharoahe Monch – ‘PTSD’

Following on from his 2011’s W.A.R, comes fourth solo LP, PTSD (aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), a loose-concept album which sees Pharoahe Monch speaking as a weary independent warrior against the industry machine and dealing with the struggle of the black male experience in America. It’s dense, raw and sometimes painfully raw, as he relives harrowing memories of his struggle with addiction, depression and suicidal thoughts. It’s all draped with his familiar top-notch storytelling, cavernous vocabulary, thought-provoking rhymes, precise delivery and thought-provoking metaphors, placing him right up top of the current hip-hop pile.

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Hippies Vs Ghosts – ‘Wazo’

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Can you really have too much of a good thing? Well not in the case of Hippies Vs Ghosts, the side project from We Are Animal guitarist & vocalist, Owain Ginsberg, the gift that just keeps giving!

Since blasting on to the scene some 18 months ago, under this particular guise, Ginsberg has regularly blown us away with his kaleidoscopic, instrumental Morricone meets krautrock sound. During which time he’s already served up a number of quality EPs, one off tracks and a stunning debut album, Mother Tongue (one of 2014’s finest). In a parting gesture to a rather productive 2014, Hippies Vs Ghosts are signing off with a brand new 7″ single ‘Wazo’, out via Too Pure Records. ‘Wazo’ captures the very essence of Hippies Vs Ghosts; krautrock indebted psychedelia, of epic proportions. Propelled onward by a chugging bass and persistent percussives, it hurtles along at breakneck speed with menacing intent, bending and contorting through a sea of swirling noise and scorching riffs. Urgent, catchy, and oh so irresistible! It’s b-side companion, ‘Hibou Calling’ is a much more tempered affair. A gentle acoustic strum, soft percussion and hushed repeated vocals fuse with some floaty sonic sounding atmospherics to soothe the soul and whisk ones mind away to a lofty transcendental plain. Truly exceptional once again from Mr. Ginsberg.

You can listen to ‘Wazo’ & ‘Hibou Calling’ below. ‘Wazo’ will be released on 7″ through Too Pure Records & limited to 500 hundred pressings – although there’s no confirmed date for the release yet.

Hippies Vs Ghosts – ‘Tales of a Lost Bike’ et al

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Hippies Vs Ghosts, the side project from We Are Animal guitarist & vocalist, Owain Ginsberg, has proven rather prolific and rewarding since it’s inception, just over 12 months ago. During which time he’s already served up a number of quality EPs, one off tracks and a stunning debut album, Mother Tongue (one of this years finest).

Thankfully it seems this insatiable appetite for releasing new music has yet to be abated, with news of a forthcoming limited edition vinyl release through Too Pure Records. And more immediately however, some new Hippies Vs Ghosts jams were released online earlier this week and in short; they are fantastic. Continuing in the same vein as previous work – a kaleidoscopic, instrumental Morricone meets krautrock sound – what has become Hippies Vs Ghosts’ signature. ‘Thumbs Up To John’, ‘Tales of a Lost Bike’ and ‘Weather Song’ take us on free-wheeling psychedelic journey through a fascinatingly imaginative, experimental and spaced-out world with an unrestrained organic flow. Swirling noise, seriously groovy yet slightly peculiar (in a good way), as we’re lifted through the swirling noise and earthy production by a driven, electrifying energy, intense riffs and meaty basslines.

Devastatingly excellent stuff from Hippies Vs Ghosts yet again, no indication yet whether these new tracks will make up the bones of the vinyl release, only time will tell. Until then? Time to get acquainted with Thumbs Up To John’, ‘Tales of a Lost Bike’ & ‘Weather Song’ below.

Half Time Reflections: Albums Of The Year So Far (2014)

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With over half the year already passed, it is ripe time for some half-time reflection on the many albums that have preoccupying my attention so far in 2014. As it is well overdue there is no need to waste and more time, here they are, in all their glory!

Sleaford Mods – ‘Divide & Exit’

Lo-fi English punk duo of Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn are Sleaford Mods, who’ve been grunting through gritted teeth since ’08. With their new album, Divide & Exit, they deliver a clever, often funny, foul mouthed and angry record, overloaded with attitude as their gripes and grievances with modern Britain (and beyond) are vehemently aired. Chief rabble-rouser, Williamson is both scathing and sardonic, who airs his many gripes and grievances, with a combination of vitriolic anger and acerbic wit. An extremely clever wordsmith, his righteous and infectious rantings are as quotable as Half Man Half Biscuit. You could argue forever as to what line in the gold-standard song is the greatest. This extremely clever wordplay is strewn among grimey beats and wiry post-punk guitars from Fearn. While owing as much to hip-hop and grime as to post-punk, and could be seen to be the the modern inheritors of the brilliance of Mark E Smith, The Streets, Shaun Ryder and HMHB. While there are traces of those artists here, there is, and never has been anything quite like Sleaford Mods. Top fucking class.

The Horrors – ‘Luminous’

On their fourth LP, The Horrors continue to refine sophisticated and colourful sound. The synthesisers are more to the fore, and a noticeably greater influence from electronic and dance music but without ever quite adapting dance-music tempos. The darkness which marks much of their previous work seems to have abated, except for Faris Badwan recoginzable brooding croon, replaced by a late ’80s tingle of euphoria, mellow synth sounds and a bouncy back-beats to create pulsating, danceable psychedelia. The Horrors are light years ahead of anyone else of the ‘indie guitar music’ canon. Tune in, drift away in this bliss of colourful groove.

Gruff Rhys – ‘American Interior’

After concept albums about a wealthy Italian Trotskyite, an eccentric car designer, and a movie in search of lost Welsh tribes in Argentina, nothing should surprise us when it comes to Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys. His fourth solo album is inspired by a recent discovery that he’s a descendent of John Evans, an 18th-century explorer, who mapped the Missouri river in a vain search for a mythical, Welsh-speaking American tribe. Concept aside, this record shares certain similarities with his previous work, cooking up lush pop songs with more immersive and introspective fare, beautiful orchestral moments and even a couple of more surreal, out-there moments. From the title track, the mournfully mesmerising ‘American Interior’ and it’s expansive, slightly melancholic rock with an infectious melody at its heart, to the rumbling rockabilly of ‘100 Unread Messages’ on synth-splashed carnival tune ‘The Whether (Or Not)’ we’re treated to exemplary spectrum of his talents. American Interior reminds us how captivating a storyteller Rhys is, who wistfully spins wonderful narratives of being carried through new worlds and visions, and only adds to the particular idiosyncratic charm that this Welshman personifies.

Malachai – ‘Beyond Ugly’

Malachai‘s latest effort, Beyond Ugly serves as a closing chapter to the Bristol duo’s ‘Ugly’ triptych, an unplanned trilogy of albums and pre-dated by the excellent Ugly Side of Love (2010) and Return to the Ugly Side (2011). Beyond Ugly is enjoyable as a standalone record if you’re unfamiliar with the previous two. It’s an imaginative journey through controlled chaos which seamlessly flits between trip-hop, hip-hop, acoustic folk, ’60s psychedelia, dance-funk and XTRMNTR era Primal Scream doses of aggressive political anger within the same breath. Expect to witness lavish sonic mayhem and delicate, thought-provoking moments on love, loss, life, politics and society. Vacuous it isn’t, there’s quite a bit of substance behind the aural salvo. A fitting conclusion to this unlikely of trilogies, saying that, hopefully it isn’t the last we’ve heard from Malachai.

Coves – ‘Soft Friday’

There are plenty of bands of Coves‘ ilk about at the moment – boy-girl duo, spectral vocals, ’60s psychedelic influences, dreamy synths – but they are in a class of their own and their debut, Soft Friday, casts a chilling spell. Swirling psychedelia is met with sweeping grandeur, as Wood’s mellifluous cooing floats above as driving riffs mingle with propulsive electro beats, drones and flickers of electronics, in a gentle whirlpool of shimmering psychedelic and glacial atmospherics. Soft Friday is a fine debut. Atmospheric, distinctive and very enjoyable, and a worthy inclusion in any record collection.

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Hippies Vs Ghosts – Double Whammy of ‘Mother Tongue’ & ‘Cushion Dweller’

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The last time we dropped in on Hippies Vs Ghosts was back in the early days of summer, when two aptly titled EPs,  Hippies and, yes, Ghosts were released in quick succession.

For those of you unfamiliar with Hippies Vs Ghosts, it’s a side project from We Are Animal guitarist & vocalist, Owain Ginsberg, and one which is continuing to prove rather fruitful. Harnessing the raw energy, experimental tenancies and ear for a serious groove of his day job, we are again presented with something fascinatingly imaginative. ‘Mother Tongue’ & ‘Cushion Dweller’ are two fine examples of what Ginsberg is capable of on his own; free-flowing, slightly off-kilter natured, instrumental jams, foraging through ’50s surf rock, post-punk, krautrock and indie, among others. Both have a chilling underlying menace to them, the latter particularly so; the biggest sonic assault of a sinister unnerving, swirling noise and distortion yet. That’s about it really, let’s hope Hippies Vs Ghosts keep ’em coming.

You can listen to, or download ‘Mother Tongue’ & ‘Cushion Dweller’ for free below. You can check out both the previous EPs here if you fancy. 

Introducing: Hippies Vs Ghosts

There is certainly no great secret regarding my affection toward Welsh experimental indie-rockers We Are Animal, and rightly so, they’re fantastic. So with that in mind, here is Hippies Vs Ghosts, a side project from We Are Animal guitarist & vocalist, Owain Ginsberg.

The project came together a few months back, with two EPs released in quick succession, entitled Hippies and, yes you guessed it, Ghosts. Hippies Vs Ghosts carries over the signature ear for a serious groove bestowed upon the fabric of everything We Are Animal does. Over the course of the two EPs we are treated to a series of fascinating off-kilter instrumental jams (by and large) augmented by alluring grooves and imaginative arrangements, taking in taking in parts ’50s surf rock, rockabilly, indie and mod, among others. Jams is very apt as there is an unrestrained organic flow to this, with the music feeling as though it is wandering freely wherever which way it can.

This is excellent stuff and you can check out a few choice cuts below or, if you fancy, you can check both EPs here