POSTS TAGGED : Telegram

BarryGruff’s May 2015 Playlist

BGMY15

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

May was another fine month for new music. We had an exclusive premier of The Expert’s new tune, ‘Da Wha?’, the lead single from his forthcoming LP. There were new tunes from Sleaford Mods, Girlpool, Applescal & Tame Impala, ahead of their respective, forthcoming albums. There were excellent new singles from Tomorrows, Telegram, SertOne, Roots Manuva, Foreign/National, The Adventures of Bert & Henry and PANKHABILLI.

Also featuring on the playlist are: GEM_DOS, The North Sea, Disconcerting P, Sweet Baboo, Heaters & Faith Healer. Yeah, so, May was pretty damn good.

Listen to BarryGruff’s May 2015 playlist below.

Telegram – ‘Aeons’

TELEGRAM 2015

Over the course of the past two years or so, London-based psych-rock outfit Telegram have delivered scintillating glam-tinged excitement on each and every occasion.

Repeating the trick, Telegram have returned with a new single ‘Aeons’ and needless to say, it does not disappoint. Released on July 10th through their own Gram Gram label, it is hoped it will help fund their debut LP (purchase the track on PledgeMusic). The new single is a psych-drenched blast of assured and forceful motorik glam. A more brooding three minute sprawl, it swirls, driving onward as it ebbs and flows toward a noise-filled, sensory overloading climax. A supercharged, frenetic and addictive three-minute masterclass, and a fine example to why these guys are quickly building up quite a formidable reputation. Fine stuff indeed and there’s more where that came from here too.

‘Aeons’ is out on July 10th but for now, sample its delights below or be really sound and help fund their debut LP by purchasing over at PledgeMusic.

Telegram – ‘Inside Out’

In the past 18 months or so, London-based psych-rock outfit Telegram have featured on here a number of times, providing scintillating excitement on each occasion.

Telegram return with a new one-off single, only their second official release in fact, ‘Inside Outside’ is released via the Speedy Wunderground label. The premise of the Speedy process is admirable; songs are recorded in 24 hour sessions and mixed the following day, with no one getting to hear it until it arrives back on vinyl – watch a short documentary about the label here. It is a process that lends itself rather well to their style of psych-rock. Although ‘Inside Outside’ is more straight-up ‘psych-indie’ than previous efforts, as the glam-motorik elements take more of a backseat, it is still supercharged, frenetic and tight with an essence of freewheeling, spontaneity. Accompanying the single is B-side, ‘Mr Dan’s Inside Out Dub’; a dub remix which strips back the original, turns it ‘inside-out’ and adding loads of dubby sounds, riddims and waves of haunting echoes.

Telegram’s effort is taken from a forthcoming compilation – a second from the Wunderground label. Listen to ‘Inside Out’ below.

BarryGruff’s Albums of the Year 2014

BG2014

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.

Continue reading →

Telegram – ‘Rule Number One’

Photo: David Wala

Photo: David Wala

London four-piece Telegram were responsible for one of the most exciting and scintillating debut singles of 2013, ‘Follow’.

‘Follow’ was an unrestrained savage blast of tripped-out psych-punk and the kraut-glam-psych enthusiasts are back with a follow-up ‘Rule Number One’. The pace and ferocity is upped considerably and the distortion pedals are certainly put through their paces. It’s brutal yet beautiful, as this intense psych-punk blitz is tempered by their subtle glam influences. Matt Saunders distinctive brogue aid his vocals, which ring in your ear above the scuzzy riffs and pounding drum-lines. Another phenomenal tune which effortlessly combine all their influences into something akin to falling through an endless, swirling technicolour vortex. Top stuff once again from Telegram.

You can download ‘Rule Number One’ below for FREE & you catch them in the flesh when they support Miles Kane in the Academy, Dublin on April 3rd.

(Video) Telegram – ‘Follow’

995154_489047084518242_1960737510_n

While only formed in the last year, London four-piece Telegram, have already caused a bit of a stir across the water, and on the evidence of their debut single ‘Follow’, it’s easy to see why.

Sure, psychedelia is very ‘in’ at the moment (it’s never been ‘out’ in my humble opinion) but ‘Follow’ is one of the finest, and savage blasts of tripped-out psych-punk you’re likely to hear. There’s a phenomenal sense of urgency, with riffs that hurtle past at break neck speed, whirring reverberations, droning motorik propulsion and laden with post-punk-esque energy. For want of a better description, it sounds like Toy meets early Maximo Park and there’s nothing wrong with that. Hopefully there’s more where this came from sooner rather than later.

‘Follow’ is out now w/ ‘Under The Night Time’ on the band’s own label, GramGram. You can watch their retro-fused video below and listen to ‘Follow’ below, and then listen to it again.