Albums of the Year 2014: JULY AND THE REST

And so after much ado: no more! No more waiting, and no more dragging of the feet. Behold! The rest of 2014's most excellent albums, in release date order (don't ask, it really seemed like such a good idea at the time.) Fair reader, read on:

• July- Flamingods Hyperborea: Exotic & psychedelic, and released on the daring, multi-media Art Is Hard Records, this album is deliciously funky and strange. Check out the whole thing on bandcamp.

• August- Adult Jazz, Gist Is: In parts dissonant and at all times, achingly pure, this record is as complex as it is beautiful. Only a few tracks are available to preview, but check them out, and if you can see them live, just. do.it.

• September- Perfume Genius, Too Bright: Perfume Genius, ie: Mike Hadreas, graced the world this autumn with his harrowing, deep, stark third LP Too Bright, it is sorrow and it is power.

• September- Interpol, El Pintor: (The flaws in the month by month approach start to show... September, you BEAST.) Interpol (late-to-the-party alert) have been making critically acclaimed music since there abouts 1997, but I have just discovered them in the autumn of 2014. El Pintor is a velvet study, inspired by the skin-itching rhythms and sadness of post-punk, the beats are unrelenting and the guitars make quick work embedding fuzzy melodies into your skull - it's addictive.

• October- Iceage, Plowing Into the Field of Love: I love this record, it's so angry. And the rage has a poetic scale, in the misshapen vocals of Elias Bender Rønnenfelt and the decaying, muffled orchestration. The result is an aggressive, embellished punk record.

• October- Caribou, Our Love (or not an album of the year): This album has spilled a lot of ink. It has been so greatly anticipated and I have read over and over again about how this is the album Dan Snaith made, not for himself, but for us. Sadly, it is miles away from the deeply eccentric, playful, bizarre sounds of Swim. Instead, it is a collection of melancholic, down-tempo, house-esque murmurs. While some tracks are hypnotic beyond a fault (see Can’t Do Without You), for the most part, it is a graying drawl of indifferent beats and electronic drums. So while no, it is not an album of the year, Caribou has been so essential to the last 12 months that to not mention it seems, well, lacking.
• November? To Be Decided… Run the Jewels? Alex G? Hookwurms? Only time will tell, and by that I mean, if I don’t decide in the next 4 days then gosh darnit, we may never know, and STREAKS might just move on to an entirely new set of posts and ideas to thrill the heart and capture the soul. Still, if any one is interested, I’ll endeavour to find out. (And don’t even get me started on December, I mean really.)

What a kick ass year, 2015, you better bring your A-Game. 

Kate x

Albums of the Year 2014 - June: clipping. and harsh harsh hip hop

Dreaming of a white Christmas?How about white noise?

White noise.

Piercing. 

White. 

Noise.


CLLPNG, the follow up to clipping.'s gob-stopping 2013 effort Midcity, is a catchy, harsh, stoccato-beat-busting, tongue twister. A three piece hip-hop outfit from LA, their brutal, energetic sound has become more accessible in this new LP, whilst keeping their taste for sonar experimentation. 

Sharp and provocative lyrics are delivered at breakneck speed, samples are ripped together, creating at once uber-abrasive backdrops, and percussions that this waterfall of words springs off of. The samples stretch into clarinets, and saxophones on tracks like Taking Off as they play, and push the sounds they're working with. Whilst high octane, the pace and volume varies, ensuring the record never flat-lines.

Indeed, CLLPNG starts hard, piercing noise and a spoken assault, however, the cast of supporting artists are the key to making this record more accessible than the last. Consider for instance the pulsing Get Up and its radio friendly vocals from Mariel Jacoda. Ends, a pumped up, organ looping track, with these characteristic gun-shot lyrics, is a perfect sum up of this LP's energy - it was born to galvanize, it is a non-stop series of sparks, each catching on the last's tail.

If you're into this, then you have to check out Death Grips, here - easily the inspiration for clipping.'s sharp breed of noise. Also, they are amazing.

And if you'd like some more info on this album, have a watch of Fantano's review, right here.

Merry Christmas Eve y'all, drink that sherry, eat those sausage rolls. Count down continues Boxing Day (that's the 26th for all you european/trans-atlantic types), with some decidedly tropical tunes :)

Happy Christmas, Kate x

Albums of the Year 2014 - May: Owen Palett & all his strings

Owen Pallett is a man of many talents and an astounding discography, despite a relatively small solo output. He has created string, brass and orchestral arrangements for Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, REM, Franz Ferdinand,Titus Andronicus, The National and Taylor Swift, to honestly name but a few. He worked with William Butler on the Oscar-winning score for Spike Jones' Her and he most recently collaborated with one of my ALL TIMES: Caribou.

He has scope, and this ability to be so wide is made evident in his second full length, released in April this year.

In Conflict is as epic, as it is graceful, as it is strange. It soars, and shudders, with strings and brass arcing above and bellow Pallett's sweet tenor, only for weird electronica to erupt, with contorting sounds.

There is nothing mild about this LP, the melancholy is sweeping and spellbinding, the anguish is beautiful. In opening track I Am Not Afraid, the bright vocals lament "I'll never have any children/I would bear them/And eat them/My children", in Chorale an arc-angel comes to collect him from his bed: death is here  "He is a creature of song/In his voice a model of the kingdom of heaven."

It is crippling.

If you feel you need more sounds like this in your life, then check out Kishi Bashi here: multi-instrumental, but with a more pop-tastic, psychedelic lean.

Finally, Pallett is very vocal about the complexities of song writing and has written at length about why chart-topping songs work, as well as his own song writing process. It's really great stuff, check out his thoughts on Beyonce & Usher here and the music theory of Lady Gaga here. His fansite also has reams of clippings from interviews, arranged per album and per song, it's very insightful - read more here.

And now, until June...

Kate x

Albums of the Year 2014 - April: Mac DeMarco, Crowd-surfing King of Cool

Spring has sprung, and with it, this charming, gap-toothed goof ball goddamn stole my heart.

Now, I want to avoid rehashing semi-obscure genres that are inescapable when reading about DeMarco's music: slacker rock, jangle pop, or rumor has it blue wave (?!) but frankly who gives a damn - the simple truth is, Salad Days is an 11 tracked season of youth, played out on plucky guitars undulating between delight and disenchantment.

It reclines into you - gentle and seemingly bursting with platitudes ("Tell her that you love her/if you really love her/if your heart just ain't sure/let her go") but Salad Days is an ode to the daydreaming chagrin of a tender age, and at only 24, no doubt this is all true-fact. As a straight up sample, check out the title track: it is a quasi-depressing depiction of the onwards march of life but set to this catchy not-give-a-shit refrain.

His stage show is choatic, shambolic and a sheer delight. I was lucky enough to catch him at Green Man 2014, before knowing really anything about him - his laid-back anarchy swept over the crowd of 20 somethings, every single one of us bursting to rock out with him and his band, who were inexplicably shirtless and haphazardly painted blue.

He smashed it  and the poetic, drifting rock of his 2nd full length is easily one of 2014 many winners.

As a very close second: Todd Terje's It's Album Time, the long awaited full length of the toe-tapping master, if you've missed him so far, check out Inspector Norse below, what a smasher. And read all about him, right here: Pitchfork obviously has lot to say on the matter.

Have a listen to some of my favorite tracks from Salad Days & Inspector Norse here:

Awesome, like the sauce.

Kate x

Albums of the Year 2014 - March: The War On Drugs

March (if not this whole year?) belongs without contest to The War On Drugs Lost in the Dream.

Ten hazy tracks of roads stretching on and on, into a billowing cloud of dream-filled Americana.

It is the sound of Californian bums & vagabonds.

Ethereal, effervescent guitars that slowly shift and shatter layers of melody into a blissful haze. The tracks are long and meaty, each arcing, shifting and building, each one a burgeoning day dream.

This has been to soundtrack to my every train ride, every bus shelter & every midnight walk.

Lost in the Dream could not be a more apt title for this transporting LP. It is nostalgia, it is sunrise in July & it is the open road.

If you listen to nothing else, if you can't spare an hour of your life for this absolute beast, then listen to Red Eyes, below. And stream the full album at the bottom of this post - you're so, so welcome.

Thoughts? Feelings? 

Let me know what you think in the comments :)

Kate 

Albums of the Year 2014 - February: Young Fathers, Sun Kill Moon, St Vincent

                               

                                 
                                 January Two Thousand and Fourteen

Continuing on from the political-pop and experimental electonica - we sashay into Mercury Prize territory.

Young Fathers, a Scottish trio and the unexpected winners of this year's prize unleashed a bold album of left-field hip-hop, and while the production may lack in polish, the brash potency of the lyrics and the fascination of the beats & melodies by far make up for that discrepancy. It is crisp, angry and bursting with life.

February was also the month that saw the release of Sun Kill Moon's latest - Benji, personally I didn't love this - it's fine, and finally St Vincent's new self-titled. I struggle with St Vincent, feeling like fundamentally I should be so on board with her sound and her persona but ultimately finding the entire package much too contrived and self-aware. Maybe next time...

Check out some absolute BANGERS from Young Father's award winning debut LOW, right here - just click play.

So, thoughts? Feelings? Unleash them all in the comments below!

Don't miss a month of the 2014 countdown, like STREAKS here and follow there.

Next up... March... :)

Kate x

Albums of the Year 2014 - January: East India Youth, Beyoncé, Have a Nice Life

January Two Thousand and Fourteen

We begin with power-pop, post-rock and experimental electronica.

And stealing the January Crown, with great great ease: the singular East India Youth. As always I came to the party late - only discovering him during his electrifying set at Green Man. 

Total Strife Forever is an epic saga, layers upon textures of noise, creating a pulsating atmosphere at once hypnotic and utterly abrasive. And man does it get under your skin. 

On stage he is incredible, it's like watching a hurricane trapped in a man, playing electronic music. He is living proof that live performance based around laptop playing has the potential to be bone-bustingly energetic. 

He is dazzling. And this album dazzles with him.

NEXT IN LINE, Beyoncé weaves us a tale of female empowerment, love, lust, envy and conquest. (nb: she released this album mid December 2013, but for the sake of what my ears were full of in Jan 2014, this has to be given a nod).

Shinning bright on her self-titled surprise release is a feminist agenda with a clear focus on female sexuality. Rocket, a 6-minute-plus track about female orgasm, is the highlight of this LP for me. Without a shadow of a doubt. 

Blow and Partition are close seconds, dealing bluntly with female sexuality whilst creating powerful hooks-  the kind that grind their big pink wheels of pop in your head for days on end.

Catchy, stimulating, and evidence of the power of pop.

FINALLY, very special mention to Have a Nice Life, who's follow up to the barefaced darkness, intelligence and depth of 2008's Deathconsciousness is still loud, still angry and still great.

Next up... February...

Don't miss a month of the 2014 countdown, like STREAKS here and follow there.

Love them? Hate them? Unleash your judgement in the comments below!

Kate x

The 2014 Albums of the Year - 12 LPs in 12 Posts

It's that time of year again: when shopping centers give me a rash, department stores release entire short films in the stead of adverts, and as night falls every turn is lit by that tell-tale retina-burning blue.

And so I thought I would throw myself into what really matters, as after all tis the season for recapping ALL THE AMAZING ALBUMS OF THE YEAR.

I wanted to write an AOTY piece that wasn't in list form, putting these LPs into some sort of numerical order would probably break my brain. 

So with my ultra-festive spirit in mind, why not have a STREAKS 12-part 'A Year in Music'? So let's get busy...

One year...

Twelve posts...

Twelve albums (AT THE VERY LEAST DOE)...

Twelve Hundred Percent Good Times.

What's not to love? 

2014 YOU BEAST.

Follow Streaks on Facebook & Twitter not to miss a beat.

Kate :) x

MUSIC // LIVE REVIEW // BEN FROST @ THEKLA

Industrial, pulsating drone sweeps through the under belly of a dark boat. This aggressive, hypnotic sound builds quietly, maddeningly, elevating as the beats cycle. The spiralling waves of drone engulf the audience - in the wake of these grinding sounds my ribcage vibrates and my skin, like the white noise surrounding it, feels eerily soft as all its hairs stand on end. My ear drums are saved, earplugs forming an essential barrier between the fragile flesh and this Goliath-like wall of noise. Ben Frost is delivering a characteristically abrasive set.

Earlier this year Frost released A.U.R.O.R.A to wide critical acclaim, following up his 2009 release By The Throat. His atom-blasting blend of drone, drums, synthesisers and soundscapes has seen him collaborating with film-makers to write a number of soundtracks - Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty for one. His performance at Thekla in Bristol is part of a small and intense UK stint of a much wider European and North American tour. 

As you read, it was a chilling and transcending experience -  as long as you didn't focus too hard on the fact that there was low-to-no live input. 

How to perform live must be a common dilemma for electronic musicians, although acts like Caribou have an incredibly energetic and physical live show, including two drum sets and reams of other percussive instruments (notably bells). But, in the case of Ben Frost, his delivery was so produced that it left little room for spontaneous alterations and exploration, and could leave you wondering: if he left the stage, would it make a difference?  What he lacked in energy, his accompanying drummer came close to delivering, but overall the level of engagement between performer/music/audience was low.

It would be absurd to suggest that listening to Ben Frost's music could be anything other than a visceral, physical experience, especially considering the volume levels of his live show, however, it is the word live that might be put into question. 

STYLE // BURBERRY PRORSUM Menswear AW 14/15

A photo posted by Burberry (@burberry) on Jan 1, 2014 at 11:59am PST

I've been asked to start writing style posts about menswear, and so, here we go :)

After trawling through a myriad of AW 14/15 catwalks looking for a collection that I was instantly enamored by, I final fell upon the beauty that is Burberry Prorsum's collection. I mean, I just can't.

Set against the backdrop of Kensington Gardens, with crisp daylight flooding the catwalk, Burberry's collection is an ode to loose fitted tailoring. It is a perfect union of the sharp and the deeply casual. Models saunter down the catwalk hands in pockets, as their shirts and coats billow. But this casualness is strikingly offset by the collection's anchor: straight-cut, tailored trousers.

The catwalk begins with outfits that emanate brisk crisp November air - silk shirts and white net vests accented with vivid hand-painted scarves. 

London is everywhere, with maps and landmarks as proud embellishments.

As the collection moves deeper into winter, long woolen scarves and blankets casually draped over shoulders make their appearance. Prints of autumnal leaves add another layer to the already textured outfits.

Sheepskin, leather, fur, woolen jumpers & trench coats are layered over bombastic silk shirts, in turn layered over net vests. As a final touch: the omnipresent silk scarf and it's effortless style.

The over-sized bags lend the walk a sense of purpose as well as added bursts of colour and textured notes.

This entire collection aches style and is an incredible source of inspiration for the coming cold months, for men & women alike. (I know I'm ridiculously keen for the vest/shirt/sheepskin combo, HOLLER)

Have a look at my highlights of the collection bellow, with details at the bottom (it was hard to narrow it down...) and if you want to watch the catwalk in it's entirety, click here.

For more catwalks on STREAKS, click here :)

What do you think? Any designer/season you would like me to review? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for stopping by! :)

Kate :) x

(THIS is perfection)

HURRAY YOU MADE IT TO THE BOTTOM! 

Please share your thoughts in the comments bellow!

See you next week! :)

Kate x

MUSIC // SIMPLE THINGS 2014 // High Lights

Simple Things, a one day festival, providing 17 non-stop-hours of live music across various venues in Bristol, was this weekend's utterly delightful surprise-adventure, as sponsored by two ticket-bearing knights in shining German armor. 

Simple Things is run in partnership with CRACK & FACT magazines, so the sound is eclectic and cutting-edge. And at £25 a ticket WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?

From raw post-punk to bubblegum electro via ambient shoegaze, we had a multifarious time.

Simple Things treated us to excellence early in the evening with Jaakko Eino Kalevi, a Finnish dream whose weird sound was full of satisfying contradictions, at once dreamy fuzzy pop and calculated beats with rosy melodies carried by his deep voice and airy falsetto.

SOPHIE's set at the Firestation was a barrage of chaotic glittering electro, it sounded like a Barbie made of marshmallows had been struck by a billion volts whilst drinking neon paint. Aggressive, absurd and heaps of fun. 

Meanwhile, on a small dark stage in Colston Hall, Esben and the Witch delivered a gripping, gut-grinding set . Their raw sound sits between anger and despair, their slow primal riffs brushed with eroticism.

Spectres, a Bristol band described as 'nu gazey noise', shared a similar grit, but their thick, noisey sound was propelled by infectious, shape-cutting beats.

Headlining the entire epic affair was the aptly grandiose Mogwai whose layered instrumental sagas blasted the crowd's ear drums to oblivion, rousing a sort of spiritual awakening in their uplifting ambient crescendos.

As if we imagined we could possible take any more, The Haxan Cloak wrapped up events nicely in a pitch black, strobe-steeped set of industrial-drone so heavy, I thought my face would fracture.

Gracious.

And, as always, no matter how many incredible bands you see, there are always the ones that got away, namely in this case: Liars, Eagulls, Onra, Actress and DJ Harvey, NEXT TIME HEY!

Follow STREAKS on Facebook & Twitter for links to photos as soon as they are up, as well as plenty more music reviews!

Now fest your ears on these tracks, Jaakko <3

Thanks for reading! See you next time!

Kate x

MUSIC // STILLWAVE, EP Review

I came across Stillwave whilst looking for Bristol based music blogs, to scope the scene since my recent move. 

The blog in question, DrunkenWerewolf (which is a treat & full of great music to sample), describes them as sounding like "Ian Curtis fans overdosing on the music of his juniors. That is to say, this is really very good."

Their sound is at once plaintiff and empowered, with deep, full toned vocals highlighted by dark moody bass-lines, and waves of grinding guitar, steeped in reverb. 

The electric layers of soft synth in tracks like Rich Ones forge distorted misty melodies. The layering of vocals along with repeated escalating riffs give this EP a truly epic scale.

While, no, Stillwave have not reinvented the wheel, they have produced a polished and hugely engaging EP bursting with profoundly textured anguish and longing.

Have a listen bellow, or read the DunkenWerewolf review here and find out more about Stillwave here.

...& Click to read more music reviews on STREAKS :)

So, what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments! And what shall I review next?

Kate :)

ART // Janie George

I recently visited the RWA's 162nd open exhibition, where I discovered the ethereal and dream-like paintings of Janie George.

In her accompanying text she talks about her fascination with "disparate" objects, and more importantly for me, the function of clothing:

"Clothing is a signifier of human aspirations, vulnerability and loss."

I found these words to be extremely potent, and beautiful. They shone new light on her delicate depictions of bonnets, the transformation of a moth's wings into a tender cloak.

I became fixated on these three functions.

Aspiration. Vulnerability. Loss.

Loss.

In all three, clothing serves to hide - hide the reality of our status, making us into something we are not, shielding our delicacy, our wounds from the open & patching up our loss.

Loss. 

What have we lost?

What have we lost that clothing can cover?

Or, alternatively, what is lost that clothing helps us find?

All images are from George's site, which you can find here.

Check out detail of the RWA's exhibition here.

I hope you find both interesting!

If you want to stay up to date with STREAKS, give us a like on facebook!

Hopefully see you here again soon :)

Kate x