SEARCH

search for something you might like...

Outsideleft Week in Music. Slinging Our Thing. Hearing from... Natalie Bergman, Brian Eno/Beatie Wolfe, Museumgoer, Momus, No Joy, Red Rum Club, Sacred Paws, Hamish Hawk, Little Simz, Mark Stewart, Coach Party, Coil, Karate, Coppergear, Cosey Fanni Tutti, EERA, Gina Birch, Hedvig Mollestad Trio, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Matt Berninger, Stereolab, Surprise Chef, Tan Cologne, Vanishing Twin, WITCH, Xin Liu & 88rising, Cousin Kula, Happy End, Survival Research Laboratories & The Lemonheads

Outsideleft Week in Music. Slinging Our Thing.

Hearing from... Natalie Bergman, Brian Eno/Beatie Wolfe, Museumgoer, Momus, No Joy, Red Rum Club, Sacred Paws, Hamish Hawk, Little Simz, Mark Stewart, Coach Party, Coil, Karate, Coppergear, Cosey Fanni Tutti, EERA, Gina Birch, Hedvig Mollestad Trio, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Matt Berninger, Stereolab, Surprise Chef, Tan Cologne, Vanishing Twin, WITCH, Xin Liu & 88rising, Cousin Kula, Happy End, Survival Research Laboratories & The Lemonheads

by OL House Writer,
first published: May, 2025

approximate reading time: minutes

"...a dash of wisdom and soul. You'd like to know what Natalie knows."

intro.

Welcome to the Outsideleft Week in Music where our writers get to grips with the music they mainly like. There's positivity, after all, of all the things we could be doing, who would have time to listen to music they can't stand so much? Even my sorry existence is worth more than that. The reviewers  with their ears on loan to you, are these guys...   A.I. House-Painter (2), Alan Rider (5), Alex V. Cook (4), Ancient Champion (5), David O'Byrne (1), John Robinson (2), Jonathan Thornton (3), Lee Paul (3), Ogglypoogly (2), Richard John Walker (3), Tim London (2)

singles.

TAN COLOGNE
Infinity
 (Labrador Records)

by Richard John Walker

I want some Tan Cologne – they valentine with restraint. They don’t over-apply their soft Mazzy dream haze. Maybe it's the rhythms of lives in Taos, New Mexico, where wild cats play out of sight of The Man. They sedate. They calm. So much so, I entered Infinity and missed my stop.

LITTLE SIMZ
Young
 (AWAL)

by Ancient Champion

Fun and the greatest kind of groovy. What bass. To begin with. It's got the style. Then... well see Gina Birch somewhere else on this page. Little Simz continually tugs at the threads of expectation. It's the daring that makes her as a musician one of Britain's very greatest. It's reminder too, that we can be as irrepressible as we want ourselves to be.  

COACH PARTY
Girls!
 (Chess Club)

by John Robinson

Explosive fun from Isle of Wight band Coach Party, a call to mosh your head off for a few minutes. As straightforward as you like, nu-metal sound-a-likes fronted by two ladies, the band has toured with Royal Blood and QOTSA. We're all their Girls is the message, but hardly a feminist sexually-politic statement, just an invitation to boogie violently. Does the bass line crib a bit from There's A Ghost in My House? I'm probably imagining things after all that headbanging.

EMBRACED by Jonathan ThorntonNO JOY
Bugland
 (Sonic Cathedral)

by Jonathan Thornton

Canadian band No Joy are one of the most accomplished and original of the modern shoegaze artists. Now the solo project of core member Jasmine White-Gluz, they combine dreampop atmospheres with sudden blasts of unexpected noise and electronic beats. Their new single 'Bugland', the title track of their forthcoming fifth album, is a wonderfully eccentric example of the band at their best. Hyperactively switching between delicate Cocteau Twins-esque beauty and blasts of guitar noise over juddering beats, it recalls the Cranes at their chaotic best. Yet somehow it still feels like  a pop song. Marvellous.

COACH PARTY
Girls!
 (Chess Club)

by Tim London

Have you noticed the adverts? The British TV adverts? They are mirroring the new Gen Z sensibility of everything is so shit so it’s all just tragically funny. A sort of caring piss take. Very British. The down side being, in particular, the constant formation dancing that often accompanies them. The advert for the Coach Party single does have a small amount of derisory formation dancing, when the two female members of the band stand in front of some standard model/actors from Casting Calls FB group and, it seems try to inspire them into a better life (????) in a pastiche of those cult-like afternoons some firms require their staff to attend. Which is very appropriate for a tune that is straight off the festival rock band factory floor. In fact, it couldn’t be more of a product if it was wrapped in a can. Somehow, I think I even prefer a genuine, ersatz girl/boy band to this. At least they don’t pretend.


EMBRACED by Lee PaulSUPRISE CHEF
Websites
 (Big Crown)

by Lee Paul

The title track from the new LP that as records go I could not be more excited about. I am so looking out for it. The LP is out on the 16th.

COUSIN KULA
Little Sweetness
 (Rhythm Section International)

by Lee Paul

Cousin Koula is the kind of cousin you'd like but you'd keep an eye on them because things could get naughty out in the yard while you're peeling the potatoes. You wouldn't want to mind though.

EMBRACED by Ancient ChampionNATALIE BERGMAN
Gunslinger
 (Third Man)

by Ancient Champion

OMG! If you are in the business of sending birthday presents over, I will be a hundred years old just about when the new Natalie Bergman LP 'My Home Is Not In This World' comes out. I'll be about as old as the ex-Gunslinger in this vid. I know, it's the dashing Ian... But I might be way better preserved. It is very much a case of carefully curated preservation these days, a whole bunch like this perfect pop record, a dash of wisdom and soul. You'd like to know what Natalie knows.

BRIAN ENO/BEATIE WOLFE
What We Are
 (Verve)

by Alex V. Cook

Only identifiable as an Eno product in that there is more than a trace off his synth treatments from U2's The Joshua Tree giving a western sunset glow up to a plaintive tune by Wolfe. It is the kind of song that lingers in the background innocuously until you hear it and are spellbound. Nice to see he's still got it.

STEREOLAB
Melodie is a Wound
 (something)

by Lee Paul

There's the first stereolab release in umpteen years. How have things changed, we might ask? Well now my dad dancing around the room is paced more harmoniously by the meandering sounds present.

COIL
The Wraiths and Strays of Paris
 (Dais)

by Alex V. Cook

Coil is one of those industrial era projects I could never say whether they were good or not, just that they were great.  Evokers of disposable sensuality and mystic presence, usually with one toe on the dancefloor and the rest of the foot in the  graveyard.  They always delivered. 

HAMISH HAWK
Burning Up
 (Post Electric)

by Ogglypoogly

Hamish Hawk covering Madonna wasn't on my list of 'things that are likely to happen this year'. I'm wary of covers, but they've very much put their own twist on things and made it their own, without losing the essence of the original and therein lies the secret to doing a cover well. There is to be a whole EP of covers, and this has piqued my interest with months to pass until it's release.  Whether you're a fan of Madonna, or Hamish Hawk - let this be a gift to your ears, there's no shame in enjoying pop music, especially when it's done so very well.

THE LEMONHEADS
Deep End/Sad Cinderella
 (Fire)

by Jonathan Thornton

The Lemonheads tease their new album in almost two decades with this excellent single. A-side 'Deep End' is classic Lemonheads, showing Evan Dando at his slacker-punk best. He even ropes in J Mascis for the guitar breaks. B-side 'Cinderella' is a different flavour of Lemonheads, a mournful country ballad with Dando sounding his most vulnerable. No one else quite scratches that itch like the Lemonheads, and these two new songs bode well for the forthcoming album Love Chant, due out this Fall. 

MARK STEWART
Neon Girl (Feat. Gina Birch)
 (Mute)

by Alan Rider

Taken from the eighth, now posthumous, solo album from Mark Stewart 'The Fateful Symmetry' which is coming on 11th July, 'Neon Girl' is a huge and bombastic single, even if it sounds like he ran out of words for the chorus ("nah,nah,nah, nah,nah,nah,nah,nah,nah,nah, Neon Girl").  If it wasn't Mark Stewart it might be less impressive, but there is a certain quality that rubs off.  This has the added bonus of featuring The Raincoat's Gina Birch.  She has done a lot better, mind you, but its a nice nod to her.

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD
Grow Wings and Fly
 (p(doom) Records)

by Alan Rider

Fey faux 60's psychedelia, OL writer Alex V Cook didn't know whether to love or hate their last single.  I'm the same with this.  Its a pickled egg of a single.

COSEY FANNI TUTTI
Never The Same
 (Conspiracy International,)

by Alan Rider

Having been one quarter of Throbbing Gristle and one of only two surviving members, and having been through a level of abuse during that time as evidenced in her autobiography 'Art, Sex, Music', you'd think that Cosey Fanni Tutti was a tough cookie, but there has always been a vulnerability in her work, whether solo, or as a duo with partner and fellow TG survivor Chris Carter. She has had some very tough years lately, including dealing with personal bereavements, but has produced wonderfully intriguing work throughout those. They include an album based on her film soundtrack re-working of lost tapes by pioneering electronic composer Delia Derbyshire (she made a fleeting cameo appearance in the film itself also) and a book 'Re-Sisters', the story of three women consumed by a passion for life they expressed through their music, art and lifestyle; Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe (the 15th century mystic visionary) and Cosey herself.  Her latest work to appear is the upcoming album '2t2' from which 'Never The Same ' is lifted.   Cyclical, lush and with her signature sound of a processed trumpet, it is both instantly recognisable and a promise of more to come.  We will hopefully have a chance to ask her about all this and more for Outsideleft soon.  We have asked and she can only say no.  Lets hope she doesn't.

EMBRACED by OgglypooglyRED RUM CLUB
American Nights & English Mornings
 (Modern Sky)

by Ogglypoogly

I didn't know I needed more Red Rum Club (I was late to the party) but after a couple of listens, I'm not sure how I was anticipating getting through summer without this. American Nights & English Mornings is everything a lead single should be, it's a sugar rush of a song and captures the absolute best of Red Rum Club, up tempo, upbeat and a sentence I never thought I'd say - the trumpet is just perfection.  Yes, there are moments where it flies perilously close to the 'Boys of Summer' Sun, but I'm struggling to see that as a negative.

WITCH
Nada
 (Partisan)

by Ancient Champion

There's a new LP imminent and this is just a fab trailer for it. I mean, this is wildy superb rocknroll of the highest calibre. It's all you need in this department. Testy, irritable, kings of Zamrock. So cool.

EERA
Forget About Her
 (Test Card)

by John Robinson

Meditative dream-pop, an exhortation to forget who you were yesterday, from Norwegian Anna Bruland, whose recorded work is reminiscent of Broadcast, with shimmering melody and diverse instrumentation, in service of articulating the need to examine the self, an effective use of ostinato to emphasise the repeated mantra, to forget about her, to work on yourself positively. Just odd enough to engage without alienation, with the full album due in September.

KARATE
Dating is Stupid
 (The Numero Group)

by Alex V. Cook

The Numero Group is setting up one of their excellent museum diorama retrospectives on Boston's Karate, active practitioners of pensive dude music until the 2000s when emo took over. The endless lope of exquisite ratty guitar tone is the love song of my J. Alfred Proof Rock.

GINA BIRCH
Causing Trouble Again
 (Third <an)

by A.I. House-Painter

Causing Trouble Again is going to cause trouble firstly for the Joy Division purists who think the bands shit don't stink. Beyond that, there a couple of great exclamatory records that end with lists of would be cultural icons who were regarded in some instances as being of less significance at the time. I like Jamila Woods, BLK Girl Soldier, (expand) and of course Dexys... Dance Stance, all those great Irish writers you thought were English... 

XIN LIU & 88RISING
Passion
 (88rising)

by Tim London

Ever since Madonna got together with Shep Pettibone and created a smooth house vehicle for her fame with Vogue the process has become the template for many international artists, especially those, like Xin Liu who are already major stars in their own countries, correctly identifying the international nature of this kind of basic, aspirational house music. That the sounds, rhythms, vibe and, generally, what passes for lyrics have hardly changed in thirty-five years since Japan's Nokko broke this ground is a bit shocking. Xin is famous for being famous - she has, in the classic journey, won competitions and partnered with major fashion brands (Dior and... um... Crocs, amongst others) and it is telling that the PR celebrates this commercial diminishment of any possible artistry by making sure we know about it. As per normal there is an attempt at applying a thin layer of serious artistic credibility over what is, essentially, the modern version of a Louise Weber, star of the Moulin Rouge. Whether Xin Liu will ‘gobble your champagne’ as did Louise will remain a mystery because you are unlikely to get close enough for her to be able to do so. Coming soon to the O2 with a puzzlingly large (for the staff) audience of Chinese students.


MATT BERNINGER
Inland Ocean
 (Concord)

by A.I. House-Painter

Really, really, very dramatic, challenging and ultimately then, hugely exciting solo departure by the irascible and  irrepressive Matt. God love him.

ep's.

VANISHING TWIN
In Piscina!
(Fire records)

by Alex V. Cook

Like a hootier Stereolab, Vanishing Twin burble and spark in the balmy summer night, getting weird with it by the pool, spiking the punch. Maybe take your clothes off? There's been worse suggestions.

MUSEUMGOER
25
(Musee d'goer)

by Ancient Champion

This one, Museumgoer 25 so nearly got past us. The 25th stellar release from the ever experimental but never boring, Museumgoer. The opener embraces Museumgoer's hallmark quirks, 'Don't Get Caught (In A Blast Radius of Thought)', from a thought jotted in a sketchbook, "including the parenthesis." Museumgoer adds. Having just read the Diamond Sutra, where the Buddha ends each bit with "There is no such thing as (whatever they are discussing), just things that are called that." A new dimension in Museumgoer's trumpet, which was acquired from an uncle. Now that is a story. Read all about Museumgoer and here all 25 Ep's here

long plays.

EMBRACED by Alan RiderCOPPERGEAR
Experimental
(Steampunk Alien Records)

by Alan Rider

Coppergear's latest album exceeds all expectations and shows the heights that self produced long players can now hit.  Read Alan Riders review here.

SACRED PAWS
Jump Into Life
(Rock Action/Merge)

by Ancient Champion

It's been a little while since Sacred Paws' 'Run Around The Sun' LP was embraced worldwide. Oh I love that whole record so much.  Rachel Aggs super afrobreat guitar lines and Eilidh Rogers super speedy drumming is a boisterous balm for their vocal dueling. It's a huge  and highly unique indiepop confection OMG! is it. I was fortunate enough in the meanwhile to see Rachel Aggs in Coventry library sharing the evening with Big Joanie. Jump Into Life is an entirely joyous record. The guitars drums and the vibraslap on the title tracks boosted by big horns. Oh this is such a big record in my house. Sacred Paws are the greatest there is.

HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO
Bees in the Bonnet
(Rune Grammofon)

by David O'Byrne

Remarkable as it may seem there is a crossover point where heavy metal meets jazz, creating a hybrid genre where long, virtuoso guitar solos don't automatically invite the epithet 'cock rock'. It's at that point you'll find Norway's 'Hedvig Mollestadt Trio', and not just because Hedvig herself, is, well, herself. As an approach it's not entirely new and is reminiscent of now legendary Jazz drummer Billy Cobham's 1973 debut, Spectrum, which found him wildly improvising live in the studio with, soon to be Deep Purple guitarist, Tommy Bolin. BitB is the trio's eighth album in little over a decade and first in four years. Self produced, it features six tracks which combine complex structured arrangements that are clearly well rehearsed with more spontaneous, improvised sections - all, as with most jazz workouts, sans vocals. Production veers between the light touch evident on heavier tracks such as the crushing riff heavy opener 'See See Bop', to more prominent on the prog-rock tinged 'Itta' and the laid back free jazz of 'Lamament'. Arguably though it's the wilder less restrained numbers where the trio's melding of HM and Jazz works best, specifically the "puningly" titled titled "Bob's Your Giddy Aunt' and "'Apocalypse Slow'. Proof positive that shorn of the visual and lyrical clichés of the Spinal Tap world, heavy rock does have something refreshingly musical to offer.


so, have you got anything else.

MOMUS
Spoiler Alert
(Darla Records)

by Richard John Walker

Without John Robinson’s review, I wouldn’t have listened to Quietism. But playing it at the end of a holiday – bathing in Baby Blue Eyes – was perfect. A quiet resignation hung in the air. Free time was ending. Little to do but shrug and accept. Then Momus came on. You expect wit from him, but this time, the songs hit deeper. Trauma Bingo had me laughing out loud; Spoiler Alert blurred the line between fiction and life. He sings, “Happy endings may well be boring as hell.” Made me wonder if he’d been stirred by recent J films like Happyend and Super Happy Forever.

SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES
Terrorism as Art
(The Verge)

by Alan Rider

Experiencing a Survival Research Laboratories event was always a...well.. an event!  And one you would never forget. Self destroying robots, explosions, rockets, handheld flame throwers, noise, chaos and a very real sense of danger that as an audience member you may very well be decapitated by a flailing and out of control automaton made out of machine parts and dead animals and armed with metal claws and chainsaws.  Health and Safety?  Do me a favour!  Survival Research Laboratories instigator Mark Pauline himself blew all of the flesh off one hand when one of his pyrotechnic creations exploded as he was making it. His shows are banned in several cities, and even whole countries, including his home city of San Francisco.  He presses on anyway, undeterred and unrepentant, and has been doing so since 1978. A spark of danger and unpredictability in a cotton wool world. Fantastic.

HAPPY END
Natsu Nandesu
(URC Records)

by Richard John Walker

Alan Rider’s insightful interview with Amélie Ravalec, published prior to the release of her documentary on the Japanese Avant-Garde of the '60s and '70s, whetted many an appetite – mine included. After watching Neo Sora’s Happyend, I returned to Happy End, the band whose LPs are said to have marked the beginning of Japanese-language rock. Avant-garde? Perhaps not, but certainly ground-breaking, within its time and context. 

Summer is around the corner. Big fluffy rainclouds will come. Let it come soon.

Essential Information

Main image Natalie Bergman Gunslinger screengrab.  
Previous Week in Music 'Down. By The Sea' is here. wek in music

OL House Writer

outsideleft articles not really assigned to or edited by a specific contributor


about OL House Writer »»

RECENT STORIES

RANDOM READS

All About and Contributors

HELP OUTSIDELEFT

Outsideleft exists on a precarious no budget budget. We are interested in hearing from deep and deeper pocket types willing to underwrite our cultural vulture activity. We're not so interested in plastering your product all over our stories, but something more subtle and dignified for all parties concerned. Contact us and let's talk. [HELP OUTSIDELEFT]

WRITE FOR OUTSIDELEFT

If Outsideleft had arms they would always be wide open and welcoming to new writers and new ideas. If you've got something to say, something a small dank corner of the world needs to know about, a poem to publish, a book review, a short story, if you love music or the arts or anything else, write something about it and send it along. Of course we don't have anything as conformist as a budget here. But we'd love to see what you can do. Write for Outsideleft, do. [SUBMISSIONS FORM HERE]

WRITERS thru' the Years

A.I. House-Painter, Agata Makiela, Alan Devey, Alan Rider, Alex V. Cook, Ancient Champion, Andy Allison, Annemiek, Archibald Stanton, Becca Kelly, Belle Plankton, Bruce Bailey, Caiomhin Millar, Cassie Thomas, Chantal, Cheiron Coelho, Chris Connolly, Christian Present, Damon Hayhurst, Dan Breen, Danny Rose, David Hackney, David O'Byrne, Denni Boyd, Dirty Lillie, DJ Fuzzyfelt, Dr. Rich, Dr. Richard Bennett, Duncan Jones, Emily Moore, Erin, Erin Pipes, Erin Scott, Gracey Babs, Graham Baker, Guilaine Arts, H.xx, Hamilton High, Hannah Golden, Henderson Downing, Holly Martins, J. Charreaux, J.Lee, Jay Lewis, Jaycentee, Jennifer Lynn, Jenny McCann, Jeremy Gluck, Jez Collins, Joe Ambrose, John Robinson, Jonathan Thornton, Julie O, Justin Scupine, Karl Morgan, Katherine Pargeter, Kelsey Osgood, Kevin McHugh, Kiah Cranston, Kleo Kay, Lake, Lauren Frison, Lee Paul, Lilly Pemberton, Luke Skinner, Malcolm, Marek Pytel, Mark Piggott, Martin Devenney, Meave Haughey, Melanie Surfleet, Michelle Williams, Mickey, Mike Fox, Mike Marino, mindy strouse, Neil Campbell, Neil Scott, Nige Meffen, Ogglypoogly, OL House Writer, Pam, Paul Burns, Paul Hawkins, Paul Mortimer, Paul Quigley, Peter Williams, Pixie McMowat, Pixievic, Rene Williams, Richard John Walker, Rick Casson, Rikki Stein, Ronan Crinion, Rowena Murphy, Ruby Lake, Ryan 'RJO' Stewart, Samantha Charles, Seth Sherwood, Shane O'Reilly, Sheridan Coyle, Sofia Ribeiro Willcox, Sophia Satchell-Baeza, Spanish Pantalones, Speedie John, Spencer Kansa, Steve McCarthy, The Conversation, Tim London, Tim Sparks, Tom Pratt, Tony Fletcher, Toon Traveller, Trevi, Urs Lerch, Wayne Dean-Richards, and founders, Alarcon & Lamontpaul

OUTSIDELEFT UNIVERSE

OUTSIDELEFT Night Out
OUTSIDELEFT Night Out
weekend

outsideleft content is not for everyone