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Barn on the Farm 2023 - Sunday [Photos]

on July 04, 2023

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New release horizon scanner:

11/1/25 - Rosie Gault: Dim lights
29/1/25 - Dictator: Middle of the road (EP)
7/2/25 - Arliston: Disappointment machine (Album)
28/2/25 - Hachiku: The joys of being pure at heart (Album(

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Carla Aakre: Through

Every so often a song comes along which leaves me speechless. 'Through' is one of those songs. Carla Aakre is a Helsinki-based singer-songwriter who has a profound and rare ability to focus in, very closely, on small details – brief, fleeing moments and gestures which paradoxically say so much. With a piece of music like this, I sometimes need time to let it sink in. There's an immediate reaction when I listen and am struck dumb; but I need to give some time and space before I come back and try to write something vaguely coherent. 'Through' begins (after a moment of studio chatter) with softened piano chords, accompanied by minimalistic drums and the hint of a violin note. That sound of strings is like a hanging moment of suspense, held in the air, balancing on the edge of something yet unexplored. It's an unrequited promise, a faraway glimpse of beauty. The remainder of the song develops in subtle waves, delicate rises and falls which lull us through the almos...

Wolf Alice + Matt Maltese: UEA LCR, Norwich [Live]

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Tove Lo: Dirt Femme [Album]

Tove Lo is a bit of an enigma, in many ways. I’m not quite sure how I managed to avoid knowing about her before last year, or exactly how I became aware of her (awesome) music. I think it was through hearing a cover of ‘Habits (Stay High)’ by Greysha but, as with many things Lo-related, I can’t be entirely sure. What else is mysterious about Lo? It’s her ability to transcend pop/alt-dance boundaries; she writes very good songs, in the most traditional sense of the word, but those songs are anything but traditional. They’re beautifully structured, bringing a real sense of satisfaction as you listen; they’re highly varied in their themes and style; and they’re delivered in a way which is frequently surprising: the smile-factor is strong with Lo. This album, ‘Dirt Femme’, has been on my playlist since its release in November, and on my mind almost continuously. The delay in getting this blog post finished has been entirely due to my struggle to translate what I feel and hear from this re...

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I've decided to migrate this blog to Substack as it seems to offer me a lot more scope for the projects I want to do in future! New link: musicobserved.substack.com For now, I’ll be posting here and there in tandem, and you can find all my old posts there too, but in the New Year I'll make the full transition...

Grace Calver: My Life and Its Disasters [EP]

It’s just over a year since Grace Calver released arguably one of the best ever songs related to the undead - her debut single, ‘Zombie Conversations’ - pivoting from popular music blogger to accomplished artist in a way which felt natural and preordained. And now, here’s her debut EP, building on the success and catchiness of that first release. The brilliantly named 'My Life and Its Disasters' is five tracks of Grace Calver's well polished, finely honed brand of dream-pop-meets-grunge, sugar-coated angst rock. It’s an infectious, deceptively innocent style of writing - like a rainbow with a pot of boiling oil at the end. And let's also not forget that Grace plays all the tuned instruments, too, leaving only the drums to be outsourced (in this case to Oscar Liddiard). Two of the tracks on this EP are brand new, and perhaps best represent where Grace is now as an artist. She’s come a long way in a very short time, playing countless live shows, including several festiva...