Eff, With An E : The Urban Sleaze Of Mr. Eff

Mr. Eff was not your high school chemistry teacher. Nor was Mr. Eff a friend of Mr. Brown or Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs. Mr. Eff is a producer and musician that makes musical odes to terror on subways, burned-out city street lamps, and dark alleyways. His sound is based in hard knocks funk, early […]

Wilco’s “Everybody Hides”

In just a little over a week Wilco will release their new album, the grandly-titled Ode To Joy. It’s been a few years since a new Wilco album was something I was hotly anticipating. I’d say Wilco(The Album) was the last record of theirs where I was chomping at the bit and waiting by the […]

Joel Ross : Kingmaker

I find it hard to find “new” jazz artists. Not because there aren’t any worthy of my time and ears, but because I just don’t know where to look. When you have such a vast and expansive search pile as the history of Blue Note, Impulse, and Prestige Records over the last 70 years, getting […]

Majeure : Mass Flashback

AE Paterra is one half of the progressive/heavy synth duo Zombi. The half he resides in creates Neal Peart-like drum fills as the prodigious rhythm maker while synth/bass duties are covered by Steve Moore. For well over a decade the Philadelphia-based music duo have made prog-rock relevant again. Brains, braun, and horror vibes abound, Zombi […]

Lou Rebecca : Restless

There’s something so very exhilarating about Lou Rebecca’s debut full-length Restless. The Parisian starlet shows a knack for writing melodies both seductive and innocent. Rebecca’s voice hangs in the air like a sweet scent, but underneath the innocent swoon is a voracious artist writing songs about heartache and regret. Singing in both French and English, […]

Sex Magick Wizards : Eroto Comatose Lucidity

So imagine a jam session between Miles Davis’ mid-60s quintet, John Coltrane, John Mclaughlin, and Jimi Hendrix on a caffeine buzz and you might get an idea of what sort of voodoo Sex Magick Wizards are concocting. The four-piece from Oslo, Norway, which consists of members Sigrid Aftret, Axel Skalstad, Henrik Sandstad Dalen, and Viktor […]

Toronto’s Rapport Drop New Video For “All The Other Lovers”; EP Out October 4th

Photo by Colin Medley Toronto’s Rapport know their pop music. On their upcoming debut EP In The Dark(out October 4th on Arbutus Records) is a bevy of beautifully written and curated synth pop tracks that would easily fit on any great 80s film soundtrack. Much like Lou Rebecca, Diana, and Electric Youth, Rapport are channeling […]

Bat For Lashes : Lost Girls

Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, has never been afraid to explore musically. Always working within pop sensibilities, her music is as engaging and urgent as pop music can get. On her latest, the synth pop-inflected Lost Girls, she builds beautifully ornamented pop songs that are as addictive as they are eccentric. Opening track “Lost […]

Blue Tomorrows : Without Color

Blue Tomorrows’ Without Color is a breezy, gentle sway of an album. Songwriter Sarah Nienaber writes songs that feel like running into an old friend after many years have passed. Familiarity and long lost memories abound come rushing back like opening some mental time capsule. Jangly guitar, care-free synths, simple drum rhythms come together to […]

Complex Distractions Presents : Albums You May Have Missed In 2019(so far)

If you have a life outside of spinning records, enjoying a cocktail or two, and soaking in the existential fear that life as we know it is crumbling in our hands like a stale biscuit, then there’s a chance you may have missed a few of the amazing records that have been released into the […]