Oliver Arditi

Blog archive

  • Slabdragger/ Meadows – split LP (stoner metal)

    Slabdragger/ Meadows – split LP (stoner metal)

    The last split release I reviewed also involved Meadows. The rationale behind split releases is obviously to seek a synergy: the artists involved generally have a close stylistic affinity, or their audiences overlap, to their mutual benefit; sometimes I suspect the reason has more to do with the relationship between the artists than any overt… Read more

  • Various Artists – Singles and EPs

    Various Artists – Singles and EPs

    Schoolday nostalgia seems to be a current in many branches of music nowadays. It’s by no means a new thing, but it’s definitely growing. It’s curious how it lends historicity and distance to times that probably don’t seem at all distant to a greybeard like me; my theory is that it represents a re-appropriation, a… Read more

  • Bright Color Vision – Carousel (metal)

    Bright Color Vision – Carousel (metal)

    The language of metal is so fragmented and diversified now that it’s hard to distinguish one sub-genre from another, and many bands build their sound as though they were filling their plates at a wedding buffet, after quite a few drinks. This is a positive tendency in my view, as long as an understanding of… Read more

  • Marley Starskey Butler – Opposites (avant-pop)

    Marley Starskey Butler – Opposites (avant-pop)

    Like all Entr’acte releases, Opposites arrives in a hermetically perfect, vacuum sealed package, simple metallic grey plastic with one colour printing in the exact same typeface and layout as the rest of their catalogue. There is something disturbing about its severity and its integrity; I have never been so reluctant to open an album sent… Read more

  • Various Artists – Album Roundup

    Various Artists – Album Roundup

    Being able to afford soap is the new bling. That’s not necessarily a satirical conceit most artists would consider hanging an entire album off, let alone their group identity, but BIG $OAP MON£Y CR£W are not ‘most artists’, and that’s exactly what they do. Not that this is overtly a concept album, despite its consistent… Read more

  • The Blackswords: Episode 3

    The Blackswords: Episode 3

    Umbaral rode scout to the port, handing his lance to another rider and stringing his bow; being an archer usually let him keep a safe distance from the enemy, which was why he’d specialised as one, but there were other times it when condemned him to the van. It was a fair trade-off, he supposed,… Read more