The Eighteenth Day Of May’s singular self-titled album remains timeless and enchanting, says Will Salmon

The Eighteenth Day of May by The Eighteenth Day of May

You might not recall The Eighteenth Day Of May, but if you’re a regular reader of The Quietus then there’s a strong chance that you’ll know at least one of the projects that rose from the ashes of this short-lived, but quietly influential psych folk sextet. 

The band formed in London in 2003, initially as a trio: vocalist Allison Brice, and multi-instrumentalists Richard Olson and Ben Phillipson. Bassist Mark Nicholas, drummer Karl Sabino, and ex-Saloon viola-player Alison Cotton all joined the outfit over the following year. They recorded a self-titled LP, which was released in 2005 on…

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Speedy J

Walkman

Dutch producer Jochem Paap’s first album in two decades is a proud ripose to the vicissitudes of the algorithm, finds Jeremy Allen

Walkman by Speedy J

With more than 43 million songs uploaded to streaming services every year, how does one avert overload fatigue from the sheer mass of new music? It’s a modern reality that the Dutch music producer Jochem Paap has been wrestling with, with Walkman his first solo release in twenty years. The name of this record harks back to the Sony Walkman, of course, the mobile cassette player that revolutionised personal listening in the 1980s and set us on our way towards the iPod and streaming platforms listened to via smartphones.

If that gives an impression that Walkman…

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In this week’s King’s Speech, only draft legislation on the matter was featured meaning that a bill to tackle it will not be an immediate priority

The UK music and events industry has reacted with disappointment to the government’s failure to include decisive action on ticket touting in this week’s King’s Speech.

The speech sets out the programme of legislation that the government intends to pursue in the forthcoming parliamentary session, and only draft legislation on touting was included meaning that a bill on the matter will not be an immediate priority in this forthcoming run of lawmaking. The issue will instead remain subject to continued public consultation and review by parliamentary committees.

The current Labour government won a majority in the 2024…

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The Australian group’s first proper release in six years features Jessy Lanza and Nikki Nair

Photo by Dean Podmore

The Avalanches have released a new song, titled ‘Together’.

Marking the first proper release of new material in six years from the Australian group, the song features Jessy Lanza, Nikki Nair and Prentiss. It’s the first preview of a forthcoming album from The Avalanches, which they teased late last year with an Instagram Stories post featuring posted a stack of hard drives and the caption “LP #4″. They also recently launched a website for a fake company called Takumi, and wiped their Instagram account before sharing a new band logo.

They’ve shared a video for ‘Together’, which was directed and animated by frequent collaborator Jonathan Zawada. It depicts an…

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Aba Shanti-I and Mad Professor will be part of the celebration of the Jamaican genre

Le Guess Who? will mark its 20th edition later this year with a special 24-hour series of continuous programming dedicated to dub music.

Taking place at Utrecht venue KABUL à GoGo, 24 HOUR DUB will chart the evolution of the Jamaican genre, with sets from pioneers and contemporaries, as well as appearances from poets.

The programming includes sets from Aba Shanti-I, Kelman Duran, Azu Tiwaline, Seekersinternational and The Bug vs Ghost Dubs, among others. Mad Professor will also make an appearance for live dub sessions and a collaboration with Sista Aisha, while The Scientist will perform classic 1981 work Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse…

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In the latest turn of the long-running saga, The Twigs have alleged that the artist used her fame to “weaken, if not destroy” their intellectual property

FKA twigs has been hit with a countersuit in the latest turn of a long-running legal saga between herself and The Twigs over the former’s artist name,

FKA twigs, real name Tahliah Barnett, filed a lawsuit against 90s duo The Twigs in March in a bid to secure full rights to her artist name following a legal back-and-forth that had been taking place between the two acts since 2013. Billboard now reports, though, that The Twigs have responded to that with their own complaint, which was filed earlier this week, and claimed that Barnett had used…

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In this month’s edition of the Low Culture Podcast, John Doran and Luke Turner discuss the cult classic of blurred identity and the failing 60s counterculture

“You’re the lone ranger!”, “I like a bit of a cavort!”, “It was Mad Cyril”, “Comical little geezer – you’ll look funny when you’re 50”, “Too much vitamin B12 has never hurt anybody”. The countercultural gangster film Performance (1970) might be so endlessly quotable it ended up in songs The Happy Mondays and Big Audio Dynamite, but there’s much more to it than that, as John Doran and Luke Turner discuss in the latest edition of the Low Culture Podcast. Shot in 1967 but only premiered in 1970, Performance is a riot of firsts – Mick Jagger’s debut starring…

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An album of sonic and metaphysical skirmishes from the Syrian-born, Montreal-based experimental musician

For Sam Hoyek, the decentralised songs on Demonstration 01: Anomalous are inflicted by sounds which seem to transgress interior/exterior borderlands. They creep in from outside. There’s a porous sense of exchange. Of ideas lost and gained. Of sounds encroaching on a destabilised core before dissipating away. The result is a constantly shifting record which rattles through styles and genres quicker than a Reform councillor collecting their P45.

These turns and pivots speak to a restlessness but also an urge to explore, to express, influenced by the left hand paths of chaos magick. It’s the sound of Arca, of aya, of Tim Hecker, of Kayo Dot with Ben Frost filling…

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With his plain speaking, crisp production and fearsome focus, Ice-T became, not only hugely famous in 1991 but hugely influential as well, says Angus Batey

Thirty-five-years on from his finest on-record hour, Ice-T sometimes looks like a hip hop underachiever. While politically contentious, he never seemed to command the news media like Chuck D; despite being a gangsta rap pioneer, you always got the sense he was maybe a bit tamer, a bit less parent-threatening, than NWA or Cube. Never a dynamic poet, never a west coast Rakim, nor a freewheeling master rap stylist a la Busta or Slick Rick, his name tends to get left out when true-school heads or rock-crit listmakers gather to anoint and appoint the approved membership…

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Darkthrone

Pre-Historic Metal

Fenriz and Nocturno Culto emerge from their respective dark corners for their 23rd album together – and it may be their freshest yet, finds Kez Whelan

Pre- Historic metal by Darkthrone

There’s something oddly cosy about the release of a new Darkthrone album in this day and age. Whilst their immediate peers find themselves clutching at relevancy, either smothered by the controversies they courted in their youth or, conversely, coasting on former glories and embracing the transition into festival-ready legacy acts, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have simply been enjoying the hermitic lifestyle they settled into years ago, jamming out a seemingly endless supply of riffs in their garage with nary a second thought for the outside world.

Nonetheless, it still feels like a…

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