Barbican Estate: Atlas

Japanese duo Barbican Estate quickly made a name for themselves in the UK underground scene after their moved to London in 2022. On their new single Atlas they cherrypicked drone elements of synth-driven downtempo and post-rock on top of a motorik back beat.

It is easy to picture them on a small stage bathed in strobe lights as they stretch the song even further than the six minutes of this studio effort. Too much of a good thing? Not for fans of the Durutti Column and Can, who will have no trouble let themselves be transfixed, with a few choice guitar notes to break the spell every now and then.

Words about music (860): Tom Petty

I tend to write on an acoustic guitar or the piano. I have kind of a rule: if I can't sit down and play this and get the song over, I don't take it to the band, because most any good song, you can sit down and deliver it with a piano or a guitar.

Tom Petty

British Birds: Murmurate, Oscillate

English quartet British Birds have come up with a loveable mix of psychedelic garage rock, XTC-flavoured New Wave and the Kinks in their late '60s early '70s vaudeville leanings. Murmurate, Oscillate is an album that is bursting at the seams with musical ideas, a true cornucopia of twists and turns, plus it will have listener reaching for the dictionary more than once.

They face life's relational stumble blocks with a wry smile and the occasional snide remark (Blame Game), but they don't a turn a blind eye to the world's more pressing problems as well. Some of their friends joined the army and came back with a bad case of PTSD (Polka Dot Eyes). The insightful lyrics deserve undivided attention. The darkness is never far away, but throwing a joyous blanket over it will offer a bit of reprieve.

Jordan Galland: "You Killed My Saturday" video

Jordan Galland created a hand drawn animated video for You Killed My Saturday, a track from his No Rockstars album: "He has taken a scalpel to his current life, cut out all the bullshit, and ended up with a bunch of carefully crafted songs. His sense of humour ensures that he is quite content about where he is right now: trying to be a father of a girl. Raising her means that he had reshuffle his priorities, but once he had the diapers thing under control, music made a comeback with a vengeance."

» jordangalland.com

HCTF review of No Rockstars

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: in-studio performance @ KEXP radio

Watch the video of the in-studio performance by country musicians Gillian Welch and David Rawlings with Paul Kowert on bass on The Afternoon Show @ KEXP radio in Seattle, recorded on August 18, 2026.