Hi, we’re Seake. And we’re music snobs. There, admitting it is the first step to rehabilitation. Over time we’ve become quite skeptical of the South African general public’s taste in music (it’s not their fault, they only have the nauseous drivvle that is force fed to them via the airwaves) …so when somebody suggests we check out “this great band/artist”, we politely smile and forget about the conversation in a few nano-seconds.

One suggestion we’re glad we didn’t ignore is UK Acid-Jazz Instrumental supergroup Red Snapper (who used to release on long time Seake favourite Warp Records no less – Doh!). After surgically removing the foot from our mouths & wiping the egg off our faces, we got down to listening to “Making Bones” & the sublime “Our Aim Is To Satisfy“. Not unlike checking in at Betty Ford for Electronic-IDM-Jazz-Skiffle-Beat counseling. Let the healing begin! Newly released album “Key” looks set to be premiership ear candy too…

After trawling through the digital archives this week, we’ve been rediscovering the perfectly cooled sounds of Kieran Hebden‘s (aka Four Tet) first musical outfit Fridge. Listening through their discography from “Ceefax” through to the most recent album “The Sun” is like finding that chilled cold water bottle stashed under the always empty egg shelf tray on a hot summer’s day. Refreshingly experimental drum arrangements give way to crisp audio foley & leave you cool as a cucumber & with that knowingly thirst-quenched smile. Okay, enough cold references for one post. They’re fucking great, that is all.

So you’re all fed up with tax-money wasting climate talks that don’t actually resolve anything? …and the blue light brigades shuffling corruption-soaked ministers around in this unnaturally dreary summer weather we’re having? Us too. It’s in these times we turn to music to reflect our emotions, to nourish the soul with intense audio energies.

How about some powerful “post rock” sounds from our favourite Scottish super group Mogwai, hailing from always drizzling Glasgow? Just the fuckin’ ticket I hear you say? “Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will”, released earlier this year, is probably one of the more accessible albums from this mysterious instrumental 5 piece & should hopefully wet your appetite to ear-browse their extensive discography. The sublime Mr.Beast is still one of our best albums of the past 10 years.

We’ve been adoring fans of Ohio based retro blues rock duo The Black Keys since a few milliseconds after the Big Bang (or at least, realistically, after their very first album The Big Come Up). Now whilst we’ll always applaud artists that push their sound in a new direction & explore new audio frontiers… one can easily forgive these two for sticking to the 70′s moustache-sporting vintage vinyl-covered lo-fi riffs that’ve made them so famous.

Their new longplayer “El Camino” is exactly that. Bordering on a greatest hits collection of Black Keys’ signature basement-bargain-busting drum sounds & funk-drenched guitars, it’s like listening to the never-released soundtrack to Steve McQueen’s autobiography. Bringing out dad’s old Marshall Amplifier and playing this one loud comes highly recommended.