3hive (Free subscription) | 09/29/2008
On her myspace page Leila lists her influences as "life...noise...stuff." I'd just add "beats" to that list for a quick summation of her sound. These tracks her label has generously offered for your downloading pleasure demonstrate Leila's controlled cacophony as she gathers audio odds and ends, samples of this horn and that vocal clip, and masterfully stitches the sounds together into something you...
Brooklyn Vegan (Free subscription) | 09/17/2008
a catch up post... photos by Chris La Putt Though the show was billed as just Tricky, I think his female counterparts deserve a little more credit. Veronika, who wrote the song of the same name on Tricky's new album...
Bearded Magazine (Free subscription) | 09/07/2008
I once heard a friend say, “I could do her solely on her voice”. This was two years ago, after Martina’s guest vocal on Son of Dave’s ‘Devil Take My Soul’ added one of the sweetest ingredients a blues track could include. Since then, people have been longing for another sickly taste of what indeed could be a musical Tiramisu to come from this lady.
Pirate Cat Radio 87.9fm (Free subscription) | 09/03/2008
Leila/ Blood, Looms & Blooms / Warp Records Writing a review for this CD is simultaneously easy and impossible. Easy because it’s so incredibly good and creative, difficult because, well where to begin? What exactly IS this music anyway? Trip-hop? IDM? I don’t even know, but suffice it so say there [...]
Backstage Pass (Free subscription) | 08/29/2008
Martina Topley Bird Baby Blue Review By Allana Cutter Since Amy Winehouse broke into the mainstream, we've seen a lot of female artists enter the charts. Martina Topley Bird has been played a big part in the music industry since...
Manchester Evening News (Free subscription) | 08/08/2008
Martina Topley Bird - The Blue God (Independiente)Fiona McGlynn 13/ 5/2008AFTER arriving on the scene in 1995 on Tricky’s Maxinquaye album, Martina Topley Bird has had a varied career collaborating with many artists such as Gorillaz, David Holmes and Mark Lanegan.The Blue God was recorded with maverick, visionary producer Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) and mixes bopping beats with an innocent, whispering...
Needcoffee.com (Free subscription) | 08/01/2008
We're back. And please be aware that the following podcast spends way too much time talking (and singing) about wee. Agenda: Tuffley's family bladder issues Way too much supposed humor about piss Ken's lack of appreciation for Cirque Rob is the extent of our reinforcements Joan Allen's career update Service's career update Widge blows out Scientology conspiracy James Bond theme news Martina Topley-Bird...
Missingtoof (Free subscription) | 07/25/2008
With amazing new releases coming from a diverse array of genres and acts such as Grizzly Bear, Flying Lotus, Autechre, & more, Warp Records remains at the forefront of forward-thinking music labels, that’s why we here at Missingtoof love what they do and the music they put out. Two recent releases come from Leila & Chris [...]
prefixmag.com (Free subscription) | 07/09/2008
It’s been 10 years since London-based Iranian musician Arab made a mark with her peerless debut, Like Weather. She’s only allowed one other full-length audio venture to seep out in the intervening time: Courtesy of Choice, which was released by XL in 2000. Unusually for a musician who works in the field of electronic music, her music has barely aged. If anything, her work slowly reveals more textures...
The Independent (Free subscription) | 07/06/2008
When trip-hop was appropriated by the chattering classes, it was time for its leading proponents to explore the dark side of their electronic arts.
Frizz (Free subscription) | 07/02/2008
How bloody brilliant! By the second day all I could think, was why hadn’t I been before. Friday: Kate Nash (just because it was early and easy), KT Tunstall (so made up for the gig at the Roundhouse), The Feeling (somewhere in the background), some Circus (to see M), Sinead O’Connor (impressed M by getting [...]
Scotsman.com Living - Books (Free subscription) | 06/27/2008
TRICKY: KNOWLE WEST BOY *** DOMINO, £10.99
Pitchfork (Free subscription) | 06/24/2008
The Mercury Prize nominee and one-time vocalist for Tricky returns after five years with help from Danger Mouse.
Evening Standard (Free subscription) | 06/19/2008
Martina Topley Bird pulled a great show out of the bag ater a slow start. Shortwave Set performed in boiler suits. David Smyth enthuses about both, and their shared producer, Dangermouse.
prefix (Free subscription) | 06/11/2008
vocalist has sought to craft singular esoteric landscapes via subtle genre hopping (soul, jazz, trip-hop, and alt-rock among them) paired with the exotic, rhapsodic lull of her voice, to lesser or greater effect. Her chill-out style occasionally runs the risk of fading into the background or, as has been pointed out in the past, lurking too deep in Morcheeba territory, but when Bird’s acute observations...
