Magnify The Sound: "Searching For A Quiet Place" video

Norwegian post-metal band Magnify The Sound have made a video for Searching For A Quiet Place, the title track from their forthcoming new album. Moving slowly it is a plea to go find some peace of mind in the forests, not quite sure if they are running away from the current clusterfuck or using their instruments as tools for protest. Either way it works as a means to relax a bit.

Sturla Eide (fiddle) joins long time members Trond Engum (guitar and electronics) and Carl Haakon Waadeland (drums and percussion) for a leisurely stroll by stretching the notes to create an undulating soundscape. The darkness is never far away though.

Billy Strings: "tiny desk" for Record Store Day

The short set that bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings and his band played for a NPR Tiny Desk Concert on November 6, 2025 at NPR Studios in Washington DC will be released on vinyl for Record Store Day (April 18). 7000 copies worldwide

Sugar Horse: Secret Speech

Metal with a message. The in-your-face industrial noise rock Sugar Horse is quite brutal, but the Bristol based quartet are really angry on their new single Secret Speech, pointing their fingers at all the riches that have been hoarded by the West. Something has gotta give, but for now their frustation about the inequality serves as the fuel for their music. They used banned Soviet animation for the video.

It is a track from their new album, Not A Sound In Heaven, due for release on April 1oth via Fat Dracula Records (vinyl, CD, digital).

Bill Wyman on his dirt cheap Dallas Tuxedo bass

Bill Wyman is still in awe with the sound of his Dallas Tuxedo bass, which he purchased for about £8 back in the day. He played it on almost all Rolling Stones albums, with songs from Sticky Fingers as his favourites. From an interview in Guitar Player:

'I Got the Blues' was probably one of the best songs I ever did with that one. 'Sister Morphine,' from the same LP, is another — a lot of the slow, bluesy things, the ballady things, songs where I wanted it to sound like a string bass. I can sort of slide on it because there are no frets, and I can almost get a little bit of that slap sound playing it with the thumb. I play every other bass with a pick, but I use my thumb on that one.

» billwyman.com

The Would-Be-Goods: Tears Before Bedtime

photo: Liam Hare

English indie pop band The Would-Be-Goods are masters of unusual love songs with at twist, with references to Greek mythology, drugs, dressing up in black, being annoyed by fairies, and having second thoughts about body art. Singer and band leader Jessica Griffin's vocal delivery is precise like a school teacher, which makes the lyrical content even more cutting.

With a mix of 60s baroque pop and its 90s follow-up twee, the band dresses themselves in full-colour melodies, creating a buzz without any side effects, save for the urge to play the album again. And again.