Saint Audio

Album Review: Aquarius – Tinashe

Firstly, let’s give everybody a little reminder. Tinashe is a DIY artist. That means she and her small team organise studio time, video shoots and press alone. So with so many time consuming, non-music related tasks, how did Tinashe manage to write, record and release three critically acclaimed mixtapes far before her debut album was… [continued]
Happyness

One year since their conception, Happyness have, to date, released one self-titled EP and their debut studio album ‘Weird Little Birthday’. The London-three piece have spent their short time as a band honing their lo-fi, slacker rock-indebted sound which seems to be very much the ‘thing’ of the moment if you look at bands like… [continued]
The Vision of Hiro Murai

On first thoughts, the music video is a bizarre artistic format. Somewhat of a crossover between easy advertising and visually adding greater depth or meaning to a song, the format has risen from the exclusivity of the MTV broadcast to take on the world wide web, with individual clips garnering millions of views. But what… [continued]
Spotlight On: Chester Watson

After first hearing Chester Watson’s “Phantom” last year, I was instantaneously drawn to his enigmatic sinister-sounding instrumentals and nonchalant lyrical flow. Initially, I thought he might have been associated with Pro.Era but after digging through a multitude of hip-hop blogs, it seemed as if he was rolling on his own. It wasn’t even clear where… [continued]
Gig Review: SBTRKT

SBTRKT clearly aim to surround themselves in an air of secrecy, and this was certainly achieved long before their arrival at the 02 Academy in Leeds. The audience was very audibly discussing which direction the performance would head thanks to various online ‘tips’ – with rumours of recent collaborator Raury appearing (despite his being in… [continued]
Review: Messenger Soundsystem

Last Friday saw this semester’s hottest ticket to date as Venue 1 was transported to the heart of Jamaica with the ever passionate Music is Love bringing Edinburgh’s own Messenger Soundsystem for a night of basslines, hooks and reggae grooves. The 600 capacity event saw the union transformed into a carnival-esque set up, with towering… [continued]
Gig Review: Alt-J

The surrounding streets were filled with political fervor as Alt-J took to the stage last Thursday, the eve of the Scottish Independence referendum in Glasgow. There was chaos in the rest of the city, with riots and hordes of flag waving demonstrators taking over George Square, but for a couple of hours that night, the… [continued]
The Art of Sampling

The aim of this article is to discuss ‘sampling’ which over the past 40 years or so has become an increasingly popular method of producing music. As sampling has become the basis for various popular genres such as Hip Hop, critics have let it been known that they regard the production form to be unimaginative… [continued]
The DJ Dilemma

Innumerable opportunities for creativity obviously lead to a plethora of pathways for production. As such, genres both conflate and dissipate their musical stylings amidst a sea of sounds. While most styles of electronic music retain a core characteristic – such as the overlapping feature of the 4×4 beat prevalent in techno, house, etc- the subcategorization of… [continued]
Album Review: My Everything – Ariana Grande

In the midst of the VMA PDA-ing with Big Sean, hardcore relationship question-dodging, and a mass celebrity nude-photo scandal, Ariana Grande actually has released a new album. Almost a year prior, Yours Truly was a transition from TV starlet to poised-to-be pop princess, with approachably infectious hits such as “The Way” and “Baby I”. Grande’s… [continued]