Balloon machine

Home

Balloon Machine Presents

Reviews Songs Albums EPs

Songs

Albums

EPs

Features 2019: Albums of the Year 2019: 40 Songs 15 Songs Album of the week Five Right Now Interviews My pet Track by track

2019: Albums of the Year

2019: 40 Songs

15 Songs

Album of the week

Five Right Now

Interviews

My pet

Track by track

Playlists

Support Us

About/Contact

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Spotify

Our ‘Album of the Week’ review of Anna Burch’s ‘If You’re Dreaming’

Our album of the week review of Dana Gavanski’s ‘Yesterday is Gone’

A review of Porridge Radio’s ‘Every Bad’

‘New Dreams’ is the eighth album Jófríður Ákadóttir (JFDR) has released in eight years. It is only her second full-length under the JFDR moniker, the other six emerging from projects like Pascal Pinon, a folk duo she formed with her twin sister at the age of 14, Samaris, an electronic trio she started at the […]

Our album of the week review of Snarls’ ‘Burst’

By Sarah Ross If you read any music blogs or follow any indie music Twitter accounts, chances are you’ve heard of Ratboys. If you follow the Canadian outfit PUP, with whom Ratboys toured last fall, you’ve almost definitely heard of Ratboys. And if you follow Bernie Sanders and his campaign stops, particularly that of Jan. […]

Our album of the week review of ‘Sour Widows’

Our album of the week review of Lanterns on the Lake’s ‘Spook The Herd’

Our album of the week review of Fair Mother’s full-length ‘Separate Lives’

A review of Babehoven’s new EP ‘Demonstrating Visible Differences of Height’

A review of PAWS lead singer Phillip Taylor’s, AKA Coping Mechanism, solo debut

An album review of Squirrel Flower’s ‘I Was Born Swimming’.

A review of Frances Quinlan’s album Likeness

A review of Good Good Blood’s new album ‘At Your Mercy’, out on Fox Food Records & Team Love Records

A review of The Innocence Mission’s new album ‘See You Tomorrow’.

Review of The Just Joans album The Private Memories and Confessions of The Just Joans

By Sage Shemroske Angel Olsen has had a very particular experience with how the press responds to her music. Years ago a Chicago radio host described Olsen as “kind of like a girl at the bottom of a dark well”, and that helped paint the picture of Olsen as some sort of lonesome storyteller. The […]

By Anjali DasSarma Chastity Belt’s music has grown and matured with each new album, and their self-titled album from earlier this year is no exception. The rolling hooky guitar sounds that they have been known for over the past six years tumble through the melancholy. The production, partially done by Melina Mae Duterte (Jay Som) provides a […]

“What if I have got more love than I know what to do with?” Inge Chiles aka ings asks on ‘Kiss Your Heroes’. And the Seattle-based artist does appear to possess a deeper reservoir of love than most; for herself, for her friends, for her community, for humans at large. Indeed, ings even taps this […]

Last October I ordered LISA/LIZA’s ‘Momentary Glance’ on vinyl. An Orindal Records sampler CD felt like a bonus, when I found it at the bottom of the package. The only CD player I own is in my car – a red convertible smart car, I know. I still remember audibly saying, “What’s this?”, when the […]

It’s ironic that Brigitte Nagar (Common Holly) sings “You’re like a snake in the middle of a regular day / There was that time / I just tried to catch it / But it slithered away” on “Joshua Snakes”. As ‘When I Say to You Black Lightning’ sounds as if it were born in the […]

By Sage Shemroske Great Grandpa draw from the tarot deck when handing us their second full length LP, ‘Four of Arrows’. In a tarot deck the Four of Arrows are a sign that you’re in need of introspection, quiet, recovery. The card indicates faith in counsel or help. And so it goes. Though the wetness […]

By Anjali DasSarma Miniature Tigers’ ‘Vampires of Daylight’ chronicles the violent, difficult, heartbreaking break-up and resulting depression of chief songwriter and frontman, Charlie Brand. His band’s sixth record, ‘Vampires of Daylight’ is an essay-like collection of Brand’s own struggles with blame and acceptance of an ending. “I wrote you a record and threw it away […]

By Anjali DasSarma Big Thief only released the subtly immersive ‘UFOF’ back in May, and today (October 11) they return with the equally enrapturing ‘Two Hands’. UFOF possessed an eerie and beautifully unsettling quality, while ‘Two Hands’ is a comforting and dialectic example of how truly beautiful music can be. Adrienne Lenker herself dubbed ‘Two […]

On ‘Turtle Taxi’, Suggested Friends bracingly glare elites in the eye whilst making music that’s outrageously fun. Self-defined as “a queer choir of mostly lesbians”, Suggested Friends interweave tongue-in-cheek masculinity with their generous blend of country, jangle pop and folk-rock. It’s a collection of ten bombastic, hook-filled bangers; as if nobody in the studio ever said, […]

Time-lapse cameras are often situated in forests to capture a plant’s growth from seed to full bloom. The final product, often seen in David Attenborough documentaries, is electrifying to the senses, the lapsing of the frames making it appear like the plant flourished in minutes rather than months. A Field Guides song is kind of […]