<p><span><span>- A vacuum is a space devoid of matter, the epitome of emptiness and nothingness. Yet one could say this is the antithesis of the Naarm/Melbourne duo, whose self-titled debut album is so full of substance that, after first listen, I found myself wandering down rabbit holes of mechanophilia, <strong>Pharmakon</strong>, <strong>Amnesia Scanner</strong>, palliative care, 2000 AD comics and musique concrete.

<p><span><span><span>- It’s been quite a journey for Alynda Segarra, aka Hurray For The Riff Raff. Raised in New York, she started off writing acoustic songs as train-hopping young vagabond – finding inspiration in the great American hobo tradition and taking a stage-name from a classic 90’s folk-punk song.</span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span>- Dance music has a tradition of … not over-thinking things. A producer gets their software, gets their hardware, bangs out the beats and sets it off in the club - you have your formula, now repeat. I’ve found, on several occasions, writing about club music is …unusual for the people you’re writing about. It’s so unusual that they can get a bit nervous if you devote a few hundred words to what they do; like it was more than they’d ever thought about it themselves. This is not a problem I’ll ever have with Lewis Cancut.</span></span></p>

<p><span><span>- <strong>Sasami Ashworth</strong>’s second studio album <em>Squeeze </em>is a brutal and honest exploration of not only a wide scope of feelings and frustrations, but also a journey through genre. From nu-metal to folk-rock to neo-classical, SASAMI uses her versatility as a performer and composer to fully expand on the themes of each individual track as well as create an overarching tour of human emotion and complicated self-conflicting subjects.</span></span></p>

<p><span><span>- If New Orleans rapper <strong>Curren$y </strong>and legendary producer <strong>The Alchemist</strong> have one thing in common, it’s that they can’t stop dropping music. In between releasing at least five projects a year each, the two still find time to collaborate for full-length records. While Curren$y never strays far from his hazy, smoked-out style, The Alchemist knows how to back with a blend of soulful, laidback production.