“Casting a long electronic Shadow – A track so fresh it’s not out until tomorrow. Here’s McDead’s new experimental techno single Technical College.
New single Technical College is heavy on the IDM techno and lighter on the shoegaze. I rather prefer it that way. As for the track title, he explains that it’s “A nod to McDead’s ‘Technical College‘ in Colchester that gave him a second chance… after a very shaky start.”
Musically, Technical College is happy to dig its own path. It burrows away in a minimal IDM way. It’s an idiosyncratic take, putting the tech into Technical College perhaps.
Beats have an 80s Spartan easy to them with the depth added by a firm bass with a hint of funk. There’s a bit of electronic trickery and voices come and go in manipulated waves. There’s a lot of the Warp mid- 90s sense of experimentation.
Technical College avoids easy hooks and forces you to grapple with constantly shifting patterns of sound with a squall of electronic rhythmic noise offering the closes to something hummable. And yet its wilfulness is its strength.
A track that does what it wants, how it wants. Let it take you back to college for a lesson in techno as an experimental art form.”
Acid Ted Blog 28th February 2024
“McDead Unveils ‘Shadows’: A Classic Downtempo Journey. “Shadows” is a testament to McDead’s ability to blend classic elements with contemporary production twists. The track’s rhythmic foundation, driven by a bouncing bassline and a pushing kick, creates a sense of propulsion that keeps the listener engaged from start to finish”
Electronica Blog 16th January 2024
https://electronica.org.uk/blog/mcdead-unveils-shadows-a-classic-downtempo-journey/
The swirling vortex of McDead’s recent sonic creation 90, is a mind-bending journey through the kaleidoscopic landscape of compulsive record collecting. With bass lines that pulse like the erratic heartbeat of a frenzied collector and lyrics that dance between reality and illusion, the track beckons you into a realm where time loses its meaning and the only constant is the insatiable desire for more. As echoes of The Fall, Beck, Kate Bush, and John Frusciante intertwine and morph, they create a symphony of sound that feels both familiar and utterly surreal. It’s as if DJ Shadow himself has been transported to a psychedelic wonderland, where every beat is a hallucination and every note a revelation.
Dive in and let the music take you on a trip unlike any other, where boundaries blur and imagination reigns supreme.
Last Day Deaf Blog 17th April 2024
“As it’s Friday I was going to go for something banging. But I’ve had a last minute change of heart and am going for rocky staying in and kitchen grooving with McDead.
McDead is from Colchester (UK) making alternative and experimental music in Melbourne, Australia. McDead’s playful prolific songwriting is heavily influenced by the neo-psychedelic shoegaze, rock and experimental electronic scene he worked with as a teenage roadie and guitarist.
And that mix of rock and electronic is very much a part of featured track Eye. And a dirty bass that takes this from fun to essential.
Starts slowly this one before a Stranglers type bass offers its sleazy charms. There’s a mix of rock tropes, harmonica and electronic psychedelia here. This breezes along like its very own indie dance revival without sounding in any way dated or beholden to the past.”
Acid Ted Blog – Featured Friday Track – 28th July 2023 https://acidted.wordpress.com/2023/07/28/deadly-bass-from-mcdead-eye/
“Hypnotic breaks slowed down to a crawl punctuate the aptly titled “Slow Wave” by the Australia based eclectic electronic artist McDead. We really dug the nodding percussion that unfolds over the track’s four minutes featuring a deep, jazz-inflected bass line that sounds completely liquid underneath the breakbeat and mellow drones floating atop in a serene ocean of aquamarine tones.”
Tome to The Weather Machine – By Ryan Hall – January 2nd 2024 https://tometotheweathermachine.com/blog/mcdead-slow-waves
“Meaning “Peace” in both Russian and Ukranian, “Mir” by the Australian experimental artist McDead is a deep, sub-bass workout and meditation. Riding some grainy sine waves through each valley and peak on the LFO’s journey, “Mir” is both austere and sonically rich. Bass worshipers will find deep resonance in the reverb trails and chest rattling hits rattling from beneath the floorboards. Fans of artists like Devin Sarno and Philip Jeck will find a lot in “Mir” to latch onto.”
Tome to The Weather Machine – By Ryan Hall – June 23rd 2023
https://tometotheweathermachine.com/blog/mcdead-mir?rq=MIR
“McDead’s ‘Mir’ takes listeners on a mesmerizing journey into experimental realms, immersing them in a world of metallic textures, atmospheric string-like sounds, and moody undertones. Right from the start, the track exudes an experimental vibe that sets the tone for the entire composition”.Kev McDead, a London-born musician and archaeologist currently based in Melbourne, Australia, showcases his talent for playful and prolific songwriting. Influenced by the neo-psychedelic shoegaze, rock, and experimental electronic scenes he encountered during his time as a teenage roadie and guitarist, McDead crafts music that pushes boundaries and defies genre conventions.
‘Mir’ aims to create an experimental atmosphere by blending vintage analogue instruments with ambient, psychedelic, and IDM-influenced production twists. The result is an otherworldly sonic landscape that captivates the listener’s imagination. The track’s dark, atmospheric, and moody vibe draws you in, enveloping you in its captivating aura.
Kev McDead’s musical journey is as intriguing as his sound. With a background in archaeology and a nomadic lifestyle, he draws inspiration from his experiences, infusing eccentric neo-psychedelic and ambient songs with guitars, drones, strange field recordings, and experimental electronica. His diverse influences and unique approach to music production result in a captivating and distinct artistic expression.
McDead’s first vinyl album released in 2021 sold out, but a second 180 gram heavyweight vinyl batch is pressed and waiting for distribution at Zenith Records in Melbourne. This is now available for pre-order with a limited number of purple transparent vinyl available for global delivery on Bandcamp album”
Electronica Blog – June 27, 2023
Composed using the e-bow on guitar, these “mangled drones” that make up Mangledrone are incredibly alive passages of music. Bouncing off one another and skirting through time and space without a meter to catalog their rise and fall, each layer falls on top of each other like snowflakes. No dense layer sticking around for too long, these ambient lines circle back and collapse into one another. One of the more outstanding drone compositions by the Melbourne based artist.
Tome to the Weather Machine – USA blog – By Ryan Hall, July 15th 2022
https://tometotheweathermachine.com/blog/mcdead-mangledrone?rq=McDead
UK-born producer/instrumentalist McDead makes his return to our site with this new instrumental titled “Minute Mate.” The track is a rock guitar-driven affair and it’s packed with punchy drum grooves, moody textures, and a pulsating bassline that glues everything together.
Word is Bond – by Tayo Odutola – March 22nd 2022
Kev McDead is so creative and bursting with many ideas. A ‘Minute Mate‘ contains three-to-four minutes of brilliance, the distillation of an experimental drone of an evolving verbed-out surf guitar. The glorious chilled-out and exotic energy displayed here, have left aside for a while the playful rock influences from previous work starting a new era, perhaps back to the Downunder. The key to the sound here is a single roar under an evolving hip-hop beat-based groove. It reminds me of Henry Frayne’s soundscapes as Laterna.
Working to perfect more music formulations, we cannot wait to hear Kev’s new escapades, be it on vinyl or with other talented musicians.
Stay tuned mates!
Give it a Spin – Greece – by Niki Sorogas – 12th April 2022 https://giveitaspin.gr/2022/04/mcdead-minute-mate.html
Where archeology meets beats and the Outback. Kev McDead is a London-born multi-instrumentalist, producer, and archaeologist now based in Melbourne, Australia. That’s quite a background. But no fossilised tunes here.
The featured track is Minute Mate, inspired by a year in exile in Belgrade away from Australia (as in the phrase ‘back in a minute mate’). This is part paean to beach life and part groovy urban jungle.
There’s a psychedelic warped opening that resolves into some summery sunny beach guitar with a hint of surf twang. It’s all surrounded by a bit of synth drone and beats that have that ‘real’ rock quality about them. A track of part chill, part soft rock, and part electronica. But most of all it’s filled with a dreamy longing.
Acid Ted Blog – UK May 10th 2022
I have been following the work of the British musician, traveler, archaeologist and explorer Kev McDead for quite a long time and this week I started with his new single recorded in Melbourne. Mixing hip-hop, atmospheric alternative funk, reminiscent of Red Hot Chili Peppers with surf guitars, the artist achieved impressive results and literally reached a new level of quality.
Mishka DJ – Russia – May 10th 2022
”‘Olympic Skeleton’ by McDead is Like an Instrumental, Wire-esque Soundtrack to the Exploration of Past Sites of the Olympics…
…if Wire had done a more pop score to the 2022 Winter Olympic games it might sound a bit like McDead’s instrumental post-punk song “Olympic Skeleton, The driving, angular guitar lightly distorted with a touch of fuzz, playful interludes with call and response with synth bell tones, accented leads, start and stop dynamics that come off like freezing on an image for a second before the tenor of the song switches. Yet there’s a brightness to the song that contrasts a bit with the image conjured by the song title which might make those in the know recall the 2010 horror film Frozen (nothing like the beloved 2013 Disney animated feature). But there are no dire endings here and no morbid tones which gives the song a surreal aspect like someone years from now finding a skeleton from a lost fan or competitor found while excavating a former Olympic site and pondering on who that person is and how they got to be there. Perhaps it’s all just a play on words with the name of the project in mind and/or an oblique commentary on what happens to the sites of Olympics once the games move on to the next country following all the development no longer always put to civic use. And on that note, check out the song on Bandcamp and explore the works of Kev McDead by following him at any of the links above”
Queen City Sounds and Art – USA – February 24th 2022
“A further refinement of the Melbourne based McDead’s omnivorous musical palate is the progressive “Whistler” which employs some deeply syncopated rhythms with a driving bass line and complex percussive arrangements. Splitting a difference between post-rock pioneers Tortoise with more IDM oriented acts like Mouse on Mars, McDead is able to effortlessly fold these elements into a driving composition that sets the controls for the heart of the sun and doesn’t look back. Focused and linear, “Whistler” hides depths within it’s minimalist front.”
TOME TO THE WEATHER MACHINE – USA experimental music blog by Ryan Hall, Feb 14th 2022
https://tometotheweathermachine.com/blog/mcdead-whistler
“Born in the United Kingdom and now wandering between Serbia and Australia, multi-instrumentalist Kev McDead has long carved the furrow of shoegaze rock – see his LP “McDead” released in January 2021 and available on vinyl from Plastic Jungle Records – before turning more recently to groove-doped electronic experiments. With “Funku” he opens the way to a living room funk flirting with the jazz of the Headhunters, bewitching, hypnotic and terribly endearing. This piece already finds its sequel with the excellent “Hypnogroove” label which fits perfectly with this new genre!”
Free et Legal – France – Feb 14 2022
“Kev McDead is a UK-born singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Colchester UK, currently based in Belgrade Serbia. His new release “Whistler” is a dark and ominous piece ripe with trippy textures, sparse drum groove arrangements, and an overall cinematic feel that grips the listeners from start to finish”.
The Word is Bond – USA – Tayo Odutola FEBRUARY 12, 2022 https://www.thewordisbond.com/top-instrumental-submissions-ep2-feb-2022
“What do we have here? Shoegaze on steroids. It sounds dirty like water from a puddle that a Soviet ZIL has ridden over. And this truck monster from the USSR in comparison is not without reason, because there is something “Chernobyl” in music really worth listening to the end. Here I hear beautifully sounding early-Nirvana guitars, screeching twirls and drums piercing the skull! And, almost mantric repeated text!
McDead’s “Billionaire Sofa” is a dirty space-music journey – for those who are looking for hits in a different dimension. New single from the London artist who is currently working between Belgrade and Melbourne. His debut album was released on a beautiful transparent vinyl! Check it out!”
Pan Winyl – Poland – 29/1/2022
https://panwinyl.pl/mcdead-billionaire-sofa-premiera-winyl/
“Following the career of British musician, traveler, archaeologist, tireless explorer and extremely creative producer Kev McDEAD is damn interesting and it would be decidedly wrong to ignore his new single “Punked” on which the buzz of electronic bass, synthesizers and guitars met with a frenzied percussion chirp and crazy drive percussion.
A fantastic mix of live and electronic sound, the coolest work with complex rhythms, and, perhaps, one of the best tracks in which the aesthetics of club techno and complex experimental electronics were dominated by aggressive street punk.”
Mishka DJ – Russia – 21st Jan 2022
“McDead – Transported (Post-Punk) – As if Johnny Cash and Joy Division were making music together: Behind McDead from England is multi-instrumentalist and producer Lev McDead, who commutes between Belgrade and Melbourne. As broad as his home is, so is his musical homeland, which was born out of shoegaze, experimental electronics and rock. “Transported” is a sparse, scratchy post-punk track that’s pretty catchy.”
Tonspion – Germany – Jan 10th 2022
“Post-punk vibes, a hint of dark, a raspy voice with great presence and melodic arrangements that generate a layer of textures. McDead carries a certain melancholy in “Transported” and a thought-provoking familiarity. A great song to close a Sunday night full of adventures.”
Rock-Fueguino – Argentina – 03/01/2022
“British musician, traveller, archaeologist, tireless explorer Kev McDEAD, constantly moving from Eastern Europe to Asia or Australia, this year has repeatedly pleased with excellent music and continuing his experiments with indietronics, vintage pop music and breakbeat, rolled out a new single “Expo”.
The track, by the way, has a very funny story – a few years ago, during a concert with his band at a biker club in Ipswich, the musician broke his favorite Gibson SG guitar during the show, and many years later, thanks to his friend, Serbian guitar virtuoso Chovi, he restored it , so the track became a kind of return to the roots and a declaration of love for his instrument.”
Miska DJ – Russia
“… “Air Breaks” is a lovely slice of IDM that pairs some intense, low-hanging drones and heavy saw wave distortion with kick-heavy breaks that nod towards the electronic music coming out of the Essex and Suffolk Indie Music scene in the 90’s that McDead gravitated towards. If ever there was a thoughtful banger, this would be it….
…updating us into current ideations of McDead’s experimental music oeuvre, ‘Bow Drone’ is the sound of a busy, chaotic stasis that serves as an ambient counterpoint to his beat oriented work. A meditation on the sounds produced by synthesizing an e-bowed guitar, there is a sense that we are listening in on a private conversation between human and instrument – a quiet coaxing and surprising response at what comes out when the reins are thrown off and the full expression of sound is given room to roam. Lovely work here.”
Tome to The Weather Machine – USA – Ryan Hall (Editor)
“McDead is one of the few new psychedelics acts capable to take me back to the ’70s with their distinctive sound. ‘Time of Flight’ is their latest prog journey. Let’s discover!
I was lucky last year to stumble across these guys last year, while checking their ‘Elf’ – I was really amazed by their sounds and harmony. Time of Flight is the new single from the upcoming album which set to be released later this year. I really loved the sound design in this track and the diversity that gives the music through a unique psychedelic journey. “One year and three trips around the Sun later, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe heard some weird, sci-fi sounds from plasma within the solar wind – and those sounds may answer unanswered questions about how the wind forms” – McDEAD explained. McDead is a musician and archaeologist from Colchester (UK) producing post-punk experimental rock and electronic music in Melbourne Australia, and Belgrade Serbia. A nomadic multi-instrumentalist with a PhD in Archaeology, McDead’s evocative neo-psychedelic work originated in the 1990’s post-punk shoegaze scene.”
Rock Era Magazine – Egypt – Mena Ezzat (Editor) 13th July 2021
“Loan Stars – in a Loan Star State… The music experience of McDead is so expertly fitted into a dramatized idea, that it always turns into a terrific track. Hugely effective crushing through a quirky video comes out the post-punk electro groove full of rocking hard feelings. The song walks between no cash and high dreams. Beautiful in its tones and good-natured punk impulse there is always a fascination with the unconstrained noise throughout. As this came out on National Unicorn Day (9th April) we are a bit far from that. However, McDead’s croons about love and the space race will never die! Kev has been on giveitaspin.gr before, and he is part of the family now, of artists we love the most!“
Give it a Spin — Blog, Greece, by Niki Sorogas – Editor in Chief 11th July 2021
“Rolling High And Dry is a Lo-Fi sea-drone high and tight original bone-dry post-punk rocknroll mix and master by McDead, from the self-titled McDEAD album studio sessions. A raw listening experience far from any trend!”
Last Day Deaf – Greece – 27th June 2021
“4-2-1 is an innocent song, made to automatically improve your day. It is one strange and powerful proposition, looking for every opportunity to hit your brain hard, to destroy everything bad in it. We love it because it gifts you with a totally unique pleasure that you will enjoy without any guilt. Here, the pure strength of unleashed madness is presented in McDead’s powerful voice – and you want more at every moment”.
Indie Corrilo – Equador – 17th June 2021
“4-2-1 This art-rock artist certainly has a way with creating allure in an outside-the-box manner. Whom would I compare them to? They say Talking Heads. I say White Collar Sideshow. Take a dark noir-industrial rock band and add a bit of new wave flavor – you’ll probably end up with a product similar to McDead.”
Tuned Up – USA 27th June 2021
“4-2-1… a not so serious/downright odd experimental building-site of a track… complete with sub-pneumatic drill bass line. Welcome to the pretty unique McDead universe…”
Last Day Deaf – Greece – 19th June 2021
“The strangeness with which Your Face On Mars begins, makes us think we are passing through the universe on a dimensional journey which echoes through our heads … the near pscychedelic trip that follows makes us want to leave our earthly plane entirely, to feel this song together with all potential elements of the universe. McDead leaves us with a song to dream of. He has earned the right imprint his music on us, and to break any sound limit with it – and to destroy what he finds. This music enchants, and makes you fly… from Australia to the universe.”
Indie Corrilo – Equador – 3rd May 2021
“McDEAD really has a flair for eclectic, sonically holding sounds. LOAN STAR fuses biting elements of electronica, new wave, art rock, and post-punk. It gives off an energetic kind of mood, without actually being overly aggressive. Appreciate the gritty musical character created by the husky, powerful vox. It’s like Depeche Mode meets Nick Cave and Pink Floyd.”
UnXigned – USA and Philippines – 9th April 2021
”Love Undone” is an absolutely massive remix of the Melbourne-based experimental artist McDead’s track by the mysterious Bulzara. The result is a lovingly deconstructed bit-tent electronica composition that draws element of psychedelic rock, drone and sample-based breakbeat that could sound comfortable sitting next to Primal Scream and The Chemical Brothers. If the concept of a summer anthem meant anything in 2020 / 2021 this could be it. Beautifully complex and irresistible clashing of forces.
Tome to the Weather Machine – USA – by Ryan Hall – 16th February 2021
“McDead makes an epic leap beyond the alternative rock. Track of the day, Mercury Blue Tubes splashes in psychedelic and electro-waves. It is a rich and sophisticated jam coming off the new LP, which you can find here. Parading with the Drones, the Birthday Party, or even The Brian Jonestown Massacre, it explodes in folk rants while energetic through meditative riffs. Warping past Krautrock and post-punk MBT is packed with historical innovation. Apollo 10 astronauts are heard in the ending, actually listening to Space Music. Power to the final droned out crescendo of the collective.
If you plan to spin something groundbreaking though welcoming, place it on repeat, and have your mind blown. McDead is one cool researcher and sound escapist! 180 grams from Zenith Records are awaiting!”
GIVE IT A SPIN – Greece – by Niki Sororgas – 16th January 2021
“Very cool album – I choose “Drone Q” to my Neo Psychedelia playlist. “Ambo” is also awesome and I’m stealing it to Trip Hop & Downbeat, and “Singapore Clean” goes to Mellow Psychetronica. Hope this will be OK ;)”
Amanita313 – Spotify Playlister (Gazillions of followers) – 10th January 2021
“Over the last month or so, I’ve been getting several McDead tunes sent my way, which is great, as I feel like the project is really onto something special. I chose one of the song’s from the just released McDead LP to sort of illustrate the craft in the songwriting. This sort of begins as this sort of swaggering slow burn of psychedelia, but soon turns into this hazy swirl of noisy experimentation, layering texture upon texture to fill your speakers with this sonic haze. For all the casual pop we cover from Australia, nice to hear someone working with a fresh perspective down under. If you dig, be sure to check out the full self-titled LP!”
AUSTIN TOWN HALL – USA – by Nathan Lankford , January 5th 2021
“Melbourne based act that manages to weave simultaneous threads of both stunning and cinematic through a juxtaposition of psych, Madchester and melodic shoegaze. 90s perfection.”
JANGLE POP HUB – South Africa 15th December 2020
“Australia based Sonic-Archaeologist McDead has created a deeply felt and resonant composition with “Sonic Power Shower” anchored by a near weightless guitar line that sends out waves of delay and reverb like a pulsar star – each wave set to an eternal atomic clock. This guitar line and ambient missives are held in time by homemade electronic percussion set quite nicely in the mix – a deep propulsion that feels like it is pushing the entire composition from below while sonar synths sound at semi-regular occurrences – a bat like feeling out of the boundaries of the composition. Heavily space themed and highly engaging, “Sonic Power Shower” is a track that is easy to get lost in.”
TOME TO THE WEATHER MACHINE – USA – 1st December 2020 by Ryan Hall
“A song for surfers of the world, an eclectic proposal that knows very well how to evolve and present history in the form of music… A musical power is present in the guitar, which rises with great fury to explain in sound how a wave is surfed… Like a strong blow from a great wave to smash human bodies; an incredible realisation, with it’s distortion in line with the shape of a great wave.“
INDIE CRIOLLO MUSIC – Equador 3rd November 2020
“Hazy, melodic and super smooth slice of cool and swaggering alt-rock; it slinks along a super seductive groove as it slithers amid twangy guitars and sweet licks – it is super catchy and oozing coolness.”
BARRY GRUFF MUSIC – Blog, Ireland 2nd October 2020
“Falling down drunk psychedelics here, the likes that we haven’t heard since the Brian Jonestown Massacre went into hibernation. Add some Ian Curtis and all the dark spirits inside of him to the mix and it becomes something so tangible it means other activity must be paused.”
mp3hugger – Ireland, 3rd October 2020
“Musically his work is a special kind of Experimental Alternative Rock, uniting Alternative, Surf Music, Psych, Folk and electronic elements.”
Roadie Metal – Brazil https://roadie-metal.com/mcdead-novo-single-sera-lancado-dia-1-de-novembro/ October 29, by Leandro Vianno
“From the gently picked acoustic guitar to the tribal drumming styles, to the sweeping effect of all sounds converging, McDead are a product of true, modern-psychedelic rock”.
alt77 — Blog, Hungary by Eduard Banulesco https://alt77.com/said-and-mcdead-reviewed/ October 23, 2020
“…Drifts in a dreamlike state towards an immersive cinematic soundscape, that then disappears into thin air, leaving a strange sense of being visited by beings from another world… easier to say it was made by Elves?”
Rock Era Magazine – Egypt – Mena Ezzat (Founder) September 2020
“Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”
Richard P. Feynman ✌️💀🤚
01
Contact McDead
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02
Music Links
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About McDead
Learn more about McDead