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Showing posts from July 31, 2016

Genre Wander: Beauty Sleep - Qlaye Face - Jacob Moore - Oblio

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Beauty Sleep - Living Right. Background promo - Like the changing of the days in Belfast, Beauty Sleep’s new single is very much in a different season to the bands debut back in winter, suitably named ‘The Dark’. As the days are significantly longer right now, new single and sophomore effort ‘Living Right’ drives away from the melancholy tones and melodies of the bands debut effort whilst keeping the dreamy, chorus infused guitars and hazy vocals that are becoming a trademark for this Northern Irish export. Ryan McGroarty, Cheylene Murphy and Aimee Williamson’s obsession with fuzzy synths and dream inspired pop music continues to show the bands ability to compete in the one of music’s newest trendsetting genres. ‘The Dark’ was described as “a mix of Phoenix and Beach House and occupies the dreamy end of the guitar-pop spectrum.”(The Irish Times) and won the support of a host of tastemaker press and BBC 1 Radio support. The tone was seemingly set for Beauty Sleep. But if ‘The Dark’

The Beehive Candy Interview: In Letter Form

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In Letter Form - Wait Now. Back in May we featured the song 'Face In The Crowd' taken from In Letter Form's eleven song album 'Fracture. Repair. Repeat'. We commented at the time "this is one very cool album, full of post punk sounds, that at times veer towards a darker Gothic feel, and sometimes a crisper early indie rock feel" . From the album we are pleased to share 'Wait Now' and we were pleased to take the opportunity, to ask the band a few questions earlier this week. Here is the interview in full: Just what is it that makes the likes of Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Echo and the Bunnymen inspire your music?   These bands are among the core music we grew up listening to, so it's hard wired, in a way. None of us ever set out to write songs that showcase these influences, it just has a way of emerging. It's a beautiful thing and sometimes a hindrance as reviewers sometime cling to these influences and ironically become just as d

Friday Five: Jay Pray - Soft Corporate- The Plastic Attraction - Oh Well, Goodbye - The Regrettes

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Jay Pray - I'd Go Anywhere (Do Anything). Background promo - Brooklyn synth-pop artist Jay Pray is set to release his debut self-titled album on October 21 via Think Thought Records. Justin P. Romanos has had a love for music since was he was just old enough to pick up a guitar. Justin was drawn to performance and songwriting at an early age, and growing up became a regular in the DIY music scene around his rural Connecticut hometown. He and his friends had ever evolving musical tastes and learned more about the process of making music by consistently forming new bands and recording in Justin’s makeshift home studio. This landed him a spot at Drexel University’s Music Industry Program. Here he found a home of like­minded peers and gained a lasting nickname, “J Pré”, short for an early band called the Justin P. Romanos Experiment. He honed his craft by continuously writing and spent much of his time in the close­knit Philadelphia basement community where he fronted the indie rock

Quality Not Quantity: Happyness - Jake Meadows - The Slang

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Happyness - Anna, Lisa Calls. Background promo - Happyness have announced that a brand new EP, titled Tunnel Vision On Your Part, will be released this September 23rd through Moshi Moshi Records. It can be pre-ordered here . In addition, the forthcoming harmony-packed new single Anna, Lisa Calls appears here as the EP opener, with the band saying; “This is our first phone call song and our 5th song in E major. We wrote it one day in the studio in June and recorded it straight away - I think we were going for a kind of Traveling Wilburys thing. Also we felt like we hadn't put a synth in a song for a while, so there's a synth.” The EP, which also includes recent single SB’s Truck – a track penned by the band in homage to Samuel Beckett, who famously used to give the beloved, late, 80’s wrestler André The Giant lifts to school in his truck, owing to him being too large for his dad’s car - is announced alongside a run of UK and EU dates in support of Chicago garage-rockers Twin

Spoilt For Choice: Harts - Pete Gardiner - Oh My Love - Yishay

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Harts - Power. Background promo - With a strutting bass line, velvety vocals and thunderous guitar riffs, the three-and-a-half minute epic sounds like it was written and recorded with the sole intention of being blasted from stadium speakers. The track premiered on triple j’s Good Nights With Linda Marigliano show and has since been added to high rotation on triple j. 'Power' is the first single Harts has released since partnering with Dew Process / UMA last month. Harts – the brainchild of musical polymath Darren Hart – has already had a huge year following the release of his latest single ‘Peculiar’, which has ruled the airwaves over at triple j and been on regular rotation since its release in March. He has since been touring non-stop both locally and internationally, recently returning from a successful tour of the UK and Europe, including a slot on the Pink Pop Festival in the Netherlands. In Australia, his outstanding live reputation is already cemented, having wowed t

Quality Not Quantity: Wyatt Blair - Grog - Glider Pilots - Perpacity

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Wyatt Blair - Dancing On A Dream. Background promo - Record label founder. Recording wizard. Power pop maestro. Wyatt Blair is a man of many disciplines. Blair began Lolipop Records out of his parents’ Laguna Beach garage in 2010 with a simple goal of recording his friends and sharing their music with the world. When Wyatt moved the label to Los Angeles in 2012, he inadvertently started a rock ‘n’ roll revolution — spawning an army of sweet-toothed teens with an insatiable appetite for the sugary garage pop sounds of Lolipop bands — most of them discovered by Blair himself. However, even as he assumed his role as the hardest working man in LA’s flourishing garage rock scene, Blair continued to write, record and produce his own music at a prolific rate. His debut full-length, “Banana Cream Dream,” immortalised his love of all things sweet and solidified his place as one of LA’s top tune-smiths. An infectious blend of anthemic power pop, tongue-in-cheek storytelling and hilarious inte

Genre Wander: The Medicine Hat - Leslie Doll - The Tigerlilies - Gothic Tropic

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The Medicine Hat - St. Cecilia. Background - There's no mistaking Nabi Sue Bersche's unique, raw and emotive vocals. Here's her thoughts on the song: "St. Cecilia is a song for all the men who have ever harassed me. It's a song for all the long stares and salacious grins, all the licked-lips and hey-sweethearts, all the shadows that walk a little too close behind me. It's about the thick skin I put on when I walk alone or I'm on stage.  I love the power of that skin, but I hate that I need to be tough to feel safe. Now a brief glance in the mirror turns to a thousand eyes ogling me up and down, unkind hands fussing with my appearance. They impair a kindness I used to carry so easily. St. Cecilia is my constant companion. The patron Saint of music, she's with me in every dark bar, on every walk home. Watching my drink, watching my back, whispering a sweet melody in my ear."  'St. Cecilia' is the second song we have featured by The Med

Five For You: Palace - Grieving - Divan - Ofelia K - NervousTwitch

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Palace - Have Faith. Background promo - Palace's latest release ‘Have Faith’ is the second track to be taken from their hugely anticipated debut album ‘So Long Forever’. According to the band the song, “plays with the idea of a kind of self analysis of one's emotional strength, but it's also addressed to someone else. It's that need to find a foundation of confidence and belief so that you can both grow as people - that you need to be strong for each other, and not self sabotage yourself on a daily basis. It's the everyday struggle to find strength based on a lack of faith.” Palace’s first show of 2016 was at the ICA in June and, just like their show at Scala last October, sold out at speed. They have just announced a November UK tour to coincide with the release of ‘So Long Forever’ on 4th November that includes a London date at Brixton Electric on 23rd November. Full details below. Ahead of this they will be playing Reading & Leeds festivals. They began wr