Genre Wander: Coastal Lights - Porshyne - Ménage à Trois - Dreadzone - Clap! Clap! - Bernache
Coastal Lights - Weekday.Background - Say g’day to Coastal Lights, a fresh five piece band from the Gold Coast made up of young music lovers who know nothing but the way of music! Formed in July 2016 by lead singer Atiya, bassist Cameron and drummer Jamie, the band cemented it’s full line up in no time thanks to fulfilling David and Angelo’s eager dreams of being in a band.
Despite their individual musical upbringings, these young sound creators found their Indie Pop/Rock vibes and instantly jumped into the deep end by sharing their music to the live Gold Coast scene only two months into forming. Their demo of their first single ‘Weekday’ attracted a positive array of interest when offered gig opportunities by local and national venues such as The Kitchens and the Raw Artists Showcase.
Now they are excited to share their first official release through The A&R Department this January. ‘Weekday’ is a song for breaking free of expectations. The band seeks to convey a sense of, “I’m just going to do my own thing and see where it takes me.” “Life always puts you under fire with negative opinions and judgements, its best to just centre yourself and do what makes you happy,” states the band.
‘Weekday’ was recorded, mixed and mastered at Blind Boy Studios in Nerang by Brad Hosking. This song is about the grinding days we spend locked into routine or schedule without a moment to breathe. All upcoming shows and events will be posted on their Facebook page. With no intentions of slowing down, Coastal Lights are ready to have their music heard on a global scale. Facebook here.
A fresh indie rock feeling continues right through 'Weekday', with the chorus adding extra energy and melody. Vocals and musicianship compliment each other and for a band of such short duration together, the music is tight and professional, as is a splendid guitar break towards the end.
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Porshyne - Exit.Background - Porshyne are an atmospheric rock five-piece hailing from Brighton. Formed in 2014, early releases from the band such as “Residue” and “Warp” have helped to cement their name within the Brighton music scene, leading to them playing shows alongside the likes of Black Peaks, Valerian Swing, Town Portal and many more. Now, after having burrowed away to record their debut EP “Environmental Music” with Mark Roberts (Black Peaks, Broker, The Physics House Band), Porshyne are set to return with their most heavy, emotive and accomplished material to date.
The contexture of the EP is a sound that sits somewhere between prog, alt-rock, electronic music and post rock. “Environmental Music” is a masterfully dynamic and heavily textured collection of tracks combining melodic vocals with intricate and carefully refined guitar work, which alternates between cinematic and darker, heavier phrases that are intertwined amongst complex rhythms and subtle electronic moments.
“Environmental Music” is an intensely structured body of work, which is as meticulous as it is powerful. Albums that manage to merge such a wide variety of styles and exhibit such a multitude of musical landscapes in such an unabridged manner are rare. This debut EP from Porshyne is a statement of intent and is not one that should be ignored. Facebook here.
The description "atmospheric rock" is pretty much spot on for the track 'Exit'. Powerful vocals and an expansive band sound are hallmarks of the song. From a paced and musically refined start the song builds into a crescendo of heavy vibrant rock'n'roll, it's the sort of track that's hard to ignore.
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Background - Last summer Ménage à Trois shared 'South Seas' the first single to be taken from their forthcoming album 'Australia Part III', coming out on French indie label Cracki Records (home to Los Porcos, Agar Agar) late March.
This week the Mancunian synth-smiths have shared another new track and video from their debut album, a swoonsome late-night pop jam called 'Homecoming.' Titled 'Australia Part III', their debut LP will follow their 'Australia Part I' & 'Part II' EP's.
Ménage à Trois represent a subtle meeting point between the indie of Manchester and the R&B of R. Kelly. Inspired by the ocean and the deep abyss, they have a groove and a flowing sensibility.
Like the prism from cut glass this project relentlessly makes us discover our closest feelings, dissolving their music in a soft ray of light. Facebook here.
'Homecoming' is a delicious mixture of melodic vocals and a fabulous soundtrack, formed out of lush synth sounds. Overall the band create a spine tingling feel, and a flowing hypnotic vibe.
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Dreadzone - Mountain.Background - Entering an impressive 3rd decade, Dreadzone, one of the most energetic, exciting and powerful live bands to emerge from the post-rave scene, release a brand new album “Dread Times” on February 17th 2017.
‘Dread Times’ is the band’s 8th studio album and the 3rd release on their own “Dubwiser” label. Their old skool dread sound comes bubbling to the surface on this album and it digs deeper into their dub and reggae roots whilst still keeping the beats fresh and the textures electronic. Conscious lyrics, social ills, matters of the heart and mind merge with 21st century dubwise flavours. The album is an eclectic rolling journey that recalls elements from an illustrious 23 year history while always looking ahead to the next phase.
Pioneered by former members of Big Audio Dynamite (and, by inheritance, carrying forward the heart and soul of The Clash) Dreadzone’s two decade plus career has been championed by the late John Peel, signed to the legendary Creation Records and Virgin before finally securing their independence by founding their own aforementioned Dubwiser record label.
Since their inception in 1993 Dreadzone have steadily been releasing underground storms of albums, progressively bettering, refining and perfecting their own unique and inimitable take on dub - mixed as it is with aspects of dance, sublime guitar riffs, folk roots sentiments and breakbeat bass styles - whilst bringing the party to every club, dancehall and field they've shown up at. Always blowing audiences away and steadily earning for themselves the best possible reputation as a live act in the process. Tour dates over on our Tour news page. Website here, Facebook here.
Dreadzone may be on their eighth album however the creativity and quality show no sign of abating. 'Mountain' is a wonderful genre spanning dub centred song, where everything seems to have been precision engineered and then soaked in heart and feeling. Love it!
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Clap! Clap! - Hope (feat OY).Background - Acclaimed Italian producer, songwriter and live performer Clap! Clap! (aka Cristiano Crisci) will release his forthcoming album ‘A Thousand Skies’ on February 17 via Black Acre.
His latest single "Hope" follows on the heels of off-kilter club track ‘Araqis’ and the afro-folk-flecked ‘Nguwe’, which featured rising South African star Bongeziwe Mabandla. Like ‘Nguwe’, ‘Hope’ is also a collaboration, this time featuring Berlin-based band OY on vocals and co-production. The duo, consisting of Swiss-Ghanaian vocalist/musician Joy Frempong and drummer/producer Lleluja-Ha, are one of Clap! Clap!’s favorite bands. On the sparkling ‘Hope’ they fuse glitchy electronics with elements of jazz and avant-hip-pop.
‘A Thousand Skies’ is Clap! Clap!’s second album for Black Acre, following on from his breakthrough 2014 debut LP ‘Tayi Bebba’. Bringing together disparate inspirations and styles onto the dance-floor of his mind, ‘A Thousand Skies’ sees Clap! Clap! create a high energy and inventive kaleidoscopic fusion of sound – drawing on the traditional global rhythms of the old world, Hip Hop, Footwork, UK Bass and House. As with his debut, the album is anchored by a story — this time of a young girl’s journey through the stars — which completes the work. The album will also feature collaborations with fellow Italian beatmaker HDADD, and South African band (and Planet Mu signees) John Wizards.
The now internationally acclaimed producer and performer started his career age 13 in the mid–1990s as a rapper, before picking up the saxophone and performing both jazz standards and jazz/punk fusion with his band Trio Cane. Now, as Clap! Clap!, he’s taking his energetic live shows across Europe and Japan. Following the release of his debut album in 2013, has found a fan in Paul Simon who told Rolling Stone the LP is “a masterpiece. He makes music sound new and old at the same time.”. This led to Crisci to collaborate on the production for this years Number 1 Paul Simon album 'Stranger to Stranger’. Website here, Facebook here, Pre order album here. Tour dates over on our Tour news page.
Comprising of fifteen eclectic and mesmerising tracks 'A Thousand Skies' is a journey of musical ideas, styles and moods. 'Hope' is just a fraction of the whole, and in fairness the album takes the listener in many different and creative directions. It's both natural and artistic and yes the feeling that old and new are combining is a good observation.
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Bernache - Your Name.Background - Your Name is singer-producer Bernache’s first release. This first track opens slowly giving us a lo-fi hip-hop feel from the late 90’s and early 2000’s. The single and music video was released yesterday.
Bernache (singer-producer Emma) is a Canadian (Quebec) based indie / LoFi recording project. She tells us - I had my debut as a singer and guitar player in my band Men I Trust. It happened two years ago, when I was contacted by the leading members for my soft / grainy / unusual voice. The project brought me in China, where I toured in October 2016 and also in Quebec’s (Canada) nicest music festivals and venues (Montreal’s International Jazz Fest, Osheaga, the FEQ…), got our music in over 40 Hypem features and played over 1.5 million times across the popular streaming platforms.
Bernache is my personal project, where I do the composing and the producing all on my own. I learned composing, recording and playing with virtual synths on Ableton Live. I am proud of now being able to do everything myself, because I always composed avoiding messing with audio jacks and sequencers (I hate it).
Finally, on the topic of my artist name… I’ve been called like this for a while in my close inner-cirle. “Bernache” is a French word for "Goose", which is a bird that also happens to have a crappy little voice. It seemed logic to use this as a nickname for my music project). Facebook here.
'Your Name' is awash with rich and beautiful synthy sounds that have a laid back vibe and beat carrying the song along. Vocals are anything but 'Goose' like (see last paragraph above), they are smooth and flow perfectly with the music.
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