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Three More Saturday Songs

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Stephen Caulfield - Parkview (album). Background - Parkview is the debut full length album by Stephen Caulfield. Written, performed and produced entirely by Stephen, Parkview was recorded over a number of years in a self-built studio that looks out over the local park.  Parkview is an album of 11 songs that showcases Stephen’s ability as a singer-songwriter on piano and guitar, whilst also demonstrating his love of fusing strict electronic music with organic natural sounds using many weird and wonderful instruments and effects that he has collected over the years. Stephen loves playing with, and altering sounds to create a unique palette of noise, he alters the computer recorded sounds by changing their speed, pitch, timing or dynamics to make new sounds that are then used to make rhythms and melodies. Beneath the production trickery and instrumentation lies a solid foundation of good song writing and Stephen’s solid abilities as a singer. The core component of each song is St

Thursday - Cutting To The Chase

Sunshine and The Blue Moon - Buffalo Child. What they say - I think it's safe to say we're a nostalgic bunch. We get our music on vinyl or tape, we take our photos and shoot home videos on film, we drive around in my big old boat of a car, anything that brings us a little farther away from the pervasive technologies that dog all of our daily lives. Our new video "Lucy" was directed and shot on super8 film by our best friend and honorary band member Laura-Lynn Petrick (....Mac Demarco, Calvin Love, Michael Rault...) in the heart of winter. We're releasing it now since it seems completely inappropriate. We signed with The Hand Recordings and will be releasing our debut LP this fall. We had no intention of using this footage for a music video, but it just looked so great we thought might as well use it for something. We put it over a demo recording of an old song that people seem to enjoy, we hope you enjoy it too! What we say - Keeping on the inapprop

Wednesdays Triple Play

Fresh Snow - Proper Burial feat. DIANA's Carmen Elle. Background - Toronto instrumental four-piece Fresh Snow announces their sophomore album 'Won,' out September 11 via Hand Drawn Dracula on vinyl/digital and on limited cassette edition via Reel Cod Records. The album's first single "Proper Burial" features vocals from DIANA's Carmen Elle. Born in a dive bar on Toronto's Bloor Street in 2010, four friends gathered to make improvisational music based on their love of drones, noise and-less obviously-strongly melodic pop music. Since their first show in 2011, Andy Lloyd (bass, keys) , Brad Davis (guitars, keys), Jon Maki (drums), and Tim Condon (keys, etc) have released a split 7" single with METZ, a full-length album, "I" (Reel Cod Records), and a cover of 'Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle', featuring vocals by Julie Fader on the Nirvana tribute album, Milkin' It (Hand Drawn Dracula). They have been invi

Genre Wandering Tuesday

FLORALS  - Becalm. What we are told - Based out of Los Angeles, CA. FLORALS uses a mixture of live instruments, synthesizers, and organic textures to create their own take on electronic music. FLORALS are Ryan Koch (producer), Stephanie Marie Rick (vocals) and Joey Singleton (guitar).​ ​They've been covered by outlets like The Grey Estates​, Darling Magazine​ and Buzzbands LA who praised "the band's gloomy atmospherics" and "Rick's bright, feathery vocals." I love the expression 'Trio Of Doom' on their Soundcloud page​, it's a little melodramatic and yet does give a hint to the sounds they produce. On that basis I guess 'Becalm' is fairly upbeat, whatever it's a really good song. Facebook ( here ). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Zanders - Until My Body Breaks. Background words - The Zanders is a project born from the creat

Robyn Hitchcock - Sgt. Pepper - London 2007 (Internet Archive)

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This may well prove to be a recording that divides opinion into love, or hate camps, like no other we have featured. From the Internet Archive this is Robyn Hitchcock back on the 1st July 2007, live at the Three Kings Pub in Clerkenwell, London. Why the love or hate thing? Well for some fans of The Beatles, doing a full cover version of the Sgt. Pepper album, and in your own style and interpretation may prove a step to far. I have always admired The Beatles music, however when I came across this, I was fascinated and I have to say incredibly impressed. For those not familiar with Robyn, this is the introduction from Wikipedia - Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar. Coming to prominence in the late 1970s with The Soft Boys, Hitchcock afterward launched a prolific solo career. His musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by the likes of

Sundays Alternative Take - Variety & Class

Tongues - Religion. Background -  Meet Tongues, the budding electronic artist out of Glasgow, Scotland. New track, ’Religion’ is his latest slice of storming synthetic pop, full of driving rhythm and modulated vocals, and is a taste of his fantastic debut EP, due September . Tongues sets the standards very high in this new music round up. Tongues is a class act, sometimes it's just easy to say - "let the music speak for itself". Find out more ( here ). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sharer - Body Tonight Background - Alongside Nick and JD, the vocals on "Body Tonight" are by Jo Lampert (Tune-Yards, AVAN LAVA) and Xavier Smith. The single will come out on August 21st, with remixes from Midnight Magic and LEFTI. Here’s what Nick and JD have to say in their own words: "I used to go see JD simply as a fan while living in London. Her live shows were alway

Quality Not Quantity - Three To Enjoy

Totally Mild - Down Time - 'Street Date', August 7th, 2015, Bedroom Suck Records. Promo words - Totally Mild are a four-piece based in Melbourne, Australia. Fronted by Elizabeth Mitchell, a woman with an exciting tendency to sing in a falsetto not many can match, the band perform absolutely perfect, skewed, disjointed pop music that sounds as though it was handed down from the heavens. Zachary Schneider (Full Ugly, The Great Outdoors) follows close behind on lead guitar, his lines interlocking with Mitchell’s to form a structural frame. This is matched by Lehmann Smith (Kes Band) and Ashley Bundang’s rhythm section, an enigma in itself. The playing is sparse, accentuation perfect. The end result has got us wetting our pants. Since developing out of Mitchell’s solo project of the same name, Totally Mild have put Melbourne into a spin. They perform to fans who know the words to every song, and have been singled out to support the likes of Real Estate, Laura Jean and The Harp

Thursdays Top Two - Hanna In The Wars & Ilana J

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Hannah In The Wars - 'Only Wanna Be' Background Info -  Songwriter Hannah Curwood originates from the stark, remote region of Central Otago in New Zealand. Now based in London, Hannah in the Wars is the result of working alongside Roger O'Donnell of The Cure and a handpicked group of musicians. Hannah in the Wars' eponymous debut album, released earlier this year, is a collection of beautifully written melodies and emotionally engaging narratives, taking inspiration from life's trials and triumphs and perfectly showcasing Curwood’s distinctive and powerful vocals. Both 'Only Wanna Be' and B-side 'Sweet Release', lifted from the critically acclaimed album, were written following the breakdown of a relationship and Curwood's decision to move half way around the world to start afresh. Of the songs, she says their creation came easily and, despite the subject matter, they have come to occupy a positive space in her mind, particularly after s

2015 - Out Of Our Inbox - July - Four

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Baby In Vain - Muscles - The low down - Copenhagen’s all girl rock trio Baby In Vain recently released  a disorientating blues-sludge and ferocious new single ‘Muscles.’ Despite having an average age of under 20, these three musicians have amassed acclaim across the globe and shared stages with the likes of Ty Segall and Thurston Moore and are about to embark on a two week run opening up for The Kills. They kicked things off in LA a couple of days back and will return to LA for a headline slot at The Echo on August 11.  ‘Muscles’ comes as the band put the finishing touches to their debut album, due for release late 2015. Baby In Vain take the templates laid out by the likes of Black Sabbath, MC5 and The Melvins and skew them with youthful, experimental abandon, to create something completely unique and truly invigorating.  It is filthy rock with dirty guitar riffs, complex and detail rich compositions, ear catching hooks, and screeching callback vocals. Being but 19-21 years of age,