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Showing posts from June 12, 2016

Genre Wander: Highland Kites - Club Kuru - Jasmine Rodgers - Hiva Oa - Harpooner

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Highland Kites - This War Inside. Background - Highland Kites’ confessional anti-folk could easily be misconstrued as indie rock. With their angular grooves, new wave leanings and sharp-witted lyrics, the LA-based twosome exude an off-the-cuff coolness that is effortlessly backed by a hard earned substance.  The band is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Marissa Lamar who spent the majority of her 20’s very ill with Lyme disease. As the symptoms progressed, Lamar medication increased and she found herself stagnating as the years passed her by. She watched friends fall away and became resigned to her predicament; not entirely sure she was going to make it. Music emerged as her saving grace; giving her a reason to persevere and ultimately share her life-affirming strength as she overcame her illness. By weaving hope, positivity and closure into her songs, Marissa was able to create compelling and often dark content that ultimately felt uplifting. She still maintains her “goal wit

Friday Five: Feuds - Teddy and The Love Gang - Emily Capell - Manwomanchild - Smoke Season

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Feuds - River Of Wine. Background promo - Brisbane's Feuds herald the dawn of a new musical era in their journey with their unmistakably stadium-worthy single 'River Of Wine'. Anthemic from start to finish, the crowning glory of 'River Of Wine' lies in its chorus, which is driven by what is arguably one of the most colossal vocal hooks in recent memory. Frontman Jeremy Hunter was inspired by his struggles with using alcohol as a crutch, and never finding the peace he craved. "The bulk of the track comes from the struggles I was having with drinking a couple years back, suffering these awful bouts of depression for days afterwards, in this never ending cycle," says Hunter. Feuds are a curious beast; not exactly a new band, but not exactly old either. They performed in various forms under a different moniker for years, building up a respectable following and supporting the likes of Bad//Dreems, Holy Holy, Harts, and The Belligerents. Now they're r

Past & Present: Blonde Redhead - Zeke Finn - Pylon - Brutus Begins

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Blonde Redhead - Big Song. Background Info - Teeming with the energy and grit of pre-Giuliani Manhattan, Blonde Redhead's long out-of-print early recordings have finally crawled their way out of the '90s basement thanks to Numero Group who will issue a 4LP / 2CD set on Sept. 30. Weighing in at 37 tracks, Masculin Féminin compiles the band's first two albums for Steve Shelley's Smells Like Records (self-titled and La Mia Via Violenta), their period singles, extant demos, and radio performances across four LPs or two CDs. Dozens of previously unpublished photographs illustrate two lengthy essays on this essential New York band's formative years. This is the latest instalment in Numero Group's 200 Line series which has also included releases from Unwound, Bedhead, Codeine, White Zombie and The Scientists. "These songs combine a raw need, a ready access to neediness, with seemingly incongruous cinematic changes reminiscent of '60s Italian pop music

Down Under Double Play: The Marlenes - Kllo

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The Marlenes - My Blue Eyes. Background promo - The Marlenes are a 3-piece Garage/Indie/Surf-Pop band from the Mornington Peninsula formed in 2014. Drawing on influences from 60’s Soul and Rock ’n’ Roll, as well Psychedelic and Punk, they bring a fun sound that is full of catchy melodies.  They have just recorded their debut album Crawl Out Your Window at the Creme de la Groove Studio in Langwarrin. It follows their 2015 release Jumpin’ Cliffs, a 5 song EP which managed to get some airplay around the country with their single “Cakewalk”. My Blue Eyes” is the first single from the new album. Recorded and produced by The Marlenes, the song is reminiscent of the early The Strokes, with a surf vibe thanks to reverb drenched lead guitars, and harmonicas. They will be playing a run of shows throughout Melbourne from June onwards.“My Blue Eyes” will be released on the 17th June and the album “Crawl Out Your Window” will be released 1st of July 2016. Upcoming Shows: Sat 25th June – T

Genre Wander: Consilience - So Below - The Fireworks

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Consilience - Soft And Slow. Background promo - Consilience will transport you to dream worlds with sophisticated pop tunes that sail smoothly under Tasy Hudson's hypnotic vocals, often building to powerful crescendos under soaring lead guitar lines.  Yesterday, Consilience announced their upcoming album, Under Our Beds, and share first track "Soft and Slow". Multi-instrumentalist Tasy Hudson started performing solo with a guitar, synthesizer and a loop pedal under this name in 2011 and was quick to realize that her music is better suited with a band. Louis Mendez, Dylan Howard (Truthful Work Films) and Aidan Lucas-Buckland (Wool on Wolves, The Whitsundays, Diamond Mind) brought Consilience to life as the band broke into the Edmonton music scene. Consilience released a 4-track EP titled "Walking Through a Dead Night", recorded by Jesse Northey at Riverdale Recorders. The EP is a collection of four songs that give a glimpse of their energetic live shows, d

Gideon's Army - King Of The League (Album)

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Gideon's Army - Don't Mind. Background bio - Formed at the nexus of New York and New Jersey, Gideon’s Army is a Classic American rock band. They combine the heartfelt storytelling of R&B, folk, soul, and country, with the foot-tapping and heart-pounding uplift of Rock and Roll. On their debut LP Burn for the Living, Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Robert Bray weaves stories of adventure, love, heart-ache, desperation, defiance, redemption, rebellion, and longing. Gideon’s Army was founded by singer/songwriter/guitarist Robert Bray. Born in New York City to an Irish Catholic father and a Jewish mother, Robert grew up predominately with his mom in Tenafly, New Jersey, spending weekends and holidays with his father in Queens, NY. Robert’s first musical experiences were playing the violin for the Stillman elementary school orchestra and town-select Super Orchestra. He picked up a guitar for the first time in the 7th grade, at 12, but his youth was spent devoted primarily to athl

Monday Double Play: Honeymilk - Vogue Dots

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Honeymilk - Time Will Kill You. Background words - Honeymilk, based in Stockholm, Sweden, is seven years of friendship originating from episodes of police dogs, speakeasies in scout cabins, a spontaneous boat ride to Gotland, stolen exes and vandalized scaffolds - and music as the only life support. Thats why it comes so natural that the band Honeymilk is no more, to instead turn into a duo. Not like Bobbysocks or Japandroid, but more like Milli Vanilli or Foxygen. The new era in Marcus, Nikkis and Honeymilk's lives starts with three new singles. The songs are written, grown and recorded by Marcus and Nikki themselves, with help from a group of blumbers and friends. The first track to be released is "Time Will Kill You", out now! Honeymilk previously released an album and an EP being hailed by Q Magazine and Music Week among others, and already done several UK-tours. The latest single was a duet with De Montevert, produced by Mats Björke (Mando Diao).  'Time Wi

Quality Not Quantity: Lawrence Arabia - The Talentless - Scarlett Saunders

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Lawrence Arabia - Another Century. Background promo - Absolute Truth, the long-awaited album from New Zealand-based chanteur Lawrence Arabia, is set to be unveiled come July. The second single ‘Another Century’ follows on from Absolute Truth’s sublime first output, ‘A Lake’. Engineered and co-produced by Mike Fabulous in the Hutt Valley amidst the album’s recording under plastic moulding factory Gyro Plastics, ‘Another Century’ is a contemporary love story like only Mr. Arabia can deliver. Akin to the quirky epic love poems Lawrence mastered on Chant Darling, the song pairs a knowing nostalgia with a ripe sexual tension to dramatic effect. A shuffling disco beat ushering soaring strings lures the listener in like an expert fisherman before Larry even drops his first line. Always one to cast the mundane in a new light, the song’s opening hints at a crisis of global warming (“It's impolite to say this is the best summer ever/ Especially not in the presence of farmers/ Who're