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Showing posts from September 11, 2016

Genre Wander: The Bigness - Oblio - Ceasefire - Phil Gammage - Ben Glover

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The Bigness - Beautiful Life. Background promo - “Beautiful Life” emits the purest pleasure, Kristin Bigness’s vocals fully capturing the spectrum of happiness depicted in the lyrics. “Let go,” she sings, “We have a beautiful life.” Surrounded by a full band comprised of her husband and long-time friends, Kristin and the rest of The Bigness pay perfect tribute to the 70's greats who inspired them. Truly a work of love, “Beautiful Life” is a refreshing, positive sensibility in Rock. The Bigness draws its inspiration from the greats, such as Patti Smith, Neil Young and many others, and has been compared to a modern-day Fleetwood Mac. Lead singer Kristin Bigness delivers a soaring yet sultry vocal on a bed of screaming guitars and pick-driven bass plucking, all woven around rock drums. From its modest beginnings as Kristin’s solo project, The Bigness has evolved into a leading-edge indie rock ensemble with an international sensibility and obvious undertones of the 60s and 70s. Con

Weekend Wonders: Native Other - December's Children - Kailey Swanson - La Sera - Birds Over Arkansas

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Native Other - Palms. Background from the band - 'Palms' is the song that set the trajectory for us writing our entire upcoming EP. It was the first song we wrote that really captured the sound and energy of what we are trying to achieve with Native Other. This EP 'If I Can Keep It Together' is an accumulation of our diverse origins and experimentation while the content tells tales of growth and discovery of our identity, romantic perspectives and lustful encounters. As we write personal reflections, sonically we construct our own unique sound. This project was recorded by Simon Larochette at Sugar Shack Studio, mixed by Dale Morningstar at The Gas Station Studio & mastered by Reuben Ghose at Mojito Studio. The full release will be coming out on October 7th. 'Palms' is my introduction to Native Other, and it's one striking and notable song. The vocals and harmonies are super smooth and pleasing, whilst musically it's quite an intricate and cleve

Alternative Take: Afro Celt Sound System - Cálido Home - Ruth Theodore - Robocobra Quartet

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Afro Celt Sound System - Honey Bee. Background promo - With sales now topping one and a half million albums and two Grammy nominations to date, Afro Celt Sound System celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a stunning new album, ‘The Source’ released in April 2016 on ECC Records. In October, the band will be releasing, ‘Honey Bee’, another striking single from this acclaimed album to coincide with a major tour taking in 17 towns and cities where they will be providing a live music spectacle, every bit as energetic and captivating as the album. ‘Honey Bee’ features the sultry, soulful delivery of Armagh-born vocalist and flautist Rioghnach Connolly (Real World Records), one of the many contributors to this truly collaborative album. Afro Celt Sound System are a European and African based collective who’ve been a ground-breaking force in music ever since they started. ‘The Source’ is undoubtedly their most ambitious album yet and one will take their cross-cultural collaboration and acc

Midweek Muse: Doe - He Is Me - If But When - Hannah Telle - The Foreign Resort

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Doe - Sincere. Background promo - Last Friday, September 9, the London-based three piece Doe released their debut album Some Things Last Longer Than You via Old Flame Records. Since their formation in early 2013 after members Nicola Leel (guitar, vocals) and Jake Popyura (drums, vocals) met via a classified ad and bonded over a mutual love of horror films and hatred of sport, Doe have been hard at work cranking out their own infectious brand of emotive, harmony-laden, punk-tinged indie rock to as many people as they can get to listen. Drawing influences from such 90s stalwarts as Sleater-Kinney, Weezer, Helium and Breeders, the London-based trio have spent the last 3 years furiously honing their live craft and releasing a string of EPs and singles. With later releases on labels including Fierce Panda and Alcopop! Records, their earlier self-released recordings were eventually compiled and re-released as the First Four LP in late 2014, marking the beginning of Doe's relationship w

Globetrotting Tuesday: The Magnettes - Jenny Gabrielsson Mare - Gudrun Von Laxenburg - Gothic Tropic

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The Magnettes - Hollywood. Background promo - Swedish pop trio The Magnettes have returned with their new single, “Hollywood,” out today on all digital retailers via Nashville-based label DigSin. The track highlights the band’s signature sound: unfiltered and unapologetic views paired with sugary sweet, infectious beats. To coincide with the release of “Hollywood,” The Magnettes have also announced that they are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length to be released later this year and will return to the U.S. this fall for a string of tour dates; these U.S. shows will be the first of this year. The Magnettes performed at both SXSW and CMJ Music Marathon in 2015 and Canadian Music Week in Spring 2016. The seeds of rebellion first became planted when co-vocalists Rebecka Digervall and Sanna Kalla met at 6-years-old in their small town Pajala in Sweden. The Magnettes fondly call this city of 2,000 home and it’s the birthplace of their infectious and inimitable glitter

Four More: Computer Magic - Art d'Ecco - Albert af Ekenstam - Brooklyn Doran

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Computer Magic - Gone For The Weekend. Background bio - Computer Magic consists of Danielle “Danz” Johnson. She is based out of Brooklyn, NY and was born and raised in the Catskills in upstate New York (in Woodridge, NY and Rock Hill, NY). She moved to Chinatown in New York City to attend Hunter College. In 2010 she moved to Tampa, FL to get away from city life. There, she taught herself how to make music and put up several EP’s for free online under the moniker of Computer Magic.  Since then, Danz has released 8 EP’s worldwide and 4 LP’s in Japan. She has written numerous songs for commercials in Japan and tours there frequently. Her full length debut Davos came out on her own record label Channel 9 Records in late 2015. She is currently self-producing her next EP which will be out by the end of the year. Ignacio Rivas Bixio accompanies her for live shows on percussion and on some recordings. Computer Magic's "Gone For The Weekend" is a unique synth-dance-dream take

Sunday Best: Field Music - Begbie - Era Isabel - Mt. Wolf

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Field Music - How We Going To Get There Now. Background promo - The Brewis boys - David and Peter - released their sixth album Commontime earlier this year as Field Music, and celebrated the influences on the album via their Commontime Radio Time show on Spotify. Ahead of the latest episode Commontime Extra-Time, the brothers have treated us to a brand new track in the shape of previously unheard "How We Gonna Get There Now". Word is that Field Music set this track aside during the recording sessions for 2012's Plumb because it sounded a little too much like Todd Rundgren, which is a fairly understandable decision. However with the focus of the extra-time episode being Field Music's favorite b-sides, demos and bonus tracks, we now get to hear this unreleased gem alongside deep cuts from Fairport Convention, Diana Ross and The Rutles. "How We Gonna Get There Now" is every bit the jazzy 70s jam; once the twinkling piano opening subsides we get a song filled