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Showing posts from November 6, 2016

More Weekend Wonders: Hajk - Adam & Elvis - ACES - Eric Frisch - Imaginary People

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Hajk - Magazine. Background - With ‘Magazine’, Hajk have emerged with an off-beat, honest, creation that clicks into place and somehow combines the smooth and the sharp into a perfectly complete electro-pop song that casts a mischievous glance at influences such as Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Dirty Projectors and ANIMA!. This single is guided by the swirling yet magnetic vocals of Preben Sælid Andersen and Sigrid Aase, and kept tight by the tight rhythms and musicality of Preben Andersen. An infectious melody with glimpses of bands such as Phoenix, ‘Magazine’ is a song that simply won’t slip out of your head easily. Songwriter Preben Andersen (also a member of Norwegian label mates Death By Unga Bunga) describes the track himself as “a quirky and dreamy love song about frustration and how that will ultimately lead to procrastination. There are a lot of different sounds and textures coming in and out throughout the track, and we hope that it will make people want to listen to it ove

Weekend Wonders: Alexandria - Laurel - Wicklow Atwater - Flora Cash - Philter - Geowulf

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Alexandria - Hot Day. Background - The Stockholm-based band Alexandria muddling through the post-ironic middle class obstinate age. Their semi-electronic pop weaves together playful groove with muffled rhythms. Out of their combination of intoxicated palm tree sensualism, heard in their previous hit ”Secret Beach”, and melancholy influences from job anxiety arises an exciting harmony. In short: umbrella drinks meets ”back to the grind”. The quintet has found an unconventional and dim world of sound of catchy melancholy, where shimmering synths engulfs the listener in a dream-like state. Alexandria has created their own sound where realism and escapism is in a state of equilibrium. Alexandria describes ”Hot Day” with the following words: ”Hot day has its bright spots, and we are especially fond of the part after the chorus. Good vibe. We are really in to how the guitars sound the Stones album 'Tattoo You' from 1981 and tried to recreate that.” The single will be followed up b

Quality Not Quantity: Kristin Hersh - The Girl Folder - Finlay Leslie

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Kristin Hersh - Bubble Net. Background - Ahead of the North American release of her new ‘Wyatt at the Coyote Palace’ CD/book combo, Kristin Hersh presents her track ‘Bubble Net’. “Just about everything is a wide open sea if you look closely enough or hover far enough over your landscape/soundscape, bruised and scraped… and when you feel trapped, you could try turning around and pushing at the edges, which turn out not to be solid after all,” explains Kristin Hersh. "I know nothing and songs know everything. Sad happens and sad isn't easy, but it's no less lovely for that. The refrain "there's no tomorrow" became a relief then: no need for fear. Maybe today is all we've got, but it's amazing." ‘Bubble Net’ follows up her first single ‘Soma Gone Slapstick’ and accompanying video, created by Orrin Anderson with photography by Orrin Anderson and Ryder James. ‘Wyatt at the Coyote Palace’ is the third release in the ground-breaking book-CD format th

Midweek Muse: Field Trip - WHOOP-Szo - Sian Cross - Trudy and the Romance - A Tree Grows

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Field Trip - Still. Background - New York-based field trip have shared their latest track "Still". It's from their upcoming album, Horror Vauci. The band's Noah Champ explains that "The lyrics come from one of my favourite dreams that involved melting into someone underwater, in the shallow end of a swimming pool." It’s not easy for people with strange, sometimes puzzling minds to control the sounds in their heads and effectuate them into meaning through sound. Noah Champ, Los Angeles native expatriated to New York, has one of those elusive minds: neither here nor there, but somewhere in between, constantly building and re-building upon the expanses of thought. His music, penned field trip, exposes a deeply-altered perspective, horrified and charged by new environs and feelings. Unlike many, Champ has successfully been able to materialise the emotional voids at the core of his person, and has etched them on tape for us to indulge in. Champ moved to New Yo

Globetrotting: Hideout - The Argues - Citizen of the World - Sylva Faye

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Hideout - Doctor. Background - Hideout is Manhattan-based songwriter Gabriel Rodriguez, who's also a longtime band member of Cults. His sophomore album So Many Hoops / So Little Time is set to release on 2/3/17 via Small Plates Records. It’s been two years since the release of Hideout’s debut album Rookie, and in that time many things have changed for Rodriguez. Most tragically, the passing of his brother. So Many Hoops / So Little Time deals with grief in different spectrums –– the album ranges both sonically & lyrically from whimsical space-pop to crushing acoustic vulnerability. There isn’t a singular concept or message, but the deeper you delve into Hideout’s world the more you feel nostalgia and a sense of loss. Hideout began as a recording project. The majority of Rookie was recorded while on the road with Cults. Rodriguez took advantage of the downtime by tracking songs in hotel rooms or at friends’ homes. Fast-forward to the forthcoming So Many Hoops, mixed by Lore

Monday Mix: T. Ailey - The Blinding Lights - Darker Still

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T. Ailey - It Goes. Background - Introducing T. Ailey, a new vocal talent from Phoenix with a penchant for ethereal, other-worldly music. Her new single, "It Goes," out now on all streaming platforms, is proof positive of a uniquely talented songwriting and performing voice that draws on myriad influences for music that is equal parts familiar and original. For best results, make sure to listen on a stereo system or quality headphones, the panning in this track makes this a 3D listening experience . As she says's - I create with the intention to elicit deep emotion. There is much to be born from Inspiration as well as devastation. Feeling something is always better than feeling nothing at all. Website here . Regardless of the 3D listening experience mentioned above, 'It Goes' is a creative and intriguing song. Vocally it's delightful and the rhythmic background that's kept low in the mix throughout, is just enough to take this from a pure acapell

Genre Wander: Jenny Gabrielsson Mare - Romy - Locks - Justin Michael Williams - Natalie Bouloudis

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Jenny Gabrielsson Mare - Brooklyn Bridge. Background - The new album "Comb the Wicked" (La Petite Tempete) was released Friday. In the fall of 2014 Jenny Gabrielsson Mare spent a month alone in Brooklyn writing songs for a new album. The result is Comb the Wicked – an album inspired by the atmosphere in Brooklyn; from industrial noise to soul and gospel. The songs are based on voice, piano, organ and percussion and she has collaborated with legendary percussionist Michael Blair who has played with some of the greatest like Tom Waits and Lou Reed. And it is in the land of Tom Waits, Nick Cave and PJ Harvey we find Mare’s music. September 10 a first single was released: Wolves. Based on piano, cello and Jenny’s voice the song creates a dark forest where you are the hunter or the hunted. The album carries religious and folkloric motifs and themes of guilt and insanity. Parallel with the album Jenny has been writing on her bachelor degree about the Devil in popular music. Almo