Showing posts with label American Dreamer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Dreamer. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 January 2017

Genre Wander: Rainbrother - Asha - Luxury Mane - American Dreamer - Richard Edwards

Rainbrother - Blue.

Background - After the success of psychedelic folk outfit The Migrant, frontman Bjarke Bendtsen is ready to transcend furthermore into electronic folk-rock territory with the release of his latest project Rainbrother’s debut album Tale From The Drought, out on February 3 via General Bird [pre-order here].

Tales From The Drought is all about making your way whilst on the road, dwelling on memories both beautiful and troublesome and coming to terms with the decisions that have been made. Album opener ‘Riverside’ is a stunning piece of songwriting that carries you away into the abyss and as the album continues, so do your thoughts. Each one a little more comforting than the next. Tales From The Drought invites the listener into a speckled dream, filled with steady beats, wistful Pink Floyd inspired guitar slides and a storytelling charm akin to the likes of Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver.

Rainbrother was formed after Bjarke eventually found his way back to Copenhagen. While touring with The Migrant in Europe, he performed with a group of fellow Danish musicians and after moving back to his home turf, Rainbrother was born. The album was produced by Noah Georgeson (The Strokes, Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart) whose flickering elements have been spun into the group’s tight rock sound making Tales From the Drought both an earthy and elevating affair. Facebook here, see Tour Dates page for live details.


Rainbrother's interpretation of electronic folk-rock is sounding extremely good as the new song 'Blue' demonstrates. Rather than throw to many ideas or elements into the genre, this is a smooth flowing song with all the natural vibes you expect from folk and rock. Debut album next week!

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Asha - Drowning.

Background - It is singer/songwriter Asha that you ought to have your eyes and ears alert for. Nearing the release of her debut single ‘Drowning’, Asha anticipates the opportunity that will inevitably open up before her in the Australian music scene.

With acoustic drive, lyric depth and imposing soundscapes, singer/songwriter Asha is making a name for herself beyond her hometown of the Central Coast.

At the age of 18, she has built up skills far beyond her age musically and lyrically. Asha began to blossom after finding an obsession for the acoustic guitar and spending endless hours teaching herself intricate pieces by artists such as Matt Corby, The Paper Kites, and Ben Howard. The convenience of being able to accompany herself so well has led her to recently be playing many solo gigs and shows in Newcastle and Sydney areas, and score great support slots with the likes of Alex Lloyd and Diesel.

The debut single ‘Drowning’ was released on 20th January and is a track that captures the emotional memory of a poisonous relationship. Written by Asha herself and produced by ARIA award winning producer Rod McCormack, they together conjured up a sound that fuses her acoustic background and lyric depth with impressive electronic soundscapes.

“This is the music that I want to keep creating. I’d love to keep evolving within this genre. But at the same time I’m not going to limit myself to anything,” Asha states. “Drowning was a song that I wrote and then forgot about. It wasn't even going to make the EP. One day I was reminded of the song, and we ended up recording it and it even superseded the title track of the EP Illusions, as we chose it to be my debut single.” The release of Asha’s debut EP Illusions will follow shortly after the release of her single ‘Drowning’, on February 3rd. Website here, Facebook here.


'Drowning' is a beautiful song in part because of Asha's delightful vocals but in addition because the music and production adds so much depth. Next weeks EP release is looking real good.

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Luxury Mane - Hard To Be Easy.

Background - Luxury Mane are an American band formed on the southwest coast of Florida. The band consists of Billy Summer ( vox, guitars ), Kyle Lovell ( drums ), and Aaron Nelson ( bass ). These three handsome music makers churn future classics by melding pure id with solid gold song craft.  They are true pioneers of the psych pop explosion in St Petersburg, one of the most vibrant and ambitiously creative music and art scenes at present. Luxury Mane's style is hard to pin down but has been described by fans and critics as Indie Rock, Art Rock, Experimental, and New Wave

Luxury Mane emerged from the remains of Summers' previous group, The Semis, one of Tampa's most influential, genre shrugging and self-destructive outfits. Summer and drummer Lovell have spent the last five years  coming to their senses while writing, creating and recording at their home base studio, Hey! We Put Some Foam Up. Lolling in the St Pete sunshine has proved inspirational for this prolific group who have produced three LP's and one cassette since their inception including 2013's Natural Beauty, 2014's Gold Standard, the 2015 cassette, Isn't This Great?( Wiener Records ), and the 2016 release, Lux Runnin Out.

 Lux Runnin Out was recorded and mixed by Billy Summer and Eric Stamile ( Le Blonde ) and mastered in Portland, OR at Stereophonic Mastering by Timothy Stollenwerk ( YACHT, Tune-Yards, The Oh Sees). Photos and layout were realized by legendary, St Pete, creative giant, Todd Bates, who helped the band capture a bold and minimalist approach to their product, breaking away from overused adjectives like "hazy, swirly, droned, stoned, and shimmery". Bandcamp here, Facebook here.


From the first chords 'Hard To Be Easy' has a sweeping and expansive feel. Laid back vocals and the swirling wall of sound intermingle, in what is a dreamy, pleasing song.

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American Dreamer - All The Time.

Background - American Dreamer, an Austin, TX based orchestral folk ensemble, specializes in approachable, yet sophisticated fretless pop. Their topical and politically driven material is couched in intimate chamber music, sonically falling somewhere between Sufjan Stevens and Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O’Connor’s Goat Rodeo Sessions.

Band spearhead Sasha Klare-Ayvazian first got a taste of the lush combination of folk and classical music when his roommate began playing cello along with his songs during his freshman year at Oberlin College outside of Cleveland, OH. Sasha attempted to capture this sound through multi-tracking American Dreamers’ self-titled EP, released in 2014, and continued ruminating on the power of this tradition until he returned to school to get his master’s degree. There he connected with new friends who turned out to be classically trained string players.

The newly formed line-up released the live EP, Winding up a Dream, in 2015 and began performing across Central Texas, snagging a Global Music Award along the way. As a band with four fretless instruments, the challenges associated with intonation forced the band members to become highly attuned to each other and after a solid year of writing and performing new material, American Dreamer was beginning to realize the sound Sasha had been envisioning for years.

Earlier this year, American Dreamer entered Austin Signal Studios and, with the help of engineer/producer Andrew Oedel, recorded their first LP Restless Nights. “Calling the record Restless Nights is a reference to our band name” Sasha reflects. “The American Dream doesn’t seem to be doing so well at this time, so we wanted to offer a form of respite and spent a lot of time exploring the space we wanted to create.”Website here, Facebook here.


'All The Time' is a stylish mixture of genres, where the 'ensemble' allow each element to come through and have there place. It's also a charming unpretentious pop song that's highly likable.

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Richard Edwards - Disappeared Planets.

Background - On March 31, Richard Edwards will release his debut album Lemon Cotton Candy Sunset on Joyful Noise Recordings. The album was produced by Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Cass McCombs, Beck) in Los Angeles, and features a stellar lineup of musicians including Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello) on drums and guitar work from Mike Bloom (Jenny Lewis).

"'Disappeared Planets' was written in the days following my separation from my wife," explains Edwards. "I woke up on pain medication from an abdominal surgery in a cold sweat with a premonition and the song fell out real fast, within a few minutes, I reckon. It was a real draining thing to write and made me kinda sick to listen to for a long time. Not so much anymore."

Edwards is also announcing his first live performances in over three years, at the first annual Gas Feed & Seed Festival in Davenport, IA and Rough Trade NYC - on sale this Friday, January 27.

In 2014, Richard Edwards (then frontman of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s) was diagnosed with C. diff - a rare and potentially fatal stomach ailment. Shortly after releasing Margot’s final album he lost over 40 pounds, was to forced to abandoned a near sold out tour, and spent the next couple years recovering and writing a new record about absence. In 2015, after the dissipation of a longtime partnership & marriage, he underwent surgery on his abdomen and re-wrote the record about absence. The result is Lemon Cotton Candy Sunset, Edwards’ first post-Margot solo album. Website here, Facebook here.


As a taste of the forthcoming album 'Disappeared Planets' is a rich and very well produced song. Musicianship is as you might expect from the calibre of people involved, however that still requires a fine song. Richard Edwards does not disappoint, his vocals add character and meaning, the album should be something quite special.

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Saturday, 10 December 2016

More Weekend Wonders: Grammar - Colin Onderdonk - Artificial Pleasure - American Dreamer - The Blinding Lights

Grammar - Michigan.

Background - “Michigan” is the second single from Massachusetts-based Grammar. Barrie Lindsay played and recorded all the parts in her bedroom studio in the summer of 2016. She started writing the song after rewatching the Virgin Suicides, and she was thinking about what the movie would sound and feel like as a song. She wanted to capture the movie’s saturated, dreamy, 1970s-inspired production. After she finished the song and took it to New York to work with the producer Billy Pavone, they ran the tracks.

The track was produced written and recorded by Barrie Lindsay, produced by Billy Pavone (Wet, St. Lucia, Delorean) and Barrie Lindsay, and engineered by Josh Bonati (Mac Demarco, Sufjan Stevens)."

Grammar is an alternative pop group created by multi-instrumentalist Barrie Lindsay of Boston in 2015. The band started as a home recording project of Lindsay, who writes, records, and produces the music.  The band’s first release, the single “Americana”, was featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist in August 2016. Grammar have opened for Rhye, Marian Hill, Beacon, Reptar, and others. Facebook here.


There is a rich synthy feel, and as the band kick in, everything goes up a gear on 'Michigan'. The smooth and dreamy vocals glide above, on what is a fine atmospheric song. Beware the hooks, for they are everywhere...

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Colin Onderdonk - Tidal Bomb.

Background - 18-year-old, Texas-based singer songwriter Colin Onderdonk is not concerned with his music referencing pop culture or appealing to trends. Unlike most of his contemporaries, the subjects he approaches through his deeply introspective songwriting carry immense philosophical weight.

His debut EP, Proximity Effect, references the effect a source of sound has on its receiver; i.e., the closer a vocalist is to a mic, the fuller his or her voice sounds. Colin maintains that this concept can be expanded into a more tangential metaphor, saying “As people get closer to God along their spiritual journeys, the more they feel connected.”

Onderdonk’s distinctive songwriting is influenced by Marcus Mumford and Kendrick Lamar as well as the work of Steinbeck, C.S. Lewis and the Cohen Brothers. His young age betrays his refined taste and tendency to process things in a conceptual manner. Ambitious songs like the EP’s “Prologue” attempt to sonically portray the creation of the world while “Foreign Home” encourages the listener to not settle for ephemeral beauty when there is so much more beyond the earth plane. Proximity Effect is out now. Facebook here, website here.


'Tidal Bomb' has a funky and potent vibe that is there throughout. Colin Onderdonk's vocals are beautifully distinct and the strings add another dimension into this very catchy and original song.

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Artificial Pleasure - I’ll Make It Worth Your While.

Background - London-based trio Artificial Pleasure earned a rush of acclaim for their debut single ‘I’ll Make It Worth Your While’ which inspired comparisons with the likes of David Bowie, Talking Heads and The 1975. They’re now set to add to that initial rush of attention with a strange and compelling new video for the track.

Directed by Dylan Holmes Williams (Huntar, O Chapman) and produced by Ailsa Vanessa Tapping (Sundara Karma, Biffy Clyro), the video for ‘I’ll Make It Worth Your While’ moves in surprising directions with body horror, camp theatricality and vibrant dance moves all contributing to its surreal visuals. Dancer, actor and choreographer Tiago Gambogi stars as a patient who is trapped in a hospital while suffering with a very peculiar ailment.

‘I’ll Make It Worth Your While’ bursts from the blocks with an irrepressible energy powered by riffs that feel like Gang of Four playing disco alongside effervescent flourishes of synths and vocalist/guitarist Phil McDonnell’s persistent and rhythmic cry of ‘Let me out!’. Set to a tightly hypnotic groove, the track recalls elements of Artificial Pleasure’s influences such as Talking Heads, Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, LCD Soundsystem and Atlantic Records’ great soul era.

Friends since childhood, McDonnell and Brennan previously worked together with drummer Lee Jordan in the band Night Engine. Following a split from other band members and a renewed focus on their sound, which evolved into something bolder and brighter, the three redefined themselves with the new moniker Artificial Pleasure.

Artificial Pleasure’s songwriting is always informed by how the material will work in a live setting. As a result, their intense energy means that their songs flow with a rush of adrenaline without the need for any tricks or gimmickry. They recently played their first show at London’s Electrowerkz as guests to German electro duo Lea Porcelain, which they followed with a date as support to The Bay Rays. Website here, Facebook here.


A fabulous song becomes even more spectacular with the new music video for 'I’ll Make It Worth Your While'. It's not often the stuff of nightmares can put a huge smile on my face, wonderful!

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American Dreamer - Words Do The Walking.

Background - American Dreamer, an Austin, TX based orchestral folk ensemble, specializes in approachable, yet sophisticated fretless pop. Their topical and politically driven material is couched in intimate chamber music, sonically falling somewhere between Sufjan Stevens and Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O’Connor’s Goat Rodeo Sessions.

Band spearhead Sasha Klare-Ayvazian first got a taste of the lush combination of folk and classical music when his roommate began playing cello along with his songs during his freshman year at Oberlin College outside of Cleveland, OH. Sasha attempted to capture this sound through multi-tracking American Dreamers’ self-titled EP, released in 2014, and continued ruminating on the power of this tradition until he returned to school to get his master’s degree. There he connected with new friends who turned out to be classically trained string players.

The newly formed line-up released the live EP, Winding up a Dream, in 2015 and began performing across Central Texas, snagging a Global Music Award along the way. As a band with four fretless instruments, the challenges associated with intonation forced the band members to become highly attuned to each other and after a solid year of writing and performing new material, American Dreamer was beginning to realize the sound Sasha had been envisioning for years.

Earlier this year, American Dreamer entered Austin Signal Studios and, with the help of engineer/producer Andrew Oedel, recorded their first LP Restless Nights. “Calling the record Restless Nights is a reference to our band name” Sasha reflects. “The American Dream doesn’t seem to be doing so well at this time, so we wanted to offer a form of respite and spent a lot of time exploring the space we wanted to create.” Website here, Facebook here.


Another band that sneaked under Beehive Candy's radar earlier this year, and who are so worth a feature are American Dreamer, on this occasion with the song 'Words Do The Walking'. Beautifully creative music, you can hear a whole lot more via the website link above.

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The Blinding Lights - Can't Get Enough.

Background - UK old-school rockers The Blinding Lights are excited to share their debut music video “Can’t Get Enough”. The video gives an intimate glimpse into the bands recording sessions, perfectly capturing the bands unrelenting youthful energy. It also compliments the songs devil may care attitude, which describes a young man’s bedroom adventures with his amorous girlfriend, all to the accompaniment of catchy hooks and electrified piano riffs.

In the band’s own words: "Can't Get Enough was written to give people an escape - it's letting everything else go and just living in that few minutes of rock'n'roll. It may not be about a lot, but what it is about is embracing that feeling of giving yourself over to a particular moment, where all that matters is that moment.'"

Written in early 2016 by bandleader Callum Lury, the track came about as he gorged on the songs of songwriter-producer Jim Steinman (the man behind Bat Out Of Hell and so much more), plus The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle-era Springsteen. Playing around with riffs which would not have been out of place in the golden era of Motown, and shaking it up with a top layer of Steinman-style piano lines, he took it to the rest of the band who worked it up into a frantic rumbling rhythm & blues number, given a further flourish with a horn arrangement to drive it along. Together, the band stands as a throwback to the R&B inspired, fast and poppy tunes from a time when rock was still in its youth. Their goal is to rekindle the abilities of the genre’s heroes to excite, to elevate and, even, to anger – but above all, to make you feel alive. Facebook here, website here.


'Can't Get Enough' is one gritty and powerful rock'n'roll song. Stripped back to the basics the band create a classic and timeless sound, and with the roaring sound of horns coming in, it's energy unleashes even further.

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