Showing posts with label Catch Prichard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catch Prichard. Show all posts

Friday, 7 October 2016

Genre Wander: Penny Mob - Catch Prichard - H.C.Love - His Clancyness

Penny Mob - Love Not Hate.

Background bio - Glaswegian musician and actor Jamie Quinn (BBC’s “Bluestone 42”, BAFTA Award winning “Still Game” and Friday Night BBC hit “Two Doors Down”) having watched the Brit Awards in his North London flat, was totally alienated by the factory line of pretty boy X Factor types that dominate the modern music scene. He realized that the only logical conclusion was to create a band that would stand up against all of this; a band with soul and guts who sang from the heart about the world they lived in and – most importantly – would write great rock n roll songs.

After recruiting drummer Andrew Mullan, an old friend whom he met at an ‘intense method acting school’, on the grounds that they both felt the same about modern music and because – according to Quinn – “Mullan had what all the great drummers have, plenty of soul and was completely nuts. I knew straight away he was the man for the job”. It was through this meeting of minds that Penny Mob was born.

After recruiting a bassist from the dole queue in Holloway (and others since come and gone) the boys set out on their journey to become what they knew modern music needed the most: “a new, real, honest rock n roll band with balls”. Countless drunken nights, band fights & sweat fueled rehearsals later Penny Mob stuck their first demo tracks online in early 2016. The two tracks went on to garner a great deal of notoriety from radio DJ’s and music journalists alike throughout the country and along with their live performances, built around their hyper energetic, passionate, unapologetic anthem filled sets, the band have started to create a real buzz around the UK Music scene.

Renowned for both their impromptu live acoustic & full band sets – which have shocked some and amazed others – Penny Mob are building quite the reputation as the real deal rock band. Now with their newly released track “Love Not Hate” it will only go further to cement them as the ones to watch. Written by Quinn as an aim to make “the positive rock n roll track for the generation of the tired and hopeful” –  its mixture of raw indie laced with pure guitar pop & the spirit of punk coursing throughout – this new anthem proves not only that Penny Mob are a band on a mission, but that they don’t intend to stop any time soon. Facebook here
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'Love Not Hate' is a feisty indie rock song, with a simple message, surrounded by bags of energy and a wonderfully raw rock'n'roll sound.

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Catch Prichard - Hometown.

Background - Catch Prichard’s new song “Hometown” is exemplary of Prichard’s stunning debut Eskota EP in that it's absolutely mesmerizing.

Prichard’s new EP (out 10/21 via Devise Records) is steeped in traditional folk and Americana in the vein of Townes Van Zandt and features dexterous guitar work, accompanied by his powerful baritone that simultaneously conjures Anohni and Leonard Cohen. Sawyer set out to record a collection of sweet and simple songs that exalt narrative as much as they do melody.

Recorded in the middle of each night over the course of one week within the walls of an abandoned grocery store in the ghost town of Eskota TX, the result is a five-song EP resting somewhere between languid folk and forlorn country, with Sawyer’s vocals gliding over pedal steel and Moog like an oil slick on water. Website here.


'Hometown' is the second song we have featured from the stunning Eskota EP and quite frankly if I could share all five songs, I probably would, such is the quality.

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H.C.Love - Dreaming Place.

Background - When the Dulcimer starts in on “Dreaming Place”, the first look at HC Love’s upcoming album, you’re instantly transported. Inspired by the Australian aboriginal concept of Dreamtime, the song takes on an inner journey worthy of its title. "Dreaming Place" is a call to enter Dreamtime, a land out of time where one would be receptive to visions and stories of the land. Sonically, there’s a little bit of retro 90’s throwback as if the essence of Jewel and Joanna Newsom combined to create something new yet just as lovely and heartfelt.

Set to be released on November 4 is Light Breaks, Love’s introspective and ethereal sophomore album. The conceptual record has been a non-linear process and years in the making. It was inspired not only by the poetry of Shelly, Tagore and Rilke, but also by Love’s own contemplations and personal experiences. Blue Butterfly, for example, was born from her observations of a butterfly in a garden, while the song Child of Light was born out of her grandmother’s passing.

Working in an improvisational spirit, Love also added some field recordings from her walks in the forested Land of Medicine Buddha. Later in post-production, she worked with Christopher Hedge (best known for his soundscapes and award winning film scores) at The Magic Shop to add layers of additional recordings of the ocean, a drone cello, percussion and lap steel guitar to selected mixes.

While being from a family of professional musicians, H.C. Love somehow never made the connection for herself to music in that way. As a child, she studied classical piano until she was 12, played the flute in orchestra, and wrote her first piano piece at the age of 8. It would be a number of years later however, in her twenties, when she would return to music. It was at this time that she began to slowly find her voice. And it was only after the passing of a beloved great aunt, which moved her to write a song at a newly purchased upright piano, that she began to explore an approach to music that helped her access a more intuitive, improvisational approach. Website here.


I get the Joanna Newsom reference above as musically there is a hint of her earlier material, that said 'Dreaming Place' has plenty going for itself, particularly with H.C Love's intimate and beautiful vocals. Her upcoming album Light Breaks, is due out November 4th.

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His Clancyness - Uranium.

Background - The band began life as the solo project of singer/guitarist Jonathan Clancy but has since found a new form inspired by the camaraderie of life on the road. The group has evolved into a collaborative tour-hardened minimal noise-pop machine that features Jacopo Beta’s propulsive drumming, Giulia Mazza’s alien synthesizers, the commanding low thump of Nico Pasquini’s bass playing along with Clancy’s trademark fidgeting guitar work and his usual stirring lyrical resolve.

Over the last two years the band have retired to their Bologna basement HQ, Strange City Studios to put to use the newly-honed aesthetic and write a new clutch of anti-hits. Here they conducted late-night 4track experiments, embarked upon curious sonic investigations, threw the odd party and emerged with fistfuls of inspired compositions that make up their compelling new album.

Isolation Culture is a record from another place. It could be a recording snatched from a wormhole to a parallel universe where weathered Bowie statues pepper the abandoned city streets and Swell Maps’ music is piped into empty runaway subway cars. Maybe it’s the final psychedelic transmission from a radio station in flames or maybe it turned up on your lawn, delivered by an overnight tornado from somewhere that no longer exists. But what if Isolation Culture is part of the evidence that suggests that there are bands making records just like this one hidden in all the shadows in all the cities in the world? We can only hope that there are
. Isolation Culture (Hand Drawn Dracula / Maple Death Records) release date: October 14th, 2016.Website here.

'Uranium is the second song we have featured from the bands soon to be released album 'Isolation Culture', and having now had a chance to hear the whole collection, I have to say this is one fine collection of songs and music. The band are firmly in the alternative alt rock camp with some intriguing twists and turns within their music. Well worth checking out. 

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Wednesday, 24 August 2016

Five On Wednesday: The Rival - Catch Prichard - Swaai Boys - Magic Trick - Unity Floors

The Rival - My Own Devices.

Background promo - The Rival Unveils New Single; Announces EP. Nashville alt-rock duo The Rival has unveiled the first single, "My Own Devices," from its upcoming EP, Sands. "My Own Devices" was premiered by Substream Magazine which says the track is a, "...massive new jam..." and that Sands, "...offers huge indie rock anthems, catchy choruses, and softer, elegant moments strewn throughout. We can tell you confidently that it’s a release you’ll want to visit repeatedly this fall."

"My Own Devices" will be commercially released and available at all digital outlets on August 26. The Sands EP is slated for release on October 7.

The band wrote the track from the perspective of a, "...family member that has been through hell with their partner and it’s been difficult to watch. We wrote ‘My Own Devices’ by putting ourselves in their shoes, imagining what it must feel like to try and fix what is broken and get back to that sense of home. Musically, we wanted to pay tribute to some of the great ’90s albums we grew up with, from Jeff Buckley to Weezer, and experiment with a sound that felt like home to us."

Sands is the second in a trilogy of EP’s The Rival is releasing in 2016 and 2017. The first EP, Waves, featured an electronic, synth-heavy, sound that reflected an upbeat summer vibe. On Sands, the duo showcases some of the most raw and intense tracks Phillip LaRue and Allen Salmon have arranged together. Since forming in 2012, The Rival has seen incredible TV/Film success with its songs used in everything from Apple’s iPhone 5 launch, to commercials for Target, Nike, Sony, Microsoft, and ESPN. Individually, Phillip and Allen have numerous songwriting credits including Phillip’s #1 country hit “Whiskey In My Water” performed by Tyler Farr, plus Allen Salmon’s credits as a producer, mixer, and writer which includes collaborations with MuteMath, Fleurie, Katie Herzig, and Neulore among others.  


It's not to surprising that an alt-rock duo will come across powerfully, there is usually far more distinction between the instruments for starters.  'My Own Devices' has that power, however you can add in melody an attention grabbing chorus and emotion within this song. The Sands EP sounds very promising.

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Catch Prichard - Eskota.

Background - Steeped in Americana, and with a voice that simultaneously conjures Anohni and Leonard Cohen, Catch Prichard is the work of Sawyer Gebauer. He spent several nomadic years living all over Europe and touring in support of his previous project Brittsommar, including stints in Sweden and a dilapidated warehouse in Berlin, before returning back to the US to work on the Eskota EP.

The entirety of the Eskota EP was laid down in one week within the walls of an abandoned grocery store… when he and engineer Brad K. Dollar first arrived, the building was overrun with wasps, and rattlesnake skins littered the floorboards. In time, the space was reclaimed, night fell, and recording began. Sawyer set out to record a collection of sweet and simple songs that exalt narrative as much as they do melody.

The result is Eskota, a five song EP resting somewhere between languid folk and forlorn country, with Sawyer’s weighty baritone gliding over pedal steel and Moog like an oil slick on water. Eskota, like all of Sawyer's work, is a testament to change, but it is change that can be found closer to home.


Beyond the delicate folk/country acoustic music, the first thing that grabbed my attention on this song are the deep and graceful vocals of Sawyer Gebauer. 'Eskota' is one of five Root's type songs and all of them in my opinion, absolutely demand you stop what your doing and listen. That a musician in a genre such as folk or country can continue to surprise or even amaze is quite something, I reckon Catch Prichard has just done that.

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Swaai Boys - Dana Of Dendur.

Background - Swaai Boys are proud to announce the newest crumbling desert pop single off their upcoming collection of songs Hot Sand! Dana Of Dendur is based on a love story from Swaai Boys' percussionist Helmut's youth. The Temple of Dendur is an intact Egyptian temple housed in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where a high school girlfriend of Helmut's had a summer internship. Her name was Dana. Helmut said she was tasked with categorising hundreds of shabtis in the galleries near the temple -- Egyptian Blue funerary figures -- which was apparently very boring and lonely.

The Swaai Boys were having a few mai tais at the museum's roof garden one summer afternoon when Helmut told his fellow Swaai Boys about the affair -- Helmut would meet Dana at the end of her shift, they would cut the lines, sneak into the temple, throw pennies in the water, and make out under the palms.

Often staying until the museum closed, Helmut and Dana would wander the wing looking at Queen Nefertiti's jewelry and crumbling pharaoh sarcophagus's. At one point, Dana said she knew hieroglyphs, and tried to decipher the insanely long Book of the Dead papyrus which lines a corridor there. They were in paradise, but was all too good to be true. They drifted apart after the summer, and Dana left a fond hole in Helmut's heart. A few weeks later Helmut ran into Dana at an opening at the Hemingway Gallery on 55th Street. She was quite cold and aloof to him. Her wealthy, stuffy parents had never liked Helmut, and she seemed to have grown into the mold.

Swaai Boys 'Dana Of Dendur' is about foiled young love -- how funny and sad it can be watching people grow up and change, sometimes in such a short amount of time. Especially astute in the shadow of a 2000-year old temple preserved immaculately under stippled glass that mimics its original Nubian lighting.


'Dana Of Dendur' is three minutes of bliss. If the story line above doesn't get you, the song should do. The band are members of the renowned Explorers Club, and if their explorations create songs like this, then keep on exploring and charming us please!

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Magic Trick - Forest Of Kates.

Background - Magic Trick shares two new tracks from new LP. And it’s a wide variety of shapes you’ll find on this album. Take this less as a conscious display of versatility (although it does demonstrate Cohen & Co.’s ability to shape-shift) and more as a result of the freewheeling, haphazard recording environment described above. A ghostly choir of female voices open the album like a seance. And the spirit they conjure proceeds to flit about over the course of the ensuing ten tracks, animating various stylistic forms, from the baroque pop of “Forest of Kates” to the icy post-punk of “I Held the Ring.” There’s the air-tight R&B groove of “Startling Chimes,” the krauty “Purest Thing,” a jammy side-to-side trot that moves “First Thought” along, taking a detour into country before culminating in a glorious Grateful Dead indebted coda. But throughout, it’s Tim’s lyrics that are pushed to the front of the mix. This album is a display of solid songwriting – collectively fleshed out, but from Tim’s composition book, and with Tim’s lyrics about family and about himself. These songs are the sound of his friends helping him suss through the conflicts of his new dual existence as father and musician, between old self and new.

Magic Trick’s 2013 offering, River of Souls, opens with Cohen asking, “Should we live from the mirrors other side?” Maybe, what you have here on Other Man’s Blues is an attempt to do just that. You can hear that his scope is widening, is being forced to widen by his circumstance. These songs are full of empathy. They reckon with notions of sacrifice and devotion, acknowledge the “winds of desire” and admit that “musings come from below” like a force of nature. Our protagonist is mid-transformation or maybe even pre-transformation. He is able to “regard his gruesome self” only because he is becoming a new man. Both sides are present. Which is the Other Man? Who is Tim Cohen? What is this magic he is trying pull off? Is it a trick? Or true sorcery? Either way, he must evolve.


'Forest Of Kates' is our second song feature for Magic Trick from the forthcoming album and it's another really fine song. Full of melody, exquisite harmonies and beautiful vibes, it compares well with the other track release First Thought which you can also check out Here. The album is eagerly awaited.

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Unity Floors - Give and Take.

Background - Mates for a decade Gus Hunt and Henry Gosling have made themselves a strong part of Sydney’s DIY scene as Unity Floors. Their ability to create such a racket performing modestly on guitar and drums, has gained them respect in the scene and make them welcome regulars stages across Australia.

Their commentary of the banal happenings as twenty something’s comes naturally to the pair, their music like a noisy catch-up between old mates. Having never lended their talents to other bands, Unity Floors’ sound has natural fluidity, delivered fast with genuine familiarity and honesty. Their unique set up and ability to create vastly accessible, skuzzy garage tunes has gained them a loyal fanbase over the years.

Their debut LP, Exotic Goldfish Blues (Popfrenzy Records 2013) received great commendation from press and radio and even, surprisingly a feature in The Inbetweeners Two film with their hit single “Nice Fit”. In 2016, the Sydney favourites returned to the studio to record their new album with producer Nick Franklin. Life Admin is the result and once again it showcases the boys’ ability to belt out one great honest and crappy tune after another. 'Life Admin' is released on Friday 23rd September on Popfrenzy Records.

Live Dates:
Saturday 8th October 2016 - Brisbane Hotel, Hobart TAS 
Saturday 22nd October 2016 - Old Bar, Melbourne VIC 
Friday 28th October 2016 - Chippendale Hotel, Sydney NSW


Another powerful duo Unity Floors song 'Give and Take' has a back to basics feel to it, cutting out everything but guitar, drums and vocals and creating some very decent indie rock. It's highly likable as is the video.

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Berries - Aistis - Will Johnson - Oslo Twins

Photo Derek Bremner Berries - Narrow tracks. In their new video for “Narrow Tracks”, Berries splice fuzzy live footage together with shots ...