Showing posts with label Jasmine Rodgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jasmine Rodgers. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 October 2020

Violent Vickie - Jasmine Rodgers - Van Plating

Violent Vickie returns with a new video for 'Under the Gun' and once again our favorite Dark Synth-Riot artist is on fabulous form as the song reminds us of just how good her recent album release really is! ===== It's been over a year since Jasmine Rodgers last graced our pages and 'Flies' makes for a welcome return from this talented and creative modern folk artist. ===== Van Plating just released 'Bird on a Wire' and it's a fabulous singer-songwriter piece where her vocals are wonderful and the musical arrangement adds so much more as the layers build.

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Violent Vickie - Under the Gun.

Los Angeles-based Dark Synth-Riot artist Violent Vickie released the Music Video for "Under The Gun" on October 23.

The video was directed and edited by Nick Pagonakis of Underboss Films and shot in a parking lot in Long Beach, CA by Jennifer Miller.  The song is a seductively cold reaction to the pressure to conform and produce in a capitalist society.

Violent Vickie is a Los Angeles based Dark Synth-Riot artist consisting of Vickie and co-producer/recording guitarist E.  Vickie has toured with Hanin Elias of Atari Teenage Riot and shared the stage with Jessie Evans (The Vanishing), Trans X, Them Are Us Too, Aimon & The Missing Persons.  

She has toured the US & Europe and played Insted Fest, Solidarity Fest, Shoutback Fest & Gay Prides and Ladyfests.  Vickie’s tracks have been released by Crunch Pod, Emerald & Doreen Recordings (Berlin), Riot Grrrl Berlin, & LoveCraft Bar (PDX).  Her track "The Wolf“ was featured in a National Organization for Women film and she was interviewed for the documentary “GRRRL”, part of the museum exhibit “Alien She”.  Her LP "Monster Alley” was voted best album by KALX and her tracks have been remixed by 25+ artists.  Vickie's "Division" LP was released on Crunch Pod on September 4.


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Jasmine Rodgers - Flies.

Four years on from the release of her critically acclaimed album Blood Red Sun, Jasmine is back with “Flies”, the first release from her forthcoming EP. The track is set for release on 23rd October.

For anyone that doesn’t already know, Jasmine Rodgers has a rapidly-growing reputation for fusing influences from rock, blues, soul, folk and country into lush musical textures layered with poetic lyrics. Her stripped-back solo shows feature her complex guitar picking styles and intricate vocals, as she shifts effortlessly across her varied musical landscape, from folk to rock.

“Flies” is a lyrical study of survival and mortality and the minutiae of life that signpost hopes and frustrations. Building slowly from its guitar- and vocal-led core, Rodgers gradually and subtly elevates the track through the introduction of piano and layered-reverbs. The latter are used to create the constant ‘buzz’ in the track’s background, with it eventually dying out so that the song’s escalating tension neatly mirrors the message of its lyrical content. In conversation with Jasmine she says:

“People can take life too seriously, but life is so short in the grand scheme of things. But it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, as that is probably why people take it so seriously and make certain choices about the way they want to live”

This track showcases the ethereal beauty of Jasmine’s vocals and is driven by her finger-picked folk guitar technique, unusually deployed in the use of an electric guitar. “Flies” will be released independently on all major digital download and streaming platforms 23rd October 2020.

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Van Plating - Bird on a Wire.

Van Plating wasn’t sure how her self-titled album would be received in 2019 after a nine-year hiatus from music.

After attending Florida Southern College and majoring in violin and voice, Plating spent her 20s immersed in the indie rock scene, playing violin and singing with her band Pemberly (named after the country estate in Pride & Prejudice). The band was poised for success, receiving warm receptions while on tour with the likes of Copeland, The Postmarks, Matt Pond PA, and Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s. Things were going great — until they weren’t. The band broke up and she decided to take some time off. A year turned into three, which turned into six, and before she knew it nearly a decade had passed.

Plating woke up one day and wasn’t sure where she fit in musically anymore. The music business isn’t known for being kind to women after they reach a certain age — and she no longer had a band to blend in with. She knew if she took another shot at it, she would be front and center, and would rise or fall alone. Either way, she knew she wanted to try again, and cast any fears aside.

Plating recently confessed about 2019’s Van Plating, “A year and a half ago, I thought I was going to write a little acoustic record to give to my friends, but that’s not what it turned out to be at all.” Instead, the album took on a life of its own, blossoming into a collection of songs indebted to the confessional folk tradition whilst embracing forward-thinking pop song structures, harkening to celebrated offerings from Lilith Fair icons like Paula Cole, Aimee Mann, Natalie Merchant, and Shawn Colvin. Plating also dipped her toes into the Americana world with songs like “Standing Still” and “Mountain” — both of which received praise from Americana-focused media outlets.

“I was literally in the studio experimenting and trying things,” she recalls. “Where I landed, which has been really cool, is in that Americana world, which I love a lot. And that just sort of happened organically after the record was released. I had a lot of momentum coming into the spring with a festival booked, and a lot of shows were coming in before they all got canceled, and they were good opportunities.”

It was the reception to her new sound that gave her the confidence to lean into a more singer-songwriter vibe on the songs she’s recorded during quarantine.

“The album I put out last year really helped me find my way,” she affirms. “Now I feel like I don't need anybody else to tell me or help me kind of uncover who I am anymore; I know that I'm a strong singer and a strong songwriter. That record taught me who I am.”

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Saturday, 13 July 2019

Jasmine Rodgers - Rod Picott - Union Duke - Mercvrial - Rose Ette

Jasmine Rodgers has shared a live video recording for 'Underwater' featuring Scott Matthews. It's a refined modern folk song and this production really is quite special.

Rod Picott has a voice just made for intimate Americana music as is witnessed with 'Mama's Boy' where his raw and personal vocals are so engaging.

Folk rock (perhaps with the emphasis more on rock) comes in the form of  'Ladidadida' by Union Duke a vibrant and hook laden song from beginning to end.

Two new singles for the price of none as Mercvrial share a couple of videos for 'Carnival' and 'Otherworld'. There both from their upcoming EP 'The Stars Like Dust' and the band deliver some fabulous shoegaze mixed with dream pop.

We featured the audio for 'Skin' by Rose Ette a couple of months back, however they now have a brand new video for the song, so I thought it's a fine tune, lets give it another play.
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Jasmine Rodgers - Underwater (featuring Scott Matthews).

Jasmine Rodgers releases Underwater, a live recording made at Kore Studios in May. Featuring Ivor Novello Award winning Scott Matthews, Underwater also features Danny Keane on cello. “I wanted to capture us all together in one room because I think the energy is different and more intense. I’ve been fortunate enough to support Scott on his last tour and I knew it would be really fun to do this. It’s a song with deep meaning for me and both Scott and Danny got it.” Filmed by Pavel from Ropo Films, the video is available to see here.

Jasmine Rodgers is a London born musician of mixed parentage and says this has nurtured a deep love of many different genres. Her solo shows feature her complex guitar picking styles and intricate vocals, effortlessly veering from folk to rock music, which is why Ivor Novello award-winning musician Scott Matthews invited her to support him on his latest tour (last one NCEM, York, 25th Jan 2019). Her song ‘Follow You’ was recently featured on Fatea Magazine compilation.

Her solo forays take her to more folk based territory, and last August she travelled up to Shetland to perform at a sold out show with Jenny Sturgeon (Jenny Sturgeon Trio, Salt House). Jasmine also has a solid fanbase in the Japanese anime world thanks to her work as frontwoman to British rock band Boa, who wrote and performed the soundtrack to award winning anime Lain Serial Xperiments.

Jasmine is currently working on new material set for release later this year and her recent collaboration with Scott Matthews and Danny Keane has culminated with a live video recording at Kore Studios.


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Rod Picott - Mama's Boy.

Rod Picott's brand-new album is Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil. Many of the new songs were promted by a heath scare that rattled Picott through the winter of early 2019.

Fact is, physicans don't make telephone calls at night. If they do, you take it seriously.  "I've already called in a prescription," the doctor said when he called Picott one evening. "They're waiting for you. Your heart is about to either A) seize up or B) jump out of your chest and it will be messy. You don't have enough paper towels if B happens."

It took several weeks to chase down the devil causing the heart issue during which time Picott also underwent back surgery. In the end, the sum of his health issues informed Picott's new album profoundly in both the writing and the recording.

Along with hiis modest recording gear, Picott set about making an album as honest, raw and uncontrived as his spine would allow. Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil opens the door even wider on his typically vivid vignettes.

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Union Duke - Ladidadida.

Webster’s Dictionary defines “Union Duke” as a raucous collision of alt-rock and twang, bringing crowds to their feet with songs from the heart.

Soaring harmonies, driving rhythm, and infectious enthusiasm have seen these five guys from youth to young manhood. With three albums, countless festival stages, and hundreds of thousands of kilometers in the rearview, the band is excited to be touring new music, filming videos, and winning new fans everywhere they go.

In the two years since their last record Golden Days, Union Duke has been steadily travelling and unravelling across the country, and they’re ready to share the lessons they’ve learned with a slate of new music. In the coming months, four new songs of love, distance, heartache and revelry will be finding their way into your ears, eyes and hearts.

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Mercvrial - Carnival / Otherworld.

International collective Mercvrial release not one but two singles - "Carnival" and "Otherworld". Both come from the band's upcoming EP The Stars Like Dust out everywhere on August 9th.

Mercvrial is an eclectic group with shoegaze and dream-pop tendencies that imprint on the sounds of Ride, Slowdive, The Chills and other artists of the like that they embraced during their formative years. On their new singles - “Carnival” and “Otherworld” - we hear thick guitar beds provide backdrop to atmospheric vocals.

Their accompanying music videos take on inspiration from Rain Parade’s “This Can’t Be Today” and Prometheus respectively, using vintage footage of carnival and sci-fi scenes. The videos also nod to VH1’s TV show Pop-Up Video, where brief pop-up factoids and comments of the band and visuals appear throughout.

The Stars, Like Dust - the new EP from Mercvrial takes its name from the Isaac Asimov work of the same moniker. It explores the size and significance of human beings on a big rock hurling through space and the ensuing feelings of existential bewilderment. The Stars, Like Dust will be available on all platforms August 9th.



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Rose Ette - Skin.

Rose Ette debut new first video "Skin" from their debut album "Ignore the Feeling" (Miss Champagne Records). “You said you were ready to listen, didn’t you?” Oh get a grip, he replied, keys already jammed in the ignition. I thought you meant something serious. He revs the engine up, neck bowed toward the wheel, not at you. Nu-metal blares from the radio and squashes the silence.

What good is rock and roll without a love story? Even in 2018, among the uneven power struggles and problematic dudes, someone is going to look across the room at someone else and wish they could stand over there, instead of standing here alone. Pretty basic aspect of the human experience, yeah? But somehow, though we can define our political stances in unambiguous terms, our affection remains a mercurial subject for words. On some days, it’s easier to argue with a GOP granddad over the existence of global warming than to face that someone across the room and tell them just what magnetic force draws you near.

“Oh, boo hoo,” say the stable, the pairs coupled in high school, the loveless bachelors in IT. But in the realm of Rose Ette – ostensibly modern-day Houston, spiritually Olympia or London from two or three decades back (respectively) – the mental hurdles that block both parties from honest and true bonds are real struggles worth fighting for. With their proper debut Ignore The Feeling, our four romantics (led by singer/guitarist Teresa Vicinanza capture those challenges in a bell jar; even manic obsessions and unwanted stalkers shine with the opal glow of Lush, or Camera Obscura, or any of your favorite C86 tapes from your lost (or invented) youth.

Don’t let these bottled sprites deceive you, though - even with the sweet perfumes of girl groups and C86 tapes long gone, Rose Ette still bear claws. Three years ago, their first EP Jungle featured the unpolished diamond of “AH AH”, a shredded telegraph from a much murkier garage (and, admittedly, a completely different crew). That tempered snarl still comes out here on “Awake”, a hefty slice of Speedy Ortiz-sized fuzz to remind everyone that the battle’s not yet over: “I’m awake, but I’m running out of time.” You can’t stage a head-on assault when old enchantments still grip the blade, after all.

Mind you, Rose Ette can fire back with charms of their own when they take the stage. Back in August, the gang picked up a limited run of Ignore the Feeling LPs before their day show at Athens Popfest. Right after their blissful set at Little Kings Shuffle Club, folks piled up at the merch table for a copy, and the line backed up to the patio. Our protagonists have allured many a crowd in the past three years, jumping on bills with Deerhoof, Fred Thomas, Dressy Bessy, and La Luz, to name a few. Like a heart possessed by either desire or stress (or both at once), these illusionists don’t stand still.

Of course, all love-weary prose aside, Ignore The Feeling simply snaps a deceptively rosy thumbnail of a band in flux. And while Rose Ette might stand up for the silenced lover, don’t expect Vicinanza and her crew to soften their own voice any time soon.


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Saturday, 27 August 2016

Weekend Wonders: Almanac Mountain - Baby Baby - The Harlots - Pete Allan - Jasmine Rodgers

Almanac Mountain - Harborside.

Background Bio - Beyond being an obscure peak on the outskirts of Maine, Almanac Mountain is the moniker of conceptual bedroom prog pop impresario Chris Cote. The slight pinnacle of a namesake is indicative of the band’s emphasis on the mundane, simple and modest aspects of life which Cote finds more spiritually liberating than the spectacular, big and awe-inspiring.

Based on the New Hampshire Seacoast, which happens to be the country’s smallest coastline, Almanac Mountain has cultivated a unique sound which merges Cote’s pop and classical instincts. It is one part ELO, one part Magnetic Fields and one part Franz Schubert. The band began releasing material in 2010 with the When In Nature EP and followed with the debut full length So Many Seas later that year. Their sophomore LP Almanac Mountain Is In Like With You was released in September of 2014 and was supported by a series of shows all over New England.

While Almanac Mountain’s live show consists of a full band, Cote usually records the material by himself with the guidance of Brian James, a friend and trusted confidant who occasionally plays parts, and who always masters the finished music. While the subject matter has varied from the specific to the universal, the themes of Chris’ work are rooted in a form of secular humanism; centering on the admiration for the natural world and the aversion to egotism.

The newest album, Cryptoseismology, which literally means the study of hidden or secret quakes, was recorded during the worst winter in recent New England memory where the walkways and roads were surrounded by trenches of snow for months. “The cold never let up” Cote reflects. “It had such an impact on me I felt like I was escaping into the worlds I was creating in the songs.” The storms’ effect contributed to the often creeped out sense of isolation and paranoia found on the kaleidoscopic album. A discomforting vibe that was tempered by Cote’s sarcastic optimism. “I ultimately feel we have a kind of power within us...” Cote notes. “To walk past all the weirdness and insanity and find grace.”


The eleventh and final track on the 'Cryptoseismology' album, the song  'Harborside' is just a hint of what's in store on this fabulous album. It's sometimes pop, other times more prog, and then of course there are folk influences and the odd pretty experimental piece. The best description I can come up with overall is, think of a modern day Kevin Ayres, but more focused - wonderful stuff!

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Baby Baby - Hang In There.

Background - The fine southern gentlemen of Baby Baby have been performing since late 2009. Started by singer/guitarist/raconteur Fontez Brooks and drummer Grant Wallace, the band now features Colin “CowCow” Boddy and Hsiang Ming “New Guy” Wen. Straight out of Carrollton, GA.

The band has graced the stages of  Made In America, Riotfest and Afropunk, as well as losing all their money on condoms and beer during The Warped Tour. Searching to define their music, the only description is “Fun Rock” – a mélange of Indie, English and Swedish Punk, Bayou Rock, Vaudeville and Carnival. If Tony Robbins put on a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of swimshorts, downed a bottle of bourbon, listened to nothing but Blink 182 and GG Allin for 24 hours and then decided to deliver a musical motivational speech, pick up your girlfriend and steal your cab this is what it would sound like. On fire.

It is not meant to be taken seriously. It is supposed to put a large grin on your face and if you do decide a mosh pit is in order, they request that you act with decorum and class. It’s preferable that they heckle you rather than the other way round.

We feature 'Hang In There' as the band get ready to release their third album titled 'Semifamous' (September 16th). The final song on the album is called 'Exhausted' and might be autobiographical, as this band don't slow down, they just deliver great rambunctious rock'n'roll and are seemingly loving every minute of it. Fun Rock is the genre, Baby Baby are the band.

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The Harlots - Umma Gumma.

Background - The Harlots are a six-piece rock, pop and soul outfit from Melbourne that have spent the last half a decade filling dance floors across Australia. Blending overdriven guitars, dreamy keyboards and a tight-as-fuck rhythm section that grabs you by the lapels and un-tucks your shirt, the band is known for honest, story-telling lyrics that always hit close to home.

The band’s EPs, The Harlots (2011) and Course Tunes; Parts 1 and 2 (2013) have been met with much critical acclaim, leading to a string of sellout Melbourne shows, international supports (The Charlatans, Surfer Blood, The Commitments) and festival appearances (Kennedy’s Creek, Queenscliff, Gum Ball, Hills Are Alive, Cherry Rock and Festival of the Sun). ‘Umma Gumma’ was recorded by Richard Bowers (drummer/engineer for Magic Bones) at Soundpark studios in Northcote, Melbourne. The track was recorded live and onto to reel to reel tape, giving song a more raw and honest sound.

The band says on the creation of the track, “In the weeks before we wrote it, we’d been working on a few quieter, more complicated tracks that were taking ages to come together. We decided to put them aside for a bit and work on something else and when Umma Gumma was brought to the table, I think we must have channelled our frustration somehow because we ended up smashing out a far more aggressive, fun, upbeat version than what was intended. Only took a rehearsal or two as well. It was originally called ‘Heartbreaker' but because of the complete lack of diction in the chorus line, “I’m gonna leave ya,” we decided ‘Umma Gumma' was appropriate. “

‘Umma Gumma' is about when you know a relationship isn’t working and you’ve got to get out of it but you haven’t done it yet, like you’re preparing for it. The fast, frenetic nature of the song, when put with the lyrics gives it a kind of desperate feel. The band has a national tour in October/November to coincide with the release of their debut album. “Umma Gumma” by The Harlots will be released 1st of September 2016.


'Umma Gumma' slams into gear and with dynamic anxious vocals, we are away. The hooks and melody are in the chorus, manic rock precedes all of this, and half way through it all comes together, in a masterful and powerful manner, a superb piece of rock'n'roll.

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Pete Allan - Lost & Found.

Background - Pete Allan to launch new EP 'Ripples' and single 'Lost and Found'. Sometimes you can just tell the artists that grew up on the coast. Their music and their lyrics all seem to reflect the smoothness of the sea breeze, or the relaxed pace of coastal life, transporting the listener from wherever they are to wherever they would rather be. This capability is the heart and soul of Pete Allan's latest EP 'Ripples'. A native of the Sunshine Coast hub of Noosa, Pete's blend of effortlessly cool vocals and hypnotic, swaying rhythms are the musical epitome of the paradise he grew up in.

Following on from this year's early taster and widespread radio gem 'Treading Water', new single 'Lost and Found' highlights Pete's gifted trademark storytelling while set to a tune fit for every upcoming Spring and Summer playlist. Produced/engineered by Elliot Heinrich at Heliport Studios and mastered by Brian Lucey at 301 Studios, the Ripples EP is a leap forward in full band sonics without adding any unnecessary weight to Pete's feather-light musical agility.

Perfectly described by Sea FM for his “smooth Sunday arvo feel”, Pete Allan's music matches his lifestyle – a blend of coastal warmth and down-to-earth honesty. This meeting of music and ocean is not a new thing for Pete (who has seen several of his songs end up on surf films) but it has in recent years taken a very literal twist. As seen in Pete's Summertime clip, he has taken to riding guitars like they are bodyboards, gaining the attention of GoPro and Inertia surf magazine as well as delighting the internet. Pete Allan, it would seem, is the embodiment of an entirely new definition of surf music.

But it is his work on-shore, as an artist, that defines him. Capturing one of the most beloved aspects of Australian life, Pete creates music that represents the vastness of coastal culture on a continent girt by sea. 'Ripples' will see Pete Allan continue to win over new fans all around the country. 'Ripples' featuring the single 'Lost and Found' is out Friday September 9 on CD and via all good digital retailers

Ripples EP Launch - Saturday September 10 @ Solbar, Maroochydore, w/Doolie, Jason Daniels.


'Lost & Found' is the first of six on the new EP and also the single. It's a predominately upbeat collection of songs, the attention to detail in the music and production ensure Pete Allan's appealing vocals are given the right level of accompaniment. Engaging lyrics and melodic vibes, makes for a good collection of songs.

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Jasmine Rodgers - Follow You.

Background - ‘Follow You’ is about retelling the age old tragedy of separation, Jasmine says farewell but not goodbye to an erstwhile lover whose divergent path in life she feels she can no longer follow. It’s an intensely bittersweet dramatisation of the end of a relationship.

Jasmine Rodgers’ debut solo album Blood Red Sun channels her gift of narrative storytelling into eleven concise songs that explore the emotional hinterland behind all of our thoughts and deeds. It’s a folk album where, like Joanna Newsom, Rodgers’ assumes a variety of different masks. Whether it’s the bawdy lover amusing herself with lascivious fantasies as she watches her lover sleep, or the mystic bard piping songs about the transformative power of music itself, Rodgers’ natural gift for poesy and her depth of feeling stand front and centre in a beautifully rendered debut LP. 


Live Dates:
September 10, 2016, Nottingham, UK, New Art Exchange
October 15, 2016, Leeds, UK, Leeds First Direct Arena (Bad Company)
October 17, 2016, Cardiff, UK, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (Bad Company)
October 19, 2016, Nottingham, UK, Nottingham Motorpoint Arena (Bad Company)
October 21, 2016, Birmingham. Birmingham Genting Arena (Bad Company)
November 24, 2016, London, UK, Olympic Studios Music Room


'Follow You' is the second song we have featured by Jasmine Rodgers, and having now listened to the album it sits well amongst many fine tracks. There is so much quality both in the lyrics, the music and the production. It's folk music by definition, however the variety between the songs is notable. I really hope this album gets noticed, it deserves to.

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Saturday, 18 June 2016

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

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 with music is to make people feel better even though most of my songs are themed around painful experiences.” With a few original tunes under her belt, Lamar began gigging solo around LA and finally formed Highland Kites in 2014 with drummer Neil Briggs. Their first EP, So Vicious, caught the attention of producer Raymond Richards (Local Natives, honeyhoney, etc) who reached out to the duo about working together. They all clicked immediately and Richards ended up producing their first full length album All We Left Behind which climbed the college radio charts in 2015, with over 70 stations putting it in heavy rotation, and garnered notable mentions in local press including a glowing article in Buzzbands LA.

Marissa and Neil have again teamed up with producer Richards for their newest EP, Let Me Run, due out July 23rd. While the duo felt free to dive into a more into varied pallet of sounds, Lamar is admittedly a staunch purist about her work; keeping it is as close to its original state as possible. “I feel like parts of my past that I have had trouble talking about come out in waves and end up resulting in these songs and albums” Lamar asserts. “It's a form of closure for me and after writing Let Me Run I felt like a million bricks were lifted off my shoulders.”

'This War Inside' is the third of five songs on what is a splendid EP. Consistently melodic and varied in pace and direction, it's a fine collection of songs that deserve to be noticed.

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Club Kuru - Tonight.

Background - With the recent BBC Radio 1 and 6Music approved single 'Not Fot Me' signalling a shift in their musical direction and line-up, London five piece Club Kuru are excited to share more of their mesmerising psychedelia in the form of brand new cut 'Tonight'. The track will hit download stores yesterday (here).

What was previously the "languid R&B/bedroom producer" solo project of Laurie Erskine, Club Kuru evolved into a full band set up after he and some musical friends built their own studio in north east London. In the process, the group realised a collective love of 60's and 70's American RnB and soul, and a mutual obsession with analog synthesis and classic songwriting. Thus the reincarnation of Club Kuru was born.

All self-written, recorded and produced, 'Tonight' melds hazy melodies with soulful vocals and gliding guitar riffs, inviting the listener on a journey into a sexy and sinister dream land. Through modern production and psych-leaning undertones, the revived formation is aligned with the likes of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Tame Impala and Connan Moccasin, or in the words of the band as having "the backbone of Shuggie Otis, the head of Serge Gainsbourg, and the cinematic aura of Vangelis".

Club Kuru will be showcasing their very special live show at the forthcoming dates, with more to be announced soon:

12/09 - The Castle, Manchester, UK
13/09 - Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, UK
15/09 - Corsica Studios, London, UK
16/09 - The Louisiana, Bristol, UK


'Tonight' is a gorgeous song. The various instruments seemingly melt into each other as the ethereal vocals fly above. Indie psychedelia, now that's one good genre.

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Jasmine Rodgers - Icicles.

Background - Produced by two-time Mercury nominee Dan Carey (Kate Tempest, Nick Mulvey), the infectious melodic resonance of ‘Icicles’ calls on trad sounds of Anglo, Celtic and Middle Eastern origin. Its pirouetted string-pickings, sustained bass notes, measured percussion and mystical ambience form an intimate folksy backing for Jasmine’s gleaming harmonies as she draws the listener into an impassioned quest for emotional rescue.

Born into an artistic family – her mother a Japanese poet, her father the legendary vocalist Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company, Queen) – Jasmine Rodgers knew her way around both keyboard and fretboard before she even enrolled at secondary school. But given her love for art and zoology (in which she has a degree), music was initially a passionate pastime rather than a full-time pursuit. This changed when her older brother Steve, on hearing the ethereal beauty of Jasmine’s voice, asked her to sing with him and they formed the group Boa. Boa went on to record two albums, achieving renown in the Americas, France and Japan, after their single ‘Duvet’ featured in the anime series Serial Experiments Lain. The group disbanded in 2005, but Jasmine continued her association with the anime/manga genre, writing songs for the soundtrack of Armitage: Dual Matrix, which starred Juliette Lewis.

Jasmine continued rehearsing, writing and recording, releasing an EP of self-penned alt-folk nuggets and collaborating with artists including Indian classical musicians Mendi Mohinder Singh and Waqas Choudhary. She found inspiration for new material in the exploits of her travels (live performances led her from the Royal Albert Hall to the Venice Biennale and the Edinburgh Fringe). It was one such journey to the Joshua Tree desert in California that inspired Jasmine to capture the best of her material on a full-length album. She enlisted producer Sean Genockey (Tom McRae, Futureheads), whose experience working at Joshua Tree’s Rancho de la Luna studio made him ideal for bringing forth the material’s widescreen yet rootsy vibe. Blood Red Sun, to be released later in 2016, was recorded at Black Dog Studios in London and is the sound of an exceptional artist drawing deep from global musical experiences to craft a set of inventive, euphonious 21st-century folk.


'Icicles' is a delicately crafted folk song, that is rich in textures and beautifully delivered, it's also highly addictive.

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Hiva Oa - A Great Height.

Background - New material from Hiva Oa has been a long time coming. Sometimes, it seems, a period of inactivity is better for a band than one of constant creation. With the release of their forthcoming EP mk2 (part 1), core members Stephen Houlihan and Christine Tubridy departed Edinburgh, returning to their native Ireland seeking renewed inspiration. Hiva Oa retain the mystery and ambition of their former incarnations, but inject a heavy thrum to their intricate patchwork style, and turn their attentions to themes of fear, loneliness, abandonment and awakening.

On lead single A Great Height the band continue their controlled experimentation by marrying primal, dizzying electronica and a swelling bass hum, with minimal guitar patterns to create a tightly wound, suffocating and intense atmosphere that sets the tone for the EP. Somewhat appropriately it’s an anxious listen, the influence of Thom Yorke on vocalist Stephen Houlihan here provides the forlorn, and almost hopeless, punctuating refrain “…and I fall from a great height.”  Elsewhere Seskinore demonstrates their skill in developing percussive motifs that flit from the suspenseful and shuffling, to eruptive, deafening, conclusions. A powerful resolution to each composition is never far from the minds of Hiva Oa.

The latter part of mk2 (part 1) begins to bring subtler intricacies to the fore. Christine is awash with swathes of gentle guitar, gifting the four-minute piece a transcendent quality that, coupled with another yearning vocal, offers the listener a brief glimpse into one of the EP’s more intimate moments, in this near-fearful, dream-like, serenade. Closing track Jonny Brazil again shifts unassumingly from sinewy indie-rock before revealing a raft of squalling guitars and inter-playing vocal melodies. Hiva Oa have become masters of developing atmospheres proving that, for them, a visit to old pastures has worked wonders.


Intense and swirling music drives 'A Great Height' along and the bare vocals work perfectly alongside. It may not be easy listening, however there is something quite compulsive here, that has me dipping back in for another play.

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Harpooner - Hush Up.

Background - Nashville three-piece vivid-pop band Harpooner will release their debut full length Rose Park on June 24th. Two years ago Harpooner migrated to Nashville from Indiana in search of better opportunities and a change of scenery. Since the move they have already shared the stage with Caitlin Rose, Margo Price, Cory Chisel, Water Liars, Future Birds, and Promised Land Sound.

Frontman Scott Schmadeke (vocals, piano, Mellotron, guitar, organ, synthesizer) formed the band in 2013 in Bloomington, IN with fellow former Indiana University students Max Mullen (bass, background vocals) and Josh Morrow (drums). Bloomington's rotating tight-knit community of musicians, artists, and writers gave Harpooner a freedom of expression and fertile ground to form a network of basement-show locations close to the IU campus. Recorded in Bloomington by Schmadeke and Andy Beargie, Rose Park digs into strange voicing and textures as an homage to the work of artists like Leon Russell's Carny, Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson, and Wings' Speed of Sound. Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Benjamin Booker, Natural Child) was enlisted for mastering duties at The Bomb Shelter in East Nashville.

Seated and singing close-up on the microphone, sometimes underneath a brimmed hat, Schmadeke delivers his cosmic awareness with a tenderness toward sensitive issues and big questions—like a Jeff Lynne that grew up in the suburbs of Indianapolis in the 90s. On “All I Get Back” and “Bigger Thoughts” he weaves the band in and out of sophisticated movements that shimmer and punch right on time—the kind of arrangements traded-in long ago by popular music for high-gain marketing strategies. He grapples with racial inequality on songs like “Carolines” and “Immigration” but not so that the songs become fodder for corporate social campaigns. Many of the songs on the album spring from a small fictitious midwestern town that Schmadeke imagines as a canvas for the ideas he and the band have picked-up along the way.

Morrow’s drumming is fierce and solid as a forging hammer made of electric current. And when performing live, Mullen, who stands between the other two, is the only one facing the crowd night-to-night—like a totem to calm confidence. Morrow cut his teeth on math-rock and has toured internationally with acts like Austin Lucas and Memory Map, while Mullen quietly makes furniture out of reclaimed wood in his basement to make ends meet. Schmadeke also plays keys in the band of Nashville singer-songwriter Andrew Combs.

Upcoming Shows:
June 18: Vinyl Release Party @ Blockhouse - Bloomington, IN
June 23: Vinyl Release Party @ The Basement - Nashville, TN
June 25: King's - Raleigh, NC
June 27: Petra's - Charlotte, NC
June 28: Soul Bar - Augusta, GA
June 29: Palmetto Brewery - Charleston, SC
June 30: Jack of Cups - Folly Beach, SC
July 1: Flickr Theatre - Athens, GA
July 2: Marty's PM - Birmingham, AL
July 23: BK @ Alphaville w/ Lord Youth, Horse Eyed Men and CVS at Night
July 24: NYC @ Bowery Electric w/ Girlyboi and Alice K
July 27: Lancerster, PA @ The Single File
July 28: Philly @ Ortlieb's w/ Pine Barons
July 29: Ann Arbor @ Luther Fest


Harpooner describe their music as vivid pop and having only heard 'Hush Up' so far, I think it makes for a pretty good description, that or vivid rock. This is an imaginative and powerful song, I would describe it as driving music, but only if you want a speeding ticket!

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The Hengles - Books of Moods

The Hengles - Cover Up (Album). Experience a trip down memory lane with The Hengles' latest album, Cover Up. This Dutch indie band revi...