Showing posts with label Julian Taylor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julian Taylor. Show all posts

Tuesday, 23 August 2022

Julian Taylor - Mamalarky - Queasy Pieces

Julian Taylor - Wide Awake.

How do you follow-up a career high point? If you're Julian Taylor — the Toronto-based singer/songwriter who garnered widespread acclaim for his intimate June 2020 solo album The Ridge you double down on upping your game by striving to exceed the creative fruits that have already bloomed from the artistic spark that got you there in the first place.

A lot was going on in Taylor's mind at the time of writing his new song, "Wide Awake." We were all stuck in another lockdown and he was dealing with writer's block, feeling a bit self conscious about himself, his music and about his own life and existence.

There was some turmoil going on in my family and that was troubling me too. Mostly because I felt like it could have easily been avoided and at the same time a few people close to me and some that I used to be close with were going through some huge losses in their lives. I could feel their pain but wasn't able to be there in person. So that was weighing heavily on my mind. I was going through a lot of changes and losses too and they couldn't be there for me either.

There is a universal message of hope and redemption that flows through this song. The line leading up to the chorus says it all really: "There is an abundance of hope that lies within the oceans of time / There's nothing singular about it yet it can clearly be defined."

The universe speaks to us all and it is unfolding exactly how it should be. It's rather insidious of us to believe that we can control it. Rather than try to control, we are all so fortunate to be given the opportunity to follow the path that has been chosen for us by us.

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Mamalarky - It Hurts.

Last month, Mamalarky announced their sophomore full-length, Pocket Fantasy, which is due out September 30 via Fire Talk. The album is the follow up to the band's critically-acclaimed 2020 self-titled debut LP, which earned praise from many music sites.

To mark the announce the band shared a single called "Mythical Bonds" that created an immediate stir, earning praise from the New York Times, landing on multiple best of the week lists, and even appearing on a new music playlist from Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Now, Mamalarky are back with a second single from their forthcoming LP, a track called "It Hurts".

Where "Mythical Bonds" saw Mamalarky in an anarchic and exploratory mode, "It Hurts" shows that the band are equally adept at creating quieter moments, building a mesmerizing whirl of keyboards around a Livvy Bennett's plaintive vocal performance.

"Writing about this song in this context feels extremely meta because the song itself picks at what it's like as a musician to essentially be careerizing your own experiences and emotions," Mamalarky's Bennett explains. "It's pretty bizarre to put out shit that is so personal–like, when someone loves a sad song you wrote it's like...I'm sorry we've been down in the same way? Or, I'm glad you enjoy listening to something that was essentially an intervention that I needed to have, haha.

"'It Hurts' is also a bit about the one-sided narrative of songwriters writing about their lives and relationships, for that to exist out there forever and to be consumed by people who only know the song. I'm always left wondering about the other side of the story when I hear those epic heartbreak songs, we'll just never know.

"There's one line about being 'a poorly drawn caricature,' which is what it can feel like having any of your music deciphered by anyone. The goal is to draw a really moving, poignant portrait though and I feel closer to doing that with every song we put out."


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Queasy Pieces - Been So Good To Me.

Queasy Pieces is a new project from one-man-music-making-machine Andrew Anderson; dance music done wrong / perplexing punk / and art rock for the absurd. Imagine if you mixed all your favourite foods together, from ice cream to baked beans, and somehow it still tasted good. Today, Anderson is announcing his debut self-titled album via the sharing of new single 'Been So Good To Me' and as well as new short film, Instruction Manual For The End Of The World. Queasy Pieces is due out on November 18th via FatCat.

A veteran of punk groups like Freak Genes, Hipshakes and Proto Idiot, Queasy Pieces sees Anderson use his DIY aesthetic on music that makes you move. Instead of power chords and fist pumping, this new project leans more on 808 bass hits and dance synths. “When I was 12 I wanted to be Fatboy Slim,” recalls Anderson. “Now, some 25 years later, the dream has finally come true – except I can’t afford to live in Brighton.”

Queasy Pieces self-titled first release came together over the last year, with the songs slowly assembled from fragments of ideas.“ For each song I’d try to write it around a single idea and keep things as simple as possible,” notes Anderson. “I’d come up with a song that only has one lyric, or that uses just one chord. Then I’d do whatever I could to make it sound like dance music. I didn’t know what I was doing, but luckily that didn’t matter.”

It’s been a long road to this point for Anderson, who has played in punk bands since he was 15. His first group Hipshakes were signed to legendary US label Goner Records, and after a US tour he ended up staying in the US and working as a news reader for a local radio station. After returning to the UK he worked as a wedding photographer, aircraft engineer and classical music journalist while still playing DIY music on the side.

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Saturday, 30 October 2021

The Delines - Someone - Julian Taylor - Tidal Wave

The Delines - Little Earl.

The Portland, Oregon based country-soul group The Delines have announced their third studio album, The Sea Drift, will be released on February 11, 2022 via their new American label home Jealous Butcher Records.

The stunning first single and opening track of the album “Little Earl,” is out today accompanied by a music video directed by Jordan Mosser. “Little Earl” is the perfect introduction to the sights, sounds, and characters that populate the vivid world The Delines have conjured in The Sea Drift, their most cinematic and visual album yet. Written by songwriter and author Willy Vlautin, and performed by lead singer Amy Boone, “Little Earl'' is a tender and moving song that manages to blend soul, country, folk and indie rock into a sound that feels warmly familiar yet totally unique. “Little Earl” is the first track from a collection of songs The Delines describe as “songs and stories found drifting up and down the Gulf Coast.”

“‘Little Earl’ was one of the first tracks I brought to ‘The Sea Drift’ rehearsal sessions, and as it turns out the one that helped create the sound and feel of the entire record,” Vlautin writes. “It’s a soul/Tony Joe White inspired groove, and Cory Gray’s horn and string arrangements set the cinematic tone for two brothers who get in a shoplifting-gone-wrong incident at a mini-mart outside of Port Arthur, Texas. I love songs that just drop you in the middle of a scene and that’s what we tried to do here.”

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Photo - Bibian Bingen
Someone - Empathy.

Ahead of the live dates, Someone shares the new video for album track ‘Empathy’. It is a song indicative of Someone’s debut album Shapeshifter as a whole, which weaves suave, cinematic psych-pop with an intimate, acoustic song writing style inspired by the likes of Joni Mitchell, befitting of the album’s introspective themes of isolation, escapism, and mental health.

Someone describes ‘Empathy’ as “A track about feeling disconnected with the world around you.” A darker psych-pop song inspired initially by American politics (namely the horrors of Trump administration) but one which dispels its shadowy hues as the song climaxes, like the sonic equivalent of the sun shining through breaking clouds.

The video, created by Someone shows a statue-like figure who stands unchanging as the rest of the world is built up and broken down around it. It was inspired by the sculptures of Nicolas Party at Dijon’s Consortium Museum which appear as torsos rising from the floor in the middle of the room, as if they’ve been cemented to the ground. As Someone expands” I wanted the statue-like figure in the video to be buried in the ground. Like a tree, like part of the earth itself”.

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Julian Taylor - 100 Proof.

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Julian Taylor is releasing a new, standalone single today, a cover of a song called “100 Proof,” written by a friend of his, Toronto-based musician and award-winning music teacher Tyler Ellis. The single bridges the gap between Taylor’s next album, which is in the works, and his award-winning 2020 release, The Ridge, which scored him worldwide critical acclaim and eight award nominations in 2020 and 2021, including two Juno Awards, the Polaris Long List, and two Canadian Folk Music Awards, in which he won Solo Artist of the Year.

“100 Proof” is an allegory of a man and the love he has for his family and the pearls of wisdom that he leaves them, and Ellis wrote the song as an antidote to the difficult times of May 2020 as headlines spoke of Black Lives Matter protests, the pandemic, and social isolation. 

“This song is a guide for somehow managing it all,” Ellis says. “Telling the truth about how you feel is ok; asking for help is ok and is not a sign of weakness. And, like Jackie DeShannon said, ‘let kindness be your guide.’ I wanted to acknowledge those internal struggles that everyone goes through and to say that you're not alone, you can reach out, and no matter how dire things seem there is hope.”

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Tidal Wave - Tidal Wave (E.P).

Tidal Wave is a seven-piece art rock band known for their powerful soundscapes and diverse instrumentation.

Formed in 2018, the group met each other working and performing in the local live scene in Toronto. This eclectic group of songwriters was initially put together by guitarist and lead vocalist Connor Young who assembled guitarist Marco Carboni, guitarist and producer Marcus Retterath, drummer and keyboard player Mike Poisson, violinist and vocalist Joey Assaad, violinist Brittany Iwanciwski, and bassist Kyle Texiera.

Whether you are listening to their recorded or live material, the band meticulously layers it’s elements to give the music a full wall of sound with forward momentum. It is an ever present atmosphere composed of rich textures of guitars and synthesizers, with a delicate balance between soaring string lines and strong vocal melodies. The name of the band rather accurately depicts the overall tone of an unrelenting unstoppable force.

Tidal Wave evokes the melodic elements of indie rock bands like Arcade Fire, while creating compelling production-heavy ambient synth and guitar textures comparable to Godspeed! You Black Emperor and My Bloody Valentine. In 2020 they released their single “Our Silhouettes” on all streaming services and will be releasing their EP in the fall of 2021.

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Sunday, 21 June 2020

Julian Taylor - Rosa Ama - The Mojo Slide - The Purple Shoes

Julian Taylor has just released his new album 'The Ridge' and from the opening moments of the title track I just felt I was in for something quite special. Julian's vocals are something to envy, as he surrounds himself with fabulous backing vocals and excellent musicianship on what could be loosely described as Americana at it's finest. === Electronic synth pop duo Rosa Ama have shared 'Oku (Night Version)' and it's a smooth, danceable and seductive song. === From The Mojo Slide we have 'Good Times' which is a potent alt rocker, the vocals are notable as the band deliver some tight, gritty rock. == We have two of the twelve tracks that make up The Purple Shoes new album (Small Town Fairy Tales) namely 'Melody's Eyes' and 'Strange'. Both give a good representation of this very fine album that travels from alt rock to folk and plenty of other excellent musical destinations.
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Julian Taylor - The Ridge (Album).

My grandparents used to live in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, on a beautiful piece of farmland surrounded by the Golden Ears Provincial Park, as well as the Fraser and Alouette Rivers. When I close my eyes and think of my happy place, that is where my mind takes me.

I wrote “The Ridge” to contemplate what life was like back in my grandparents’ day and what life is like now. My grandfather was Mohawk and my step-grandmother cared for me like her own.

She was quite brave to take that on because there was a lot of prejudice back then, which still exists today. This song is my way of pointing out the importance of innocence in a world that is divided.

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Rosa Ama - Oku (Night Version).

Electronic synth-pop duo Rosa Ama share “Oku” (Night Version) on Casablanca Sunset Records.

On Oku Night, the duo navigates between smooth synth pop and funky house. Their cleverly crafted creation is highlighted by Harks’ buoyant soft falsetto vocal and Vhyce’s euphoric Ibiza inspired beats. Each delivering their own unique melodies melded together into one bouncy and groovy house single.

The release comes after sharing both of their previous Rosa Ama singles, “Ethers” and “Lost on the People,” on Casablanca Sunset. The ‘Day Version’ of Oku was also released in July of last summer on Kitsuné Musique as their debut single.


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The Mojo Slide - Good Times.

The Mojo Slide is a group of musicians, hailing from Cambridgeshire, united in their passion for blues-inspired alternative music.

Formed in 2011, they released their debut album 'Twist Your Bones' in November 2015 on DO IT Records. The album features a contemporary mixture of classic rock 'n' roll, and blues rooted alternative rock. They have had radio play on BBC, Absolute and Planet Rock, amongst others, and have since signed with Nub Records.

The Mojo Slide are:

Mark Wilks (vocals)
Mike Fenna (lead guitar)
Matt Legg (rhythm guitar)
Danny Savage (bass guitar)
Michael Graham (drums)

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The Purple Shoes - Melody's Eyes / Strange.

Though they may sound like they’ve stepped straight out of 1968, The Purple Shoes are very much artists of 2020, their timeless mix of deftly-crafted melodies, jaw-dropping harmonies and story-telling lyrics combining into the heady swirl of Small Town Fairy Tales, their brand-new album is out now! Comprising singer Marie Dance; singer and guitarist, Michael Bickers and aided and abetted by double-bassist Richard Dadson and Stomp legend, Theseus Gerard on drums and household percussion, The South coast of England’s best-kept musical secret is shortly to let loose on a world which is sure to embrace the folk-rock dreamworld The Purple Shoes seem to have plucked straight out of the minds of some of the greatest singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 70s.

Meeting by pure chance after her three-year experience in Thailand and a collection of half-completed songs, Marie Dance and Michael Bickers’ musical union in picturesque Shoreham-by-Sea feels like the culmination of a journey of not only miles but eras. Their spine tingling harmonies immediately bring to mind classic acts such as Simon & Garfunkel and Fleetwood Mac and their songwriting would easily lead you to believe you were listening to songs from the booming counterculture of the Sixties. To reinforce their rock n roll ideals, they travelled the UK and Ireland (in their now deceased Ford Focus, “Athelstan”!), honing their onstage craft and wowing fans, their interaction with audiences becoming as well-loved as their songs. Eschewing pedals and studio effects, The Purple Shoes’ sound is made all the more breath-taking by its truth and honesty – their songs live and breathe in the moment, capturing the sheer majesty of their harmonies and the earworm grooves which come courtesy of Dadson and Gerard, the latter making his name as percussionist and choreographer of world-famous percussion troupe, Stomp.

Small Town Fairy Tales is a collection of 12 songs written over the past two years and, as the title suggests, tells the story of life and love in a recognisable locale of characters we all see in our own lives. Relatable, uplifting and perfect escapism from our current locked-down lives, Small Town Fairy Tales is an invitation to have fun, unwind and remember why you fell in love with music in the first place.



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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...