Background - Moon: Heavy, melodic, spacious; echo-laden guitars; post-rock bass; shifting time signatures; haunting ethereal vocals. Moon formed in 2010 when drummer Chris Schneberger met guitarist and vocalist David Azizinamini through Craigslist and invited a bassist he'd tried out with before. The sound they made was instantly cavernous and chiming. After writing a few songs, the sound of the band grew heavier and more propulsive.
The group played some initial shows in small clubs in late 2010, and early 2011. After an early EP, Started In The Dark, Moon recorded their debut album in 2012. Finding and Losing the Light featured six songs including the titular two song suite.
Bigger shows followed, opening for Sleepy Sun and Hounds Below at Chicago’s Double Door, opening for Driftless Pony Club at Subterranean Chicago, Blood Red Shoes at Subterranean and Kinski at Subterranean. In addition, Moon headlined their own show with local bands Nature Show and Royale. In 2012 Moon recorded their follow-up EP, Always Summer.
Their original bassist decided to follow his dreams and left for Brooklyn at the end of 2012. After an exhausting search, Moon found new bass player Chris Shen, formerly of A Birdsong Valentine. Moon released their third album, Extinction, on June 8, 2018. BANDCAMP.
If your in the mood for some extremely fine rock music that's not stuck in any one particular genre, then the album 'Extinction' from Chicago band Moon merits further inspection. Whether it's alt rock, prog rock, or modern indie rock, Moon comfortably excel. Plenty of energy is matched by some notable melodic hooks and the vocals impressively soar above the tight and gutsy rock and roll. This is one of those unpretentious albums, where the band enthusiastically present us with some timeless, well crafted rock music to be reckoned with.
Background - Following on from the critical praise she received for her debut single ‘Wings’, Brooklyn-based dream pop artist Kirsten Knick aka Völuspa has now returned to deliver her next beautifully ambient release, ‘Feel You’.
Much like her work to date, ‘Feel You’ occupies that tentative bridge between ethereal ambience and a lucid dreamlike experience that aims to excite the hairs on the back of your neck. Mixing a light piano-led feel with minimal percussion, the front woman conjures up a feeling of pure warmth that touches the soul as she manages to breathe life into every beat.
Having cut her teeth as an artist by performing with the likes of Spiritualized and Hot Chip over the last few years, Völuspa is seen as more of a Beach House meets Lana Del Rey kind of artist. With already a strong buzz floating around her, ‘Feel You’ looks set to be the sound that defines her and the path she has set up for herself.
Völuspa on the new single: "Feel You was written in response to the calls of a loved one heard through the wind coming from the mountains in Montana. The song is about our infinite existence and how death is just an illusion." ‘Feel You’ was released last Friday via Icons Creating Evil Art, and is due to become the start of a very busy year for her. WEBSITE.
The song begins in a low key and gentle musical manner, before being joined by some distant, dreamy and enchanting vocals. Understated dream pop throughout, 'Feel You' is calm, with a warm emotional vibe, it's one of those, stop everything and listen tunes!
Background - Garbage yesterday released their new single "No Horses". All of the band's profits from sales and streaming of the single will be donated to the International Committee of the Red Cross through the end of 2018.
"'No Horses' is basically a dream fueled anxiety attack. A dark imagining of the future in which a presiding regime values only profit and success leaving no room for tiny beautiful things, small gestures and great beasts," shared Garbage singer Shirley Manson on the song. Earlier this month, Garbage released their autobiographical coffee table book, This Is The Noise That Keeps Me Awake via Akashic Books. The book includes never before seen photographs of the band as well as pieces written by each of the four band members. Throughout their upcoming tour, Garbage will be visiting a select number of indie record stores and bookstores across the country to sign copies of the book. A complete list of upcoming signings can be found below. Upcoming Garbage Book Signing Dates: July 16 - Twist & Shout Records, Denver, CO July 20 - Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis, MN July 23 - The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL July 27 - Type Books, Toronto, ON August 6 - Criminal Records, Atlanta, GA Garbage kicked off their co-headline "Rage & Rapture Tour" with Blondie on July 5th in Saratoga, CA and will be touring the U.S. for the duration of the summer. Both bands along with an opening slot from Sky Ferreira played to a crowd of 17,000 fans this month, selling out LA's Hollywood Bowl. Support for additional Rage & Rapture tour dates will be provided by John Doe & Exene Cervenka followed by Deap Vally. A complete list of upcoming live dates can be found on Beehive Candy's tour news page. Band website here.
I have always been a bit of a Garbage music fan and the new single 'No Horses' both supports a worthy cause, and is one typically fine Garbage song, simple as that really.
Background - The Blow announces its new album, Brand New Abyss, with a Pledge Music campaign along with the album's amped up first single "Get Up". The album's out Sept. 22 and the band will also tour this Fall on a co-headlining run with kindred spirit EMA. The Pledge Music campaign has some pretty unique premiums, such as a Blow beach towel set, a Gold Lamé Crystal Stereo Pair and a "vibe chain" worn by Melissa during the making of the album (see a full list of premiums, including turquoise vinyl, here). The Blow’s new album, Brand New Abyss, is a lightning rod. A wild assembly of frequencies produced out of a thrust of electroacoustic punk energy, the album is a search for a new sound of rebellion in an environment where the aesthetic of punk has been commodified into submission along with most everything else. Brand New Abyss was written and produced by The Blow (Melissa Dyne and Khaela Maricich) using a production rig that the duo painstakingly developed over the past four years; a mothership of patched-together modular synthesizers, ancient samplers and audio production gear. Like wizards in a craggy laboratory, they worked in seclusion, teaching themselves to control the raw material of sound using basic elements of electronic synthesis. Their aim was to be able to channel frequency into new shapes that would be useful to them, like tools to break through the algorithmic limits they were growing bored of. Says Dyne, “After having worked heavily with a samples in the past we got to a place where we wanted to treat electronic sound more acoustically, like something more alive. We wanted to make waves that we could ride and play around in- newer waves.” Website here, Facebook here. 'Get Up' is an adventurous taster for the September album release. The Blow mix intriguing and original musical sounds with some fabulous vocals, and arrive with something that just demands attention.
Background - MOON is a Los Angeles based alt-rock band fronted by Chelsea Davis (vocals/drums), and Dan Silver (guitar/synth). Embracing genres from shoegaze, desert rock, folk and soul, they maintain a healthy electronic presence in their sound. With dreamy guitars, picturesque synth work, and a solid rock backbone, MOON wraps up a concoction of gritty beats with moody and symphonic arrangements. Their first single “I Got A Fever”, mixed by Mark Needham at Ballroom Studio (Los Angeles), recently appeared on iTunes “Hot Tracks” charts, and synced to the complete TV show intro for USA’s new hit show ‘Colony’. MOON’s current single “We’re So Close” is currently trending at the on KROQ’s Locals Only, hosted by Kat Corbett, and several other stations. Recently MOON was awarded with BalconyTV Editor’s Choice Best Video of 2016 for their live performance of “I Got A Fever” on the rooftop of the W Hollywood. Originally from the midwest, Dan aka Silver Sessions, produces rock & pop albums and remixes for independent and major artists. He is also a composer with numerous credits on tv, films, ads, trailers and more. He met band-mate, Chelsea, from Utah, during a collaborative studio writing session for a film. A formally trained percussionist/composer and touring instrumentalist, Chelsea brings a flavor of vocals that are reminiscent of Annie Lennox, Cat Power, and Bjork. The moon is universal. It has an exceptional gravitational pull that we are all attracted to. The music of MOON provides a message to all humans, “we are the human race”. Website here, Facebook here.
Rhythmic and powerful 'Hang On' builds into a splendid song, with bursts of melodic beauty, alongside a slightly darker musical theme.
Background - Annie Hart of Au Revoir Simone shares new single "I Don't Want Your Love," debut solo album due July 28. Annie Hart is best known as one-third of Au Revoir Simone, the beloved all-female synth trio that counts David Lynch as a superfan (& also recently appeared on Twin Peaks). But with the eight tracks on her solo debut, Impossible Accomplice (Uninhabitable Mansions, July 28), Annie will emerge as an electrifying artist and producer in her own right. During the band's hiatus, she has been crafting pop songs on classic synthesizers, with a less-is-more approach, writing and engineering the record on her own in the basement of her Brooklyn home, sneaking sessions in while her children were sleeping. Greatly influenced by the spare synthesizer sounds of Laurie Spiegel and the post-punk sensibility of artists like Tubeway Army, Annie has embraced her love of meticulously crafting the perfect tone to match the emotion of a song. "Be it melancholy, longing, happiness or simple desire, there is no better way to explain my innermost world than by going past words and into the intuitive and visceral feeling that a particular sound can evoke.” In songs such as the first single, "Hard To Be Still" (featured on an upcoming episode of Netflix series, Gypsy, starring Naomi Watts), Annie cuts back the layers to reveal a rawer version of the dreamy synth pop her band was famous for forging. Solo, Annie has opened for artists such as M. Ward and Neko Case, and will be playing a handful of shows this summer in support of the new record. Website here, Facebook here.
A gently understated musical soundtrack with delicate synths that ebb & flow alongside the dreamy swirling vocals on 'I Don't Want Your Love'. It's one of those tracks that gently crept up on me, and by the end of the piece, I was totally engrossed.
Background - Toronto singer songwriter Emily Rockarts is set to release a music video for her new single “Inventor” that features beautiful and captivating stop motion animation created by fellow musician Matthew Bailey. Rockarts drew inspiration from the great Leonardo Da Vinci. “He was an incredible artist, but also a brilliant scientist, who seemed to balance being a dreamer with being a realist.” Rockarts can relate to the struggle of creating that balance. “This idea relates to my feelings about creating and innovation in art as well as any field: technology, medicine, engineering. All of our great art, inventions and buildings didn’t exist, until they did. Unless you take a chance and try to create something from nothing, you’ll never have the opportunity to see what is possible.” On her upcoming 26 date Canadian tour, Rockarts and her band featuring Dan Rougeau (guitar), Soren Nissen (bass), and Ian Wright (drums) will continue to push boundaries with their live performances to make each performance a unique experience. “I feel so lucky to have such accomplished musicians playing with me,” says Rockarts. “No two shows are the same, because of their uninhibited ability to reinterpret the music on a nightly basis. We're constantly reacting to each other.” Tour dates on Beehive Candy's tour page, website here.
Beautiful vocals and a gentle piano background ensure 'Inventor' gets off to a notable start. Slowly building from there, the song grows in character and is just so full of charm.
Background - After spending years as a major presence in Brooklyn’s thriving music scene, Frankie Rose relocated to her familial home of Los Angeles for 18 months with the intention of establishing yet another moment in her storied indie rock métier. Gradually, she found herself short on sleep, funds and optimism. "I moved to LA, drama ensued and I ended up on a catering truck. I was like, how can this be my life after being a touring musician and living off of music. I had really lost my way and I thought I was totally done."
Towards the end of her time spent in Los Angeles, Frankie reached out to Jorge Elbrecht (Tamaryn, Gang Gang Dance, Violens) and began sketching what became the basic outline of what felt like a new album. Then, rather fortuitously, Frankie ended up back in Brooklyn with the realization that "in the end, I’m on my own. I have to do these things on my own."
The months that ensued meant basically working with no budget and finding ways to record in-between days. This time enabled Frankie to experiment musically with a variety of people that ultimately changed the way she worked. "I got a lot of input from people like Dave Harrington (Darkside), who was helpful reconstructing the songs, adding dynamics and changing up the rhythms."
The result of this existential odyssey is Cage Tropical, Frankie’s 4th album. It is awash with vintage synths, painterly effects pedals, upside down atmosphere and reverberating vocals. It evokes a new wave paranormality of sorts that drifts beyond the songs themselves. "My references aren’t just music," says Frankie, "I love old sci-fi. They Live is one of my favorite movies ever, same with Suspiria. 80’s sci-fi movies with a John Carpenter soundtrack, with silly synths – that makes it into my file, to the point that I’ll write lyrics incorporating that kind of stuff. It’s in there."
"I feel like I am finally free from worrying about an outcome. I don’t care. I already lost everything. I already had the worst-case scenario. When that happens, you do become free. In the end, it’s about me rescuing myself via having this record." Website here, Facebook here.
'Trouble' is one of ten tracks on the forthcoming Cage Tropical album. It's typical of the quality of the new song collection, where creative ideas take the music in a variety of directions, and result in fresh and often vibrant hook laden tracks. Well worth checking out.
