The Icebergs have released their new album today entitled 'Add Vice' and it's an eclectic and highly original collection of songs streaming in full below, if your on the look out for different, but really good different, get stuck in now. === Favours newest song 'Memories' is a fabulous affair, with dual vocals and harmonies, it's easy to understand the interest and hype they have already generated. === Circus Caravan have shared 'Cabo da Roca' the 6th song from the album 'Scattered Sketches' released back in May, the track itself is a mixture of indie styles and upbeat energy.=== Bee Bee Sea return to Beehive Candy with 'Gonna Get Me' and again the Italian garage-psych trio are on top form! === Another band who have impressed us this last year are Tempesst who are back with 'Mushroom Cloud' the second track to be lifted from their upcoming debut album 'Must Be A Dream' and if anything they have upped the expectations of what's to come even further.
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The Icebergs - Add Vice (Album).
There are certain works of art that endure because they offer magic healing powers of compassionate solidarity; they give strength to carry on through the hard parts. Jane LeCroy serves the Poetry Gods and has access to the curious apothecary of literary history. She chooses classic poetry that has worked through the ages against death and the broken heart. On Add Vice Jane summons will: William Shakespeare, William Ernest Henley, and Willa Cather. She takes their time-honored words and delivers them as her own special concoction. Collaborating with the dead can be just the right move to persist in life.
Recorded at Birdwatcher studios in Big Indian, NY, Add Vice is the second full-length album by The Icebergs. Half of the material was improvised by Abbs, Rogers-Berry, and Philedelphy; with Jane LeCroy singing words from her notebooks and reciting classical poetry. LeCroy delivers hundreds-years old texts with an urgency seldom attempted when interpreting the cannon.
The other half of the material was developed by the trio of LeCroy, Abbs, and Rogers-Berry, mostly in small venues around Brooklyn and Manhattan. D. Treut takes over drum duties and adds a deadpan vocal style on a couple numbers including the title track, “Add Vice.”
Hailing from NYC, The Icebergs consist of singer-songwriter Jane LeCroy and cellist Tom Abbs who collaborated as a duo called Transmitting for over a decade before adding drummer, David Rogers-Berry, to become the current ensemble. Their live act boasts a minimal palette: pizzicato cello, vocals, and drums. The material is grounded in the lean style of punk and the potent gravitas of northern folk. The new album, Add Vice, features electric guitar by Martin Philadelphy (Switzerland) who also contributed vocals and recorded on spontaneous writing sessions with the band. The Icebergs were also blessed with the studio addition of Brooklyn eccentric, Dave Treut who contributed organ, vocals, percussion, and clarinet on over half of the album.
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Favours - Memories.
"Memories" is intricate and energetic while maintaining a dream-pop feeling crescendoing with a huge chorus.
Lyrically, it's an ode to surviving; the first verse repeats throughout the song, issuing an introspective self-help mantra. The lyrics are meant to be powerful in their assurance to the listener, that life will get better so long as you keep waking up and pushing forward. "Memoires" will go live July 17th on all digital platforms. Self Released by Favours. It is the lead single from our debut LP "Made to Wait" due out August 7th.
We’re Favours, a duo from Toronto made up of Alex and Jacqueline. Our sound is inspired by New Wave and Post Punk A La OMD & John Maus. Our debut EP “Made to Wait” due August 7th was recorded throughout 2019 with production by Josh Korody (Japandroids, Weaves) in Toronto at his studio Candle in early 2019.
Lyrically and sonically we draw influence from our creative space which was a former halfway house that Alex renovated into a DIY art space where we live and practice. In our first year as a band we opened up for many great acts like Sean Nicholas Savage, The Zolas, Calvin Love and many more. We hope to be playing and touring the EP when it comes out this summer.
Memories follows the release of first three singles which were put out in 2018 to acclaim from multiple blogs including Clash, Earmilk, Asymmetric Mag. We also had a single “Stowaway” featured in a Netflix series “Northern Rescue”. We look forward to keeping the momentum going with the release of Memories and Made to Wait.
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Circus Caravan - Cabo da Roca.
The inspiration for Cabo da Roca came during our trip to Portugal.
There, at the famous cape, the westernmost point of Europe, we felt far from the everyday life stress of the city (city's lights), the superficial relationships and in general the human activity but, at the same time, close to our truest selves.
Cabo da Roca is the 6th song of the album Scattered Sketches, released on May 14th, 2020.
The video was created by Maria Livana and Alexis Lagkaditis, the singer of Circus Caravan. It was inspired by Vassilis Kyritsis' artwork of the album.
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Bee Bee Sea - Gonna Get Me.
Italian garage-psych trio Bee Bee Sea has released the new single "Gonna Get Me'. The track is included in their upcoming new album 'Dy Ripper', out on 9th October on Wild Honey Records.
In 'Gonna Get Me', one of the poppiest moments on the record, the band combine their trademark upbeat, frenzied tempo with a variety of summery melodies. It is the story of a love triangle that ended badly. Their advice? Avoid at all costs!
Hailing from Castel Goffredo in Lombardy, Italy, Bee Bee Sea formed in 2013 and have since released two albums: the self-titled debut in 2015 and 'Sonic Boomerang' in 2017. They have been consistently touring in Europe, the UK and the US, supporting the likes of Thee Oh Sees, Black Lips and Idles.
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Tempesst - Mushroom Cloud.
London-based band Tempesst have just released their new single and video “Mushroom Cloud”, the second track to be lifted from upcoming debut album Must Be A Dream, out September 30th via Pony Recordings.
A wide-eyed excursion of folk-tinged psychedelia with nods to Spiritualized, Galaxie 500, the Flaming Lips and the Beach Boys, Must Be A Dream comprises ten tracks of psychedelic pop grandiosity, combining the classic teachings of Laurel Canyon-esque folk harmonisation with bombastic sensibilities found in the works of Love, ELO, Pink Floyd, Wings and more.
New single “Mushroom Cloud” explores regret in the heat of the moment, and why it's those we love who can cause us the deepest pain. Serving as a nod to Jeff Lynne and ELO with a chorus of vocal harmonies, hushed keys, lilting guitars and a swelling backdrop of additional instrumentation, the song tells of a story of the pain of love, tracking the consequences and emotional violence it has wrought.
“‘Mushroom Cloud’ was the first song that we completed on the album and it set the tone for a balance of familiarity, the element of surprise and the weighty dark topics that I wanted to explore,” recalls singer Toma Banjanin. "Mushroom Cloud isn’t my story, though. I found it easier to write this song as a confession from the perspective of the antagonist. It’s equal measures apology, justification and threat, the kind of confusing grey area that only exists within intimate relationships. It’s love that becomes all-consuming and suffocating. It’s that destructive primal default buried deep within each of us. The Saboteur present in every moment of regret...that will do or say anything in an attempt at self preservation.”
Consisting of Sunshine Coast, Australia born twin brothers Toma (vocals, guitars) and Andy Banjanin (drums); the band is rounded out by fellow Australian’s Kane Reynolds (keys) and Blake Misipeka (bass), and Swiss/American guitarist Eric Weber. Now all residing in London where upcoming debut album Must Be A Dream was written and recorded, Tempesst have become well known for their sweeping, psych-touched indie rock.
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Friday, 17 July 2020
Wednesday, 15 July 2020
Muck And The Mires - Fat Night - Seela - Teenanger
Muck And The Mires share the title track from their upcoming E.P 'Take Me Back To Planet Earth' and it's a mesmerizing slice of top quality garage rock. === Chicago-based, indie/funk/soul four-piece Fat Night are on form with 'Live For Each Other' where natural vibes and an old style video come together wonderfully. === Seela a veteran Austin singer/songwriter/performer and back-up singer shares 'Cool' the title track from her sixth studio album and it's just gorgeous. === From Teenanger we have 'Touching Glass' where the Toronto post-punk/new wave group provide us with a vibrant hook filled and upbeat track.
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Muck And The Mires - Take Me Back To Planet Earth.
The new video by Muck and the Mires features stunning footage of their hometown of Boston, MA under lockdown. Written recorded and filmed during the pandemic, "Take Me back To Planet Earth" is joyous ode to the good old days before isolation set in. In addition to plenty of outer space hi-jinx, viewers will get to experience The Old North Church, Bunker Hill, The Schrafft’s building Fenway Park and other Boston icons as they have rarely been seen before.
“Take Me Back To Planet Earth” is the new video, single and title track from the upcoming EP by Muck and the Mires on Rumbar Records. The release will feature six fresh tracks all written and recorded while the band has been off the road self-isolating. Muck and the Mires anxiously await their next visit to your hometown, but in the meantime, the band cordially invites you to join them on a video rocket trip through their hometown of Boston and into the far reaches of the galaxy. “Take Me Back To Planet Earth” EP will be available in the fall so prepare for lift off!
Take the 1964 Beatles and put them in CBGB's circa 1977 and you've got Muck and the Mires, Boston's international garage rock ambassadors. The group achieved worldwide recognition after they were crowned #1 US Garage Rock Band by Little Steven Van Zandt on MTV. Muck and the Mires have performed coast-to-coast in the USA, UK, EU, South America, Canada and Japan. They have shared bills with many of their heroes including The Sonics, The New York Dolls, Ray Davies (The Kinks), The Flamin' Groovies, The Stooges, and even a Beatle - Pete Best!
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Fat Night - Live For Each Other.
Chicago-based, indie/funk/soul four-piece Fat Night have revealed their newest single "Live For Each Other" - the title track from their sophomore album Live for Each Other out now via Acrophase Records.
"Live For Each Other" is akin to the soul sound of the '60s and '70s scene. It's a call to loving and lifting each other up while it's funk styled bass lines and keyboard manifest a classic groove that's seemingly, artfully improvised. The video is a nostalgic and humorous take on commercials of the same era.
Fat Night is a Chicago-based band comprised of Dan Hanson, Gabe Gundacker, Ted Issen, and Nik Ritchie. The band blends soul, funk, and R&B rhythms with breezy harmonies, leaving one foot in the past and one in the future. Their sophomore album Live for Each Other is their first in seven years, having debuted their self-titled album Fat Night in 2013. The release shows them refurbishing their traditional soulful sound with a contemporary revision.
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Seela - Cool.
Cool is the 6th studio album by Seela, a veteran Austin singer/songwriter/performer and back-up singer. Though she’s always had deep involvement in the recording process in the past, she has also always had a producer to fall back on. This time Seela took the reins and self-produced the record she wanted to hear.
The songs, some she has been playing live for years, pay no loyalty to any particular style but are the result of her many influences: The Police, Spoon, Anita O’ Day, Heart, Steely Dan, and Bowie to name a few. Pop, Rock, Folk, Gospel and Jazz have all been a part of her 20+ year career as an Austin musician and Cool lets it show.
Backed by her solid-as-a-rock drummer/husband Jon Greene (Patty Griffin, Fastball, Jaimee Harris), her nephew Andrew Casile on guitar, Andrew Pressman (Jimmy LaFave, Nancy & Beth, Anthony DaCosta) on bass, as well as an impressive handful of Austin’s finest, Seela and engineer Britton Beisenherz have created a lush and catchy thirteen-track universe. With gorgeous harmonies and the occasional playful treatment, each song on Cool hits all the right spots.
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Teenanger - Touching Glass.
Toronto's post-punk/new wave group, Teenanger are now sharing their new BBC 6 Music-tipped single, 'Touching Glass’ as well as announcing details of their new record, Good Time which is out October 2 via Telephone Explosion (Pantayo, Deliluh).
Good Time comes on the heels of the band's 2017 self-titled record that found touring buddies in the likes of METZ, Dilly Dally, Ancient Shapes (Daniel Romano's project), Dish Pit and more with the band pushing into the US and mainland Europe. 'Touching Glass' is perhaps my favourite cut from the new record marking a sonic change for the group with them finding something more agile and pop-focused without becoming too shiny/overly-polished. Lyrically the track comes from vocalist Melissa Ball's concern with technology and spending too much time swiping on her phone – the track gets its name quite literally from the action!
Teenanger have procured something of a legendary status in Toronto having existed for just over a decade and pushing out a number of albums in that time – they are doing something super unique in the city's scene both in terms of their sound and also with the fiercely DIY approach that they take to writing/recording music. A testament to this aesthetic, they rented a basement apartment from Craigslist with an advertisement that read "Music. OK" (and not much else) and moved their gear into the front room, fashioning their own recording studio in an adjacent bedroom.
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Muck And The Mires - Take Me Back To Planet Earth.
The new video by Muck and the Mires features stunning footage of their hometown of Boston, MA under lockdown. Written recorded and filmed during the pandemic, "Take Me back To Planet Earth" is joyous ode to the good old days before isolation set in. In addition to plenty of outer space hi-jinx, viewers will get to experience The Old North Church, Bunker Hill, The Schrafft’s building Fenway Park and other Boston icons as they have rarely been seen before.
“Take Me Back To Planet Earth” is the new video, single and title track from the upcoming EP by Muck and the Mires on Rumbar Records. The release will feature six fresh tracks all written and recorded while the band has been off the road self-isolating. Muck and the Mires anxiously await their next visit to your hometown, but in the meantime, the band cordially invites you to join them on a video rocket trip through their hometown of Boston and into the far reaches of the galaxy. “Take Me Back To Planet Earth” EP will be available in the fall so prepare for lift off!
Take the 1964 Beatles and put them in CBGB's circa 1977 and you've got Muck and the Mires, Boston's international garage rock ambassadors. The group achieved worldwide recognition after they were crowned #1 US Garage Rock Band by Little Steven Van Zandt on MTV. Muck and the Mires have performed coast-to-coast in the USA, UK, EU, South America, Canada and Japan. They have shared bills with many of their heroes including The Sonics, The New York Dolls, Ray Davies (The Kinks), The Flamin' Groovies, The Stooges, and even a Beatle - Pete Best!
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Fat Night - Live For Each Other.
Chicago-based, indie/funk/soul four-piece Fat Night have revealed their newest single "Live For Each Other" - the title track from their sophomore album Live for Each Other out now via Acrophase Records.
"Live For Each Other" is akin to the soul sound of the '60s and '70s scene. It's a call to loving and lifting each other up while it's funk styled bass lines and keyboard manifest a classic groove that's seemingly, artfully improvised. The video is a nostalgic and humorous take on commercials of the same era.
Fat Night is a Chicago-based band comprised of Dan Hanson, Gabe Gundacker, Ted Issen, and Nik Ritchie. The band blends soul, funk, and R&B rhythms with breezy harmonies, leaving one foot in the past and one in the future. Their sophomore album Live for Each Other is their first in seven years, having debuted their self-titled album Fat Night in 2013. The release shows them refurbishing their traditional soulful sound with a contemporary revision.
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Seela - Cool.
Cool is the 6th studio album by Seela, a veteran Austin singer/songwriter/performer and back-up singer. Though she’s always had deep involvement in the recording process in the past, she has also always had a producer to fall back on. This time Seela took the reins and self-produced the record she wanted to hear.
The songs, some she has been playing live for years, pay no loyalty to any particular style but are the result of her many influences: The Police, Spoon, Anita O’ Day, Heart, Steely Dan, and Bowie to name a few. Pop, Rock, Folk, Gospel and Jazz have all been a part of her 20+ year career as an Austin musician and Cool lets it show.
Backed by her solid-as-a-rock drummer/husband Jon Greene (Patty Griffin, Fastball, Jaimee Harris), her nephew Andrew Casile on guitar, Andrew Pressman (Jimmy LaFave, Nancy & Beth, Anthony DaCosta) on bass, as well as an impressive handful of Austin’s finest, Seela and engineer Britton Beisenherz have created a lush and catchy thirteen-track universe. With gorgeous harmonies and the occasional playful treatment, each song on Cool hits all the right spots.
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Teenanger - Touching Glass.
Toronto's post-punk/new wave group, Teenanger are now sharing their new BBC 6 Music-tipped single, 'Touching Glass’ as well as announcing details of their new record, Good Time which is out October 2 via Telephone Explosion (Pantayo, Deliluh).
Good Time comes on the heels of the band's 2017 self-titled record that found touring buddies in the likes of METZ, Dilly Dally, Ancient Shapes (Daniel Romano's project), Dish Pit and more with the band pushing into the US and mainland Europe. 'Touching Glass' is perhaps my favourite cut from the new record marking a sonic change for the group with them finding something more agile and pop-focused without becoming too shiny/overly-polished. Lyrically the track comes from vocalist Melissa Ball's concern with technology and spending too much time swiping on her phone – the track gets its name quite literally from the action!
Teenanger have procured something of a legendary status in Toronto having existed for just over a decade and pushing out a number of albums in that time – they are doing something super unique in the city's scene both in terms of their sound and also with the fiercely DIY approach that they take to writing/recording music. A testament to this aesthetic, they rented a basement apartment from Craigslist with an advertisement that read "Music. OK" (and not much else) and moved their gear into the front room, fashioning their own recording studio in an adjacent bedroom.
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Monday, 13 July 2020
Illuminati Hotties - Violent Vickie - Ketch Harbour Wolves
It's almost a case of "gotta love the song title, gotta love the song" and with Illuminati Hotties and 'will i get cancelled if i write a song called ‘if you were a man you’d be so cancelled' that resonates well and with this short blast of punk attitude, the new album is extremely anticipated. === Violent Vickie was featured here for the first time in May and it's a big welcome back with 'The Blame' her new single where the Dark Synth Riot Girl once again delivers and impresses with class. === Ketch Harbour Wolves have shared 'Little Magic' from their brand new album 'Avalon' and this well established band continue to create gorgeous indie music that exudes personable feeling with high quality musical landscapes.
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Illuminati Hotties - will i get cancelled if i write a song called ‘if you were a man you’d be so cancelled.
Coming off their critically acclaimed 2018 debut Kiss Yr Frenemies, tour-tight and ready to funnel those skills into festival dates and their second record, L.A.’s illuminati hotties instead found themselves in an immovable contract with a publicly collapsing record label. Songwriter and producer Sarah Tudzin began to write her way through contract purgatory, channeling personal and global anxieties into a vibrant mixtape filled with themes of aggression, claustrophobia and loss. As the mugshot-centric album art cheekily informs, this is NOT the record you’ve been waiting for (though you’ll hear that one soon). This is FREE IH.
The first track off FREE IH, “will i get cancelled if i write a song called ‘if you were a man you’d be so cancelled,’” is streaming everywhere and pre-orders for the LP are available now. Though it was tracked locally between drummer Tim Kmet’s rehearsal space and Tudzin’s home, FREE IH sounds like an homage to the bands you’d catch on club stages during a sleepless, electrifying cross-country tour. It’s a product of Sarah’s wide array of influences, ranging from snotty Californian forebears Dead Kennedys and Black Flag to the innovation and bravado of Death Grips and Cardi B.
It’s an instant cult classic, too––or should I say, it’s an occult classic. Last week a SoundCloud leaked under the name Occult Classic featuring the 12 songs on FREE IH, fans went into a frenzy. Soaking in the sheer audacity of one of the year’s best and most surprising records being released out of nowhere while also trying to work together to figure out who the mystery band was, they got a mere 24 hours with FREE IH before the link went dark again.
The LA-based band helmed by songwriter and producer Sarah Tudzin made waves with 2018’s Kiss Yr Frenemies, a debut of quirky, poppy rock lovingly fan-dubbed as “tenderpunk.” The record brought illuminati hotties critical acclaim and tour dates alongside contemporary heavyweights PUP and Lucy Dacus, pulling Tudzin away from the recording studio where she’s built up her C.V. engineering and mixing for artists like Weyes Blood, Slowdive and The Kills.
And while a follow-up record does loom on the horizon, someday... FREE IH plays an essential role in the illuminati hotties story; a giddy and meticulous document of a band that’s ready for what’s next, and making beyond-catchy music while they wait.
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Violent Vickie - The Blame.
After being featured on The Electricity Club, Radio Wigwam, and Discovering Bands for her last single "Circle Square", Violent Vickie returns with "The Blame", a distorted synth and guitar driven track about letting go of an unhealthy relationship. The third single from her upcoming Division LP, The Blame is reminiscent of the sounds of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sleater Kinney, Sonic Youth and Le Tigre.
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 supported 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. Violent Vickie’s “Division” LP will be out in September of 2020 on Crunch Pod.
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Ketch Harbour Wolves - Little Magic.
Ocean fog. A city in decay. The dark humid valley that whispers ominous tales of impossible love. These place-specific images, evoked through personal narratives and set alight by driving indie-rock arrangements, have been the signature of Toronto/Hamilton based Ketch Harbour Wolves since their formation in 2007.
The band’s fourth studio release explores themes of social upheaval, love and loss, economic collapse, exile and mid-life crisis. “Avalon” is at once a utopia, a tarnished mirror, a possible future, a place of renewal and a swan song. The album began as the third instalment of the band’s Queen City project, exploring Toronto’s psycho-geography through song. Recorded and produced by Ketch Harbour Wolves over a painstaking 5-year period, reworked and then re-recorded, the album evolved from a short selection of location-based songs into a dense full-length effort capturing the band’s mature sound in 12 tracks. The record moves through an eclectic mix of genres, from the impassioned electric rock of “Reptilian” and synthetic dance of “Fever Shed,” to the slow atmospheric build of “Exodus” and intimate anthemics of “Little Magic” and “Yours, Still”.
Now in their 14th year, with a string of 3 critically acclaimed records to their name, “Avalon” exhibits the band writing and performing from the rung of life on which they stand, striving for sincerity and unconcerned with risking pretentiousness. The album was released July 10, 2020 on Dead Calm Records (independent). Ketch Harbour Wolves are Jonathan Tyrrell (lead vocals/synth/guitar), Liam Brown (guitar/vocals), Scott Winter (bass), and Brian Urbanik (percussion).
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Illuminati Hotties - will i get cancelled if i write a song called ‘if you were a man you’d be so cancelled.
Coming off their critically acclaimed 2018 debut Kiss Yr Frenemies, tour-tight and ready to funnel those skills into festival dates and their second record, L.A.’s illuminati hotties instead found themselves in an immovable contract with a publicly collapsing record label. Songwriter and producer Sarah Tudzin began to write her way through contract purgatory, channeling personal and global anxieties into a vibrant mixtape filled with themes of aggression, claustrophobia and loss. As the mugshot-centric album art cheekily informs, this is NOT the record you’ve been waiting for (though you’ll hear that one soon). This is FREE IH.
The first track off FREE IH, “will i get cancelled if i write a song called ‘if you were a man you’d be so cancelled,’” is streaming everywhere and pre-orders for the LP are available now. Though it was tracked locally between drummer Tim Kmet’s rehearsal space and Tudzin’s home, FREE IH sounds like an homage to the bands you’d catch on club stages during a sleepless, electrifying cross-country tour. It’s a product of Sarah’s wide array of influences, ranging from snotty Californian forebears Dead Kennedys and Black Flag to the innovation and bravado of Death Grips and Cardi B.
It’s an instant cult classic, too––or should I say, it’s an occult classic. Last week a SoundCloud leaked under the name Occult Classic featuring the 12 songs on FREE IH, fans went into a frenzy. Soaking in the sheer audacity of one of the year’s best and most surprising records being released out of nowhere while also trying to work together to figure out who the mystery band was, they got a mere 24 hours with FREE IH before the link went dark again.
The LA-based band helmed by songwriter and producer Sarah Tudzin made waves with 2018’s Kiss Yr Frenemies, a debut of quirky, poppy rock lovingly fan-dubbed as “tenderpunk.” The record brought illuminati hotties critical acclaim and tour dates alongside contemporary heavyweights PUP and Lucy Dacus, pulling Tudzin away from the recording studio where she’s built up her C.V. engineering and mixing for artists like Weyes Blood, Slowdive and The Kills.
And while a follow-up record does loom on the horizon, someday... FREE IH plays an essential role in the illuminati hotties story; a giddy and meticulous document of a band that’s ready for what’s next, and making beyond-catchy music while they wait.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Violent Vickie - The Blame.
After being featured on The Electricity Club, Radio Wigwam, and Discovering Bands for her last single "Circle Square", Violent Vickie returns with "The Blame", a distorted synth and guitar driven track about letting go of an unhealthy relationship. The third single from her upcoming Division LP, The Blame is reminiscent of the sounds of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sleater Kinney, Sonic Youth and Le Tigre.
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 supported 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. Violent Vickie’s “Division” LP will be out in September of 2020 on Crunch Pod.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ketch Harbour Wolves - Little Magic.
Ocean fog. A city in decay. The dark humid valley that whispers ominous tales of impossible love. These place-specific images, evoked through personal narratives and set alight by driving indie-rock arrangements, have been the signature of Toronto/Hamilton based Ketch Harbour Wolves since their formation in 2007.
The band’s fourth studio release explores themes of social upheaval, love and loss, economic collapse, exile and mid-life crisis. “Avalon” is at once a utopia, a tarnished mirror, a possible future, a place of renewal and a swan song. The album began as the third instalment of the band’s Queen City project, exploring Toronto’s psycho-geography through song. Recorded and produced by Ketch Harbour Wolves over a painstaking 5-year period, reworked and then re-recorded, the album evolved from a short selection of location-based songs into a dense full-length effort capturing the band’s mature sound in 12 tracks. The record moves through an eclectic mix of genres, from the impassioned electric rock of “Reptilian” and synthetic dance of “Fever Shed,” to the slow atmospheric build of “Exodus” and intimate anthemics of “Little Magic” and “Yours, Still”.
Now in their 14th year, with a string of 3 critically acclaimed records to their name, “Avalon” exhibits the band writing and performing from the rung of life on which they stand, striving for sincerity and unconcerned with risking pretentiousness. The album was released July 10, 2020 on Dead Calm Records (independent). Ketch Harbour Wolves are Jonathan Tyrrell (lead vocals/synth/guitar), Liam Brown (guitar/vocals), Scott Winter (bass), and Brian Urbanik (percussion).
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Saturday, 11 July 2020
Planet For Sale - Hailey Whitters - Xanthe Alexis - Big Little Lions
Planet For Sale share 'Old Father Time' which has a gentle rock vibe and notable vocals, the band enjoy a cult following in Iran, what other band can claim that! === Hailey Whitters has a new video for her stunning song 'Janice At The Hotel Bar' it's one of those Nashville tracks that just needs an immediate second listen. === From Xanthe Alexis we have 'Compass' and the indie artist really impresses both vocally, lyrically and through the understated musical arrangement. === Big Little Lions have released 'It's Amazing' ahead of a new E.P and the dual vocals and harmonies are gorgeous from this creative pair.
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Planet For Sale - Old Father Time.
Planet For Sale are a Brighton based musical universe whose artful fusion of rock and blues is a mix of compelling lyrical imagery, incendiary guitar solos and trippy psychedelia. They are the anguished sound of the feverish fire sale that’s happening on planet Earth, this tiny rock hurtling through the vastness of space.
Planet For Sale was formed in 2017 by British-Iranian singer/songwriter Rooz Golpa, nephew of Akbar Golpa, the celebrated Persian vocalist whose career of more than 50 years earned him a legendary status in Iran and a Golden Rose for his worldwide contribution to music.
Planet For Sale were the first band in Iran to debut original music performed/sung in English since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and enjoy a cult following in the country. As a music student in Brighton’s Northbrook College, Rooz fell into a heated musical debate with fellow students Jim Cannings and Jamie Snelling, only to discover that they were all able to connect the dots between 1960s Brit Rock, Led Zeppelin, Abba and Joy Division.
Planet For Sale released their debut album Earth in 2018 and continue to perform regularly in clubs across the South East.
Planet For Sale's musical inspirations include The War On Drugs, Delta Blues, The Beatles and Sigrid. With their wide range of musical inspirations, PFS’s ambition is to create their own musical universe where the “odd misfits of the working-class regime can dream.”
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Hailey Whitters - Janice At The Hotel Bar.
Iowa-born, Nashville-based artist and singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters has released the official music video for “Janice at the Hotel Bar,” a standout track from her critically-acclaimed album The Dream that was named a “Song You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone and included on in Paste Magazine’s “The 25 Best Songs of 2020 (So Far)" list.
The video was directed by Erica Silverman, in partnership with creative director Harper Smith, and shot on location in Austin, TX.
“Given that this song was based on a real encounter with an 80-something-year-old woman named Janice, we felt it was important to keep it as rich visually as it is lyrically,” Whitters explains. “Erica and Harper were able to capture the individual eccentricities that make up the collective female experience in living a life well-lived.”
Recently, American Songwriter and Paste Magazine both spotlighted THE DREAM on their “Best Albums of 2020 (So Far)” lists, while SPIN marked “All The Cool Girls” on their list of “The 50 Best Songs of 2020 (So Far).” The Washington Post called THE DREAM “the year’s deepest country album,” and Pitchfork included it on a list of “Great Records You May Have Missed.”
The video release follows a recent feature in Rolling Stone that announced Whitters’ new partnership with Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters – Nashville’s first-of-its-kind female-driven label formed by Big Loud Records and BMI Songwriter of the Year (2019) Nicolle Galyon. Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters will continue marketing and promotion of THE DREAM, which was originally self-released via her label Pigasus Records.
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Xanthe Alexis - Compass.
Whether she’s guiding patients to recovery as a trauma therapist or transporting audiences to transcendence as an acclaimed indie artist, Xanthe Alexis has devoted her life to healing others, and her extraordinary new album, ‘The Offering’ (out 8/21), is no exception.
Recorded in Alexis’s adopted hometown of Colorado Springs, the record pairs soaring melodies with lush, hypnotic soundscapes as it grapples with anxiety and strength, worry and comfort, heartbreak and hope. Hinting at everything from Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten to Julien Baker and Feist, it’s a deeply compassionate, unflinchingly honesty collection, one that finds Alexis baring her most vulnerable self in a timely and much-needed act of radical empathy and connection.
Keep an eye out for an upcoming spotlight from Seattle NPR station KEXP, and take an early listen to lead single “Compass” (out 7/21), which prompted American Songwriter to rave that “her voice is somehow burnt at the edges. Her melodies yellowed from years in the light. But there is something so fundamental about taking in the stuff word by word.”
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Big Little Lions - It's Amazing.
Big Little Lions have spent the past few months writing and recording a brand new EP full of songs inspired by the current times. Are We There Yet? will be released on July 23rd.
Although these are much different times, Big Little Lions have been used to recording remotely - it's what they've always done!
Helen is based in BC and Paul is based in Ohio. With the lack of touring they dove into recording a new album and this is the result.
This week they released a video for their single from the album It's Amazing. Including a new video.
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Planet For Sale - Old Father Time.
Planet For Sale are a Brighton based musical universe whose artful fusion of rock and blues is a mix of compelling lyrical imagery, incendiary guitar solos and trippy psychedelia. They are the anguished sound of the feverish fire sale that’s happening on planet Earth, this tiny rock hurtling through the vastness of space.
Planet For Sale was formed in 2017 by British-Iranian singer/songwriter Rooz Golpa, nephew of Akbar Golpa, the celebrated Persian vocalist whose career of more than 50 years earned him a legendary status in Iran and a Golden Rose for his worldwide contribution to music.
Planet For Sale were the first band in Iran to debut original music performed/sung in English since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and enjoy a cult following in the country. As a music student in Brighton’s Northbrook College, Rooz fell into a heated musical debate with fellow students Jim Cannings and Jamie Snelling, only to discover that they were all able to connect the dots between 1960s Brit Rock, Led Zeppelin, Abba and Joy Division.
Planet For Sale released their debut album Earth in 2018 and continue to perform regularly in clubs across the South East.
Planet For Sale's musical inspirations include The War On Drugs, Delta Blues, The Beatles and Sigrid. With their wide range of musical inspirations, PFS’s ambition is to create their own musical universe where the “odd misfits of the working-class regime can dream.”
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Hailey Whitters - Janice At The Hotel Bar.
Iowa-born, Nashville-based artist and singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters has released the official music video for “Janice at the Hotel Bar,” a standout track from her critically-acclaimed album The Dream that was named a “Song You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone and included on in Paste Magazine’s “The 25 Best Songs of 2020 (So Far)" list.
The video was directed by Erica Silverman, in partnership with creative director Harper Smith, and shot on location in Austin, TX.
“Given that this song was based on a real encounter with an 80-something-year-old woman named Janice, we felt it was important to keep it as rich visually as it is lyrically,” Whitters explains. “Erica and Harper were able to capture the individual eccentricities that make up the collective female experience in living a life well-lived.”
Recently, American Songwriter and Paste Magazine both spotlighted THE DREAM on their “Best Albums of 2020 (So Far)” lists, while SPIN marked “All The Cool Girls” on their list of “The 50 Best Songs of 2020 (So Far).” The Washington Post called THE DREAM “the year’s deepest country album,” and Pitchfork included it on a list of “Great Records You May Have Missed.”
The video release follows a recent feature in Rolling Stone that announced Whitters’ new partnership with Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters – Nashville’s first-of-its-kind female-driven label formed by Big Loud Records and BMI Songwriter of the Year (2019) Nicolle Galyon. Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters will continue marketing and promotion of THE DREAM, which was originally self-released via her label Pigasus Records.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xanthe Alexis - Compass.
Whether she’s guiding patients to recovery as a trauma therapist or transporting audiences to transcendence as an acclaimed indie artist, Xanthe Alexis has devoted her life to healing others, and her extraordinary new album, ‘The Offering’ (out 8/21), is no exception.
Recorded in Alexis’s adopted hometown of Colorado Springs, the record pairs soaring melodies with lush, hypnotic soundscapes as it grapples with anxiety and strength, worry and comfort, heartbreak and hope. Hinting at everything from Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten to Julien Baker and Feist, it’s a deeply compassionate, unflinchingly honesty collection, one that finds Alexis baring her most vulnerable self in a timely and much-needed act of radical empathy and connection.
Keep an eye out for an upcoming spotlight from Seattle NPR station KEXP, and take an early listen to lead single “Compass” (out 7/21), which prompted American Songwriter to rave that “her voice is somehow burnt at the edges. Her melodies yellowed from years in the light. But there is something so fundamental about taking in the stuff word by word.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big Little Lions - It's Amazing.
Big Little Lions have spent the past few months writing and recording a brand new EP full of songs inspired by the current times. Are We There Yet? will be released on July 23rd.
Although these are much different times, Big Little Lions have been used to recording remotely - it's what they've always done!
Helen is based in BC and Paul is based in Ohio. With the lack of touring they dove into recording a new album and this is the result.
This week they released a video for their single from the album It's Amazing. Including a new video.
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Friday, 10 July 2020
The Jayhawks - The Commander In Chief - Lara Taubman - Ci Gofod - KEYS
The Jayhawks have released their album XOXO today and taken from it we have the new single 'Bitter Pill' with the bands thirty year track record of creating great music remaining easily intact. === We featured The Commander In Chief in May with two songs 'Non Si Sa Mai' and 'The Manager' both taken from her brand new album 'Berit Vol.2' which is released this week, she also shared 'The Lockdown' recently which is another example of The Commanders exceptional talent. === From New York we have a new album 'Revelation' by Outlaw Folk Americana Musician Lara Taubman it's streaming in full below and put simply it's a gorgeous collection of wonderful songs. === Ci Gofod shared 'TV Screens' today and it's accompanied with a fine video that does justice to this very catchy song. === We featured KEYS twice last year and now have their new single 'This Side Of Luv' to enjoy, described by the band as an "attempt at joyous early 70’s Midlands pop" that description kinda makes sense.
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The Jayhawks - Bitter Pill.
The Jayhawks have released “Bitter Pill,” the latest song from the band’s most collaborative album to date – XOXO, out today July 10 via Sham/Thirty Tigers. Written by Gary Louris, Tim O’Reagan and Karen Grotberg, “Bitter Pill” is a harmony-rich, infectious new track that illustrates the never-ending search for happiness. Parade featured it last week, praising the “sweet and sorrowful tune that captures the heart and moves the soul.” The Jayhawks also appeared on this weekend’s CBS This Morning: Saturday, performing two songs off the new album, “This Forgotten Town” and “Living In A Bubble,” in addition to their 2018 song “Gonna Be A Darkness.”
"This is a rare example of me writing a story song,” Louris explains. “I tend towards stream of consciousness writing, but 'Bitter Pill' is a linear lyric that explores the tendency for some of always searching for the next fix of happiness, the missing piece...never being happy with what one has. It is really a continuation on the theme of my song 'Lovers Of The Sun' from our Paging Mr. Proust album. It is a theme that hits close to home for me. And the song really blossomed when my old pal and forever Jayhawk Stephen McCarthy played such beautiful and blistering B-Bender guitar on it.”
After 30 years together, The Jayhawks have delivered their most diverse and wide-ranging set of songs to date. XOXO marks a new era for the band, with all four members contributing to lead vocals and songwriting for the first time. Showcasing The Jayhawks’ unrelenting ability to evolve while staying true to their authentic sound, the new album reminds us why they continue to be such an influential and respected band. XOXO has already garnered early coverage from MOJO, HuffPost, BrooklynVegan, Billboard and Rolling Stone, who praised the opening track “This Forgotten Town” as a “jangly roots-pop gem.”
Carrying on their success since returning to the core members from the late-90’s lineup, The Jayhawks released Paging Mr. Proust in 2016 and Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim. The culmination of five years spent growing even more together, XOXO is a sonically and emotionally cohesive album that stands as a testament to the band’s consistent forward motion.
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The Commander In Chief - The Lockdown.
Internationally acclaimed, trail blazing 7 string guitar virtuoso,singer, songwriter and pianist “The Commander In Chief” is releasing her much awaited new album; “Berit, Vol. 2” on July 9, 2020. It’s the 2nd album in a series of 4, with new, original music.
As always, it is impossible to place her album in just one genre, as it has elements reminiscent of the great rock bands of the -70s, European pop and her very own mix of catchy hooks and innovative songwriting. Her smooth electric guitar-sound, blistering guitar technique and dramatic piano arrangements give the listener a taste of her virtuosity, without giving into the temptation of showing off, as the main instrument on these “acoustic” albums is her four octaves, soulful, crystal clear, Norwegian voice.
By brilliant use of humour, satire and self irony, The Commander In Chief stands tall like a lighthouse, beaming confident rays of hope, laughter and compassion to a world engulfed in the darkness of political correctness; where everyone is afraid of offending someone - no matter how innocent their intentions are. She reminds us how important it is to be able to laugh at ourselves, and be humble, as she does with the songs “Messin’ It Up,” “Change of Seasons” and “The Manager.”
She assures us that even when we find ourselves under attack by evil forces, or when facing the potentially devastating consequences of someone else’s wrong decision, there is a way to turn something horrible into something funny, by looking at it through the lens of dark humour, as she does in the very personal songs “Trailer Trash” and “Go Back To Norway.” In those 2 songs she introduces her brother, William, as the voice actor and background singer.
She displays her big heart and compassion in the heartbreakingly beautiful “The Lockdown” - dedicated to everyone affected by the Corona Virus, and she challenges us all to do more in “So He Set Out Walking.” In the only Italian song on the album, she asks the big questions about life. See the video for “Non Si Sa Mai” here.
As always, there was no use of Auto Tune, or other means of “lack of talent compensation,” on “Berit, Vol.2.” While she has been a trailblazer with international success in heavy metal and classical crossover music; with TV show appearances, viral videos and major press, this is - perhaps - her most important release. It comes at a time when humour itself is under relentless attack, and artists no longer know what to do or what to say.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lara Taubman - Revelation (Album).
New York-based Outlaw Folk Americana Musician Lara Taubman's new album 'Revelation' represents a momentous rite of passage for the artist (both physically and spiritually).
Following an inner nudge, Lara travelled to record the album in Wolfe Island, Canada with Wolfe Island Records founder and producer Hugh Christopher Brown. She's still following that nudge, using her music and lyrics as alchemy while working through emotional pain and trauma.
With a signature sound that is all authenticity and effortlessly classic, Lara Taubman's haunting lyrics and melodies should appeal to fans of artists like Gillian Welch and Joni Mitchell.
From the Artist: “Revelation” is about my journey to heal through making music. Following a call to begin singing five years ago led me to a series of fortuitous events that created this album. Music always saved me, now I hope to return the favor. Due today July 10th on all platforms, "Revelation" will also be available on vinyl.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ci Gofod - TV Screens.
Ci Gofod is a bedroom project nested in the valleys of South Wales, although I have become familiar with the local scene, I have tried to utilise as much time as i could writing and recording any material that I could. What may make this project different is that I still have made it a goal to collaborate.
So, while still isolated, I have ensured to use the magic of technology to make frequent collaborations (while distanced of course). With this release we see a guest appearance from Lloyd Bastian from the band Pseudo Cool.
The new release is about monotony and I try to reflect this in the songwriting. The tune begins modest with a repetitive riff, but as the song draws to a close there is an explosion of sound. I hope that the ever changing dynamic of the song is worth your time.
This project has had great acclaim from the BBC, such as getting frequent airplay on BBC Radio Wales and hopes to turn heads with this latest release, particularly you of course.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEYS - This Side Of Luv.
“The hiss is another instrument” and it’s an instrument integral to the new recordings, sounds and songs by KEYS. Over the next few weeks we will be unveiling the latest collection of songs by the band, as Matthew Evans vocals / guitar / songwriter explains: “We recorded these tracks on Cassette four track machines during lockdown. Let’s not pretend we had access to an expensive studio, we didn’t.
It was a time to connect with bedroom songwriting again. These are not band arrangements worked out in a rehearsal room – these were written and recorded simultaneously. Not demos but songs that took shape during the "recording process.”
The hiss of the cassette turning is the sound of the endless possibilities and magic of the pop song spilling out in vivid colours at the exact moment inspiration took hold. No second guessing or over thinking, only the joy of creating.
A perfect example of this is the first single ‘This Side of Luv’. “This was our attempt at joyous early 70’s Midlands pop. 3-day weeks, winters of discontent, a Tory government…yet out of that bleakness came some heroic, ecstatic British pop music.
Music has the power to lift the spirit, if we can do that for 3 and a half minutes then we’ll feel our efforts were not in vain.” Matthew summarises this collection of songs, also written in trying times, as: “something to help us get through this lockdown. Hopefully you can use it too.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Jayhawks - Bitter Pill.
The Jayhawks have released “Bitter Pill,” the latest song from the band’s most collaborative album to date – XOXO, out today July 10 via Sham/Thirty Tigers. Written by Gary Louris, Tim O’Reagan and Karen Grotberg, “Bitter Pill” is a harmony-rich, infectious new track that illustrates the never-ending search for happiness. Parade featured it last week, praising the “sweet and sorrowful tune that captures the heart and moves the soul.” The Jayhawks also appeared on this weekend’s CBS This Morning: Saturday, performing two songs off the new album, “This Forgotten Town” and “Living In A Bubble,” in addition to their 2018 song “Gonna Be A Darkness.”
"This is a rare example of me writing a story song,” Louris explains. “I tend towards stream of consciousness writing, but 'Bitter Pill' is a linear lyric that explores the tendency for some of always searching for the next fix of happiness, the missing piece...never being happy with what one has. It is really a continuation on the theme of my song 'Lovers Of The Sun' from our Paging Mr. Proust album. It is a theme that hits close to home for me. And the song really blossomed when my old pal and forever Jayhawk Stephen McCarthy played such beautiful and blistering B-Bender guitar on it.”
After 30 years together, The Jayhawks have delivered their most diverse and wide-ranging set of songs to date. XOXO marks a new era for the band, with all four members contributing to lead vocals and songwriting for the first time. Showcasing The Jayhawks’ unrelenting ability to evolve while staying true to their authentic sound, the new album reminds us why they continue to be such an influential and respected band. XOXO has already garnered early coverage from MOJO, HuffPost, BrooklynVegan, Billboard and Rolling Stone, who praised the opening track “This Forgotten Town” as a “jangly roots-pop gem.”
Carrying on their success since returning to the core members from the late-90’s lineup, The Jayhawks released Paging Mr. Proust in 2016 and Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim. The culmination of five years spent growing even more together, XOXO is a sonically and emotionally cohesive album that stands as a testament to the band’s consistent forward motion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Commander In Chief - The Lockdown.
Internationally acclaimed, trail blazing 7 string guitar virtuoso,singer, songwriter and pianist “The Commander In Chief” is releasing her much awaited new album; “Berit, Vol. 2” on July 9, 2020. It’s the 2nd album in a series of 4, with new, original music.
As always, it is impossible to place her album in just one genre, as it has elements reminiscent of the great rock bands of the -70s, European pop and her very own mix of catchy hooks and innovative songwriting. Her smooth electric guitar-sound, blistering guitar technique and dramatic piano arrangements give the listener a taste of her virtuosity, without giving into the temptation of showing off, as the main instrument on these “acoustic” albums is her four octaves, soulful, crystal clear, Norwegian voice.
By brilliant use of humour, satire and self irony, The Commander In Chief stands tall like a lighthouse, beaming confident rays of hope, laughter and compassion to a world engulfed in the darkness of political correctness; where everyone is afraid of offending someone - no matter how innocent their intentions are. She reminds us how important it is to be able to laugh at ourselves, and be humble, as she does with the songs “Messin’ It Up,” “Change of Seasons” and “The Manager.”
She assures us that even when we find ourselves under attack by evil forces, or when facing the potentially devastating consequences of someone else’s wrong decision, there is a way to turn something horrible into something funny, by looking at it through the lens of dark humour, as she does in the very personal songs “Trailer Trash” and “Go Back To Norway.” In those 2 songs she introduces her brother, William, as the voice actor and background singer.
She displays her big heart and compassion in the heartbreakingly beautiful “The Lockdown” - dedicated to everyone affected by the Corona Virus, and she challenges us all to do more in “So He Set Out Walking.” In the only Italian song on the album, she asks the big questions about life. See the video for “Non Si Sa Mai” here.
As always, there was no use of Auto Tune, or other means of “lack of talent compensation,” on “Berit, Vol.2.” While she has been a trailblazer with international success in heavy metal and classical crossover music; with TV show appearances, viral videos and major press, this is - perhaps - her most important release. It comes at a time when humour itself is under relentless attack, and artists no longer know what to do or what to say.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lara Taubman - Revelation (Album).
New York-based Outlaw Folk Americana Musician Lara Taubman's new album 'Revelation' represents a momentous rite of passage for the artist (both physically and spiritually).
Following an inner nudge, Lara travelled to record the album in Wolfe Island, Canada with Wolfe Island Records founder and producer Hugh Christopher Brown. She's still following that nudge, using her music and lyrics as alchemy while working through emotional pain and trauma.
With a signature sound that is all authenticity and effortlessly classic, Lara Taubman's haunting lyrics and melodies should appeal to fans of artists like Gillian Welch and Joni Mitchell.
From the Artist: “Revelation” is about my journey to heal through making music. Following a call to begin singing five years ago led me to a series of fortuitous events that created this album. Music always saved me, now I hope to return the favor. Due today July 10th on all platforms, "Revelation" will also be available on vinyl.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ci Gofod - TV Screens.
Ci Gofod is a bedroom project nested in the valleys of South Wales, although I have become familiar with the local scene, I have tried to utilise as much time as i could writing and recording any material that I could. What may make this project different is that I still have made it a goal to collaborate.
So, while still isolated, I have ensured to use the magic of technology to make frequent collaborations (while distanced of course). With this release we see a guest appearance from Lloyd Bastian from the band Pseudo Cool.
The new release is about monotony and I try to reflect this in the songwriting. The tune begins modest with a repetitive riff, but as the song draws to a close there is an explosion of sound. I hope that the ever changing dynamic of the song is worth your time.
This project has had great acclaim from the BBC, such as getting frequent airplay on BBC Radio Wales and hopes to turn heads with this latest release, particularly you of course.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEYS - This Side Of Luv.
“The hiss is another instrument” and it’s an instrument integral to the new recordings, sounds and songs by KEYS. Over the next few weeks we will be unveiling the latest collection of songs by the band, as Matthew Evans vocals / guitar / songwriter explains: “We recorded these tracks on Cassette four track machines during lockdown. Let’s not pretend we had access to an expensive studio, we didn’t.
It was a time to connect with bedroom songwriting again. These are not band arrangements worked out in a rehearsal room – these were written and recorded simultaneously. Not demos but songs that took shape during the "recording process.”
The hiss of the cassette turning is the sound of the endless possibilities and magic of the pop song spilling out in vivid colours at the exact moment inspiration took hold. No second guessing or over thinking, only the joy of creating.
A perfect example of this is the first single ‘This Side of Luv’. “This was our attempt at joyous early 70’s Midlands pop. 3-day weeks, winters of discontent, a Tory government…yet out of that bleakness came some heroic, ecstatic British pop music.
Music has the power to lift the spirit, if we can do that for 3 and a half minutes then we’ll feel our efforts were not in vain.” Matthew summarises this collection of songs, also written in trying times, as: “something to help us get through this lockdown. Hopefully you can use it too.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 8 July 2020
Miesha and The Spanks - Macajey - Gasoline Lollipops - PainKillers
Miesha and The Spanks have released 'Unstoppable' and the "high octane garage rock description" is well deserved and considering that they have been around since 2008, the energy levels are something else. === Macajey shares 'Mornin' which is a melodic and fresh indie song, with a beautiful vibe running throughout. === Gasoline Lollipops have shared the title track from their next album 'All The Misery Money Can Buy' due in September, it's a slick mixture of Americana and refined rock that bodes well for the album. === PainKillers brand new song 'Live Your Dreams' starts out gently enough, but hold on to your hats, this builds with musical layers and some feisty passion.
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Miesha and The Spanks - Unstoppable.
Miesha & The Spanks are a high octane garage rock duo from Calgary AB, made up of rock n roll matriarch Miesha Louie and her partner in crime, the hardest hitting Sean Hamilton on drums. Together they draw inspiration from classics like The Runaways, L7, and The Buzzcocks to create some modern noise that’s catchy enough to raise a fist and sing along.
Noise Journal describes them as “a filthy rocket of pure jet-fuel up the nostril, with surf rock sensibilities, a grunge groove and hair metal swagger,” while Canadian Beats called their last album “reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age meets The Animals – a certain coolness about it, making it impossible to forget.”
They’ve made a name for themselves as a band that really goes for it. Since Miesha created The Spanks in 2008, she’s opened every door, and taken advantage of each opportunity that’s come her way. Tour after tour down Canadian highway to play every small town and big city, with as many drummers as are up to the task, until landing someone crazy enough to stick around.
While the Covid-19 pandemic did slow down production, Miesha & The Spanks have put their full weight behind first single "Unstoppable" – a juggernaut garage rock banger, reminding us that sometimes head first, full throttle, is the only way to get it done.
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Macajey - Mornin'.
Mornin’ is a new track by Macajey that aims to give a template of a day, one that for him personally, would be perfect. “One thought to start the day, breath in and out. Easily. Freely” sets the tone for the whole day with a sense of calm. “2 steps, you’re on your way.
It’s not so hard. Keep it simple, and a little bit mystical”, life doesn’t have to be so hard it can in fact be simple, and always allowing room for unexpected surprises to come into your life. So in one moment, let some peace in, give a kiss to your loved ones, and just for now, don’t think and have a little hope.
Macajey's music has been described as organic, uplifting psychedelic, folktronica with emotional ranges from energetic, feel- good dance tracks to transcendental, sonic meditations. The music is infused with the landscape tones of his two home bases; the dry mirage laden heat of California summers and the dim lit winters of Estonia.
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Gasoline Lollipops - All The Misery Money Can Buy.
On their web site, the Gasoline Lollipops slot themselves among the alt-country crowd, and the rock crowd, and the Americana crowd. It’s not that they can’t make up their minds, it’s that they don’t concern themselves with being pigeonholed, so you needn’t either.
“For so long I thought we had to have a genre,” says front man/songwriter/visionary Clay Rose. “At first it was a cow-punk band, then I needed a rock band, then a folk rock band, then I needed a country band, then I needed an Americana band. But I guess coloring inside the lines is not in my cards.” Bully for that. Outside the lines is where things get interesting.
It’s a necessary evil to liken an artist to a better-known commodity, so how about the Jayhawks (with balls) and Nick Drake? Tom Petty and Leonard Cohen meeting for coffee. James McMurtry remaking the Black Crowes in his own image. A side-salad of Muscle Shoals with a tangy dash of Stax. Yadda yadda. Short answer, the Gas Pops sound like the United States of America.
The songs on their new album, All the Misery Money Can Buy (due out on September 11, 2020 on Soundly Music), back it up. In sturdy, hard-bitten, no-nonsense elegies, Clay takes snapshots of dusty wanderlust. It’s all masterfully concise, with 11 songs populated by restless souls who live entire lives in three minutes, mining triumph out of desperation, chasing the American Dream, and “choking on a pot of gold.” “What I took from Leonard Cohen was the value of a word,” Clay says, “If it’s not needed, it doesn’t go on the page. You whittle a lyric down to its essence, say it once, and that’s enough.”
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PainKillers - Live Your Dreams.
“Live Your Dreams” is the second single from the recent debut album “Storyteller” by the punk-rock band PainKillers.
The song is a Punk-Rock ballad arranged in a modern key, with sweet, melodic and at the same time scratchy sounds.
The album “Storyteller” from which the single is taken, recently released via Valery Records and distributed by Audioglobe, is available in the best record stores, on iTunes & Apple Music, on Spotify and on every streaming platform and digital stores.
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Miesha and The Spanks - Unstoppable.
Miesha & The Spanks are a high octane garage rock duo from Calgary AB, made up of rock n roll matriarch Miesha Louie and her partner in crime, the hardest hitting Sean Hamilton on drums. Together they draw inspiration from classics like The Runaways, L7, and The Buzzcocks to create some modern noise that’s catchy enough to raise a fist and sing along.
Noise Journal describes them as “a filthy rocket of pure jet-fuel up the nostril, with surf rock sensibilities, a grunge groove and hair metal swagger,” while Canadian Beats called their last album “reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age meets The Animals – a certain coolness about it, making it impossible to forget.”
They’ve made a name for themselves as a band that really goes for it. Since Miesha created The Spanks in 2008, she’s opened every door, and taken advantage of each opportunity that’s come her way. Tour after tour down Canadian highway to play every small town and big city, with as many drummers as are up to the task, until landing someone crazy enough to stick around.
While the Covid-19 pandemic did slow down production, Miesha & The Spanks have put their full weight behind first single "Unstoppable" – a juggernaut garage rock banger, reminding us that sometimes head first, full throttle, is the only way to get it done.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Macajey - Mornin'.
Mornin’ is a new track by Macajey that aims to give a template of a day, one that for him personally, would be perfect. “One thought to start the day, breath in and out. Easily. Freely” sets the tone for the whole day with a sense of calm. “2 steps, you’re on your way.
It’s not so hard. Keep it simple, and a little bit mystical”, life doesn’t have to be so hard it can in fact be simple, and always allowing room for unexpected surprises to come into your life. So in one moment, let some peace in, give a kiss to your loved ones, and just for now, don’t think and have a little hope.
Macajey's music has been described as organic, uplifting psychedelic, folktronica with emotional ranges from energetic, feel- good dance tracks to transcendental, sonic meditations. The music is infused with the landscape tones of his two home bases; the dry mirage laden heat of California summers and the dim lit winters of Estonia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gasoline Lollipops - All The Misery Money Can Buy.
On their web site, the Gasoline Lollipops slot themselves among the alt-country crowd, and the rock crowd, and the Americana crowd. It’s not that they can’t make up their minds, it’s that they don’t concern themselves with being pigeonholed, so you needn’t either.
“For so long I thought we had to have a genre,” says front man/songwriter/visionary Clay Rose. “At first it was a cow-punk band, then I needed a rock band, then a folk rock band, then I needed a country band, then I needed an Americana band. But I guess coloring inside the lines is not in my cards.” Bully for that. Outside the lines is where things get interesting.
It’s a necessary evil to liken an artist to a better-known commodity, so how about the Jayhawks (with balls) and Nick Drake? Tom Petty and Leonard Cohen meeting for coffee. James McMurtry remaking the Black Crowes in his own image. A side-salad of Muscle Shoals with a tangy dash of Stax. Yadda yadda. Short answer, the Gas Pops sound like the United States of America.
The songs on their new album, All the Misery Money Can Buy (due out on September 11, 2020 on Soundly Music), back it up. In sturdy, hard-bitten, no-nonsense elegies, Clay takes snapshots of dusty wanderlust. It’s all masterfully concise, with 11 songs populated by restless souls who live entire lives in three minutes, mining triumph out of desperation, chasing the American Dream, and “choking on a pot of gold.” “What I took from Leonard Cohen was the value of a word,” Clay says, “If it’s not needed, it doesn’t go on the page. You whittle a lyric down to its essence, say it once, and that’s enough.”
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PainKillers - Live Your Dreams.
“Live Your Dreams” is the second single from the recent debut album “Storyteller” by the punk-rock band PainKillers.
The song is a Punk-Rock ballad arranged in a modern key, with sweet, melodic and at the same time scratchy sounds.
The album “Storyteller” from which the single is taken, recently released via Valery Records and distributed by Audioglobe, is available in the best record stores, on iTunes & Apple Music, on Spotify and on every streaming platform and digital stores.
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Tuesday, 7 July 2020
sir Was and Casper Clausen - Sam Valdez
sir Was and Casper Clausen just released 'Flyder' and it's a creative beauty, with gliding vocals and a wonderful soundscape. === Just a week after featuring 'Clean' from Sam Valdez she returns with another gorgeous song entitled 'Toothache' and again her blend of genres (anything from Shoegaze to Americana) really impresses.
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sir Was and Casper Clausen - Flyder.
sir Was and Casper Clausen, singer of experimental Danish post-rockers Efterklang, yesterday released their collaboration ‘Flyder’ ( Floating). sir Was’ album ‘Holding on to a Dream’ and recent follow up EP ‘Letter’ have received praise and support worldwide from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, Radio Nova, KCRW, Double J, Complex, Les Inrocks and Notion. He headlined Scala in November and would have had a mainstage appearance at All Points East alongside Tame Impala and Caribou before the current lockdown.
Efterklang released their 6th studio album 'Altid Sammen' in Sep 2019 which was a welcome return for their multitudes of dedicated fans. They took the album on a sold out European and US tour peaking in a triumphant celebration at the stunning concert venue Elphilharmonie in Hamburg. Joel and Casper first met whilst in Berlin when they were both invited to be part of PEOPLE, a 7-day creative experience put together by and involving musicians including Beirut’s Zach Condon, Justin Vernon, Feist and the National’s Dessner brothers.
Casper recalls “It was a kinda love at first sight, Joel and I clicked and during that week of creation, we developed a friendship which led to many more hangs and recordings over the past couple of years. Joel joined the Efterklang recordings of our most recent album “Altid Sammen” last year and we also wrote the Efterklang song “Lyset” together in Joel’ studio in Gothenburg. I love writing music with Joel, his ability to frame a moment and his ear for melody, texture and groove is a rare treat to be around. We supplement each other well and we have a lot of fun making music together.”
‘Flyder’ started as a small sketch around the time when Joel went to join the Efterklang recordings in Copenhagen last year. After bouncing the song back and forth, between Gothenberg and Casper’s studio in Almada (looking across the bay to Lisbon), the song was finally finished off by Joel back in Gothenburg where he added his signature live drums and production magic. The result is a sumptuous track that bears the unmistakable warm sir Was sound and Casper’s tender vocal sung in his native Danish.
“Flyder is a song to the stream that carries our boat, a celebration and a fear for the metaphysical place where we decide to stay and grow our roots, our home on a floating dock, a moving hub and a made-up flower of all the things we give importance. When you manage to let go on your own power of control, when you are floating and staying at the same time.”
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Sam Valdez - Toothache.
Sam Valdez’s immersive indie-rock sensibility reflects her childhood growing up at the edge of the Nevada desert, and her formative musical experiences as a child violinist. The mystery, beauty, and haunting quality of desert life has shaped the LA-based artist’s sense of dreamy textures, and her flair for abstract but emotive lyrics. Classical music’s majesty has informed her imaginative arrangements, and cinematic sense of dynamics.
Sam has melded in an intriguing blend of shoe-gaze, Americana, indie-rock, and pop into a signature aesthetic. Select career highlights thus far include garnering rave reviews in Clash Music, Consequence of Sound, and Earmilk; earning heavy rotation from KCRW for multiple singles; and opening tours for Stella Donnelly, Cayucas, and Giant Rooks.
“I’ve always tried to write from the most genuine place that I can, but, lately, and with this record, I’ve been working on sharing more sides of my views and emotions,” Sam details.
A feeling of 1960s nostalgic balladry courses through many of thesongs on Sam’s debut. She says:” Melancholic, comforting and thought provoking is what I look forin music and what I feel and hope comes across in mine.” The album’s first single, “Toothache,” is a reverb-dipped slow burner glowering with sensual vocals and a twist on a breakup narrative. Here, the feeling is a longing to reconnect with one’s sense of self post romantic rupture.
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sir Was and Casper Clausen - Flyder.
sir Was and Casper Clausen, singer of experimental Danish post-rockers Efterklang, yesterday released their collaboration ‘Flyder’ ( Floating). sir Was’ album ‘Holding on to a Dream’ and recent follow up EP ‘Letter’ have received praise and support worldwide from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, Radio Nova, KCRW, Double J, Complex, Les Inrocks and Notion. He headlined Scala in November and would have had a mainstage appearance at All Points East alongside Tame Impala and Caribou before the current lockdown.
Efterklang released their 6th studio album 'Altid Sammen' in Sep 2019 which was a welcome return for their multitudes of dedicated fans. They took the album on a sold out European and US tour peaking in a triumphant celebration at the stunning concert venue Elphilharmonie in Hamburg. Joel and Casper first met whilst in Berlin when they were both invited to be part of PEOPLE, a 7-day creative experience put together by and involving musicians including Beirut’s Zach Condon, Justin Vernon, Feist and the National’s Dessner brothers.
Casper recalls “It was a kinda love at first sight, Joel and I clicked and during that week of creation, we developed a friendship which led to many more hangs and recordings over the past couple of years. Joel joined the Efterklang recordings of our most recent album “Altid Sammen” last year and we also wrote the Efterklang song “Lyset” together in Joel’ studio in Gothenburg. I love writing music with Joel, his ability to frame a moment and his ear for melody, texture and groove is a rare treat to be around. We supplement each other well and we have a lot of fun making music together.”
‘Flyder’ started as a small sketch around the time when Joel went to join the Efterklang recordings in Copenhagen last year. After bouncing the song back and forth, between Gothenberg and Casper’s studio in Almada (looking across the bay to Lisbon), the song was finally finished off by Joel back in Gothenburg where he added his signature live drums and production magic. The result is a sumptuous track that bears the unmistakable warm sir Was sound and Casper’s tender vocal sung in his native Danish.
“Flyder is a song to the stream that carries our boat, a celebration and a fear for the metaphysical place where we decide to stay and grow our roots, our home on a floating dock, a moving hub and a made-up flower of all the things we give importance. When you manage to let go on your own power of control, when you are floating and staying at the same time.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Valdez - Toothache.
Sam Valdez’s immersive indie-rock sensibility reflects her childhood growing up at the edge of the Nevada desert, and her formative musical experiences as a child violinist. The mystery, beauty, and haunting quality of desert life has shaped the LA-based artist’s sense of dreamy textures, and her flair for abstract but emotive lyrics. Classical music’s majesty has informed her imaginative arrangements, and cinematic sense of dynamics.
Sam has melded in an intriguing blend of shoe-gaze, Americana, indie-rock, and pop into a signature aesthetic. Select career highlights thus far include garnering rave reviews in Clash Music, Consequence of Sound, and Earmilk; earning heavy rotation from KCRW for multiple singles; and opening tours for Stella Donnelly, Cayucas, and Giant Rooks.
“I’ve always tried to write from the most genuine place that I can, but, lately, and with this record, I’ve been working on sharing more sides of my views and emotions,” Sam details.
A feeling of 1960s nostalgic balladry courses through many of thesongs on Sam’s debut. She says:” Melancholic, comforting and thought provoking is what I look forin music and what I feel and hope comes across in mine.” The album’s first single, “Toothache,” is a reverb-dipped slow burner glowering with sensual vocals and a twist on a breakup narrative. Here, the feeling is a longing to reconnect with one’s sense of self post romantic rupture.
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Sunday, 5 July 2020
Grace Gillespie - Zoe Polanski - Shem Sharples - Zachary Kibbee
Grace Gillespie makes her fifth appearance here with 'Empty In The Capital', we've described her music as creative and beautiful in the past, so have some more of all that, with the new song. === Zoe Polanski shares 'The Willows' which is a delightful mixture of dream pop and ambient soundscapes. === Shem Sharples just released 'Clear Crystal View' where his distinctive and energized indie folk is irresistible. === Zachary Kibbee has a double A side out which kicks off with a potent rocker 'Somewhere To Put My Gold' accompanied with 'Come Back' and a gorgeous bonus track that could be a single in it's own right.
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Grace Gillespie - Empty In The Capital.
Grace Gillespie is a London-based artist and producer originally from Devon, who spent much of 2017 touring as part of the live line-up for 4AD’s Pixx. Her first two singles found their way onto Spotify’s ‘Fresh Folk’ playlist and received extensive support from Apple Music, appearing on their ‘A-List’ and ‘Best of the Week’ playlists.
Grace’s sound takes influence from the folk, psych and dream-pop traditions, providing a backdrop to her intriguing vocal melodies, shifting harmonies and introspective lyricism, as heard on her new single “Empty In The Capital.”
I wrote my new song, “Empty In The Capital,” just before lockdown about themes that were coming up in my own life. Then suddenly, Covid is here and we are all sharing in my isolation, fear and frustrations. I don’t like London at the best of times and the idea of being stuck here was almost scary to me.
The track very much follows the pattern of a day for me. Much of my time is spent trying to reassure myself through rationalizing and acceptance, heard in the song’s verses, coupled with outbursts of inward frustration that I express in the choruses. I think it’s a pattern we have all been through throughout lockdown. We are trying with all our hearts to make the most of this gift of time and be ‘grateful for the day’ but then realizing that we are sipping coffee and trying to create (or just get on with work) while ambulances are filing past. - Grace Gillespie.
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Zoe Polanski - The Willows.
We have the new single of beautiful ambient dream pop from Zoe Polanski. “I wrote ‘The Willows’ after spending a few months far away from home, traveling with a guy across the U.S. It was a surreal affair I had with a musician which I really admired, and it ended painfully. When I returned to Israel, the 2014 Gaza conflict started, and I remember being stuck in my room, which was on a rooftop in Jaffa, hearing long sirens and then explosions over my head. I recall being conflicted between empathizing with the civilians in Gaza and southern Israel while at the same time longing for being as far away from this as possible. I longed to go back to those magical days of traveling, and writing the song kind of helped me do that. Years later I recorded a demo of it on a 4-track, and then played it to Aviad when we met. It was the first song we ever worked on together.” - Zoe Polanski
New York-based record label Youngbloods presents Violent Flowers, a glistening collection of Experimental Dream Pop from Israeli singer, songwriter, and film composer Zoe Polanski. Written in collaboration with producer Aviad Zinemanas, Violent Flowers uses Polanski’s tranquilizing voice as a guide across a vibrant landscape of inner musings that reflect her visual, and often cinematic, approach to songwriting.
Born to a musical family in the tense northern city of Haifa, Polanski sought from an early age an escape from everyday life through music, first learning cello then piano and eventually guitar. In contrast to her family's affinity for jazz and world music, Polanski was drawn to the entrancing and transportive effect of ethereal, lo-fi sounds. After her obligatory service in the IDF, Polanski moved to New York City to record with the band Katamine and enrolled for a summer course in cinematography at the School of Visual Arts. Becoming enraptured with music’s ability to enliven a visual scene, she returned to Israel settling in the liberal, multicultural hub of Tel Aviv and started her new project named after the renown Hungarian avant garde filmmaker Béla Tarr. Like the project’s namesake, the music was imbued with a sense of slow cinema verité, juxtaposing dark lyrical observations against the surreal aura generated by spacious, floating guitar lines soaked in reverb.
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Shem Sharples - Clear Crystal View.
British singer-songwriter Shem Sharples has joined forces with bass powerhouse Thor Brown to create his beautiful new single Clear Crystal View. The song is an indie-folk gem that portrays an uplifting and joyful outlook on the world, more important now than ever.
From the first line, “Sunlight sparkles in the champagne afternoon,” Shem sets set the scene to the song’s positive message. He unites smooth, swirling vocals with captivating lyrics to take us on a journey as we celebrate the end of a dark regime and welcome in a bright new adventure.
Clear Crystal View is the first single taken from Shem’s upcoming album ‘Strange Sounds from the Wreckage’ due to be released on September 25th. The whole album showcases Shem’s talent and love for using masterful lyrics to create a narrative of his surroundings and a true view of the world, Clear Crystal View is no exception.
The album unites the talent of Shem and lifetime friend Thor Brown to create a masterpiece. The pair have been playing together since 2014 and have built up a tight act which allows them to perform live as a duo and share their unique sound with fans. An uplifting lyrical adventure starts here…
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Zachary Kibbee - Somewhere To Put My Gold / Come Back.
Born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, California, Zachary Kibbee’s childhood was surrounded not by music, but by sports. Though the melodies of The Eagles and The Backstreet Boys could be heard from the car, thanks to the musical tastes of his mother and sisters, Mike Piazza, Vin Scully, and baseball were what inspired him. The music bug bit him at 14 when he traded in a cracked baseball bat for a new bass-guitar and started jamming with friends from the neighborhood. Not long after, he was playing in his first bands, one of which opened for B.B. King at The Abbott Kinney Festival in Venice, CA at the age of 17. After getting his feet wet in the local LA bar scene and on small tours around the Pacific Southwest with his band Stonefeather, Kibbee decided he needed to carve his own path in the music world, combining his love for blues and classic rock with more modern elements from bands like Sublime and the Red Hot Chili Peppers who also brought a SoCal flair into the equation.
He enlisted friend, mentor, and producer Joseph Holiday, and together they recorded his first EP, Little Clocks which came out in 2014. Notably one song, "My Own Two Feet" was used by Microsoft for their Surface Pro 3 commercial nationwide. From there the duo would go on to create music together on a weekly basis, and what came from it was his first album Songs From The Mud, released in 2016 as well as several other singles.
Since then, Kibbee has branched out as a songwriter, recording artist, and producer collaborating with up-and-coming and established artists, even Grammy award winners, around the world. His songs have been used in over 100 television shows, films, and commercials since 2014. His music can be heard in advertisements like Victoria’s Secret, Volkswagen, Microsoft, and Uber Eats, and on television shows like Ray Donovan, Daredevil, Lucifer, Shameless, and The Night Shift, for which he wrote the theme song.
After several tours of the West Coast as well as one national tour, Kibbee set his sights across the pond and has had 2 successful tours of the UK and Sweden to date. His latest album Life In Low Fidelity will arrive July 31, 2020 worldwide. It is a hard-hitting, yet tender rock record that is surely a huge step forward for Kibbee musically, bringing in more modern elements to his already established gritty, bluesy style.
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Grace Gillespie - Empty In The Capital.
Grace Gillespie is a London-based artist and producer originally from Devon, who spent much of 2017 touring as part of the live line-up for 4AD’s Pixx. Her first two singles found their way onto Spotify’s ‘Fresh Folk’ playlist and received extensive support from Apple Music, appearing on their ‘A-List’ and ‘Best of the Week’ playlists.
Grace’s sound takes influence from the folk, psych and dream-pop traditions, providing a backdrop to her intriguing vocal melodies, shifting harmonies and introspective lyricism, as heard on her new single “Empty In The Capital.”
I wrote my new song, “Empty In The Capital,” just before lockdown about themes that were coming up in my own life. Then suddenly, Covid is here and we are all sharing in my isolation, fear and frustrations. I don’t like London at the best of times and the idea of being stuck here was almost scary to me.
The track very much follows the pattern of a day for me. Much of my time is spent trying to reassure myself through rationalizing and acceptance, heard in the song’s verses, coupled with outbursts of inward frustration that I express in the choruses. I think it’s a pattern we have all been through throughout lockdown. We are trying with all our hearts to make the most of this gift of time and be ‘grateful for the day’ but then realizing that we are sipping coffee and trying to create (or just get on with work) while ambulances are filing past. - Grace Gillespie.
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Zoe Polanski - The Willows.
We have the new single of beautiful ambient dream pop from Zoe Polanski. “I wrote ‘The Willows’ after spending a few months far away from home, traveling with a guy across the U.S. It was a surreal affair I had with a musician which I really admired, and it ended painfully. When I returned to Israel, the 2014 Gaza conflict started, and I remember being stuck in my room, which was on a rooftop in Jaffa, hearing long sirens and then explosions over my head. I recall being conflicted between empathizing with the civilians in Gaza and southern Israel while at the same time longing for being as far away from this as possible. I longed to go back to those magical days of traveling, and writing the song kind of helped me do that. Years later I recorded a demo of it on a 4-track, and then played it to Aviad when we met. It was the first song we ever worked on together.” - Zoe Polanski
New York-based record label Youngbloods presents Violent Flowers, a glistening collection of Experimental Dream Pop from Israeli singer, songwriter, and film composer Zoe Polanski. Written in collaboration with producer Aviad Zinemanas, Violent Flowers uses Polanski’s tranquilizing voice as a guide across a vibrant landscape of inner musings that reflect her visual, and often cinematic, approach to songwriting.
Born to a musical family in the tense northern city of Haifa, Polanski sought from an early age an escape from everyday life through music, first learning cello then piano and eventually guitar. In contrast to her family's affinity for jazz and world music, Polanski was drawn to the entrancing and transportive effect of ethereal, lo-fi sounds. After her obligatory service in the IDF, Polanski moved to New York City to record with the band Katamine and enrolled for a summer course in cinematography at the School of Visual Arts. Becoming enraptured with music’s ability to enliven a visual scene, she returned to Israel settling in the liberal, multicultural hub of Tel Aviv and started her new project named after the renown Hungarian avant garde filmmaker Béla Tarr. Like the project’s namesake, the music was imbued with a sense of slow cinema verité, juxtaposing dark lyrical observations against the surreal aura generated by spacious, floating guitar lines soaked in reverb.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shem Sharples - Clear Crystal View.
British singer-songwriter Shem Sharples has joined forces with bass powerhouse Thor Brown to create his beautiful new single Clear Crystal View. The song is an indie-folk gem that portrays an uplifting and joyful outlook on the world, more important now than ever.
From the first line, “Sunlight sparkles in the champagne afternoon,” Shem sets set the scene to the song’s positive message. He unites smooth, swirling vocals with captivating lyrics to take us on a journey as we celebrate the end of a dark regime and welcome in a bright new adventure.
Clear Crystal View is the first single taken from Shem’s upcoming album ‘Strange Sounds from the Wreckage’ due to be released on September 25th. The whole album showcases Shem’s talent and love for using masterful lyrics to create a narrative of his surroundings and a true view of the world, Clear Crystal View is no exception.
The album unites the talent of Shem and lifetime friend Thor Brown to create a masterpiece. The pair have been playing together since 2014 and have built up a tight act which allows them to perform live as a duo and share their unique sound with fans. An uplifting lyrical adventure starts here…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zachary Kibbee - Somewhere To Put My Gold / Come Back.
Born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, California, Zachary Kibbee’s childhood was surrounded not by music, but by sports. Though the melodies of The Eagles and The Backstreet Boys could be heard from the car, thanks to the musical tastes of his mother and sisters, Mike Piazza, Vin Scully, and baseball were what inspired him. The music bug bit him at 14 when he traded in a cracked baseball bat for a new bass-guitar and started jamming with friends from the neighborhood. Not long after, he was playing in his first bands, one of which opened for B.B. King at The Abbott Kinney Festival in Venice, CA at the age of 17. After getting his feet wet in the local LA bar scene and on small tours around the Pacific Southwest with his band Stonefeather, Kibbee decided he needed to carve his own path in the music world, combining his love for blues and classic rock with more modern elements from bands like Sublime and the Red Hot Chili Peppers who also brought a SoCal flair into the equation.
He enlisted friend, mentor, and producer Joseph Holiday, and together they recorded his first EP, Little Clocks which came out in 2014. Notably one song, "My Own Two Feet" was used by Microsoft for their Surface Pro 3 commercial nationwide. From there the duo would go on to create music together on a weekly basis, and what came from it was his first album Songs From The Mud, released in 2016 as well as several other singles.
Since then, Kibbee has branched out as a songwriter, recording artist, and producer collaborating with up-and-coming and established artists, even Grammy award winners, around the world. His songs have been used in over 100 television shows, films, and commercials since 2014. His music can be heard in advertisements like Victoria’s Secret, Volkswagen, Microsoft, and Uber Eats, and on television shows like Ray Donovan, Daredevil, Lucifer, Shameless, and The Night Shift, for which he wrote the theme song.
After several tours of the West Coast as well as one national tour, Kibbee set his sights across the pond and has had 2 successful tours of the UK and Sweden to date. His latest album Life In Low Fidelity will arrive July 31, 2020 worldwide. It is a hard-hitting, yet tender rock record that is surely a huge step forward for Kibbee musically, bringing in more modern elements to his already established gritty, bluesy style.
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Friday, 3 July 2020
All Things Blue - Garrett Owen - Jody & The Jerms
All Things Blue just shared 'Dicking Around' alongside announcing that their debut album 'Get Bit' will be out in October. The new song is stylish and atmospheric dream pop, however expect additional genres when the album arrives. === From Texas we have Garrett Owen and 'These Modern Times' which is released today and it's a lush indie folk piece with a superb musical backdrop. === Jody & The Jerms also have a new double A side released today with 'Deeper' and 'I Knew A Boy' both sounding really good as the bands timeless indie music once again delights.
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All Things Blue - Dicking Around.
Dream-punk band All Things Blue have announced their debut album Get Bit will be released 2nd October. Along with the album announcement, the LA-based outfit led by frontwoman India Coombs (or simply, Blue) and collaborator Jon Joseph, are releasing new single "Dicking Around".
All Things Blue traverse genres and sounds. One moment flirting with abrasive garage-punk, the next soaring psych-pop; debut album Get Bit finds the band weaving between the spirited psychedelia of Melody’s Echo Chamber, the timeless proto-punk of Patti Smith and the exhilarating alt-pop of St Vincent.
New single "Dicking Around" looks darkly inward as an all-too-casual narrator contemplates acting on their worst impulses. Sonically toying with the paisley underground sound of the 1980's but with a distinctly modern flair; "Dicking Around" utilises an expansive array of swirling guitars, psychedelic electronic flourishes and a potent rhythm section. Speaking on the new single, India Coombs said: "The phenomenon Edgar Allen Poe once coined 'the imp of the perverse' rang true to me as a strong parallel of the tone in Dicking Around. The mind can be surprising without what feels like the ability to help it. I wrote this as a wrap for thoughts of acting on my own worst impulses despite recognising they’re naughty hehe."
New single "Dicking Around" follows the previously released cut "Chad", and are both lifted from All Things Blue’s forthcoming debut full length album Get Bit, which will be self-released by the band on October 2nd. Covering everything from pensive love songs to directly addressing social issues and political ironies; India herself compares the album to Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s ever-relevant novel Love In The Time of Cholera. Indeed, the the band's new material promises love, however ethereal it may seem, at the end of a very dark tunnel, if not somewhere along the way.
India and Jon originally met in LA at the age of 18, having both independently moved to the city; Coombs driving across the country in her broken down pickup truck from Philadelphia, and Jon hailing from further south in California. The pair wasted no time becoming friends and firing out an eclectic assortment of demos. They did so namelessly for some time, but eventually settled on "All Things Blue”. The name itself was coined by India's late mother, who, when India was having trouble getting by in the rough and overpriced world that is Los Angeles, told her that she was just feeling blue and sometimes all things are blue for a bit but they'll get better.
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Garrett Owen - These Modern Times.
Garrett Owen, is a Texas troubadour who is pushing the boundaries of indie-folk with his forthcoming LP Quiet Lives, due out Sept. 18th. The album's lead single, "These Modern Times," is out today Friday, July 3rd.
Garrett's got an interesting perspective from which he views the world and writes his songs; raised in Africa by parents who were missionaries, Garrett's landscape teemed with the kinds of wild animals we have to pay admission to see.
When the family transitioned back to the States, Garrett struggled to fit into a culture he couldn't understand, which led to pain, confusion, and an attempt to take his own life. Now, he's strong and ready to share this collection of songs, his observations on the culture, with the world.
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Jody & The Jerms - Deeper / I Knew A Boy.
Oxford’s Jody and the Jerms return with not just one but two fiendishly catchy new tracks ahead of their much-anticipated debut album. With added support from Spanish radio giant RTVE and BBC Introducing, ‘Deeper’ and ‘I Knew a Boy’ are the crystallised indie-pop tunes which are just what the doctor ordered for your post-lockdown shindigs.
It’s difficult to believe that this time last year, Jody had never sung in front of anyone. Now with a band assembled around her, comprising former members of the band The Anydays, and who played with Radiohead and Supergrass in the 90s, hit the pages of the NME in it's heyday and gaining airplay on Mark Radcliffe’s show on BBC Radio 2, Jody is ready to take on the world!
Jody & the Jerms’ sound harks back to those untouchable days indie music enjoyed in the 90s, possessing seemingly effortlessness melodies and choruses which embed themselves in your head for days. If you detect an influence for some of the breakout bands from the power pop movement of the late 70s and 80s, you might be onto something, checkout their recent cover of The Only Ones ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’!
Lockdown has proved a fruitful time for Jody & the Jerms, not only seeing them sign a vinyl distribution deal but also recording a full album’s worth of tracks…as well as the cover version! The benefits of guitarist Niall Jeger being the husband of singer Jody certainly ensured work never stopped! With their ranks swelled from three (alongside drummer, Alex Bridge) to six to allow for a full tour of the UK and Spain in the New Year, Jody and the Jerms are a well-oiled machine and this summer looks set have their songs imprinted in the musical minds of audiences everywhere.
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All Things Blue - Dicking Around.
Dream-punk band All Things Blue have announced their debut album Get Bit will be released 2nd October. Along with the album announcement, the LA-based outfit led by frontwoman India Coombs (or simply, Blue) and collaborator Jon Joseph, are releasing new single "Dicking Around".
All Things Blue traverse genres and sounds. One moment flirting with abrasive garage-punk, the next soaring psych-pop; debut album Get Bit finds the band weaving between the spirited psychedelia of Melody’s Echo Chamber, the timeless proto-punk of Patti Smith and the exhilarating alt-pop of St Vincent.
New single "Dicking Around" looks darkly inward as an all-too-casual narrator contemplates acting on their worst impulses. Sonically toying with the paisley underground sound of the 1980's but with a distinctly modern flair; "Dicking Around" utilises an expansive array of swirling guitars, psychedelic electronic flourishes and a potent rhythm section. Speaking on the new single, India Coombs said: "The phenomenon Edgar Allen Poe once coined 'the imp of the perverse' rang true to me as a strong parallel of the tone in Dicking Around. The mind can be surprising without what feels like the ability to help it. I wrote this as a wrap for thoughts of acting on my own worst impulses despite recognising they’re naughty hehe."
New single "Dicking Around" follows the previously released cut "Chad", and are both lifted from All Things Blue’s forthcoming debut full length album Get Bit, which will be self-released by the band on October 2nd. Covering everything from pensive love songs to directly addressing social issues and political ironies; India herself compares the album to Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s ever-relevant novel Love In The Time of Cholera. Indeed, the the band's new material promises love, however ethereal it may seem, at the end of a very dark tunnel, if not somewhere along the way.
India and Jon originally met in LA at the age of 18, having both independently moved to the city; Coombs driving across the country in her broken down pickup truck from Philadelphia, and Jon hailing from further south in California. The pair wasted no time becoming friends and firing out an eclectic assortment of demos. They did so namelessly for some time, but eventually settled on "All Things Blue”. The name itself was coined by India's late mother, who, when India was having trouble getting by in the rough and overpriced world that is Los Angeles, told her that she was just feeling blue and sometimes all things are blue for a bit but they'll get better.
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Garrett Owen - These Modern Times.
Garrett Owen, is a Texas troubadour who is pushing the boundaries of indie-folk with his forthcoming LP Quiet Lives, due out Sept. 18th. The album's lead single, "These Modern Times," is out today Friday, July 3rd.
Garrett's got an interesting perspective from which he views the world and writes his songs; raised in Africa by parents who were missionaries, Garrett's landscape teemed with the kinds of wild animals we have to pay admission to see.
When the family transitioned back to the States, Garrett struggled to fit into a culture he couldn't understand, which led to pain, confusion, and an attempt to take his own life. Now, he's strong and ready to share this collection of songs, his observations on the culture, with the world.
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Jody & The Jerms - Deeper / I Knew A Boy.
Oxford’s Jody and the Jerms return with not just one but two fiendishly catchy new tracks ahead of their much-anticipated debut album. With added support from Spanish radio giant RTVE and BBC Introducing, ‘Deeper’ and ‘I Knew a Boy’ are the crystallised indie-pop tunes which are just what the doctor ordered for your post-lockdown shindigs.
It’s difficult to believe that this time last year, Jody had never sung in front of anyone. Now with a band assembled around her, comprising former members of the band The Anydays, and who played with Radiohead and Supergrass in the 90s, hit the pages of the NME in it's heyday and gaining airplay on Mark Radcliffe’s show on BBC Radio 2, Jody is ready to take on the world!
Jody & the Jerms’ sound harks back to those untouchable days indie music enjoyed in the 90s, possessing seemingly effortlessness melodies and choruses which embed themselves in your head for days. If you detect an influence for some of the breakout bands from the power pop movement of the late 70s and 80s, you might be onto something, checkout their recent cover of The Only Ones ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’!
Lockdown has proved a fruitful time for Jody & the Jerms, not only seeing them sign a vinyl distribution deal but also recording a full album’s worth of tracks…as well as the cover version! The benefits of guitarist Niall Jeger being the husband of singer Jody certainly ensured work never stopped! With their ranks swelled from three (alongside drummer, Alex Bridge) to six to allow for a full tour of the UK and Spain in the New Year, Jody and the Jerms are a well-oiled machine and this summer looks set have their songs imprinted in the musical minds of audiences everywhere.
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