Thursday, 15 September 2016

Alternative Take: Afro Celt Sound System - Cálido Home - Ruth Theodore - Robocobra Quartet

Afro Celt Sound System - Honey Bee.

Background promo - With sales now topping one and a half million albums and two Grammy nominations to date, Afro Celt Sound System celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a stunning new album, ‘The Source’ released in April 2016 on ECC Records. In October, the band will be releasing, ‘Honey Bee’, another striking single from this acclaimed album to coincide with a major tour taking in 17 towns and cities where they will be providing a live music spectacle, every bit as energetic and captivating as the album.

‘Honey Bee’ features the sultry, soulful delivery of Armagh-born vocalist and flautist Rioghnach Connolly (Real World Records), one of the many contributors to this truly collaborative album.

Afro Celt Sound System are a European and African based collective who’ve been a ground-breaking force in music ever since they started. ‘The Source’ is undoubtedly their most ambitious album yet and one will take their cross-cultural collaboration and acclaimed live performances to another level. It is the first album to fully celebrate the African and Asian roots brought to the band by long-term members’ vocalist, kora and balafon player N’Faly Kouyaté and Dhol drummer Johnny Kalsi. Along with founder member Simon Emmerson (producer, guitars, cittern) and new core member Griogair (vocals, piping, guitars) – winner of Gaelic Singer of the Year at the 2015 Scots Trad Music Awards – the album and the live show features contributions from a host of other outstanding musicians which together fully demonstrates the eclecticism of the band’s music. The new single 'Honey Bee' out 7 October 2016.


I suppose I ought to write a brief disclaimer that I am a massive fan of this bands music and cannot be impartial. 'Honey Bee' is the new single, and if you have not yet checked out Afro Celt Sound System, I genuinely would recommend spending a little time doing so.

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Cálido Home - In A Vision Or In None.

Background - After their debut album, released in 2013, Barcelona-based duo Cálido Home now join the label BCore Disc to release their second album ‘Tones and Shapes’ (September 2016), entirely in English and with strong North American folk music influences. The duet stand out for their intensity and the proximity of their live performances which is why their producer, Joan Pons (a well-known artist in Catalonia that goes under the name of El Petit de Cal Eril), advised them to record the album live.

Cálido Home used to call their music ‘motherfolker’, almost like an insult, but Pons asked them to turn it down a bit, to play softer, and by doing so new details appeared, a new fragility and subtleness. They have learnt that when the song is already going upwards, there’s no need to push it. They also discovered silence, inexistent in their songs until now. When Pons suggested they not play together at every moment they were first taken back and didn’t understand. But they listened, and in ‘Tones and Shapes’ silence becomes an active element in the music, the songs breath. And when a small sound like the squeak of a chair finds its way into a moment of silence, it's welcomed: the fact that everything is not always in place can offer, if done well, a more lively and real sound. It gives the song a soul.

Eduard’s guitar is a round trip from the US West Coast to Africa; he search’s for pleasure when playing; if he doesn’t feel that pleasure when performing a song he will never play it again. Anna’s voice, less imposed then before and quieter when the melody gets harder, reminds us of Karen Dalton or Vashni Bunyan. With ‘Tones and Shapes’, Cálido Home have finally found themselves.


'In A Vision Or In None' is the first of ten tracks on 'Tones and Shapes' which is released today! It's a mixture of folk songs, focused around carefully crafted acoustic guitar work, and vibrant vocals and harmonies. There are a mixture of tempos across the piece and a consistent attention to quality. If you like the featured song then check the album out, it's a good one.

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Ruth Theodore - You Can't Help Who You Love. 

Background - At age 5 Ruth Theodore was told that she would never physically be able to play guitar and following a sledging accident, aged 9, that left her unable to speak, singing and playing the guitar were unexpected career choices. Yet by the age of 14 Ruth was earning money as a singer and guitarist, playing in music bars and venues almost every night of the week. Free from knowing the names of the strings, Ruth’s guitar playing and use of unconventional techniques and unique tuning structure has bewildered guitarists ever since. Composing and arranging all of her music by ear Ruth can be heard in recent recordings applying her own unique style to Piano.

Ruth started creating her own music as a teenager, teaching herself guitar and busking on Southampton High Street, when staying in the doorway of a branch of WHSmiths.  It was a happy time for Ruth and here that she met her ‘muse’ who would walk past and listen to Ruth sing and who Ruth has written about ever since.  Ruth also recalls being persuaded by the owner of a music shop to set up all the stringed instruments and showcase them in store for a whopping £2 an hour.


Moving to London in 2006 in search of music, Ruth slept (secretly) beneath a workbench in an artist’s workshop, which years later, she and a team of musicians transformed into a recording studio.
Following the recording and release of the first of her three self-produced records through River Rat Records, Ruth moved on to a tiny narrow boat with no heating or electricity on the River Lea in East London. This has been her home for the last 10 years. 


The river and the land on which she moors have been a great source of inspiration, and keen to continue creating on the water Ruth has single-handedly converted a larger boat into a studio space which has become the base for her band and other local musicians and is now home to one of the most unique and truly intimate house concert music events in London. 


Her albums have received critical acclaim from the UK media, with reviews running in The Guardian & The Observer, whilst also achieving national radio play on BBC Radio3 and BBC 6 music, alongside rave reviews in music magazines Mojo, Q, fRoots and more.


When Ruth started the search for a producer to collaborate with on a fourth album she came to the attention of Todd Sickafoose who had recently produced Anais Mitchell's widely acclaimed 'Hadestown'. Not coincidentally Todd divides his time between production work and playing bass for American Folk legend Ani DiFranco for whom Ruth opened two solo London shows in 2012.  The fruits of that collaboration, an album named “Cactacus”, is released on September 23rd in a collaboration between River Rat and Aveline Records.


For those who have read the above words, clearly Ruth has a story or two to tell. 'You Can't Help Who You Love' is therefore only a hint of her music, and it's a bright and breezy sounding song, which is both melodic and so, so catchy. Production is superb as is the material and delivery.

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Robocobra Quartet - Correct.

Background - Describing their sound as ‘down-tempo jazz-influenced hardcore’, Robocobra Quartet out of Belfast, sound like little else. Combining spoken-word vocals, effects-laden bass, and raw improvisation, Robocobra Quartet’s no holds barred approach has garnered the group a reputation as a must-see live act.

Centred on a howling drummer-vocalist and offset by menacing saxophones, the oblique song structures, angular rhythms and direct lyrics built around snippets of quotes and would-be adages allow for only absurd comparisons to reveal anything about their style. You’d be forgiven, for instance, for thinking that they sound like Richard Dawson playing with Brian McMahan, or Steve Reich composing music for Fugazi. Tracks such as ‘Find X’ and the tongue-in-cheek ‘Our Very Own Version Of November Rain’ drive home a bass driven Dischord-era post-hardcore sound laced with avant-garde, jazz-infused woodwind and rhythm sections standing sentinel to drive the music into more experimental territory, as the instrumentation coalesces around drummer-vocalist Chris Ryan’s brooding, meditative lyrics.

“Lyrically most of the topics come from conversations or direct quotes (or misconstrued quotes) from friends, enemies, acquaintances and family members.” says Ryan, “…it involves looking back on growing up and past experiences and memories. It's interesting - memories are so malleable and the process of remembering things actually has a lot of room for error or creativity, so you can sort of mine your memory to come up with new ideas.”

Characterised by such idioms and narratives, Robocobra Quartet exemplify a both brazen and charismatic identity, which is not only drawn from their entrancing content but largely from its bold delivery. Other album tracks such as opener ‘Correct’ and more prominently ‘Straight Lines’ are visceral in their proclamation. They convey the post-everything nostalgia you might come to expect from latter day post-hardcore bands such as Self Defense Family or mewithoutyou, but also carry confidence in the candidness of their off-kilter narrative. All the while this is handled without pretention because the band genuinely possess the talent to pull it off.

This beguiling and idiosyncratic blend of styles and genres has taken them to festivals such as Electric Picnic & Brilliant Corners Jazz Festival supporting the release of a limited run lathe-cut 7" on Smalltown America Records. Bolstered by support from BBC 6 Music and the PRS Foundation, 2016 has seen the band perform throughout the UK, Ireland & Europe whilst conducting recording sessions in studios and concert halls around Belfast. Now, this November, Robocobra Quartet will release a 12" LP titled 'Music For All Occasions', and will embark on another UK tour featuring two Rough Trade in-store shows.

Robocobra Quartet don't so much mix up genres, they decimate them. The new single 'Correct' precedes their forthcoming November album release entitled Occasions. The vocals are as out there, as some of William Shatner's recorded material, and building on that, the musical accompaniment seems to look for boundaries, with the sole intention of crossing them. All in all for me, it's absolutely wonderful!

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Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Midweek Muse: Doe - He Is Me - If But When - Hannah Telle - The Foreign Resort

Doe - Sincere.

Background promo - Last Friday, September 9, the London-based three piece Doe released their debut album Some Things Last Longer Than You via Old Flame Records. Since their formation in early 2013 after members Nicola Leel (guitar, vocals) and Jake Popyura (drums, vocals) met via a classified ad and bonded over a mutual love of horror films and hatred of sport, Doe have been hard at work cranking out their own infectious brand of emotive, harmony-laden, punk-tinged indie rock to as many people as they can get to listen.

Drawing influences from such 90s stalwarts as Sleater-Kinney, Weezer, Helium and Breeders, the London-based trio have spent the last 3 years furiously honing their live craft and releasing a string of EPs and singles. With later releases on labels including Fierce Panda and Alcopop! Records, their earlier self-released recordings were eventually compiled and re-released as the First Four LP in late 2014, marking the beginning of Doe's relationship with Exeter-based punk label Specialist Subject Records and US indie rock imprint Old Flame Records.

After a lineup change and the addition of Dean Smitten (guitar) in September last year, Doe finally got to work writing material with an album in mind. In March, armed with 10 new songs and bags full of snacks, they ventured to Greenmount Studios in Leeds with producer Matthew Johnson (Hookworms/Suburban Home). The result of that intense 5-day pizza-fueled recording session is the band’s first full-length: Some Things Last Longer than You. Having recorded the majority of their previous output themselves and now with 35 minutes to play with, the album marks a recognisable sonic progression for Doe. 


Can I add Sleeper to the bands mentioned above as an indication of Doe's rock'n'roll sound. 'Sincere' is a powerful two and a half minutes of indie punk for want of a better description. Hooky and raunchy and in fairness with something of a timeless feel.

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He Is Me - Drowning Man/Ocean Man.

Background - "He Is Me" is a collaboration between Portland based songwriter and musician/producer Casey Braunger and Calgary, AB based songwriter/vocalist Steve Moore. He Is Me explores the beauty of the void in us all and what lies beneath with vast soundscapes, crushing atmosphere, gripping lyrical content, and pure emotion.

Casey and Steve first collaborated on a 2001 track called "Silencer". Fast forward to 2016, when Casey reached out to Steve about guest vocals on a new song. Steve liked it so much that they decided to form a new project with the intention of covering musical territory they hadn't covered before. This project would be ambient, brooding, unpredictable.

Casey Braunger, a Portland, Oregon based musician/songwriter/producer started playing bass at the age of 13, shortly after that he began learning any instrument he could get his hands on. He’s played in various punk, metal, blues, industrial, and electronic bands in his career. In 1999 he started his solo music project “Textile Arcade," while he was an audio engineer for an advertising agency. Textile Arcade featured many guests as vocalists throughout both the U.S. and Canada.

Steve Moore is a Canadian vocalist/musician. He has worked with prog rock/industrial metal duo The Unravelling (vocals - 2009 - 2015), downtempo electronic project Post Death Soundtrack (vocals, guitar - 2008 - present) industrial/ambient duo He Is Me (vocals - 2016 - present), and hardcore metal group Inner Surge (as the project founder - 2001 - 2008). He Is Me's 1st single is entitled "Let It Drip". The track showcases an ambient, free flowing, non verse-chorus-verse approach, and is meant as a mantra of sorts. The duo is currently working on a full-length album. He Is Me's 2nd single is entitled "Drowning Man/Ocean Man". It is two separate tracks meant to be heard as a single piece.


'Drowning Man/Ocean Man' starts out with something of a sinister darker feel to it, with Steve Moore's dominant vocals adding to the sense of danger or threat. The second part/song is even more ferocious and powerful. For me the atmosphere and musical theatre really works, not exactly easy listening and more compulsive than calming.

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If But When - The Franklin Avenue Shuttle.

Background - If But When is a pop/rock band from New York City. Their debut single "Never Change" was featured on Matt Pinfield's morning show on 101.9 RXP, as well as on 107.1 The Peak and other stations.

They have opened for such notable acts as Augustana, Marc Cohn, John Nolan (Taking Back Sunday) and Nightmare Of You, and their music was featured on the NY Mets' cable channel SNY. Their albums are hot sellers on iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby, and they attract large, devoted crowds at such storied NYC venues as The Bitter End and The Rockwood. They have also made appearances at the Pleasantville Music Festival, the East End Greenfest, and the Seaside Music Festival. In May of 2016, they signed with independent Bronx based record label, Evo Music.

Their immensely catchy songs will have you singing along by the time the second chorus rolls around. “The Ghost Picked Me” is available Worldwide September 9th, 2016 on all sites including iTunes / Apple Music / Spotify / Google Play. The new single ‘The Franklin Avenue Shuttle’ on EvoMusic / The Orchard now.


'The Franklin Avenue Shuttle' is a vibrant musical story and the video really does help spell it out. Upbeat alt rock of sorts, If But When really do know how to craft catchy and engaging songs.

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Hannah Telle - Hollow Glow.

Background - Hannah Telle grew up in Shelby, North Carolina. After graduating high school from NC School of the Arts, she moved to Los Angeles to study at USC and become an actress. She is best known forher role as the voice of Max Caulfield, the main character in the BAFTA award-winning video game 'Life is Strange’. Hannah learned to play guitar for a role in a film and fell in love with the instrument.

She soon began to write songs, finding the process to be a therapeutic tool for emotional healing. Playing music opened her mind to a creative freedom she had never experienced with acting. She often plays musician roles and wrote several original songs for her character to perform in the feature film ‘I Live For You’, which premiered at the 2016 Dances with Films Festival. In spite of her very public career choice, she struggles with fear of receiving attention and severe performance anxiety.

She began taking guitar lessons to alleviate depression and her teacher, Ben Schwab, helped her record demos of her songs. They eventually decided to turn the songs into her first album, ‘Hollow Glow’, due September 21st.


'Hollow Glow' is a delightful indie folk song, with Hannah Telle's vocals driving the melody and the excellent background music giving her an excellent platform to seemingly fly above. Totally impressed!

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The Foreign Resort - Under Bright Neon Stars.

Background - The Foreign Resort will be reissuing CDs for ‘The American Dream’ EP via Texas-based label Moon Sounds Records and have announced dates for their upcoming North American tour. This will be their 11th tour on the continent and will also include 3 Canadian dates. 

‘The American Dream’ consists of five songs with a simpler but more intense expression than ever heard before from the band. Following up their 2014 album ‘New Frontiers’, which was produced and mixed by John Fryer (Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Cocteau Twins) and ranked among top albums of the year in many blogs and stations like WZBC and KDHX, the band first released ‘The American Dream’ in October 2015.

Led by singer and songwriter Mikkel Jakobsen, The Foreign Resort are Denmark's finest musical export of post-punk and dark new wave, combining the shadowy mysticism of The Cure's Pornography era with a driving production aesthetic akin to LCD Soundsystem. Intricate reverb-enveloped guitar lines and Mikkel's taut and sincere vocal delivery glide over Steffan Petersen's motorik bass and Morten Hansen’s powerful drumming.

Having toured with The Raveonettes, A Place to Bury Strangers and Swervedriver, they have also shared bills with bands like DIIV, The Soft Moon, The KVB and Slowdive. This autumn, the band's 2011 EP 'The Foreign Resort' finally gets a much deserved vinyl re-issue though Moon Sounds Records thanks to a successful crowd funding campaign via Pledge Music. This September-October visit to North America is the final tour in support of ‘The American Dream’, after which the band shall return to the studio to record a new full length, set for release in 2017.


'Under Bright Neon Stars' typifies the quality and emotional depth that is found across all five songs on the reissued EP. The band don't sit comfortably in any one genre which is a plus for me, it really is easier on this occasion simply to say, give them a listen.

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Tuesday, 13 September 2016

Globetrotting Tuesday: The Magnettes - Jenny Gabrielsson Mare - Gudrun Von Laxenburg - Gothic Tropic

The Magnettes - Hollywood.

Background promo - Swedish pop trio The Magnettes have returned with their new single, “Hollywood,” out today on all digital retailers via Nashville-based label DigSin. The track highlights the band’s signature sound: unfiltered and unapologetic views paired with sugary sweet, infectious beats. To coincide with the release of “Hollywood,” The Magnettes have also announced that they are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length to be released later this year and will return to the U.S. this fall for a string of tour dates; these U.S. shows will be the first of this year. The Magnettes performed at both SXSW and CMJ Music Marathon in 2015 and Canadian Music Week in Spring 2016.

The seeds of rebellion first became planted when co-vocalists Rebecka Digervall and Sanna Kalla met at 6-years-old in their small town Pajala in Sweden. The Magnettes fondly call this city of 2,000 home and it’s the birthplace of their infectious and inimitable glitter punk pop sound. By age 14, Rebecka had written a plethora of songs for them as a duo and in 2012, they released their first official song, “Paper Cut,” and began performing across Europe and Russia. They’ve performed at several festivals overseas, as well as Canadian Music Week and SXSW and CMJ here in the States. The band is rounded out with guitarist, keyboardist, and producer Tomas Bäcklund Thuneström.


With stand out harmonies 'Hollywood' is a feisty punk pop song that just blasts along. The pop hooks grab you, whilst the punk overtones give the song some real edge. All of which makes the debut album something to look forward to.

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Jenny Gabrielsson Mare - Wolves.

Background - A new solo album is due on November 4. September 10 a first single will be released: Wolves. Based on piano, cello and Jenny’s voice the song creates a dark forest where you are the hunter or the hunted.

In the fall of 2014 Jenny Gabrielsson Mare spent a month alone in Brooklyn writing songs for a new album. The result is Comb the Wicked – an album inspired by the atmosphere in Brooklyn; from industrial noise to soul and gospel. The songs are based on voice, piano, organ and percussion and she has collaborated with legendary percussionist Michael Blair who has played with some of the greatest like Tom Waits and Lou Reed.

Almost four years have passed since her last album The Ritual and during this time she has mostly been seen as one half of the indie-electronica-duo White Birches who’s debut album Dark Waters was nominated in the category “Synth” at the Swedish “indie-Grammy” Manifestgalan 2015.


'Wolves' has a haunting and dramatic feel right from the start. The video builds on this adding glimpses of the wolves on the night of a full moon. Drama aside this is a musically atmospheric piece, that slowly draws the listener in (well it did for me).

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Gudrun Von Laxenburg - Revolution.

Background - Friends since their teens, July, Christoph and Daniel: A jazz-trained drummer, a classically trained violinist and hard rock guitarist respectively, there was never any question that the Viennese trio wouldn’t enjoy a life in music... Although they didn’t think it would be done with such a happy accident.

“It all started out as a joke. We never sat down and said ‘right let’s make a serious hard-hitting band’ Even our name is a joke: we just took the street names we lived on and made an aristocratic name out of them. The joke is a big part of our live shows. We’re not cool kids all dressed in black or covered in bling, we’re there in costume, making noises and having a good time with the audience.” – Daniel

Their debut show, performed for a film director friend’s movie launch, formed everything you need to know about Gudrun von Laxenburg: their roots and spirit are 100 percent live...  A full steam genre-defying fusion surcharged with raw drum power and synths and a sound that sits somewhere between Daft Punk, Digitalism, Justice, The Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers. For their debut performance, in true punk spirit, they collected a bunch of samples and just jammed out. No click track, no backing tracks: rave done in the most rock ‘n’ roll way possible... And delivered in pristine overalls that have since been developed into the space-age LED tailored suits you seen on stage today.

Nearly seven years after their debut live show taking the art of fun very seriously, the trio have spent years refining and honing their sound so what you hear on their album ‘PANIC!’ is an honest reaction of what you’ll experience when you see them live. Signed and due for release this year on Skint Records.


The video for 'Revolution' is something of a futuristic and epic piece in it's own right. It might take a couple of minutes until the music fully kicks in, however it's worth the wait even if the visual storyline has not already grabbed your attention. Powerful synth sounds compete head on with the superb rhythm driven by intense drum beats. Having already described the video as an epic piece I ought to add, so is the music.

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Gothic Tropic - Don't Give Me Up.

Background - Gothic Tropic have shared their new track "Don't Give Me Up" off their upcoming album. The brainchild of Cecilia Della Peruti, Gothic Tropic keeps the vibe playful and punchy, bringing audiences into a new era of female rock nobility, nodding to stars like Debbie Harry, and Chrissie Hynde. 

Delivering a blend of Richard Lloyd and Nile Rodgers on guitar, Gothic Tropic's Della Peruti has won sponsorships with Fender, and leading pedal manufacturers, and works professionally as a touring and session player for Charli XCX, BØRNS, and more.

Gothic Tropic album, Fast or Feast  is due out on Old Flame Records with a street Date: October 28, 2016.


'Don't Give Me Up' is our third share from Gothic Tropic ahead of the album. If anything this is for me the best song so far. It's a little more soulful and the musicianship is first rate, with the vocals making a fine match.

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Monday, 12 September 2016

Four More: Computer Magic - Art d'Ecco - Albert af Ekenstam - Brooklyn Doran

Computer Magic - Gone For The Weekend.

Background bio - Computer Magic consists of Danielle “Danz” Johnson. She is based out of Brooklyn, NY and was born and raised in the Catskills in upstate New York (in Woodridge, NY and Rock Hill, NY). She moved to Chinatown in New York City to attend Hunter College. In 2010 she moved to Tampa, FL to get away from city life. There, she taught herself how to make music and put up several EP’s for free online under the moniker of Computer Magic. 

Since then, Danz has released 8 EP’s worldwide and 4 LP’s in Japan. She has written numerous songs for commercials in Japan and tours there frequently. Her full length debut Davos came out on her own record label Channel 9 Records in late 2015. She is currently self-producing her next EP which will be out by the end of the year. Ignacio Rivas Bixio accompanies her for live shows on percussion and on some recordings.

Computer Magic's "Gone For The Weekend" is a unique synth-dance-dream taken from the forthcoming EP, Obscure But Visible due Oct 7th 2016.


'Gone For The Weekend' is an original sounding synth pop song, with a powerful soundtrack and Danielle's vocals immersed within, and occasionally rising above, the melodic wall of swirling sounds.

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Art d'Ecco - I'll Never Give You Up.

Background - Art d'Ecco released his debut album Day Fevers just a couple of days ago. To celebrate the release, Art d'Ecco premiered his new music video for "I'll Never Give You Up". The single is a synth heavy, '80s inspired dance track that's as haunting as it is electrifying. It's a distinct departure from d'Ecco's glam rock inspired single "She So Hot," showcasing his adaptability across genres.

Art d'Ecco's story is anything but usual. After a period of personal turmoil, d'Ecco escaped the city life and relocated to the Gulf Islands of British Columbia to embark on a journey of much needed soul searching and personal rediscovery. He spent the last three years in relative seclusion on the island retooling, writing, and overcoming the obstacles of isolation and regret.

With Day Fevers, d'Ecco peers through a lens of nostalgia with nods to glam rock, classic rock n roll, krautrock, spaghetti westerns, and new wave psychedelia. He sought to deliver an album across different genres with himself as the sonic rug that ties it all together, or rather a playlist. Starting with "Sunrise" and closing with "Sunset," Day Fevers travels through themes of desire, isolation, nostalgia, and personal discovery, taking listeners through all the lows and the highs.

"Formed during the three year period I spent in isolation, tucked away in a cabin on one of the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. I'd fled a bad scene in Vancouver – my life was spinning out of control and I needed a refresh. I was burnt out and over playing music. The scene. The Debauchery. I was emotionally hollowed out. Eventually, I discovered that feelings of alienation and desire were something I could channel into music. I've always been a man of extremes, so it was in this escape that I rediscovered myself as an artist. These songs came from months of writing and from being alone." - Art d'Ecco.


There is most definitely something of a retro 1980's synth vibe running through the hooky and melodic 'I'll Never Give You Up'. The video accentuate's this even further, it's a delight, as are all nine songs on the debut album.

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Albert af Ekenstam - The Devil Bird.

Background - On the 14th of October Albert of Ekenstam’s debut album ‘Ashes’ will meet its expectant audience. Singer/guitarist Sumie Nagano (whose self-titled album on Bella Union is a must for all who love unique voices), drummer/ keyboardist/producer Filip Leyman (who, together with Albert, make up the post-rock constellation Tempel) and trumpeter Max Lindahl (known from a number of jazz bands) have all helped Albert bring it to fruition.

Like Elliot Smith (rest in peace) and Damien Jurado before him, Albert is a brave and straightforward singer-songwriter. His melodies and lyrics are like uncensored and infinitely beautiful letters – without euphemisms and false chords they let you know what’s on his mind. At the same time, they’re universal – if you’ve loved and lost you can relate to them completely.

Albert’s mother died when he was 12 years old and him and his sister had to bring themselves up alone for the most part. Much of the album touches on loneliness and how he had to take responsibility early in his life in order to manage his own future –including his relationships and how he learnt to build a ‘safe point’ from within before relying on others. Songs like ‘The Devil Bird’ tell the tale of fighting to choose the right way you want to live and not living to the standards built up by outsiders.

They also stir the internal movie projector. With “Ashes” on the stereo and eyes closed, memory fragments, glowing emotions and pure dreams fly and stir through your soul. Filip’s production (which you’ve heard on Anna von Hausswolff’s two latest albums) is both intimate and grand at the same time, making this personal cinematic experience even more sensational.


First of all there are the vocals of Albert af Ekenstam. Genuine, intense, powerful and so good for the ears. Follow this with a song as pleasing as 'The Devil Bird' and you know your listening to something very special. Fabulous voice and song!

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Brooklyn Doran - Say The Words.

Background - Brooklyn Doran is an indie folk songstress, originally from Kenora, Ontario who is now based in Toronto. The singer-songwriter’s music presents a unique and harmonious blend of traditional folk and contemporary pop. Her live show weaves song and storytelling, from humorous anecdotes to emotional ballads, to delightfully folk-infused love songs.

Brooklyn Doran’s music has been featured extensively on CBC and radio throughout Canada, featured in music publications worldwide and Her debut 5 song EP “There’s A Light On” (2014) received a nomination at the Toronto Independent Music Awards for Best Adult Contemporary.

Brooklyn’s debut full-length album “These Paper Wings” was recorded at Catherine North Studios and is due for worldwide release September, 2016.


Brooklyn Doran's new album “These Paper Wings” was released last Friday, which seem's a good enough excuse to feature another track, from what is a finely crafted and produced collection of indie folk songs.   'Say The Words' is the final song in the collection, you can find out more on her Website here.

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Imogen Clark - Baba Pen & The Bim Bam Band - Home Counties

Imogen Clark - Choking on Fuel (Album). We are a little late to the parade regarding Imogen Clark's new album 'Choking on Fuel'...