2017 and the beat goes on: Vaudevileins - Melanie Crew

2017 and the beat goes on, musically it's a little quiet on the new material front, how long for we shall see....

Vaudevileins - Sea Anemone.

Background - Chicago’s Vaudevileins released their new LP Magician on vinyl, CD, and digital download back on Nov. 18, 2016. Along with Jeff Julian (vox/guitar), Brennen Chouinard (drums/vox), and Bill Aldridge (bass), Evan Mohler joins Vaudevileins on lead guitar for the band’s second full-length recording, which will be their first release on vinyl.

The 10-song album is the culmination of a multi-year songwriting and recording effort at Aldridge’s Third City Sound in Joliet, Illinois. Bill engineered the project, and the band worked with their long-time collaborator Jeff Halland, who mixed and mastered Magician for digital and vinyl at his home studio in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

“We are really excited to finish Magician and have people hear it,” said Julian. “We think these are our best songs to date and we’re really proud of the production and the finished product.” Website here, Facebook here and Bandcamp here.

OK so we are still doing a little catching up on recent releases, this time with Vaudevileins and we feature the opening song 'Sea Anemone' which typifies the bands no nonsense, indie rock music. Fresh and powerful, I get the sense this is a band that just loves to perform.

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Melanie Crew - Parade.

Background - Melanie Crew is a London based singer and musician writing gentle acoustic music with soulful melodies.  Her second EP, Further Away, was released in October 2016, following the release of her first EP, Until the End, in August 2015. Melanie has received radio play from BBC 6 Music and BBC Kent, as well as numerous local stations.

​Born in West London, and now living in East London, Melanie's music is influenced by favourite artists including Elliott Smith, Roddy Woomble, Neko Case, Hem, and Kathryn Williams.

​Melanie is also interested in writing and photography, and her website includes favourite blogs and photos. Bandcamp here, Website here and Facebook here.

From the second EP 'Further Away' we feature the second track 'Parade'. Melanie Crew writes and performs melodic and gentle acoustic based songs with her beautiful vocals making all the difference. It's good to see she is getting some UK radio attention, with songs this good, that's well deserved.

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Tea Leaf Green - Live at Sierra Vista January 2004

It's been a while since we have featured a live concert and so to end the year, here is a very good recording of a band  some will know, and hopefully many more will get to hear, know and enjoy...

From the Internet Archive (IA) this is Tea Leaf Green live at Sierra Vista on the 9th January 2004. Tea Leaf Green (TLG) is a five-piece jam band from San Francisco Bay Area, comprising Josh Clark (guitar and vocals), Trevor Garrod (keyboards, vocals, guitar, and harmonica), Scott Rager (drums and percussion), Cochrane McMillan (percussion), and Eric DiBerardino.

Tea Leaf Green began in the fall of 1996, when Scott Rager met Ben Chambers on the campus of San Francisco State University (SFSU). Chambers was the group's original bass player but left in 2007; he is featured on the band's first four albums. Rager and Chambers began playing together, practicing in Chambers's bedroom in a back house off Church Street in San Francisco's Castro District. In early 1997, Clark, a childhood friend of Rager, moved from the Los Angeles area to San Francisco and became the third member of the band. Garrod, also a SFSU student, joined soon after.

In the late 1990s, Tea Leaf Green began gigging throughout San Francisco, becoming the de facto house band at the Elbo Room for a period in 1999. The band's first album, eponymously titled, was released that same year and featured twelve original compositions, included songs such as "Professor's Blues," "Asphalt Funk," and "California," all of which remained part of the band's live repertoire for years. Over time, the band pared down the all-inclusive sound featured on the first release and formed a more focused style of songwriting inspired by Garrod's Dylanesque musings and Clark's unabashed, frenetic soloing.

Tea Leaf Green continues to maintain a steady, if often arduous, schedule, playing clubs and other assorted venues across the country. Known for extended psychedelic, rowdy, and exploratory live shows. Other unofficial, but sanctioned, performances are available through archive.org. The group, independent and often on the periphery of the mainstream music industry, continues to rely on grassroots expansion of its music through the diligence of its fanbase, community forums, and web-based music avenues such as jambase.com.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very Good - Full stereo (SBD + 2(Oktava012(Card)) > MOTU828 > Apple iBookG3 Taped by Steven Fabing).

Genre: Rock (in many forms).

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

Hot Dog >
Kali-Yuga
Bootlegger
Vote on Tuesday
Reservoir
Papa's in the Backroom
Precious Stone
Freedom
Been So Long
Who Am I (What's My Name)?1,2
My Bastard Brother
The Invasion
The Garden (Part II)
Professor's Blues
Earth and Sky
Warmup
Loony Bin
Snoop
Tequila
Killing in the Name3
Baseball Jam

Links: Official site here.

Comments: You can stream the concert below. For download files in either FLAC, MP3 or OGG VORBIS format, visit the Internet Archive (here).

Listen:

Weekend Rockers: Fox Medicine - Blonde Summer

Fox Medicine - Financial Elevator.

Background - We are told that Nee rides broomsticks and likes to gypsy around. Vanny likes to tinker and get stuff done. The pair met at a Melvins show in Chicago, and describe their sound is heavy glittery noise. They go on - "We like secluded areas and are rarely social. Our influences are stoner rock, doom metal, post punk, peanut butter and good beer. PS. Reject reality and live life as art".

The most recent release Noise Nurse is a compilation album of songs written by Nee while living in Toronto, Canada in the time frame between 2008-2011. She worked at a psyche/dementia ward as a nurse during the time of those songs, and drew a lot of influence from her surroundings.

Most of the songs were written for projects like My Flea Circus + Goldie Luxx, etc, however little promotional effort was used, as they were mostly just for fun + for friends and were performed at local clubs and venues in Toronto's thriving music scene at the time. Nee's writing style is evident in Fox Medicine and throughout the former projects, but continues to be curiously unique and peculiar. This section is an homage to that timeframe and songwriting phase and comes with visuals + vids! Website here. Bandcamp here.

I have chosen to feature 'Financial Elevator' from Fox Medicine's 'Based on Need' EP, for the simple reason it's my favourite track. Probably the noisiest duo we have featured this year, that's heavy glittery noise for you!
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Blonde Summer - Beer On Ice.

Background - Dangerbird Records announces Microdose, a monthly single release and live event series celebrating new music from our neighborhood (LA's Eastside) and beyond. This platform will serve as a launchpad for up-and-coming artists, uniting and expanding our artistic community.  Monthly singles will include an A-side and B-side, and each artist will perform live at Dangerbird's Silver Lake based HQ/event space.

The series will launch on Jan. 12, 2017 with a release of a new single from Blonde Summer and live show that same night at Dangerbird Records. “Beer On Ice” was the last single from LA’s sun-bleached slacker-rock outfit Blonde Summer, released via Dangerbird Records back in November.

The A Side “Beer On Ice” and B Side “Sha La La” are both returns to what Chris Pope, the band’s mastermind, does best. Telling stories thru fuzzed out vocals, of Lazy Days, Wanderlust and Liquor Store Romances.  The band’s stripped down approach to the Beer On Ice single is a departure from last years electronic infused Paradise e.p., resulting in a truer brand of rock that Blonde Summer fans have come to love over the bands 6 year, 4 e.p. career.

Blonde Summer’s Chirs Pope admits “there was a bit of hibernation” following the Paradise e.p. A necessary period where the band could get back to their roots. Hang out with their girlfriends, find jobs, quit jobs and get lost.

'Beer On Ice' has a cool almost lazy laid back rock'n'roll feel, that occasionally likes to pack a riff or two of full on energy into your ears.

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Midweek Muse: Peter Joly - Indigo

Peter Joly - Till They Go.

Background - Singer-songwriter Peter Joly was born in Buffalo, moved on to New York and began writing and performing whilst keeping his head above water working as a cab driver. Since the early 90's he has performed in and around Chicago and gaining attention for his work with the bands Big Breakfast and For Pilots.

Peter Joly, released his self titled album in October 2016, an album that features contributions from top local musicians, including Jon Williams, Josh Piet (The Hoyle Brothers), Ryley Walker contributor Charles Rumback, Joe Adamik (Iron & Wine) and Gerald Dowd (Frisbie).

All the songs were written by Peter in the summer of 2016 before recording them at various locations including MINBAL and Strobe Recording in Chicago, and Elecric Lady in New York (All the songs were mixed and mastered by Phil Joly in Brooklyn, NYC). Peter celebrated the release with a packed house at Chicago’s famous Hideout Inn, back in November 2016. Facebook here.

There are some really special and genuine Americana songs on the recently released self titled album from Peter Joly. 'Till They Go' is but a glimpse of the quality to be found across all eleven tracks. Listen to some more here.

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Indigo - Deluge.

Background - Right from the very first listen of opening track and single 'Deluge', you can tell how much love and painstaking detail Perth's Indigo have put into creating their second EP, 'Kumiho'. From its sonic sculpturing of rich, mellow tones, to the band's effortlessly breezy songwriting; 'Kumiho' captures something special.

In their first couple of years Indigo released their first EP, earned their first support slots, entered (and won) the Ampfest and Stagebound competitions, were invited to the Southbound and State Of The Art festivals, played their first live radio set, and found the start of their fanbase beyond their own friends.

Now as they've become more accomplished as a band (recently supporting Tired Lion and The Jungle Giants) and as players, their music is becoming more sophisticated and subtle. A thoughtful approach to writing and recording resulted in Indigo teaming up with fastidious engineer Matt Gio (San Cisco, Abbe May) - putting one of Perth's most promising bands in the hands of one of its most successful producers.

Guitarist Dylan Keirnan explains “We were extremely picky with this one, having quite a few of our past tracks almost fall into different genres, it took us a whole year to find the sound we were searching for, we even completely scrapped two songs on it, and right on the very last track, we sat back in the studio after recording the first few parts and thought, this is the sound we want, so we went back over all the other tracks and changed them to suit.”

'Kumiho' is simply a pleasure to listen to. The sound is layered and detailed, but still easy on the ears. The music is fun, but still carries a bitter-sweet emotion. Due for release at the very start of 2017, Kumiho is perfectly timed for summer, and will kick off a year of touring for Indigo as they steadily work towards the next milestone of releasing their debut album. 'Kumiho' featuring the single 'Deluge' is out January 1, 2017 on CD and via all good digital retailers. Facebook here.

'Deluge' is the single and the first of four very fine songs on the forthcoming EP release. It's refined alt rock that mixes melodies alongside a subtle and developed sound, that said, if the band feel the need to turn things up, they can pack a punch to.

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