Background - Not many bands make it through extended careers with constant evolution and experimentation and a general willingness to change things up. Blonde Redhead deserves a place in this category. Over the course of nearly 25 years, the acclaimed New York-based trio went from the noise rock of the early years to the refined dream pop of Misery Is A Butterfly, before reaching the sensual electronic textures of the studio album, Barragán which was released in 2014.
Now it's time to make a step forward once again, or a sidestep, because, despite the variety of styles, the band has always been able to keep a personality and a unique identity that's easily recognizable. Fresh from the box set Masculin Féminin (September 2016) and the remix "Freedom of Expression on Barragan Hard" (March 2016) releases, Japanese Kazu Makino and twin Italian-Americans Amedeo and Simone Pace return with a new EP 3 O'Clock, out today on the band's own label Asa Wa Kuru Records.
Four songs, two of them sung by charming Kazu while the other two by guitarist and second voice of the band, Amedeo, which still mark once again the willingness to broaden their musical horizons. Facebook here.
As a long time fan of Blonde Redhead's music, for me, it has always been a case of expect the unexpected. 'Golden Light' one of four songs on the new EP is a long journey from the early days of the band. Currently they have arrived in an exquisite and dreamy place, the video is artistic, the music high class, not a bad location to be in right now.
Background - Nashville indie-pop artist Jessie Early has released her latest single, "Body Can't Hold," making the track available at all digital outlets. "Body Can't Hold" is the third single from Early's upcoming debut EP, Wild Honey, out March 31.
Jessie sheds some light on this single saying, "Body Can’t Hold' is one of the tracks on Wild Honey that came together with the help of my co-producer Jeremy Larson. I was having so much trouble with this song and was ready to scrap it. Jeremy, my husband Aaron, and I worked on the programming together and Jeremy added a gorgeous strings sample. Everything really fell into place. To me, this song is one of the most lyrically complex. But at its heart, it's about vulnerability and letting yourself experience the full spectrum of emotions."
Wild Honey is a project years in the making, with many of the songs tracing their roots back to early Garage Band vocals and beats. Two years into the recording process, Jessie felt unsettled with the direction of the songs. She reached out to producer/artist Jeremy Larson (Violents) to help track strings. Jeremy had an immediate impact on the tracks, so Jessie enlisted him to co-produce, mix, and master Wild Honey. Her husband, Aaron Early (Apache Relay), played drums on the EP, bringing the snares and Rototoms to life on this project.
Coming up on April 15, Jessie will perform in Nashville at The High Watt on a bill with fellow Nashville artists Daniella Mason and EZA. Website here, Facebook here.
'Body Can't Hold' is a melodic indie pop song, where Jessie Early sings with a mixture of emotion and quality, that combined give a very catchy song, some real depth.
Background - Aubergine MACHINE is excited to release their latest single "U People" off the upcoming WildLife EP. Lead by simmering synths and Shanti's crisp, but mystical, vocals, the track explodes into a dystopian synth-pop anthem, transporting listeners to a remote wooded landscape where anything seems possible. "U People" closely follows the release of their completely addicting singles "Trains" and "Only."
Aubergine MACHINE is made up of multi-platinum selling producer Ian Carey and newcomer Shanti Ellis. The duo connected in 2012, but have since relocated their studio to the middle of an obscure island, literally. Throwing all cultural conventions to the wayside, Ian pulls from his '90s hip hop obsessions and pop sensibilities to perfectly complement Shanti's smoldering vocals. WildLife creates visions of a dystopian rebellion sprinkled with a little stardust. Facebook here.
So this is what dystopian pop sounds like. 'U People' has a mixture of vibrant synths sounds, vocals that gently glide above the music and a level of power that adds some edge to the whole.
Background - Born in Thailand and raised in Argentina, France, and various parts of North America, singer songwriter Carly Thomas can trace her insatiable wanderlust to a childhood in which she never lived anywhere longer than three years. Having attended four different high schools in three different countries, Carly is more skilled in the art of goodbye than most, channelling her experiences of change, loss and longing into heartfelt lyrics and beautiful acoustic guitar lines to create songs that have won over audiences from Paris to Manhattan. With a strong, clear voice, thick with emotion, Carly's skillfully crafted Indie Folk songs are underpinned with a sincerity and truth that enthralls, she grabs listeners’ attention with gutsy stories of love and witty onstage banter, yet Carly isn’t afraid to expose her heart in order to help her listeners mend theirs. Latest EP 'Explode' was written in friends’ living rooms, on an 18-wheeler delivering bubble-gum, on transcontinental flights and beaches. These songs were written where Carly is most at home, on the road. Website here, Facebook here.
'The Montreal Train Song' is an up tempo indie folk song. It provides listeners with a good idea of the melodic and genuine music and feelings, that shine through in Carly's music.
Background - New York-based artist R. Missing have released their brand new EP Unsummering. The video for the first single “Kelly Was a Philistine” has been described as having a David Lynch-like feel. It highlights a complex relationship with the surrounding world, encapsulated by the chorus lyric, “Kelly was a philistine the last time we met, so why are we getting along?” You won’t find love songs here. You’ll find unloved songs. You won’t find summer, you’ll find Unsummering.
Unsummering, the first release under their new moniker R. Missing, expands on The Ropes’ previous palette of Morrissey tinged lyrics and darkwave. Unsummering manages to be even more isolated lyrically than their famously nihilistic previous work, fully embracing complete detachment. Musically, fraught guitar and synth textures paint an image of an unstable world, held together only by tightly quantized electronic drum beats. Website here, Facebook here.
The second of six songs on the new EP 'Kelly Was a Philistine' typifies the sound and darker atmospheric feel to be found across the collection. The synth textures and driving rhythm work well with the sometimes remote vocals in what is a quite addictive collection of songs.
Background - oddnesse is heavy hazy groovy classic. Over the weekend LA-based Oddnesse dropped her new single "Scream".
"Scream" marks the final track in a series of four that makes up Oddnesse's debut.
Her first few songs have had strong support from Spotify - "Somewhere Somehow" making both the 'Fresh Finds' and 'New Indie' (1mil subscribers) Playlists and is averaging 7k streams/day since last week.
We featured the previous song 'Incoming Call' describing that as "a swirling, layered and creative feast of sounds". New track 'Scream' is a slower, more dreamy piece where the vocals add melody, whilst the soundtrack is at times powerful and yet never overwhelming. Putting all four songs together results in a very good and contrasting collection of material, no wonder we see the numbers cited above.
Background - Word around the corridors is that 2017 will be the year for the blues to burgeon once more. Be that as it may, that’s not what motivates MOOON, a young trio hailing from the placid town of Aarle-Rixtel. This band’s fire is lit by the works of preeminent deities like Blood, Sweat and Tears, Led Zeppelin, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Santana and Rory Gallagher.
Like these aforementioned artists, blues forms a vital cornerstone for MOOON, a fertile root from which to draw the ilk of psychedelics and garage rock. Tom de Jong, Gijs de Jong and Timo van Lierop may not have been part of the sixties and seventies – the decades when rock ‘n’ roll enjoyed its conception and tight-fisted reign – but their music is proof that its spirit remains an undying wellspring for expression.
MOOON will embark on a set of dates opening up for The Black Marble Selection and trot the festival circuit with slots at Here Comes The Summer and Tweetakt. Their debut LP Brew will be released at Excelsior Recordings this fall, with Mary You Wanna offering the first exciting glimpse of what’s to come. Website here, Facebook here.
If you had told me 'Mary You Wanna' was from the late sixties, I would be puzzling as to who the band was, and why I had never heard the song. MOOON capture a bygone era and bring it up to date with their energy and excitement. The video is both fab and groovy man, in fact it's way out.
Background - Kristeen Young Releases "Nice" Video plus SXSW Shows and a NYC Residency. Look out for a new LP this year. Originally from St. Louis, MO., Kristeen Young are a New York City based keys, bass, and drums (zeppelin-heavy, avant garde, piano-bash rock) trio.
Kristeen Young is also the front person, keyboard player and songwriter for the band, Sylvia Black plays bass, and Jefferson (Baby Jef) Wayne White is the drummer. Their sound has been described as prunk (prog/punk) but mixing in other genres at times, too, with Young singing operatically at times. They have toured extensively as support band for Morrissey, played (for their last album release) on the Late Late show with Craig Ferguson, and recorded a (Kristeen Young written) duet with David Bowie.
Kristeen Young have a (Tony Visconti co-produced) new album coming out in 2017 called Live at the Witch’s Tit on which Nick Zinner, of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, plays guitar on a few songs. Other guest guitarists include Vernon Reid (Living Colour) Sarah Register (Talk Normal), and John LaMacchia (Candiria). Website here, Facebook here, live dates on our tour page.
'Nice' is a refreshing blast of frenzied keyboard fronted rock'n'roll. From new wave to punk the song dips and swerves between genres whilst the vocals delight and to a degree hold everything together. Fabulous!!
Background - Purmamarca is big on the numerical symbolism and appreciation for the fans who have been chompin' at the bit for this new record. So, this past Tuesday, Ryan Henry unleashed Bring Up the Soft Dreams to the world - exactly three years and three days of work later, as an act of love to the band's collaborators and contributors.
Streaming exclusively on Bandcamp, the band's first studio album, Bring Up the Soft Dreams, is now streaming in full. Bandcamp was a specific choice, as Purmamarca was part of the February 3rd ACLU fundraising frenzy on Bandcamp, offering previously unreleased song "Reservoir" to fans. For 24 hours, the band doubled down on Bandcamp's efforts and sent a portion of proceeds to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the Sierra Club to help support the greater good.
Sometimes when we take risks and act bravely enough to say “goodbye,” we get a better chance to say “hello” to what we want. That’s exactly what happened when Ryan Henry from Purmamarca moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. For the first time since the band’s incarnation in 2012, the core members don’t exist within the same state borders. It’s an interesting time to release their debut, studio album, which is completely produced by Patrick Hyland, who works with Mitski. On March 7th 2017, the entire album, Bring Up the Soft Dreams, became available on all digital platforms. Facebook here.
We feature 'Everything Under the Sun' the first song on 'Bring Up the Soft Dreams'. Mixing layers of sound, melody and atmospheric vocals, all nine songs test out differing directions, whilst a constant vibe of dreamy ambient feeling is never far off.
Background - Eureka California announce SXSW dates and debut new track 'Only Birds No Feathers' from their new 7". In just under a year since releasing their last album “Versus,” Eureka California are back with a new single, “Wigwam.”
The band had a set plan in mind when going into the studio: get in and knock it out and release a single to hold over ‘til recording the next full length. With “Versus” they went overseas to the UK and recorded with MJ at Suburban Home, but for “Wigwam” they decided to record here in their hometown of Athens, Georgia, with Dave Barbe (Sugar / Mercyland / Dave Barbe & the Quick Hooks) at his Chase Park Transduction Studio.
Wasting no time, they recorded and mixed the single in one afternoon. A single on a tight budget, three tracks in under 8 minutes, hand-decorated sleeves -- everything about this is economical. Facebook here, tour dates on our tour page.
Fast paced beats and a guitar riff in full control, gives 'Only Birds No Feathers' a short, sharp, shock, feel and at just over two minutes long, you can catch your breath and dive back in.
Background - Low Roar - the name under which Ryan Karazija records and performs - is excited to announce the upcoming release of a new album. Once In A Long, Long While… will be released via Nevado Music on May 5th.
Recorded in London with longtime collaborator Mike Lindsay (Tunng), Once In A Long, Long While… is the follow up to 2014's 0, which earned Karazija a large new audience after his music was discovered by iconic Japanese video game creator Hideo Kojima. Kojima used Low Roar's "I'll Keep Coming" and "Easy Way Out" on two high-profile trailers in 2016 for his Death Stranding video game starring Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, and director Guillermo del Toro.
Born in the San Francisco Bay Area to a mother of Mexican descent and a Lithuanian father, the frontman spent his formative years playing in bands around Northern California before relocating to Iceland in 2010 where he recorded Low Roar’s self-titled debut in his Reykjavik kitchen. Quietly building buzz, he cut the critically acclaimed follow-up, 0, in a converted garage in 2014 before going on to grace the stages of ATP, Eurosonic, Airwaves France, The Great Escape, Lowlands, Iceland Airwaves, and beyond.
After touring the world in support of 0, Karazija spent most of 2016 as a solo traveller, visiting everywhere from Iceland, Sweden, and Poland, to the Bay Area, and Mexico before settling permanently in Warsaw. During this time, he carefully assembled his third full-length record.Website here, Facebook here, tour dates on our tour page.
Already getting noticed the song 'Bones' is a lo-fi tune where the vocals are seemingly discreet and merge beautifully with the gentle soundtrack.
Background - Travelling singer and songwriter Robert Jackson and versatile classical cellist Isaac Collier combine with stunning effect to create their own unique blend of Brit Folk/Americana for the debut EP from A Different Thread, ‘Home From Home’, released 15th April 2017. Jackson’s distinctively soulful voice, vibrato harmonica and driving acoustic guitar combines with Collier’s enchanting and often improvised playing to give ‘Home From Home’ a refreshing and impulsive edge. Together they create something special, raw and cultured with their songwriting summoning imagery of adventure, bitter romance and synchronicity.
A Different Thread first met whilst busking a mere matter of months ago with the culmination of their talents making an immediate impact with BBC Bristol instantly snapping the pair up for 2 live sessions. Since their inception, the duo have been on an upward rise, attracting the attention of international musicians, Brum & Scilly Radio, BBC 6 Music and BBC Introducing.
The captivating ‘Home From Home’ EP features a host of internationally renowned musicians based in Bristol including guitarist and singer/songwriter Lewis Creaven, vocalist and singer/songwriter Ruth Royall, Andrew Hughes (Drummer of BBC2 featured Johnny Cage and the Voodoo Groove) and Alicia Best, Appalachian Folk singer/songwriter from North Carolina. The Folk/Blues/Country blend in the debut EP from the innovative pair includes tones from early Bob Dylan, David Grey, Robert Johnson and Joni Mitchell. Songwriters Willy Mason and Evan Dando are also evident, as well as more contemporary influences such as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Felice Brothers and Old Crow Medicine Show. Facebook here, website here.
The first of four songs on their debut EP is 'Big Crane'. It's an easy going modern folk song, where the music unfolds and builds at a delightful pace, whilst the highly engaging vocals and harmonies add melody and feeling. The EP is a must.
Background - Ahead of the album the new single Collateral has now been released. Anna Coogan has been preparing for this moment her whole life, ever since she was a girl growing up in Boston, influenced by her classical opera training and her father’s protest albums by Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan. After several efforts with her Pacific Northwest-based alt-country band north 19, a pair of well-received indie solo releases and a collaboration with producer JD Foster (2014’s Birth of the Stars), Coogan’s latest is a stylistic breakthrough. Anna Coogan will release The Lonely Cry of Space & Time on April 28.
The album, a virtual two-person effort which features Willie B (Brian Wilson) on drums and Moog bass, combines Coogan’s three-octave soprano vocals, electric guitar soundscapes and pointed social commentary into a fierce cohesive piece which combines the personal and the political, in a musical hybrid of rock, country, pop and classical opera into a unique whole.
There have been many attempts at rock opera in the past, but The Lonely Cry of Space & Time is something different. Call it operatic rock, a genre previously explored by the likes of Kate Bush, Jane Siberry, Lene Lovich, Yoko Ono and Freddie Mercury, among others. Coogan studied opera at the prestigious Mozarteum University of Salzburg in Austria, before moving to Seattle, where she worked as a fisheries biologist in Washington State and Alaska, which goes a long way to explaining her frequent use of water as a metaphor. In fact, a drought in the Finger Lakes region of New York where she lived in part was a factor in the immediacy she brought to the new album. Website here, Facebook here.
At it's heart 'Collateral' is a stripped back and straight to the chase rock song. Add in Anna's vocals and the track expands with melody and passion, demanding the music steps up to the pace, resulting in a powerful and heady response.
Background - Mike Adams At His Honest Weight shares the video for "The Lucky One" a new track distributed by Joyful Noise Recordings. When talking about the track Mike says, "Our video for "The Lucky One", is a hardcore tribute to a portion of Zbignew Rybczynski's 1990 experimental masterwork, "Orkiestra". My day job is at a community television station, and I happened to catch the "Funeral March" segment of Zbig's film on our channel as I passed by. It was beautiful and hypnotizing, and I immediately wondered how it was made. So, having the advantage of cheap and powerful technology at our disposal, Zac (Canale) and I set out to dissect the original and make this shoestring-budget tribute version by guessing and stabbing at that "how" question. Meanwhile, twisting it into shape with our own symbolism and metaphor. The themes of the song and the video have to do with luck and superstition, uncontrollable other factors and circumstances."
Mike Adams At His Honest Weight is the flagship recording project of Mike Adams (duh). Musician, writer, TV host, parent, humorist, friend, nimble agitator, these are all adjectives that describe Mike Adams, the man. But, in another realm, he's a complex mixture of Star-stuff, somehow equally at home whether he's at home, or performing for a captivated drooling audience.
For the most part, these songs are written and recorded by Mike, alone, in his room before they're handed off to friend and trusted confidant, Adam Jessup, for further production and polishing-off. I suppose Mike sees the arranging and writing process as an escape fantasy into his own mind where he's safe and in control. Of course, he's wrong about that. What he's really doing is flipping himself inside out; internalising his experience and exposing his veiled vulnerability in a grotesque public evolutionary process for the whole world to see. Obviously. But, he's a sensitive guy, so if you don't tell him, neither will we. Facebook here, tour dates on our tour page.
What's not to love with 'The Lucky One'. The video put an immediate smile on my face, the music is feel good and natural. Add in a fascinating mood switch half way through and this becomes one gem of a song.
Background - Hollow Everdaze have thrust back into gear for 2017 with new single "Catastrophe", an infectious slice of psychedelic-pop carved from their forthcoming album Cartoons (due for release later this year via Deaf Ambitions). Featuring a rollicking, garage-indebted hook, "Catastrophe" trades swirls of violin present in previous single "Still Ticking" for flourishes of keys and guitar-fuzz -- at times recalling moments of Dutch shoegazer Jacco Gardner. Drenched in reverbed lushness, Hollow Everdaze have been reimagining psychedelic pop since they began in 2007 by lead vocalist, Dan Baulch and bassist, Jackson Kay in their small town hometown of Bacchus Marsh in Western Victoria. Having spent the last year working on the release of their debut full length album, recorded by rising Melbourne producer, John Lee (known for his work with Beaches, Lost Animal, The Ocean Party), mastered by David Walker (NUN, Beaches, GOAT, Jen Cloher) at Stepford Audio, and with video and art collaborations from James Thomson, Niv Bavarsky and Micheal Olivo, the band are set to unveil their newest work to the world. Hollow Everdaze capture the urgency of a band who have traced their own weird, divergent path through the haunted backwoods of songwriting. It shows through in their stunning debut EP, released in 2013 which received rave reviews from Australia’s most highly respected journalists and earned them support spots for international artists including The War On Drugs (US), Unknown Mortal Orchestra (NZ), and Wavves (US), plus saw them join American Football (US) on their East Coast tour of Australia in 2015. Facebook here.
The is no shortage of bands enjoying psychedelic pop influences from years gone by and Hollow Daze clearly have a knack for this as 'Catastrophe' demonstrates. With that said there is enough of a modern slant and production to give the song a fresh feel.
Background - The Los Angeles-based duo Tashaki Miyaki will release their highly anticipated debut album 'The Dream' on April 7 via Metropolis Records. This week the band shares the album's second single "City." The cinematic video for the track was directed by Kelsey McNamee. "The song brought to mind the image of a woman who feels disconnected, someone who floats through spaces and life," McNamee explains. "I was inspired by the portrayal of a lonely woman in Barbara Loden's film Wanda and the dynamic in Paper Moon. As well as Los Angeles and the way it can make you feel isolated." Tashaki Miyaki have toured and played festivals across North America, Europe and the UK. The band has also performed at art museums around the world, including The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona and MoMA, New York. Tashaki Miyaki has spent the past couple years writing and recording their debut LP, The Dream, produced by Singer/Songwriter/Multi-Instrumentalist Paige Stark and engineered by Dan Horne (Cass McCombs, Allah Las). As a writer for The Fader once observed of the band’s hypnotic sound, “It's so pretty I’m afraid saying anything else might diminish it". Facebook here.
Our second feature for Tashaki Miyaki this year with the second single from the soon to be released album. 'City' is a dreamy and lush song with intricate layers of sweeping sound. The video catches the mood and feeling, the album is awaited with interest.
Background - Amsterdam-by way of San Diego, CA-based singer-songwriter Gayle Skidmore is excited to announce the release of her latest full-length, The Golden West. The album will be available nationally on Friday, April 7, 2017. She'll also be touring in support of the album. The tour, and the album release, are the culmination of nearly two years of both heartache and mind-clearing revelations. The Golden West would test her perseverance, but ultimately help her grow as an artist.
"The week before my wedding I was still finishing vocals for the album, which was pretty insane," says Skidmore, discussing The Golden West, her twentieth independent release overall, and her third to feature an adult coloring book with the album, each picture depicting a different song. But, with an impending wedding and a new album on the horizon, Skidmore was able to purge some of her past ghosts and let go of a lot of stuff she was still holding on to. Throughout the ten-track collection, The Golden West details Skidmore's personal journey to leave the past where it belongs, a journey that took much longer than planned.
"I have spent the last several years touring the country in my tiny car, cramming in up to five instruments just for me, making coloring books, baking cookies, and knitting hats for fans. I’ve driven to New York and back several times by myself and have had countless adventures. I was once an opener for a Juggalo show in Buffalo. I played a house show in a basement in Boise and on the same tour played the EMP museum in Seattle for Ninkasi Brewing’s Ground Control Launch. Once I drove fourteen hours from Chicago to Denver to play a show and was certain I had poisoned myself with energy drinks. I’ve slept in my car, been in accidents, been harassed in the South for looking ‘alternative,’ had a few stalkers, and have had all kinds of funny adventures with tour mates. I’ve opened for my musical heroes, performed in a castle in Denver, toured in Europe, recorded twenty independent releases, and been sponsored by a fantastic brewing company [Ninkasi]. The last few years of performing have been an intense and incredible journey and I can’t wait to see where this new album takes me." Website here, Facebook here, tour details on our tour page.
The first of ten tracks on the album due for release next month, 'Pale Ghosts' is a beautiful song where melodic music and vocals equally seek out your attention. 'The Golden West' drifts into differing moods and styles, the constant reference is refined and beautiful vocals alongside considered and intelligent musical arrangements.
Background - Portland, Oregon's Kathryn Claire is gearing up to celebrate the release of her fourth full-length album, Bones Will Last, a ten-track collection of chamber/folk music encompassing her classical music upbringing with her formative folk influences. With five instrumentals and five vocal tracks, Bones Will Last places Claire’s violin and voice at the forefront of the album.
Claire spent years cultivating her own style and approach to music as a violinist, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. The result is an album that features arrangements that are sparse, with the lyrics residing confidently in the music; the violin weaving seamlessly through the album, bringing the instrumental and lyrical compositions together. She will release Bones Will Last nationally on March 24, 2017.
“When I decided to put instrumentals and lyrical songs on the album, I knew finding a cohesive sound could be problematic," admits Claire. “That interweaving was so profound. I have played violin on many albums, and have worked as a side person with incredible performers. Each artist and genre I worked in taught me something. One of the most important gifts I learned as a side person was how to listen. When I made this album I applied that gift to myself. I wanted to capture what I heard in my head with the violin. I went deep within myself to find those melodic or lyrical lines that I kept hearing.” Facebook here, website here.
'Bones Will Last' is a mixture of instrumental and vocal tracks evenly split. I thought sharing 'The Fugue' one of the instrumental pieces would give some idea of the musical quality which underpins the entire collection. Kathryn Claire has a very melodic voice ensuring that the entire collection is one of refined quality.
Henke Wermelin & His New Love - When We Move Back Home.
Background - Swedish americana artist Henke Wermelin dreams of moving out in the countryside and releases the gospel sounding When We Move Back Home as the second single from his forthcoming album Accolades!
When We Move Back Home praises the countryside. A song about yearning to find one’s place in life and strike root. Or to express it as Henke Wermelin puts it in the song itself: “When you walk through towns where people know who you are even if you don’t, that's how it will be when we move back home”.
In the video of the song Wermelin takes help from a psychologist in order to come to terms with his craze and longing for the countryside – of little use however… Is it just an illusion that the countryside is better!? Is it all just a naïve dream that will fall together as a house of cards? Henke Wermelin ignores all of the objections made and sings the lead motive of the song as a mantra and continues his hunt for a rural life.
Henke Wermelin from Gothenburg, Sweden made his debut in 2013 with the album The New Black Is Blue which received fine reviews and was mentioned as rootsy indie, americana and 70s inspired pop. Henke Wermelin performs live with His New Love - a band occasionally including as many as nine musicians! When We Move Back Home is the second single off of forthcoming album Accolades due out later this spring. Facebook here.
I think I might have run out of original things to say regarding Swedish Americana. Perhaps it's a case of stating that once again just how good these artists are at making such fine music and songs this time the case in point is 'When We Move Back Home', or maybe I just say it's Scandinavian Americana, and everyone knows that means very good.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Man From Managra - Saviours Of This World.
Background - The Man From Managra is the Athens based Alternative/Folk project of Greek musician, composer, sound engineer and music producer Coti K. He began his career in the mid-80s and he has played with various bands such as Film Noir, In Trance 95, RAW, Mohammad and as a producer he has worked, among others, with: Raining Pleasure and Tuxedomoon. As a film and theater composer, he has worked with directors such as: Dimitris Papaioannou, Yorgos Lanthimos.
Three years have passed since the release of the first album "The Man From Managra". During this time Coti turned fifty (half a century of life), became a father, haven’t managed to learn surfing yet and continued to write songs, this time with a more extrovert attitude and with an expanded number of guest musicians.
The album was written and recorded over a period of two years (2015, 2016) somewhere between Tinos island and Athens. Besides his close collaborator, Panos Galanis, on drums, the album features: Jim R. White (Dirty Three, Peaches) on drums, Blaine L. Reininger (Tuxedomoon) on viola and vocals, Hristos Lainas on bass and guitar, Rena Rasouli (Venus Volcanism) on vocals, James Whylie and George Avramidis (G.Aggelakas and 100º) on wind instruments.
"The Man came a long time ago from Managra island. It was a small forgotten isle in the backwaters of the Mediterranean, or was it somewhere in the Indian sea? No one seems to remember, or care. Some say a nearby volcanic eruption wiped all traces of the Man's homeland." Website here, Facebook here.
'Saviours Of This World' is taken from the latest album 'Half A Century Sun' and what an album it is.The featured song, is just a small taste of something very special, alt folk at it's finest with original, moving and melodic songs throughout.
Background - The Holiday Crowd debut second video "Cheer Up" from their current LP "The Holiday Crowd" (Shelflife). Following the debut of the record's first single "Cheer Up," Shelflife is proud to release The Holiday Crowd's self-titled full length -- the sophomore offering from the finest indie-pop band north of the border. The past few years kept the group occupied with various projects ranging from gigs like Berlin Pop Fest in 2012 and a European tour in 2013 to covering Duran Duran's 1981 track "Friends of Mine" for the charity tribute album Making Patterns Rhyme.
Now, at last ready to follow up their debut Over the Bluffs, you'll soon be reminded that The Holiday Crowd is carrying on the jangle-pop torch of the eighties' premier bands better than anybody else. Their new album will be released this fall on limited clear vinyl and classic black vinyl with download code, and won't fail to both win over new fans while making longtime listeners fall only deeper in love.
The Holiday Crowd finds singer Imran Haniff embracing a cool swagger that highlights just how tight the band's songwriting is from cover to cover. Tracks like "Cheer Up" and "Of All Places" feature some of Roberts' most fun and punchy basslines to date, while "Rosy Lies"- which pays clear homage to Johnny Marr -- has some of the most memorable guitar work written on this side of the eighties.
It's rare that a band sounds this comfortable in and in tune with its sound so early in their discography, but upon hearing The Holiday Crowd's origin story it begins to make more sense: "Lead singer Imran Haniff first met Colin Bowers in high school, where a conversation about Colin's Stone Roses t-shirt developed into a strong bonding friendship and songwriting partnership." It seems that from the very inception of the group there was a shared vision for where their sound would explore, and now, six years after the band's formation, it's paying off in the biggest of ways. Facebook here.
A fascinating video deserves at least a good song and 'Cheer Up' goes beyond the call of duty. Distinct vocals and punchy rhythmic music run alongside intriguing lyrics, what else do we need for a song!
Blonde Redhead - Golden Light.
Jessie Early - Body Can't Hold.
