Amanda Easton - Magical Beasts - Resurrection Fern

We have three artists that released new material at the tail end of last year to share today.  Amanda Easton released a mini album entitled 'Polaroids & Postcards'. We have the full collection and a video for 'I Saw The Message' from this gifted electronica pop artist. === From Chicago Magical Beasts have released the E.P 'Yes My Love, I Am Reaching', described by the band as a winter record, it's a beautiful collection of folk and Americana. ===Indie folk singer songwriter Resurrection Fern shares 'Fern' a collection of refined acoustic songs that pack feeling and gentle but persuasive musical hooks.
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Amanda Easton - Polaroids & Postcards (mini album).

Amanda Easton, is a theatrical, soulful pop artist who has released two self-penned albums and three EPs. Two of her singles appearing in the top 10 of the independent Aussie charts. She's appeared onstage as backing vocalist for some of Australia's best loved musical legends including Glenn Shorrock, Powderfinger, Marcia Hines, James Reyne, Vanessa Amarosi, Richard Clapton & Wendy Matthews.

Her latest release Polaroids & Postcards is a 6-track mini album, just released. A collection of nostalgic, theatrical electronic pop songs about love and heartbreak. This is the third in a set of 3 EPs (1. Out of the Blue 2. Disco Disconnected).

From the artist: I was packing up my Mum's house when I discovered a box of old letters and photos of mine and it brought back lots of memories! These songs are all from personal experiences - some joy and love, some heartbreak.

With influences ranging from Blondie’s sassy pop-rock, through the moody grooves of the '90s to the sexy beats of trip hop, Amanda Easton creates retro theatrical electronica pop with her emotional lyrics and soaring voice. Think James Bond music for late nights. She's released two albums and three EPS with 2 of her singles appearing in the top 10 of the independent Aussie charts. Her music videos and live performances have graced Aussie television screens including 'MTV' and she has performed on stages throughout Europe and Australia including sell-out shows at the Sydney Opera House.

She works full time as a performer, in prestigious venues throughout Australia from the Sydney Entertainment Centre to 5 Star Hotels, major clubs, Royal Caribbean’s ‘Radiance of the Seas’ cruise ship and regular appearances at the iconic Basement at Circular Quay and at the Taronga Zoo Twilight Series. She has also done stints in Japan, Bali, Malaysia, Noumea as well as toured throughout Europe. She performs regularly in popular production shows including ‘Rumours’, ‘Classic Kings Rocking the 70s’, and ‘First Ladies of Soul’, and produces and performs in ‘The Swell Sisters’ 60s girl group.

She has performed for the who's who of Australian corporations, at the ACE Awards and twice at the ARIA Awards. She's appeared onstage as backing vocalist for some of Australia's best loved musical legends including Glenn Shorrock, Powderfinger, Marcia Hines, James Reyne and Vanessa Amarosi and has been on national and international tours with multi-platinum artists Richard Clapton and Wendy Matthews.

Amanda has also lent her voice as a lead and backing vocalist to many other artists' and commercial recording projects including TV Commercials and international DJ releases. She co-writes for various local and international artists as well as herself, with a recent single ‘The New Bohemians’ being nominated for an Australian Songwriting Award. Her music videos and live performances have often graced Aussie television screens including 'MTV' and ‘The Morning Show’.

Amanda has hosted and produced music shows on 2SER, 2MCR and 2MCE radio stations as well as produced and hosted her own 13 Episode Television Series showcasing female singers called 'PopTarts' for TVS in Sydney and Channel 31 in Melbourne.


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Magical Beasts - Yes My Love, I Am Reaching (E.P).

Chicago-based folk emsemble Magical Beasts recently released their new 6-song collection entitled Yes, My Love, I Am Reaching.

From the artist: This album is full of love songs and devotional music. There is a fair amount of sexual imagery so there is no mistaking the type of devotion we are speaking about with a religion, and while not religious, nor is it purely sexual. The dynamics between Love, Sex, deep Yearning, and various forms of Union are for the listener to parse out themselves. The release is very much intended to be listened to around the time of the Winter Solstice, and is very much a Winter record.

Magical Beasts are a Chicago based folk ensemble led by Nathan Paulus.  The core of the group consists of Nathan Paulus, Josh Miller and John Herbst, For each album different Chicago musicians and artists are sought out to collaborate. The project is Nathan's passion and primary form of art expression.

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Resurrection Fern - Fern.

The new 6-track EP release from inspired indie folk singer songwriter Resurrection Fern is entitled Fern. With a stripped-down acoustic guitar-based sound, Resurrection Fern's strength is her clear, emotive voice and relate-able lyrics. Serene, minimalist and ethereal, Resurrection Fern shows her songwriting might on Fern. This release was community-funded and recorded at the renowned Station West studio in Nashville.

A paired-down album of authenticity and expression, this self-titled EP is quintessentially, "Fern".Compared to Resurrection Fern's previous album, "Beyond the Trees", which displayed epic instrumentation and "big" multi-layered sound, this self-titled 6 track compilation is stripped bare in all its vulnerable glory. With paired-down instrumentation and conversational lyrics, "Fern" feels like a warm embrace from a best friend. Authentic, self-searching, and vulnerable, "Fern" is an album to soundtrack your life by. Resurrection Fern states that she searched for months for the perfect name for the album, and finally after a conversation with her husband about her dilemma, he asked "What is the first word you think of to describe this album?", and she said, "It's...me."

Resurrection Fern is part of the new movement of pioneering musicians that have taken their live performances beyond the small reach of bars and cafes and into the laptops, televisions, and mobile phones of fans all over the world. The recent ubiquity of live online streaming platforms like Twitch.tv has made this possible.

For the past 3 years Fern’s channel, twitch.tv/resurrection fern, has been at the forefront of this new wave of online artistic expression. Hundreds of fans tune in multiple times per week to not only watch Fern share her live musical performances, but to be a part of her daily experience as an independent singer-songwriter. The platform offered by twitch.tv allows Fern an intimacy with her audience that is lacking from traditional live performances. Utilizing her channel’s live chat function Fern directly engages with her audience throughout every single performance. Fern fields questions, shares stories, and simply enjoys the company of her community, the “FernFam”.


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The Mowgli's - Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thornton - Ben Watt

There is a brand new video from The Mowgli's for 'Wasting Time', a gorgeous, catchy indie pop song that really charms. === Eddie ‘Tan-Tan’ Thornton has been in the music business for decades and played with some of the best, his new single 'Fur Elise' is a refreshing reggae/ska take on a Beethoven classic and is taken from the splendid 'The Reggae and Ska Nostalgia Album'. === Ben Watt latest single is 'Figures In The Landscape' which comes from his forthcoming 'Storm Damage' album due at the end of this month. Once again Ben's solo work is impressive and oozes personal feeling and passion.
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The Mowgli's - Wasting Time.

We have the new visuals from The Mowgli's. Entitled "Wasting Time", the song details the struggle to find meaning in life.  Joshua Hogan confides "We all want to do something meaningful, but we don’t always figure out how. This song tells the story of being lost in a repeating loop of every day routine and the fight to keep moving forward." 'Wasting Time' features bold pop melodies, dreamy synths and driving rhythms. The Mowgli's have garnered over 150 million streams on Spotify alone and are about to embark on a U.K. tour.

All of life is a journey and the best journeys are those taken with friends. For the 5 members of The Mowgli’s that road has seen their friendship tested and rebuilt numerous times. From their earliest Venice, California days as a 10+ revolving cast of characters to their current line-up, the core members have evolved from playing midnight warehouse parties to the stages of the largest festivals.

While there have been many highlights - appearances on late night TV shows, incredibly rewarding collaborations with charities and electrifying performances in legendary venues among them - there have also been tests: Losing band members, battling with the stress of constant touring and maintaining their friendship, trying to remain both grounded and optimistic when things go amazingly well and when they don’t. But there have been benefits of creating deep bonds and close relationships, not least the marriage of singers Katie Jayne Earl and Josh Hogan in 2017. “Being in a touring band is hard work,” says Katie, “but inspiring. It only works because people care about the band and we have a core who support us, people who have both been there since the beginning and joined along the way. Those supporters keep us motivated.”

The release of The Mowgli’s first major-label LP Waiting For The Dawn in 2013 saw immediate success with the hit single San Francisco. The record - which focused on the joy of bringing people together - immediately connected in a cynical world. The band quickly found themselves playing to sold out crowds in clubs around the US and inundated by requests for press, sponsorships and partnerships. Appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Firefly, Osheaga, Bottlerock and many other festivals followed as did performances on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Conan and a stint as the SXSW House band for Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live (Bravo)

The follow up LP, 2015’s Kids in Love (which spawned the feel-good single I’m Good) saw the band explore personal relationships including their own inter-band ones, and their third LP Where’d Your Weekend Go? which came in the Fall of 2016, often found the band working on songs together from their very inception - giving much of the record a relaxed and communal feeling.

Parting ways with their original label in 2017, The Mowgli’s released a pair of EPs: I Was Starting To Wonder (2018) and American Feelings (2019), each backed by national US tours and both exploring the “band experience” to a large extent. The first EP focused on travelling, missing home, looking for excitement in the daily churn of a tour, finding it in the back alleys and on the rooftops of America. The more recent EP American Feelings turned more towards relationships and connections, noticeable in Talk About It and Mr. Telephone which both harken to the lack of discourse and engagement prevalent in society today, especially with technology serving as both a facilitator and barrier. Says singer/guitarist Josh Hogan, “Communication is a very powerful tool. If we could learn to communicate in a healthy way, this place would be much less divided.”

Katie adds: “Talk About It started out being a song about communicating your way through difficult situations, but as it evolved, it became a song not only about having hard conversations, but about forgiveness. And it’s really special to me.” Whereas those songs look outwards, Hard To Love and Norman Rockwell focus inwards, taking a critical look at emotional failings in the former, and attempting to create a new reality to escape to in the latter.

“…Wonder” was supported by a deliberately small club tour. “It was exciting to get back out on the road, up close and personal with our fans who have stuck with us from the beginning,” says Katie. “We took a really needed break after [Where’d Your Weekend Go?] - after years of almost non-stop touring.”

“It was a relief to get back on the road and do something a little different for that tour,” adds Josh.

The band also travelled to Honduras and Guantanamo Bay last year, entertaining the Armed Forces during the week of July 4th. Truly an eye-opening experience, the two shows rank as unforgettable for the band. “You get that sense that people are really grateful to just have a connection with back-home - especially in Honduras,” says Josh. “It was so cool to feel that energy and look around when you’re playing and realize where we were and what it meant to everyone.”

For The Mowgli’s, as for any band, this whole experience is a journey - and not always an easy one. It tests your self-belief, your stamina, your relationships and your mental and emotional health. “Since this band started we’ve been through a lot of changes: gained members, lost members, been shuffled around labels and learned a lot about the music industry,” says Andy. “Now it feels like we’re really independent again, refocused on curating our live show, more in touch with the business of being this band.” He adds “Our sound has evolved but we always circle back to the basic themes: love, feeling good, excited for life no matter what the day delivers.”

Always with a mission to bring hope and positivity into the world, The Mowgli’s have been involved with numerous charities including The IRC, Heal The Bay, Happy Bottoms and many food banks and homeless shelters.

Upcoming tour dates:
JAN 14 TUE The Wardrobe Leeds, United Kingdom
JAN 15 WED Clwb Ifor Bach Cardiff, United kingdom
JAN 16 THU The Joiners Southampton, United Kindom
JAN 17 FRI The Castle & Falcon Birmingham, United Kindom
JAN 18 SAT Cluny Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kindom
JAN 19 SUN Stereo Glasgow, United Kindom
JAN 21 TUE Castle Hotel Manchester, United Kindom
JAN 22 WED Louisiana Bristol, United Kindom
JAN 23 THU The Camden Assembly London, United Kindom
JAN 24 FRI Phase One Liverpool, United Kindom

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Eddie ‘Tan-Tan’ Thornton - Fur Elise.

Eddie Tan-Tan Thornton’s journey to his first solo album, is a love story spanning some 50 years, which began in Spanish Town, Jamaica. Fur Elise (Single) is taken from The Reggae & Ska Nostalgia Album.

Soon after his father passed away, the 13 year old Tan-Tan was sent to the musical Alpha School, run by Nuns, which was to influence and change his life in ways he never would have expected.  Tan-Tan’s life could easily have been one of crime, but instead, thanks to one nun in particular, Sister Ignatius, he found his lifelong faith and passion for music, the trumpet!  Even today, Tan-Tan still thinks very highly of her, proudly showing the few remaining photographs he holds close to his heart.

Reggae & Ska Nostalgia is a journey of some 35 years, representing some of his favourite tracks to which Tan-Tan adds his musical touch and trumpet, demonstrating why he has played for the cream of the crop of musicians: Boney M, The Beatles (Got To Get You In To My Life), Andy Fairweather Low, Georgie Fame, The Small Faces, Desmond Dekker, ASWAD, Lilly Allen, Gyspy Kings, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Jools Holland, Jimmi Hendrix, Sandy Shaw, to name a few.

At the age of 87 Tan-Tan is still gigging on a weekly basis, and can often be seen riding his bike around Acton!

These tracks were all recorded in analogue, on 24 track tapes. Producers Mike Howlett and Anthony Cooper decided to digitise the first single, Beethoven’s Fur Elise, out on February 14th, to maximise on the improved technology, some 35 years after Tan-Tan and Anthony initially recorded the track together! There is a vibrant animated video to accompany the single release, and Tan-Tan hopes that classical purists, will enjoy the track too!

It was following a young Jamacian girl, in search of work, that brought Tan-Tan to the UK.  He was not part of the Windrush movement, that was happening simultaneously. No, he arrived, like that star he was to become, by plane, rather than by boat!  So it was following his heart that brought Tan-Tan to the UK, bringing his trumpeting to the attention of so many of Britain’s  best musicians. But it is to May, a Scottish lass, whom he finally married and made a home with in Acton, west London, where he still lives today.

About Eddie ‘Tan-Tan’ Thornton: Tan-Tan credits his days at The Alpha School when he says “To me, Alpha is like heaven.  You get up, you eat, you play music, you eat, you play music.  Alpha is the most inspirational place for me.  The discipline and respect and everything.”  To this day, Tan-Tan is an ardent Roman Catholic, having made two pilgrimages to Rome, to see the Pope.

In ‘60s London Tan-Tan and his fellow musicians would hang out at Blaises, The Marquee Club and The Roaring Twenties, where he would be found in the company of John, Paul, Ringo and George Harrison.  The Small Faces even dedicated a song to him, ‘Eddie’s Dreaming’.

Eddie Thornton says “I am very grateful to The Father for everything.  Coming from nowhere, I’m very grateful.  Travelling around the world three times - my passport is full up!  And it’s all because of Alpha.”

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Ben Watt - Figures In The Landscape.

"Figures in the Landscape" is the latest single to be taken from musician-writer-DJ Ben Watt's upcoming fourth solo LP, Storm Damage, out on January 31, 2020. It follows the recent singles "Balanced on a Wire," described by BlackBook as "one of the most visceral pieces of music he’s ever recorded" and premiered on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6 Music show, and "Irene" featuring Low's Alan Sparhawk.

The single is accompanied by a powerful half-lit performance video directed by photographer-film-maker Edward Bishop, and shot at RAK Studios in London, where the album was recorded in April 2019.

"It’s a call to action in response to feelings of powerlessness," says Watt of the song. "I wrote it in a period of personal crisis and political upheaval. The random nature of both can leave you feeling insignificant, lacking agency in the world, but in the end I guess you have a simple choice: to get up and celebrate what you have, or get out and take issue with it."

The production - a contemporary hybrid blend of Watt’s new "future-retro trio" (upright piano, double bass, acoustic-electronic drums), pulsing vocoder and impressionistic samples - sees the song open on a "stuck" piano hook before breaking free under cascading synths and Watt’s urgent vocal.

Storm Damage completes a compelling trilogy of albums since Watt's late-flowering return to solo songwriting and singing six years ago after ten years as an acclaimed DJ-remixer-label boss with Buzzin' Fly and seventeen in multi-million-selling duo, Everything But The Girl with Tracey Thorn. 2014's acclaimed "comeback" album, Hendra won Best Second Album at the AIM Awards, UK. It was followed by Fever Dream in 2016, which caused The Guardian to comment, "In his early fifties Watt in making some of the best music of his career."

Watt also adds an extra date to his upcoming North American tour. He plays Club Helsinki in Hudson, NY on Saturday April 4. Full itinerary below.

Tour Dates:
3/31: Washington, D.C. - Union Stage
4/2: New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
4/3: Boston, MA - City Winery
4/4: Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki
4/5: Toronto, ON - Rivoli
4/7: Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
4/8: Indianapolis, IN - Lo-Fi Lounge
4/9: Evanston, IL - Space
4/10: Milwaukee, WI - The Back Room at Colectivo
4/11: Minneapolis, MN - The Dakota
4/14: Seattle, WA - The Triple Door
4/15: Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
4/17: San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
4/18: Los Angeles, CA - Largo

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Officer - Todd Warner Moore - Joseph Martone

Officer have a new video for 'Heavening (Watch Out Bottles)' recorded as a live session in London. Taken from their forthcoming 'Night Tennis' album this is a fabulous taster from a very talented band. === Todd Warner Moore has just released his new album 'Path Overgrown' which is a gorgeous collection of modern folk songs with some refined musical arrangements throughout. Joseph Martone releases the initial single 'The Deal' ahead of his first solo album due in March, his distinct vocals are notable on this moody & atmospheric song.
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Officer - Heavening (Watch Out Bottles).

Irish London-based, dark indie soundscape group, OFFICER, announce the live London session of their new heartbreaker single, “Heavening (Watch Out Bottles)” from their forthcoming album NIGHT TENNIS, due out February 28, 2020. The album and its singles explore deeply personal experiences from the life of central songwriter and figure, DC Logan. It is awake with emotional intelligence and spans Irish folk, singer-songwriter, alt-country, soundscape, and electro influences to create a signature indie sound. This song is a marker of an album where Logan has managed to create something very unique that can actually be called his own sound, which is a rare enough experience these days that it’s a little shocking to come across.

This is a truly unique and enchanting love song overflowing with the guts and glory of real experiences of deepest commitment that carries you on a stunning journey of hurt, loss, redemption and hope: What happens after first love, when life throws everything including the kitchen sink at you and you have to come of age, grow up, get your hands dirty, commit yourself to the triumph and turmoil of a relationship? What happens when love demonstrates to you that you need to examine your heart and head and take on the war of changing from the inside out? There’s a real struggle with your own self and demons in this gorgeously melodic, organic vs mechanic, soundscape song, that features mobile phone recordings of waterfalls, London Underground tube trains, distant conversations, automated tannoy announcements, studio fumbles, night shelter cooking noises and door bells, and city snow blizzard winds.

Logan explains the new single’s inspiration: “It's a song about having been brought to a place of being very lost from both yourself and the one you love, where you feel you're totally on your knees. Where you feel the one you love is on their knees. Where you feel your relationship is on its knees. Where you’ve taken a lot of knocks and you’re wondering ‘Can I, can we, get back up again this time?’. It’s a song about being forgiven and forgiving… about hitting stop on the overwhelming mania of overworked city life, retreating to a peaceful place together, and choosing to work on things.”

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Todd Warner Moore - Path Overgrown (Album).

Hong Kong based acoustic folk singer songwriter and modern poet Todd Warner Moore infuses more zen wisdom, mindfulness-in-action, lyrical wit and rhythmic play into his profound new full-length collection Path Overgrown.

This release is equally recommended for fans of Alan Watts and Eckhart Tolle as well as songwriting icons Sufjan Stevens & Simon & Garfunkel.

Undoubtedly prolific and constantly inspired, Path Overgrown is the fifth album Todd Warner Moore has written and recorded in just eighteen months (the first was Birdsong in June 2018). And the songs keep coming. Todd is currently working on several new releases, ever expanding into new musical and experimental territory.

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Joseph Martone - The Deal.

 "The Deal" is the first single taken from "Honeybirds", the first solo album for the Italian/American songwriter Joseph Martone, already known for a bunch of full-length released in the past decade as Joseph Martone and the Travelling Souls.

The desertic on-the-road setting of the video are a perfect introduction for Joseph's nomadic spirit, and well reflect his love for Ennio Morricone's "spaghetti western" soundtracks. “The Deal” video was directed by filmaker and visual designer Salvo Delle Femmine. Special guests are Ilaria Graziano (Yoko Kanno, Francesco Forni) at vocals, Taylor Kirk at electric guitar, Ned Crowther at bass, Pietro Amato at keyboards / french horns and Jonathan Maurano (Epo) at drums.

The album "Honeybirds" will be released worldwide March 20th, 2020, and it's been produced by Taylor Kirk from Timber Timbre.

Joseph Martone is an Italian-American songwriter who draws on the sounds and rhythms of these two environments and cultures to create his own unique style of music. His songs are honest, often painful explorations of his childhood and adolescence spent between Italy and the USA, painting pictures of his extraordinary life and featuring a colorful cast of characters who have contributed to his story. These are songs of love, pain, family, friendship, betrayal, time and memory.

For Honeybirds, Martone has enlisted Canadian musician Taylor Kirk (Timber Timbre) to produce, and used the help of long-time collaborator and co-writer Ned Crowther (The Fernweh, Smokey Angle Shades).

Honeybirds was recorded between Napoli (Trail Music Lab Studio) and Montréal (at Sky Barn Studios owned by Richard Reed Parry from Arcade Fire). It was mastered by Harris Newman (Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, A Silver Mt. Zion, Vic Chesnutt, Astral Swans, Carla Bozulich). The themes and sounds of the record have taken a darker, more reflective direction, with Kirk bringing a majestic, wide screened scale to Martone’s work, delivering a true emotional weightiness to the performance of the songs.

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Taking A Break - See You Soon

Time for a break - Back with some new tunes soon.

For those on holiday - Enjoy!

For those working all the way through... been there, done that, got the t'shirt!