Another gem from the Internet Archive. This is Alabama Shakes back on the 13th November 2011 live at Ziggy's, Winston Salem, NC. The band opened for Drive-By Truckers who declared themselves fans of the band and invited them on stage to perform 'Everybody Needs Love' that evening.
Alabama Shakes is an American roots rock band formed in Athens, Alabama, in 2009. The group consists of lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, keyboard player Ben Tanner, and drummer Steve Johnson. The group received three nominations for the 2013 Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance for "Hold On", and Best Recording Package for their debut album, Boys & Girls.
With Glastonbury Festival happening this week in Somerset, England, Alabama Shakes are due on The Pyramid Stage around 2.30pm on Friday afternoon so I will be checking out the BBC coverage and hopefully enjoying some of their set. The band are touring Europe and then North America this summer/autumn more details on their website Here.
Recording Details:Neumann ak40 > lc3 > km100 (din) > Lunatec V3 > Edirol R-44 @ 24/48, location: front right corner of sbd cage just roc transfer: SDHC card > PC > wavelab 6.1 > cd wave > traders little helper (flac level 8), all editing (fades, Crystal Resampler (high), dither w/ iZotope Ozone 4) done in wavelab 6.1, recorded and transferred by Gordon Wilson.
Sound Quality: Exceptional - like being there.
Set List:
01. Hold On
02. Hang Loose
03. Goin to The Party
04. I Found You
05. Worry'n Blues
06. Boys And Girls
07. Be Mine
08. Hurricane Strut
09. I Ain't The Same No More
10. Rise To The Sun
11. You Ain't Alone
12. The Shakes
Comments: This recording is from the Internet Archive (archive.org).
Michael Plunkett has this to say about his music - I have created my own style of electronic music which mixes aggressive big hitter drops with the sing along parts influenced by Southern California punk rock.
Well with a mixture like that I was curious and needed to listen and mighty pleased am I that I did. Check out the track Nick Diaz, and his Facebook page is Here.
Quoting now - JayKode’s infectious productions combine elements of trap, hip hop, and future bass, differentiated by his classically trained background. His versatility is unmatched, exemplified by a medley of remixes and originals associated with vastly different genres. Each release has gradually developed an inimitable sound known as “classical bass”. “Beehive” is the sonic representation of JayKode’s entire body of work, as well as his dedication to creating something new.
Well if you are going to call a track 'Beehive' the least we can do is give it a listen. This is a maelstrom of a number, like a mini overture, you just have to listen all the way through, wonderful.
Here we go a quoting again - Rodney Cromwellis releasing his debut LP 'Age of Anxiety' on Happy Robots Records, introducing the modern electronic lover to some epic retro future synth music. Strongly influenced by artists such as OMD, New Order, and Kraftwerk, this music equally embraces synthpop and indiepop. It's no wonder he has gained solid support from the likes of Malcolm Holmes (OMD) and Rusty Egan (Visage, Rich Kids) on this release. Made almost entirely on vintage gear, ‘Age of Anxiety’ is an album that evokes the synthpop sound of the 70’s and 80’s while still being forward looking and sounding fresh. Krautrock rhythms combine with melodic bass lines, the chimes of toy instruments, the bleeps of antique moogs, ARPs and vintage synths, while the songs still maintain a classic pop format.
This is a really fine album, yes there are a number of 'retro' references in the words above, however I would emphasise the 'forward looking and fresh' comments. Halfway through the year and this may well be one of my top favourites for 2015. Bandcamp HERE.
First the promo words - Los Angeles based duo, Magic Bronson, continues to make inspiring music with an almost indescribable sound. Between Matthew Lieberman’s impressive live bass and Michael Nicastro’s expressive, raspy voice, Magic Bronson has perfected something that notably stands out amongst today’s garden-variety dance and electronic tracks.
The duo is releasing a bundle of remixes, which includes satisfyingly different takes on “All Night Dog Fight (Selector Science Remix)” “Fences (MyKill Remix)” and “Go Get It (Selector Science Remix).” In addition, the band is gearing up for the release of a brand new single - Levitate (ft. Collaj).
There is a lot of enthusiasm for this duo and no wonder, they craft high quality original material, along with their remixes. This is a stylish play again track. Website Here.
Background - The Settlement (formerly known as Buddha in a Chocolate Box) are a five-piece rare alternative/folk outfit, sticking to their southern stomp roots. Their journey is to develop and spread an Australian folk/roots sound, never to be pigeon holed. Fuelled by fiddle and strong rhythm their music is bound to invoke!
An exciting year looms for The Settlement in 2015, with constant festival gigging, and the release of their debut album.
It all starts with their debut single with the new band name, 'Stomp' will be released 10th July 2015. Website Here.
This is a gutsy song which I sense has every band member playing from the heart. The 'alternative folk' genre may be a crowded place these day's however somehow I would imagine The Settlement wont find that the least bit troubling.
More from Australia - After releasing the first single 'I Don’t Think You Like Me' off their upcoming Figurine EP (out in July) earlier this year, Tired Lion have dominated Australian radio play (climbing as high as 10th most played song on triple J), blown listener’s minds with their ‘Like a Version’ mash-up of Violent Soho’s ‘Saramona Said’ and the Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘1979’. They've taken out the 2015 WAMI Award for best rock song, won Channel V’s Discover music video competition, and sent the band lapping Australia three times with shows supporting the likes of Gyroscope, The 1975, Kingswood, Luca Brasi, and British India. Now, with brand new single “Suck”, Tired Lion have also been announced as the winners of the Triple J Unearthed competition to play Splendour In The Grass 2015 - joining an honoured list of previous winners such as Airling, Kingswood, Art vs. Science, and Millions. Opening the festival on Friday July 24 - Tired Lion are playing alongside some of the world’s greatest live acts.
So it's all happening for Tired Lion, bags of positive energy in the song 'Suck' that has that listen again quality, enjoy.
Another band to watch out for and we are told - Bourbon Street Beat's new single 'Crossing On a Bend' and b-side 'She's His Woman' showcase their signature sound perfectly. Inspired by 50s and 60s bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Band, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, as well as Rock’n’Roll legends like Elvis, Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash, each of these influences are apparent in technique and style yet reinterpreted to give Bourbon Street Beat an indie edge. Iain Hammond (vocals and guitar), Joe Morrison-Hay (bass) and Andy Mackenzie (drums) met at university and formed the band in 2012. Their last EP 'Knuckles of Brass' earned them a strong following in Manchester with this release set to spread the word even further.
The comparisons above may be valid however as I have said before, if you set expectations high you have to deliver. I am seriously enjoying their music, this band deliver a fresh defined sound, the inspiration has paid off.
OK final band and their words first - On July 3rd, The Switch will release 'We're Fooling No One EP', their third release since april of last year. Their sly tactic of promoting themselves by relentlessly releasing good records at a high pace (thereby making music writers mention how good they are in print on a regular basis) is starting to pay off, and this year they are booked to the Øya-festival, the biggest music festival in Norway. They expect to play for quite a large crowd, and this EP is, among other things, a reminder to the public that they play pop songs as well as the trippy purgatory-prog of their second album ("B for The Beast", Bangles and Brass Records, 2015). We, and they, hope and think you will like it very much, whoever you may be.
This is such a beautiful song with incredible harmonies riding over a gentle driving rhythm and then to top it all they prove they can rock, and can they. Expect to hear more.
The Talks are embarking on an extensive UK tour punctuated by European festival appearances, full details & website - Here.
In just a short space of time The Talks have built themselves a compelling live reputation across the UK and Europe for delivering sweaty, high octane, dance floor filling shows, treading the boards with the likes of Madness, The Specials, Rancid, The Beat and many more. 'Commoners, Peers, Drunks and Thieves' was released on 24th November 2014, sale figures continue to rise and the tracks are continuing to attract air-play globally.
They really do have that Ska feel, reminiscent of the Two Tone sound and yet with their own styling and passion. From Hull, England, they are most definitely worth checking out.
OK read this carefully, we will be asking questions and this is a fail/pass feature! Davey Lane'snew single, intriguingly titled "Davey Lane's Duo-Monophonic Explorations Vol.1", is his first in a line of releases for 2015, and a conceptual world first. The double A-side single contains I'll Set U Free, a collaboration with King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard singer Stu Mackenzie, and The First Flung One To Crash, teaming up with Lane’s You Am I band mate Tim Rogers. Contained within each track of this digital and limited-edition vinyl release, are 3 completely different versions of each song. Listened to in stereo, you hear the collaborative efforts of Lane and his esteemed guests. But with the balance panned to the left, a solo Davey Lane version of the song is revealed, and in turn, panned to the right, you hear Rogers' or Mackenzie's, both in mono (hence "Duo-Monophonic"). Completely independent from each other instrumentally and vocally, yet a cohesive match when played together - a world first in this form.
Now I had to read that a couple of times but that's probably just me, however I was intrigued as to how this might all work out. Actually if all of that had not been explained I would probably be none the wiser, what makes this far more than an interesting exercise is the quality of the music, which is good, the featured track reminds me in part of The Beatles, now that has to be a complement.
Swedish indie-band The Black Sun's Darling have released a new single 'Our love falls out of'. After the Swedish duo was formed in 2014, Julia & Sebastian started recording music in their living-room. Earlier this spring the band released two singles "This One's for You" and "Believe In" . The new single "Our love falls out of" is about falling out of love without being able to do anything about it. Their website Here.
'Our love falls out of' has a brooding and emotional feel, which then kicks into life keeping the whole song absorbing. They have also just produced a video for another song - 'This One's For You' which demonstrates the depth and diversity the band have, I like!
New Zealand band New Gum Sarn have announced a new album 'New Gold Mountain' and tour dates. We are told - New Gold Mountain has just as much to do with the countryside around Puhoi in New Zealand than Auckland, where the band New Gum Sarn formed.
“The (debut) album was recorded where I grew up in a valley in the countryside,” says singer/guitarist Oscar Dowling. “The closest town is Puhoi which is a 15 minute drive along a dirt road. It’s a historic bohemian village, famous for cheese and the puhoi pub. The first time my dad went to the pub the barkeep told him to ‘get f##### hippie’.”
New Gum Sarm also features Sophia Lawler-Dormer on drums, Dave Weir on bass, and Durham Fenwick on guitar (who co-founded the band with Dowling).
The band claim inspiration from the band Television through to Neil Young and others including the East Brunswick All Girls Choir. Whatever the inspiration, there is something quite 'stand out' in the featured track 'Money Talks', more than enough for us to want to feature it.
Hippo Campus have a considerable amount of 'buzz' going on around them at the moment here's some background - They met in High School and are still yet to hit legal drinking age but following an explosive SXSW - which marked their first shows outside their native town - they released their debut EP ‘Bashful Creatures’ (produced by Low’s Alan Sparhawk). The buzz around the band at the Austin music festival was also noticed by the producers of Conan O’Brien’s television show who booked them to perform single ‘Suicide Saturday’ at the soonest opportunity. Having just completed their first tour of the US and UK they return for their first UK headline show and a run of dates with Modest Mouse, and also to play at Reading & Leeds festival. In the US Hippo Campus have been confirmed to support Real Estate and My Morning Jacket on their forthcoming tours.
Oh it would be so easy to snub these young upstarts, grumpy old blogger and all that, but the song is annoyingly good, really annoyingly good, so enjoy the buzz but above all enjoy the music!
Here we go a quoting again - Australian singer-songwriter Calan Mai (aka Jordan Lawrence) recently unveiled his new single 'Black Box' and has followed up with a live studio session. It features a new track 'White Dove', a cover of Eminem's 'Stan' and three tracks off his upcoming debut EP 'Days on the Rock Face', out July 10th (worldwide) via Canvas Sounds. 'Live at The Den' was recorded in Gold Coast, Australia a few months prior to relocating to Manchester with fellow Canvas Sounds signers, FAIRCHILD and Lyon Apprentice. The makeshift studio is also were he recorded his debut EP with producer/mixer Adam Lyons. It's been a patient build up for the 24-year-old Lawrence who showed his potential years ago as a teenager, winning the 2006 Australasian Children's Songwriting Competition. It's no surprise that his primary focus is still lyrics - often retrospective, grounded in past events. His debut single 'We've Got Love' was released early last year and has notched up over 90,000 Soundcloud plays and received airplay on Triple J, Amazing Radio and debuted at number 10 on the KKBB Singles Charts in the US.
'Black Box' is a fine song, dreamy and gentle as it develops and builds, new layers sneaking in without losing it's original direction and feel. Facebook HERE.
Their words - Ol’ Silver Tongue, a garage rock duo out of Oakland CA, is comprised of Boronkadonk on vocals/guitar and C. McCock on percussion/vocals. They are releasing their debut EP Nobody Special independently on June 27th at The Independent in San Francisco CA. C. McCock and Boronkadonk met at a salsa dance party in 2014. Their conversation quickly turned into a shared interest in music. Soon after Boronkadonk had C. McCock over to play music in his garage studio. They have worked on many original tunes and covers by The Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, The Gorries, and others. Ol’ Silver Tongue artisinally blends American and world music then surrounds it with cherry red hard rock candy. When not playing crushingly rugged rock music C. McCock cooks with local food pop up Two Mamacitas Kitchen and plays as a session drummer with many groups in the Bay Area. Boronkadonk writes and teaches music while taking care of his 110 pound dog Osito. Website HERE.
Sometimes stripped down, good old basic rock with a strong twist of roll does wonders. For me this is what 'garage rock' is all about, the featured song has some 'Hendrix' vibes, but enough originality for this to be a compliment.
We are informed - On June 23, 2015, Portland, Oregon-based Chris Marshall & The August Lightwill celebrate the release of their latest full-length, Some Kind of Dream, a departure from the alt. country/Americana of previous offerings, and an expansion of the new ground they started to chart on 2012's Waltz EP. Some Kind of Dream is produced by Patti King (The Rentals, Radiation City), who is also a member of - and band leader for - The August Light (which also features Ryan Reetz on keys, William Joertz on bass, and Joel Swift on drums), Some Kind of Dream is a genre-bending punch that proves Marshall is a songwriter able to meld atmospheric rock, spacious melodies, and folk traditions into songs that are both gorgeous and poignant. Out went the old and in came the rest with Some Kind of Dream. Most notably, the rest includes an array of synthetic sounds. “These Days,” its shadowy emotion buttressed by the lyrical realisation that “these days, I prefer the night,” leans toward doomy trip hop. “Castle” owes to producer Clams Casino, an artist that has played a significant role in shaping the sound of modern hip-hop. But “Break Bread” cuts closest to folk. And “Go Straight Home,” written after the death of Marshall’s grandfather, is just a gorgeous soul song with the uplifting horn arrangements to prove it.
This is some album, take a listen to 'Feel Like Running' and if you like it, the album will deliver even more incredibly well produced songs. It's one of those albums where you can never be certain what the next track will deliver, in a good sort of way.
And the bio reads - It starts simply enough - a chord, a phrase, a riff, a melody. Josh Flagg and his band experiment with these basic ingredients, rearranging and combining them into an unexpected whole. What is not simple is explaining the depth of the material. Josh’s songs can be anthemic, wrenching, smouldering, poetic, dynamic or anywhere in between. He crafts lyrics and sounds that can unsettle or soothe; that surprise and reward you with repeated listens. Once you’ve heard one of his songs, you can’t get it out of your head. Flagg is following up the taut, beautifully constructed power pop gems on his debut full length Devastate Me with the darker, harder, more complex songs of the EP Lights Out. Featuring a three pronged guitar attack, soaring vocals and asymmetrical songwriting, Lights Out itself is the precursor to Flagg's second full length album due out Fall (autumn for us Engerleesh) 2015. Website HERE.
Lush powerful guitar hooks and an equally powerful voice compete and compliment wonderfully throughout 'Lights Out'. Indie rock with a punch.
More fine words - Hailing from Sydney, Mary and Chris are Polarheart. Having played alongside each other in previous projects, the duo began writing together in early 2013. They found a strong chemistry, and a year later Polarheart was born.
Their combination of dreamy vocals and abstract soundscapes, now combining elements of garage, trap, and RnB makes for a captivating listening experience. Drawing on a range of musical influences with classical training in common, and a love for pop and electronica, Polarheart continue to explore new sounds and unique ways to convey relatable messages through their music.
Their debut single Paralyse has received airplay in the UK and the US, as well as across Australia. The track has had over 73,000 plays on SoundCloud and was featured on MTV Iggy, Hillydilly and Nylon Magazine US. Their follow up single Livealie received positive on line reviews from around the globe, was played on Triple J, and was played on the runway as part of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Sydney 2015. Moving from strength to strength, the duo’s third single Hypnotise, received rave reviews, and plenty of airtime, including Triple J. Facebook HERE.
Some times you just need a dreamy pop song with fine vocals and a well crafted backdrop. Add some hooks that embed themselves (painlessly of course) and we have something like 'Dystopia'. Best served with a chilled cocktail and canapes.
