Midweek Muse: Guided By Voices - Bedroom Eyes - Sweet Gum Tree - Physical - Stutter Steps

Guided By Voices - Dr. Feelgood Falls Off The Ocean.

Background - Guided By Voices August By Cake (April 7, GBV Inc Records) is the 100th studio album that Robert Pollard has released since 1986's Forever Since Breakfast. To put that in perspective, Bob Dylan has released roughly 39 studio albums since 1959. And that includes the Traveling Wilburys. 

A highly anticipated record with the new line-up (returning GBV veterans Doug Gillard and Kevin March, virgins Bobby Bare Jr and Mark Shue) that has been wowing audience in clubs and festivals throughout 2016. It's the most musically adept and versatile line-up Pollard has ever assembled.

With 32 songs, August By Cake is also GBV's first ever double-album, and song contributions from all five bandmembers is additional icing on this particular cake, setting album #100 apart from the previous 99. 

The double album is an important format in Pollard's own musical iconography, and he doesn't take the form lightly -- one reason he's planned and abandoned several would-be GBV double albums in the past is his high regard for foundational works like Quadrophenia, the White Album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Daydream Nation, Zen Arcade, Double Nickels On the Dime -- "defining records for these bands," says Pollard. It's important to him that August By Cake not just be a double album but that it be a great double album. Spring tour dates are over on Beehive Candy's tour news page. Website here.

Powerful and demanding our attention right from the start 'Dr. Feelgood Falls Off The Ocean' has an urgency and even some roughness about it, easily described as naturally raw rock'n'roll. With a double album on it's way GBV fans should be full of expectation based on this track alone.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bedroom Eyes - After I Was A Kid But Before I Grew Up.

Background - The first single out from Bedroom Eyes sophomore album "Greetings From Northern Sweden" (Startracks, May 12th) is the guitar driven, melody tangled and wonderful "After I Was A Kid But Before I Grew Up". Speedy and intriguing indie pop.

With his debut album, released back in 2010, getting raving press from the likes of Rolling Stone ("a strong songwriter"), Vice ("beautiful artist"), Der Spiegel ("marvelous songs blessed with harmony") and Swedish national radio P3 ("next big thing in Swedish pop") there's a lot of anticipation leading up the new release.

"After I Was A Kid But Before I Grew Up" is out now on all digital platforms via Startracks.

'After I Was A Kid But Before I Grew Up' blasts into action with urgent riffs and a blazing rhythm softened only by vocals that are a little more refined. Full on indie rock!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweet Gum Tree - Someday.

Background - Sweet Gum Tree reveals a video for new single 'Someday', taken from his second album 'Sustain The Illusion'. Both a beautiful, romantic adventure and an unnerving trip through a mind crowded with troubled creatures, Sojo’s earnest vocals confirm that he is amongst those who still believe that music and words can touch the soul, by way of sincerity, constant reinvention and fine craftsmanship. 

Minimal drum machines and echo-laden guitars throughout create a state of grace evoking the ethereal new-wave productions of British label 4AD as well as hymns from great pop architects like Talk Talk, Prefab Sprout or Divine Comedy. The album’s electronic rigidity contrasts perfectly with the elegant strings and soaring melodies, while Sojo’s gravelled vocals ensure it remains an outstandingly humane and sensitive collection of tracks.

The album’s title nods to Wes Anderson’s acclaimed, ‘‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’’, which itself was based upon Stefan Zweig’s writings on the rise of Nazism in the mid-30’s. Drawing a parallel with the current fiery state of the world and Anderson’s tale of creating love despite all circumstances, Sojo reflects on the challenge of how one can fulfil the need to dream whilst in such a desperate context.

 The soul in Sojo’s voice is what really drives ‘Sustain The Illusion’, particularly on tracks such as ‘Someday’, ‘Guilt Trip’ and the closing lullaby, ‘Keeper’ that lulls you into a complete sense of security. On the other hand, ‘Burn Your Icons’ is both a thought provoking, sharp and ironic look at the relevant question of how we view our fallen idols that gives a truly unique perspective on our society’s traditions. Website here, Facebook here.

The song has a peaceful and melodic soundtrack that suggests plenty of attention to detail, whilst keeping an understated vibe, with just a small surge of power towards the end. The vocals have emotion and the lyrics are intelligent and delivered almost as a plea on occasions. 'Someday' is a wonderful song.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Physical - Islands.

Background - Physical are Wellington, New Zealand based duo Julia Parr (Black City Lights), and Nik Brinkman (Junica, Over the Atlantic). They met in a karaoke bar in Chinatown, New York in 2013: They sang ‘Drive’ by The Cars.

In 2015, Nik approached Julia to write together as a contribution to his project Ghostwriters Collective. Twelve months and 8 tracks later, they had written and recorded their debut album, an unapologetically upbeat but dramatic pop record – ‘Ride it Out,’ out later this year (release date TBD). The record is about emotional survival for lovers and staying up late; a shout out to their deep mutual love for future R&B and synth pop.

Today the band shares the album's latest single "Islands." "I guess I’ve never really poured my own relationships into my songs before, but this album includes some of the most personal songs I’ve written," Julia Parr explains. "Islands is about someone I met on her travels through New Zealand. We went on a lush island getaway together but when we settled back into real life I started to feel like I was tying her down to one place. Nik wanted to write a song about ‘paradise’ and the song Islands just fell into place. We wanted the track to evoke that floating feeling of being in paradise but with an unsteadiness; the feeling in the pit of your stomach that something isn’t right." Instagram here.

'Islands' is a highly crafted indie pop song, where the vocals and synthy music contrast with each other adding to the overall style and quality. Add in some passion and gentle melody and you have one impressive and catchy song.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stutter Steps - Floored.

Background - Stutter Steps debut new track 'Floored' from their upcoming 12" Floored on Blue Arrow Records. Stutter Steps released their debut album on Wild Kindness records at the end of 2015. Group mastermind Ben Harrison, a curator at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, and collaborator with Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500/Luna/etc.), crafted one of the bittersweetest indiepop debuts in years. 

Critics who took the time to listen were stunned. With its jangling guitars and plaintive organ, its literate heartfelt lyrics and the skip in its step, Stutter Steps sounds like the missing link between early Flying Nun and the Go-Betweens (geographically, this would put then in the middle of the Tasman Sea and I hope they’ve got a boat).

They return now with a new six-song EP, Floored, on Blue Arrow Records, home of Jonathan Richman among others, that expands on the promise of the debut. Harrison has the rare ability to combine emotions in a song, so ‘Encino,’ with its wistful chords and lyrics of regret, becomes greater than the sum of its parts. The organ on ‘Weak Restraint’ makes you dance (Stutter Steps has never sounded more like The Clean than they do here) while the words make you weep. It would take a heart of orange granite not to be moved.

Stutter Steps make music for grown-ups, the grown-ups who haven’t forgotten what it feels like to be a kid. Facebook here.

Guitars and drums set a fairly intense pace for 'Floored', which contrasts beautifully with the seemingly less urgent, yet melodic vocals and gorgeous harmonies which all put together, make this such a fine and addictive song.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Department S - Kim Free - David Philips - Lonely The Brave

Department S - When All Is Said And All Is Done.

Background - Nub Music are proud to announce that Department S will release their first album since 2011, When All Is Said and All Is Done. This 10 track full length album will be released in April 2017 in digital and CD formats, with a limited edition vinyl release. Department S will be touring extensively through 2017 to promote the album. Recorded in London through 2015, the album has been produced and mixed by Pete Jones (former PiL bassist).

Department Sare a London based post-punk/new wave band originally formed in 1980. The band, featuring vocalist Vaughn Toulouse, keyboard player Eddie Roxy and guitarist Mike Herbage, released three singles and recorded one album, Sub-Stance. Debut single Is Vic There? charted in the UK at number 22 and saw the band make 3 appearances on Top Of The Pops. Subsequent Stiff Records single Going Left Right also charted, while 3rd single I Want was a hit in many European countries. The band split in 1982.

Department S reconvened in 2006, with Eddie taking vocal duties following the untimely death of Vaughn Toulouse in 1991. In February 2007 the band recorded their first new single for twenty-six years, a cover version of Alvin Stardust's 1973 hit My Coo-Ca-Choo. This was followed later that year by the critically acclaimed live in the studio LP Mr Nutley’s Strange Delusionarium.

Department S have built up a reputation as being a must-see live band and have subsequently played festival dates across Europe, including Glastonbury, Benicassim, Rebellion, Rewind, Great British Alternative Music Festival and Sinner’s Day. Website here.

Department S still produce music with the vigour and immediacy of their debut single 'Is Vic There?'. Yes the band have matured, resulting in the musicianship becoming tight and polished and the overall production benefits from three decades of recording progress. Featured song 'When All Is Said And All Is Done' gives the listener a feel for what to expect across the ten track album, the passion and gutsy commitment remains, the songwriting is impressive, and there is plenty more on the bands website to discover.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kim Free - Destiny.

Background - Kim Free is the best kind of artist. She’s a classically trained violinist whose love of popular music has compelled her to compose, record and perform the enchanting bewitching music that’s uniquely her sound.

Toward the end of the first decade of the new millennium, she embarked on a her first recording project, under the name ‘Black Church’. These avant-goth cassette-only releases and the performances that went with them gave her a small but dedicated cult following. In 2012, she shed her pseudonym and released Angel Shadow as Kim Free. It was followed a year later by Nevermind the Blue Skies, a 14-song collection of dreamy pop.

Now Kim continues her evolution with her most ambitious project yet - Slips. Slips sees Kim reunited with producer Alex De Groot, who she first worked with while playing violin for the Zola Jesus world tour. For Slips, Kim has recorded several songs with a full rock band - a first for her. She navigates the delicate balance between these songs and her more familiar violin-based numbers with aplomb.

The Slips project will initially be presented to the public through a series of digital EPs. The first, Make Me Yours, was released in December 2016. The second, Malibu, will be released March 2017. [The complete Black Church catalog was recently released on limited edition CD for the first time on the UK-based Reverb Worship. The Kim Free records are available digitally and on vinyl from LA’s Fine Records.] Facebook here.

Our second feature for Kim Free, this time with the engaging and dreamy song 'Destiny'. Musically the track gradually builds from a light beginning into a broader and expansive soundtrack with the violin adding some extra flavour to the piece, however it's the wispy and personal vocals that make this such a pleasing and intimate song.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David Philips - Home.

Background - November 2016 to March 2017 David Philips locked himself in his studio and spent the winter months writing and recording new material. Harking back to the  full band sound of his debut album, but with more grit, more electric guitar, more to say and a clearer idea of how to say it.

Very much the studio loner David recorded and produced the whole record himself, playing all instruments and also designing the artwork. “Home” is the upbeat new single from this collection of recordings entitled simply “Winter” due out late March/early April 2017 on Black and Tan Records.

David Philips is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer from the UK. His work as a solo artist and session guitar player has taken him around the world playing venues and festivals such as Montreaux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Marciac Jazz Festival (France) Delhi Jazz Festival (India), Woodford Folk Festival (Australia), Blue Balls Festival (Switzerland), Mare De Agosto Festival (Azores Islands), Blues Aan Zee Festival (Holland). Website here.

There is a robust level of energy within the new song 'Home' right from the very start. Vocals are committed and impassioned, supported by a punchy musical arrangement. It's might be described as folk rock or Americana, whatever label we attach, it's one fine song and sets expectation high for the album.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lonely The Brave - The Rat.

Background - After a great 2016 for the band that included a no.1 album on the rock chart, a sell-out headline tour and a hugely successful European tour in support of Biffy Clyro, Lonely The Brave continue their prolific streak as songwriters by releasing a second song from their upcoming EP, a cover of long-time band favourite "The Rat".

As a band known for picking covers that perhaps people wouldn’t expect from them – Cyndi Lauper, Bjork, Pink Floyd and Antony & The Johnsons some of their previous conquests – “The Rat” is a leftfield take on an already wonderful song by The Walkmen, one that showcases David Jakes’ peerless vocals and one that will hopefully introduce the song to a whole new audience.

Alongside the new EP, coming March 24th through Hassle Records, Lonely The Brave will be supporting British alt-rockers Mallory Knox on their UK tour spanning March and April 2017, featuring dates in Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Bristol and both Mallory Knox and the band’s hometown of Cambridge.

Known for their uplifting, atmospheric and anthemic songs, Lonely The Brave are joined on the line-up by their old friends and tour partners, the Glasgow three-piece, Fatherson. Website here, Facebook here, tour details on our tour page.

If you have a taste for atmospheric music that slowly unfolds into something quite beautiful and then takes off, 'The Rat' should pretty much tick all your boxes, If you feel the need to provide a cover version, then this band make a good reference point to proceed from.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blonde Redhead - Jessie Early - Aubergine MACHINE

Blonde Redhead - Golden Light.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jessie Early - Body Can't Hold.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aubergine MACHINE - U People.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Six On Sunday: Carly Thomas - R. Missing - oddnesse - MOOON - Kristeen Young - Purmamarca

Carly Thomas - The Montreal Train Song.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R. Missing - Kelly Was a Philistine.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

oddnesse - Scream.

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. 

Website here, Facebook here.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MOOON - Mary You Wanna.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kristeen Young - Nice.

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!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Purmamarca - Everything Under the Sun.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eureka California - Low Roar - A Different Thread - Anna Coogan - Mike Adams At His Honest Weight

Eureka California - Only Birds No Feathers.

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.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Low Roar - Bones (feat. Jófríõur Ákadóttir).

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Different Thread - Big Crane.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anna Coogan - Collateral.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Adams At His Honest Weight - The Lucky One.

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------