Sundays Bumper Alternative Take

Michael Hix is an NYC-based composer and musician originally from Tennessee. His music incorporates synthesizers, guitar and voice to build complex dynamic structures that evolve over time, delving the human condition and the metaphysical dimension. His work draws upon classical minimalism, sacred music and late-Romantic styles. Aeon is Hix's first full length album, a cinematic work separated into six movements which will be released on Tuesday, June 16th. HERE.

Close your eyes, lay back and just drift away. Sounds like words from an advert, however this is music you need to immerse yourself in. Calming and gently changing, a musical journey.


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The world has suffered one of the worst economic crisis ever. 20 years ago the american dream was the main thinking in many people. Nowadays to be optimist is difficult for most of them. This is why Pepe Mateos decided to tell a story about the "Hard Money" times. A song that will make you think about it. An Ep where the Longing is the main ingredient and Pepe Mateos' Vocal is trying to express the Feeling of this people who work very very hard all around the world for what they earn.

Here's a taste of 'Hard Money' the Kane Roth Remix being my favourite plus for deep house fans the original mix of 'What We Still Have' from a while back. Pepe Mateos info HERE. Check him out.


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"Coming off of a stellar interpretation of The Rolling Stone's "Gimme Shelter," Bobby Nourmand is back up to his usual musings, which is re-envisioning timeless classics.

This time around, he's taking on a song from one of the most iconic and storied albums of all time, Abbey Road. Honing in on the highly recognizable electronic harpsichord melody paired with Lennon's guitars, Bobby walks us back into 1969. The vocal harmonies add to the haunting nature, providing a textural soundscape full of incredible depth."

His take on the track BECAUSE is really something (sorry couldn't resist). This is both clever and engaging and it's free to download (HERE), what more do we want? Iv'e also included his mix of The Doors - Peace Frog which I regard as stunning.


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Dimond Saints is an Oakland based duo, that has quickly emerged to push the boundaries of electronic music. Their sound drips of passion and a firey depth. Their live show is both explosive and soulful, creating a place where heavy bass and angelic melodies collide. They recently released Henry Green - Slow - Dimond Saints Remix described as 'A delicate balance of eloquent house & broken bass; comfortably sliding between genres. All ready getting major support from House & Bass DJ's alike'.

They really do slide between genres and what's more they do it eloquently and with style. More info HERE.

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A Copy For Collapse has released their second full-length LP 'Waiting For' via the label No Sense of Place, bringing them closer to indie chill, dance and dreampop territory than ever before.  It is available digitally and on 12'' vinyl through the label No Sense of Place.

This Italian electronic duo is comprised of Daniele Raguso and Aria Myrskya.?  Strongly influenced by artists such as Telefon Tel Aviv, Boards of Canada and Toro Y Moi, they blend such genres as chillwave, electro, synthpop and nugaze, creating a dreamlike sound backed with memorable beats. ?

This is a fabulous album. Shoegaze that you can dance to and become absorbed by, and a host of other genres lurking to gently draw your attention. More about them HERE.

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Weekend Goodies

Smooth Ends are a London based band. They have just released their first EP, and to use their fine words it happened - "after lots of hard work and passion. We self produced the whole thing, from the music to the artwork, and everything in between. We are active in the London music scene, with lots of ideas and upcoming events".  They continue - "We would like to share our music with you, since we know that you would appreciate the hard work behind it".

Two things really impressed me about Smooth Ends. First of all their short and to the point message actually implied the passion was pretty genuine, secondly, the music. After all is said and no matter how much buzz you create, it's always going to be the music that counts. Well it is for Beehive Candy and we are impressed. (Facebook HERE).

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Tiny Rhymes have this to say - We are Tiny Rhymes; a indie/chamber-folk group with members from Canada and Buffalo, NY. We're releasing the lead single "Arrows" off our upcoming album which is out June 23rd.

Sharon Mok continued - I've always played piano, but decided to pick up the guitar for this current batch of songs, and set out to create melodies influenced by my childhood experience with both Chinese opera and classical music.While writing and recording in Buffalo, I met cellist Katie Weissman and we instantly hit it off. Weissman’s diverse technique and smooth, dark melodies added necessary dimension to the songs.

My attention was grabbed with the description 'indie/chamber-folk group'. I mean it just has to work does it not? Well I think it does if the song 'Arrows' is anything to go by. Wonderful. (Facebook HERE).

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We have received the following - Melbourne band Magic Bones, release their new single ‘Danger I Am’, a taste of their forthcoming album due for release in 2015. Keeping in tune with their latest releases, ‘Danger I Am’ is a driving garage punk duet, drowning in desire and urges to be drawn in by the unknown.

High energy, no nonsense and exciting, but enough about me, no seriously they come across as all of that. 'Danger I Am' is instant 'play it again' material. Comparisons such as the B52's should be received as positive and complimentary, the driving mayhem is totally theirs to own. (Facebook HERE).

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Finally and what a finally! And we quote - Celebrating over 40 years in music, one of the most pivotal reggae bands of all time Third World will release their first major song of the year “YimMasGan” on June 16, 2015 on Ghetto Youths International. The Damian Marley produced song, which will also be accompanied with a new music video directed by Jamaica’s own Ras Kassa, is a fresh take on the 1974 original track by 

The Abyssinians. Yim mas gan means let him be praised in the ancient Ethiopian Amharic language.  This is the second song written by The Abyssinians that Third World recorded. The first was “Satta Massagana,” released in 1975 on Chris Blackwell's Island Records.

One of Reggaes most consistently outstanding bands and an absolute pleasure to feature on Beehive Candy. No real need to add anything else, unless you are extremely late to the party! (Facebook HERE).

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Bee Vids - Beehive Candy's Other Page

Announcing Bee Vids Beehive Candy's other page.

What it is? - another page where music videos can also appear. It's just the start, there is no master plan, actually there is no plan, we are making it up as we go along.

What it is not? - original, revolutionary, ground-breaking and definitely not the benchmark.

However somewhere in the back of Beehive Candy's mind lurks the spark of an idea that may just up the game. Not yet though, time is in demand and 'the other page' will just lazily build and alter as and when it does. So take a look if you want, videos will come and go and hopefully some will spark your interest. You never know what might turn up.


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Todays Unashamed Plug - Paper Garden

Beehive Candy would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the following unashamed plug. Actually that's not strictly true. Paper Garden Records (PGR) have as some of you have no doubt spotted, been a source of some great music that has appeared on this site in recent years.

First of all, PGR have a series of free concerts in Brooklyn this July featuring - Salt Cathedral, Stranger Cat, Zongo Junction, The Love Supreme, Soul Khan, Deuce Ellis, Amani Fela, Arms and Emanuel and The Fear.

In addition to the concerts, there's a chance to listen to some of the acts, to check out just what so many of us will be missing out on! Oh well there will be some with smiling faces, so good for them eh?.

There's a real mixture here, Electronic, Funk/Soul/Jazz, Hip Hop and Indie Rock. I won't pretend everything is to my taste, however a lot is.

So no apologies, just some very fine music. You can find out more HERE.


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Also one of our PGR favourites Pree, have a new video out featuring the song 'The Dog' from their recently released album RIMA. It's a fine song and a cheerful video.

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Finally Little Tybee can also get in on the act. Their song 'For Distant Viewing' from 2013 remains a real favourite of mine and having not seen the video before lets add that to this spontaneous and very, very unashamed plug.


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Quality Not Quantity - Wednesday's Fayre

What they say - Sydney based psych-rock trio The Walking Who (Rohin Brown, Jay(Bird) and Paul Mclean) announced a brand new single on Monday 'My Future Wife' alongside the news of a forthcoming UK/EU tour, which includes performing at London's Citadel Festival and a headline show for Communion Presents at The Old Blue Last on 22nd July. This will be the band's first return to Europe since their debut in 2014, which saw Maz Tuppuni of Communion/XFM proclaim it was one of his favourite gigs of the year.

What we say - A psychedelic sixties vibe with alt rock quality, well that's what came into my head, this is an enjoyable track, big thumbs up from the Beehive.

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And we quote - ‘Where The River Runs’ is the sumptuous second single from Malpas, due for release on Killing Moon Records on 17th June 2015.  One of the highlights from their forthcoming debut album ‘Rain River Sea’, it layers swelling synths, intricate rhythms and mandolins under falsetto vocals to create a compelling slice of folk-tinged electronica. Malpas is singer-songwriter Ali Forbes and producer Andy Savours, who has worked with The Horrors, Sigur Ros and My Bloody Valentine amongst others.

And we reckon - It was the expression 'electric folk duo' that first gained my attention. This just builds and builds, beautiful layers of sound and contrasting dynamic vocals, pretty good eh?

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Here we go quoting again - 'Feel Alive', was released on May 15th, is feelgood anthemic pop, perfect listening in the summer sunshine and a great introduction to the music of Aleks Grey. 

Born in Volda, Norway, Aleks was introduced to music through classical piano lessons when he was just three years old, but he was soon drawn to blues, soul and rock and roll. By the age of ten he was writing his own songs and by twelve he had become an accomplished guitarist.

Beehive comments - Sparing you the rest of Alek's history, the simple summary is, he has developed into an extremely talented performer, as witnessed in the featured video, bringing a real feelgood feeling for us all!

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More words from someone else - Prodigious 19-year old singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Tom Misch has given BBC 1Xtra favourite Kiko Bun's Jamaican roots-inspired single 'Where I'm From' the remix treatment, to brilliant effect. With a string of Hype Machine No. 1s to boast of, and support from Majestic Casual, BBC Radio and countless others, this latest rework further confounds and exceeds Tom's reputation.

More words from Beehive - We have featured Kiko Bun before, this remix is stunning, how many superlatives are we allowed to use, absolute talent remixes absolute talent.

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Final quote this time around - Follow the Lion are a Leeds based alternative rock band who formed in 2013, quickly gaining a strong following thanks to their energetic and infectious live sets. The band have played a range of venues across the north west of England and will be hitting the festival scene this summer with appearances already confirmed at Live at Leeds, Tramlines and Long Division.

Final words from us - Oh this band are talented. Swirling alt rock music and Daniel Francis has a voice that is just so right for the songs. The others deserve recognition to - Daniel Francis - Lead Vocals and Guitars, Richard Swann - Lead Guitar, Mase - Bass, Paul Smith - Keys and Vocals, Danny Jay Barnett - Drums.

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Matt Simons - Catch & Release (Deepend remix)

We are not exactly hot off the press with this song which was released in March, with the exception of the new official lyric video of 'Matt Simons - Catch & Release (Deepend Remix)'.



After its release back in March, the track fully exploded on line resulting in millions of views on Soundcloud, Youtube and massive support throughout the blogosphere. The track stormed the Hypem Charts (overall) resulting in one number 3 and two number 1 positions in a row. Plenty of radio airplay as well.

For no other reason than to brighten Beehive Candy up this Tuesday we unashamedly jump on the bandwagon. Better late than never with this excellent song!

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2015 - Out Of Our Inbox - June - Two

Some background - Lady Low is a rock quintet comprised of Jimmy Sweet (vocals, guitar), Rachel Maxann (vocals, synth, bass), Eden Lee (vocals, drums), Kaitlin Wolfberg (violin) and Hannah Blumenfeld (violin). Sweet had always wanted to start a band that combined love’s passion and old school rock and roll. After returning to L.A. by way of London, he formed Lady Low. Maxann found her way to the City of Angels after growing restless in the Big Easy. She brought aboard her old friend Lee, and after enlisting the help of local string talents Wolfberg and Blumenfield, the world’s first romance rock group was born.

Lady Low is not the first musical expedition for these romance rock pioneers. Jimmy has been rocking for years, starting out with legendary San Francisco rock band, The Richmond Sluts. He still performs with the Goodtime Boys, a ‘70s cover band, along with members of Hot Hot Heat, Fleet Foxes, The Heavy, and Beachwood Sparks.

Lady Low are new to Beehive Candy, it's a while since we have featured any music that could perhaps be termed 'romance rock', whatever I like their music & that's a good enough reason to share.

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Dan Latner has this to say about his new album 'No Fun Intended'.

The album really snowballed accidentally into existence. In 2012, I received a writing grant for a comedy album, and headed out to woodshed in Prince George, BC (Northern Canada), where a long term girlfriend was living. We broke up 2 days into the visit (that's funny right?) and then I moved to Sri Lanka where I wrote most of the songs. I've been bouncing around Asia and Africa ever since.

I wrote "In a Hotel" and "Girls with Glasses" in Nepal, so you could say that the album was written mainly during my travels.

You can find out more about Dan over at his website (Here),  A fiddle player and very amusing, it's also been sometime since Beehive Candy have featured something a little more light hearted. For me the music and lyrics really work, on the featured song, it's more a gentle parody of what if's. It's different and highly enjoyable.

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The Winachi Tribe are introduced to us with the following words - The psychedelic funk of George Clinton, the brooding menace of Massive Attack, the rolling hypnotic beats of Happy Mondays and the vision and flow of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five are all essential ingredients to the sound and style of The Winachi Tribe, a sonic soul, electro funk collective who are unconstrained by boundaries or formula's, musically or culturally.

Lyrically explosive and musically diverse, the band were born from the belly of Northern D.Funk collective China White. The Winachi Tribe are an exceptional band of musicians and producers who have collaborated and toured with a range of artists from Ian Brown to Alabama 3, Keith Allen to The Furious Five. Percussion legend Inder Goldfinger was a member of Ian Brown's band for thirteen years, and vocalist Liam and keys player Antony collaborated with Keith Allen in the studio and also toured with him as vocalists in his band 'Fit Les' as part of his Olympic opera 'Will Cliff Be There?'

The bands first single 'Time for Love' is scheduled for release on the 20th July (A1M Records). Well the pedigree is most definitely there and on the strength of the featured piece below, so are all the vital ingredients.

UK Live Dates:
18th July - Single launch at Water Rats, London with 'Alabama 3' DJ set and support from Italian Band La Strange
27th August - Vinyl launch, The Ruby Lounge, supports TBC
29th August - Victorious Festival, Portsmouth, opening for Primal Scream & The Flaming Lips
5th September - Manchester Met Uni, 'The Second Coming' with Aziz Ibrahim, The Clone Roses, Cressa (DJ Set)
7th November - Shiiine On Weekender, Minehead Arena, Somerset with Happy Mondays, Stereo MCs, 808 State.


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Abandoned Delta appear to be a no nonsense and to the point band. They are an East Nashville-based Indie Americana group whose self-titled debut record has now been released.

This is how they explain the release - The band wanted to put out a document of songs with no names or production credits attached because "Music is oft-times clouded in politics, over-branding and marketing manifestos that present stories other than the ones the songs tell. Who cares who wrote and performed on it or what label it's on? If it connects with the listener, then the job is done. There should be no other filters preventing that from happening."

This is the first track from the album, the expression or genre 'Indie Americana' is always going to be a draw with myself, however in the end, it's down to the music. Well for me the music not only matches the description, these are fine old tunes and worthy of a large amount of interest and a bigger audience to enjoy!

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