Posts

On Our Horizon: Shakedown At The Majestic - Across Silent Hearts

Image
Shakedown At The Majestic - In Control (from the forthcoming EP). Background - Shakedown At The Majestic was formed in New York City by guitarist Chris Vermillion and drummer Taylor Nimtz. They have become well known in the power pop underground and for bringing fun, energetic, superbly played performances to the music scene. Jonathan Vermillion (Chris’s brother) also plays guitar in the band, and after they moved out to Seattle, they added Rob Moura on bass.  Their debut, self-titled EP was produced by legendary recording innovator and Stranger genius Steve Fisk (Nirvana,The Posies, Screaming Trees) for release Friday, November 6, 2015. Shakedown At The Majestic’s name evokes the bamalama and bomp of British Invasion bands, as well as fuelled-up garage groups from a few years out and beyond. The signature style of singles like “Run For Your Life” and “In Control” feature tightly woven harmonies and interweaving vocal melodies, drawing from rock and pop's early years but deli

Musical Influences: Saint Cole - Electric Parlor - Moana

Image
Saint Cole - Within This Skin. About Saint Cole - Nic (vocals/producer/DJ) and Curt (guitar/keys) are from a small town called Dewsbury in West Yorkshire just two miles from Morley, home of the legendary nineties techno night The Orbit. Heavily influenced by this scene and the now legendary stories surrounding the club, Nic started producing and mixing hard dance/techno.  Saint Cole represents Nic's passion for dance music fused with his love of indie/rock. He cites influences as diverse as The Beatles, The Stone Roses, The La's, Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack and Leftfield. Saint Cole was born when he started working with his life long friend Curt. The duo were soon joined by third band member Martin Kolcak who is based in Slovakia and contributes artwork, visuals and animation. Neither Nic nor Curt have met Martin yet, though this is set to change when Saint Cole embark on a tour in summer 2016, complete with live visuals . Their debut E.P to be released Friday the

'Young Hearts Run Free' - Kirsten Izer - Jennifer Budd

Kirsten Izer - Wave. Background, promo and plaudits from others - 19 year old indie alternative-pop singer, Kirsten Izer, announces the release of her debut EP, What If This Is It?, which is set to drop on September 25, 2015. Every track on the EP is written, performed and produced by the singer/songwriter, whose “style is wild and free while adding a distinctive note of extravaganza to a familiar pop formula” (Nothing But Hope and Passion). After graduating high school, the NJ-based singer/songwriter decided to hold off on college so she could continue writing songs and begin a career in music. However, giving into to the pressure of society, she held off on making her own music and began working for other musicians full-time at the young age of 18 years old. After a stressful year of pretending to be an adult, Izer decided to finally quit her job, start being a teenager, and more importantly, start making music for herself. The EP features Izer’s single, “Wave,” with “fuzzed-out

Chris and Carla - Paradiso, Holland 2007 (Internet Archive).

Image
From the Internet Archive this is  Chris and Carla  recorded live back on March 12th 2007, at The Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I am sure that most reading this will know that Chris and Carla is a side project by the pair who are part of the band The Walkabouts. Carla Torgerson and Chris Eckman met and began playing music together in 1983 while attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1984 they moved to Seattle, and the band (The Walkabouts) was born when they joined forces with Chris' two younger brothers, drummer Grant and bassist Curt. The Eckman brothers had been playing in various punk rock and pop groups during their college years, and Carla came from a folk and street singing background. The band took their name from Nicolas Roeg's cult film, Walkabout. As can be seen form the following piece from Wikipedia Chris and Carla have been extremely active musicians down the years -  Eckman and Torgerson have also released albums as side projects

Australian Double Play: Zac Slater - Michael Fuhrman

Image
Zac Slater - Moon Mission. Background - Hailing from Launceston Tasmania, recently located to Melbourne in 2014 to pursue his music career. Having already had the successful supporting tours under his belt with Sticky Fingers, Thundamentals, Kingswood, Jackie Onassis, Phil Jamieson, Bootleg Rascal, Boo Seeka, just to name a small portion. Zac looks set and as if he is waltzing around with his boot raised high, ready to imprint his foot in the Australian Music industry. Zac released a Self-titled debut Solo EP via Rockfellaz in 2010 which saw him securing his name down as a Australian APRA 2011 song writing finalist. Five years later, hundreds of live shows and also building a band, Zac has crafted his style into something hugely unique, not only his sound but stage presence as well, promising one of the most energetic and passionate sets this day and age has seen. Definitely put this on your list of gigs to see!  The track ‘Moon Mission’ was recorded and produced by Zac himself,

Sundays Alternative Take - From Soul To Synths

Phantoms - All In feat. Little Know. Background - Los Angeles dark pop duo Phantoms have announced their signing to Casablanca / Republic Records and have revealed their debut EP on the label, Broken Halo, out September 25th. The EP features 4 original songs including "Broken Halo" and "Voyeur" with vocals from Nicholas Braun, and new singles "All In" featuring Little Know and "Colors." The project also includes an unreleased remix of the title track from electronic synthwave producer Com Truise. Broken Halo is Phantoms' first body of work since their debut EP on Skrillex's Nest free release imprint two years ago, and the two have even more content on the way. Vinnie Pergola & Kyle Kaplan, AKA Phantoms, have honed their sound to scale from their underground foundations to the heights of electronic pop production, setting the tone for their forthcoming full-length album in 2016. Phantoms will be performing live in New York at Baby&

Saturday Double With: Lilly Wolf - Babaganouj

Image
Lilly Wolf - Violence. Bio -  The duo is the collaborative project of Stanford brainiacs Lilly Wolf and producer Alex Neuhausen, better known as Dr. Nu (who derives his pseudonym from his doctorate in electrical engineering). While the duo consists of these two equal partners, Wolfson’s name and face represent them. While studying at Stanford University, Wolfson and Neuhausen met on line in a musician-based Facebook group. At the time, Wolfson had a singer/songwriter focus and recruited Neuhausen to play the guitar. Having won several singing competitions and performed on “A Prairie Home Companion,” Wolfson was pursuing a more acoustic sound.  However, after a few years of performing music in the Bay Area, the two transitioned their style and entered the EDM arena, employing synths, elements of house and dubstep, and their own electro flavourings to craft an entirely different sound. Lilly Wolf has made a name for themselves with their high-energy sets that have earned them quite

Past References & Modern Slants: Big White - Mutiny Mutiny - Younghusband

Big White - You Know I Love You. Alway's good to hear straight from the artist or band, this is what Big White have to say - We're a band called Big White and I thought you might like to check out our debut single called 'You Know I Love You'. The band first met when we moved in to a share house together. It is an old 9 bedroom art deco house with a weird past having previously been a brothel, and a surgery, but now we all live there! Our first recording session was in a Berlin bomb shelter whilst we were travelling, and we toured south west USA (inc shows at SXSW and Burgerama w/ Ty Segall and Ariel Pink) before we toured our homeland of Australia. This is our first single which has had some early love from NME and we will have an album out later this year . Facebook Here . A feisty beat and thoroughly beguiling vocals. Shades of new wave and post punk from years gone by, with a modern slant, totally enjoyable. -----------------------------------------------

Wonderful Wednesday: The Legends - Oh Be Clever - Rory Max Kaplan

Image
The Legends - Winter Is The Warmest Season - from the album 'It's Love'. An expanded version of The Legends "It's love" (originally released on Cascine this summer) is out on Labrador October 16th. One of the new tracks features lead vocals by Sara Carlsson who also happens to be the main subject of the album. Bio - The Legends from Stockholm have enjoyed a somewhat accidental career. Beginning with Up Against The Legends, their debut album in 2003, the project was comically assumed to be a 9-piece band due to early shows consisting of friends on stage, drunk and generally winging it. In actuality, The Legends has only ever been a personal outlet for one man, Johan Angergård, apart from his other, more focused projects, Club 8 and Acid House Kings. Following the first LP were two back-to-back full-lengths – Public Radio in 2005, and Facts and Figures in 2006. Both records were well received, providing The Legends a platform to play festivals and tour

Lillie Lemon - Stardust

Image
Lillie Lemon - Stardust. ( Video Premiere ). A creative and imaginative video for a really fine song and a pleasure to have first showing here on Beehive Candy. So here's the low down on Monterey-based, alternative electro-pop duo, Lillie Lemon. The group is comprised of Lillie Lemon (vocals/synthesiser) and Erica Wobbles (synthesiser/production).  Originally from Wisconsin, Lillie Lemon moved to California, where she then met Erica Wobbles. Though the pair began performing small open-mic shows together, it wasn’t until years later that the decision to collaborate came to fruition.  Their first album, entitled ​ /brāk/, ​was a turning point for the duo, shifting from Lillie Lemon’s acoustic style into a more electronic sound. According to Lillie Lemon,​ “Stardust” is about a relationship gone awry that tragically ends in a car accident . This is a really fine electro-pop song. Lillie's voice just seems so right for this type of music, which is in my opinion, prett

Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad - Peach Music Festival 2013 (internet Archive)

Image
From the Internet Archive this is  Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad live at the Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA, on the Mushroom Stage, back on the 17th August 2013. From the bands website bio we learn the following - Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad (GPGDS) is known for folding the aesthetics of the jam band scene into the structures of reggae. In the live setting, the band performs extended jams, while their previous studio albums have blended roots reggae with psychedelia (In These Times, 2012) or diverged from the genre completely, journeying into straight Americana (Country, 2012). On Steady, the band’s fourth studio album (and first on Easy Star Records), GPGDS has synthesised their approach by weaving traditional folk instrumentation into a foundation of reggae, with arrangements that let the reggae breathe in a non-traditional way. While Steady may not be the first record to find inspiration in both old time Appalachia and ‘70s Jamaica, it may be the best. Giant Panda f

Sundays Alternative Take - New, Remixed and Refixed

Synkro - Midnight Sun. Manchester producer Synkro is set to release his debut album Changes via R&S sister label Apollo Records on September 18th. Background - Having forged his career in the dubstep era, with nearly 40 releases to his name, Synkro AKA Joe McBride has always resisted easy classification - his music winds together such diverse influences as Boards Of Canada, dBridge, Burial and Oneohtrix Point Never, whilst still remaining utterly unique. His trademark warm sonics, and emotive melodies are ever-present on his forthcoming debut album 'Changes' - his much favoured vinyl samples being joined on this record by a new found love of analogue equipment, as he explains "I got addicted to vintage synths after a trip to Japan last year - I came back with a Juno-6 & SH-101 both of which play a big role in the album."  His recent, lauded work with Indigo under the Akkord name set pulses racing with what Resident Adviser described as the duo's "

Saturday Specials: The Mantles - Limbo Sanctuary - Clara Lofaro

Image
The Mantles - Doorframe. Everything you could possibly need to know - Bay Area garage-pop band The Mantles announce their latest musical offering, 'All Odds End.' The new album will be released via Slumberland Records on October 16. What makes the Mantles the Mantles? Maybe it's the idiosyncratic motion and energy of Michael Olivares' vocals, the way they alternately stroll and hop assuredly over the music. Or maybe it's the band's sound itself, familiar and classic yet increasingly distinctive, and growing-with acoustic texture; keyboard hooks and licks; and resonant and representative drumbeats-to its deepest, warmest, fullest, and most colorful on their third album, All Odds End (out October 16th on Slumberland Records), a record that is quintessentially Mantles from the sheer sonic splendour and elation-and biting words-of the album-opening "Island" on through to the final harmony of "Stay." The album exits with "Stay,"

Fridays Three: Street Chant - Betty Moon - Alpha Rev

Street Chant - Pedestrian Support League. Some words from the band - Emily Littler from Street Chant: "Pedestrian Support League is a song loosely about Auckland life. Coming back from being on tour a lot and moving back into a crummy flat in Grey Lynn I felt an extreme sense of ennui amongst my peers and especially in myself. A few years ago I had felt excitement for the future and now I was paranoid my flatmates were stealing all my margerine. The chorus “enrol to vote and so it goes, everyone dresses like us nowadays..” expresses the amusement and dissatisfaction I felt with my surroundings - amusement because I felt like I was living out some “food for flatties” cookbook cliche, but watching National win another election as well my seemingly endless ability to stagnate bought about an extreme sense of apathy . The new album Hauora will be released in November 2015 on Arch Hill/Flying Nun. Kicks off with a nice funky bass line and then a fine Indie tune ensues. Pleasing,