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Genre Wander: Avakhan - Firebug - MV & EE - Terence Jack

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Avakhan - Just Let Go. Background promo - Swedish female fronted indie-pop Avakhan share latest single 'Just Let Go' + Album coming 2017. Written and produced by the band, their latest single Just Let Go is an upbeat, feel-good pop tune. An outrageously addictive chorus paired with Tegan And Sara - esque vibrant vocals is the perfect combination for what feels like a summery hit. The piece is taken from their upcoming album to be released in 2017. It all began when Ava, Kristoffer and Joakim met in Stockholm and started a band touring clubs and festivals. After many celebrated concerts it was not long until they were the labeled as “Sweden’s best unsigned live band” by a Swedish Idol Judge on Channel Four. After they released their debut album it’s not what you believe in which one of Sweden’s greatest jazz musicians Magnus Lindgren collaborated on it. Website here . 'Just Let Go' has all the right ingredients for a fine, melodic indie pop song. It's good to her

Mood Mixer: Allie & Ivy - TwinFin - Real Numbers - Dark Mean

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Allie & Ivy - Best Friends. Background promo - Best Friends is the latest summer party jam from Sydney electropop singer-songwriter, Aleisha (Allie) Conlay who goes by the musical pseudonym, Allie & Ivy. "This song is my 'happy place',” says Allie. “It’s about those summer days spent drinking in the sun at pool parties with your best friends – the days when it feels like you don't have a care in the world. I wrote Best Friends when I was living in an epic sharehouse that had a pool and a jacuzzi, and that’s literally what we did all summer. It was one of the happiest times of my life.” A cocktail of hook-driven melodies, bright synths and energetic beats infused with infectious group vocals and the carefree spirit of youth, Best Friends is an escape from all your worries. Allie & Ivy is indie electropop singer-songwriter Aleisha (Allie) Conlay, from the sunny northern beaches of Sydney, Australia. Writing songs since the age of 11 and picking up the guit

Quality Not Quantity: Adult Future - Jen Baron - Carey Ott

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Adult Future - The Leaf House. Background from the band - We made a record about you. Yes, you read that right. In a time of disconnect and increased alienation of the individual, the band wanted to make a record that emphasised the singular stories that we all have and share as human beings. What personal story was life-changing for you? How would it come to shape and refine you? What would make your lead headline? Your front page? All of the songs on this record were inspired by personal stories and were utilised as a method to reconcile those feelings of estrangement. It was an attempt to bridge those feelings of isolation that seemingly contradicts a shared environment where people are literally living on top of each other. Drug abuse, mental and physical illness, violence and love – all of these things impact us individually, but when seen as an amalgamation – is the totality of human history. So, we’re here. And we’ll continue to listen to your stories because they inspire u

Sunday Best: Tammy - SALT - Miniature Tigers - INDIIA

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Tammy - Away For The Weekend Background promo - F riday just gone and indie twosome Tammy release their latest single, "Away For The Weekend". Of the track, the band says, "'Away' is one of the first songs we ever played together. When we would play it at shows we'd always say we were playing our future hit single... In the Tammy repertoire, we break most of our songs down into the categories of love songs, hate songs, and songs about making out.. this one, written before we conceived of those designations, doesn't fit so neatly into any one of them. The subject is in love but it's a hopeless kind of love, and in the end we dont get the feeling that it's come to fruition." Members Aaron and Brooke, who met for the first time at a New York bar called Ioana, possess the kind of undeniable chemistry that brings to mind some of the most beloved American folk duos, like Simon & Garfunkel and Dylan and Baez. Aaron’s bouncy acoustic riffs pro

Genre Wander: The Bigness - Oblio - Ceasefire - Phil Gammage - Ben Glover

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The Bigness - Beautiful Life. Background promo - “Beautiful Life” emits the purest pleasure, Kristin Bigness’s vocals fully capturing the spectrum of happiness depicted in the lyrics. “Let go,” she sings, “We have a beautiful life.” Surrounded by a full band comprised of her husband and long-time friends, Kristin and the rest of The Bigness pay perfect tribute to the 70's greats who inspired them. Truly a work of love, “Beautiful Life” is a refreshing, positive sensibility in Rock. The Bigness draws its inspiration from the greats, such as Patti Smith, Neil Young and many others, and has been compared to a modern-day Fleetwood Mac. Lead singer Kristin Bigness delivers a soaring yet sultry vocal on a bed of screaming guitars and pick-driven bass plucking, all woven around rock drums. From its modest beginnings as Kristin’s solo project, The Bigness has evolved into a leading-edge indie rock ensemble with an international sensibility and obvious undertones of the 60s and 70s. Con

Weekend Wonders: Native Other - December's Children - Kailey Swanson - La Sera - Birds Over Arkansas

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Native Other - Palms. Background from the band - 'Palms' is the song that set the trajectory for us writing our entire upcoming EP. It was the first song we wrote that really captured the sound and energy of what we are trying to achieve with Native Other. This EP 'If I Can Keep It Together' is an accumulation of our diverse origins and experimentation while the content tells tales of growth and discovery of our identity, romantic perspectives and lustful encounters. As we write personal reflections, sonically we construct our own unique sound. This project was recorded by Simon Larochette at Sugar Shack Studio, mixed by Dale Morningstar at The Gas Station Studio & mastered by Reuben Ghose at Mojito Studio. The full release will be coming out on October 7th. 'Palms' is my introduction to Native Other, and it's one striking and notable song. The vocals and harmonies are super smooth and pleasing, whilst musically it's quite an intricate and cleve

Alternative Take: Afro Celt Sound System - Cálido Home - Ruth Theodore - Robocobra Quartet

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Afro Celt Sound System - Honey Bee. Background promo - With sales now topping one and a half million albums and two Grammy nominations to date, Afro Celt Sound System celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a stunning new album, ‘The Source’ released in April 2016 on ECC Records. In October, the band will be releasing, ‘Honey Bee’, another striking single from this acclaimed album to coincide with a major tour taking in 17 towns and cities where they will be providing a live music spectacle, every bit as energetic and captivating as the album. ‘Honey Bee’ features the sultry, soulful delivery of Armagh-born vocalist and flautist Rioghnach Connolly (Real World Records), one of the many contributors to this truly collaborative album. Afro Celt Sound System are a European and African based collective who’ve been a ground-breaking force in music ever since they started. ‘The Source’ is undoubtedly their most ambitious album yet and one will take their cross-cultural collaboration and acc

Midweek Muse: Doe - He Is Me - If But When - Hannah Telle - The Foreign Resort

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Doe - Sincere. Background promo - Last Friday, September 9, the London-based three piece Doe released their debut album Some Things Last Longer Than You via Old Flame Records. Since their formation in early 2013 after members Nicola Leel (guitar, vocals) and Jake Popyura (drums, vocals) met via a classified ad and bonded over a mutual love of horror films and hatred of sport, Doe have been hard at work cranking out their own infectious brand of emotive, harmony-laden, punk-tinged indie rock to as many people as they can get to listen. Drawing influences from such 90s stalwarts as Sleater-Kinney, Weezer, Helium and Breeders, the London-based trio have spent the last 3 years furiously honing their live craft and releasing a string of EPs and singles. With later releases on labels including Fierce Panda and Alcopop! Records, their earlier self-released recordings were eventually compiled and re-released as the First Four LP in late 2014, marking the beginning of Doe's relationship w

Globetrotting Tuesday: The Magnettes - Jenny Gabrielsson Mare - Gudrun Von Laxenburg - Gothic Tropic

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The Magnettes - Hollywood. Background promo - Swedish pop trio The Magnettes have returned with their new single, “Hollywood,” out today on all digital retailers via Nashville-based label DigSin. The track highlights the band’s signature sound: unfiltered and unapologetic views paired with sugary sweet, infectious beats. To coincide with the release of “Hollywood,” The Magnettes have also announced that they are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length to be released later this year and will return to the U.S. this fall for a string of tour dates; these U.S. shows will be the first of this year. The Magnettes performed at both SXSW and CMJ Music Marathon in 2015 and Canadian Music Week in Spring 2016. The seeds of rebellion first became planted when co-vocalists Rebecka Digervall and Sanna Kalla met at 6-years-old in their small town Pajala in Sweden. The Magnettes fondly call this city of 2,000 home and it’s the birthplace of their infectious and inimitable glitter