Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes have released the new single 'Forever' a few weeks ahead of their 'Sweetie' album release. Comprising of twelve tracks the album is awash with great indie songs, we have already featured 'Moon' and 'Change Of Heart' and I have to say the rest are at the least on a par with these three tracks, it's an album to look out for! === Russian based duo Sobranie 8 18 have just released the dramatic and imaginative song 'Angels Fight', a genre defying and play again piece. === Since coming into our world in August 2017 Lauran Hibberd has become a firm favourite of Beehive Candy and the new single 'BANG BANG BANG' only confirms even more that the attention she has gained has been earned through delivering fabulous music. === It's been a while since we last featured Sophie Morgan however she has returned with the gentle, melodic and beautiful new song 'Marmalade' accompanied by a wonderfully matched video. === Lev Snowe has released an E.P. entitled 'Someday Soon' and although the Canadian artist music is broadly described as dream pop, he manages to add a layer or two of experimental and creative elements to some songs that add so much more to the material. === Ahead of her new album, fourth generation Irish musician Siobhán O'Brien has a new single 'The Kings Fool'. This song is no traditional Irish affair, in fact it's more Americana with some rock vibes, whatever the case it's crammed full of enticing hooks.
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Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes - Forever.
Behind the odd name Steve Buscemi’s Dreamy Eyes you’ll find one of the most promising bands on the Scandinavian indie scene. The band are now set to release their highly anticipated debut album 'Sweetie' on February 14th and will tour both Scandinavia and UK to coincide with it. Today, new single 'Forever' is released via Rama Lama Records.
The band - consisting of Siri Sjöberg, Tilde Hansen, Elias Mahfoud and Edvin Arleskär - formed in 2015 after bassist/vocalist Tilde tweeted out "Does anyone/anybody know someone who wants to play in a band together with a bassist and a singer that haven’t played in a band for a year and are dying of boredom?". Debut single Desire was released early 2016 and was followed by three more singles 2016-17, all receiving attention from both Sweden’s biggest music sites and influential international sources such as DIY, Billboard and CLASH - all hailing their dynamic and dreamy indie pop that constantly have been developing during the band's career.
The band made their festival debut at Umeå Open in 2017, a show which Swedish magazine HYMN hailed the show as "the festival's most energetic". Debut EP Four Waters with four brand new tracks was released on November 24th 2017, being described as “an illustration of the sonic genius of the little band with the great name, who in less than a year continue to leave us speechless with their music” by The Revue. After following their debut EP with two packed London shows and their biggest Stockholm show to this day, the band took some time off to write new material. In 2019, the quartet returned better than ever with the shimmering new tracks Change of Heart and Moon which is now followed by Forever, all taken from Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes' long-awaited and just announced debut album Sweetie that will be released on February 14th via Rama Lama Records both digitally and on crystal transparent vinyl - pre-order here.
Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes on the album: "It feels impossible to not portray the future. The album is a concoction of stories from our lives - what it means to be young today, with the challenges and dreams we have ahead of us. The songs are collections and fragments of thoughts about our future, what we can, should and want to do. We have written simple and we have written challenging. And we have finally landed in a collection of songs that formed our album. Our first. Sweetie."
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Sobranie 8 18 - Angels Fight.
Sobranie 8 18 is a union of two unique artists, Nastya and Kirill, who share personal and artistic interests - though based in Russia, they could just as easily have created their music on the surface of Jupiter, so strangely unearthly is their sound.
Formed in 2015, their early releases offered only a tantalising glimpse at their current prowess, the low-fi pop sound morphing into their current world of dark electronic whispers and ultraviolet screams. Their forthcoming self-titled album features ten tracks of transcendental melody; avant garde experimentation; retro pop and eternal truths – it is released on 3rd February 2020.
Sobranie in Russian means “meet together”, an appropriate word for the coming together of music, verse and minds of Nastya and Kirill, the masterminds behind Sobranie 8 18. Following in the wake of Sobranie 7 17 a now extinct dark electronics project and alongside Nastya’s solo project, Sobranie 9 19, Sobranie 8 18 has become the main effort of the duo. The figures 7 and 17 are sacred numbers - the other figures represent the artist’s intuitive associations with the variety of music genres. Influenced by dark techno, new euro pop, field recordings and experimental sounds, Sobranie 8 18 is the clearest manifestation of their musical manifesto.
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Lauran Hibberd - BANG BANG BANG.
Positioning herself at the forefront of the emerging indie landscape, slacker pop queen Lauran Hibberd kicks off 2020 with pulsating new single ‘Bang Bang Bang’, set to drop January 17th. Primed to capitalise on a whirlwind twelve months, the hotly-tipped Isle Of Wight native delves further into her indie rock cannon, producing her boldest release to date in ‘Bang Bang Bang’, a charisma-fuelled, sing-along-inducing anthem designed for bigger audiences and bigger stages.
With relentless acclaim across the BBC Radio 1 airwaves (Annie Mac, Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders) and loyal support amongst key tastemakers The Line Of Best Fit, Clash, Dork and Gigwise, the newcomer’s amplified potential has certainly ramped up expectations, sparking comparisons to contemporaries including Phoebe Bridgers and Weezer.
Having spent the majority of 2019 on the road, notching up extensive UK/EU support tours alongside US heavyweights Hippo Campus and The Regrettes, in addition to her debut appearance on Glastonbury’s BBC Introducing stage, Hibberd’s dazzling live show continues to woo audiences, and with a second UK headline tour lined up next month, her remarkable rise shows no sign of slowing anytime soon.
Discussing her first release of the year, Hibberd explained: “‘Bang Bang Bang’ is my ode to the teenage girl. It’s built for the prom scene in ’10 Things I Hate About You’. It’s the cycle of going back to the same person even when you know you shouldn’t and I guess the fallout of all of that”. Produced by Boe Weaver and mastered by Vlado Meller (Weezer, Rage Against The Machine, Oasis), Lauran Hibberd’s ‘Bang Bang Bang’ is out January 17th and will be available via all digital platforms.
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Sophie Morgan - Marmalade.
Sophie Morgan has announced brand new single Marmalade, which is out now and taken from the EP of the same name out on 20th March.
Singer-songwriter Sophie Morgan has established a loyal following for her gloriously spellbinding alternative folk sound over the past few years, through the release of two EPs Sons & Daughters and Annie and stand-out tracks Above You and Hey Annie. Over the past year, Sophie has been refining her sound and her new 4-track EP Marmalade was produced at Urchin Studios in London with Matt Ingham (Laura Marling) and features co-writes with Benjamin Francis Leftwich and long-term collaborator Simon Jones (The Verve).
Born and raised in Cheshire, 22-year-old Sophie began playing piano and songwriting at an early age, after being brought up on a musical education of Nick Drake and Van Morrison and later introduced to Joni Mitchell and Carole King. The influence of her father’s record collection led to recent covers of The Waterboy’s The Whole Of The Moon and The National’s Bloodbuzz Ohio, which is accompanied by a video inspired by the original.
New single Marmalade is the first introduction to Sophie’s forthcoming EP of the same name and it immediately transports you forwards to summer, with the aura of idyllic romance setting a vivid scene with delicate guitars, tender lyrics and Sophie’s warm honey-soaked vocal. It’s a song to make you pause, curl up and take in every word. The video is filmed in Provence in the South of France and echoes the meaning behind the song perfectly. She says;
"Marmalade is a romantic dream of this sumptuous life like you see in the old films. The title came from, when I think of luxury, I think of those little pots of jam and marmalade you get in fancy hotel breakfasts. Every time I sing the song, I imagine a big old house in the South of France with an abundance of fruit and pastries and wine. So, we flew to Provence to shoot the video and a handsome French neighbour named Vincent drove me around the village in his cool old orange Renault."
Following shows in Cheshire and London and support dates across the UK and Europe with The Waterboys, Sophie has announced a headline show at Liverpool’s LEAF on Thursday 9th April and will be announcing further live dates soon.
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Lev Snowe - Someday Soon (E.P).
Canadian dreampop artist Lev Snowe shares his sophomore EP Someday Soon. Through lush, hazy production that emerged from the confines of limited technology, Lev's voice swirls in and out of focus creating a surreal, dreamlike state for the listener. His lyrics are a foreign fantasy about needing to travel beyond his home in order to find traces of the next him as he juggles with memories that pull him backwards.
Lev Snowe on Someday Soon: "The whole EP is my study on how I evaluated time in the past and the new idea of living 'for the moment' that resulted. It was the summer of 2018, and as I had localized the mad freedom to live & experience, I in turn took a look through my past writing and inspired a creation to abolish all old insecurities. 'Someday Soon' is meant to cut to the chase — as if saying 'forget where you've been, you are done with it. It is time to be boldly you — the very person that songwriting has helped you discover!"
Lev Snowe spends his days tinkering away in his bedroom studio building up his psychedelic Xanadu. Raised on the warm hiss of '70s soul jazz recordings, the slack chill of the L.A. beat scene, and the nostalgic synth swaying of Boards of Canada, this Canadian songwriter/producer creates an atmosphere that is both washed out and danceable — pensive, yet uplifting. Like a wandering mind spent cooped up all winter, Snowe's music never sits still for too long. Lush electronics bloom around shimmering guitars and the wonky grit of '90s era hip hop grooves, all while Snowe's wistful lyricism drifts hypnotically in and out of focus—a carefree soundtrack fit for either chaotic house parties or those endless summer nights spent escaping reality.
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Siobhán O'Brien - The Kings Fool.
Conveying honesty and vulnerability, contemporary singer-songwriter Siobhán O'Brien releases new single "The King's Fool", off her new album You Can’t Run Out of Love. With heartfelt lyrics, O'Brien brings a compelling track about her assimilation into the US and combines it with the feelings of frustration in trying 'make it' as a musician.
Inspired by great American singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, and Joan Baez, O’Brien creates emotive tracks inspired by changes throughout her life. "The King's Fool" is this introduction into her artistry and a bit of a tease for what is to come on her third full-length record, You Can't Run Out of Love, out late February 2020. Recorded in Austin, Texas, at Cicada Moon Studios, O’Brien worked alongside John Bush (percussionist for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians) and Matt Hubbard (keyboardist for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians). Together they brought to life 10 original songs, each documenting important moments in her life since she left Ireland for the US in 2016.
Her new single "The King's Fool" is the first step for O'Brien to show off her unique blend of rock and folk. Be sure to check out Siobhán O'Brien's latest single and follow her on social media for music updates.
As a fourth-generation Irish musician, music has always been an important part of Siobhan O’Brien’s life. At the age of 16, she threw aside the piano and fiddle, dedicating herself to the guitar. Her musical ambitions grew as she released her original music to the world. Her debut album Mumbo Jumbo Bla Bla, released in 1996, went on to garner praise and national airplay throughout Ireland. In 2008, Siobhan released her album I Grew Up To, which featured famed Irish musician Paddy Moloney of The Chieftans and led to a performance at the Boston Symphony Hall with them the same year. In 2016, Siobhan O’Brien made the move to America, deciding that was where she wanted to lay down her musical roots.
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Saturday, 18 January 2020
Friday, 17 January 2020
HANYA - Ani Glass - Humanoids - The Chris White Experience - Secret Treehouse - Walter Martin - Mechanimal
HANYA share 'I'll Do It Tomorrow' ahead of their forthcoming E.P and follows on from 'Dream Wife' which we featured last November, this time we have a fabulous dream pop song that raises expectation even further. === Ani Glass has just released 'Mirores' accompanied with a video, and it's a gorgeous song, her vocals are splendid and the track just brims with good vibes. === From Switzerland we have Humanoids and 'The shadow you make isn‘t yours', there first new material in five years, where a mixture of alt rock and electronic instrumentation combine into a rhythmic rocker. === We have the full album from The Chris White Experience called 'Volume Three', it unsurprisingly follows on from Volume 1 and 2, from somebody that rightly might be considered a musical legend. === Today Secret Treehouse released 'At Sunrise' and the Nordic indie pop band are in cracking form with this powerfully pleasing song. === Walter Martin returns here for a fourth time (over four years) with 'First Thing I Remember' taken from the album 'The World At Night' due out at the end of the month, the songwriter sharing a gifted and imaginative piece. === There is something a little international about to days music selection and to keep that going, from Greece we have Mechanimal and 'Stolen Flesh'. The vocals are oh so deep and mesmerising, the music a perfect accompaniment on this original and remarkable song.
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HANYA - I'll Do It Tomorrow.
Making their ascent from Brighton’s thriving talent pool, indie newcomers HANYA share ethereal new offering ‘I’ll Do It Tomorrow’, the second track lifted from forthcoming EP ‘Seas Shoes’ out this spring.
Arriving hot on the heels of lead single ‘Dream Wife’, the band have already experienced a real surge in momentum, with their heady concoction of 90s-esque dream pop and shoegaze extravaganza attracting plentiful support among the key taste makers.
Plans continue to take shape on the live front, with previous shows alongside Honeyblood, Lazy Day and Tess Parks succeeding in growing their profile, not to mention their first trip Stateside for New Colossus Festival lined up in March.
Speaking ahead of their upcoming release, the quartet explained: “I’ll Do It Tomorrow was the result of realising that rarely does anyone take the advice we ask for, we love to procrastinate and wait until things change around us, it’s the magic of the human psyche. The song is pretty much advice to an old friend…be every version of yourself, let go, do it now, don’t wait until tomorrow”.
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Ani Glass - Mirores.
Ani Glass releases her new single ‘Mirores’ this new year ahead of her forthcoming album of the same name. With infectious harmonies and a pulsing dance floor beat, ‘Mirores’ depicts the journey from dark desperation to motivation and inspiration, showing how we quickly build barriers in reaction to experiences but often forget to lower them. The song represents the liberating feeling of opening up to the world; the alignment of ideas, motivation and energy and that rare but illuminating experience of feeling inspired.
On 6th March 2020, Ani Glass's debut album MIRORES finally sees the light of day; the culmination of four years developing her own sound and visionary artistry. With its tapestry of electronic sounds, elliptical melodies and samples threaded into a song cycle, MIRORES is based around the idea of movement and progress - one which takes us on a journey around her hometown of Cardiff. The title is taken from Ani’s bardic name - created when she joined the Cornish Gorsedh in 2013. The Gorsedh itself is a celebration of the Celtic spirit of Cornwall and Bardship is awarded to people who contribute to its cultural and linguistic heritage. MIRORES is a play on words which incorporates the name of one of her favourite artists – Joan Miró – along with the Cornish word for “to look”, which is miras. Therefore, MIRORES essentially translates as ‘Observer’ thus presenting the album as Ani’s observation of the city in which she was born and now lives.
MIRORES also represents Ani’s first foray into production. Having been inspired by her experience of working with Martin Rushent during her time as a member of indie-pop group The Pipettes, Glass has spent the past few years teaching herself the art of recording and production. Her sound is inspired by many leading electronic and avant-garde artists and producers of the 1980s including Martin Rushent, Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Arthur Russell whilst the wider themes are inspired in part by the works of abstract painter Agnes Martin and the renowned author and activist Jane Jacobs. Despite some of the album’s heavier themes, Ani maintains a strong pop sensibility throughout, most certainly cemented during her time as a member of R&B pop group Genie Queen – managed by OMD’s Andy McCluskey.
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Humanoids - The shadow you make isn‘t yours.
No way have they lost it! Humanoids from Zug/Switzerland just kept us waiting a little while. Erm, five years, to be precise. But they haven't been lazy since. In this period they've played a bunch of concerts, mesmerizing their audiences. Finally, «the coolest pigs in Swiss », as Media once called them, are back with new thrilling track.
'The shadow you make isn't yours' they claim in their new single. From a musical point of view, this number will leave your mouths wide open: above all with its airy but intense modern sound, which is carried by a springy groove and in which elements of stoner and alternative rock can be heard. In the same time «The shadow you make isn't yours» is a promise: There are a handful of new tracks yet to come from the four-piece in 2020!
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The Chris White Experience - Volume Three (Album).
Last year (2019) The Zombies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a British invasion alongside Radiohead and The Cure. On stage with the rest of the band was Chris White; the man who co-produced and wrote more than half of the seminal Odessey & Oracle album, who composed (the now standard) This Will Be Our Year and who penned and co-produced the worldwide hit Hold Your Head Up for Argent.
His acceptance speech from the night, widely quoted in Rolling Stone, beautifully summarised the golden age of recording: “Music and songs are the bookmarks in all our lives, it’s the language that binds us all together”. The Chris White Experience is an incredible collection of unreleased recordings from the last 50 years.
Most of these songs have never been heard, with Volume Three spanning half a century from an unreleased 1969 Zombies demo, right up to an October 2019 recording from Et Tu Brucé. With collaborations featuring Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone (Unhappy Girl) and London band Et Tu Brucé (Can’t Seem To Fall In Love) as well as performances from Joe Lee Wilson (Archie Shepp) Russ Ballard (Argent) Stuart Elliott (Cockney Rebel, Kate Bush) and many more. Following on from the much-celebrated Volumes One and Two, it is a brilliant and vital document in the history of British music and analogue recording.
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Secret Treehouse - At Sunrise.
Nordic indie pop band, Secret Treehouse, is now back with their new single, "At Sunrise"; a warm an catchy song that will make you wanna smile and dance.
They released their debut album in August 2019, and have already moved on to develop their sound even further from their more darker and melancholic debut album. Cover art by Achilleas Gatsopoulos.
"At Sunrise" is the first single from the upcoming second album, following the upraised "The Big Rewind", and will be released Jan 17. It's produced by Stamos Koliousis.
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Walter Martin - First Thing I Remember.
Renowned songwriter and Walkmen co-founder Walter Martin will release his new album The World At Night on January 31st via Ile Flottante Music. Produced by multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman (The National, Hiss Golden Messenger, The War On Drugs), the album is Martin's most richly orchestrated and grandly cinematic collection to date, as well as his most poignant. Today he shared his new song "First Thing I Remember" which features Jonathan Fire*Eater/Walkmen drummer Matt Barrick.
With sweeping strings and lavish horns fleshing out his spare, understated vocal delivery, The World At Night calls to mind everything from Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits to Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson. Dedicated to his dear friend and late Jonathan Fire*Eater bandmate Stewart Lupton, it balances soul-baring intimacy with sophisticated arrangements as they walk a delicate tightrope between despair and hope, faith and doubt, security and uncertainty. In addition to Kaufman, the album features an all-star cast of musicians including Sam Kassirer and Zach Hickman (Josh Ritter), Stuart Bogie (Arcade Fire, The Hold Steady), Rob Moose (Bon Iver, The National), and pianist Thomas Bartlett (Glen Hansard, Norah Jones). Vogue Magazine raved "The World at Night might just be his masterpiece."
Lupton's memory looms large on this record and his spirit informs the music in ways both explicit and implicit. Album opener "October" sets the tone from the outset, pairing exuberant music and ominous lyrics about fate and mortality. It's followed by the title track "The World At Night (For Stew)" which grapples with the confusion of loss and draws much of its imagery from a collage that Stewart made that now hangs above Walter's writing desk. In a recent interview with Billboard, he stated, "I'm not really a religious person, but I do believe in ghosts and in magic and in plenty of beautiful stuff that I can't see. Writing this album - and especially this song - was an effort to get closer to that stuff. And to Stew."
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Mechanimal - Stolen Flesh.
Mechanimal's new addictive and deeply personal tune, has deep toned vocals, lyrics and the simplicity of the video. Mechanimal turns sadness into something beautiful. The song's lyrics are incredibly powerful, Freddie Faulkenberry's evocative vocals melding perfectly with it's searing electronic noise and repetitious synths.
Greece's "synth punk" act Mechanimal (Giannis Papaioanou, Freddie Faulkenberry) unveil the first taste from their forthcoming album, Crux. "Stolen Flesh" arrives with an emotional clip shot and directed by Christos Karalias. Mechanimal's 4th album is out January 27 via Inner Ear.
Giannis P. says about the song: "Stolen Flesh" is dedicated to the loving memory of a dear friend we lost. It's about how it feels when you lose a dear person: all the love unveils in its magnitude in a very painful procedure. But we remain here to keep this love and all memories alive by beautifying every little crack and detail in our everyday life."
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HANYA - I'll Do It Tomorrow.
Making their ascent from Brighton’s thriving talent pool, indie newcomers HANYA share ethereal new offering ‘I’ll Do It Tomorrow’, the second track lifted from forthcoming EP ‘Seas Shoes’ out this spring.
Arriving hot on the heels of lead single ‘Dream Wife’, the band have already experienced a real surge in momentum, with their heady concoction of 90s-esque dream pop and shoegaze extravaganza attracting plentiful support among the key taste makers.
Plans continue to take shape on the live front, with previous shows alongside Honeyblood, Lazy Day and Tess Parks succeeding in growing their profile, not to mention their first trip Stateside for New Colossus Festival lined up in March.
Speaking ahead of their upcoming release, the quartet explained: “I’ll Do It Tomorrow was the result of realising that rarely does anyone take the advice we ask for, we love to procrastinate and wait until things change around us, it’s the magic of the human psyche. The song is pretty much advice to an old friend…be every version of yourself, let go, do it now, don’t wait until tomorrow”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ani Glass - Mirores.
Ani Glass releases her new single ‘Mirores’ this new year ahead of her forthcoming album of the same name. With infectious harmonies and a pulsing dance floor beat, ‘Mirores’ depicts the journey from dark desperation to motivation and inspiration, showing how we quickly build barriers in reaction to experiences but often forget to lower them. The song represents the liberating feeling of opening up to the world; the alignment of ideas, motivation and energy and that rare but illuminating experience of feeling inspired.
On 6th March 2020, Ani Glass's debut album MIRORES finally sees the light of day; the culmination of four years developing her own sound and visionary artistry. With its tapestry of electronic sounds, elliptical melodies and samples threaded into a song cycle, MIRORES is based around the idea of movement and progress - one which takes us on a journey around her hometown of Cardiff. The title is taken from Ani’s bardic name - created when she joined the Cornish Gorsedh in 2013. The Gorsedh itself is a celebration of the Celtic spirit of Cornwall and Bardship is awarded to people who contribute to its cultural and linguistic heritage. MIRORES is a play on words which incorporates the name of one of her favourite artists – Joan Miró – along with the Cornish word for “to look”, which is miras. Therefore, MIRORES essentially translates as ‘Observer’ thus presenting the album as Ani’s observation of the city in which she was born and now lives.
MIRORES also represents Ani’s first foray into production. Having been inspired by her experience of working with Martin Rushent during her time as a member of indie-pop group The Pipettes, Glass has spent the past few years teaching herself the art of recording and production. Her sound is inspired by many leading electronic and avant-garde artists and producers of the 1980s including Martin Rushent, Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Arthur Russell whilst the wider themes are inspired in part by the works of abstract painter Agnes Martin and the renowned author and activist Jane Jacobs. Despite some of the album’s heavier themes, Ani maintains a strong pop sensibility throughout, most certainly cemented during her time as a member of R&B pop group Genie Queen – managed by OMD’s Andy McCluskey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Humanoids - The shadow you make isn‘t yours.
No way have they lost it! Humanoids from Zug/Switzerland just kept us waiting a little while. Erm, five years, to be precise. But they haven't been lazy since. In this period they've played a bunch of concerts, mesmerizing their audiences. Finally, «the coolest pigs in Swiss », as Media once called them, are back with new thrilling track.
'The shadow you make isn't yours' they claim in their new single. From a musical point of view, this number will leave your mouths wide open: above all with its airy but intense modern sound, which is carried by a springy groove and in which elements of stoner and alternative rock can be heard. In the same time «The shadow you make isn't yours» is a promise: There are a handful of new tracks yet to come from the four-piece in 2020!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Chris White Experience - Volume Three (Album).
Last year (2019) The Zombies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a British invasion alongside Radiohead and The Cure. On stage with the rest of the band was Chris White; the man who co-produced and wrote more than half of the seminal Odessey & Oracle album, who composed (the now standard) This Will Be Our Year and who penned and co-produced the worldwide hit Hold Your Head Up for Argent.
His acceptance speech from the night, widely quoted in Rolling Stone, beautifully summarised the golden age of recording: “Music and songs are the bookmarks in all our lives, it’s the language that binds us all together”. The Chris White Experience is an incredible collection of unreleased recordings from the last 50 years.
Most of these songs have never been heard, with Volume Three spanning half a century from an unreleased 1969 Zombies demo, right up to an October 2019 recording from Et Tu Brucé. With collaborations featuring Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone (Unhappy Girl) and London band Et Tu Brucé (Can’t Seem To Fall In Love) as well as performances from Joe Lee Wilson (Archie Shepp) Russ Ballard (Argent) Stuart Elliott (Cockney Rebel, Kate Bush) and many more. Following on from the much-celebrated Volumes One and Two, it is a brilliant and vital document in the history of British music and analogue recording.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secret Treehouse - At Sunrise.
Nordic indie pop band, Secret Treehouse, is now back with their new single, "At Sunrise"; a warm an catchy song that will make you wanna smile and dance.
They released their debut album in August 2019, and have already moved on to develop their sound even further from their more darker and melancholic debut album. Cover art by Achilleas Gatsopoulos.
"At Sunrise" is the first single from the upcoming second album, following the upraised "The Big Rewind", and will be released Jan 17. It's produced by Stamos Koliousis.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Martin - First Thing I Remember.
Renowned songwriter and Walkmen co-founder Walter Martin will release his new album The World At Night on January 31st via Ile Flottante Music. Produced by multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman (The National, Hiss Golden Messenger, The War On Drugs), the album is Martin's most richly orchestrated and grandly cinematic collection to date, as well as his most poignant. Today he shared his new song "First Thing I Remember" which features Jonathan Fire*Eater/Walkmen drummer Matt Barrick.
With sweeping strings and lavish horns fleshing out his spare, understated vocal delivery, The World At Night calls to mind everything from Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits to Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson. Dedicated to his dear friend and late Jonathan Fire*Eater bandmate Stewart Lupton, it balances soul-baring intimacy with sophisticated arrangements as they walk a delicate tightrope between despair and hope, faith and doubt, security and uncertainty. In addition to Kaufman, the album features an all-star cast of musicians including Sam Kassirer and Zach Hickman (Josh Ritter), Stuart Bogie (Arcade Fire, The Hold Steady), Rob Moose (Bon Iver, The National), and pianist Thomas Bartlett (Glen Hansard, Norah Jones). Vogue Magazine raved "The World at Night might just be his masterpiece."
Lupton's memory looms large on this record and his spirit informs the music in ways both explicit and implicit. Album opener "October" sets the tone from the outset, pairing exuberant music and ominous lyrics about fate and mortality. It's followed by the title track "The World At Night (For Stew)" which grapples with the confusion of loss and draws much of its imagery from a collage that Stewart made that now hangs above Walter's writing desk. In a recent interview with Billboard, he stated, "I'm not really a religious person, but I do believe in ghosts and in magic and in plenty of beautiful stuff that I can't see. Writing this album - and especially this song - was an effort to get closer to that stuff. And to Stew."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mechanimal - Stolen Flesh.
Mechanimal's new addictive and deeply personal tune, has deep toned vocals, lyrics and the simplicity of the video. Mechanimal turns sadness into something beautiful. The song's lyrics are incredibly powerful, Freddie Faulkenberry's evocative vocals melding perfectly with it's searing electronic noise and repetitious synths.
Greece's "synth punk" act Mechanimal (Giannis Papaioanou, Freddie Faulkenberry) unveil the first taste from their forthcoming album, Crux. "Stolen Flesh" arrives with an emotional clip shot and directed by Christos Karalias. Mechanimal's 4th album is out January 27 via Inner Ear.
Giannis P. says about the song: "Stolen Flesh" is dedicated to the loving memory of a dear friend we lost. It's about how it feels when you lose a dear person: all the love unveils in its magnitude in a very painful procedure. But we remain here to keep this love and all memories alive by beautifying every little crack and detail in our everyday life."
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Thursday, 16 January 2020
Louie & The Wolf Gang - Jess Knights - Kacy & Clayton
Louie & The Wolf Gang have kicked the new year off with 'The Race' where the Neo Rockabillies are on splendid form with this tightly performed and vibrant song. === Calgary singer-songwriter Jess Knights has just released 'Leave Me For The Last Time' a soulful song with all the essential passion and emotion to make it stand out. === We featured Kacy & Clayton three times last year and were very impressed so the live video for 'That Sweet Orchestra Sound' is a pleasure to share just ahead of their European tour.
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Louie & The Wolf Gang - The Race.
Louie & The Wolf Gang welcome the new year with a thrilling and fast single: 'The Race' reflects their current state. Last year started running fast for the new rockabilly heroes from Baden/Switzerland: Their debut EP earned enthusiastic reviews, was heard on various international radios-show and brought the band their first concerts, full house.
In 2020, it's time to speed up the tempo: A club tour through Switzerland is going on until summer, including a performance at the legendary «Tiki Bash»-festival in Erlinsbach AG, the hippest Swiss rockabilly-festival on the scene.
'The Race' is a cool introduction to the gigs, with reminiscences of the legendary Stray Cats, the celebrated Neo-Rockabillies Restless and a bow to country legend Johnny Cash.
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Jess Knights - Leave Me For The Last Time.
For all of love's agonies, Calgary soul-roots singer-songwriter Jess Knights isn't sulking over old wounds. On her debut full-length, Best Kind of Light, due out on May 20, 2020, Knights comes out on the other side of love and loss without all the bitterness, but rather a sense of self-assuredness knowing that she'll be just fine on her own.
It's this triumphant reclamation that frames the albums title track, about a graceful end to a relationship. When you get older your priorities change, and what was once catastrophic is no longer a big deal, Knights says. "You choose where to put your energy and how to spend your time. 'Best Kind of Light' is about choosing to move on with grace and integrity, and not feeling the need to burn your ex's clothes on the front lawn anymore."
Of the 11 songs contained on Best Kind of Light, there are traces of the blues that have always informed her sound. Case in point: the gloriously sultry 'Try a Little Harder', where she offers the best clapback to lazy courtship. "I know your kind/You come around here saying Damn girl, you're fine But I ain't the type to fall flat and cold to a man with a line/You gotta try a little harder, she sings to an eruption of scorching blues licks."
All the while, some lap steel and country strains find their way into a few songs. The most welcome surprise, though, is the sparkling dub beats heard on Halfway.
To achieve the revivalist vibe she was after, Knights headed to Toronto in 2019 and assembled the crème de la crème of song-smiths and sidemen, including award-winning producer Joshua Van Tassel, Donovan Woods, Joey Landreth, and others. The lineup adds dimension to Knights songs while bringing into focus the moody, dimly-lit spectrum of her classically-trained voice, which has drawn comparisons to U.K. luminaries Amy Winehouse and Eliza Doolittle.
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Kacy & Clayton - That Sweet Orchestra Sound (Live Video).
Canadian psych-folk second-cousins Kacy & Clayton head to the UK for tour dates in Jan/Feb, including a slot at the prestigeous Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow and a headline show at London's The Victoria courtesey of Shindig Magazine. Their recent Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) produced album Carrying On came out in October via New West to critical acclaim, with Mojo saying,"The duo shine as a beacon of warm and quirky outsiderdom in a rising tide of cookie-cutter Nashville Americana" and Uncut calling it; "a warm, beguiling set that tips its hat to roots music interpreters as disperate as Hoyt Axton, Fairport Convention, Dolly Parton, The Byrds and Bobby Gentry, while also tapping Cajun fiddle music."
They also share a live video for "That Sweet Orchestra Sound". The session was recorded at Trinity St. Paul's United Church in Toronto and captured by Southern Souls, who has been creating top-notch videos of mostly Canadian artists for more than ten years. It was filmed in September just as Kacy & Clayton performed on presitgeous Canadian TV programme CBC's Q then headed to Nashville for Americanafest.
The band also shared other videos from the album, including “High Holiday”, "Carrying On" and "The Forty-Ninth Parallel".
Kacy & Clayton's sound is equal parts homespun, coming from a family and community where playing music is an ever present part of social gatherings, and the rare country, blues, and English folk rock they obsess over and collect. It’s an arresting amalgamation of psychedelic folk, English folk revival and the ancestral music of Southern Appalachia. For Carrying On, Clayton cites as influences: Bobbie Gentry’s Delta Sweete, Hoyt Axton’s My Griffin Is Gone, Cajun fiddle music, and the steel guitar of Ralph Mooney, who played on many of the records that defined the Bakersfield country music scene of the 1950s. Sixties psych has also woven its way into these new songs; Kacy enjoys telling people that they live 250km from the mental hospital that coined the term “psychedelic.”
Of Carrying On, Jeff Tweedy said "When I first heard Kacy and Clayton, I was struck by how much detail and nuance they had absorbed from what sounded like a large swath of my record collection. When I told them that they were as good as the artists they were drawing from, I’m not sure they believed me. On this record I don’t hear those influences as much as I hear them taking the things they love so intimately and telling their own story. I think they’re a truly great band.”
Having toured almost nonstop for the last two years, Carrying On was conceived and honed on the road and recorded immediately after a jaunt across Western Canada, mostly as live takes with the minimum of overdubs. The songs having been tried and tested before audiences each night with Kacy & Clayton offering, “This album has, by far, the most intense and confident performances we’ve ever done on record and I hope that intensity will be felt by the listener.”
They have just returned from the road supporting Ray LaMontagne in North America in the Autumn with an appearance at the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in September alongside Foo Fighters, The Killers, and more.
Carrying On was released 4 October 2019 on compact disc, across digital retailers, Standard Black Vinyl, Pink Marbled Vinyl exclusively available at Independent Retailers, and hand-poured colored vinyl with every copy unique available now for order directly from New West Records.
EU/UK Tour Dates:
January 23 - Trondheim, NO - Bar Moskus
January 24 - Oslo, NO - Vulkan Arena for Interstate 20 - Oslo Americana Weekend
Jan 25 Falkenberg, SWE - Tryckhallen
Jan 26 Stockholm, SWE - Twang
February 2 - Forest Row - Hop Yard Brewing Co.
February 13 - Recklinghausen, DE - Creative Outlaws Club
January 30 - Glasgow, CCA - Celtic Connections
January 31- Low Mill, UK - The Band Room
February 1- Gateshead, UK - The Sage
February 4 - Winchester, UK - The Railway Inn
February 5 - Bristol, UK - The Mother's Ruin
February 6 - Witney, UK - Fat Lil's
February 7 - St. Davids, UK - City Hall
February 8 - Coventry, UK - The Tin Music and Arts
February 9 - Whitstable, UK - Whitstable Sessions Music Club
February 10 - London, UK - The Victoria
February 12 - Eindhoven, NL - Rozenknopje
February 14 - Nijmegen, NL - Merleyn
February 15 - Groningen, NL - Lutherse Kerk
February 16 - Utrecht, NL - TivoliVredenburg
February 20 - Barcelona, ESP - Sala Rocksound
February 21 - Madrid, ESP - Cafe Berlin
February 22 - San Sebastian, ESP - Altxerri Jazz Bar
February 23 - Santander, ESP - Little Bobby
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Louie & The Wolf Gang welcome the new year with a thrilling and fast single: 'The Race' reflects their current state. Last year started running fast for the new rockabilly heroes from Baden/Switzerland: Their debut EP earned enthusiastic reviews, was heard on various international radios-show and brought the band their first concerts, full house.
In 2020, it's time to speed up the tempo: A club tour through Switzerland is going on until summer, including a performance at the legendary «Tiki Bash»-festival in Erlinsbach AG, the hippest Swiss rockabilly-festival on the scene.
'The Race' is a cool introduction to the gigs, with reminiscences of the legendary Stray Cats, the celebrated Neo-Rockabillies Restless and a bow to country legend Johnny Cash.
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Jess Knights - Leave Me For The Last Time.
For all of love's agonies, Calgary soul-roots singer-songwriter Jess Knights isn't sulking over old wounds. On her debut full-length, Best Kind of Light, due out on May 20, 2020, Knights comes out on the other side of love and loss without all the bitterness, but rather a sense of self-assuredness knowing that she'll be just fine on her own.
It's this triumphant reclamation that frames the albums title track, about a graceful end to a relationship. When you get older your priorities change, and what was once catastrophic is no longer a big deal, Knights says. "You choose where to put your energy and how to spend your time. 'Best Kind of Light' is about choosing to move on with grace and integrity, and not feeling the need to burn your ex's clothes on the front lawn anymore."
Of the 11 songs contained on Best Kind of Light, there are traces of the blues that have always informed her sound. Case in point: the gloriously sultry 'Try a Little Harder', where she offers the best clapback to lazy courtship. "I know your kind/You come around here saying Damn girl, you're fine But I ain't the type to fall flat and cold to a man with a line/You gotta try a little harder, she sings to an eruption of scorching blues licks."
All the while, some lap steel and country strains find their way into a few songs. The most welcome surprise, though, is the sparkling dub beats heard on Halfway.
To achieve the revivalist vibe she was after, Knights headed to Toronto in 2019 and assembled the crème de la crème of song-smiths and sidemen, including award-winning producer Joshua Van Tassel, Donovan Woods, Joey Landreth, and others. The lineup adds dimension to Knights songs while bringing into focus the moody, dimly-lit spectrum of her classically-trained voice, which has drawn comparisons to U.K. luminaries Amy Winehouse and Eliza Doolittle.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kacy & Clayton - That Sweet Orchestra Sound (Live Video).
Canadian psych-folk second-cousins Kacy & Clayton head to the UK for tour dates in Jan/Feb, including a slot at the prestigeous Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow and a headline show at London's The Victoria courtesey of Shindig Magazine. Their recent Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) produced album Carrying On came out in October via New West to critical acclaim, with Mojo saying,"The duo shine as a beacon of warm and quirky outsiderdom in a rising tide of cookie-cutter Nashville Americana" and Uncut calling it; "a warm, beguiling set that tips its hat to roots music interpreters as disperate as Hoyt Axton, Fairport Convention, Dolly Parton, The Byrds and Bobby Gentry, while also tapping Cajun fiddle music."
They also share a live video for "That Sweet Orchestra Sound". The session was recorded at Trinity St. Paul's United Church in Toronto and captured by Southern Souls, who has been creating top-notch videos of mostly Canadian artists for more than ten years. It was filmed in September just as Kacy & Clayton performed on presitgeous Canadian TV programme CBC's Q then headed to Nashville for Americanafest.
The band also shared other videos from the album, including “High Holiday”, "Carrying On" and "The Forty-Ninth Parallel".
Kacy & Clayton's sound is equal parts homespun, coming from a family and community where playing music is an ever present part of social gatherings, and the rare country, blues, and English folk rock they obsess over and collect. It’s an arresting amalgamation of psychedelic folk, English folk revival and the ancestral music of Southern Appalachia. For Carrying On, Clayton cites as influences: Bobbie Gentry’s Delta Sweete, Hoyt Axton’s My Griffin Is Gone, Cajun fiddle music, and the steel guitar of Ralph Mooney, who played on many of the records that defined the Bakersfield country music scene of the 1950s. Sixties psych has also woven its way into these new songs; Kacy enjoys telling people that they live 250km from the mental hospital that coined the term “psychedelic.”
Of Carrying On, Jeff Tweedy said "When I first heard Kacy and Clayton, I was struck by how much detail and nuance they had absorbed from what sounded like a large swath of my record collection. When I told them that they were as good as the artists they were drawing from, I’m not sure they believed me. On this record I don’t hear those influences as much as I hear them taking the things they love so intimately and telling their own story. I think they’re a truly great band.”
Having toured almost nonstop for the last two years, Carrying On was conceived and honed on the road and recorded immediately after a jaunt across Western Canada, mostly as live takes with the minimum of overdubs. The songs having been tried and tested before audiences each night with Kacy & Clayton offering, “This album has, by far, the most intense and confident performances we’ve ever done on record and I hope that intensity will be felt by the listener.”
They have just returned from the road supporting Ray LaMontagne in North America in the Autumn with an appearance at the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in September alongside Foo Fighters, The Killers, and more.
Carrying On was released 4 October 2019 on compact disc, across digital retailers, Standard Black Vinyl, Pink Marbled Vinyl exclusively available at Independent Retailers, and hand-poured colored vinyl with every copy unique available now for order directly from New West Records.
EU/UK Tour Dates:
January 23 - Trondheim, NO - Bar Moskus
January 24 - Oslo, NO - Vulkan Arena for Interstate 20 - Oslo Americana Weekend
Jan 25 Falkenberg, SWE - Tryckhallen
Jan 26 Stockholm, SWE - Twang
February 2 - Forest Row - Hop Yard Brewing Co.
February 13 - Recklinghausen, DE - Creative Outlaws Club
January 30 - Glasgow, CCA - Celtic Connections
January 31- Low Mill, UK - The Band Room
February 1- Gateshead, UK - The Sage
February 4 - Winchester, UK - The Railway Inn
February 5 - Bristol, UK - The Mother's Ruin
February 6 - Witney, UK - Fat Lil's
February 7 - St. Davids, UK - City Hall
February 8 - Coventry, UK - The Tin Music and Arts
February 9 - Whitstable, UK - Whitstable Sessions Music Club
February 10 - London, UK - The Victoria
February 12 - Eindhoven, NL - Rozenknopje
February 14 - Nijmegen, NL - Merleyn
February 15 - Groningen, NL - Lutherse Kerk
February 16 - Utrecht, NL - TivoliVredenburg
February 20 - Barcelona, ESP - Sala Rocksound
February 21 - Madrid, ESP - Cafe Berlin
February 22 - San Sebastian, ESP - Altxerri Jazz Bar
February 23 - Santander, ESP - Little Bobby
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Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Skye Wallace - LAPêCHE - Alice Boman - Wilsen
Skye Wallace returns to Beehive Candy after two impressive songs featured last year. Yesterday she shared a new video for 'Body Lights The Way' a lively, catchy and very pleasing rocker of a song. === Indie rock band LAPêCHE have just released a new video for 'Gracie' a hook filled song, that packs emotion throughout. === Swedish songwriter Alice Boman releases her debut album 'Dream On' this coming Friday and just ahead of that shares a video for 'Everybody Hurts' a gorgeous and melodic song, with a tour kicking off just day's away. ===We shared 'Ruiner' back in November, the title track from the soon to be released album from Wilsen who have just shared another gorgeous teaser from the album called 'Feeling Fancy' accompanied by a fine music video.
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Skye Wallace - Body Lights The Way.
Skye Wallace is what happens when a trained singer with east coast roots discovers punk rock in their youth and writes music that makes you feel excited. Skye’s recent self-titled album embodies Canadiana combining her folk songwriting roots with influences of 90’s riot girls and grunge, resulting in songs that jump from somber reflections to rowdy highs.
She's sharing the official music video for the LP's "Body Lights The Way" – a carefree, groove-driven song conveying a sense of empowerment. The video reflects the fun energy of the track and combines Skye's love of curling and music.
Skye Wallace is what happens when a trained singer with east coast roots discovers punk rock in their youth and writes music that makes you feel excited.
Skye's recent self-titled album embodies Canadiana. From living on BC west coast to spending time at residencies in Norris Point, Newfoundland and Dawson City, Yukon, the Toronto-based artist has been inspired by every corner of the country. The new album combines her folk songwriting roots with influences of 90's riot girls and grunge, resulting in songs that jump from somber reflections to rowdy highs.
Skyes in-demand live show has landed her performances at Reeperbahn Festival, NXNE's main stage, the National Arts Centre, Halifax Pop Explosion, Vancouver Folk Fest, a cross-Canada tour with Matt Mays, multiple support dates for Sam Roberts Band, and a residency at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto last fall. Her single There Is A Wall broke the top 40 alternative rock charts in Canada, and media features including a CBC First Play and a Live at the Verge session continue to build the story of this exciting artist.
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LAPêCHE - Gracie.
Indie buzz band LAPêCHE have just released their enchanting new video for "Gracie."
LAPêCHE is an indie-rock group that has consistently penned impactful jams out of Brooklyn for the past 4 years. Their newest release, the 3-song EP Spirit Bunnies brings a bold and melancholy 90’s grit with just the right amount of hopefulness to your ears.
The close friends that make up LAPêCHE compose together, drawing inspiration from both past and present, light and dark, guiding singer Krista Holly’s provocative melodies and lyrics over their uniquely somber, yet catchy indie-rock.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice Boman - Everybody Hurts.
With her mesmerising and long-awaited debut album Dream On, released 17th January on new label, Play It Again Sam, Swedish songwriter Alice Boman shared new single "Everybody Hurts" yesterday, saying: “This song is about being rejected and turned down and how that can make you question yourself and your worth, regardless of the circumstances. Especially when it happens again and again. I guess rejection is one of the things we all fear the most. But I also wanted this song to feel a bit encouraging despite the theme. A reminder to not take it to personally. All of us get hurt. And it’s ok. You’re ok.
"When me and Tom recorded the demo for this song, we listened to Cindy Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ and we were inspired by that sound and wanted this song to feel like that. Warm and comforting. Like an embrace. And that idea has remained. The recording of the song started with Fabian in London, where we recorded the drums, vocals, synth and bass live. It was such a good feeling to play it together like that. And then me and Patrik carried on working on it in Stockholm later on.”
The spellbinding artist has again teamed up with collaborator Julia Ringdahl on an accompanying video for the track, featuring the work of Swedish weaver Nanny Rådenman – who’s work Boman will be displaying on stage during her UK / European tour this February. “We got the idea to use some of her weaves in this video as well - to tie things together. To create something special. And for them to move in different ways. Move to the music.” Boman explains.
Alice also tours the UK/EU in February, returning to London to headline the Union Chapel on 25th Feb:
17 Jan - Groningen, NL - Eurosonic @ Plato Record Store
17 Jan - Groningen, NL - Eurosonic @ Forum
14 Feb - Malmö, SE - Babel
15 Feb – Copenhagen, DK – Hotel Cecil
18 Feb – Berlin, DE – Kantine am Berghain
19 Feb – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
20 Feb – Paris, FR – Le Pop-Up du Label
21 Feb – Brussels, BE – Witloof Bar
23 Feb - Brighton, UK - The Latest Music Bar
24 Feb - Manchester, UK - Gullivers
25 Feb – London, UK – Union Chapel
3 Apr - Göteborg, SE - Pustervik
5 Apr - Stockholm, SE – Dramaten *sold out*
“It's a powerful feeling when you're in that world and you lose track of time,” says Boman of the deeply hypnotic state she entered when making Dream On. This transfixed state is one that she also seamlessly plunges her listeners into. Her deeply textural, atmospheric and immersive sounds - coupled with her fragile yet engulfing and ethereal vocals - create something of a vortex that listeners are sucked in by. A world where ambient, dream pop and folk merge into a unique new form.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilsen - Feeling Fancy.
Brooklyn-based trio Wilsen released an official video for their new song "Feeling Fancy," the second single from their new album Ruiner out February 21 via Secret City Records / Dalliance Recordings. "Feeling Fancy is a song for the soft-spoken," explains Tamsin Wilson. "Quietness can be mistaken for insecurity while it's often the opposite - it's being comfortable in your own presence without needing to be heard at every moment."
"Feeling Fancy" follows the release of the album's title track "Ruiner," which was embraced by American Songwriter, BrooklynVegan, The Line of Best Fit, and NPR Music's New Music Friday Playlist. Wilsen consequently released a "nightmare remix" by Daughter's Igor Haefeli. So far, "Ruiner" has received support from AAA radio stations such as KXT, WFUV, WPYA, WSCA, WUNC, WXRT and many more.
For the follow-up to their acclaimed debut I Go Missing In My Sleep, the trio comprised of Tamsin Wilson (guitar/vocals), Johnny Simon Jr. (guitar) and Drew Arndt (bass) partnered with acclaimed producer Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver) and mastering engineer Sarah Register (Ariana Grande, Protomartyr, U.S. Girls).
For Tamsin Wilson, the album finds her moving towards personal self-acceptance. "I have an inherent shyness," she says. "I'm acknowledging and finding a way with it as I get older." Throughout the record, she comes to terms with her many sides, including her introversion and her inner, self-sabotaging monster to which the album title refers. On "Feeling Fancy," with her distinctively hushed vocals overpowering the track’s clamorous instrumentals, Wilson offers listeners a powerful, and celebratory, declaration that "Quiet’s not a fault to weed out."
"Making this record was somewhat of a coming of age process," Wilson explains. "We're getting older and becoming more deliberate, less precious, less measured. Overthinking less and trusting instincts more."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skye Wallace is what happens when a trained singer with east coast roots discovers punk rock in their youth and writes music that makes you feel excited. Skye’s recent self-titled album embodies Canadiana combining her folk songwriting roots with influences of 90’s riot girls and grunge, resulting in songs that jump from somber reflections to rowdy highs.
She's sharing the official music video for the LP's "Body Lights The Way" – a carefree, groove-driven song conveying a sense of empowerment. The video reflects the fun energy of the track and combines Skye's love of curling and music.
Skye Wallace is what happens when a trained singer with east coast roots discovers punk rock in their youth and writes music that makes you feel excited.
Skye's recent self-titled album embodies Canadiana. From living on BC west coast to spending time at residencies in Norris Point, Newfoundland and Dawson City, Yukon, the Toronto-based artist has been inspired by every corner of the country. The new album combines her folk songwriting roots with influences of 90's riot girls and grunge, resulting in songs that jump from somber reflections to rowdy highs.
Skyes in-demand live show has landed her performances at Reeperbahn Festival, NXNE's main stage, the National Arts Centre, Halifax Pop Explosion, Vancouver Folk Fest, a cross-Canada tour with Matt Mays, multiple support dates for Sam Roberts Band, and a residency at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto last fall. Her single There Is A Wall broke the top 40 alternative rock charts in Canada, and media features including a CBC First Play and a Live at the Verge session continue to build the story of this exciting artist.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAPêCHE - Gracie.
Indie buzz band LAPêCHE have just released their enchanting new video for "Gracie."
LAPêCHE is an indie-rock group that has consistently penned impactful jams out of Brooklyn for the past 4 years. Their newest release, the 3-song EP Spirit Bunnies brings a bold and melancholy 90’s grit with just the right amount of hopefulness to your ears.
The close friends that make up LAPêCHE compose together, drawing inspiration from both past and present, light and dark, guiding singer Krista Holly’s provocative melodies and lyrics over their uniquely somber, yet catchy indie-rock.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice Boman - Everybody Hurts.
With her mesmerising and long-awaited debut album Dream On, released 17th January on new label, Play It Again Sam, Swedish songwriter Alice Boman shared new single "Everybody Hurts" yesterday, saying: “This song is about being rejected and turned down and how that can make you question yourself and your worth, regardless of the circumstances. Especially when it happens again and again. I guess rejection is one of the things we all fear the most. But I also wanted this song to feel a bit encouraging despite the theme. A reminder to not take it to personally. All of us get hurt. And it’s ok. You’re ok.
"When me and Tom recorded the demo for this song, we listened to Cindy Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ and we were inspired by that sound and wanted this song to feel like that. Warm and comforting. Like an embrace. And that idea has remained. The recording of the song started with Fabian in London, where we recorded the drums, vocals, synth and bass live. It was such a good feeling to play it together like that. And then me and Patrik carried on working on it in Stockholm later on.”
The spellbinding artist has again teamed up with collaborator Julia Ringdahl on an accompanying video for the track, featuring the work of Swedish weaver Nanny Rådenman – who’s work Boman will be displaying on stage during her UK / European tour this February. “We got the idea to use some of her weaves in this video as well - to tie things together. To create something special. And for them to move in different ways. Move to the music.” Boman explains.
Alice also tours the UK/EU in February, returning to London to headline the Union Chapel on 25th Feb:
17 Jan - Groningen, NL - Eurosonic @ Plato Record Store
17 Jan - Groningen, NL - Eurosonic @ Forum
14 Feb - Malmö, SE - Babel
15 Feb – Copenhagen, DK – Hotel Cecil
18 Feb – Berlin, DE – Kantine am Berghain
19 Feb – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
20 Feb – Paris, FR – Le Pop-Up du Label
21 Feb – Brussels, BE – Witloof Bar
23 Feb - Brighton, UK - The Latest Music Bar
24 Feb - Manchester, UK - Gullivers
25 Feb – London, UK – Union Chapel
3 Apr - Göteborg, SE - Pustervik
5 Apr - Stockholm, SE – Dramaten *sold out*
“It's a powerful feeling when you're in that world and you lose track of time,” says Boman of the deeply hypnotic state she entered when making Dream On. This transfixed state is one that she also seamlessly plunges her listeners into. Her deeply textural, atmospheric and immersive sounds - coupled with her fragile yet engulfing and ethereal vocals - create something of a vortex that listeners are sucked in by. A world where ambient, dream pop and folk merge into a unique new form.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilsen - Feeling Fancy.
Brooklyn-based trio Wilsen released an official video for their new song "Feeling Fancy," the second single from their new album Ruiner out February 21 via Secret City Records / Dalliance Recordings. "Feeling Fancy is a song for the soft-spoken," explains Tamsin Wilson. "Quietness can be mistaken for insecurity while it's often the opposite - it's being comfortable in your own presence without needing to be heard at every moment."
"Feeling Fancy" follows the release of the album's title track "Ruiner," which was embraced by American Songwriter, BrooklynVegan, The Line of Best Fit, and NPR Music's New Music Friday Playlist. Wilsen consequently released a "nightmare remix" by Daughter's Igor Haefeli. So far, "Ruiner" has received support from AAA radio stations such as KXT, WFUV, WPYA, WSCA, WUNC, WXRT and many more.
For the follow-up to their acclaimed debut I Go Missing In My Sleep, the trio comprised of Tamsin Wilson (guitar/vocals), Johnny Simon Jr. (guitar) and Drew Arndt (bass) partnered with acclaimed producer Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver) and mastering engineer Sarah Register (Ariana Grande, Protomartyr, U.S. Girls).
For Tamsin Wilson, the album finds her moving towards personal self-acceptance. "I have an inherent shyness," she says. "I'm acknowledging and finding a way with it as I get older." Throughout the record, she comes to terms with her many sides, including her introversion and her inner, self-sabotaging monster to which the album title refers. On "Feeling Fancy," with her distinctively hushed vocals overpowering the track’s clamorous instrumentals, Wilson offers listeners a powerful, and celebratory, declaration that "Quiet’s not a fault to weed out."
"Making this record was somewhat of a coming of age process," Wilson explains. "We're getting older and becoming more deliberate, less precious, less measured. Overthinking less and trusting instincts more."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 13 January 2020
The Saxophones - Rachael Sage
The Saxophones are Alexi Erenkov and Alison Alderdice and together they have delivered a beautiful song entitled 'Lamplighter' an exquisite, gentle and touching track. === We have to go back to 2016 for our last feature with Rachael Sage however I recognised the name immediately so she clearly left an impression. The new recording of 'Both Hands' (Live At Carriage House Studios) is beautifully performed and the musical arrangement and vocals work together wonderfully.
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The Saxophones - Lamplighter.
The Saxophones--the Bay Area based duo of Alexi Erenkov (vocals, guitar, synthesizer, woodwinds) and Alison Alderdice (drums, vocals)--have shared the second single from their forthcoming sophomore album Eternity Bay, out March 6 on Full Time Hobby. Following "New Taboo," which caught the attention of Austin Town Hall ("delicate and fragile"), BBC Music, and more, "Lamplighter" is warm surf-pop that draws from '50s exotica, west coast jazz, and '70s Italian lyricism. Stream it here, along with the animated lyric video. Various Small Flames is hosting the first listen while describing the track as "rich with the band’s distinctively Lynchian blend of romantically unhurried instrumentation and syrupy vocals."
Erenkov wrote "Lamplighter" after playing a show at the Sou’wester trailer resort in Washington state, and at the Lamplighter, where he spent the rest of the evening drinking Fireballs. He says "Lamplighter" is about his attempts to escape anxiety through alcohol and other vices; "While indulging, I often convince myself that I'm on some kind of path to enlightenment, that I'll find an escape from impermanence and be able to touch the eternal, but all of my hedonistic impulses lead me back to the same reality. And I'm left to face the fact that even the truest love is impermanent. The song takes its name from a bar on the misty Washington coast where I spent an evening drinking with close friends after a show. The night and the following day's walk on the beach were both enjoyable, but I was particularly struck by how much my conversations, thoughts, and actions were avoidant of the present. Whether through alcohol or simply distracting myself with thoughts of the future, I find ways to fight reality.
Eternity Bay follows the band's debut album, 2018’s Songs of The Saxophones, as well as a string of sold-out 7” singles (If You’re On the Water, Aloha, and Singing Desperately Suite). It was recorded by Cameron Spies (Radiator Hospital) in Portland and mixed by Noah Georgeson (Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart) in LA. Eternity Bay will be released on March 6, and is now available for preorder via Full Time Hobby.
The Saxophones’ band name started out as a half-joke for the songwriting project of Alexi Erenkov, who, at that time, was a disillusioned jazz student. Erenkov had recently ditched the instrument, as jazz hadn't offered the room for self-expression that he sought. His solo project became a band when his wife Alison Alderdice joined on percussion, and their debut album, Songs of the Saxophones, was released just before the birth of their first son in 2018. Written aboard the boat they lived on together (amid the incessant rain of a northern Californian winter), the record established The Saxophones’ style, drawing from fifties exotica, west coast jazz, and seventies Italian lyricism. Drama seeps into The Saxophones' deceptively simple sound, transforming dreamy surf pop into thoughtfully textured pieces, with a spaciousness at the core.
The band's forthcoming second album, Eternity Bay, began to take shape just after the arrival of their first son, who shook up Erenkov’s writing routine far more than choppy boat waters ever did. "My music has always grappled with mortality and the meaning of existence," he says, "but the birth of our first son and the imminent arrival of our second has greatly heightened my sensitivity to these themes." The forced fragmentation of his hours, writing under inky late-night skies and through the liminal glimmer of dawn, brought new qualities to the surface of his songs. "While this record was influenced by a broad range of music," he explains, "the through line seems to be conveying a strong mood or sense of place. I love music that transports listeners to another space, whether it's Jonathan Richman making you feel like you’re walking the streets of Boston in 'I Love Hot Nights' or Arthur Lyman transporting you to a Hawaiian hotel lobby in the 50s."
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Rachael Sage - Both Hands (Live At Carriage House Studios).
Rachael Sage has released the first single from her forthcoming album Character: a string quartet version of the classic Ani DiFranco song "Both Hands". The accompanying music video premiered on PopMatters. Sage has also just been confirmed as support on the Howard Jones Acoustic Trio's Winter 2020 US tour, beginning on January 28 in Seattle.
Sage's fresh, string-quartet take on "Both Hands" is both musically unexpected and a full-circle moment. Sage's first-ever tour was as an opener for DiFranco, and she has long been inspired by her fellow indie label owner – but in this case, it was more vital. While undergoing treatment for cancer in 2018, Sage listened to "Both Hands" as part of a playlist that kept her "determined and strong". A year later, it was a natural fit for her new album Character, due out on MPress Records on March 6.
Produced by Sage and Grammy® winner Andy Zulla, the track features a string quartet performing an arrangement by cellist Dave Eggar (Evanescence, Coldplay), Sage, and Chuck Palmer. Zulla set up cameras around Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT to capture the recording process, and edited the footage into the official music video, which has premiered exclusively on PopMatters. The single is now available on all digital platforms, including Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify.
January will also see Sage heading back out onto the road supporting 80s music icon Howard Jones, after accepting his personal invitation to join his US Acoustic Trio tour. Beginning on January 28 at Seattle's Benaroya Recital Hall, she will support dates in cities including Los Angeles, Austin, St. Paul, New York City, and Miami.
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The Saxophones - Lamplighter.
The Saxophones--the Bay Area based duo of Alexi Erenkov (vocals, guitar, synthesizer, woodwinds) and Alison Alderdice (drums, vocals)--have shared the second single from their forthcoming sophomore album Eternity Bay, out March 6 on Full Time Hobby. Following "New Taboo," which caught the attention of Austin Town Hall ("delicate and fragile"), BBC Music, and more, "Lamplighter" is warm surf-pop that draws from '50s exotica, west coast jazz, and '70s Italian lyricism. Stream it here, along with the animated lyric video. Various Small Flames is hosting the first listen while describing the track as "rich with the band’s distinctively Lynchian blend of romantically unhurried instrumentation and syrupy vocals."
Erenkov wrote "Lamplighter" after playing a show at the Sou’wester trailer resort in Washington state, and at the Lamplighter, where he spent the rest of the evening drinking Fireballs. He says "Lamplighter" is about his attempts to escape anxiety through alcohol and other vices; "While indulging, I often convince myself that I'm on some kind of path to enlightenment, that I'll find an escape from impermanence and be able to touch the eternal, but all of my hedonistic impulses lead me back to the same reality. And I'm left to face the fact that even the truest love is impermanent. The song takes its name from a bar on the misty Washington coast where I spent an evening drinking with close friends after a show. The night and the following day's walk on the beach were both enjoyable, but I was particularly struck by how much my conversations, thoughts, and actions were avoidant of the present. Whether through alcohol or simply distracting myself with thoughts of the future, I find ways to fight reality.
Eternity Bay follows the band's debut album, 2018’s Songs of The Saxophones, as well as a string of sold-out 7” singles (If You’re On the Water, Aloha, and Singing Desperately Suite). It was recorded by Cameron Spies (Radiator Hospital) in Portland and mixed by Noah Georgeson (Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart) in LA. Eternity Bay will be released on March 6, and is now available for preorder via Full Time Hobby.
The Saxophones’ band name started out as a half-joke for the songwriting project of Alexi Erenkov, who, at that time, was a disillusioned jazz student. Erenkov had recently ditched the instrument, as jazz hadn't offered the room for self-expression that he sought. His solo project became a band when his wife Alison Alderdice joined on percussion, and their debut album, Songs of the Saxophones, was released just before the birth of their first son in 2018. Written aboard the boat they lived on together (amid the incessant rain of a northern Californian winter), the record established The Saxophones’ style, drawing from fifties exotica, west coast jazz, and seventies Italian lyricism. Drama seeps into The Saxophones' deceptively simple sound, transforming dreamy surf pop into thoughtfully textured pieces, with a spaciousness at the core.
The band's forthcoming second album, Eternity Bay, began to take shape just after the arrival of their first son, who shook up Erenkov’s writing routine far more than choppy boat waters ever did. "My music has always grappled with mortality and the meaning of existence," he says, "but the birth of our first son and the imminent arrival of our second has greatly heightened my sensitivity to these themes." The forced fragmentation of his hours, writing under inky late-night skies and through the liminal glimmer of dawn, brought new qualities to the surface of his songs. "While this record was influenced by a broad range of music," he explains, "the through line seems to be conveying a strong mood or sense of place. I love music that transports listeners to another space, whether it's Jonathan Richman making you feel like you’re walking the streets of Boston in 'I Love Hot Nights' or Arthur Lyman transporting you to a Hawaiian hotel lobby in the 50s."
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Rachael Sage - Both Hands (Live At Carriage House Studios).
Rachael Sage has released the first single from her forthcoming album Character: a string quartet version of the classic Ani DiFranco song "Both Hands". The accompanying music video premiered on PopMatters. Sage has also just been confirmed as support on the Howard Jones Acoustic Trio's Winter 2020 US tour, beginning on January 28 in Seattle.
Sage's fresh, string-quartet take on "Both Hands" is both musically unexpected and a full-circle moment. Sage's first-ever tour was as an opener for DiFranco, and she has long been inspired by her fellow indie label owner – but in this case, it was more vital. While undergoing treatment for cancer in 2018, Sage listened to "Both Hands" as part of a playlist that kept her "determined and strong". A year later, it was a natural fit for her new album Character, due out on MPress Records on March 6.
Produced by Sage and Grammy® winner Andy Zulla, the track features a string quartet performing an arrangement by cellist Dave Eggar (Evanescence, Coldplay), Sage, and Chuck Palmer. Zulla set up cameras around Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT to capture the recording process, and edited the footage into the official music video, which has premiered exclusively on PopMatters. The single is now available on all digital platforms, including Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify.
January will also see Sage heading back out onto the road supporting 80s music icon Howard Jones, after accepting his personal invitation to join his US Acoustic Trio tour. Beginning on January 28 at Seattle's Benaroya Recital Hall, she will support dates in cities including Los Angeles, Austin, St. Paul, New York City, and Miami.
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Sunday, 12 January 2020
Team Me - Christopher Paul Stelling - Selkama - Sideline - The Lone Bellow - Jenny Lewis, Habib Koite, Artists for Peace and Justice - Lunaires
Team Me were featured a couple of times last year and the new song 'Into The Wild' is a refreshing indie track where the eight member band are found in a more sensitive mode. === Christopher Paul Stelling shares a beautiful video for 'Lucky Stars' a sumptuous and melodic singer-songwriter piece. === From Selkama we have 'Exit Signs' where feisty drums and more dreamy vocals make for an engaging track glued together with some fine guitar moments. === Bluegrass has been growing on me over the last two or three years and the new album from Sideline entitled 'Breaks to the Edge' has upped my appreciation even further, needless to say fans of this genre should love this. === The Lone Bellow have a distinct and very engaging sound as is born out by the anthem orientated 'Good Times' and the production is notably refined. === I have been a fan of Jenny Lewis's music since the day's of Rilo Kiley so the new track from Jenny Lewis, Habib Koite, Artists for Peace and Justice entitled 'Under The Super Moon' was a must hear, and it's a grand piece and a good reflection of the multi artist album due soon. === Lunaires have just released 'Healing Hurricanes' a melodic genre straddling song with plenty of atmosphere and melodic vibes.
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Team Me - Into The Wild.
After a festival filled Summer with slots at Træna and Pstereo, Team Me return with the sensitive and mesmerising ‘Into The Wild’, out via Propeller Recordings (Highasakite, Dagny).
Taking a stripped back approach incorporating more natural instrumentation, the track is a refreshing reminder of the 8-piece’s capacity and versatility to write indie bangers in all degrees. Frontman Marius Drogsås Hagen tells of the subject of the track “sometimes you get the urge to disappear and leave behind the ones you love in order to find peace with yourself”, and for Marius it’s about following the need to escape into the wild in order to return to society recharged, and able to appreciate and embrace his relationships.
When speaking of the band’s new chapter, Marius tells “as for the music, I really want to be more focussed on documenting this time, rather than releasing an album and touring for three years on a campaign. I want the project to just be a way to let things out of my system.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Paul Stelling - Lucky Stars.
Christopher Paul Stelling’s new album Best Of Luck is a supremely accessible and finely crafted record that deftly merges genres. Producer Ben Harper, who has previously produced records by Mavis Staples, Rickie Lee Jones, The Blind Boys of Alabama and more, recruited an all-star rhythm section with Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks, Dixie Chicks) on drums and upright bass player Mike Valerio (Randy Newman, LA Philharmonic) to lend a versatility and finesse. “I really believe this record is the intersection where folk and soul meet,” Harper says.
This weekend Stelling has released the tender new song “Lucky Stars”. The sonic simplicity of “Lucky Stars” reveals a richness of melody and emotionality in Stelling’s music. “It’s part love song, part lullaby,” Stelling says of the track, “with a gentle touch from the band and Ben’s haunting lap steel matching my guitar in the instrumental section, additional vocals by my partner. It’s about gratitude and the mysteries of the universe. Even to just be here and marvel at it all is enough for me most times. Even if it’s meaningless, it’s beautiful.”
Throughout Best of Luck, feelings discontent and self-doubt are transformed into messages of resilience and hope. Lead single “Trouble Don’t Follow Me” captures this perfectly, with an upbeat almost anthemic rhythm and soulful, gospel-tinged vocals. “It comes as no surprise to me that one of my most optimistic songs could be written in the most difficult hour,” Stelling says. “When all I needed was a little hope and a song I could play night after night and not get tired of. Something that captured the basic recipe for endurance. A song about marching on, a warning to anything that might stand in your way, and needing to feel strong for the people around you, so you can inspire them to do the same.”
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Selkama - Exit Signs.
Exit Signs is a song about how easy it is to build walls around yourself after a long time of loneliness. You learn how to detach yourself from your emotions.
You learn how to come up with excuses to not let anyone in. It’s like the brain creates its own defense mechanism to make sure the safety of your heart won’t be endangered once again.
The song originally sounded like a shoegaze-ballad but the first thing our drummer did when we showed it to him was to play an energetic and steady beat. It felt funny in contrast to the gloomy lyrics and we loved it.
The second single from Selkama's upcoming debut album is called Exit Signs. It was out January 10. The album drops in early 2020.
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Sideline - Breaks to the Edge (Album).
Bluegrass powerhouse Sideline is keeping the momentum from a successful 2018 release and a major IBMA award going with its new album, Breaks To The Edge, now available from Mountain Home Music Company. Following the band's great success with its acclaimed release Front and Center and its single, “Thunder Dan” — which topped the year-end chart as the #1 Bluegrass song in radio, and followed that accolade by winning the IBMA’s Song of the Year in 2019 — Breaks To The Edge, is a collection of songs that range from high-energy traditional Bluegrass to progressive destinations and all points in between.
Reflecting the North Carolina group’s roots and experiences, the set includes stories of traveling troubadours like that told in their radio single, “Return To Windy Mountain,” a nostalgic reminiscence of country living in “Southern Wind,” a classic bluegrass ballad of tragedy, “Down In The Willow Garden,” the reproachful Stanley Brothers favorite, “Your Selfish Heart” and more.
On the more progressive side, Breaks To The Edge offers a cover of Steve Wariner’s “Crash Course In The Blues,” with Skip Cherryholmes taking the vocal lead on a wry tale that justifies the album title with Southern-rock style jams. At the other end of the spectrum, the classic southern gospel song "I’ll Live Again" highlights Sideline’s refined vocal abilities with supremely blended 4-part harmony.
The high lead vocal of guitarist Bailey Coe flies above Sideline’s blended harmonies in a pair of furiously up-tempo barnburners (“Digging My Own Grave” and “Roll On Blues”), providing a flavorful contrast to Troy Boone’s aggressive lead vocals and mandolin playing on the tragic love song “Amy.” Supple, energetic fiddling from Daniel Greeson spurs songs like “Square Dance Town” but also lends a haunting, mournful opening to “Return To Windy Mountain.”
Throughout, the band’s tight mix of power and dynamics is driven by the pocket and pulse of original member Steve Dilling’s award winning banjo and co-founder Jason Moore’s bass, while Cherryholmes, the third colleague at the group’s heart, dishes up impressive flatpicking from start to finish. With a loaded national performance schedule and now their 5th studio album,Sideline continues to be a tour de force in bluegrass. Breaks To The Edge captures this power, making a statement that Sideline will continue to do what’s propelled them to this point.
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The Lone Bellow - Good Times.
The Lone Bellow – Zach Williams, Kanene Donehey Pipkin, Brian Elmquist – have released the soaring and elevating "Good Times." a new powerful song from their soon-to-be-released album HALF MOON LIGHT (Dualtone Records, an Entertainment One Company). Out 7th February and produced by The National's Aaron Dessner, HALF MOON LIGHT is the band’s fourth studio LP and first one since 2017. Billboard premiered the "rhythmic, joyous" song with a Zach Williams Q&A earlier today. A short video about the writing and recording of the song is available now as well.
"Over the years I’ve had the great joy of staying up late and hearing epic stories told by adventurous souls," Williams said. "Some stories were told on old boats way out in the middle of the ocean, some in Irish Pubs in Manhattan, some in backyards down south, and some on hospital beds. 'Good Times' is a salute to the good ones who grab life by the horns and let no good time slip away." In November, the band released "Wonder," a song that underpins the entire album with a loving call to reclaim the childlike awe and appreciation age takes away. It is the record’s core message and transcendent truth.
"When the day is done, I often find myself wondering if I am losing my sense of wonder," says Williams. "My mind goes back to very specific memories. One is of my cousin and I driving in his old S10 pick up truck with a tape of Moondance in the deck that we found in his brother’s room. I remember watching the pine trees go by in the truck’s windows as we sang 'and it stoned me to my soul.' I remember the hope of the future and the absolute awe of life just pouring into our 16-year-old minds. I never want to lose that sense of wonder. I think that probably goes for all of us."
“We talked a lot about the concept of wonder and seeing people lose it as we get older,” Kanene says. “I hope this record is a journey back into wonder –– not through any falsified sense of ‘Everything’s going to be fine,’ but through the beauty and the pain of what it is to be human.” - “We made this record in a place of joy and collaboration with our friends. We were trying to do something bigger than ourselves,” Brian says.
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Jenny Lewis, Habib Koite, Artists for Peace and Justice - Under The Super Moon.
Arts Music released the track "Under The Supermoon" from the upcoming benefit album Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1, a collaborative project of songwriters Jonathan Wilson, Jenny Lewis, Jackson Browne, Paul Beaubrun, Habib Koité, Raúl Rodríguez and Jonathan Russell, along with members of the Haitian roots band Lakou Mizik. "Under The Supermoon" was written by Jenny Lewis, and features Habib Koite. Let The Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1 will be released on January 31, 2020.
Hailing from four different countries, interweaving North American Indie Rock with beats and percussion of Haitian Vodou, Spanish and Malian guitar, Tres Flamenco, with songs in English, Creole, Khassonké, Manding and Spanish, Let The Rhythm Lead celebrates the work of Artists for Peace and Justice in Haiti, and was recorded at their Artists Institute on the island's southern coast, in the town of Jacmel.
As Lewis explains, "Under The Supermoon" is "a love song written in Jacmel floating in the Caribbean sea under the supermoon of November 2016 just days after the US presidential election... a travelogue of sorts processed in real time…"
Let The Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1 Track listing:
1. Lapé, Lanmou (Peace and Love), written by Jonathan Wilson and Jenny Lewis
2. Love is Love, written by Jackson Browne and David Belle
3. Surrender, written by Paul Beaubrun and Jackson Browne
4. Under the Supermoon, written by Jenny Lewis
5. Let the Rhythm Lead, written by Raúl Rodríguez
6. Goddess at the Wheel, written by Jonathan Wilson
7. Koulandian, adapted by Habib Koité
8. Saving Grace, written by Jonathan Russell and Kathryn Everett
9. El Viajero, written by Raúl Rodríguez
10. Simbi Dlo, adapted by Paul Beaubrun
11. I Found Out, written by Jonathan Russell
Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) is a non-profit organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world. Our immediate goal is to serve the poorest communities in Haiti with programs in education, healthcare and dignity. We are committed to long-term, sustainable development in direct partnership with the Haitian people. Our model is simple: we believe in empowering local communities, fostering economic growth, and the power of education to change a nation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunaires - Healing Hurricanes.
Lunaires is the new project by Danilo Carnevale and Patrizia Tranchina, ex-members of Jeunesse d’Ivoire, an underground legendary Italian wave band active in the early and mid-Eighties. It’s a project stretched in time, from the post-punk of the early eighties to the post-everything of today.
The historic group Jeunesse d’Ivoire were featured in Body Section in 1983, an historical compilation of the seminal magazine Rockerilla – along with Litfiba, Kirlian Camera and Diaframma, among others.
They also took part in various other compilations: “Milano New Wave 1980-83” (Spittle Records, IT); “Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics vol.1” – 2010 (Angular Records – UK); “New Wave Italiana 1980 – 1986” – 2012 (Spittle Records); “Danza Meccanica vol. 2” – 2012 (Mannequin); “Italia Synthetica 1981-1985” 2013 (Spittle Records).
The band toured extensively throughout Italy, including Milan, Turin, Florence, Rome, Bologna, Modena, Pisa, Brescia, Naples etc., supporting acts such as Kirlian Camera and the German band No More, and growing a strong reputation for their powerful and dynamic live sets.
Lunaires is the landing point of a long musical journey which embodies and testifies two very distant and still related musical eras, that of the crudest and most innocent post-punk of thirty years ago and today electronica, bordering on psychedelia, shoegaze and krautrock. The album “If All the Ice Melted” has been released in April 2019 by Wave Records (Brazil), that’s also going to release the brand new single “Healing Hurricane” early 2020.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team Me - Into The Wild.
After a festival filled Summer with slots at Træna and Pstereo, Team Me return with the sensitive and mesmerising ‘Into The Wild’, out via Propeller Recordings (Highasakite, Dagny).
Taking a stripped back approach incorporating more natural instrumentation, the track is a refreshing reminder of the 8-piece’s capacity and versatility to write indie bangers in all degrees. Frontman Marius Drogsås Hagen tells of the subject of the track “sometimes you get the urge to disappear and leave behind the ones you love in order to find peace with yourself”, and for Marius it’s about following the need to escape into the wild in order to return to society recharged, and able to appreciate and embrace his relationships.
When speaking of the band’s new chapter, Marius tells “as for the music, I really want to be more focussed on documenting this time, rather than releasing an album and touring for three years on a campaign. I want the project to just be a way to let things out of my system.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Paul Stelling - Lucky Stars.
Christopher Paul Stelling’s new album Best Of Luck is a supremely accessible and finely crafted record that deftly merges genres. Producer Ben Harper, who has previously produced records by Mavis Staples, Rickie Lee Jones, The Blind Boys of Alabama and more, recruited an all-star rhythm section with Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks, Dixie Chicks) on drums and upright bass player Mike Valerio (Randy Newman, LA Philharmonic) to lend a versatility and finesse. “I really believe this record is the intersection where folk and soul meet,” Harper says.
This weekend Stelling has released the tender new song “Lucky Stars”. The sonic simplicity of “Lucky Stars” reveals a richness of melody and emotionality in Stelling’s music. “It’s part love song, part lullaby,” Stelling says of the track, “with a gentle touch from the band and Ben’s haunting lap steel matching my guitar in the instrumental section, additional vocals by my partner. It’s about gratitude and the mysteries of the universe. Even to just be here and marvel at it all is enough for me most times. Even if it’s meaningless, it’s beautiful.”
Throughout Best of Luck, feelings discontent and self-doubt are transformed into messages of resilience and hope. Lead single “Trouble Don’t Follow Me” captures this perfectly, with an upbeat almost anthemic rhythm and soulful, gospel-tinged vocals. “It comes as no surprise to me that one of my most optimistic songs could be written in the most difficult hour,” Stelling says. “When all I needed was a little hope and a song I could play night after night and not get tired of. Something that captured the basic recipe for endurance. A song about marching on, a warning to anything that might stand in your way, and needing to feel strong for the people around you, so you can inspire them to do the same.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selkama - Exit Signs.
Exit Signs is a song about how easy it is to build walls around yourself after a long time of loneliness. You learn how to detach yourself from your emotions.
You learn how to come up with excuses to not let anyone in. It’s like the brain creates its own defense mechanism to make sure the safety of your heart won’t be endangered once again.
The song originally sounded like a shoegaze-ballad but the first thing our drummer did when we showed it to him was to play an energetic and steady beat. It felt funny in contrast to the gloomy lyrics and we loved it.
The second single from Selkama's upcoming debut album is called Exit Signs. It was out January 10. The album drops in early 2020.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sideline - Breaks to the Edge (Album).
Bluegrass powerhouse Sideline is keeping the momentum from a successful 2018 release and a major IBMA award going with its new album, Breaks To The Edge, now available from Mountain Home Music Company. Following the band's great success with its acclaimed release Front and Center and its single, “Thunder Dan” — which topped the year-end chart as the #1 Bluegrass song in radio, and followed that accolade by winning the IBMA’s Song of the Year in 2019 — Breaks To The Edge, is a collection of songs that range from high-energy traditional Bluegrass to progressive destinations and all points in between.
Reflecting the North Carolina group’s roots and experiences, the set includes stories of traveling troubadours like that told in their radio single, “Return To Windy Mountain,” a nostalgic reminiscence of country living in “Southern Wind,” a classic bluegrass ballad of tragedy, “Down In The Willow Garden,” the reproachful Stanley Brothers favorite, “Your Selfish Heart” and more.
On the more progressive side, Breaks To The Edge offers a cover of Steve Wariner’s “Crash Course In The Blues,” with Skip Cherryholmes taking the vocal lead on a wry tale that justifies the album title with Southern-rock style jams. At the other end of the spectrum, the classic southern gospel song "I’ll Live Again" highlights Sideline’s refined vocal abilities with supremely blended 4-part harmony.
The high lead vocal of guitarist Bailey Coe flies above Sideline’s blended harmonies in a pair of furiously up-tempo barnburners (“Digging My Own Grave” and “Roll On Blues”), providing a flavorful contrast to Troy Boone’s aggressive lead vocals and mandolin playing on the tragic love song “Amy.” Supple, energetic fiddling from Daniel Greeson spurs songs like “Square Dance Town” but also lends a haunting, mournful opening to “Return To Windy Mountain.”
Throughout, the band’s tight mix of power and dynamics is driven by the pocket and pulse of original member Steve Dilling’s award winning banjo and co-founder Jason Moore’s bass, while Cherryholmes, the third colleague at the group’s heart, dishes up impressive flatpicking from start to finish. With a loaded national performance schedule and now their 5th studio album,Sideline continues to be a tour de force in bluegrass. Breaks To The Edge captures this power, making a statement that Sideline will continue to do what’s propelled them to this point.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lone Bellow - Good Times.
The Lone Bellow – Zach Williams, Kanene Donehey Pipkin, Brian Elmquist – have released the soaring and elevating "Good Times." a new powerful song from their soon-to-be-released album HALF MOON LIGHT (Dualtone Records, an Entertainment One Company). Out 7th February and produced by The National's Aaron Dessner, HALF MOON LIGHT is the band’s fourth studio LP and first one since 2017. Billboard premiered the "rhythmic, joyous" song with a Zach Williams Q&A earlier today. A short video about the writing and recording of the song is available now as well.
"Over the years I’ve had the great joy of staying up late and hearing epic stories told by adventurous souls," Williams said. "Some stories were told on old boats way out in the middle of the ocean, some in Irish Pubs in Manhattan, some in backyards down south, and some on hospital beds. 'Good Times' is a salute to the good ones who grab life by the horns and let no good time slip away." In November, the band released "Wonder," a song that underpins the entire album with a loving call to reclaim the childlike awe and appreciation age takes away. It is the record’s core message and transcendent truth.
"When the day is done, I often find myself wondering if I am losing my sense of wonder," says Williams. "My mind goes back to very specific memories. One is of my cousin and I driving in his old S10 pick up truck with a tape of Moondance in the deck that we found in his brother’s room. I remember watching the pine trees go by in the truck’s windows as we sang 'and it stoned me to my soul.' I remember the hope of the future and the absolute awe of life just pouring into our 16-year-old minds. I never want to lose that sense of wonder. I think that probably goes for all of us."
“We talked a lot about the concept of wonder and seeing people lose it as we get older,” Kanene says. “I hope this record is a journey back into wonder –– not through any falsified sense of ‘Everything’s going to be fine,’ but through the beauty and the pain of what it is to be human.” - “We made this record in a place of joy and collaboration with our friends. We were trying to do something bigger than ourselves,” Brian says.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jenny Lewis, Habib Koite, Artists for Peace and Justice - Under The Super Moon.
Arts Music released the track "Under The Supermoon" from the upcoming benefit album Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1, a collaborative project of songwriters Jonathan Wilson, Jenny Lewis, Jackson Browne, Paul Beaubrun, Habib Koité, Raúl Rodríguez and Jonathan Russell, along with members of the Haitian roots band Lakou Mizik. "Under The Supermoon" was written by Jenny Lewis, and features Habib Koite. Let The Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1 will be released on January 31, 2020.
Hailing from four different countries, interweaving North American Indie Rock with beats and percussion of Haitian Vodou, Spanish and Malian guitar, Tres Flamenco, with songs in English, Creole, Khassonké, Manding and Spanish, Let The Rhythm Lead celebrates the work of Artists for Peace and Justice in Haiti, and was recorded at their Artists Institute on the island's southern coast, in the town of Jacmel.
As Lewis explains, "Under The Supermoon" is "a love song written in Jacmel floating in the Caribbean sea under the supermoon of November 2016 just days after the US presidential election... a travelogue of sorts processed in real time…"
Let The Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1 Track listing:
1. Lapé, Lanmou (Peace and Love), written by Jonathan Wilson and Jenny Lewis
2. Love is Love, written by Jackson Browne and David Belle
3. Surrender, written by Paul Beaubrun and Jackson Browne
4. Under the Supermoon, written by Jenny Lewis
5. Let the Rhythm Lead, written by Raúl Rodríguez
6. Goddess at the Wheel, written by Jonathan Wilson
7. Koulandian, adapted by Habib Koité
8. Saving Grace, written by Jonathan Russell and Kathryn Everett
9. El Viajero, written by Raúl Rodríguez
10. Simbi Dlo, adapted by Paul Beaubrun
11. I Found Out, written by Jonathan Russell
Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) is a non-profit organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world. Our immediate goal is to serve the poorest communities in Haiti with programs in education, healthcare and dignity. We are committed to long-term, sustainable development in direct partnership with the Haitian people. Our model is simple: we believe in empowering local communities, fostering economic growth, and the power of education to change a nation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lunaires - Healing Hurricanes.
Lunaires is the new project by Danilo Carnevale and Patrizia Tranchina, ex-members of Jeunesse d’Ivoire, an underground legendary Italian wave band active in the early and mid-Eighties. It’s a project stretched in time, from the post-punk of the early eighties to the post-everything of today.
The historic group Jeunesse d’Ivoire were featured in Body Section in 1983, an historical compilation of the seminal magazine Rockerilla – along with Litfiba, Kirlian Camera and Diaframma, among others.
They also took part in various other compilations: “Milano New Wave 1980-83” (Spittle Records, IT); “Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics vol.1” – 2010 (Angular Records – UK); “New Wave Italiana 1980 – 1986” – 2012 (Spittle Records); “Danza Meccanica vol. 2” – 2012 (Mannequin); “Italia Synthetica 1981-1985” 2013 (Spittle Records).
The band toured extensively throughout Italy, including Milan, Turin, Florence, Rome, Bologna, Modena, Pisa, Brescia, Naples etc., supporting acts such as Kirlian Camera and the German band No More, and growing a strong reputation for their powerful and dynamic live sets.
Lunaires is the landing point of a long musical journey which embodies and testifies two very distant and still related musical eras, that of the crudest and most innocent post-punk of thirty years ago and today electronica, bordering on psychedelia, shoegaze and krautrock. The album “If All the Ice Melted” has been released in April 2019 by Wave Records (Brazil), that’s also going to release the brand new single “Healing Hurricane” early 2020.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 11 January 2020
The Ah - Jody and the Jerms - World/Inferno Friendship Society - Lilly Hiatt - Revolution, I Love You - Plastic Bubble - Modern Pomp
The Ah returns with 'The Factory Girl' just a few weeks after sharing 'Watermelon Tears' also taken from his forthcoming 'Mere Husk' album, the two songs suggesting this could well be a very creative collection of songs. === Jody and the Jerms have released their new E.P entitled 'Today' we shared one song from it last November and we have all four fabulous songs to devour today (if you excuse the pun). === Another band making a second appearance here are World/Inferno Friendship Society and the wonderfully titled track 'Having A Double Life Is So Hard (But Obviously Something You Enjoy) V1', where the music is again dynamic, addictive and original. === Lilly Hiatt has just released 'Brightest Star' a refined country rocker with plenty of heart and soul. === Another band back on Beehive Candy for a second time are Revolution, I Love You this time around we have the new track 'Vicious Vicious' the last single ahead of their next album and a powerful, yet detailed rhythmic rocker. === Accompanied by a cassette version of their new E.P Plastic Bubble have just released 'The Sitting In A Tree E.P' which is an ear catching indie psych pop collection of songs. === We have four really strong songs from the new Modern Pomp Dark Disco album 'Torn Apart', where originality exudes, and addictive instrumental music is ever present.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ah - The Factory Girl.
The Ah—solo project of composer and musician Jeremy Gustin (Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, Delicate Steve, Marc Ribot, Albert Hammond Jr, etc)—shared the second single from his forthcoming sophomore full-length Mere Husk. Following the lead single "Watermelon Tears," which caught the attention of PASTE ("displaying the happy energy of life"), The New York Times ("a burst of comic relief") and others,"The Factory Girl" features Gustin's friend, Yuan Liu, on vocals, who also stars in the track’s accompanying music video.
On the song, Gustin explains, "'The Factory Girl' is based on a traditional Irish song I first heard Margaret Barry sing. When struck by the beauty of the melody and the phrasing, I challenged myself to see what I could do with it to completely change the vibe, but keep the integrity of the melody. As I decided to not have vocals here, the narrative of the original, of course, is lost. But my friend Yuan just happened to be over my place at the moment I was recording this and I asked her to improvise some dialogue, which she did brilliantly. This of course alters the original narrative but keeps the underlying theme of love intact." The release of Mere Husk will be celebrated in conjunction with Gustin's forthcoming photography book Foundscapes (releasing with 11A Records) at Brooklyn NY's Step Bone Cut on February 1st. Mere Husk is available for preorder on Bandcamp (with a limited quantity of the album and book available as a bundle) and will be out January 31st via NNA Tapes.
Jeremy Gustin is a one-of-a-kind drummer who has toured and recorded with Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Delicate Steve, and Albert Hammond Jr.. He has long been in demand for his ability to bring a touch of the unorthodox to highly structured and improvised musical settings alike, so it should come as no surprise that on his own solo project, The Ah, Gustin explores the outer boundaries of his imagination to the fullest. The Ah's new album Mere Husk, the follow-up to 2017’s Common Bliss, sees Gustin once again crafting animal noises, water sounds, miscellaneous found audio, and his own playing into a harmonic language that straddles the line between his love of pop songcraft and his equally strong attraction to the abstract. Rather than employ gurgling fish tank bubbles and dolphin calls for their ambient properties alone, for example, Gustin bends them beyond recognition so that they mimic synths or serve the role of instrumental parts in an arrangement that falls together like a classic "song" --- whether Gustin includes vocals or not. "I love songs and melody," says Gustin. "As much as I like unusual stuff, I'm a song guy at heart."
Gustin's longtime passion for photography gives us a window into The Ah's animated sonic universe. Whether he is out touring or just walking home from the grocery store, his eye is constantly drawn to the interplay of color, texture, and shape calling out to him from surfaces the rest of us might pass by without so much as a glance. A typical Gustin photograph captures what he refers to as “Foundscapes”: for example, multiple layers of posters on a Tribeca wall stripped and frayed to form an unintended collage; chipping paint rendered in such three-dimensional detail that it seems to invite your fingers to run across its contours; delicate veins of copper rust slowly eroding on a dented expanse of bright blue.
In several respects, The Ah is Gustin's musical answer to his visual Foundscapes. "When I'm writing music," he explains, "I look at it as something akin to archeology. It's not like 'This specific thing happened to me so I want the music to sound a specific way.' It's more like I'm chiseling away until a shape emerges and it starts to seem like music. In a way, I let the music create itself. I don't even see it as I'm creating so much as I'm just finding things. These materials are all around us all the time." As intuitive as Gustin's process may be, Mere Husk expands dramatically on the vision introduced with Common Bliss. Though twirling from playful to solemn and back again, Gustin's music is as easy to take in as watching the myriad shades of colorful marine life swimming through an aquarium.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jody and the Jerms - Today (E.P).
Following success and attention for singles released in late 2019 such as ‘He Doesn’t Know Me Much At All’ and ‘Never Going Home’, the indie-pop trio from Oxford have released their debut EP titled ‘Today’. Not only have the group been making an impact in their hometown of Oxford, but have sparked attention internationally with rotation plays from one of Spain’s biggest radio stations RTVE.
The EP has 4 tracks, starting with punchy title track ‘Today’, which showcases the melodic sounds of lead singer Jody Jeger’s voice, impactful drumming from Alex Bridge and an uplifting and bright guitar solo from Niall Jeger.
Tracks such as ‘Breathe’ show characteristics of twee pop with male/female harmonies and a catchy melody. While ‘He Doesn’t Know Me Much At All’ is certainly the most upbeat track, the EP has levels and dynamics with ‘Back In The World’ being a more chilled out number.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World/Inferno Friendship Society - Having A Double Life Is So Hard (But Obviously Something You Enjoy) V1.
World/Inferno Friendship Society are back with a new single from their upcoming All Borders are Porous to Cats LP. The album is set to be released on January 17th 2020 via Alternative Tentacles. Catch the band on tour throughout January and February.
World/Inferno Friendship Society's long awaited new album dares you to try and decipher it’s multi-layered, encrypted message, while dragging you kicking and screaming through a succession of flashbacks, alternate realities and drug and alcohol induced delusions. While World / Inferno is known for its utter disregard for boundaries of genre, All Borders are Porous to Cats deliberately pushes the limits of what could possibly be perceived as punk rock. It scores tales of fugitives, arson, larceny, perjury, drug addiction and freedom with elements of soul, funk, latin, polka, and classical music, as well as World /Inferno’s signature punk cabaret sound. 3 years in the making, 4 missed release dates, 5 lost band members, many a bridge burned, and a defamation lawsuit waiting to happen, The World /Inferno Friendship Society invites you to enjoy the fruits of their perpetual torment.
Take it as a promise, and a patent fact: All Borders Are Porous to Cats. The World/Inferno Friendship Society’s 7th full-length LP finds the collective reset and reinvigorated, behind the lyrics of Jack Terricloth, apparent possessor of the punk rock fountain of everlasting style and rage. The album follows Cat in the Hat (no relation), an undocumented refugee who is framed for a crime and requires the assistance of a ragtag gang of miscreants, academics, orchestra-caliber musicians, and radical insurgents—sometimes art does in fact imitate life!
The album sees the band at its most expansive musically—covering everything from Bowie-esque ballads to Balkan punk stomps—to 2 Tone ska, and inflammatory lyrically, with tales of romance, righteous indignation, and resistance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lilly Hiatt - Brightest Star.
Following a whirlwind year of touring in support of Trinity Lane, and stripped of the daily rituals and direction of life on the road, Lilly found herself alone with her thoughts for the first time in what felt like ages. “When you’re out there on the road, you’re just kind of living, and you don’t have the chance to stop and think about how everything you’re experiencing is affecting you,” Lilly says. “When I got home, I realized there was a lot I needed to catch up on.” She did what’s always come most natural to her in times of questioning and uncertainty: she picked up a guitar.
As rewarding as Trinity Lane’s success was, the collection came from a emotionally challenging place, and Lilly found herself frequently visiting the hurt and struggle that inspired it as she spoke candidly to the press about her painful breakup, her struggles with sobriety, and the overwhelming sadness of her mother’s suicide. Rather than succumbing to the weight of it all, Lilly managed to emerge stronger and more serene from the experience, treating it as a foundation from which she could begin the essential work of re-examining her relationships and the world around her. “When I got that little gap in my schedule, it gave me the chance to appreciate some mental stillness,” Lilly says. “I can be a pretty anxious person, but I found a sense of peace by deconstructing all of these interactions and emotions I’d experienced and reconfiguring them into songs. It helped me make sense of everything and learn to relax.”
The resulting eleven songs found on Walking Proof walk the line between Lilly’s rough, rock and roll exterior and her tender, country roots, exuding a bold vulnerability as she takes a deep and unflinching look in the mirror. What emerges is a maturity in her writing, an abiding sense of calm in the face of chaos as she learns that sometimes, you have to let go in order to get what you want most.
Lilly Hiatt has also announced her initial tour dates in support of Walking Proof, launching April 2nd in Atlanta, GA. Prior to the tour, Lilly will embark on a run of solo acoustic dates supporting Hiss Golden Messenger beginning tonight in Wilmington, NC. Please see all dates below.
Walking Proof will be available on compact disc, across digital platforms, and standard black vinyl. A Limited Edition Translucent Turquoise Vinyl Pressing featuring a Black & White 12x12 insert of the cover artwork will be available at Independent Retailers. A limited to 500 copies edition autographed by Lilly Hiatt will feature One-Of-A-Kind Random Colored Vinyl, a Black & White 12x12 cover artwork insert, and a box of colored pencils is available for pre-order now via New West Records.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revolution, I Love You - Vicious Vicious.
Revolution, I Love You releases "Vicious Vicious” via Redeye USA. This is the last single the band will release before the arrival of their next album, Black Feathers.
The song takes a refrain heard often in the wake of too-frequent episodes of police violence against Black Americans and warps it, twisting it to reveal the words' sinister and callous undertones. The band manipulates textures throughout, running drums too hot through an old 4-track, chopping a vibraphone solo into something alien, and bending deep bass synths in ways that demand a subwoofer, creating an atmosphere charged with anxiety.
Coming in 2020, Black Feathers will be Revolution, I Love You’s first full-length record since their 2011 debut LP, We Choose to Go to the Moon. Black Feathers drops on February 7, 2020 and is available for pre-order here.
Revolution, I Love You is Rob Lindgren (lead vocals), Jason Reynolds (guitar), and Jeff Ormsby (drums). Noisetrade described the band’s first record as “exactly what’s been missing in your life”, praising its “perfect mix of real-world instruments and digital flourishes”. The Philadelphia-based band has been a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, performed at Toronto’s NXNE, and has a song included in the British National Library Sound Archive.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plastic Bubble - The Sitting In A Tree E.P.
Indie psych pop group Plastic Bubble's have a new release, The Sitting in a Tree EP. This 5-song platter is available physically in a limited cassette release from Louisville's Humanhood Recordings and is available for streaming and download on the label's site and our bandcamp page.
Matt Taylor formed Plastic Bubble in 2012 as a vehicle for the indie psych pop material he was recording at home with a rotating cast of friends in Louisville, KY.
Plastic Bubble evolved into a proper band for a few years before morphing back into a loose recording project/ fun little indie pop hobby club that could still become your favorite band.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modern Pomp - Torn Apart (Album).
Dark disco debut album out now. A dark disco in a fallout zone.
Swimming in a haunted pond at night. A relentless drum machine partnered with sad funk and a spring reverb loaded guitar.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ah - The Factory Girl.
The Ah—solo project of composer and musician Jeremy Gustin (Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, Delicate Steve, Marc Ribot, Albert Hammond Jr, etc)—shared the second single from his forthcoming sophomore full-length Mere Husk. Following the lead single "Watermelon Tears," which caught the attention of PASTE ("displaying the happy energy of life"), The New York Times ("a burst of comic relief") and others,"The Factory Girl" features Gustin's friend, Yuan Liu, on vocals, who also stars in the track’s accompanying music video.
On the song, Gustin explains, "'The Factory Girl' is based on a traditional Irish song I first heard Margaret Barry sing. When struck by the beauty of the melody and the phrasing, I challenged myself to see what I could do with it to completely change the vibe, but keep the integrity of the melody. As I decided to not have vocals here, the narrative of the original, of course, is lost. But my friend Yuan just happened to be over my place at the moment I was recording this and I asked her to improvise some dialogue, which she did brilliantly. This of course alters the original narrative but keeps the underlying theme of love intact." The release of Mere Husk will be celebrated in conjunction with Gustin's forthcoming photography book Foundscapes (releasing with 11A Records) at Brooklyn NY's Step Bone Cut on February 1st. Mere Husk is available for preorder on Bandcamp (with a limited quantity of the album and book available as a bundle) and will be out January 31st via NNA Tapes.
Jeremy Gustin is a one-of-a-kind drummer who has toured and recorded with Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Delicate Steve, and Albert Hammond Jr.. He has long been in demand for his ability to bring a touch of the unorthodox to highly structured and improvised musical settings alike, so it should come as no surprise that on his own solo project, The Ah, Gustin explores the outer boundaries of his imagination to the fullest. The Ah's new album Mere Husk, the follow-up to 2017’s Common Bliss, sees Gustin once again crafting animal noises, water sounds, miscellaneous found audio, and his own playing into a harmonic language that straddles the line between his love of pop songcraft and his equally strong attraction to the abstract. Rather than employ gurgling fish tank bubbles and dolphin calls for their ambient properties alone, for example, Gustin bends them beyond recognition so that they mimic synths or serve the role of instrumental parts in an arrangement that falls together like a classic "song" --- whether Gustin includes vocals or not. "I love songs and melody," says Gustin. "As much as I like unusual stuff, I'm a song guy at heart."
Gustin's longtime passion for photography gives us a window into The Ah's animated sonic universe. Whether he is out touring or just walking home from the grocery store, his eye is constantly drawn to the interplay of color, texture, and shape calling out to him from surfaces the rest of us might pass by without so much as a glance. A typical Gustin photograph captures what he refers to as “Foundscapes”: for example, multiple layers of posters on a Tribeca wall stripped and frayed to form an unintended collage; chipping paint rendered in such three-dimensional detail that it seems to invite your fingers to run across its contours; delicate veins of copper rust slowly eroding on a dented expanse of bright blue.
In several respects, The Ah is Gustin's musical answer to his visual Foundscapes. "When I'm writing music," he explains, "I look at it as something akin to archeology. It's not like 'This specific thing happened to me so I want the music to sound a specific way.' It's more like I'm chiseling away until a shape emerges and it starts to seem like music. In a way, I let the music create itself. I don't even see it as I'm creating so much as I'm just finding things. These materials are all around us all the time." As intuitive as Gustin's process may be, Mere Husk expands dramatically on the vision introduced with Common Bliss. Though twirling from playful to solemn and back again, Gustin's music is as easy to take in as watching the myriad shades of colorful marine life swimming through an aquarium.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jody and the Jerms - Today (E.P).
Following success and attention for singles released in late 2019 such as ‘He Doesn’t Know Me Much At All’ and ‘Never Going Home’, the indie-pop trio from Oxford have released their debut EP titled ‘Today’. Not only have the group been making an impact in their hometown of Oxford, but have sparked attention internationally with rotation plays from one of Spain’s biggest radio stations RTVE.
The EP has 4 tracks, starting with punchy title track ‘Today’, which showcases the melodic sounds of lead singer Jody Jeger’s voice, impactful drumming from Alex Bridge and an uplifting and bright guitar solo from Niall Jeger.
Tracks such as ‘Breathe’ show characteristics of twee pop with male/female harmonies and a catchy melody. While ‘He Doesn’t Know Me Much At All’ is certainly the most upbeat track, the EP has levels and dynamics with ‘Back In The World’ being a more chilled out number.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World/Inferno Friendship Society - Having A Double Life Is So Hard (But Obviously Something You Enjoy) V1.
World/Inferno Friendship Society are back with a new single from their upcoming All Borders are Porous to Cats LP. The album is set to be released on January 17th 2020 via Alternative Tentacles. Catch the band on tour throughout January and February.
World/Inferno Friendship Society's long awaited new album dares you to try and decipher it’s multi-layered, encrypted message, while dragging you kicking and screaming through a succession of flashbacks, alternate realities and drug and alcohol induced delusions. While World / Inferno is known for its utter disregard for boundaries of genre, All Borders are Porous to Cats deliberately pushes the limits of what could possibly be perceived as punk rock. It scores tales of fugitives, arson, larceny, perjury, drug addiction and freedom with elements of soul, funk, latin, polka, and classical music, as well as World /Inferno’s signature punk cabaret sound. 3 years in the making, 4 missed release dates, 5 lost band members, many a bridge burned, and a defamation lawsuit waiting to happen, The World /Inferno Friendship Society invites you to enjoy the fruits of their perpetual torment.
Take it as a promise, and a patent fact: All Borders Are Porous to Cats. The World/Inferno Friendship Society’s 7th full-length LP finds the collective reset and reinvigorated, behind the lyrics of Jack Terricloth, apparent possessor of the punk rock fountain of everlasting style and rage. The album follows Cat in the Hat (no relation), an undocumented refugee who is framed for a crime and requires the assistance of a ragtag gang of miscreants, academics, orchestra-caliber musicians, and radical insurgents—sometimes art does in fact imitate life!
The album sees the band at its most expansive musically—covering everything from Bowie-esque ballads to Balkan punk stomps—to 2 Tone ska, and inflammatory lyrically, with tales of romance, righteous indignation, and resistance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lilly Hiatt - Brightest Star.
Following a whirlwind year of touring in support of Trinity Lane, and stripped of the daily rituals and direction of life on the road, Lilly found herself alone with her thoughts for the first time in what felt like ages. “When you’re out there on the road, you’re just kind of living, and you don’t have the chance to stop and think about how everything you’re experiencing is affecting you,” Lilly says. “When I got home, I realized there was a lot I needed to catch up on.” She did what’s always come most natural to her in times of questioning and uncertainty: she picked up a guitar.
As rewarding as Trinity Lane’s success was, the collection came from a emotionally challenging place, and Lilly found herself frequently visiting the hurt and struggle that inspired it as she spoke candidly to the press about her painful breakup, her struggles with sobriety, and the overwhelming sadness of her mother’s suicide. Rather than succumbing to the weight of it all, Lilly managed to emerge stronger and more serene from the experience, treating it as a foundation from which she could begin the essential work of re-examining her relationships and the world around her. “When I got that little gap in my schedule, it gave me the chance to appreciate some mental stillness,” Lilly says. “I can be a pretty anxious person, but I found a sense of peace by deconstructing all of these interactions and emotions I’d experienced and reconfiguring them into songs. It helped me make sense of everything and learn to relax.”
The resulting eleven songs found on Walking Proof walk the line between Lilly’s rough, rock and roll exterior and her tender, country roots, exuding a bold vulnerability as she takes a deep and unflinching look in the mirror. What emerges is a maturity in her writing, an abiding sense of calm in the face of chaos as she learns that sometimes, you have to let go in order to get what you want most.
Lilly Hiatt has also announced her initial tour dates in support of Walking Proof, launching April 2nd in Atlanta, GA. Prior to the tour, Lilly will embark on a run of solo acoustic dates supporting Hiss Golden Messenger beginning tonight in Wilmington, NC. Please see all dates below.
Walking Proof will be available on compact disc, across digital platforms, and standard black vinyl. A Limited Edition Translucent Turquoise Vinyl Pressing featuring a Black & White 12x12 insert of the cover artwork will be available at Independent Retailers. A limited to 500 copies edition autographed by Lilly Hiatt will feature One-Of-A-Kind Random Colored Vinyl, a Black & White 12x12 cover artwork insert, and a box of colored pencils is available for pre-order now via New West Records.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revolution, I Love You - Vicious Vicious.
Revolution, I Love You releases "Vicious Vicious” via Redeye USA. This is the last single the band will release before the arrival of their next album, Black Feathers.
The song takes a refrain heard often in the wake of too-frequent episodes of police violence against Black Americans and warps it, twisting it to reveal the words' sinister and callous undertones. The band manipulates textures throughout, running drums too hot through an old 4-track, chopping a vibraphone solo into something alien, and bending deep bass synths in ways that demand a subwoofer, creating an atmosphere charged with anxiety.
Coming in 2020, Black Feathers will be Revolution, I Love You’s first full-length record since their 2011 debut LP, We Choose to Go to the Moon. Black Feathers drops on February 7, 2020 and is available for pre-order here.
Revolution, I Love You is Rob Lindgren (lead vocals), Jason Reynolds (guitar), and Jeff Ormsby (drums). Noisetrade described the band’s first record as “exactly what’s been missing in your life”, praising its “perfect mix of real-world instruments and digital flourishes”. The Philadelphia-based band has been a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, performed at Toronto’s NXNE, and has a song included in the British National Library Sound Archive.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plastic Bubble - The Sitting In A Tree E.P.
Indie psych pop group Plastic Bubble's have a new release, The Sitting in a Tree EP. This 5-song platter is available physically in a limited cassette release from Louisville's Humanhood Recordings and is available for streaming and download on the label's site and our bandcamp page.
Matt Taylor formed Plastic Bubble in 2012 as a vehicle for the indie psych pop material he was recording at home with a rotating cast of friends in Louisville, KY.
Plastic Bubble evolved into a proper band for a few years before morphing back into a loose recording project/ fun little indie pop hobby club that could still become your favorite band.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modern Pomp - Torn Apart (Album).
Dark disco debut album out now. A dark disco in a fallout zone.
Swimming in a haunted pond at night. A relentless drum machine partnered with sad funk and a spring reverb loaded guitar.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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