Genre Wander: Kristin Hersh - Slow Hollows - Fabels - Brandish - Glenn Meling
Kristin Hersh - Soma Gone Slapstick.Background promo - The incredibly gifted singer/songwriter and author Kristin Hersh has announced the first single "Soma Gone Slapstick" from her forthcoming solo effort “Wyatt at the Coyote Palace”. This double CD/ book combination will be released by Omnibus Press in the UK, Australia and New Zealand on October 28, 2016 and in the USA and Canada on November 11, 2016.
"I heard Soma move through seasons: fall on the rebound, a manic spring, a cruel winter, and through places: California, Chicago, New Orleans, a protest march in Koreatown. When I finished, it was dawn, my engineer and I had coffee and I walked home through fat flakes falling down instead of sideways. Goofy + falling + precise + muscular = soma with a healthy dose of slapstick," says Kristin Hersh, who currently resides in Rhode Island.
‘Wyatt’ is the third release in the ground-breaking book-CD format that Hersh began with her previous solo album “Crooked” and Throwing Muses’ 2013 release “Purgatory/Paradise”. Since sharing essays and tour diaries on her own website, she has published the critically acclaimed “Paradoxical Undressing” in the UK (released as “Rat Girl”in the USA), a children’s book “Toby Snax,” and “Don’t Suck, Don’t Die,” a personal account of her long friendship with the late Vic Chesnutt, which earned her rave reviews.
“Wyatt” is a collection of true stories and songs of love and loss, combining Hersh’s humour with the pains and travails of a life spent constantly in motion. Defined by potent guitars, addictive melodies and poignant lyrics, this release is a serious sign of strength and depth, bringing the listener into what the BBC calls Hersh's "dark and dizzy world."
In November, she returns to the UK and Ireland for a rare solo acoustic tour in support of her new release, with an additional date just added in London due to popular demand. Her subsequent U.S. tour kicks off in Seattle on November 29. “An Evening with Kristin Hersh” celebrates her endless creativity with readings and songs spanning her entire career. Full tour details here.
Kristin Hersh continues to be a creative and fascinating artist. 'Soma Gone Slapstick' mixes acoustic and understated indie rock in an intriguing manner, one that provides the ideal backdrop for her vocals, and a fine teaser for the next release.
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Slow Hollows - Last Dance.Background - Slow Hollows have shared the second track "Last Dance" from their upcoming album. Romantic is due November 4 on Danger Collective Records.
Romantic is the forthcoming release from Los Angeles based post-pop band Slow Hollows. Written over the span of a few months between 2015 to 2016, Romantic is meant to serve as a response to the previous record Atelophobia. Austin Feinstein, the creative influence behind the project, wrote the songs from the album during his senior year of high school. Facebook here.
Upcoming Tour Dates
10-09-16 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey*
10-11-16 - Reno, NV - Holland Project*
10-12-16 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop (early/late shows)*
10-13-16 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory*
10-23-16 - Orange County, CA - Beach Goth
11-04-16 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom
* = w/ Beach Fossils.
We featured Slow Hollows at the beginning of the month however follow up song 'Last Dance' is a good one and well worth the share. There are some additional tour dates now as mentioned above. The track is a nicely paced alt rock song and again the vocals impress as does the bands really tight feel.
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Fabels - Silent Language.Background - Following on from 2013’s experimental debut album ‘Zimmer’, Sydney art-rock duo Fabels have just released ‘Hi’, a collection of eight eclectic songs intended and guaranteed to take the listener down a path less travelled.
Highly original and sonically challenging to describe, Fabels main stock in trade could be painted as intense guitar-loop based atmospheric electro-psyche-pop. But beneath the haunting vocals, the sonic squalls, the thoughtful vignettes and at times evocative refrains, lurks an authentic old-school punk ethos. Not the clichéd mass-marketed music of recent times, but an artful individuality and innovation that lies at the heart of the true ethic.
With recent Australian shows tucked under their belt, Fabels have now set up camp in Berlin as they prepare for their upcoming European tour. Already boasting a diverse short history of overseas adventures, Fabels have performed at venues across Germany and Sweden, at art galleries in Milan, former Soviet spy bases in East Berlin and at much loved dope cafes in Amsterdam. Fabels are well on track to keep stamping their individuality on psyched-out experimental music globally. ‘Hi’ featuring the single ‘Silent Language’ is out now via all good digital retailers and CD via Bandcamp. Facebook here.
'Silent Language' slips and slides between genres and with an overall psyche-rock feel to it. It's a deliciously non conformist piece of music that seemingly just kicks off and wanders where it feels is right, love it!
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Brandish - Running.Background - Two years after Brandish registered a momentary blip on the radar with ‘The Ellyse Perry Song’, the Launceston comedy band has returned - with slightly more attitude and some sexy activewear.
The band’s first offering from their forthcoming debut Self-Titled EP is ‘Running’, showcasing long-time mates, Hamish Geale (vocals, guitar, keys) Brent Jacobson (lead guitar), Rob O’Brien (drums) and Ryan Goodger (bass) at their creative best. ‘Running’ pairs jangly guitar riffs with juicy urban imagery.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by part-time producer Doug Briton in a bedroom studio in Launceston, ‘Running’ sees the band step away from its fondness of guitar-driven alternative pop to explore the foreign world of hip-hop. "The lyrics have a bit of attitude so we were keen to put some hip-hop vibes into this one," Geale said. "We'd always used traditional drums up until now so it felt like this song was the perfect track to try out some electronic percussion for a change."
Deciding that the song needed female vocals to make the chorus sparkle, the band considered names like Beyonce and Taylor Swift before eventually settling on Geale’s sister Victoria, who also happens to be quite good at singing. "We tossed around names like Sia and Adele but in the end my sister was the best option and also was the only one who returned calls from our manager,” says Geale.
With lyrics such as "I'm born to win, I ain't born to lose, if life's a 10k I'm Hicham El Guerrouj", ‘Running’ doubles as a quasi-motivational backing track to all those times you managed to hustle into something you thought you'd be too late for. “Running” will be in Digital Stores on the 30th of September Brandish’s Self-Titled EP will be released 14th of October 2016. Facebook here.
Lyrically superb and musically melodic (and very catchy) 'Running' mixes humour and fine pop, and does it to a very high and impressive standard. The video adds to the charm and in all honesty I'm left wanting more!
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Background - Glenn Meling, 44,is an independent artist, songwriter and producer from Oslo. He has lived in Australia, United Kingdom and Norway, making music from an early age. Whilst living in London studying and performing solo gigs, he met sound engineer Steve Honest and made the album ‘Sometimes a Bigger Heart’ (2009). He had previously made the album ‘Melingrad’ (2007) in a Norwegian boathouse in one of the fjords near Bergen. ‘Minnesota’ will be his third album.
Glenn became interested in the journeys of his countrymen after travelling extensively in the States where the influence of the Norwegian settlers continues to this day. In the 1800s the American midwest became a popular destination for the settlers and today you’ll find collages like St. Olaf in Minnesota which is an institution that studies Norwegian heritage and immigration. Also, the famous Joel and Ethan Cohen-film Fargo, has been inspirational and something that sparked an interest in the subject.
Lead single "Brother Jonathan" is about migration to America in the 19th century, when Brother Jonathan was a term used by immigrants to refer to the USA. Brother Jonathan, which predates the more widely known phrase Uncle Sam, personifies the spirit of the new nation in the eyes of the Europeans who left their homelands behind for a fresh start across the Atlantic. The album Minnesota release date: October 14,2016. Website here.
'Brother Jonathan' is a powerful and very beautiful song. Musical production is of a very high standard and the vocals and harmonies just add so much more. Totally impressed and looking forward to hearing the album.
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