Moderate Rebels - Thyla - ElectroBluesSociety feat Boo Boo Davis - Stephen Kellogg
London-based “anti-music” collective Moderate Rebels’ second album ‘Shared Values’ is like a lot of their music so far – it happened almost by accident. “We went into the studio with a couple of songs to record an EP, and we ended up with an album-length EP. We like to just let things happen and for songs to mostly write themselves. It’s a case of mucking around and seeing what feels right and what doesn’t. We say it all the time, but it’s important to note – we don’t intend anything. We don’t feel like ‘artists’ with grand statements to make.
“We view ourselves as just passing on ideas or questions, which we also enjoy expressing in condensed and concise terms. We think we’re all living in an era when lots of people feel they have lots of questions (perhaps that’s every era?) and we seem to touch upon that. Doubt, uncertainty, vague language, conflicting information and opinions – these are all inspirations. To us, being ‘anti-music’ is about valuing exciting ideas over technical ability. There’s nothing better for a Moderate Rebels song than a bunch of questions that us and others are grappling with. We don’t believe in easy answers, but we believe in asking lots of questions – always.”
Moderate Rebels say they used certain mottos again to develop the ideas for this new album - less chords and words – vague and direct, complicated but simple – and tracks on the album would seem to indicate that.
‘The Value Of Shares’ touches on modern life turning virtual and full of substitutes. ‘Stranded In Brazil’ is a song of confusion about the modern environment via Terry Gilliam, ‘Faith & Science’ seems to illustrate the inspirational feelings of unanswerable questions and the healthy consequences of a position of doubt, as opposed to the ‘I’m 100% right’ attitude that is feeling increasingly common in certain areas of life in 2018. And so on...
Moderate Rebels released their first single ’God Sent Us’ in late 2016, then the 5-song ‘Proxy’ EP & debut album ‘The Sound Of Security’ in 2017. The ‘Shared Values’ album includes 2018’s singles ‘Beyond Hidden Words’, ‘I Love Today’ and latest song, ‘Faith & Science’. Moderate Rebels ‘Shared Values’ album, will be released 30th Nov 2018 on Everyday Life Recordings. TWITTER.
Regulars to Beehive Candy may well recall that Moderate Rebels have consistently impressed me with their music releases over the past year or so and finally their second album 'Shared Values' is about to land, accompanied just ahead of the release by another track from the collection entitled 'The Value Of Shares'.
The first of ten songs on the new album 'The Value Of Shares' is our fourth share (if you excuse the pun) from the new collection and once again, showcases their minimalists lyrics and hypnotic musical style. Despite their unique and readily identifiable sound, the pace and arrangements regularly vary across the album and the hooks are in constant free flow. I remain very impressed!
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Brighton post-punk experts Thyla share accomplished new offering Blue, the second adrenaline-fuelled release taken from the band’s eagerly anticipated debut EP What’s On Your Mind out 1st February.
Tipped for big things from the very start of the year, the four-piece found themselves spotlighted amongst NME’s 100 Essential Acts for 2018, and have fast solidified their status as one of the UK’s finest emerging indie acts with a slew of support slots alongside the likes of Slaves, Sunflower Bean, and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.
Buzzing across the airwaves (BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, Radio X, KCRW) and summoning praise from all corners of the press (Pitchfork, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, DIY), the rising rockers’ latest release underlines the captivating vocals and majestic lyricism of frontwoman Millie Duthie, with their rich, anthemic quality adding to the growing excitement surrounding the outfit.
Discussing their upcoming release, the quartet stated: “The lyrics came from a similar place to the themes and ideas found in many of our other songs. Blue as in, I got the blues, hones in on the rapid and unstoppable rate of change in the way we interact with people. Blue as in, the colour of the Twitter and Facebook interface, makes for an ironic double entendre. The things making us sad, is the colour of sad, “I’m blue” is both the cause and the symptom!” WEBSITE.
Our fifth feature for Brighton's Thyla this time with new song 'Blue'. It's opens as a thumping rocker before acquiring a little more refinement as the vocals kick in. A mixture of melodic moments and unashamed full on post punk, once again the band stand out in style.
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For this recording ElectroBluesSociety went back to basics and teamed up with Mississippi blues man Boo Boo Davis.
Together they revisited classic Chicago blues and recorded seven songs. These will all be released as singles during the coming months.
For Boo Boo this was also a trip down to memory lane; this Howlin Wolf song was regular in the Davis Brothers Band repertoire during the 18 years that they were the weekend house band in Tabby’s Red Room, a famous juke joint in East St Louis. WEBSITE.
More natural blues that Electro this rendition of 'Tell Me' features some incredible harmonica playing, pure blues vocals and an overall vibe that is just plain addictive.
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Stephen Kellogg releases Objects in the Mirror today Friday, November 23. Produced by fellow Americana singer-songwriter Will Hoge, the 12-track set was recorded over the course of a single week in Nashville, TN and tracked live with minimal overdubs. “I wanted to make an album that sounded and felt like the ones I grew up loving," says Kellogg. "Bob Seger and Cat Stevens, Tom Petty and Rod Stewart. Emotional records where the songs relate to each other and the lyrics are front and center.”
Ahead of release, Rolling Stone Country praises, “...Objects in the Mirror captures the talent, spontaneity and humanity of Kellogg’s songwriting and presents it in a soulful, folk-rock packaging that is refreshingly free of pretense and studio polishing,” adding that single “High Highs, Low Lows” “unfolds like John Prine fronting the Heartbreakers.” Proving to be a standout from the album, American Songwriter describes the nostalgic track as “a slowly building folk anthem with chiming piano, gentle pedal steel and a raw, vulnerable vocal performance from Kellogg.”
Among the album’s many underlying themes of nostalgia, family, hope, and hard work, is Kellogg's unwavering respect for the influential women of his life—from his four young daughters (to whom he relays a series of tear-jerking fatherly sentiments in “Song For Daughters”) to his beloved late-Grandmother (immortalized in a beautifully nostalgic soundbite at the title track’s opening) to his wife of 16 years (the subject of his latest single “Love Of My Life”). The Boot recently premiered "Love Of My Life," and the track was later named one of Rolling Stone Country’s “10 Best Country & Americana Songs of the Week.” In an interview with Noisetrade earlier this week, Kellogg divulged that he channeled inspiration from a 1946 Gibson Southern Jumbo guitar to finish the version of the song heard on Objects in the Mirror.
“We were in [Chicago Music Exchange] before the place opened and there was one guitar and one guitar only on a stand in a room of hundreds of guitars,” he explains. “I picked it up and started strumming and it just felt and sounded so perfect...Suddenly the lyrics and melodies that had been missing seemed to be there waiting for me. I know it sounds kind of new age or whatever, but that’s how it goes sometimes. A guitar has a song in it.” Kellogg goes on to share that he traded three of his guitars for the Gibson and left the next day to record Objects in the Mirror in Nashville. Objects in the Mirror will be available everywhere digitally and on vinyl via the Kellogg Family Store.
'High Highs, Low Lows' gently opens with some fine guitar playing and the natural and instinctively Americana vocals. The musical arrangement gradually expands, as this timeless sounding song subtly appeals on so many levels.
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