ROCH - Magnapop - Make Friends - Sandtimer
ROCH is a London based artist and her new song 'All Time Favourite Girl' is accompanied by an intriguing video, the song itself is a gorgeous and creative piece that put simply, is stunning.
And I quote "Atlanta, Georgia's 90's alt-rock pioneers Magnapop return and debut new single and first music in a decade for "Need to Change." The alt rockers jump start into a magnificent two and a bit minutes of full on music, the album will be eagerly anticipated by a good number of people I suspect.
Make Friends have just released a video for their latest song 'Ellie'. It's a smooth indie pop track with more than a hint of rock to it, and it's totally engaging.
Following on from our first feature for Sandtimer (we shared 'Dormant' back in April) we now have 'Whats On Your Mind' which is another striking Indie Folk song, where the duo once again demonstrate their notable talent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROCH - All Time Favourite Girl.
ROCH is 24 year old Kate Miller. Based in London, her spiralling R&B-tinged pop creations are something completely unique. She is now sharing new single 'All Time Favourite Girl' (produced with Ben Christophers – Bat For Lashes, Nakhane, etc), alongside a stunning, painstakingly animated accompanying video.
ROCH's music is like nothing else. Otherworldly, romantic, challenging - 'All Time Favourite Girl' is an apt taste of what's to come. Lucid synths, reverb-laden drums, and enchanting guitar passages - ROCH's vocal delivery is superb throughout, paired with intriguing electronics and glitching production motifs.
Smattered with spoken-word, Miller examines relationships with women on 'All Time Favourite Girl'; with mothers, daughters, and specifically with her all-women coworkers. She ruminates on the sacrifices made to work, and how those sacrifices affect her fellow labourers. “When I sit and listen to you / I know exactly what you mean,” Miller croons. “I wish I could say it myself / We’d be a team / My mind is warped / And yours is full of hope and good things.”
In the video for the song, which Miller helped produce, animated by YONK Studios – a group of headless pregnant mannequins cavort and unite in an endless dystopian office space. “The office space determines how they interact with each other,” she explains. “Throughout the video they come together as a big team, and rely on each other to prop themselves up.”
It’s about support networks, and social tendencies within groups of women. How being physically close leads to solidarity and community, to survival through adaptation, to reclamation of objects and space.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Magnapop - Need To Change.
Atlanta, Georgia's 90's alt-rock pioneers Magnapop return and debut new single and first music in a decade for "Need to Change" from their upcoming album The Circle is Round on HHBTM Records .
Magnapop’s new album, The Circle Is Round, is the Atlanta-based group’s debut release for HHBTM Records, and is their sixth album, coming nearly a decade after their previous record, 2009’s Chase Park. Prior to this, the group had a fruitful run during the Alternative Rock heyday of the mid-90s, finding critical acclaim with 1994’s Hotboxing (with single “Slowly, Slowly”) and 1996’s Rubbing Doesn’t Help, which featured their most beloved song, “Open The Door.” And although the phrase was an endearing joke courtesy of slacker film Singles, Magnapop were indeed “big in Belgium,” finding enduring success that has led them to visit the Benelux region numerous times over their three decade career. (They have a tour slated for the area this September.)
Yet let’s not think of it as a “comeback,” shall we? Magnapop never really went away, appearing on the live circuit in Europe sporadically since their last release. The seeds that would blossom into The Circle Is Round were planted in 2011. “We reunited in 2011 when bassist Shannon Mulvaney contacted us about playing a benefit for Criminal Records, a local record store,” says guitarist and songwriter Ruthie Morris. “Playing together was easy, but we knew we needed time together to play our old songs again. The more we played together, the more we realized we wanted to work on new material.”
The Circle Is Round was recorded at Furies Studios in Marietta, Georgia, and produced by the band and studio owner Ed Burdell—he worked with the band on one of their first recording sessions—the album came together quickly this past February. Furthermore, there’s a sense of the circular nature of existence at play, as a few of the songs are some of the band’s earliest. “’Change Your Hair’ was the very first song Linda and I ever wrote together, before there was a band,” says Morris. “Our drummer, David McNair, was the one who came up with the idea of recording it. At first it seemed like a crazy idea, but the more I listened to it, the more I thought it would be fun!” The album also includes two demos from a 1992 recording session, previously unheard until now. Longtime fans of the band will find much to love with The Circle Is Round, while new listeners will get a taste of what converted listeners way back when to become lifetime fans.
“During one of our recent tours of Benelux we were interviewed on a Belgian radio program,” says Morris. “We were talking about the four of us reuniting and coming back together as a band. The interviewer said something in Flemish and he translated it as "The circle is round" to describe our situation. At first it sounded kind of funny, but the more we thought about it, the more poignant and appropriate it seemed.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make Friends - Ellie.
Playlist-ed by Spotify on their Lo-Fi Indie, Hot New Bands & Surf Pop 2019 playlists, and played on BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X, Amazing Radio, and BBC Introducing, Bristol’s Make Friends have just released a video to go with their gorgeous new indie single ‘Ellie.’
Speaking of the latest single, lead singer Tom Andrew says "Ellie is the most personal track on the EP. It's a retrospective account of the frustration and emptiness felt from a lack of connection in your relationship. It's also about coming to terms with the fact that maybe it coming to an end was for the best and accepting that they might be happier with someone else."
Dispensing hook-laden, infectious indie-pop, the band have already earned favourable comparisons to the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club and Bloc Party. Their debut release Drop Naked found its way onto the Amazing Radio Playlist by winning the Audition Poll and got plays on BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X, Amazing Radio and BBC Introducing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandtimer - What's On Your Mind.
From the band - This one is called ‘What’s On Your Mind’. It is about technology addiction and how we, as a society, have become collectively hooked on social media and technology, letting it become part of our identity.
The song explores a feeling of complicity and of being part of the machine we’re trapped in, while also pointing at the hard labour that still goes on around the world to keep this technology running.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And I quote "Atlanta, Georgia's 90's alt-rock pioneers Magnapop return and debut new single and first music in a decade for "Need to Change." The alt rockers jump start into a magnificent two and a bit minutes of full on music, the album will be eagerly anticipated by a good number of people I suspect.
Make Friends have just released a video for their latest song 'Ellie'. It's a smooth indie pop track with more than a hint of rock to it, and it's totally engaging.
Following on from our first feature for Sandtimer (we shared 'Dormant' back in April) we now have 'Whats On Your Mind' which is another striking Indie Folk song, where the duo once again demonstrate their notable talent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROCH is 24 year old Kate Miller. Based in London, her spiralling R&B-tinged pop creations are something completely unique. She is now sharing new single 'All Time Favourite Girl' (produced with Ben Christophers – Bat For Lashes, Nakhane, etc), alongside a stunning, painstakingly animated accompanying video.
ROCH's music is like nothing else. Otherworldly, romantic, challenging - 'All Time Favourite Girl' is an apt taste of what's to come. Lucid synths, reverb-laden drums, and enchanting guitar passages - ROCH's vocal delivery is superb throughout, paired with intriguing electronics and glitching production motifs.
Smattered with spoken-word, Miller examines relationships with women on 'All Time Favourite Girl'; with mothers, daughters, and specifically with her all-women coworkers. She ruminates on the sacrifices made to work, and how those sacrifices affect her fellow labourers. “When I sit and listen to you / I know exactly what you mean,” Miller croons. “I wish I could say it myself / We’d be a team / My mind is warped / And yours is full of hope and good things.”
In the video for the song, which Miller helped produce, animated by YONK Studios – a group of headless pregnant mannequins cavort and unite in an endless dystopian office space. “The office space determines how they interact with each other,” she explains. “Throughout the video they come together as a big team, and rely on each other to prop themselves up.”
It’s about support networks, and social tendencies within groups of women. How being physically close leads to solidarity and community, to survival through adaptation, to reclamation of objects and space.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlanta, Georgia's 90's alt-rock pioneers Magnapop return and debut new single and first music in a decade for "Need to Change" from their upcoming album The Circle is Round on HHBTM Records .
Magnapop’s new album, The Circle Is Round, is the Atlanta-based group’s debut release for HHBTM Records, and is their sixth album, coming nearly a decade after their previous record, 2009’s Chase Park. Prior to this, the group had a fruitful run during the Alternative Rock heyday of the mid-90s, finding critical acclaim with 1994’s Hotboxing (with single “Slowly, Slowly”) and 1996’s Rubbing Doesn’t Help, which featured their most beloved song, “Open The Door.” And although the phrase was an endearing joke courtesy of slacker film Singles, Magnapop were indeed “big in Belgium,” finding enduring success that has led them to visit the Benelux region numerous times over their three decade career. (They have a tour slated for the area this September.)
Yet let’s not think of it as a “comeback,” shall we? Magnapop never really went away, appearing on the live circuit in Europe sporadically since their last release. The seeds that would blossom into The Circle Is Round were planted in 2011. “We reunited in 2011 when bassist Shannon Mulvaney contacted us about playing a benefit for Criminal Records, a local record store,” says guitarist and songwriter Ruthie Morris. “Playing together was easy, but we knew we needed time together to play our old songs again. The more we played together, the more we realized we wanted to work on new material.”
The Circle Is Round was recorded at Furies Studios in Marietta, Georgia, and produced by the band and studio owner Ed Burdell—he worked with the band on one of their first recording sessions—the album came together quickly this past February. Furthermore, there’s a sense of the circular nature of existence at play, as a few of the songs are some of the band’s earliest. “’Change Your Hair’ was the very first song Linda and I ever wrote together, before there was a band,” says Morris. “Our drummer, David McNair, was the one who came up with the idea of recording it. At first it seemed like a crazy idea, but the more I listened to it, the more I thought it would be fun!” The album also includes two demos from a 1992 recording session, previously unheard until now. Longtime fans of the band will find much to love with The Circle Is Round, while new listeners will get a taste of what converted listeners way back when to become lifetime fans.
“During one of our recent tours of Benelux we were interviewed on a Belgian radio program,” says Morris. “We were talking about the four of us reuniting and coming back together as a band. The interviewer said something in Flemish and he translated it as "The circle is round" to describe our situation. At first it sounded kind of funny, but the more we thought about it, the more poignant and appropriate it seemed.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playlist-ed by Spotify on their Lo-Fi Indie, Hot New Bands & Surf Pop 2019 playlists, and played on BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X, Amazing Radio, and BBC Introducing, Bristol’s Make Friends have just released a video to go with their gorgeous new indie single ‘Ellie.’
Speaking of the latest single, lead singer Tom Andrew says "Ellie is the most personal track on the EP. It's a retrospective account of the frustration and emptiness felt from a lack of connection in your relationship. It's also about coming to terms with the fact that maybe it coming to an end was for the best and accepting that they might be happier with someone else."
Dispensing hook-laden, infectious indie-pop, the band have already earned favourable comparisons to the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club and Bloc Party. Their debut release Drop Naked found its way onto the Amazing Radio Playlist by winning the Audition Poll and got plays on BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X, Amazing Radio and BBC Introducing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the band - This one is called ‘What’s On Your Mind’. It is about technology addiction and how we, as a society, have become collectively hooked on social media and technology, letting it become part of our identity.
The song explores a feeling of complicity and of being part of the machine we’re trapped in, while also pointing at the hard labour that still goes on around the world to keep this technology running.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments