Its time for a break. How long? Not Sure. It's just time to put our feet up, relax and stop checking our inbox!
In the meantime have some splendid music from Pomplamoose who have released these fine songs and videos in recent times.
Were Taking A Break
Carter Sampson - Jarrod Dickenson - Rama Lama Records 2020
Continental Record Services have shared a few songs this week and we have chosen a couple starting with Carter Sampson and 'There's Always Next Year'. Lyrically timely and poignant, it's also one very fine, melodic and engaging Americana track ===== Secondly we have Jarrod Dickenson and his beautiful cover version of the George Harrison song 'I Live For You'. Packed with natural feeling this is a refined piece which takes the song into a more Americana dimension. ===== For a second year we have a compilation from Rama Lama Records where many of the artists have been featured by us over the past twelve months, such is the quality of the music and artists the Stockholm label manages to work with.
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Continental Record Services write - On the brink of a new year, we hope to please you with some releases that also surprised us. Covid/Corona Quarantines, however much we dislike them, seem to be good for creative processes.
So here are some singles that may bring you a bit of joy and light in these dark days..........
As Carter Sampson says herself: "Surprise! I hadn't planned on releasing any new music yet but I wrote you a song and think it's better off heard now. My new single now available anywhere you listen and download music!
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And here is another cover for you, officially available on all streaming services now. Jarrod Dickenson pays tribute to George Harrison.
" 2020 marks 50 years since the release of George Harrison's landmark album, 'All Things Must Pass'. To pay tribute to Harrison and that fantastic record, here is a cover of the song "I Live For You", which was originally recorded during the 'All Things Must Pass' sessions, but was left off the initial track listing.
The song was finally released on the 30th anniversary of the album's release, and has been a favorite of mine ever since."
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Rama Lama Records proudly presents "Rama Lama Records 2020", a compilation of the best music we put out during the notoriously bad year 2020. The album gathers nineteen tracks from Cat Princess, Chez Ali, Guds Pengar, Gula Blend, Kindsight, Kluster B, Lilla Parasit, Loaver, Melby och Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes.
2020 didn't exactly go according to plan. We could be negative and nag about the fact that we've never put on as few live gigs as we did this year, but at the same time we've never released this much music. Music that has helped us not give up during these "strange times".
During 2020, we've had interesting debuts from Kindsight and Gula Blend mixed with follow-ups by Kluster B and Melby, the great return of Chez Ali and debut albums from Lilla Parasit, Guds Pengar, Loaver and Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes. What stands out to us this year is the great and eclectic mix these wonderful acts form when they come together, and we're so glad and proud to have released them all. We hope this compilation can work both as an introduction for the curious and a reminder for the great people who continue to follow and support our little label.
Rama Lama Records 2020 is available on all digital platforms and as a free download on Bandcamp. In 2021, we turn five and we plan to celebrate it a lot, stay tuned!
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Another Sky - Bitter Defeat
Another Sky have just shared their latest single 'Was I Unkind?' along with a video of them performing with London Contemporary Voices. We have added a second video which features two extra songs 'Tree' and 'Avalanche’ again with London Contemporary Voices. This is our fourth feature for this exceptional band this year and these superb versions of their music really are something quite special and an absolute pleasure to share. ===== Bitter Defeat are a New Zealand based band and their brand new single 'Better' is a distinctive indie rock song. Gritty and packing some gorgeous hooks, this quickly becomes "sing along" music, and needless to say pretty much a certainty for a good few more listens.
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Another Sky releases “Was I Unkind?” taken from 'Music For Winter Vol. 1 EP' out January 1st via Missing Piece Records / Fiction. On the first day of 2021, Another Sky will release their latest body of work, an EP entitled Music For Winter Vol. I. The EP follows their debut full-length I Slept on The Floor, released earlier this year via Fiction / Missing Piece Records. Yesterday, the band released the EP’s third single "Was I Unkind?", following the recently released "It Keeps Coming" and "Sun Seeker". Alongside the studio version of “Was I Unkind?,” the London-based four piece have also released two very special live performance videos, recorded with London Contemporary Voices at London’s Union Chapel in 2019. The first being a live version of “Was I Unkind?,” and the second a medley of “Was I Unkind?,” “Tree,” and “Avalanche.”
“We wanted to release a song to celebrate Winter Solstice, a significant time of year in many cultures,” Catrin Vincent, vocalist and lyricist of Another Sky says of the new single. “‘Was I Unkind?’ was written about the time I accidentally killed my favourite plant. The plant became symbolic of how I treated myself. I realised I was as trapped in the world as the plant was, at the mercy of myself. Winter Solstice is a time of death and rebirth.”
"Winter is the perfect time for sombre music," she continues. On how the project came together, Catrin explains, "some songs are old, some are new, all are entirely collaborative. After being kept apart because of the lockdown and writing a bunch of our second album separately, we just wanted to get back into our studio and record." The entire EP was recorded, produced and mixed by the band themselves at their South London studio, The Lighthouse, in October 2020.
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Kirikiriroa Hamilton (Aotearoa New Zealand) based indie-rock band Bitter Defeat today released their third single ‘Better’. One of several tracks recorded at Hamilton’s The Porch Studio (by long-time The Datsuns sound engineer and collaborator Scott Newth), ‘Better’ is the third release from the five-piece, who list the likes of The Wedding Present, Guided By Voices, The Clean, Galaxie 500 and Pavement amongst their influences.
"‘Better’ is a happy song about crappy things ending" said Rob Shirlow the songs writer. "More specifically relationships and things in your life that are totally toxic but for some reason you don’t see it or don’t want to see it, or just can’t imagine that this thing which you think you really love or is important to you is actually really bad for you and messing you up and then it ends. The joy that comes from being released from such awful situations can be quite immense, and that’s what this song is about, really. It’s not about one specific relationship, more a theme of past experiences, some work situations of the past, social groups or ‘friends’ you realise were just truly awful things in your life...when they end, the big breathe out and ‘Oh my god what was I thinking!?’ moments.” Shirlow goes on to say “Musically it starts off a bit Britpop of all things, but I like to think we channel The Clash once it gets going. It’s a favourite to play live and is cathartic to sing and just let it all go!”
The band also recorded and starred in their second music video. “We worked with a friend of ours again, Kat Waswo, (WAZKAT Productions), in Hamilton one sunny afternoon in early summer. She did an amazing job. We had a bit more of an idea about what we wanted for this, and it’s basically us having a big old mess around outdoors, being very happy and doing mildly odd things for middle aged people. We considered a narrative of someone coming out of a troubled relationship and then being happy, but decided to focus on the ‘being happy’ element of the song, so that’s what you see. We don’t take ourselves particularly seriously, not that the subject matter isn’t serious or from the heart, but portraying that on screen is a different thing altogether. We’re very happy with the result and are grateful for all of Kat’s mahi with the video”
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Rob Kovaks - Dr Schwamp
Rob Kovaks first appeared here just a month ago and left a fine impression with his song 'Here in the Future' . He has followed that up with 'Fizzle' and it's another refined song that showcases both his excellent piano skills and vocals and reinforces Rob's high quality song writing ability. ===== Dr Schwamp has a new album entitled 'Tunes, Tall Tales & Tinctures' from which we have 'Dr Schwamp's Brand New Cure-All Tonic'. Despite the clear overtones of Dr John, this is a thoroughly good eleven track album, with plenty of originality throughout.
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With the release of the new single, “Fizzle,” indie-rock singer-songwriter and pianist Rob Kovacs has announced his debut solo album, Let Go, to be released February 18, 2021.
Named “Best Pianist/Keyboardist” by the Cleveland Free Times, Kovacs has been widely hailed for his shape-shifting musical experimentalism, spanning history-making classical feats and audacious recreations of videogame soundtracks to crafting mesmerizing indie rock both as bandleader and now, at long last, solo artist. Kovacs has invested more than a decade in the creation of his debut solo album, a brave and bittersweet song cycle written in the years following an intensely impactful romantic relationship and then recorded over an even longer span. The album tells the story of one relationship, in chronological order. “The songs are about love, longing, loss, desire, confusion, acceptance, pain, the struggle to let go – all that fun stuff,” he states.
“Fizzle” is not only the first song on the album but also the first one written. “It was a rare case where I wrote the melody a cappella first (rather than coming up with piano part first). The melody came to me on the drive home after the first time hanging out with the girl who would ultimately inspire the whole album. I often write a song because I come upon a musical idea that catches my attention. Writing music helps to express a feeling that I may otherwise struggle to express. Through this song, I try to convey the feeling of connecting and falling for someone combined with the anxiety about that feeling and the understanding that, for whatever reason, you can’t be with that person.”
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Dr Schwamp and his ensemble extravaganza release musically invigorating album 'Tunes, Tall Tales & Tinctures', and single 'Cure All Tonic'
Dr Schwamp and his ensemble extravaganza have today released ‘Tunes, Tall Tales & Tinctures’, a mind contorting, sense disorientating and musically invigorating 11-track album, spinning the precarious line between restraint and excess, the ordinary and the extraordinary, betwixt Heaven and Hell… with the wondrous, magnificent and all-curing video for ‘Cure All Tonic’.
For the mysterious, peripatetic Dr Schwamp, every performance is a walk-in surgery, at which he and his highly trained acolytes serve up a thrilling "Cure-All Tonic" involving a secret recipe of blues, funk, gypsy, folk and swing all delivered with poetry, precision and power.
Dr Schwamp will enthrall you with his combo of gritty vocals, witty lyrics and dizzying facility on violin, blues harp and BAGPIPES! (We kid you not). While his highly skilled team of sonic surgeons perform complicated operations involving finely tuned instruments and fleet-fingered frettings, the album takes you on a sonic journey, uplifting and energetic, and is one to be enjoyed in full.
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Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz - JEWLS
Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz have shared a beautiful Americana song entitled 'Careful Now My Son'. The impassioned vocals cry out for attention and the slow rhythmic musical arrangement just adds to the emotion and feeling this track conveys. ===== JEWLS debut song 'Take It' is a heartfelt and touching piece. Her natural and refined vocals are immersed in a gentle soundscape that seemingly dances around her singing, adding more depth to this gorgeous piece.
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Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz - Careful Now My Son.
"Careful Now My Son" is the first song of the collection Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz have named "music in the time of coronavirus." Eric decided to have three separate releases for this collection so that each release would be more consistent style-wise.
Everything done for this collection--from songwriting to recording to mastering--was done remotely during shelter in place (Eric in NorCal; Mark and Mike in SoCal). Most of the songs were inspired by the isolation, anxiety, and cultural upheaval of the pandemic year of 2020.
"Careful Now My Son" is the only song that was done in a truly Americana style, so they've decided to release it as a single. They also thought that its foreboding feel and lyrics worked well to represent how we were feeling during this pandemic--so it would make a good kick-off song.
From the Artist:The song is about both the pandemic and the authoritarian and cultish politics of Trumpism. We were deeply afraid of both infectious diseases during 2020 and as 2021 gets going. With regard to Trumpism, "Careful Now My Son" can be understood as an Americana companion song to our song, "Wounded Son"on our 2019 album, Ghosts To Ancestors.
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JEWLS released her debut single 'Take It' an alternative pop gem that takes you higher.
JEWLS is a melancholic pop alternative to hold on to. With her debut single 'Take It' she shows her mixture of a husky, sensitive, sometimes even moody voice and heartbreaking honest lyrics. JEWLS her music is predestined to go under the skin. For her, writing and composing music is a way to express what’s underneath. The release comes with a self-directed music video:
JEWLS: Will is lost. The cold has returned. Hearing footsteps above and the rain outside. Blue pretends to be my colour now. Moments of the past rushing back, cloaked in ice. Everything seems to be a reminder and silence has never been so loud.
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Myths - Big Little Lions
Myths just shared 'When You Go Where You Go When You Die' and it's a catchy, melodic and gorgeous psychedelic song with timeless pop sensibilities and yet still manages to retain a fresh and modern feel. ===== Big Little Lions have also just released a new single entitled 'Turn It Off'. Mixing folk and high class pop the song has refined dual vocals and harmonies and a whole load of musical hooks running throughout this refreshing track.
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“When You Go Where You Go When You Die” is the latest offering from Australian psychedelic pop band Myths. The song comes as the first single from their
upcoming second LP “The Art of Pretending” – a project over two years in the making, and due for release in 2021. The track is a playful ode to the macabre and surreal experience of trying to reconcile everyday life with unexpected bouts of nihilism. Much like their previous releases “When You Go Where You Go When You Die” is entirely self produced by the band’s songwriters Mike Nutt & Jamie Turner and was recorded throughout the last year in various makeshift home studios.
The track was mixed by Sydney-based producer and musician Jack Mo ffitt (The Preatures, I Know Leopard) who the band is currently working with to put the finishing touches on their new album.
Myths formed in 2017 and are based in Perth, Western Australia. Their music is best described as neo-psychedelia, taking inspiration from the styles and sounds of the 60s and 70s, and merging them with a modern approach to sound design. This comes to the forefront in their new single, opening with an 8-bit collage of old video game death sounds before layers of vintage synthesizers, sitars and more take over. In 2018 the band released their self-produced debut album “Paradigm”, and work on a follow-up has been underway almost immediately.
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Big Little Lions have been described as ‘a blissful marriage of new folk and
sophisticated pop’. Prolific songwriting, infectious folk-pop style, and an
offbeat, memorable live show. This award winning duo consists of Helen Austin and Paul Otten who, despite living thousands of miles apart, have found a way to connect and create music together. Despite being in two different countries, they have found common ground to share their message.
Call it destiny, or call it fate, call it a necessary progression for these modern times. Helen lives in British Columbia, Canada and Paul lives in Cincinnati, OH. But the distance provides the necessity to create in a new way. Using technology as their ally and their differences as their strength.
Their monthly single releases are their way of getting through this pandemic
while all the usual album cycle release plans don’t make sense anymore. Their
music is jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies, the sound of two
people working side-by-side.
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Villages - KodiakArcade - Paper Tapes
Villages recently shared a video for their beautiful song 'Poetry In Motion'. The bands indie folk music has a fresh and pristine feel to it along with some mature pop sensibilities, add in the melodic arrangement and fabulous vocals and this is one special song. ===== KodiakArcade new single 'Silicon Hill' is a fabulous synth driven instrumental track, where the huge array of musical sounds intertwine and create a mesmerizing piece and at two and a half minutes duration leaves me wanting more. ===== Yesterday Paper Tapes released a video for the song 'You And I' which is taken from the E.P 'Homecoming' that was released in October. Fresh, catchy and with gently delivered vocals, the soundtrack is quite addictive and with the new visuals this is a fine recommendation to check out the E.P if like me you have not done so yet.
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Having had their praises internationally sung for their self-titled full-length debut album in 2019, the four members of Villages continue to keep the spirit of their home province, Nova Scotia, in their thoughts, whilst letting their minds escape to their fantasies.
Comprised of Matt Ellis, Travis Ellis, Jon Pearo and Archie Rankin; the quartet have managed to spark a genre-bending sound of indie-folk and experimental pop; standing tall with the likes of Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses. Taken from their recently released EP ‘Upon the Horizon’, new single ‘Poetry in Motion’ delivers a flavour of the bands next full-length album due in 2021.
Directed by Mel Stone, the new live visuals see’s the band gather together; delivering a hopeful message that things will get better. With the ongoing pandemic restrictions, it’s an outlook that we all need to hear from time to time, especially the live industry.
Mixed by American Indie rock legend Phil Ek, their recently released EP ‘Upon the Horizon’ was written aimed to transcend the sense of isolation and dread that we have all faced this year. Frontman Matt Ellis says, “Being locked up naturally conjured visions of escapism. Escaping to the wilderness has always been a way to find peace, but when even that was not an option it was yet another thing that had been taken for granted.
The songs were written on an old guitar with four dead strings that had been neglected for years. There was something fitting about it, given the current condition of the world. This guitar was once a prized possession and over the years just sat collecting dust. Yet, the moment I picked it up the memories it had amassed over the years flooded my mind. It was the comfort and inspiration that was needed—the feeling of a new instrument yet to be discovered, and of new beginnings and endless possibilities.”
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As a project, Graeme Cornies’ Kodiak Arcade is a hi-fi homage to the lo-fi sounds of the past. It’s a set of sonic landscapes, where the humanity of the organic performances are intertwined with sounds that can only be created by modern tech.
Graeme spent a lot of time thinking about his own relationship to technology while making Kodiak Arcade’s debut album, Arcade. From the time he spent consumed in the fictional worlds of Sierra games as a kid, and how those stories affected his real-world self.
Focus track, “Silicon Hill,” began with a dream. Two friends sat on a hill at sunset, looking into the distance at a newer sort of Art Deco city skyline. Everything around the city was a desert, though there was no sand in sight. The whole desert was made of a sort of semi-soft silicon with faint lines underneath – like patterns of a motherboard under the desert’s milky surface.
This song title is also a nod to the time Graeme spent in Silicon Valley, at events like the GDC, where he spent many nights year after year talking with passionate artists and programmers in the game industry, getting high on talk of the future, admired artists and the meeting places between art and technology.
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GPSs flicker, spirits emancipate themselves from any final destination… PAPER TAPES’ first EP 'Homecoming' was released in October on Geographie.
Native of Lyon (FR), living in Paris and a member of the band Brace ! Brace ! (Howlin’ Banana), Cyril Angleys delivers, under the pseudo PAPER TAPES, an adventurous and immediate pop.
Influenced by the 70s film score, the outsiders that became heroes like Stereolab and Air, the psyched pop from Todd Rundgren or the R’n’B from the first The Neptunes’ albums, he assumes boldly but with finesse his carelessness of time and genres.
It is while composing with Brace! Brace! That he feels the need, this desire to start a solo project. Drum machines, synthesizers… he starts writing and experimenting from home, in his flat during the 2018 summer.
With 'Homecoming', co-produced by Barth Bouveret (Brace ! Brace!, Good Morning TV, Marble Arch) PAPER TAPES offers us a first magnetic and luminous EP. Five little hits nestled between some modern soft rock and emancipated pop, to listen to while traveling or at home… even though we know travels always start home.
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Another Sky - Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin - Charlie Nieland - Whizz Bomb
Another Sky return for a third time this year with another gorgeous song entitled 'Sun Seeker'. The band have garnered plenty of attention and the latest song demonstrates why, it's beauty lies in the subtle and intricately arranged musical backdrop that grows with intensity and the fabulous vocals that add breathtaking emotion. ===== Is there a finer artists name than Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin possibly, but that's not really the point when you take the delicious song and video for 'The Marionettes' into account. It's the ninth video from her second album so lovers of creative and "out there" music have plenty of catching up to do, well I have anyway! ===== Charlie Nieland has appeared on Beehive Candy a few times as one half of Lusterlit and it's a real pleasure to share the title track for his forthcoming album 'Divisions' which is one hundred percent impressive. ===== Whizz Bomb (Paul Wishart) has released 'All I Want Is You'. From the outset his vocals are just so rich and wonderful as they add intensity and genuine feeling to the song, the musical arrangement adds even more, this is one rather special song.
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On the first day of 2021, Another Sky will release their latest body of work, an EP entitled Music For Winter Vol. I. Today, the band released the second single “Sun Seeker.” “Lyrically, ‘Sun Seeker’ is about being the only one who can say who you are,” vocalist and lyricist Catrin Vincent says. “It’s also about letting things self-destruct and then rebuilding. Someone once said they’d tell me when to quit music. This is me saying, I say who I am and I say when I’m done.”
Having confidently stepped into the spotlight with their performance of ”Chillers” on ‘Later… with Jools Holland,' Another Sky has earned praise from Paste, Under the Radar, The FADER, and NPR Music, who invited them in for a Tiny Desk Concert earlier this year. Front woman Catrin wryly credits some of their early success to the fact her distinctive, haunting vocals are frequently mistaken for those of a male singer. “People say I sound like a man - maybe that means they’ll listen.”
On how Music For Winter Vol. I came together, Vincent explains, "some songs are old, some are new, all are entirely collaborative. After being kept apart because of the lockdown and writing a bunch of our second album separately, we just wanted to get back into our studio and record." The entire EP was recorded, produced and mixed by the band themselves at their South London studio, The Lighthouse, in October 2020.
"Where do we find our portable paradises?" - Catrin found herself staring at this very poem by Roger Robinson on the London Underground in March 2020.
For the first time in six years, the band couldn't see each other, and the band's bassist Naomi was able to sit still long enough to confront her intense fear of going to hell for being in a same-sex relationship, due to a Christian upbringing.
Catrin explains, "After lockdown eased, myself and Naomi revisited the opening track ‘Pieces,’ an old track originally sung by Naomi. We wrote lyrics together from an imagined conversation with a loved one telling Naomi she was going to hell."
Naomi’s journey became the lyrical foundation for each of these six songs as Catrin drew universal comparisons with others' lives; "a struggle with identity, walking past churches you are no longer part of and the person you become when you are in pain. If there is no end in sight of struggle, where are our white sands, green hills and fresh fish? If we can't ever truly escape, which is what we were exploring in our debut album I Slept On The Floor, can we carry paradise in ourselves?"
Naomi adds about her experience, "It’s so easy to push things to the back of your mind. You never really know the impact this has on you until it becomes overbearing, and you're forced to address it. I found it incredibly cathartic to tackle these issues head-on by visualising certain situations and being able to say whatever I needed to say, both in therapy and in writing music.”
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It’s a curio to see… It’s a curio indeed! Join Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin as she tells a special holiday tail about her encounters with the magical marionettes. Follow them through their adventures, trials and tribulations.
With childlike wonder catch a glance behind the curtain of the grandscale show that we all belong to.
Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin is an escaped ghost from an old coloring book that was left out in the rain at some point in the 20th Century. The Marionettes is the ninth video taken from her second album (I Left My Heart in Uncanny Valley).
She also recently curated a remix album entitled All My Friends Live In Uncanny Valley, featuring the likes of Renaldo & The Loaf and Toxic Chicken gleefully rearranging her songs into strange new forms.
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My heart is full and I made a solo album, Divisions. It will be out early in the new year. The title song was Inspired by The Hidden Life Of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and Charlie is joined on the song as follows.
Charlie Nieland: Lap Steel, Electric Guitars, Electric Piano, Korg MS20 Synth, Piano, Virtual Mellotron, Synths, Percussion, Vocals, Brian Geltner: Drums
Musician/producer Charlie Nieland creates a variety of cinematic music. Engaging the boundless creativity within his musical community, including the duo Lusterlit and the Bushwick Book Club, he reaches for an ever widening range of songcraft and textured sound. less
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Growing up in rural Kent, also known as the Garden of England, Paul Wishart (aka Whizz Bomb) learnt classical piano and church organ. In this traditional English environment that viewed any music more modern than Beethoven with extreme distrust, Paul started writing his own music on the piano and organ to amuse himself, and offend others.
At the age of 13, Paul managed to persuade his parents to buy him a Roland SH101 analogue synthesizer as a reward for passing exams, thus starting a love affair with strange noises, nobs, sliders, sequencers, and generally avoiding school studies.
Originally influenced by the early electronic music of Wendy Carlos, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Vangelis, Paul embraced 80’s synth pop when his contemporaries were listening to prog rock, then 90’s shoegaze guitar bands when his friends were twisting their melons.
The dance / rock cross-over acts of the 90’s such as Jesus Jones started to bring an interest in darker and louder electronic music, with Depeche Mode’s move to introducing guitars with synths and Nine Inch Nails ability to use synths and samplers to create alternative music that jumped from loud and discordant noise to quiet and often melodic piano music or even dance-influenced beats, led Paul to believe that much more was achievable with electronic music now. These predominately electronic music influences, though of considerably variation, have influenced Paul and his vision for Whizz Bomb. Paul’s lower-range and slightly raspy voice is a “character” voice for rock music that is “lived in”, and has been favourably compared to those of the late Lou Reed and Nick Cave.
A plan emerged, and all that was required were the financial resources to build a rig that could actually allow reasonable multi-instrument performance, sequencing, and recording. Paul has had to endure years working, with only brief interludes entertaining friends and family on the piano, to put together all his musical equipment and now release material to an unsuspecting public. His first single, an electronica cover of U2’s All I Want is You, is now released on iTunes and other major online stores and streaming services. There are numerous other works in the pipeline, and will be ready for release from early 2021 onwards. In December 2020 All I Want is You introduces Paul, and his characterful voice to the world.
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Sun June - Palberta - SLUGS
Sun June have shared 'Bad Girl' and the song has been getting plenty of attention over the past two days since it's release. Accompanied with a video this gently melodic and dreamy song still packs plenty of emotion and is an excellent foretaste for their upcoming album 'Somewhere'. ===== Palberta return for a fourth time on Beehive Candy with the final pre-release song 'The Way That You Do' ahead of the album 'Palberta5000' due on January 22nd. As always their vocals and harmonies are exquisite and juxtapose a somewhat quirky musical backdrop wonderfully. ===== From SLUGS we have 'Super Sane' and the four piece alt rock outfit out of Los Angeles really do impress. This is fine and original track, the music arrangement is notable as are the refined vocals.
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Austin, Texas' Sun June have shared a stunning video for their new single "Bad Girl," the latest from their upcoming new album Somewhere. Of the song and video, Sun June's Laura Colwell says "Bad Girl is about a deep manic drive to regress into the person I used to be - back when being bad was cool and being cool was everything.
I was given a lot of freedom as a teenager and always took advantage of it. After I lost a good friend in high school, my fear of death was overwhelming. The song reflects on how that fear combined with my own thrill-seeking affected my decisions since. It cycles through self-destructive choices I've made in relationships to avoid responsibility, and how my fear of loss has lead me down some dumb paths. The tone is sad and resigned, but also self-righteous somehow.
There's something pushing and pulling between the lyrics and the beat, so we thought a dance video might draw out some internal tension. We filmed around Lockhart, TX, where we recorded the album, because there are so many farms and fields out there that are unchanged despite the area's growth. We took some inspiration from films like "Blood Simple" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," which were also shot in rural towns just outside of Austin. Basically, we tried to channel Frances McDormand, Willie Nelson, and Haim (if Haim were an only child)."
Somewhere showcases a gentle but eminently pronounced maturation of Sun June's sound, a record full of quiet revelation, eleven songs that bristle with love and longing. It finds a band at the height of their collective potency, a marked stride forward that is able to transport the listener into a fascinating new landscape, one that lies somewhere between the town and the city, between the head and the heart; neither here nor there, but certainly somewhere.
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Palberta's upcoming LP Palberta5000 is due out in a little over a month on January 22nd, 2021 via Wharf Cat Records, and so far has seen high praise on a level unmatched in the band's already celebrated career. After being announced with a deep-dive feature on Stereogum that explored the more expansive and pop-forward style on this new release from a band long-heralded as one of the most idiosyncratic bands in the East Coast DIY scene, the album's early singles have earned comparisons to ESG and Delta 5 in The New York Times, being described as "everything great about Palberta" on NPR's All Songs Considered, and garnering glowing coverage from spots like Pitchfork, NYLON, Paste, Consequence of Sound and BrooklynVegan among many others.
The band are returning with a final pre-release single entitled "The Way That You Do," accompanied by a video directed by band member Ani Ivry-Block. For a band that have always projected an anarchic energy and historically been associated with a punk-adjacent DIY scene (if never quite being what could be called a punk band themselves) the track explores a gentler tone than has been typical for the band, as it focues on the penchant for harmony arrangements that often sets them apart from their contemporaries, but links these vocal forward sections together with a fanciful, and deceptively complex guitar and bass interplay that only Palberta could have created.
"In 'The Way That You Do' we essentially repeat the same phrase over and over with the exception of Ani's passionate 'I been lyyyyying," Palberta's Lily Konigsberg explains. "I've never really thought about the meaning behind the lyrics, but when I think about them now it seems like someone accusing another of deception and trickery. Also the harmonies are sick. It’s our waltz!”
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SLUGS is a 4 piece alt rock outfit out of Los Angeles comprised of singer, songwriter and guitarist Marissa Longstreet, Sarsten Noice (bass/vocals), Josh Beavers (lead guitar) and Dash Hutton (drums).
Their influences range from Linda Perhacs with their melodic harmonies and tenderness to Thee Oh Sees with their high energy, spitfire performances.
Their latest single “Super Sane” features high voltage expression along with a calmer wash, showcasing restrained strums of electric guitar which is both divinely gripping and atmospheric.
The delicate lower harmonies are so haunting, while the intimate vocals are gentle and totally skeletal in their honesty. Somewhat warm and somewhat cold, the overall feel is wonderfully juxtaposed with feelings of healing and acceptance. The minimalist sound is also vividly complex in its dynamics and meticulously placed elements.
All Things Blue - Tacsidermi - The Hempolics - The Highway Women - Silent Forum
All Things Blue make their fourth appearance on Beehive Candy this year with the new single 'Buddha & Penelope'. The Los Angeles psych pop (& more) band have been consistently creative with each track they have shared ahead of their debut album, this final taster being another fabulous affair. ===== From Wales we have Tacsidermi and their debut single 'Gwir'. If you read the background piece below you may notice we have already shared some music from their Welsh counterparts and as a new duo they have created a wonderfully beautiful new song. ===== During the latter part of last year and the early part of this The Hempolics really impressed us and it's great to have a new video for 'In the Night' which is the final individual piece from their last album. Reggae and Dub fans may now indulge once again to this superb band. ===== We featured The Highway Women back in July with a video for 'Shake The Dust'. Now they have produced a new video for 'The Highway' and it's another powerful track from these fabulous country rockers. ===== We indulged with Silent Forum a number of times last year culminating with a full share of their Welsh Music Prize nominated debut album 'Everything Solved at Once'. Celebrating the first anniversary of said release they are back with a Charlie Francis Smokehouse remix of 'How I Faked The Moon Landing' along with an unreleased song 'Don't Overcook It'. Both songs more than deserve a good listen.
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Los Angeles band All Things Blue have released the final taster of their upcoming debut album Get Bit – new psych-pop single "Buddha & Penelope". All Things Blue will also be streaming an album release show from LA venue Non Plus Ultra on December 10th. The show will be ticketed on a Pay What You Want basis, with all proceeds going to Bail Project.
The project of singer-songwriter India Coombs (aka Blue) and guitarist Jon Joseph, All Things Blue’s much-anticipated debut album Get Bit (out December 11th via Terrible Records) follows a series of hype-building EPs and singles, tackling the personal and the political with equal vigour.
New single "Buddha & Penelope" is accompanied by a stop-motion animated video created by Kat Bing. The track drifts in on the back of a lilting guitar line and relaxed drums, with the lyrics asking "How long ago were you someone's baby? / Your belly full, wrapped in warmth and safety". Directly highlighting the disparity between the wealthy and the homeless, especially in places like Los Angeles – the track's blissful psych-infused instrumentals offer up the perfect backdrop for India Coombs's sharp lyrics and sweet vocal tone.
Speaking on the release of the new single, Coombs said: “When I first moved to Los Angeles I met a houseless man named Buddha and his sweet pitbull Penelope. I saw them every Sunday for a few years and we came to know each other well. Having a relationship with someone so open and loving despite their circumstances created a deeper wonderment in my mind. It created a heartfelt realization of this morbid disparity between the rich and poor in cities such as LA. This song is an ode to people like Buddha and Penelope and how they deal with our shared reality.”
Taking inspiration from the weirder, psych-leaning corners of indie-rock, and especially Aussie psych legends Pond, whose latest album Tasmania tackles Australia’s own brand of climate change-related horrors, Get Bit brings together influences from across the guitar music spectrum. “Tipsy” is a loose, lo-fi romp that recreates the feeling of its title, while “Scratch" is a blistering 40-second tirade against unrealistic expectations, which sees All Things Blue bare their teeth and take cues from gutsy garage rock.
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Tacsidermi could only have come to fruition as a project during the strange and uncertain year that was 2020!! It’s a positive reaction to all of the years negativity by simply channeling boundless creative energy into writing / recording songs to inhabit and escape within.
Gwenllian Anthony from the ‘Welsh Music Prize’ winning band Adwaith has been jamming and writing on and off over the last few years with Matthew Kilgariff. Matthew toured as a session musician with Adwaith during their post ‘Melin’ tours. It took lockdown for them to decide to form a bubble and move into Matthew’s studio in rural Carmarthenshire and start recording.
‘Gwir’ their debut single is a perfect marriage of both of their influences. With its 90s baggy grove and Flaming Lips twisted popness this is a bold first statement. The Brian Jonestown Massacre psychedelic textures, dancing along to a low-slung Breeders inspired driving bass brings a darkness to the song. It mirrors the uncertainty and emotional vulnerability of the lyrics and Gwenllian’s beautiful restrained delivery.
‘Gwir’ was supported by David Newington (Boy Azooga) on drums and mixed by Matthew Evans (KEYS). Expect new Tacsidermi material to follow quickly in early 2021.
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The Hempolics release their official video for 'In The Night', which is taken from their sophomore album 'Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Volume 2'.
Vocalist Nubiya Brandon sojourned to Joshua Tree, California to direct and star in the video with the desert scenes at dusk complementing a dark slant on the end of a relationship. The vintage surroundings of time-frozen Americana are combined with the fresh yet backwards looking sound of The Hempolics to present an audio visual treat.
The album was featured by BBC 6 Music as their ‘Album of The Day’, was included in Rough Trade’s ‘Edit’, and its singles saw support at radio from BBC 1Xtra’s David Rodigan, 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, Don Letts, Chris Hawkins and 6Music Recommends, BBC 6 Music Mix Tape with Tom Robinson and BBC Scotland’s Vic Galloway.
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Inspired by their own movement “Be a Highway Woman”, Kristen Kae, Bonnie Dymond (Warner Chappel and BAHW Member) and The Highway Women’s Guitarist Dallas Duff, penned a song that embodies their fierce determination to make their mark in the music industry.
"The Highway" which released on October 30, 2020 generated a great response from their fans, so The Highway Women partnered up with Cowgirl Magazine to release a surprise music video celebrating their fans continuous support of their journey. The Highway Women dropped their EP "The Highway" on November 27th and is featured on iTunes New Releases "Country".
The video depicts a fun road trip with The Highway Women (Kristen Kae, Drew Haley, Jess Paige & Bailey James). They celebrate their music and journey as a band on the road together. True to real life, their personalities shine through in the various scenes and showcase their sisterhood.
The Highway Women wanted to pay homage to their beautiful home city and state of Nashville, TN by featuring famous landmarks such as The Loveless Cafe (yes, they had biscuits) on the infamous Natchez Trail. With scenic drone footage, a cliche cruise in a convertible, a snack grab stop at a convenience store, they really bring their fans along for the ride. The girls bring their humor, charm and talent to the table with the creation of this music video produced by James McGettrick (Nashville).
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To celebrate the first anniversary of our Welsh Music Prize nominated debut album Everything Solved at Once, our producer Charlie Francis has created a bonkers dance pop remix of 'How I Faked the Moon Landing'.
We’ve also slipped in a previously unreleased song 'Don't Overcook It' which was recorded during the same sessions as our debut.
It feels good to be releasing something in 2020, a year where we have managed to (in between lockdowns) write a lot of material but have been unable to record or gig due to social distancing. We hope these two songs go a small way towards capping a crappy year off nicely!
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Remington Super 60 - Mood Taeg - Ali Horn - Wynnm - Lorna - Casual Fan
We shared an E.P by Remington Super 60 at the beginning of the year and it's good to have them back with today's new single release 'I Won't Change My Mind'. The bands smooth flowing indie music is notably melodic and intimate on this new track. ===== Mood Taeg double A side release is a feast of German musical influences from Kraftwerk to Can indeed the first song 'Corpora' is reminiscent of both bands, whilst 'Konkord' sees the duo put more of their own mark and styling into effect, both songs are wonderful. ===== We have had the pleasure of featuring Ali Horn a couple of times in the past and today's release 'End Credits' is another fine song, with a bright and rhythmic musical backdrop and his distinctive vocals adding plenty of feeling. ===== Wynnm returns for a third time this year with 'Falling From The Stars' a song that sees her attractive vocals upfront above a more restrained yet intricate musical arrangement. ===== Yesterday Lorna released her first E.P 'Who I Really Am' from which we have 'Go On And Breathe' which makes for a good representation of this imaginative singer songwriters four song collection. ===== Earlier in the year we shared two tracks from today's E.P release from Casual Fan entitled 'I've Dreamt About These Days' and I think it's fair to say all eight songs are of a very high standard where alt rock melodic and sweeping vocals and harmonies are everywhere.
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I Won't Change My Mind is the second single from Norwegian band Remington super 60's upcoming EP, due to be released February 2021. The theme of the EP as well as this song is very personal to the band due to the breakup between Remington super 60's producer Christo er and singer Elisabeth.
They are still good friends and have continued their musical work together Remington super 60 was founded by Christo er Schou in 1999 as a bedroom DIY project, between 1999 and 2007 the band was very active on the indie scene with several albums and EPs released on various small labels around the world. The early music style was very inspired by 60s music such as Beach Boys and Burt Bacharach but with the addition of lots of Casio keyboard blips and beeps.
Christo er has an impressive collection of small Casio and Yamaha keyboards. This resulted in the band being labeled as a Casio pop band. After 2007 the band only gave a few life signs every now and then. But since 2019 they started to produce a lof of new music again that resulted in the EP "New Ep" released January 2019. Musically they have now been labeled more or less a dream pop band by various blogs.
The band is still a DIY project although not based in Christo er's bedroom but in his living room. “Remington super 60 know how to cut a track” - Super world indie tunes “Dreamy sounds from Norway” - Tonspion.de “Remington Super 60, «The highway again». En ekte drømmelåt” - Kultur magasinet PLNTY “what matters most is that they sound just as delightful now as they did back in ’98” - Austin town hall “beautiful dream-pop” Barry Gru Remington super 60 2020 consists of: Christo er Schou, Elisabeth Thorsen and Magnus Abelsen.
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Mood Taeg (pronounced mood tag) is a Scottish / German musical project located between Düsseldorf and Shanghai. Mood Taeg create music that incorporates the motorik drumming of Klaus Dinger and Jaki Liebezeit; the melodic sensibilities of Neu! and Kraftwerk; and the experimentation of Can, Cluster and Harmonia to produce instrumental compositions that are contemporary and, at the same time, fit exactly within the lineage of their influences.
Mood Taeg see their music as uncompromising but totally accessible. They don’t believe the form dictates the art. For them, the art dictates the form. Thus, songs may often be 10 minutes long with motorik grooves punctuated with vocal samples, ethereal synths and angular guitars. On this new single the band add extra elements to their sonic pallet. The A side, ‘Corpora’ has been tightly edited with pulsing electronics at the forefront, creating a soundscape that is as much dreampop as it is krautrock. The AA side Konkord is part of a collaboration with Dundee Poet Andrew French. Its spoken word vocals in a distinctive Scottish twang add an edgy lo-fi indie-rock dimension, akin to that of Glasgow’s Arab Strap.
Mood Taeg record all of their music at their home studio, Lowell’s Garden. They are also part of the wider Mood Taeg kollektiv which includes musicians, graffiti artists, DJs, photographers, painters, and video artists.
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‘End Credits’ is a nihilistic yet optimistic track about slipping into the unknown of the afterlife. Musically joyous, lyrically dower this track perfectly sums up the highs and lows of realising our human condition as we hopelessly and defiantly trudge towards the end.
More dance-y than his previous work and making use of a wider range of interesting instruments, Ali self-produced this track at his home studio in Toxteth, Merseyside in May 2020 collaborating with Ste Cole of What? Studios to add drums and mix the track.
The only thing we know for sure is that we can’t stay here for long. We’re a speck of light reflecting off a fractured fragment of smashing glass in slow motion. There for a second and then gone. But let's have fun while it lasts. You can’t hide for the inevitable.
2019 saw Ali Horn release his debut E.P. ‘It Wears Off’, six songs exploding with hazy pop hooks and sunburst psychedelia, with themes that stray between life, death, love and paranoia.
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Falling From The Stars is a bold snapshot of Wynnm's music evolution and, with her new EP in the works for 2021, an exciting peek at what’s to come from a multi-talented artist who crafts a new world with every piece of music she makes.
New single Falling From The Stars is a downtempo, electronic, indie song, where she brings together her unique mix of styles. After 2 minutes and 45 seconds you only want to do one more thing and that is press repeat.
Wynnm about her new single: "Falling From The Stars, as a song, asks you to walk the path towards the stream of consciousness. To alter reality, and to not trust what you once trusted. A fusion of nostalgic sounds and forward vocals, winter will be better with this song."
Much acclaimed debut EP Moonwalking, released earlier this year, gave Wynnm the attention she deserved with rave reviews and radio airplay all over the world. Her music can now be heard on radio in the USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Russia, Ireland, Mauritius, Switzerland and Austria. Also her singles could be found in the Apple Music iTunes Charts in 44 countries worldwide! Falling From The Stars is released today 11 December 2020.
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Who I Really Am, the first EP of singer-songwriter Lorna’s new Inspiring Conscious Pop project is coming on December 10th. The EP with original songs is the result of the Las Vegas-based singer's deep emotional conversations with followers of her new Facebook page, released right after the pandemic hit, back in May.
With a unique style that combines ambient music, Enya-like hypnotizing beautiful vocals, and emotional pop lyrics, Who I really Am, is a balm for the soul of the listeners, bringing comfort to their hearts and not rarely bringing tears to their eyes. In times when there is plenty of negativity and fear in the world, and when so many are hurting, emotional songs like “Go on and Breathe”, and “You Are Enough” transport the audience to a place of peace, hope, and positivity.
“I started this music Facebook page to create a community of people supporting each other to stay positive and to grow into self-love by developing themselves mentally and spiritually. To spread love and to comfort, but at the same time to empower them to feel strong and worthy, to overcome their challenges and to be happy”.
Soon enough, the engagement rate on Lorna’s page went through the roof, and people started sharing with her how overwhelmed, lonely and hopeless they felt sometimes, especially since the health crises started. That is how the songs of the new EP were born. With the intent of bringing positivity and encouragement.
Nowadays, even with a relatively small community of 15 K followers built in 6 months, Lorna’s Facebook engagement rate climbs up to 201 %, which shows how strongly and deeply she’s connecting with her audience when comparing these statistics to some of the biggest names on social media.*
Lorna is a multicultural influencer. Of English descent (her last name is Earnshaw), she was born and raised in Argentina and lived for years in Brazil before moving to Hollywood to teach vocal technique at a Los Angeles’ music university in 2013. She started building her Youtube channel in 2008, teaching singing lessons in Portuguese and English and helping students to believe in their dreams, with some of her videos reaching 1.2 MM views organically. As a voice coach, she has taught more than 1000 students from 102 countries with her online courses and more than 350 one-on-one students in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
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'I’ve Dreamt About These Days' was written between late 2017 and mid 2019, with most songs written while moving from Newcastle to Sydney in April 2019. Shortly after the move, friendships were made, a band was formed and songs were given shape and structure, going through several iterations before finally being captured during a week recording with Mark Myers at Big Sister Studio in Cairns, Sep 16-21, 2019.
The songs are primarily about movement between places. They were mostly written on acoustic guitar, but playing some sporadic live shows in 2019 allowed the songs to breathe and move beyond the confines of folk chords and simple lyrics.
'I’ve Dreamt About These Days' is a line in the second last song. It’s about growing up and realising that, while things are not what you thought they might be years ago when you were up late thinking about the future on a January school holiday midnight, the life we are given is usually more beautiful and meaningful than we give it credit for. In a sense, that’s what all these songs are about. Ultimately, the best thing about music is the friends we discover through making it or listening to it, and I’m grateful that writing and playing these songs has given me the chance to meet many wonderful people, who I now couldn’t imagine not knowing.
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Bumper Catch Up featuring: Rubblebucket - Mollie Elizabeth - Lilly Hiatt - The Kearns Family - WILDES and St Francis Hotel - Lucette - Caroline Strickland - Mon Rayon - Lala Salama
Keeping the comments a little shorter so we can cram a few more songs in than usual, this is our first bumper catch up of some really fine r...
