Showing posts with label Hermitess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hermitess. Show all posts

Judson Claiborne - Hermitess - Keegan Powell

Judson Claiborne have just released 'The Trimmergrant' along with a video, the song itself is strangely addictive and highly original, bet you have to give it atleast a second listen. ===== Hermitess returns with a new four song E.P entitled 'Celestial'. We featured 'Followers' from her last E.P back in June and this new collection is most welcome from this very talented artist. ===== Keegan Powell latest song 'Rock N Roll Kind Of Night' has already recieved considerable attention, that's not overly surprising as he delivers a timeless rocker with some melodic psych vibes.

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Judson Claiborne - The Trimmergrant.

Judson Claiborne, the Chicago-based project and a moniker for ex-Low Skies frontman, Christopher Salveter has this week shared his new single, "The Trimmergrant" via La Société Expéditionnaire (Strand of Oaks, Daniel Knox).

"The Trimmergrant"t' is a track that exposes the strange lawlessness behind the Redwood Curtain with Salvater lamenting the tragic disappearance of marijuana trimmers in the mountains of Humboldt County, CA. It comes ahead of the new EP, When a Man Loves an Omen which is out Nov 13.

Briefly recapping, Chris is previously known for his work as a founding member and frontperson of the Pitchfork-tipped "apocalyptic desert rock" band, Low Skies (signed to Flamethrower Records, also Russian Circles, Mannequin Men) who supported the likes of Explosions in the Sky, Neko Case and Band of Horses in their time. This new EP comes off the back of four previous releases – earlier material included a slew of noteworthy guests: members of Mute Duo, Tal National, Roommate, and Drag City Records signees – as Judson Claiborne which found the band opening for Bill Callahan, John Grant and Lower Dens. 

As Judson Claiborne, Christopher dials down the apocalyptic murder ballads and desert dirges of Low Skies to find something more reflective and in-tune with his storytelling nature (earlier tracks reference tree-dwelling bank robbers, a self-immolating anti-war activist, a disappeared marijuana trimmer amongst other characters). 


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Hermitess - Celestial (E.P).

Hermitess is putting out another EP this year, entitled 'Celestial' it's actually out today Thursday. It's ben described as "somewhat spontaneous and a bit of a surprise!"

Celestial is a four song EP by Hermitess. Recorded in the summer of 2020 under a mixture of unforeseen circumstances, an act that was speculative and hopeful in strange times. Mostly self produced and recorded, it plots new possibilities for future creations. Celestial is the second in a series of EP’s that build upon each other both in theme and sound. Cascading harps and and voices combined with programmed beats, and unexpected instrumental touches such as pedal steel and saxophone, suggesting deep folk roots colliding with the modern times.

Hermitess releases are concepts gathered around a chosen theme, each one a small world contained like a vignette in a snowglobe. Celestial is meant as a bit of a counterpoint and companion to the Tower Ep which came out this summer. At its core Celestial is about finding orientation in a time that feels very disorienting. Like the starry void it aims to conjure, this EP speaks to being untethered and not knowing what the future holds, while taking stock of what it means to be human with a shared worldly existence.


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Keegan Powell - Rock N Roll Kind Of Night.

Keegan Powell is a Toronto-based songwriter/guitarist/singer. Powell started his journey writing and recording in Teenage Kicks (Resolute/EMI) as guitarist on their debut album ‘Spoils Of Youth’ recorded with Alain Johannes (Queens Of The Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures).

While being guitarist and co-songwriter for Dine Alone Records/Captured Tracks band Chastity, Powell has also released several singles and EP’s under his own name. 

His first single ‘The Door’, released 2018, was included on Apple Music’s Breaking Rock Playlist. His latest EP “Is+Was” featured singles, ‘Beginning Of Life’, featured on CBC radio 3, and ‘All The Love’, which sound-tracked acclaimed director Kazik Radwanski’s film, ‘Anne At 13,000’. Powell’s debut solo LP is slated for a 2021 release.


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Hermitess - Mark Lofgren - Wyatt C. Louis - Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards

Hermitess has just shared 'Followers' along with a video. We have to go back to 2017 since we last crossed paths, however the new song is exquisite and a good reintroduction to the very talented musician Jennifer Crighton. === Mark Lofgren has released a new album 'Black Moon Book' which is streaming in full below, along with a video for one of the tracks 'You Are Just Not Alone' which makes for a good feel for this bedroom pop (and more) collection. === Wyatt C. Louis just released 'Dancing With Sue' and it's a beautifully flowing Americana song where soulful vibes and refined musicianship rub shoulders. === Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards were featured last month and they are back with another new song 'Typhoon' and again their mixture of roots and folk music is wonderfully crafted and just plain beautiful.
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Hermitess - Followers.

Hermitess is the solo project of songwriter, visual artist and harpist Jennifer Crighton. Dreaming simultaneously in music and images, her projects are often approached with the sensibility of curator, intent on a carefully imagined collection of collaborators, stories and set pieces. Sonically, layered orchestral textures, choral voices, and pedal driven magic conjuring a fever dream.

Delicate harp lines loop and tangle into an intricate latticework of rhythm and melody, while unfamiliar sounds and unplaceable textures enrich the arrangements. Over this sonic foundation, Crighton sings in the voice of her adopted character, the words part story and part incantation. The lyrics question and caution the listener, walking the line between dreams and nightmares.

Jennifer studied Jazz music at Vancouver Island University before finishing a degree in drawing with a focus on performative art at Alberta University of Arts. While finishing her degree she put on DIY immersive shows and hosted numerous touring bands under the guise of the Summerwood Warren, later embarking on a tour of house venues down the coast of California with orchestral indie pop band The Consonant C. She went on to perform with Deadhorse/Devonian Gardens, touring Canada and the US. In 2017 she released the self titled Hermitess LP which she wrote in an isolated cabin during a residency Northern Michigan, and recorded with John Hornak at Audities Studio in Bearspaw Alberta.

The Tower EP is the Hermitess’s follow-up to the sparse and crystalline self titled, Recorded during a residency at the National Music Center with Elisa Pangsaeng producing, it inhabits a world considerably less removed from society, sharing all the mixed emotions and misgivings of navigating an industrialized modern world.

Still apparent is the rich cast of musical collaborators featuring unique instrumentation, and a particular knack for writing songs that conjure timely cinematic parables of life.

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Mark Lofgren - Black Moon Book (Album).

Mark Lofgren's second solo effort Black Moon Book is out now and streaming at Bandcamp.

Like most musicians operating under the new normal, Mark Lofgren (The Luck of Eden Hall, The Thin Cherries) has been spending time in his home studio crafting intimate recordings.

Black Moon Book, an album of exquisite bedroom pop that touches on memory, isolation and, most explicitly, the healing power of hope and love, follows his 2014 solo debut, The Past Perfect.

Lofgren is one of the founders of psychedelic pop/rock mainstays The Luck of Eden Hall, who have toured Europe and released music on a variety of independent labels, including Headspin Records and Fruits de Mer Records.


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Wyatt C. Louis - Dancing With Sue.

Wyatt C. Louis is a Cree-Métis folk singer-songwriter, based in Moh’kinstsís (Calgary). He has made an impact on the eclectic city with songs built from soaring melodies, railroad-like finger picking and quiet, haunting vocals and lyrical phrasing.

Dark, rustic tales meld folk and soulful blues to tell tales of love, loss and the journey home. They’re beautiful, subtle creations that juxtapose emotions, striking imagery and experiences that charm and envelop listeners. The sweet and intimate EP On a Journey for the Long Run (2017), had earned him airplay on CBC, CKUA and campus radio across Canada.

Louis’ upcoming release, “Dancing With Sue,” evokes the feeling of nostalgia, and yearning for the times in our lives where we feel the happiest and most free. Captured effortlessly through warm tones and colourful song writing.

The song is dedicated to supportive friends whom he met through various music collectives. “Dancing with Sue” is the first piece of Louis’ new album coming in fall 2020, released via Canadian label, Slow Weather.


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Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards - Typhoon.

Expanding on the boundaries of what an indie-folk band can be, Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards add a lightness and pop sensibility on their upcoming album, BITTER BETTER. This week, they're premiering a video for their song "Typhoon," which was filmed during album sessions in Cortese adopted home of Ghent, Belgium.

BITTER BETTER will be released on July 17 on Compass Records, with the band joining The Mountain Goats for fall US dates. A stunning lesson in all the ways string instruments can be played – bowed, plucked, percussively – combined with lush vocal harmonies, BITTER BETTER showcases Cortese and multi-instrumentalist producer Sam Kassirer (Lula Wiles, Lake Street Dive) striving to capture the most adventurous approach to each moment. The result is an album that incorporates dance-worthy foundational grooves, synth, and loops to push the boundaries of the genre.

“Everything is so heavy in the world right now,” Cortese says, who’s been living in Belgium the past two years. “When someone comes to our show, listens to this album, or hears one of the songs, I want it to feel like relief and release.”

When it came time to record, the band and Kassirer joined forces with  percussionist and engineer D. James Goodwin; together they completely dismantled the idea of how a string band “should” sound.

“There was a lot to feel hopeless about, big political changes and taking to the streets to protest. Friends had been marching weekly since January 20th and I could see our energy and optimism waning. I wanted to remind us to take care of ourselves and reconnect with hope and joy as the longer days returned.”

While the album’s 11 tracks provide relief and release, they also encourage self-examination and personal discovery—the work that is necessary to sustain the energy needed to keep striving, to connect, and to continue to make our complicated world a better place. With BITTER BETTER, Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards throw out the rule book, creating a beautifully vivid, musically unexpected canvas from their refreshingly unconventional perspective.

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Hermitess - The Charlatans - Pattern Language

Hermitess - Blood Moon.

Background from Hermitess - I’ve just released a video for “Blood Moon”, taken from my upcoming self-titled full length.

I’ve been making a series of artworks alongside the musical compositions: photographs and almost-still videos set against remote landscapes. Each of these settings depict Hermitess as a central figure in a settings that evoke the songs. The Blood Moon video was shot by my friend Tatiana Losev who helped direct the simple performance that the video depicts. The final product is meant to express a feeling: something repetitive, hypnotic, and a tad sinister.

As the name implies, this album came about at a remove from modern life. While isolated in a cabin in northern Michigan, I began to conceive of this character (Hermitess) and a set of songs that would feel at home in the wintry knee-deep snow drifts and creaking trees. Website here, Facebook here.

'Blood Moon' is one of nine tracks on the new album. This is an imaginative collection of material and the featured music video indicates the style and direction of the self titled full length. Natural folk sounds mix with deeper material, sometimes quite stripped back, other times more atmospheric and layered. Overall the music is enchanting, dreamy and desirable.


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The Charlatans - Plastic Machinery.

Background - The Charlatans have released the official video for their first album single "Plastic Machinery," featuring Johnny Marr, from their upcoming studio album Different Days, due out May 26 via BMG. The video was shot in Barcelona by filmmaker and photographer Ewen Spencer, who is also responsible for creating the Different Days album artwork. “It was great fun to make the video," explains Tim Burgess. "Barcelona is such a beautiful city - the song is about finding beauty in uncertain times and we knew there'd be some sunshine there too."

Different Days is the band's thirteenth album. Co-produced by Jim Spencer, the album was recorded at the band’s studio in Cheshire and features contributions from an array of friends... from Paul Weller and Johnny Marr to crime writer Ian Rankin and writer/actress Sharon Horgan. It follows on from the success of The Charlatans' last album Modern Nature, which drew critical praise across the board, and notched up their eighth Top Ten on the album chart, all capped off with a lifetime achievement award from Q Magazine. The Charlatans had a whirlwind 2015, completing two sold-out UK tours, world tours and popping up as unannounced opening act at Glastonbury, and headlining at the Isle Of Wight and Kendall Calling festivals amongst others.

In support of the upcoming album, The Charlatans have confirmed two signings and acoustic performances at the now-legendary Tim Peaks Diner: 05/26 - The Lowry; Salford - 05/28 - Soundcity; Liverpool. Website here, Facebook here, live dates on Beehive Candy's tour page.

The Charlatans are back with 'Plastic Machinery' giving fans of their music a taste of what is to follow. They hardly need our support, however with live dates also on there way, it's a case of any excuse to feature a band of this calibre.


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Pattern Language - By Time We Get There.

Background - ​​London’s Happy Robots Records has announced they will be releasing the ‘Total Squaresville’ mini-album from synth-electronic crafter Pattern Language. From this collection of six tracks, they are teasing the lead single ‘By Time We Get There’ with a catchy retro video by Cheyene Grow at 75 Ohms. Created using obsolete corporate video equipment from the 20th century and generating real-time video landscapes and infinite textures.  This is Pattern Language’s debut release, scheduled for release in June 2017.

Pattern Language is the new project of Chris Frain. Currently based in Boulder, Colorado, Frain was previously keyboard player for the indie-pop band The Giranimals (where he developed a love for the staple sounds of the Minimoog and Melotron instruments) and bassist for the power-prog rock trio Tanuki. In 2013, Frain decided to pursue a solo electronic music career after a chance viewing of the BBC4 documentary “Synth Britannia”, which made him fall back in love with the sound of the synthesizer.

“Each one of the pieces on this album were started from some very basic idea about sound or structure or primary influence, and yet I was surpirsed by all the twists and turns they took through the stages of composition, recording, and mixing," says Chris Frain. "It’s still fun to listen to each piece and how they took on a life of its own to become something new and unexpected, even to me.”

‘Total Squaresville’ is the ninth release on Happy Robots Records and is distributed by Cargo Records, mastered for analogue warmth on digital devices. Facebook here.

'By Time We Get There' is indicative of the layered synthy sounds to be found in this six track collection. Uncomplicated and melodic, each piece is remarkably addictive. Whether you cut your teeth on Kraftwerk or Neu, or similar artists more recent, there is a good chance this will appeal.


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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...