We have three tracks from Endless Forms brand new album 'More Than Candy' with each song exploring differing styles where warm synths, dramatic musical backdrops and refined vocals vie for our attention. === We featured Zoe & Cloyd around a year ago (time flies) and their new song 'Where Do You Stand' is a thoughtful piece with some classic Americana vibes. === Jenny Banai was featured back in February with 'Couch Walker' and her new song 'Intermittent Heart' is another gorgeous and imaginative modern pop affair.
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Endless Forms - More Than Candy (Album).
Endless Forms have released their third album, More Than Candy. The album is their first since 2017's If There Were Water and follows an appearance of their song "Lungs" on Netflix show Elite.
"This is serious listening for the serious-minded music fan," V13 raved in a review earlier this week. "Allen seems very much at home throughout More Than Candy, operating in a mellowy, interpretative space that knows no limits."
The project is Tulsa-based singer/producer Justin Allen's first as a solo project, pairing down from a three piece band in the wake of Water.
"I never had any intention of ending Endless Forms," Allen elaborated in a recent interview. "In 2017, I was in a weird headspace with my art, and I really needed to find a new imagination for what it meant to be an artist... I knew I had more music in me, and I learned again how to enjoy creation itself."
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Zoe & Cloyd - Where Do You Stand.
As we navigate through a year already fraught with both ongoing and new, unanticipated crises, the need for dialogue and common ground has never been clearer. That’s the message of the new Organic Records single from Zoe & Cloyd, which sets its titular question — “Where Do You Stand?” — to a hard-driving, traditional-leaning bluegrass groove.
“‘Where Do You Stand’ is a commentary on the state of our national discourse,” says John Cloyd Miller of the powerful new original, written together with his wife and musical partner, Natalya Zoe Weinstein. “Often, it's the farthest ends of the political spectrum that make the news and it seems like inflammatory rhetoric is the only thing that gets heard these days. I'd like for us to remember that we're all connected and are more alike than we are different, no matter who tries to convince us otherwise. For us to move forward, we have to find common ground on which to build a path toward a sustainable future."
The single is the first new release from the duo and their band — banjoist Bennett Sullivan and bass player Kevin Kehrberg — since last fall’s full-length debut for Organic, I Am Your Neighbor. Produced by Jon Weisberger, the song kicks off with hard-edged fiddle that gives way to Miller’s equally biting lyric indictment of “voices in the chamber halls calling each other wrong” before Weinstein joins to harmonize with him on a memorable chorus built around the title’s urgent question. Fiddle and banjo engage in their own riveting dialogues as the lyrics wonder, “are we too dug in to face the truth, we’re getting nowhere fast.”
With “Where Do You Stand,” Zoe & Cloyd reaffirm their role as leading voices in a new generation of artists expressing the evolution of Southern Appalachian music and culture.
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Jenny Banai - Intermittent Heart.
Jenny Banai is an old soul and a child of the nineties, and as such, has inherited both the contemplative wonder and the wardrobe of her parents. She is a fresh and authentic voice who pairs powerhouse vocal abilities with unique and clever pop arrangements and whose live show commands attention.
Often garnering comparison to vocalists such as Feist and Jeff Buckley, Jenny Banai’s creative influences range from Andy Shauf to Patrick Watson to The Cranberries. Armed with classical training on both voice and violin, Jenny performs live on electric guitar and brings a unique vision to the creation of powerful progressive pop music.
Following her self-released debut album, Flowering Head (2015), Jenny independently undertook several Canadian tours, collaborated on the documentary Where We Come Home, and early in 2017, her song Boars was featured on the TV and web series The Drive. In 2018, Jenny received Fraser Valley Music Awards, “Folk Artist of The Year”.
Jenny’s new album entitled, couchwalker was recorded at Afterlife Studios in Vancouver with co-producer, Scott Currie and engineer, John Raham (Frazey Ford, Destroyer, We Are The City).
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Showing posts with label Zoe and Cloyd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zoe and Cloyd. Show all posts
Zoe and Cloyd - Sandtimer - Thin Lear
We have some splendid and totally natural roots music from Zoe and Cloyd, the musicianship is just right and the dual vocals and live feel to the song adds even more character. Sandtimer have just shared 'Dormant' along with a fine video, their indie folk is outstanding and the vocals are wonderful on this addictive song. 'Death In A Field' from Thin Lear (songwriter/producer Matt Longo) is a beautiful piece, where his vocals are just so engaging and the musical arrangement is seemingly pristine.
Zoe and Cloyd - Looking Out For You And Me.
Roots duo Zoe & Cloyd have released a video for their latest single, “Looking Out For You And Me,” a song that illustrates today's issues of change and how it affects us. It warns against allowing self-interest and short-term gain to take precedence over the well-being of future generations.
Husband and wife artists Zoe (Natalya Weinstein) and Cloyd (John Miller) blend their long-crafted folk harmonies with fellow bandmates Kevin Kehrberg on bass and Bennett Sullivan on banjo. The tight musicianship, great flatpicking and impassioned message shows Zoe & Cloyd's ability to play hard-driving, traditional Bluegrass with a message modernized for the times.
The song was written by Miller, who says, "'Looking Out For You And Me' asks us to look critically at the ones making decisions related to our collective well-being and that of future generations."
Zoe & Cloyd spring from deep roots in American music. Founding members of the acclaimed Americana trio, Red June, and long-time veterans of the Asheville, NC music scene, Natalya Zoe Weinstein and John Cloyd Miller released their second full-length album, Eyes Brand New, in spring of 2017. Highlighting their emotive songwriting and signature harmonies, this album showcased the breadth of their collective musical spirit, seamlessly combining original folk, country, old-time and bluegrass with sincerity and zeal. Zoe & Cloyd’s debut recording, Equinox (2015), was met with high acclaim and the pair has continued to gain momentum with a 1st place win at the prestigious FreshGrass Festival Duo Contest along with performances at MerleFest, Music City Roots and more.
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Sandtimer - Dormant.
Dormant follows on from a string of laid-back indie folk singles that Sandtimer have published over the last year, but moves into deeper, darker territory with dense percussion, haunting vocals and spiky acoustic guitar.
An indie folk band might be considered an unlikely outfit for Robert Sword, a classically trained pianist, and Simon Thomas, an Oceanography graduate, to end up in. However, these things can happen in unusual ways. Sandtimer create music that often centres around the passage of time, including themes of reflection, escapism and hope.
Their recordings have been featured on a number of national radio shows in the UK, as well as several prominent blogs and playlists. Now operating as a full band, with Rachel Thomas on bass and vocals, and Alex Jackson on percussion, they have performed on the UK acoustic circuit frequently, as well as touring western Canada and northern continental Europe.
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Thin Lear - Death in a Field.
Inspired by the passing of a loved one, Thin Lear’s latest single Death In A Field is a complex story about death and rebirth. As per artist’s words: Initially, I just had the opening line of the song: “I’ll survive as a child/All hungry and wild/Life overwhelming is life at the start.” I just really liked the concept of someone nearing the end of their life, and thinking about being reborn, being a baby again, and looking forward to the tremendousness of experiencing life for the first time. Someone at the end of existence feeling the tug of something new, and terrifying, and potentially beautiful. And then the choruses came out of that. Waking in the morning, or “drowning in an evening of lovely black sky,” indicate a kind of serenity in being swallowed up by eternity, and finding some sort of comfort in that.
When I started writing the song, I had recently watched someone I love pass away in a brief, but organic way, and there were moments in their process of dying that seemed to bring revelations to them. The character in the song is of my own invention though. This character isn’t perfect, and is well aware of that, and is simply being honest about what they’ll miss the most, and what they’re looking forward to. And it isn’t always flattering, but it’s true to the character.
The song aims to connect the listener to a feeling or a memory of something sad or wonderful from years ago, maybe something they haven’t thought about in a while…a person or a moment. Songs I love really do that for me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to know how I’m actually feeling, so music allows me to dig past any confusion, and really uncover pieces of who I am and what brings me emotion. So, yeah, I hope the song opens a heavy door in someone’s mind - Thin Lear.
Thin Lear, the project of Queens-based songwriter/producer Matt Longo, evokes the restless expansiveness of 70’s-era studio obsessives. Pulling influence from the insular worlds of Astral Weeks, Tim Buckley, and Shuggie Otis, Thin Lear finds the middle ground between the spontaneous electricity of a live room and the pristine meticulousness of careful, deliberate production. With sweetly plaintive vocals, often compared to Harry Nilsson and Cat Power, melodies hover over orchestral flourishes, gleamingly processed guitars, and ethereal organs and pedal steel, all backed by the kinetic sway and thump of a jazz combo. Songs careen from ornately warm ballads, to psychedelically-tinged folk, to propulsive grooves, with rushes of color and lush walls of sound.
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Zoe and Cloyd - Looking Out For You And Me.
Roots duo Zoe & Cloyd have released a video for their latest single, “Looking Out For You And Me,” a song that illustrates today's issues of change and how it affects us. It warns against allowing self-interest and short-term gain to take precedence over the well-being of future generations.
Husband and wife artists Zoe (Natalya Weinstein) and Cloyd (John Miller) blend their long-crafted folk harmonies with fellow bandmates Kevin Kehrberg on bass and Bennett Sullivan on banjo. The tight musicianship, great flatpicking and impassioned message shows Zoe & Cloyd's ability to play hard-driving, traditional Bluegrass with a message modernized for the times.
The song was written by Miller, who says, "'Looking Out For You And Me' asks us to look critically at the ones making decisions related to our collective well-being and that of future generations."
Zoe & Cloyd spring from deep roots in American music. Founding members of the acclaimed Americana trio, Red June, and long-time veterans of the Asheville, NC music scene, Natalya Zoe Weinstein and John Cloyd Miller released their second full-length album, Eyes Brand New, in spring of 2017. Highlighting their emotive songwriting and signature harmonies, this album showcased the breadth of their collective musical spirit, seamlessly combining original folk, country, old-time and bluegrass with sincerity and zeal. Zoe & Cloyd’s debut recording, Equinox (2015), was met with high acclaim and the pair has continued to gain momentum with a 1st place win at the prestigious FreshGrass Festival Duo Contest along with performances at MerleFest, Music City Roots and more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandtimer - Dormant.
Dormant follows on from a string of laid-back indie folk singles that Sandtimer have published over the last year, but moves into deeper, darker territory with dense percussion, haunting vocals and spiky acoustic guitar.
An indie folk band might be considered an unlikely outfit for Robert Sword, a classically trained pianist, and Simon Thomas, an Oceanography graduate, to end up in. However, these things can happen in unusual ways. Sandtimer create music that often centres around the passage of time, including themes of reflection, escapism and hope.
Their recordings have been featured on a number of national radio shows in the UK, as well as several prominent blogs and playlists. Now operating as a full band, with Rachel Thomas on bass and vocals, and Alex Jackson on percussion, they have performed on the UK acoustic circuit frequently, as well as touring western Canada and northern continental Europe.
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Thin Lear - Death in a Field.
Inspired by the passing of a loved one, Thin Lear’s latest single Death In A Field is a complex story about death and rebirth. As per artist’s words: Initially, I just had the opening line of the song: “I’ll survive as a child/All hungry and wild/Life overwhelming is life at the start.” I just really liked the concept of someone nearing the end of their life, and thinking about being reborn, being a baby again, and looking forward to the tremendousness of experiencing life for the first time. Someone at the end of existence feeling the tug of something new, and terrifying, and potentially beautiful. And then the choruses came out of that. Waking in the morning, or “drowning in an evening of lovely black sky,” indicate a kind of serenity in being swallowed up by eternity, and finding some sort of comfort in that.
When I started writing the song, I had recently watched someone I love pass away in a brief, but organic way, and there were moments in their process of dying that seemed to bring revelations to them. The character in the song is of my own invention though. This character isn’t perfect, and is well aware of that, and is simply being honest about what they’ll miss the most, and what they’re looking forward to. And it isn’t always flattering, but it’s true to the character.
The song aims to connect the listener to a feeling or a memory of something sad or wonderful from years ago, maybe something they haven’t thought about in a while…a person or a moment. Songs I love really do that for me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to know how I’m actually feeling, so music allows me to dig past any confusion, and really uncover pieces of who I am and what brings me emotion. So, yeah, I hope the song opens a heavy door in someone’s mind - Thin Lear.
Thin Lear, the project of Queens-based songwriter/producer Matt Longo, evokes the restless expansiveness of 70’s-era studio obsessives. Pulling influence from the insular worlds of Astral Weeks, Tim Buckley, and Shuggie Otis, Thin Lear finds the middle ground between the spontaneous electricity of a live room and the pristine meticulousness of careful, deliberate production. With sweetly plaintive vocals, often compared to Harry Nilsson and Cat Power, melodies hover over orchestral flourishes, gleamingly processed guitars, and ethereal organs and pedal steel, all backed by the kinetic sway and thump of a jazz combo. Songs careen from ornately warm ballads, to psychedelically-tinged folk, to propulsive grooves, with rushes of color and lush walls of sound.
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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...