Background from the band - News on the detrimental effects that our collective human selves wreak upon our poor planet always get's my mind turning. I notice others are less inclined to want to listen to, or talk about these stories because they're often told to us in a harsh, stark doomsday kind of way, so I thought maybe I would try to write the tragedies into a less alarmist, more upbeat hopeful song, maybe listeners will absorb it and think about it with a more positive tone.
The way the recording ended up, with the horns and bombast, just made me think of some strange long-lost educational TV show, and that's the direction we tried to take with the video. Our debut album is out now via The Hand! Bandcamp here.
'Welcome to the Future' is a clever and massively catchy indie rock song. The video adds some colour and fun to the whole thing, the song is more than enough on it's own, so a double helping of delight is ensured.
Background - Juno Award nominated Royal Canoe have just released sophomore album Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit via Embassy of Music (EU), Moorworks (Japan) and Nevado Music.
The band have since followed up with a wonderfully quirky visual accompaniment to 'Bicycle'. The animated video by Matea Radic and Bill Acheson perfectly complements the band's wildly creative take on music, and will have you smiling and/or uncontrollably tapping your feet.
Royal Canoe has always had an intensively rhythmic heart and that is more the case than ever. Their lyrics grow organically out of an addictive percussive flow and the unique topography of each track. Reinforcing their vocal and percussive core allowed them to be more adventurous with experimentation; more determined in their ongoing pursuit of the elusive musicality that can be found in collisions between digital and analogue worlds. In addition to their their usual buffet of synthesisers, effects pedals and homemade samples, late nights lead to to rabbit-holes of attaching contact mics to water bottles to play them like percussion instruments and convoluting synths through beluga whale field recordings. Website here.
If you like genre defying music then 'Bicycle' may well be a real treat for your ears. The video adds another dimension to the song, which is just so vibrant and engaging. Superbly different!
Background - Skinny Girl Diet debut new video "Bored" off their upcoming debut LP "Heavy Flow" and announce USA vinyl pre-order. (HHBTM Records). One of the most eagerly anticipated albums in years, Skinny Girl Diet’s Heavy Flow is already getting regular play on BBC Radio 6 (by Iggy Pop, no less) and the London band’s been featured in just about every music blog/magazine you can imagine.
The band won’t even be old enough to drink during their upcoming US tour, and yet Delilah Holiday, Ursula Holiday, and Amelia Cutler have been doing this for almost six years now.. SGD is raw, bleeding, and beautiful, a perfect convergence of Angela Carter and Angela Davis and The Powerpuff Girls. Inspired by punk and grunge and being alive & awake in the 21st century, their debut album—self-released in the UK so they can control the product, released in the US on HHBTM Records b/c it’s the only label you can trust—is as cathartic & angry & moving as anything we’ve heard in a long time. ‘OK’ may be the best song ever written about watching a loved one struggle through depression.
'Bored' typifies the bands uncompromising musical stance, as they continue to impress with their brand of grungy punk. Forty years on from the UK punk explosion and Skinny Girl Diet bring a fresh new and urgent sound, ensuring there is life a plenty in the genre today.
Background promo - The incredibly gifted singer/songwriter and author Kristin Hersh has announced the first single "Soma Gone Slapstick" from her forthcoming solo effort “Wyatt at the Coyote Palace”. This double CD/ book combination will be released by Omnibus Press in the UK, Australia and New Zealand on October 28, 2016 and in the USA and Canada on November 11, 2016.
"I heard Soma move through seasons: fall on the rebound, a manic spring, a cruel winter, and through places: California, Chicago, New Orleans, a protest march in Koreatown. When I finished, it was dawn, my engineer and I had coffee and I walked home through fat flakes falling down instead of sideways. Goofy + falling + precise + muscular = soma with a healthy dose of slapstick," says Kristin Hersh, who currently resides in Rhode Island.
‘Wyatt’ is the third release in the ground-breaking book-CD format that Hersh began with her previous solo album “Crooked” and Throwing Muses’ 2013 release “Purgatory/Paradise”. Since sharing essays and tour diaries on her own website, she has published the critically acclaimed “Paradoxical Undressing” in the UK (released as “Rat Girl”in the USA), a children’s book “Toby Snax,” and “Don’t Suck, Don’t Die,” a personal account of her long friendship with the late Vic Chesnutt, which earned her rave reviews.
“Wyatt” is a collection of true stories and songs of love and loss, combining Hersh’s humour with the pains and travails of a life spent constantly in motion. Defined by potent guitars, addictive melodies and poignant lyrics, this release is a serious sign of strength and depth, bringing the listener into what the BBC calls Hersh's "dark and dizzy world."
In November, she returns to the UK and Ireland for a rare solo acoustic tour in support of her new release, with an additional date just added in London due to popular demand. Her subsequent U.S. tour kicks off in Seattle on November 29. “An Evening with Kristin Hersh” celebrates her endless creativity with readings and songs spanning her entire career. Full tour details here.
Kristin Hersh continues to be a creative and fascinating artist. 'Soma Gone Slapstick' mixes acoustic and understated indie rock in an intriguing manner, one that provides the ideal backdrop for her vocals, and a fine teaser for the next release.
Background - Slow Hollows have shared the second track "Last Dance" from their upcoming album. Romantic is due November 4 on Danger Collective Records.
Romantic is the forthcoming release from Los Angeles based post-pop band Slow Hollows. Written over the span of a few months between 2015 to 2016, Romantic is meant to serve as a response to the previous record Atelophobia. Austin Feinstein, the creative influence behind the project, wrote the songs from the album during his senior year of high school. Facebook here.
Upcoming Tour Dates 10-09-16 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey* 10-11-16 - Reno, NV - Holland Project* 10-12-16 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop (early/late shows)* 10-13-16 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory* 10-23-16 - Orange County, CA - Beach Goth 11-04-16 - Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom * = w/ Beach Fossils.
We featured Slow Hollows at the beginning of the month however follow up song 'Last Dance' is a good one and well worth the share. There are some additional tour dates now as mentioned above. The track is a nicely paced alt rock song and again the vocals impress as does the bands really tight feel.
Background - Following on from 2013’s experimental debut album ‘Zimmer’, Sydney art-rock duo Fabels have just released ‘Hi’, a collection of eight eclectic songs intended and guaranteed to take the listener down a path less travelled.
Highly original and sonically challenging to describe, Fabels main stock in trade could be painted as intense guitar-loop based atmospheric electro-psyche-pop. But beneath the haunting vocals, the sonic squalls, the thoughtful vignettes and at times evocative refrains, lurks an authentic old-school punk ethos. Not the clichéd mass-marketed music of recent times, but an artful individuality and innovation that lies at the heart of the true ethic.
With recent Australian shows tucked under their belt, Fabels have now set up camp in Berlin as they prepare for their upcoming European tour. Already boasting a diverse short history of overseas adventures, Fabels have performed at venues across Germany and Sweden, at art galleries in Milan, former Soviet spy bases in East Berlin and at much loved dope cafes in Amsterdam. Fabels are well on track to keep stamping their individuality on psyched-out experimental music globally. ‘Hi’ featuring the single ‘Silent Language’ is out now via all good digital retailers and CD via Bandcamp. Facebook here.
'Silent Language' slips and slides between genres and with an overall psyche-rock feel to it. It's a deliciously non conformist piece of music that seemingly just kicks off and wanders where it feels is right, love it!
Background - Two years after Brandish registered a momentary blip on the radar with ‘The Ellyse Perry Song’, the Launceston comedy band has returned - with slightly more attitude and some sexy activewear.
The band’s first offering from their forthcoming debut Self-Titled EP is ‘Running’, showcasing long-time mates, Hamish Geale (vocals, guitar, keys) Brent Jacobson (lead guitar), Rob O’Brien (drums) and Ryan Goodger (bass) at their creative best. ‘Running’ pairs jangly guitar riffs with juicy urban imagery.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by part-time producer Doug Briton in a bedroom studio in Launceston, ‘Running’ sees the band step away from its fondness of guitar-driven alternative pop to explore the foreign world of hip-hop. "The lyrics have a bit of attitude so we were keen to put some hip-hop vibes into this one," Geale said. "We'd always used traditional drums up until now so it felt like this song was the perfect track to try out some electronic percussion for a change."
Deciding that the song needed female vocals to make the chorus sparkle, the band considered names like Beyonce and Taylor Swift before eventually settling on Geale’s sister Victoria, who also happens to be quite good at singing. "We tossed around names like Sia and Adele but in the end my sister was the best option and also was the only one who returned calls from our manager,” says Geale.
With lyrics such as "I'm born to win, I ain't born to lose, if life's a 10k I'm Hicham El Guerrouj", ‘Running’ doubles as a quasi-motivational backing track to all those times you managed to hustle into something you thought you'd be too late for. “Running” will be in Digital Stores on the 30th of September Brandish’s Self-Titled EP will be released 14th of October 2016. Facebook here.
Lyrically superb and musically melodic (and very catchy) 'Running' mixes humour and fine pop, and does it to a very high and impressive standard. The video adds to the charm and in all honesty I'm left wanting more!
Background - Glenn Meling, 44,is an independent artist, songwriter and producer from Oslo. He has lived in Australia, United Kingdom and Norway, making music from an early age. Whilst living in London studying and performing solo gigs, he met sound engineer Steve Honest and made the album ‘Sometimes a Bigger Heart’ (2009). He had previously made the album ‘Melingrad’ (2007) in a Norwegian boathouse in one of the fjords near Bergen. ‘Minnesota’ will be his third album.
Glenn became interested in the journeys of his countrymen after travelling extensively in the States where the influence of the Norwegian settlers continues to this day. In the 1800s the American midwest became a popular destination for the settlers and today you’ll find collages like St. Olaf in Minnesota which is an institution that studies Norwegian heritage and immigration. Also, the famous Joel and Ethan Cohen-film Fargo, has been inspirational and something that sparked an interest in the subject.
Lead single "Brother Jonathan" is about migration to America in the 19th century, when Brother Jonathan was a term used by immigrants to refer to the USA. Brother Jonathan, which predates the more widely known phrase Uncle Sam, personifies the spirit of the new nation in the eyes of the Europeans who left their homelands behind for a fresh start across the Atlantic. The album Minnesota release date: October 14,2016. Website here.
'Brother Jonathan' is a powerful and very beautiful song. Musical production is of a very high standard and the vocals and harmonies just add so much more. Totally impressed and looking forward to hearing the album.
Background promo - About ‘I Should Know’ Scarlett plays her darkest hand. The sultry vocal stylings and direct address to her father are reminiscent of Lykke Li. “Are you stupid enough to touch her with your love?” goes the hook atop warm synths and clean minimal production. In Scarlett’s words it’s about “the initial anger and confusion that my father was going out with someone who was exactly the same age as me and also 19 years old at the time.
About Blue Again EP Poignancy simmers beneath ‘Blue Again’, the new EP by Felixstowe artist Scarlett Saunders. On the one hand it’s a pop record - the immediacy of the music makes this much obvious. On the other, it’s something literary and harder to define; a probing exploration of love lost and time passing. It’s a record that is just as much at home in a casual pop lover’s library as it is in the most zealous followers of leftfield music.
About Scarlett Saunders Creative polymath Scarlett Saunders is an old school artist. Kickstarting her days by painting on foraged wood, she then makes her way to acting school for a twelve hour stretch before going home and working late into the night by channelling her remaining creative energy into wonderfully poetic pop music. For Scarlett, all mediums of creativity reflexively bleed into her work. Music is one of several mediums open to her, all of which are tended and watered with equal dedication. Her fixation with art stems not from any ego-flattering preoccupation with being an artiste or celebrity. She entertains no highfalutin dreams of top 40 stardom. Instead it stems from something much purer; a driving need to express herself purely to entertain and enrich her life. Growing up in a house where her mother didn’t believe in TV or games as a form of entertainment, she would sing or read to occupy herself. The result, as manifested in her music, is a close emotional connection to her subject matter. Music and lyricism are as natural to her as eating or breathing. On her debut EP ‘Blue Again’ she goes some way to prove that, producing four graceful and lyrical compositions that explore human relationships and remembrances. With writing as concise and direct as hers, all the world will surely be her stage.
We featured a track from the Blue Again EP back in June however the opportunity to share 'I Should Know' is to good to miss. Back in June I said "it's hard to pigeonhole her music" and this song remains pretty leftfield pop as well. I'm told that Scarlett is getting attention from the music business alongside some encouraging reviews, all of which is understandable with songs this good.
Background - LA minimal pop duo Bouquet release their latest single "All Living Rooms." The track will be featured in an upcoming episode from the third season of Transparent.
Bouquet is a minimal electronic duo formed in Los Angeles in 2013. Members Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs (vocals/guitar) and Max Foreman (vocals/synthesizer) take an approach to pop songwriting influenced by early electronic post punk and 70s folk, constructing a world of surrealist imagery with emotional acuity.
Carolyn is a visual artist, chorus director, and recently created the score for a Cartoon Network short; Max is an experimental composer and music professor. The two bonded over a shared love of boundary pushing artists such as Sly & the Family Stone, Laurie Anderson, The Raincoats, Yoko Ono, Suicide, Gal Costa, Julee Cruise, Silver Apples, and Throbbing Gristle. In 2015 Bouquet released their debut EP In A Dream on Ulrike/Folktale Records. Using a palette of vocal harmonies, analog electronics and thundering guitars, In A Dream invites the listener into Bouquet’s uncanny universe, where clocks strike backwards and dust fills trophy cups.
Since 2013, Bouquet has performed live with acts such as Zola Jesus, Deradoorian, Chris Cohen, Tinariwen, SOAK, Ariel Pink, EMA, Eileen Myles, Lower Dens, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Nite Jewel, Geneva Jacuzzi, and Mt. Eerie, at venues such as Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Art Basel Miami; and All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival, UK, curated by TV on the Radio. Live shows often incorporate visual elements created by Carolyn and collaborators including JJ Stratford, Dawn Garcia, and Ry Rocklen. Bouquet is currently planning to release their debut full length LP, Spellbreaker – mixed with Cole Marsden Greif-Neill – the end of 2016.
Tour Dates (more TBA): 10/3 Los Angeles, CA - Skylight Books for Rad Women Worldwide book launch 11/03 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios * 11/05 Seattle, WA - Barboza *
11/09 Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater * * = w/ Chris Cohen
For a minimalist pop duo the new song 'All Living Rooms' sounds quite expansive and full of atmosphere. Gently melodic and with charming vocals this is, one very tasteful track.
Background promo - Austin's March and Beauty are thrilled to share their music video for "Stay" off their recently released Summer Said EP.
March and Beauty is an indie rock foursome based in Austin made up of Terri Dittmar (vocals/bass), Tim Dittmar (drums), Sean Mullens (guitar), and Paul Stautinger (guitar). They independently released their Summer Said EP on September 5th. Recorded at OHM Recording Facility with Chico Jones, the EP moves from folky dream pop to darker shoegaze and explores the importance of being young at heart. March and Beauty takes pride in that they don't use any synthesizers. Every ambient drone, weird crash, and beautiful swell are done live with guitars using analog effects!
This Fall, March and Beauty will be bringing their Summer Said EP across Texas, making stops in Austin, San Marcos, Houston, and Dallas. Please check below for additional show information. March and Beauty will also be releasing a full length in early 2017. Bandcamp here.
'Stay' is more at the folky dream pop end of the bands spectrum, with its laid back and melodic feel and Terri Dittmar's soothing vocals and very honest and natural feel.
Background - Australian singer, songwriter and producer Jackson Dyer released his third and final single "Projection Abstraction" on September 23rd, ahead of his Compartments EP (due out 21 Oct). This single follows on from "The Absolute", and "Steal Away".
"Fortunately, I’ve been involved in the music industry for a few years now and I have the luxury of being able to pursue music as a songwriter and performer. However, I’m often left questioning the disconnect between the music industry and the “real world”. The reality of being a musician, especially a solo songwriter, is that you spend many hours in the studio or on the road alone, living parallel to everyday life. It’s so easy to fall into what others expect of you, diluting or doubting your motivations and sometimes I wonder if I’m just a parody of myself or a typical musician. This song is about those emotions that I think many of us feel at harder times in our lives and careers".
Upcoming EP Compartments is a distinct culmination of many months spent in the studio focusing on his songwriting and production, and indicates a mature new sound for the talented young artist.
Jackson Dyer first arrived in Berlin, his newfound home, just over three years ago. The vibrant city has offered the Australian singer-songwriter an array of opportunities, where he has progressed from playing his indie-folk and soul infused songs on the streets to sharing the stage with the likes of Grammy nominated acts Hozier and Hiatus Kaiyote.
Over the last few years Dyer has toured extensively throughout Europe in support of Berlin’s indie/folk outfit Mighty Oaks, performed to over 3000 people in Munich as the opening act for Jamie Cullum, and played at a host of European festivals. Facebook here.
Jackson Dyer demonstrates his fine vocals with 'Projection, Abstraction' a melodic and atmospheric song. The drums are well up in the overall mix giving the song a distinctive sound, one that actually works very well.
Background - Powerful lyricist Alyssa Bonagura is celebrating the release of her highly anticipated solo project, Road Less Traveled, available now on iTunes. Currently sitting at No. 11 on the Country iTunes Chart, the album showcases Alyssa's soulful prowess as a singer-songwriter, with the ability to deliver moving messages and hard-hitting vocals that resonate with listeners and solidify her as an artist with a path to carve all her own. Road Less Traveled is composed of ten original tracks (five of which were solely written by Alyssa herself), including the hit single, "Rebel", whose video recently aired on CMT Music, that highlight her authentic songwriting style and impressive vocal tenacity. Recorded live at Petti Sound in Nashville, Tenn. and produced entirely by Alyssa and Mark Petaccia, the album also displays her multi-instrumental talents, featuring her on the acoustic guitar, piano, ukulele, lap steel, electric guitar, bass, B3 and harmonica. "The love that was put into this record is immeasurable. I am so beyond proud of it and grateful to all of my friends who helped make this dream a reality," says the soulful songwriter. "I'm so proud to be carrying the torch in country music from my mom and dad. This music is my entire heart and soul and I can't wait for people to hear it." Described as a "project of love" that brought her closest friends and family from the underground music community together to create meaningful music, Road Less Traveled presents Alyssa as a solo artist in her truest form to date. She is set to perform on the ASCAP Shady Grove Stage presented by City Winery at the Pilgrimage Festival on Sunday, and will host an album release party at 3rd & Lindsley next week on Sept. 28.
This daughter of country music (her parents being RCA country recording artists, Baillie & The Boys) has already been named "A fixture on Nashville's Indie singer-songwriter scene" by Rolling Stone while the Bee Gees' Robin Gibb said she is "Stunning, Original, A future star in the making. Alyssa has evolved into a songwriting seamstress for a number of artists including Steven Tyler ("I Make My Own Sunshine"), Jessie James Decker ("Lights Down Low") and Jana Kramer ("Circles"). The six-stringed songstress now looks forward to taking her fans on a solo journey with music that she, and the industry, fully believes in. Website here.
'Rebel' unfolds as a gentle vocal and piano lead song, with a sensitive musical arrangement, that helps the track build into something quite powerful. It's country music with a more modern and very natural style throughout.
Background - Canadian post punk outfit Port Juvee share new single “Double Vision,” from forthcoming album Crimewave (November 4th, 2016). “Double Vision” sets the pace of the album with it's ramshackle post-punk urgency and underlying dark verve, encapsulating the feel of prowling around the shadowy downtown of Calgary at night.
Port Juvee may call the plains of Canada home, but they are no stranger to international success. Having played a multitude of festivals including CMJ, Sled Island X-Fest and Rifflandia, the fivesome has also supported DIIV, Titus Andronicus, Twin Peaks, Sticky Fingers, Bleachers and The Orwells on tour. The band also slipped into the global spotlight in 2014 when tracks from their Revenge EP were featured in Herschel Supply Company’s Spring ad campaign.
Although Port Juvee embody a sound that is equally indebted to New York City post-punk and California surf garage, the band's stomping grounds are in Calgary. An isolated city that thrives on extremes, the huge vacant buildings downtown take on an eerie feeling after dark and inhabit a post-apocalyptic vibe. This, combined with the band's obsession with gritty 80’s films in the vein of John Carpenter and David Cronenberg, are the essence and source of inspiration for their energetic post punk sound.
Written and recorded in Calgary during a transformative time for the band, Crimewave is Port Juvee's third studio release and their most dizzying assortment yet. Produced by the band with help from Justin Gerrish (Vampire Weekend “Contra”), Crimewave moves seamlessly through the lackadaisical punk of "Bleached Out Soda Pop," "Trapped Under Water’s" pounding garage rhythms and the 80’s-inspired escapism of the title track. Bandcamp here.
With a tight beat and wailing guitars setting the backdrop and post punk vocals sitting well in the mix 'Double Vision' is a blast of sounds from the past, with a modern slant, plenty of feeling, and bags of energy.
Poster Children - If You See Kay (March 1989 Blanket demo).
Background - Recorded by Steve Albini in 1990, Daisychain Reaction is a raw blast of Midwestern post-punk from the heyday of indie rock. It includes Poster Children’s most well-known song “If You See Kay.” The album was released on Twin/Tone Records in 1991 and re-released in 1992 on Sire Records in the US and Creation Records in the UK. It has been unavailable on vinyl since.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Daisychain Reaction‘s release, Lotuspool Records is proud to present the definitive vinyl edition of this early ’90s classic, available on Sept. 30th. The album’s twelve songs have been remastered from the original tapes and cut to lacquer by Bob Weston of Chicago Mastering Service and pressed onto 180 gram black vinyl. You can pre-order it right now, right here.
The package features a 12-page retro fanzine with a new, exclusive essay by Jon Fine (author of Your Band Sucks) and reflections on the making of the album by members of the band. In addition, a digital download card for three previously unreleased tracks (an early version of “Where We Live” from the Albini Flower Plower sessions and 1989 demo versions of “If You See Kay” and “Where We Live”) is included.
Poster Children will be touring the US in the fall of 2016: 09/29 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Vitus 09/30 – Washington DC – DC9 10/1 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s 10/2 – Boston, MA – Great Scott 10/12 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo 10/13 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill 10/14 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir 10/15 – Seattle, WA – Barboza 10/16 – Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt 11/23 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s (2 Shows).
'If You See Kay (March 1989 Blanket demo)' is one of three bonus tracks with the reissue. Full of raw intensity the track erupts with power, as it drags us back to a quarter of a century ago. As for the album, well it has stood the test of time, the sheer energy and post punk indie vibes come through as fresh today as they did originally.
Sunshine & The Blue Moon - Welcome to the Future.
