Saturday, 8 January 2022

Elowynn - Hate Moss - Sun Cutter - Kodiak Arcade - The Two Spirits

Elowynn - Stop The Wheel.

In an all-embracing pleading towards peace, folk-rock singer/songwriter Elowynn gently affirms her powerfully poignant and increasingly timely new single, “Stop the Wheel” is very much a protest song.

Drawing a colourful sign on the ‘island of peace’ she so loves, the track directly addresses the heartfelt need for mindfulness in a fractured world — and features moving chants from multi-award winning, Order of Canada members and multi-honourable doctorate recipients Indigenous Canadian artist and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Inuit artist Tanya Tagaq.

The song lands alongside Elowynn’s new album, Windtanz. Teeming with imagery of lions, fairies, the wind, and the night, the 11-song release was recorded at Wishing Well Studio in Germany with award-winning English-German producer Andrew Cadie (Broom Bezzums). The release reflects Elowynn’s tenure as a gifted musician and songwriter whose lyrics often depict rolling waves that come with the ‘sea of life’ in a poetic, emotional, and deeply intuitive way.

“We sing against the waste in our western society, and the exclusion and exploitation of poorer countries,” Elowynn — née Anne Haag — explains. “It reminds of the victims of colonialism in a Scottish poem, ‘The Twa Corbies’ where two ravens on a tree look greedily down on the body of a young, fallen soldier — who will be their next meal; the body of the dead soldier is the bitter symbol of the generations of innocent lives, killed by the war of European conquerors on their countries.”

To Elowynn, the symbolism of greed, war, and destruction that continue to drive humanity towards a looming climate crisis, social injustice, and more are met with the belief that it’s not too late to ‘Stop the Wheel,’ and create a more peaceful world.

As part of her continued and ongoing efforts, all of the proceeds from the song will support the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, which works to build cultural understanding and a path towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

==========================================================================

Credit: Ruggero Lupo Mengoni
Hate Moss - Fog.

With the New Year here and ready for taking - Hate Moss - can confirm the arrival of a new album later in 2022. In anticipation of the release, the Italo-Brazilian industrial / post-punk duo have shared an electrifying new cut: “Fog”. Executed with a mesh-like precision, it’s a clash of stuttering electronics, coruscating beats and razored riffs and serves as an adrenaline-pulsing first peek into their forthcoming second LP.

Spasming with a feverish unpredictability and shadowed with an overarching sense of solitude, “Fog” was written during an extended period of isolation last year and makes for an engrossing document of an artist reaching for freedom.

Written, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered in just 10 days by Hate Moss’ Tina (vox, electronics) and Ian (vox, drums), the track also sees the duo working in collaboration with celebrated producer and sound engineer Pour Atom Oil. “Fog” is also coupled with a video originally recorded at their rehearsal room in London, and post-produced by visual artists Polarys Collective. Watch the video here.

Hate Moss is an Italo-Brazilian duo formed by Tina and Ian in 2018. Formed in London and currently living a nomadic existence, the duo have performed on numerous stages across South America, Europe and the Middle East, while drawing crowds at international festivals like the Venice Biennale (IT), Locomotiva Festival (BR) and Goiania Noise (BR), earning a cult following in the process.


==========================================================================

Sun Cutter - Dont Fail Me Now.

'Don't Fail Me Now' is the new single by Sun Cutter out on Jan 7th, 2022. It is taken from his John Lennon-esque self-titled debut album, released on Bronzerat Records (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gemma Ray, The Still). Hailing from Colchester, Sun Cutter (aka Kevin Pearce)'s  diary-like personal account is mixed in with classic but no-less-original songwriting. Bliss blues, perfect for a sun-bleached winter morning. For fans of Bob Dylan, Alex Chilton and Tim Buckley.

Sun Cutter (aka Kevin Pearce) explains: "when i was writing 'Don't Fail...' I had recently read and remembered the quote from writer David Graeber - 'the ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.' Hit me like a bolt of lightning that something that seems so simple we all rarely do - but its in our power to change both our world and the world around us by simply changing our attitude within it."

This is especially resonant when you learn that the Sun Cutter album was written in reflection of, and as rehabilitation to, a heart attack that Kevin suffered at the age of 33. 

Songs of love and protest befit the man, and his politics of empathy, evident in his lyrics, are also demonstrated by his dayjob as a mental health worker (Mind). Co-produced with pal Dean Honer (Moonlandingz, Eccentronic Research Council, Pins). Dean Honer is also one half of I Monster, and Kevin lent his voice and guitar to the acoustic version of  their hit "Daydream In Blue" . They have also collaborated and created “The Sounds of Science”, a collection of science songs for kids, released in April 2022 on Castles in Space. Previously Kevin  has released (under his real name) the album "Matthew Hopkins & The Wormhole" (AWAL), a concept record about the Witchfinder General who lived in the same village (Mistley in Essex).

==========================================================================

Kodiak Arcade - Why Pretend.

Over the past 15 years Graeme has been lucky enough to work on more than 40 television shows, and has contributed to more than 1000 episodes of television. His work covers the gamut too. He has scored documentary features on BBC and National Geographic, contributed to Triple AAA games and, along with his writing partners, has become one of the worlds most heard composers – most well-known for their work on hit TV shows like Paw Patrol, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and the Total Drama franchise.

The last five years have brought multiple awards from both SOCAN and BMI – recognizing their musical reach both domestically and internationally. Many of Voodoo Highway’s shows have received Emmys, and in 2020, Graeme and his writing partners took home their second Canadian screen award.

Kodiak Arcade is a passion project where a lifelong television composer is reversing the usual process. Instead of writing music for picture, he is creating visual art posted to Instagram, Twitter and YouTube depicting the feelings and mental states of his music. Visually, this project is a means of exploring the forefront of AI / Human collaboration with generative art. Musically, it has been a means of exploring new musical palette ideas, expanding on orchestration ideas Graeme found while working on other visual media, and has served to expand his network of talented instrumental collaborators.

==========================================================================

The Two Spirits - Crossroads.

The Two Spirits is an Alternative band of two sisters from Dallas, Georgia. The older sister, Savannah, is on keys and the guitar, and Gracie, the youngest, sings vocals. The sisters write, record, edit, and produce their own music through their own small independent record label S.G. Records. 

Most of their inspiration comes from the classic rock of the 80’s and 90’s, but the band is also influenced by more modern musicians such as My Chemical Romance. The band dabbles in multiple genres, creating there own unique, new age, pop-rock sound and country-style Melodies.

Crossroads is a song that tells the story of 3 people who sold their soul. It is a depiction of the 27 club and if listened carefully one can tell who the song is about.


==========================================================================

Friday, 7 January 2022

Jesse D’Kora - The Starlings - Dunlap & Mabe - Datura

Jesse D’Kora - Fourth Day of November.

Background from Jesse: My name is Jesse D’Kora and I write dream pop music with some beachy vibes. The style is inherently lofi as I also write, record, mix and master all of the music in my spare bedroom in Salford (UK). I have embarked on a musical journey this year whereby I am going to release a single every month, then with thoughts of an album in May 2023.

Fourth Day of November, the first song in this journey, is written about the anticipation of moving from one place to another. It conveys the blend of nervousness and excitement that inevitably comes with a new beginning. The connotations that align with my fresh start on the road to an album seemed to fit perfectly.

Musically, it's a revert back to the style created previously in Morning Light and Far From Home. After a short musical detour at the end of last year, I want to get back to writing songs that make you feel warm and nostalgic.

==========================================================================

The Starlings - Just Come Home.

The Starlings today have released their new single ‘Just Come Home’. This is the first single of their upcoming album which will be released in May 2022. The Starlings, better known as Tom Dice en Kato Callebaut, are two singer-songwriters who join forces and share their passion for music and for each other. After they where both solo-candidates for X-Factor and Idols, The Starlings were part of ‘Liefde voor Muziek’, a very popular TV show in Belgium (and the Netherlands). This did not go unnoticed, as they achieved several gold records for the songs used in the TV program. With the release of ‘Just Come Home’ Tom and Kato are now ready to release their new album. On February 13 the will present their new music in the Lotto Arena in Antwerp.

Tom and Kato explain about their new single: ‘'Just Come Home' is about being honest without any filters. Admitting that life and relationships can be hard. But looking forward to the moment you come back to yourself, home. Getting up after you've fallen, trying to break through the wall of negativity. The future holds no promises, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep going, let alone fear what's to come. People are strong.”

They stand for rootsy pop music with a great love for harmonies. Music lovers could witness this for the first time in a Belgian tv show called “Liefde Voor Muziek”, in which they performed enchanting versions and brought tears of emotion to many living rooms. The reactions from existing and new fans were simply overwhelming. They received golden awards for single 'Little Submarine' and debut album "Don't Look Back”. Since then, they are among the most talented musicians in Belgium. 

For their second album, Dice and Callebaut flew to Norway where Tom wanted to share his love for the country with Kato. It worked. The record has a great positivity and a sound that can only be linked to The Starlings. The music and band pull you like no other into their own world and you will regret having to leave after listening to it . Fortunately, there is such a thing as a repeat button.

First single “Just Come Home” is a recognizable Starlings sound. The song makes it hard not to get emotional. A confirmation of how we got to know them. A lovely melancholy.

 

==========================================================================

Dunlap & Mabe - Sit and Watch It Rain.

Jack Dunlap, "Sit and Watch it Rain is a classic heartbreak song. A man tore down by losing his love, he can only find peace and satisfaction when it’s raining. I also use rain as a metaphor for drinking, so this is also a song about how loneliness and desperation can lead to unhealthy habits and addiction."

 The video was filmed by Jack Dunlap and Robert Mabe. It was filmed at an abandoned farmhouse at Capon Crossing Farm in Hampshire County, WV. Jack Dunlap, Robert Mabe, Alex Kimble, and Mason Wright appear in the video. Valerie Smith from Bell Buckle Records edited the footage.

Jack Dunlap & Robert Mabe have been touring the country together since 2019; though collectively have performed and recorded with the likes of Larry Keel, Gina Furtado, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, Scythian, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Bud’s Collective, The Fly Birds, Dry Mill Road, Old Town Flood, Shannon Bielski & Moonlight Drive, Tim, and Savannah Finch and The Eastman Stringband, Lonesome Highway, Circa Blue, and Jakobs Ferry Stragglers, to name a few.

They have also graced prestigious stages such as The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Carnegie Hall in New York City, Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska, The Hamilton in Washington, DC, and Forbes Center for the Performing Arts in Harrisonburg, VA. Both masters of their instruments, they play a mix of original tunes, classic bluegrass numbers, jazz favorites and covers anyone would recognize. With roots planted firmly in bluegrass, they stretch their sound in ways that all audiences will enjoy and leave the performance wanting more.


==========================================================================

Photo - Jana Divis

Datura - Phantasma.

Pacific Northwest post-punk trio, DATURA, expand on the tense, synth-heavy sound their first two EPs with their new full-length, Arcano Chemical, which sees release on Sell The Heart Records on January 27, 2022.

Recorded in their hometown of Wenatchee, Washington, and mastered by Seattle-based recording engineer and musician TAD Doyle, the album highlights the band’s range of emotion and stylistic variety, which White Light // White Heat calls, "goth-tinged, compelling, energetic and melodic dark post-punk influenced by '80s greats like The Cure, The Misfits, Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Chameleons.“

After finding their show calendar eradicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the band locked down during the winter of 2020 to craft a pensive collection of songs that tells stories of ghosts, nightmares, isolation, love and death.

 


==========================================================================

Tuesday, 4 January 2022

Sarah McQuaid - Karen Myatt - Blake Dagley

Sarah McQuaid - The Tug Of The Moon

Today a new video for “The Tug Of The Moon (The St Buryan Sessions)” has been shared. Sarah tells us "I was inspired to write it by the “leap second” that we had to add to the New Year’s Eve countdown back in 2016, in order to compensate for the slowing of the earth’s rotation caused by the moon’s gravitational pull."

As with the rest of the album, the track was filmed by Cornish filmmaker Mawgan Lewis and second cameraman John Crooks as it was being recorded live in St Buryan Church.

Born out of the pandemic, The St Buryan Sessions is the sixth solo album by award-winning multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Sarah McQuaid, and is her most powerful and emotive offering yet.

The album had its genesis in the spring of 2020, when Sarah’s gigs and tours were cancelled due to COVID-19. Thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign, she was able to finance a live solo recording(sans audience) in the lovely medieval church of St Buryan, not far from her home in rural West Cornwall.

==========================================================================

Karen Myatt - Goodnite.

Canadian songstress Karen Myatt has released the second single/video from her sophomore album Femoir. Goodnite is the second in a series of singles/lyric videos to roll-out over the coming months.

“As we bid adieu to 2021, Goodnite is a fitting and timely au revoir; bon nuit, bons rêves” shares Myatt. “A gentle and haunting lullaby to remind us that drifting off to dreams brings relief during troubling times.”

Co-written by Myatt and Montreal composer J. Rimbaudelaire, Goodnite is one of several original compositions to appear on the new recording. Femoir’s 14 songs are a fusion of soul, rock, jazz, worldbeat, and more.

The album was tracked at The Sonic Temple Recording Studio in Halifax, NS and engineered by Darren van Niekerk. It was mixed and mastered by Christian St. Germain at Studio 360 in Montreal, QC.

Some of Canada’s most renowned musicians appear on the new recording, including Chris Mitchell (saxophone), Matt Myer (trumpet), Lisa MacDougall (keyboards), Adam Fine (bass), Geoff Arsenault (drums), Shimon Walt (cello) and Jennifer Jones (violin).

 

==========================================================================

Blake Dagley - Ain't Going Down Like This.

Why Travel When Blake Dagley’s “The Nashville Sessions” Takes You Straight to Tennessee. Take a look inside the emotional smash debut EP that’s sure to make any music lover feel something

What better way to end 2021 than to reflect on the previous few years that we’ve all experienced? After arguably the most emotional time our world has ever seen in decades, Dallas Based singer-songwriter, Blake Dagley, turned all those emotions and struggles with social and emotional anxiety into head-turning music that’s sure to make you think all while singing along to his undeniably ear-catching melodies and relatable lyrics.

“The Nashville Sessions” was recorded with Producer Dean Miller at Sound Emporium Studios & OMNIsound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The EP contains 3 powerful, soulful/americana style songs that tug at all the heartstrings. Between Ain’t Going Down Like This, Paradox, and Milly, and with themes like doubt, anxiety, choice, and hope listeners are sure to relate to the lyrics in a variety of ways.

Dagley plans to promote his first EP “The Nashville Sessions” with a whole new visual element. Dagley will release three videos in support of the new EP to gain listener recognition and attraction while increasing his fan base.

"Ain’t Going Down Like This" is a song written to my anxiety and insecurities. After the invitation to come to Nashville, my anxiety came creeping in, and I began to doubt the reality of the moment. I sat down on my back porch (which is my happy place) and began to write a song in response to the doubts and fears that I was feeling. Ain’t Going Down This is a song for anyone with doubts, fears, and anxiety and wants to punch it in the face and tell it; you don’t control me.

 

==========================================================================

Wednesday, 29 December 2021

Back Next Week

We are taking a short break to recharge our batteries. Hopefully see you early in 2022. Have fun & stay safe & well!

Monday, 27 December 2021

Aura Blaze - Richard James Simpson

Aura Blaze - Open-Mindedness (E.P).

Award-winning Psychedelic Rock/Dream Pop artist Aura Blaze continues his kaleidoscopic musical and philosophical evolution on the illuminating new 3-song EP "Open-Mindedness". Aura Blaze is the brainchild of New Jersey-based musician Rhode Rachel, who writes, records and produces everything. This EP, out on the auspicious day of December 24, contains two new originals as well as is a cover of The Charlatans (“The Only One I Know”).

About "Open-Mindedness" from the Artist: Featuring 3 tracks packed with blazing energy, neon color, and a swirling galaxy of texture and innovative sound design, I can say with confidence that the Open-Mindedness EP is one for the record books.

Let the cover art speak for itself as a glimpse into the atmosphere of this release, with the sanctity of transcendental introspection blossoming radiantly through what Aldous Huxley would refer to as the “mind’s antipodes,” or the regions of the mind that one may reach through intense meditation or psychedelic exploration. It is an honor to offer Open-Mindedness as an aural adjuvant towards a deeper discovery of self, acting as a cosmic catalyst for elevated consciousness.

Originally intended as an early summer release, the recording process has been met with no shortage of setbacks, including an external hard drive that decided to crash at a significantly inopportune time during production. Thankfully, I was able to revive the recording sessions and I am happy to finally bring this EP to life amidst the adversity that challenged its creation.

Between the aforementioned crisis, changing careers, and buying my first home, it has certainly been a busy and turbulent year but eternal doth the ardent spirit rise, breaching heights unimagined, in the direction of divinity made manifest.

Suffice it to say, the culmination of the conquering of these respective trials and tribulations have refined the essence of the Open-Mindedness EP, shaping it into the strongest Aura Blaze release to date with respect to both production value and unbridled aesthetic. I am overjoyed at the prospect of finally being able to share these tracks with you. I thank all of you for your continued support as well as your patience in the interim. Rest assured the wait shall be worth it.


==========================================================================

Richard James Simpson - Love Becomes a Stranger.

The first single off of Richard James Simpson's album "Sugar The Pill" is "Love Becomes a Stranger."  The song is filled with voluptuous strings, haunting, moody guitar, and lush vocals. The track is the last song on the album and it proposes the thought of love becoming a stranger in our world. It details a world of lying, guilt, distance, words not spoken, and the hope that love will ultimately not evaporate and leave us. The song features such musicians as Don Bolles on drums, who was in the seminal punk band The Germs; the exquisite string work from Katlin Wolfberg; bold bass by Wilton that brings to mind shades of Jaco Pastorius; all produced by Paul Roessler of The Screamers and Nina Hagen fame. Furthermore, the video features the outstanding ethereal and surreal footage from today's artist Grebo Gray.

Richard James Simpson's third solo album, 'Sugar The Pill', features such notable OG punk/rock icons as Jill Emery (Mazzy Star, Hole); Don Bolles (The Germs); Dustin Boyer (John Cale); Paul Roessler (The Screamers, Twisted Roots, Nina Hagen); and Geza X (Geza X and the Mommymen, The Deadbeats) - as well as these new top artists on the scene today: Grebo Gray, Wilton and Kaitlin Wolfberg. 'Sugar The Pill' offers mesmerizing, ethereal, powerful songs that evoke a unique sonic experience.

This hypnotic album harkens back to such albums as David Bowie's 'Heroes', incorporating experimental vignettes and songs with efficacious, hard-hitting tracks reminiscent of such acts as Bauhaus, Killing Joke, Laura Nyro, Roxy Music, Siouxsie and The Banshees, and Radiohead.

While leaning toward the experimental side, these mood pieces are fashioned in the Euro-American style for which Simpson is known: "The Wizard of Oz meets Eno" as the iconic Geza X once described Simpson.

The theme of the album is NOW. It is about a loss of love, the losspop of freedom and humanity, charged with the intention of bringing a voice to an era that is ready to awaken and squelch any encroachment on the fight for human dignity and rights. As the artist puts it, "If you don't think something is wrong, it is time to find your mind".

==========================================================================

Friday, 24 December 2021

Midnight Clover - Misty Blues - Mojow

Midnight Clover - FLoW (Album).

Midnight Clover is an up-and-coming alternative rock band who consider themselves to be innovators in their genre. Brimming with talent, Midnight Clover’s alternative rock provides a refined version of the popular genre, as if their music is an ode to the classics while simultaneously being full of innovation. With their second studio album titled ‘FloW’, Midnight Clover has certainly exceeded the expectations of fans worldwide. 

Midnight Clover formed around 7 years ago when guitarist Johnie Stomp encouraged Amber ‘Clover’ Corby to sing. She taught herself how to structure songs and even helped recruit the band bassist Roman, and band drummer Jimmie. The rest is history. 

The Las Vegas-based band released their debut record, Turner, in 2016, and have previously also released two EP’s titled ‘Lovage’ and ‘Never Bring Me Down’. ‘FloW’ features eight tracks and was recorded at June Audio Recording Studios in Provo, UT. 

Gaining inspiration from influential bands like Led Zeppelin, Midnight Clover aims to harness the lyricism that would propel them to greater heights. Such lyricism can certainly be appreciated in the music video ‘Danny’, their first single off ‘FloW’. The video celebrates the ‘80s, and adds effects of dragons and various psychedelic backgrounds as the icing on the cake.

==========================================================================

Misty Blues - Freight Car (feat. Justin Johnson).

2019 International Blues Challenge finalist, Misty Blues, is led by lead singer/band founder Gina Coleman. The band is based out of Berkshire County, Massachusetts playing original and traditional blues with hints of jazz, soul, funk and tent revival gospel since 1999. The band has recorded with Charles Neville and Joe Louis Walker, and opened for contemporary blues artists like Tab Benoit, Room Full Of Blues, John Primer, Albert Cummings and Michael Powers. 

Misty Blues performs extensively throughout New England and has toured New York City, Harrisburg, Mishawaka, Knoxville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Muscle Shoals, Clarksdale, Memphis, New Orleans and Ontario Canada. The band recently earned an Independent Blues Music Award nomination for the best contemporary blues song. The band’s original recordings have wide radio airplay in the U.S. and UK.

In the summer of 1999 Gina Coleman was performing in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of A Raisin In The Sun. That production featured the acting of Ruben Santiago Hudson, Viola Davis, Kimberly Elise and Gloria Foster. Coleman was cast as a gospel singer. Nearing the end of the show’s run, Ruben Santiago Hudson gave Coleman a cd collection entitled Men Are Like Streetcars. He told her that her voice was well suited for the blues and urged her to take that next musical direction. Coleman heeded his advance, and after 20 years, Misty Blues has stood the test of time.



==========================================================================

Mojow - Tree Little Queen / Magic Soul Music.

Armed by a symphony of songs melding and marrying together seamlessly, eclectic musical trio MOJOW is sending ripples in Rock, Soul, and Funk genres.

Chateau Landon, IDF/Pays de Loire, France — December 3rd, 2021-Driven to rock the world of listeners of Soul, Funk, and Hard Rock, MOJOW marks their return into the music industry, with yet another scintillating single. With their exciting original EP titled, “MAGIC SOUL MUSIC”, the band mixes together rhythms and beats seamlessly. With their characteristic use of the Baryton sax, MOJOW includes the musical prowess of the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist Nanex Crooner, complemented by Jean-François Guédon (Youl) on drums and Benjamin (Benjamin Kurpisz) on baritone saxophone, spinning magical rhythmic combinations. “MAGIC SOUL MUSIC” forms the band’s third 5-track EP, characterized by all that the French trio is good at and more. 

On the crossroads of Rock, Funk, and Soul, “MAGIC SOUL MUSIC” marks the culmination of a journey that began in 2016, when Alex (Nanex crooner) offered Benjamin and Youl to try a new musical experience in a trio. The band’s musical compositions feature drums and vocals accompanied by the baritone saxophone which makes the bassline.

Taking on 2021 with their tantalizing and immersive Hard Rock music with the song called ROBOT, MOJOW’s latest release dropped on June 21, 2021, and highlights the band at their very best. Having already captured audiences at more than 30 gigs in France, the group is now looking forward to furnishing their EP’s physical and online album release with international digital distribution, radio, web, satellite broadcasts, etc.

“With Mojow you have something that belongs to you because there is a skillful mix of influences so that we say to ourselves: here it makes me think of such and such a group … well the next bridge we go back to another one which has chosen we do not expect”, says the journalist of radio france regarding their music.


==========================================================================

Thursday, 23 December 2021

Gemma - Jeremy Macklin

Gemma - Μασέτι.

It’s been less than two months since Gemma introduced themselves with their debut album and took us along on an ambient, electro-rock journey entangled with the Cretan folk music. This time Gemma returns and shares with us a different aspect of their music creativity!

With the drums, percussion, loops and bass they create a rhythm that makes the body move and on the other hand, the electronic ambience, the enchanting voice and the eerie sounds they make the mind travel. Maseti is a mystical, dance track which carries us in its raving world!

A sharpened knife, Maseti for Gemma is all about the contrasts, the conflicting elements and the choices we make. In a society where anything that exceeds the limits of regularity is considered reprehensible we must gather the strength to cut down our shackles, stand strong in the face of fear and let ourselves be free to express what we truly feel. A party beyond restrains!

Gemma consists of Danili Evangelia (voice, loops), Kaparos Giorgos (production, composition, loops, synths, guitars), Mavrogiannakis Nikos (drums), Paschidis Anastasis (bass) & Spinthourakis Apostolis (percussion, lyrics).

Video contributors: Filming: Aleksandros Iliakis, Montage: Kaparos Giorgos, Dancers costume design: Eleanna Apostolaki, Artistic make up: Athina Veridaki, Lighting: Manos Foustalierakis (Quality Sound), Konstantinos Papadopoulos, Juggling performance: Efi Lempesi (ovaproject).

==========================================================================

Jeremy Macklin - Half Full Cup.

While it’s essential to happiness, taking time to focus on what we’re grateful for can be challenging — especially with the world overflowing with trials and tribulations. Thankfully, Cobourg, ON country singer-songwriter Jeremy Macklin shares that quintessential life wisdom with his new single and video, “Half Full Cup” — available now!

The song not only pays homage to the blessings found in the everyday, but also lands alongside the Cobourg, Ontario artist’s EP, We Bring the Fire. The five-track debut features previously unveiled singles, “The Beer Drinking Song,” “Small Town Pride,” the album’s title track “We Bring the Fire,” and more — and adds to Macklin’s collective 1 Million streams across platforms.

“Yeah, I’m sippin’ on a half full, feel good feeling,” Macklin declares in the latest display of his signature brand of high-octane, joyful jams. The perfect elixir to soothe troubled times, “Half Full Cup” inspires smiles, potent life perspectives, and all-important toe-taps by way of this multi-talented driving, energy-plus country rocker.

To create this positive party-vibe anthem, Macklin and co-writers Jesse Slack, Adam Newcomb, Daryl Scott, and Rob Morden honed in on the desire to provide an antidote to the pandemic blues. “We wrote ‘Half Full Cup’ during these difficult times to help us all stay positive,” he shares. “The sentiment was: Don’t give up, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself with a drink or two.”

Beyond that straightforward sentiment, “Half Full Cup” turns a spotlight on the negative and unhealthy aspects of the selfie generation.

“Yeah we all want what we ain’t got, the grass is greener ‘round the block
It’s just so easy to get caught up in the mirrors and smoke
It gets to you, it gets to me, sometimes it’s harder than it seems”

“I wanted to write a song that referenced social media, and how many of us compare ourselves and our own lives to those we see on our tiny, handheld screen,” Macklin reveals. “We shouldn’t allow all of the ‘filters’ to influence our lives in a negative fashion.



==========================================================================

Tuesday, 21 December 2021

Sad Daddy - The Magic Epic

Sad Daddy - Cold Rain.

Little Rock and Hot Springs, AR/Austin, TX foursome Sad Daddy will unveil "Cold Rain," the second single from their brilliant new LP Way Up In The Hills.

This track shows off the less grassy/more folk-pop side of the band, and it's one of my favorites from the record. Band member Joe Sundell, who wrote this one, was inspired by the loss of control we were all going through at the start of the pandemic--both as individuals and as a society--and how it made some of us feel like the walls were closing in. The imagery is powerful - there's a man whose life is turned upside down and finds himself in a hole at the bottom of a lake. It's the idea that as things keep progressing the way they are, we all have to jump into this new reality and learn to swim.

Sad Daddy's four members, Melissa Carper (upright bassist who released her critically acclaimed LP Daddy's Country Gold in March), Brian Martin (guitar), Joe Sundell (banjo), and Rebecca Patek (fiddle), all conspired and united in the Arkansas woods in 2020 to create Way Up in the Hills. "Cold Rain" features Rebecca Patek's yearning fiddle, porch stomps, and their signature four-part, goosebump-y harmonies.


==========================================================================

The Magic Epic - Sally.

Toby Juan AKA The Magic Epic grew up in suburban South London and moved to the coast after falling in love with Brighton where he began writing his own music in 2013.

He worked as a hod carrier and then became a full-time busker after having enough of carrying bricks and cement one snowy morning in Redhill. Many years of busking has allowed Toby to perfect his craft and overcome his performance anxiety. His influences include John Lennon & Otis Redding but he's often likened to early Billy Joel. Sally is a beautiful track about a friend of Toby's who was a dancer and was heavily into the clubbing scene.

Her health suffered, which was a constant worry for him and then Sally had a brief fling with a guy they both knew and she became pregnant. She never looked back at her clubbing days and her health restored, she started to glow like never before when her child was born. They were there for each other through their hard times and so this inspired Toby to write the song to honour the battles she went through to become what she is today. Sally also made him godfather to her child.

The song is about knowing what love is for the first time and how having her child saved Sally. The track also features Iain Hornal from 10CC and ELO on backing vocal and bass guitar whilst the video was shot by Andy Baybutt who was behind the promo for The Verve's Lucky Man'.



==========================================================================

Sunday, 19 December 2021

Lasse Matthiessen - HVOB - Timo de Jong

Lasse Matthiessen - Closer.

Hot off the heels of the release of his new EP ‘Coordinates Remain’, Danish artist Lasse Matthiessen is set to release a perfectly reflective new single for Xmas time, ‘Closer’.

The new single continues a bold new change in direction for Matthiessen which he fleshed out with ‘Coordinates Remain’. Having previously built up a large following with a folky sound, the EP and ‘Closer’ push in a bigger, atmospheric, electronic direction. The works are Matthiessen’s most experimental and effect-bearing pieces to date. 

The striking change in sound and new material was inspired by a dive back into the memory banks of Matthiessen’s past during the lockdowns of 2020. Having re-visited many child-hood haunts and feelings during this time, the music plumbs deep depths and eschews genre categorization, combining a feeling of melancholic dystopia with big electronic-pop moments and then evading the listener completely in a mysterious nostalgic shadow. 

‘Closer’ seems to have refined this melange of intriguing gorgeousness superbly. On the track, Matthiessen explains, “I wrote the song ‘Closer’ two years ago in Berlin in a warm apartment situated in “party street” in the Friedrichshain district with the producer Hannes Butzer. I arrived three hours early by mistake and had to go back home again to the shared apartment I lived in with a German artist and painter.
Sometimes when I was away he used the apartment to paint and he had just finished a series of prints printed with some kind of toxic fluid and the smell was all over the apartment as was his prints: On the table, on the floor and on the walls – his black paintings and prints. I wrote the outline of a ‘Closer’ then, on my old piano and I guess I was kind of influenced by all these impressions.” 

The invitingly intimate soundscape on ‘Closer’ is characterized by the piano played by Philipp Milner (from the duo Hundreds) and the pumped bass-beat at the end of the song after the last chorus with Matthiessen’s vocal sounding heavy with emotion. The progression from haunting cinematic atmospherics to pulsating infectious anthem shows an uncompromising songwriter at the top of his game, who’s not afraid to take risks in order to create exhilarating sonic magic.

==========================================================================

HVOB - Capture Casa.

Following four studio albums and one live album, HVOB are about to release their sixth album: TOO is an angry, tender, vulnerable, determined account of a generation's search for life. The album explores extremes in concept, content and sound. It breaks with the tradition of releasing the entire album following the advance release of a number of singles. The eight tracks from TOO will be released individually and sporadically. This way, the album grows into an eventual whole over a period of six months.

HVOB share the second part of their 8 track album in new single ‘Capture Casa’ - out now.

am i too cold/ am i too old / am i not good for you
am i too quiet / am i too tired / am i too much for you
- from "Capture Casa", TOO, HVOB

The song marks a return to the Austrian duo’s signature melodic techno. The track juxtaposes Anna Muller’s delicate vocal against building atmospheric soundscapes. Capture Casa follows the announcement of new album TOO and first single ‘Bruise’ and celebrated video

TOO is dedicated to the state of mind of a generation in search of inner and outer belonging: the album captures a life in the dichotomy of one's own and other people's expectations, in the feeling of not living up to these expectations, in renewed attempts to free oneself from these expectations.

The first track from the new HVOB album "Bruise" was released on November 18th. The eighth and final track from TOO will be released to coincide with the start of the world tour in April 2022.



==========================================================================

Timo de Jong - Unparalelled.

Timo de Jong has released the track 'Unparalleled'. This is the lead single from his new EP 'Dawdle'. For this EP Timo works for the first time with a producer, Thomas Olivier (Hackensaw Boys, among others). Before the Corona epidemic, Timo played more than 100 shows a year, but during the last period he has been forced to focus on what he does very well; writing new songs. He will present the result of this on 19 December in the Neushoorn, Leeuwarden.

Timo himself says about this new project: “This EP means a lot to me, because it's the first time that I was able to really let go of things during the process. Working together with Thomas has not changed my sound, but has improved and refined it. I believe that I have made great growth.”

During the past year, Timo de Jong and producer Thomas Olivier have been working on the music together, from demo to the final product. A conscious choice was made for a characteristic sound with an appreciation for a warm and natural-sounding production. For example, all vocals were recorded with a microphone from the 1950s and all songs were recorded live. Lyrically, 'Unparalleled' is a helping hand, a musical heart under the belt in which Timo shows that love songs don't have to be all doom and gloom.

Timo de Jong is an authentic musician who lives for (and from) live performances, of which he has already performed more than 600. That includes three successful tours through England, and performances in Germany and Belgium. Whether it's an intimate living room concert or a band performance in a pop hall, Timo does his thing, and that thing is: making good music.

He makes his music in order to realize, to tell and to heal. In doing so, he takes experiences of himself and those around him, and then writes a universal and appealing text about them. Behind the scenes, Timo de Jong has been refining, improving and crystallizing his music for several years now. He moved from folk to rock 'n' roll, eventually arriving at Americana.

The EP's release show is on today in the Neushoorn, Leeuwarden. The EP will first be released only on CD and will only be available to listen to on the streaming platforms in its entirety in 2022.


==========================================================================

Dustaphonics - Slow Burn Drifters - Kensie Coppin - Susto Stringband

Dustaphonics - Gasolina (Album). The Franco-British band, Dustaphonics, proudly announces the release of their fifth album, Gasolina today,...