ATO Records released a pair of remixes of songs from Brittany Howard’s acclaimed debut solo album, “Jaime”. Atlanta-based hip hop duo EARTHGANG reimagines “Goat Head” and Bon Iver brings fresh textures to “Short and Sweet.” The tracks are the first to be revealed from an upcoming collection of remixes from Jaime.
Jaime – the first solo album from Brittany Howard – has been reimagined by an astonishing cross-section of the five-time GRAMMY winner’s peers. The upcoming Jaime Reimagined features fresh takes and remixes of the album’s 13 songs by Childish Gambino, Common, Little Dragon, EARTHGANG, Bon Iver, and more.
EARTHGANG explains, “We’ve been big fans of Brittany and Alabama Shakes so this is a dream come true. Songs like these help us make sense of all the craziness in the world at times. Her song ‘Goat Head,’ dealing with her black experience in America and The World, resonated the loudest at this time. Just thankful to be able to give the world our medicine and heal the people.”
Bon Iver adds rich layers to “Short and Sweet” – a song celebrating a nascent romance that Howard originally recorded alone, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar – and imbues it with a twinkling, ethereal vibe that both complements and contrasts its old-time warmth.
“Brittany is a truly singular artist; so much power and musicality. This album speaks to so many people, including us,” says Justin Vernon, founder of the Grammy award winning band Bon Iver. “To have a chance to recreate ‘Short and Sweet’ in our own image with long-time collaborators Jenn Wassner and CJ Camerieri, was both an honour and almost too much of a privilege.
Partner is the “mature” effort of two best friends named Josée Caron and Lucy Niles. Together, with Rock as their trusty guide, they explore a variety of themes in an attempt to understand the meaning of life. rock duo Partner have spent the past few years warming hearts with their sly, subversive take on classic-sounding power-pop. Now living in Montreal, Josée Caron and LucyNiles recently rolled out an infectious new single, “Good Place to Hide (At the Time).” And while we’re still not quite sure when we’ll hear more new music from Caron and Niles,
Partner are set to release sophomore album Never Give Up, and now they’ve shared a new song and accompanying video for longtime live cut “Big Gay Hands.”
Set to jaunty country-rock instrumentation, the narrative-driven song finds co-bandleader Lucy Niles enamoured by a pool-playing woman at a bar — particularly her hands, as explained by lyrics like “And I couldn’t help but notice how you held that cue / Made me wonder what else you know how to do.”
Say the band, “This song is about a wild night on the town filled with queer desire. It is an important song to us because it expresses a feeling we know is shared by many. There are a lot of songs out there about women’s bodies but this is the only song we know about big gay hands. This song is dedicated to the hotties and to those who love them.”
True to the song’s title, the video features hands — painted uncannily to look like the band members — as they traverse a miniature world in pursuit of romance and companionship, complete with several beautifully coordinated dance numbers.
“Big Gay Hands” is the latest in a string of recent Partner singles, Out September 18th
Ozzy Osbourne’s documentary, The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne, is a life-spanning tale that delves into the musicians early years growing up in Birmingham and how he came to be the Prince of Darkness.
In promotion for the film, Sharon and Ozzy shared an unbelievable story about the time Ozzy attempted to kill her in a drug-induced haze and was subsequently arrested. Sharon detailed that the pair were living in Buckinghamshire in 1989 with their children — Jack, Kelly and Aimee — when the incident took place. They had just put their children to bed when Ozzy, who was under the influence of drugs, made the decision to kill Sharon.
So it goes, Ozzy was calmly sitting across the room from Sharon, when she realised that something wasn’t right.
“He came into the room,” Sharon revealed. “I had no idea who was sat across from me on the sofa but it wasn’t my husband. He goes to a stage where he gets that look in his eyes, the shutters were down and I just couldn’t get through to him. And he just said, ‘We’ve come to a decision that you’ve got to die.’ She went on to detail that without warning, Ozzy jumped across the room and attempted to strangle her.
“He was calm, very calm,” she continues. “Then suddenly he lunged across at me and just dived on me and started to choke me. He got me down on the ground on top of me and I was feeling for stuff on the table. I felt the panic button and I just pressed it and the next thing I know, the cops were there.”
Due to the (unspecified) drugs he was under, Ozzy has no recollection of the incident ever taking place.
“I felt the calmest I had ever felt in my life,” Ozzy recalled. “I was just peaceful. All I remember is waking up in Amersham jail and I asked the cop, ‘Why am I here?’ And he says, ‘You want me to read your charge?’ So he read, ‘John Michael Osbourne, you have been arrested for attempted murder.’”
Sharon admitted that the incident was almost enough of a catalyst for her to file for divorce. Ultimately, she decided to stay with Ozzy for their children. The judge working the case sentenced Ozzy to six months of medical treatment.
“Thank God the judge put him in treatment for six months,” Sharon mused. “I had time to really think about what he should do. I told him, ‘I don’t want the money but if you do this again, either I am going to kill you or you are going to kill me. And do you want that for the kids?’”
The third expansion of an Ozzy album released this year (after 1991’s No More Tears and 2001’s Down to Earth), the Prince of Darkness’ sophomore album – the last with guitarist Randy Rhoads before his tragic passing – now comes with two bonus tracks from the Blizzard of Ozz tour. (Perplexingly, these were part of a whole live bonus disc when Blizzard of Ozz and Madman were reissued in 2011.
The “Diary Of A Madman” special digital re-issue will be available November 5th via all digital platforms. The album is Ozzy’s second studio release and the last album to feature 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Famer guitarist Randy Rhoads. The multi-platinum release (with five million albums sold worldwide) included the #2 Mainstream Rock track, “Flying High Again.”
The album was listed at #15 on Rolling Stone’s 2017 list of “100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.” Kory Grow noted, “A year after proving he was still a vital musical force on his first post–Black Sabbath solo LP, 1980’s Blizzard of Ozz, Ozzy Osbourne demonstrated it wasn’t a one-time fluke with an album of poppy and gothic anthems like ‘Flying High Again’ and the almost classical closing title track. Guitarist Randy Rhoads, who died in a plane crash while touring for “Diary” in 1982, had already proven himself a virtuoso on “Blizzard”; here, he worked even harder to find the rare nexus between showboat chops and clever song writing…”
also Ozzy Osbourne is set to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his landmark debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, with an expanded release.
Set for digital release this Friday, September 18th. The re-release will see the original album in all its glory, with additional bonus tracks ‘You Looking at Me, Looking at You’, the 2010 mix of ‘Goodbye to Romance’, and Randy Rhoads instrumental outtake ‘RR’. It will also feature seven live tracks from the Blizzard of Ozz tour that were previously unavailable digitally.
In addition to the expanded release of the record, Osbourne will finally give his revered concert films Live & Loud and Live at Budokhan the digital treatment. This will be the first time this classic footage will receive an official digital release.
With Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary Of A Madman” celebrating its 40th anniversary this week, a variety of video clips have been released to commemorate the album. These include a new video for “FLYING HIGH AGAIN,” (created from exclusive images from Ross Halfin’s newly released Randy Rhoads book), along with live versions of “Over The Mountain,” “Flying High Again,” and “Believer.”
On Tuesday, Jeff Tweedy announced the release of his fourth solo record, Love Is The King, due out on October 23rd via dPm Records. The album serves as the follow up to 2018’s WARM and 2019’s WARMER, and sees the release of two lead singles today, “Guess Again” and the title track.
The release of the album will come on the heels of Tweedy’s second book, How To Write One Song, out October 13th via Penguin Random House. Tweedy will also perform on September 18th in a drive-in concert at the McHenry Outdoor Theater in McHenry, IL. For those who cannot attend the sold-out event, the Wilco frontman will also livestream the concert. Back to the present… Jeff’s announced a new book AND a new album. You might be thinking, “Where does he get all this energy?”. The answer: he’s a self-proclaimed nap enthusiast.
The book’s called How To Write One Song and it will teach you how to do just that. But at its core it’s a how-to guide on creativity and how to stay motivated. How To Write One Song hits bookshelves on October 13th . Preorder US | UK | AUS and you can get a free digital download from Jeff.
A week later (Oct. 23), you’ll hear Jeff’s third solo album, “Love Is The King” – 11 new songs written since touring came to a halt in March. Jeff went to The Loft with his sons, Spencer and Sammy, and came out with a “beautifully honest ode to love and hope” .
Love Is The King was composed by Tweedy, alongside his sons Sammy and Spencer, during the COVID-19 lockdown. Recorded in April 2020, just after Wilco was forced to abandon its North American tour, the song writing process originally began as a challenge where Tweedy tested himself to write a song everyday until he had a whole album.
“At the beginning of the lockdown I started writing country songs to console myself. Folk and country type forms being the shapes that come most easily to me in a comforting way. ‘Guess Again’ is a good example of the success I was having at pushing the world away, counting my blessings — taking stock in my good fortune to have love in my life,” Tweedy said in a press release. “A few weeks later things began to sound like ‘Love Is The King’ — a little more frayed around the edges with a lot more fear creeping in. Still hopeful but definitely discovering the limits of my own ability to self soothe.”
The album’s title track, “Love Is The King”, finds just that mix of melancholy folk song-writing that Tweedy has perfected over several decades. With his dreamy, far-away vocals and simple fingerpicking, “Love Is The King” is relatable to anyone who went through the lockdown process what feels like a lifetime ago. As for “Guess Again”, the song finds a bit more cheerful melody with percussive accompaniment to Tweedy’s acoustic guitar. The lyrics also present a brighter reality that shows, even though things are bleak now, that hope still shines through the love of another.
“Love Is The King” and “Guess Again” from Jeff Tweedy’s forthcoming album, Love Is The King, due out on October 23rd.
After 4 years in the making, today we are thrilled to announce the release of Hachiku’s debut album “I’ll Probably Be Asleep” which is out Friday November 13th. Anika started working as an intern at Milk! Records 5 years ago and it’s been a pleasure to watch her musical career grow and go from playing small single releases at the Old Bar to playing packed out performances at Iceland Airwaves.
Her time and dedication to making an amazing album have really paid off – if you ask us. During this quite extraordinary year we are hoping this album will bring some joy to everyone’s lives and we are so excited to witness where the next 5 years will take Hachiku. Ahead of the album, a new Hachiku track & video is out today! ‘I’ll Probably Be Asleep’ was directed by Roxie Halley who says “It draws on the camp, colourful and psychedelic visuals of cult 70’s horror, while dealing with honest emotional themes at its core.
“Hachiku’s globe-trotting has made for more worldly pop, and her songs have a homespun feel that is both intimate and magical, assured and hard to pigeonhole.” – Brooklyn Vegan
“Hachiku’s music sounds like if Wes Anderson recorded Beach House’s second record Devotion.” – The Music
“Her music is brave, bold and extremely well-crafted. Not only the sound and the production, but the writing, while innocent at times, evokes real and raw emotions. Hachiku may well be the Björk of the bedroom pop generation” – SXSW Music Preview
“There is nothing undercooked about this majestic piece of music, a haunting ethereal plod through raw emotion, with Ostendorf’s icy voice rhythmically plucking each syllable.” – The Guardian
‘I’ll Probably Be Asleep’ is out now on Milk! Records and Marathon Artists. From the forthcoming album ‘I’ll Probably Be Asleep’ out November 13th, 2020.
The goal was to push my brain to places it didn’t want to go. The idea was to not have any idea – to keep myself confused about what I was doing,” frontman Will Sheff says about Okkervil River’s newest album ‘I Am Very Far’. It’s a startling break from the band’s previous work: terrifying and joyous, violent and serene, grotesque and romantic, it’s a celebration of forces beyond our control.
This chapter has been a long time coming; we recorded almost every show from the American and European 2018 #intherainbowrain tour so it took a long time to sort through it all. Also, the audio liner notes are…. just shy of 5 hours long? Almost a whole audiobook in themselves. I’m super proud of the music on here and so excited for you all to hear it! Thank you all so much for coming on this journey with us and if anybody’s hesitated till now climb aboard and scope out the whole thing!
I’ve had some of my most fun onstage experiences of the past few years doing the “Rarities & Requests” touring format, but because of logistics we’ve often had to restrict these shows to larger markets. Under the current quarantine situation, I thought it would be really cool to play a streaming “Rarities & Requests” show where we could open the request pool to anybody all over the world.
This will be the first Okkervil streaming show we’ve done his year, and I’m super excited about it. We’ll have more details soon on when it will air, but we wanted to open requests ASAP. So if you plan to watch start submitting requests via the request form link in the comment section! (But not in comments themselves please). Note that we’ll still be taking requests from the big cities but we’ll be giving extra weight to requests from people in towns we’ve never hit with the #raritiesandrequests format.
During the extended stay-at-home order of the last few months, Marika Hackman felt that creating a covers record was a way of exploring new sound ideas and expressing herself without having the pressure of the blank page. She recorded and produced “Covers” between home and her parents’ house, then got the legendary David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The xx, Let’s Eat Grandma) to mix it. David also co-produced her excellent 2019 record Any Human Friend. In contrast to her last two albums (including 2017’s I’m Not Your Man), this collection of songs is more akin in tone and feel to her debut We Slept At Last, with a darker and more introspective sound. On Covers, we hear Marika’s emotive voice set against sparse arrangements of guitars and strings with the occasional synth or scattered drum groove.
Breathing new life into the songs she’s chosen, Marika reimagines work by some of the world’s most beloved artists such as Radiohead, Grimes and Elliott Smith. It’s a suitably varied collection, but Marika’s intimate delivery and soft, nuanced and atmospheric touch to production, thread them all together effortlessly.
Marika explains how she came to choose the material: “When it comes to covers, I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while. It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.”
First single “Realiti” is a stripped back piano and guitar based version of the Grimes classic from her most celebrated album Art Angels. Marika’s take is a total reinvention and yet it feels wholly her own. Muna’s “Pink Light” from their 2019 record Saves The World is a slice of dark pop, reminiscent of The Cure. In Marika’s hands, it’s a remarkably seamless switch-up to convert these into slower, brooding soft jams. Marika’s version of Air’s “Playground Love” is one of the highlights, taken from the soundtrack the group composed for Sofia Coppola’s coming of age The Virgin Suicides, the result being a moodier, disorientating reworking of a classic modern moment.
Final track “All Night” sees Marika tackling one of the standouts from Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated Lemonade. Again, Marika flips the song on its head. Joined by a choir of stacked vocal harmonies, Marika’s voice transcends to conjure a deep emotional resonance.
Adventurous and versatile, Covers continues Marika’s lineage in turning each body of work into a new take and perspective on her creative vision. She twists and turns, always surprises, and is never afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve. It remains anyone’s guess to imagine where she will head next.
Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but ordinarily, artists who draw too hard from one source let down their own muse, and short-change the listener too. Not so Boston-based, Texas-raised Anjimile, whose debut album introduces a fully formed, confident voice – one that sounds slightly familiar.
Non-binary, trans and of Malawian heritage, this intense indie singer-songwriter identifies foremost as a Sufjan Stevens fan. Their hypnotic orchestral folk songs “Come Howling After” an unfathomable god. Like Stevens, Anjimile’s vocals can whisper, swoop and trill lines like “It’s a miracle to behold, it’s a miracle to be held in your arms”.
But derivation is not the whole story here. Tracks like “Maker” or “Ndimakukonda” boast compelling African instrumentation and cadences, putting significant stylistic space between Anjimile and Stevens. Throughout, the production – also by relative unknowns – is pin-sharp and generous. On debut album Giver Taker, released earlier this month, Anjimile charts their recovery and rebirth from both a bad relationship and addiction. “In Your Eyes” zooms the focus out a little, with the non-binary artist asking “Was my body denied?” over a soothing bed of acoustic guitars and lilting melodies.
Although the alternative take on masculinity provided by Moses Sumney might be another valid comparison, these nine songs chart Anjimile’s own self-development and recovery, both from a relationship (Baby No More, Not Another Word) and addiction; this is no one’s story but theirs.
Writing a song about a fading romance is never easy. Writing a song about a fading romance where you bear the brunt of the blame is even harder. Writing a song about a fading romance where you bear the brunt of the blame, but the song still simmers with the kind of alluring energy that makes it feel like it’s not a song about a fading romance at all feels practically impossible — but that’s exactly what Anjimile does on “Baby No More.” Anjimile first released an acoustic version of the song on his 2019 Maker Mixtape, but this new take streamlines the nimble pluck of its lead-guitar riff and buoys it with the pure dance-floor groove of shuffling drums, an elastic bass line, and some sublimely tasteful keyboard plunks. Anjimile balances the song’s bubbling energy and the suave tinge in his voice with lyrics that boast a brutally frank edge: “Am I dead? Must be dead/Am I sick in my head?/Am I wrong? Must be wrong/Best get gone/I can’t be your baby no more.”
The new track will appear on the Boston-based singer-songwriter’s upcoming album, Giver Taker, out September 18th via Father/Daughter Records. In a statement, he explained that he wrote the song a few months before getting sober, when the relationship he was in was suffering because he was no longer taking care of himself: “I quite literally felt like I was losing my mind, vis-à-vis alcoholism,” Anjimile said.
“Active alcoholism and committed romantic relationships generally do not mix well, and ‘Baby No More’ is more or less what happens when you’re not a good boyfriend,” Anjimile said. “Although it’s got a very groovy and relatively lighthearted musical vibe, some of the lyrics are quite dark.”
“Baby No More” is the second offering from Giver Taker, following, “Maker,” which was released in July. The album marks Anjimile’s label debut, though it does follow a string of independent releases he’s shared over the past few years.
Montreal’s Gulfer have been reviving Midwest, ’90s-style emo for the past decade, and they’re now set to release their third LP, which is self-titled, on October 16th via Topshelf/Royal Mountain. Having spent the past couple years wavering between self-doubt and having it figured out, Montreal’s Gulfer have returned to the fore with their third full-length record. Composed of thirteen tracks of intricate, dexterous, and incredibly fun, punk-inspired emo tunes, Gulfer sees the Montreal quartet settled into their own with a career-defining record.
Set to be co-released through us and the band’s first ever Canadian label in Royal Mountain Records, Gulfer is expansive in a way that sets it apart from the debut What Gives and the Pitchfork-approved Dog Bless. Delving into their collective influences by drawing from elements of grunge, shoegaze, and contemporaries Oso Oso and Prince Daddy and the Hyena, the band never turn their back on their earliest inspirations. Explosive, agile emo serves as the backdrop to guitarist and vocalists Vincent Ford and Joe Therriault’s honest and vulnerable lyricism, with the two sharing the writing process on a record that tackles human nature; exploring self-doubt, resentment, complex relationships, climate change, and the waning of youth. The band never lose the sense of playfulness and fun that is omnipresent in their live show, an undeniable, electric energy that stems from being a group of close friends before all else.
They do a lot of justice to the noodly riffage and longing melodies of the classic Kinsella era, and new song “Heat Wave” is no exception.
Our new track “Heat Wave” is streaming everywhere you listen to music now! It’s the second track we’re sharing from our new self-titled record, out October 16th through Topshelf Records and Royal Mountain Records, and it’s about realizing that past friendships left you feeling out of place, and how special it is to find a new home somewhere else. You can listen and pre-order our record below, but variants are moving quick!
Free of former notions that they needed to write in a certain way to sound like themselves, the band instead went with their gut and wrote what came naturally. The result is their most definitive work to date, a record that focuses less on ultra-technical musicianship and more on structure, space, and feel. With renewed energy in their freshened sound palette and their most collaborative songwriting yet, Gulfer have created an album that sounds fresh and exciting, which is no small feat for a band with two albums, a handful of EPs, and eight long years under their belt. The deft and interweaving interplay of Ford and Therriault’s guitars is grounded by bassist David Mitchell and drummer Julien Daoust, whose dexterities and musicianship animate the album with explosive, emotional kineticism.
“Forget (Friendly)” is taken from Gulfer’s upcoming self-titled record, out on Topshelf Records and Royal Mountain Records on October 16th, 2020.
Like most Shame songs, “Alphabet” is armed with full-throttle momentum, and frontman Charlie Steen’s direct yet playful vocal inflection. “Are you waiting / to feel good / Are you praying / like you should?” Steen asks. It’s not so much a sonic departure as it is a distillation of their barreling punk sound. Shame have returned with a new song called ‘Alphabet’ via Dead Oceans Records. Produced by James Ford, it marks the UK post-punk group’s first new music since the release of their 2018 debut Songs of Praise. Check it out below, alongside an accompanying music video directed by Tegen Williams.
“‘Alphabet’ is a direct question, to the audience and the performer, on whether any of this will ever be enough to reach satisfaction,” frontman Charlie Steen said in a statement. “At the time of writing it, I was experiencing a series of surreal dreams where a manic subconscious was bleeding out of me and seeping into the lyrics. All the unsettling and distressing imagery I faced in my sleep have taken on their own form in the video.”
Back in the beginning of 2018, the British post-punk group Shame released their debut album . They soon accrued a fervent following and a whole lot of attention for their intense live shows. They’ve also now been silent for a while, not releasing so much as a standalone single since Songs Of Praise. Shame apparently have a new album on the horizon, and they’ve shared the first hint of this impending new era.
Two years ago, Shame released Songs of Praise, which was not just an outstanding debut but one of the best LPs of the 2010s. It was bold, assertive, and relevant. Heck, it still remains a very pertinent record, as many of the themes covered then still apply today. The timeless quality in Shame’s songwriting and post-punk style positions Eddie Green, Charlie Forbes, Josh Finerty, Sean Coyle-Smith, and Charlie Steen to be one of 2020’s most important bands. To demonstrate why they are worthy of such accolades, the quintet have unleashed a roaring critique of ourselves with “Alphabet”.
The song echoes the driving, raw energy of IDLES and Fontaines D.C. Every element is delivered with the desperation of a person about to perform their very last song. Nothing is held back because there is nothing left for us to lose in these times. Or is there? As the trio of guitars chime and thrust while the rhythms heavily pound, Green harshly and sarcastically asks us if “we feel good”. He’s asking us if we are satisfied with what we have, where we are, and what is happening. He’s directly wondering whether our desires are limitless or whether we all have a point where we say “enough is enough”.
Alphabet’ from Shame, available now on Dead Oceans
The Fat Angel Sings 