Archive for the ‘CLASSIC ALBUMS’ Category

SEA GIRLS – ” Open Up Your Head “

Posted: August 12, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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After taking 2019 by the scruff of the neck and making it their own with some great festival appearances, as well as a blistering trajectory in 2020, Sea Girls have come out all guns blazing with their emotionally charged, deeply personal, hook laden debut album “Open Up Your Head” – on Polydor. Featuring fourteen doses of memorable jagged guitar-pop brilliance, the LP was produced by Larry Hibbitt in London. It is no surprise that Sea Girls are confidently clear in who they are. This assertive stance on just what their style is, and what type of songs they are drawn toward bringing to vinyl, resulting in a collection of tracks that can’t help but draw an abundance of refreshed appreciation from fans and critics alike. Each time I’ve seen this band they just bring joy.

‘Transplant’ has been described as “the most Sea Girls song ever”, and it does follow the band’s established hit-song formula. The lyrics are brutal; Henry Camamile sings “your heart changed, mine stayed the same”, and the line can’t help but hit home for numerous fans listening along. The group effortlessly relate to their audience throughout the record, having spent years getting to know them with exciting and vibrant live sets.

We can weave together a rough story line, and there’s a humour in the description of two people being on the phone and unable to really hear each other. However, the comical situation becomes heartbreaking; the song is essentially a goodbye, and an ode to collapsing communications. A euphoric chorus greets us after the fierce build up, with vocals and guitars woven together in a howling few lines that truly do epitomize the band’s thunderous, almost-pop sound.

‘Closer’, ‘Call Me Out’, and ‘Violet’ are some of the pre-existing tracks that have made it on to the album track list, and slot in brilliantly with the new material. ‘Do You Really Know’ is the perfect summer anthem, with a boppy melody underlying slightly darker lyrics.

Though known primarily for indie-pop, ‘Lie To Me’ shows a Sea Girls experimenting slightly with style; it’s almost Western in the vocal style and clapping melodies underpinning them. “I cut my teeth on something that I shouldn’t eat” is one of their best lines yet, and leads in to the candid exclamation, “I’m a baby”. ‘Forever’ soon follows, as the product of year of tweaking and precise labour. Sharp, galvanizing guitars crescendo and beautifully compliment the huge vocal strength. Something about the song is just inextricably mammoth; there’s an immensity to it that many aim for, and not many reach.

Keen to also open up their tracks to gentler tones, the group have penned ‘You Over Anyone’; a ballad telling a universally relatable love story. It doesn’t quite live up to ‘Daisy Daisy’ – a soft track from their 2017 “Call Me Out” EP, but it is hard to imagine that much will.

Sea Girls, released the stunning new animated visual for their latest single, ‘All I Want To Hear You Say’, which is lifted from their forthcoming debut album ‘Open Up Your Head’, out on August 14th.

The animated video, directed by acclaimed Korean-Swedish duo Tjoff Koong Studios (Tezo Kyungdon Lee and Magnus Lenneskog), takes the viewer on an emotional rollercoaster.

“When I wrote this song I was trying to channel some emotional highs and lows of the likes of Kurt Cobain,” says lead singer Henry Camamile. “Full of visual adrenalin, it builds with rushes of excitement and lack of control. Someone build a rollercoaster through the city and we’ll get on it.”

The animated video, directed by acclaimed Korean-Swedish duo Tjoff Koong Studios (Tezo Kyungdon Lee and Magnus Lenneskog), takes the viewer on an emotional rollercoaster.

“When I wrote this song I was trying to channel some emotional highs and lows of the likes of Kurt Cobain,” says lead singer Henry Camamile. “Full of visual adrenalin, it builds with rushes of excitement and lack of control. Someone build a rollercoaster through the city and we’ll get on it.”

With tracks such as this, you forget that the core concept to the album is a traumatic head injury. The effervescent tunes catch in your own head, and skillfully glaze over the darkness that grounds much of the lyrical content. You dance along, joining in with the rose-coloured illusion of the songs themselves.

‘Shake’ and ‘Moving On’ also revert back to Sea Girls’ raucous roots, with the expected blazing chorus’ near enough begging you to see them live and sing along. The latter track in particular ends the album on a triumphant note; the message of acceptance and optimism towards a projected progress is glaringly forefront. Henry’s vocals flare and spark with an immersive buoyancy: the entire track is lifted through melody and tone. We see a lighter, unburdened band close the collection.

Band Members:
Henry Camamile, Rory Young, Andrew Dawson & Oli Khan

The band have also announced a run of intimate in-store shows for November

‘Open Up Your Head’ The debut album

The SECRET SISTERS – ” Saturn Return “

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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After two albums on Universal Republic, The Secret Sisters (aka real-life sisters Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle) were dropped by their major label which put the fate of the band in question, but then Brandi Carlisle took them under her wing. She had them open for her and produced their third album “You Don’t Own Me Anymore,” which came out in 2017 on alt-country label New West Records, and this year the sisters and Brandi teamed up again for another record on New West, the gorgeous “Saturn Return”. The album is named after the astrological phenomenon that represents reaching full adulthood, and it followed some monumental life changes for the sisters; both became pregnant during the making of the album and they lost both of their grandmothers around that same time. “We were still just trying to figure out how you go forward in life without the strong matriarch,” Laura told The Boot.

You can hear how these life changes impacted these personal songs — which, unlike their previous albums, were written without co-writers — though Saturn Return also finds the sisters looking outside of themselves, like on the powerful “Cabin,” which was written from the perspective of a woman who has been assaulted, and was written around the time of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. “This song was our way of saying, ‘We hear you, and we know it hurts…we know you’re not over it and that’s okay,'” said Laura. The power in the lyrics is matched by that of the music – warm, timeless Americana that would fit nicely next to anything from late ’70s Fleetwood Mac to the new Jason Isbell album.

Brandi’s production is the perfect match, and she also encouraged the sisters to break from their trademark close harmony style and each sing some songs on their own, which very much worked to their benefit. Fans of their harmonies need not worry though — there are still plenty of those, and they’re as lush as you’d hope.

WEYES BLOOD – ” Wild Time “

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Here is a video for my song “Wild Time” that was shot on 16mm pre-Pandemic, then edited together during isolation. Felt like the right time to let this video out into the world, seeing as we’re all getting saddled down by some pretty grim realities. This song is about yearning for wildness and Mother Nature in a time of chaos. It’s for sensitive people who worry about the fate of humanity and feel powerless to do anything about it.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking apocalyptic thoughts and realizing that won’t get you anywhere. What if the world has always been ending? What if the sprawl of our cities are just as wild as the forests? What if climate change and the destruction of our natural habitat is a reflection of the nature within us, however sublimely horrifying and hard to understand? We’re animals, we play out a very precarious drama of life, and we grasp for what’s left of the protective womb – but maybe the notion that we’re somehow separated from her is an illusion. Maybe it is, truly, a wild time to be alive. Maybe getting in touch with that as a culture and society would avert the worst case scenarios of ecological crisis and existential dread.

If you’ve gotten this far, wow, thank you for actually taking the time to read this. In other news, as you may have assumed, I am cancelling all of my headline shows for 2020, but I’m beginning to work on my next album that will come out in 2021- a different time, when hopefully we can see each other face to face once again.

xo

Natalie (aka Weyes Blood)

Weyes Blood “Wild Time” from Titanic Rising (April 5th, 2019)

RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON – ” I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” (1974), “Hokey Pokey” (1975) and “Pour Down Like Silver” Vinyl Reissue’s

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Richard and Linda Thompson

Richard and Linda Thompson’s early recordings together have attained an almost mythical status and their first three acclaimed Island Records classics will now be available again on vinyl from September 11th through UMC/Island. “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” (1974), “Hokey Pokey” (1975) and “Pour Down Like Silver” (1975) have been pressed on 180 gram vinyl and will come with a Download Code. These seminal works, ground-breaking at the time, have influenced generations of artists and firmly established Richard and Linda Thompson as major figures on the British folk scene.

Richard and Linda Thompson: I Want To See The Bright Lights

Recorded in May 1973, but not released until 1974 due to an international oil shortage, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight is a dark and eclectic affair. Richard and Linda share vocals and many of the album’s twelve tracks would become firm fan favourites, including: ‘When I Get To The Border’, ‘Calvary Cross’, ‘We Sing Hallelujah’  and ‘The End of The Rainbow’, ‘Down Where The Drunkards Roll’,  ‘Has He Got A Friend For Me?’, ‘The Great Valerio’ and the title track. Now considered a classic album, it did little to trouble the charts on its original release but was very well received by the music press. Geoff Brown of Melody Maker proclaimed: “Richard Thompson is… the most accomplished guitarist in this land… He’s written some masterful songs, here and Linda, has performed them as perfectly as we’ve a right to expect”.

Despite now being considered a Classic Album, sales of ‘I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight’ were modest and did little to trouble chart. It was, however, very well received by the music press: “Richard Thompson is… the most accomplished guitarist in this land… He’s written some masterful songs, here and Linda, has performed them as perfectly as we’ve a right to expect”. Geoff Brown – Melody Maker

“These are songs which are going to be sung, and sung and sung. Not just heard by Richard and Linda, but by you, me, everybody. They have the mark of greatness upon them” Karl Dallas – Folk Review

Richard and Linda Thompson: Hokey Pokey

Richard and Linda’s 2nd LP from 1974 is now pressed on 180gram vinyl and contains a Download Code. Released in 1975, ‘Hokey Pokey’ is a much jollier release than its predecessor, ’I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight’. Richard always envisaged Hokey Pokey’ as “a music-hall influenced record”. He was a big fan of Harry Lauder and Gracie Fields, and this inspiration can be seen in the Victorian style cover by Shirt Sleeve Studio, and is audible on the title track, “”Hokey Pokey”” and also ‘Georgie On A Spree’.

A mixture of darkly comic songs like “Smiffy’s Glass Eye” and the more world weary nature of ‘I’ll Regret It All In The Morning” and “A Heart Needs A Home”. There are also more sombre songs such as ‘The Egypt Room” which Richard described as “half way between The Coasters ‘Little Egypt’, George Formby, and Dickens by way of Patricia Highsmith”.

Also released in 1975, Richard and Linda’s third LP Pour Down Like Silver became known as ‘The Sufi album’ due to Richard’s recent conversion to Islam. It is a more restrained and spartan album compared to its lusher sounding predecessors and contains some of Richard’s most beautiful songs including ‘For Shame Of Doing Wrong’, ‘Beat The Retreat’ and ‘Dimming Of The Day’, with ‘Hard Luck Stories’ probably the most musically upbeat song on the album.

Richard and Linda Thompson: Pour Down Like Silver

The record was warmly received with Rolling Stone observing: “Pour Down Like Silver is the kind of album that makes listening to music worthwhile, a record of such rare beauty and scope that one honestly feels privileged to hear it.” And Angus MacKinnon of the NME concluded that:  “through its exploration of extreme disillusionment, ‘Pour Down Like Silver’ remains a considerable and deeply moving achievement”.

Artist’s website: https://www.richardthompson-music.com/

MADELINE KENNEY – ” Tell You Everything “

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Last week, Oakland, C.A singer songwriter Madeline Kenney released her third LP, “Sucker’s Lunch”, which reinforced the twangy dream pop sound she’d been working toward on her first two full-lengths. Her capacity for piling on layers of muted instrumentation to match her hushed vocals arguably hits its peak on the mid-album “Tell You Everything,” a climatic moment of vulnerability on the lovelorn LP.

It’s this track that Kenney chose to play for us on her acoustic guitar in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park for “Neighborhoods,” strumming and singing over programmed drums and woodwind-like synths. Watch the performance below, and grab a listen to Sucker’s Lunch  (or, if you purchase it on Bandcamp today, 100 percent of proceeds will go to the artist and Carpark Records—additionally, proceeds from her merch will benefit a BIPOC doula training fund and Beirut relief orgs).

Madeline Kenney performs a track from her new album, “Sucker’s Lunch,” at Joaquin Miller park in Oakland, CA.

HELENA DELAND – ” Someone New “

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Montreal’s Helena Deland has been releasing her music over the last year: methodically, and singularly.

“It’s a happy mix of different years and different contexts,” explains Deland, of her upcoming, five-song EP. The 26-year-old Montrealer began writing songs in high school, and started recording her work three years ago. While the oldest song in this new collection is roughly four years old, they are all loosely linked thematically so that “like stages, weaving in and out of relationships” and is “about wanting to be close with someone.”

The EP won’t be released until October. 19th, but we’re premiering its third single, “Lean on You,” which aptly fits into the descriptor. “It’s about having a crush that you’re kind of resisting because you don’t want to surrender mental space to this. You know?” explains Deland. The woozy track starts simply, with only Deland’s voice and guitar, and expands into a teasing chorus that states, “Cause I don’t need/ I don’t need/ to lean on you, no/ even though/ that’s what other people do.” You can hear whisps of what sounds like Deland’s breath through the lyrics, as her “ah-ah-aahs” march you gently through the song.

Produced by fellow Montrealer Jesse Mac Cormack (who has produced all of Deland’s EPs, encompassing 2016’s Drawing Room and March 2018’s Vol. I & II), Altogether Unaccompanied Vol. III & IV is her second EP to be released on new label Luminelle Records, of which Deland is the first signee.

Helena Deland’s new single ‘Someone New’ out now. Her debut album ‘Someone New’ out October

“A wispy and elusive bit of music — part indie-pop under a hazy murk, part dreamy synthscape. As ever, there’s something a little eerie about it all, Deland blending catchiness and ghostliness.” – Stereogum
“After the last notes fade to black, the ghost of Someone New continues to haunt you — it’s an utterly unforgettable record.” – Line of Best Fit
“You’ll be hard-pressed to find a debut album released this year with such rich compositional acumen and creative instincts that orbit the domain of pop.” – The FADER
“I encourage people to listen to it as an album, because it really takes you on a journey.”  – NPR
“Her music feels designed for the sacred space between headphones: private listening to a songwriter’s private battles, in a realm where even the screams are internal.” – New Yorker

It feels like we’ve been waiting forever, but Helena Deland‘s debut album Someone New is finally here! We’re so proud to share this gorgeous project with you today, plus a lovely new animated video for album track “Comfort, Edge.”

Band Members:
Helena – Guitar, vocals
Alexandre – Guitar
Francis – Drums
Agathe – Bass

Album out on Luminelle Recordings and Chivi Chivi October 16th.

The MOUNTAIN GOATS – ” Getting Into Knives “

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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John Darnielle has written almost 600 songs now, and some of them are very sad, dealing with hard drugs and tragic ends, hurting yourself and others, sicknesses of both body and brain, off-brand alcohols. They are told in beautiful, unnerving, specific detail because he is a very good writer, and also some of them are just true stories about his own life. Roughly four months to the day that Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle dropped Songs For Pierre Chuvin, his first “boombox” LP since 2002, the songwriter’s back with a new Goats’ LP. Called “Getting Into Knives”, it’s described in a press release as “the perfect album for the millions of us who have spent many idle hours contemplating whether we ought to be honest with ourselves and just get massively into knives.” We are those millions, readers. Recorded across a single week in Memphis, the album trades between piano-driven intimacy and stormy bombast, the latter of which is on display in its lead single, “As Many Candles As Possible.” Featuring Al Green’s organist Charles Hodges, the dark and swampy track reflects the Deep South milieu in which it was recorded. 

The Mountain Goats have announced their new studio album Getting Into Knives. The LP arrives October 23rd via Merge Records and is led by the new single “As Many Candles as Possible.” Take a listen to that below. Getting Into Knives is the follow-up to April’s Songs for Pierre Chuvin, which John Darnielle recorded alone on his boombox.

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On New Year’s Day 2019, now a distant world away, Maggie Smith, author of “Good Bones,” tweeted a plotline for an imaginary buddy movie about a divorced woman driving around the US with her wedding dress, taking it all around the country. I thought to myself: what if she’s taking it to places she didn’t go when she was married, what if she’s showing her dress the life she didn’t live? I hunkered down and a couple hours later I’d written “Picture of My Dress.”

In March of 2020, also now a distant world away, we recorded the tune with Matt Ross-Spang at Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis. Playing on the track are the Mountain Goats — John, Peter, Jon, and Matt — plus Bram Gielen and Chris Boerner for that extra sweetness. We were assisted in the studio by one hell of a nice guy named Matt Denham, who died unexpectedly this week and we are all torn up about it because he was a real one so I am sending this out to you, bud. Everybody else give an extra head-nod while you listen to the studio attaché with the gentle way, a song like this can only be the result of everybody in the room being on the same wavelength and his contribution was a special energy that this world will miss but the next one is presently richer for. Enjoy!,

Releases October 23rd, 2020

“That kinetic rush of the record’s creation can be felt in first single ‘As Many Candles as Possible,’ which features Al Green’s organist Charles Hodges.” – Brooklyn Vegan

“The track opens with a bristling twist of guitars and rumbling drums before settling into a steady groove. A distorted crunch underpins the primarily acoustic proceedings, helping the song build to a pitch-perfect freakout, featuring Al Green’s organist Charles Hodges.” – Rolling Stone
“The album news arrives with the release of dark, squally lead single “As Many Candles As Possible,” which features Al Green organist Charles Hodges and builds to a churning catharsis.” – Indy Week
“Recorded across a single week in Memphis, the album trades between piano-driven intimacy and stormy bombast, the latter of which is on display in its lead single, ‘As Many Candles As Possible.’ Featuring Al Green’s organist Charles Hodges, the dark and swampy track reflects the Deep South milieu in which it was recorded.” – A.V. Club

LES BIG BYRD – ” Iran Iraq Ikea “

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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PNKSLM Recordings are beyond excited to announce the second full length from Stockholm’s Les Big Byrd. Consisting of Jocke Åhlund, Nino Keller, Frans Johansson & Martin “Konie” Ehrencrona, Les Big Byrd have been consistently one of the most exciting bands at the forefront of the Swedish Psych music scene. Following on from 2014’s “The Worshipped Cats” LP (A Recordings),“Iran Iraq IKEA” showcases the band perfectly with their strongest collection of songs yet.

Les Big Byrd’s second album “Iran Iraq IKEA” has been one of the best out of Sweden of the year, and we’re now on our third pressing! To celebrate, we’ve made a very special reissue, with an exclusive sleeve pressed with gold foil.

Keeping to the gold theme, the deluxe package also includes an exclusive matte gold coloured vinyl, and an exclusive Iran Iraq IKEA t-shirt – only 75 available!

originally released October 12th, 2018
Record Labels:
A Recordings
PNKSLM
Höga Nord Rekords

THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION – ” Friend Ship ” Feat Nadia Reid , Hollie Fullbrook

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Phoenix Foundation have lived many lives. From high school distortion addicts to indie folk trippers to masters of motorik dream pop. It’s been five years since their last album, Give Up Your Dreams, but that downtime has been well spent. The New Zealand outfit have been writing, recording, touring with a Symphony Orchestra, creating the acclaimed soundtrack for Taika Waititi’s Hunt For The Wilderpeople, building shrines to light, creating scores for VR, producing other bands and, that most lockdown-friendly activity, baking sourdough.

It’s been 5 long years since “new zealand’s finest purveyors of psychedelic pop” (the times) last gifted us an album but thankfully, their downtime since ‘give up your dreams’ appears to have been well spent as they’ve come up trumps once again with ‘Friend Ship’. they’ve managed to enrol some of their homeland’s finest vocalists for quality guest spots, including previous dinked edition star Nadia Reid, another shop fave Tiny Ruins’ Hollie Fullbrook and Anita Clark (aka Motte). there’s also some sumptuous string arrangements performed by the New Zealand symphony orchestra.

Slowly, when they could, the six old friends found time to work together in studios, garages, forests, and sheds to put together the concise ten song set of that is Friend Ship. “We took such a long break after Give Up Your Dreams that when we did decide to make a new record we all felt it needed to be in some esoteric sense different,” says co-lead singer Samuel Flynn Scott. “To me that meant returning to something more focused. Honing in on the songs before we went deep into the arrangements and freaky sounds.” And the results reflect this approach too. Whilst Friend Ship, as you would expect, weaves seamlessly between dreamy introspective pop, stretched out grooves and psychedelic rock, it also exists as a collection of masterfully crafted songs.

Watch the video for our brand-new single “Hounds of Hell” with Nadia Reid. The video was directed by Anita Fontaine

For our UK fans, our new album “Friend Ship” will be available on very limited DINKED edition. With unique album art, transparent turquoise vinyl and two flexi discs with bonus songs!

 

ME REX – ” Triceratops “

Posted: August 11, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Very excited to welcome the wonderful ME REX to Big Scary Monsters Record’s.

Initially the brainchild of Myles McCabe, the band has recently expanded to a four piece with the additions of Phoebe Cross (Happy Accidents/Cheerbleederz), Rich Mandell (Happy Accidents) and Kathryn Woods (Fresh/Cheerbleederz). Now they present their new EP, “Triceratops”, which is released on 28th August.

Check out the first single, “Stellar Abattoir”, below

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Big Scary Monsters is an independent currently label based in Oxford. It has so far been responsible for releases from the likes of Minus The Bear, Andrew W.K., Pulled Apart By Horses, Gnarwolves, Kevin Devine, Into It. Over It, Cursive, Meet Me In St Louis, Bear vs Shark, Toe, This Town Needs Guns, Tall Ships, Matt Pryor, Walter Schreifels, Joyce Manor, Algernon Cadwallader and many, many more. 

Releases August 28th, 2020

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