GQ clothes-horse and man who saw a darkness Bonnie Prince Billy has his first album of new songs since 2011. This time, he brings the lightness, with help from a Louisville band including picker Nathan Salsburg, ex-Gary Burton Quartet drummer Mike Hyman and singer-songwriter Joan Shelley. Influenced by songwriters John Prine and Tom T. Hall and inspired by the state of Hawaii, I Made a Place finds Bonny using his considerable powers for good.
“This Is Far From Over” features and was edited by Captain Olivia O Wyatt. She just completed a solo transpacific crossing from San Diego to Hawaii on her 34 ft. boat, Juniper. The voyage lasted 23 days and was chronicled on her blog Wilderness of Waves . From Hawaii, she will sail around the world to destinations guided by humpback whale migration patterns. As Olivia traverses the sea, she is creating an ethnographic film exploring the mystery of humpback whale songs from the perspective of indigenous communities who revere them as deities.
Confronting the ongoing mental health and familial trials that have plagued Allison since pre-pubescence, “Color Theory” explores three central themes: blue, representing sadness and depression; yellow, symbolizing physical and emotional illness; and, finally, grey, representing darkness, emptiness and loss.
Written mostly while on tour and recorded in Allison’s hometown of Nashville at Alex The Great, Color Theory was produced by Gabe Wax (who also produced Clean), mixed by Lars Stalfors (Mars Volta, HEALTH, St. Vincent), and features the live Soccer Mommy band on studio recording for the first time, with a live take at the foundation of almost every track. The resulting album is a masterpiece that paints an uncompromisingly honest self-portrait of an artist who, according to 100+ publications, already released one of the Best Albums of 2018 and the 2010s, and is about to release an early favorite of 2020.
The third LP from Slaughter Beach, Dog; released on Lame-O Records on August 2nd, 2019. Across the previous Slaughter Beach, Dog albums, Jake Ewald has crafted his sound. It’s one that incorporates pop music, indie-rock, folk, and just the faintest dash of punk in order to create something that’s accessible but still artistically rich. With Safe And Also No Fear, the band’s third album, Ewald has abandoned his usual practices in service of creating something richer.
Where he once offered tightly woven vignettes about characters that mirrored the people in his life, Safe And Also No Fear now finds Jake joined by a full band, spinning out songs that push and expand Slaughter Beach, Dog’s sonic boundaries in subtle, evocative ways. Opener “One Down” leans on a pedestrian acoustic pattern that plods in one ear and out the other. “I dress up nice/I feel all right/I get loaded/And I come home late at night,” Ewald sings, without enough conviction to absolve the cliché. He falls into a half-spoken drawl on “Dogs,” a tender discourse on human friendships (“I know he always understands me/Even when I am being evasive”), but the stream-of-consciousness melody feels as aimless as another night at the neighborhood bar.
“Black Oak” achieves a more affecting result by ditching the vocal melody altogether: “His belly warm with drink/He leaned into the freeway in the night/Investigating exit ramps/Waiting for a sign,” Ewald recounts in an unnerving deadpan. The guitars drop out as the song’s protagonist meets tragedy: “They found him at the black oak/They dug him up last night.” A looping coda evokes the spaced-out lapse of highway hypnosis, as if the band were cruising those darkened roads themselves.
After two LPs performed entirely by himself, the beach must’ve grown lonely; on Safe and Also No Fear, Ewald’s third album, he’s joined by a full ensemble that includes Modern Baseball bassist Ian Farmer, his first official reunion with a former bandmate since their indefinite hiatus. Together, they dive into the pared-down folk-rock Ewald had just begun to explore on previous solo releases.
Recorded and produced by Jake Ewald, Ian Farmer, Nick Harris, and Zack Robbins at The Metal Shop Studio in Philadelphia, PA.
The Flaming Lips + Deap Vally = DEAP LIPS. Our new single is out now. Listen to ‘Home Thru Hell’ & pre-order the album today.
The Flaming Lips have a long-standing tradition of collaborating with other artists for full albums. Now, WayneCoyne and Steven Drozd have teamed up with Deap Vally’s Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards to form a new supergroup called Deap Lips. Their new album Deap Lips is out March 13th via Cooking Vinyl.
In the past, the Flaming Lips have shared collaborative albums with Miley Cyrus, Neon Indian, Stardeath & White Dwarf, and a whole slew of “heady fwends.” This year they dropped the new album King’s Mouth and a live orchestral Soft Bulletin album.
The Flaming Lips + Deap Vally = DEAP LIPS. The self-titled album releases March 13th, 2020.
Emily Yacina’s new song “Gleaming” is an upward rush of momentum. “Meet me here/ I’ll show you/ The same light/ I’m feeling,” she sings, her delivery breathless, words spilling out in an incantatory pulse. The track was originally supposed to be entirely instrumental, and it wasn’t until late in the process of making her new album, Remember The Silver, that Yacina stumbled on a melody that fit. The result feels like getting sucked up into space, a hermetic environment where only you and your object of affection exist.
“It’s inspired by throwing yourself into a situation and letting your heart determine your feelings,” Yacina explains. “Letting go and just enjoying someone — for a night or an experience.” In only 90 seconds, she captures that feeling of love without consequence, that glowing moment of rapture where next-steps don’t matter.
“Gleaming” is the lead single to Remember The Silver, the latest in a series of stellar releases from Yacina, whose voice you might recognize as the foil to many a (Sandy) Alex G song. She grew up in the same Philadelphia suburb as Alex Giannascoli, and it was during high school that she first started putting music online. Since then, she’s carved out a niche for gauzy and emotionally earnest songs. Her string of Bandcamp releases, including 2015’s Soft Stuffand 2017’sHeart Sky, are a treasure trove of wrenching melodies and delightfully off-kilter meditations on time and absence. Heart Sky is particularly great, made up of songs that Yacina wrote while isolated in Alaska for a couple of months during a summer. Her songs often operate at that kind of remove, like she’s trying so intimately to document a feeling that she ends up questioning whether that feeling even really exists at all.
Her new album is her most fully-realized project yet, recorded with Eric Littmann — who has also produced similarly introspective albums by Yohuna and Julie Byrne — and put together over the course of the last couple years as Yacina finished school, getting a degree in Environmental Studies, and settling down in New York City as an adult. Remember The Silver captures those first few tentative steps into adulthood, when suddenly who you are is defined entirely by what you make of it.
The video for new single “Gleaming” was directed by Caroline Pigou. “Getting to work with one of my dearest friends, Caroline Pigou, on this video makes it so special to me,” Yacina said. “I was so comfortable shooting because it was her and I, and I feel like that intimacy / confidence comes through like magic.
The album’s title is taken from a book about UFO abductions. The songs themselves play out sort of like a series of abductions in the form of relationships which take over your entire being. They explore what happens when all of a sudden a relationship is over, and you’re left figuring out how to fit into the world once again on your own. That search for definition drives the album, which sounds ecstatically sad in that exploration of the unknown.
We’re very excited to announce our third album ‘Viscerals’ will be released on Friday 3rd April 2020. Their brand new album is on the way, and have shared a raucous first cut to get us even more excited.
Set to land on 3rd April, new album ‘Viscerals’ promises to be full of riffs and dynamic melodies, proving what a monumental force the Newcastle quintet are. And if you need more convincing it’s going to slap, have a glimpse at the record’s first offering ‘Reducer’ which is an absolute face-melter.
“This is the first taste of our new album ‘Viscerals’” announce the band. “It’s called ‘Reducer’ and it has a very strong flavour. It’s one of the songs that came together quickest during the writing process. It’s immediate and unruly and has that cathartic edge we seek out from the music we make together. It’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun to play live. Let’s rock.”
Head over to www.pigsx7.com where you’ll find links to preorder the album and book tickets to our album launch tour, including some newly announced dates.
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – “Reducer” Taken from the album ‘Viscerals ‘ on Rocket Recordings
The album “Family Entertainment” followed on the heels of Family’s Music in a Doll’s House with the band’s first incarnation: Roger Chapman (harmonica/tenor sax/vocals), Rick Grech (violin/cello/bass guitar/vocals), Rob Townsend (percussion/drums), John “Charlie” Whitney (guitar/pedal steel guitar/keyboards), and Jim King (harmonica/keyboards/soprano sax/tenor sax/vocals).
Family Entertainment was the second album by the British progressive rock band Family, released in March 1969. The cover of the album was a takeoff from the sleeve of the Doors’ second album, Strange Days, Family admitted.
While not totally dismissing their psychedelic leanings, much of the material bears a stronger acoustic influence, in much the same manner as Fairport Convention and Traffic were also exploring. The jazzy sitar lead of “Face in the Cloud” and the even more prominent Eastern-flavored “Summer ’67” somewhat date the affair, and are contrasted by the beautifully noir and trippy “How-Hi-the-Li” and the upbeat “Hung Up Down,” sporting Grech’s unmistakable violin as it wafts over the rural and slightly surreal lyrics.
These sides are set against the edgy “Weaver’s Answer,” which immediately establishes a broader spectrum of styles, most notably given Chapman’s commanding if not slightly intimidating vocals. Guitarist Whitney blistering fretwork yields bite to the Grech-penned “Second Generation Woman,” while “Emotions,” another full-tilt rocker, is infused with an apparent R&B homage.
The first song from the album ”Family Entertainment” that came out in 1969.
This extended version is live from the Beat Club (Hamburg) in 1970. Roger Chapman – Vocals / Percussion John ”Charlie” Whitney – Guitars / Organ Jim King – Piano /Saxophone / Vocals Ric Grech – Bass / Violin / Vocals Rob Townsend – Drums / Percussion Nicky Hopkins – Piano
Family Entertainment was the last album from the group’s original lineup.
Family’s momentum was almost derailed by the departure of bassist Ric Grech for Blind Faith two months after Family Entertainment’s UK release, which caused their first U.S. tour to founder, and Jim King only worsened the situation with his departure later in 1969.
Interested parties should note that “Family Entertainment” and “Music in a Doll’s House” were issued in a double-disc package featuring a commendable 24-bit digital remastering rendering all other versions useless — especially the early-’90s pressing on the German Line label. Not only are both LPs included, but the 45s “Scene Through the Eye of a Lens” and “Gypsy Woman” are finally brought into the digital domain. The accompanying 40-page liner booklet is likewise a feast for the eyes.
The Finks play the songs of Oliver Mestitz. They are sincere but flippant, intimate but aloof, subtle but unpolished. A lovely collection of introspections and time-pausing tunes. Oliver is his own genre, and every listen reminds me just how priceless and necessary his rarity is
The Finks have released a steady stream of quietly uncompromising music via Milk! Records since 2012 – three EPs, three albums, a couple of singles and the latest tape Affectations, a collection of covers and instrumentals and found sounds. . A group pretty much based around the songs of Oliver Metsitz, this is a very fine record loaded with great tunes and incisive lyrics.
On February 21st, five Bruce Springsteen albums are set to be released on vinyl for the first time in over a decade, via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings.
The Rising, Devils & Dust, Live In New York City, Live In Dublin and 18 Tracks comprise the majority of Springsteen’s recorded output from the beginning of the millennium – a period that saw the long-awaited reunion of the E Street Band. Each album has been transferred from the original source masters, allowing for the highest quality pressings possible.
The Rising (2002) will be reissued on 2LP vinyl for the first time in over 15 years. The album offered messages of healing and redemption in the wake of 9/11, and saw The E Street Band re-unite in the studio for the first time in nearly a decade.
Devils & Dust (2005) comes to vinyl for the first time since its original release on the format. “The songs are closely observed country noir vignettes,,” Hot Press’s Peter Murphy wrote in his review of the album, “the testimonies of losers reaching a detente with the fates and promising to do better.”
Live In New York City (2001) arrives on 3LPs for the first time since its original pressing. The set chronicles BruceSpringsteen and The E Street Band’s much-anticipated reunion tour, recorded over two nights at Madison Square Garden in the summer of 2000.
Live In Dublin (2007) will be released on vinyl for the first time ever, a 2LP snapshot of Bruce Springsteen’s work with The Sessions Band. The album includes classic folk songs popularised by Pete Seeger, plus radically rearranged versions of Bruce Springsteen favourites.
Finally, 18 Tracks (1999) is coming to vinyl for the first time in over 20 years. The 2LP set features rarities like the original ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ demo and exclusive songs ‘Trouble River’, a 1999 re-recording of ‘The Promise’ and Springsteen’s original version of ‘The Fever’, made famous by Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes.
The Releases:
Bruce Springsteen – Live in Dublin (NEW 3 x 12″ VINYL LP) Bruce Springsteen – Live in New York City (NEW 3 x 12″ VINYL LP) Bruce Springsteen – Devils & Dust (NEW 2 x 12″ VINYL LP) Bruce Springsteen – 18 Tracks (NEW 2 x 12″ VINYL LP) Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (NEW 2 x 12″ VINYL LP)
Back in November, Chicago-based Ratboys announced plans for a new album this year. The upcoming Printer’s Devil serves as a follow-up to their 2017 sophomore full-length GN, and its companion EP, GL. Along with that announcement, the band released their raucous, grungy lead single, “Alien With A Sleep Mask On,” and its video.
Now, Ratboys are sharing a second single and video from that forthcoming LP, “I Go Out At Night.” It’s a bit more starry-eyed than the previous single, as soaring electric riffs blend seamlessly with full chord synths throughout. The lyric “I’m lost, but I’m not afraid” — pulled from David Byrne and Brian Eno’s collaboration “Life Is Long” — reportedly became a mantra for Ratboys during the making of the new album.
vocalist Julia Steiner said about the song:
The first verse and main riff of this song is actually the only “older” idea that we recycled for the record — I think I wrote both when I was 19 or 20, maybe 6 or 7 years ago. We wanted this song to feel different from the rest, something like a daydream or a fantasy. We experimented with synths in this song, during the bridge and the outro. I’m extremely happy with how all of the sounds interact — it comforts me for reasons I find hard to describe.
Like the video for “Alien With A Sleep Mask On,” this one was directed by Coool, the working moniker of duo John TerEick and Jake Nokovic. It’s a noirish ode to Halloween that sees the band members trick-or-treating, complete with an evil witch.
Band Members
Julia Steiner – vox/lyrics, guitar
David Sagan – guitar
