Among the star performers at Austin SXSW was the transfixing Joshua Fleming, who spit out lyrics with all the swagger of a man backed up by a vicious gang. And, really, he was: the Vandoliers are deadly onstage, delivering their cowpunk/ska/Tex-Mex blend with abandon. Like many up-and-coming artists, they embarked on a wicked SX schedule, playing Twangfest on Thursday, the Bloodshot Records Yard Dog party on Friday and Mojo Nixon’s Mojo Mayhem at the Continental on Saturday. No matter though — that just meant more chances for fans to dance to jams like “Sixteen Years” and “Dollar Bottom Boy,” off the Texas group’s excellent new album Forever.
From Vandoliers‘ 2019 Bloodshot Records album ‘Forever’:
Calexico (Joey Burns and John Convertino) and Iron & Wine (Sam Beam) have announced “Years to Burn”the trio’s first collaboration since their 2005 In the Reins EP, not to mention their first full-length album together—due out June 14 via Sub Pop/City Slang. Our first taste of the album has arrived, as well, in the form of its idyllic lead single “Father Mountain.” Rounding out all this good news is an extensive set of North American, European and U.K. joint tour dates, more of which will be added in the weeks to come.
Burns, Convertino and Beam recorded their new album at Nashville’s fabled Sound Emporium studio with producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price). Years to Burn features 10 new compositions spanning eight distinct tracks, with Beam handling the bulk of the songwriting alongside Burns, Convertino and their studio contributors: longtime Calexico trumpet player Jacob Valenzuela and Paul Niehaus on pedal steel, with frequent Beam collaborators Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio) on piano and Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Fiona Apple) on bass.
“Life is hard. Awesome. And scary as shit. But it can lift you up if you let it,” Beam says of the album. “These are the things Joey and I write about now. And the title can encapsulate a lot of things. Years to Burn could mean you’re cocky, you’ve got it made. Or, our life is ours to burn, to be inspired. Or you’re burned by life, brutalized. It’s an ambiguous title, because life is complicated. Let’s not talk like teenagers about love, desire, pain, ‘cause we’re not teenagers. And that’s not a bad thing.”
Texan indie rockers Calexico are long term collaborators with Iron and Wine AKA South Carolina songwriter Sam Beam have already worked together on their incredible ‘In The Reins’ EP which they brought out in 2005. They have just announced and extensive Autumn tour which takes them right across the UK in November.
“This project had to find the right time,” adds Burns. “We’re all different people than we were in 2004, and music helps to bridge some of the gaps. For all the things going on in our world and in each of our lives, this connection, this friendship, this love that we have—this album is a vehicle for that bond. It’s a chance to see where we’re at, take stock and be there for our friends.”
The inner peace that comes with that age and experience certainly shines through on “Father Mountain,” a jangly, pastoral reverie that takes on the fuzzy haze of fond memories slowly fading. “Everyone knows and they don’t know / chandelier light ain’t low / They just watch as the time goes,” sings a wistful Beam, looking back on simpler days.
Listen to “Father Mountain” with Calexico and Iron & Wine
Though she’d been writing songs in her head since she was six, and on the guitar since she was 12, it took a long time for Nilüfer Yanya to work up the courage to show anyone her music. “I knew I wanted to sing, but the idea of actually having to do it was really horrifying,” says the 23-year-old. When she was finally persuaded to do so, by a music teacher in West London where she grew up, she says “it was horrible. I loved it”.
At 18, Nilüfer – who is of Turkish-Irish-Bajan heritage – uploaded a few demos to SoundCloud. Though she’s preternaturally shy, her music – which uniquely blends elements of soul and jazz into intimate pop songs with electronic flourishes and a newly expressed grungy guitar sound – isn’t. And it didn’t take long for it to catch people’s attention. She signed with independent New York label ATO, following three EPs on esteemed london indie label Blue Flowers, and earned a place on the BBC Sound of 2018 longlist. She also supported the likes of The xx, Interpol, Broken Social Scene and Mitski on tour.
Now, Nilüfer is ready to release her debut album, Miss Universe. Though she recorded much of it in the same remote Cornwall studio she used to jam in as a much younger person, it is bigger and more ambitious than anything she has done before. ‘Angels’, with its muted, harmonic riffs, channels ideas “of paranoid thoughts and anxiety” – a theme that runs through the album, not least in its conceptual spoken word interludes which emanate from a fictional health management company WWAY HEALTH TM. “You sign up, and you pay a fee,” explains Nilüfer of the automated messages, which are littered through the album and are narrated by the titular Miss Universe. “They sort out all of your dietary requirements, and then they move onto medication, and then maybe you can get a better organ or something… and then suddenly it starts to get a bit weird. You’re giving them more of you and to what end?”
Lucille Furs are a “baroque pop” band from Chicago. Their debut self-titled album was released a few months ago.
Lucille Furs consists of Trevor Pritchett (vocals, guitar, keys), Constantine Hastalis (keys), Patrick Tsotsos (bass), Nick Dehmlow (guitar) and Brendan Peleo-Lazar (drums). Initially, this band was conceptualized by Patrick, as the rest of us had been in musical projects in Chicago. At first, Constantine was not a member but since he was already a friend (and through our progression as a band), we decided to add him to the line-up on Mellotron and organ.
Venom & Faith is the album from Nashville based sister duo Larkin Poe, released last November. Without basking in nostalgia factor, the band harken back to the hey-day of all guts-and-glory blues-infused rock, melded with the raw-power of modern alt-folk stylings.
With four full-length albums under their belt, the band have cemented their status not only an essential listen for rock fans, but a must-see live act. Larkin Poe have shared the stage with legends like Elvis Costello and Conor Oberst, with Steven Tyler even tapping their talents for a guest spot his debut solo album 2016.
The Atlanta-born sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell are descendants of celebrated US writer Edgar Allen Poe and have an appropriately gothic feel to their country blues churn and holler. Even the record’s title, taken from a lyric from album track Honey Honey, is intended to conjure a southern gothic image.
The excellently titled Bleach Bottle Blonde Blues is the latest track to be shared from the album – it rattles, stomps and slides into a modern-day depiction of what roots rock should sound like.
Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues is from Larkin Poe’s album “Venom & Faith”, out November 9
Best news I’ve come across for a long time! Triptides are issuing their brilliant Colors EP for the first time on vinyl (Originally released in 2014 on digital/cassette), The band has teamed up with one of the most exciting labels around for some very limited and completely mindboggling custom Vinyl variants.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again; Triptides are truly some of the finest purveyors of sunny psych sounds around! Reverbed licks and hazy vocals, snappy drums and groovy basslines, all perfectly arranged into psyched up pop-pearls that lifts your spirits and sticks that smile right on your face. Their sounds are instantly catchy and easygoing, and at the same time inhabits those small melodic variations in the arrangements that enriches their tunes through repeated listening. Goddamn how much I love this bunch..
While their whole catalogue (counting 7 album + numerous Eps and singles) is a total bliss, this EP contains some of Triptides’ finest moments. Be sure to check it out underneath, 6 sweet’n salty treats to leave you in the sun gazed haze of a lazy sunday afternoon!, A miraculous EP with great songwriting and solid pop craftsmanship, probably my favorite by Triptides. “Destiny” is the kind of song that sticks in your head for days and days…
Melbourne’s own Salty Dog Records always takes pride in coming up with the sickest custom variants, and the Brunswick East based one-man operation has really set the bar high with this release.
Fake Laugh (AKA Kamran Khan) kicks off 2018 with a luscious double A Side on limited edition 7” vinyl and digital formats via Headcount Records. Following on from the release of his self-titled, debut album last Summer and ready to hit the road in support of Girl Ray on their UK tour, Kam delivers these two very different but equally peachy cuts. The London & Berlin based songwriter once again recruited Theo Verney to help produce the brutally honest love ballad ‘Better For Me’ and the fuzzed up earworm ‘On Loop’ – both offering a fresh take on the personal journey of Fake Laugh.
‘Better For Me / On Loop’ out now via Headcount Records,
After his album received support from 6 Music, BBC and X FM, Kam (touring member of The Japanese House) has wasted no time in getting straight back into the studio to finish these two new tracks. With more releases planned for the immediate future, man like Kamran Khan is on a roll, released April 30th, 2018
Written and performed by Kamran Khan
Produced by Theo Verney
Reissue alert! There are three formats for Protomartyr’s Debut album “No Passion All Technique” which was arguably one of the best releases in 2012 being re released in early May. The reissue has been long awaited ever since it’s original release, If you know you know, and Protomartyr’s debut is an album you need to know. Out of print basically from the moment it was released in 2012, it’s been but a whisper. Now hear the roar.
Frontman Joe Casey reflected on the album in a statement: My memory is shot, but I appreciate now, looking back, how raw and off-the-cuff it was. There’s tons of mistakes in it and that wasn’t because we planned on it. We still can’t really admit that it’s as good as it is. You never want to say that your first is the best, but I’m happy that the first ended up not being terrible. It gave us doorway to what we’d want to do later.
This is a Woozy, lovelorn, plaintive, playful, tender, a list of all things. It could be any of them. It could be all of them. All and so much more. Love is never normal but it’s all I wanted us to be. Normal people, together and apart, finding comfort in the small things: a candle on a birthday, the click of the latch on the door when you return with the groceries. Plaintive components of a spellbinding journey, small cogs across the breadth of a relationship, from learning to love, to watching it all fall apart.
Recommended on a whim, I recommend this album with an utmost certainty that this is music for all ears and listens, among my most anticipated albums of 2018 when it was finally released . “There’s Always Glimmer” by Gia Margaret . And I can already say it’s gonna be one of those few albums that will leave quite an inspiring mark . I just love the sound and mood, subtle use of electronic parts, the overall warmth. Just beautiful.
On the surface, Gia Margaret’s music is somber, glistening songs might seem gloomy — especially when her lyrics revolve around alienation, anxiety, depression and memories she wishes would fade already. But as its title suggests, There’s Always Glimmer is about letting slivers of appreciation and light pierce the melancholy. “Birthday” is downright intoxicating, as Gia Margaret’s drowsy voice nestles comfortably against tender guitar lines.
All songs written, performed and produced by Gia Margaret
Recorded and mixed by Nicholas Papaleo and Gia Margaret at Inside Voice, in Gia’s bedroom and at Decade Studios Smoke and West recorded and mixed by Doug Saltzman
Additional musicians:
Brendan Losch — additional guitar + backing vocals (2)
John Morton — backing vocals (2), drums (2, 3)
Scott Jacobson — additional guitar (10)
Ivan Pyzow — trumpet (3)
Quinn Tsan — additional vocals (7)
Bob Buckstaff — bass (2, 5)
Nicholas Papaleo — bass (6, 10), additional keys (2, 5, 10)
Molly Rife — cello (4)
Doug Saltzman — drum production (4, 12)
Chris Dye — drum production (10)
The Rose Gardener, Bellows’ fourth full-length album and the project’s first for Topshelf Records, is a four-part journey through the uncanny valley of deep psychological disorder and pain. Self-recorded over the course of a single winter while Oliver Kalb was living in Woodstock, NY, The Rose Gardener invokes a bright and pastoral landscape of Americana and folk, with lyrics influenced by a strange pairing of Romantic Poetry and deeply modern interrogations of internet pop-culture discourse. The uncanniness of The Rose Gardener comes from the odd pairing of this bright Americana musical foundation with the album’s dark, bubbling substructure of noise, synthesizers, sampling and vocal manipulation that together create a feeling of paranoia and danger around every corner; as if the album’s narrator cannot escape his plummeting into the dark however much its songs push to remain in the bright rose garden of beauty and creation.
This time around, rather than present great coloured skies and vistas, The Rose Gardener feels more pin-pointed, an exploration of what’s directly around us; a world within a world (the proverbial garden), but also lingering dark corners, the parts of our brain we don’t often find ourselves in.
Musically, The Rose Gardener finds Kalb and co. in similarly stylistic mood to what’s come before, this aforementioned world brought into life through a series of skewed, odd-pop signatures, both light and dark, shaped by the manipulated vocals and the playful and plentiful rhythmic instrumentals that burst into bloom with the most graceful of touches.
The kind of record that feels tenderly consuming when you’re inside of it, and strangely dream-like when you’re not, the new album is another adventurous and emotive collection of songs, earthy and raw but idiosyncratic too; a maze-like allegory of pop songs, full of twists and turns you can’t explain.
The Rose Gardener is released on Friday, via Topshelf Records
