Chad VanGaalen’s Shrink Dust was a hidden gem in 2014, with galactic psych reverb spilling over jangly guitars and weird, spaced-out lyrics. Light Information keeps the formula intact: danceable indie rock with an experimental streak and nimble storytelling. Lead single “Old Heads” is a sci-fi anthem to technology that constantly replaces itself, proving both necessary and unnecessary at the same time. Chad VanGaalen is sincerely one of my favorite artists. I love the control he has over the production and representation of his music and all of the details he puts in to it. Out of a sea of artists I really connect with the lyrics. Have been a fan since I discovered Soft Airplane in 2006.
“Keep The Car Running” is the second track to be shared from Silver Torches’ upcoming record Let It Be A Dream. Silver Torches is the project of Seattle songwriter, Erik Walters. His debut record, “Heatherfield” received critical acclaim from numerous regional and national tastemakers, including features on NPR’s “Songs We Love,” KEXP’s “Song of the Day” and “Music that Matters” podcasts. In addition to Silver Torches, Erik fronted NW post rock outfit, The Globes (Barsuk) and has toured as a member of Telekinesis! (Merge) and Perfume Genius (Matador).
With echoes of Ryan Adams or the pin-sharp observations of Paul Westerberg, it also shares some of the same expansive melancholia of the new War On Drugs record, but without sacrificing anything of the robustness of songwriting that marked out their excellent debut Heatherfield.
Keep The Car Running freewheels along on the back of an almost jaunty guitar riff and catchy percussion and is well worth three minutes of your time.
Ahead of the highly anticipated release of their new album Antisocialites, Alvvays are streaming their latest song ‘Lollipop (Ode To Jim)’.
Written by Molly Rankin after singing ‘Just Like Honey’ on stage with The Jesus & Mary Chain, ‘Lollipop (Ode To Jim)’ acts as the ideal build-up to the new album release, drenched in reverb and dominated by leading guitar riffs. Antisocialites is the follow-up to Alvvays 2014 self-titled debut. The band have already shared two of the album’s singles ‘In Undertow’ and ‘Dreams Tonite’, both of which were performed in session for BBC Radio 6 with Lauren Laverne yesterday.
The Toronto band are currently finishing their current UK tour, finishing with a sold out show tomorrow at London’s Koko. After a run of European shows, Alvvays will tour the US throughout October and November, before finishing the year with four sold-out hometown shows in Toronto in December.
Surfer Blood are releasing a Covers EP as a one-time vinyl pressing, covering some wildly disparate artists like Outkast, Pavement, Cream, Mudhoney, Breeders, and even Hey Sandy by Polaris (aka, the theme-song from The Adventures of Pete & Pete).
Who doesn’t love cover songs? The aptly named ‘Covers’ album features Surfer Blood covering some wildly unusual tunes .
This one time pressing is limited to 1000 foil-numbered copies on amber vinyl with black splatter, and includes instant download of MP3 and WAV.
This release is not available via record stores. The only way to get your hands on this bad boy is to order from JNR, or catch the band on tour.
You can stream their take on Mudhoney’s “Good Enough” below. Unavailable in record stores, the nine track EP is limited to 1,000 foil-numbered copies on amber vinyl with black splatter.
Tracklist
Box Elder (Pavement)
Hey Ya (Outkast)
Death and the Maiden (Verlaines)
World of Pain (Cream)
Little Fury (Breeders)
I Melt With You (Modern English)
Summer Song (Chad and Jeremy)
Good Enough (Mudhoney)
Hey Sandy (Polaris)
“Good Enough” Mudhoney Cover by Surfer Blood off ‘Covers’ out now on Joyful Noise Recordings.
‘Girl Crazy’ is a new collection of covers from Kyle Craft , After Kyle Craft wrapped up the recording of his upcoming (all originals) 2018 album, he decided to record a cover of a Jenny Lewis song for fun. This quickly spiraled into a full fledged project with Kyle recording a slew of songs by his favorite female singers. Working with his bandmate, Kevin Clark in their home studio after hours, Craft multi-tracked all the parts himself, and what started as an idle aside became a labour of love.
Now Sub Pop Records and KyleCraft have picked ten favorites from the sessions to release as Girl Crazy, a series of 2-track singles rolling out weekly starting in September. Focusing on Craft’s acclaimed interpretive talents.
Good morning everyone, I recorded an all female artist cover album in June with my piano player, Kevin Clark. Sub Pop Records decided to release them two at a time over the next 5 weeks. The first two of the series of tracks, which is called GIRL CRAZY, are Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton and Distant Fingers by Patti Smith.
Band Members
Kyle Craft- Guitar
Haven Multz- Drums
Kevin Clark- Piano
Jeremy Padot- Guitar
Ben Steinmetz- Organ
Austin Barone- Bass
“Although not as revered as Blood On The Tracks, Desire is still one of Dylan’s strongest album with incredible songs like the protest song Hurricane about Rubin Hurricane Carter, a black boxer wrongfully accused of murder. The song launched the Rolling Thunder Revue across New England to plead for his release from prison, culminating with a concert at Madison Square Garden and another inside Hurricane’s jail. You also have songs like Isis, Romance in Durango, Oh, Sister, and finally Sara. The last song is obviously dedicated to his then wife Sara, when the couple was in a midst of breaking up (which will happen two years later).
Not many outtakes are circulating from that album however, albeit from an alternate version of Hurricane, and alternate takes of Joey and the single Rita May. Other outtakes exist but were released on Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 (Catfish, Golden Loom) and the magnificent Abandoned Love on Biograph.
On the bootleg, you will find the quadrophonic version of the album (the original intended mix but since the technology didn’t allow a large release, the album was consequently available only on stereo with another mix). You will also have some live recordings of the album through the years, and of course most of the outtakes of Desire.
Another surprise is the session Bob had with Bette Midler for her album Songs From The New Depression with Nuggets of Rain (a spoof of Buckets of Rain from Blood On The Tracks) and the complete rehearsal of that song (with Bob talking, working, and sometimes flirting with Bette Midler).
Tracklist Quadraphonic Desire
1. Hurricane
2. Isis
3. Mozambique
4. One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Bellow)
5. Oh, Sister
6. Joey
7. Romance In Durango
8. Black Diamond Bay
9. Sara
10. Hurricane (Live – Clinton Correctional Institute, Dec 7, 1975)
11. Romance In Durango (Live – Hammersmith Apollo, Nov 24, 2003)
12. Abandoned Love (Live – The Other End, July 3, 1975)
Abandoned Desire
1. Joey (Alternate Take)
2. Rita May (Single Version)
3. Catfish
4. Golden Loom
5. Hurricane (“Libel” Version)
6. Rita May (Alternate Take)
7. Abandoned Love
8. People Get Ready
9. Nuggets Of Rain
10. Rehearsal Dialogue
11. Buckets Of Rain
12. Joey (Alternate Take) [Corrected]
If you happened upon the front page of the New York Times arts section on April 13th, 2006, you might likely have been taken by a trio who came up in the idealistic confines of Madison, WI, and the fertile incubator that was the Midwest’s ‘90s indie rock scene, now perched atop a Brooklyn warehouse with the sunset-drenched Manhattan skyline behind them. Rainer Maria had reached a mountaintop of sorts, and yet by the end of the year they’d be bidding farewell to sold out crowds at the Bowery Ballroom and Williamsburg Brooklyn’s now almost mythical DIY haunt, Northsix.
A decade earlier, during the summer of 1995, Kaia Fischer, William Kuehn, and Caithlin De Marrais, collectively named Rainer Maria, were getting their start in a college town not necessarily known as a nexus for any scene. That isolation may have proven fruitful as they crafted their own unique sound. A self-titled EP released in 1996 would be followed by signing to the then nascent Polyvinyl Records and the release of their first full-length albums, Past Worn Searching and Look Now, Look Again.
Those first releases, paired with an ambitious amount of time spent in basement shows, and rock clubs throughout the US, fostered a dedicated following for the trio while connecting them to other scenes and musicians throughout the country. Rainer Maria, likely without realizing it at the time, were on their way to cementing themselves as an early cornerstone for Polyvinyl, In 1999 they moved to New York City, in part to be closer to family and loved ones, but with the added effect of further unconsciously spreading that gospel.
Throughout the first half of the aughts, Rainer Maria would further release three more full-length albums. Evolving their sound as they tightened their craft, By 2006, however, Rainer Maria were feeling the strain of having spent life since their late teens as part of the same band. Collectively, they felt a desire to explore other avenues of living, and so, after a few rapturous farewell shows attended by fans from around the world, Rainer Maria hung up their hats.
De Marrais moved out of the City, releasing two well-regarded solo records of intricate, meticulously crafted pop. Kuehn spent time living in Syria and Yemen, studying and playing music with a variety of artists with all sorts of different approaches and ideas. Fischer studied Tibetan language and Tibetan Buddhism at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University,
Over the years that followed, offers for shows would come in every so often, but the band were neither emotionally nor geographically prepared to seriously entertain them. So when the latest offer came in a few years ago, the three got together to catch up and feel out where they all were both personally and musically. While none of them yet felt the allure of the stage, all three were excited with the idea of writing and recording together again, and so in lieu of any new shows, they began the process of writing the songs that would become S/T “Rainer Maria”.
The lyrics are full of natural imagery, influenced by the more pastoral setting outside De Marrais’ window—soil and greenery, weather patterns, and other markers of country life. While sonically,S/T retains and even amplifies the core grit and vigor that Rainer Maria has always had as a band. The album also benefits mightily from Kuehn’s hand at production. His bandmates implicit trust in him is a guiding force allowing each song to take on its own distinct life without losing a sense of overall cohesion.
Bob Seger had released eight albums and had been on the road for nearly a solid decade when he played Detroit’s Cobo Hall on September 4th, 1974 — but he was still largely unknown outside of the Midwest.
‘Live’ Bullet is a live album recorded at the Cobo Hall , released in April 1976, during the heyday of that arena’s time as an important rock concert venue. For Detroit fans, however, the entire ‘Live’ Bullet recording captured a Detroit artist at the height of his energy and creativity, in front of a highly appreciative hometown crowd. ‘Live’ Bullet also captured the wild and free spirit of rock concerts in the seventies, and has great historic value in that regard. Rolling Stone Critic Dave Marsh called it “one of the best live albums ever made.
The main problem was that he simply couldn’t capture the magic of his stage show on in a studio, which is likely why Live Bullet made such a huge impact. His cover of Ike & Tina’s “Nutbush City Limits” got a ton of national airplay, and suddenly Live Bullet was selling like crazy. It was also fueled by “Turn The Page,” a 1973 track about the rigors of touring life that has been a mainstay of classic rock radio for the past 40 years. “We were doing, like, 250 to 300 shows a year before Live Bullet,” Seger said in 2013. “We were playing virtually five nights a week, sometimes six, as the Silver Bullet Band and we just had that show down.”
Aaron Lee Tasjan, aka ALT, is a songwriter and guitarist and performer. I’d stay away from him if I were you.
Aaron Lee Tasjan fell over and broke his wrist. “It could have been much worse” he said. “I could have broken my guitar”. This man is interested in his guitar and his music more than anything else.
I come not to tell you how incredible Aaron Lee Tasjan is but seeing this is his album I suppose I should make some sort of effort. After all, he’s made three cool albums and he came up with that great guitar riff that Jack White plays on I Believe In Elvis Presley record. Aaron rides into town with his guitar and his little amp and a bag full of gizmos and a wild suit that would make Lefty Frizzell wince. He’s got the tunes, he’s got the verbal, he’s got the humour and the heartbreak and the hat. “There must be some way outta here” as Bob said. And there is. ALT by name and altitude by nature.
Like Dan Penn and Neil Young, this is white soul that is beyond colour and full of colour, heart to art and vice versa, the voice authentic with the dust of the road. Songs of pain and redemption, of loss and longing and toleration and elucidation and maybe elevation, which way is up? And d’you mind if we have a laugh along.
” Memory believes before knowing remembers ” . A cryptic quote from Faulkner that bannered The Hiders website and hinted at their own cryptic trajectory and identification with the disenfranchised.
Perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy of their namesake, The Hiders have slipped through the mainstream cracks but after over a decade of watching bands rise and fall they have persisted and have become a stalwart of the Midwest music scene. Developing a cult fan base, creating a seamless and consistent body of work and garnering ‘off the radar’ success with international record sales and some high-profile licensing. This is the second album from Cincinnati’s The Hiders
