The Fat Angel Sings

They recently teamed up with Jay Som on the staggering shoegaze cut “Feelings Meeting,” and today, Living Hour returns with another new track “No Body.” The latest single to be taken from the Winnipeg band’s forthcoming third album, “Someday Is Today”, “Feelings Meeting” is a foggy piece of post-rock that hears Sam Sarty’s untethered incantations floating in the ether.

In a press release, Sarty states: “This song is about dissociating at a restaurant and feeling completely isolated and alone in the experience. Close friends all around but you can’t reach out, you can’t say anything, hands numb, mind far away and foggy. Trying to ground myself with observations and saying my middle name; focus on something small like the rainbow floating through the glass. The background voices are calming, more positive thoughts pushing the mind into a softer world. A diner is a diner, your friends love you, the sky is still out there.”

“This song is about dissociating at a restaurant and feeling completely isolated and alone in the experience,” reveals Sam. Tune in. Drop out.

Living Hour’s new album, “Someday Is Today”, out September 2nd on Kanine Records & Next Door Records.

Back in May, Alex G’s (Alexander Giannascoli) threw us quite the curveball with the darkly dirgy psychedelic freakout “Blessing,” and this month, the Philadelphia experimental act continues to explore the various sides of his sound on “Runner.” Featured on his forthcoming ninth album, “God Save the Animals”, “Runner” is a bright and brilliant celebration of friendship that exudes a genuine heartland-rock soul: “I like people who I can open up to/Who don’t judge for what I say, but judge me for what I do.

Alex G’s ninth studio album, “God Save the Animals”, is further proof that he’s the Brian Wilson of the millennial generation. The 13-track release finds him once again covering considerable sonic ground, from introspective folk, hyperpop, emo, and ‘90s alt rock that almost feels cinematic in scope. Whether he’s modulating and pitch-shifting his voice or stripping his arrangements down to their bare bones, Alex G’s music is as beautiful as it is unsettling. Even when he ventures into strictly instrumental territory with tracks like “S.D.O.S,” he still conveys so much emotion and meaning. “God Save the Animals” is Alex G at peak form — defying any creative limitations in pursuit of constant exploration. 

“God” figures in the ninth album from Philadelphia, PA based Alex Giannascoli’s LP’s title, its first song, and multiple of its thirteen tracks thereafter, not as a concrete religious entity but as a sign for a generalized sense of faith (in something, anything) that fortifies Giannascoli, or the characters he voices, amid the songs’ often fraught situations.

Beyond the ambient inspiration of pop, Giannascoli has been drawn in recent years to artists who balance the public and hermetic, the oblique and the intimate, and who present faith more as a shared social language than religious doctrine.

As with his previous records, Giannascoli wrote and demoed these songs by himself, at home; but, for the sake of both new tones and “a routine that was outside of my apartment,” he asked some half-dozen engineers to help him produce the “best” recording quality, whatever that meant. The result is an album more dynamic than ever in its sonic palette.

‘God Save The Animals’ out 23rd September 2022 on Domino Recordings.

This year, R.E.M.’s debut EP “Chronic Town” is turning 40 years old. Four decades since the alternative rock band first graced this planet with their music, and now they’re going to celebrate their humble beginnings. For the first time ever, Chronic Town will be released as a standalone CD with liner notes from the original producer Mitch Easter, as well as on picture-disc vinyl and cassette.

“One might fancifully say that “Chronic Town” was the sound of an expedition, ready for anything, setting forth,” Easter said about the EP ahead of its August 19th re-release. “If R.E.M. ‘Radio Free Europe’ single was a signpost, the “Chronic Town” EP was the atlas.”

“Chronic Town” established R.E.M.’s signature sound immediately, expanding the jangling riffs of their debut single, “Radio Free Europe,” into a full-fledged modus operandi. Recorded at Mitch Easter’s Drive-In Studios, the EP has an endearingly ragged sound — it’s a garage band playing jangling pop songs, and while the music is melodic and memorable, it has an underground mentality that keeps it from sounding conventional. Not only does the lo-fi production keep the music underground, but so do Peter Buck’s ringing arpeggios, Michael Stipe’s incomprehensible mumbled vocals, and the band’s amateurish enthusiasm. They might not be accomplished players, but already their song writing is distinctive, with “Gardening at Night,” “Wolves, Lower,” and “Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)” ranking as early classics straightaway.

R.E.M. released their debut EP “Chronic Town” 40 years ago, in summer 1982, and the defunct band are celebrating the anniversary with a reissue. 

Ex-Weaves members Morgan Waters and Spencer Cole have shared a new single as Pink Blob, “Friday Rocker.”

The track comes from their forthcoming self-titled debut album, out this Friday, July 1st. On “Friday Rocker,” the genre-bending Pink Blob lean into a pure rock sound. It boasts some gritty guitars and fuzzed out melodies. Throughout the tune, the band’s brooding vocals take the lead, adding to the melancholic rock sound of the single.

“The lyrics started with a Melissa Etheridge reference and unfolded from there, a song about aging but not wanting to grow up,” Waters explains. “A song about finding common ground with my dad who loves smoking weed and turning up the stereo till his eyes water.”

“Pink Blob is the sound of both sides of me fighting for dominance,” Waters adds. “I’ve always felt split in two halves, and this album clashes the hooky and the noisy, the straight and the gay, the jokey and the masculine and feminine up against each other with the wild ferocity I tamper down in my day to day ‘I’m so embarrassed to be alive’ Canadian-ness. Death to boring. Death to snobs. Death to genre. Long live Pink Blob!”

From the first moments of its exultant opening track “Wolves,” Hurray For The Riff Raff’s new album “Life on Earth” pulsates with life. Led by the unsinkable Alynda Mariposa Segarra, Hurray for the Riff Raff’s first full-length project in four years overflows with wisdom on how to make the most of, well, refer to the title. Segarra’s powerful voice perfectly complements the band’s undulating melodies, creating what the artist has called “nature punk.” But so much of the album’s power lies in the simple honesty and beauty of Segarra’s lyricism. As they repeat over an echoing, dissonant piano in the chorus of the title track: “Life on Earth is long.” As the song builds and their mantra seeps in, listening to the album feels less like recreation than prayer. “Life On Earth” is the longest thing we’ll ever do. 

Alynda Seggara, who describes the song as “a psalm to all earthly beings. A letter regarding the suffering of humankind which affects all on this planet.”

“Life on Earth”, is a departure for the Bronx-born, New Orleans-based singer / songwriter. Its eleven new “nature punk” tracks on the theme of survival are music for a world in flux – songs about thriving, not just surviving, while disaster is happening.

For her eighth full-length album, Segarra (they/she) drew inspiration from The Clash, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bad Bunny, and the author of Emergent Strategy, Adrienne Maree Brown. Recorded during the pandemic, “Life on Earth” was produced by Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Kevin Morby).

The title track Hurray for the Riff Raff’s debut album, ‘LIFE ON EARTH,’ out now on Nonesuch Records

Here is a legendary “Poster From The Past” that was never printed, for the show that never happened. Unfortunately the Carousel Ballroom went bankrupt the week before this show would have been presented. Too bad, so sad…..Had it gone on, the income from this show would surely have kept the Carousel in business a while longer. Never the less, the posters were never made and this piece never really saw the light of day. It was created by Rick Schubb who aspired to be the resident artist for the Carousel Ballroom had it survived. I am totally sure that it would have become another sought after Classic Hendrix poster had things been just a bit different.

Jimi Hendrix, along with BB King and The Move were “supposed” to play for three nights the Carousel Ballroom. It would have been a Killer show! Rick did print this Poster up long after the fact in 2005 and at one time offered it and the other pieces he did for the Carousel Ballroom for sale at his website. 

thanks The Rock Poster Art Group

Ty Segall has shared a new cover of The Mantles’ “Don’t Lie” The cover serves as the third single from Segall’s forthcoming new album, “Hello, Hi”, out July 22nd via Drag City. “Don’t Lie” originally comes from The Mantles’ 2009 self-titled debut. Segall’s rendition of the track is a soft, acoustic-guitar driven tune with some layered, psychedelic-tinged harmonies with echoes of Marc Bolan.

“Some songs are so good, you just can’t get them out of your head,” a press release explains of the cover. “And you never want to! Storing them deep inside allows you to dig ‘em up again, like (re)discovered treasure, so they can reinvigorate your worldview all over again. And so the love grows. For Ty, The Mantles’ 2009 slice of garage-pop perfection, ‘Don’t Lie’ is one of those songs.

Having played and toured with The Mantles in the Bay Area back in the day, Ty descends compassionately into the layers of morality within their affirmation anthem, uncovering a haunted sense of time passed while re-modling the surging rock around the original melody into solo acoustic performance. Intimate and disarming, Ty talks to himself with guitars and voices, an exquisite filigree for the romance cleft ruthlessly open in the lyrics; heartbreak vibes for a new age.”

In addition to the “Don’t Lie” cover, “Hello, Hi” also features the previously released “Saturday Pt. 2” and the title track. Drag City Inc. Released on: 2022-06-28

Ty will be at the Green Man Festival Brecon Beacons United Kingdom 21st August 2022

“Cale is a multi-dimensional song-conjurer, capable of crafting songs that saunter and shimmer on the surface, but hold deeper, darker insights that reveal themselves upon repeated listens.” -BANDCAMP DAILY

“Cale is deft at building something fresh from long established components, and it helps that he sings like a wizened troubadour ” -THE VINYL DISTRICT
“An album born out of the arriving and departing life of a touring musician and of all the reflections and questions it can throw up.” -FOLK RADIO UK

“Zachary Cale has been making thoughtful, dusty, folky rock for 20 years now, most that while living in NYC, coming up alongside Sharon Van Etten and Kurt Vile. He just released his seventh album, “Skywriting”, one of his most fleshed-out, robust sounding albums to date, inspired by time on the road and packed with memorable songs and sparkling arrangements” -BROOKLYN VEGAN

“Skywriting” is the latest full length album from Zachary Cale, primarily recorded at Black Dirt Studio by Jason Meagher in upstate New York. As Cale’s seventh studio record, “Skywriting” takes on a new focus for the seasoned songwriter, pivoting to more of a band-focused rock album. Inspired by many years on the road, the songs that make up the album depict characters in a state of perpetual motion, or better yet a constant state of becoming. The gamble and sacrifice that one makes in pursuit of their art is felt in just about every line. Many of the songs reflect on time spent traveling between cities, being away from loved ones, introspective moments in motel rooms, green rooms, and long stretches of highway. 

“Melodic, guileless and affecting.” -THE BIG TAKEOVER

“As is his usual MO, Cale expertly balances the sweetness of the music with a pinch of bitterness, detailing the strange sadness of a life spent on the road.” -AQUARIUM DRUNKARD

“A lot of bands are working the lysergic country genre lately, but Cale is among the best at joining Americana songcraft with open-ended motorik-ness and spiraling guitar freakery.” -DUSTED MAGAZINE

“With a slight whisky rasp, Cale lays out motel loneliness, Highway hypnosis, solitary meditations, dark secrets, and darker nights. There’s a tension between emotional turbulence and weathered acceptance. It’s a record coming to terms with itself and what it wants out of life — one toe in gig jobs, one toe in a touring life. Cale runs the tightrope well, providing solace and sanction at once, crafting one of his most nuanced albums yet.” -RAVEN SINGS THE BLUES

Released April 8th, 2022

Fucked Up guitarist Ben Cook calls his last solo album as Young Guv “a document of my two years away from the world. My healing.” “GUV III” was written in the desert of New Mexico, where Cook lived a bohemian lifestyle for nine months. “The energy there was unlike anything I’d experienced,” he revealed in the press release for the album (which is already slated to be eclipsed by a GUV IV this summer). The product of this Into the Wild–esque inertia speaks for itself. Young Guv’s melodies move with the breeze, undemanding and steeped in a half-awake languor.

The lyrics reveal a craving for human connection, and despite his meditative state, the writing is still chiefly concerned with hooks that Teenage Fanclub would approve of. In other words, Zen and the Art of Guitar Pop.

Ben calls the new album “a document of my two years away from the world. My healing.”
“Through real work in therapy over a long period, as well as spending many months isolated and alone, I have started to finally access my true self little by little, and it’s reflected in this music.”
Maybe that process would have happened anyway, without the world cataclysm, without the detour to the sacred mountains. But it happened in its peculiar way, and in a holy place, and so we have this poignant and beautiful two-album set, which couldn’t have been made in any other timeline or under any other conditions.
It’s an open question where exactly the timeline that begins with GUV III & IV leads. After tracking the albums in L.A. in early 2021, Ben decamped to Mexico — old Mexico — where the healing process has taken yet another surprising turn.
“I’m taking a complete break from music,” Ben says. “I haven’t picked up a guitar since the record wrapped. I’m learning Spanish and boxing.” 

Released March 11th, 2022

Produced By Young Guv