Prolific songwriter Ty Segall has announced his next album, “Hello, Hi”. “The Harmonizer” follow-up arrives in July 22nd via Segall’s long time record label home Drag City. Segall predominantly self-recorded the album at his home in California. Now, he has shared the album’s title track.
Ty Segall issued “Harmonizer” last year. Earlier this year, the prolific rocker released his soundtrack for Whirlybird, a 2020 documentary from Matt Yoka. The film follows Zoey Tur and MarikaGerrard, founders of the Los Angeles News Service who captured iconic footage of the 1992 riots and O.J. Simpson’s car chase from a helicopter.
Title track from “Hello, Hi”, available on LP/CS/CD on July 22nd, 2022 from Drag City Records.
Parisian psych institution, La Femme, unleash a discography spanning set dripping in LSD and casual chic, transmitted from a smoky room in Normandy, France. The Session comes on the heels of their new LP, “Paradigmes“, and upcoming world tour.
“We have recorded this session in the country side of Normandy, France, an intimate set in a rustic old home. We played our most psyches track, according to the Levitation Sessions spirit, recorded by the fireplace in the darkest hours of the night.
The spirit of the Psych Fest was haunting the room, and so were psychedelic ghosts, they were living in every one of the musicians of the band. We were time traveling, the spirits of the 60s rising back from the dead. The track “Sphynx” was written during Austin Psych Fest 2014 in Austin, Texas, and we are pleased to bring it back home. Danser sous acide” – La Femme.
LA FEMME Sacha Got: Vocals, Guitar and Keyboards Marlon Magnée: Vocals, Keyboard and Tambourine Noe Delmas: Drums Nina Giangreco: Vocals and Tambourine Ysé Grospiron: Vocals and Keyboards Sam Lefèvre: Bass and Keyboards
The original “Oshin” tracklist plus a bonus LP with the “Oshin” demos and 2 live cuts recorded at SheaStadium in Brooklyn in 2011, including the previously unreleased track “Yuk” for it’s 10th anniversary of the first album “Oshin“, The band have put together a pretty comprehensive deluxe edition package for you. we have tons of old photos, lots of writing, a poster, and all new art hand-drawn and assembled by Parker Sprout in reference to the original collection of ephemera that inspired the album back in 2012. it is pressed on blue marbled vinyl and packaged with an LP of the original ‘Oshin’ demos as well as a few unreleased live songs recorded at Shea Stadium in 2011. we included some written reflections from the band members as well as one from Madeline Jones, the writer of the original ‘oshin’ poem, as well as some deep liner notes from Shaad D’Souza. this reissue is something we approached very thoughtfully and deliberately and are very happy with how it turned out. Housed in a craft paper wide-spine within a clear printed PVC sleeve. Includes: – 2xLP pressed on Blue Marble vinyl – DIIV Fuck The World poster – 24-pg retrospective booklet with photos, reflections from each band member and the writer of the original ‘Oshin’ poem, and new liners by Shaad D’Souza.
Several years ago I was very excited when a new reissue of the 1992 album by Swindon band XTC “Nonsuch” was released as a deluxe and expanded edition. The CD-plus-Blu-ray package was (and still is!) phenomenal, including new high resolution Stereo and Surround Sound remixes by Steven Wilson, instrumental-only mixes and high-quality transfers of the original mix as well as scores of out-takes, alternates and demos .
XTC had long toiled in unfair obscurity. They got as high as the U.K. Top 5 with 1982’s “English Settlement” after just missing the Top 40 with 1980’s “Black Sea“. But then XTC stopped performing in concert because of Andy Partridge’s crippling stage fright.
“When we were playing live, I felt as if we were howling out in the wilderness and no one was particularly listening,” Partridge told The Boston Globe in 1992. “You can stir into that discontent a big pinch of stage fright that got worse and worse. I think my subconscious was telling me, ‘Look, you don’t want to be doing this, so I’m going to make it difficult for you to do.'”
Meanwhile, they were still in litigation with an ex-manager. Partridge’s marriage was failing. They also still had to secure a drummer, since XTC stopped employing one when they left the road.
Is it any surprise that Partridge was hard at work completing a song called “The Disappointed”? “My marriage, my disappointment with that, is in there,” Partridge said in 2009. “I think the disappointment with the musical career, with not getting the recognition that I thought we were due, and certainly not getting the financial recompense that we were due, is in there. All that genuine disappointment filtered into this.”
XTC finally tabbed drummer Dave Mattacks of Fairport Convention and he, in turn, recommended GusDudgeon, a veteran producer who arrived with a resume including Elton John, David Bowie, Queen and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. (The latter convinced Partridge and coleader Colin Moulding.) Dudgeon also arrived with an overflowing briefcase of quirks – but XTC were too antsy to push back.
At this point, Partridge told Past Daily, he “would have done it with the window cleaner.” Things had taken so long to get going that Moulding and bandmate Dave Gregory were reportedly reduced to working at a car-rental store to stay afloat between royalty payments.
Mattacks walked into a situation that might have felt hermetically sealed, considering how long XTC had spent tinkering while all of this played out.
“Though it was challenging, it wasn’t difficult. The experience was enjoyable – great songs!” said Mattacks “Some drum parts were mine – ‘My Bird Performs,’ for example. Others had loosely defined demo drum-machine parts programmed by Andy, which I used as templates.”
Partridge liked what they ended up with, as XTC created a more orchestral, more thoughtful distillation of elements from their previous two albums – with a dash of their psychedelic the Dukes of Stratosphear side venture. It may have been determinedly uncommercial at times, but the album was shaping up to be something far more artistically honest than simply trying to create with an eye for the stage.
Partridge remained wary of losing artistic control, however, since something similar had happened the last time XTC worked with a well-known figure on 1986’s Todd Rundgren-produced Skylarking. So when Dudgeon suggested that they omit Partridge’s song “Rook,” it created a wound that never quite healed. Dudgeon later announced that he wanted to handle the final mixing of the LP himself, and Partridge simply refused. With tension rising, XTC fired him.
Only later did Partridge realize, even more appropriately, that “Nonsuch” was the name of an incredibly ornate palace built by Henry VIII atop an entire razed village.
There would be one final issue: The head of Virgin Records didn’t hear a hit. Partridge told Past Daily that he rejected the LP while demanding “12 Top 10 guaranteed singles.” The label executive eventually stepped down, but not before XTC again lost whatever momentum they’d managed. It had now been two long years since the Moulding-composed “King for a Day” became XTC’s most recent U.K. charting song
As great as that was, some of us were still a bit sad because the album “Nonsuch” was not yet reissued on vinyl. Not many of us have actually gotten our hands on one of the elusive UK vinyl pressings of “Nonsuch” which came out in limited quantities back when it was first released. It has become a very pricey collectors item.
Fast forward to the present, the album has finally been reissued on long playing vinyl records! I just received my pre-ordered copy of the brand new two-disc 200-gram version of “Nonsuch” and the results so far are excellent. Housed in a high-quality, thick cardboard double-disc gatefold package as opposed to the single-pocked design of the 1992 edition it features original cover artwork (it had been modified over the years in different CD editions around the world) and custom inner sleeves. The black vinyl discs are indeed thick, dark, dead quiet and perfectly centered so there are no complaints on that front. Arguably, this reissue is designed to be superior in every way to the 1992 original. I have no complaints at all really on this set!
Sonics-wise, it is curious as I am wondering if I am hearing more detail than even on the high resolution Blu-ray Disc version.
It has been interesting comparing this new vinyl pressing to the corresponding Stereo mix on the 2013 Blu-ray Disc version. Beyond that they are different playback formats with different processing, the new LP boasts new mastering separate from what went into making the 2013 versions on the Blu-ray.
This new vinyl version of “Nonsuch” indeed seems to have this other thing (if you will) going on which the Blu-ray doesn’t quite have… It is a bit odd to consider this conceptually as the album is a full digital recording to begin with… So “common sense” might make you think they would sound near identical. But as many of you know by now, there is nothing common about the processes of mixing and mastering an album for the digital universe as well as for vinyl release. There are so many variables.
A distinct difference I’m noticing is that there seems to be a greater depth perception and detailing on this lovely LP version.
For example I’m more clearly hearing different details I’d never really noticed before such as the teensy little birdy tweets on “My Bird Performs.” The trumpet playing in the background through much of that song sounds positioned quite distinctly in the right corner of an imagined stage I say “imagined” as this is a studio recording, so it was probably an overdub, not made with the band at the same time as the basic tracks on an actual performance stage. Curiously, the producer pans the trumpet more toward the left-centre for its solo, reminding the listener that this is a studio creation and not necessarily representative of an actual live performance (which I’m perfectly fine with, mind you, but I know its an issue for some audiophiles).
The decay on the shimmering splash cymbal in the initial measures of “Peter Pumpkinhead” is much larger and distinct than on the Blu-ray. Whatever is delivering this imaging, it’s impressive….
Of course some of you will ask if this release is “better” than the Blu-ray Disc version? I can’t say that because of the aforementioned variables. They are “Oranges and Lemons”, if you will.
In this instance, I’m noticing these differences comparing my vinyl.
My primary reason for owning the Blu-ray Disc is the wonderful 5.1 surround sound mix (which I listen to in my living room “home theater” area, on a separate playback system) and all the bonus goodies (and there are many there!). My primary reason for wanting the vinyl is to be able to enjoy exactly that special inexplicable something extra which comes from that playback medium’s experience.
Scientists and fans of “hard data” might look at it on paper and dismiss the vinyl format as inferior. But in this case I will side with the wizards of sonic alchemy, the mixdown and disc mastering engineers who possess seemingly secret magical powers most of us can’t comprehend to make the music contained on these flat black discs magically soar into the sonic cosmos.
Whatever it is, it works and even with its all-digital ’90s sheen, “Nonsuch” is ultimately a grand listening experience on the new vinyl reissue. And isn’t that all that matters?
The Black Keys have a new album coming out May 13th via Nonesuch Records titled “Dropout Boogie“. We got the first look at it with the single “Wild Child,” which came with a playful video that found Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach infiltrating a school and returning to their roots. Unlike “Wild Child,” the new song doesn’t come with a narrative music video, but it does find them lending a gravelly sheen to their bluesy basement-rock beginnings.
In honour of the new album, the duo will head out on a hefty 32-date tour, featuring Band of Horses as guests on all dates. Ceramic Animal, Early James, and The Velveteers will also appear on select runs of the tour.
The Black Keys’ “It Ain’t Over” from the new album ‘Dropout Boogie’
Arcade Fire disappointed a lot of fans with 2017’s “Everything Now” , but after hearing their excellent new single “The Lightning I, II,” we’re staying cautiously optimistic about their upcoming album “WE”. The two-part, six-minute song feels like the Arcade Fire we know and love, and they sound totally reinvigorated. Adding to the excitement, Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich co-produced this LP with the band, and Peter Gabriel appears on a song.
The sixth studio album from the Canadian superstars rolls back the conceptual idea to a more suitable kaleidoscopic indie-rock that references Bowie and Big Thief. It has big ballads and synth pop. It features Peter Gabriel and Father John Misty doing “stomps and breaths”, some great songs and some clunkers.
After their 2017 stumble “Everything Now”, all signs point to a return to form on Arcade Fire’s sixth studio album “WE”, coming May 6th on Columbia Records. “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)” is our second of those signs so far, following the March release of dual lead track “The Lightning I, II.”
“Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)” appears on the album’s “WE” side, as a press release notes, “the half of the record that channels and revels in the power and joy of human (re)connection.” Like an indie-rock Oh, The Places You’ll Go!, the track finds Win Butler addressing younger generations—and those still to come with a moving warmth and generosity of spirit, offering wisdom and encouragement over a bright, acoustic guitar-driven instrumental. “A lifetime of skinned knees / And heartbreak comes so easy / But a life without pain would be boring,” Butler counsels, with orchestral sweep and sprawl to reinforce the highs and lows through which his love will always remain unconditional.
The opening tracks, particularly this second one, which has all the hallmarks of Arcade Fire at their best – the nonchalant call and response, spatial intro, a big sprawling kick-in with tension-filled synths and drum hits (the credits have Portishead’s Geoff Barrow’s name on ‘Granular Synthesis’), strings by Owen Pallett, and world-building lyrics about Icarus and the Acropolis. And, it’s got one of those fine Reginé outros.
“There’s nothing saccharine about unconditional love in a world that is coming apart at the seams,” says Butler in a statement. “WE need each other, in all of our imperfection. ‘Lookout Kid’ is a reminder, a lullaby for the end times, sung to my son, but for everyone … Trust your heart, trust your mind, trust your body, trust your soul. Shit is going to get worse before it gets better, but it always gets better, and no one’s perfect. Let me say it again. No one’s perfect.”
There’s nothing saccharine about unconditional love in a world that is coming apart at the seams. WE need each other, in all of our imperfection. “Lookout Kid” is a reminder, a lullaby for the end times, sung to my son, but for everyone… Trust your heart, trust your mind, trust your body, trust your soul. Sh*t is going to get worse before it gets better, but it always gets better, and no one’s perfect. Let me say it again. No one’s perfect.
Produced by Nigel Godrich with Arcade Fire’s own Butler and Régine Chassagne, “WE” is easily one of the most exciting releases on the way in May. The band seem to have rediscovered the anthemic earnestness and joy that first made them a household name.
Don Giovanni Records has announced that punk rock lifer Mikey Erg will release his new album “Love AtLeeds” on June 24th, 2022. The album was recorded by Steve Albini at his iconic Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago IL. The band features DIY working class hero Jeff Rosenstock on lead guitar and background vocals.
Mikey released the album’s first single “Almost Like Judee Sill” an ode to the late, great tragic songwriter in a tight two minute power pop-sprint. The track is available through Bandcamp now.
“Love At Leeds” is the realization of many dreams for Mikey Erg. A lifelong music obsessive, growing up in the early 90’s, there was one sound he’d always hoped to capture on his recordings. The sound of Steve Albini.Steve’s credits include The Pixies, PJ Harvey, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant and of course Nirvana’s third LP “In Utero”: one of Mikey’s absolute favourite records.
Mikey had never in his twenty-plus year recording career ever gotten to make a fully analogue recording. “Love At Leeds”was the perfect time to rectify all of that. Using the group of musicians that helped him realize his debut solo LP “Tentative Decisions” (Jeff Rosenstock, Alex Clute & Lou Hanman), he Headed to Chicago to make this dream a reality.
Recorded and mixed in just five days, “Love at Leeds” is a swift twenty five minute long grunge-pop tour de force. Once the album was complete, Steve and his trusty razor blade compiled the master mix reels and sent the band on their way. The tapes then made the journey to Hollywood California to the legendary Bernie Grundman Mastering facility to be mastered and cut straight to lacquer disc by Chris Bellman (Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Kenny Dorham, Pearl Jam).
Mikey, who takes his name from the seminal mid-2000s NJ pop-punk band THE ERGS! who he was drummer and principal songwriter for, is a decades-long fixture in the DIY punk rock scene, directly influencing the next generation of power pop and punk bands as he concurrently continues his solo song writing career.
The first single “Almost Like Judee Sill” – everywhere now – is a breakneck tight two minute melodic pop gem that will demand several subsequent re-listens.
Mikey Erg continues to set the gold standard for hooky punk love songs. “Love at Leeds” is him at the top of his songwriting game—just one finely tuned ear-worm after another.” – NY Times bestselling author Dan Ozzi
Just last month Young Guv (aka songwriter Ben Cook) released his latest masterpiece, GUV III, and now the ever-prolific musician is already back to announce its sequel, GUV IV, due out June 24th from RFC and Hand Drawn Dracula (Canada).
Where GUV III encapsulates Cook’s most instantly accessible guitar pop song writing (earning praise from the likes of Stereogum, SPIN Magazine, Paste Magazine, Uproxx, and many more), GUV IV represents the most sonically adventurous side of Young Guv. Cook has an unparalleled ability to write perfect power pop but GUV IV highlights his expertise with the many other sounds and styles that have dotted YoungGuv’s expansive catalogue over the years. The record effortlessly moves between hazy, Madchester-inspired rave ups, twangy California jangle, and even homemade sophisti-pop–while always retaining Cook’s undeniable melodies.
GUV IV’s lead single “Change Your Mind” sees Cook teaming with frequent collaborator James Matthew VII for a blend of hazy hooks, pedal steel guitar, and a nearly psychedelic mood that transports the listen to the New Mexican desert where it was written.
“Take Up All My Time” by Young Guv, from his upcoming release ‘GUV IV’ out March 11th, 2022 via RunFor Cover Records and via Hand Drawn Dracula (Canada) –
Another Michael released their debut full-length, New Music and Big Pop, last year, earning praise from the likes of Pitchfork, Stereogum, Billboard, Uproxx, Flood Magazine, Paste Magazine, and many more. Now the Philadelphia-based guitar pop upstarts are back with a strikingly catchy new single, “Water Pressure.” Streaming everywhere now, the gorgeous new song finds Another Michael leaning into their cozy acoustic side, with vocalist/guitarist Michael Doherty and guitarist/keyboardist Alenni Davis weaving together some of the group’s most satisfying harmonies to date.
Another Michael have two upcoming Northeast shows, with more tour dates to be announce soon.
“Water Pressure” by Another Michael, out now via Run For Cover Records
