Last March, the Portland singer-songwriter’s West Coast jaunt in support of his third album “Natural Beauty” was cut short. Then, his Midwest and East Coast shows were postponed as the pandemic wiped out live music for the foreseeable future. Steeped in punchy power-pop hooks, dissonant harmonies and tinges of ’60s orchestral rock, Natural Beauty is something of an ode to the music of Troper’s teenage years, including the White Album, his favourite Beatles record, and fellow Portland indie band Dear Nora.
Troper played most of the instruments on the album himself, and penned a majority of the 12 tracks after returning to Portland from a yearlong stint living in L.A. “If there’s a theme for the album,” he says, “it’s getting back in touch with my Portland roots.”
But the 28-year-old isn’t the least bit bitter about having to put the promotion for his latest release indefinitely on hold. “With COVID, and the protests, there are much more important things going on,” he says. “It just doesn’t feel like the right time to be promoting [anyway].”
This year has been nuts and I’m bummed I wasn’t able to tour, but I really appreciate all the support I’ve received. If you’ve listened to my music at any point over the last year, please know that I really appreciate you. Not to be too self-deprecating but it’s still wild to me that people actually take the time to listen to my songs. Much love and happy holidays, and hopefully see you irl next year, -Mo
Releases December 25th, 2020 written, produced, and mixed by Mo Troper
Since their founding in 2015, Swedish post-punk band Viagra Boys have made a name for themselves burning up stages around the world. There’s a little Iggy Pop spit and seethe, a David yow drunken stumble, and a bite of Nick Cave’s haunted bark. add a dash of motorik groove, a pinch of post-punk grime, and a dose of no wave howl. for every gruff and gritty croak in the outfit’s catalogue, they come back with a pair of bongos, squared-off synths, and a squonky saxophone, with songs that deftly lay waste to society’s normalization of toxic masculinity, racism, misogyny, classism, and self-obsession.
Viagra Boys’ Sebastian Murphy dreams about everyone hating his guts a lot. “I kept having this recurring nightmare where my mom was crying and my friends were all pissed off at me,” he recalls, almost reverently. the band’s new album, “Welfare Jazz”, doesn’t bargain with the anxiety in that defeated feeling, but rather a boiling certainty that nothing and no one is absolute.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, and things are just a lot more interesting when you admit that you’re not always going to be nice, you’re not always going to pick the right words in a fist-fight. so why not keep moving forward, swaying and strutting into the night.
In loving memory of John Prine From the album ‘Welfare Jazz’, out January 8th on YEAR0001
Two years ago, SoCal studio cultist Chris Schlarb, a.k.a. Psychic Temple, announced a new project in which he would collaborate with four completely different artists for each side of a double album. He called it “Houses of the Holy” which made sense, coming after albums titled I, II, III, and IV — and introduced it with a fun EP of desert-singed garage-pop tunes made with Los Angeles’ Cherry Glazerr. The full 2-LP adventure, rolled out this last September, features those songs plus some jazzier moods with cornetist Rob Mazurek’sChicago Underground trio; along with paisley-hued psychedelic rock with the Dream Syndicate; and big-band backpack rap with local MC Xololanxinxo.
All those sounds hang together with the logic of a long, weird dream, thanks to Schlarb’s instinct for unlikely musical connections. As a generous celebration of what can happen when you put a bunch of talented people together in one room — in this case, Schlarb’s Long Beach, California, studio, Big Ego “Houses of the Holy” was all the more welcome this lonely year.
The concept is pretty cool. Basically, I take over an existing band on each side and we write and record together.
Cherry Glazerr (Side A)
Chicago Underground Trio (Side B)
Dream Syndicate (SideC)
Xololanxinxo (Side D)
The first single, “Why Should I Wait?” with The Dream Syndicate is out now and you can pre-order the album over at Bandcamp today. I’m really proud of this record. If you take a listen, please let me know what you think. The vinyl is especially fun since each side is its own thing, but together its like the album is a mini box set. “Lightning” I particularly keep playing. It makes me feel like it could have been a song in an old old dream I had trouble remembering until I hear it and I can almost recall it again. Give the album a good listen and I think you’ll find something to enjoy.
Psychic Temple off the album ‘Houses of the Holy’ out on Joyful Noise Recordings.
Acclaimed singer/songwriter Joan Osborne is back with “Trouble And Strife”, her first album of original material in six years. The album finds the gifted vocalist offering a strong yet uplifting response to some of the socio-political issues plaguing our nation over the last several years. Osborne beautifully balances the weight of her messages with solace and optimism. A quarter-century after “One of Us,” Osborne remains an undervalued resource as interpreter (her Dylan covers), band member (an early member of Trigger Hippy), and record maker (check out later work like 2014’s Love and Hate). She’s always been adept at making roots music sound saucily modern and vivacious rather than dutiful, an approach that continues on Trouble and Strife. Even when she adheres to soul and R&B basics, she’s not afraid to have her musicians toss in a proggy synth or metallic guitar, and she still sings with a throaty purr that nods to the past but never feels simply imitative of anything. For added contemporary flavour, this album of largely Osborne originals is also among her most sombre, addressing immigration (“What’s That You Say”), cultural corruption (“Hands Off”), sexual identity (“Boy Dontcha Know”), and the age of misinformation (“That Was a Lie”). The world’s a mess, but Trouble and Strife makes it sound like a place you’d still want to visit now and then.
Times are tough right now, but luckily we have a new Joan Osborne album to raise our spirits. With Trouble and Strife the singer/songwriter returns to tender folk-country, and it’s an oasis in times of madness.
“To all the fans who have been waiting, I’m very excited to announce the new album “Trouble and Strife” is out today!! My first collection of original songs in 6 years, this record wrestles with our turbulent times by using the power that music has to energize and lift us up. Thanks to the amazing musicians who brought these songs to life
For her new album, she enlisted a large live band (including several musicians who played on her last album, Songs of Bob Dylan), featuring guitarists Jack Petruzzelli, Nels Cline and Andrew Carillo, keyboardist Keith Cotton, bassist Richard Hammond, drummer Aaron Comess and vocalists Catherine Russell, Ada Dyer, Martha Redbone and Audrey Martells.
Joan Osborne “Take It Any Way I Can Get It” off the upcoming album “Trouble and Strife” out September 18th, 2020.
Chicago-based rock quartet Ganser shared a self-directed video for their new track “Emergency Equipment and Exits” off of their forthcoming LP “Just Look at That Sky”, out July 31st on Felte,.
Out of the din of distorted pads emerges a groove that bursts into a soaring melody at full speed, immersing you in a hook only to branch elsewhere. The video features the band performing at their practice space interspersed with shots of downtown Chicago before settling on a swamp for a fleeting instance of pastoral quiet. With two terrifyingly cool lead vocalists in Nadia Garofalo and Alicia Gaines and a relentless guitar/drum attack from their bandmates Charlie Landsman and Brian Cundiff, this Chicago quartet kicked up one of 2020’s most impressive rackets on their second LP.
Post-punk outbursts like “Projector” and “Self Service” (both shouted by Garofalo) hit with just the right intensity to crowd out this headache of a year for a few minutes. Just as impressive were the subtler sounds that emerge on Just Look at That Sky’s back half: “Shadowcasting,” sung by Gaines, is a sparkling slow-burner that recalls mid-2000s Radiohead. The only thing missing was a chance to see how these songs sound in concert — and the webcasts that Ganser put on this year suggest they’ll leave our ears ringing in the best way when they’re able to tour again.
Alicia Gaines (vocals and bass) describes the video as follows: “Sometimes everything gets too close, even when things are good, and you get this screaming desire to run away. The song and video are both about feeling estranged from reality and choosing nothing over too much—the floor drops out, and you only have yourself to deal with. It was very strange to be focused on not only the video direction, but also safety precautions during this time.”
Single taken from Ganser’s ‘Just Look At That Sky’ Album —- Recorded 2019 at Altered States
Iggy Pop has shared a new song about the novel coronavirus. The song, called “Dirty Little Virus,” begins, “COVID-19 is on the scene.” Other lyrics include, “Grandfather’s dead/Got Trump instead,” and “She’s only 19, but she can kill ya.”
In a video about the song, Iggy Pop explained, “I was moved to write a direct lyric, not something too emotional or deep, more like journalism.” He concluded, “If there was still a Man of the Year, it would be the virus, so I wrote the lyric.” Iggy Pop co-wrote “Dirty Little Virus” with Leron Thomas, who also edited, arranged, and played trumpet on the track.
For those who need an escape, want to travel without moving and altogether keep their ears and minds open.
On their fourth album The Great Dismal, Philadelphia shoegaze outfit Nothing triumph with both bold and subtle sounds. The band have always excelled at details and dynamics, and they deliver here without fail. The final passages of opening track “A Fabricated Life” really cement the album’s prodigious and intimate themes: “Long before the fall / Did we have it all along? / Sing the same old songs / Beat the same old tired drum / But what else can I ask for? / I’m nauseous from the ride / Degeneration in the wind / A fabricated life.” These moods of erosion, numbness and uncertainty pervade the album, and their mythical soundscapes bolster the weight of these feelings and elevate their sense of urgency.
The Great Dismal watches as humanity is put through the wringer and responds with godlike, pummelling guitars and metaphorical, emotionally revealing lyrics. One minute, they’re contemplating themes of love, reason, perception and death on a grand scale, and in simple terms, and the next, they’re marvelling at people’s reaction to rain (“Isn’t it strange / Watching people / Try and outrun rain”). It’s a sweltering expulsion of anxieties and a thoughtful chronicling of our species’ downfall.
Nothing return with their highly anticipated new full-length, The Great Dismal. Recorded entirely during quarantine, The Great Dismal explores existentialist themes of isolation, extinction, and human behaviour in the face of 2020’s vast wasteland. The Great Dismal came out October 30th on LP/CD/CS/Digital via Relapse Records.
Philadelphia rock band Nothing has a way of putting words and sounds to the rock-bottom moments in life. Consider the title of their wide-eyed and beautiful fourth album—The Great Dismal and see if you can think of a better way to sum up the combination of slow heartbreak, frustrated ambition, and deadening boredom that took up so much of our emotional bandwidth this year. In their best moments, Nothing does us one better, taking these states of psychic purgatory and blowing them up widescreen, so that they feel pregnant with a significance that is hard to put into language but also darkly addicting.
On The Great Dismal, which they recorded during the first few weeks of the pandemic, they let the guitars do a lot of the talking; from the wailing bends on the “April Ha Ha” to the shimmering, oceanic tones on “Blue Mecca,” the shoegaze influence is more apparent than ever, rendered with a clarity of signal that makes every texture pop. Even frontman Domenic “Nicky” Palermo’s voice sounds more feathery than usual, which somehow makes his words cut even closer to the bone when he startles us with a line like “Trapped / In skin that fits me / But never fit me / Was never mine.”
The thing I love about Nothing and their new album The Great Dismal is you don’t know what to expect as each song takes a different twist and turn. Are they Godflesh, The Cocteau Twins, Rorschach… what the fuck is this? Every time I listen and think I have it figured out they switch moods making it a brand new record spinning in a swan dive from your mind into your soul. While I don’t advocate drugs, Nothing makes one appreciate hallucinogens while braving a new flight. The first single off the album, “Say Less,” is a great introduction to what you’re about to receive, and it’s only available on widescreen.
Best described as a roots or Americana artist, Austin, Texas’ Bonnie Whitmore is a veteran musician who has trod the boards throughout North America as an in-demand session and stage bassist for more than two decades. But she has also developed a unique musical compositional style all her own – one that combines many elements of the music she loves, regardless of genre, and a lyrical directness and powerful honestly that makes for a truly compelling listening experience.
Whitmore released her latest album, “Last Will & Testament” in October, through her own label, and Whitmore herself co-produced the 10-song release alongside Scott Davis, working out of the Ramble Creek Recording Studio. Although the word eclectic can sometimes be over-used or mis-used, it is rather appropriate for Last Will & Testament, as Whitmore is unafraid to mix and meld styles and genres to suit the emotional and lyrical tapestry she weaves with each individual song.
“To me as an artist, it’s about the creation of whatever it’s going to be, and not to make it form into something that’s supposed to be more marketable, which I know goes against everything you’re supposed to be doing in music if music is your livelihood,” she said, from her home in Austin, where she is doing her best to stay busy writing new material and promoting the album during the Covid-19 lockdown.
“I think I have a very eclectic taste, so I am not surprised that my music is eclectic within itself. I do like to take things that are sort of polar opposites of each other and mix them together. As a bass player, my influences are [legendary session player] Carol Kaye and Kim Deal of the Pixies – very different bass players, but both are integral parts of where I come at it musically. Americana is just sort of the all-encompassing, ‘everybody’s welcome,’ kind of genre, because they accept everybody into it.”
With the release of Bonnie Whitmore’s latest record, the celebrated Texas-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist borrows just enough stylistic “ingredients” from just enough musical “neighbours,” she succeeds in baking one of the tastiest confections of 2020 — a soaring seduction that owns roadhouse authenticity and drips cathouse allure. Among the record’s many highlights, “Time to Shoot” shines brightly.
Written by Bonnie Whitmore From the album “Last Will & Testament” (2020) CD Baby (on behalf of Aviatrix Records)
With comparisons to bands like DIIV, Beach Fossils, Deerhunter, The Cure, Radiohead, and Ride, I think the best descriptor for the band could be something like: “BDRMM: Recommended if you like good music.” In all seriousness, though, BDRMM frontman Ryan Smith started writing his early material solo in his bedroom. Smith then added his brother Jordan on bass, Joe Vickers on guitar, Danny Hull on synths, and Luke Irvin on drums. This current five-piece British band with an ear for atmospheric dream-pop is one of THE bands to watch in 2020.
All BDRMM physical product has been selling out online as quickly as it can be produced. To my ear, the ten tracks on Bedroom draw inspiration from all the best elements of the shoegazer bands dominating the UK alternative scene from 1990-1993. Anyone into shoegazer will love this record a minute into “Momo,” the first track on the album. Crank it up and let that hair fall forward over your eyes!!
We’re delighted to announce our new 7-track EP, ‘the bedroom tapes’ out on Sonic Cathedral on white 12” vinyl and black cassette, released on october 23rd. The five-piece guitar driven rockers bdrmm blend nineties inspired songcraft and lush contemporary production to create an exhilarating blend of shoegaze, dream-pop and new wave. The second single taken from bdrmm’s debut album ‘Bedroom’.
Speaking on July release A Reason To Celebrate, bdrmm’s Ryan Smith explains: ‘The lyrics come from a place of realisation and understanding. It’s a battle between what you want and what you need to do. It’s about proudly, yet stupidly, letting go – and the voice in your head giving you all the different reasons why you should.’ This features 4 stripped down versions of previous releases that were recorded during lockdown between Ryan & Jordan, they are the most natural and raw versions of themselves they possibly can be, which we felt was fitting for the current situation,
On the b-side, we have included all the remixes that we have been blessed with by some outstanding artists, including Andy Bell, DITZ and International Teachers of Pop.
the artwork, as always (col), is a gorgeous creation from our very own jordan!
Monica Sottile, co-lead singer and songwriter in Brisbane trio Sweater Curse, describes Australian indie rock as “an extension of domestic life.” There’s certainly truth to that assessment, as the country has a great tradition of guitar-pop songs about charming, comforting scenes. Brisbane indie trio Sweater Curse released their debut EP See You in 2019, which featured the girl-boy lead vocals of bassist Monica Sottile and guitarist Chris Langenberg, and their versatile sound that ranges from distorted and punk-ish to sweet and sentimental. They followed it up with a 2020 EP titled Push/Pull, which packs their best songs yet. “Close” is a succulent indie-pop gem with an unforgettable chorus, and “All The Same” is a serrated rock rollercoaster.
The Go-Betweens sang about “fireplaces and rocking chairs” and “showering for an hour,” while contemporary acts like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Courtney Barnett write about things like “satin sheets” and “Vegemite crumbs.” Sweater Curse don’t write songs with that kind of precision, but they do write about the haunting thoughts that exist in those spaces—when you’re tossing and turning at night, making French press coffee in the morning or leaving a house party more lonely than when you arrived.
For their second EP “Push/Pull”, Sweater Curse really come out of their shell, amplifying their faint post-punk tinges and sky-high pop hooks.
The Fat Angel Sings 