Back in May, acclaimed singer-songwriter Johanna Warren released her fifth album, “Chaotic Good”, the centerpiece of which is the intense exorcism “Twisted.” For the raw, haunting song’s music video, she teamed with one of our favourite visual artists, Richey Beckett — known for his stunning artwork for Metallica, Black Sabbath, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon and others — who made his directorial debut creating the clip (Warren co-directed it), bringing his eye for drama and detail to the cinematic piece.
The “Twisted” video, which sees Warren playing dual roles: a Kurt Cobain-esque grunge rocker and a high-school cheerleader whose stories reflect, contrast and intertwine with each other. She describes the song and video as “a love letter to Nineties grunge — and a personal psychomagic ritual about polarity, gender, fame and desire.”
A love letter to 90s grunge—and a personal psychomagic ritual about polarity, gender, fame and desire—the concept for this video has been haunting me for a couple years now. Back in March I was excitedly driving up the West Coast to shoot “Twisted” in its spiritual home of Seattle, when the first COVID lockdowns began. It was a tough call, but as the borders started to close I decided to cancel the shoot and hop on a last minute flight to the UK to quarantine with my partner Richey Beckett in rural Wales, where I’ve been ever since.
It was for sure the right decision, but I was heartbroken to have sacrificed the video. Richey and I have spent much of lockdown nerding out about movies, writing, conspiring, dreaming of making films together. When the question came up, “Is the Twisted video ever going to happen?” we realised there was an opportunity to bring the shoot to the UK and make it ourselves, a collaborative filmmaking debut of sorts. Through a series of serendipities, we were able to very quickly pull together a micro crew of super talented BAFTA award-winning geniuses who helped realize this vision in a higher form than I’d ever imagined.
“Twisted” is taken from Johanna Warren’s album Chaotic Good, out now on Wax Nine / Carpark Records.
“Clash the Truth” is the second studio album by American indie rock band Beach Fossils. It was produced by Ben Greenberg (formerly of The Men) and songwriter Dustin Payseur. It was released on February 18th, 2013, through Captured Tracks, After recording the first Beach Fossils album in decidedly lo-fi fashion and mostly by himself, Dustin Payseur decided to make a change for the group’s second album, 2013’s Clash the Truth. First, he teaming up with producer Ben Greenberg (of the Men) and headed to a real studio (then another after the first one flooded during Hurricane Sandy). He also replaced the drum machine he’d been using with a real drummer, Tommy Gardner, and recorded the bass and drums live together. For many bands that start out as intimate bedroom recording projects, this kind of shift signals the beginning of the end as the very things that made them interesting (intimacy, weirdness, and immediacy) are discarded in favour of fidelity and some degree of professionalism. In Beach Fossils‘ case, moving to a studio with better sound has served to strengthen the impact of the music. Payseur and Greenberg don’t change the basic reverb-heavy sound or the surf-riding guitars or the general feel of the music; instead they make it a little clearer and more punchy, which helps the songs hit harder. I originally preffered their first two EP’s, but fell in love with Clash the Truth because of the substance and depth it has in comparison to their early stuff.
The live bass and drums, too, give the songs a raw energy that their previous recordings didn’t have. Gardner turns out to be an ideal addition to the sound, never just playing the beat robotically but colouring it in with crisp fills and strong cymbal work. Payseur sings a little louder and with more force too, delivering some aggression on the up-tempo tracks and giving the slower, more introspective ones some extra depth. There’s a nice bit of variety, as well, with quite a few songs that stretch the Fossils‘ range. While most of them fall right into the sweet spot of hard-charging, underwater indie pop — with a couple (“Careless,” “Shallow”) sounding like modern reverb-pop classics — there are diversions into acoustic balladry (on the absolutely beautiful “Sleep Apnea,”) jittery post-punk (“Caustic Cross”), and best of all, a wonderfully atmospheric shoegaze dreamer that features Payseur sharing wistful vocals with Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino. All in all, Clash the Truth is exactly the record Beach Fossils should have made at this point, reinforcing all the things that made them good while adding some excellent new wrinkles and boosting the production values.
Chicago duo Ohmme was started by Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham in the summer of 2014, combining their love for lushvocals and song writing with their love of experimentation and sound.
Surprise! We’re very excited to announce a special split 7” with our friends The Aubreys out TODAY exclusively on Bandcamp. Our side has 2 new songs: “Eagle Eye” and “We Human”. Yuuuge thanks to the Aubreys for asking us to make this sweet thing with them!
Drums by the man, the myth, the legend Eric Slick. Recorded by Dorian Gehring. Limited number of vinyl available now.
Bleachers have returned with fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen for the new single “Chinatown.” and another new songs called “45.” listen to both songs and find the video for “Chinatown,” directed by Carlotta Kohl. In a press release, Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff gave the following statement on his new tracks:
“Chinatown” starts in NYC and travels to New Jersey. that pull back to the place i am from mixed with terror of falling in love again. having to show your cards to someone and the shock when you see them for yourself. thinking you know yourself and where you are from…. having to see yourself through somebody who you want to stay… I started to write this song with these ideas ringing in my head. to further understand who you are pushes you to further understand where you are from and what that looks and sounds like. there are pieces in that that are worth carrying forever and pieces worth letting die. “Chinatown” and “45” are both the story of this—“Chinatown” through someone else, “45” through the mirror. as for Bruce, it’s the honour of a lifetime to be joined by him. he is the artist who showed me that the sound of the place Ii am from has value and that there is a spirit here that needs to be taken all over the world.
Jack Antonoff’s second album as Bleachers album, “Gone Now”, was released in 2017. He’s kept busy in the years since, producing music for a huge range of artists, including Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, FKA twigs, and the Chicks. Last year, he launched a project called Red Hearse with Sam Dew and producer Sounwave. According to the press release, the next Bleachers album is due out in 2021.
Indie-folk artist Harper Bloom has dropped a sweet new song titled ‘Sunflower Girl’, and announced her final live show for the year. The Melbourne-via-Perth songwriter wrote her new single during the winter months in Brooklyn, New York, performing the song live for the first time during her busking days on the streets of Manhattan.
According to Bloom, ‘Sunflower Girl’ reflected the continued experiences she shared with her partner in a unique perspective.“I wanted ‘Sunflower Girl’ to reflect how we felt about life, detailing how the purest joy comes from simply being in each other’s company and enjoying unique experiences, rather than the pursuit of materialistic gains,” Bloom said in a press statement.
The song marks the fourth single from Bloom, who released her debut single ‘Mary’ back in April. On that track, the 25-year-old collaborated with producer Benjamin McCarthy (G Flip, Thelma Plum, Megan Washington). Bloom followed that up with ‘Walk My Way’ and ‘You’re The Music’. All four singles have been lifted from Bloom’s forthcoming EP, entitled ‘Faith, Sex And Skin’. A release date for that project has not yet been announced.
The Perth-bred, Melbourne-based indie-folk songsmith Harper Bloom has released her latest sun-soaked single, ‘Sunflower Girl’, a bright and blissful track composed in a cosy Brooklyn apartment in the middle of a frosty winter. A song glowing with the same warmth and charm of earlier releases that fast captured the hearts of new fans across Australia and put her on an industry must-watch-list, ‘Sunflower Girl’ marks as the fourth single from the ascending singer-songwriter and closes a stellar year for the BIGSOUND 50 Artist, who not only landed a new management deal with Teamtrick (Allday, Mallrat) and booking agency deal with New World Artists earlier this year, but has also risen as one Australia’s most exciting new talents in the indie-folk landscape.“Bloom’s indie-folk-pop approach to music, paired with her immersive lyricism, easily make her one artist to watch in the future” – Rolling Stone
The new project of Slaves guitarist Laurie Vincent and producer Jolyon Thomas, Larry Pink The Human’s latest single is an explosive synth-pop track featuring vocals from IDLES frontman Joe Talbot. The duo describe their fourth single of 2020 as “a contemplative look at missing the beauty in the everyday,” while Talbot adds, “It’s a track about not knowing the magic ‘til the magic is behind us.” The song itself, however, is more likely to help you lose yourself than find the present moment: The verses combine Talbot’s reserved musings with a calming synth hum, but the choruses throttle up into a cathartic thump that simply rules out sitting still.
‘Wasted Days [Inbetweens]’ follows recent single ‘Might Delete Later’ and debut track ‘Love You, Bye’. back in April, and they spoke of the emotional openness that defines the new band. “It’s about putting your deepest, darkest feelings on a plate, as simply or as complicated as you want to,” Vincent said.
LARRY PINK THE HUMAN added: ‘Wasted Days [Inbetweens]’ is a contemplative look at missing the beauty in the everyday. In the rush to reach our destinations how we can often lose sight of the joy in our journeys. An awakening. Doing nothing at all is something very special.”
With “McCartney III,” the Ex-Beatle makes a spectacular return to form, produces one of his most compelling albums in decades, and reminds us that at age 78, his musical chops are as exquisite and profound as virtually anyone’s. Ever.
Working at his Sussex studio, Paul McCartney recorded nearly the entirety of “McCartney III” during the pandemic. A one-man band production in the spirit of his eponymous debut solo album in 1970, “McCartney III” arrives more than 40 years after the release of its predecessor, “McCartney II,” in 1980. That summer, the album topped the UK charts and yielded a chart-topping single Stateside in “Coming Up.”
In its own fashion, “McCartney III” functions as the logical extension of its precursors, each acting as lodestones of sorts for signal moments across his long career. As with the first two LPs, McCartney took a carefree, homespun approach to his efforts, allowing his imagination to guide the way. As he remarked in the album’s press notes about his process during its production, “Each day, I’d start recording with the instrument I wrote the song on and then gradually layer it all up; it was a lot of fun. It was about making music for yourself rather than making music that has to do a job. So, I just did stuff I fancied doing. I had no idea this would end up as an album.”
McCartney’s whimsical approach pays dividends from beginning to end, with the songwriter charting the emotional experience of not only surviving, but thriving in his eighth decade on earth. And he has the road miles to prove it. In many ways, McCartney himself is the “Long Tailed Winter Bird” who soars above the opening track, a spirited, largely instrumental number that is highlighted by one of the musician’s niftiest acoustic guitar licks in years.
In short order, McCartney rips off one musical confection after another, including Beatlesque pop ditties such as “Find My Way” and “Seize the Day.” And then there’s “Lavatory Lil,” a composition that, in a very different time and place, might have found a home in the Abbey Road medley nestled alongside “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam.”
McCartney absolutely sizzles on such bone-crunching electric numbers as “Slidin'” and “Deep Down,” with hard-driving guitar licks that might find some listeners hearkening back to the “Band on the Run” track “Let Me Roll It.” Even still, his guitar work on “McCartney III” sounds equally fresh and urgent, as he wrestles with the endlessly fecund muse that has served him well since at least the mid-1950s, when he penned his first song as a paean for his mother Mary.
In the LP’s latter stages, McCartney offers up a pair of memorable acoustic tunes in “The Kiss of Venus” and “When Winter Comes.” He reportedly composed “The Kiss of Venus” after reading an astrological book about the balletic movements and synchronicity of the planets. It was “a fascinating book,” the songwriter recalled, about the ways in which our solar system structures itself as a “trippy” lotus shape.
Capitol Records will release “McCartney III” on digital platforms, CD and LP manufactured by Third Man Pressing on December 11th, 2020,
One of the most overlooked and underrated albums to emerge from the Feelies universe, side project Yung Wu’s “Shore Leave” ranks highly in the group’s oeuvre, at least the equal of and in some ways superior to the three albums the Feelies released under their own name between 1985 and 1991. Yung Wu was led by singer/songwriter Dave Weckerman, who had been the drummer in the Feelies’ first lineup before being replaced by Anton Fier. Backed by Glenn Mercer and Bill Million on guitars (they also produced the album), John Baumgartner on keyboards, Brenda Sauter on bass, and Stanley Demeski on drums, Weckerman finds a midway point between the mellow, twangy rootiness of contemporaneous Feelies records like Only Life and the more tightly wound jangle of 1980’s Crazy Rhythms. Resulting songs like the title track, “Spinning,” and the quietly tense “Return to Zion” are archetypal examples of the Hoboken sound that was a mainstay of late-’80s college radio.
The album’s three covers — Neil Young’s “Powderfinger,” the Rolling Stones’ “Child of the Moon,” and “Big Day,” a Brian Eno song that originally appeared on Phil Manzanera’s solo album Diamond Head — were proudly uncool by 1987 terms, which of course only makes them cooler. Shore Leave was largely ignored at the time, selling fewer than 5,000 copies all told, but it’s a minor classic of ’80s jangle pop ripe for rediscovery.
When you’ve made one perfect record, why make another? “Shore Leave”, originally released in 1987, is Yung Wu’s sole long-player (though a covers album has circulated privately). It’s a jangle rock gem, filled with sparkling song writing, infectious rhythms and hook-laden melodies. But even though the band’s discography is brief, you know the sound: Yung Wu is basically the Feelies with percussionist Dave Weckerman stepping into the frontman role (and keyboardist John Baumgartner contributing as well). But it’s much more than just a Feelies footnote; freshly reissued this year with stellar remastering, Shore Leave is a necessary listen.
Although never released on CD at the time (in 1987, a lot of indies were still sticking exclusively to vinyl and cassettes), Shore Leave is one of many classic out of print albums on the Twin/Tone and Coyote labels now available on custom-burned CDs through the Twin/Tone website.
Nation of Language returned to share a new song “A Different Kind Of Life,” the first new music since their debut album Introduction, Presence, which dropped earlier this year. “This song first started to come together in the early days of the Trump administration, but was never quite finished and got a bit lost as time went by,” says frontman Ian Devaney. “When the demo resurfaced during the pandemic, the song struck a chord not just in its intended political context but in the context of so many people losing family members, jobs, or any semblance of normality—whatever might be left of it after the past few years.”
Working Class Synth-Pop. Debut album Introduction Presence is out now in all formats. Nation of Language are also releasing an exclusive, translucent pressing of their debut album through Rough Trade Records,
released November 12th, 2020 Written by Nation of Language
Van’s third solo album, November 1970’s His Band and the Street Choir, will never be considered one of Van’s grand statements, but it holds its place as a necessary piece of the Van Morrison puzzle. And is cherished by many Van the Man fans, who should enjoy this remastered and expanded near gem.
The songs on Street Choir are relatively compact and seemingly quite well-adjusted. Any allusions to being a “stranger in this world” appear to have been quelled by the band who achieve a perfect groove. “Domino” so immediately announces its ease of execution that Van can’t help but glide over the backing band with a sense of freedom so contagious that every listener floats on its merry wave. This sense of camaraderie among the players – enforced by the album’s photos taken at a birthday party for Peter, the son of Van Morrison’s then-wife Janet Planet – enabled Van to nail down several songs that had previously eluded him, including “Domino,” that hailed from the Astral Weeks-era of November 1968, according to Cory Frye’s informative liner notes.
The album itself was meant to capitalize on Van’s current hot streak withMoondance, whose single “Come Running” peaked at #39. His manager, Mary Martin, convinced him to return to New York’s A&R Studios, only a month after that album’s release. Working with the stellar core group of guitarist John Plantania, saxophonist Jack Schroer, bassist John Klingberg and the addition of keyboardist Alan Hand, trumpeter/organist Keith Johnson, and tour drummer Dahaud Elias Shaar (aka Daoud Shaw and David Shaw). Van rehearsed in an old church in Woodstock, NY, before laying down the official tracks in the studio. Martin’s instincts proved correct, as the album’s first single, “Domino,” went to No#9, Van’s highest charting pop hit in the U.S., passing “Brown Eyed Girl” (#10) by a notch.
His Band and the Street Choir is another beautiful phase in the continuing development of one of the few originals left in rock. In his own mysterious way. Van Morrison continues to shake his head, strum his guitar and to sing his songs. He knows it’s too late to stop now and he quit trying to a long, long time ago. Meanwhile, the song he is singing keeps getting better and better.”- John Landau,
The Album also called “Street Choir” was the fourth solo album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 15th November 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. Originally titled “Virgo’s Fool” but was renamed by Warner Bros. without Morrison’s consent. Recording began in early 1970 with a demo session in a small church in Woodstock, New York. Morrison booked the A&R Studios on 46th Street in New York City in the second quarter of 1970 to produce two sessions of songs that were released on His Band and the Street Choir. Reviewers praised the music of both sessions for its free, relaxed sound, but the lyrics were considered to be simple compared with those of his previous work. Morrison had intended to record the album a cappella with only vocal backing by a vocal group he called the Street Choir, but the songs released on the album that included the choir also featured a backing band. Morrison was dissatisfied with additional vocalists to the original quintet that made up the choir,
Compared to the meditative beast that is Saint Dominic’s Preview (1972), with its twin 10-minute-plus epics, “Listen to the Lion” and “Almost Independence Day,” or the complete return-to-Ireland masterpiece that is Veedon Fleece (1974), Street Choir feels less ambitious. However, one should never discount Van’s handling of more succinct material. The Fats Domino homages are obvious (“Domino,” “Blue Money”) and slightly under the radar (“Give Me a Kiss”) and occasionally come across as workmanlike. But considering the Belfast fireplug’s impulsive phrasings and his behind-the-beat inclinations are always just an Irish Heartbeat away from creating an alternative Ulster R&B universe, it’s worth giving him his genre exercises. Besides, pianist Alan Hand works double-time to ensure everything rolls as it should.
Anyone versed in Van’s career knows he doesn’t stay in one place for long and no amount of Fats Domino love is going to contain him. Street Choir’s best moments –besides the ease of “Domino,” the Curtis Mayfield sweetness of “Gypsy Queen,” and the meditative acoustic revelry of “I’ll Be Your Lover, Too” – come from the full-band blast-off of “Call Me Up in Dreamland,” where all is pure locomotion with Van on tenor sax, “Virgo Clowns,” where loosely doubled vocals create a rare-but-effective moment of joy from the legendary crank, and the closing duo of “If I Ever Needed Someone” and “Street Choir,” where Van teases out a George Harrison sentiment to the breaking point and Keith Johnson’s organ takes the title track to the next astral plane.
Essentially, it’s A-minus Van Morrison, which is still light years beyond all but ‘A’ list artists like the Stones, Kinks, Dylan, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Sonics and Stooges. The original album packed 12 songs with no room for the improvisational sidetracking that makes his A-plus discs impossible to beat. At the same time, the album came just eight months after its predecessor and 11 months before its followup, Tupelo Honey. It wasn’t like Springsteen or Paul Simon who took lifetimes between releases. Despite Van’s masterful reach, he’s never treated any of his work as so precious that it had to be shined a thousand ways before final release. If something isn’t working, he moves on to something else and saves the idea for another day. Van’s genius is rarely in the writing. As a lyricist, he’s often lazy and as a songwriter he rarely ventures beyond the usual chords. Though he’s done more with two chords than most musicians do with a full arsenal. Van’s genius is in the execution.
The bonus tracks – alternate takes of “Call Me Up in Dreamland,” “Give Me a Kiss” and “Gypsy Queen” and alternate ‘versions’ of “I’ve Been Working” and “I’ll Be Your Lover, Too” (distinctions between ’takes’ and ‘versions’ not apparent) – mostly offer unvarnished, simpler takes that since not chosen were not subjected to overdubs.
Regarding these bonuses, all are welcomed, though none shock the system. (Inexplicably, the seventeen-minute instrumental “Caledonia Soul Music” was eliminated from the final product.) The alternate version of “I’ve Been Working” is mildly quicker and looser with an extended sax solo in its mid-section. “I’ll Be Your Lover, Too,” the album’s most meditative and heartfelt cut, puts Van’s vocal right in your ear, without the mild studio reverb of the official track and with yet another superlative performance. “Gypsy Queen,” the first cousin to Moondance’s “Crazy Love,” begins with several false starts before aiming for – and landing in – the heavens. It’s another fine alternate take that illustrates how Van had these songs where he wanted them at this point and could at any moment out-sing just about anyone not named Stevie Wonder or Al Green.
The Fat Angel Sings 