MAXWELL STERN – ” Left in the Living Room ” feat. Laura Stevenson

Posted: August 20, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Maxwell Stern has been writing music and touring in various bands since the early 2000s. He has released a slew of LPs and 7″singles, and has played shows pretty much everywhere including an abandoned restaurant in Wyoming, a mall in China, several squats in Germany and a pretty nice bookstore in Australia. Lately he’s been working a lot. I am super excited to share that Maxwell Stern’s new song featuring Laura Stevenson is officially out! Earlier this week, “Left in the Living Room” along with a personal excerpt about the record by Max.

Max shared: “I had the idea to ask one of my favourite vocalists, Laura Stevenson, to sing with me on something. I’m not sure if she remembers it, but we’d actually made music together once before. It was the fall of 2005, I had just turned 16 and I was watching Jeff Rosenstock’s old band Bomb The Music Industry! — a band in which Laura played keys and sang—play on the floor of a sports bar in my hometown of Cleveland, OH…BTMI! had a “Bring Your Own Band” policy that stated that if you knew any of their material, you could play it with the band. So here I am, bleached-blonde mop and all, underage in a college bar, freaking out about getting to play with a group of musicians who were nearly a decade younger than I am right now who were making frantic, catchy, and often unintelligible ska-punk-hardcore songs about drinking beer in the shower and not shaving your beard before a job interview. I loved that band — I still do.”

“Anyway, sometime around that show, Laura started writing her own songs, and quickly evolved from ‘extremely talented person in the scene with me and my dumb friends’ to ‘real-life grown-up genius-level songwriter.’ Her involvement with this song, “Left In The Living Room” happened pretty quickly once I gathered up the courage to send her a text message and a demo, and having her voice on this record is a true honour.

Personnel:
Maxwell Stern – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, Wurlitzer, Prophet
Adam Edward Beck – drums on tracks 1-10, drum composition, auxiliary percussion, additional keyboards, electronics, and production
Kyle Pulley – synth on track 1, additional electric guitar on track 6, bass on
track 8, drum programming on track 11
Jonathan Hernandez – electric guitar on tracks 3, 4, 8, vocals on tracks 3, 7, 8
Laura Stevenson – vocals on track 5
Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner – various lap steels on tracks 4, 5, 6, 7, 10

All songs written by Maxwell Andrew Stern.

Releases September 25th, 2020

MUSH – ” Great Artisanal Formats ” Record Store Day 2020

Posted: August 19, 2020 in MUSIC
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Mush great artisanal formats

Following hot on the heels of their debut album “3D Routine”, Leeds upstarts Mush will be releasing “Great Artisanal Formats” – a 5 track EP for Record Store Day 2020.Mush have established themselves as one of the most inventive and exciting new guitar bands in the UK having supported Stereolab and Shame, been supported heavily at 6 Music (5 x Marc Riley sessions + daytime playlist) and played a host of high profile festivals including All Points East, The Great Escape and Transmusicales.

“Great Artisanal Formats” is another collection of off kilter guitar licks and wry observational takes on modern society. Mush are touring the UK and Europe in – FR Paris, Supersonic08 Apr – FR Lyon, Le Sonic10 Apr – FR Lille, Pzzle Festival @ Le Grand Mix12 Apr – UK Ramsgate, Ramsgate Music Hall13 Apr – UK Brighton, The Prince Albert14 Apr – UK London, Sebright Arms15 Apr – UK Bristol, The Lanes16 Apr – UK Manchester, YES17 Apr – UK Sheffield, Picture House Social18 Apr – UK Newcastle, The Cumberland ArmsPraise for Mush’s debut album “3D Routine”:

“Old-school indie meets 2020 attitude” 8/10 UNCUT”Wonky indie rock at its best” 8/10 Louder Than War”Mush’s riffy, funky post-punk is as cathartic as it is surreal”

recordstore day

NEW ORDER – ” The John Peel Session 1982 ” EP Record Store Day 2020

Posted: August 19, 2020 in MUSIC
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New Order will release a new vinyl pressing of the group’s 1982 studio session with legendary BBC broadcaster John Peel on Record Store Day this year, complete with what is being advertised as a new sleeve created by the band’s long time graphic designer Peter Saville.

The four-track The John Peel Session 1982 EP will be released in both the U.S. and U.K., and features two songs from Power, Corruption & Lies, plus an original, “Too Late,” that was never recorded or released elsewhere, and a cover of reggae singer Keith Hudson’s “Turn the Heater On.”

Now in its 12th year, Record Store Day falls on August 29th (delayed by coronavirus) this year. Head over to the recordstoreday.com and recordstoreday.co.uk websites to see full lists of exclusive, limited-run and “RSD First” releases along with participating record stores in the U.S. and the U.K., respectively.

recordstore day

The MURDER CAPITAL – ” Live from London: The Dome, Tufnell Park ” Record Store Day 2020

Posted: August 19, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Irish rockers The Murder Capital have been building quite a bit of momentum overseas both back at home in Ireland and in the U.K. as well. They released their debut album “When I Have Fears” last year to mass critical acclaim (it was one of our best-albums-of-2019>favourites of the year and now it’s time for the band to have their moment here in the U.S., where they are about to embark on their first-ever North American tour. The Murder Capital released their debut album When I Have Fears on their own label Human Season Records to much critical claim in August of 2019.The band played a string of headlining shows around Europe and the UK and this 45rpm 12″ highlights the broody “Love, Love, Love” and “On Twisted Ground” from their show at The Dome, Tufnell Park in London from October 2019.

The band’s drummer Diarmuid Brennan told us one day before they played their biggest hometown show to date. We talked about the early days of the band, their process, how they bring it live every night, and how grief helped shaped their debut album. You guys are currently in Dublin preparing for your biggest headlining show to date. How are you feeling before the show?
Yeah that’s right. Good! Just landed back in Dublin, we flew over from the U.K. So we are just at Grogans now on South William Street, just meeting up with some mates. But yeah, just staying relaxing about it to be honest. It’s obviously a big one as it’s a Dublin show, Dublin shows are always big, they get us very excited. But yeah I’ll get excited maybe a couple of minutes before we go on.

New album When I Have Fears available 16th August

recordstore day

SPECIAL MOVES – ” Little Help “

Posted: August 19, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Based out of the indie-pop heartland of Olympia, Washington, Joshua Hoey has been working on his, “lo-fi, small-scale cultural production”, under a variety of guises for the best part of two-decades. Joshua’s latest project is the, “open-source DIY rock band”, Special Moves, a sort of intriguing middle ground between a solo-project and a collective, where anyone is encouraged to turn up at any given moment and do their thing. After a string of cassingles released over the course of 2018 (which were subsequently compiled the following year on Jigsaw’s “Everything Is Free” cd), this is the proper debut full length from Special Moves, an Olympia-based project led by Josh Hoey with ample accompaniment from a large number of friends. Like the earlier stuff, these recordings are a bit rough around the edges, but both the sound quality and overall flow of this album is a marked improvement over the compilation, giving this a much more consistent feel. Musically, this is still perfectly in line with Tall Dwarfs and early Portastatic, but with a slightly mellower, poppier aesthetic. Heck, even his cover of the Boyracer classic “I’ve Got It + It’s Not Worth Having” is a friendlier, more melodic take on the original! And at under 20 minutes, this is a great album to quickly listen to when you’re getting ready to run out the door…

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“If you want something done right, do it yourself” may not be an entirely accurate translation from the original French, but it’s proven to be a powerful strategy over the last forty years of American underground rock music. Special Moves is the latest name Olympia’s Joshua Hoey has applied to their lifelong project of lo-fi, small-scale cultural production. Josh has played fuzzy, energetic rock music in living rooms and basements – even the occasional rock club – for almost two decades. The rough outlines of their sound are SUPERCHUNK, ARCHERS OF LOAF, BUTTERGLORY, GUIDED BY VOICES, SUGAR, and early 90’s indie rock generally.

Somehow that has resulted in not just a thrillingly varied live show, but also an upcoming album, Little Help, released on Joshua’s own Reflective Tapes label, in collaboration with both Jigsaw Records and Solidarity Club.

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The specific sparks that have fed the drive to write, record and travel were generated by random short-run seven-inches, cassingles, and one-off tracks on tape comps. Special Moves is an attempt to continue the proud legacy created by folks with talented friends and an uncontrollable urge to document the creativity and vibrancy that would otherwise fade from view. Special Moves is an open-source rock band. Lineups and instrumentation vary from gig to gig, one recording to the next. Collaborators are encouraged to bring their unique stylistic choices to bear.

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As you’d expect for someone so rooted in the DIY-world, the Special Moves sound is something of an archive of the great and good of bands who never really made it.

 

BANANAGUN – ” Out Of Reach “

Posted: August 18, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Bananagun on fulltimehobby.co.uk

Bananagun follow up the release of their wonderfully received debut album “The True Story of Bananagun” with a remix from Maston. The band gave Frank free reign to turn the track inside out, and boy did he deliver!

Maston’s mix of “Out of Reach” slows things down to an easy pace, enabling the original’s rich melodies to sit at the forefront, resulting in an endless earworm. Band leader Nick Van Bakel told us a bit more about why they decided to work with Frank Maston:

“We thought Frank would be good for the job because we liked his albums and you can tell from listening to them he knows his way around a mix, and also I like his style, seemed like a like-minded fellow. “We weren’t expecting it to sound so sexy, in a mellow Stax / Motown way I like it. We’ve heard that song so much now so it’s cool having this new sensual spin. “I’m sure we’ve never met but have mutual friends. I got in touch via email, it was all easy going. Frank’s real enthusiastic and into it, it’s always such a pleasure working with people like that!

“We hope you enjoy!” Watch the band-made accompanying video here:

The band will be coming over to the UK to play their first shows next May. Tickets are on sale now with more to be announced soon – full dates & info are available soon

The True Story of Bananagun is now available to buy

METZ – ” Atlas Vending “

Posted: August 18, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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METZ

Metz shared the video for the second single off Atlas Vending, “Hail Taxi.” If Metz’s current mission is to mirror the inevitable struggles of adulthood, they’ve successfully managed to tap into the conflicted relationship between rebellion and revelry with the song’s tactics of offsetting their signature bombast with anthemic melodic resolutions. “‘Hail Taxi’ is about looking back. The lyrics deal with the idea of reconciling or coming to terms with who you were and who you’ve become,” shares frontman Alex Edkins. The stunning video, directed by A.F. Cortes, heightens these themes and expertly captures the same intensity as the alternately brutal verses and beguiling choruses of “Hail Taxi.” Of the video, Cortes says, “I wanted to tell a simple story that captures the song’s overarching theme. The idea of longing for the past creates many visual motifs and I wanted to create a piece that feels timeless and conveys a sense of isolation, highlighting that while we can hide our feelings, we can’t run from them.”

Check out the stunning video for “Blind Youth Industrial Park,” the latest track from Atlas Vending. The beautifully dystopian video depicts a woman dragging an injured companion on a stretcher through an alien landscape as the pair are tracked by a squad of armed soldiers, and provides sharp contrast to the song, which is an ode to the naivety of youth and the freedom of being unburdened by the world around you.

Shot in Queenstown, on the South Island of New Zealand, “Blind Youth Industrial Park” was directed by Dylan Pharazyn. Here’s Pharazyn on his inspiration for the video: “I started thinking of the feeling of war or samurai films, beautiful but dark and violent… but then I had this idea to work up a more unique world… I started to think of a more futuristic setting — more unusual and dream-like with the story set on a distant planet where there is future technology and some kind of alien magic… like a futuristic fable. I loved the idea of the hero Ayeth on this nomadic walk through an epic landscape… I loved the strength in her and the pairing of her with a wounded companion, something really human and vulnerable… I wanted that emotive warmth countering the cold military images.”

Atlas Vending, the band’s most dynamic, dimensional, and compelling work of their career will be released on October 9th. Bolstered by the co-production of Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and the engineering and mixing skills of Seth Manchester (Daughters, Lingua Ignota, The Body) at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Atlas Vending, the band’s fourth full-length album, sounds massive, articulate, and earnest.

Preorders of Atlas Vending are now available from Sub Pop Records.

“Hail Taxi” by METZ from their album Atlas Vending (Release Date: 10/09/2020)

“Change is inevitable if you’re lucky,” according to Metz frontman and principal songwriter Alex Edkins. And there’s no doubt that the music composed by the Toronto trio is difficult to pin to a specific genre, constantly moving, growing and changing with each album.

“I think what I was trying to say is when you’ve been working with the same people for as long as we have and you’ve been doing music together, it’s easy to get stuck in conventions and ruts and not progress,” he reveals. “I think this record, more than any for us, is something that feels like a really nice progression into new territory. It’s still very much us. We didn’t intentionally set out to change who we are or what we sound like, but I think the production and the songwriting have taken it to a new spot that we’re really proud of.”

Despite being written and recorded prior to the global pandemic, Atlas Vending feels immediate in its response to 2020, clearly poised to attack its themes of social anxiety, isolation and paranoia caused by modern media head on. “Songs like Pulse, and songs like The Mirror, are just so connected to how I’m feeling right now,” Edkins admits, coyly. “It’s [COVID-19] truly shifting the meaning of a lot of the songs for me at least, and I don’t know how people will perceive it. But that’s kind of all you hope, that people take it in, they work it through their situation and maybe it will connect to where they’re at.”

BERT JANSCH – ” Crimson Moon “

Posted: August 18, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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One of Bert Jansch’s later recordings, ‘Crimson Moon’ is some of his finest work and sees the musician at the top of his game, with appearances from Johnny Marr, Bernard Butler and many more. Earth Recordings revisits the album on its 20th Anniversary with its first standalone cut to vinyl.

Originally released in 2000, there is a brooding resonance in ‘Crimson Moon’ centred around his accomplished guitar style that brings his contemplative song writing to the fore. Traditional ballads have touches of jazz and blues adorned by contributions from guitarists Johnny Marr, Bernard Butler and Johnny “Guitar” Hodge along with guest vocals from Bert’s wife Loren Auerbach (‘My Donald’).

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The addition of electric guitar subtly compliments Bert’s percussive fingerpicking bringing new depth to his compositions.
Title track ‘Crimson Moon’ is a take on traditional song ‘Omie Wise’ and was written about his wife Loren, ‘Caledonia’ conjures pastoral images of Scotland alongside covers of The Incredible String Band’s ‘October Song’, Guy Mitchell’s ‘Singing The Blues’ and Owen Hand’s ‘My Donald’. Otherworldly tale ‘Neptune’s Daughter’ sees a mermaid-like creature recount the death of her relatives from a poison in the sea. Passionate about nature, the song carries an underlying ecological message.

Released in his 60s, ‘Crimson Moon’ proves Bert Jansch to still be an innovator and a unique talent.

Releases October 9th, 2020

TOMBERLIN – ” Projections “

Posted: August 18, 2020 in MUSIC
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What hides in the fog that keeps people apart, and what does it take to cut through it? These questions hang heavily over Sarah Beth Tomberlin’s music, whose hushed and intimate tones orbit answers as much as they savor the unanswerable. To be in relation to another human being is to engage with a deep mystery: We are all fundamentally alone, siloed into confusing bodies, and yet occasionally we find someone who lets us feel as if we weren’t. Tomberlin, the Louisville native who recently relocated to Los Angeles, delights in articulating and amplifying that mystery, picking out its details and marvelling at its scale. In singing her aloneness she soothes it, and extends a hand to others reckoning with their own solitude–a paradox that warms her spectral songs.

Tomberlin’s new “Projections” EP continues the arc of her critically acclaimed 2018 debut “At Weddings”, weaving new collaborators and new techniques into her signature dusky milieu. Since the LP’s release, Tomberlin has toured with Pedro the Lion, Andy Shauf, American Football, and Alex G, played a Tiny Desk concert for NPR, and given a riveting performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The five-song EP, capped with a cover of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s stunning “Natural Light,” reflects this period of intensive growth and self-discovery. “I wrote these songs while getting to know myself outside of people’s perceived notions of who I was,” says Tomberlin. “I just started being like, What am I interested in? What do I want out of relationships and friendships? What am I looking for that I don’t have in myself already?”

The rich vocal harmonies and guitar lines that made At Weddings so riveting still provide the EP’s foundation, but new percussive backing and instrumental flourishes open the path forward for Tomberlin. After touring the US with Alex G and playing new songs for the band in their shared green room, Tomberlin reached out to Alex Giannascoli and bandmate Sam Acchione to produce the EP’s four original tracks. She recorded her new songs in Giannascoli’s Philadelphia apartment alongside Acchione and frequent collaborator Molly Germer. The fleshed out sound lends a sense of urgency to tracks like “Wasted,” an uptempo romp across the kind of thorny relationship that withholds as much as it gives, and “Sin,” a song that applies reclaimed Christian imagery to an unorthodox romantic partnership. “I don’t mind sinning if it’s with you,” Tomberlin sings against washes of violin and brushed cymbals. “Say a prayer/Lay your hands on me/I just wanna be clean.”

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“I wrote ‘Sin’ while living at my parents’ home and exploring my queerness, but afraid to make it too obvious,” Tomberlin says. “It’s definitely using imagery that gets used against queer people, but making a joke out of it. That’s a thing with queer people. We all use humour to deflect our pain.”

Tomberlin’s ability to pan across the general disaster of human relationality and then zoom in on an effervescent moment of pure intimacy is one of her greatest strengths as a songwriter. Queer people get shuttered under the label of sin by the wider world, and yet despite that brand they steal moments of love and healing for themselves. Love is, generally speaking, a wellspring of pain and dysfunction, but look at the moments where it works. “It’s all sacrifice and violence, the history of love,” Tomberlin sings on EP opener “Hours,” “But remember when we stayed up/And took turns playing songs?” The camera zooms in, and magic alights on the people who suddenly take up the whole frame.

You can refuse the mystery of how people manage to be among each other, or you can delight in what it offers, no matter how fleeting. Tomberlin opts for delight every time. Hers are songs for people who, despite the turmoil of the world at large, despite the weight of its sadness, unshield themselves and fall into wonder.

Violin: Molly Germer
Electric guitar: Samuel Acchione
Acoustic guitar: Sarah Beth Tomberlin, Samuel Acchione
Bass guitar: Samuel Acchione
Vocals: Sarah Beth Tomberlin
Drums: Samuel Acchione, Sarah Beth Tomberlin
Keys: Sarah Beth Tomberlin, Samuel Acchione

Releases October 16th, 2020

ROSEHIP TEAHOUSE – ” Chillin in the Void “

Posted: August 17, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Cardiff five-piece Rosehip Teahouse (Faye, Tony, Will, Josh and Teddy), will capture your heart and set it free. The band’s music emanates and fluctuates, between feelings of sadness and happiness, with a hint of sparkle thrown in. The bands single ‘Same Sky’ is a track that sits quietly between the coexisting realms of happy and sad, with gorgeous, heart breaking vocal harmonies, swirling, twinkly guitars, while been driven by a head- bobbing bass line. Leading you though a journey of intricacy, complexity, and all with beautifully subtle tones. All neatly woven together, to build a tender, tear jerking atmosphere. Arriving via Sad Club Records, the latest single from Rosehip Teahouse is one hell of a charmer. Lilting melodies and glittering bells give ‘Thought Number 3’ an almost transcendental melancholia, as singer Faye Rogers vocals echo atop the band’s crystal horizons.

Of the track, Rogers says: “I wrote this song a couple of years back now. I was really struggling with my mental health, and this song was my expression of feeling as if my problems were stopping me from being able to live my life in the way I wanted to.

“The version of this song on the EP is the one I recorded the day I finished writing the song in 2017, miserable in my room at my parents’ house using a cheap microphone and garage-band on an old macbook that I was putting off returning to my ex. It feels like a long time ago now, but every time I hear it, it feels like 3am in that room that was too warm again.”. Faye from Cardiff-based group Rosehip Teahouse talks about their upcoming EP and what inspires their wonderfully ethereal indie-pop.

Chillin in the Void by Rosehip Teahouse The new Rosehip Teahouse single is out on 31st August ahead of the EPs September release via Sad Club Records.

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