We took one of our fave songs and an indie classic, Beirut’s ‘Nantes’, and tried to make the song our own for Covers Inc. Huge thanks to Mahogany for having us – we loved recording this.
COVERS brings together Classic Songs and amazing New Artists against a bold silhouetted backdrop. Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.
“…..all the good ones in the world they keep dropping dead, everybody’s got a bullet flying at their head……” Looking forward to a new album sometime in 2019??
Atlanta indie-rockers Manchester Orchestra have teamed up with New Jersey emo-outfit The Front Bottoms on a brand new track. Both bands are widely adored indie bands Manchester Orchestra and The Front Bottoms have united for a collaborative new track called “Allentown.”
The single features lead singers Andy Hull and Brian Sella alternating between verses, melodies, and perspectives as the pensive track builds into a quirky, foggy slow jam. “Allentown” also features debut guest vocals from Hull’s daughter Mayzie and Kevin Devine’s daughter Edie.
The Front Bottoms and Manchester Orchestra’s official audio stream for their track ‘Allentown’.
“There’s a certain intensity with festivals that comes from everyone being there, and being backstage, that gets you really amped up to play,” says Julia Cumming, bassist and lead vocalist of Sunflower Bean. “With regular club shows, you can get into a pattern that you’re used to; but at festivals, you’ve got a million things coming at you all at once.”
The hard-touring New York trio, which also includes guitarist/vocalist Nick Kivlen and drummer Jacob Faber, has had plenty of experience with both club gigs and festival dates in their five years as a band. Sunflower Bean’s moody, melodic, psychedelia-tinged brand of indie pop—as heard on Twentytwo in Blue, their second and latest full-length release—takes on a more playful and unpredictable feel in a live setting.
“With this record, we did a lot of orchestration that we were really happy with,” Cumming explains. “But it’s fun to stretch things out and surprise people, and offer something that they can’t get on the record. There’s something magical about people playing together—and even the possibility of failure. If you do a show one night, then the next night it’s not going to be the same, and I think that makes it possible for us to tour a lot, because each night is different. We try to surprise each other and we try to push each other to have a really interesting show. I think what a lot of people expect from live music these days is basically fireworks and someone pressing play—which is fine, but we offer something else. What we do is almost a different kind of art form.”
“We just really believe in live playing,” adds Kivlen. “It’s something that’s inspired us over the years growing up, and it’s something we really hold close to our hearts. Which is not to say that we’ll never expand things or do anything different, but it’s just where we’re coming from. If people are coming to see a live band, then we’re going to give them a live show!”
Having only previously played in New Orleans once—in February of this year, opening for fellow New Yorkers Sleigh Bells at Republic NOLA—Sunflower Bean are looking forward to getting further acquainted with the vibrant city in October, when they’ll be playing Voodoo Fest.
“The first time we were there was actually right around Mardi Gras, and it was pretty overwhelming, in a good way,” Cumming recalls. “So I’m excited to take in more of the food and more of the culture, and to take in more of that amazing town… Also, it’s close to Halloween, which is one of our favorite holidays,” she laughs. “Shows around Halloween are fun, because you can kind of conceptualize costumes and play cover sets. One time we did a Halloween cover set as The Smashing Pumpkins–slash–Marilyn Manson. I don’t think we’ll be doing that for Voodoo Fest—but I can’t say we won’t!”
Aaron Powell (Born 1993) is better known by his lo-fi singer songwriter moniker Fog Lake where he creates music that’s been best described as “a complex collage of nebulous angst and heartfelt nostalgia” (Wake The Deaf)
Born and raised on the island province of Newfoundland, he’s lived his life in relative isolation writing and recording a total of six releases in four years including his two most current LP’s Virgo Indigo (2014) & Victoria Park (2015) both being released by Brooklyn based tape label Orchid Tapes (Foxes In Fiction, Alex G, Teen Suicide).
His unrelenting approach to releasing music has lead to an ever-increasing cult following, seeing Fog Lake featured by the likes of renowned YouTube channel, Majestic Casual for the second time where it has racking up over 400,000 plays. In addition, tastemaker blog Gorilla Vs Bear has named his latest single ‘Rattlesnake’ one of the Top-25 Tracks of 2016.
Recording project of Aaron Powell from Newfoundland, Canada.
Released November 30th, 2018
This group of siblings and childhood friends originally formed more than a decade ago. Growing up in scattered small towns across the Canadian prairies, Andy Shauf, Dallas Bryson, and brothers Darryl Kissick and Avery Kissick eventually found themselves under one roof in Regina, Saskatchewan, where they completed work on what became this album: Foxwarren.
In the release of Andy Shauf’s side-band debut album, nearly a decade in the making, there is much of The Party’s deserved success. The style of the record is very much in the vein of Andy’s solo release, again a blend of Elliott Smith’s attitude and vocal style and a taste for 70s songwriting and arrangements (Randy Newman being a personal hero for the Canadian).
Foxwarren is a nice compendium to The Party, in the sense that all those who were left enchanted by that record will likely appreciate this new one. There are some more “self-standing” instrument themes, like the sparkling guitar riff in ‘Fall Into A Dream’ or the motoric arrangement of ‘Everything Apart’, where Andy peeks into a slightly more modern, “experimental” songwriting style.
The Party had a revivalist style and it was a record that clearly was produced and created by a single mind. Despite not being cutting-edge avant-garde or the best song Andy’s written, ‘Everything Apart’ promises, instead, possible fruitful interactions with other creative minds.
In general, all the songs probably lack the conceptual allure of The Party’s almost cinematic setting, or even the melodic clarity of Andy’s previous songs. So Foxwarren represents a sort of B-side collection to his solo record, and maybe also a way to close a very relevant artistic period.
Released November 30th, 2018
Foxwarren is:
Dallas Bryson,
Avery Kissick,
Darryl Kissick,
Andy Shauf,
all songs written and arranged by Foxwarren
It’s just been announced that Conor Oberst is working with the Felice Brothers band again on a new (sort of) album. Salutations is going to be 7 new tracks, plus all the songs from Ruminations done with a full band instead of solo. Earlier they released the first new track, “Napalm,” as well as their version of “A Little Uncanny.”
“Napalm” is, in my opinion, one of the most electrifying track’s Oberst has released since “Roosevelt Room” appeared on Outer South. There’s a little twang in the vocals on some lyrics, and since Ian Felice isn’t focused on singing he’s free to go wild on lead guitar. Salutations also features Oberst’s Monsters Of Folk bandmate Jim James and drummer Jim Keltner.
“Napalm” by Conor Oberst and The Felice Brothers
Sharon Van Etten’s new single, “Jupiter 4”, is probably more likely to be named after a Roland Synth than a crack team of Jupiter bound astronauts. The track, shared this week, is the second to come from Sharon’s upcoming album, Remind Me Tomorrow, due early next year on Jagjaguwar Records.
If the first single, Comeback Kid, was probably the closest Sharon’s ever got to a pop-song, Jupiter 4 is a completely different beast, all moody drones, eerie noises and impending gloom; there’s a touch of The Twilight Sad about it, which is as exciting as it is confusing. Despite the dense musical accompaniment, the lyrical content seems to be quietly upbeat, a declaration of passion, “it’s true that everyone would like to have met, a love so real”,sure with the musical accompaniment it feels almost creepily intense, but taken as face value, Sharon’s words are unquestionably positive. We’ve heard two snap-shots of Sharon’s new album, both two different moods, two different directions, two reasons to be very excited where Sharon Van Etten takes us next.
Remind Me Tomorrow is out January 18th via Jagjaguwar.
Warm, is the upcoming album from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, was his first ever solo collection of original material. Loosely released to coincide with his fascinating sounding memoir, LET’S GO (SO WE CAN GET BACK), Warm was recorded in Jeff’s legendary Chicago studio, The Loft, alongside regular collaborators including his son Spencer and Wilco drummer, Glenn Kotche.
This week, to mark the album’s release, Jeff has shared the latest taste of Warm, I Know What It’s Like. The track seems to pick up where Tweedy, his collaborative project with Spencer, left off on their excellent 2014 album, Sukierae. Sure it’s not a million miles away from Wilco’s sound, but there’s a warmth to Jeff’s solo material that creates a subtly different mood; the twang of guitars, the approachable quality in the vocal, it all creates an intimacy, like Jeff’s inviting you into his world and welcoming you in like never before. Still intriguing after all these years, the evolution of Jeff Tweedy continues unabated, at this rate he’ll be writing another memoir in no time.
Warm is out today via DBPM Records.
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Posted: November 30, 2018 in FESTIVALS
Tags: Handmade Festival, Leicester
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