Curve were an English alternative rock and electronic music duo from London, formed in 1990 and split in 2005. The band consisted of Toni Halliday (vocals, occasionally guitar) and Dean Garcia (bass, guitar, drums, programming). Halliday wrote the lyrics of their songs and they both contributed to songwriting. Producer Alan Moulder was a prominent collaborator who helped shape their blend of heavy beats and densely layered guitar tracks set against Halliday’s vocals.
“Doppelgänger” was their debut studio album from 1992 and is a continuation of the musical idiom established by the group on its three earlier EPs.“Doppelgänger” combines elements of dance music and alternative rock with the reverb-laden and distortion-heavy stylings of shoegaze. The album reached No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned the two singles “Faît Accompli” and “Horror Head”.
One can make the argument that Garbage wouldn’t have existed without Curve’s influence. The British duo merged shoegaze guitars with dance beats and featured the soothing, siren song vocals of Toni Halliday.
While the band debuted to acclaim, internal band pressures caused the group to implode on multiple occasions, effectively short circuiting their career path. But one listen to songs like ‘Faît Accompli’ or ‘Chinese Burn’ shows a band deserving of a better legacy.
The band were an ideal mix of groove and noise, Curve’s sexy, sinister sound still sounds quite contemporary.
SIDE A 1. ALREADY YOURS 2. HORROR HEAD 3. WISH YOU DEAD 4. DOPPELGÄNGER 5. LILLIES DYING SIDE B 1. ICE THAT MELTS THE TIPS 2. SPLIT INTO FRACTIONS 3. THINK AND ACT 4. FAÎT ACCOMPLI 5. SANDPIT
Modern Nature band leader Jack Cooper says with the group’s fourth album he “wanted the music to reflect nature: beginnings and endings, arrivals and departures, process and chance. I wanted the music and the words to feel like roots, branches, mycelium, the intricacies of a dawn chorus, neurons firing, the unknown.” I would say that was Modern Nature’s whole ethos right from the start, with a gentle sound that feels born of improvisation — they are a jazz group as much as anything — but is also clearly studied and considered, a musical representation of nature in the wild with no humans in sight.
Songs sound like vegetation pushing up through the soil to catch the light as the dew clings to the forest floor. Like on 2021’s Island of Noise, “No Fixed Point in Space” manages to capture the beauty, wonder and mystery of the natural world, observing and refracting it all through equally beautiful sounds.
Seablite is a four-piece pop band from San Francisco inspired by 80s/90s indie and shoegaze.
Wish Lush were still together? San Francisco’s Seablite are carrying that shimmering, ethereal torch, mixing shoegaze with jangly C-86-style indie. It’s an appealing combination that isn’t exactly new, but this band — which includes Chime School’s Andy Pastalaniec and former Wax Idols member Jen Mundy — do it very well. “Lemon Lights” is Seablite’s second album and it’s one jangly, hazy pop gem after another. Singer-guitarist Lauren Matsui and singer-bassist Galine Tumasyan nail the gossamer harmony style that really makes songs like “Melancholy Molly” and “Hit the Wall” soar, while the whole band take turns caressing and pummeling their instruments.
One may hear Manchester undertones on “Hit the Wall” and “Melancholy Molly”, or the feminine noise-pop of Lush on “Pot of Boiling Water” but Seablite are not to be mistaken for anglophile copycats. Seablite incorporates the jangle of their San Francisco “Fog Pop” contemporaries on tracks like “Hold My Kite” and a relentless and driving guitar on “Blink Each Day”, while the wonderfully dark elements on “Monochrome Rainbow” and the wistful closer, “Orbiting My Sleep” give them a wide range of sounds and vibes.
The band is among San Francisco’s current indie pop renaissance and have opened for the likes of Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Charlatans and Ladytron upon their recent Bay Area visits.
The noisy songs are appropriately swirling in feedback, while the janglier numbers have real snap. Adding to the bona-fides: Ride’s Mark Gardner mastered this terrific record.
Featuring vocalist Roger Chapman, guitarist John ‘Charlie’ Whitney, drummer Rob Townsend, bassist and vocalist John Wetton and multi-instrumentalist John ‘Poli’ Palmer on vibes, keyboards and flute,“Fearless” was released in October 1971 and was the first album to feature their new then member John Wetton following the departure of John Weider following the band’s second US tour in 1971 and the UK Top Ten hit single ‘In My Own Time’.
The album was one of Family’s finest and reached the UK Top 20 upon its release; featuring such strong material as ‘Spanish Tide’, Burning Bridges’ and ‘Between Blue And Me’.
The Leicester band Family arrived in the late ’60s, and didn’t stay around much after the delivery of six albums, most with Reprise Records. But they left a mark on the fans that resonate to this day. For three years, they released a furious slate of music, one being their 1971 classic – “Fearless“.
“Fearless” featured the arrival of bass player vocalist John Wetton, who would go on to enjoy extraordinary success as bassist and lyricist with many bands including Wishbone Ash, UK, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, and Asia.
“Fearless” will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with the release of a 3CD Box that will provide access to the newly remastered original album, two bonus tracks, and a collection of live tracks across two more CDs.
This new three-disc edition of this classic album has been newly remastered from the master tapes and also includes 24 bonus tracks drawn from the ‘In My Own Time’ single, BBC Radio sessions and a fine performance for BBC Radio One In Concert in December 1971. This new expanded remastered release also features an illustrated booklet with a new essay.
Including BBC Bob Harris Session – January 3rd,1971, BBC Top Gear Session – July 2nd, 1971, BBC Bob Harris Session November 8th, 1971 and BBC Radio One In Concert – December 28th, 1971 The boxed set will add in a booklet, and a repro poster for the celebration of the 1971 album. The 3CD Box will be reissued via Esoteric Recordings and Cherry Red UK.
The “Fearless” Extended package is brilliant! Esoteric Recordings and Cherry Red Records have done another excellent job to keep the Family flame burning. “Fearless” is still my favourite album of all time so this is a must-have addition to my music collection, it really is an album that every fan of exceptional unique music at it’s best
Yesterday afternoon, Bruce Springsteen shared, to social media, a 29-second preview of “Addicted to Romance,” a new song he has written for the movie “She Came to Me.” And at midnight, the entire song was posted to YouTube.
It’s a world-weary, bar-set love song, featuring Patti Scialfa on backing vocals, and is somewhat reminiscent of “Tougher Than the Rest,” with lines such as “if this isn’t love, my dear, it’s more than what we planned.”
The song’s credits, in addition to Springsteen and Scialfa, include Ron Aniello on keyboards and production, Benjamin Lanz on trombone, Kyle Resnick on trumpet, with Bryce Dessner producing the orchestra, and André De Ridder conducting the orchestra.
“She Came to Me” is a romantic comedy co-starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei and Anne Hathaway. According to publicity material, it “tells the story of composer Steven Lauddem (Peter Dinklage), who is creatively blocked and unable to finish the score for his highly anticipated comeback opera. At the behest of his wife Patricia (Anne Hathaway), formerly his therapist, he sets out in search of inspiration. What he discovers is much more than he bargained for or ever imagined.”
Originally released through BMG Records on 26th January 2015. After the release of the band’s 11th studio album “Who We Touch” (2010), The bands drummer Jon Brookes was diagnosed with brain cancer, and subsequently died in mid-2013. In early 2014, the band met up at their studio Big Mushroom with JimSpencer, and began working on a new album in the words of Tim Burgess, “songs that made us happy”. Replacing Brookes on percussion were Pete Salisbury of the Verve, plus New Order’s Stephen Morris and Gabriel Gurnsey of Factory Floor, a duo known more for metronomic precision that smile-inducing numbers. . The sessions lasted seven months, and featured recordings from the drummers of the Verve, New Order, and Factory Floor. Described as a pop album, “Modern Nature” featured contributions from the High Llamas frontman Sean O’Hagan, as well as gospel vocals from Melanie Marshall and Sandra Marvin.
Preceded by the release of the singles “Talking in Tones” and “So Oh” in September and December 2014, respectively, “Modern Nature” was released with varying bonus tracks. The band promoted it with radio appearances, and in-store performances. To coincide with the release of the single “Come Home Baby” in February 2015, the band embarked on a UK headlining tour, their first since 2010.
Opener “Talking in Tones” has a Higher Than the Sun comedown vibe that feels more about the price paid for happiness than hedonism itself, but by the second track, So Oh, they start to come good on their upbeat promise. Backed by a bouncing bassline and Hammond organ, The warmth continues throughout. Rhodes piano tones and more organs accompany “Come Home Baby”, which is followed by “KeepEnough“, a glorious lament for an absent friend. “Let the Good Times Be Never Ending“, perhaps the strongest track, mixes slow-building Doorsian exposition with 5th Dimension-style wig outs and backing vocals. From the saddest of starting points, the Charlatans have made a joyful eulogy – and possibly the best album of their career.
Produced by the Charlatans and Jim Spencer, and mixed by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Portishead), ‘Modern Nature’ is the band’s 12th studio album.
“Modern Nature” received generally positive reviews from music critics, some of whom commented on the album’s throwback sound.
“The Jam Eater Blues” plus two 7″ consists of a song from one of the YoYo 12″ sessions in Olympia — probably Devil in the Shortwave though I’m not sure — and two from the cassettes I was always still working on at the time. “Store” and “Straight Six” were EQ’d and transferred to reels at the original Tiny Telephone during the same assembly session that finalized “All Hail West Texas.” This single, therefore, represented the last time the Panasonic would make its sympathetic drone heard before a long but not terminal silence. All hail the moment before the big change!.
“Life is too short to refrain from eating jam out of the jar” goes the opening refrain of this Sub PopSingles Club entry — courtesy of eternally beloved songwriter John Darnielle — a relatively quiet (at least by Mountain Goats standards in this period), somewhat lovelorn ballad about the life not lived when you’re wasting time spreading toast, living in Tampa, and waiting for an old lover to come back home. On the flipside is “Straight Six,” which references the same Jenny character from the immortal “All Hail West Texas”, preceeded the classic “Store,” a song about a vision of seeing a departed friend while being concussed or dead (depending on who you ask) in the middle of a grocery, fingertips wet with blood from touching their head wound.
“Jam Eater Blues” + “Store” + “Straight Six” are now available on all digital stream providers,
As the years have passed, U2 has maintained a knack for pulling out all the stops with each subsequent burst of activity — so why should their lavish new Las Vegas residency be any different?
On Friday, September 29th, the legendary band will begin its anticipated U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere residency at the groundbreaking new facility in Vegas.
They’ll also do so with a brand new song/music video, “Atomic City,” A news release characterizes “Atomic City” as a 3 ½ minute homage to the magnetic spirit of 70’s post punk with a nod to Blondie, whose pioneering work with Giorgio Moroder inspired and influenced the band. Bono says “It’s a love song to our audience …’where you are is where I’ll be’.”
Atomic City is itself a 1950s nickname for Las Vegas from a time when nuclear fascination swept the nation and the city promoted itself as a centre of atomic tourism due to its proximity to the Nevada Test Site. The “Atomic City” video features a surprise performance from U2 at Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas — the same location where Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. filmed their iconic video for ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ over 36 years ago.
On 11th and 12th November it is that time again. We will once again transform the Brabanthallen in DenBosch into a music hall. It will be fun with rows and rows of record bins. In addition, there will of course be great book presentations, live performances and exhibitions. The fair takes place in Hall 1 and Hall 7 of the Brabanthallen. So to quickly find your way to your favourite genres and artists, you might want to take a look at our floor planin advance. Vendors from all over the world, including Europe, South Africa, Japan, Brazil, Mexico and USA will be present.
It’s been four years since Cherry Glazerr released their resplendent third album “Stuffed and Ready”, but Clementine Creevy has been in no rush. “I’ve spent these years taking a hard look at myself, at my relationships, and writing about it,” she says. “I guess I’m coming to terms with a lot of my bullshit.” Cherry Glazerr have been on the road more often than not since Creevy was still in high school, and when the pandemic hit, she immersed herself in a static existence she’d been deprived of. “When you’re always leaving, you don’t have a great sense of where your relationships stand, romantic or otherwise.
Creevy describes Cherry Glazerr’s ambitious new album, “I Don’t Want You Anymore”, as some of her most personal, raw music to date, a collection of songs that elaborate on this period of self-reckoning. It’s the first she’s produced since Cherry Glazerr’s garage rock debut, “Haxel Princess“, released nearly a decade ago when Creevy was a teenager. That album made Cherry Glazerr a Los Angeles mainstay act, and its follow up, 2017’s “Apocalipstick”, put the band on the national map. Cherry Glazerr’s rough and tumble sound coupled with Creevy’s witty, sarcastic, occasionally self-deprecating lyricism made the band a joy to watch live, their energy unmatched by the coolly detached bent of indie rock at the time.
Creevy describes “I Don’t Want You Anymore” as a “mature” album, moreso in reference to her personal growth than a reflection of the record, which in true Cherry Glazerr fashion is best described as Extremely Fun. To make it, Creevy linked up with producer Yves Rothman, who’s best known for his work with Yves Tumor. “I knew I had to work with him,” she says. The collaboration began with a cover of Metallica’s “My Friend of Misery” and grew into this new record, which Creevy considers to be Cherry Glazerr, fully-actualized. “The songs on this one are songs I’ve dreamed of making,” she says.
Lead single “Soft Like a Flower” exemplifies that growth. A murky guitar riff inaugurates the track, before Creevy’s unguarded vocals enter the mix. She sings of a consuming obsession and is joined on the chorus by longtime bandmate Sami Perez. “I’m high on your something,” they wail. “I like you killing me/ I like you killing me/ I like you killing me.” It’s proudly emotive, what Creevy calls an “Evanescence moment.” “It’s a real ‘losing your fucking shit’ kind’ve vibe,” she says. “I wanted this album to be just heart and soul. Completely exposed.”
“I Don’t Want You Anymore” uses the element of surprise to its advantage; each track is a radical reimagination of what Cherry Glazerr is and can be. “Bad Habit” opens with a spiraling vocal loop that Creevy began recording at home and it expands into a delirious downtempo dance track without ever invoking a guitar. “I can’t wait to play that one live. Whenever I’m free of a guitar and I can just sing… I love having those moments on tour,” she says. The subsequent track, “Ready for You” is sung in funky staccato and the initially spare bassline on the opening verse is eventually overtaken by a massive, staticky guitar riff that reminds you this is, at its heart, a rock album. “At the start of the pandemic, I was writing a lot in the box, what I call ‘computer music’ since I’m technologically challenged,” Creevy says. “It was fun to experiment, but after a while, I just really missed rock. I love rock music – I love how it’s cathartic and brash and sometimes a little dumb.”
Though Cherry Glazerr’s latest offers some insight into Creevy’s private moments, it’s also a humorous album, one she hopes people don’t take too seriously. “This was a really therapeutic record to make, but it’s also self-aware, and I hope, funny,” she says. On “Touched You With My Chaos,” the album’s outright loudest song that begs for a scream-along, Creevy becomes a wildly dramatic narrator, one who slashes the tires of her own car, accompanied by strings and the unexpected squawk of a trumpet. She wrote it after watching Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin, and wanted to mimic the sense of desperation the film inspires. “I said that I loved you!” she howls over and over again on the chorus.
You’re not thinking about the work that goes into maintaining them,” she says. Creevy describes Cherry Glazerr’s ambitious new album “I Don’t Want You Anymore“, as some of her most personal, raw music to date, a collection of songs that elaborate on this period of self-reckoning.
Cherry Glazerr upcoming album ‘I Don’t Want You Anymore’, out September 29th on Secretly Canadian.
The Fat Angel Sings 