His first album in forever (two years)! Ty glides smoothly into a wild area with a synthtasm of production redesign, dialling up a wealth of new guitar and keyboard settings. A seething statement of emotional austerity, “Harmonizer” enraptures the ear, while enabling Ty to cut through dense undergrowth, making groove moves for the body, mind and soul.
“Harmonizer.” It is out now digitally everywhere. Vinyl coming in October. It was recorded and co-produced by my friend Cooper Crain and features contributions by the Freedom Band and vocals and album art by my lovely wife Denée Segall.
“Feel Good” is from “Harmonizer,” released digitally on August 3, 2021 by Drag City. LP, CD,
Since the breakup of the legendary underground cult duo Prince Rama, former frontwoman Taraka started recording songs that sound like the vivid visions of the disturbed daughter of Kate Bush and Johnny Rotten who drank ayahuasca at the gates of Warped Tour ’02, merging bastard elements of outsider-psych, post-edenic grunge, kaleidoscopic punk and post-adolescent angst.
Previously performing as part of the outfit Prince Rama with her sister Nimai Larson and Michael Collins, Taraka Larson has released her debut single, the psychedelic rock and punk inspired “Psychocastle”. Following the split of the group back in 2019, Taraka has spent the time allowing herself to explore the genres of her teenage life, delving back into her past in order to move forward.
Where Prince Rama’s sound was one of off-kilter, 80’s infused dance pop, Taraka is a project fuelled by punk, rock and something alternative that sits adjacent to mainstream pop. “Psychocastle” gives us the first taste of this rebellious spirit, one that’s unafraid to let itself get slightly unhinged. Rooted around a scuzzy refrain and Taraka’s jerky and spitting vocals, “Psychocastle” feels liberating in its unashamed and brazen ability to let loose. The slightly manic energy that the track possesses is infectious and is hopefully telling of what her debut album “Welcome to Paradise Lost” will hold.
Of the inspiration and meaning behind “Psychocastle”, Taraka said: “Ever try to escape your bedroom, but feel like you’re still asleep? Ever try to wake up, but find yourself back in the dream? Ever try to take off your mask, but another one pops up beneath it? Ever try to consult your inner self, but inside your skin is merely a rotting corpse? Ever feel like every path you take is just another mobius strip leading you back to where you first began? Congratulations, welcome to the “Psychocastle.”
The video accompaniment directed by Matthew Hoffman was filmed in upstate New York and was shot on super 8 film giving it that delightfully grainy, jolting finish. We follow Taraka through an abandoned mental institution, reenacting a sort of unhinged imagining of the garden of Eden, with snakes, flower crowns, grapes and a filter bed frame. Strange? Yes. Delightful? .
Taraka Larson formerly of Prince Rama branches out on her own with debut solo single “Psychocastle” with her debut album “Welcome to Paradise Lost” confirmed for release October 8th via Rage Peace.
“Psychocastle” by Taraka. Directed by Matthew Hoffman and Taraka and shot on Super 8mm film in upstate NY.
Over the course of the decade, Meatbodies’ Chad Ubovich has been a perennial candidate for MVP of West Coast’s fertile rock scene. The LA native could be seen peeling off guitar solos in Mikal Cronin’s backing band, supplying the Sabbath-sized low end for Ty Segall and Charlie Moothart as the bassist for Fuzz, and, of course, fronting his own band Meatbodies. Today the recently dormant experimental noise/freak-rock outfit has announced their return with “333″ –– A corrosive stew of guitar scuzz, raw acoustic rave-ups, and primitive electronics that charts Ubovich’s journey from drug-induced darkness to clear-eyed sobriety.
“333″ simultaneously reflects on how the world he re-entered was still pretty messed up-if not more so. “These lyrics are dark, but I think these are things that a lot of people are feeling and going through” he says. “Here in America, we’re watching the fall of U.S. capitalism, and 333 is a cartoonish representation of that decline.”
That psychic tug-of-war plays out on opening track and lead single, “Reach for the Sunn” which is available today along with an accompanying video directed by Josh Erkman. On “Reach For The Sunn”Ubovich realizes that he’s not so much singing about his own path, but something much greater than himself as its distorted slow-motion creep leads to a chorus both celebratory and dispiriting: “Reach for the stars/reach for the sun/reach for the trigger/reach for the gun.”
Indie-rock talent Paisley Black has decided she has had enough and that is very evident in her new self-assured single, “Way I feel.” Detailing her frustration with a one-sided partnership, she fiercely takes back her power by walking away. With strong, passionate vocals skating atop gritty guitars and pounding percussion, she is bringing so much bold attitude and we are definitely here for it. Most of us know what it is like to feel unfulfilled in a relationship, making this rowdy rock track highly relatable.
This is crazy! My song “Way I Feel” is featured in Hyundai’s latest car ad for the all-new Santa Cruz. …..promoting awesome girls and WOMEN living their best life and going on the coolest journeys!!!.
The Texas native describes her eccentric sound as “60s garage soul”. Influenced by musical legends like Linda Ronstadt and The Doors, her music possesses a nostalgic, retro vibe while also maintaining modern sensibilities. Exuding an Amy Winehouse-esque style, her offerings burst with so much raspy soul. Unapologetic and in your face, with “Way I feel” she has made it clear exactly where she stands. That charged intensity is felt both lyrically and sonically.
Paisley Black’s new single is now available, “Way I feel” is the first single off her upcoming EP, “Show You Mine”.
Returning with their first new album in six years, Modest Mouse present their anxiously awaited seventh full-length, “The Golden Casket“, via Epic Records.
The Golden Casket heralds another new chapter in the band’s unpredictable evolution. Produced with Dave Sardy and Jacknife Lee in Los Angeles and in Modest Mouse’s studio in Portland, the album hovers in the liminal space between raw punk power and experimental studio science, frontman Isaac Brock explores themes ranging from the degradation of our psychic landscapes and invisible technology, to fatherhood. The twelve tracks behave like amorphous organisms, undergoing dramatic mutations and mood swings that speak to the chronic tug-of-war between hope and despair that plays out in Brock’s head.
Modest Mouse still has a quirkiness to them here that pops up in both song titles (see “Never Fuck ASpider On A Fly” and “Fuck Your Acid Trip”) and instrument additions that includes mouth percussion from singer Isaac Brock on “Walking And Running” and lap steel and electric piano by Tom Peloso during “Transmitting Receiving.” All of these components has helped Modest Mouse build a growing fan base over the years but The Golden Casket does keep their edge tucked in a little tighter.
There are no stand out singles on The Golden Casket which makes the album more of a slow burner but compared to 2015’s Strangers To Ourselves, the album feels and sounds more complete, rewarding and what the band should sound like in 2021. I like that the group didn’t just try and make stadium rockers or charting singles without reason but opted their energy for an album that engages and challenges you around every corner. Even though I don’t feel that one track stands much taller than others, there are plenty of great moments like the harmonizing chorus that ends “We Are Between” or the horns that blare during “We’re Lucky.” There are also plenty of foot tapping songs that have a dynamic texture and Modest Mouse bounce to them that make the tracks jump out of your speakers. At times, the band is able to swirl clangs and shaking object bangs into the mix that gives off an unique surround sound.
With so many miles down the road since their late 90’s and early 00’s albums, I think as a fan you should be able to meet Modest Mouse where they have landed in “The Golden Casket” and recognizing they have a different fire burning today. The album flows well and with repeat listens you are reminded of the showman Brock has always been behind the mic. There are plenty pieces that jump out at you here and if it takes another six years to get an album from Modest Mouse, “The Golden Casket” will hold up very well to the test of time and keep you satisfied.
Key Tracks: “We Are Between” / “Japanese Trees” / “The Sun Hasn’t Left”
This podcast is unpaid & survives on donations. You can donate via paypal https://www.stephenmbland.com/olas-kool-kitchen or buy merch https://bit.ly/3ePRH6n I’m a DJ on KCLA 99.3FM In LA, 107.5 Andhow.FM in New Zealand, Maximum Threshold Radio, Rock Radio UK, Sword Radio UK, Jammerstream One, Kor Radio, Bombshell Radio, Pop Radio UK, Radio Wigwam, Rock XS Radio. Radio Candy Radio and Radio Lantau you can hear more shows here https://hearthis.at/olaskoolkitchen/ Show 452
1. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Date With the Night 2. Modest Mouse-Leave a Light On 3. Paisley Black-Show You Mine 4. Meatbodies – Reach For The Sunn 5. Deux Visages-Phases 6. Taraka -Pyschocastle 7. Strange Magic-Class of ’98 8. Anika-Change-Change 9. Ty Segall-Feel Good 10. Sarah Vaughan-Smooth Operator-single-Mercury 11. The Cake- Rainbow Wood-single-Decca 12. Melodiesinfonie-Fun-Fragments-Radicalis 13. Clairo-Amoeba- Sling-Fader 14. The Killers-Desperate Things-Pressure Machine-EMI
Soft Cell have shared a new song from their forthcoming record “Happiness Not Included”. It’s called “Bruises on My Illusions.” In a statement, producer/instrumentalist Dave Ball said the new single is “one of [Soft Cell’s] darker cinematic pop moments with a classic Marc Almond lyric.”
Marc Almond added: “Bruises on My Illusions” is a mini film noir Soft Cell story about a disillusioned character with everything against him or her who still has hope for a better future, despite the odds. A darker “Bedsitter.” Dave’s ominous yet punchy defiant chords inspired the song.
With “Bruises on My Illusions,” the duo has also announced that “Happiness Not Included” is out February 25th. It’ll be the first new album from Marc Almond and Dave Ball since 2002’s “Cruelty Without Beauty”. Taking a break for more than a decade after that record, Soft Cell issued the new songs “Northern Lights” and “Guilty (‘Cos I Say You Are’)” in a retrospective compilation in 2018. The release followed a farewell show from the duo in London.
Bruises On My Illusions released through BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited on: 2021-10-07
Electric Guitar, Vocals, Producer: Marc Almond Moog, Producer, Programmer, Background Vocals: David Ball Drum Programmer, Sound Engineer, Synthesizer,
For anybody who thinks that the Motown label was a flawless hit-generating machine that churned out classic after classic, consider the reception that greeted Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ as he presented it to the label’s head Berry Gordy in late 1970. It was “the worst thing I ever heard in my life,” the mogul told his star singer. The music was too loose and languid, the subject matter too political, with the potential for career suicide. Gordy refused to release it as a single. A confrontation ensued, with Gaye countering that the themes of urban poverty and systemic racism were on-point for a hugely divided America at the start of the Seventies. The singer threatened to never record for Motown again. Eventually, Gordy relented. ‘What’s Going On’ was a huge hit, becoming the second-biggest song he had ever made for Motown behind ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, and Gordy was soon encouraging Gaye to make a full studio album.
All of which goes to show: even the most seemingly impeccable of track records is never perfect. It’s an interesting thought exercise, though, to imagine a world in which Gordy had prevailed and the song (and its subsequent parent album) had never been released. Fifty years later, ‘What’s Going On’ is such a universal standard in terms of theme, vibe, what it standsfor, that it’s instantly familiar to everybody on the planet (even if the melody itself might not be). Its concise, simple lyrics bear sentiments we all know and which are woven deep into our collective lexicon – “War is not the answer / only love can conquer hate”, for instance, or the spoken “right on, brother” between the verses and chorus.
This premium vinyl release features direct-to-analogue mastering from the original primary album tape reels by acclaimed engineer Kevin Gray, one of the first times this has been done since 1971, offering an undeniably authentic listening experience. What’s Going On: 50th Anniversary 2LP Edition bonus LP opens up the album’s writing and production palette. Featured are four rare cuts making their vinyl debut, highlighted by a previously unreleased “stripped” version of the title song, plus all six original mono single mixes and their B-sides, with all of those 7” versions on vinyl for the first time since their original releases. With two 180gm records, a tip-on heavy stock jacket, original gatefold with complete lyrics, this formidable release also includes printed sleeves with track details, a rare image from the cover sessions, and a brief essay honouring arranger David Van De Pitte. Highlighted is a main essay by acclaimed author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib who was just named one of the 25 recipients of the 2021 MacArthur “Genius” Grant.
Year-long celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s seminal 1971 album “What’s Going On” continue with today’s announcement of Motown/UMe’s December 3rd release of the premium vinyl 50th Anniversary 2LP Edition.
The release features direct-to-analogue mastering from the original primary album tape reels by the acclaimed engineer Kevin Gray. This is one of the first times that this procedure has been done since 1971, and it offers the listener a unique listening experience.
The bonus LP in the new edition opens up the writing and production palette of the landmark release. Four rare cuts make their vinyl debut on the disc, highlighted by a previously unreleased “stripped” version of the title song. All six original mono single mixes and their B-sides are included, with all of those 7” versions appearing on vinyl for the first time since their original releases. These include alternate versions of “God Is Love” and “Flying High (In The Friendly Sky),” the latter of which was issued on 45 as “Sad Tomorrows.”
A slight alteration of the melody and lyrics of a song that was given to him by Four Tops singer Renaldo Benson when he saw the carnage of police brutality exacted on anti-Vietnam War protestors in California in May 1969, ‘What’s Going On’ is not only a signature song for Marvin Gaye and the soul genre in general, but also an enduring statement of universal brotherhood, one that makes sense as a radiant exhortation of optimism but also as one of frustration and desperation.
It was conceived and written at a crisis point in Gaye’s life, when personal and professional tragedies were beginning to engulf him. By the end of the Sixties, he was in a terrible place. He was in trouble with the taxman, embroiled in creative arguments with Motown, and increasingly addicted to cocaine. His marriage to Anna Gordy (the sister of the aforementioned label’s boss) had fallen apart, and his singing partner Tammi Terrell had died suddenly from a brain tumour. One night around this point, Gaye was stopped from committing suicide by an intervention from his father-in-law.
The turning point seems to have been Gaye’s decision to get back in touch with his faith and embrace spirituality, simultaneously engaging in activities that would bust him out of the intense, constant cycle of recording, releasing and performing that his career had been characterized by in the Sixties. He refused to promote his 1970 album “That’s The Way Love Is“, and at one point seriously considered pursuing a career as an NFL pro. Inspired by the Vietnam War and social upheaval in America, he determined to address more socially conscious themes in his music. “I was very much affected by letters my brother was sending me from Vietnam, as well as the social situation here at home,” he told Rolling Stone. “I realized that I had to put my own fantasies behind me if I wanted to write songs that would reach the souls of people. I wanted them to take a look at what was happening in the world.”
Hiring a mix of Motown house musicians and outside session veterans, Gaye embarked on recording the songs that would make up “What’s Going On” in the summer of 1970. The sessions were laid back and fruitful until, in September that year, Gaye responded to Gordy’s slamming of ‘What’s Going On’ by going on strike, mothballing the sessions and embarking on different work. That was until March 1971, when Gordy was sideswiped by the single’s enormous success, reaching no.2 in the Billboard Hot 100. The Motown head told Gaye that he could do whatever he wanted with the album, as long as he completed it within 30 days, effectively giving the singer a blank cheque for the rest of his career.
What he came up with was an expansion of his formula of short, sweet, love-based soul hits so dramatic that it may as well have been a complete revolution. What’s Going Onis a masterclass in the resolution of moods and themes that, in music, hadn’t been balanced before. The symphonic majesty of Brian Wilson’s vision for the Beach Boys in Pet Sounds had introduced mature themes into popular music five years earlier, but this was something else entirely. Marvin Gaye helped revolutionise soul music, inverting his existing image so that he could look sexy even though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, to smile through the sorrow.
Setting the tone with the title track, “What’s Going On” unfurls in much the same vein throughout, with Gaye’s soulful and impassioned vocals underpinned by elements of gospel, jazz, funk and classical music orchestration all played out against a shimmering backdrop of multi-tracked backing vocals that stacks up to the heavens. Although he spends the time lyrically analyzing urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality and rising unemployment, there’s an unmistakable sense of optimism shot through the dire warnings – that things, however bad they are and despite the fact they seem to be getting worse, can be better. The answer is not hopelessness, but action.
For every moment like ‘What’s Happening Brother’ that deals with the disillusionment of Vietnam war vets, Gaye tells us that the answer is right in front of us. “War is hell, when will it end? / When will people start gettin’ together again?” he exhorts there. Even with lyrics as bleak as “to save a world that’s destined to die”, the soaring jazz of ‘Save The Children’ becomes utterly radiant as Gaye cries “save the babies!”. These kinds of moments are punctuated by slightly lighter interludes in the form of ‘God Is Love’ and ‘Wholy Holy’, both emotional gospel pleas for unity. The seven-minute jam of ‘Right On’, a serpentine journey influenced by Latin soul and funk, opens the second half of the album in a different mood to the first. With all tracks segueing into each other, “What’s Going On” plays like a jazz experience, like “one long single”, in the words of music writer David Hepworth.
Bringing the suite of the album’s first half to a close is the gorgeous ‘Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)’, a poignant song of sorrow for Planet Earth at a point when mass awareness of environmental issues hadn’t yet been achieved. It turned into the album’s second Billboard Top Ten hit, alongside the sultry but hugely bleak album closer ‘Inner City Blues (Make We Wanna Holler)’. Harrowing images of urban decay and economic collapse stalk a dark, minimalist and blues-influenced soundscape, characterized by the sultry bongos and crystalline bass figure. If there was a sense that humankind was, despite all the misgivings that Gaye outlines in the rest of the album, travelling towards some inevitable point of redemption, ‘Inner City Blues’ instructs the listener to think again. You can feel the grime, pressure and tension even underneath the song’s utterly graceful exterior.
It’s hard to think of a more complete LP experience than “What’s Going On“, both in terms of sonic ambition and narrative structure. It starts with a vision of the possibility of utopia through communication, tolerance and enlightenment, and ends with a terrifying gaze into the abyss, a statement of street-level realism defined by struggle and despair. It reflected back America’s collective loss of innocence that the Vietnam War had engendered, as well as serving as a cri-du-coeur of the Black experience. Ever since it was released, when it sold nearly two million copies in its first year and became Gaye’s most successful album by far to that point, the record has regularly been hailed as one of the greatest ever. In the revised 2020 edition of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, compiled by musicians rather than music writers, Rolling Stone named “What’s Going On” at the very top. Quite apart from the massive musical influence it’s had on artists from Curtis Mayfield and Prince to contemporary figures like Kanye West, its legacy is one of political enlightenment and social activism. The album’s themes of police brutality, climate breakdown, inequality and foreign wars are still current today, being opposed by Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion. It’s hard to think of another album-length piece of popular music that’s got the same credentials.
The “What’s Going On” 50th Anniversary 2LP Edition will feature two 180 gram records, a tip-on heavy stock jacket, and the original gatefold with complete lyrics. It also includes printed sleeves with track details, a rare image from the cover sessions, and a brief essay honouring arranger David Van De Pitte.
The main essay in the set is by acclaimed author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib, recently named one of the 25 recipients of the 2021 MacArthur “genius” grant. An e-commerce edition will also include three exclusive lithographs from the “What’s Going On” photo sessions.
On November 19th, Motown/UMe will also release a four-track remix suite from Grammy-nominated producer Salaam Remi, including remixes of tracks from the What’s Going On album and recordings. For example, “No Need” is an unreleased instrumental from the “Sad Tomorrows” sessions, and there is a reinterpretation of the holiday release “I Want To Come Home For Christmas.” This was originally recorded in 1972 and thematically tied to What’s Going On as a tribute to troops in Vietnam who yearned to be with their families for the holidays.
“What’s Going On”: 50th Anniversary 2LP Edition, which is released on December 3rd.
With their 1983 debut, the Violent Femmes got the ball rolling for what would become alternative rock, using acoustic instruments to deliver an unexpectedly raw blend of punk angst and catchy-if-neurotic song writing. The band’s subsequent ’80s albums were a mixed bag, yielding occasional highlights but not quite gelling into anything as consistently powerful as the first album. Released in 1991, fifth album “Why Do Birds Sing?” was something of a return to form, if only in terms of having song after song of the kind of weirdly fractured folk-pop that represented the group at their most accessible. Upbeat and straightforward album opener “American Music” is somewhere between campfire song and pop masterpiece, with subtle production details like sleigh bells and sparingly used organ runs growing along with the song’s steady build.
More blatant stabs at pop come with a snarling cover of Culture Club’s hit “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” the inverted girl group appropriation of “Look Like That,” and the driving college rock of “Used to Be.” The band’s penchant for sardonic and juvenile humour remains intact on the faux-blues stomp of “Girl Trouble” (vocalist Gordon Gano returning to the refrain “Have mercy on me, I’ve got girl trouble up the ass!”) and the shadowy clunk of “Make More Money,” a bitter revenge story of the tormented high school nerd becoming a rich rock star.
When Why Do BirdsSing? was first released, the Violent Femmes were already a decade into their career, enjoying cult success but still living mostly in the shadow of their debut. The album would be one of their most commercially successful up until that point, despite some critics finding it disjointed and a little too all over the place stylistically. Removed from the time in which it originally arrived, “Why Do Birds Sing?” feels more solid, with its lesser moments strung together by some of the best songs the band ever penned, and production that makes space for both the Femmes’ anxious demeanor and their not-so-secret love of big, dumb pop songs.
[This 30th Anniversary Edition includes several previously unreleased studio tracks from the same era, as well as a complete 1991 concert performance.]
Recorded in 2005 as the follow up to “Flowers”, “Siberia” is the tenth studio album by Liverpudlian post-punk legends Echo and the Bunnymen. • “Siberia” was produced by Hugh Jones (who had previously produced the band’s 1981 classic “Heaven Up Here”) and was written by founding Bunnymen members Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant. 25 years on from their debut album “Crocodiles”, “Siberia” still retains the classic Bunnymen sound whilst breaking new ground. Their sound is so distinctly their own with Sergeant’s silvery, tight guitar work and McCulloch’s fashionable, sweet-and-sour kind of vocal charm. Siberia, Echo’s tenth studio album (including the sans-McCulloch disaster, Reverberation), is the album the two school friends have been trying to make since getting back together to record Evergreen. This 11-song set has every crass beat of Crocodiles and every sparkling thread of Heaven Up Here while the edgy pop moments of the underrated Porcupine are sprinkled throughout. And of course, OceanRain will not be forgotten. If anything, “Siberia” mirrors the passion of that 1984 classic most of all. Will Sergeant’s playing has never sounded better,
Highlights include stand-out guitar playing by Sergeant on tracks such as “Parthenon Drive” and “Of a Life” and the timeless vocal charms of McCulloch on “Stormy Weather” and “What If We Are?”. Long out of print, Demon Records is proud to present the first vinyl reissue of ‘Siberia’, pressed on two 180g translucent vinyl and house in a gatefold sleeve.
SIDE [a] 1. Stormy Weather 2. All Because Of You Days 3. Parthenon Drive SIDE [b] 4. In The Margins 5. Of A Life 6. Make Us Blind SIDE [c] 7. Everything Kills You 8. Siberia 9. Sideways Eight SIDE [d] 10. Scissors In The Sand 11. What If we Are? Format available Clear 2LP Vinyl Release Date: 1st October 2021
Really, “Siberia” is a beautiful album. All those years ago, Echo & the Bunnymen gave the world some “songs to learn and sing.” With “Siberia”, they do it again.
Echo and The Bunnymen – the album “Siberia” Out now on Cooking Vinyl Records,
