The Fat Angel Sings

Transcontinental, experimental duo Smoke Bellow have been at it since 2012, relocating from Australia to Baltimore, MD & back again and then back again (now firmly settled in Baltimore). The duo released the “Blooming/Middling” LP in 2014, followed by “Isolation 3000” in 2018 (both on Baltimore label Ehse Records) After a line-up shuffle, they eventually recruited one of their favourite drummers and dear friend, Emmanuel Nicolaidis . which found the duo refining their sound into a dizzyingly attractive mixture of kosmiche serenity, minimalist composition, test-card psychedelia, and highlife guitar.

With “Open for Business” the three members set out to create a set of songs more immediate and bare than previous outings. The album title itself is a cheeky reference to Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s less than inspired motto “we’re open for business”. Half of the songs were written in a room together and the second half via email (for obvious reasons). At the time they were listening to a lot of post punk and were struck with the partnership of drums and bass as propulsive instruments. The trio started writing songs around that idea – with the rhythm as a brace to hang their decorations.

Sonically, Smoke Bellow are inspired by disparate sources. The heyday of Compass Point studios’ famed rhythm section of Sly and Robbie sustained them for months. Others included good old VU, ESG, guitar hero Zani Diabate, The Raincoats (especially their under-appreciated second album, Odyshape), the frenetic sound collisions of the Flying Lizards, the ever warm blanket of Yo La Tengo, the evolving repetition of Stereolab, the understated genius of Asa Osborne, as well as Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The David Byrne/ Robert Wilson “Knee plays” reminded them of the joy of the spoken word set to music. memories of life in Melbourne, their friends and each other. “We wanted to talk about resilience and resistance.” Says Best. Recording and mixing took place between a remote cabin in the Smoky Mountains and Tempo House in Baltimore with Jared Paolini. “Maybe Something” includes cello from Owen Gardner (Horse Lords).

Releases September 17th, 2021

Smoke Bellow are: Meredith McHugh, Christian J. Best, Emmanuel Nicolaidis

Los Angeles band FEELS are putting the finishing touches on their their third album which will be released by Wichita Recordings. (Their last album, “Post Earth”, came out in February 2019.) To hold you over till then, they’ve got an EP titled “Subversive Reaction” which will be out July 22nd via local art publication Deemed Printable.

The EP was recorded in March 2020 and features new member Cole Berliner of Kamikaze Palm Tree on guitar and vocals (replacing Shannon Lay, who left the group in 2019), in addition to original members Laena M.I. (vocals, guitar), Amy Allen (bass, vocals) and Michael Rudes (drums). The first single is “Night Walker,” a moody slow-burn that Laena says “sounded to us like walking down big city alleyways alone at night, questioning the true meaning of ‘connection’… and then as the world was forced into isolation and the months dragged on, the lyrics hit in a much more literal sense than we ever could have

The “Night Walker” video which stars dancer Gregory Barnett and was directed by Jeff Fribourg with cinematography by Travis Waddell. Laena says the video “paints a picture of quarantine: bouncing off the walls of our minds, facing who we really are in the absence of each other, but also a deeper longing to reunite with nature and our true humanity which was felt even before the pandemic.”

Subversive Reaction is a limited to 250 silk-screened vinyl 12”, hand packaged and printed using an in-house risograph printer. 

Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen released their gorgeous, glorious collaborative track “Like I Used To” last month, and on Tuesday night (6/8) they performed it together for the first time on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. The performance, which was taped at Zebulon in LA (the same place Sharon recorded her “epic Ten” live album, also featured drummer Rhys Hastings, guitarist Emily Elhaj (both from Angel’s band), keyboardist Charley Damski (from Sharon’s band), guitarist Nicole Lawrence (who has worked with Mary Timony), and drummer Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes).

It’s a treat to see two of the most revered modern singer-songwriters collaborating like this, and we’re hoping there are more songs where this one came from — or a joint tour — or both!.

Sharon is on the stacked Primavera Sound in 2022, while Angel is set to play Pitch Fork Festival this year.

Musical guests Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen perform “Like I Used To” for The Tonight Show.

Angel Olsen has announced a new EP of ’80s covers. “Aisles” is due out August 20th (digitally) and September 24th (on physical media) via Angel’s new Jagjaguwar imprint “something cosmic” and it was recorded in the winter of 2020 with Adam McDaniel in Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios. “I told Adam I had an idea to record some covers and bring some of the band into the mix, or add other players,” Angel says. “I needed to laugh and have fun and be a little less serious about the recording process in general. I thought about completely changing some of the songs and turning them inside out. I’d come over to find Adam had set up five or so synthesizers, and we’d get lost on a part for a while messing with some obscure pedal I knew nothing about. We’d spend a good amount of time going through sounds before finding one or two, sometimes we’d get real weird and decide to just go with it.”

Angel Olsen has shied away from sharing original music for a while now. After releasing “All Mirrors” in 2019, she put out “Whole New Mess” the following year, featuring intimate, re-imagined versions of the previous LP’s compositions. And right when fans were expecting Olsen to announce another proper album, ushering in a new era that reflects her life after the breakup that inspired All Mirrors, the musician has instead unveiled an unexpected project: “Aisles”, an EP featuring Olsen’s distinctive take on a collection of ’80s hits. Fans may groan that Olsen’s being evasive when it comes to writing new music; luckily, this EP is some of her most surprisingly impressive work yet.

Olsen covered Laura Branigan‘s “Gloria, Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without A Face,” Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance,” Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “If You Leave,” and Alphaville’s “Forever Young” for the EP. “I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it,” she says, “but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward, I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!”

She’s shared the “Gloria” cover, a woozy, atmospheric take on the song, saying, “I’d heard ‘Gloria’ for the first time at a family Christmas gathering and was amazed at all the aunts who got up to dance. I imagined them all dancing and laughing in slow motion, and that’s when I got the idea to slow the entire song down and try it out in this way.”

About her new imprint, “somethingcosmic”, Angel says, “I’m very excited to be introducing somethingscosmic, an imprint that will serve as the home for all my covers, collaborations, and one off singles. In this time away from touring I have been inspired to create more, and somethingscosmic will give me the flexibility to release when and how I want to with the help from my long time partners at Jagjaguwar. The hope is that it will become a place for all of my creative endeavors, music and otherwise.”

Excited to announce “Aisles” – an EP of 80s covers, the first release on my imprint with Jagjaguwar called somethingscosmic. While spending time trying to conquer the audio of live-stream at-home performances, I got better acquainted with my friend Adam McDaniel, a local engineer and producer in Asheville, NC. Adam and I have known each other for years. Summer 2020 was tough for many reasons. But Adam and his wife Emily opened their home to me and made it a safe space to create and let go. I told Adam I had an idea to record some covers and bring some of the band into the mix, or add other players. I wanted to record 80’s songs that I’d overheard walking the aisles at the grocery store, and I needed to laugh and have fun and be a little less serious about the recording process in general. I thought about completely changing some of the songs and turning them inside out. Most of these covers were tracked in the winter of last year. I’d come over to find Adam had set up 5 or so synthesizers, and we’d get lost on a part for a while messing with some obscure pedal I knew nothing about. We’d spend a good amount of time going through sounds before finding one or two, sometimes we’d get real weird and decide to just go with it. I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward, I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!.. Angel Olsen

Tracklist:1. Gloria (Laura Branigan)2. Eyes Without A Face (Billy Idol)3. Safety Dance (Men Without Hats)4. If You Leave (OMD)5. Forever Young (Alphaville)

Nolan Potter is putting us home recording freaks to shame. We had a year of global pandemic to lay out our grand ideas and the sum total of most artists “quar-riffs” wouldn’t push the constraints of a normal band practice (gosh, remember those?). Nolan Potter, in the meantime, has quietly painted us a beatific masterpiece that veers from the whimsical to the wigged out, deftly weaving an untamed tapestry of sound all the while archly commenting on the present musician’s predicament – and he did it alone. No drum machine clattering in the background amidst tape hiss and 4 track grime here – this is a fully realized, insanely well played, full on rock record that might even one-up his first LP for us, last years excellent Nightmare Forever. The guys’ got more chops than a beauticians’ college across a wide array of instruments – no small feat, and easily overlooked when you leave the lyric sheet and credits on the dining room table.

That the songs travel far, wide, up, down, backwards, and gamely spill out over the 5 minute mark with exceptionally loose interludes and diversions is just another marvel in this carnival of aural delights. It’s a gem of a record and it’s out on Castle Face Records September 24th.

Releases September 24th, 2021

“Music Is Dead” was written, performed, engineered and mixed by Nolan Potter from late 2019 to early 2021 at the Greenhouse, Austin Texas. 

An expanded edition of the 2005 debut album by Sennen, hailed as a latter-day shoegaze classic, with seven bonus tracks, released on vinyl for the first time and remastered by Simon Scott from Slowdive.

When Sonic Cathedral first started out as a club night in 2004, there were a number of bands around that reminded us of the stuff that had made us fall in love with music about 15 years earlier. In this so-called ‘nu-gaze’ scene, alongside the likes of Engineers and Amusement Parks On Fire, were an unassuming four-piece from Norwich called Sennen; they played lots of shows for us, and their mixture of melody and noise made them stand out.

Their debut album, ‘Widows’, was released on October 24th, 2005 by the Hungry Audio label to great acclaim from websites such as Drowned In Sound, who, in their 9/10 review, described it as “enticing, invigorating and most importantly extremely enjoyable”. American webzine Somewhere Cold went even further, saying “they have produced what should become a classic in the genre… they have taken it to a new level with their patient compositions, influx of slowcore elements and incredibly talented instrumentation”.

Sennen have gone on to release a number of albums, the most recent being 2016’s ‘First Light’, and their music has featured on big TV dramas such as One Tree Hill and True Blood. However, ‘Widows’, which never got a vinyl release, remained a much sought after time capsule of early noughties experimentation. Now, just over 15 years later, we are really proud to be once again shining a spotlight on it – releasing it on vinyl for the first time, as well as on CD and digitally.

The new, expanded edition doubles the original album with another seven contemporaneous tracks, many of which were live staples at the time, but have never been released before. The whole package has been painstakingly remastered by Slowdive’s Simon Scott, whose then band Televise were touring partners with Sennen back in the day.

Sonic Cathedral reissue an expanded edition of Sennen’s 2005 debut, “Widows” The latter-day shoegaze classic, with seven bonus tracks, is pressed on limited, double Clear vinyl and remastered by Simon Scott from Slowdive.

“The World Within Our Bedrooms” is the rich and dreamy debut from trio Drug Store Romeos. The influences are very present, but that’s not to say that this one isn’t really enjoyable.

Drug Store Romeos formed at college in nearby Farnborough when childhood friends Jonny Gilbert and Charlie Henderson pinned an ad about finding a bassist for their new band to the school’s notice board – Sarah Downie replied and quickly proved herself a better vocalist than either of them. The trio spent the subsequent 24 hours discussing their love of Stereolab over messenger and watching Portishead and Mild High Club videos in the college’s computer lab.

The band soon cut their teeth playing live at college, at Guildford Boiler Room and Aldershot West End Centre, rather than the familiarly trodden paths in London although they did frequent Brixton Windmill as often as three times a week at one point; carrying all of their equipment back to Fleet by train as none of the band were old enough to drive.

The 3am walk home from Fleet station, with amps and flight cases slung over their shoulder, would become a rite of passage; the quiet countryside influencing their hushed atmospheric sound and nocturnal aesthetics as much as their shared affection for Suburban Lawns, Broadcast, and Tom Tom Club.

Lyrical abstractness / concrete meaning. Danceability / lyingdown-ability. Minimalism / fullness. Introspective melancholy / playfulness. Lo fi / hi fi. Drug Store Romeos play with the senses and flip the expectations, finding the sweet spot every time.

A Fiction Records Release; Universal Music Operations Limited

Social Haul is a collection of songs to get to know us by. The album loosely depicts a protagonist challenging perceived negative aspects of character, particularly in others, attacking in stages or episodes. Not dissimilar to that unfinished Bruce Lee movie. Including bouts with ignorance, through to rebellion, disassociation, spiritual bypass[1]ing, indifference and eventually light-enlightenment. ‘Social Haul’ centres around the middle distance, the place in which we realise that no matter how insignificant or excluded we may feel, we all have something worthwhile to say.

Bursting onto the scene with blistering hot singles “Wet Eyes” and “The Ease”;  brand new band Social Haul made an immediate impression with their raucous entry to the airwaves. Now, having announced a self-titled album is on the way, they drop third single “This Is All I Need” which continues their campaign to become your new favourite band.

The trio combines the talents of singer/guitarist Leigh Padley, which many will recognise as the bassist of TRAAMS, with bassist Daniel William Daws and drummer Richard Trust who have quickly found fans with the likes of Steve Lamacq, Gemma Bradley and Jack Saunders.

Punchy yet thought provoking; their latest offering is the latest snapshot of a drunken descent into morose defeatism as first illustrated in their previous singles.

“Here our protagonist recognises that others will only open up to new ideas if initially they are rewarded sympathy for their current standpoint. Is it therefore fake or even wrong to hold malleable ideals to reach out to others? At the risk of an identity crisis our protagonist finds a good vantage point by sitting on a few fences. Observing everyone just plodding along towards oblivion as that is the destination of all available routes. Sort of like those films Green Street and Donnie Brasco” – Leigh Padley

Gritty post punk trio featuring TRAAMS’ Leigh Padley.

Social Haul’s eponymously titled debut album is produced by Daniel Fox from Girl Band and is released by FatCat Records on June 11^th 

Deafheaven have shared their new song “The Gnashing,” the second single from the band’s upcoming LP “Infinite Granite”.

Like its predecessor “Great Mass Of Colour” “The Gnashing” showcases a stylistic shift for the California metal act, with frontman George Clarke’s vocal approach more melodic and decipherable than the black metal howlings that feature on previous Deafheaven albums.

Infinite Granite marks Deafheaven’s fifth album and first since their acclaimed 2018 effort, “Ordinary Corrupt Human Love” . For the new album, Deafheaven teamed up with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen (M83, Paramore, Metric), with longtime collaborator Jack Shirley on board as engineer for part of Infinite Granite, due out August 20th via Sargent House Records.

Deafheaven have also announced a tour in support of their latest LP that kicks off in February 2022.