The Fat Angel Sings

After a five-year break from songwriting, Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz experienced a surge of creativity not long ago, creating an ambitious group of songs that flowed into each other.

The result is the four-track Butter Miracle, Suite One, due May 21st, which will be the band’s first release since 2014’s Somewhere Under Wonderland. The first single, “Elevator Boots,” available now, is a melodic, wistful ode to life on tour, with a sound that somehow manages to bridge the gap between the Band and Mott the Hoople.

During his long creative hiatus, Duritz found a degree of personal contentment that long eluded him. “I’ve been quite happy,” he says. “I’ve been in a relationship for four or five years now — one that is very satisfying, and healthy. Most of my experiences in my life had been what it’s like to be alone and live alone. And that’s not the case anymore. That’s a big change for me, to really come to the idea that maybe something’s more important than writing songs.”

Despite a lifetime as a “city kid” — as an adult, he went from San Francisco to Los Angeles to his current home in New York City — he started spending a lot of time at a friend’s farm in the English countryside. While Duritz and his girlfriend were staying there in 2019, he suddenly shaved his head on a whim, removing his trademark dreadlocks. “I got rid of my beard, too,” he says. “I just wanted to see myself. I didn’t want to be hiding behind a beard or the dreads.” Not long afterward, he rented a piano and started writing music again.

The first song he wrote was the unusual, free-flowing track “Tall Grass,” which begins as a sort of dirge – recounting a real-life experience of hunting rabbits on that farm — before exploding into the Crows’ version of arena-rock, a la 1996’s Recovering the Satellites. That song flowed straight into “Elevator Boots,” which in turn led to “Angel of 14th Street,” a song about his experience of leaving Los Angeles for New York years ago, albeit told through a female narrator. “Get up out of your memories,” Duritz sings — a line with great personal significance.

“Everything we did makes us who we are,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean we have to drag it around like it’s a ball and chain. I made a lot of mistakes in my life. And you know, living with a mental illness, it just hampers a lot of shit.” (He’s been open about a diagnosis of dissociative disorder.) “But you can spend all your time thinking how you could have done it better, or you can try and live a different kind of life.”

The final song, “Bobby and the Rat-Kings,” is a companion to “Elevator Boots.” “They’re both about loving rock & roll,” he says. “One’s from the perspective of the guy playing and the other is kind of the perspective of a fan, both of which I’ve lived in my life.”

The song suite will eventually be the first half of a full Counting Crows album, with another suite filling the second half. “I’m writing the second one now,” Duritz says.

After scrapping touring plans along with the rest of the world last year, Counting Crows are tentatively eyeing this fall, if Duritz can be convinced it’s safe. But as usual, he’s wary of Nineties nostalgia: “At a certain point, are we just a legacy act that should go play greatest shows or not? I mean, to me, I have no interest in it. We still annoy the shit out of people by not doing it. We went on our 25th-anniversary tour and played obscure shit!”

“Elevator Boots” is Counting Crows‘ newest single off their upcoming “Butter Miracle Suite One“, out May 21st.

On June 4th 2021, Night Beats – the Texas-born brainchild of Danny Lee Blackwell – will release their fifth full-length, ‘Outlaw R&B’, via Fuzz Club Records. The album arrives following the 2019 ‘Myth of A Man’ LP (produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and released by Heavenly Recordings) as well as last year’s ‘That’s All You Got’ 7”. Made during the height of the California wildfires (where Blackwell currently resides), rioting in the streets and a nation in lockdown, the raucous technicolour rock’n’roll of ‘Outlaw R&B’ is a call to rejoice in some sorely needed post-apocalyptic hedonism.

 The album arrives following the 2019 ‘Myth of A Man’ LP (produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and released by Heavenly Recordings) as well as last year’s ‘That’s All You Got’ 7” single. Made during the height of the California wildfires (where Blackwell currently resides),

Blackwell says of the album: “Outlaw R&B” is music for the borderless, the free, the outcasts and the forgotten. The outlaw is the runner. Those whose minds aren’t sold by perfect pitch and clean fingernails. Through this medium you can escape the confines of mental feudalism and bask in the euphoric glow of psychedelic R&B.” Where the last Night Beats LP was a distinctly polished and soulful affair, ‘Outlaw R&B’ sees the band return to their natural habitat: riotous, acid-fried rock’n’roll to lose your head to.

Danny Lee Blackwell of Night Beats has shared a video of him performing an intimate, stripped-back version of the recent single ‘That’s All You Got’

The ‘That’s All You Got’ 7” – featuring Robert Levon Been of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club across both tracks – is out now

 Night Beats anticipated fifth album of original material Outlaw R&B, which sees the Texas-reared band shift gears from 2019’s Southern rock tinged ode to Nashville—which followed three LPs riffing on Roky Erickson’s psych-rock legacy—to reflect band leader Danny Lee Blackwell’s relocation to Southern California. The record’s early singles straddle the line between both influences while sounding indebted to the blown-out, Wall-of-Sound rock of the ’60s and the bluesy sounds revived by Myth of a Man collaborator Dan Auerbach, all with a dose of acid Western imagery.

Blackwell took to LA’s Elysian Park for his recent “Neighbourhood” set, where he played an acoustic rendition of album opener “Stuck in the Morning” with some moody dusk lighting. Beforehand, he took an introspective trip to the strip mall that once housed the iconic Gold Star Studios to reminisce on the city’s musical legacy

Blackwell says of the album: “Outlaw R&B is music for the borderless, the free, the outcasts and the forgotten. The outlaw is the runner. Those whose minds aren’t sold by perfect pitch and clean fingernails. Through this medium you can escape the confines of mental feudalism and bask in the euphoric glow of psychedelic R&B.” Where the last Night Beats LP was a distinctly polished and soulful affair, ‘Outlaw R&B’ sees the band return to their natural habitat: riotous, acid-fried rock’n’roll to lose your head to.

Bat For Lashes has released a livestream she performed this April as a live album. The stripped-back set, which features reworkings of songs from across her catalogue, is titled “Livestream at Home. Los Angeles, 2021”. It’s out today—check it out below, along with the tracklist, which includes her cover of the Carpenters classic’ “We’ve Only Just Begun.”

Under the moniker Bat For Lashes, Natasha Khan has marked herself as a true innovator. The singer-songwriter and multi- instrumentalist has had her work described as distinctively haunting, darkly fantastical, ripe with magic realism. The gilt-decorated dream world that she creates has seen her nominated for the Mercury Music Prize three times,

The first live ‘Bat For Lashes’ album, Natasha plays an emotional and intimate stripped back set recorded during a livestream at home and broadcast during a global pandemic in 2021. This album contains old and new love songs including some never before heard re-worked versions of classic Bat For Lashes material, a beautiful and personal document of a unique moment in time.

Released June 7th, 2021

The Oh Sees at the peak of their prog obsession, super jammed out and totally dominating.

“The chapel sf 10.2.19” is a 53 minute, beautifully recorded, hi-fidelity live explosion of orc puke and kraut-gone-punk rock dominance by one of the rippingest bands of the 21st century. This 2 x Album set on limited edition transparent blue and bone coloured vinyl with Side D etching and faithfully (re)created tmoq-style bootleg album art.

Psych-punk psychic warrior, ear worm-farmer, and possessor of many stamped passport pages John Dwyer does not let up. His group Oh Sees (aka Thee Oh Sees, OCS, The Oh Sees, etc) have transmogrified to fit many a moment – from hushed druggy folk to groovy demonic pop chants to science fictional krautrock expanse and beyond – to suit his omnivorous whims.

OH SEES and additional musicians:
John Dwyer: lead guitar, vocals, flute and others
Tim Hellman: Bass guitar
Dan Rincon: Drums
Paul Quattrone: Drums
Tomas Dolas: Keys

“The Oh Sees at the peak of their prog obsession, super jammed out and totally dominating. The Chapel, SF 10.2.19. 

“A Few Stars Apart” is a testament to finding a human connection: between close family and friends, as well as one’s own heart. Produced by Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb, the album was inspired by the stillness Lukas Nelson found while riding out the beginning of the pandemic with his family in Texas and was recorded with the full band live on eight-track tape over three weeks at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A. The 11 songs reveal what it means to come home again, to be still, and to find community — and yourself. “I’m from what one might say is the ultimate road family—I’ve been on the road my entire life,” shares Nelson. “I’ve never been anywhere longer than three months, and suddenly here we are, the four of us together. And thank god we were together. I can’t remember the last time we had that much time together as a family. We had a lot of really important bonding that happened during that time. And I have to say, as terrible as the pandemic has been in so many ways, for my inner peace, I was able to take a lot of good from this time. I was able to pause and reflect.”

Already one of Rolling Stone’s “54 Most Anticipated Albums of 2021,” A Few Stars Apart” is a testament to finding a human connection: between close family and friends, as well as one’s own heart. Produced by Grammy Award winning producer Dave Cobb, the album was inspired by the stillness Nelson found while riding out the beginning of the pandemic with his family in Texas, The eleven songs reveal what it means to come home again, to be still, and to find community—and yourself.

“Perennial Bloom (Back To You)” is off of Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s new album, “A Few Stars Apart”,

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have announced their new album “Butterfly 3000”. Their second studio LP of 2021 following March’s “L.W” is due out June 11th via the band’s own KGLW label. .  “Butterfly 3000” which they just dropped without sharing any pre-release music, at first seems to be their biggest left turn yet, driving straight into festival friendly indiepop. Every song is in a major key, guitar riffage takes a backseat to bright synthesizer arpeggiations, tempos slow to optimal mass-arm-waving speeds, and choruses are bigger and more immediate.

Because it’s been almost three months since they released a new album, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have announced they’ll be back with Butterfly 3000.  It’ll be their 18th album and according to the press release it’s a suite of 10 songs that “all began life as arpeggiated loops composed on modular synthesisers” before being fleshed out and transformed by the six-piece band. The band describe this one as “melodic + psychedelic.”

Apart from announcing that it’s coming, the band are not playing the usual promo game of releasing a bunch of tracks before the release date, instead just letting the whole thing drop on 6/11. They’re not even sharing the album art (which is a autostereogram designed by regular collaborator Jason Galea) or the song titles, just listing question marks by the track numbers.

For Butterfly 3000, the band has chosen to forgo an advance single, artwork, or track list, revealing only the number of songs (10), that the record was built around modular synth loops, and that the cover will feature a “cross-eyed autostereogram” by long-time collaborator Jason Galea.

“Butterfly 3000” might be their most fearless leap into the unknown yet; a suite of 10 songs that all began life as arpeggiated loops composed on modular synthesisers, before being fashioned into addictive, optimistic and utterly seductive dream-pop by the six-piece. The album sounds simultaneously like nothing they’ve ever done before, and thoroughly, unmistakably Gizz, down to its climactic neon psych-a-tronic flourish. This is undoubtedly the most accessible and jubilant album of their career.” Says bassist Lucas Harwood: “We are all so pumped to release this, and of course for y’all to hear it. I think it’ll be a divisive record among fans — but healthy debate is a good thing.

For me, it really feels like a distilling of all of our various influences and musical personalities — reaching for places we haven’t reached for before and having confidence in sparsity — every part is considered, important and confident. I think we’re throwing away our youthful tropes of adding layers and layers of sound. That’s fun and will always hold a place within Gizzard, but this record is different. It’s probably the most positive Gizzard record too — almost completely in major keys! It feels good to release something so uplifting in such a gloomy, pessimistic global landscape at the moment.”

Recorded by King Gizz in the year 3021

All song mixed by Stu Mackenzie 

Butterfly 3000 is out June 11th

“At the end of 2016, after 10 years and seven albums, Nick Thorburn quietly decided to put an end to Islands and retire from music. “This seemed like a perfect time to put a cap on things and close out the circle,” Thorburn says. He switched focus, selling and producing a pilot television script, creating a graphic novel, and scoring a few films and the occasional BBC radio show. Thorburn’s years-long leave of absence resulted in a kind of rock ’n’ roll Rumspringa, with Nick unable to shake the bug for making records. After a sudden burst of creativity from a few weeks of working in his kitchen studio, Thorburn had written dozens and dozens of songs informed by everything from late-’70s avant-disco to Thea Lim’s time-travel novel An Ocean of Minutes, and would write dozens more over the next year and a half, almost all with a clear focus on rhythm and groove. “At the time I still wasn’t sure what this new music was going to be, or if coming back to Islands even made any sense,” says Thorburn. “But once we started playing, it quickly became clear this would be the next Islands album.”

“Carpenter” by Islands From the album Islomania

Acclaimed singer, composer and producer Lydia Ainsworth will share her upcoming fourth album “Sparkles & Debris” on May 21st via Zombie Cat Records. The record follows 2019’s Phantom Forest and blends live drums, guitars and bass with Ainsworth’s signature vast electronic landscapes.

“Longing seems to be a major theme running through my songs on this album,” says Ainsworth. “Whether that is longing in love, longing to be free from oppression, or longing for the muse of inspiration to make an appearance. I have included some spells and charms in there as well that have proven effective, if any of my listeners want to use them for help with their own desires.”

Written and produced by Ainsworth in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles over many years, Sparkles & Debris reflects her usual composer’s mindset and instinct for idiosyncratic melodies and structures. The album also marks a departure from the more solitary creative process that her previous releases were born from. Ainsworth recorded all her vocals at her engineer/mixer Dajaun Martineau’s studio in Toronto. Mark Kelso provided live drums and Neil Chapman and John Findlay added electric guitar and bass in the city’s Desert Fish and Noble St. studios. These live elements blend with Ainsworth’s own samples, programming and voice to create the record’s sonic tapestry.

Lydia Ainsworth is an internationally acclaimed singer, composer and producer whose 2015 debut album Right from Real was nominated for a Juno Award for best electronic album and shortlisted for the Polaris Prize. In 2017 her second LP, Darling of the Afterglow, brought with it headlining tours of North America, Europe and Japan as well as support tours with Perfume Genius. In 2019 she released Phantom Forest, and that same year, “Earth Song,” her collaboration with Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, appeared in the last episode of Season 3 of Stranger Things. Her original scores for film and commercials have screened at festivals such as Sundance, Cannes and Hot Docs. 

“Sparkles & Debris” Releases May 21st on Zombie Cat Records

This summer, Margo Price will release “That’s How Rumors Get Started“, an album of ten new, original songs that commit her sky-high and scorching rock-and-roll show to record for the very first time. Co-produced by Margo and longtime friend Sturgill Simpson, the LP marks Price’s debut for Loma Vista Recordings, and whether she’s singing of motherhood or the mythologies of stardom, Nashville gentrification or the national healthcare crisis, relationships or growing pains, she’s crafted a collection of music that invites people to listen closer than ever before.

“That’s How Rumors Get Started” follows Margo’s 2017 album All American Made, which was named the #1 Country/Americana album of the year by Rolling Stone, and one of the top albums of the decade by Esquire, Pitchfork and Billboard, among others. In its wake, Margo sold out three nights at The Ryman Auditorium, earned her first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, and much more.

Margo Price has released a video of her covering Joni Mitchell’s seasonal classic, “River”.

This solo version was recorded at Pulse Studios in Price’s adopted hometown of Nashville. songs are like tattoos, River by Joni Mitchell is one of mine. I recorded a version, just me on the piano