Woods, the psych-folk partnership of Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere, will release “More Strange“, the deluxe edition of their highly acclaimed 2020 album “Strange To Explain”, on July 23 via Woodsist Records. The digital-only release will include five bonus tracks, all recorded during the original Strange To Explain sessions at Stinson Beach’s Panoramic House in Northern California. Bonus tracks include two new singles (“Waiting Around For A New Me” and “Nickels and Dimes”), two outtakes (“Daylight Push” and “Sun Jammer”), and an alternate version of the album track “Be There Still.” Today the band shares the first of the new singles, “Waiting Around For A New Me,” via a music video shot by Ian McNaughton.
Strange To Explain represented Woods’ first work following a series of milestones – Earl and Taveniere created the now-classic Purple Mountains record with David Berman; Taveniere moved from New York to California, making the band bicoastal for the first time in its 15-year existence; and Earl became a father. “Those first few months or first year of having a newborn kind of put me in a dreamlike state,” Earl told NPR’s Weekend Edition. “Starting to write the record was an escape for me from my everyday reality and anxieties.” The album was released to praise from Pitchfork, The Fader, Stereogum, Relix, and the New York Times, who profiled the band and called Strange To Explain their “most magnetic record yet… These 11 songs pair the eccentricity of Woods’ early records with the conviction that it’s all worth saying and playing a little louder.”
German band Elephants On Tape have followed up 2017’s Lightweights with another indietronica gem, “Every Structure’s Dislocated”. A particular highlight is Narks,
Lightweights, the 2018 debut album by the Leipzig-based indie-tronic formation Elephants On Tape was an easily overlooked treasure in the sheer massiveness of the weekly release but it showed a band that had all the skills to stand out. The follow-upalbum,“Every Structure’s Dislocated” takes the debut’s strengths a bit further. The tightrope-walking between traditional song writing and electronic experiments still marks the core of the band’s sound but their latest endeavours see them move a bit further into progressive territory while still circling around honest emotion and catchy hooks.
Their second LP is a short yet very addictive affair, held together by tiny little interludes that go by titles like {fume, {ascii; or >larva} … well, Justin Vernon would be proud of the four guys and singer Lisa Zwinzscher and there are indeed a few references to Bon Iver in their music. Partly the band also reminds you of The Notwist, a few of the later Depeche Mode records maybe Portishead and other sounds from that field. The guitar sound is pretty old-fashioned, reminding you of the more melancholic 00s indie rock bands while the analogue electronic sounds feels like a toally different affair. But somehow they make it work, creating a retro future vibe without falling into obvious traps like unnecessary auto-tune adventures.
All things considered, Elephants On Tape are a band that knows how to perform together, the entire album comes with this sweet DIY lo-fi spirit that grounds the entire sound in the here and now. It’s not a slick studio record, it’s the sound of five profound musicians joining forces. The songs are less about their abstract lyrical content but more about the overall vibe. “I am deep sea diving in an ocean of words from your mouth,” Zwinzscher states in the opening Narks as she outlines the map of the rest of the record. 01100010 is a twisted yet sensual and almost jazzy ballad while Transient Day shows a more uplifting side from the group. Closing track Hyperactive marks an actual highlight of the record. Built on a gentle piano melody it really showcases the vocal skills of the band leader, making Zwinzscher almost sound like Bjork. Every Structure’s Dislocated is a smart and consequent step forward for the band and if they continue to head for that brave path they will hopefully no longer remain a hidden treasure.
»01100010« is the first single of our upcoming Album “Every Structure’s Dislocated” out on April 23rd.
Career Woman from Los Angeles, California, The 16-year-old singer-songwriter offers a different perspective on pandemic times. Melody Caudill is a 16 year old singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Coming from a musical family, and learning how to play piano at the ripe age of four, she’s been immersed in the creative world of song writing since before she was in kindergarten. After picking up the ukulele at 13, learning guitar became the natural next step. With inspirations from artists like Priscilla Ahn, Phoebe Bridgers, and Elliott Smith, Caudill writes with a certain sense of vulnerability and confidence. At 13, she recorded and released her first EP, Thirteen . Thirteen chronicles the life of a pre-teen navigating new life changes. Now 16, Melody has written her second EP, Teachers Pet. Melody Caudill captures the essence of what it’s like to be in high school dealing with issues of self-confidence and finding a sense of belonging. However, Melody isn’t to be boiled down to another angst-driven teen. Her song writing touches the core of the emotional turmoil we all go through. Whether that’s feeling smaller than your peers or being afraid to show your true self, there are just some inner-struggles we never grow out of.
The Freedom Band’s first livestream was recorded by their 6th member, live sound engineer and sonic guru, Matthew Littlejohn and fellow head, Mike Kriebel. They teamed up with director Joshua Erkman to film the band in the round. The film was co-produced by LA’s Sid The Cat, with audio mixed by Mike Kriebel and mastered by Nick Townsend.
Ty Segall & Freedom Band is comprised of:
Ben Boye (Keyboards) Charles Moothart (Drums) Emmett Kelly (Guitar) Mikal Cronin (Bass) Ty Segall (Vocals/Guitar)
The release is an epilogue to the story of the band’s second album, ‘Sex, Death & The Infinite Void’Creeper have announced details of a new EP, described as an epilogue to the story presented on their 2020 album “Sex Death & The Infinite Void”.
‘American Noir’ is set to come out on July 30th via Roadrunner Records, and is being previewed by its first single ‘Midnight’.
According to a press release, the new EP is a requiem to Roe, a central character in the band’s recent second album. Frontman Will Gould explained: “This new EP is comprised of material we’d written over the course of the last album. Lavish and tragic, it tells the story of the days following the death of our protagonist Roe.
“Beginning with ‘Midnight’ you’ll find Hannah and I experimenting with our voices together like never before.”
Creeper’s ‘Sex, Death & The Infinite Void’ came out last July. In a four star review, NME labelled it “a brave, ambitious and nuanced album that looks to lead the band’s fans down the rabbit hole on a new, macabre adventure”.
It added: “Turning their backs on their punk roots was a gamble, but it’s paid off. Next time around, expect Creeper to delve even deeper into the rabbit hole, to stare down the infinite void with even greater defiance.”
Since then, frontman Gould launched a side project Salem.
Pansy is the brainchild of Mat Hagger and has expanded into a four piece band compromised of Mat Hagger (Vocals/Guitar), Benjamin Abid (Bass), Danny Sein (Lead Guitar), and Cameron Frank (Drums).
What started as the brainchild of songwriter Mat Hagger, Pansy has subsequently morphed into the current four-piece band. Originally hailing from Grand Rapids, Michigan, the band are now split between Detroit and Chicago. Back in the Summer of 2019, Pansy convened for just three days and worked quickly to lay down the six tracks that make up their self-titled EP, which two years on saw the light of day earlier this month.
Although all 6 tracks were recorded in a mere 3 days, the band seems to have already found their stride with their debut EP, set to be released April 2021.
The Pansy album opens with a bang on the brilliant “I Wanna Dissolve“. Sliding in on a languid bass line, the track is punctuated by bright slacker-rock tinged guitars and warm swells of harmonious vocals, before bursting into the crescendo of noise that serves as an outro. Elsewhere on the record, “Buried” is a delicious amalgam of the distorted and the dreamy, reminiscent of Sun June or Forth Wanderers, while the wiry guitars of “Pity Party” dial up the grungy vibes to thrilling new levels. The highlight arrives on the record’s closing track, “Not Around“, a frenetic five-minute tumble of ragged guitars and moody drums, that ends with an anguished howl as Mat’s vocal is engulfed in a wall of visceral sound. It might have taken two years to arrive, but Pansy’s debut is well worth the wait, with new material apparently coming on the horizon, Pansy are one of Michigan’s best new bands.
released April 2nd, 2021
The Band:
VOX/GTR- Mat Hagger BASS- Ben Abid LEAD GTR- Danny Sein DRUMS/PRODUCTION-Cameron Frank
Recorded in the summer of 2019 in an unfurnished basement off Kalamazoo Ave in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Emily Duff’s small brand of Sweet & Sour Rock and Roll with a big slice of country digs deep, weaving a patchwork of sin, tragedy, romance and regret that lies at your feet begging to be mended.
A dark optimist, Emily Duff is a unique voice for women at a crucial time. “One Part Patti Smith, One Part Muscle Shoals.”
Here’s what they say about it: “Hello my Friends, I am really excited to get this new record out into the world & on July 23rd I will start shipping copies of “Razor Blade Smile” to You! I’m super lucky to have gotten to make a record with producer, Eric “Roscoe” Ambel again and especially during a global pandemic, What a Year!! I hope you’re Feelin’ Alright and will consider a Pre-Order of either the digital or the Signed copies A Limited Edition CD with beautiful photos by Charles Chessler. I have 385 followers here and there are only 700 copies of the CD available, so claim yours today and it will ship out on 7/23 straight to your door! I humbly thank y’all for your continued support and can’t wait for you to hear the new songs “on the record.” Recording music is a true passion and a privilege and I have been fortunate to work with some of the best players in the world. I pinch myself every day, say a little prayer and hope to do it again . With your help, I can do just that! With Love Your Friend xxEms”
All songs written by Emily Duff
Emily Duff: Acoustic Guitar & Vocals Eric Ambel: Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar & BG Vocals Keith Christopher: Bass Charlie Giordano: Keyboards Phil Cimino: Drums Cody Nilsen: Pedal Steel Guitar on “Nicotine & Waiting” Mary Lee Kortes: BG Vocals
From the release of Love’s March 1966 debut single, “My Little Red Book” b/w “A Message to Pretty,” it was clear the Los Angeles Group was a breed apart from its contemporaries. The group, led by Arthur Lee, built much of its music upon a snarling, sneering proto-punk aesthetic not completely removed from the style of bands like the Seeds. But just under the surface, there lurked a deeper complexity and nuance.
There had been multi-racial bands before Love: though they never achieved any kind of commercial success, the short-lived Rising Sons were led by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. But Love had a black guy as its primary writer and front man, and enjoyed the higher profile and accompanying marketing boost that came with having signed to Elektra, home of (among others) the Doors.
Still, Love would manage only one Top 40 single in its time together, 1966’s “7 and 7 & Is,” a track off of the band’s second album, “Da Capo”. That album also displayed Love and Lee’s musical ambitions: a side-long track, “Revelation,” ran nearly 19 minutes long. This was a full 18 months before Iron Butterfly released its own opus, “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida.”
As a piece of music, “Revelation” wasn’t especially noteworthy or ground breaking, but it did show that Lee and his band mates had artistic/creative inclinations beyond the three-minute pop single. And the band’s third full-length, “Forever Changes”, released in November 1967, would represent the apex of those ambitions.
A 4-CD/DVD/LP 50th Anniversary edition was released in 2018. The set features a few firsts for the album, including the CD debut of a remastered version made by its original co-producer and engineer Bruce Botnick, as well as the first-ever release of the mono version on CD. Also included are alternate mixes of the album, as well as a selection of rare and unreleased singles and studio outtakes.
The album opens with Bryan MacLean’s “Alone Again Or.” The track features a Spanish-flavoured guitar figure played by the band’s Johnny Echols. Subdued percussion and a trilling string section join to support Lee’s gentle vocal style. As the song reaches the end of its first verse, bursts of brass reinforce the south-of-the-border ambience. In fact the horns sound like nothing so much as A&M Records’ flagship act, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Yet somehow, the non-rock elements combine in a way that makes “Alone Again Or” a sort of sophisticated, baroque take on rock music. The song’s arrangement makes effective use of dynamics, with instruments added and subtracted from the mix in ways that highlight the song’s virtues. And in a significant departure from the rock mindset, the solo break in “Alone Again Or” features not a guitar but instead a stirring trumpet solo, backed by strings.
“A House is Not a Motel” continues with the use of acoustic guitar as a central instrument. An insistent drum pattern and a subtle yet busy bass line part support Lee, who once again begins singing in a lilting manner. But as the song progresses, he builds in intensity, eventually reaching a rock ’n’ roll roar. Against an emphatic series of chords, Echols takes a pair of lean, sinewy electric guitar solos. For most of its first two minutes, the overall feel of “A House is Not A Motel” is one of restraint. But after a propulsive drum fill from Michael Stuart, multiple overdubbed distorted lead guitars explode into the mix; amid whoops and hollers from the band, those solos take the song to its fadeout.
The melancholy “Andmoreagain” plays up the album’s baroque character. Strings and acoustic guitars are the central instruments, and Lee’s vocal more overtly than anywhere else on the record. “The Daily Planet” is built around a vigorously strummed acoustic guitar, with deft stabs of chiming guitar and a beefy bass line. The mid-tempo rocker has a feel closer to the Byrds; though he’s not credited on the album, Buffalo Springfield guitarist Neil Young oversaw the track’s arrangement.
But on both “Andmoreagain” and “The Daily Planet,” it’s not really Love; instead Lee is backed by session musicians. Co-producer Bruce Botnick brought in “The Wrecking Crew” players when he found the band unable to play what was required. Apparently, the shock of being side lined would eventually lead the band members to get their collective act together; the remaining tracks on “Forever Changes” would feature the band (plus the string and brass players as needed).
That said, the band members take a back seat on the subtle “Old Man.” Cellos and violins are at the centre of the fragile arrangement, based upon an idiosyncratic melody from Lee. Brass and tinkling piano are added to the mix in the song’s second half. And “The Red Telephone” is almost a continuation “Old Man.” With a similar arrangement and a (different) odd melody, it features a stronger beat and an insistent harpsichord part. The seamless interplay between acoustic guitar leads and the string players underscores the fact that the fiddles and cellos were part of Lee’s arrangement ideas from the beginning of the project. Lee’s spoken lines at the song’s end give “The Red Telephone” a vaguely psychedelic feel, but that is punctured by Lee’s “All o’ god’s chillen got’s to have their freedom,” delivered in a kind of self-parody of black American dialect.
Near unanimous in their praise for “Forever Changes”, critics often point to MacLean’s “Alone Again Or” as the strongest track on the record. But a strong case can be made that Arthur Lee’s “Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale” deserves consideration as well. The brass arrangement in particular fits the song perfectly, helping provide an air of mystery and suspense. It helps, too, that for this track Lee had written a more straightforward melody. The instrumental break features a series of musical dialogues, first between acoustic guitar and the brass, then between electric guitar and the horns, and finally between Lee’s vocalizing and the auxiliary players.
The baroque arrangement that opens “Live and Let Live” is jarring when set against Lee’s lyrics about snot on his pants and threatening a bluebird with a gun. The song soon segues into a harder, rock-flavoured feel; throughout its five-plus minutes, “Live and Let Live” shifts between the two styles; the bridges rock even harder, and toward the song’s end, stinging lead electric guitar makes one of its rare appearances on Forever Changes. By the hard-charging final moment of the tune, its bears no resemblance to the manner in which it began.
As effective as those rocking moments may be, it’s on the album’s gentler tracks where Love truly shines. “The Good Humour Man He Sees Everything Like This” is a case in point. The tune sports another odd melody from Lee; his vocals twist and turn amid an intricate pizzicato string and brass arrangement that rivals “Alone Again Or” in its understated brilliance.
“Bummer in the Summer” is Forever Changes’ outlier track; Lee adopts a sneering, spitting vocal demeanor that’s closer in style and character to “7 and 7 Is” and “My Little Red Book” than it is to anything else on the album. The arrangement is similar to the Leaves’ reading of “Hey Joe” mixed with a bit of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” Other than session player Don Randi’s piano, the track doesn’t feature any auxiliary musicians.
Forever Changes was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008
Forever Changes concludes with “You Set the Scene,” a track built upon crystalline acoustic guitar picking, an insistent bass line and some sawing cellos. Lee’s double-tracked harmony lead vocal is among his best work on the record. In the place customarily occupied by a guitar solo, a soaring string ensemble arrangement, punctuated by brass, provides a stirring conclusion to the album. As the song winds toward its end, the majestic brass and string parts build to a crescendo, and then fade to silence.
Notably, outside of music critics, few recognized the specialness of Forever Changes upon its November 1967 release. The album reached a lowly #154 on the Billboard album chart, and the single “Alone Again Or” b/w “A House is Not A Motel” made it only as far as #123. But as had been the case with fellow Los Angelinos the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Forever Changes fared far better in Great Britain, where it reached #24 (Pet Sounds rose all the way to #2 in the U.K.).
The line-up that made Forever Changes soon fractured, though Love would go on to make four more albums in the decade to follow. Each of those has its high points, but all are flawed, and none succeeds in doing more than hinting at the once-in-a-lifetime brilliance of Forever Changes.
As a happier postscript, in the later years of his life—as previously-overlooked albums began to earn their due—Arthur Lee, who died in 2006 at age 61, was able to capitalize on the belated recognition of the record’s importance. With members of L.A.’sBaby Lemonade, he would tour, presenting the complete Forever Changes in concert. Those shows would often feature auxiliary musicians playing the album’s brass and string arrangements, resulting in a live reading that successfully captured the nuance and excitement of the 1967 studio recording.
Having toured the world over following the release of their debut album ‘Songs of Praise’, Shame made a name for themselves as one of the UK’s best live bands.
At the beginning of 2021 the band released their James Ford-produced follow up “Drunk Tank Pink”, earning them a top ten chart position and cementing them as one of the heavy-hitters of the indie music scene. ‘Shame – Live In The Flesh’ is a collection of 7 songs filmed and recorded at London’s historic Brixton Electric in October 2020. it is the only opportunity to hear track from “Drunk Tank Pink” explosive material live on vinyl, played with all the energy and relentlessness that shame bring to the stage. with so many cancelled or rescheduled tours in the last year, it’s a timely reminder of how important it is to capture live recordings, and who better to do that than Shame?
The first time on double vinyl for this buried treasure from the legendary singer/songwriter. The post-Geffen string-driven classic including a re-imagining of the gorgeous ‘Life Is Sweet’ set in a glorious baroque pop setting that elevates her songs into a Sondheim-esque gravity. An overlooked masterpiece from the heady days of 2003 that remains timeless and just as poignant today. Released originally in April 2003.
Seven years between albums is a long time. But in her quest for artistic freedom and total control over her own material, Maria McKee took the time to get out from under the Geffen imprint, write a host of new songs, and create a new band. And as is her wont, her effort on “High Dive” is something as different from her earlier recordings as they were from one another. In 1996, when “Life Is Sweet” was released, McKee had left behind the country-rock that had established her for a raucous and woolly aggressive rock sound where she played all the guitars in overdrive.
That record was full of grief, rage, and the desire to shed her skin. It was a misunderstood work of high, inimitable art. High Dive is by turns a gorgeous rock record and a Baroque pop masterpiece. Strings, horns, and a full-on rock band grace its 14 tracks — including an absolutely stunning redo of “Life Is Sweet” title track. McKee has always possessed two gifts as a lyricist: her ability to make all images completely vivid and her naked compassion and empathy. All of the songs here are loaded with both. Her melodies are positively irresistible and infectious, and her lyrical tomes are full of everything from the longing for freedom “To the Open Paces,” to co-dependence, “Be My Joy,” to a near Buddhist sense of loving kindness, “Life Is Sweet,” to all notions of love and loss.
All of these have come to be expected from McKee, who is one of the most underrated lyricists pop music has ever produced. But on “High Dive”, it’s the sound of the record that is also stunning.
Along with Jim Akin, McKee employed a virtual string orchestra and a group of chamber horns and arranged them for a sound that is as timeless as it is current. This sound is Mckee’s alone, and ultimately, despite the range of emotions she addresses and conveys, this is an album about amorous love, full of its dizzying heights and its turbulent spirals into the abyss of loss. Its particular gift is how, no matter how dark or even horrifying the lyrics are, the music is upbeat, full of a life-affirming transcendence that makes it the ultimate statement from love’s battlefield, where scars and wounds are the gateways to a deeper understanding of what it means to be human; they add depth and dimension in such grandeur, no matter how tortured, that you’re still willing to risk everything to find its promise. McKee is never morbid in her storytelling , just unflinching, and “High Dive” is a leap from the cliff of who she was and was perceived to be into being what she is: an artist of considerable vision, passion, and both musical and literary acumen.
McKee’s “High Dive” is simply an awe-inspiring album and easily her finest recorded moment. Maria McKee – ‘High Dive’ double black vinyl LP with download code. released for Record Store Day 2021.
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