RUNNNER – ” Heliotrope “

Posted: January 6, 2021 in MUSIC
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a picture of the band runnner

“We start with these honest, bedroom-folksy songs. Then we just start adding like 808s and weird found sounds and pretty soon it’s something totally new and exciting. The Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Noah Weinman leads Runnner, often recruiting close friends including Skullcrusher’s Helen Ballentine and A.O. Gerber to help with vocals. His poetic, melancholic lyrics shine through on his 2020 second EP One of One, which meanders through contemplative, folk-tinged ballads to an almost unrecognisable, anthemic rework of Thundercat’s “Captain Stupido”.

Writing about their debut EP, “Fan On”, we described the music of Los Angeles-based band runnner as “somehow at once low key and blazingly expressive, distinctive and relatable.” If modesty and ambition seem like strange bedfellows then runnner disprove the thought, their “smooth and emotive bedroom pop combined with DIY folk leanings” working to create a sound that’s intimate yet thematically far-reaching, “explor[ing] the bittersweet nostalgia imbued in the minutiae of the day-to-day” to poke at existential questions and fears.

Though formed around Noah Weinman and Nate Lichtenberger, runnner performs live as a seven-piece yet the band are intelligent in their use of their numbers. Rather than throwing everything into the songs in some maximalist frenzy, runnner are frugal even in this sprawling form, maintaining a simple intimacy and fleshing out where necessary—with vocal harmonies, saxophone and trumpet—to further support and underline the emotion of the songs. Hectic crescendos are objectively great, but clever is the artist who can earn them with a careful balance of quiet.

The fact is pertinent because runnner are quickly establishing themselves as experts in balance, finding the sweet spot between loud and quiet, earnest and wry, and forming tracks of genuine emotional resonance. This year sees the band return with a brand new EP, “One of One”, and lead single ‘Heliotrope’ suggests that the development is continuing. Making the release one of our most anticipated of the year to come.

BLACK COUNTRY NEW ROAD – ” Science Fair “

Posted: January 6, 2021 in MUSIC
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Born of the same South London scene that’s produced the likes of black midi, PVA and Squid, white-hot septet, Black Country New Road found their band name using a random Wikipedia page generator. The transparent artifice of that is actually fitting: With only three singles to their rather unwieldy name, including 2019’s “Athens, France” and “Sunglasses,” and this year’s “Science Fair,” the U.K. up-and-comers are growing and changing before our eyes, already reimagining the few songs they’ve released for their debut album For the first time, due out February 5th, 2021. Frontman Isaac Wood’s hypnotic speak-singing shifts subtly away from “speak” and towards “sing” on the album, so as to more effectively meld with the band’s mercurial instrumental outbursts. Their thunderous post-punk, spiked with discordant jazz, feels both explosively raw and carefully, ingeniously crafted.

Our new single, ‘Science Fair’ is out today with a new video directed by Bart Price.

The post-punk scene has been nothing but great so far… Idles, Shame, Black Midi, Sorry, Fontaines D.C, Protomartyr, Iceage, Parquet Courts, Guerrilla Toss, SQUID, Shopping, Viagra Boys, Ought… and now Black Country New Road ..2021 is going to be a great year

After just two singles they were declared “the best band in the world” by The Quietus, with glowing reviews from The New York Times, NPR, and The Guardian. Debut album, ‘For the First Time’ is due on 5th February 2021. Black Country New Road is Lewis Evans (saxophonist), May Kershaw (keys), Charlie Wayne (drums), Luke Mark (guitar), Isaac Wood (vocals/guitar), Tyler Hyde (bass) and Georgia Ellery (violin)

Taken from the album ‘For the first time’, To be released 5th February on Ninja Tune:

ELA MINUS – ” Acts Of Rebellion “

Posted: January 6, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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When Ela Minus first surfaced a few years ago with a series of gorgeous EPs that culminated with 2017’s Adapt., there was something unusually striking about her synthesized productions alongside her vapory vocals. Perhaps it’s because Ela Minus’s Gabriela Jimeno forgoes the use of computerized sounds in favour of those emanating from synths that she builds and designs herself. The Colombian-born, Brooklyn-based producer and singer just released her debut LP, “Acts of Rebellion”, via Domino Recordings, and is maintaining the analogue approach to her compositions. On tracks like “they told us it was hard, but they were wrong.” and “el cielo no es de nadie,” (translation: “heaven belongs to nobody”) Jimeno ruminates on purposeful solitude with an unwavering club sensibility. Ela Minus is a necessary Latinx voice in indie electronica. 

Ela Minus’ debut album is a collection about the personal as political and embracing the beauty of tiny acts of revolution in our everyday lives. Throughout, a sense of urgency and a call to arms is mixed with this love and appreciation for reality—because even revolutionaries need to leave space for simple human interaction. 

Ela Minus – “megapunk” from the new album ‘acts of rebellion’ out now on Domino Record Co.

KATY KIRBY – ” Katy Kirby on Audiotree Live “

Posted: January 6, 2021 in MUSIC
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Texas-based Katy Kirby roams indie rock’s outer perimeter, graceful in pace and nimble in lyrical footing, finding space for crushing guitar solos as well as moments of ambling playfulness. Inviting comparison to artists akin to Phoebe Bridgers and Angel Olsen, Kirby inhabits a singular style in her own right – lending the experience of her upbringing to a wistful pastoral sound. Indie-rock songwriter Katy Kirby grew up in a small-town Texas, where her primary exposure to songcraft came via “the pasteurized-pop choruses of evangelical worship.” On her forthcoming debut album “Cool Dry Place”, out February 19th, 2021, on Keeled Scales, the still-Lone Star State-based Kirby wrestles with the indefatigably cheery spirit of the church songs she was raised on, twisting her jangle-pop sound into subtly adventurous shapes suggestive of a roving soul. “Ten segments in an orange / Only so many ways that you can pull apart someone,” she sings on the title track, effortlessly tossing off the kind of line that makes your heart ache instantaneously. Kirby thrives in the place between easy appeal and more complicated explorations, and she’s already made believers out of us. 

Katy Kirby on “Audiotree Live (Full Session)”

Katy Kirby is a buoyant post-folk song writer whose elastic, pristine vocal delivery wraps around and within experimental song constructions. The Keeled Scales signee continues to hone her craft with each release; perfecting a divine blend of stylish song writing.

Live at Audiotree.

Tracklist;1. 00:00 – Juniper 2. 03:02 – Portals 3. 06:02 – Traffic! 4. 09:36 – Tap Twice 5. 12:17 – Cool Dry Place

Recorded on October 26th, 2020 in Chicago, IL.

ANJIMILE – ” Maker “

Posted: January 6, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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On his opulent debut album “Giver Taker” Anjimile’s most powerful and enchanting instrument is his voice. The project which serves as a testament to the different stages of healing is a sparse nine-track undertaking that reveals just how resilient our protagonist truly is. Anjimile’s story is an uncommon one, but an uplifting one nonetheless: A trans person in the midst of battling his own demons excavates the most troubling parts of his past and ultimately seeks out catharsis. Giver Taker is captivating in its detailed storytelling, luscious harmonies and admirable vulnerability. On Giver Taker, the gorgeous debut album by Anjimile, death and life are always entwined, wrapping around each other in a dance of reverence, reciprocity, and, ultimately, rebirth.“Giver Taker” is confident, intentional and introspective. Anjimile Chithambo (they/them, he/him) wrote much of the album while in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, as well as while in the process of living more fully as a nonbinary trans person. Loss hovers over the album, whose songs grieve for lost friends (“Giver Taker”) and family members (“1978”) along with lost selves (“Maker,” “Baby No More,” “In Your Eyes.”) But here, grief yields an opening: a chance for new growth. “A lot of the album was written when I was literally in the process of improving my mental health, so there’s a lot of hopefulness and wonder at the fact that I was able to survive,” says Chithambo. “Not only survive but restart my life and work towards becoming the person I was meant to be.”

Each song on the album is its own micro-journey, adding up to a transformative epic cycle created in collaboration with bandmate Justine Bowe of Photocomfort and New-York based artist/producer Gabe Goodman. “1978” and “Maker” both begin as Sufjan Stevens-esque pastoral ballads with Chithambo’s mesmerizing voice foregrounded against minimal instrumentation and swell into the realm of the majestic through the addition of warm, steady instrumentation (informed by the mix of 80’s pop and African music Chithambo’s Malawi-born parents played around the house) and harmonies by Bowe. “In Your Eyes” starts out hushed and builds to a crescendo via a mighty chorus inspired by none other than The Lion King. The allusion is fitting: each song encapsulates a heroic voyage, walked alone until accompanied by kindred souls. The choirs present throughout are equally deliberate. Chithambo grew up as a choir boy himself, and several songs (notably “Maker”) grasp not only towards reconciliation between his trans identity and his parents’ strong religious beliefs, but towards reclaiming his trans identity as an essential part of his own spirituality. (“[Less] Judeo-Christian, more ‘Colours of the Wind.’”) There is a boldness to this borrowing and shaping, a resoluteness that results from passing through hardship and emerging brighter, steadier. As a closing refrain on “To Meet You There” might sum it up: “Catalyst light of mine / now is your time.”

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Giver Taker was recorded in Brooklyn, Boston, and New Hampshire by Goodman, thanks in part to the Live Arts Boston Grant by the Boston Foundation. All songs written by Anjimile Chithambo

“Maker” by Anjimile From the album, Giver Taker, out now.  released September 18th, 2020.

JORDANA – ” Something To Say ” EP

Posted: January 6, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Jordana released a new album titled “Something to Say to You”, out digitally on December 4th and physically in January 2021, via Grand Jury Music. The album combines her Something to Say EP ( named one of the best of the year so far on various bloggers) with the recently announced ...To You EP for one full-length LP. Jordana also shared a new single, “I Guess This Is Life,” alongside an accompanying video. “‘I Guess This Is Life’ is a song about the motions of everyday life and how experiences, no matter big or small, make up the person that you are and how you both perceive and are perceived by the world,” Jordana says of the new single.  “I want to be the multi-genre queen, for real. I don’t just want to be this indie girl. I just want to make a lot of cool shit.” Whilst some (us) may have vegetated courtesy of their self-isolated 2020, others – namely singer-songwriter Jordana had a very productive stint. What began as the release of her debut album Classical Notions of Happiness soon developed into the release of two new EPs, Something to Say and To You, later combined as her sophomore outing Something to Say to You (smart). Dropped in the middle of the year, “Big” is a perfect introduction to the Kansas artist’s quirky sound with its bubbling beats and chunky, gurning bassline. Think Warpaint at their poppiest, and you’ll dig it. 

Jordana shared an EP titled Something To Say via Grand Jury Music in July. It was the first of a two-part EP series, with her follow-up To You arriving shortly after. Her debut album Classical Notions of Happiness has plenty of folk and lo-fi pop moments as well as stripped-back indie-pop ones, and Jordana’s music has only become more dense since then. Something To Say is full of richly produced, hooky indie-pop—each song brimming with intriguing textures.

Fried synths and warm guitar tones hover over bulky, glitchy beats, and there’s never a flat moment. The six-track EP’s sonic magnetism is due in part to producer MELVV, who also worked on “Crunch,” a standout track from her re-released debut album. Jordana’s stylish, airy vocals have never sounded better as they float effortlessly like plush clouds.

“I Guess This Is Life” from the To You EP and the Something To Say To You LP.

The SNUTS – ” W.L “

Posted: January 6, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Snuts, 2018

West Lothian’s The Snuts have been creating a buzz throughout this previous year, capping off the year with a run of  sold out dates. They issued their “Manhattan Project” single in September and have already lined up shows at Austin’s SXSW . The Snuts released their raucous, hook laden debut album, W.L. on Parlophone Records.

Hailing from Whitburn, West Lothian, The Snuts have well and truly found their stride on W.L.. Produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Phoenix, M83) and recorded at the Firepit London, the album encapsulates the band’s journey from four working class kids growing up with a dream in Whitburn, to becoming one of the UK’s most exciting and vital bands of the new decade. The album opens with the poignant track ‘Top Deck’, winding through a voyage of genres including the raw, rousing, hip-hop driven ‘Elephants”, heart-wrenchingly honest ‘Boardwalk’, the undeniable pop banger ‘Somebody Loves You’, the hauntingly heartfelt anthem ‘Always’ and the main stage festival ready hymn, ‘All Your Friends’.

Guitar music may be out of fashion, but Scottish band The Snuts are on course for success in 2020 with their fluid brand of blues and hip hop-driven rock. The four-piece’s debut EP reached number 14 in the charts back in March but, of course, their live dates and release schedule were halted by coronavirus. But now their debut album, WL, is slated for release in March and they have a sold-out gig at legendary Glasgow venue Barrowlands in the diary, things seem brighter.

Their debut EP, titled Mixtape, was overseen by Inflo, the producer behind Michael Kiwanuka’s Mercury Prize-winning Kiwanuka and Little Simz’ Grey Area. This should be a hint towards their evolving sound – experimental, atmospheric, raucous. Adored up and down the country for their uninhibited, sweat-drenched live shows, the band have also announced a UK tour for May/June 2021.

AWAKEBUTSTILLINBED – ” Stay Who You Are “

Posted: January 5, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The only context I really have for awakebutstillinbed is seeing them open for Joyce Manor, Jeff Rosenstock, and AJJ at the Hollywood Palladium last January, an evening with a haha-what-the-fuck energy radiating from each of the bill’s four DIY punk bands as they took to the historic stage in front of a sold-out crowd. While they still seemed pretty confident onstage, the opening single to the EP awakebutstillinbed dropped on Christmas morning oozes uncertainty, with vocalist Shannon Taylor punctuating verses with “I don’t knows” before erupting into punky rasps—a considerably more existential scenario than the party vibes I first experienced the band in, though just as engaging.

Recorded in Shannon’s house, the twins’ house, the art boutiki and ally’s basement in december 2020. Thanks to chillwavve for inspiring me to write “leave” for their christmas comp, as well as martin and eric for helping us with this release. thanks to everyone who has ever supported this project, love you all, thanks for listening.

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songs by Shannon. arrangements by Shannon with help from Brendan.

the following people contributed to this release:
Ally Garcia – bass
Brendan Gibson – guitar, synth
Jpegstripes – drums, synth, piano
Cat Egbert – drums
Jason Hallyburton – drums
Shannon Taylor – guitar, bass, vocals

Released December 25th, 2020

ALLEGRA KRIEGER – ” The Joys Of Forgetting “

Posted: January 5, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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    Most often, forgetting can feel like a failure—a missed birthday or a neglected anniversary. But forgetting can also mean freedom, an unburdening from past twinges of pain. On her debut album, “The Joys of Forgetting”, Allegra Krieger embraces the idea of forgetting as relief.

    Growing up in suburban Florida, Krieger was raised staunchly Catholic. Much of her childhood was spent in a church, where she also studied classical piano and sang in the choir. Although she was encouraged to pursue a consecrated life, she chose a different path, dissociating from religion. The following years brought continual transitions of personhood and place. From housekeeping at a Death Valley motel, to tree-planting in Georgia, she explored different sides of herself, chasing ideals yet avoiding certain truths. As she reckoned with her own malleability, she came to understand the value of leaving something behind. The solitude and disenchantment that accompanied this lifestyle gave way to introspection, yielding the songs that became the Joys of Forgetting.

    Like memory itself, Krieger’s personal growth ebbs and flows across The Joys of Forgetting. She makes for an inviting companion as she connects the nonlinear dots on her journey. She lays her feelings and desires plain as she unfolds them: to find someone to confide in, to talk on the telephone, to catch up with a friend. She learns to seek comfort in patience, finding that affection is easy, but loving takes time. Her arrangements are elegant and unobtrusive, skirting her crystalline voice with acoustic guitar, curling strings, and percussion that gently tumbles. And though Krieger makes a strong case with her Joys of Forgetting, her songs leave a lasting imprint that’s a pleasure to recall over and over again. 

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    I came to this record through the photographer of the cover and they didn’t steer me wrong here. This record starts off slow but truly builds to blow you away by the time you reach “Forgot”. Allegra’s voice is a wave of joy in a rough year. On “Welcome” her self harmonizing is gorgeous and plays well off the string section that comes in to overtake the track halfway through before it becomes a western waltz again. The arrangements of these songs are stunning. “Telephone” shimmers and glides along while Allegra calls for human connection rather than interacting through devices. The album floats along delicately until “Forgot” which just comes at you harder than anything up to that point. It ends in a glory of mashing up off-kilter drumming, an echoing of voices and slashing guitar chords that just cut right through you. “Rot” brings some welcomed rock and roll vibes to the record that continue into “Come In”, which ends in another great loud convergence by the musicians. The string section in “I’m Gonna Drive” swell as Allegra cries out “thing things you’ve been after” is heartbreaking. Allegra has a bright future ahead, this was her first LP, and it will be great to hear where she takes her arrangements and writing next.

    Released August 7th, 2020

    The Band:
    Rob Taylor on Bass
    Jacob Matheus on Electric Guitar
    Eladio Rojas on Drums

    CLOUD NOTHINGS – ” The Shadow I Remember “

    Posted: January 5, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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    Our fully quarantine-recorded album came out, called “The Black Hole Understands” It’s me on instruments with strings and singing, Jayson on drums. it is poppy and sort of sad. Cloud Nothings released The Black Hole Understands this summer, a remotely assembled album that followed the free-jazz spirals of frontman Dylan Baldi and drummer Jayson Gerycz in the spring. Then, in December, they shared the Bandcamp-exclusive “Life Is Only One Event”. Soon, they’ll deliver the all-new “The Shadow I Remember” which was produced by Steve Albini, who helmed 2012’s classic Attack on Memory. 

    Part of the proceeds from this will be going to play on Philly and the Rainey institute (in Cleveland), two organizations dedicated to helping provide arts education in areas of Philladelphia and Cleveland where its not generally easy to access.

    Cloud Nothings dropped a new song “The Spirit Of,” and it’s the latest glimpse of their forthcoming album The Shadow I Remember, out on February 26th via Carpark Records. “The Spirit Of,” the follow-up single to “Am I Something?,” is a fast-paced track propelled by ascendent guitars, and Dylan Baldi’s punk vocals reach a mighty peak by the end. We are also reissuing our debut album “Turning On” – can’t believe it’s been 10 years since it was originally released! 

    Another throwback was Baldi’s return to constant song writing à la the early solo days, which led to the nearly 30 demos that became the 11 songs on “The Shadow I Remember”. Instead of sticking to a tried-but-true formula, his song writing stretched out while digging deeper into his melodic talents. “I felt like I was locked in a character,” Baldi says of becoming a reliable supplier of heavy, hook-filled rock songs. “I felt like I was playing a role and not myself. I really didn’t like that role.” More frequent writing led to the freedom in form heard on The Shadow I Remember. What he can’t do alone is get loud and play noisily, which is exactly what happened when the entire band — bassist TJ Duke, guitarist Chris Brown, and drummer Jayson Gerycz—convened.

    The band had more fun in the studio than they’ve had in years, playing in their signature, pulverizing way, while also trying new things. The absurdly catchy “Nothing Without You” includes a first for the band: Macie Stewart of Ohmme contributes guest vocals. Elsewhere, celebrated electronic composer Brett Naucke adds subtle synthesizer parts.

    The songs are kept trim, mostly around the three-minute mark, while being gleefully overstuffed. Almost every musical part turns into at least two parts, with guitar and drums opening up and the bass switching gears. “That’s the goal — I want the three-minute song to be an epic,” Baldi says. “That’s the short version of the longass jam.”

    Lyrically, Baldi delivers an aching exploration of tortured existence, punishing self-doubt, and the familiar pangs of oppressive mystery. “Am I Something” Baldi screams on the song of the same name. “Does anybody living out there really need me?”, It’s a heart breaking admission of existential confusion, delivered hoarsely, with an instantly relatable melody. “Is this the end/ of the life I’ve known?” he asks on lead single and album opener “Oslo.” “Am I older now/ or am I just another age?” Despite the questioning lyrics, the band plays with more assurance and joy than ever before. The Shadow I Remember announces Cloud Nothings’ second decade and it sounds like a new beginning.

    The Shadow I Remember is the hugely triumphant return of Cloud Nothings. It’s pretty raw, but singer-songwriter Dylan Baldi’s ability to write a banger has arguably never been as clear. Melodic whilst still full of grit.

    “The Spirit Of” is taken from Cloud Nothings’ forthcoming album “The Shadow I Remember”, out February 26th, 2021.

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