King Never: All These Things

Californian progressive rock trio King Never describe their latest release All These Things as a "mini-concept EP exploring themes related to World War I - leaving loved ones at home for the chaos of battle, the futility of the war, and finally, hope". That is a lot of ground for only three tracks, but they found a way to capture the predicament of the soldiers in the trenches in West Flanders. Their superior officers did not have clue, offering only the futile hope for a decisive push.

Musically King Never take cues both New Wave (The Police) and prog (early Seventies King Crimson, and Budgie). The band doesn't use many words, but make sure that each one of them counts. With shifting time signatures and vocals on the brink of straying off pitch All These Things is a required taste, but like any good music it puts up both a challenge and invitation to dig deeper into the subject matter.

Milo's Planes: Individual Development Plan

photo: James Hwakins

Bristol foursome Milo's Planes play punk at breakneck speed on their new album Individual Development Plan, but there are some quieter moments too. Bands like Faith No More, Fugazi and the Pixies come to mind, acts that were able to connect anger and noise with catchy melodies.

A sense of skewed humour shimmers through most of the tracks, with Beach Bodies and Elastic Phrasing taking the piss in a Beastie Boys influenced manner. Individual Development Plan barrels through 12 tracks in roughly 20 minutes, bursting at the seams with energy. Don't blame them for getting speeding tickets after you cranked it up really fucking loud during a long drive.

Words about music (443): Bill Wyman

Because of the fashion, the young people don't have any access to the history of music, unless people like me revive it. There are very few people to revive it, because you can't earn any money doing it.

Bill Wyman

Anna Coogan & Willie B: "Wishing Well " live @ The Triple Door in Seattle

Watch Anna Coogan perform Wishing Wel, a track from her The Lonely Cry of Space and Time album, live at the Triple Door in Seattle, WA on April 23, 2017. Opera meets indie rock. Her longtime friend Willie B is on drums and Moog bass. Jay Kardong guests on Pedal Steel. The clip was made and produced by Chris Julien and Michael Poggenberg.

Cyanna Mercury: Archetypes

photo: Anastacia Papadaki

Progressive psychedelic rock quintet Cyanna Mercury paint with broad strokes on their new album Archetypes. Lead singer Spyreas Sid has enough power to reach the back rows on a huge festival, but Nick Sid takes home the award for best musician in this Athens, Greece based band. He can make his instrument whisper and holler, invoke the acoustics of a huge cathedral or a sweaty blues club,. The band as a whole sounds massive and overpowering, while the lyrics deal with doom, loss and classic mythology, with songs about Hermes, Apollo and Lilith.

Arcehtypes is a black-and-white album - no time for the in between greys. When a woman does them wrong, she is Snake and Horse Dark As Night is creature from a next level nightmare. After all the horrors, the closing tracks here Will Be A Time comes as a misplaced Hollywood ending straight out of nowhere.

Trip to Dover: Dutch Summer tour dates

Dutch electronic rock duo Trip to Dover hit the road this Summer to promote their latest album Fade Into Gold.

Live dates:

• 06/03 Breda @ Velvet (in-store)
• 06/03 Breda @ Sound Dog
• 06/04 Liempde @ Limuscene Live 2017
• 06/10 Liessel @ Marma-Bar
• 06/24 Lierop @ Eurosjopper Festival 2017
• 06/24 Venlo @ Zoks Festival 2017
• 07/01 The Hague @ Zeeheldenfestival 2017
• 07/08 Berkel En Rodenrijs @ Rotorock Festival 2017
• 08/26 Susteren @ Koppelpop 2017

Curtis Eller's American Circus: crowdfunding campaign for new studio album

Curtis Eller's American Circus have launched a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs of recording their new album:

Welcome to the official fundraising headquarters of Curtis Eller's American Circus! In uncertain times such as these, the citizens of an anxious nation inevitably turn to the dulcet tone of the five-string banjo to ease their troubled minds. Eller and the band are diligently at work on a new full-length phonograph recording to guide you through the dark and dire days ahead.

Neil Young: new album "Hitchhiker" 07/14

A new solo, acoustic Neil Young album will be released on July 14th. Hitchiker contains songs that were recorded @ Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, CA in 1976.

Side 1:

1. Pocahontas
2. PowderFinger
3. Captain Kennedy
4. Hawaii
5. Give Me Strength

Side 2:

1. Ride My Llama
2. Hitchhiker / Like An Inca V1
3. Campaigner
4. Human Highway
5. The Old Country Waltz

» neilyoung.com

(thru Neil Young News)

Hanging Hearts: Into a Myth

Chicago jazz trio Hanging Hearts shortened their name a bit - they were formerly knows as Chris Weller's Hanging Hearts, but it's business as usual on the new album Into a Myth .Exploring and experimenting are still the keywords for the free-flowing jazz with forays into fusion and even a nod to The Police's Invisible Sun for the keyboard part in Pilsen.

The trio's favourite modus operandi is carefully constructing a track, before hititng it over the head and gleefully taking it apart amidst a flurry of Saxophone notes. Since they don't have bass player, drummer Devin Drobka has to work twice as a hard, laying down a thumping bass drum with his feet while playing all over his kit to supply fills and flourishes. He takes turns at commandeering the spotlights with sax player Chris Weller and because of that keyboard player Cole De Genova might be overlooked at first, but his drone-like part in Big Bang Anunnini and full-on wailing Jungle Juice will strike a nerve with Zappa fans.

Galants: Galants

Dublin based noise pop quarter Galants are rather good at reviving the loud but melodic rock of the Nineties. Their self-titled EP features plenty of distorted guitar duels, dry sounding drums and a bass that goes straight for the gut. By contrast the vocals are rather subdued. Lead single Evergreen contains some pretty good harmonizing - think Hüsker Dü meets The Jesus and Mary Chain. Remnants is a mix of The Smiths and Echo and The Bunnymen.

Galants are off to a good start, but they have to kill their darlings in order to find their own sound.

John Cale: Liverpool 2017/05/26 setlist "The Velvet Underground & Nico"

John Cale re-imagined The Velvet Underground & Nico (and quite a bit from White Light/White Heat) to celebrate the album's 50th anniversary @ Clarence Dock, Liverpool, UK - May 26, 2017. Special guests: The Kills, Gruff Rhys, Clinic, Nadine Shah, Fat White Family & Wild Beasts.

Setlist:

1. I'm Waiting For The Man
2. White Light / White Heat (w/ The Kills)
3. All Tomorrow's Parties (w/ Fat White Family)
4. Venus In Furs
5. I'll Be Your Mirror (w/ Wild Beasts)
6. Run Run Run (w/ Clinic)
7. The Black Angel's Death Song (w/ Gruff Rhys)
8. Femme Fatale (w/ Nadine Shah)
9. There She Goes Again
10. Lady Godiva's Operation (w/ Gruff Rhys)
11. European Son (w/ Clinic)
12. Sunday Morning (w/ The Kills)
13. Heroin (w/ Fat White Family)
14. Sister Ray (w/ all guests)

The celebration continues with three shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York (November 16-18).

» John Cale on Facebook
» John Cale tour dates

Triggerfinger: third Amsterdam show added

Belgian power trio Triggerfinger have added a third show at De Melkweg in Amsterdam on December 9, after the first two sold out quickly. It is their first 3-night run at the same venue since 2011 (November 7-9, also @ De Melkweg) Their new studio album Colossus hits the shops on August 25 thru Mascot Records. It will be available on black and blue vinyl, CD, and through all the usual digital outlets. All pre-orders will be signed by the band.

A Band Called Jack: Kiss Me b/w Harry

Manchester folk quintet A Band Called Jack write melancholic tunes about love and sad TV shows, and sometime both within the space of a song. Their debut single Kiss Me b/w Harry is a fine example of violin driven old school acoustic music with the vocals upfront. This is a band that thrives on stage, whether it is a big festival or an intimate pug gig, offering solace after your team has lost a big match. Best enjoyed with a pint of exquisite lager.

Marco Minnemann's drum set-up

Drummer Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Steven Wilson, The Mute Gods) posted a photo of his drum set-up:

Here's the drum set-up you hear on pretty much 99% of the recordings I'm on. It's a custom made DW Jazz series kit, and a hammered 14"x5" Ludwig Black Beauty snare. Cymbals vary and are all Zildjians. Oh yeah and that ride cymbal is a custom made platinum alloy 20", which sounds really unique and lovely. Hope you enjoyed the little geek out.

» marcominnemann.com

The Wood Brothers: "Ophelia" video

The Wood Brothers have made a video for their take on The Band's Ophelia, which they performed at Levon Helm Studios AKA The Barn in Woodstock, NY on August 19, 2016. It's a track frm their latest album Live at The Barn.

They will be on the road throughout Spring and Summer, playing festivals, and supporting the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Beauty Sleep: All In

The new Beauty Sleep single All In is a throwback to the sound of the New Romantics. The Belfast trio took the key elements of bands like Beach House and the Humane League to create a blatantly commercial song, tailor made for wine-drenched Summer nights. It's the forerunner for their debut EP Nature Will Eat Me.

Darlia: Beam Me Up

Blackpool rock band Darlia pay tribute to the sound of Oasis and The Kinks on their new single Beam Me Up. Slacker meets vaudeville. Tongue-in-cheek or dead serious? Both actually, with some pretty nifty call-and-response vocals. Lead singer Nathan Day went through some pretty serious depression issues and with this song he found some sort of closure and is also able to poke fun at his problems, once again proving that making music is good for you.

The Fire Harvest: "The Patient" video

Dutch indie rock band The Fire Harvest have made a video for The Patient a track from their Singing, Dancing, Drinking album. They used footage that was filmed by guitarist Nicolai Adolfs' grandfather Johannes Willem Lambertus Adolfs between 1948 and 1970.

Live dates:

• 05/25 Freiburg, Germany @ BAR
• 05/26 München, Germany @ innen.außen.raum
• 05/27 Kasselt, Germany @ Sandershaus
• 06/05 Utrecht, Netherlands @ Sonnenborgh

» thefireharvest.com

HCTF review of Singing, Dancing, Drinking.

John Cale: 3-night run in NYC performing "The Velvet Underground & Nico"

The rumours were true: John Cale will revisit The Velvet Underground & Nico during a three-night run (November 16-18) at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in New York:

For the first two nights, Cale is accompanied by members of the Wordless Music Orchestra and special guests to perform the album that charted the course of underground music for decades to come. Fifty years after its release, The Velvet Underground & Nico remains a raw, bracing transmission from the downtown demimonde of 1960s New York City, combining Lou Reed’s streetwise lyrics, Nico’s husky contralto, and Cale’s Fluxus-inspired electric viola. In the final evening of this engagement, Cale celebrates 75 years, backed by the Wordless Music Orchestra and Chorus. They perform selections from his legendary, impossible-to-pin-down career, including his landmark work with the Velvet Underground, the baroque pop perfection of Paris 1919, pioneering forays into drone minimalism, and beyond.

Tickets for the full 3-night run go on sale on June 5 for BAM members (June 19 for the general public) and single night tickets on Jul 24 for BAM members (August 8 for the general public).

» John Cale on Facebook
» John Cale tour dates

Words about music (442): Ozzy Osbourne

All that stuff about heavy metal and hard rock, I don't subscribe to any of that. It's all just music. I mean, the heavy metal from the Seventies sounds nothing like the stuff from the Eighties, and that sounds nothing like the stuff from the Nineties. Who's to say what is and isn't a certain type of music?

Ozzy Osbourne

Jan Wouter Oostenrijk: We Are Connected

Dutch guitarist Jan Wouter Oostenrijk is on a mission. He wants to proof that traditional North-African music can be mixed with jazz and rock. This might have led to yet another bunch of well-meant but toothless "world music" compositions. However, his latest album We Are Connected is a successful hybrid of Western music colliding with the signature sound of North-Africa. By pulling them both out of their comfort zones Oostenrijk makes his guitar sing, cry and wail. His instrument is a one-of-a-kind quarter tone guitar, outfitted with extra frets enabling him to play the notes of both continents on six strings. It sounds invigorating, brand new, and makes the listener rethink tuning, chord progressions and blue notes playing catch with Oriental moods.

We Are Connected is obviously the work of an idealist, but Oostenrijk is not a preacher or a politically correct musician. He loves the sound of North Africa, but hasn't forgotten his adolescent favourites New Wave, jazz and rock. Backed by Marco van den Akker's fluid fretless bass and drummer Bas Bouma's uncanny feel he made an album, that isn't an abstract, academic excursion. We Are Connected is bustling with life - the work of man whose open ears enabled him to create something out of the ordinary. The possibilities of his new quarter tone instrument will keep him occupied for many years to come.

Anna Coogan: first batch of dates for the European Fall tour

Cinematic singer and guitar player Anna Coogan has announced the of dates for the European Fall tour. She will be performing tracks from her latest album The Lonely Cry of Space and Time. Opera meets indie rock to create something new and very special. Her longtime friend Willie B is on drums and Moog bass.

Live dates:

• 10/21 Farndale, United Kingdom @ The Band Room
• 10/25 Norderstedt, Germany @ Music Star
• 10/26 Formerum, Netherlands @ Cafe De Vijfpoort
• 10/27 Groningen, Netherlands @ Cafe Lola
• 10/28 Herzogenrath, Germany @ Klösterchen
• 10/29 Millingen Aan De Rijn, Netherlands @ De Gelderse Poort

HCTF premiere: Tunabunny - Nevermind the Cobblestones

Athens, GA band Tunabunny have a knack for capturing big concepts into glorious lo-fi music. Their new double album PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr. will tackle the Lewis Carroll classic and The Beatles' self-titled 2LP extravaganza in one big swoop.

HCTF premieres Nevermind the Cobblestones, a blend of nursery rhyme and garage rock, an infectious ditty that will appeal to music geeks of all ages. Recommended if you like the Modern Lovers, Maureen Tucker solo albums, and Belly.

Triggerfinger: new album "Colossus" 08/25, "Flesh Tight" video

Belgian power trio Triggerfinger will release their new album Colossus on August 25. Dutch label Mascot Records. They have unveiled a video for lead single Flesh Tight, a kidnap story with plenty of sex and violence. The clip was directed by Pieter Van Hees.

Colossus will be available on black and blue vinyl, CD, and through all the usual digital outlets. All pre-orders will be signed by the band.

Tracks:

1. Colossus
2. Flesh Tight
3. Candy Killer
4. Upstairs Box
5. Afterglow
6. Breathlessness
7. That’ll Be The Day
8. Bring Me Back A Live Wild One
9. Steady Me
10. Wollensak Walk

Mayflower Madame: Drown

Norwegian post-punkers Mayflower Madame are back with a new single, Drown. The track about a cruise without a Hollywood ending is the first taste of their as yet untitled second studio album that will be released later this year. Lots of echo and a whiff of psych that will appeal to fans of The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen.

The video was directed by Astrid Serck. Drown is released on Night Cult Records.

Low Society: first dates of European Fall tour

Screaming blues band Low Society have unveiled the first three dates for their European Fall tour. Husband and wife Sturgis Nikides (guitar) and Mandy Lemons Nikides (vocals) will once again be joined by their Belgian rhythm section Jacky Verstraeten (bass) and Bart De Bruecker (drums), who also feature prominently on their latest album Sanctified.

Live dates:

• 11/12 Goor, Belgium @ Goor Blues
• 11/18 Roeselaere, Belgium @ De Mooie Molen
• 11/24 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg @ Sang A Klang Concert Hall

» screaminblues.com
» Low Society on Facebook

HCTF review of Sanctified.

Layla Frankel: Tame the Fox

photo: Aleya Cydney

Long story short: American jazzy folk singer hikes through through Israel, carrying a copy of The Little Prince, and finds inspiration for her new EP. So far, so good, but Layla Frankel's Tame The Fox is a bit faceless, She can sing, it sounds all good, but it doesn't stick. She was trained as a jazz singer, but she gets stuck in a rather bland folk groove that doesn't do justice to her range and phrasing.

For her next hike she should pick up a book that is filled with more complex characters than the archetypes that are running rampant in the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry classic.

Johnny Dowd: new album "Twinkle, Twinkle", tour dates

Johnny Dowd has finished recording an album with public domain tunes. It might be called Twinkle, Twinkle and will be released on his own label Mother Jinx Records:

Howdy all. I have finished tracking my new record, tentatively titled Twinkle, Twinkle. All the songs are in the public domain — “Tom Dooley,” “St. James Infirmary,” “Red River Valley,” “Rock of Ages” . . . you get the picture. It features Anna Coogan and Mike Edmondson on vocals. If you ever wondered what folk music would sound like in an electronic setting, this is it. I’ll release it on my own label, Mother Jinx Records. Not sure when. I’ll keep you posted.

The World of Dust: Golden Moon

When you run your own label like Dutch musician Stefan Breuer, you write your own rules. And you can break them without anyone stopping you. Golden Moon is the latest release of his one-man project The World of Dust is a best of in a way, after going through a stack of CD-r's of recordings he made since 2014 for his personal archive. Golden Moon is a dairy and a sketch book filled with musical collages. Some songs are mere snippets, while other were allowed to grow into an off-kilter song or instrumental.

Breuer loves to shuffles the deck to show the listener another card of his craft: noise, college rock, Krautrock, shoegaze, and geeky indie. All 20 songs are homemade recordings, made on an iPhone, and 4-track & 8-track cassette tape recorders. This lo-fi modus operandi adds another layer of charm to an album allowing th listener to be a fly-on-the-wall during the creation of his music. Happy accidents like the sound of his daughter playing in the background when he recorded Tribal Memories or straying off-pitch during Former Kings were not cleaned up. Warts-and-all Golden Moon is his most loose sounding album to date.

White Room: Take Me Away

photo: Milo Belgrov

Brighton based quintet White Room's new single Take Me Away is awash with sunny Sixties psychedelica and dark Nineties shoegaze. Those two genres get along nicely to create an inner tension that is both captivating and catchy. No wonder that have secured billing on the UK Summer festival circuit.

HCTF premiere: Tiny Eyes - Golden Thread from Falling EP

Joel Evans is Tiny Eyes, a one-man project from Leicester. His new EP Falling is an excursion into slightly skewed piano folk. Evans does a lot of soul searching about the fairer sex. Quite predictably he is at a loss, but his impressive lyrical abilities enable him to describe his predicament. Standout track Golden Thread says it best:

Every day a song falls
Out of my piano Winding like a golden thread
Melodies and meanings
Tangle up inside
My head

If not anything else, Evans offers pastoral and poetic solace. Had Nick Drake been an eccentric piano player, this is what he might have sounded like.

Chris Cornell: 1964-2017

Chris Cornell, lead singer of American rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, has died unexpectedly. The greatest singer from the gurnew era - he had a four octaves range - was on tour with Soundgarden. Cuse of death is unknown. From The Guardian:

In a statement to the Associated Press, his representative, Brian Bumbery, said Cornell died on Wednesday night in Detroit.

Bumbery called the death “sudden and unexpected” and said his wife and family were shocked. The statement said the family would be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause, and asked for privacy.

HCTF premiere: Rat Fancy - Beyond Belief

LA indie trio Rat Fancy took bits of psychedelica, shoegaze and Sixties West Coast pop to create Beyond Belief, the lead single from their forthcoming Suck A Lemon EP. The song is named after TV series about the paranormal. While is perfectly understandable to be very, very sceptical about that kind of shows, the music can stand on its own. A dead ringer for a lady Summer mixtape.

Suck A Lemon will be released thru Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. Release date: May 28th.

Phish: new archival release Schenectady 5/17/92

Another archival Phish release is available for streaming and download: 5/17/92 Schenectady, NY @ Achilles Rink - Union college. The release contains ample filler from the next night, a hometown show @ The Flynn Theatre in Burlington:

On May 17, 1992 Phish played at Achilles Rink – the Union College hockey arena opened in 1975 with a capacity of about 2,500. Schenectady was the second-to-last date on a 53-show spring tour that hit 24 states and the District of Columbia with five shows in Colorado, six in California and seven in New York before wrapping up in the band’s hometown Burlington, Vermont. Phish’s third studio album and Elektra debut, A Picture of Nectar, had dropped in February. Fans benevolently plastered promo stickers depicting Nectar’s face from the album cover on toll booths and highway rest areas from coast to coast. Spring ’92 featured the new Minkin Lexan backdrops, a big batch of new songs that would form the basis for Rift, and the band inviting the audience to share in the Secret Language. Phish.net (and the Internet in general) was just starting to catch on, there was no official taper’s section yet, and word of mouth was key. The Schenectady show – with a ticket price of $5 - was a prime example as it was not listed in the Phish newsletter or hotline. It was a Sunday night, Page’s birthday, and the band was almost home after more than two months on the road.

Anna Coogan & Willie B: "The Lonely Cry of Space and Time" live @ The Triple Door in Seattle

Watch Anna Coogan perform The Lonely Cry of Space and Time, the title track from her latest album, at the Triple Door in Seattle, WA on April 23, 2017. Opera meets indie rock. Her longtime friend Willie B is on drums and Moog bass. The clip was made and produced by Chris Julien and Michael Poggenberg.

KYLYPSO: Blame Love

KYLYPSO threw in a bit of soft-spoken psychedelica and Eurodance to sweeten the electronics that are the dominant force on their new single Blame Love. The English trio defy pigeon-holing with their music that can be cheesy and challenging.

Spot the references so The Human League, Tame Impala and Arcade Fire as the most obvious ones. Hugh Fothergill, Rudi Falla and Tom Greenwood have made a catchy puzzle that will frustrate pub quiz competitors.

Cover Me: Winterlong

Watch the Pixies tackle the Neil Young classic Winterlong. From their Live At The Paradise In Boston DVD.

» pixiesmusic.com

I am Oak: "On Claws" comes to vinyl

I am Oak's debut album On Claws will be reissued on coloured vinyl on June 5. The album by the Dutch folk act was released in 2010 and is a modern indie folk classic. An expanded CD with two bonus tracks was made available in 2013. One of them, Gold and Porcelain, willaat be included on the vinyl version.

On Claws is released through Snowstar Records. The album will be presented at the Utrecht Centraal showcase on June 5.

Bad Pop: Same House

Canadian trio Bad Pop are mixing Britpop and slacker rock for their new single Same House. They don't take themselves too seriously and the promo video is filled with band members dressed up as rather unscary characters tearing it up at children's playgrounds.

The Pineapple Thief + Godsticks: European tour dates

The Pineapple Thief and Godsticks, two rather good UK progressive rock bands, will embark on a European tour in September. Godsticks frontman Darran Charles will be working double shifts as the second guitarist for the headliner, who also enlisted former King Crimson drummer Gavin Harrison.

Live dates:

• 09/06 Scheune, Dresden, Germany
• 09/07 Progresja Music Zone, Warsaw, Poland
• 09/08 Kwadrat Music Club, Krakow, Poland
• 09/09 Melodka, Brno, Czech Republic
• 09/10 Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany
• 09/11 Dynamo, Zurich, Germany
• 09/12 Universum, Stuttgart, Germany
• 09/13 Luxor, Cologne, Germany
• 09/14 De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands
• 09/16 ULU, London, UK
• 09/17 Bierkeller, Bristol, UK

Ronan Conroy: Blood Dread

photo: Justin Wierbonski

When Ronan Conroy hit a low pint in his life, he responded like a musician: he wrote a handful of bleak songs to deal with it. Blood Dread. Aided by two of his longtime friends, multi-instrumentalist Charles Nieland and drummer Justin Wierbonksi he laid down five tracks for Blood Dread, an EP that is kind of morose, but also serves a therapy to overcome his sorrow and inner dread.

Conroy's signature baritone comes close to breaking into tears, but never becomes sordid. He used his grief to come to terms with himself and the outside world. Blood Dread is a dark journey, but Conroy is finding his a way out of the maze where his demons were closing in upon him.

Johnny Dowd: show @ Local 506 in Chapel Hill

Johnny Dowd, one of a kind leftfield trashcan Americana artist, has a show at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC on June 14th.

» johnnydowd.com

HCTF review of Execute American Folklore.

HCTF premiere: Stutter Steps - Encino

Pittsburgh, PA band Stutter Steps like to travel, in real life and in their dreams. Encino, a track form their forthcoming EP Floored is a delicate, introspective slice of indiepop. Sunrises are mentioned, questions are asked, but no answers are given. Recommended if you like Big Star, the Beta Band and the Go-Betweens. They won't sell lots of records, but the music geeks scene will sing their praise for many years to come.

Sabatta: "Middle Of The Night" video

Watch the new Sabatta video for Middle Of The Night, the title track from their latest album. The clip was shot by Graham Stannard, and directed and edited by the band's singer and guitarist Yinka Oyewole. They used plenty of sexy, familiar footage from classic movies.

Callum Pitt: Least He's Happy

Callum Pitt's debut single You'd Better Sell It While You Can was a nice surprise and his new one Least He's Happy lives up to the expectations. He plays a jangling acoustic guitar and once again relies on double tracked vocals to get more depth - he is only 15 after all and his voice will get stronger over the years.

His journey has just begun, but he is on the right track to become an artist who can support himself through his music.

HCTF premiere - Natalie Bouloudis: Dead Sea Scripts

English bluesy folk singer Natalie Bouloudis has a voice that be can't ignored: smokey, confident and topped off with don't-fuck-with-me phrasing. Her debut EP Dead Sea Scripts was recorded live at Wax Studios in London. It is a collection of songs sounding like she has been a recording artist for many years - well balanced, adventurous and intense. She is a singer with a spellbinding range. Imagine PJ Harvey after been exposed to the collected works of Sandy Denny, Ricky Lee Jones and the Cowboy Junkies.

Dead Sea Scripts makes disaster (Burning Pier) and violence (Raging Forcestress) sound appealing. And she found a fun way to tell love to get lost with Romantic Bullshit Blues. Bouloudis is the kind of artist who was always there somehow, making the listener wonder why he failed to take notice before. This hybrid of jazz, waltz rhythms, blues and folk taps you on the shoulder, flashing a mischievous grin. Resistance, as the saying goes, is futile.

Jack Ladder: "Susan" single, European solo tour

Australian singer Jack Ladder heads out to Europe without his band The Dreamlanders. His new single Susan sounds like a mainstream version of Mark Lanegan. Plenty of Eighties synths and a rather superfluous handful of backing vocalists. Let's see how his material holds up without the gloss.

Kim Janssen: "Gouldians" video

Watch the new Kim Janssen video for Gouldians, the title track from his latest album Cousins. The Dutch singer-songwriter finds himself at a garden party, experiencing "a single moment seen from different angles".

Secondhand Habit: Give Me All You've Got

Watch the new Secondhand Habit video for Give Me All You've Got, the lead single from their fortchoming EP From The Ashes (out on July 1st on Bandcamp).

They are a basic radiofriendly rawk band from Victoria, BC, Canada. Lots of energy, nothing new, but nothing wrong either.

John Cale: show in Catena di Villorba

John Cale will perform at Fabrica in Catena di Villorba, Italy on July 14.

» John Cale on Facebook
» John Cale tour dates

Steven Wilson: new album "To The Bone" 08/18; stream "Pariah"

UK prog musician Steven Wilson has just announced the release of his new album To The Bone. As per usual he tackles big themes: paranoia, refugees and religious fundamentalists.

After many months of writing and recording, I’m pleased to finally announce details of my new album To The Bone and a major European tour in early 2018 which includes a return to many of my favourite venues, including London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall. For my North and South American fans, expect to see further tour news soon.

To The Bone is due to be released on 18th August but is available now to pre-order in a variety of formats, including a special deluxe hard back 120 page book edition, which includes an exclusive full length CD of demos and unused songs, and a one-sided 7 inch vinyl single of a bonus instrumental song from the album sessions. Neither of these will be available anywhere else.

Midnight Oil: four more US Dates added to "The Great Circle 2017" World Tour

Australian rock band Midnight Oil have announced four new dates in the US as part of The Great Circle World Tour:

• 08/19 Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Amphitheatre
• 08/21 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
• 08/27 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
• 08/29 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

Low Society: Sanctified

BEST OF 2017
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HCTF

The foundations for the new Low Society album Sanctified were recorded in Belgium last year, when husband and wife Sturgis Nikides (guitar) and Mandy Lemons Nikides (vocals) entered the Closed Session Recording Studio in Roeselare with Jacky Verstraeten (bass) and Bart De Bruecker (drums), the rhythm section that they had enlisted for their shows in Holland and Belgium. They finished the album in their hometown Memphis, TN at American Recording Studio, with engineer Will Danger. This might well be the first Transatlantic screaming blues album ever and it's filled to the rafters with shoe-tapping goodness, raw and downright sexy emotion, and heartfelt love for the blues.

Sanctified is a tribute to old school production values, using natural echo, vintage amps and miking all the instruments carefully. Since they are a band that plays really loud (Racoon Song) and soft (Nina, New York City Boy #3) it's no small feat that they found a way to end up with a consistent range of dynamics. No need to adjust your set - well, only to turn it up, but that 's been taken care off as soon as the first notes of their cover of Angel From Montgomery has found its way to the speakers.

Elephant Stone: Live At The Verge

Canadian psychedelic raga rock trio Elephant Stone have released their session at SiricumXM Toronto as a digital EP. The tracks on Live At The Verge stay close to the album versions mostly, with the exception of The Devil's Shelter - they have to do without guest vocalist Alex Maas - and See The Light that they play a bit faster. The cover art shows performing in a small club, but no fans were present in the studio when they recorded cut the tracks in February.

Although it';s nice to hear this slightly sparser reworkings of the band's back catalog, em>Live At The Verge lacks the urgency of a real live show. A studio isn't a proper place to capture the urgency of a full band warts-and-all first take. Go see 'em to get a real taste of their unique blend of Indian raga and Western rock.

Vaadat Charigim: European tour dates

Israeli psychedelic shoegaze trio Vaadat Charigim will be on tour in Europe in May and June. Their new album will come out out on Burger Records later this year and they will be on the road in the USA to promote it. Dates tba.

Live dates:

• 05/21 Akko, Leipzig, Germany
• 05/22 Poglos, Warsaw, Poland
• 05/23 Solarium, Berlin, Germany
• 05/24 Exhaust, Trier, Germany
• 05/25 Kumiko Isakaya, Brussels, Belgium
• 05/26 Sugarfactory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 05/27 Espace B, Paris, France
• 05/30 Le Sonic, Lyon, France
• 06/02 Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain

Missiles of October: Better Days

Stoner punk metal trio Missiles of October have been making noise for years. All three members can hand over a lengthy resume listing previous stints with bands in the Belgian underground. Their latest album is called Better Days, a smack in the face and a punch of guts. Yes, it's dirty, but also possesses that rare quality of being "tight but loose".

Better Days is nihilistic and angry as fuck. The songs won't let go and after a little over half an hour the listener is finally allowed to catch his breath again, pummeled into submission, but smiling uncontrollably. Recommended if you like Fugazi, Faith No More and the Dead Kennedys (without the politics).

Words about music (441): Colin Meloy

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I don’t want to be the person who sends everyone to the dictionary when they’re listening to music, just because I think that pop music should be a populist thing. So it’s a fine line. I feel like the words themselves don’t require that you need to know them and that they work well as nonsense words. They work well simply as things to drive the meter of the verse—and the meaning is almost a peripheral thing.

Colin Meloy

o.ccult: Hell Mary

Hell Mary, the new single by Israeli experimental duo o.ccult, may sound like another swipe at religion, but it's first and formeost a song about going under water. No drowning is involved, but she comes up for air. Dark indie synth pop crashes with drones and echo-heavy voices. The song features guest vocalist Sarai Darmon.

» o.ccult on Facebook

HCTF review of Elephants.

Black Sugar Transmission: The Aughts Vol 8: Gardens Growing Over Doll Parts

NYC singer and guitar ace Andee Blacksugar has released Vol 8, the final part (for now) of his Black Sugar Transmission re-recordings for his monthly EP series The Aughts. Vol 8: Gardens Growing Over Doll Parts contains six songs crossing the border between glam and hard rock, It can be bought from his webshop.

The Aughts is a new monthly series of 6-song EP releases. These are brand new re-recordings of songs I originally wrote/recorded on my trusty 4-track machine roughly between 2000 and 2006 (also known as the P*S*K era).