Finnish quirky pop duo Fun With Muesli stumbled upon vintage, borderline cheesy keyboard sounds and used them to set the tone for their new single Starving Heart. Aki (vocals, keys, drums) and Henri (guitar) make heartbreak sound like fun, making it a dead ringer for summer solace playlists. Take note of the nifty guitar, not quite in tune but o so efficient.
HCTF review of the Houseboat EP.
Another archival Phish release is available for streaming and download: 6/17/94 Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom. This is the "O.J. Show":
On June 17, 1994 Phish played the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the largest and most ornate room in The Rave/Eagles Club complex. The landmark “Million Dollar Ballroom” was opened in 1927 with an oval wooden dance floor and domed ceiling ringed by balconies, with a capacity of about 1,500. It was Phish’s only show in the haunted ballroom but their second performance in the building, having played The Rave in spring 1992. This was the “O.J. Show” performed during O.J. Simpson’s slow-speed Bronco chase. Starting just before showtime and unbeknownst to the audience (O.J. had a cell phone in 1994 but most fans didn’t), the band was following O.J.’s progress along the freeways of Los Angeles. To say this affected the show would be an understatement. Phish channelled that crazy American energy and injected the juice into the music. The result is no secret – the O.J. Show is a classic introductory Phish tape.
Want to join Dweezil Zappa's band? Here's your change. He is looking for a singer and a multi-instrumentalist:
I hope all is well with you. Things are busy over here. We have some touring coming up and it looks like we might have some room for you on the stage! I'm writing to let you know that for the first time in a very long time we are opening up auditions for a male singer/multi-instrumentalist. What am I looking for? Thanks for asking, here's the criteria.
The male singer responsibilities will include covering Frank Zappa lead vocals as well as other lead vocalist parts from throughout my father's entire catalog. As an example, a vocal audition would include: Cosmik Debris, Montana, Dumb All Over, City Of Tiny Lites, Florentine Pogen and Village Of The Sun among other things.
For those who have missed out on The Claypool Lennon Delirium Record Store Day release of the Lime & Limpid Green EP, there is another chance to get on it ultra clear 10” vinyl with kelly green and double mint splatter. It's available for pre-order thru ATO Records.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium returns with 4 cosmically trippy covers of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine”, The Who’s “Boris The Spider”, King Crimson’s “The Court of the Crimson King” and Flower Travellin’ Band’s “Satori”. Previously a Record Store Day exclusive, this wide release is limited to 3k units.
They have made a video for Satori.
Watch the Govt'Mule session for World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA (2017/05/18. The jam blues rock quartet played six songs from their latest album Revolution Come…Revolution Go.
Setlist:Their European Fall tour kicks off in Dublin on October 22.
Alt-country singer Eilen Jewell has recorded a blues covers album, Down Hearted Blues. It will be released on September 22nd thru Signature Sounds Recordings.
She will be joining the Rolling Rootsy Review in Sweden and Norway, sharing the bill with the North Mississippi Allstars, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Yola Carter and Dead Man Winter.
Radiohead were headlining at this year's edition of the Glastonbury Festival @ Worthy Farm, Pilton, UK (2017/06/23). The show was broadcast by the BBC. Watch the full show.
Setlist:
Japanese dreampop band The Fin. take it slow and make it smooth on their new single Pale Blue. With falsetto vocals van vintage synths it's a throwback to the dance music of the late Seventies, a hybrid of indie production values and mainstream appeal.
Consider the odds of starting a progressive rock band in Tehran. The capital of Iran doesn't come to mind a a likely place for a bunch of musicians to play music that is inspired by Muse, Pink Floyd and Marillion. Wednesday Call was founded in 2007 and their latest album The Line is dedicated Levon Davidian, the father of Arin Davidian, the band's singer and lead guitarist.
Recorded in a makeshift home studio The Line sound a bit lo-fi, but the intricate textures of the keyboards sound surprisingly clear. It appears that turned down the guitar a bit t make room for the vocals and the drums(Saied Jame always comes in a bit late, like a prog version of Charlie Watts). Wednesday Call's music can stand its ground against the contemporary competition. Play the dreamy Green Fields or the freaky off-kilter rhythm Out of Nowhereland during a pop quiz and odds are that nobody will guess their country origin. Good music doesn't give a fuck about borders.
Tuscon, AZ avant-garde post-rock band The Myrrors like to put a challenge. Take Organ Mantra, the first track from their forthcoming new elbum Hasta La Victoria, a twisted rage of rock that refuses to let go for ten minutes straight. They find a menacing and unrelenting rhythm as the foundation for their dystopian soundscapes, with a few choice lighter notes as pinpricks in their pitch black sonic tapestries.
Their Spanish lyrics tell tales of resistance and the odds of coming out on top at the end. Putting on Tea House Music in an actual tea room would make most clientele choke on their tea and biscuits, but those who stick around will be transfixed by a glorious lead string part that is part Arabian and part Tex-Mex. The Myrrors show bleak pictures, captivating art that commands full attention.
Watch Nick Launay describe the mixing process of the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds track Jubilee Street.
One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz.
Lou Reed
Dutch hardrockers The Dirty Denims performed a live session for online platform Frequenzy.nl, playing three songs from their Back With A Bang - part 1 EP. Basic boogie goodness that should be played loud.
Amsterdam indie guitar band Maggie Brown went through some major line-up changes. Lead singer and guitarist Marcel Hulst, keyboards player Friso Schmid and drummer Pascal van Baren are still part of the quintet that released a self-titled full-length in 2014. Finding a new bass player and guitarist took some time and in the meantime Hulst recorded a solo album and switched gears to record the Sunrise Reprise EP with his psychedelic electronic indie trio The Slideshows.
Most bands would sound quite different after such major line-up change but overall feel of the new album Another Place is pretty much the same. Maggie Brown has a knack to make the horrid sound gentle in Plane Crash or make disappearing appealing in Void. Hulst's dreamy wavering vocals and Van Baren's dry drum sound are the dominant factors. Hulst played all the guitar bits - former guitarist Randy Derkhof can be heard on two of the tracks.
Toronto based Talk Show Host are quick to release a new EP. Not Here to Make Friends sounds cheerful and angry at the same time, incorporating both their pop and punk leanings. The vocals are more prominent, but they have retained their lo-fi brand of power trio mayhem.
Their fast-paced songs are always an inch away from derailing. Soul searching is not on the top of their list, but I Hate Men (I Hate All Men) comes close and has the added bonus of Madeleine Maynard (Jerkoff Diary) helping them out as a guest vocalist.
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist St. Vincent will back on the road with her first major tour since 2015. Be prepared for a multimedia meets art-rock experience.
Registration for USA pre-sale starts now (In order to participate in the USA fan pre-sale on June 27, you must pre-register by June 25!). Global fan pre-sale begins June 27, general on-sale begins June 30.
Moby has released the highly political album More Fast Songs About The Apocalypse. Aided by The Void Pacific Choir he speaks out about environmental issues and the toupet-wearing idiot who has moved into a building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This collection of high energy electro-rock songs is proof that you don't have to be a folkie with a battered acoustic to get mad at the powers that be.
More Fast Songs About The Apocalypse is a self-released album. Buy it (CD, vinyl, digital) from his website. Also available as a free download. Full stream on Soundcloud.
Japanese noise/drone guitarist Suzuki Junzo will be on tour in Europe, playing shows in Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and the UK. "Junzo is an eclectic experimentalist, whose subtle flourishes are like flowers defying his wall sound." He will be supported by Jumble Hole Clough at the show in Hebden Bridge.
Chicago jazz band The AV Club honours the old adage that their audience should be able to dance to their music or at least snap their fingers. Led by bass player and main composer Andrew Vogt their self-titled album is all over the map, making turns towards rock, fusion, and the plain silly - Shack Dog and Pearhofjax have cheesy keyboard parts that have written "guilty pleasure" all over it.
All players have read the rule books and tossed them in the trash subsequently. No rules except respecting the main theme. The AV Club laugh at genre limitations. It's all music and when the mood strikes anything could happen, proving that being eclectic is fun.
Chicago based funky soul band The Right Now hit the road this Summer to promote their new Starlight album.
For thosse who have lucky enough to attend a King Crimson show recently and have stopped by the merch table are likely to be familiar with the Stick Men compilation album KONNEKTED (blue). They have released a free digital companion KONNEKTED (red). It includes two previously unreleased versions of tracks (OPEN, Parts 1-3 and Embracing the Sun) from their back catalog.
Brooklyn quintet is a new band founded by a bunch of longtime indie musicians sharing a love for a big passionate mid-tempo rock. Their debut single Swallow, written by singer Erin Pellnat, deals with the troubles of getting out of an unhealthy relationship. The band helps her out on getting on top of her anxiety with a bold guitar/keyboards combo pushed forward by an Eighties inspired rhythm section.
Patti Smith will be on tour in Europe this summer. Longtime guitarist Lenny Kaye joins the tour halfway.
with Tony Shanahan, Jackson Smith & Seb Rochford:
If you play an instrument, it makes you a better singer. The more you play, the better you sing, the more you sing, the better you play.
Amy Winehouse
Screaming blues band Low Society have added a show in Wageningen, The Netherlands @ Bluesclub XXL (11/19) to 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:» screaminblues.com
» Low Society on Facebook
HCTF review of Sanctified.
It's pretty rare for Colin Robinson to let another musician contribute to his one of his Jumble Hole Clough albums. He made an exception for fellow avant-gardist and friend Michael Linden West who contributed (and appears on) four tracks of the new Go And Play Quietly By Yourself album. They have performed together as The Clog Hunt Occasional Collapsing Knitting Society and appeared many times on the same bill at The Nutclough Tavern Road in Hebden Bridge.
The bulk of the material was broadcasted on Radiofare on Dublin Digital Radio, which might explain why all tracks are rather short, with the notable exception of Driven Bognor Regis, a skewed tribute of sorts to the ice cream and sausages that can be enjoyed at the seaside resort in West Sussex.
As long as time machines are only a reality in Sci-fi stories the best way to travel to the past is listening to music. Philadelphia neo-psych band Them Jones sound like they have been kept in storage since 1968 on their new full-length Grow, a collection of pastoral, echo-heavy tunes. They are fiercely retro, building a wall of guitars and weaving vocal tapestries. They pick a riff, turn it inside out and take it into day-glo back alleys of melodic rock.
With tracks like the high energy Nuggets-throwback Flowers for Butterflies and the slow moving vocals and keyboards extravaganza Shiva they cover most of the ground that was first explored on the West Coast in the late Sixties. Them Jones know their music history, and are able to add a new chapter to the already bulging book of psychedelic rock. Recommended if you like the Lovin' Spoonful, the Outsiders, and contemporary acts like The Luck of Eden Hall and Elephant Stone.
In conjunction with their label Bad Elephant Music English prog experimentalists The Fierce & The Dead are offering a free sampler EP. TFATD 10 contains tracks from Field Recordings (live), Magnet, Spooky Action and If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe.
This fine introduction to one of the leading prog instrumental groups can downloaded from Bandcamp.
Blackpool garage rockers Darlia have made a video for their new single Beam Me Up. "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."
Beam Me Up is released on Ignition Records.
For the first time ever improv blues rock quarter Gov't Mule will perform their annual Halloween show in Europe. On October 31 they will the stage at the Paradiso in Amsterdam:
Those of you who follow our “Mule-vements“ know we always do something special to commemorate All Hallows Eve. Being able to do so this year for the very first time in Europe is extremely exciting for us. Its something we’ve been thinking about and hoping to do for several years. We hope you’ll join us for “The Revolution Is Free” on October 31st at Paradiso Amsterdam.
Their European Fall tour kicks off in Dublin on October 22.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist David Corley was a late bloomer when he burst upon the Americana scene with his Available Light album in 2014. His husky vocals and storytelling capabilities stood out and he did not change this winning formula (or his musicians) for his second full-length Zero Moon. Corley has been to Hell and back, including suffering from a heart attack during the encore of a show in Groningen, The Netherlands (which inspired him to record his Lights Out EP).
Corley's late start as a recording artist is a blessing in disguise - he knows what he wants. Keyboard player and producer Hugh Christopher Brown acts as his trusted musical co-worker, and he is essential in getting a warm Seventies sound. While travel was the main theme of his previous album, Corley now looks inside and closer to home for inspiration. It looks like that he can't over the fact that he is recognized as a force within the scene, so some soul-searching is in order to come to terms with that. It's not all Splendid Now and he can still raise his voice to protest against injustice, but he does so with a sense of humour. The live favourite Down With The Universe was transferred successfully to the studio. Corley's raspy baritone is stronger than ever. His journey continues, with his albums acting as postcards to his fans.
Guitarist Warren Haynes sheds some light on his slide techniques on Reverb.com. He prefers using standard tuning, rather than utilizing opening tuning.
The cure for Alumni Blues is here for Phish fans. The School of History, Philosophy, and Religion of Oregon State University is offering an online course as part of their PHL 360: Philosophy and the Arts program:
Tired of chalk dust torture? Sign up for this year's Philosophy School of Phish course! Class begins June 26th.
The Philosophy School of Phish is a special online section of PHL 360: Philosophy and the Arts, which uses Phish’s live performances as “field sites” for exploring the philosophy of art and music. The class is offered online through Oregon State University’s Ecampus. This makes it possible for anyone, anywhere to register; you do not have to be a current OSU student to take the class. The online format also permits each student (and the Professor) to travel to Phish concerts, instead of requiring physical attendance in an OSU classroom.
(thru phish.net)
Rod Argent sat down with Larry Crane T for an in-depth Tape Op magazine interview, discussing the 50th anniversary of Odessey and Oracle:
On the signature harmonies that make The Zombies instantly recognizable:
We always try to explore music harmonically, in terms of chord progressions, and in terms of voicings and harmonies too. I don’t think there were many bands that didn’t just do harmonies in root, third, and fifth; everyone singing in parallel, pretty much. We always looked at it as something a bit more.
is there such a thing as power art pop? Well, yes. Pittsburgh, PA band Stutter Steps took a bit of Big Star, a bit of Sixties garage and a reasonable amount of Nineties college rock for their Floored EP, a near flawlees collection of six songs that will be force-feeded to their clientele by independent record store clerks.
If this EP was a weather forecast it could described as mostly cloudy, with occasional drizzle and the sun making an effort to show her face. Sublime melancholia as told by the team effort vocals by the band's songwriter Ben Harrison and Cindy Yogmas. The repetitive, jangling guitars never let go in a friendly tug-of war with the rhythm section. Happy-sad indie pop never sounded so good.
Watch Belgian power trio Triggerfinger perform their Flesh Tight single live on Belgian TV show Van Gils & gasten.
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.
London singer James Poole gets even after a breakup with his debut single I’ve Started Fuckin Someone Else. Catchy piano pop, with an earworm oh-oh-oh-oh-oh in the chorus. Mainstream stuff with an indie attitude that will find its way to radio stations that don't censor lyrics.
Riff Diamond offer the total heavy blues rock package on their debut album Sapphire: a slew of intense originals and a couple of choice covers. Lead singer Becky Baxter has the range and the power (think a young Nancy Wilson), guitarist Conal O'Donoghue has the chops and a big bag of six string tricks, Led Zeppelin fanatic/drummer John McNulty unleashes his inner John Bonham and bass guitarist Dom McvAreavey is solid as a rock, adding a bit of fuzz while he takes care of the bottom end.
Blues rock is a no-frills genre, but when passion is missing or the instrument are not properly balanced, the music can comes out as a muddy mess. They folloewd the handbook from their heroes (Gov't Mule, Cream, Deep Purple, Joe Bonamassa) and went for a live in the studio sound and positioned the listener right in front of them when they mixed the tracks. So when they go all out (Shadow Man, Phoenix) or build it up more slowly (29 Days, Count Me Out) you have a front row seat.
It's been eight years since the last Living Colour studio album The Chair in the Doorway. They released the rather splendid cover Who Shot Ya last year, giving The Notorious B.I.G track a much needed dose of hard rock. Anger is always a good thing for the band to get the songwriting juices flowing and now they have released Come On as the first single of their new album Shade (out on September 8 on Megaforce Records).
Canadian art pop band Blimp Rock like to think outside the box. When an album is named Soap Opara it makes perfect sense to releases it as a bar of soap, with a laminated download code inside. All joking aide their music is a continuation of their previous album Sophomore Slump - quirky songs of the They Might Be Giants variety, albeit on a shoestring budget.
Lead single Dear Science is a study in wordplay, but it lacks a proper punch line. Feline affcionados will appreciate I Love My Cat. The Stones classic Sympathy for the Devil is incorporated into Duet With The Devil, which might be fun during a live show, but it doesn't work in a studio environment. They saved the best for last, the self-deprecating a cappella Ode To Faults, with lead singer Pete Demakos' proudly stating that he "was born with shoddy pitch." A tongue-in-cheek bit of damage control by a band that could a chance of pace instead of working on a new marketing gimmick for their music.
Watch the new Anna Coogan video for Burn For You, a track from her The Lonely Cry of Space and Time album. The clip was shot and edited by Ben Moss. Annan Cooga explained the story behind the song and the making of the video in an interview with The Big Takeover:
Shortly after I wrote the song, I was jogging and ran past this gaggle of girls — they are coming of age in such a difficult time and the headlines of the day reflect everything they are up against, but they have so much hope and optimism and such big smiles.
The concept for this video, stripping them of their childhood and color, slathering their faces with war paint, and sending them into the unknown, was mostly born right then. When I approached the families with my idea, I was not sure they’d be interested, given I was sending their daughters to war. But they all loved it and got on board right away.”
Aussie lo-fi garage rock Suss Cunts have zero patience with guys who get in their way. Their self-titled EP is a throwback to the early days of punk, with catchy melodies softening the blow of the angry lyrics. Quite refreshing to have an all female perspective on the male dominated indie music scene and the punk niche in particular.
The vocals are out of tune quite a lot, but their self-assuredness an bravado turn those flubs into happy accidents that add to the vibe. These ladies don't give a fuck about good manners or the status quo. They don't mind telling a boy that they have had enough off all the chitchat and that they want to Get Laid - right now. Recommended if you like The Slits and Skinny Girl Diet.
I draw the line at letting people into my songwriting cave. To me, that's where the alchemy happens and where the mystery is.
Amanda Palmer
What do you get when put advance electronic producer in the same room as an indie guitarist who might get loud? Former roommates Declan Falls and Kevin Kowalewski did not stop there for the new single from their Obelisk project. They enlisted a smooth Canadian singer to handle the vocals on Gold & Dust, an eclectic track that goes through various moods swings, but land safely on its feet.
They cater to a handful of niches (mellow dance, soft rock and piano pop). This tricky business could have ended in flames or an undefinable mess, but it came out great. Let's call it post-dance pop for now: something else wrapped in something familiar.
Jeffrey Halford & The Healers may call California home these days, but the Texas heritage is very much at large on their new album Lo Fi Dreams. Travel and trouble are the main ingredients, with some good-natured violence as the icing on the cake. Whether main man Jeffrey Halford sings about an endless journey (10,000 miles) or laments a breakup (Last Kiss), it doesn't really matter if the events actually happened. The ability to tell a good story is a given for top-shelf Americana, long before someone coined the term "alternative facts." So there is no question about the King's antics in Elvis Shot The Television.
Garage rock meets early Blur on Let's Talk About Me, the debut from UK trio Johnny Kills. Sneering vocals, a succinct guitar solo, plenty of fuzz, a zooming bass and a "lalalalalalalala" bit that gets under your skin in a good way. And they managed to cram all of this in a little under three minutes.
A ballsy debut that was mastered by Pete Maher, a big shot who loves to help unsigned bands getting their sound right.
Ritchie Blackmore was interviewed in The Guardian. At 72 he is still very serious about music and tries shard not to have fun.
I don’t think the world is a fun place. I’m very content in my own mind, in a way, but fun, I’m not too sure about. I don’t quite know what fun is. I don’t know why I should walk around with a perpetual grin on my face, saying everything’s wonderful.
Garage rock power trio Sewage Farm have made a video for Plastic Bag, a track from their Cloudy album. Sam Forrest (vocals, guitar - Nine Black Alps) and Danny Trew Barton (bass - White Firs) joined forces with drummer Danny Hirst have turned this side project into a real band "for a target group that likes to drink beer and play air guitar, while swaying gently to the back beat".
They have are playing two club shows in The Netherlands, sharing the bill with Dutch indie band You Should Get To Know Us.
Japanese dreampop band The Fin. sound like they recorded their latest single Afterglow underwater. They must have studied Simon Gallup's bass part religiously, which is a good thing because it gives the track something to hang on to when the rest of the band is busy working their effect pedals and adding echo to the vocals.
Watch Dutch musician Fred Händl playing a of the Mothers of Invention classic How Could I Be Such A Fool on his grand piano. Pretty nifty transctiption/reinvention of the vocal and trumpet parts. He is working on a follow-up for his Fred Händl plays the music of Frank Zappa – featuring The Giacomo di Lindini Trio album.
» drfreddies.com
» jazzappa.com
HCTF review of Fred Händl plays the music of Frank Zappa – featuring The Giacomo di Lindini Trio.
Revolution Come…Revolution Go, the new Gov't Mule album, will be released on June 9th. Two more tracks, Dreams & Songs" and "Pressure Under Fire, can be streamed from the band's Soundcloud. They entered the studio to begin recording the album the day after The Donald was elected. Guitarist Warren Haynes on Jambands.com:
The first thing we did, once we found out that he had won, was we went in and played a blues tune to get it out of our systems. No thoughts of putting it on the record; we just thought, let’s go play some blues. We were just joking around – ‘Wow, this is going to be a really dark record’ – but somewhere along the line we decided, let’s tackle these political songs, but let’s also do all the positive stuff about making the world better and reflection and one-on-one relationships.
Tragedy struck for Kate Miner of LA folk quartet Miner when both her sisters with Huntington’s Disease, a fatal neurodegenerative condition. Her mother suffers from it too and she and her sisters had a 50% chance....
Despite this terrible news she and her husband Justin Miner picked up the process of writing songs for a new album. They stumbled upon , Tuanaki in a hospital waiting room, when Justin read an account of Shackleton’s Endurance voyage that mentions this “lost” island paradise in the South Pacific. So why not settle for optimism as the main theme for their new songs. A Morning Song, the new single, does a fine job at lightening the mood, with all four band members pitching in to create an upbeat folk song.
Screaming blues band Low Society have added a show in Verviers, Belgium @ Spirit Of 66 (11/23) to 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:» screaminblues.com
» Low Society on Facebook
HCTF review of Sanctified.
German Krautrock pioneers Can never had a hit, but they released quite a few singles during their career. The new compilation The Singles (out on June 16th on Mute - 3LP and CD) collects the band's 7" releases:
This unique document is the first time the singles have been presented together and shows the breadth of their influential career, from well loved tracks like Halleluwah, Vitamin C and I Want More to more obscure singles such as Silent Night and Turtles Have Short Legs.
The tracks are all presented in their original single version, many of which have been unavailable for many years and not presented outside of the original 7" release.
Belgian power trio Triggerfinger have announced shows in the UK and Germany as part of their European Fall tour. They have added an extra show at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels on December 15, after the first one sold out quickly.
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.
