Power pop veterans The Flashcubes pay tribute to Slade, the seminal English glam rock band. For their take Gudbuy T'Jane they put in a call to former New York Dolls guitarist Steve Conte, who was happy to lend a hand. They beefed up the drum sound for this one. There is only one Noddy Holder, but they did a fine job with the vocals. A timeless classic revived for rockers of all ages.
Dutch vocal trio De Breek released a rather splendid EP, Jas, in 2019, but it took them a while to come up with a follow-up. Steef Hupkes (Stanley en de Menzo's), David Pino (El Pino & the Volunteers) and Sander van Munster (No Ninja Am I) once again sing about every day emotions on their second EP, Onder het Gras, on top of '70s tinged singer-songwriter inspired music, but the lyrics dig a little deeper.
The title track Onder het Gras ("Beneath the Grass") is finding about hiding and finding shelter. Haal jezelf maar uit elkaar ("Take Yourself Apart") is written from the perspective of a drone who flies high before crashing into a tree, a metaphor for picking up the pieces after a serious breakdown. They saved the best for last. Kleine Lettertjes ("Small Print") is about a guy who promises to take care of everything, but that comes at a prize. Somewhere, in an alternate universe, Lennaert Nijgh and Jan Rot are giving these musicians a big thumbs up for giving the Dutch language a poetic depth that is quite rare.
English dream pop Pale Blue Eyes invite their listeners go get away from it all, and hitch a ride on their Star Vehicle. The single has '80s written all over it, with swirling synths, a basic but higly effective rhythm track, and - a key ingredient - happy sad vocals. The song will be included on their debut album, Souvenirs, out on September 2, 2022 via Full Time Hobby (vinyl, CD, digital).
Jazz fusion trio The Aristocrats had to move the dates for their two shows at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro, CA. This means that their massive Defrost tour will now kick off in Ramona on July 3rd:
Hey everyone - due to unforeseen logistical difficulties, we are moving the first two shows of the tour at Alvas Showroom from: July 1 and 2 to July 4 and 5.
The Friday July 1, 8pm show has been moved to Monday, July 4 at 5pm. It lasts about 2 hours and should finish at around 7pm (in time for fireworks!). The Saturday, July 2 8pm show has been moved to Tuesday, July 5 at 8pm. It lasts about 2 hours and should finish at around 10pm.
Watch Rogers Waters perform a medley of The Happiest Days of Our Lives and Another Brick in the Wall Pts. 2 & 3 on The Late Show to promote his upcoming This Is Not A Drill tour. He will perform 40 "in-the-round" arena shows in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The folks at Tape Op hav revived their DISCussion podcast series - the last episode was over a year ago. They get on the phone with an artist or producer to discuss an album they love. In episode 22 Dave Matthews talks about the Tom Waits album Blue Valentine.
English quartet Useless Users are fiercely lo-fi on their debut album We Are All, combining elements of noise rock, '80s synth wave and psychedelic pop. And while the songs might sound like they were recorded on moth-eaten instruments they picked up in a charity shop, their knack for writing a catchy tune always shines through. There is kitchen sink drama (OAC - which stands for On Approved Credit) and a long overdue anthem for less fortunate with nifty call-and-response vocals (Born To Lose). They even threw in an ode Forton Recreation Ground in Gosport, where part of the band grew up (I Am Forton Wreck) and a slow shoegaze-tinted song about daily chores (They Put Tears In Cigarettes).
This band intends to play music that does not follow any manuals that aim at paving the way to some sort of mainstream appeal. The album's highlight is Orchid Blue, a slice of murky, twisted psychedelia with a touch of demented Britpop. The vocals sound like Syd Barrett shouting down a barrel after a particularly memorable night at the pub, with Jarvis Cocker egging him on. We Are All is an album that does not want to be loved as such, but it's next to impossible to sit still when they launch into a rollicking rocker like Jellybean or drift away in a good way in the ambient haze of WEAAUS.
Watch the David Newbould video for Peeler Park, a track from his Power Up! album: "[He] offers a menu of classic rockers, blues-tinged slow songs, a bit of country and a surprise cover of Crystal Gayle's Ready for the Times to Get Better. His hoarse voice is front and centre and rightly so. Newbould is like that favourite uncle who is the life of every party with his tales and wit".
The Footlight District, a orchestral pop quintet from Chicago, go all out on their latest single Hush. The four sisters and one brother constructed a Wall of Sound meets Broadway tune, peppered with a couple of production tweaks courtesy of Russell Marsden (Band of Skulls/The Snook studio) and Enrico Berto (Mushroom Studios). Grief is met head on with a bold arrangement and great harmonies.
The folks of German guitar gear site Bonedo talked with Steven Wilson and Richard Barbieri about the making of the new Porcupine Tree album. The three parts (1, 2, 3) can be found on their YouTube Channel.
Tacono Gate is a bedroom project from a Brooklyn based Krautrock and New Wave loving musician. His latest single, Goner, is a dark song created in the midst of a king size depression. He stumbled upon a great, pulsating rhythm that both contradicts and lifts the bleakness. He stowed it away for months on end, but now that is out in the open he can move on, with this dance-on-a-volcano tune as a memento.
LA based dark dance-punk band Moving Units made a promo video for their take on The Sisters of Mercy classic Alice. The track served as a taster for their Moving Units of Mercy LP, which was supposed to be released in the Fall of 2021.
Denver Balkan folk inspired band DeVotchKa will play three nights (October 27-29) @ The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO. The Day and Night Halloween Black Tie Ball will feature aerialists, stilt-walkers, circus folks, pop up performances, a bloody mary bar, and late night DJ sets by Shawn King. Tickets are available here.
George Bisharat, better known as Big Harp George, brings his chromatic harmonica and ace musicians to Hayward, CA on July 25ht for a night of good time blues as part of the Russell City Awareness blues concert series outside City Hall. Also appearing are Sean McGroarty's “Blues Harmonica Explosion” featuring Silver Fox, Kyle Roland, David Matthew, and Roharpo.
HCTF review of Living in the City.
Dutch folk singer Broeder Dieleman has released De Eerste Knecht, the first one of two new songs about a life in the West part of Zeeuws Vlaanderen. It tells the tale of the righthand man of a farmer, who is in charge of taking cares of the horses. He is quite happy with his job and leading the beasts to a creek to let them drink fills him with great joy. He knows that the farmer and his wife are already sound asleep as he watches the sunset.
Dieleman's choice to sing in his native dialect should not be a problem - his music is universal. With prominent roles for his banjo and Janine van Osta's backing vocals, he taps into a well of folk that keeps on giving.
Belgian power trio Triggerfinger have come out of hibernation and are on the road again with their high energy rock.
Live dates:
Chattanooga, TN based folk singer Catherine Campbell tackles the longing for getting away from the bad stuff - or even being invisible for future generations - on her new double A-side single. Both Disappear and Leave No Trace are fragile songs, needing undivided attention in order to fully appreciate the musical and lyrical intricacies.
The tracks are released by her hometown pub, the Cherry Street Tavern, as the first of their Cherry Street Tavern's Artist Series. Digital and CD for now - a 7" will follow in the near future.
Brooklyn based musician Ryan Gross sings about being homesick on his new single by his Skinny Dippers project, not sure where Home after he picked up his stuff to move from Portland to leave his love behind. Will the distance put an end to their relationship? Promises that things won't change that much are not exactly reassuring. Gross goes for radio-friendly pop on this one, with deceptively cheerful backing vocals: "So tell me you wont change // And you'll still think the same ways // I'm writing you this song from 2, 000 miles away // I know we both were right // And we may see better days // But things seemed so much simpler when I thought we might stay". His neighbours, Jordan Dunn-Pilz and Dan Alvarez of pop-duo Toledo, produced the track.
Innerviews has an in-depth interview with all three members of Porcupine Tree. Anil Prasad always gets to the bottom of things in his long-form pieces.
Steven Wilson about the band getting back together:
The first thing I want to point out here is that the band never officially dissolved. There was never any statement to the effect of, “The band no longer exists." Now, I say that with the caveat that obviously in interviews, I did try to get people to concentrate more on what I was doing at that moment, by being very dismissive about the band.
The material we are releasing on this new record goes as far back as 2012, which is when “Chimera’s Wreck” was written. So, there is a sense of continuity from the previous record, The Incident, which was released in 2009. We were writing material within three years of that album for a potential follow-up.
Obviously, that follow-up record has only just now come to fruition, but we were, on and off, working on this record for close to 10 years. So, in our minds, in our own little bubble, we had never stopped, but of course, to the outside world, it looked like the band had essentially ceased to function, when in fact it hadn't.
There is no such thing as the Great Wide Open in England, but there are lots of houses and other constructions, so naming your roots quintet Concrete Prairie Sounds makes perfect sense. Their new single Picking Up Pieces is a transatlantic hybrid of Americana and homegrown folk.
Lead singer Joe Faulkner wrote the song for his daughter, urging her to keep her head up, even when things break down and life is in full-on shit mode. Being a father, he wants to keep her safe and keep her out of harm's way. Failing that, this song will surely make her - and anybody else who listens to it - feel a whole lot better.
Porcupine Tree have unveiled a video for Rats Return, a track from their new album Closure / Continuation: "Long time fans will appreciate the adventurous rhythm changes and mood swings, a hybrid of their early prog days with their metal phase leanings on top of it. Also: the lyrics are dark and rightly so. There is no wisdom in crowds, only copy cat behaviour. And people who claim to take of things only take care of themselves".
Steven Wilson offered this explanation: "This song is about those who claim to have the interests of the people at heart, but when it comes down to it there is only ego and self-interest. I find myself reflecting on what sort of person would actually be so driven as to want to rule over a whole nation, and aren’t these people by definition the very last people that should be allowed to do so? The rats will always save themselves first".
Brian Wilson turns 80 today. Now watch him perform Pet Sounds and SMiLE. That is all.
Spygenius are back with a new album Jobbernowl, their first batch of originals since the release of the sprawling Man On The Sea 2LP (HCTF's album of the year in 2020). They are drawing inspiration from history, whether it is quite recent - 2020 Revision about COVID - or in the not too distant past - Mandy Rice-Davis Applies harks back to the infamous Profumo affair. If need be songwriter Peter Watts mixes it up with tongue-in-cheek wordplay, complimenting a French revolutionary about his new dressing gown (I Dig Your New Robes, Pierre!) and - in a similar vein - philosopher Foucault roams he streets of Swinging London, inspired by the lyrics of Roger Miller's England Swings. Maybe he hitched a ride with The Marvellous, Mendacious Time Machine?
The quartet's joyous rhythms places them in the middle ground between power pop and New Wave. Son Of The Morning, Go Man Go! is fast-paced slice of '60 psych pop with a seasoning of post-punk. Imagine The Wedding Present having a drink with a couple of veterans of the Glastonbury scene. Motown meets East Coast psych in Screwy, a good-natured lament sung by bass player Ruth Rogers about the age gap that refuses to get smaller when a couple gets older. Jobbernowl is a treasure trove of wit, hooks and blink-and-you'll-miss-'em references.
Watch British metalcore band Architects perform the Nirvana classic Territorial Pissings live at Radio 1 Rocks from the BBC's Maida Vale studios in 2017.
The Lethargics play gravelly Americana with a touch of mid-tempo, swaggering rock. On Uncertain Times, the latest by the Knoxville, TN based band, they wave a finger telling anyone who wants to hear that they had been warned that thing might go South on a personal and global scale. And while it is nice to be right (Bitterness, Right About The War) - a pessimist is never disappointed - they also offer a glimmer of hope for a Hollywood ending of sorts, with love winning out in the end (Love Goes On).
Uncertain Times is an album for fans of Jim White and The Replacements (preferably both). Despite their band name The Lethargics are not an outfit to take things lying down. They speak up in a loud voice, wrapping their concerns in fine rock 'n' roll that goes straight for the gut. They have the chops and the lyrics that deserves a far better piece of cover art than the Paint job they used - but maybe that's some sort of ironic move on their part.
One day, I'd like to be an old man that tells the children about those dangerous days when rock 'n' roll still existed. Today all of that is gone.
Willy DeVille
Brighton based sextet Opus Kink is a band that brings a mix the best of Madness and The Levellers with a seasoning of jazz, punk and funk. Their debut EP 'Til The Stream Runs Dry is a set of loosely connected short stories set to music: a passive-aggressive love story (I Love You, Baby), boxers hoping for glory (Dog Stay Down), a disgruntled veteran (The Unrepentant Soldier).
The anger reaches a peak in the sprawling title track, wherein the jazz age meets progressive ska, with all band members singing "I will be happy" over and over at the top of their lungs, as a statement that they will mow down anyone who gets in their way. Recommended if you like Ian Dury at his most manic.
English quintet Ampersand are in full-on pastoral folk mode on their new single Call Me, with bubbling synthesizers playing catch with the guitars and vocals. The band was founded when they were studying at the University of Royal Holloway in London, its members sharing a love for jazz, folk, classical music and a bit of rock. Each song is an exploration of one of those genres (or more than one if it seems fitting).
Porcupine Tree have released Rats Return, the fourth single from their upcoming new album Closure / Continuation. Long time fans will appreciate the adventurous rhythm changes and mood swings, a hybrid of their early prog days with their metal phase leanings on top of it. Also: the lyrics are dark and rightly so. There is no wisdom in crowds, only copy cat behaviour. And people who claim to take of things only take care of themselves.
London band In Waves have updated Britpop with a bit of rap plus a bunch of 808's to take care of the synth duties on Head Above Water, their debut single. And while it might sound quite cheerful, the subject matter is dead serious: overcoming anxiety against all odds. A strong statement about feeling weak and insecure that will strike a nerve and is utterly danceable as well.
Live date:
English folk artist William William Rodgers will be performing @ The Platform at The Station in Birmingham on June 30th. He will playing songs from his debut album William William Rodgers Sings the Yellow Pages: "Mixing wit and joy with sadness and melancholy, he finds a way to make small things into events with universal happenings. Whether he goes out to sea with a friend (Gone Shrimpin') or describes a girl urging her lover to look away, when she is in tatters at her birthday, with smudged mascara and smelling of factor 50 (Are We Still On?). His way with words always enables him to turn it into a poem set to music".
Also on stage are Filthy Steps, Corrie Palmer, and David Freja. Tickets are only £ 3 for a night of damn good entertainment.
» William William Rodgers on Facebook
HCTF review of William William Rodgers Sings the Yellow Pages.
Steven Wilson was interviewd by Paul Sinclair, who runs SuperDeluxeEdition (SDE) about the new Porcupine Tree album Closure / Continuation. About being a frontman:
I always felt slightly fraudulent about the idea of being a lead guitar player. And also, I think I felt very strongly that I was the worst member, in terms of technical ability – I was the weakest musician in the band. And yet, I was the one that wrote most of the material, did most of the interviews was the was the focal point of the band. And I’m probably not the first person to feel that. I’m sure many people in bands who are the leader… I mean, you look at someone like Roger Waters, who is clearly the weakest musician in Pink Floyd, my favourite band. So there’s a precedent there, straightaway. But that was getting to me. And in fact, once the band ceased operations, and we we took a break from each other, I think the relationships got much better. And it’s been more fun to make this record, I think, than any Porcupine Tree record of the past, partly because I think I was allowing myself to just be one of the band, one of the team, and I’ve never really been able to do that before. My natural inclination is to not be a team player, to be a bit of a controlling force. So now with the solo career established, and with more time having passed and me mellowing slightly, I think it was a lot more fun to just allow myself to be part of a collaborative process this time.
Closure / Continuation will be released in a wealth of formats on 24th June 2022.
Rambling garage rockers Kitimoto hail from Phoenix, AZ. They are on a quest to cram the best of lo-fi, feedback driven music that was released since the late '60s into the songs of their debut album Vintage Smell. Fronted by band leader Jon Douglas the band rummages through the discography of the Velvet Underground, Television, Big Star, the Pixies, the Wedding Present, early R.E.M., and the Replacements. The result? A 21st century desert rock album that paints a picture of sun-beaten small towns, wherein the inhabitants are trying to cope. It helps if the listener has a more than superficial knowledge of cult bands, but the uninitiated can enjoy it as-is: a collection of texture driven yet melodic songs.
They cater to a niche audience, but lucky for them that is where the people hang out who are still willing to fork over the cash to listen to music. This a band that can write a song about a flying mammal (Bats!) without naming it in the lyrics and pay tribute to old school tech (Semaphore). Sounds Like Something sums it up nicely: "Yes, it sounds just like something. Don't mean nothing at all". If that is actually true, is up for debate and food for thought for hair-splitting English language professors.
Dutch avant-pop singer Pitou has a soft spot for rhythms that aren't stock in Western popular music. As a kid she fell in love with the sounds she heard in Cameroon and India and it became an integral of her musical vocabulary.
On her latest single, Big Tear, she explores a mix of classical music with a bit of indie rock. She sounds like no one else, or perhaps a lot of artists (Bjork, Kate Bush, Tori Amos) at the same time. She went down the rabbit hole and resurfaced with something very special indeed.
John Cale had to cancel his July tour due to COVID. All of the UK dates, with the exception of his appearance at the Doune the Rabbit Hole Festival, have been rescheduled and a show in Edinburgh has been added. Updates about the shows in Europe TBA.
English band Boss Keloid released their latest studio album Family The Smiling Thrush in 2021 and got some well deserved rave reviews for the special brand of heavy psych rock. Touring behind the release wasn't going to happen, but they still wanted to perform it live. So how about finding a place they could play, albeit without an audience? They set up shop in one of the live rooms at Foel Studio in Powys, Wales, and performed the album in full.
John Cale has been forced to cancel his July tour .... A statement has been posted on his Facebook page. The re-scheduling process is a work-in-progress:
The thing we tried relentlessly to avoid, has now run rampant through our camp.We must sadly postpone our July tour. We tried everything to keep it together but Covid has its own path and its own terms. With the world opening up and things starting to feel normal again, we’re all learning how to navigate touring from a very different perspective. Like whack-a-mole, it just pops up whenever you think its under control. One person catches it; shut down, isolate, regroup, repeat. We’ve tried alternate musicians, re-configurations, backup personnel, only to have it fall apart again and again. We’ve been so eager to get back on the road and play for live audiences again we vowed to just keep trying to make it work. Unfortunately, these last few days have created yet another setback that’s made it clear we need to pause and allow everyone time to re-charge and start up again with the full energy we’ve been preparing to bring to you. We’ve missed you all more than you can imagine. We WILL re-schedule the dates as quickly as possible. Please watch this space for more details. Stay safe everyone.
Update: the UK shows have been rescheduled.
English quartet Useless Users made sure that all the needles were in the red when they recorded I Am Forten Wreck, going as as far using the microphone of a cheap laptop for the vocals for a proper '90s noise rock sound. It is an ode to Forton Recreation Ground in Gosport, where part of the band grew up. Playgrounds can be war zones as well places to learn about things that their parents thought that were be too young for. Either way, they provide memories that last a lifetime.
Canadian folk rock quartet The Redhill Valleys have made a video for Something About You, a melancholic country song from their new two-part EP Travel Well. Singer Danielle Beaudin steals the show with crystal clear vocals. The clip was directed by Amy Quick.
Covers come in two sizes: replicating the original (the dreaded bands playing weddings and office parties or posing as the real thing in mid-sized venues), and the ones that deconstruct and rebuild the song. Lap steel guitar progressive metal band Velocihamster is firmly ensconced the latter category and offer nine rockers on their new album Uncaged. Some very familiar (Ace of Spades, Frankenstein, Thunderstruck) but also some deep cuts ( Sneaker Pimps’ 6 Underground, Sarah McLachlan’s Possession).
Musician/producer Sean Williamson is dead set on proving that a lap steel can rawk as hard as a conventional guitar. To do so he turned Gratitude (Beastie Boys) and In the Evening into showcases of his dexterity. The familiar Phish live encore Tweezer Reprise is a natural final track for this album that is both a tribute and reinvention of the music that is close to his heart. Using even more drummers than Spinal Tap (thankfully none of them died) to provide a custom made foundation for each track Williamson gives a one-fingered salute to all the copycat musicians who follow the blueprints to make an easy buck and insult serious music lovers.
Intergalactic Peace Jelly, a rock band from Boulder, Colorado, crammed a lot of changes in their new single Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleneck!. They used nearly every trick from the '70s to create a sprawling calling card for their forthcoming album, Simple Harmonic Oscillator.
Sitting on the fence between progressive and Southern rock, they provide the soundtrack for a post-apocalyptic day where the chimpanzees are running wild and the Greek argonauts make a comeback through some freak time warp. It's a bit confusing, but it works somehow.
Chicago rocker Al Rose has made a video for his new single, Shooting Straight, using footage from the classic Popeye cartoons. He is serious that telling lies is being taken seriously. Fake news has replaced the facts - "Loaded dice and crooked looks are pissing on the burning bush" and "Shooting straight no longer is an option in this world".
With his guitar as a weapon Rose hopes to make a difference, but he might be preaching to the converted, now that a dialogue between different opinions has become next to impossible, with people being confined in their own bubble of shared beliefs.
English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson (Jumble Hole Clough, Churn Milk Joan, Big Block 454) broadcasted the 5th episode of his monthly Answers On A Postcard show on Otto Radio on May 1st. Missed it? It is now on Mixcloud:
The show starts with The Bonzo Dog Band and ends with Apache Indian. I may have blown my chance of a Knighthood.
Hoboken psych rock quartet The Special Pillow have unveiled the title track from their forthcoming new EP, Mind Wipe, due for release on August 12 via Zofko Records. It is a jangling, upbeat song about starting over after all the bad stuff has been erased from memory - on a voluntary basis, mind you. They recorded it at Brooklyn's Deep Dive studio, a facility that has vintage gear and digital under the same roof. It is run by engineer Mitch Rackin.
Prince was much more concerned with your performance rather than the actual sound of the guitar. He wasn’t really one of those guys that dictated the tone. I learned early on in a band situation that as a rhythm guitarist you shouldn’t make your distortion as loud as the lead guitarist because they’ll kill you! I had to kind of sit right underneath him, so he could be the main attraction.
Wendy Melvoin
Watch the members of Porcupine Tree chat about the new album Closure/Continuation and preparing for the tour later this year. They will perform all the songs from the new album, as well as tracks from In Absentia and Fear of a Blank Planet, with a few surprises to fill out the setlist.
The Levin Brothers take their adventurous prog jazz on the road in the States. Pete (keyboards) and Tony Levin (bass, vocals) will be joined by their long time drummer Jeff "Siege" Siegle and flutist Ali Ryerson.
They hope to play in Japan in 2023, if Tony can manage to squeeze in those dates between shows with Stickmen and - wait for it - Peter Gabriel.
Cat and The Queen is the musical alias for multi-instrumentalist Cat Montgomery and her keyboard, The Queen. Her latest single Leave Here Tonight starts out as an '80s power ballad, slowly morphing into uptempo danceable New Wave track. She was in a pretty dark place when she wrote it, trying to find solace in alcohol, but she pulled herself out of it and wrote all of the lyrics in a single session. That the kind of creative rush that every artist hopes for, but which is very rare indeed.
Dutch retro-pop act Donna Blue have added three shows France and one in Switzerland to their tour too promote their first full-length Dark Roses: "Doomed love songs are their forte and they obviously love the soundtracks of Italian and French movies from the '60s and '70s. Case in point: A Lover In Disguise, wherein the guitar conjures up images of a deserted, sun-beaten village in the middle of nowhere. Vintage French yé-yé pop is dusted off and updated for Solitaire - two lovers find themselves at sea in a small boat that isn't designed to handle the storm that is coming straight at them".
Four musicians with a shared love for loud, fast-paced rock 'n' roll, teamed up to form Durcel Haze. With a resume that mentions stints in bands like Esperanto, Manspirit and Astral Dog, the two Austrians, a German and a Hungarian set up shop in Kufstein in Tirol and recorded the songs for Down the Rabbit Hole. Despite the band's spots for puns - the band name refers to the dreaded battery commercials featuring a rabbit that just keeps on going - and referring to Alice in Wonderland in the album's title, the actual songs are rather dark and pessimistic, basically the standard mood for music that rubs shoulders with heavy metal: love, darkness, rampant consumerism, being lost and finding solace in the company of their mates.
Down the Rabbit Hole sounds like a mainstream version of latter day NWOBHM. The needles come close to being in the red, but the overall tone of the music is quite clean. It's up to the vocals to make a difference and, with all band members weighing in to support János Suba energetic lead, the songs get an edge that they should explore more on the next album. Drummer Klaus Langer is tight but loose, no matter how fast the rest of the band is playing. A feat that will haunt Lars Ulrich in his dreams.
Kyle Gass and Jack Black, better known as Tenacious D, have posted a video for the studio version of their longtime live favourite, The Who Medley (more accurately a Tommy medley). The clip was directed Liam Lynch, with Ken Russell's movie as the obvious point of reference. It is available as a 7" single and on all the usual digital platforms. All proceeds will donated to Everytown For Gun Safety.
On this day in 2004 Here Comes The Flood was launched with three posts: the death of guitarist Robert Quine, Phish calling it quits, and Kurt Cobain's mixtape. So today this blog comes of age. Take it away, Alice.
The New Brutarians destroy the Fleetwood Mac classic Go Your Own Way, but in a good way. The duo consists of Adam Turkel on guitar and fashion model Christina Wright on drums and they obviously had a lot of fun turning this classic rock staple into ramshackle lo-fi garage rocker from Hell. If anything it will scare the shit out of the retirees in their hometown St. Petersburg, Florida.
Oakland-based electronic dream pop trio There's Talk take it slow on their new single, Watersignwave. Multi-instrumentalist Olivia Lee (vocals, synths, production), Kellen Balla (production, programming, vocals), and Young Lee (guitar, vocals) channel the mood of the heyday of the 4AD label, creating a multifaceted musical canvas, leaving it to Lee to add extra vocal dabs of colour. Superb shoegaze that keeps lingering long after the song has finished. It is a track from their Lightleak & Watersignwave EP, due for release on June 13.
Nashville based singer and multi-instrumentalist David Newbould is an optimist against all odds, with a firm belief in the power of rock 'n' roll. His new album Power Up! offers a menu of classic rockers, blues-tinged slow songs, a bit of country and a surprise cover of Crystal Gayle's Ready for the Times to Get Better. His hoarse voice is front and centre and rightly so. Newbould is like that favourite uncle who is the life of every party with his tales and wit.
He has a knack for painting a complete picture with a few words and come up with unusual, but relatable points of perspective. Bad news is being read while wearing Home Depot Glasses. Walking down to The Lawn to pay a visit to the grave of his granddad is part quest, part remembrance. There is always a trip to Peeler Park when it gets too much. Wandering around always clears his mind. He might even get lucky and catch a Sunrise Surprise that will refuel his already impressive stamina.
Naming your band Useless Users is a bold move, but it quite fitting if you intend to play music that does not follow any manuals that will pave the way to some sort of mainstream appeal. The English quartet serve up a slice of murky, twisted psychedelia with a touch of demented Britpop on their Orchid Blue single. The vocals sound like Syd Barrett shouting down a barrel after a particularly memorable night at the pub, with Jarvis Cocker egging him on.
Canadian folk rock quartet The Redhill Valleys have unveiled a stylish B&W video for Travel Well, the title track from their new two-part EP. This is a song for a long drive on lonesome highways, with on-point vocal harmonies and a gentle tug of war between rock and country guitar, plus an ace acoustic interlude. The clip was directed by Jim Watson.
Early demos of Lou Reed penned songs will see the light of day on August 26 via Light In The Attic Records in conjunction with the Lou Reed Archive. Words & Music contains recordings of songs that would turn up on albums by The Velvet Underground. He recorded them with John Cale in May 1965 and on his own at home in 1963/64. Reed mailed the five reel-to-reels to himself to get the copyright for early renditions of tracks like Pale Blue Eyes, Heroin and I'm Waiting for the Man. Also of note is the Cale sung Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, a song that would wind up on Nico's debut album Chelsea Girls. The true oddity however is the inclusion of Gee Wizz, which Reed recorded by as a teenager in 1958.
British singer-songwriter Nell Davies surprised herself when she inadvertently wrote a love song, albeit with a twist. Everything and Nothing is upbeat, with a toe-tapping fuzzy garage guitar part and tongue-in-cheek, blink-and-you'll miss it lyrics: "First time that I met you, I decided we're the same, so now you're living inside my brain".
HCTF review of A Sad Kind of Freedom.
French actress Fanny Ardant and dark wave band Deleyaman performed together for a night of poetry and music @ Le Trianon Transatlantique in Sotteville-lès-Rouen. Watch the band performing Murdered Days. The studio version can be found on their 2014 album The Edge.
New music - for a special occasion - coming soon:
Aret Madilian of Deleyaman has been invited to compose the music for the Cultural week "Étonnantes Abbayes de Normandie" which will take place in October 2022 in abbeys throughout Normandy in France.
Scattered across the north-western region of Normandy, the historic monuments are all part of the architectural and cultural heritage of France.
The music composed by Aret Madilian will be broadcasted in all participating abbeys during the cultural week from October 26 to November 1, 2022.
Phish
2022/06/05
Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN
French folk singer and guitarist Sophia Djebel Rose has posted videos of her performing Le Lilas and Vénus, two tracks from her first full-length, Métempsycose: "It is a fragile yet sturdy collection of songs. She feels more comfortable singing in her native tongue - she sings in English as part of the abstract folk duo An Eagle in your Mind. As a solo artist, she has stripped down the sound even more, which allows her voice to become the main ingredient of a carefully prepared dish of heartfelt musings. Her quiet intensity is beautiful and compelling".
Watch the video by Italian band Sterbus tackling the XTC classic Another Satellite. They played it a bit faster than the original and wrapped it in borderline Euro-disco synths.
Guitarist Richard Thomas' latest release of his one-man project Mint Biscuit is a work-in-progress. A Trip Outside features reworked versions - most them with his vocals this time - from his back catalogue. Singing and playing at the same is an art. He will have to make a few more steps to get it right, but it is nice to hear him taking a stand in If I Was A Lonely Goatherd, enjoying life with Summer Song, and issue a fair warning of the arrival of foul weather in North-Easter.
Yes, he does strays off pitch every now and then, but there is nothing wrong with his lyrical skills. Play No Blankets Required to a long time Phish fan and he will think it is a brand new Mike Gordon solo tune.
