Canadian rock trio The Man Who set out to catch the feel of having fun with a night on the town - and save the regrets for the day after - on their new single Lose My Mind. Grounded by a chugging backbeat and a fuzzy guitar pushed through a Electro Harmonix POG-2, they cooked up a basic rock song that is catchy as Hell. No points for originality, but David Walsh, Chad Walsh, and Frank Goerz get a straight A for rocking out.
Lose My Mind can be found on the usual digital outlets.
Hong Kong British artist mui zyu, nom-de-plume of Eva Liu, has released a new single. Dusty is a soft-spoken, off-kilter love song, with a few stray bum notes thrown in to rip apart the jazzy dreampop fabric on purpose. Singing about both new found love and fear that it won't last are struggling for dominance, with no clear winner in sight.
The Who have announced a UK tour. They will be performing nine shows with an orchestra in July 2023. It's been 40 years since their last appearance in Edinburgh, but even more special is the gig in Derry, whose citizens who had to wait since 1966 for a change to see them.
Live dates:
Revived prog legends Porcupine Tree have added two outdoor shows in Italy to their Summer 2023 festival appearances: Rome (June 24) & Padua (June 25). Tickets go on sale on January 31 at 11am CET.
Live dates:
Steve Stoeckel, member of the long-running power pop band The Spongetones, goes out under his own name for the very first time with the release of the Just One Kiss single. Using equal parts of '60s Merseybeat and folk, he created a catchy song that could be mistaken for a long lost classic, an upbeat yet melancholic tale about making out for the very first time. He sings and plays bass, ukulele, and acoustic guitar. Rick McClanahan helped him out with electric guitar parts, and Eric Willhelm is on drums and percussion.
It is a track from his forthcoming debut solo album The Power Of And, scheduled for release on February 24 via Big Stir Records. It is available for pre-order here.
I never saw music in terms of men and women or black and white. There was just cool and uncool.
Bonnie Raitt
Singer and guitarist Tom Verlaine, the frontman of Television, has died after a brief illness. He was 73. With his instantly recognizable guitar tone, using lots of vibrato, he stood in the NYC punk in the late '70s. The band's Marquee Moon and Adventure are considered classics. He was a versatile solo artist and played one and off with Patti Smith, Luna, and was part of the short-lived supergroup Million Dollar Bashers.
On their new album Small Comforts Philadelphia based indie band The Chairman Dances makes a case for appreciating the little things that are taken for granted. Eric Krewson, the band's songwriter, wondered if he could use a couple of short stories and poems had written as the core for the new songs. It was a challenging task to transfer them to music and chances are that there was a bit of editing involved to make it work. The title track was inspired by To a Poor Old Woman, a poem by William Carlos Williams, who battles loneliness by treating herself to a tasty plum. Old age is also the subject of the album's first track, Alone at Waverly, written from the perspective of a widower who can count on a woman named Betty calling him every day to check upon in.
Krewson describes working from home in both A Year Spent Floating wherein he logs in to join and meeting and comes full circle to end it with the final track, the short Logoff. Musically, the band has scaled things down a bit, going for a more folk-tinged instead and foregoing the fully orchestrated approach of their previous albums. This less-and-more modus operandi has worked out quite well, giving each member a chance to pitch in with a few choice notes, a lick or a fill.
Listen to Chicago based blues musician Daniel Gunderson tackl the Tom Petty classic Climb That Hill Blues. It is a track from his Remember album, his long overdue debut as a solo artist on which he covers songs by his musical heroes. The album is released via Ravenslake Music Productions.
Jazz fusion prog rock trio The Aristocrats have two more shows in Sweden to the second leg of their European tour: October 23rd in Örebro and October 24th in Stockholm. Also: they have the finished tracking their fifth studio album.
Asian dates:Brooklyn based musician Johnny Leitera finds himself in the bit of a bind on Elevator Eyes, the new single by is one-man project Tuff Sunshine. It is comprised of parts honky-tonk, some late night jazz, and dingy rock club fare plus a healthy dose of clashing chords to keep the listener on his toes (and a false ending thrown in to top it off). He never raises his voice as he shares an off-kilter example of self-realization of the song's protagonist that is pretty weird: "you can say my words are rubbish or not vetted in a way // that makes sense to one who jetted from a small town in PA // but if you can’t see the other side a river’s the ocean in a way // so thrash the chaff and be content to kick your feet of clay".
Roots trio The Wood Brothers will release their eighth studio album, Heart Is The Hero, on April 14 via Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers. The ten tracks were recorded on 16-track tape, the choice medium for capturing their kind of music. Oliver Wood explains:
The chorus of the album's title track says, 'the heart is the hero of every song.' By no means was it intentional, but much of the material we were writing for this record seemed to come full circle to the idea of trusting in your heart in matters that you can't control. Those words seemed to illustrate so much of what we were feeling—that heart and spirit guides us through this world. Even by recording completely analog, we had to commit to feeling the performances and have faith in what the three of us were creating together instead of trying to make things perfect by letting technology or overthinking things get in the way.
British composer Victoria Wijeratne makes a living writing for film and television, so it is no wonder that she canconjure up her own images on Graces & Muses, being freed from the boundaries that are set by made-to-order music for the very first time. She played all the instruments, using neo-classical elements, electronic drones, and sound effects.
The four tracks are miniatures that sound longer than they actually are. Wijeratne is highly economical and always finds the middle ground between roaming free and keeping it tight. It is as if she is following an unmarked path leading to her destination. Fellow travellers spoken word artist Kadeem Speaks Jeudy and singer-songwriter Rita Niemba join her for a leisurely stroll through her imaginary landscapes.
Dutch retro-pop act Donna Blue will be supporting American singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews on a couple of shows of her European tour. They share the shame niche: dreamy songs that dig deep.
Detroit art-rock artist Katie Lass has unveiled a video for Luster, a track from debut album, Hypnopomp: "She goes all out with sounds and textures, throwing out all of the usual "proper" recording tricks and familiar construction bricks of a song out of the window. Combining elements of dream pop, shoegaze, noise and rock she has constructed a truly unique collection of songs. Imagine Syd Barrett attending a party thrown by the cast of Alice in Wonderland, with the members Soft Machine and Can pretty near the top of the guest list. (...) Carefully sidestepping the pitfalls marked "self-indulgence" and "art-for-art's sake", Lass has made an album that both challenges and invites the listener to go in at the deep end and explore an alternate universe, wherein a sound can have a colour, and a colour can emanate a sound".
HCTF review of Hypnopomp.
The membets of Belgium's finest indie rock band dEUS go in at the deep on their new single, 1989. Lead singer and guitarist Tom Barman has mustered all of his courage to lower his voice, trying to reach the depths on Leonard Cohen, with the band providing a smooth backing, dipping their toes in yacht rock before wising up and setting course to the mellower side of early Simple Minds instead.
Leeds based pop noir quartet English Teacher are back with a new single, Song About Love. Pushed forward by a skewed rhythm section the song tells the tale of having a relationship in the midst of daily household chores. It is quite hard to get in romantic mood as the daily grind is taking precedence over passion. The song keeps building up to a crescendo with lead singer Lily Fontaine almost shouting the word "love" over and over again, as if she trying to hold off the unavoidable unhappy end. The animated video is a sendup of computer games like the Sims.
Innerviews has an in-depth interview with bass player Colin Edwin, best known for his work with Porcupine Tree (1993-2011), but also a member of experimental acts like Ex-Wise Heads, Metallic Taste of Blood, and currently busy with O.R.k. He is a sonic explorer, always finding new ways to supply far more than just a bottom end - check out his Hebdomadal collection to get an idea of his out-of-the-box approach.
Edwin is an avid collaborator who reached out on the internet to make music together, and keep himself busy (and sane):
I really missed interacting with musicians on a physical level, but I was able to work in my own space and collaborate with people online. God knows what the pandemic would have been like without the Internet. It would have been impossible. We would have all gone mad. So, the pandemic reaffirmed the value of live interaction. Live performance is what drew me to music in the first place. There’s a sort of magic there.
Throughout the pandemic, I was grateful I could continue collaborating with people online. We got the O.R.k. album done while were stuck in all sorts of places. It was the only thing I had to look forward to, without any gigs or trips planned.
Jazz fusion prog rock trio The Aristocrats have expanded the second leg of their European tour with seven shows in Spain. They are back in the studio working on their fifth studio album and some of the new material will be road tested for sure.
Asian dates:
English musician Peter Hall offers a superb mix of art-rock and baroque-pop as a cure for heartbreak and other mishaps on his new album About Last Night. With top-shelf dynamics and a good ear for infectious melodies, he tries to lead the way back to the light. Sadly enough, the other party doesn't appear to be willing to give in to his pleas.
Trying to make amends with a prospective significant other who chooses to ignore songs like Nothing Happens and The Autumn Stone has been futile exercise so far, but it will strike chord with anyone who is going to the early stage of a breakup. Hall is looking for healing through his music, a self-prescribed cure without the nasty side-effects of booze or other means to cope.
The moment you start to talk about playing music, you destroy music. It cannot be talked about. It can only be played, enjoyed and listened to.
John McLaughlin
Chicago based rock band Razorhouse are in a dystopian mood on their new single, Life Tears (The Strange), a song that could have been released in the early '80s when Goth, New Wave and politicical concerns joined forces to keep the impending doom at bay. 40 years on, it is happening all over again. The animated lyrics video is a blend of the output of the Fleischer Studios and swirling '60s psychedelia.
Vibraphonist and percussionist Mike Dillon and Punkadelick (Brian Haas amd Nikki Glaspie) have shared Apocalypse Daydream, another track from their forthcoming new album, Inflorescence. It is a stern warning people can dance to.
Los Angeles based quartet Maple Mars go out to sea in the video for Anchors Aweigh, a track from their new album Someone’s Got To Listen album. Power pop taking the piss out of yacht rock, with top shelf use of dynamics, catchy chopped notes, and no sign of brickwalling. The clip was directed by Shane Hutton.
Darren Smallman does not hold back on Bloodbath-on-HI, the new single by his one-man band Dez Dare. It is a slice of energetic garage punk with an intensity to make the listener's ears ring. He is autistic, adamant to set the record straight. Restlessness and anger compete for the place in the spotlights with a howling fuzz-heavy guitar and muffled vocals, sounding like he was shouting in a bucket at top volume. Planet Earth is going to shit, with people at each other's throats and rampant pollution.
Tape Op has posted a new episode of their DISCussion podcast series. They get on the phone with an artist or producer to discuss an album they love. In episode 29 Ian Chang talks about the Dawn of Midi album Dysnomia.
Welsh alternative punk band Swansea Sound have announce two shows in March. They might play some songs from the new album that will see the light of day later this year.
Live dates:HCTF review of Live At The Rum Puncheon.
For quite a lot of women, it really sucks that their first name was used for a popular song. People will keep mentioning all the time, wondering aloud if their parents named them after said tune and even going as far as singing a bit of it too (quite badly most of the time). For ten of those affected, NYC musician John Dunbar wrote an alternative track for his new album The Other Women.
The horrendous Kiss song Christine Sixteen was updated to Christine Sixty, who has aged quite well, but takes shit from nobody. Sweet Caroline is replaced by the way cool alternative Mean Caroline, and the Beach Boys' Help Me Ronda is now reimbursed for all her hard work when the singer offers to help her out instead. Pink Floyd's Emily is now longer playing. She has grown up is now and is working in an office, blissfully unaware of the crush one her co-workers has on her. Dunbar mostly navigates through '70s-tinged pop for his alternate versions, gravitating to rock for the frankly quite hilarious Sheena Is A Prog Rocker: "Sheena loves Genesis, but only until Peter Gabriel quits // Her friends don't understand, they all much prefer the later hits".
Yacht rock is not a genre that is associated with a making a statement, but that did not stop Canadian singer Emm Gryner for doing so. Burn the Boats tells the tale of the Aztec interpreter La Malinche, Dona Marina, a Nahua woman, who was a slave of the brutal conquistador Hernán Cortés. Changes are that the message of the song will be missed completely when it is played in the background in a bar where the regulars drinking their complicated coffee variations, while shooting the breeze about business opportunities and exchanging backhanded gossip. But hey, that's the fate of picking this particular kind of music.
Musical maverick Johnny Dowd will be performing @ Brookton’s Market in his hometown Ithaca, NY on January 21st (12:30-2:00). His dark sense of humour and lyrical imagery are sure to turn some heads from the unsuspecting clientele.
HCTF review of Homemade Pie.
London based singer Heartworms peddles a special kind of goth people can dance too on their single Retributions Of An Awful Life. The track peruses an unrelenting metronomic backbeat and harsh keyboards that brings back the sound of The Sisters of Mercy, but she has no trouble to rise above the din with crystal clear vocals to deliver her carefully worded message of doom and gloom. Post-punkers of all ages will love it.
John Cale was interviewed by Matthew Allan for an article in The New Yorker, discussing his new album Mercy, Lou Reed, Nico, the importance of being exposed to music as a kid through coal miners’ union library, and the need to move forward. On the dark, almost apocalyptic mood of the songs on the new record:
This album started about two and a half years ago. I didn’t want to go that route but in the end it was impossible to avoid it—what happened in the world took over. The medical side of the world and the noisy side of the world with guns going off. Some of these songs were not a direct reaction to what was going on, but it had all the elements of it.
London based off-kilter one-man band Garlen Lo makes fun of the guy who was the richest man on the planet on their debut single Captain Elon, urging him to reach for the stars and save all of humanity. Considering his far below average sense of humour he might actually enjoy it as a serenade of sorts: "So Elon, Elon, won’t you save us from ourselves // Elon, Elon, cause we ain’t got no one else // With your technology, your vision, and your wealth // You could save us all".
Canadian power pop singer and multi-instrumentalist Bill Majoros brings the joy of a glorious Spring in the midst of Winter on Magic Shadows, the new album by his project The Foreign Films. His knack for composing lush melodies and wrapping them in carefully orchestrated, psych-tinged backing are a throwback to the early '70s, with no signs of brickwalling whatsoever.
It is an album for both dreamers who are riding high on the rush of being in love and music geeks who get a kick out of figuring out how it was created. Majoros' voice is upfront, bathing in the glow of confidence that he is in control of the proceedings as he leads his fellow musicians through the process of building the tracks. He channels his inner Marc Bolan in the swagger strut of Cosmic Lover, namechecks Cleopatra and Audrey Hepburn in the early ELO-esque Cinema Girl (Magic Shadows), and enlisted veteran punker turned pop musician Dave Rave for the background vocals for Rain Clouds (Sunshine In Your Heart).
A video of the December 5th in-studio performance by The Smile on The Afternoon Show @ KEXP radio in Seattle can be watched on the station's Youtube channel.
Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.
Ornette Coleman
Watch the Sinéad O'Connor promo video for her version of the Elton John classic Sacrifice. The track can be found on the Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin album.
Gritty blues duo Detroit Rebellion have made a video for No One Needs To Know, a track from their latest album Fake News. Singer and guitarist Jeff Toste and drummer Micaiah Castro have spun a web of hoarse vocals, repetitive guitar and whispering percussion, forcing the listener to strain his ears to catch every word. A captivating warning for all the idiots peddling false claims and greedy bastards trying to make a fast buck out of it.
English baroque-pop quartet Tugboat Captain have resurfaced as a recording unit with their new single, Flash of Light, cramming a shitload of genres within the space of 125 seconds. They have the nerve to kick off the proceedings with a lengthy intro, a thing that was supposedly killed by the streaming services. It gives them ample opportunity to build the tension before giving the floor to the sad, pastoral vocal part and a piano-led coda.
Philip Selway, the drummer of Radiohead, has unveiled a video for Picking Up Pieces, a track form his third solo album Strange Dance, out on February 24 via Bella Union (vinyl, CD, digital). He offers some advice to the young by way of neo-progressive rock, wrapped in layers of brass and strings.
The folks of ABC Arts made a documentary of Nick Cave & Warren Ellis playing live at Hanging Rock in Newham, Australia. Kingdom in the Sky focuses on the actual live performance (thankfully only full songs), interspersed with short interviews with longtime fans.
Dutch electronic downtempo jazz duo Geminga are back with a new single, Gram (Dutch for "getting even)", a song about the controversies during TV talk shows, where nobody listens, but is only interested in venting their own opinions. A bit of a row or a full-blown incident with one the participants storming off might be good for the ratings, but it doesn't help the debate to move forward. Jean-Paul Pino and Claudia Cathérine added a bit of funky bass to give it a solid foundation for a slow dance. Sander Roerdink helped them out with drums and percussion.
Guitar maestro Jeff Beck has died from contracting bacterial meningitis, aged 78. He was the guitarist's guitarist, a rocker who became a jazz-fusion pioneer. His tone was impeccable, all the way from his days as member of The Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, and as a versatile solo artist, getting sounds from his white Fender Stratocaster that were truly unique.
John Cale has released Noise Of You, a surprisingly gentle love song about trying to win back his loved one. It's an amalgam of electronics, spoken word and stacked vocals, some of them with an almost choral delivery, but he changes in the mood in the last seconds of the track, when he demands to be heard. It is another taste from his eagerly awaited new album Mercy (out on January 20, 2023 on Double Six / Domino). The video was directed by Pepi Ginsberg, with animations created by Studio Junbi, and photos and home videos supplied by Nita Scott.
Phish have announced a short Spring tour. The jam band veterans will play multiple shows in three cities: Seattle, Berkeley and Los Angeles. The latter city has a first for them in store: a 3-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl:
A ticket request period is currently underway at tickets.phish.com and will end on Monday, January 16th at 9AM PT. Tickets go on sale to the public beginning Friday, January 20th at 10AM PT. Specific ticketing information for each show is available at phish.com/tours.
Hong Kong British artist mui zyu, nom-de-plume of Eva Liu, creates a special brand of lo-fi, jazzy dreampop on her new single Sore Bear, using fuzz and dissonants to pull the listener into her world. It is a tale about love, loss and being OK with that. Battles are lost, but it is no use to get stuck in grief. Another change to come up on top will come along soon. Luciano Rossi, her bandmate from London based off-kilter band Dama Scout, played the piano and took care of all the programming.
Greek singer, songwriter and producer LOGOUT played all of his latest album Πονέμελα and a selection of his back catalog with a full band @ six d.o.g.s. in Athens: "He has embraced his demons and worries, not as much by trying to surpress them, but by taking them for granted as part of life. His vocals sound totally at ease, with the gentle Κι Εγ and the '60s tinged blues Κυριακή, a duet with fellow Athenian singer Miss Trichromi, as the standout tracks".
Πονέμελα is released via Tiny Room Records and Inner Ear Records (vinyl, digital).
HCTF review of Πονέμελα.
Watch the new GDVRDGDVR animated video for Handout, a track from their debut album, Songs in the Key of GDVRDGDVR: "[It] combines the sound of the Pixies, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, stripped down to the bare essentials. It is a spicy collection of in-your-face garage rock that is catchy as Hell, which keeps going for 16 tracks in a row". The clip was made by Ard Dermout Cramer.
Live date:HCTF review of Songs in the Key of GDVRDGDVR
I wasn't thinking of the longevity of any of my songs, but I am extremely pleased with the lasting effect.
Graham Nash
Dutch electronic pop duo Pocket Knife Army have finished the eight tracks for their third full-length album, Midnight Masquerade. They will play a special show @ De Vrijplaats in Leiden on April 1st. More details and ticket info TBA.
Watch The Beach Boys promo video for their version of I Can Hear Music. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector the single was not a success for The Ronettes in 1969. Nowadays lots of people think it is a Beach Boys original. It can be found on their 20/20 album and countless "best of" albums.
The long wait is over. Peter Gabriel has unveiled a new single, Panopticom, his first original material since the release of the UP album in 2002. The song will be included on his upcoming new album i/o.
The first song is based on an idea I have been working on to initiate the creation of an infinitely expandable accessible data globe: the Panopticom. We are beginning to connect a like-minded group of people who might be able to bring this to life, to allow the world to see itself better and understand more of what’s really going on
His voice is in fine shape, long-time collaborator Tony Levin is on bass, but the biggest coup is getting Brian Eno on boards, performing bells and haunting synths. The track is released via Real World Records.
Phish have posted a video of their New Years' countdown gag at Madison Square Garden in New York. 40 years of Phish referenced highlights from their career and revisited previous gags they performed at NYE shows. They performed a part of Bohemian Rhapsody for the second time in their career, again with a choir like they did @ Fleetcenter in Philadelphia on December 31, 1996. They changed the lyrics, mixing it up with their own song Ghost. A bunch of "naked" dancers hit the stage during Carini as a nod to the gatecrasher @ John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA on December 5th, 1999.
Getting out of the cover band circuit is hard, but New Jersey old school rock 'n' roll band BreakTime have written a couple of originals that could be sneaked into their sets at weddings and such, and been mistaken for long lost tunes from the late '50s/early '60s. Great Times is an album that is obviously recorded on a shoestring budget and the lead vocals could use a bit more oomph, but the melodies are catchy as Hell. The joy of hearing themselves play their own material for a change is almost palpable. The main theme is boy meets girl never gets old, as well as the anxiety whether it will last.
If anything the release of Great Times will give them the confidence to pursue a career that does not require them to play Superstition, Baby I Love Your Way, Sugaree, Wonderful Tonight and Rock N’ Roll All Nite for the umpteenth time to an audience that is likely to be more interested in the open bar or trying to get laid. Just placate them with the instrumental Jam Sauce as an opener of the show and smuggle in two or three more, with the rocking Catch A Ride, 425 as the penultimate song of the last set.
Steven Wilson has shared a surprisingly good audience shot video of him playing Lazarus with Dream Theater keyboard player Jordan Rudess at a Blackfield concert @ Berklee in Boston, MA on March 18th, 2007. It is a track from the Porcupine Tree album. A deluxe edition will be released on March 3.
Dutch indie folk artist Sander van Munster is already working on the follow-up of his Plenty of Blankets album with his No Ninja Am I project. It will be called Kiss Your Friends and the title track is an amalgam of styles, almost a pocket symphony, starting as an acoustic solo track with kids voices in the background urging him to get out of bed, before evolving into a multi-layered, melancholic plea for being nice to your inner circle that could have been recorded during the heyday of the Laurel Canyon scene.
Watch English trio Jazz Sabbath reinventing Black Sabbath live @ Leverkusener Jazztage in Germany on November 12, 2022. Adam Wakeman (keyboards), Jack Tustin (bass) and Dylan Howe (drums) provide a tasty (and tasteful) gateway drug for the real thing.
Dutch melodic trio Secret Molecules keep the melodic connection between pop and rock alive with their self-titled debut album. Otto van Gemert, Casper Rosenquist and Ton van der Kolk have been part of the scene in their hometown Dordrecht for longer than they care to remember, sharing a love for timeless vocal harmonies, inventive middle-eights, and catchy hooks.
Each track can stand on its own, telling a tale or describing a feeling of joy or unease within the space of three minutes or less. The slick '70s West Coast sound meets the slightly tougher UK variant that came to the fore in the early '80s, just before New Wave took over as the dominant popular genre. The upbeat Looking Out For Yourself and rocking Foreign Places have all the trappings to be handpicked by an indie film director looking for a tune to spice up a scene.
Canadian indie rock quintet Silvertone Hills go for a late '70s production values on their new single, Stubborn Lovers, with the vocals and the twin guitars hijacking the spotlight. Classic rock is apparently very much alive in Hamilton, Ontario, and this tale about a quibbling couple will strike a chord with fans of Tom Petty. The melody will get stuck in their heads for days on end.
Mike Gordon answered a couple of questions about his bass rig. Go deep. And weird. "O yeah, now we are swimming in the low end". He will be playing with his own band at a couple of US Festivals in June.
Live dates:
French heavy rockers Last Quarter are shouting at the heavens on their new single, We'll Be Just Fine. A bit of funk with a slap bass intro is followed by forays into shouting blues and a bit of fuzzy Black Sabbath. Intense stuff with a good ear for dynamics, plus a charming French accent they don't try to hide.
Phish
2022/12/31
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
I feel like I'm just learning how to play the guitar. I mean, really learning to play the guitar.
Stephen Stills
