English musicians and music geeks extraordinaire Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness have posted a new episode of their podcast The Album Years. They talk about 1968, discussing albums by Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, The Nice, and a whole lot more. This is part #3 about this year.
Nobody has to tell NYC based musician Arthur Lamonica how to write a great pop song. He was a founder member of The Shirts, who became a big in The Netherlands and an underground favourite in the rest of the world. He is now the main man in Rome 56, with his wife Kathy Lamonica riding shotgun (and playing keyboards and providing backing vocals). The Transatlantic connection is still in place and the tracks for the new album Paradise Is Free where recorded on both sides of the big pond, with a bunch of kick ass local musicians laying down a fresh stack of melodic power pop tracks, with a sprinkling of New Wave and garage punk to give it an edge.
Lamonica's modus operandi as a songwriter is pretty straightforward: find a subject that is close to home, rummage through his huge collection of hooks and riffs, and presto: another fresh sounding song that is instantly familiar somehow. It is a gift he puts to good use when he describes a visit to Seattle (spoiler: he never went there) or feels the urge to leave the bar but something is holding him back (Invisible Man). With a nasal vocal delivery not unlike Elvis Costello, he tells personal stories that will strike a chord because the themes are universal. Recommended if you like the tougher side of Big Star.
Chicago based multi-instrumentalist Ethan Sellers and leader of adventurous Tautologic released his first solo single She to raise awareness for Earth Month 2024. Likening our planet to a person works quite well, because it gives him the opportunity to make a case for a very fragile balance that humanity is on the brink of fucking things up in a major way, rendering it uninhabitable for tons of lifeforms. He went for a big sounding arrangment to hammer home the message. The video was made by Adam Montgomery.
French guitarist and violinist Naïm Amor keeps the art of the rock instrumental alive with Freeway Race, a track from his forthcoming new album Stories. He sounds like the missing between Link Wray and Hank B. Marvin on this one, and there is no doubt that it will frustrate tons of hopefuls hoping to replicate his dexterity. He is an in-demand film scorer and he has the ability to tell a captivating tale without words.
Boston indie singer Leah Callahan has picked an apt title for her new album, Curious Tourist. She started out as New Wave artist, but she loves to explore (and master) other genres as well. In the title track she brushes shoulders with late night jazz, Ordinary Face is a spot-on baroque pop song, and she gets the party started with a slice of country in Nowhere Girl. Bubblegum pop for grown ups can be found in Super. Fellow Bostonians Pixies get a nod with a hint of surf in Social Climber. The album's sole cover, You Don't Love Me (No No No), is turned into late night jazz meets ska song.
Callahan is like a kid in a candy store, who can't settle for just a couple of treats, but that is not a problem at all. Her enthusiasm is contagious and she created an album where each song could have been a single. Don't sleep on the piano ballad Duras or the post-progressive instrumental All's Fair in War as the dark horse to be cherished by serious music fans and adventurous DJ's who don't give a fuck about corporate formats.
Calling what composers did in the second half of the 20th century a revolution adds too much pathos. We simply invented something new. Electronic music resulted from a scientific and extra-musical development. The arts took advantage of that. Just like Dan Flavin turned neon lights into art. Every scientific revolution brought forth an artistic movement. Composers like Beethoven, Wagner and Stockhausen were true revolutionaries, they got rid of all existing rules.
Irmin Schmidt
Dutch indie band Seb Zukini goes for mainstream rock on their new single Honestly. And while some it feels a bit like connecting the dots in a true-and-tried fashion, they have grown significantly in getting it right in the studio, feeling more confident that using hills and valleys is a far smarter move than putting all the faders up. It could have been a bit rougher to do justice to their live sound, but then again that would probably scare radiofriendly playlisters.
Live date:HCTF review of The Devil You Know.
Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet are dealing with some kind of reality check on their new single I Found Love, But I'm a Hater. Things that were considered to be decidedly uncool turn out not to be as bad after all. Propelled forward by a catchy, almost country-alike backbeat, they lock into a groove, with Garrett Weinholtz's trombone as the icing on the cake: "I found love, but I'm a hater // I'm vacant of all pain // I push a broom, but i'm a painter // I have no room for shame".
Danish/Dutch grunge-tinged folk trio Subterranean Street Society will be on tour in the UK and The Netherlands to promote their Bleep album.
Manchester based psychedelic power pop veterans The Speed Of Sound have some issues with the rise of technology on their new single The Great Acceleration. As the current rate of advancement, it won't be long that it could be controlling humanity instead of the other away around. The dreams of a blissful, shiny utopia can turn into post-apocalyptic dystopia if people don't come to their senses.
Between December 24 and January 6 Dutch musician Stefan Breuer shared 13 brand new tracks on social media by his lo-fi The World of Dust project, documenting a kind of spiritual quest. Don't look for them now, because he took them all down, preparing the collection for a proper release named 13 Holy Nights. No biggie if anthroposophical teachings are not your thing, because the music is achingly beautiful. The opening track Wild Boars can be heard on the Bandcamp page of his Tiny Room Records label.
Dutch electronic pop duo Pocket Knife Army have made a video for Masquerade: "a game of hide and seek on their new single Masquerade, changing the rhythm to both throw off and entertain the dancers".
Live date:HCTF review of Masquerade.
Australian post-punk quintet dust are fighting a terrible headache on their new single Trust U See , singing about the classic mix of pain, ennui, anxiety and boredom that is part of growing up. What sets them apart in their niche is saxophonist Adam Ridgway who add licks from both the Roxy Music and free jazz playbooks, acting as an extra voice that is shouting at the heavens.
Watch Dutch retro-pop act Donna Blue perform the Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra classic Summer Wine live on French TV program Le Grand dimanche soir on April 14.
They are on the road, promoting their latest album Into the Realm of Love: "(...) carefully crafted love songs that could have been released in the mid-sixties when psychedelic rock took off. (...) At first it may seem that Into the Realm of Love offers more of the same, but by going in at the deep end, they have come up with so many gems that a listener may have missed a few the first time around. It is a slow burn that leaves no blisters, but plenty of food for thought instead."
English musicians and music geeks extraordinaire Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness have posted a new episode of their podcast The Album Years. They talk about 1968, discussing albums by The Incredible String Band, The Doors, The Byrds, The Grateful Dead, and a whole lot more. This is part #2 about this year.
The 2012 BBC documentary Can You See The Real Me? about Quadrophenia, the greatest album by The Who, has found its way to YouTube again. Pete Townshend is quite funny and to the point discussing the creation of the album, explaining the story of the Jimmy, the "hero" in the musical tale about the Mod culture in England ca 1964.
English post-punk quartet Human Interest are tyring to get away from an undisclosed bad thing that has happened to them on their new single Shapeshifting by donning a disguise, which doesn't quite work. With a false ending they seem to give in, but they end on high note, confident that there is a way out of this mess. The video was made by Dougie Chalmers.
Phish
2024/04/21
Sphere, Las Vegas, NV
Montreal based garage rockers The Wesleys has posted an animated video for A Lot to Loose, a track from their self-titled debut album: "Cute and catchy stuff that could make a nice present for both Britpop lovers and fans of the Replacements. Hooks galore, and they make a pretty good effort at nailing vocal harmonizing". The clip was made by Phil Osborn.
HCTF review of The Wesleys.
Phish
2024/04/20
Sphere, Las Vegas, NV
Can music was always a war between musicians, a musical war. It was strategy between the musicians, that's why it remains very true music. It was what you might call composition by action and reaction, and with all the emotions. It doesn't just use violent noises because we wanted to make violent noises, but because somebody felt so violent that he made those noises, and somebody else would react to it.
Michael Karoli
Manchester based psychedelic power pop veterans The Speed Of Sound are shooting darts at the eyes of the major labels on their new single West Wind, who are only in it for the money, ready to snap up hopefuls with unfair contracts and cramming on their style if it fails to sell. It is fast, it is angry, and it's highly unfashionable with its Bo Diddley beat and use of flanging, but it will be cherished by serious music fans who might convince a few of their clueless acquintances to check it out.
Phish
2024/04/19
Sphere, Las Vegas, NV
It's Record Store Day, so get off your couch and buy some stuff from your local independent record store. Have a chat with fellow music lovers and agree to disagree about taste, sell-outs, rarities, remasters and such. Bitch about the majors reissuing records holding up the line at the pressing plants (you can find most of them in excellent condition in the second hand section), and make fun of the clueless hipsters and millenials buying piss-poor turntables to play them on. Prices are going through the roof as it is, so don't line the pockets of a flipper when you miss out on a particular album. Record stores list their stock of unsold goodies shortly after the event, without inflated prices.
Los Angeles based musician Ward White has unveiled another track from his new album Here Come The Dowsers, a tongue-in-cheek collection about the movie business. Cliffhanger takes a look at plot twists that come out of nowhere and more often than not make sense. He shows some sympathy for this scheme as well, putting the blame on the audience as well, who are accustomed to this practice and expect as much for their entertainment needs.
It is a mid-tempo gentle rocker - note the 70s inspired tasteful guitar pyrotechnics - giving White plenty of room to show off his impressive vocal range, which is a match for this lyrical ability, as if Randy Newman found a way into the voice of Rufus Wainwright or Russell Mael.
Phish
2024/04/18
Sphere, Las Vegas, NV
Maserati guitarist Coley Dennis flies solo with his Red Dwarf Star project. He doesn't stray all that much for the psychedelic post-rock that he has been creating with the Athens, GA band. His new single Lady Aurora Borealis - the Espresso Machine Mix to be precise - is a slow moving trip through outer space, with Dennis never revealing if it is a real or imaginary journey. He stacked the guitar parts way up high, with Kellii Scott from Los Angeles alt-rock band Failure playing up a storm on drums. It left him two ways to make himself heard: scream at the top of lungs or going for an almost spoken word part draped over the mayhem. He chose wisely, and picked the latter.
The B-side is a harsh reimagining of the Pink Floyd classic Fearless, turning it into a slowed down metal tune as if the Sisters of Mercy were picking a fight with Black Sabbath. Allen Epley from Kansas City indie rock band The Life and Times stepped up to the mike for this one. He got buried deep in the mix, but that is intentional.
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 41 producer and audio engineer Mario J. McNulty talks about Massive Attack's Mezzanine album.
Four tracks recorded in Manchester over two nights in April 2014 by adventurous jazz outfit Snarky Puppy will be released for Record Store Day (April 20). Live At The Band On The Wall captures the band in full flight. A double album would make more sense, but it is a nice start. 2000 copies worldwide.
Snarky Puppy:
Michael League: bass
Robert "Sput" Searight: drums
Nate Werth: percussion
Bob Lanzetti: guitar
Bill Laurance: keyboards
Cory Henry: keyboards
Justin Stanton: keyboards & trumpet
Mike 'Maz' Maher: trumpet & flugelhorn
Chris Bullock: saxophone
Darren Smallman returns to his country of origin in June, playing four shows in Australia with his one-man garage-punk band Dez Dare to promote his latest album Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin album: "a rollercoaster ride without any of the nasty side-effects (nauseau, dizziness and the like). He is shouting at the heavens, calling in physics as well as science-fiction to make sense of it all. It is an album that is bursting at the seems with fuzz and reverb, and it sounds like it might fall apart at any second. Smallman is walking the thin line between structured mayhem and chaos, but it is worth the risk. The best art offers a challenge for both the artist and the public".
English quirky pop act Dirty Nice is still a duo, but they will a sextet when they hit the road in May for their first UK headline tour. Their new single Like Best Friends will likely be a highlight of their set, a tongue-in-cheek plea to a girl to consider becoming best friends, like monkees in a zoo.
Charlie Pelling and Mark Thompson keep it simple, but brutally honest: "Goddamn // You're funny // So cool // So sunny". Add a few choice breaks and tempo changes, and presto: a recipe for a proper dance floor banger. They make it sound so easy, but it is damn hard to replicate.
On May 31 the fifth installment of the official series of CAN live bootleg recordings Live In Aston 1977 will be released on via Spoon Records (LP, 2CD, digital) and distributed via Mute. It captures the band in transistion, with Rosko Gee as the new guy on bass. The German inventors were keen improvisers and during concerts by the Krautrock ensemble anything could happen.
Live in Aston 1977 is a whole new lens through which we can view a unique band with seemingly inexhaustible energy for live performance. It comes at a difficult period for Can; their recently released eighth studio album, Saw Delight, had been badly received and although posterity has been kinder, the reviews on release were savage. It might be expected that the live performances from this time would reflect some of the criticisms of the album, that they were slowing down, perhaps even feeling a little jaded, but it cements the notion that Can live, at any period, was mercurial.
Jazz fusion prog rock trio The Aristocrats have announced a lengthy tour to promote their concept album Duck, playing shows in Mexico, Canada & USA throughout the Summer.
English musicians and music geeks extraordinaire Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness have posted a new episode of their podcast The Album Years. They talk about 1968, discussing albums by Jimi Hendrix, The Zombies, The Small Faces, The Beach Boys, and a whole lot more. This is part #1 about this year. Also: the pair can be watched on YouTube now as well.
Watch Dutch indie band Momsname perform Breaking Down and Everlast for a Slim Radio session. Both tracks can be found on their debut EP Blossom: "Carefully mixing elements of art rock, post-punk and shoegaze, they give a voice to suppressed emotions that can take over at any moment. Breakups, unrequited love and the knowledge that you can fuck up any moment again after making amends or reconciliation".
HCTF review of Blossom
Leeds based musician Ellur takes a look a gender roles on her new single Boys, using the perspective of female teenager. In hindsight people telling her that "boys will boys" pisses her off way more now than it did back then. The song is a slow burn, with emotions coming more and more to the fore as the track progresses. video was directed by Sarah Oglesby.
English quirky pop trio The Happy Somethings have left the safety of their comfort zone, covering the classic Second Time Around, a song made famous by the likes of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. It is for a good cause, with all proceeds donated to The Specialized Project, a charity raising funds for The Teenage Cancer Trust among others. They reworked the track as a lo-fi Sixties pop gem, with their signature harmonies smack in the middle of the mix.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds offer a sneak peek of the recording process for the new album, Wild God. And yes, Colin Greenwood is on it. The trailer was shot by Megan Cullen.
Montreal based garage rockers The Wesleys have the audacity to kick off their album with using a proper intro for opening track Make It My Way, which is, according to self-proclaimed streaming gurus, a bad move. It sets the tone for a collection of songs wherein punk meets power pop, with a rock solid pairing of lead and rhythm guitar. There is even a Mellotron involved, which gives them ample opportunity to play around with textures and add a bit of colour to their bare bones, lo-fi approach.
Cute and catchy stuff that could make a nice present for both Britpop lovers and fans of the Replacements. Hooks galore, and they make a pretty good effort at nailing vocal harmonizing. The slow, monolithic Fucked Up is a pretty nifty set-up for the Pixies-esque 25, fully deserving to be played back to back on indie stations.
Are Californian power pop band The Armoires dead serious or indulging into a bit of wishful thinking when they sing that "this is where we go big" on their new single We Absolutely Mean It? Either way the song is a bold statement, wrapped in strings and guitars, with a classic slowed down middle-eight thrown in for good measure.
The band has been going for ten years now and is still growing under the tutelage of producer Michael Simmons (sparkle*jets UK), their go-to guy for getting a vintage sound with top shelf harmonics and separation. It is another taste from their forthcoming new album, Octoberland, due for release in the Fall.
Phish will release their new album Evolve on July 12th. The title track is up on all the usual digital streaming services. It is a rather sappy ballad, that is usually played a bit faster live since its debut in Nashville on August 4, 2021.
The studio was essential for us. No band had their own studio, because usually the bands would write a song, then rehearse it in their rehearsal room, and then go to a studio and record it. With Can, there was never anything written – we didn’t want that. We thought we could go to a studio and play together and see what was happening, and if there were good ideas we’d work on them, without writing.
Jaki Liebezeit
Hard-hitting blues rockers Black Country Communion stay on script with Red sun, the second single from their new album BCC V, due for release on June 14th via Mascot Records. It is a groovy piece of classic rock that has found its the way to the 21st Century.
HCTF review of Stay Free.
Leeds based pop noir quartet English Teacher is always one step ahead rhythmically, making it a challenge to predict where they will go next. It makes their debut album This Could Be Texas special, proving that post-punk can team up with art rock and New Wave to create something that defies pigeonholing. Their boldness is not just a pose, but very real, taking shit from nobody. The defying I'm Not crying, You're Crying sums it quite nicely.
The title track takes a swipe at the wisdom of crowds, with a glorious jazzy piano part that will strike a chord with fans of Kate Bush. Lead singer Lily Fontaine can't get over the fact that her voice isn't suited for R&B, but it is actually a blessing in disguise, because her almost spoken word phrasing fits like a glove with the upfront bass, in-your-face drums and shimmering guitar.
Manchester neo-shoegaze quartet cruush are punching holes in empty promises and false advertising on their new EP Nice Things Now, All The Time. They take it slow and slightly muffled, which may lead to missing the quite funny, self-deprecating lyrics during the first listen. With wall-to-wall guitars and a pondering rhythm section, the inner tension of trying to make the most of it with empty pockets is almost palpable.
The sound of the late Eigthies and early Nineties is fashionable again, with Old Blightly in the midst of yet another economic crisis again. The Tories are wearing sneakers now, but their improved dress sense can't hide the fact that things are only getting worse.
Psychedelic rockers Custard Flux have unveiled a video for Equinox, a track from their new album Einsteinium Delirium: "Named after the unstable element that was discovered after the first hydrogen bomb explosion, the album is a warning that the world could go up in flames if the dreaded nuclear option is no longer an option, but a reality. Yes, that sounds pretty dark and pessimistic, and like Oppenheimer, the architect of the atomic bomb, [bandleader] Curvey turned to Hinduism to find an answer to get away from the prospect of total annihilation". The clip was made by Shane Swank.
Watch the full performance by The Black Keys @ KROQ Helpful Honda Sound Space in Los Angeles, CA, playing three tracks from their new album Ohio Players plus the same number of crowd pleasers.
Setlist:
French-American dark wave band Deleyaman have announced a limited vinyl edition - 100 numbered copie - of their latest album The Sudbury Inn: "By cherry-picking from the classic texts Deleyaman has given them as new leash on life. If only a small percentage of the listeners will hit the bookshops after hearing the album, it is mission accomplished for a band that is not afraid to offer a challenge as a means of showing the beauty of literature by means of carefully crafted music".
The Sudbury Inn is released via Diggers Factory. Caveat: the vinyl version has room for eight of the tracks, with the remaining three being offered as digital downloads. The album will be shipped in September.
Watch the video for Fire Place, the title track from Jonathan Brown's latest album by his Dusty Stray project: "".Brown's superb way with words are emboldened by a subtle, mostly acoustic band. Five years have gone by since the release of his previous album Estranged - which also was about the matters of the heart. With Fire Place he tapped into the same source, but now that he is getting older he looks to future with a bit more confidence as he has realized that being with someone might not be the be-all and end-all for him, at least for now.
Chicago based musician Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee is done with parenting and can resume his career as an artist with a knack for catchy alternative, orchestrated rock. He hits the ground running with the double A-side The New Richter Waltz b/w Grumbling Bellies, a quick one-two that will have listeners reeling but in a good way. The former is utterly danceable and the latter is all over the place, with plenty of turns and twists, as if jazz meets art rock and they hit off immediately.
Guitarist Sturgis Nikides succumbed to an agressive form of cancer on April 9. He was 66. He started out in the NYC punk in the late Seventies, before becoming a member of John Cale's band in 1979 - he can be heard on the Mercenaries single and the Honi Soit album. Via a stay in Miami where he played with Diane Ward in hard-hitting rock band Voidville, he ended up in Memphis. Once he settled down, he founded the screaming blues band Low Society with his wife Mandy Lemons Nikides on vocals. The band became a showcase for his versatility on resonator and slide guitar. The band released three highly acclaimed albums: High Time You Can't Keep A Good Woman Down, and Sanctified.
Brazilian musician Luiz Bruno made London his home to peddle the kind of weird psychedelic rock that will the scare the shit out of the uninitiated. He donned the guise of Luiz Bruno & The Adult Children for his latest outing, Kids Vaping on the Double Decker Bus, a trippy journey with plenty of dissonants, beeps and purrs, and on purpose off-key fills, using old school messing around with tapes.
It has "chemically enhanced" written all over, but listen closely and there is a method in his madness. If anything, it will cheer you up. Director Chris Wade must have had a field day making the video, riding public transport with two puppets in tow, acting out as the wayward children.
The Fear Is A Man's Best Friend website was launched on April 10, 1999. Six pages in all, with upcoming live shows, a meagre discography, and a few photos.
25 years later things have gotten a bit out of hand: thousands of pages right now, chronicling John Cale's career in detail, with tidbits added fairly regularly.
Chicago based multi-instrumentalist Mark Lofgren (The Luck of Eden Hall, The Thin Cherries) sticks to an acoustic guitar as the main instrument for his new single Ne'er Do Wells by his Black Moon Book project. It fits the melancholic mood of the song like a glove, as he contemplates the pros and cons of living in a big city, with the rich making sure to keep the less fortunate at arm's length. Melody is king on this track and it bodes well as the forerunner for his forthcoming album Black Moon Book 3, due for release on May 3.
English musicians and music geeks extraordinaire Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness have posted a new episode of their podcast The Album Years. They talk about 2000, discussing albums by King Crimson, Neil Young, Merzbow, and a whole lot more. This is part #4, the final episode about this year. Also: the pair can be watched on YouTube now as well.
Singer-songwriter Hannah Marcus achieved cult status in the Nineties with a slew of soul-searching albums, bridging the gap between Maria McKee and Throwing Muses. The new collection The Hannah Marcus Years: 1993-2004 cherry picks the best stuff from her five studio albums, plus a handful of surprisingly good sounding demos. She is an old-school storyteller, who can cram the contents of a short story within the space of a few minutes. Marcus i highly respected among her fellow musicians for her way words and instantly recognizable guitar tone - she worked with Joe Goldring, Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters), Michael Belfer (Tuxedomon) and the members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. This album will likely set off a reappraisal of her output. Some of it is still in print, so tracking down the original albums won't be that difficult.
Nowadays Marcus explores scent-inflected sound performances, but fans of her music will eagerly await her mixed media song cycle about 19th Century chemistry, vitalism and the advent of synthetic scent, wherein she will make her return as a recording artist. If that ain't enough, a second collection of previously unreleased material, Ten Bones from a Virgin Graveyard, recorded at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal, will hit the shops in the Summer.
Dutch folk-tinged slowcore duo Coaster have made a video for Waves, a track from their Painted Faces album: " It can get pretty dark, foreboding even, but having a working knowledge of the gentler side of bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and the - in this case - unavoidable Guided By Voices goes a long way in order to appreciate them for they are aiming at: soft-spoken music that digs deep and goes against the grain". The clip was made by Richard de Hoop.
Live date:HCTF review of Painted Faces.
Toronto based power trio Mad Ones sound rather sloppy on their new album, What It Takes, but does not take awy much of the enjoyment. Heavy Rock in its infancy was never 100% in tune, the rhythm was not meant to be precise and the vocals were more about passion that chops. Leakage during the recording sessions should not be fixed, but embraced like a long lost friend.
With that in mind, this new collection of songs ticks all the boxes for fist pumping, head banging and breaking out the air guitar. They have managed to the dots between blues, glam, punk, and rough-around-the-edges college rock. As per usual connecting with the opposite sex and all the subsequent trouble that follows, is the main theme. The hectic Hydra Head has all the trappings of getting a moshpit going: it's short and fast. They saved the best for last with the quiet-loud-quiet Mess - a ramshackle slice of grunge trash about fucking up in a major way.
Psychedelic rockers Custard Flux have plugged in for Einsteinium Delirium, ditching the mainly acoustic approach that they used on their previous albums. Soundwise it is a continuation of the band building a sonic wall for main man, lead guitarist and singer Gregory Curvey to scale and use as a vantage point.
Named after the unstable element that was discovered after the first hydrogen bomb explosion, the album is a warning that the world could go up in flames if the dreaded nuclear option is no longer an option, but a reality. Yes, that sounds pretty dark and pessimistic, and like Oppenheimer, the architect of the atomic bomb, Curvey turned to Hinduism to find an answer to get away from the prospect of total annihilation. Power hungry leaders don't care about the long term consequences. They want to win at all costs, even if that means that everybody loses. Back in the day they had the means to lay waste to their immediate surroundings, which was bad enough. Nowadays, the stakes are far more higher.
Amsterdam independent arts venue Zaal 100 will celebrate 40 years of adventurous programming with 9 days of free festivities, kicking off on April 12 with shows by Templo Diez, Viper Mad & Labasheeda.
Other notable artists taking part: Andy Moor (the Ex) & Marion Coutts (Dog Faced Hermans) on April 14;; Frank Rosaly on April 17, and Oktopidians on April 18.
The full schedule can be found on the venue's website.
Music, for me, is kind of like sport in that you don’t know any results before. People shouldn’t come to a concert and already have expectations. It should be an experience that we both go through together – a communication. Music is always a communication.
Damo Suzuki
Watch PJ Harvey and Björk perform the Rolling Stones classic (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction at the BRIT Awards @ at Alexandra Palace in London on February 14, 1994.
The four Phish shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas (April 18-21) are offered as pay-per-view webcasts in HD or UltraHD 4K.
What do you when half your band is not available for a while? Besides sulking or a spring cleaning, but the best option by gar is the make the most of it and come up with arrangements that will work for just a few musicians. Jade Trio is a side-project of New Hampshire based funky jazz sextet Andrew North & The Rangers, playing stripped down tunes. They recorded the four songs of their self-titled EP in one take in a single afternoon in the recital hall at the Concord Community Music School.
Chris Milton and Vertro Ubretl of New Hampshire duo Tiny Wine are up for most catchy lo-fi song of 2024 with their new single Replace It. It is a crash course for murky vocals and instruments to shine against all odds, giving a voice to that awkward feeling that some changes have to be made after something bad has happened, but the emotions are still too raw to make an actual move.
London based alt emo duo Mothercanyouhearme are trying to make amends on their new single Come Round. What the fuck are they supposed to do if the other party is in full retreat? Rosie (vocals, guitar) and Georgia (vocals, drums) don't have the answer, and have to settle for a high energy punk version of "j'accuse".
The inimitable Johnny Dowd is back in the States and will hit the road again, after a succesful European tour to promote his Is Heaven Real? How Would I Know album: "His special blend of trashcan Americana is wrapped in a cloak of bluesy, jazzy and soulful music, fulfilling a lifelong dream of his: get a honky-tonk version of the Stax/Volt records vibe going".
Live dates:
The good news: a lost archive containing documents and tapes amassed by former Jimi Hendrix manager Mike Jeffery has come to light. The bad news: it will be up for auction, so there is a quite a big risk that interesting items will be snapped by fans with deep pockets. Jeffrey's Trixie Sullivan has hold on unto the archive for decades, but she is looking for buyer now. Experience Hendrix representatives are having a look into it as well. UK music magazine Mojo had a sneak preview:
Diving into the huge stacks of paperwork in a small office in Pinewood Studios is to immerse in the day-to-day running of rock bands at the end of the ’60s. Here’s a postcard from Hawaii from Hendrix to Sullivan in July 1970, on the trip that incorporated his contribution to the movie Rainbow Bridge, plus photographs the incendiary guitarist took on the flight over. And here’s a letter from Sullivan to Jeffery, dated January 10, 1969, updating him on Jimi’s circumstances. “He’s buying new curtains and carpet for the flat and domestication seems to suit him for the moment,” Sullivan writes. “You never know how long it will last…”
Want to indulge into some paranoia meets self-pity? Victory Lap's debut single Jealousy is exactly that. The Nottingham based pop-noir band is not afraid to go for the grandiose, taking cues from both Pulp and Nick Cave, seasoned with a mid-Sixties crooner dressing. It's about love and the fear that it might end badly, because once the thoughts about the other party not being faithful have taken over, madness is waiting in the wings to make a big entrance.
Dutch folk-tinged slowcore duo Coaster are quite comfortable in their lo-fi niche. Paul Dijkman and Bart Appel have broadened their musical horizon a bit on their new album Painted Faces, using a mandolin, EBows and surprisingly melodic slide guitar. That being said, their music is an acquired taste for most. It can get pretty dark, foreboding even, but having a working knowledge of the gentler side of bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and the - in this case - unavoidable Guided By Voices goes a long way in order to appreciate them for they are aiming at: soft-spoken music that digs deep and goes against the grain.
Dijkman and Appel - with a little help by Vera Mennens (vocals on In This Room and Back And Forth and Jasper Boogaard pitching in as synth player, besides mixing and mastering the album - have all the trappings of becoming a big name in the Dutch underground. With this kind of next level soul-searching about dealing with their emotions and inner demons, they don't hide behind the make-up that gave the album its name. It is a take it or leave it statement that does not need to raise its voice to be heard loud and clear.