Tears Run Rings: How Will We Know?

Portland, OR shoegaze quartet Tears Run Rings have shared a video for How Will We Know? , a track from their forthcoming album Everything In The End. They take their time on this one, playing the same guitar notes over and over again, before letting the vocals take over. Plenty of echo is used as well, which will be loved by fans of the Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. The clip is based on the short movie The Flow of Zen, made by Alan W. Watts in 1969.

Eades: Fight or Flight

In the run up to the release of their Fight or Flight Leeds indie rock band Eades released four of the five tracks as singles, with the title track as the sole exception. Maybe they felt that the rhythmic shifts of that one might put people off. As a matter fact it is the summation of what this band is all about: dealing with emotional turmoil and taking risks.

Showing strength by embracing soft spots is not everyone, but their courage is highly commendable. Want to bet that audiences will sing along when they play the rollicking Constantly?

Phish 2024 Summer tour SBD + torrents: 2024/08/30 Commerce City, CO

Commerce City, CO 2024 poster by David Welker

Phish
2024/08/30
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Commerce City, CO

Set 1:

1. Back on the Train
2. Wolfman's Brother
3. Hey Stranger
4. Guelah Papyrus
5. No Men In No Man's Land
6. Steam
7. Evolve
8. Strange Design
9. Run Like an Antelope

English Teacher: Live From BBC Maida Vale Studios

photo: Harry Isherwood

It took the suits some time to recognize that English Teacher are a damn fine band. Their full-length This Could Be Texas garnered rave reviews earlier this year, two years after the cognoscenti did the same for their debut EP Polyawkward. Now their label Island hopes to capitalize on their new found fame with a five track EP Live From BBC Maida Vale Studios.

Golden Alphabet: Thinkin' 'Bout Trout

Tommy Cormier, leader of Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet, grew up in a religious environment, and he feels that it has held him back for years trying to find his mental bearings, so he turned it into a song: Thinkin' 'Bout Trout. He never embraced religion, but he understands that the idea that the concept of an imaginary almighty power might work for some: "I write shit down every time I feel intoxicated // I write shit down every day // We're break breaking ground // popping balloons // Progressive postulating // We're making God outta clay".

The Chairman Dances: We Rifled Through

Philadelphia based indie band The Chairman Dances are gearing up to release their concept album Evening Song with the world, a collection of songs celebrating the happy couple Maggie and Chris. Lead single We Rifled Through rides the rail between folk and pop, with bass player Ben Rosen serving up an undulating foundation that is hard to resist.

Phish 2024 Summer tour SBD + torrents: 2024/08/29 Commerce City, CO

Commerce City, CO 2024 poster by Johnny Greenteeth

Phish
2024/08/29
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Commerce City, CO

Set 1:

1. Cities >
2. Down with Disease
3. Ether Edge >
4. Llama
5. Theme From the Bottom
6. Sugar Shack
7. Ocelot
8. Golgi Apparatus >
9. Blaze On

Porcupine Tree: "Fear Of A Blank Planet" box set in October

The Porcupine Tree album Fear Of A Blank Planet will get the deluxe box set treatmentFear Of A Blank Planet on October 25th. The Six discs in all. The Nil Recurring EP and the We Lost The Skyline in-store perfomance in Orlando are included, plus part of a live show in Saarbrücken, the inevitable demos and a book. Here is the blurb:

• 112-Page Hardback Book: Featuring in-depth interviews and insights into the making of the album by Stephen Humphries, plus rare photographs from Lasse Hoile & Carl Glover. This is an intimate look into the process that shaped Fear Of A Blank Planet and the world around it.
• Remasters of Fear Of A Blank Planet and the Nil Recurring EP
• Unreleased Demos: Over 55 minutes of demos, including a couple of tracks that didn’t make the final cut for the album.
• Live Performances: You’ll find recordings from The Garage in Saarbrücken, when the album was still a work-in-progress. We’ve also included a BBC session and a 2007 unplugged in-store performance from Park Avenue in Orlando.
• Blu-ray Content: Remastered stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes of Fear Of A Blank Planet and Nil Recurring, along with a new documentary on the making of the album, live footage, music videos, and more.

» porcupinetree.com

Big Warm Bed: Jackie

Indie singer-songwriter Jacob Andrews has picked Big Warm Bed as his stage, an apt choice for his new single Jackie, a song about loss and the need to find a place to hide from the world for a while. But he won't cry, even as he stands outside in the rain - and yes, his coat has a hole in it as well.

The track will be included on his Shores I’m Swimming In, due for release on September 26 via Dance To The Radio. The video was made by Ryan Morgan, who made it look like footage from 3rd gen VHS-tape that has been gathering dusts for a couple of decades.

NEEF.: album release show in Utrecht

Dutch indie-jazz trio NEEF. will celebrate the release of their debut album 2005 on CD tonight during their show @ Nomono in Utrecht tonight with a free show: "By inserting elements of progressive rock and a bit of modern day indie guitar, the trio goes for an idiosyncratic yet elegant overall sound. It is smooth, but it is not slick. 2005 is a vulnerable collection of instrumentals about friendship (pelle), skills (Ronaldinho, panna) and falling asleep after playing for hours on end, holding tight to a favourite stuffed animal (welterusten, kleine beer)."

» NEEF. on Instagram

HCTF review of 2005.

Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness: The Album Years 1972 Part #4

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 1972, discussing albums by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Hawkwind, and a whole lot more. This is part #4 about this year. The pair can be watched on YouTube as well.

Various Artists: Live at the 19th Dream of Dr Sardonicus Festival of Psychedelica

It is tricky to pick the highlights from a music festival and make it sound both coherent and diverse enough to make sense to those for were not there. The acts that were on stage of the Cellar Bar during the 19th Dream of Dr Sardonicus Festival in Cardigan, Wales, last year, share one stand-out quality: they know how to play and get the undivided attention of the 150 strong audience.

One of the festival's organising parties, Fruit de Mer Records, did a fine job compiling the double album Live at the 19th Dream of Dr Sardonicus Festival of Psychedelica that does each act justice as well as offering a gateway to explore them further and for those Wales band Sendelica is offering full shows of most of them.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: "The Making of Wild God" Part 3

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have shared part 3 of The Making of Wild God, catching them in the studio during the recording sessions @ Miraval Studios in Correns, France. It was shot by Megan Cullen.

Blake Jones & The Trike Shop: and still​.​.​.

Fresno, CA power pop quintet Blake Jones & The Trike Shop are dipping their toes into art rock on their new album and still.... Imagine Roxy Music and Sparks having a ball with Big Star, while they sing about record stores, the opposite sex, and worrying about fascism getting more fashionable in the US when the so-called Proud Boys came out of the woodwork (Fascist Bumblebee Winter Formal).

The accessible melodies on top of adventurous time signatures - XTC comes to mind - and the gentle howl of the theremin might cause some head scratching at first for some, but their fragments always fit and could not have been connected in any other way to make sense.

Midwest Dilemma: new album "Searching For The Cure For Loneliness"; stream "The 49'r" + "So Well"

More than a decade ago Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Lamoureux was the driving force behind a glorious orchestral folk album, Timelines & Tragedies. The Midwest Dilemma ensemble featured 23 musicians, making his musical genealogy a reality.

The record earned rave reviews, but it seemed that was all he had to say after the wait for more seemed futile. But lo and behold: they are back and with a vengeance. In the fall Searching For The Cure For Loneliness will see the light of day, a carefully crafted concept album that was recorded in 2011.

William William Rodgers: Hot House

English singer-songwriter William William Rodgers had not much fun when he was a schoolboy, but as Dutch writer Gerard Reve wrote: "an unhappy childhood is a writer's goldmine". On his single Hot House he switches between perspectives: a kid, an old man and his actual age. It is basically a short story set to music, whose various endings involve smashing up things and torching the place. Using 70s inspired upbeat folk, the message is delivered with a smile, albeit a wry one.

Icarus Phoenix: "I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said" video

Icarus Phoenix have made a video for the title track of their I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said album: "Grief and anger have always been sure fire catalysts for memorable songs, and by gift wrapping them in a mix of folk,blues and shoegaze - genres that have their fair share of soul searching elements - it became a vessel for closure".

Words about music (749): Jello Biafra

I think one of the most important things punk brought back was the whole concept of staying independent and doing things yourself. It made music a lot less boring in any category you can name.

Jello Biafra

Sex Swings: Kings Romans Casino

Recipe for more noise rock. Invite members from noise rock band to form a noise rock band. Sex Swings has musicians from the UK underground scene (Earth, Mugstar, Dethscalator, Snow Ghosts, The Keep, Jaaw) with a penchant for ear-shattering songs. They convened to make an album, Golden Triangle, and have unleashed Kings Romans Casino as the lead single. Abrasive, in-your-face and plenty of feedback and leakage, both of which were welcomed with open arms.

Jumble Hole Clough: They've Built an Ark in Arkham

photo: Andrew Daley

BEST OF 2024
16
HCTF

English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson rummaged through the instrumentals he had amassed since 2019 to see if there was anything worthwhile that could be used on a new album by his Jumble Hole Clough project. He should not have worried. The tracks for They've Built an Ark in Arkham were augmented by vocals - some of them by Jim Ramsden, Rick Holstead and Nadia Robinson. With his signature knack for off-kilter rhytms, short bursts of any instrument he might have lying around and field recordings made in Lyon, Bilbao and Manchester, he created a miasma of eccentric, tumbling tidbits that can be quite baffling at times.

As is his wont, he can write about anything that comes to mind: being frustrated about evasive inanimate objects (Brushes, combs and cutlery), a big saltwater fish turning up in an expected location (Great White Shark in Peasholme Park), an underground line that was never finished (We rode on the Picc-Vic Line), the day John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas and also a sad day for fans of C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley who both died on that day (November 22nd 1963), and enjoying a sporting relaxing holiday (Surfing the Sargasso Sea).

Shehehe: Namedroppers

People tend to forget that punk rock was also a lot of fun. Write short, fast songs, rehearse a bit, play live, make a single, and EP and maybe even an album, repeat all the previous steps. Shehehe hail from Athens, GA, a safe place for playing loud music for an audience who can appreciate the classic guitar, bass and drums format. On their new album Namedroppers they barrel through 18 songs in a little of 35 minutes.

Nicole Bechill (bass, vocals), Jason Fusco (drums, vocals), and Noelle Shuck (guitar, vocals) don't stop to catch their breath along the way, honouring the rules that were set in stone by the Ramones: make it fast, make it snappy and throw in a healthy dose of streetwise humour when it comes to writing the lyrics.

The World of Dust: show in Utrecht

On September 3 Dutch avant-folk musician Stefan Breuer will be playing @ Studio Patrick in Utrecht, a belated release show @ Studio Patrick in Utrecht for 13 Holy Nights, the latest album by his lo-fi The World of Dust project: "The twists and turns of his experiments with an Ensoniq sampler enabled him to find both old and new sounds as he tried to find the words and music for his search for serenity. He succeeded to capture the fleeting memories of what his brain was up to when he was asleep. It is a highly personal journey, during which Breuer bares his soul for all the world to see".

He shares the bill with American indie electronics artist Nina Ryser. She has an album coming out on Dear Life Records.

» theworldofdust.nl

HCTF review of 13 Holy Nights.

The Meringues: Royalty

Canadian post-punk quartet The Meringues have been listening closely to the Pixies and the Replacements. They added a bit of slacker rock to the mix for their new single Royalty, which tackles the theme of realizing that someone who you idolized might not be so cool or trustworthy after all.

Lame Drivers: Become An Island

NYC trio Lame Drivers has been labelled as a promising band for longer than they care to remember. Critics and other people in the know have been singing their praises before they went on a sort of break to recharge their batteries in 2015. Their new album Become An Island builds upon their signature psych-influenced power pop, with shoegaze and surf guitars as the foundation for their vocal harmonies.

Some of the songs on the album have been gathering dust on the shelf for a couple of years, in various states of completion without the need to finish them properly for an album. When they went back to the stuff to see what was there, they had plenty of songs to choose from, recording them as a band in the same room instead of sending back and forth bits and pieces. It took them awhile to realise that they could be actually making an a recird again. Become An Island is a statement for making music that is unfashionable right now, but in the long run will prove to be timeless.

Curtis Eller's American Circus: True Love in the Exclusion Zone

Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus will release their new album Another Nice Mess on October 9. The banjo is underappreciated instrument, but Eller has mastered it to great effect on the album's lead single True Love in the Exclusion Zone, offering some pointers on how to write a good love song while he was at it. Like don't waste your youth on being part of a firing squad. Take note of Steve Cowles' tenor saxophone, who steals the show with an on point short and sweet solo. The video was made by Andy Lyth.

Shelby Smoak: Dancing

Indie rocker Shelby Smoak is in a post-punk mood on his new single Dancing, with pleading vocals carefully draped over repetitive guitar motifs and off-kilter drums. He wrote it for his wife, reminiscing about holding her tight on the dance floor without a care in the world. Busting a move on this particular track will be a challenge for most, but as an 80s inspired love song it can stand on its own.

The Speed Of Sound: The Same River

Manchester based psychedelic power pop veterans The Speed Of Sound have posted a video for The Same River, a track from their Victory album, the middle kid of their sprawling triple A Cornucopia set. Their retro-futuristic sound fits like a glove for this song about the passing of time and history repeating itself. Mother Nature could not care less, and goes about her business like she always does.

» thespeedofsounduk.com

HCTF review of A Cornucopia: Minerva.

Icarus Phoenix: I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said

Drew Danburry is trying to come to terms with the effects of his divorce on I Should Have Known the Things You Never Said, the new album by his band Icarus Phoenix. Grief and anger have always been sure fire catalysts for memorable songs, and by gift wrapping them in a mix of folk, blues and shoegaze - genres that have their fair share of soul searching elements - it became a vessel for closure. Well, sort of. Not being to see his kid on a regular basis hurts, because finding affordable housing for himself took him many, many miles away from him. Plus the small matter of trying to make the alimony payments ensures long working hours.

Still, somehow he found the time to write songs and come up with arrangements that are sad, but also uplifting. There is room for a bit of musicians' humour as well, like the stop-start approach for Live. Give. Lose. Grow., with the music taking short pauses as well. It all comes together in the album's sprawling closer, Kanashimi (Japanese for sorrow), a song as fragile as an origami crane. Recommended if you like the Decemberists, Eric Margan & The Red Lions, and Iron & Wine.

Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness: The Album Years 1972 Part #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 1972, discussing albums by Tangerine Dream, Can, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, and a whole lot more. This is part #3 about this year. The pair can be watched on YouTube as well.

The Bullfight: "How Do You Do?" video

Dutch folk noir band The Bullfight have shared a video for How Do You Do?, one of the tracks form their forthcoming 3CD box set to celebrate their 20th anniversary. They wrote it in 2004, but never got around to getting a recording they liked until they finally nailed it last Summer.

• CD 1: an introduction to The Bullfight - studio recordings 2006-2024
• CD 2: unreleased tracks and demos from 2004-2024
• CD 3: live - and radio renditions spanning from 2006 to 2024

» thebullfight.nl

John Cale: "Davies and Wales" video; European tour in March 2025

John Cale has unveiled a video for Davies and Wales, a track from his POPtical Illusion album. The clip was directed by Jethro Waters:

Davies and Wales is such a perfect example of the kind of things that only John Cale can do all at once: upbeat, melancholic, happy, shapeshifting, nostalgic, modern, beautiful heartache. There is such a melange of feelings packed into this song - his youth in Wales, his time in NYC and California - and I wanted to try and translate that time travel in a joyful, purposeful way.

He will be on tour in Europe in March 2025. Tickets go on sale on September 12.

Steven Wilson: Ask Me Nicely (The Making of To The Bone) video

Over the years the Ask Me Nicely documentary about the making of the Steven Wilson album To The Bone has popped up on YouTube every now an then. It was part of the deluxe version back then. Basically a home video shot by Lasse Hoile, so it is a bit wobbly at times, it is now available legitimately to coincide with the 5 year anniversary of the release of the record.

He will embark on a lengthy European in May and June 2025 to coincide with the release of his new album The Overview.

Phish 2024 Mondegreen Festival SBD + torrents: 2024/08/18 Dover, DE

Mondegreen Festival poster by Drew Millward

Phish
2024/08/18
Mondegreen Festival - The Woodlands
Dover, DE

Set 1:

1. Party Time
2. Axilla ->
3. Maze
4. Steam
5. Martian Monster
6. AC/DC Bag
7. Sigma Oasis ->
8. Rift
9. Stash
10. Ya Mar
11. Timber (Jerry the Mule)
12. Bathtub Gin >
13. Izabella >
14. Simple >
15. Golden Age

The Fierce & The Dead: new album "Live at Ramsgate Music Hall '24" in October

English prog experimentalists The Fierce & The Dead will release another "in concert" album on October 4th. Live at Ramsgate Music Hall '24 captures them in full flight at their show on May 4 this year. The album will be available on CD and a wealth of digital formats.

Adam Irving: Old New Blue

BEST OF 2024
20
HCTF

English multi-instrumentalist Adam Irving alternates between rough blues rock (New Machine), dreamy experimental electronics excursions (Astart, 6am Hobsonway) and acoustic musings (Bring It On) on his latest album Old New Blue, so getting a proper sequencing of the tracks that makes sense must have been an uphill battle. Recorded in fits and starts in Manchester, Vienna and Berlin over a five year period, it became a collection of songs about being independent and being a loner in a world that has little patience for outliers.

Finding peace with Yoga 4 after channeling Zappa in the harsh So Long shows the inner tension that makes Old New Blue a captivating listening experience. And lo and behold: there is even a happy ending of sorts with the gentle Wet Nose: "Overall its elapsing, a synapse perhaps in another encounter which perfectly fits. With a dry throat I’ll lay back, with no thought of payback, the image will play back, a satisfied me."

Words about music (748): Richie Havens

I really sing songs that move me. I'm not in show business. I'm in the communications business. That's what it's for me.

Richie Havens

Phish 2024 Mondegreen Festival SBD + torrents: 2024/08/17 Dover, DE

Mondegreen Festival poster by Jim Pollock

Phish
2024/08/17
Mondegreen Festival - The Woodlands
Dover, DE

Set 1:

1. Mike's Song >
2. I Am Hydrogen >
3. Weekapaug Groove
4. Theme From the Bottom >
5. Blaze On
6. Gotta Jibboo
7. 46 Days
8. Evolve
9. Meatstick >
10. David Bowie

Shehehe: Wanna Be You

Punkish power pop trio Shehehe put a spotlight on a shy person trying to fit in and making a connection by way of asking for a record to listen to or a bit of gossip that might be of interest to the other, way cooler, party. It is doubtful if anything of this really happened, because making an actual move might be beyond the capabilities of the song's protagonist. It is a track from their Namedroppers album, due for release on August 23rd on Say-10 Records.

Librarians With Hickeys: Hello Operator

Power pop artists Librarians With Hickeys have made a video for their new single Hello Operator, reminiscing about the days you needed a woman to put you through when you made a telephone call. They are down do a duo, so Ray Carmen (vocals, guitar) and Mike Crooker (guitar, vocals) had to step out of their comfort zone to record all the other instruments as well.

There is a bit Pixies-inspired surf in the middle-eight, which makes for a nice change of pace. The song will be included on their third album, due for release later this year via Big Stir Records.

» Librarians With Hickeys on Facebook

HCTF review of Handclaps & Tambourines.

Phish 2024 Mondegreen Festival SBD + torrents: 2024/08/16 Dover, DE

Mondegreen Festival poster by Jackson Tupper

Phish
2024/08/16
Mondegreen Festival - The Woodlands
Dover, DE

Set 1:

1. Bouncing Around the Room
2. Kill Devil Falls[1] >
3. Peaches en Regalia
4. Free
5. Divided Sky
6. Tube
7. Mountains in the Mist
8. Reba[2]
9. Twist >
10. Character Zero

Jimi Hendrix: Drifting (Alternate Version / November 20, 1970)

Listen to Jimi Hendrix playing an alternate version of Drifting, taken from the forthcoming box set Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, due for release on September 13. This particular take was finished after he died (vibes overdubs, which are now longer there).

» jimihendrix.com
» ajimihendrixvision.com

Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness: The Album Years @ Haarlem Vinyl Festival

English musicians and music geeks extraordinaire Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness take their good-natured bickering to the stage again. On September 28 they will do a live version of their podcast The Album Years @ Haarlem Vinyl Festival in the Netherlands. From the festival's Instagram:

At the Haarlem Vinyl Festival, you will get the opportunity to join them in the live recording of an episode, during which the audience will be encouraged to contribute their own thoughts and insights. For this special occasion, Steven and Tim need your help picking a year. Should they go for 1970, 1975, 1988, or 1994?

» haarlemvinylfestival.com
» stevenwilsonhq.com
» thealbumyears.com
» stevenwilsonhq.com
» timbowness.co.uk

Dancer / Whisper Hiss: "Split" album in October

Post-punk quartets Dancer (Glasgow) and Whisper Hiss (Portland) are separated by an ocean, but musically they drink from the well: quirky lo-fi danceable songs that are as adorable as playful kittens. So when they made the connection by way of the owner of Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records to team up for one side each on an album called Split, they set to work to write more songs.

Both bands have picked a single of the album as a taste for what is to come. Dancer chose Priority Girl, with a jagged rhythm a la Talking Heads mixed with a bit of X-Ray Spex, and Whisper Hiss went for Movable Objects, a leftfield disco-tinged song that will go down well with fans of the B-52s and Blondie.

Phish 2024 Mondegreen Festival SBD + torrents: 2024/08/15 Dover, DE

Mondegreen Festival poster by Jane Demarest

Phish
2024/08/15
Mondegreen Festival - The Woodlands
Dover, DE

Set 1:

1. The Moma Dance
2. Back on the Train
3. Wolfman's Brother
4. Funky Bitch
5. Roggae
6. NICU
7. A Wave of Hope
8. Sand

Maks: Antidote for an Idiot (part 1)

It's been 7 years since Dutch drummer Peter Lebbink, better known as Maks, released his 3Ft No Diving album. Making music took a back seat to taking care of an intense reconstruction of his new digs in Sweden, but now he returns to his passion: playing all the instruments on a bunch of gnarly rock songs.

Antidote for an Idiot (part 1) is the first half on his new album - part 2 will be available three months from now. Lebbink knows how to create a rock solid yet adventurous back beat, which serves as the foundation for cinematic excursions (Joe Lunchbox, Nevada) as well as progressive rock in-fused pop (Iceberg).

Fan Girl: eleveneleven

Melbourne indie rockers Fan Girl dive a little deeper into their love for melodic 80s post-punk on their new single eleveneleven, an upbeat song about retracing your steps. While the music changes marginally - or sometimes quite chaotically - they get a new perspective on things that happened before. The track will be included on their real or staged EP, out on September 5 via AWAL Recordings.

Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness: The Album Years 1972 Part #2

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 1972, discussing albums by Yes, Curved Air, Genesis, Pink Floyd , and a whole lot more. This is part #2 about this year. The pair can be watched on YouTube as well.

New compilation "Why Dont Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65 by Lou Reed" in September

A new compilation album with songs that were (co-)written by Lou Reed as a staff writer for Pickwick Records in New York will be released on September 27. The songs came fast as the label was trying to cash in on trends that dominated the charts in the early 60s.

Why Dont Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65 by Lou Reed features The Ostrich for The Primitives, an ersatz band for which John Cale was enlisted to play on a tour in the Winter of 1965 (he does not play on the recording). Also of interest Why Don't You Smile, which Cale co-wrote with Lou and Terry Philips and Jerry Vance for a band called The All-Night Workers. Most of the tracks have been circulating amongst hardcore collectors for decades. It is nice to have them rounded up, with accurate liner notes as an added bonus.

Maxx McGathey: new album "Imaginary Eyes" in September; stream "The Staircase"

Chicago-based pianist, composer Maxx McGathey has come up with a slice of old school cinematic jazz-noir. He started creating the tracks for his forthcoming Imaginary Eyes album during the pandemic, going back to an upright piano as his main instrument to figure out the basics. The carefully orchestrated lead single The Staircase was inspired by Hitchcock, so it became both a bit scary and alluring composition - think the jazz age shaking hands with Kurt Weill.

Naïm Amor: "The Start Over" video

French guitarist and violinist Naïm Amor has shared a video for The Start Over, a track from his new album Stories: "He lets the instruments do the talking. As an an in-demand film scorer he can tell a tale without using hardly any words. Ry Cooder, Link Wray and Hank B. Marvin can all be traced back as major influences. Some of it is quite polished, but Amor throwns in some rougher sounds as well. Blissful and wistful".

» naimamor.net

HCTF review of Stories.

A Place To Bury Strangers: "You Got Me" video

NYC noise rockers A Place To Bury Strangers are almost mellow on You Got Me, a track from their forthcoming new album Synthesizer. Frontman Oliver Ackermann is the sole constant in the band's ever evolving line-up, and he is in full-on dark 80s mode on this one, with his friends John and Sandra Fedowitz acting as an energic rhythm section. The video was made by Christopher Brown.

The Fierce & The Dead: "Magnet" & "Wonderful" live @ Ramsgate Music Hall on Spotify

English prog experimentalists The Fierce & The Dead have put up two songs from their show @ Music Hall in Ramsgate on May 4 on Spotify: Magnet and Wonderful. Educate the neighbours: play them loud and press repeat.

Live dates:

• 09/15 London @ A Sunday in September festival at The Bedford
• 10/05 Northampton @ Black Prince
• 10/12 Edinburgh @ Sneaky Pete’s

» fierceandthedead.com

HCTF review of News From The Invisible World.

Jeroen Houben: "Torch Song" soundtrack; stream "Strangers"

Dutch film maker and musician Jeroen Houben will release the soundtrack for his new movie Torch Song on September 21 via Snowstar Records (vinyl, digital). The closing track, Strangers, features Swiss actress Carla Juri on vocals. The slow moving piano-driven pop song is written from the perspective of a mother trying to protect her kid from the dangers of the outside world.

» jeroenhouben.com

Garlen Lo: I'll Try My Best To Get To You

Is it posssible to feel good about depression? Well, not really, but London based singer-songwriter Garlen Lo comes close on his new single I'll Try My Best To Get To You, sounding chipper against all odds: "And when the mountains block the roads up in your mind // And they’re too heavy to be moved // Grab hold of my arm, I’ll be your dynamite // I’ll try my best to get to you".

If anything this song might cheer you up a bit on a bad day, with a toe-tapping dose of brass thrown in for good measure.

The Happy Somethings: Caught In The Web EP

The Happy Somethings are killing two birds with one stone on their new Caught In The Web EP: the rabbit hole of misinformation and general stupidity that people can stumble into on social media as well as the spiders and flies that keep them company in their recording space. And it actually works both ways: serious worries and a bit of a laugh are locked into a groove.

Instead of filming an unfortunate victim for a couple of likes in Kiss of Life, people might actually call for help from the boys and girls who can take care of her. A Quick Waylay is a plea for keeping the phone in one's pocket in order to connect with the real world and - gasp! - maybe even real people.

Phish 2024 Summer tour SBD + torrents: 2024/08/11 Bethel, MI

Bethel 2024 poster by Florian Schommer

Phish
2024/08/11
Bethel Woods Center For The Arts
Bethel, NY

Set 1:

1. I Never Needed You Like This Before
2. 46 Days
3. Bathtub Gin
4. Fikus
5. Theme From the Bottom >
6. Timber (Jerry the Mule)
7. Human Nature
8. Limb By Limb
9. Axilla >
10. Sigma Oasis

Devo: Tiny Desk Concert

Watch American rock band Devo play four songs for a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Audience participation included during Praying Hands.

Setlist:

1. It Takes a Worried Man
2. Blockhead
3. Praying Hands
4. Come Back Jonee

» clubdevo.com

Ellur: God Help Me Now

photo: Sarah Oglesby

Leeds based singer Ellur bares all on her new single God Help Me Now, the title track from her forthcoming new EP. It is both a cry for help and a way to cope and hopefully overcome her fears. Showing strength by way of vulnerability is not a first for her, but she feels never found the proper words for it until now.

Phish 2024 Summer tour SBD + torrents: 2024/08/10 Bethel, MI

Bethel 2024 poster by Florian Schommer

Phish
2024/08/10
Bethel Woods Center For The Arts
Bethel, NY

Set 1:

1. Back on the Train
2. Sample in a Jar
3. Hey Stranger
4. Dinner and a Movie
5. Halley's Comet >
6. Sand
7. Gumbo >
8. Maze
9. Weigh
10. Cities >
11. Run Like an Antelope

Words about music (747): Tony Levin

Like many musicians, I don't look back much... only concentrate on what music I'm doing, and occasionally look ahead.

Tony Levin

Johnny Hunter: Hot Mess

Australian punk band Johnny Hunter recently relocated to the UK and the influence of Old Blighty is all over their new single Hot Mess, a highly danceable ditty, taking cues from both the mainstream acts and underground favourites that were all the rage in the early 80s: raw sounding synths, beat up guitars, and in your face drums. Going for broke is a very punk to do, with trying to keep it together taking a backseat to the all-encompassing joy and energy.

Phish 2024 Summer tour SBD + torrents: 2024/08/09 Bethel, MI

Bethel 2024 poster by Florian Schommer

Phish
2024/08/09
Bethel Woods Center For The Arts
Bethel, NY

Set 1:

1. First Tube
2. No Men In No Man's Land
3. Cavern
4. My Friend, My Friend[1]
5. Bug
6. Julius
7. Also Sprach Zarathustra >
8. Taste
9. Character Zero

Jimi Hendrix, Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax: "Fire" mashup

Bill McClintock made a mashup of Jimi Hendrix, Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax for a heavy duty version of Fire. Want more? His YouTube channel has lots of them.

Forest Fallows: Palisades

photo: Thom Sloane

Mike Barnett and Alex Morton have an uncanny knack for creating purring psych-pop melodies. Palisades, the new album by their Forest Fallows project, is a collection of carefully crafted tracks with surprisingly off-kilter rhythms, creating a playful game of tension and release.

The album flows like a brook making its way through forests and meadows, speeding up and slowing down where boulders and smaller rocks are slowly smoothed over. Shout out to producer John McEntire (Stereolab, Tortoise, Modest Mouse) who made the transition of a lo-fi labour of love sound to a richer, multi-layered approach, an easy one. Forest Fallows will still be an underground act after this release, but they have casts their nets a bit further and came back with the spoils to keep them going.

WUT: Guts, Brains

Vancouver indie pop trio WUT manage to sound fragile and powerful simultaneously on their new single Guts, Brains, a track from their new album Mingling with the Thorns. They took a bit from Maureen Tucker's solo albums, added a dose of Belly and the Kelley Deal 6000, and presto: another slice of admirable lo-fi DIY pop goodness.

Tears Run Rings: Helios Helada

Portland, OR shoegaze quartet Tears Run Rings have shared a video for Helios Helada, a track from their forthcoming album Everything In The End. It is a song that taps the listener on the shoulder as a gentle breeze on a sunny day. The mood is bittersweet, with swirling guitars playing catch.

Phish 2024 Summer tour SBD + torrents: 2024/08/07 Grand Rapids, MI

Grand Rapids 2024 poster by Cody Carpenter

Phish
2024/08/07
Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, MI

Set 1:

1. My Soul
2. Undermind >
3. Oblivion
4. Driver
5. 555
6. Birds of a Feather
7. Ether Edge ->
8. It's Ice
9. About to Run
10. Walls of the Cave

Jagged Baptist Club: You Are a Dog

Los Angeles alt-rockers Jagged Baptist Club go all out on their new single You Are a Dog, with a cheesy keyboard daring the other instruments to catch him. It is punk with a shot of the Beastie Boys, topped off with a grunge guitar. Lots of attitude, a bit of anger, and going for broke, paid of handsomely.

Grayson Capps: new album "Heartbreak, Misery & Death"; stream "Moody River"

NOLA singer-songwriter Grayson Capps will pay tribute to his musical heroes on his forthcoming new album Heartbreak, Misery & Death, a collection of 16 tracks that set him on his path to become a musician. The lead single is Moody River, originally written and performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster.

Heartbreak, Misery & Death will be released on October 25 via Royal Potato Family (vinyl, CD, digital).

Phish 2024 Summer tour SBD + torrents: 2024/08/06 Grand Rapids, MI

Grand Rapids 2024 poster by Cody Carpenter

Phish
2024/08/06
Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, MI

Set 1:

1. Strawberry Letter 23 >
2. Sigma Oasis
3. Peaches en Regalia
4. Tube
5. Theme From the Bottom >
6. Stash
7. Train Song
8. Steam >
9. Rift >
10. Bathtub Gin

Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness: The Album Years 1972 Part #1

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 1972, discussing albums by David Bowie, Roxy Music, The Rolling Stones, T-Rex, and a whole lot more. This is part #1 about this year. The pair can be watched on YouTube as well.

Oh Hazar: show in Rotterdam

Dutch art rock band Oh Hazar will be playing @ Rotown in Rotterdam on September 8, supporting the Australian indie band Romy Vager Group. More shows TBA.

» ohhazar.com

HCTF review of Clair Obscur.

Lawrence County: "Lucy Wan" live video

Watch Nottinghamshire's folkies Lawrence County play the classic murder ballad Lucy Wan at the Beardy Folk Festival at Hopton Court, Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire in June 2022. The studio version can be found on their Nottamun Town album.

UK live dates:

• 08/17 Square & Compass, Darley Dale
• 08/26 Towersey Festival @ Claydon Estate, Buckingham
• 08/31 The Pit, Newstead
• 10/05 Leek Blues & Americana Festival, Leek
• 10/09 Nottingham Beer Festival, Nottingham
• 10/19 Billy Bootleggers, Nottingham
• 11/07 Falling Leaves Party - Running Horse, Nottingham
• 12/07 Grove Inn, Leeds

» lawrencecountymusic.com

Mould: Mould

photo: Alex Eden-Smith

Bristol punk trio Mould sound like a blast from the past on their self-titled debut EP: it's loud, it's abrasive, and it's damn catchy. Fuzz and crashing cymbals are the main ingredients, making it an uphill battle for the vocals.

The lyrics have the streetwise poetry approach, pioneered by bands like the Buzzcocks and the Undertones. A band that can up with lines like "On a day cancelled by apathy // My eyes hung from the balcony // Lash anchors that flow like cables // Into the cement and down beneath" would have been championed by John Peel back in the day. Plenty of bravado and swagger, even when they it slow in the closing track Glow.