Deleyaman: show @ Festival Chants d'Elles in Lyons-la-Forêt

French-American dark wave band Deleyaman will perform @ Salle des fêtes in Lyons-la-Forêt on November 20 as part of the Festival Chants d'Elles. Work on a new album continues.

» deleyaman.com

HCTF review of The Sudbury Inn

Johnny Dowd: 2027 tour in the UK & The Netherlands

Johnny Dowd will be on tour in the UK & The Netherlands to promote the release of his Pictures From Life's Other Side album on vinyl. A Kickstarter campaign for that release in currently underway. It will be a 2LP with the full album, plus newly recorded acoustic versions on Side 4. The aim is to raise €10.000 (€3905 pledged so far, with 19 days to go).

zakè: Statica Memoria

Analogue loving ambient musician Zach Frizzell does not like to rush things with zakè project. Kicking off his new album Statica Memoria with two slowly unfolding tracks, All Things Made Distant and No More Forever, both lasting nearly half an hour each, is asking quite a lot from the listener, but for those who are willing to give in, it turns into a very relaxing experience.

The warm sounding drones and occasional shifts in tempo and volume are trance-like, with the details slowly showing themselves, requiring undivided attention. The Light Was Withdrawn and the title track Statica Memoria are relatively short, but their slow moving washes of textures are as equally intense. Frizzell's classical training enables him to project an emotion by taking resonance to its outer limits.

The Bullfight: "Swaying Dimly in Darkness" live video

Watch Dutch folk noir band The Bullfight perform Swaying Dimly in Darkness at Beauforthuis in Zeist on October 4th. It is a song about couple who have been together for many years and now both of them that the boat they are in is no longer big enough to hold them both. Originally released on their One Was A Snake album, the song was also included on the bonus disc with that album in full that came with Shame, Guilt, Deception - Individuals Chapter I and the retrospective 3CD set The Storm Behind Our Smiles.

Bad Waitress: In The Hollow

Toronto quartet Bad Waitress have left the constraints of punk far behind on their In The Hollow album. The anger and angst are still there, but they cast a far wider net both musically and lyrically. Naming one of their songs I Wish I Was A Mars Volta is a dead giveaway. They have inserted elements from art-rock, noise and progressive metal into their sounds, plus quite a few good old power chords, as the solid bit adventurous backing for songs that deal with gender and sexuality, growing up in the sticks and rampant consumerism.

They cover a lot of ground, running the risk to take on more than they can chew, but somehow it all fits. It has been five years since their previous album No Taste, after which the band members went their separate ways before regrouping and discussing what they had learny in between. That pause plus life experience did wonders for the intensity and far more mature subjects that have found their way into their art.

heavyskint: Headstone

Scottish blues-infused rockers heavyskint pinched just a bit from All Along The Watchtower for their Headstone single, probably not enough for having a day in court for copyright infringement, but it will give them a way in into the boomers market.

The song deals with making mistakes and not being to rectify them properly, which pisses them off. Plugging in and churning out a track with plenty of swagger was a good way to blow of some steam. The video was made by Daniel Blake and Jamie Kelly.

HCTF premiere - Temp Wishes: Mist Into the Morning

Chicago-based Josh Chicoine (The M's, Cult Canyon), Edward Anderson (1900s, Mazes), Colby Starck (Mar Caribe, Bobby Conn), and Glenn Rischke (AM Slingers, Bora Bora) are early risers, taking a walk with Mist Into the Morning, the new single by their Temp Wishes. They take it slow in '70s funk kind of way, serving up a leisurely mix of percussion, bells and whistles, and the sounds of the great outdoors. They obviously know where they are going, but there is no need to name a definite destination.

Their self-titled debut album will be released on vinyl on November 6 via Sanzimat and Rattleback Records.

Salomea: "stick around" video

Watch the Salomea video for stick around, the opening track from their axxxis album: "Singer and composer Rebekka Salomea leads her band through emotional minefields, snapshots taken during night life and of course the wicked ways of love. While the subject matter has been covered umpteenth times, she has found new ways to tell the tales that need to be told."

The Gentle Spring: Down with Love

Anglo-French melancholic pop trio The Gentle Spring show off their education by quoting Shakespeare's famous line "If music be the food of love, play on" spoken by Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, in Twelfth Night at the start of the video for their new single Down with Love.

It is a nice contrast make a song sounding a tad optimistic while being seriously disappointed. Lead singer Emilie Guillaumot nailed those mixed emotions rather well. Love is likened to a game of scrabble and sometimes one might stuck with a subpar set of letters.

Cowboy Junkies: tour dates

Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band Cowboy Junkies will be on tour on the US East coast throughout November to promote their Open to Beauty – Best of the 21st Century album.

Live dates:

• 11/04 Wilmington, DE @ The Queen
• 11/05 Sellersville, PA @ Sellersville Theater 1894
• 11/06 Manhattan, NY @ City Winery
• 11/08 Manhattan, NY @ City Winery
• 11/09 Manhattan, NY @ City Winery
• 11/10 Manhattan, NY @ City Winery
• !1/12 Brookville, NY @ Tilles Center
• 11/12 Greenvale, NY @ Krasnoff Theater, Tilles Center, LIU Post
• 11/13 Newton, NJ @ The Newton Theater
• 11/14 Great Barrington, MA @ Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
• 11/16 Northampton, MA @ BOMBYX Center for Arts & Equity
• 11/17 Nashua, NH @ Nashua Center for the Arts
• 11/19 Beverly, MA @ The Cabot
• 11/20 Brownfield, ME @ Stone Mountain Arts Center
• 11/21 Brownfield, ME @ Stone Mountain Arts Center

» cowboyjunkies.com

Steven Wilson: "A Basket of Bees (The Village Hall Sessions)" video

Steven Wilson has shared a video for A Basket of Bees, played live (sort of) in the studio with Randy McStine (guitars, backing vocals) and Russell Holzman (drums, percussion) and Shelby Logan Warn (backing vocals), a pastoral prog rocker veering into metal at some point in order to confuse the punters. It is a track from his new album Requiem for a Village.

Barbican Estate: Atlas

Japanese duo Barbican Estate quickly made a name for themselves in the UK underground scene after their moved to London in 2022. On their new single Atlas they cherrypicked drone elements of synth-driven downtempo and post-rock on top of a motorik back beat.

It is easy to picture them on a small stage bathed in strobe lights as they stretch the song even further than the six minutes of this studio effort. Too much of a good thing? Not for fans of the Durutti Column and Can, who will have no trouble let themselves be transfixed, with a few choice guitar notes to break the spell every now and then.

British Birds: Murmurate, Oscillate

English quartet British Birds have come up with a loveable mix of psychedelic garage rock, XTC-flavoured New Wave and the Kinks in their late '60s early '70s vaudeville leanings. Murmurate, Oscillate is an album that is bursting at the seams with musical ideas, a true cornucopia of twists and turns, plus it will have listener reaching for the dictionary more than once.

They face life's relational stumble blocks with a wry smile and the occasional snide remark (Blame Game), but they don't a turn a blind eye to the world's more pressing problems as well. Some of their friends joined the army and came back with a bad case of PTSD (Polka Dot Eyes). The insightful lyrics deserve undivided attention. The darkness is never far away, but throwing a joyous blanket over it will offer a bit of reprieve.

Johnny Dowd: crowdfunding campaign for "Pictures From Life's Other Side" on vinyl

A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to release Johnny Dowd's Pictures From Life's Other Side album on vinyl. It will be a 2LP with the full album, plus newly recorded acoustic versions on Side 4:

Salomea: axxxis

With their amalgam of jazz, soul and hip-hop German-American quartet Salomea made friends in both genres, and quite a few outside those two three. On their latest album axxxis the band's singer and composer Rebekka Salomea leads her band through emotional minefields, snapshots taken during night life and of course the wicked ways of love. While the subject matter has been covered umpteenth times, she has found new ways to tell the tales that need to be told.

With a band that can follow every subtle turn she throws at them, with drummer Leif Berger working a double shift as the driving force and safety net, Rebekka Salomea is ready to make a mark outside Germany. She has a voice that loses none of its power when she turns it down to a whisper. This is their fourth album, so putting on an one hour plus show with high-quality songs just outside the mainstream is no problem at all.

Jo Carley And The Old Dry Skulls: Boneyard Rituals

English old school vaudeville blues trio Jo Carley And The Old Dry Skulls are branching out soundwise on their new album Boneyard Rituals. Stephane Spitz came on board to play saxophone on about half of the tracks and there is also an on point instrumental, The Dread, that deserves to be used for a late night horror show on TV. Core members Jo Carley and Tim Carley have been at it since 2014, always looking for new ways to play music that sounds as old as the hills.

Lucky for them there is always an audience for upbeat tongue-in-cheek songs about the devil, the full moon, the walking dead and black magic. Shuddering a bit while being fully aware that nothing of it is real feels nice. Who wouldn't want the opportunity to get his or her life in order by summoning an entity that can grant that wish?

Wyatt: Morning

Manchester slacker garage rockers Wyatt wrote their debut single Morning shortly after an amp broke down during a show. It made them realise that such a thing isn't that big of a thing to worry about, because shit happens. If anything, they got a nice melancholic tune with a hint of optimism out of it.

Morning is released via Heist or Hit, available on all the usual digital outlets. The video was directed by Seth Lloyd.

Female Gaze: linea nigra

photo: Clay Lyon

Tuscon, AZ based alt-rock trio Female Gaze throw a spanner in the works to kick off their linea nigra. The short instrumental the future is already hurting me starts with birdsong and takes a sharp left with a power chord that sounds almost Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger segueing into morose, pondering bass part setting the stage for the title track, a meandering track with just a hint of Tex Mex.

They are not afraid to push repetition to the limit, creating tension and only offering release when it suits them. Female Gaze create their own safe spaces and don't welcome outside visitors with open arms. A song like mamaya may contain surf elements, but its undertow is treacherous, with singer Nelene DeGuzman acting a captivating indie rock siren. This is an album that is an emotional roadmap and the sign-posted song titles along the way make it clear that some of the destinations are not particularly wholesome. Get on board and get lost.

Mouth Ulcers: Lady Rust

London neo-goth quartet Mouth Ulcers took one half of The Cure (going as far as namechecking their Head on the Door album) and one half of the Sisters of Mercy for their new single Lady Rust, about an undead women turned vampire who is adamant to kick out all the folks who dare to venture into her Manor House. Everything around her falls apart, because stuff ages while she doesn't. The band's bass heavy take on late '80s early '90s imagery will strike a chord with disgruntled emo teens of all ages.

Jordan Galland: No Rockstars

Not making a choice is also choice. NYC-based filmmaker, songwriter, playwright, actor, and independent musician Jordan Galland has been juggling his various options of making a living, but adding another album to his small but rather good back catalogue was on the backburner for many years. For one thing, becoming a father derailed any plans for further exploration of that field, but lo and behold: he is back with the tongue-in-cheek titled new full-length No Rockstars. Galland is fully aware that he has been catering to a niche in the past and the chances that it will change are, well, zero.

He looked in the mirror, shrugged, and went to work on a collection of vignettes that are on the fence between smart pop and indie rock. He has taken a scalpel to his current life, cut out all the bullshit, and ended up with a bunch of carefully crafted songs. His sense of humour ensures that he is quite content about where he is right now: trying to be a father of a girl. Raising her means that he had reshuffle his priorities, but once he had the diapers thing under control, music made a comeback with a vengeance. His dedicated followers will welcome him back with open arms.