Victoria Wijeratne: crowdfunding campaign for "In The Shadow of Forests" album + "Night Howler" video

English composer and multi-instrumentalist Victoria Wijeratne has launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover the finishing touches of recording of her new album In The Shadow of Forests and the creation of a video for Night Howler on 16mm film:

In The Shadow of Forests is my debut 12 track album, composed and produced by me. It’s a mixture of songwriting, ambient textures, and field recordings from different locations across the UK & Europe. I’ve combined these with uniquely textured electronic layers, live instruments and voice, creating a record that’s reflective, atmospheric, cinematic and my most personal work to date.

Jon Madof Trio: "Invisible Alchemy (for John Zorn)" video

Watch the Jon Madof Trio video for Invisible Alchemy (for John Zorn), a track from their Netzach album: "Madof steers his trio along all the sights, paying tribute to his heroes John Zorn, Nick Cave and Derek Trucks, who also carved their own niche. The mood is both joyous and introspective, going through hills and valleys. The musicians reach for the sky, fully aware that the destination will remain out of reach. The neverending journey ensures that more of these adventurous and intricate compositions will see the light of day in the future." The clip was directed Elijah Rappaport.

Live date:

• 12/03 Brooklyn, NY @ Barbes

» jonmadof.com

HCTF review of Netzach

Courtney Barnett: live on KCRW

Australian rock singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett stopped by American radio station KCRW's Annenberg Performance Studio in Santa Monica again. This time she and her band barrelled through ten songs, most of them from her latest album Creature Of Habit.

Setlist:

1. Stay In Your Lane
2. Avant Gardener
3. Small Poppies
4. Site Unseen
5. Turning Green
6. Before You Gotta Go
7. Mantis
8. Mostly Patient
9. Pedestrian at Best
10. Nobody Cares

» courtneybarnett.com.au

Cover Me: Paint It Black

Watch all-female post-punk band,Mo-dettes lipsync their way through their of the Rolling Stones Paint It Black on the Granada Fun Factory TV show broadcasted on July 5th, 1980. In 1981 they were billed as the Bomberettes when they provided backed vocals for Fighter Pilot, a track on John Cale's Honi Soit album.

» Mo-dettes on Wikipedia

Steven Wilson: "Requiem for a Village (The Village Hall Sessions)" video

Steven Wilson announced the release of his new album Requiem for a Village with a video for the title track, played in the studio with Randy McStine (guitars, backing vocals) and Russell Holzman (drums, percussion), a prog rocker that brings back the sound of his Grace For Drowing and Hand.Cannot.Erase albums.

Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee: I've Been In Trouble Before

Craig Benedict Valentine Badynee sticks to what he does best on his new single I've Been In Trouble Before, another melanchiolic, slow paced art rocker that comes close to a crooner ballad. He blames himsef for making the same mistakes all over again - mostly lying - causing another relationship to fall apart. His daughter Viv lend a hand, providing an extra layer of jazzy "La-La-Las" backing vocals.

Go Public: Craps Tempo

Atlanta mutant disco quartet Go Public wrote a track about the grippling anxiety of a gambler. Craps Tempo is pushed forward by simple but highly effective drum beat, before the guitar, bass and sax join in for a punk-flavoured floor filler. Sean Rawls, Adrian Finch, Sam Gunn and Jay Domingo have been part of the underground scene for decades, before getting together to play a spicy mix of leftfield indie.

Lemongrab: Another Kind Of Freedom

photo: Ingrid Sofia Hedenström

Garage post-punkers Lemongrab have a not so secret weapon on their new Another Kind Of Freedom u EP: the shared vocals of Gaëlle Cordeau and Léonie Dishaw. They can do really fucking fast (Pay To Play) and detached without a care in the world as well (Necessary Condition). It makes the four tracks on their new EP unpredictable in a good way.

It is fuzzy, decidedly lo-fi music, wherein separation and careful balancing of the instruments is laughed at. Lead single Yoko serves as a well-deserved reappraisal for an artist who has been dragged through the mud for decades. The unrelenting Jaki Liebezeit-inspired backbeat of the final track No Receipt brings a bit of Krautrock to a band who obviously were inspired by X-ray Spex and the Au Pairs.

Steven Wilson: "Requiem for a Village" teaser ft. David Tennant

Steven Wilson has posted a short video for his ninth studio album Requiem for a Village. It feaures spoken word by actor David Tennant, with a link to an old school website for the imginary village. It includes this announcement:

The parish clerk reminds residents that the September observance in The Village falls on Friday 11th September this year, as it has on the same date in every year for which the parish holds a record. The Village Hall is booked for the entire day for an unnamed musical act. The event is not listed on the spring fête calendar and is not organised by the parish council. No public programme has been issued. Enquiries to the clerk's office regarding times, locations, or participation have been declined in previous years and will be declined again. Residents who have attended in the past are asked to observe the usual custom. Traffic on Chapel Slope may be heavier than usual after dusk. No further notice will be posted.

The album will be released on November 6th (2LP, CD). Further details TBA.

» stevenwilsonhq.com
» requiemforavillage.com

Elephant Stone: "Parallel and Contrary Motion" video

Canadian psychedelic raga band Elephant Stone have unveiled a video for Parallel and Contrary Motion, the centrepiece of their ASHA album, a song about the suicide of band leader Rishi Dhir's friend Christian Dorey: "Being torn apart by emotions it downed on him that it was about his friend's decision to take his own life. Horrible as that might be, it made him rethink and respect that choice." The clip was directed by John-Mark Lapham.

Jimi Hendrix: new album "Magic Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live At Berkeley (First Show)" in October

At long last the first show on May 30 at the Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, CA by The Jimi Hendrix Experience will be released in full (well, almost, because Foxy Lady is missing). Magic Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live At Berkeley (First Show) is the long overdue companion piece for the Jimi Plays Berkeley DVD and the Live At Berkeley album (which only covered the second show).

Swansea Sound: Mean To Be Mean

Can you hold a grudge for a couple of decades? Amelia Fletcher can, getting even with an unnamed critic who wrote an unfavourable review about Heavenly, the band she was in back then. Now a member of jangling pop quintet Swansea Sound she came up with Mean To Be Mean, an upbeat put down song with appropriate swearing when you enjoy the album version that will be included on their new album Pre-post-truth. The radio-friendly version has to make do without them, which is a bit lame, but hey, it might improve their changes to get some well-deserved airplay.

The subject of her wrath is most likely long gone, but Heavenly made a comeback with an ace album, Highway To Heavenly, this year. Patience pays off in the long run.

Feutre: Les grands ensembles

French pop trio Feutre have released the title track from their forthcoming new album Les grands ensembles album, a happy sad song pushed forward by a smooth Fender Rhodes and chopped guitar notes, giving way to George Harrison's signature tone. Singer Elsa Leroyer is a pensive mood, on the fence between jazz and pop.

Dez Dare: "I Need Your Fire" video

Dez Dare filmed himself in his home studio for the video for I Need Your Fire, an utterly danceable track from his These Days Are Wild & Blind album: "Darren Smallman keeps it a bit closer to home and more personal on (...) the latest album by his one-man trash punk band Dez Dare. That doesn't mean that he is no longer shouting at the heavens (and for good reason), but a bit of introspection has found its way into his music - some of it is even played on acoustic instruments."

» dezdare.com

HCTF review of These Days Are Wild & Blind

Neighbour Club: Only Fractions

English slacker rockers Neighbour Club got a lot of alcohol in them to come to terms with a relationship that was doomed from the start. Pretty hung over and a bit confused is the mood they wanted to project on their single Only Fractions, now that they realise that the involved party was only looking for a good time during the night and nothing more. It is a track from their debut EP Snail Mail, due for release on September 25th.

Jumble Hole Clough: "And The Sun Shall Set" (actually "Everybody Bloody Day") video

The powers that be at YouTube might have taken umbrage, so Colin Robinson changed the title of Everybody Bloody Day to And The Sun Shall Set for the video. It is a track from I'm Waiting for My Mam, the latest album by his one-man avant-garde project Jumble Hole Clough: "The title track, an obvious pun on the Velvet Underground song about scoring heroin, finds him waiting for his mother to bring him bread and jam, although there might be a shady character about who might want to sell him some substances that are not exactly legal. Robinson however heeds no stimulants to create an alternate universe. Tapping into his own imagination - 52 albums and counting - has never let him down."

The footage was shot by Robinson in 2016 by at the Sandtoft Trolley Bus Museum in Lincolnshire.

» Jumble Hole Clough on Facebook

HCTF review of I'm Waiting for My Mam

Johnny Marr: It's Time

Johnny Marr has shared It's Time, the third single from his forthcoming new album The Age Of Everything. He urges himself (and the listener) to take a stand. Without that winning is an illusion: "Time is now to claim my victory Me and myself caught in a new world // I seen what I seen and I don't believe // Feel like going it alone so recklessly // I'll ascend on to somewhere // Trying to claim victory"

Dez Dare: "Insolvent Soldiers" video

Dez Dare filmed himself in his home studio for the video for Insolvent Soldiers, a track from his These Days Are Wild & Blind album: "Darren Smallman keeps it a bit closer to home and more personal on (...) the latest album by his one-man trash punk band Dez Dare. That doesn't mean that he is no longer shouting at the heavens (and for good reason), but a bit of introspection has found its way into his music - some of it is even played on acoustic instruments."

» dezdare.com

HCTF review of These Days Are Wild & Blind

Martyrs: "Hyacinth" video

Welsh synth duo Martyrs have made a video for Hyacinth, a track from their Last Summer EP: "Michael Hall and Jon Howells don't give a fuck about what is fashionable right now and recording their music in splendid isolation, away from the suits and A&R types gives them the freedom to release anything they feel that deserves to be heard. This DIY ecleticism resulted in a string of EPS that all sound different, safe for the vocals who were left as is. People who think that utterly danceable music and meaningful lyrics can't share the bed willl stand corrected."

Nice touch filming only multi-instrumentalist Jon for this one, as most videos focus on the singer.

» Martyrs on Bluesky

HCTF review of the Last Summer EP

Three times "The Gift" in stereo

How about an enterprising soul who made not one, not two, but three music only in stereo mixes of The Velvet Underground's The Gift? Are people actually listening to this or even all three of them in a row? There sure are. They were posted on Steve Hoffman's Music Forum and The Velvet Forum. Not that hardcore? They can be found on YouTube.