| END 2021
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being felt. SF still requires masks indoors and vaccine ID for indoor dinning/drinking.
Inflation is up 6.2% over last year as everyone has more money in the wallets due to $2.8 trillion in federal stimulus money but supply is down due to production cut back decisions early in the pandemic resession, supply chain problems and people generally working less.
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Air
Air were very inflential on us in the late 90s / early 2000s. But we felt like the release of their 3rd or 4th (depending on how you're counting) studio album, 10,000 Hz Legend, was sort of disappointing. More Herz is the 20th Anniversary Reissue of 10,000 Hz Legend, with demo versions and live recordings of many of the tracks. It's release gave us the chance to revist the disc and our earlier take, but after a number of spins our viewers remain largely unchanged. There are some beautiful spots here -- e.g., Radian, Live at KCRW (recorded in 2001) is an example. But otherwise, it's likely only going to be on your radar if you're a giant Air fan and enjoyed the disc the first time around. (Nov '21)
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The The
Our musical trajectory took a hard left turn the day Sluggo left a The The's Infected cassette tape on the table in the social room of our house at Michigan State University way back in the day. This wasn't hair band heavy metal. It wasn't top 40 new wave. It took us years to figure out if/admit that we liked it. To this day, we play a little The The everytime we have dinner at our pad with friends and it's as fresh today as it was way back when. Apparently this release captures the live performances at Prince Albert Hall during Matt Johnson's comeback tour in 2018 - something he hadn't done in nearly two decades. We like hearing the live versions of our fav songs, however, we so much more enjoyed seeing The The on that tour at The Masonic in San Francisco late 2018. Agnes Obel opened. Still thinking that might be the best 1 - 2 musical punch we've taken. (Nov '21)
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Marconi Union
For most folks, music is sort of like a hammer. It a tool you bring out occassionally when you're in the DYI mindset. It's a very simple instrument with only one task. You've likely had the same hammer for years, likely your whole life. It helps you get the job done for a couple of hours then goes back into the drawer until the next time you're ready to do some DYI project. Change DYI with party and hammer with music and that's basically the relationship most folks have with music. In other words, it's Friday or Saturday night and time to party, then put on the same music you listed to back in the day. But the rest of the time, there is no music. We can't imagine living in a world so bleak. It'd be like watching a movie that had no soundtrack. Music is definitely for happy/party times. But for us it's also for melancholy times, for suspensful moments, as background for intense periods of focus, as sounds clearing our minds for reflection. In short, it just makes life better. Blowback and Strata are, like the best of Marconi Unions tunes, for those everyday moments of your life where you can use a little soundtrack in the background. (Nov '21)
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Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn (you know: Blur, Gorillaz) second solo studio album, appartently this was conceived as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland but evolved into a full-length album during the COVID-19 pandemic. The record blends ambient soundscapes, jazz, and pop melodies, reflecting on nature's forces, climate change, and personal loss, including the passing of his longtime friend and collaborator, Tony Allen. We love us some Damon Albarn and his beautifully haunting songs such as "Daft Wader" are why. (Nov '21)
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Illuminati Hotties
The second studio album from Illuminati Hotties, the Los Angeles-based indie rock project led by producer and engineer Sarah Tudzin, the album showcases Tudzin's "tenderpunk" style, blending punk energy with pop sensibility and emotional depth. We love the rocker "Kickflip". (Oct '21)
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La Luz
La Luz, the Los Angeles-based trio composed of Shana Cleveland, Lena Simon, and Alice Sandahl, released their self-titled fourth album on October 22, 2021, via Hardly Art Records. Produced by Adrian Younge, known for his work in hip-hop and soul, the album marks a sonic evolution for the band, blending their signature surf-rock and doo-wop harmonies with richer, more psychedelic textures. The 12-track record features songs like our favorites "In the Country" and "Watching Cartoons," showcasing a fusion of dreamy folk, cosmic synths, and experimental instrumentation. (Oct '21)
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Billy Bragg
We sort of have a soft spot for quirky old UK singer songwriters (Hello Robyn Hitchock, Nick Lowe) and lump Billy Bragg into this list. As with these others, there are seldom many home runs songs on their albums but, like this one, there are a bunch of solid singles and doubles. We also like when Bragg's ventures into political activism territorty (Oct '21)
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Nightmares on Wax
Here's how NoW's bandcamp profile bills it: "It is no exaggeration to say that Nightmares on Wax’s work is synonymous with a place in time. It is a place individual to those who have savoured his popular brand of sun-drenched dubbed out soul, where fragments of hazy memories, halcyon days and past snapshots encapsulate a generation’s sofa sojourning." Yeah, we're down with that. Imagineering is spectacular. (Oct '21)
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Magdalena Bay
Magdalena Bay, the Los Angeles-based duo of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, released their debut studio album, Mercurial World, on October 8, 2021, via Luminelle Recordings. Entirely written, produced, and mixed by the pair, the album blends synth-pop and electronic pop with influences from disco, hyperpop, and 1980s and 1990s pop music. The 14-track record explores themes of time, existence, and digital anxiety, featuring standout singles like "Chaeri," "Secrets (Your Fire)," "You Lose!," and "Hysterical Us." Critics praised its intricate production and cohesive sound, with Pitchfork noting its "cleverly crafted" nature and The Guardian highlighting its "seductive charm." We're digging "Chaeri" and "Prophecy." (Oct '21)
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The Mining Co.
Phenomenology is the fourth studio album by The Mining Co., the project of Irish-born, London-based singer-songwriter Michael Gallagher, released on October 1, 2021, via PinDrop Records. Departing from his earlier Americana and folk roots, Gallagher embraced a more electronic and atmospheric sound, crafting a sci-fi-inspired concept album centered around Talby, a character from John Carpenter’s 1974 cult film Dark Star. The album was written in London during 2020 and recorded in 2018 at Paco Loco Studio in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain, with longtime collaborators and producer Paco Loco. Critics have noted the album's blend of vintage synth textures with indie Americana, drawing comparisons to artists like Grandaddy and Sparklehorse. We're really enjoying it with "Deity Arrived" and "Superhero" being standout tracks for us. (Oct '21)
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Cold Beat
This is a synth-pop dream from San Francisco artist Cold Beat. (Sept '21)
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Constant Follower
A strong debut album from Scottish band Constant Follower. Co-produced by band leader Stephen McAll and legendary producer Kramer, known for his work with Galaxie 500 and Low, the release blends ambient folk and dream pop, creating a meditative and emotionally resonant soundscape. We have "The Merry Dancers on TV"" and "One Word Away" on heavy rotation. (Oct '21)
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Alexa Rose
Beautiful country album from Asheville, NC artist Alexa Rose. We have Human, Clearwater Park and Wild Peppermint on heavy rotation. (Sept '21)
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Low
Wow, interesting departure for Low. It's like take your typical Low slowcore album and give it to a experimental / wall of noise loving producer, then take the results and play it through a ratty old speaker at full volume until it's a distored mess. We mean this in a good way. Nice to see the progression in Low's music. (Sept '21)
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Little Simz
The fourth album from Little Simz, the London-based rapper and singer, the releese blends hip-hop, soul, R&B, electronica, Afrobeat, and jazz over 19 tracks, including interludes narrated by The Crown's Emma Corrin. Critically acclaimed, the album won the 2022 Mercury Prize and was included in Rolling Stone's list of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time. We're digging "Speed" and "The Garden" interlude. (Sept '21)
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Jouska
Jouska, the Oslo-based duo of Marit Othilie Thorvik and Hans Olav Settem, released their debut album Everything Is Good on September 11, 2020, via the Norwegian label Koke Plate. The album blends dream pop, glitchy electronica, and R&B influences, creating a sound that is both ethereal and emotionally resonant. Thorvik's delicate vocals float over intricate production, exploring themes of anxiety, toxic relationships, and emotional disarray. "Because I Really Don't Mind" has been on our heavy rotation this fall. (Sept '21)
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MID 2021
US completes military activities in Afganistan and the country promptly falls back into Taliban control, with the scene at the Kabul airport looking like the Fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war.
California removes COVID-19 mask restrictions on June 14 only to have mask requirements reappear--due to the growth in new cases from the Delta variant--for most of LA and the SF Bay Area by Aug 2. Bars, restaurants and nightlife options limp along, opening, closing, trying to adapt ... but nowhere near what they were pre-pandemic.
Richard Branson's Virgin launch the first "space tourism" rocket into space. Jeff Bezos follows a week later.
The Summer features an unusual "2020 Olympics" (due to postponement from last year) with no fans in the seats, very low linear TV viewing (but a 279% jump in streaming) and new focus on mental health of the participants.
Electric cars have arrived. Following the success of Tesla, just about all of the traditional auto manufacturers are announcing eletric vechicles. This including Ford's May 2021 announcement of the Ford F-150 Lightning, a full-size battery electric version of it's iconic F150 pickup series. While that vechile--like others from the traditional US auto manufacturers--isn't yet available (scheduled for 2023), within two years there will be just about zero ads for gas powered vehicles on TV. Gas powered cars are unhip and passe ... and it doesn't help that gas prices in the US are at an all time high of around $4 per gallon.
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Lingua Ignota
Lingua Ignota, the project of classically trained musician Kristin Hayter, released this, her fourth and final album under that moniker. Departing from the industrial intensity of her previous work, the album embraces Appalachian folk traditions, featuring instruments like banjo, dulcimer, and psaltery to explore themes of religious fervor and personal anguish inspired by her time living in rural Pennsylvania. "Pennsylvania Furnace" and "The Sacred Linament of Judgement" are our favorite, each taking their sweet time to get rolling, but when they do they are a force. A great lonely late night listen. (Aug '21)
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Men I Trust
Album number four from Men I Trust, the Montreal-based indie pop trio, was conceived and recorded during the COVID-19 lockdowns, with the band initially believing they wouldn't be able to tour it—hence the title. Ironically, delays in its release allowed them to embark on the "Untourable Tour" across North America and Europe in 2021 and 2022. The album features 13 tracks that blend dreamy synths, mellow basslines, and Emmanuelle Proulx's ethereal vocals, offering a more concise and atmospheric experience compared to their previous work, Oncle Jazz. which we also dug. "Ante Meridiem" is the best track here and on our heavy rotation list. (Aug '21)
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The Faux Paws
The Self-titled debut from The Faux Paws, a trio comprising brothers Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand along with Chris Miller. Blending elements of folk, jazz, bluegrass, and soul, the record showcases the band's eclectic instrumentation, including fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and saxophone. We have "Anyelsewhere" on heavy rotation but are also digging the bluegrass tunes such as "Fourth Decade". (Aug '21)
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Liars
This the tenth studio album for Liars, the experimental rock project led by Australian musician Angus Andrew. The album blends live instrumentation with experimental electronics, creating a sound that is both familiar and fresh. Critics have noted its accessibility compared to earlier Liars records, with NME describing it as their most refined and accessible album yet, and Pitchfork highlighting its balance between the band's characteristic strangeness and a newfound normalcy. We think "Slow and Turn Inward" and "From What the Never Was" are the best on the album. (Aug '21)
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Ruby Landen
Finger picked acoustic and Ruby's clear, almost spoken vocals over a lush backdrop of bass and french horn and similiar atmospherics creates a slightly slow, lazy sepia-tinged Americana. Nice listen for a rainy Sunday afternoon. (Aug '21)
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Lorde
We're not usually going out of our way to find large commercial successful bands, but we like Lorde. We're spinning The Path, Solar Power, Stoned at the Nail Salon and Oceanic Feeling. (Aug '21)
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Angel Olsen
Angel Olsen has a new release? Cool. We haven't heard anything about it yet, but Olsen is always worth a spin. We queue it up for an uninterrupted listen, start to finish, during a recent long drive. First tune Gloria comes on. We give it a cockeyed look. Then Eyes Without a Face ... hum, think we see the theme here. Safety Dance comes on. Got it, this is an extended play of 80s covers. But, completely reshapped. That aforemented Men Without Hats tune? Dark, brooding, slow, atmospheric. Nothing like the original. Sounds like David Lynch produced and Fennesz engineered it. That's our favorite song here, with Forever Young taking a close second. (Aug '21)
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Castle Theater
We're really enjoying this debut long play from Minnesota artist Tyler Tholl, a/k/a Castle Theater. Perhaps the Maine Coon cat on the cover warmed us up a bit when we spun it, but the songwriting is solid, the tunes are catchy, threading a line sort of right in the middle of rock and country. We're spinning Make Sense, CA, 1999 and Cold Comfort on heavy rotation. (Aug '21)
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Jungle
This is the third studio album by British electronic duo Jungle. The album showcases a blend of disco, funk, soul, and hip-hop influences, aiming to capture a sense of joy and liberation. The duo emphasized creative freedom in this project, producing music that reflects their desire to make people dance and feel good. It may have been a little too joyous for our everyday listening. But after hearing "Truth" a number of times, that is one catchy, high evergy pop song. (Aug '21)
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Anika
After 11 years since the release of her last solo album, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson—better known simply as Anika—pushes out this release during the global pandemic. The lyrics, "a vomit of emotions, anxieties, empowerment, and of thoughts like—How can this go on? How can we go on?” were all written there on the spot. The music also pops around from the optimistic view of Change to the bleaker, Piano Magic-like Sand Witches, one of our favorites from this release. (July '21)
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Mug
Mug, Melbourne based siblings Lily and Sam Harding, cite 80’s Australia underground and Eurocentric art-rock as the inspiration behing this one. We definitely hear some Stereolab in spots, such as Connection. We have that tune and Brace Yourself on heavy rotation and are really enjoying this release. (Jul '21)
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Your Grandparents
Debut album from LA hip hop trio Your Grandparents features a nostalgic fusion of groovy R&B and rap as an ode to the elders who've inspired their eclectic but classic music tastes. We've got So Damn Fly on heavy rotation and in our lounge playlist. (Jul '21)
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The Lazy Eyes
Even better than EP1! Where's My Brain??? and The Island start off as these twee boy band songs but end up rocking it at the end. (Jul '21)
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Samia
Nice EP from New York City artist Samie. As You Are is on heavy rotation as is The Promise, a cover of the When In Rome hit. (July '21)
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Kolezanka
New York based artist kolezanka's debut album, Place Is, is simply delightful. We've got Words For No One, which has this great Deradoorian vibe going, The Offensive and 7th st/7th ave on heavy rotation. (July '21)
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Meggie Lennon
Great debut album Meggie Lennon. We love the thought of opening track Night Shift being inspired by late nights walking home from bars in Montréal. We've had similiar inspiration with way lesser results. We also love how the warmth and sensuality just oozes from this disc. Seeing how Lennon herself describes the release as “make-out dream-pop”, we think she's spot on in that description. (July '21)
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The Holy Family
The Holy Family's debut album is a mostly instrumental journey through 13 tracks. As David J. Smith, the chief architect of this particular hall of mirrors puts it, “I guess if I had to try to put it into words it’s my attempt at a musical interpretation of a very trippy and psychedelic murder mystery tale, or otherworldly dream/ hallucination”. You can feel the push and pull of improvisation vs. repetitive structure, mechanical beats accompanied by organic like soundscapes. (July '21)
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Ludovico Einaudi
We've been fans of Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi for a while now, enjoying his classical-like (if that's a thing) compositions for relaxing evenings. We didn't know he scored so many tracks for films. Cinema is a compilation album featuring 28 tracks from his film and television compositions, including pieces from Nomadland, The Father, The Water Diviner, This Is England, I'm Still Here, Insidious, and Doctor Foster. Einaudi described the album as a way to rediscover his music through the lens of cinema, noting that combining his compositions with images offers a new perspective. (Jun '21)
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Piroshka
“If Brickbat (Piroshka's first album) was our Britpop album, then Love Drips And Gathers is shoegaze!” reckons Miki Berenyi, formerly of Lush, now vocalist/guitarist for Piroshka. We're down with with those two genres, and glad to see some Lush, Modern English, Elastica pedigree in the group. That 90's indie background comes through pretty strong on V.O. while The Knife Thrower's Daughter. a quirky eyebrow raiser is our favorite from the release. (Jun '21)
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Sandy's
San Francisco-based Sandy's describes this release as their magnum opus> A release mixing inventive studio productions, 3D cinematic soundscape, the spirit of epic 70’s surf films, and timeless songwriting influenced by the likes of Bach, Brian Wilson, and The Beatles. They threw everything in this one: 80s synth-pop, power-ballad hooks, 70s style guitar shredding, 60s vocal harmonies, electronica cresendos that you'd expect at the best rave. We've got Dimension IV, Sami & Sandy and Sunken Cathedral on heavy rotation. (Jun '21)
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Dean Blunt
Dean Blunt, the enigmatic London-based artist, released Black Metal 2 as a sequel to his 2014 album Black Metal. This concise 23-minute project blends minimalist sophisti-pop with introspective lyrics and lo-fi production, showcasing Blunt's signature ambiguity and emotional depth. Critically acclaimed, Black Metal 2 received a Metacritic score of 84 and was featured in Pitchfork's list of the 50 Best Albums of 2021. We love "WOOSAH", a staple of our Lonely Late Night playlist. (Jun '21)
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Faye Webster
This is the fourt album from Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Faye Webster. The album blends indie country, R&B, and soft rock, showcasing Webster's signature introspective lyrics and mellow sound. We'd have to disagree with former President Barack Obama though on the best tracks on the album. It's not "Better Distractions" but rather "Kind Of" or "Cheers". It's also strange to realize a US president and I like the same band. (Jun '21)
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No Kill
Solid debut release from Brooklyn’s Jamie Cogar, a/k/a No Kill. She nails a solid set of approachable rock songs, harkening back to what you might hear on a 90s alternative radio station. We're digging Hallelujah. (Jun '21)
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Evolfo
We like psychedelic rock. We like prog-rock. No surprise to find most of this, Brooklyn-based Evolfo's second release on our heavy rotation. High energy. Fuzzed out, slightly weird music, mid-song key changes ... seems like it would be a blast to see this group live. Band leader Matt Gibbs sent us an email that they're going to be announcing an SF show in the next week. Sounds like we'll have our chance to do so soon! (Jun '21)
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The Garry's
The fourth album from The Garrys, a trio of sisters from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, draws inspiration from their mother's experiences at an all-girls Catholic boarding school in 1960s Saskatchewan. Blending surf rock, doo-wop, and psychedelic elements, the record explores themes of religious discipline, rebellion, and the complexities of nostalgia. We have "Fallen Woman" on our Indie Rock playlist heavy rotation. (Jun '24)
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Gabriels
The debut EP from Gabriels, a Los Angeles-based trio consisting of gospel singer Jacob Lusk, film director Ryan Hope, and composer Ari Balouzian, this five-track EP blends vintage soul, gospel, and R&B, creating a timeless sound that garnered acclaim from notable figures like Elton John, who described it as "one of the most seminal records I've heard in the past 10 years". We love the title track. (Jun '21)
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Assorted Orchids
Assorted Orchids’ self-titled debut album consists almost entirely of steel and nylon-stringed acoustic guitar with clear vocals up front in the mix. This is to folk music perhaps what William Taylor's Country Music is to that genre. Same sort of fingerpicking dexterity, but skewing darker at times ... to the point, perhaps midway through The Mighty Kingdom, where you're thinking this is Noah Georgeson's long-lost sophmore release. We're spinning Uninspired on heavy rotation. (Jun '21)
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Glass Beams
The first release from Glass Beams, the Mirage EP follows Research Records inclination for cosmic instrumentation and kraut pervaded polyrhythms with four songs that blend an exotic, Indian/Middle Eastern instrumental vibe with synthwave elements. (Jun '21)
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John Grant
The fifth solo record from John Grant, originally from Michigan, then Denver but camped out in Europe for a while, this time in Iceland. For us it's always been a love/hate relationship with Grants songs, most albums having some songs we think are the cats meow but a bunch of others that are garbage. Pale Green Ghosts exemplied this perfectly with us loving all the odd numbered songs and dumping the even numbered ones. This disc only has a couple of keepers, including County Fair for us. We love Cate Le Bon in the production chair on this one though and dig her influences. (Jun '21)
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Sault
Their third album in just over a year, Sault focuses in on their hometown of London for this one. As usual for a Sault release, the songs are bolstered by plenty of percussion elements and moving bass with some sweet and sultry female vocals over the top. This release seems to feature a good number of child voice-like sing alongs and some spoken word elements througout. It's a nice disc, but man we gotta imagine it's tough to follow up on their brilliant 2020 release Untitled (Black Is) that came out at the height of the BLM movement. (June '21)
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Japanese Breakfast
The third album from Japanese Breakfast, Michelle Zauner's musical outlet, seems pretty similiar to her last two. Poppy, unoffensive indie rock. We're usually good for adding one or two songs, in this case Tactics, to our heavy rotation. This release also seems to have a little more throwback to 90s alt girl sound in it than the previous. (Jun '21)
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Kings of Convenience
When KoC came out with Quiet is the New Loud in 2001 it was an unbelieveable jolt to the music scene. We were thinking, how did they just take soft dick rock complete with acoustic guitar finger picking and two guy harmonies, and give it a hip air, motion, energy, and, intentially or not, make being a nerd sexy at the same time? Quiet was indeed the new loud. Sign us up. Twenty years later, with this new release, that same formula seems to result in ... well, some nice, non offensive soft dick rock songs. That said, we do like Angel on this release. (Jun '21)
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Morcheeba
When folks talk glowingly about musical eras and genres, you'll hear 70s classic rock, 80s new wave, ... but we think the most overlooked is the chill/downtempo music that came out in the late 90s and early 2000s. Morcheeba--along with Air, Zero7, K&D, Thievery Corporation--had a killer release contributing to that era in 1998's Big Calm. While this is a solid, well produced release, we're not sure that magic can ever be recaptured. (May '21)
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Lord Huron
Lord Huron doing a Americana album that harkens back to old timey Western Swing type music? Yeah, sign us up. This is a great album. It was our soundtrack as we did the big drive West, taking two lane roads along the Gulf Coast, through Cajun country and through the big skies and open plains and high deserts of Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada on our way back to SF. This album was every bit as spectacular as the drive. (May '21)
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Fears
Oíche, meaning ‘night’ in Irish, is the debut album from Fears. It was recorded and produced in three bedrooms, hospital, and at the Domino Recordings studio in Brixton. We like the simplicity here: Girl singing over simple beats. Reminds us of sort of stripped down Juliana Molina in it's simple repetitiveness and popping percussions. (May '21)
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Fust
Solid good ole Americana release from Durham, North Carolina-based artist Fust. This sort of lazily sung, melodrama-tinged, slide-guitar laced music is our favorite "country music". We have The Day That You Went Away in heavy rotation, but the entire album is solid. (May '21)
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Damien Jurado
This is Jurado’s first release on his own label, Maraqopa Records. As always, his songwriting and delivery are solid. Just well written, well executed relatively plaintive songs. In this case, stories of people determined not to be broken by dire circumstances. We have Helena, Tom and Song for Langston Birch on heavy rotation. (May '21)
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Winter Robin
Kentucky-based longtime friends producer Mark Williams and vocalist Erica Berry created six tracks on their eponymous EP based on their shared love of vintage vocal house, underground techno, and soulful electro-pop. (May '21)
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Nature's Neighbor
Produced and written from Mike Walker's condo in Chicago and Terrill Mast's Virgina basement while they sheltered-in-place during the first wave of COVID-19, this Nature’s Neighbor release has a very isolated-but-connected-at-a-distance feel. Musically, it appears to the influences were mostly Mike on Terrill and vice versa. With some other talented musicans rounding it out. If one wanted to pull it in more of a folksy bend, the other went with it. More R&B flavor, sure, let's do that. Some pop rock parts, okay great. But none of the songs feel overtly pop rock, R&B or folk. It feels like the world stopped (which it sort of did), genres and the marketing of music faded and a couple of folks emailed themselves back and forth and made what they wanted. We like that. (May '21)
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Cereus Bright
The second album from Tyler Anthony, Knoxville songwriter performing under the moniker Cereus Bright, is fantastic. Whatever was involved in him wrestling with "his deeply religious upbringing, the complexities of modern society, and the idea of giving up on his dream", it worked. Mr Anthony didn't ask us for our opinion, but we'll summarize the conclusions we came to on those life pondering questions after multiple listens to this: a) if you want to understand who the Creator is, look in the mirror. What you created here is brilliant. b) as long as you understand the complexities of your audio editing software, the instruments you use, and how to keep the musicans you work with happy, we think that's good enough. Don't worry about the other stuff. c.) Assuming music is your dream, certainly do not give up on that. We need many more like this. (May '21)
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Start 2021
Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on the neck of George Floyd until he died--resulting in country-wide social justic protests and the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement--was found guilty of murder and manslaughter.
The first flight on another planet happens when a NASA helicopter takes a 39 second, 10 feet high flight on Mars.
The light starts to get shined on QAnon, whose 8chan enabled trolling escaped the dark corners of the internet, caught up the more suceptible populations of the US and fueled the capital attack and the takeover of the GOP and common sense.
Biden takes office and (thankfully) political drama seems to lessen while the COVID-19 vaccine gets widely administered.
Thankful for the end of the disaster of 2020, America celebrates ringing in 2021 for about one week before the country watches in horror as Trump supporters storm and infiltrate the Capital building. The Donald quickly earns his 2nd impeachment vote by the House with just 1 week before he leaves office. |
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Secret of Elements
Rostock, Germany artist Johann Pätzold aka Secret of Elements, delivers a solid neo classical album here that is emotive and cinematic. Rage, in playing on the theme of the albums title Chronos, the father of time, is a brillant example of the cinematic nature of this release. You can just imagine this as the soundtrack as a the clock ticks away on an implending disaster the hero is just seconds away from stopping in a blockbuster spy thriller. (Apr '21)
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Squid
London based band Squid sounds like if you crossed Primus with the Danielson Famile. Same sort of kinetic, frenetic energy with shouting boarderline squealing lyrics. But unlike those other bands, these guys kick it out in spurts with hard almost drone rocking bass, guitars and drums. Good listen. (Apr '21)
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viñu-vinu
The third release from Montreal-based viñu-vinu. Of it, the artist writes that it was created as a cinematic journey, a soundtrack honoring a book of poems his father wrote after his exile from Chile during Pinochet's coup d'état in 1973. We're not quite sure listening to this initiates a humanist reflection on the devastating effects of totalitarian regimes and political wars. However, we are quite certain it would make a killer soundtrack for a political suspense drama. Blending electronic music with a six-piece acoustic band, jazz harmony, improvisations, and poetry, this is a well produced piece of work. (Apr '21)
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Field Music
Eight studio album from Sunderland UK-based, artsy, indie pop/rock outfit Field Music. This one is as strong as any in their catalog, often pitting songs about depressing topics against an approachable playful melody. A formula that we often enjoy (looking at you The Beautiful South). The Curtained Room, Orion From the Street and When You Last Heard from Linda are in our heavy rotation. (Apr '21)
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Phantom Handshakes
Jangly 90's girl alt bands. All songs written, recorded and mixed by Phantom Handshakes at their respective homes in Brooklyn and Manhattan, August-November 2020. (Apr '21)
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Black Fly
Some deep productions and orchestrations here on Vermont-based artist Black Fly's latest release 01. We do wonder, when listening to this: is this supposed to be for intimate solo headphone listening or arena-filled rock shows. Most songs have both elements in them. (Apr '21)
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Messina
The debut album from Boston artist Messina, recorded from his college apartment. Messina is self-identifying with artists such as: Radiohead, Frank Ocean, and Tame Impala ... but we're not really hearing a lot of that. We're hearing a mix of electronica, ambient and R&B across the disc. Party Next Door, Constant and 805 are on spinlist. (Apr '21)
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Joanna Gemma Auguri
Berlin-based songstress Joanna Gemma Auguri breaks out her accodian during the first COVID-19 lockdown and captures this simple, yet beautiful album. It's an intimate bare album ... accordian used in various ways, chello here and there and accompanied by singing. (Apr '21)
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London Grammar
The third studio album from London Grammar kicks off with a beautiful, vast, full-on orchestral cinematic piece, slowly picks up electro-pop stream towards the middle before winding it down a bit at the end. We'll take the first three songs and three of the last four (skip Talking). (Apr '21)
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Stick Figure
The 8th album from independent reggae artist Stick Figure consists of dub remixes from the band’s previous albums Set In Stone (2015) and World On Fire (2019). (Apr '21)
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The Black Keys
The 10th studio album from the blues-rock duo The Black Keys returns them to their roots to cover a bunch of good ole Mississipi Delta blues rock songs. Recorded in 10 hours, this one has a very live, jam session feel. (Apr. '21)
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The Dropkick Murphys
The 10th studio album from punk-rockers The Dropkick Murphys keeps the energy high and sound raw. We like that they came out with a let's get back to partying post-COVID inspired album rather than the isolated, shut-down, inner self-reflections that are just coming to market. We can't wait to see them (again) at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass! (Apr '21)
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Kucka
LA via Perth, Australia artist Kucka's debut release is full of auto-tuned, touch of synthwave, strong production valued pop songs. Ascension sort of reimagines a bit of Kate Bush with a little Deep Forest thrown in done in a drums-n-bass make over for the dance floor. (Apr '21)
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Miguel Gil Tertre
At their most intricate--e.g., on Prayer--the four songs on Brussels, Belgium-based artist Miguel Gil Tertre's last release sound way more expansive than just being composted with guitar, drums and piano. They are as wide and expansive as the Syrian desert which inspired the music. At quietest--e.g., on the Arpeggios--they are as their as barren and windswept as that desert. (Apr '21)
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Charlotte Spiral
New Light is Charlotte Spiral’s--a collaboration between Amy Spencer and Avi Barath--second EP. We have the title song, New Light, on heavy rotation. It's killer and reminds us of early Agnes Obel. Fantaisie On A Theme From Out Of Here is a beautiful neo-classical piano piece sounding like it's coming from an isolated musican sitting alone at the piano with lots of time to contemplate and self-reflect. Did we mention this was a product of the COVID-19 experience of lockdown? (Apr '21)
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Resort Realism
There's some music we feel we need to own. That killer song we need to spin over and over. Or that moody album that you can listen to front to back. But stuff like this, the debut album from Birmingham, Alabama artist Resort Realism kind of gets the short shaft. It's nice, instrumental music that we've put in our lounge playlist and that we'll spin over dinner from our major media streaming service. The music, even though it will cast a great ambience over the evening, will likely go unnoticed by our guests and the artist underpaid by major media streaming service. (Apr '21)
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Immortal Nightbody
We are digging the album cover art of this one. Los Angeles artist Immortal Nightbody is looking devine. His beats and delivery are slightly more down to earth. (Apr '21)
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Sacrosanct
Some solid progressive / broken beat for Social State’s debut album ‘Sacrosanct’. Features collaborations with JD. Reid, Chunky and Mr. Mitch. (Apr '21)
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Sasha and the Valentines
The debut album from Austin, TX artist Sasha and the Valentines is full of girls meets boy bubble gum pop. Well produced pop, ready for radio.10% of all cassette tape purchases will be given to Communities of Color United. (Apr '21)
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Tape Deck Mountain
Seemingly heavily rooted in the 90s but with a new twist, this one mixes the heaviness of grunge with the swirly shoegaze effect and perhaps more recent drone rock approach. It's at times unapolegically repetitive (we get that Domo is all alone) and it's always distored guitar forward. Even in it's most mellow songs. Get it, play it loud and rock out. (Apr '21)
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Nathan Moody
What's with all the dark ambient lately? We love the genre as much as anyone, but there's a slew of this stuff coming out right now: this release, the release to the right and the two releases below are prime examples. Perhaps everyone started recording last Fall as the days got darker, COVID raged on and the mood grew dim? Unfortunately those releases are all hitting right now as Spring is warming up the earth, we get an extra hour of daylight, life starts to return to normal as most folks that want the vaccine can get it, and there's justice in the world with the conviction of one of SAULT's monsters - Derek Chauvin. Talk about not so great timing.
As for this one, here is what we're going to do. Shelf it for now, but come next October 31, when tunefilter HQ is all decked out in orange and black and the trick or treaters are making their rounds, we'll be blasting this one behind the skeletons, jack-o-lanterns and other spooky props. It will do great replacing our current go to, the Original Disneyland Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House. (Apr '21)
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Les Chants Du Hasard
Paris artist Les Chants Du Hasard calls this piece an "eight-movement, avant garde masterwork that seamlessly fuses neoclassical bombast, gothic opera, and a blackened metal spirit to manifest a sophisticated sonic grandiosity of extraordinary proportions, Livre Troisième is at once romantic, tragic, tortured, and triumphant. It’s breathtaking in the most literal sense treading with the emotional weight and fervor of a thousand suns." We'll say this, there is completely zero false advertising with that album cover. The album art for this release gives you the exact idea of what you're going to be hearing when you crack it open. Still need more clues: think a heavy metal orchestra performing a dramatic opera score for a coven of vampires in the seventeenth century. We love it for it's concept way more than we find the music enjoyable to listen to. (Apr '21)
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Christine Ott
The fourth album for French composer and multi-instrumentalist Christine Ott, Time To Die sits between contemporary classical and electro-acoustic music. Think Ludovico Einaudi meets Dark Ambient. This one is best listened to late at night, in a dark room with headphone, start to finish. (Apr '21)
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Survey Channel
Matt Donatelli writes, about his Buffalo, NY-based musical outlet Survey Channel "I tried to envision these tunes as the bumpers, jingles, or scores for an alternative television broadcast. Something akin to Liquid Television, going a ways back." and that "There's no doubt the past year influenced my music towards a darker, more abstracted direction." What we have here is synth songs, some with a simple beat behind them. (Apr '21)
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Gentleman's Dub Club
Some good reggae and dub sounds coming from the latest release of London-based Gentleman's Dub Club. We had this on heavy rotation while hanging out and soaking up the sun and surf on Siesta Key, FL. (Mar '21)
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Jah Movement
With Gentleman's Dub Club on our listening list, and the view of Big Sarasota Pass and Lido Key and the Gulf of Mexico beyond in our visuals, the music of the islands were on our mind. Imagine our pleasant suprise then to stumble upon Sarasota based Jah Movement at the Gator Club. Wow, they knocked us out of the park with their performance. This one is our favorite new single from them. (Apr '21)
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The Anchoress
The second album from Welsh multi-instrumentalist artist The Anchoress starts and ends with a couple of neo-classical understated beauties in the Moon series. Between these, however, the album largely loses it'e elegance as it trys to power rock itself into mainstream pop-rock playlists. Any hints of nuanced piano and instrumental work is covered over by power ballad verse/chorus sung with the perfect amount of vocal frey. There's some talent behind this one: a duet with James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers) and drumming from Sterling Campbell (David Bowie, Duran Duran). There's also a pretty decent marketing push here as well. So, we wouldn't be surprised to see this combination reach commercial success. But we'll be keeping an eye out for Catherine Anne Davies's solo recordings after the big record deal does away. (Mar '21)
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MF Tomlinson
MF Tomlinson’s debut album is indeed a strange album for strange times. The subject matter hits the impact of COVID-19 lockdown pretty head on throughout a number of songs. Musically, this isn't rock, although A Long Day hides a screaching 80s style distortion fueled guitar solo. The comfortable use of minor notes in awkward bridges, straight forward dead-pan vocal delivery, the presence of a gambit of instruments which include sax, pianet, clarinet, flugelhorn, trumpet, cello, flute, and double bass, along with songs clocking in at over 5 minutes make it clear that this isn't easily accessible pop. It's not jazz, but there are tunes with jazzy undertones. Certainly not calypso music from the islands ... but Thursday, 8pm exudes that pretty well. By the second song in, we're thinking this is the long strange cousin to Find Shelter, Noah Georgeson's obsure solo album. If you're one of the five folks that follow that reference, you'll understand this isn't for everyone, but definitely is something you need to get your hands on. It's a phenomonal release. (Apr '21)
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Eydís Evensen
The debut album from this Icelandic classical piano musician and composer is a nice listen. We're filing it under our mellow morning playlist. (Mar '21)
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Nine Treasures
A sort of complication from their first three studio albums from China/Mongolian hard rocking metal band Nine Treasures. Outside a couple of areas where they add traditional throat singing, this sort of sounds like it could have been recorded down in LA a couple of decades ago. (Mar '21)
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Velvet Vision
Debut album from Santa Fe, New Mexico artist Velvet Vision finds some nice synth driven bedroom dream-pop. We have Springtime Buzz on heavy rotation. (Mar '21)
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Tune-Yards
4AD artists Tune-Yard's new one is a fast moving, bombastic listen. We have be not afraid. on heavy rotation. (Mar '21)
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Harrison Lemke
We love the concept here ... a where-are-they-now album about the Coeur d’Alene High School graduating class of 2006, presumably, Lemke's graduating class. We also like the DYI ethos -- recorded on a 4-track cassette deck, recorded in a small apartment a little too close to Hwy 290 in Austin, TX. The songs themselves are mostly singer-songwriter accompanied with his treble and chorus-heavy electric guitar. Seemingly a little lost in the middle between rock, pop and americana, not quite sure which clique they belong to. Sort of like, though a dozen years have passed since the ole Coeur d’Alene days, they still haven't figured out where in the High School they fit in. (Mar '21)
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The Antlers
If rock bands were like humans, The Antlers would be showing distinguished streaks of grey in their hair, getting slightly pudgy around the waist, and be more excited for a bout of gardening and evening dinner party with friends than hitting the club over the weekend. In otherwords, they'd be ageing gracefully and elegantly into their later years. This, Green to Gold, is the exact album they would make. A journalist of similiar likeness and like mindedness might also proclaim this the bands best album. We look forward to spining it as we retire to the listening room for a late night bourbon after our next dinner party. (Mar '21)
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April Bourne
The first release on Bound Centre from Dutch born April Bourne. Inspired by the UK and its diverse sounds like Grime, UK Funky and Garage. His description of his sound -- friendly melodic ambient with the use of gated synths and minimalistic percussion he calls pitter-patter beats -- is pretty spot on. (Mar '21)
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Doohickey Cubicle
This is a nice little mellow pop rock album from Vancouver, British Columbia artist Doohickey Cubicle. Some nice rhodes being played on a lot of the songs here while Alli Deleo's vocals flutter on top, trying to stay afloat and not get carried down and drowned in the production. Which, unfortunately, seems to happen from time to time. (Mar '21)
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Rswll
Victoria, BC based artist Rswll brings the big bang pop sounds of the circus in his latest release, Vernus. While his vocal style--a deadpan, flat, at times spoken, at times yelled approach--couldn't be more different, the pop hooks and energy of this reminds us of Mika. (Mar '21)
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Whirlynn
Orlando, FL multimedia artist and musican Vanessa Garcia-Cuevas releases some chill innerspace explorations on Yakakeitiwa, her latest release under the Whirlynn moniker. The pieces shift between some Latin music influences, dark smooky lounge vibe and, at times, an old timey carnival mood. (Mar '21)
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Fahim Rahman
Richmond, VA artist Fahim mopes through some sombre electronically produced, spliced and induced sounds, including records played backwards, from his bedroom during COVID-19 shutdown. (Mar '21)
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Loney Dear
Sweden artist loney Dear sings some delicate falcetto accompanied by a lonely piano. Some well produced, meloncholy sounds. (Mar '21)
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Adult Books
LA post-punk band with a great minimialist sound. We're spinning Holiday on heavy rotation and it's Joy Division meets the early The Cure vibe is catchy. That song is just killer. (Mar '21)
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Blue Canopy
Blue Canopy's 'Sleep While You Can' is the newest entry from Portland-based multi-instrumentalist, Alex Schiff. Like the album cover, this three song EP is light and breezy. Lemonaid on a warm day. (Mar '21)
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Jane Weaver
Apparently 'Flock’ is the record that Jane Weaver always wanted to make, the most genuine version of herself, complete with unpretentious Day-Glo pop sensibilities, wit, kindness, humour and glamour. After she has time to reflect, we hope she realizes that she only delivered three songs off self-proclaimed most genuine album. After the 3rd song on this release, we think she completely mails it in with overly repetitive beats posing as songs. We also think the most geniune Jane Weaver album will combine the shiny, synth-pop elements of this one as well as her more moody concepualized works of the past. (Mar '21)
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Perfume Genius
Jenny Hval doing a Perfume Genius remix?!!!? Two of our top artists in the last decade. We haven't even heard that track yet (just started spinning the disc) but we're intrigued by this whole mix idea. Fast forward a couple of weeks of listening and I think we can say the idea sounded better than the actual music. But we're biased. After all, hard to really improve something when you begin with such a good starting point. (Mar '21)
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Kali Trio
This sophomore album for the Swiss "post-genre" band KALI Trio consists of four sprawling, instrumentals clocking in, in total, around 45 minutes long. Think of some minimalist Matmos meets Godspeed You! Black Emperor and perhaps you're close to the ballpark. We like how the songs drone on in an almost machine/synch-like rhythm, but with a very organic feel. Then suddenly, when you're not expecting it, they veer off in another direction. The timebeats screw with the listener a bit as well as the band shifts through very interesting time signatures and/or accents - e.g., 19/8 - or will layer different instruments doing different time beats, e.g., 3-, 4- and 5- beats, on top of each other. Definitely some craftsman ship here. The "Coltrane doom-ballad" song Dry Soul is our favorite. (Mar '21)
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Family Jordan
Family Jordan says about their fourth album, Big Grass, that it's their "most distinct exploration of their folk and country influences." If you didn't tell us otherwise, we would have assumed that Family Jordan and their guitar, banjo, pedal steel, violin, and piano leaden songs would have originated in Nashville rather than NSW Australia. Crack a beer and grab a seat on the porch one late, warm hazy afternoon. Pop this one on and given it a listen top to bottom. Won't take you more than 4 bars into Adios, the lead song, to know if this disc is for you. We did exactly that for our first listen, which happened to be with Hirk, our porch overlooking Big Sarasota Pass and Lido Key. We were hooked immediately. Hirk struggled to figure out what old-timey country artist wrote each song. He repeatedly got confused when I told him that aside from one song by J.J. Cale, they were all written and performed by Family Jordan. Looking forward to Hirk getting turned on to Family Jordan like we turned him on to our other famous families: Akron/Family and Danielson Famile. (Mar '21)
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Lana Del Rey
We gotta admit, it pains us to by this album. We give Lana our money. We can't buy it on bandcamp nor the artists website - hell, you can't even get to her commerce site, an early 2000s heydey of Flash styled microsite as heavily produced as her albums - without first giving up your email, name or permission to suck your data and first-born from Google or Facebook. But damn, the middle portion of this release -- Tulsa Jesus Freak, Let Me Love You Like A Woman, and Wild At Heart, are just so fricken good we just need to find our favorite mega-online-retailer to make our buy. We feel so dirty we're going to drop an extra $10 in Mike Tozier's donation jar when he plays SKOB on Saturday. (Mar '21)
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Michigander
New big, arena-ready indie rock EP from Michigan musician Jason Singer. Perhaps a little too formulaic for our tastes, we can see this well-polished, big hook laden chorus filled release having mainstream appeal and success. (Mar '21)
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Fake Fruit
Nice find from tf contributor PSweet. We have No Mutuals and Old Skin on heavy rotation. We think sometime tf contributor C would get a kick out of seeing the Albany Bowl on the album cover. Looking forward to catching Fake Fruit at the Ivy Room! (Mar '21)
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Modern Studies
Modern Studies, a chamber pop band based in Scotland, released their EP The Body Is a Tide on February 18, 2021, through Fire Records. This EP serves as the darker counterpart to their earlier release, Life Flows In Endless Song, both conceived during the pandemic when the band was unable to tour. Recorded partially at Glasgow's Glad Café and mixed at Pumpkinfield Studios in Perthshire, the EP features massed strings, prepared guitars, hypnotic drums, and the distinctive sounds of a musical saw and Mellotron. The three-track collection delves into themes of collective endurance and emotional turbulence, offering a more ominous and experimental sound compared to their previous works. (Feb '21)
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Nicole Marxen
Dallas TX artist Nicole Marxen calls Tether a "meditation on the grieving process." We sense the dark vibe coming from this industrial music. Kelly, this one has your name all over it for your workouts. (Feb '21)
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Lava La Rue
We're spinning Magpie and Lift You Up ft. Karma Kid from Butter-Fly, the latest release from West London artist Lava La Rue. (Feb '21)
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Steven van Betten & Andrew Rowan
The band will tell you these eight heartachingly subtle vignettes--delicately layered with field recordings collected around the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area--unfold like a cherished short story collection, as each song evokes tales of the desert, death and coming of age. We're blown away at how these songs that feel equal part classical and old western folk, can be so cinematic and evoke so much feeling. Imagine shifting the setting of King Creosote & Jon Hopkins 2011 masterpiece Diamond Mine from the Scottish coast of Fife to Blue Diamond, Nevada, population 339. If idea of this sounds intriguing to you, here's the gem, it's everybit as good as you would imagine that to be. Spectacular. (Feb '21)
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Corvair
Debut album from Portland, Oregon-based band Corvair is full of bright, indie-pop hits. The guy-girl harmonies and straightforward pop-rock song structures remind us of The Essex Green ... which would be a great band to be compared against. That the album came off so upbeat and positive while it was written during the heyday of COVID-19 while the band was sheltering-in-place in a house together is a minor miracle. We also like the fact that one of the band's founders, Brian Naubert, also recently released a disc with a Northwest "super group" that includes folks from our old buddies Sushi Robo. Nice debut gang! (Feb '21)
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Indigo Sparke
Indigo Sparke debut album 'Echo' is billed as a deep and intimate ode to death, decay and the restless feeling of wanting to belong to something greater. We're viewing this mostly stripped down vocals accompanied by a gental guitar strum as sort of a Lo-Fi Americana for the Australian outback. The beauty is equal parts what's there and what's not there. We really like this. Sort of reminds us of a female version of Sacred Bones lablemates Case Studies. (Feb '21)
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Blanck Mass
Edinburgh-based artist Blanck Mass asks us to contemplate pain as we isolate in the midst of a pandemic plauged, dark winter. On In Ferneaux, they give us two ~20 minute long dark ambient soundscapes full of field recordings, sound fragments, voices, tribal drumming, and other various whathaveyous to use as a listening companion. While we were very familiar with the prophetic figure on the streets of San Francisco (if not directly, via like-situated proxies), the rest of the recordings gave us the escape we needed while "trapped in our little caves, grappling with the unease of the self at rest". Beautiful recordings. (Feb '21)
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A Winged Victory for the Sullen
A Winged Victory for the Sullen was commissioned by Leo Warner to score the music for the a 90-minute multimedia theatrical stage show, adapted from Italo Calvino’s 1972 novel, ‘Invisible Cities’. Transformed into 45 minutes of breathtaking beauty, this album, Invisible Cities is part of the stunning score to that critically acclaimed production. In true AWVFTS fashion, this is a masterpiece of the dark ambient arts. (Feb '21)
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LAU
This debut album from London-based artist LAU (Laura Fares) is a Synthpop / 80's Retrowave lovers dream. Didn't get enough Yazoo in the 80s (don't tell us you didn't dig Don't Go)? Pick this one up. Very well produced and full of energy and ready-for-radio pop hits. (Feb '21)
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Nicole Marxen
Dallas TX artist Nicole Marxen calls Tether a "meditation on the grieving process." We sense the dark vibe coming from this industrial music. Kelly, this one has your name all over it for your workouts. (Feb '21)
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Lost Horizons
After a long hiatus from making music, Simon Raymonde and Richie Thomas--lablemates from 4AD bands Cocteau Twins and Dif Juz respectively--return with their second Lost Horizons release. They do a nice job getting a bunch of contribution from fellow Bella Union lablemates in various areas on this release, including some of our favs such as John Grant. Torch song Flutter, sung by Rosie Blair (formerly from Ballet School) is the highlight here. (Feb '21)
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The Weather Station
Reading about the latest release from Toronto songwriter Tamara Lindeman, one might be inclined to believe it--and potentially future releases--will remake what The Weather Station sounds like. That, as the title intends, the sound is and will be unknown. We actually see this release as known, comforting, uplifting--a typical, albeit a bit lusher The Weather Station release. Which, in our book is a good thing. We'll apply the title, "Ignorance" to the folks that give this a cursory listen and move on. Because, as with her past releases, it's usually not until the 10th listen or so that you really realize how beautiful the music Lindeman makes really is. p.s. We love seeing Owen Pallett on the credits! (Feb '21)
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Django Django
Django Django’s fourth album, Glowing in the Dark, scratches a lot of those pure pop rock, indie-dance itches that their previous releases hit, Headrush being a great example. It seems this release also shows perhaps a little more range than their last releases as well, with folksy, almost a cappella singing on The World Will Turn or Charlotte Gainsbourg participating on Waking Up. Django Django finished Glowing in the Dark before the coronavirus hit and released after distribution of the vaccine had been well underway. We're not sure if that was specifically planned, but if not it works in capturing a pre-2020/pandamic optimism and bottling it up for the world to take in 2021. Get your Coronaviris vaccine shot, put on some Django Django and dance like the old days! (Feb '21)
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Dajung
Nice debut release from Incheon artist Jen Dajung Kim under her moniker Dajung and based on work she did as a schoolgirl. We love the DYI, bedroom rock athesthics. One of our favorites and one Dajung's first recordings as a 14-year-old, nighttime, was created using her iPad and the microphone attached to her headphones. A simple ukulele and vocal loops sung quietly, almost whispering in an attempt not to wake her family up at night. Maturing to 15 years-old she creates i’m still alive, another simple song with a ton of emotion and a killer Lykke Li Possibilities type vibe. Regardless of the commercial success of this release of what Dajung does in the future, we find it cool that she'll will always be able to point back to this disc and say, look what I did during high school. And, she'll always have at least one fan in the states! (Jan '21)
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Sqürl and Jozef Van Wissem
The score for Only Lovers Left Alive -- a collaboration between SQÜRL (Jim Jarmusch, Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback) and Dutch lutenist Jozef Van Wissem -- serves as a reflection of the distinct textures of Detroit and Tangier, bridging ancient and modern sounds, entangled and timeless. We love the idea of the Vampires inhabiting and remaking one of the dilapidated former mansions of Detroit. Formerly glorius but more recently (at least in the 90s) ghosted neighborhoods such as Brush Park or Boston Edison serve as a great backdrop for that. Only one of our "crew" had the guts to do this. He ended up with a giant fabulous house, complete with a room on the second floor dedicated to his Harley and killer parties. We love that this quirky film captures that concept. We wish we had this soundtrack to play back then. (Feb '21)
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Mica Levi
Loops of folks talking with echo effects. Some guitar strumming. (Jan '21)
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| Thank You Thank You
Lots of good sounds on this one from this Philadelphia, PA based band. Despite a relatively straightforward indie rock sound, the band packs in a lot of instruments and performers on this release: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synths, voice, bass, drums, lap steel, field recordings, fiddle, violin, violas, cellos, pedal steel, banjo. Most of those come into effect on Autonomy, the last song on this disc. 10% of all tape sales will go to the Amistad Law Project (Jan '21)
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Luna Li
Ten nice mellow, 1 minute long instrumentals that we've added to our lounge playlist from this Toronto artist. Mostly downtempo beats accompanied by harp pluckings, string arrangements and the occasional muzak jazzy, fuzzy guitar in the background. (Jan '21)
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Lizzie Weber
We're digging the americana vibe and big expansive feel of the chorus in How Does It Feel, the title track on this one. We're also spinning Blue Wave Bloom on heavy rotation as well. If Lizzie can put together a song where the verses are as good as that on Blue Wave Bloom and a chorus as powerful as on How Does It Feel, she will sell a lot of records. (Jan '21)
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Danielle Durack
Solid release from Phoenix, Arizona-based singer/songwriter. We're digging There Goes My Heart. (Jan '21)
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Hazy Mountain
Sort of a cross between indie rock and EDM from this German based artist. (Jan '21)
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The Notwist
The first album in six years for German-based group The Notwist, this one is full of exploratory sounds: melancholy, haunting diddies, clangorous electronics, hypnotic Krautrock. We love that the they got contribution from some of our favorite international artists on this one: it sounds like they gave Argentinian electronica songwriter Juana Molina free reign to shap the song Al Sur beyond just the vocals. We love the album’s lead single, Ship where the group were joined by Saya of Japanese pop duo Tenniscoats, her disarmingly hymnal voice sighing over a propulsive, Stereolab meets Krautrock beat. Kudos to the The Notwist for being able to pull together a number of disparate artists and have it fit so nicely in this long play. (Jan '21)
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Pearl Charles
LA-based artist Pearl Charles' sophmore album is a well-done, slick production. The sort of thing you'd expect to come out of a well funded LA record label. Pitchfork and NME say, respectively, "the record takes cues from movements all over the American map. There are hints of Southern folk and alt-country, Midwest Americana, and West Coast acid rock." and "Think of Pearl Charles as a stoner Lana Del Rey or a Jenny Lewis with grit." Decent reviews, however, we think they're coming from someone who hasn't lived through the 70s. We say, rewind the clock back to the summer 1976 and blast this one from the sun-soaked boat out on Lake St. Clair while you're tossing back the Pabsts. It will fit in perfectly between Lynda Ronstadt, Carole King, The Carpenters, Captain & Tennille and Carly Simon. (Jan '21)
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The White Buffalo
The seventh studio album from The White Buffalo doesn't disappoint. By now you know exactly what to expect from the Buffalo. Some country drinking and shit kicking songs interspersed with some heartfelt Americana ballads for your gal. Apparently on this one, producer Shooter Jennings had the band perform most of the songs in a live setting, with few retakes. The method works well here. Best country artist no one has ever heard of. (Apr '20)
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Cassandra Jenkins
The second studio album from Jenkins blends ambient folk instrumentation with Jenkins' introspective lyrics, creating a serene and cohesive listening experience. We have "Michelangelo" and "Crosshairs" on heavy rotation. (Feb '21)
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Blackmore's Night
We couldn't get enough of Richie Blackmore's Rainbow way way back in the day. We'd be hanging out on the white pleather seats in our rust-caked midnight blue '79 Firebird on a warm summer night. Windows rolled down, garter belt and recent high school graduation tassle hanging from the rearview mirror. Strohs, or whatever cheap shit we were lucky enough to have someone buy for us at the party store, in hand. Spent beer cans scattered on the floor in the back seat. We'd pop in cassette tapes of Rainbow's early releases and listen for hours. When Temple of the King or Rainbow Eyes came on and broke up the hard guitar rock with exotic middle ages instruments and a folksy feel, we'd often wonder if this was the sort of stuff we'd like when we got old. Well, Richie is still around, albeit now putting out releases of Renessance fair folk under Blackmore's Night, so we can certainly acertain how he would have answered that question. We're also down with some middle-ages folk ... although we're not sure if it's the flashback-inducing early 80's-style guitar solos Richie adds to this release or what, but we much prefer the execution of this style from traditional instrumentalists. Give us some Gruppe Eulenspiegel! (Dec '20)
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Trummors
We got a bit of a thing for Americana created by talented musical couples that drop out of big city living back east for the dusty desert of the American Southwest. The Handsome Family are our Exhibit A. Trummors--Dave and Anne, who "holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and plays the harmonium," a bio we get a kick out of--are our latest love affair in this very small but potent musical niche. Dropout City is their fourth album, located, as they put it, " along that ancient road full of domesticity and dust, adobe and acid, turquoise and trouble, that runs between John Phillips’ Los Angeles and New Mexico’s mountain air." Despite recording with an impressive array of contributors, including Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats, Bonny Light Horseman), Colby Buddelmeyer (The Tyde), Derek W. James (Mazzy Star, Lia Ices), Brent Rademaker (GospelbeacH, Beachwood Sparks), Clay Finch (Mapache, Grateful Shred), and Dan Horne (Grateful Shred, Cass McCombs), this is squarely a David and Anne album of beautiful, lazy Americana songs that delivers a pleasent listen, start to finish at worst and at it's brightest reaches transendent highs. (Aug '20)
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