Winterpills just released their latest full-length, Love Songs, which is aptly named because it’s a collection of songs that you’ll be absolutely in love with. The whole album is everything we’ve come to expect and appreciate from Winterpills, meaning that it’s perfect for relaxing to as well as for hosting private singing/dance parties.
The album starts out with the slow yet entrancing “Incunabala” where you’ll find yourself completely captivated by the plucky guitar chords. From there, we’re met with the substantially more upbeat “Celia Johnson.” The track sees singers Flora Reed and Philip Price matching one another’s vocals perfectly while accompanied with some slick keys and cheerful guitar riffs.
By the album’s midpoint, you reach “The Swimmers and the Drowned,” which works well to shake up the piece’s vibe. It’s the type of track where you’re the heavy bassline grabs your attention immediately. You’ll find yourself listening intently to the lyrics as soon as Price and Reed chime in together so you can figure out the story they’re trying to tell. “Bringing Down the Body Count” sees Reed leading the vocals on this slow and somber track, full of heavy guitar chords and tinkling keys. From there, it only makes sense to close out Love Songs with “Diary, Reconstructed” and “It Will All Come Back to You.” The two ballad-esque tracks feature Price’s raw and vulnerable vocals alongside tender keys, brass, and guitar.
Winterpills as a whole is full of passion and has certainly figured out the recipe for working perfectly with one another. “Love Songs” is just a testament to these facts.
Key Tracks: “Celia Johnson,” “Freeze Your Light,” “A New England Deluge,” “Bringing Down the Body County”
Listen to “We’ll Bring You Down” off their album Central Chambers below:
Brooklyn singer/songwriter Kelsey Byrne, better known under the moniker VÉRITÉ, recently released her latest track, “Underdressed,” and boy does it pack a punch. The single weaves a tale of vulnerability in romance; and points to one’s willingness to bend to the needs and desires of their partner, especially when trying to keep the relationship afloat.
At first, you might not pick up on the sobering content of track if you’re just grooving along to the poppy synths and Byrne’s upbeat vocals. It’s a powerful sentiment sung by a powerful lady, and it’s sure to be a track you’ll keep on repeat for some time.
Catch VÉRITÉ on tour this spring, and listen to “Underdressed” below.
There’s something inherently chill and laid-back about HÆLOS, which becomes immediately obvious upon clicking play on their latest full-length, Full Circle. It starts off with an ominous intro track that leads you into an enchanting whirlwind in the form of the song “Pray,” transporting you through realms that seemingly span the course of years. James Sandom and Jessica Lord’s voices swirl together in ethereal tones, complementing one another in all the right ways while floating along on perfectly matched synths from track to track.
The titular track meets you almost in the middle of the album, and unsurprisingly, it feels like the epitome of the album’s intention: otherworldly yet transformative. From there you reach “Oracle” at the album’s mid-point, which feels like a big turning point in the piece. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating, holding a promise of enticing music to come that practically carries you through the rest of the album. Full Circle closes out with “Cloud Nine” and “Pale,” two tracks that are packed full of emotion and leave you with the hope for more from HÆLOS.
Full Circle flows seamlessly, and by the end, you truly feel as if you’ve come full circle in a musical sense. It’s an aural blessing, one which you won’t be able to get enough of. The album will be out tomorrow, March 18 through Matador Records.
Berkeley-born and Brooklyn-based trio POP ETC are back with Souvenir, a follow up to 2012’s eponymous release.
In the last three years, the band has traversed in an even poppier direction, almost a little cheesy. But in a time when “pop” is considered an obscenity, a genre to be left for the tweens, POP ETC makes something shimmer on Souvenir.
The first single, “What Am I Becoming?” stands out as one of my favorite tracks, right next to the relentlessly catchy “Vice,” where lead singer Chris Chu sings, “You’ve got that vice that I like/No matter how hard I fight/It takes a hold of me right now.”
“Your Heart is a Weapon” and “Running in Circles” most clearly relay the 80’s synth-pop feel dominating the album. Slowing it down, “I Wanted to Change the World But the World Changed Me” (apart from being a mouthful of a title) is set in motion by a catchy guitar hook immediately reminiscent of “No Scrubs” by TLC.
The album is sprinkled with bits of R&B influence throughout, and it’s fair to assume these guys have spent some time listening to the likes of both Duran Duran and Mariah, and everything in between.
Perhaps that explains where the “et cetera” comes from.
There’s a clearly deliberate cohesion on Souvenir that was lacking on the overdone POP ETC. Simplifying the production and easing up on the auto-tune makes for a delightful listen, and a pretty good dance party playlist for fans of other contemporary indie pop artists like Ra Ra Riot or Washed Out.
The boys are currently on tour with Oh Wonder, and will be playing Music Hall of Williamsburg this Friday and Bowery Ballroom on Saturday.
It’s New Years Eve-Eve, and I’m flooded with the sounds of the past year. 2015 saw the rise of Detroit music in an unforgettable way. Our musicians took to the stage and to the studio with an unmistakable fire under their asses, in turn producing one of the most emotive soundtracks for the year as a whole. Detroit had something to say and people listened. I could go on and on about how I feel about the textural landscape of what this city produced this year, and how for the first time in years I felt moved and compelled to share my findings with the same enthusiasm one might reserve for opening Christmas gifts. I could talk about how Wolf Eyes‘ I am a Problem: Mind in Pieces broke my heart in ways I thought impossible, or how Moonwalks‘ Lunar Phases pushed me back to being in smokey concert venues, chasing after psychedelic rock bands when I was 16, making me feel younger than I did when I was actually young. So instead, I asked a few Detroit artists, most of whom released music this year, what local release stood out to them in 2015, and what they are most anticipating in the coming year. If what we heard is any indication of what’s to come, my suggestion is to brace yourselves: Detroit just got started.
FAVORITE OF 2015: My favorite release is a single track. Absofacto’s “Dissolve” hit me hard out of wintery nowhere in early February of 2015 (and I’d been working in studio with Jon Visger on and off for a while at that point) – but that’s how he works. Lurks, rather, within shadows. Jon Visger wrote, produced, and released this song himself. Nostalgic alarms reminiscent of mid-90s Boards of Canada fire the song into motion and are quickly joined by the fast-approaching outer edge of the track’s structural spine: the drums. They weigh about a thousand pounds each and somehow I feel weightless upon their anticipated arrival. (Sweaty like Black Moth Super Rainbow, yet crisp like Com Truise.) You’re soon swallowed up by the groove in its entirety, where bass is vicious and Visger’s vocals emerge. Lyrics speak out from a character’s entangled, love-sore point of view: a last-ditch effort farewell letter/self-evaluation. Love’s magnetism paired equally with its potential volatility.
MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2016: Recently, I listened to a bunch of new demos at Assemble Sound studio in Detroit with bassist Jeff Cuny of the band Valley Hush. I was pretty taken aback by how much things have blossomed sonically and vocally for them since hearing them in 2014. They’re a newer band, and for me it’s exciting to watch a group’s sound evolve and sometimes quite rapidly. It sounded like they have been experimenting, which is great, so I’m excited for what’s to come.
FAVORITE OF 2015: My local release would be All Are Saved by my good friend Fred Thomas. Deeply personal and universal at the same time, in Fred’s finely honed and idiosyncratic style.
MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2016: It would have to be my bandmate and roommate Anna Burch’s new batch of solo songs that I’ve been thick in the midst of watching her create over the past year or so. Her melodies and lyrical voice are both really captivating. She hasn’t officially said it will come out this year, but I’m hoping.
FAVORITE OF 2015: Dwelling Lightheartedly In The Futility Of Everything by Matthew Daher was an early 2015 release, but stuck with me for the whole year. It’s not a pop or dance album and the songs are challenging – they seem to be five different animals that live together in the same cave. But like magic, they opened up and travelled through me like a dance. “Cyclicity” seemed like it was written just for me, and I was lucky enough to collab with Matt and produce a video for the song. Just a beautiful exchange of energy on that collaboration.
MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2016: My most anticipated local release is whatever Ritual Howls put out because holy crap, their 2014 release, Turkish Leather, makes my eyes roll back in my head with my tongue hanging out like cartoon dog drooling over a steak or bone or whatever dumb food item cartoon dogs like to eat. I’ll be spying on them online until I see something released!
FAVORITE OF 2015:I would by lying if I said a local release stuck out enough to be regarded as a favorite in 2015. Most of what I heard locally was a recollection of once unsuccessful “indie” bands until the 90’s came back, hip/trip-hop and grunge were openly repurposed, and Ableton was accepted as everyone’s backing track. If anything, Tunde Olaniran had a track I dug off of Transgressor. In my opinion, the only good thing that happened in Detroit and nationally in 2015 is that more female artists demanded and took the attention of listeners. At this point in time and in the bigger picture, this is more important than any best of the year list.
MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2016: The local release I am most anticipating is our own final LP as 800beloved because I don’t know how it’s going to end. Rather, I’m dying to hear how it will end.
I’m finally home. After a two week stint on the road with JR JR I’m attempting to readjust and realign, and in doing so found that I was home sick all along. While traveling I was lucky to explore parts of the country I never thought I would see, and feel things yet to be categorized and safely stored. Even so, the sensation of being home is disturbingly strange. While I stumble to transition from being driven to driving myself (that’s actually pretty heavy if you think about it), I decided to channel Detroit artists singing about our beautifully complicated city. (And for the record, I really wanted to put Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” on this list, but I think you’re better off just looking up “mom’s spaghetti” memes.)
1. The White Stripes “The Big Three Killed My Baby”
My dad has worked for Ford Motor Company for 39 years. My dad also raised me single handedly. Detroit royalty, The White Stripes’ shrill and thrashing anthem, acknowledging the complexities between the city and its industry, hits home with me. While on the road, my dad called me with the news of his early retirement. I imagine on his last day we will set fire to something in a field and scream along with Jack and Meg.
Released in 2011, just two years before Detroit filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, this track about Detroit’s most desperate hour is bittersweet today in the age of the city’s rebirth. Hawthorne’s reputation for being a sincere channel between the sounds of Motown and modern swagger shines here with heart and hope.
I’m not sure how they’re perceived around the country, other than seeing shitty faux vintage t-shirts at Urban Outfitters, but in Detroit MC5 are a major thread in our rock ‘n’ roll fabric. In wake of the race riots of 1967, their 1969 debut album Kick Out The Jams included this track, a Dylan-esque retaliation and retelling of this pinnacle piece of our city’s history.
Okay, okay. Patti Smith isn’t from Detroit. But she is my favorite person and she did live in Detroit and various Michigan suburbs from 1976 to the mid 90’s after meeting and marrying the late Fred Smith (beloved guitarist of the aforementioned MC5.) Her latest book, M-Train, details this very life which was first expressed in 1978 via this purging and poetic love letter that is as gritty as the city itself.
Rodriguez has an interesting story. If you saw the Oscar winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man then you know what I’m talking about. Having made music with luke warm reception in the states in the 1970’s (with mild success in Australia) Rodrieguez’s career shaped up to be short lived. Unknowingly to him, his music found its way to South Africa where his record sales outnumbered those of Elvis Presley. Rumors of his death circulated. In attempt to find the truth (spoiler alert: he’s alive) the documentary was made and released in 2012. This song is reflective of his roots and helps illustrate the mysterious life of this local legend with sweeping simplicity.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
It’s a rainy Wednesday night the week leading up to Halloween. I sit in bed in a sparely decorated Brooklyn apartment. The cold is seeping through the grey cotton sheets, but the comforting voice of Old Sea Brigade make me feel a little bit warmer. Atlanta-based Old Sea Brigade is the product of musical artist Ben Cramer. His debut single, “Love Brought Weight” reflects the vibe and “inner potency” of his upcoming EP. Like a cold room washed out with one big florescent light, when what it needs is candles and a lamp, the heart can feel as sparse and frightening as an empty operating room in times of loneliness. With his ethereal and experimental take on folk rock, Old Sea Brigade sings and strums of that feeling when someone enters your heart and fills you with enough warmth that you don’t care about the room’s temperature, the too-bright light, or the cold rain outside. It’s a beautiful feeling, and a credit to Cramer’s artistry that he is able to express such a distinct human experience in such an equally beautiful song.
You might not know her name yet, but that’s soon to change. Nicole Dollanganger is the 24-year-old Canuck who set Grimes’ musical heart ablaze and is the very first signee to Boucher’s brand spankin’ new label Eerie Organization. As a matter of fact she’s the very reason behind the label’s creation. Boucher told Billboard in late August she created Eerie because she felt it was “a crime against humanity for this music not to be heard.” Big praise coming from one of the biggest successes in the indie music world in the past decade. Knowing what we do about Grimes’ sound, the relationship seems nearly inevitable. Dollanganger’s polished, airy, and macabre sound is a glove on Boucher’s practiced hand, and she’ll be joining the mercurial popstress on stage opening for Lana Del Rey on select dates during her Endless Summer tour. Thanks to Eerie Organization you too can hear that very music which was just released in the form of a full length Dollenganger is calling Natural Born Losers.
Beyond the music Dollanganger is an enigmatic young creative who’s firmly planted in the digital realm, with an internet presence that’s all but been perfected showcasing her own drawings, morbid stills and low-fi photos. And yet she still cites her family and hometown as having influenced her art greatly. Right now she’s focused on imbuing her work with visuals to enhance the experience of consuming her sound.
I recently caught up with her to chat a bit about her influences, the relationship she has with Eerie and some of her other passions.
AF: So I see you’re from Stouffville, Ontario. Where exactly is that and what’s it known for?
ND: Stouffville is about an hour from the city of Toronto, right in the downtown area. It’s not too far. It would be known for being a bit of a farming community. We have a strawberry festival; I guess that’s the other thing.
AF: When you’re writing music do you think about how you want it be consumed or is an exercise solely in creation and catharsis?
ND: It’s definitely more of an exercise in creation. Initially my thoughts are with making it and only after it’s done do I sort of wonder about releasing it and all of that.
AF: I know your parents are both doll collectors and that that imagery has factored into your art and music. What’s your relationship to the dolls now and what do they signify for you?
ND: Dolls are a big deal to me. I love all different kinds, but especially the ones that I began collecting through my mom. I love the history behind them, dolls especially from the 20’s to 50’s were so delicate, a lot of them were made out of chalk. For them to have survived to this time means that someone loved them and cared about them enough to see that they are here now. I always feel like they come with a deep loving history. The first item ever that I was given was a doll and I still have it. I have a lot of sentimental history with that doll. I always find it kind of weird when people say they’re scared of dolls because I just think there’s like nothing less scary than an object that was made for a kid to take care of, you know?
AF: What’s your relation and fascination with the macabre?
ND: My dad always says it’s the way I’ve always been. Even as a child it was always the horror cartoons I wanted to watch. I guess I was always inclined. I’ve been interested in exploring things that scare me forever, because it makes it less scary to face head on and to try and understand it rather than to put my back to it.
AF: How does your internet persona translate to you in real life?
ND: Sometimes well and sometimes not. I do think that there is a lost in translation nature to it, especially if you’re speaking to someone or getting a question online. At least with me I’m a bit paranoid so I often misinterpret tone or I think someone is meaning something some way and they probably don’t. I’ve kind of struggled with that. But in other respects it’s really fun to be able to explore things without feeling like you have to. It’s a really creative world where you can surround yourself with the things that interest you and you can kind of create something new by putting them all together, and that really helps to storyboard and to create concepts based on art you like.
AF: Where did you draw inspiration for this album?
ND: With this record I was drawing it off a lot from the town that I grew up in, I also spent a lot of my childhood in Florida and that was a huge influence. I didn’t have the best high school experience and I’ve struggled with that. I’ve also felt that a lot of the people that I’m closest to also struggled, and we all came into ourselves post high school. I was kind of rolling of that past and present and the different selves. It’s also where the name itself comes from, like loser is one of the easiest things that someone can call another person as an insult, and I want to almost reclaim it as a positive thing. It was almost like an homage to a lot of really amazing, fascinating people that I know who were the losers of high school. Essentially it’s a sentimental album a lot about the past.
AF: Your music has a very specific visual aesthetic approach – beyond the obvious sonic one – can you touch on how you approach those visuals and what inspires them.
ND: I usually see things, like a song, kind of visually as I’m writing the lyrics. And I read them over or I listen to a freestyled recording and I usually get strong visuals, or even just strong colors and sometimes they’re not the right colors. I know that sounds kinda wonky, but I’ll listen to a song and if I was seeing pink in my head and it’s feeling more like an orange I know that I’ve got to change something. It’s almost more of a visual thing that dictates the direction the song goes. When working with other people I’ve found that it’s easiest to describe what I’m going for with visuals rather than sound because I’m not a trained musician so I really struggle sometimes to vocalize what I’m after.
AF: I know you also create comic books, can you talk about that a bit?
ND: I’ve always liked to draw, but I’m not the best, so for me I avoid realistic drawings. I recently just put out like a comic/zine and I pretty much tried to form a narrative around images that I really just wanted to draw and I created this story around a few specific images that I saw. It was really fun because it was the first time I’ve finished a visual art, hand drawn thing, ever. Normally I get halfway through a sketchbook and give up. This the first thing that I can say I finally completed and that felt really good.
AF: I’m sure you’ve been asked a bunch, but how does it feel to be the first artist signed to Grimes’ Eerie Organization?
ND: Amazing. So wonderful. Claire and James (Brooks – formerly of Elite Gymnastics) are living angels. It’s been a surreal dream ever since it happened. I mean it’s two people that I really admire and respect and that I’m a huge fan of their creative work, so to have them be supportive of mine is incredible in and of itself. But then you’ve also got two people who are really smart, they really know the industry and they’re very interested in helping other musicians that they believe in.
AF: With the album out next month what comes next for you?
ND: The tour’s gonna happen. And then I would love to explore being more able to create videos and visuals to go with the songs. I’ve always felt like the idea’s never been fully baked to an extent so the idea of being able to create things that are 100% what I initially saw is a really exciting prospect. I’m also just so excited to write again.
New York and London based indie-pop rising star Louise Aubrie has released a new album this summer titled Late 44. With an initial release date of July 13th, the punk-influenced album has the right amount of kick to transition into a new season with a new soundtrack. With Aubrie on vocals, Louise is joined by Tom Edwards (Adam Ant) on guitars, Boz Boorer (Morrissey, The Polecats) on additional guitars, Joe Holweger on bass, David Ruffy (The Ruts, Adam Ant, Dexy’s Midnight Runners) on drums and percussion, and James Knight on piano and keys. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Louise Aubrie was born in London, where she began recording music at the notable Mill Hill Music Complex. She eventually spent some time in New York where she further developed her sound, which would evolve into the edgy indie-punk rock found on Late 44, her third album. The record is preceded by her 2010 debut, Fingers Crossed… followed by 2013’s Time Honoured Alibi. This time around on Late 44, Louise has written all her own material.
One of our favorite tracks is the aptly named “Perfect Battle Cry.” Aside from having a title that makes us want to put on our warrior paint, it blends pleasing pop sensibilities with a cheeky punk edge. It’s the indie punk femme anthem, the 2015 evolution of “Love is a Battlefield.”
Forget love and begin thrashing in the in-your-face “Too Late.” The song melts into the warmer “Next to Nothing.” “I know next to nothing…” wails Aubrie, with a slight ska sound reminiscent of early No Doubt, and lyrics with tongue-in-cheek self deprecation. Speaking of No Doubt, along with Aubrie’s cool indie punk chick vibes all her own, her debut album was was mastered by Dave Collins Audio in Los Angeles, former Chief Mastering Engineer of A&M Studios, who has worked with Madonna, No Doubt and The Police.
Proving you don’t have to be weak to be romantic, or even conform to traditional female pop star standards, Aubrie bears her heart on “Candlelight.” “Where thunder struck down we stopped, in awe with our promises to keep. Playing games by candlelight…” The album closes out with “Please Don’t Touch” – an apt warning to conclude what is a feminist punk-pop album that becomes increasingly intimate with each play. If there’s a message any woman can relate to – it’s “Please don’t touch me!” Yet despite its seemingly aggressive message, the song is soul-wrenchingly beautiful. With an abundance of radio songs of romance that aim to please the male, a cohesive work of art that hits every emotion from wanting distance, to being wooed, to the scariness of allowing oneself to fall in love, the femmes of AudioFemme thank Aubrie.
Just a month after the release of their second LP Inanimate Objects,Australian duo Atlas Genius, composed of brothers Keith (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Michael Jeffery (drums), got people moving at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg last night.
First openers Mainland were a fun group of NYC indie rockers, evidently young and still working out their stage presence. Brooklyn-based Dreamers followed soon after with a more seasoned sound and even catchier lyrics. I’d easily peg Dreamers as a band to watch, and I can’t get their 90s pop-rockesque song “Waste My Night” out of my head. Both bands got the energy up for the main event.
From the get-go in Atlas Genius’s set, for the majority of the synth and guitar-heavy songs, the vocals were being drowned out by the rest of the sounds. Powerful harmonies in the song’s catchy choruses helped to carry the lead vocals out.
No less of a show was put on, however, as blinding strobe lights transported the crowd to the kind of dance club where you have room to flip your hair back and forth and wave your arms around like a madman. It seemed as though everyone knew all the words from the very beginning, and Keith had no problem getting everyone to clap along to the beat to what seemed like every song.
Showcasing the band’s wide range of styles in their two-album repertoire, songs like the bass-driven “Back Seat” and “Stockholm” were a little less indie pop and a little more rock show. Contrarily, “Friendly Apes” and “Balladino” provided a nice slower change of pace without losing any energy.
Most fun to watch wasn’t actually one of the brothers, but rather, Matt Fazzi on keys and rhythm guitar, clearly having the time of his life. I also enjoyed watching a drunk fan wander on stage for their debut hit “Trojans,” only to be escorted off the stage by security.
The highlight of the night was a cover of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record),” giving the 80s synthpop hit a modern makeover. While the majority of the setlist was high-energy and danceable, the acoustic encore “Levitate” calmed things down and allowed Keith’s vocals to finally take center stage.
Seven years since his last full-length release, Albert Hammond, Jr. has returned with more introspective lyrics, not lacking in memorable guitar riffs he might be best known for in both his solo efforts and his work with The Strokes. As the band takes the back burner, Momentary Masters brings a sense of familiarity – a clean, focused project that’s remarkably different from his first few, but where the changes in The Strokes’ sound might have been more confusing or frustrating, Albert’s done it in a way that shows different levels of personal growth. You’re rooting for him. We’re all rooting for him.
AF: So you’ve said that Momentary Masters is more of like a new debut for you, which makes a lot of sense, since it’s been a while – AHJ was a hugely different sound, so how do you think the change in your sound reflects what you’ve undergone in your life in the last few years?
AHJ: There’s parts of it that reflect that, it’s inevitable. You are a piece of whatever you’re creating, but I feel like it more was affected by my surroundings to the point where I could achieve things I wanted to do, you know. After touring the EP, or while touring, a band formed, so I was able to record in a new way which is very exciting, which is the way I always wanted to or always heard it. It’s hard to find the right people. I feel like I owe that to years of life that I’ve been living, but there’s so many small baby steps, I don’t know that I could say that that was that. I even grew during the making of the album. I felt one way by the end that was a more confident person. It’s too hard to say, but yeah, being sober, it’s changed my life. I wouldn’t be doing any of this if that wasn’t the case.
AF: I know that the title came from Carl Sagan, I feel that a lot of his themes resonate in your lyrics. The lyrics in songs like “Power Hungry,” you kind of talk about futility of actions or the things we worry about, or “Don’t Think Twice” — do you feel like that shows in the music?
AHJ: “Don’t Think Twice” is Dylan – it’s a Dylan cover, so maybe I relate too. Yeah, the Carl Sagan thing was this clip on YouTube that I would use to meditate to. It was something that would always put me at ease in an interesting way. The album title is like that feeling that would last.
Lyrically, “Power Hungry,” that song is a little different from the rest that I’ve written, each part might have different things to it, even in the same song, that kinda happens. It’s so hard to talk about songs; you feel like you spend so much time to find the right words and then you talk about them in the wrong way [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][laughs]. I feel like this album is entertaining different layers of ideas, thoughts, or worries.
AF: Right, I think one of my favorite songs lyrically on this album would be “Touché.”
AHJ: Ah yeah, that one, I like that one a lot too.
AF: Yeah, I love that bit, “I forgave you long before I met you for the things that you were bound to do” — it sums up what I was getting a lot of from the album.
AHJ: I’m so happy you like that, because that’s actually, the girl I dedicated the record to, I took one of her poems — that verse was her poem. I thought it just said so much. I like finding those words that can mean different things to people depending on where they’re at. Even that line, “Now that we’re not perfect, we have to be good,” all these different lines mean different things to people. It happened to me — I was listening to the record, I wrote it, and I was thinking, “Oh, is that what I meant?” I was feeling a different way, and it connected in a different way. That’s what’s fun about making music.
AF: Who was the poet you were speaking of?
AHJ: Sarah Jones, she was just a friend of mine. She passed away, and I dedicated the record to her. She was never really published, but I wanted to leave a mark of her work on the album, so I took that line and I dedicated the record to her. She had shown me a lot of different people that ended up being helpful in teaching me how to phrase things in a different way.
AF: And is it cool if we talk about Justyna for a second?
AHJ: Sure!
AF: I saw you back in 2013, and I remember thinking, “Albert’s such a lucky guy.” It’s like you haven’t looked happier. How was it having her direct a music video?
AHJ: Yeah! She’s amazing. She’s actually sitting right next to me, and I’ll still say the same things I was going to anyways. She gets an idea and gets excited about it and goes with it. What’s good is that we kind of pull the best parts for each other out on that, you know. We can kind of tell, we’re pretty honest — we’ll go back and forth, which can always lead to some intensity, but at the end, it always gets a great result. It’s awesome. She also helps so much with photos or we were just finishing a video, she just did all this behind the scenes stuff and edited. She’s on tour with me now cause she’s doing lights, the light directing, so she helps create a mood on stage. It’s really cool.
I know, I see photos too, and I’ve never seen myself happier, it’s almost weird. I almost can’t tell, it’s so natural that I can’t tell until I see a photo and I’m like, “Wow, I look so happy there!”
AF: That’s really great to hear.
AHJ: It’s really nice.
AF: I wanna make this really quick — I did notice that a few Reddit users were feeling betrayed that you cancelled your AMA (says Albert, “That wasn’t my call…we really wanted to do it”). I did pick up a few questions from some users if you wouldn’t mind answering a few of those.
AHJ: Of course, I’d love to!
AF: Reddit user Walksonthree had a few questions. Firstly, do you miss your afro?
AHJ: Do I miss it? No, it’s not something that can cry for me, so I don’t cry for it.
AF: And what do you think is the most difficult song to perform from Momentary Masters?
AHJ: There’s a lot of them. I’m happy that I don’t have to play that much guitar on it, because it’s f-cking hard. “Power Hungry” is pretty hard, we’re trying to figure out which set to play it in. “Touché” — we play it and it sounds great, but it’s definitely a hard one to play. But I mean hard in a good way, I mean, they’re new songs. “Coming to Getcha” is one that was hard, but it ended up being a really great change to the record.
AF: Love that one too. And his last one, why’d you lower your guitar strap? He says, “It’s like seeing a totally different dude perform.”
AHJ: [laughs] They notice such nuances.
AF: [laughs] They do.
AHJ: People always ask me, “Why is your guitar strap so high?” and I’d be like, “I just wear it where I feel comfortable.” And so for a few shows, it was high and it was bothering me, so I lowered it a bit and it just felt more comfortable, so I kept it there. It’s kind of fluctuated. My muscles got too big, how about that one? That’s what happened, I engorged too much.
AF: Sounds like it.
AHJ: Yeah, I don’t know, people just hate change, don’t they? It’s inevitable, my friends, everything changes!
AF: I’ll tell ya, all of their questions revolve so much around The Strokes, that’s all they wanna talk about.
AHJ: It’s okay, I always try to answer them sometimes, I understand. They just wanna know, but they don’t understand that I wanna know more than they wanna know.
AF: Yeah, yeah, it’s all been up in the air for a while, so no pressure for answers.
AHJ: Yeah.
AF: Notjacobpeterson and I both wanna know why Yours to Keep isn’t on iTunes or Spotify anymore.
AHJ: I licensed it. I own the masters, so when I got signed, I licensed it to the label. They licensed it for seven years or whatever, so then I got it back, and when you get it back it takes it off of Spotify and iTunes. Then we were going to make the vinyl for the first time ever, so when we do that, we will re-release it on iTunes and Spotify and vinyl. It just seemed weird to do it at the same time as we were releasing a new record. It’ll come back, it’ll come back in a better way.
AF: Perfect. Yeah, “Everyone Gets A Star” is still a favorite of mine.
AHJ: Yeah, it’s one of my favorites too. And we also have recorded a live record, so we even thought of bringing that out at the same time as that. So you get Yours to Keep and you get a live album, all these things happen for a reason and I know why they’re happening. My hands are on most strings. Obviously, you have people that you trust to deal with stuff because if I wear myself too thin, I wouldn’t be good at doing music [laughs].
AF: So much more to look forward to! And YOitzODELLE asks what your favorite song is to perform from the first record — I’d like to know what your favorite songs are to perform from each of your records.
AHJ: Oh man, probably what’s on my setlist right now… “In Transit” is fun just ‘cause everyone sings along. I tried “Call An Ambulance” and “Blue Skies” by myself and that’s been fun. “Rocket” and “Lisa” are really fun. I really wanna play “You Won’t Be Fooled by This.” We’ve been doing “Spooky Couch” and that’s good, “Cooker Ship” on the EP and “St. Justice,” and then the new songs, “Coming to Getcha,” “Caught by my Shadow,” and “Side Boob”.
AF: Perfect, yeah, I can’t wait to hear the new setlist. And Bowery Ballroom is one of my favorite venues here so that’s gonna be really exciting.
AHJ: I know, me too. Soon!
Albert will be performing two back to back shows at Bowery Ballroom, September 21 and 22.
Our girl Jojee is back with a sultry track “Unravel Me” and we get to share it with you first. The moody number invokes the same sensuality as a candle-lit stoned shower, smoke and steam obscurring skin on skin. The “future soul” artist has a kaleidoscope of sounds that all zoom into the same focal point claimed by R&B in the 2015 musical landscape. Relax and allow yourself to come undone with the latest – “Unravel Me” slows things down to the tempo you want to bath in every beat.
Indulge in the heady high of “Unravel Me” below. The song is produced by Mickey Valen.
It’s Labor Day. The end of summer, time for last call and make outs with the friend you’ve been eyeing all these hot months. Our Track of the Week “Midnight Man” is the new single from NYC-based Controller. With layers of synths and resulting smile upon smile, this song is all about having a good time and enjoying the moment. It’s the third single from Controller’s sophomore release, the No Future EP.
Jon Bellinger (Controller‘s frontman) says the song is: “A shameless club banger, but sung from the perspective of someone you would never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever even consider going home with. Like, he thinks he’s really smooth but he’s the only one not in on how ridiculous he is, and it’s getting closer and closer to last call.” With that, take a listen and go forth.
After an abundance of changes, Widowspeak is now two. Molly Hamilton and Rob Earl Thomas did what all Brooklyn artists dream of doing, and rambled on to the Catskills where they live with a pup dog. They took their time in creating All Yours, an album appropriately about “moving on.” While they’ve moved on, they’ve kept what’s gold, working with tried and true Jarvis Taveniere, who produced their self-titled debut in 2011, and drummer Aaron Neveu.
The album opens with the title track that sounds exactly as my fantasy of fleeing the city for nature with a lover should. Their slow-paced blend of folk and shoegaze creates a sensation of nostalgia and rooted observation. On “Stoned” Molly exhales the drug that is love “…and I felt stoned…” Things pick up and crawl a little deeper to your heart on “Borrowed World” when Rob laments, “I know that I should pay attention, but I never paid any mind.” Rob rarely shares his voice; the addition of his vocals round up the listening experience. “Living in a borrowed world – with you.” On All Yours the two let us into their world via a cohesive and comforting album that’s as delightfully irreverent as it is insightful.
Introducing a new column that takes us inside the Detroit music scene – AF
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Cover photo for Some Kind of Distortion courtesy of Christina Anderson
A lot can happen in five years. Sean Lynch of Milford-based dream pop, post-punk trio, 800beloved, agrees with me. Five years ago I met Lynch, per my request as both a fan and as a writer, to chat about Everything Purple, the band’s dreamy follow-up to 2009’s Jesus and Mary Chain-esque debut Bouquet just before dissolving their relationship with their label, which lead to a three year hiatus. At the time, Lynch was still posing as a funeral director with a focus on restorative cosmetology, a profession that occupied over a decade of his life, and one that infiltrated 800beloved’s subject matter and undoubtedly crafted their signature staticky-concrete-macabre aesthetic.
Fast forward to today. I find myself at Bronx Bar in Detroit sitting across from Lynch, considered now to be one of my best friends and most faithful musical allies, to discuss a different type of undertaking, the release of 800beloved’s long awaited third record, Some Kind of Distortion. “We Beyonce’d that shit,” Lynch says in reference to the unannounced, overnight drop of the album on August 3rd. “I guess this is us going back to true left of the dial punk rock D.I.Y. We didn’t promote this record even though it was finished a year ago. It just felt like the season perfectly lined up and there was a storm that night.” This speaks true to Lynch’s creative sensibility, to trust intuition as means of honing in on emotive moments rather than popular opportunity, which explains 800’s quiet notoriety. “800beloved has become very niche-y, which is good,” Lynch explains. “We are truly comfortable narrowing the scope and not being a solicitation or a buzz band.”
For a three piece (currently composed of Anastasiya Metesheva on bass, Ben Collins on drums, and Lynch on vocals, guitar and production, respectively) 800beloved’s sound achieves a shimmering fullness that is as methodical as it is nostalgic. Some Kind of Distortion abandons traditional verse, chorus, verse, and is almost entirely devoid of hooks, a distortion in its own right. Distortion is a record with a pulse of throbbing warped sounds, and although difficult to identify, it still manages convulse with familiarity – from the warbled, zombie surf rock tones in “Die Slow,” to the droning, buzzy vocals on “Cicadas” that lends itself to sounding like an aural illusion to the soft and swelling opening instrumental track “0930131103.” “This is our attempt at psychedelic dream pop. We are playing back to our roots while exploring things we’ve never introduced to our audience through our particular filter,” says Lynch. “It’s a record that is sort of introverted and juvenile. It’s almost concept-less, in a way.”
I tell Lynch that the latest record is much less “death-y” than his previous, a statement he agrees with. “Enduring Black” (appropriately inspired by a CoverGirl cosmetic name found in the embalming room at his last funeral gig) is the shortest song on the album, clocking in just under three minutes. Even so, Lynch manages to write what feels like an obituary to his direct involvement with death work by means of his simplistic and clever lyrical prowess: ‘When I lose this black suit/I hope I forget/ what this all looks like in the end/I’d rather get distracted/by the liner ’round your eyes/Enduring Black/after all this time.’ “The song is sort of my sign off as a funeral director, an admission that I wanted more. It was my attempt to part with it, intellectually,” Lynch says. The album’s title track opens with a haunted crooning, “Time why are you so cruel/when I had all these ideas for you” and paints the glimmering sense of teenage suburbia while the song plays out like an invitation to a dystopian after party. “It’s addressing modern day distractions, but the jam seems like it’s out of a John Hughes film,” Lynch details. He is reminded, excitedly, of his inspiration behind tracking the song in post. “When you and our friends threw my birthday party at the roller rink, I just kept thinking of the stoner-y Dazed and Confused vibe of rollerskating. End of summer, stale burnt grass. That’s what I’ve tried to capture with this record.”
800beloved (which, if you haven’t figured it out by now is in fact a phone number) are not strangers to strong visual imageries that require, for those curious enough, further explanation though never deviating from disarming the audience. “The cover art is a lift from our friend’s Instagram. When I saw the photo I immediately sensed the vibe of the album which leaves this stained cafeteria feeling.” Lynch is wistful when he says this, and it is with this very passion in which he describes the synchronistic way in which the photo encapsulates the album and the band’s willingness to artfully displace themselves by releasing Distortion completely independently, that I am reminded of his affinity for detail both visually and sonically (and the palpable electricity he exudes when the two are perfectly wed). “When you work with a label and they tell you one thing and it doesn’t happen, it feels like a hula dance. A hula hoop doesn’t belong in a tree. I love the connotation of displacement of an object.”
So, yes. We were right. A lot can change in five years. Although 800beloved has remained uncompromising in vision, they continue to evolve. They’re still the band you have to seek to find or will possibly trip over. We conclude our interview (during which I’m not sure I ever even posed a question, a stark contrast to my pages of meticulous, shaky fangirl notes from five years ago) and venture out for a late night dinner where we take turns laughing, commiserating, and stealing french fries and onion rings off of each other’s respective plates. We eventually part ways at the gig van, aptly named “the space station” where Sean lends me an Alesis processor and the road worn, black electric Epiphone used on Bouquet, their first album and my summer soundtrack for heartbreak the year of its release. It’s a poetic transfer between friends; words for words, music for music, fried food for fried food. It isn’t until after I’m nestled into my apartment later that night with these symbolic musical tools far too advanced for my two- month- old fascination that Sean texts me, “I can’t wait to hear your distortions.” A perfectly apropos end to the night. I put my phone down and make some ugly, screechy guitar sounds and am suddenly warmed and buzzed by my own contortions as I dreamt of roller skates, longing for a summer that may or may not have happened yet.
There’s an over-used quote on Tumblr that goes something like: “She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.” With River Tiber‘s (aka Tommy Paxton-Beesley) latest track “Let You Go,” the Canadian producer created a piece of art that defies this statement. It’s a beautiful song filled with tried and true R&B sensibilities, yet manages to still make you think with unexpected beats popping like bubbles. The way he bluntly sings, “I only love you when I let you go” will resonate with anyone who has been that asshole in a breakup, which is, all of us.
His EP When The Time Is Right comes out September 16. Listen to “Let You Go” below.
Named as one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Artists to Watch” this month just a week after his wildly anticipated sophomore album Transgressor (Quite Scientific Records)dropped to an outpour of local and national praise, Flint, Michigan native Tunde Olaniran is making seismic waves with no end in sight.
Much like Olaniran himself, Transgressor is ambitious. The album treads on territory once explored by pop/hip hop/rock greats, but through his own vocal ferocity and audaciously layered beats. Olaniran manages to pave a path all his own (and in doing so, has reset the bar for breakout artists and seasoned vets, alike.) Transgressor achieves a rare feat: each track stands confidently on it’s own. Although the album is bound by a consistent textural experimentation, this allows each track to resonate with a unique reference point. Freddie Mercury vocals here. Early Missy Elliott vibes there. With Antony and the Johnsons meets Yeezus with a kiss of Squarepusher scattered throughout.
Trangressor is theatrical and strange, but never boring. The track “KYBM” incorporates pulsating tribal drum rhythms and chanting, yet there are moments that feel like a Baz Luhrmann film as heard on “Don’t Cry,” and others transport you to church like the standout breakup track, “Let Me Go.” These influences make Transgressor hard to categorize but help keep the album consistently curious. “Experimental pop/hip hop is the simplest way to categorize my sound,” Olaniran explained to me on the set of his music video for “KYBM” this past February. “I’m always trying new sounds, new ways to use my voice. But I like how it’s a little crude at the same time. With Transgressor I try to limit myself because I don’t want it to sound super polished.”
My favorite example of this methodology is the album’s alternative-broke-baller anthem “Diamonds” featuring iRAWniQ and Passalacqua. With lines like “I’m a fiend for a discount/ while I dream of a penthouse” and “Ima keep it real/nothing in my pocket but a $5 bill/guess I’ll go to Taco Bell and get a combo meal” (even including a line referencing the mass water shutoff controversy in Detroit) Olaniran makes even the downtrodden and relevant, funny. “At my core, I’m a ridiculous person.” He explained. “I don’t want to denigrate other artists or music but it can seem a little heavy handed when you’re trying to get a message across. I don’t want there to be a barrier. I want you to have music you can enjoy.”
In an industry where countless musicians toil night and day to develop a specific sound, that thing that will set them apart from the pack and place them in a category all their own floats up Angel Deradoorian, the self-identified lepidopteran vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumental artist.
Deradoorian, as she’s mononymouslyknown, was a longtime member of the indie-rock cult darlings Dirty Projectors. And her vocals have such a unique quality that immediately evoke the ethereal memory of that infamous project. Only here on her debut solo LP, The Expanding Flower Planet, there is an intimacy breathed into the tracks that promises sincerity, genuine hope and connection. Deradoorian has poured herself into the album in such a way that her being is indistinguishable from the music. Listening to the album all the way through is an exciting and spiritually-laced journey you take with her guiding you down the path of her creation.
We reviewed her debut albumat length earlier this week, and on the heels of it’s release I caught up with her to pick her brain on a bit about her story in music.
AF: What prompted your move to a solo project?
D: I’ve had a solo project since I was about 17 years old, but didn’t deeply focus on it. It was either doing another album cycle with Dirty Projectors or hunkering down to work on my own stuff. The timing seemed right for me to take a break from the band to explore my own work.
AF: What experiences in your career to date are you bringing to The ExpandingFlower Planet?
D: All my musical experience since childhood.
AF: Where else did you draw inspiration for the album?
D: I draw inspiration from everywhere. Visual art, nature, music, my friends.
AF: Can you describe a bit your process in the creation and evolution of a song.
D: Each song is created in its own way. Written on different instruments and pieced together, some are written on just one instrument.
AF: Does the album read as one compelling piece or is it a series of vignettes?
D: I’d see it more as vignettes, but with a thread binding them together.
AF: What aspect of the album release are you most excited for?
D: For the music to be public and to be heard.
AF: How would you define the music mood of the moment?
D: I live in Los Angeles right now. The mood of music seems pretty broad to me right now. I feel there is a lot of crossover in genres and between independent and major sounding music. Seems like a time of fusion.
AF: Are there any other projects that you are really digging right now?
D: I’ve been enjoying the Badbadnotgood/Ghostface album.
AF: What’s your current jam?
D: Allen Toussaint, “From A Whisper To A Scream”.
AF: What else can we expect from you in the months to come?
D: Tour tour tour.
https://soundcloud.com/anticon/deradoorian-komodo
Deradoorian Tour Dates
Aug 28 – Queens, NY – Trans Pecos (Record Release Show)
Sep 11 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right #
Sep 12 – Richmond, VA – The Camel #
Sep 13 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room #
Sep 14 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn #
Sep 15 – Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder #
Sep 17 – Austin, TX – Holy Mountain #
Sep 18 – Dallas, TX – Three Links #
Sep 20 – Albuquerque, NM – Sister #
Sep 21 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom #%
Sep 22 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo #
Sep 23 – San Francisco, CA – Brick & Mortar Music Hall #
Sep 25 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge #
Sep 26 – Seattle, WA – The Vera Project #
Sep 29 – Minneapolis, MN – Icehouse #
Sep 30 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s #
Oct 01 – Detroit, MI – Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit #
As summer comes to a close and the sun sets a little sooner on us all Julia Holter is preparing to release her fourth studio album Have You In My Wilderness. The timing I’d love to believe is one of those serendipitous things, her classic and timeless brand of Americana folk settling onto my shoulders like the sweaters I’ll soon need. A perfect pairing of creation and created. Though I know it’s planned, the machine’s behind it, but I’m comforted by the knowledge that they got it right. She got it right. A first listen through the album and nary a disappointing number among the bunch. It’s a languid tale, a lazy river of emotionally wrought but not fussed over music.
Julia and I caught up over the phone recently to talk a bit about the album, her art and what she has planned for the future.
AudioFemme: How do you think you’ve changed and grown as an artist and how are you showcasing that on Have You In My Wilderness?
Julia Holter: I don’t know, I’m never able to say how I’ve grown. Obviously you learn things with experience, so that is true. With every new record I’m trying to do something different and so I never am really conscious of what the progression is. One thing that I learned over the past two years is how to work with people. I was recording all alone for several years before I started working with other people. It took a lot of courage for me to try to have other people play my music. It’s really fun, it’s different. I mean I like playing my own music solo, but it’s been really nice working with other people.
AF: Can you tell us a little about your own particular process of song creation?
JH: I tend to write, especially these songs for this record, very quickly. They just kind of came out of me while I would be at the piano playing. I would say almost all of them were written to piano with the exception of “Vasquez”. It would happen really fast, it just comes out of my mouth and my hands at the same time, these fragments of a phrase along with a musical phrase. And then what happens is you have to develop it, that’s the tricky part. Developing these ideas, but staying true to the initial creation of your subconscious that happened in those seconds where you came up with it. Revisiting it, repeating or creating a new section that’s similar is the hardest part.
AF: Is the album meant to be consumed as a book or vignettes?
JH: I was imagining this was like a collection of ballads. It’s a bunch of songs, some of them are love songs, but there’s these themes of power struggles in relationships. Other than that they’re all independent. But I think that that’s a nice way to look at it – like they’re a bunch of short stories.
AF: What was it like to record in your hometown LA?
JH: The process was similar for this record and the previous one, where I would make demos and then I’d arrange them for musicians to play and we’d record them with Cole (M. Greif-Neill) at the computer as a producer, rather than myself. And I think it was really nice to see people do what they do really well with what I was presenting them. It’s teamwork in that way. Once I realized that the world isn’t against me and people are interested in playing my music because they are interested in new experiences I calmed down and was able to enjoy the process. I’m always defensive and thinking everyone would much rather do anything else than play my music, which is silly because musicians are interested in doing new things. I love being in the studio so much because you it’s like a playground of sound.
AF: Do you like drawing comparisons to other artists?
JH: I don’t know if most people like that at all. It’s just because it makes it hard to see yourself if you’re being compared to someone else, but obviously that’s what people do. That’s what journalists and music critics or anybody analyzing music is going to compare it to other music because that makes sense. But for an artist it’s hard to think that way, because obviously there’s music that I love and music that I’ve probably been inspired by, but I’m usually not. I tend to not make music inspired by other music directly. Usually if I’m inspired by something it’s something that’s not music, like a story or a movie or something.
AF: Do you enjoy touring?
JH: Yes and no. I love performing and I love being able to see other places I’ve never been to. There’s no denying that. It’s very cool, and I’m very lucky that I get to do that. I don’t ever say no, but I definitely hate flying so much and I hate being uncomfortable and traveling, like the process of traveling, it’s really rough on your body. Getting sick on tour is so terrible and you get sick a lot because of the lack of sleep. There’s good sides and bad sides, but on the whole basically what I’m doing is my dream and I’m so happy.
AF: Are there any cities or places that you just love?
JH: For whatever reason I’ve played a lot of shows and had a good time in different cities in Poland. There’s always a really great audience there. People are really into music and enthusiastic pretty much everywhere I’ve played there. Europe in general is just very receptive to a lot of different music more so than my own country, so it’s nice to go there as a musician and be welcomed and I like that. I really can’t say there’s a place I’ve had terrible experiences yet. I like everywhere I’ve been.
AF: If it hadn’t been music what else strikes a chord?
JH: Oh I don’t know. I would probably be a teacher or something. I could teach music theory or something. But outside of music? I could be an English teacher maybe. But that’s hard, I know it’s not easy either. I don’t know. To be honest I think about it a lot, how lucky I am to do this, I don’t know what else I can do.
AF: With the impending album release (9/25) what comes next for you?
JH: I’m doing a film score right now for a boxing movie. And I’m working on collaborations with a few friends.I really want to do more scoring.
AF: Can you talk more about the film score and how you fell into that position?
JH: The director heard my music on the radio and I think he very bravely asked me to do it, against the will of the people probably. There’s a lot of professional film scorers out there, and I’m not. I haven’t done it. I mean I have, but not professionally. So he’s just been really supportive and it’s been really really great experience so far. It’s kind of a mellow score, simple with bluesy piano.
AF: What’s your current jam?
JH: I’m listening to the score for Inherent Vice. I like it. It’s Jonny Greenwood. I never listen to scores. It’s such a new thing for me, but it’s such an obvious thing for me to enjoy. I think it’s funny I’ve never done it.
It’s Monday, which for many, means an earlier and violently annoying alarm clock, and perhaps engaging in tasks below us in order to bring home the bacon. Yet it’s also an empty row on a calendar of possibilities. Maybe you’ll get to pet an extraordinarily lovely dog. Maybe you’ll kiss someone like the stock market depended on it. And maybe…you’ll hear some delightful new music.
Coming from Sydney, today we have for you the debut track “Home” from Little May. Little May is Liz Drummond, Hannah Field, and Annie Hamilton. Their debut album, For The Company, comes out October 9 via Dew Process / Capitol Records. The 13-track LP was produced by The National’s Aaron Brooking Dessner. The track is delicate and haunted, like a fragile yet enchanting ballerina, or the dried roses kept by your bedside table, given by a lover gone yet not forgotten. It’s a lovely song to add a sprinkle of spooky fairy dust on what could be just another Monday.
This Saturday BangOn!NYC is holding their mysterious music and arts festival Elements. Along an industrial waterfront in Brooklyn, the vibe should be somewhere between Berlin’s Boiler Room and the bug-infested desert of Burning Man. A few subway lines away from wherever you reside, the one-day event promises to be a slice of music and escapism without plagues or planes.
Elements will have four stages- Earth/Wind/Water/Fire, along with large-scale art installations, delicious food trucks, humans, fairies, hopefully giraffes, all sorts of magical creatures spinning around from the sky to add to the intensity of your experience. Dig the full line-up above. Or better yet, don’t even read it, just show up Saturday dressed as whatever your inner child wants and dance like summer never ends.
Anything described as “haunted pop” has already won my heart from the get go. On this day, Wednesday August 19th of 2015 AudioFemme is proud to premiere “Champagne Reign” by New York darling Micky Blue. “‘Champagne Reign’ is about how far some people are willing to go for the glamor and fame. I think you can still reach your dreams without “selling your soul” or loosing yourself, it’s a much harder and longer road but I think the payoff can be much greater,” says Micky.
It’s a sparking track that will translate easily to the dance floor, but with a message that may cause the dancer to look for the realness of the night, the eyes of the person you’re dancing with, and the thrill of being young and free and creating memories that could sell a movie script – without worrying how big the opening weekend would be. It sings of the delight of the glow of the sparklers, not the price tag that comes with the champagne bottle they appear with.
When was the last time you read the bible? Does wearing gothic cross earrings count? The Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sam Geller goes by the moniker of Samson the Truest after his biblical hero, Samson. “In his music, Geller seeks to balance the power and the vulnerability embodied by Samson, delving into topics of self-destruction and transcendence as they appear in daily life.” For the record, I quoted the author’s bio page as wearing gothic cross earrings does not in fact, count as reading the bible.
“Afterall” is Samson’s first track from his upcoming album Come Back Shane, out October 2nd. The song features vocals from their frequent collaborator Aerial East, along with Xan Aird (The Virgins) on guitar. “Afterall” manages to walk the fine line between calm and impassioned, proving you don’t need to read the bible to believe in soul.
“How Did You Sleep Lady Kite” is the second single from Jesse R. Berlin’s debut album Glitter Lung, out August 14. Jesse R. Berlin first kicked up some dirt in the Tex-Mex blues scene of 1980s Houston, TX. After a rather roundabout series of adventures, breakups, and shakeups, Glitter Lung was recorded by Berlin as he isolated himself in his San Marcos studio for three years.
So about the song. The psychedelic nuances hint at a creation of odd hours – locked in the studio, perhaps with insomniac revelations and Ambien creativity. “Give me your love” the lyrics demand, a sentiment we’ve all felt, but that only come off (slightly) less creepy when sung from a sexy odd artist like Berlin. It thrusts you into that heady space of horniness as disco balls melt and your knees grow weak – ultimately giving way to passion and heading home – but not to sleep. Listen to “How Did You Sleep Lady Kite?” below.
