As we recycle our stacks of propositional propaganda post-elections, Impose's Week in Pop takes a quick glance at the entertainment headlines as we continue to make our own ripples, splashes, and waves. After the removal of some 186,876 files, Music Week revealed that The Beatles are the most pirated act in the world, and then the Chris Brown versus Frank Ocean scuffle-gate continues as Brown countersued the original plaintiff from Ocean's entourage, and it's looking like The Flaming Lips and Ke$ha collaborative album is being scrapped, while our Moz-watch sources from True To You reported that Morrissey was treated in LA after a “concussion, whiplash and an arm injury” that continues to spurn rumors of a possible car accident. So sort all this out as you will, because this week we bring you exclusives from Jared Bartman, Keith Top Of The Pops, Space Fight, and more-in no particular order.
Jared Bartman breaks out the castanets, Eastern Europe and Spanish musical affections, with the premiere of “Jackals”. Found on his upcoming Misery Makes Strange Bedfellows album, the song moves like the gallops of animals, creatures and folks making swift haste beneath the moon's light. You can hear the brush swishing past the flamenco rhythms, like marathon matches met on the vast environs of veldts to behind the red velvet ropes of the most pristine supper clubs found the world over.
Jared takes command by arranging the guitars to be propelled in orchestra rows of constant dramatic tension. Taking on the roll of a crooner, the song brings to mind classic crime stories where the protagonist is caught in a compromising position, a singer in an evening parlor surrounded by adversaries sitting, smoking, eating, drinking, laughing, whispering, and sneering as part of the grand ensemble of the attending audience. The volition is maintained on account of the song's constant tempo that seeks an exit door and an escape from the song's perennial hiss of audio personified “Jackals”. Every string that is struck ups the song's ante and plot arc, where Barman let's the song thrive on a persistence that finally make its offstage leap with a heroic moment of reprieve brought about by an abrupt end.
Jared took a few moments to describe his song writing processes, literary inspirations, sharing snap shots of the Peoria, IL scene, and more.
From stripped down acoustic guitar singer-songwriter blues, to a global modern baroque; how do you decide what style you want to use for any particular song?
I just pursue whatever style piques my interest. To me, that’s the beauty of being a solo artist; the ability to make snap decisions about what musical direction to take at any given time.
What do your songwriting sessions consist of?
I’m only able to write when I know that no one else is listening, so I tend to write very early in the morning. When starting a new song I cycle through working via guitar, piano, voice, written music notation, or just by ideas for words on paper, usually demoing ideas on Pro Tools as I go. I find that working on a song through a variety of media informs the writing process and helps bring out other musical possibilities that I might not have been aware of when writing in just one medium.
How and where do you find inspiration for your music?
Just being alive and trying to pay attention to what is going on in the world provides plenty of musical inspiration. More specifically, I often take inspiration from reading literature and seeking out music I’m unfamiliar with.
What is the story behind the Spanish style of “Jackals”? Who or what are these jackals in the night? Should we be afraid? Cautioned?
“Jackals” was influenced by the short story Jackals and Arabs by Franz Kafka, as well as the short story Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. I was also reading a lot of poetry by the Spanish writer Federico Garcia Lorca, which informed the Spanish castanet-driven percussion battery in the song. I wouldn’t say that the song outlines any specific storyline; just a series of images and moments that reflect some sort of fear, suspicion, or desperation.
What were some of the underlying agonies and ecstasies that contributed to Misery Makes Strange Bedfellows?
I wanted to make a record that was really a game-changer for me, a step above what I’ve done in the past, and no matter what the best record I could possibly make at that time. I believe the record is a success by those criteria. The album was recorded and mixed in about thirty days spread out over the course of January through July 2013. I won’t mention specific challenges that came with making this record, but I will say that it was a tremendous growing process, and that I’m a different person after making the record, for better or for worse.
What can you report from the local scene of Peoria, IL as of late?
Peoria is good place to live and make music. It certainly pales in comparison to major music cities surround it, but there are some great bands there, some good venues, and an a music scene that progressing all the time.
Favorite things about 2013?
Watching my son grow up from a baby to a toddler.
Least favorite things about 2013?
Being in a very precarious financial situation after making my new record.
Prospects for 2014?
Spending time with my wife and son, writing new music, playing shows, and getting a new day job.
Misery Makes Strange Bedfellows will be available November 19.
Watch Jared Bartman performing “The Cool Of Your Temple” live, captured by Devin Vaughn and joined by Stephanie Bartman, Michy Maloof, Rebecca Opperman.
Keith Top Of The Pops loves pop music. Keith Top of the Pops loves pop iconography. In fact, Keith Top of the Pops is an underdog, here just to have fun with His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band. Maybe Keith loves indie pop more than you or I, as his indie celebrity all-stars include the likes of Mikey Drums, Fruitbat, Jimbob, Eddie Argos, Jasper Future, Ian Catskilkin, Simon Indelicate, Julia Indelicate, Sarah Nixey, John Moore, Luke Haines, Charley Stone, David Barnett, Sue Denim, Dee Plume, John McKeown, James Rocks, Micky Ciccone, Adie Nunn, Sara Saw, Dave Fade, Johnny Fade, Dyan Valdes, Keith Murray, Chris Cain, Arec G Litter, Jo Bevan, Charlotte Hatherley, Melissa “Pied Piper” Reardon, Emma Cooper, Nathan “Wolf” Thomas, Phil Whaite, Tim Ten Yen, and a few others we might be forgetting. And together with this arsenal of players and fellow pop enthusiasts, they present the TOTP video pastiche for, “You Wish You Were in My Band”.
Borrowing visuals liberally from vintage appearances from Def Leppard and Guns & Roses, Keith and company mix up the pop game with an excited assemblage to match up with their massive horn section. Drum fills and synced images of pop stars of the past (is that really Phil Lynott there?) get resurrected in top flight and fighting form. Beneath the big bright lights, watch images of time elapsed arena stages being assembled for the titans of time and sounds that have transcended even those immortal realms of our over abundant excesses of idolatry. “Making friends all over the land”, Keith and his crew keep the movement kicking while taking the mickey out of ukelele playing fops. Replaying Axle Rose's classic acrobatics at the end of the video's minute and a half duration, Keith keeps tongue firmly planted in cheek while lampooning the cliches and traditional tropes of everything from the skint artist to the 'we're only in it for the money'-'pay to play' clichés; the unyielding and unwavering love of performance all shine brightly through on lyrics like, “playing our hearts out for cash in hand”. Hear more from Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band on their new album, TOTP2 available now from Corporate Records.
Through long distance exchanges, overcoming the elements, and a few painkillers to get us out from under the weather, we had a chance to catch up with Keith to talk some Top of the Pops memories, Top of the Pop top relevances, the fun-loving spirit of The Boomtown Rats, Cats U.K., Jilted John, and how, “ukeleles can fuck right off”.
Favorite vintage TOTP performances, ever?
My favorite ones are all ones that would only happen because of Top Of The Pops. Songs that could only have been written in the UK at a certain time, and all just look like a bunch of people messing around and having fun, and then being given national exposure on primetime television. Like this,
…or this;
…or this;
Amazing, and then how did you take that on for a name, with Keith TOTP?
The name Keith TOTP came from a record I made with the band Art Brut, called Art Brut, Top Of The Pops which had every band on a compilation by Angular Records called Rip Off Your Labels, shouting their band name and Top Of The Pops over and over again.
I started using Top Of The Pops as a general exclamation of happiness and surprise. 'I've just found twenty quid in the street. TOP OF THE POPS!' and it just sort of stuck.
Your album is called TOTP2, were you more of a fan of Top of the Pops 2, say to the mainline of Top of the Pops?
Not really. TOTP was regular viewing around one of your friends house before going out, and while there was always some stuff you would laugh at, chances were the next act on would actually blow your mind. TOTP2 doesn't have to show what's actually going on, so it can just cherry pick all the best stuff, you don't get the feeling of discovering a diamond in the rough that you got when you saw something you loved on actual Top Of The Pops
What's the history of how the Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band came to be?
The band was formed in New York. Art Brut were touring America, and I'd gone over just to hang out on tour and drink their riders. They were playing a gig at the Knitting Factory and a support band pulled out, so Me, Mike, and Jasper did a set. I think it was 3 songs that I'd written and taught them in the dressing room, and two Magnetic Fields covers.
It was the first time I'd ever played a gig and I decided I liked it. I was walking around New York at 5 in the morning, blind drunk, in a white suit that I'd bought from a shop over the road from the gig, trying to find my hotel, while everyone else was about to fly off to Mexico, and I thought, 'Yeah. Being in a band is AMAZING! I'm going to do this'.
That's when I decided to start the band properly and that it would be me, plus whoever fancied playing at the time, so I have done gigs with just me and a drummer, and gigs with 15 electric guitars, violins and a brass section, and sometimes with a band made of the audience.
How did the tongue-in cheek song “You Wish You Were in My Band” come together?
'You Wish You Were In My Band' was written mainly because I see a lot of bands and almost all of them are doing it completely wrong! None of them seem to be having any fun, and being in a band that isn't fun is a terrible place to be.
I've seen it happen and it's not nice. Being in a band is ridiculously fun, if you let it be. If you start concentrating on 'deals' and 'fame' and arguing over fucking Hi-Hat sounds and how big your name is on posters, then you are fucked!
My band is made up entirely of members of other bands, and often other members of their bands come up and say, 'Wow. I've never seen them have that much fun on stage before', and I just think, 'That's such a shame'.
There's just so few bands who's interviews don't put me to sleep, they all give the same generic, boring answers to any questions because they're worried about upsetting anyone and 'hurting the brand'. They are all interchangeable. You can take answers from any interview one band has given and put them into a different interview by a different band and it reads exactly the same.
Here's a tip, if you're rubbish at interviews and can't think of anything to answer the question, 'So, what's been the highlight of your year so far?' other than, 'I dunno. It's all been alright really', then you should not be doing interviews. It's not that important. There's nothing wrong with not being good at interviews as long as you don't do interviews!
The other main message of the song of course, is that ukeleles can fuck right off.
What went in to choosing which TOTP images to put together for the visuals?
Basically, they just had to be at the same tempo and encapsulate lots of fun and rock and roll silliness. The actual problem was not just using the entire Def Leppard or Guns & Roses video, because they both pretty much sum up the whole song.
..and the release of TOTP2?
It's already out. You can buy it here [via Corporate Records].
Meet UK by US space fighting men, Space Fight, and hear our premiere advance stream of their album All Systems Wait. Seeing release next week, November 11 from Glasstone Records; New Jersey's Spencer Miles is joined by Billy Hawkes, Zach Abramson, Tom Welch, and Adam Scherer to create a sound that encompasses the time and spaces that the band inhabits between the UK and and US respectively. American East Coast pop sensibilities get taken to the London stages with a blueprint to make something that resounds like the Atlantic Ocean's reflection of the shining galaxies above.
“All Systems Wait” describes the detrimental effects of destructive jealousy with an overactive sense of ambition and drummed up energy. Ripped from the radio rock of recent decades, “Who Do You Think You're Foolin” unmasks games of charades, while “22” gives a contemplative moment of pause with the ruminating chorus of, “oh what was I supposed to think, I didn't know just what to do, oh how should I have acted when I was only 22?” “Rust” gives the kind of caliber of sound that showcases a band that has broken their way into the festival ready circuits via vocals, guitars and percussion that are set and tuned for the outdoor amphitheater air. The outside atmospheres continue on the romantic evening slow dance of “Star”, that sleeps beneath the sky while cuddling beneath the constellations. Their indie dance pop smarts get switched to all systems go, on “Strange Land”, while “Out of Here” echoes frontman Spencer Miles' plane hopping travels and transitions. Leaps of faith are given more of that angular guitar and funky-hop treatment on “Into The Blind”, as the tempo keeps upbeat and riding high on the ponderings of tomorrow on the promising anxious heels of “Young Man's Game”. And in closing, raise a pint glass (or two), say goodbye to regrets, and eat a plethora of locally sourced fruits on the uplifting bliss of “Strawberries, Beer, And Nothing To Fear” that sends you out on a vibe that feels like everything-is-gonna-be-alright-for-forever. And who knows, we just hope and pray that Space Fight are right. All we know is that the line, “some days you feel like you can conquer it all” is not leaving our collective psyches anytime soon.
Fresh off the tour with Ra Ra Riot; Space Fight's singer-guitarist Spencer Miles took the time this morning to discuss the new album, life on both sides of the pond, vintage Intellivision games, the future, and more.
What sort of intergalactic battles contributed to your chosen moniker of Space Fight?
Actually, I got the inspiration for the band name from those old school Intellivision games. They had Space Battle, Space Spartans, Space Armada, but there was never a Space Fight. Seemed like a fitting title, and a decent homage to the amount of time I spent playing video games as a kid in the 80s.
(Space Fight's Billy Hawkes, at Hope and Anchor)
Why the album title and title track of All Systems Wait, when everyone is typically keen on the 'all systems go' adage?
Billy Hawkes, the drummer, came up with it. In 2011 we were working on the album while I was in NYC and he was in London. The process of working internationally was very slow at times. We had just finished our first UK tour with Ra Ra Riot, and we were preparing for a UK tour in 2012, which was months away. We were having trouble controlling our enthusiasm, and although our attitudes were 'All Systems Go', the reality of our situation tended to be “All Systems Wait.”
Like the lyrics on “22” of, “how should I have acted when I was only 22”, what would you all do differently if you could redo 22 all over again?
Not much really. It's really a song about dealing with loss, and not being quite sure how to handle it. It can be a bit of a surprise to realize that you might not have everything figured out as much as you thought at that age.
(Space Fight's Spencer Miles at Hope and Anchor)
Songs like “Out of Here”, “Star” and such deal with a kind of otherworldly (or out of this world like) escapism. Being a group that bounces between the UK and Brooklyn, how do you all define escapism?
I'm from New Jersey. My initial move to London was escapism in a literal way. When the opportunity to move to London came up, I quit my job and moved 3,500 miles to a place I'd never been, where I didn't have a job lined up, or a place to live. So that was some real escapism, not just in my mind. Fortunately I met Billy and guitarist Tom Welch, and we gelled instantly. It was completely freeing to me that there were no preconceived notions of what we had to be as a band. So all of our music had some essence of escapism naturally built in.
And like the UK by Brooklyn shuffle, how do you find the influences from both the UK and US informing your creativity?
The two countries are very similar culturally. The London guys knew just about every TV show from the US that I watched as a kid, and we had the same musical influences, many from UK bands obviously. I found the current music scene in London to be pretty interesting. There is a certain punk attitude in UK bands that rubbed off on me during the writing and recording of our album.
Is it like one of those NYLON, NYC x London kinda things?
Definitely. Once we got the album going, I brought in a couple more guys for recording that were from New York, so it ultimately became a real collaboration between Londoners and New Yorkers, with me sort of in the middle, having lived in both places.
(Space Fight's Stephen Barlow at Hope and Anchor)
“Strawberries, Beer, And Nothing To Fear”; is this closing song the ultimate wish of bliss for Space Fight?
Pretty much. It's an elaborate way to say, 'Everything's cool.' This is the release moment. There's a lot of questions throughout the album, a lot of tension in some of the material, and this is the way we wanted to resolve it, in an uplifting and blissful manner.
Plans for Space Fight post release of All Systems Wait?
We have a show on Saturday, December 21 at the Mercury Lounge in NYC. We're opening for an amazing band, Thing One. It's going to be an awesome night. After that, the future is unknown! Maybe there will be another album and UK tour some day, we hope!
All Systems Wait will be available November 11 from Glasstone Records.
Weekend's Kevin Johnson and Shaun Durkan (with some photographic directorial assists from Eli Marias) made the video for “Rosaries” that showcases the more sentimental and spiritual leanings from one of our favorite Bay Area by Brooklyn bands. Watch as overhead shots of journeys down sidewalks and streets give a bird's eye view through wide lenses that capture the odyssey of a man through the transgressive worlds of lightness, darkness, searching for salvation, sips of alcohol, strippers (courtesy of BK's Pumps), and whatever it takes to transcend the futility of the mortal coil that we're all tied up in. Weekend's JINX is available now from Slumberland Records.
Nyteowl dropped their album Gold Girl this past month, and we're just now arriving at this Midwest party of contemporary throwback beats. You won't even know what happened by the time “The Boogeyman” crashes on the album's beginning scene, where “Kick it Again” and “Now U Calling” to “Get In It” kick this vaguely retro but undeniably current discotheque of delights.
From his recent album Gasface, Castle has been working with Philly's Has-Lo on a collaborative album for Mello Music dropping in 2014, but first lowered the draw bridge for the instrumental work out Oh, Far Out. It's that future head trip twist, that will keep it reverberating and ringing until '14 to take it far out for that upcoming Has-Lo joint.
Folks from the groups Owen and Into It. Over It. have started the project, Their / They’re / There, and gave us a listen to the curtain raiser track, “Curtain Call” off their Analog Weekend EP that will be available December 10 from Polyvinyl Records / Topshelf Records. Evan Weiss, Mike Kinsella, and Matthew Frank make the kind of indie music your older siblings would slyly tell you about, and play snippets of – but would forever withhold until they left behind their old 90s CD collection for you to rummage through and hold close to your bosom and ears.
After selling out the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, HBK Gang – Iamsu!, Sage The Gemini, P-Lo, Kool John, Jay Ant, Skip, Rossi, and CJ rolled up to the stage in this special Fall harvest edition of, “Heart Break Halloween”. Their new tape Gang Forever is available now from LiveMixtapes.
Shaun Fleming, drummer of Foxygen, and also of the solo handle Diane Coffee dropped the “Spirit in the Sky” AM pop of “Gov T.” that keeps the spirit of protesting the man and systems going strong. Fleming's album My Friend Fish is available now from Western Vinyl, and you can enjoy the vintage throwback sounds of this non-album jammer here.
Raise some hands with Beaty Heart, and their effective, yet minimalist video for “Lekka Freakout”. Find their new single via iTunes, and get jubilant with the cosmic turning video for a song that bursts with a mood spinning soul.
Check out the Eric Leiser video for Pantaleimon's “If I (Was)” full of polymorphic entertained thoughts, and ocean droning sentiments.
Rolling on their The Second Album World Tour with duo Skins and Needles, Latyrx released The Second Album this week along with the video for “Exclamation Point”. As Lateef and Lyrics born remind you to slow it down, and not to overuse your punctuation, keep an eye and ear out for the second leg of their tour kicking off in 2014. Stay conscious, my friends.
We got more Sactown by Oakland happenings here with Main Attrakionz x Tynethys' “Strawberry Letter 316” that shuffles with Shuggie Otis's eternal classic in some cloud tripping spirit. Big ups to Mondre, big ups to Squadda, and big ups to new kid on the block Tynethys as they all coast and ghost their rhymes and spirits in this slapper that is not to be missed.
(MondreM.A.N. courtesy of photographer Terry Barentsen)
Keeping the Main Attrakionz vibes fresh, get a first listen to MondreM.A.N.'s November 12 dropping album They Say I Struggle Rap that presents one of North Oakland's brightest sons in fine spitting fashion. Also props to production from the one and only Al Jieh, who is all over this upcoming tape. Let this be one of your end-of-the-year albums to listen and watch out for. Come to think of it, keep your ears and interest piqued for the upcoming Main Attrakionz x Friendzone produced album, 808s and Dark Grapes III coming soon…
Portland three-piece Lovers dropped their video for “Tiger Square” this week Taken from their Badman Recording Co. album, A Friend in the World, sort it out with Carolyn Berk, Kerby Ferris, and Emily Kingan.
Mecca Lecca Recording Co. has been one of the best kept secrets until lately. From the mystic and transcendental works of Ajnabi to the scuzz and sway of SWF, we are smitten. Which brings us to SWF's new single “Warrior”, taken from his recently released album, Let It Be Told, where you too will be telling it from the mountain top with one of the best songs you have heard all week that will awaken the inner warrior from within.
Decibel destroyers Melt-Banana recently released their new album Fetch, and this week further enticed and obliterated our neurons with the Iroha video for “The Hive.” Let the visuals take over, like epileptic seizure inducers that flash images of silhouettes, spheres, bright colors, all going at once like a swarm of bees bursting through the honeycomb particles from the queen's hive.
Kenna delivered the blurry visuals for “Love is Still Alive”, a danced up and lively affair off of Imitation is Suicide: Chapter 2 available now from Dim Mak.
With the L'Ami du Peuple LP live and available from Polyvinyl Records, check out the Guise, Samuel Gursky and Mitchell Wojcik video for Owen's “Bad Blood”. Check out the lyrical lip-synced record store set epitaph full of boozy imbibing and woozy camera effects. Memorable line goes to; “you're better off holding your freak flag high”.
The Bay Area's Hazel Rose dropped the cut “Pasha”, and passed along the following little intro that gives you some behind the curtain insight and beyond the following David Dutton video over a Baauer beat:
“It is not lightly that I title this song “Pasha.” “Pachamama” is the sacred name given to Mother Earth as a Goddess and concept in Andean Indigenous Aymara and Quechua languages. The spelling of the name is changed in my song to “Pasha” because I do not claim this culture or concept as my own, but instead wish to offer respect and shine light on the depth of its meaning. “Pacha” means not only earth, but cosmos, the universe, space-time, and spiritual, natural rhythms. In Inca mythology, her name is spoken out of reverence to fertility, harvest, and cycles of the earth.
“My message aims to celebrate beings in touch with this feminine energy who strive to bring positivity and love into this world. My intent is to show every being that they are beautiful and that they hold this power, this rhythm, this universe within themselves, and to urge them to shine fearlessly.”
The sound of “Erosion” never felt so alive and generative, from CYMBALS' upcoming album, The Age of Fracture, February 4 (January 27 in the UK) from Tough Love. Like a long lost New Order demo, or something birthed from the new romantics that never was realized until today; make this song one of your top mixtapes picks. We dare you not to listen to this track five times plus in a row.
Myth Syzer's Zero EP dropped this week from Plug Research, and we got your listen right here that features Bonnie Banane on “Bonbon A La Menthe” and Prince Waly on “Clean Shoes,” with a whole lot of future electronic business in the mix.
From Ghost At The Finish Line, Quelle Chris gives the world a hit of the uncut-cut, “Coke Rap War Game” featuring Black Milk and Denmark. Quelle's production brings some squeaky keys to scenarios about contras, conflicts, folks and fools who get themselves over the head in some dicey games. Choiciest line has got to go to, “Fuck a club, bitches on the flyer never at the club”.
Having the recent honor to debut Tough Age's “Sea of White“, we are proud to give you a listen to one of the roughest, toughest, coolest discs you may hear all year. Without further ado, we present to you with a limited time stream of TA's self-titled, that will be available November 12 from Mint Records.
Get a look at the Verluxe video for Tokyo Shawn's “World Turning” featuring Joey Purp with production from Caleb James. Keeping the textiles, scenes and worlds spinning, enjoy this kick back look and listen before The Wave Theory tape drops in early 2014.
The League of Extraordinary Gz dropped the sultry Jordan Haro video and cut for “Intercourse,” that features A.Dd+ Slim Gravy, off their tape, #LeagueShit.
Geoffrey Wilson and Hannah Jensen of Jus Post Bellum give some American History inspired tunesmiths songs from the gut and heart, on “Abe and Johnny”, from their album Oh July available November 12.
Emily Jane White brings out the real heavy headed and hearted synths on “Keeley”, from her upcoming album, Blood / Lines, available November 19 from Important Records. Let the keys sting as Emily's voice ignites a variety of emotional responses of the sacred and internal.
Yuri Méndez is Pajaro Sunrise, and this week he dropped the Miguel G. Catalán video for “Good To See You” full of good vibrations to match the feel-good rhythms and guitar riffs, off the album Kulturkatzenjammer from Lovemonk.
DeRobert & The Half Truths show you all about “Goin' Places” with two jobs and a car off the forthcoming album I'm Tryin available January 14 from G.E.D. Soul Records. Never ever has a kiss-off song been so final, so cool, so ultimate, but really, just so fuggin' smooth.
Get ready to raise some Cain and then some in the Lamar + Nik video for Graham Colton's “Born To Raise Hell', from the upcoming Lonely Ones album slated for January 21 from his imprint, Graham Colton Recordings.
SCRNS from Minneapolis dropped their new “TTYN” single this week on iTunes, and we got your listen here that experiments with the ways of electronically forged indie pop music in ways that may surprise and intrigue. Listen closely to Max Petrek's audio trickery, and Erin Ross's encouragement for you to, “set your goals, get your cash, and forget all your friends”.
Victory's Robert Fleming made a video for his cut “Soothing Me So”, off his recent album Victory is Music. Filmed in brilliant b/w, and having dun with all the video tricks available at his disposable; read our interview feature here and peep this tambourine shaker now.
With so much massive hype building around Lewis Watson's December 17 slatede Some Songs With Some Friends EP, listen to the piano built “Colorblind” that features Hudson Taylor, where we will leave it for you to decide how deep down lines like, “I am covered in skin”, travel into your own sensory receptors of sentiment.
MiWi La Lupa sent an audio telegram to us with “Radio” that gave us the warm feeling inside that we always have a place to go. A mellow little number that resonates through those internal quests of finding the moments and time for expressions with lyrics like, “When is the right time to express my feelings true?” La Lupa's New Way Home will be available January 21 from Team Love Records.
With Dillinger dropping November 12, our buddy Alexander Spit dropped the cut “Escape Plan” feat. Jean Leon that slows things down in that West Coast branded, viscous liquid-quicksand syrup. Talking about folks “trashing up the club over a pricey beverage”, we're loving Spit's line about “grubbin' hummus, writing out raps to fuck up your summers”.
Captured on video by Martin Sjölin, you are cordially invited to catch The Royal Concept performing “On Our Way” live in a Stockholm backyard. In case you needed something to help chase away your winter, remember that somewhere in Sweden these royal indie rockers are having themselves a ball in the land of the midnight sun. Find this cut on their brand new Royal EP, and you can find them on tour in the States now with American Authors and Misterwives through December 19.
Upon their tour return to Australia; we bring you the a show recorded live in Melbourne, Australia November 23 1996, with Superchunk's Clambakes Vol 7: Shut the F*ck Up!…No, We Love You – Live at the Corner Hotel that will definitely take you into the indie rock-way-back-when machine.
Hitting up NYC on November 25 and 26, get all cool with Canadian loves Alvvays and their Colin Medley video for “Adult Diversion” off their forthcoming Chad Vangaalen self-titled album available in early 2014.
Cerebral Ballzy is prepping his debut album for December 16 on Strokes front dude's Cult Records, and we got the cut “Better In Leather” for you to entertain your inner fetishist. For those in need of a little pick me up, or just want to hear a bad ass song that exalts a life lived better through the comforts and joys of leather; well, this song is just for you.
Check out the ChuckNLV video for Dudley Perkins “Stokley's Cafe”, produced by his other half, the always amazing Georgia Anne Muldrow. Watch the television glow as Dudley lets all sucker emcees know that he's back with his first solo album in about four years time, as he prepares Dr. Stokely for release on Black Friday, from Mello Music Group.
A Million Billion Dying Suns presented us with more of their star shone treasures, with the aptly titled track “Plush”. In what many could argue is the sound of maybe something that could have only have been mixed and mastered at Different Fur Studios by Patrick Brown and Sean Paulson; Nate Mercereau picks up a pretty smart comprehension of sonic dynamics that spits it out like laser rays into the gulfs of an everlasting path of an almost incomprehensible infinity…shining and breaking all comets and stars in its path.
As you may have heard, Seattle rockers La Luz got into a car accident last Tuesday that caused some bruises, totalling their van, gear and more. Suicide Squeeze is helping out by donating 100% of sales of their Brainwash EP, and Hardly Art has set up a PayPal to also assist. Here is a statement from the band:
“[Tuesday] night was probably the most terrifying experience of any of our lives. But we're ok! Thanks for the love and well wishes everyone. We lost a lot of things (pretty much everything we had) and got pretty banged up when we were hit by a semi on our way to Seattle last night, but we're just awfully glad to be alive and we'll be back on our feet in no time. For those of you who want to help out financially, Hardly Art set up this PayPal to help us pay for some stuff and money we lost. Love to you all!”
Future Twin is hitting up San Francisco's The Knockout November 11, where they will feature Two Gallants' Tyson Vogel on drums and play with LA's Gothic Tropic. Also with a fundraiser for the San Francisco Community Land Trust, you can also catch FT playing SF's Hemlock November 26 and at El Rio on December 8.
Exray's sent another transmission yesterday that featured the following message, and news of their last 2013 show. “While underground, you may notice the young phosphorescent light of our new studio. This space is more spacious, more insular and more suitable for life.” Look for Exray's in San Francisco at Milk Bar November 15 with our friends Part Time, Andy Human, Jay Arner and our beloved Epicsauce DJs. To wet your whistle further, get a listen to the subterranean lives, living underground on “t h e _ s t a r s _ w e r e _ g o n e”, right here and now.
