Sunday, December 16, 2018
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Emma Parry - E.P. - 2018
E.P. is the debut EP from E.P. herself! They call her Emma Parry and she lives in Portland, Oregon, USA. She previously released a song called "Elevator" on our picnic pop compilation Secret Gardens. Now she comes to you with a tiny cassette packed full of eight songs in eight minutes.
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Best of 2018 - flatsound - hummingbird
A place is never just a ‘place’ but the sum of its parts equally; all the people that have passed through it, all the feelings tied to it, all the moments that have unfolded there—everything has history and it seems that Mitch Welling presents us with a chance to draw up some of this history from his EP, totaling seven songs, all of which are recorded in his house on Hummingbird Hill before he moved away. AW
There is a kind of monotony, broken in spurts by thoughtful, almost hesitant guitar chords. From a feeling of stability, there comes the very hint of change, in pitch and volume, in the undertone of static; a kind of movement as if someone or something is going somewhere, almost mechanical and repetitive in nature. There is an abrupt shutting sound, leaving the track almost incomplete with garbled static and shuffling.
i trust that everything that happened to us
happened so we'd improve
everything is proof
everything you do
but you've got the softest arms i have ever known
the softest arms that i could hold
or that could hold me
travel far away
where the neighbors talk
and i'll go away
to an adjacent park
i want to go to doose's market
or anywhere there's a doose's
because even the softest arms
can't bear to hold
such a fragile frame
such a broken soul
i've got a broken soul
It should be obvious at this point that Flatsound’s music requires patience and a gut for indulgent quietness. But something I still keep forgetting is that listening to his extended plays is about as difficult as any of his hour long monstrosities. Everything here, from the breathy, whispering vocals, the anti-eventful song-writing, to the purposefully minimalistic and vague instrumentation, you will find either excruciating or absolutely astonishing.
Best of 2018 - Tom Rosenthal - Don't Die Curious
He’s racked up Spotify streams of around 55m, 22m YouTube views, and been courted by major labels keen to release his gently epic ballads, which channel Brian Wilson-esque whimsy through the mind of the classic British kook. “But why would I change everything to make just 20% of the money when I currently make 80%?” Tom says. “If you want to be the next Ed Sheeran, it might be beneficial. But I don’t.”
“This last year, I’ve sent out thousands of personalised notes to people. It’s nothing to do with songwriting, but it connects you to people in a (hopefully) lovely way. If you build the foundations of a strong house, it’s hard to knock down.” G
Best of 2018 - Anna McClellan - Yes and No
The road to Anna McClellan’s Yes and No was not just a metaphorical one. Born out of a long solo road trip McClellan took in 2015, the songs map her emotions of the two year period in which they were written like a highway is laid out before its driver. With decent savings, she set off due west, keyboard laid across the backseat, with little plan other than a call ahead to some friends and the idea that playing shows along the way would be cool. Though the trip lasted only four months, McClellan continued bouncing around from New York to Omaha and back, until finally settling in NYC in January of 2017. It is fitting that these songs were conceived in a period of restlessness.
McClellan’s singular voice mixes earnest intensity with nonchalant melancholy that puts the listener in a distant place, far away from other humans, as most of the subject matter deals with loneliness and internal emotional navigation. Often though, the songs stray outward and upward, pondering the confused nature of people, elaborating on the one thing we all cling to: the knowledge that no one is excluded from feeling weird sometimes.
“Onychophagy is the scientific term for nail-biting, a sub group of OCD, and I considered using it as the song title. And then I was like, I’m no scientist, I make songs. Nail-biting Song. It’s just a song about stress, and the internal rabbit hole one goes down, sitting at a table trapped in thought. All the time wasted thinking about what to do.”
Monday, December 10, 2018
Glitoris - The Policy (Part II) - 2018
"‘The video captures everything ‘The Policy’ is about: women and minorities having to work much, much harder just to be perceived as competent relative to their male peers. ’The Policy’ video is about breaking free from societal norms and expectations and working hard to achieve what you want in life. We included snapshots of some of some amazing female leaders for inspiration!"
Mikey Collins - West Coast - 2018
Following the release of his debut solo album Hoick earlier this year, ex-Allo Darlin’ drummer Mikey Collins announces a series of remixes, which will appear over two EPs. Guest remixers include Johnny Winfield, Nicholas de Carlo, James Yuill, Jolyon Thomas, Ghost Culture and Ian Button (Death In Vegas/Papernut Cambridge).
Best of 2018 - Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus
This is a collection of songs infused with the visceral, corporeal, often outright medical experience of transformation. Using the metaphor of humans becoming angels, hitting the road and fleeing society’s norms, Furman doesn’t shy away from expressing the pains that this process can entail.
You know I love you so bad
Like the kid skipping class in the bathrooms
Sneaking cigarettes underneath the football bleachers baby, so bad
You know I love you so bad
Like the kids growing up to be criminals
Tearing pages out the back of the hymnals
Love notes baby, so bad
Still remember so bad
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