HAMELL ON TRIAL • The Pandemic Songs • 2020

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Ed Hamell aka Hamell On Trial offers his unique perspective on life during lockdown with 'The Pandemic Songs'. 

Hypnodial • Good Times End Times • 2020

Lake Michigan • Ladybird • 2020

"Intimate lo-fi transmissions from a land glimmering with fairy lights."

"Sounds like he just got out of bed."

The Silo Sessions • Wide Open Spaces & Big Skies • 2020

Silver Liz • Microwave S'mores • 2020

Silver Liz, the Chicago-based DIY recording project of Carrie and Matt Wagner, are prepping the release of their sophomore album, a sonic departure from their shoegaze-y debut, I Can Feel the Weight. Genre-wise, the album will be fairly eclectic with "Microwave S’mores" being the only song fitting in the shoegaze/dreampop category.

Impose Magazine described it "Microwave S'mores" as "tailor-made for your next wistful stare out the window. The dreamy track ebbs and flows between lilting guitars and ethereal vocals up to bursts of heavy shoegaze-style TV static making for a delightfully mind-bending listening experience."

Clem Snide With Scott Avett • Tiny Desk (Home) Concert • 2020

SET LIST

"The Stuff of Us"

"Jews for Jesus Blues"

"Some Ghost"

"Roger Ebert"

Recording a Tiny Desk concert at home naturally subtracts a lot of familiar elements: Bob Boilen's desk, for example; the wooden shelves full of weird ephemera; the crowd of work-shirking news-gatherers and the applause they provide. But when Clem Snide (the three-decade-old project of singer-songwriter Eef Barzelay) and special guest Scott Avett (the Avett Brothers co-founder who produced and performs on Clem Snide's latest album, Forever Just Beyond) performed together in Avett's barn, they added a few new features you've never gotten to hear at the Tiny Desk — most notably a noisy flock of birds and the unmistakable cries of a nearby rooster.

Various Artists • NPUC2020 Compilation LP • 2020

All proceeds from this release will be donated to refuge.org.uk, who support survivors of domestic abuse in the UK.

Fueled by weird lockdown nostalgia, a hankering for live music and a primal need to JUST DO SOMETHING, I sent out a bunch of emails more in hope than expectation of being able to put an online festival together. The response was astonishing - within a few days I had 80% of a line-up, and NPUC2020 kicked off just 2 weeks after those initial probings. 

Wolfhounds • Can't See The Light • 2020

“Fantastically caustic … always tougher and more canny than their peers” – Uncut

“It makes for an incredibly thrilling journey” – Mojo

“We could call this a reawakening, with the band sounding more relevant and compelling as ever. This is polished sonic firepower for the modern age” – Louder Than War

“The ‘Hounds’ bark is frequently matched by their bite” – Record Collector

“Since their reformation in 2005, they’ve continued to develop their sound without losing the fury that made their songs so memorable the first time round” – Sounds XP

Beat Hotel • Feel It • 2020

"Catchy, feel-good and memorable, not to mentioned polished in both delivery and production. Just the formula you want in a track that leaves a first impression on the listener. This is a band whose music captures the feeling of living in the whirlwind of love – one that is steadfast and timeless" – The Big Takeover Magazine

"Beat Hotel has achieved a fine balance of power pop, melancholic drifter elements, churning guitar vibes and nostalgic flashbacks" – The Spill Magazine

"Six tracks indebted to their heroes that really hit the mark" – Louder Than War

"A kind of pop circadian rhythm, providing another example of the potential power harbored within that ubiquitous palindrome, P-O-P" – Stereo Embers Magazine

Neil Young • Barnyard Edition • 2020

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It took four Fireside Sessions, but Neil Young has apparently grown tired of every fire pit and fireplace in his Colorado home. For the latest entry in his quarantine performance series, Old Shakey took the show down the road — or at least, to the other side of the estate — for a special Barnyard Edition.

Once again directed by his wife, actress Daryl Hannah, the performance is largely delivered to a bunch of chickens and — if you keep an eye out — at least one mallard. The set opens with Young playing “Tumbleweed” from 2014’s Storytone on ukulele while a lama named Lazlo and a horse mosey around their pen. He then moves over to the coop to strum out “Homegrown”, the title track from his long-unreleased 1975 album Homegrown, finally due for release on June 19th. CoS

Lucy & La Mer • TOGETHER • 2020

The songwriter shares, “I wanted to create something that would help us uplift and encourage each other. There’s a tremendous amount of good happening in the world right now. In the midst of the intense losses and surreal new normal, I think continuing to share our stories will alleviate the loneliness that many individuals are feeling at home. For me, my mental health struggled tremendously during the first few weeks of the stay-at-home regulation. By connecting with fans and friends to create this video, I felt more normal and less anxious. We’re all doing this together.”

The video features cameos from social media influencers Jessie Paege, Gaby Dunn, and Amber Whittington (Amber’s Closet). As well as TikTok stars Matt Stauffer, Jason “TikTok Doc” Campbell, Haley Faulkner, and Twitch artist Raquel Lily.

Alex Nicol • Two Times A Charm • 2020

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Canadian alt-rock singer/songwriter and Hoan frontman Alex Nicol has released a new album All For Nada — and single “Two Times A Charm” — via Anniversary and Michel Records. 

Directed and edited by Alexander Maxim Seltzer, and produced by Nada Termerinski and AMS Films, the video for “Two Times A Charm” serves as a lushly fevered, retro-drenched dream into the prickly and uncomfortable deception of understanding. 

“We know that we don’t control the flow of our ideas, and that they are, by nature, difficult to understand,” Nicol expands. “And sometimes, even if we like to think we have ‘overcome’ feelings, thoughts or behaviours from the past, we are actually deceived by a false sense of self-awareness.