Singer–songwriter, Nathaniel Rateliff, performed live at Brighton Music Hall in Boston, MA. “Liverpool” is the first track found on Closer
Mar 29, 2015
William Fitzsimmons - Something in the Way
From "A Tribute To Nevermind" by Musikexpress Germany- William Fitzsimmons covers "Something in the way". Pictures from one of the first coloured movies, "the toll of the sea" from 1922.
Cloud - Zen Summer - 2015
Following the success of Tyler Taormina's critically acclaimed debut Comfort Songs, Zen Summer is the sound of a young man coming into musical maturity. While Cloud's debut may have been a "cathartic singalong with your best friends about love and family, going against all human inhibitions”, his sophomore release shows a more complex, developed, and textured approach to songwriting.
Recorded like its predecessor in his Long Island collaborative space, Practice Room Records, Zen Summer displays a deeply organic and emotionally open approach to songwriting usually unavailable to those of such a young age. Opener Fly Into the Mystery perfectly encapsulates the surreal nature of new beginnings. Tentatively stepping into the unknown; a mixture of fear and excitement is expressed through a driving rhythm and reverb soaked vocals, which slowly give way to the joyous pop of Sunshine Psych. It’s this feeling of unease and uncertainty, followed by moments of exultation which underpins Zen Summer. Nervous excitement and trepidation buzz through each song, from Mantra One’s attempted reassurance of “don’t worry, Ty” to Melting Cassatt's cry of needing "a song to calm me down, or a friend’s hand to grab at David Weld’s”.
In his own words: "After Comfort Songs I was in a dark place; but I always knew that when it ended, a really uplifting and bright time was going to come. When it inevitably did, the lightness I experienced turned into a really strange period of transition, culminating with me leaving home for Los Angeles. While Comfort Songs was written to bring some peace to those going through heartbreak and sadness, Zen Summer was written to help those experiencing the anxiety associated with a state of flux. I wanted it to envelop the listener completely, and for them to realise that things would be alright in the end.”
Melted Ice Cream - Noise Island - 2015
This little compilation features all of the bands that played with Parquet Courts during their New Zealand tour of 2015.
I think we made 40 copies and this is all that's left and we won't be making any more.
Mar 27, 2015
Tuff Love - Dross EP - 2015
Tuff Love's sophomore release, Dross EP, captures the essence of the band’s blistering live shows, as honeyed harmonies laze behind fuzz-drenched guitars, sleek bass lines and bruising drumming. ‘Slammer’ orbits a tense riff in the verses and lets rip in the choruses as Julie politely proclaims “I’ve got rage”. ‘That’s Right’ is a soaring adrenaline shot themed around instructions on a box of pain killers. ‘Sebastian’ bristles with low-down dropped-tuning hooks. Written on the night bus to London, ‘Cum’ is a swaying, savage-tender musing on regret and compassion. Get set to fall in love with Tuff Love all over again.
Har-di-Har - we are | they are - 2015
experimental dream-pop intricately composed and played the way three-legged contests are won.
Mar 26, 2015
We Are The City – Violent - 2015
Violent is an album of soaring highs and hushed comedowns, with dense syncopations going toe-to-toe with noise-soaked crescendos and delicate pop melodies. Produced by Tom Dobrzanski (Said The Whale, The Zolas, Hey Ocean) at his Monarch Studios; “King David” moves from aggressive distortion to gentle acoustic plucking to swirling ambience, while “Bottom of the Lake” places marimba tinkles atop a gritty guitar backdrop, and the cerebral “Baptism” builds towards the album’s most thunderous climax. The album is also a companion project of the now internationally celebrated and award-winning film of the same name, written by We Are the City and filmed by Vancouver’s Amazing Factory Productions in Norway. With a script penned entirely in Norwegian despite the fact that the band members didn’t speak the language, the subtitled film utilizes melodic motifs from the songs, while the story shares themes with the lyrics. boompa
Mar 25, 2015
brute love 02 - 2015
darren hayman and emma seek sunlight. they hate rules. they make rules. they need money to nurse their baby rats. nothing will be good again. it can never be like before. but sister lives. where is spaceship mark.
Damon & Naomi - Fortune - 2015
Naomi Yang and Damon Krukowski have been performing together for the better part of 30 years, yet in that time music has never been the sole focus of their creative energies. Damon is a poet and writer (and an occasional Pitchfork contributor) while Naomi is a photographer and graphic designer whose visual design skills have always been an integral part of the duo’s work, dating back to her album designs for their beloved group Galaxie 500. In addition to operating the 20/20/20 record label and Exact Change small press, in recent years Naomi has branched out into directing stylish and evocative music videos for such artists as Marissa Nadler, Julia Holter, and Elisa Ambrogio.
So it seems like a very organic progression that Naomi has now directed Fortune, her first short film. Though the film itself is silent, it arrives paired with a full-length soundtrack of new songs by Damon & Naomi, which can give it the essential feel of a 30-minute music video. The film and its music, naturally enough, work best in combination and enjoying them together (currently available for free) is an experience well worth the half-hour devotion of your time and attention. As is often the case the film itself feels incomplete without its musical accompaniment, whereas the soundtrack does function as a short but coherent and satisfying stand-alone collection of songs. PF
Haley Blais - rain knee - 2015
Haley Blais is a lonely musician dreaming of puppies and residing currently in Vancouver, BC. She can be found strumming on her ukulele whilst singing songs about breakups she never had. Compared to the likes of First Aid Kit for her soft, fluttering vocals, Haley will make all your dreams come true- wait this is getting off base.
Pile of Napkins - shitty music EP - 2015
Teenage angst coats these napkins...
feel like I'm back in my old barn smashing out lo-fi indie tunes really loud!
I like it
acab rocky - Truce - 2015
Crossing of emo, dream pop and a little twinkle helps to create a nice release a la deerhunter.
Tessa Rose Jackson - (Songs From) The Sandbox - 2013
Like many young women, 22 year old Tessa Rose Jackson is passionate, ambitious and committed, as eager to laugh as she is sensitive to heartache. What distinguishes her from her contemporaries, however, is the nature of her songs: often written, arranged, produced and performed by Jackson alone in the small studio she’s built at home, they are, put succinctly, unusually worldly wise, and sound little like the work of someone so young.
The Brit School graduate’s debut, (Songs From) The Sandbox, was released on Jackson’s own label, Monocle, in 2013. Its songs found a regular home on Holland’s key radio station, 3FM, and the country’s leading TV show, De Wereld Draait Door, who invited her to perform twice. Still, though, she felt her work could be improved, and the wealth of music that has subsequently emerged swings from delicate to jubilant, from brooding to graceful, and is never less than sophisticated and flawlessly crafted. Though she and her peers may share many of the same virtues, one thing’s certain: Tessa Rose Jackson boasts a rare, exceptional talent.
Mar 24, 2015
Mar 20, 2015
Great Lake Swimmers – A Forest Of Arms - 2015
Here’s a bit of a rockin’ rollick from Great Lake Swimmers. It’s “I Must Have Someone Else’s Blues” from their new release, A Forest of Arms, out April 21.
I’m not sure I’d want to try swimming in the Great Lakes, but I sure do like grooving to this song!
Love the lyrics. “Can’t help staring at my shoes. I must have someone else’s blues.” The idea that really, you shouldn’t be blue, but there you are, is offset but a hard hitting, fun and strummy groove.
Singer/songwriter Tony Dekker shares, "'I Must Have Someone Else’s Blues' was recorded later in the album-making process. It falls squarely into the 'we’re going to have some fun with this one' category. It’s a fun song to perform, and the band is already working on new arrangements for our live show. It’s a bit of a departure from some of the more heady songs on our new record." guitar world
The Epoch Is Now Volume 2 - 2013
The Epoch is a community of musicians, writers, visual artists, filmmakers, and more.
We were grown together, and are growing still. for more info visit our website
The Leading Guy - Memorandum - 2015
After a successful experience with the band Busy Family, the songwriter Simone Zampieri presents himself to the public with a solo project and his album entitled "Memorandum", recorded and mixed in a few days in Berlin.
Even before the release of the album, The Leading Guy has brought his voice in several Italian cities, but also in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Brussels.
Bellows - As If To Say I Hate Daylight - 2011
"It doesn't sound like it was recorded underwater with your Dad's old camcorder like some "Lofi" artists... Songs are sung low and almost in a mumble, the instruments utilize natural acoustics and reverb, the words are important and tell the tale of life with clever wordplay, very Antifolk. Every element of the songs presented is intimate (even when distant), especially the vocal which in songs like "Tiny or Tall?" stays subtle and personal while the production seems to breathe with growth and evolution." - Cincinnati Examiner
"When I listen to Bellows' As If To Say I Hate Daylight, I think New England Transcendentalism. The album is Sufjan Stevens by way of Thoreau, with delicate verses atop intricate guitar, punctuated by wild yelps that cry out to the forest sky. The delivery channels the intimacy of Elliott Smith, but without Smith’s overbearing sorrow. You detect neither anger at the past nor anxiety about the future. Instead, you get the wonder of the now. The miracle that is birth, of love in relationships, of friendship among peers where no one else has rank or title over the other. Of the difficult process that is growing into manhood... The album ends with the song “I Am Building a House.” Because every rebel eventually realizes the need to construct his own institution, his own home. And so life experiences become the brick and cement which we construct around ourselves. Yet, the house is built to fall. Salt is not applied to the foundation. Eventually ice will develop and it will all collapse. And then you will be free. When more people tear down the walls that separate them from one another, then true friendships can be had, true relationships experienced. God in the Now. Transcendence." - Public Sounds
Sentridoh - songs from loobiecore - 2015
lou barlow singing and playing various 4 and 6 string guitars , synthesizers, piano etc.. additional singing on 9 and 11 by Adam Harding , synth on 20 by Adam and drums on 3 by Adam too..
Mar 17, 2015
Mar 16, 2015
Component#4 - The Call Centre - 2015
A blending of acoustic and electronic instrumentation with nice mellow vocals make this release small but complete in many ways.
American Culture - Pure American Gum - 2015
Remember when Jesus And Mary Chain wanted really badly to be American during their mid-period? That's this record. This is classic "American music". Not so much Bo Diddley and Elvis, but more like Velvet Underground and the Stooges. These ten songs celebrate activities such as driving around, listening to music, going to the movies... but they're also about feeling anxious and out of place and not really knowing who or what you are. The songs themselves are buried in layers of fuzz and reverb, as if they were trying to mask their true identity: that is, catchy little pop hits. Sometimes they fade away too soon, sometimes they even just stop mid-sentence, but nevertheless, the ideas are already planted, and the songs remain stuck in your head. This is American Culture.
Mar 15, 2015
Mar 14, 2015
Wakes - covers - 2015
A few cover songs brought down a notch and spaced out to the max... Wonderfully arranged!
flatsound - if we could just pretend - 2015
The songs start with barely a pulse, but blossom into rich, full lullabies on the constrains of life. Very pretty understated music.
gorgeous bully - "Love Song For Someone Else" - 2014
Travis Button Bought this before I even pushed play because I've never heard a Gorgeous Bully song that wasn't "for the ages". Now that I have pushed play, several times, it fulfilled my never ending need of more GB music.
Cyberbully Mom Club - FOOTWEAR - 2015
Nice to listen to, it brings Moldy Peaches folk temperament to the forefront of my mind. Nice little release of acoustic bedroom pop melodies with the obvious lo-fi hisses and snarls.
Mar 13, 2015
The Low Anthem covers Wilco
Nobody planned it this way, but it worked out nicely that Providence, Rhode Island's The Low Anthem would tackle Wilco's classic "A Shot In The Arm" for Undercover. Though there are plenty of heirs apparent to Wilco's crossover-Americana charm, TLA seem like particularly strong candidates based on an already-impressive discography.
Houndmouth - Little Neon Limelight - 2015
Legend has it that when Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis first saw Indiana quartet Houndmouth at the SXSW festival, he offered them a deal on the spot. It’s easy to hear why: their songs are instantly euphoric. Exuberant opener Sedona sets the tone for this second album, matching the giddy, ethereal atmosphere of early Fleet Foxes with a killer Strokes riff and an invitation to “hop on in, in a stagecoach, baby, gonna take you for a spin”. Often and not unreasonably compared to the Band, they have a palette that stretches from rambunctious rock’n’roll to bruised country balladry. They’re blessed with two great singers in the Dylanesque Matt Meyers and the more classically country-styled Katie Toupin, and when the members’ four voices combine, they really sound like they are breaking loose from their moorings. At best – on the rollicking 15 Years or the shoutalong Say It – it’s classic Americana delivered with the raucous spirit and energy of the Faces or Slade. They may suddenly find their stagecoach getting rather full. G
Houndmouth are the kind of band you’ll fall in love with the first moment you hear them. They have tons of energy and that comes through on Little Neon Limelight. The first three tracks, “Sedona”, “Otis”, and “15 Years” is one of the strongest runs to open an album all year. The pace changes with the heartfelt “For No One” before cranking it back up with “Black Gold” and “Honey Slider”, my early favorite track on Little Neon Limelight. I also really dig “Say It”, a swingin’ and screamin’ rocker and the sweet closer, “Darlin'”. A definite thumbs up from me. the revue
Eef Barzelay • Find Love • 2003
Don't let hurricanes hold you back
Raging rivers or shark attacks
Find love, and give it all away
Find love, and give it all away
Wrestle bears bring them to their knees
Steal the honey from killer bees
Find love, and give it all away
Find love, and give it all away
Don't be scared to connect the dots
And dig for gold in the parking lot
Find love, and then give it all away
Find love, then give it all away
Find love, then give it all away
Bombay Harambee - "Dotted Line" - 2015
It's as if they turned Parquet Courts into college-rock and flowered with a good dose of early day The Thermals.
REIGHNBEAU X GLOWHOUSE - 2015
Opaque and hallucinatory, the music of Reighnbeau acts much like the name: disparate elements drive each other into a graceful conclusion of what at first glance seems abnormal. An alchemist of shoegaze, melancholy electronica and southern rap, Albuquerque native Bryce Fletcher produces a thoroughly personal sound that mystifies before it assaults.
The darkness of the music is belying of it's inner happiness, however, luring the listener into a mechanical, rainy world that is actually pretty damn fun to spend time in. Songs like "Hush" and "FullofSalt" feel threatening at first - dense layers of ambience and percussion crowd the soundscape to a breaking point until, with gentle ease, a kinder and more loving rhythm kicks in. This formula works spectacularly for Reighnbeau, sharing dark tension with the audience until a purifying breakdown of what I'm going to go ahead and describe as wistful gangsta.
Hypnotic, danceable and inspiring, it is music from a not-too-distant future. The powerful combination of fear and rapture are well at work here, and it is surely only a matter of time before Reighnbeau is headlining your next catacomb throwdown.
~ Nathan New
Local iQ, 2013
Mar 12, 2015
Blisses B - Sea Level Astronomy - 2015
Sea Level Astronomy is the third full length album from Blisses B. The release this Fall is the culmination of more than a year of songwriting, recording, and producing, intertwined with regular live performances. The San Francisco Bay Area psychedelic folk quartet completed the album with support from their loyal fan base through a Kickstarter Campaign.
Sea Level Astronomy centers on the theme of what appears to be underdog perspectives and the unexpected findings those perspectives can produce. A vantage point that appears limited by physical location and mindset is very capable of feats on an epic scale, such as a sea level observatory discovering a Jupiter sized planet. Considering possibilities from other perspectives than our own can have a profound impact on art, music, stargazing, anything.
sister palace - Count Yr Blessings - 2015
Press:
Sister Palace on the BitchTapes mixtape at Bitch Media
“Deeply unsentimental and bittersweet, Count Yr Blessings tackles emotions with deadpan sensibilities and a matter-of-fact attitude.”
–– Madeline Meyer, The Le Sigh
“The Purple Tape…feels almost effortless. ‘Hay Otros Mundos’ shows the band at their most playful, boasting a catchy vocal melody alongside an energetic guitar section.”
––Rafael Grafals, Cassette Club
“Sister Palace—just back from a joint Northwest tour [with Golden Hour]—bring exceptionally smart, minimalist noise-pop bliss.”
— Joshua James Amberson, the Portland Mercury
Vast Robot Armies - Little Creatures - 2015
A mutual appreciation between 2 bands, Sundiver (John Agee, Joseph Wells) and the original line up of Vast Robot Armies (Jason Thomson) led to a conversation between all parties. This conversation quickly turned into discussion about partnering up. After demos were exchanged and goals solidified, it was evident it was far more than just a collaboration between 2 bands. It was the beginnings of a new band.
Throughout the summer of 2014 the "J's" began crafting what would become Little Creatures (March 2015). The final piece of the puzzle came in the form of monster drummer Chris Metcalf (The Life and Times) who was very interested in finishing the band off as they made it way into Electronical studios in Chicago, IL. (Oct 20140
3 cities. 2 countries. 1 band. That is Vast Robot Armies.
Claire Morales - Amaranthine - 2015
From the space rock capital Denton comes...
Claire Morales began playing solo shows at the age of 13. Since then, she has gone on to form a full band with a more bold sound. Their songs combine intricate lyrics with simple yet strong instrumentation for music that is both thoughtful and approachable. The band's debut album Amaranthine released February 2015.
Influences include Leonard Cohen, the Shins, Patsy Cline & Angel Olsen
"Dreamy, melodic, indie-folk rocker Claire Morales has delivered a mind-blowing album, Amaranthine, that will leave you wishing there were more than 10 tracks. The very title of the album gives the listener an idea of what they are in for, as the definition of amaranthine is everlasting, eternally beautiful and unfading. Morales’ vocals and lyrics evoke the kind of longing that leaves one remembering unrequited love and working through what it means to be human, to be an individual in a world filled with both beauty and pain.
"Morales’ songs each tell a story, and while that can be said of most music, what stands out about this album is her ability to draw the listener in with the lush vibrancy of her voice. There is an almost 60s-like feel to the way that Morales’ vocals and guitar work blend with Ryan Williams’ bass and Russ Connell’s drum work...There is a hazy element to the album reminiscent of being somewhere between dream land and being awake...in those first moments when one does not want to wake up just yet for fear of losing the beauty of the dream." - Ft. Worth TX Magazine
Mar 11, 2015
Tough Old Bird - The Barn Sessions - 2015
Great feel to this recording - simple, warm, full, acoustic, foot tapping music to get your ho-down mowing.
Best Girl Athlete - Carve Every Word - 2015
Fitlike Records like to work under the ethos that if you can do it yourself then do it.
We are a collective of North-East Scotland artists and musicians with a shared interest in working for each other to achieve something cool, unique, funny, rancid, and/or beautiful. We like beards, bees, beer and guts…oh, and acoustic guitars
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