Apr 30, 2021

Phantom Handshakes • No More Summer Songs • 2021


Phantom Handshakes is a lo-fi, dream pop collaboration between Federica Tassano and Matt Sklar.


Apr 29, 2021

Gravity • 23 Underground Selections • 2021



A number of familiar faces return this week. We welcome back the cosmic folk rock of Dead Perennials, the soulful bluesy rock of Mr B & The Wolf and the lo-fi bedroom pop of Kicks Of The East. Samuel Alexander Barbour also returns with his Celtic folk pop, as do Woosley Band with their alternative roots rock and The Shattered Hopes with an industrial take on post-punk. Big Stir Records contribute a track from the new Bablers release, a sun-soaked slice of powerpop perfection. 

Apr 26, 2021

Z Tapes • Spring 2021


A soundtrack for Spring 2021 

Digital-only release. 

Cover art by Seb Westcott (iamseb.co.uk) 
Mastering and track order by Etai (twitter.com/etaimusic) 

All digital profits will be donated to Trans Lifeline (translifeline.org/donate/).


Apr 22, 2021

Barbarisms • Trains And Horses • 2021


https://barbarisms.com

BSÍ • Vesturbæjar Beach • 2021


“Demonstrating such confidence in their compositional ability, it is little wonder that attention continues to grow around this intriguing and unapologetically independent band.” - THE LINE OF BEST FIT

We Were Promised Jetpacks • If It Happens • 2021


With versions of this song being passed between the band members remotely, they found the collaborative process engaging and rewarding. “Writing together this way allowed us to stay in contact all the time, talk about the song and what we were individually and collectively trying to achieve with it. Even though we were unable to be in the same room, this way of working allowed us to create together and communicate more directly,” says Adam. “Having music to focus on during lockdown assured us that we wanted to keep writing songs together for many more years.”

Apr 21, 2021

Porridge Radio • Wet Road • 2021



Apr 20, 2021

Lowpines • Weight of the Water • 2021



Lead me back into the fold 
I’m cautious but you know me well 
Fell into another hole 
It happens but I’ll never tell 
Followed for a mile or two 
Those pilgrims on the sunset road 
All the way to Hollywood 
We we caught in the undertow 

Apr 19, 2021

Gillie • Retirement Paradise • 2021


Raised within the Welsh heartlands of Carmarthenshire, music has always been second nature to Gillie Ione Rowland aka Gillie. 

Deeply influenced by place and now living within the burgeoning metropolis of London, Gillie blends the serenity of the Welsh countryside with the industrial undergrowth of city life, to create something hauntingly serene.


Pansy • S/T • 2021




The amorphous, stretching experience of change can be difficult to capture, to process, to understand. At times it may feel like a single moment, but change occurs in an endless string of experiences. Through Pansy, Vivian McCall shares nine impressions of a year marked by that transformation, tribulation, and ultimately empowerment. 

Apr 17, 2021

Lucinda Williams • “Save Yourself” • 2021



Save Yourself (By Lucinda Williams) off Sharon Van Etten’s “epic Ten” a double LP reissue of the 2010 album featuring the original album, as well as track-by-track covers of the songs by Big Red Machine, IDLES, Lucinda Williams, Shamir, Courtney Barnett, St Panther and Fiona Apple. epic Ten is out April 16th.

“I am in tears listening to Lucinda Williams’ interpretation of ‘Save Yourself,’ owning my words, watching her perform, giving it her heart,” Van Etten wrote on Instagram.

Apr 16, 2021

Gregg Kowalsky • Sunstruck in the Shadows • 2020


Kowalsky began composing and performing electro-acoustic music using cassette tape loops, sine oscillators.His work explores multi channel, site-specific performances with a focus on psychoacoustic phenomena. 




Adrianne Lenker • Full Performance (Live on KEXP at Home) • 2021



Songs:

anything
zombie girl
half return
forward beckon rebound

Nathaniel Rateliff • Tiny Desk (Home) Concert • 2021



Nathaniel Rateliff stands in an old familiar place, sharing his pain. The Mercury Café is one of the first places Nathaniel frequented when he moved to Denver in 1998, hearing jazz, dancing, and eventually playing many shows there. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he's assembled a dozen players including a string section, backing singers, and some of his oldest friends: Joseph Pope III on bass, Mark Shusterman on keys, Luke Mossman on guitar and Patrick Meese on drums. On the opening song and the title track to his 2020 album, And It's Still Alright, they're restrained as Nathaniel sings about loss, including his friend and producer Richard Swift, but he's holding on. "I'll be damned if this old man / Don't start to counting his losses / But it's still alright."
But restraint lets loose on the chorus of "Redemption," a song about breaking free of the past and written for Apple original film Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake. The ender, a tune called "Mavis," truly is a grand finale, a song that conjures up images of The Band singing Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" — and what a fabulous release it is.

SET LIST
 • "And It's Still Alright"
 • "All Or Nothing"
 • "Redemption"
 • "Mavis"

Apr 14, 2021

Munny • Wav Master • 2021


“Their take on fuzz pop is pretty glorious indeed” DIY
 
“The sarcastic snarling tune evokes Queens of the Stone Age and absolutely slaps” NME
 
“Fuzz-laden anthems…a deft pop explosion” Clash
 
“Feverish pop turns and frenetic guitar solos” Dork 


https://linktr.ee/exitkid

Will Graefe • Marine Life • 2021


“A tender and evocative road map...a beautiful record,” –  Tom Johnson, GoldFlakePaint

“Growing from the low rumble of a bubbling stream, to the layered intensity of a glacial roar and back again, North America‘s sonically mesmerizing identity leaves listeners tranquil and satisfied, yet wanting so much more.” – Mitch Mosk, Atwood Magazine



Apr 13, 2021

gorgeous bully • sick of everything • 2021

Triptides • Hand of Time • 2021




[4/5 stars] “It’s impossible to hear any songs on Triptides’ new album and not reference the sounds of classic acts the band audaciously cites as influences. Start with early Pink Floyd, move onto the psychedelic end of The Byrds, the eerie melodic vibe of The Zombies, a bit of krautrock Can, some Badfinger and T. Rex….the list continues but you get the idea. They write impressive songs, not unlike their more famous inspirations. And in some cases, even better.” - AMERICAN SONGWRITER
 
“L.A. band Triptides make jangly pop that recalls both the city's '60s psych-pop heyday but also the '80s Paisley Underground scene.” - BROOKLYN VEGAN
 
“With its jangly 12-string guitar, steady groove and airy harmonies, their song 'It Won’t Hurt You' definitely brings to mind '60s psych rock with a sunny California vibe. Incorporating fine guitar solos that veer from surf rock to more far out, acid-soaked sounds, the band gives us a time capsule of a tune that still feels fresh.” – GLIDE MAGAZINE
 
“… pure ‘60s southern California psychedelic joy.” - IF IT'S TOO LOUD

yellowbirddd • I Was Running Fast • 2021




I was running fast to tell you everything out loud 
I was running fast to find you in the crowd 
In the corner there, saw and locked your eyes 
And I kissed away the butterflies 

I was running fast to tell you everything out loud 
I was running fast, I was speeding down 
Through the lines 
Yea I called and you came right through 

Yea I was humming this song for you 
Yea I was loving only you 

I was running fast to tell you everything out loud 
I was running fast to find you in the crowd 
In the corner there, saw and locked your eyes 

Yea I was humming this song for you 
Yea I was running 
Yea I was humming 
Loving only you

Apr 9, 2021

Gem Club • Spirit & Decline • 2021


hushed among the bells 
the arrow struck your shoulder 
forced to the ground 
with the shredded pulp 
of red apples 

and you're near 
your hands are touching hands 
and you're near 
the violence swells with its song 
i am starting to lose focus 
the distance in decline 
while i'm watching your spirit 

rise 

watched for the point 
when you'd wake from it 
with the sun against your back


Kandle • "Misty Morning" • 2021



"Misty Morning" is about someone standing by me through the darkest times in my life and being shocked that they could love me through it.

ME REX • Heart of Garbage • 2021



“The anxiously wordy British guitar anthems you didn’t know you needed”
STEREOGUM

“An emotive yet still playful track, it's Myles' lyricism which shines brilliantly here, making for both a potent and cathartic listen all round"
DIY

Charlotte Spiral • Out Of Here • 2021




“Oh my, this is wonderful: dreamy, plangent, Lennon- and Elliott Smith-like in its deflated melancholia, and a tantalising introduction to the London duo.”
The Sunday Times
 
“A lucidly understated ode that encapsulates their dreamy aesthetic perfectly”
The Line of Best Fit

“A gorgeous jewel of a piece”
CLASH

TYGERMYLK • I Killed the Bees • 2021





On April 22nd, Sussex-based artist TYGERMYLK will launch a long-awaited music video for her recent single, I Killed the Bees. Released just in time for Earth Day, I Killed the Bees’ mysterious name is inspired by the climate crisis and sixth mass extinction - the news that billions of animal species have been lost over recent decades. The 90s inspired Nirvana-esque animated video is reflected with dizzying layers of vocals, spiralling above steady guitar and drums to create a heady, immersive feel. Its haunting refrain – “By killing the bees, we all killed the birds” makes it the perfect soundtrack to the recent wave of climate activism rising up across the world.

Apr 5, 2021

Said The Whale • Honey Lungs • 2021



You can find the joy in every agonizing moment of existence on this planet 
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh 
You can find the joy in every agonizing moment of existence on this planet 
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh 
You can find the joy in every agonizing moment of existence on this planet 
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh 
You can find the joy in every agonizing moment of existence

Black River Delta • "Burning and Burning" [Directors Cut] • 2021




The band's gritty blues-rock sound draws from classic blues legends like Robert Johnson, the raw style of R. L. Burnside and modern artists such as The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr. and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Apr 3, 2021