This being ifitbeyourwill's 10th Anniversary of blogging, I have started going through the posts and creating playlists in Spotify for all the tunes that are regularly submitted.
This first compilation is for all the wonderful Canadian music I get daily…
Romantic and honest, gloomy and curious, melodic and melancholic, Plastic Barricades chronicle life in the troubled yet fascinating XXI century, asking questions and trying to find answers. Inspired and influenced by almighty Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Coldplay, Muse, Death Cab for Cutie, Placebo, Snow Patrol, The Shins, Nirvana and many others, the band loves to experiment with styles, sound and approach.
London alt indie duo Plastic Barricades is releasing “Optimist”, the second single from the upcoming LP “Self-Theories”. The song is accompanied by a truly DIY music video, featuring 8 houses, 8 cars, plenty of glassware, some benches and trees, a crowd of exactly 300 cast members and around 20 buckets of water.
GoldFlakePaint says: "A sumptuous lament, new song “Big Universe” is indicative of said album’s gentle power, the aching lilt of the instrumentation an absorbing backdrop for those golden vocals to linger upon."
Here's a quote from Jennah:
There was a period in my life where I read my horoscope not matter how goofy the source was. I was circling the drain a bit and was desperate for someone to tell me what to do. The horoscope writer for US weekly did not help me with this. Big Universe is about that.
And despite the confusion I was feeling in the song (Big Universe) I worked with 3 really great women on the music video and had a very life-affirming experience (something that doesn’t necessarily happen very often in the biz). We went overboard with a haze machine and created a storyline for a woman who plays big for no one.
The Performer LP stands in stark contrast to the electro-hedonism of Righton’s work with Klaxons. Instead, it spins through various points from 1970 onwards. It touches on the suave art-lounge of Roxy Music, the jangly grooves of R.E.M., the sumptuous psychedelia of latter-day Beach Boys, and the songwriting gift of Nick Lowe. In short, it uses classic elements as the groundwork for something which feels a natural fit for 2019.
I´m the lead singer and guitarist of the Danish alternative rock band Vinyl Floor. ’Daylight Saving Hours’ is my second solo effort. The album was made at an apartment in Nørrebro, Copenhagen and was recorded and mixed by my brother Daniel Pedersen who is also the drummer of Vinyl Floor. ‘Daylight Saving Hours’ continues the acoustic and minimalistic stylings as heard on my first album ‘Second Hand War’ (2016) albeit a tad more arranged this time. We’ve utilized strings, vocal harmonies, alternate guitar tunings and we´ve experimented with noise and reversed sounds during the recording. The project started out as demo recordings but I´ve decided to release these songs because I want to present them as raw as possible and because I want to preserve the feel of how they were written.
"It achieves that rare feat of defying any one sound or time...their most sensational release to date" - The 405
"...this duo mixes up a sweet pot of musical fusion...It almost feels like Chromeo and MGMT had a lovechild in the form of decade-defying dance ditty." - EARMILK
Obsessed with 70s fashion, 80s synths, and 90s culture - argonaut&wasp are a quirky amalgamation of indie vibes, alternative edge, electro dance and funk grooves whose music has been described as the perfect soundtrack to NYC. Headed by Theo and Trey, the band has built an impressive live following. They play live as a four piece, combining raw energy with electronic soundscapes and kaleidoscopic projections in their performances.
For new single What Did My Arms Eckhardt And The House found inspiration in a quote by American poet and novelist Silvia Plath:
"What did my arms do before they held you", featured in the New York Times under a photo about the 2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse.
The photo showed 2 victims that were found from from under the rubble - a girl and a boy that were colleagues. The boy had his arms around her - and that was how death had come over them. A moving picture but romantic in a way, particularly with that quote. The song is not about that photo or the poor working conditions in the factories of Bangladesh, but it was one source of inspiration.
What Did My Arms is another great example of the distinctive Eckhardt sound: nu-disco where Metronomy meets Prince - with hints of Tame Impala in the bass.
Ana Roxanne is an intersex Southeast Asian artist based in Los Angeles. Born & raised in the Bay Area to immigrant parents, Ana's love for singing began through her mother's CD collection of 80's/90's R&B divas. Raised in the Catholic church, she became a devoted choral singer, which led her to a brief stint at a small jazz & classical program in the cornfields of the midwest. During these years she became enamored with the sacredness of choral music and the enveloping sound of harmony. A near death experience, too, served as a connection between music & spirituality, and music as a healing art after facing tragedy.
Golden Teardrops are the husband/wife duo of Ryan and Lei Marquez. Inspired by Brian Wilson’s best work with The Beach Boys, they recorded a demo called “A Summer Escape” in 2005.
With a discernible homage to their 60s pop heroes, along with their indie pop roots, they finished their first album, “Promises & Smiles” on Emma's House Records.
"If one were to qualify the work of Elephant Stone, the first adjective would undoubtedly be "experimental". The Montreal band is already on its fourth album, with the release of Ship of Fools. Yet the audacity and talent of these three Canadian boys continues to amaze us." ★★★★
- Rolling Stone France
Debuting a decade ago, the Polaris Music Prize-nominated psych-pop creation of Rishi Dhir (vox, bass, sitar) and long-time collaborators Miles Dupire (drums) have released five critically-acclaimed albums and toured extensively throughout North America and Europe. As a highly-regarded sitar player, Dhir has also collaborated with indie-rock icons (Beck) and legendary cult bands (The Brian Jonestown Massacre).
Originally released in October 2009, 'I Got the Pox, the Pox is What I Got' is the debut EP from cult musician and misanthrope Benjamin Shaw. Billed as "six and a half songs of nausea, noise and hilarious anecdote" and accompanied by a pair of grisly music videos, Shaw's polarising sound was introduced to independent music audiences around the world through BBC airplay, reviews kind and cruel and a slew of live shows which saw the introverted Shaw slip between transcendent and petrified.
“Big Fox has heart, depth, and more recently a newly developed perspective”
EARMILK
“A significant musical and personal return, Big Fox’s “All I’m Trying” is a breathtakingly confessional, raw folk song of love full of connection, depth, and emotional surrender”
An infectious singer and aspiring songwriter, Rorie, who masterfully mixes synth-pop energy and singer-songwriter authenticity is returning tomorrow with the official music video for her latest release titled “Train”. After successfully fundraising and releasing two EPs, which were both featured in iTunes’ Top 10 Singer-Songwriter charts, Rorie’s proud to release the lead single from her debut full-length album, ‘Valley in the Mirror’, which is set to release on January 2020. With honest songs written everywhere from her living room to the emergency room, the album is the most holistic picture of Rorie’s artistry to date.
“It’s all an elaborate hoax.” The reported final words of film critic Roger Ebert frame a haunting new song by Clem Snide, the artistic alias of songwriter Eef Barzelay. The track is the first release off an upcoming album by Clem Snide, Forever Just Beyond, produced by the Avett Brothers’ Scott Avett.
Clem Snide Tour Dates:
Feb 7 - Salt Lake City, UT - Solo house show
Feb 12 - San Francisco, CA - Solo house show
Feb 15 - Seattle, WA - Solo house show
Feb 28 - Fairfield, CT - Solo house show
Mar 1 - Elizaville, NY - Solo house show
Mar 26 - Atlanta, GA – Eddie’s Attic
Mar 28 - Wake Forest, NC - Wake Forest Listening Room
“Building a name for herself with her colourful brand of indie pop…she continues on her upward trajectory in explosively exciting fashion” The Line Of Best Fit
"If irresistible slacker pop is your bag, Lauran Hibberd is your gal" Dork
“Fizzy indie rock bangers” Music Week
"Each song from the rising talent feels immaculately well packaged…cool-as-heck indie rock" Clash
"If you’re a fan of excellent indie then keep your eyes on Lauran Hibberd. We’re certain she won’t disappoint you" Gigwise
This sofa is all we have is a relaxing but engaging soundscape, improvised live, layer by layer. Gradual modulations in effects see the piece undulate over a meditative 18 minutes. These are sounds for fans of ambient drone stalwarts Stars of the Lid, experimental leftfieldists Boards of Canada and anybody looking to add sounds to the passing moments of the day.
David Dondero is releasing "The Filter Bubble Blues". It’s a biting, wary, heartbroken and hilarious sendup of the dumpster fire that is modern American political theatre and identity politics. Songs of a place hellbent on robbing itself of the last vestiges of what once made it great--or could’ve made it great if there had ever been any truth in it. And rest assured, he’d been looking for the truth in it and in us.
"The whole EP is my study on how I evaluated time in the past and the new idea of living 'for the moment' that resulted. It was the summer of 2018, and as I had localized the mad freedom to live & experience, I in turn took a look through my past writing and inspired a creation to abolish all old insecurities. 'Someday Soon' is meant to cut to the chase — as if saying 'forget where you've been, you are done with it. It is time to be boldly you — the very person that songwriting has helped you discover!"
Valeree is very candid about her history of addiction, opening up about her troubled past and using music as a cathartic release. She takes cues from classic R&B legends like Etta James and Otis Redding as a way to cope with her blues.
"All Your Love", the single combines ethereal instrumentation, country tinged guitars and stunning vocal harmonies for a cross-genre exploration of sound.
Whether it is quieter, willowy numbers such as “Circles,” the Sound of Philadelphia-style creaminess of “Hand Me Downs,” the carnival psychedelia of “Hands” or the robo-R&B of “Complicated” and “Blue World,” what differentiates this new album from its immediate predecessor is Miller’s choice (or that of his family in tandem with Brion) to keep the proceedings uncluttered. variety
Night Water is the music of Travis Bird of New Orleans, an omnivorous guitarist and writer of songs exploring meaning, identity, and musical energy and movement. Night Water evokes the solitude and mystery present in its familiar words: inviting, foreboding, filled with the possibility of shimmering insight in the dark. Influenced by touchstones of rock, folk, vintage pop, and tropicalia, Night Water also takes inspiration (and its name) from underground Soviet minimalist poetry. Bird’s longtime work as a projectionist and experimental film curator inspire his perspectives on texture and tonal color, as Night Water explores the hidden worlds present in concise, self-driven art.
How do you keep the light alive
how do you keep the flame burning so bright?
Spirit come to me I am done,
Come take me away to the one
Hollow world, Hollow grace,
We will try to refill it, with emptiness within it
Hollow world, we can’t stay
You must learn to reject us
The tide is now upon us
The sun is gone and now the game is all over
As the cracks began to appear
I could not bring myself to face all my fears
I saw that your house was on fire
Oh, Goodbye, my hollow world
Grouplove is back, jumping into 2020 with their urgent and vibrant new song, “Deleter.”
The track is the first from the band since 2016’s Big Mess, and it all unfolds inside a living art project for the song's video. Splashes of color swirl around the kinetic group as they speed through the questioning storm.
“Deleter” is the first taste of Grouplove’s upcoming album, expected later this year.
“After making records with so many bands, NO WIN was my very stubborn approach to wanting so badly to make my own music again and get back out on the road,” Noguieras says. “When I started it, I was like ‘I know how I want to do this, I know that I don’t want to make my first record until it can be done what I consider the right way.’ It’s me being stubborn and hardworking and just waiting for this opportunity.”
“Should’ve become a household name a long time ago” – USA Today
“A prime example of Fredrick’s knack for clever and extremely catchy songs” – Popmatters
“Like the holy union of Guided By Voices, The Wedding Present and any number of New Zealand pop heroes... truly indie: immediate, honest and just-enough lovingly rough” – Buzzbands L.A.
“One of music’s most perfect and unheralded rock outfits” – Magnet Magazine
“On record, the black watch rarely dips in quality, but the most amazing thing is that it keeps topping itself” – Blurt Magazine
“Salutes the great DIY pop canon and trophy hallways of heroes with an illustrious array of pepped up jangle pop” – Impose Magazine
“The post punk dissonance of The Fall and Wire, with the melodic guitar ambitions of The Chameleons, early Editors, and Richard Hawley’s 2012 opus ‘Standing at the Sky’s Edge” – Popdose
"Candid and catchy.. between Wall of Voodoo’s Stan Ridgway, The Fall and more folk-pop territory with The Doors also a likely deeper influence" – Big Takeover Magazine
"Brilliant offering, loaded with optimism and wit. This lush and highly memorable music calls to mind other local bands like The Railway Children and Echo & The Bunnymen... gives every indication of a band that is going places" – Louder Than War
“… pure vintage blues gold. GA-20 are poised to be the biggest thing to hit the blues scene in a generation.” - Marc Michael, THE PULSE
[Album Of The Week] “The most noticeable thing about Lonely Soul is the vintage tones. Press play and visions of smoking indoors with some whiskey on the rocks come to mind. It’s the kind of music that travels through time while taking from the era where it was born and turning it into something fresh. Make sure to get your hands on this debut.” - Rob Duguay, MEDIUM
It's music the world needs right now - the concept threaded throughout the album is about how we're connected, no matter where we're from or who we are. By extension and like the record as a whole, the opener and consummate Nada Surf single "So Much Love" swiftly seeps in as an uplifting anthem of sorts, overflowing with all the the things that make the band great - it's positive, and full of kindness and hopefulness.
“He is amazing. He was born to be a rock star and has the songs to back it up” – Black Francis (Pixies)
“Baby, you’re a real motherfucker. And I mean that in the best sense of the word” – Neil Diamond
“Jonny Polonsky is a true original. His music should be celebrated everywhere” – Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, QOTSA)
“He came to CBGB's Gallery and ripped it up...He killed 'em...The charm of it is that he's brought it into his own thing... He does it with soul; you can tell the difference between someone who just slips into The Beatles or something and someone like him” – Jeff Buckley
“Jonny has pure Artist compassion running through his veins” – Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer)
Paste Studios hosts dozens of established and up-and-coming acts for live-streamed performances at the Manhattan Center in NYC and our headquarters in downtown Atlanta. We're picking some of our favorites each month to bring back something near and dear to our hearts—The Paste Sampler.
Oli Rose, the creator of Blessed Is Ruby, has spent the last decade being surrounded by both new and veterinary musical talent. After graduating from Westminster University, he was discovered, picked up and mentored by the legendary producer Cameron Mcvey (Massive Attack, Portishead, Neneh Cherry), then subsequently being taken under the wing of prolific A&R man Felix Howard (Amy Winehouse, Sia), Oli has worked with an extensive range of artists in many different capacities, from artist development, writing and production, live show bookings, and social media consultancy.
