Their music is unusual, ambitious and mesmerising. Influenced by the culture of Mainland - and especially Eastern - Europe. Their emotionally-charged soundscapes combine ethereal vocals, ambient compositions, chants, acoustic instrumentation and field recordings, the effect of which is often haunting, beautiful and emotionally intense. Live, their identity is often shrouded behind screens, veils and enigmatic imagery.
You never hear me talk about one day getting out Why put a new address on the same old loneliness Everybody knows where that is We built that house of his And when he's not home Someone else you know always is If Heaven's really coming back I hope it has a heart attack When they see how dangerous it is for guys like that The night has always known when it's time to get going When it's really been so long that it starts showing
While many artists have postponed the release of their new music in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura Marling rushed to change the release date of her album from late summer to April. On this Tiny Desk (home) concert, we find her in her living room, with an intimate performance of songs from her just-released record Songs For Our Daughter. The album is an homage to a future generation of women and to Maya Angelou's Letter to My Daughter, a collection of essays addressed to a fictional daughter. The warm, home setting makes room for Laura Marling's extraordinary voice to shine.
Eef Barzelay has seen many of the highs and lows that a music career can provide. Clem Snide, the indie-rock band he founded in 1991, signed a major-label contract with Sire, recorded the theme song for a season of the NBC comedy Ed, performed on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and received praise from critics near and far. None of that, however, translated into real money, and the group was dropped by labels, abandoned by managers and torn by internal dissension. The nadir for Barzelay came when the Nashville resident had to file for bankruptcy in 2011. NASH
“Their songs to date are like exquisite, detail-rich pastoral pop miniatures, all lovestruck or lovelorn lyrics, perfect chord progressions, dovetailing harmonies and jingle-jangling guitars.”
The Sunday Times
“Delightfully melancholy”
Steve Lamacq, BBC6 Music
“Kidsmoke continue to make a name for themselves as purveyors of uplifting indie”
The Line of Best Fit
“If you class yourself as a die-hard fan of indie music, Welsh band Kidsmoke will make for a very exciting proposition”
Oh God is simply that which lies
Forever just beyond the limits
Of what we already seem to know
And I want to know you
Like an invitation
We have only questions
Bless these limitations
And I want to see you
In the tree tops swaying
But I'll always find you
In the wet grass saying
"God is simply that which lies
Forever just beyond the limits
Of what we already seem to know"
And oh what graceful patterns
That repeat then scatter
If my steps seem random
And my will abandoned
The machine elves whisper
"Let the matter settle
Worrying is praying
Praying to the devil" Clem Snide
WITH captures the final two performances of Sylvan Esso’s unique fall 2019 tour. The limited run of shows saw the band expand by magnitudes, bringing in loads of backing musicians with impressive pedigrees. Drummer Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver), bassist/synth player/keyboardist Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), synth player Dev Gupta (Mr. Twin Sister), and drummer Joe Westerlund (Mandolin Orange) were all part of the live band. What’s more, Sylvan Esso singer Amelia Meath’s bandmates from Mountain Man, Molly Sarlé and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, also joined in on vocals.
“While the basic formula of vulnerable intonations over a lush amalgam of electronic loops and live instrumentation has not changed, the mood of "Jewels Away" is markedly, if subtly, more assured than the songs from Super Pyramid's debut EP Devoid. The first release’s melancholy waltz, “There’s Nothing Wrong with You,” feels at pains to convince the listener of its title’s claim, expressing a seemingly unresolvable tension between intellectual and emotional knowledge. On the other hand, “Jewels Away” observes anxiety-induced inertia with perceptive grace through singer Ben Rowey and new member Chelsea Mei Lee’s repeated declaration that “nothing’s holding you back, but it’s easier than moving forward.”
Endless Forms is the solo project of Tulsa-based artist Justin Allen. In the wake of breaking off an engagement and dropping out of college, Allen began Endless Forms earnestly in 2014 as a therapeutic creative outlet. After a few close friends heard demos and insisted he play live by offering to be his backing band, Allen began taking Endless Forms on the road all while recording two albums under the name in 2014 and 2017.
Amidst lineup changes and fielding licensing offers (eventually securing an appearance on an upcoming episode of Netflix’s Elite), Allen decided to put Endless Forms on hiatus in 2017 to focus on other creative outlets.
The period between then and this May’s comeback LP More Than Candy was anything but a lull for Allen. Finding time to write a novel about the Los Angeles art scene while taking up weekly marathons and producing music, he decided it was time to start working on a third Endless Forms album in the wake of a friend shelving a record they’d been working on. Initially started as a set of ambient tracks, Candy became Endless Forms’ most fully-fledged foray into pop-minded songcraft while holding onto elements of its ambient origins.
My band just released our new EP. We made it over a couple of weeks in March while being in isolation, The title track is probably the song that is closest to being classified as slowcore. Really hope you wouldn't mind checking it out, we would really appreciate it. :)
VeniVersus is proud to announce "Love In The Time Of Covid", an evocative benefit compilation in which an all-star team of musicians join forces to raise funds for the World Health Organization (WHO). It features only previously unreleased recordings by some of the most relevant acts from the slowcore, dreampop and drone-rock scenes.
All proceeds will go to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund (covid19responsefund.org), supporting WHO’s work to track and understand the spread of the virus, to ensure patients get the care they need and frontline workers get essential supplies and information, and to accelerate research and development of a vaccine and treatments for all who need them.
Willie Nelson wants to celebrate 4/20 with you. The country legend has announced a new livestream called “Luck Productions: Come and Toke” It to celebrate this year’s marijuana-filled Monday on April 20th.
“Come and Toke It” is a variety show that will feature Nelson smoking it up with artists, chefs, comedians, and cannabis experts for 4 hours and 20 minutes exactly. According to a press release, it will also include performances by surprise musical guests, helpful cooking tips, fun cocktail demos, and “weed-centric moments.” You can stream the event live over at the Luck Reunion website at 4:20 p.m. CT. CoS
Of the track Burgess says: “Laurie is a love letter to the future from the past. An uplifting view of the world, written about a time when it’s hard to find positivity, but when you need optimism more than anything else.” The colourful part-animated video, directed by Callum Scott-Dyson and with filmed content by Nik Colk Void
Built To Spill have shared their version of the Daniel Johnston classic "Mountain Top" from the upcoming album Built To Spill Plays The Songs of Daniel Johnston, out June 12, 2020 via Ernest Jenning Record Co. The album is comprised of 11 tracks of Daniel Johnston's fractured pop, presented through the eyes of Built To Spill. The "Mountain Top" video debuted via a feature in Billboard today. It’s the first video from the album and was directed by Zach Gayne (Homewrecker, States) and animated by Tomoko Uryu
On July 27, 2019 Jason Lytle came to Dallas to be a part of Good Records grand opening of their new location. The event took place a few weeks before the release of Arthur King Presents Jason Lytle: NYLONANDJUNO, an experimental album and Lytle’s first new solo LP release in more than 7 years.
The store borrowed a piano from the recording studio next door and captured a night to remember with a one-man director/editor/cameraman powerhouse named Steven Gaddis (Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper/Cacophony! Cinematic Aural Revue Film Festival). Chris Penn, the store’s co-owner began brainstorming potential fundraising opportunities to help keep the store afloat while its brick and mortar operations have ceased due to COVID-19. He remembered that the footage had been shot but not edited of Jason Lytle’s performance. He got Steven to put it together so he could pitch to Jason Lytle who graciously agreed to its release as a way to help out the store.
The show is an amazing 14 song career-spanning retrospective of Grandaddy and Jason Lytle solo material that clocks in at one hour ten minutes. The film will be making its debut this Saturday (and be available whilst Good Records is temporarily closed) via Vimeo On Demand. There are two options for donating: a 3-day rental or a buy/download option which you can access here.
Jotsey, 22, is a singer/songwriter from a town called Bolton in Manchester UK. His debut single 'Colours' independently amassed 50k+ plays across all platforms and was playlisted/blogged by 15+ major tastemakers like 'The Good Melodies', 'Mr. Foxx', 'Ryan Cassata', 'thedrunkencoconut', 'the feels', 'CHILLFILTR', 'RKJ Music', 'Indie Music Centre' and many more!
Second single 'Sober' was out 31st January. And 'Heroine' is out now (April 17th) and is set to be pushed by the likes of Kings Of A&R (top 10 music blog in the world) amongst others.
Jotsey's first ever headline show, at The Eagle Inn - Manchester on 28th November is being promoted by massive music promoters 'DHP Family'...who even at this early stage are very invested in the potential success of Jotsey. With Bon Iver feel & Billie Eilish sensibility, Jotsey is set to make waves in the UK and beyond. Don't miss the ride!
Swedish mastermind Johan Angergård has released six albums and numerous singles under his The Legends moniker since the 00's. He's now working on his 7th album due later this year.
It happens to most of us at an early age: the realization that life will not follow a straight line on the path towards fulfillment. Instead, life spirals. The game is rigged, power corrupts, and society is, in a word, bullshit. Art can expose the lies. The early music of Fiona Apple was so much about grand betrayals by inadequate men and the patriarchal world. Did it teach you to hate yourself? Did it teach you to bury your pain, to let it calcify, to build a gate around your heart that quiets the reaches of your one and only voice? Fetch the bolt cutters.
Fiona Apple’s fifth record is unbound. No music has ever sounded quite like it. Apple recorded Fetch the Bolt Cutters both in and with her Venice Beach home, banging on its walls, stomping on its ground. Self-reliance is its rule, curiosity is its key. Fetch the Bolt Cutters seems to almost completely turn the volume down on music history, while it cranks up raw, real life—handclaps, chants, and other makeshift percussion, in harmony with space, echoes, whispers, screams, breathing, jokes, so-called mistakes, and dog barks. (At least five dogs are credited: Mercy, Maddie, Leo, Little, and Alfie.) All of this debris orbits around the core of Apple’s music: her voice, her piano, and most of all her words, which have always been her primary instrument. It creates a wild symphony of the everyday. pitchfork
At least once a year, I head west out of Kansas City, past the Flint Hills, through the mountains, into the desert, all the way to LA and back. I visit friends, see shows, hike a little. But mostly I sing to myself while I drive, gathering melodies on my phone. I feel creatively alive but a little untethered during these trips. Quarantining alone is unearthing similar emotions. Made with footage from my road wanderings, the lyric video for “Wanted (The Dirty Windshield Version)” is a meditation on those liminal, outside-of-time interludes.
Stafford’s new output is a welcome addition to our listening palette and recommended to fans of blues and raw honest independent music alike – this is gutsy and relevant with a high level of production thanks to legendary sound engineer Ding Archer" – The Spill Magazine
"Rural blues staggard swagger... An almost quirky blend of gritty guitar and raspy horns underlying slightly gritty vocal stylings... a dark stompy serenade for the disenchanted" – Jammerzine
Believe that from the darkness something will emerge
We are forever on the verge of a subpar truth
We are a needle in the haystack
We swallow swords and we fight wild fires
There's always a snake inside the garden
Don't bring no ladder when you die
But I thought you asked the voice inside my head
It won't still be there once I was dead
Just as clouds don't leave a mark upon the sky
Yes it's not for us to know what holds a light behind our eyes
Yes it's not for us to know what holds a light behind our eyes...
For Forever Just Beyond, which came out March 27, Avett took Barzelay to his farm in North Carolina, converting his painting space -- used for the "Don't Bring No Ladder" video -- as the studio. Subsequent sessions in Nashville added appearances by Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor and Avett Brothers' cellist Joe Kwon.
"It was illuminating for me to see through [Avett's] eyes," Barzelay explains. "I'd just been looking at myself for so long, and it's really hard to do this alone. If you have a partner, someone who can come in where you need a little something and just see it with fresh eyes, it helps. He was so enthusiastic and so encouraging. That's exactly what I needed because my belief in it had waned." BillB
On the raw video Kevin Morby and Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) sent to us, Kevin takes a deep breath, gives a sweet smile as he looks into his camera, clasps his hands, and says, "Hello everyone, we're going stir crazy — this is take number 55." The performance, though, feels fresh and relaxed. Recorded at Kevin's tiny desk in Kansas City, they play two songs from Waxahatchee's new album Saint Cloud, sing together on Kevin's 2016 tune "Beautiful Strangers," and find new meaning in the late Jason Molina's song "Farewell Transmission." NPR
