Painted Palms - Horizons - 2015

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paintedpalms.net

Painted Palms' second full-length album, Horizons, exudes a sense of confidence and purpose that is only present when two creators share a singular focus and absolute trust in each other’s talents. 

On Horizons, emotional states are suspended between light and dark, driven by the tension of efficient song structures. From the first ominous harmonies of lead single “Refractor,” it’s clear that Painted Palms’ panoramic pop sound has never been more fully realized...

Horizons is a meditation on achieving balance in a place where things are always changing, and there are no real ends. As a result, Painted Palms refines and executes their best work to date.

Human Music - How's It Goin'? - 2014

The cover says it all!

Man meets Bear - Huronian Cadence - 2015

Man meets Bear has been a lake scientist from Ontario and the name of a totem pole in British Columbia which depicts a man climbing up a tree, facing a bear climbing down the tree. Today she includes a solar engineer and an Experimental Housewife.

The photo of collaborating artist Experimental Housewife standing in Lake Huron is reminiscent to Man Meets Bear’s cover art. Songwriter Soren Brothers wears his art on his sleeve, bridging his composition with his dedicated hours to limnology with visual transparency.

Huronian Cadence is an ethereal voice resting on nylon string. Soft textures of Latin and classical folk invoke images of a crash test dummy awaiting the ravage of a jersey barrier of heavy modulation. “Go Wild” is particular with cartoonish wails, becoming scratchier and alluring with high gain vocals. Other tracks feature a gated and compressed percussion, adding a closed dimension to the roofless, ambient siren call of Soren Brothers from across the lake. WC

Dorothea Paas - Calm Your Body Down - 2015

Crunchy turtle Sunday mornings. Cold coffee sips and house plants swaying green in cool Spring window breeze. Swollen unsure memories pore over the night before. A small kiss, a rip in your favourite old t-shirt, accidentally smashed highball glass. Regretful rolling into wistful, the soft ache in the skull pulsing out questions. Denim and plaid clad reaper sits in a chair close by, whispering dead-leaf nostalgic elegies. Stained and heavy curtains billow while dust motes drift on yellow beams. WC

Sleepy - Asleep at the Switch - 2015

Under the moniker Sleepy, Newfoundland’s Dan Greene has created a beautiful composite of East Coast sounds for his project entitled Asleep at the Switch. The undeniable influences of power pop ingenues effortlessly combine with the fuzz of 90s garage rock crusaders, but Greene makes the sound all his own by contributing well-crafted lyrics and haunting melodies. WC

Durdle This is a catchy album with some great lyrics and melodies. The guitar and bass riffs are unique and cool. For example the guitar layering at the end of "left brain" sounds awesome. Great album, I encourage the purchase or at least a listen. And not just one listen, my favourite song changes every time.

Ryan Hamilton - Karaoke with no Crowd - 2015

I'd love to review this album!!! I hate waiting…

pledge

Indie-pop from former Smile Smile vocalist and band member of People On Vacation, Ryan Hamilton. His début solo album, entitled ‘Hell Of A Day’, will be released via Pledge Music on 30th April, with a full release to follow later in the year. ttwm

YOWLER - The Offer - 2015

Casey Bell vv soft and dreamy lullabies that pack the punch with out of this world lyrics. enough of me bantering pls listen! 

Tyana Ruiz Eerily amazing music. Definitely glad I found this album. The lyrics are deep. 

counterfiiit maryn is an angel straight from the throne of the fucking heavens

kris keogh Even better than All Dogs, if that's even possible! 

Kahlil it won't let me put 8 fire emojis but just know that's what in my heart right now

Dan Latner - No Fun Intended - 2015

Dan Latner is a singer, songwriter, and fiddle player from Toronto, Canada. 

“No Fun Intended”, Dan’s first solo album, will be coming to an internet near you in early 2015.

For now, you can enjoy "Better than Nothing", a mix EP of Dan's songs that were recorded with "The Unseen Strangers" 

Owen / Into It. Over It. - Split Ep - 2015

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Owen and Into It. Over It. are the respective solo projects of prominent Chicago-based songwriters Mike Kinsella and Evan Weiss — two musicians who are equally at ease performing on their own as they are sharing the stage in bands such as Cap’n Jazz, American Football and Owls (for Kinsella), and The Progress, Stay Ahead of the Weather, and Pet Symmetry (for Weiss). 

Having already joined forces to form the trio Their / They’re / There with guitarist Matthew Frank in 2013, for their latest collaboration Kinsella and Weiss each recorded a brand new track in addition to a cover of a favorite song from the other artist’s extensive catalog. 

The Owen original “Poison Arrows” highlights Kinsella’s caustic wit (“Did you wear that dress for me / Or is someone else writing you songs?”) over crystal clear accompaniment from an acoustic guitar, piano, and drums. For his cover of “Anchor,” Kinsella transforms the tranquil acoustic standout from Into It. Over It.’s album 52 Weeks into a full-on electric rocker replete with punk speed drums and shouted vocals during the chorus. 

As Into It. Over It., Weiss contributes “Local Language,” an uptempo tune with a vaguely alt-country stomp, as well as “Poor Souls,” which re-imagines the beautifully ornamented version found on Owen’s 2002 full-length No Good For No One Now as a bleary-eyed slow burner tinged with keyboards and melancholy.

Sacha McKenna - Poor Boy - 2015

Sacha sits in his bedroom trying to write Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake songs...

"Poor Boy" Is a lose concept record detailing the story of Poor Boy and Caroline. 

Caroline is Poor Boy's Muse. Caroline ends her life and Poor Boy is left without the will to create. He finds himself further disconnected from the world around him and at every turn is haunted by the facts of Caroline's life. He has built himself a psychological prison and Caroline Is both the lock and the key.

Island Eyes - Island Eyes - 2015

Lots of electronic experimental instrumentation collide with a deep/dark vocal delivery! Borderline scary, but not quite Joy Division yet...

Quite Good.

Zuzu's Petals - Past Lives - 2014

Rock and roll awakened in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. Sometimes in Montreal. Four boys singing their little hearts out. Riding those good winds home.

Don Lovely - Three Songs for Hunky Bunker - 2015

Great release from our neighbours to the east. 

What I always wished Bruce Springsteen sounded like - raw, emotional caked in garage rock!

Sophia Street - Songboats for Sad People - 2013

Very beautiful music out of Alaska. 

Unique vocals with simple accompaniment; worth a couple of listens.

bosque brown - Us - 2015

"Us" is a record as my sister says "is sensitive not sad." Bosque Brown is me and whoever is in my life at the time. Once it was me and four others.. Once it was me and my husband... Once it was just me. Now it's just my sister and I. "Us" is about relationship. The relationship I have with myself and with others. It was written over the course of several years where I was working very hard alone in my home. A time of mental and physical health issues ending in total healing and renewal after having my first child who is now 10 months old.

Stars Are Insane - Pop Industry - 2014

The eight full length album which some may be a departure of sorts however, for me "Pop Industry" is a tribute to the lo fi indie pop/rock that I grew up with in the 90s such as Further, Guided By Voices, Eric's Trip, Sebadoh, etc. as it focuses on meshing together immediate pop sounds with field recordings. 

Employed to document these sounds were an array of hand held recorders, boomboxes, 4 track, laptop, cell phone, etc. 

Furnsss - New Moves - 2015

Fans of Pavement will really get into this diy slacker stuff! I sure am…

Osheaga 2015 lineup

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Casiotone for the Painfully Alone • On the Radio • 2015

While I was looking around for my copy of Stereolab's Mars Audiac Quintet, I came across an unlabeled CD-r that had begun to oxidize with age. On it, I found this somewhat damaged live radio session that I probably recorded in 2001. I don't have any specific memories of the session, but it was most likely recorded at UC Berkeley's college station, KALX (any reference to the specific station is suspiciously absent, but at the time, I lived just a few miles down the road). The DJ or engineer must have burnt the CD directly from the board & handed it to me that day. I'm pretty sure I never listened to it until now, fourteen years later. 

To be honest, I found this thing pretty hard to listen to. Sure, the damaged CD-r causes some annoying skipping & the performances are especially raw & uncomfortable, but it's my between-song commentary & tentative singing voice that truly caused me to cringe. I'm sure I was pretty nervous about being on the radio, but I was pretty much always nervous in those days. The memories of my awkward, fidgety & depressed early 20's have come rushing back to me, leaving me feeling awkward, fidgety & depressed all over again. 

Most of my live recordings from this era of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone existed on cassette tapes that I lost in an apartment fire a few years back. As much as it pains me to listen back to this recording, I'm grateful it exists. Here is Casiotone for the Painfully Alone as a noise band: an unhappy dude afraid of his own voice & his own songs, blasting shrill, battery-powered keyboards, hand-held tape recorders, contact mics & preset beats through blown out practice amps turned all the way up. Listen at your own risk. 

Owen Ashworth

The Tailor - A Future Passed - 2015

Nice release out of Vancouver, layered with electro-pop tendencies that play well with the washed-out vocals…