I've been a music fan since my parents gave me a record player for Christmas when I was still in grade school. The first record I remember owning was "Sesame Street Disco." I've been a professional writer since 2004, but writing long before that. My first published work was in a middle school literary magazine and was a story about a zoo in which the animals could talk.
Monomotion, the project of French electronic musician Erol Engintalay, is pleased to share a new single, “Mango” (with FEYNMAN) from his forthcoming EP, Fujisan, due July 26th via FAKE MUSIC. Following the gentle, evocative beats of lead single, “Ecocline Patterns,” “Mango” lusciously unfolds into tick-tock techno. It’s “the result of one of those magic moments we share in the studio with Yoann,” says Engintalay. “I’m really thankful that these are still happening after ten years of collaboration.”
Written and recorded over a year and a half, the seven-track Fujisan EP is a reflection on the positive aspects of life—a sense of breaking through and moving forward that imbues the project as a whole. Inspired by a warm Japanese spring, Engintalay describes Fujisan as “a life test after every challenge I’ve gone through, physically and musically. It’s very spiritual, representing climbing mountains and breaking through walls to get further in life.” Yoann Feyman, in addition to appearing on “Mango,” contributed to sound and the art direction of the EP.
Bleached – the Los Angeles-based duo of sisters Jessie and Jennifer Clavin – share their fourth and final pre-release single, “Rebound City,” from their forthcoming album, Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?, due July 12th via Dead Oceans. Bleached have championed their new direction through a trio of exhilarating singles; “Kiss You Goodbye,” “Hard To Kill”, and “Shitty Ballet.” “Rebound City” is a guitar-driven, power-pop song that paints the landscape of a disintegrating 1980’s Sunset Strip era. Throughout, Jennifer references various mishaps – waking up with a friend’s ex, an obsession with a stranger, and the remorse that comes with breaking someone’s heart. “This song is a brief history of the mistakes I’ve made…except there really are no mistakes, they’re all lessons in the end.” Just like the crumbled rock ‘n’ roll glam era that “Rebound City” draws upon sonically, rebound relationships are born from nostalgia of better times, and sparkle with false intrigue and decorum. “It’s a one way Boulevard,” Jennifer sings, and she’s not wrong.
Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? is Jessie and Jennifer Clavin’s first LP written from a place of sobriety. That clear-eyed perspective serves as the guiding force in every corner of its sound, yielding a courageous, honest, and sonically ambitious album.
Bleached returned to their dynamic as sisters – Jessie handled the bulk of the instrumentation and Jennifer handled the lyrics and melodies. Producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) helped open every door to experimentation, wanting to be exploratory while keeping the sound singularly Bleached. The album glimmers with inspiration found in touring with the likes of The Damned and Paramore whose arena-ready, incisively catchy pop was a palpable influence helping to push Bleached’s sound in a new realm.
Following a hometown record release show in Los Angeles, Bleached will kick off their North American tour in September. All dates are below.
Listen to “Rebound City” – https://youtu.be/inxS8IrzHak
Watch: “Kiss You Goodbye” – https://youtu.be/InvEKijp7WM “
“Hard To Kill” Video – https://youtu.be/bQYgcc02m5c
“Shitty Ballet” Video – https://youtu.be/v8pGMcSylH4
Pre-orderDon’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? – bleached.ffm.to/dontyouthink
Bleached Tour Dates: Thu. July 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge Thu. Aug. 22 – London, UK @ The Lexington Sat. Aug. 24 – Reading, UK @ Reading Festival Sun. Aug. 25 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival Thu. Sept. 5 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah Fri. Sept. 6 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House Sat. Sept. 7 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar Mon. Sept. 9 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda Tue. Sept. 10 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Wed. Sept. 11 – Houston, TX @ Satellite Bar Fri. Sept. 13 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa Sat. Sept. 14 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell) Sun. Sept. 15 – Raleigh, NC @ Motorco Tue. Sept. 17 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall Thu. Sept. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Fri. Sept. 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA Sat. Sept. 21 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall Mon. Sept. 23 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Tue. Sept. 24 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement Wed. Sept. 25 – Nashville, TN @ Exit In Fri. Sept. 27 – Urbana, IL @ Pygmalion Festival Sat. Sept. 28 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Sun. Sept. 29 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall Mon. Sept. 30 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird Tue. Oct. 1 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room (Outdoors)* Thu. Oct. 3 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall* Fri. Oct. 4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room* Sat. Oct. 5 – Boise, ID @ The Olympic* Mon. Oct. 7 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile* Tue. Oct. 8 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret* Wed. Oct. 9 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater Fri. Oct. 11 – Oakland, CA @ New Parish* Sat. Oct. 12 – Los Angeles, Ca @ The Lodge Room* *= w/ Dude York
Keep your mind open.
[Rebound over to the subscription box before you bounce.]
Blanck Mass – the solo electronic project of Scotland-based musician Benjamin John Power – shares “No Dice” from his new album, Animated Violence Mild, out August 16th on Sacred Bones, and announces a fall North American tour.
Following the “forceful beat + vocal sample combination” [Tiny Mix Tapes] of lead single “House vs. House,” “No Dice” is led by crashing percussion and punctuated by warped vocals. “‘No Dice’ is about denial. It’s the voice in the back of your head stopping you from moving forward, the separation between your head and your heart,” says Power. Animated Violence Mild is Power’s fourth full-length as Blanck Mass, and his most emotionally direct statement yet. The album was written throughout 2018, at Power’s studio outside of Edinburgh. These eight tracks are the diary of a year of work steeped in honing craft, self-discovery, and grief – the latter of which reared its head at the final hurdle of producing this record and created a whole separate narrative: grief, both for what Power has lost personally, but also in a global sense, for what we as a species have lost and handed over to our blood-sucking counterpart, consumerism, only to be ravaged by it.
Stream “No Dice” – https://youtu.be/Lsnb6GBrQP8
Stream “House vs. House” – https://youtu.be/7DJ12asti2k
“I’ve always been fascinated with how a sound can make you feel without being something you can touch,” Oslo-based DJ and producer Andre Bratten writes in the press release I received for his newest album – Pax Americana. Recorded in a studio he built in his garden after stepping away from late night DJ sessions at clubs around the world, the new record is indeed an evocative piece that changes your perspective and makes you move.
Lead single, “HS” (one of my favorites of the year so far), is a great example of this. It’s bubbly yet laced with a little darkness to keep you grounded as you let it sink into your feet to get them tapping. The title track, comparing the current state of the U.S. to the Roman Empire, has an underlying nervous tick that bumps against soothing synths. I’m not sure if Bratten is trying to tell us Americans that everything will be all right, despite what some may fear, or the reverse of that message. It works either way.
“426” continues the dark themes, with bass lines that slow to a creepy crawl while up-tempo electro high-hats move like a rattlesnake around you. The gothic “Commonwealth” is like an Art of Noise track if Art of Noise decided to make synthwave music for horror films that take place in the year 2999. “Ranx” goes further down the darkwave rabbit hole to the point where you’re not sure it’s fading out or lulling you into a trap. The closer, “Recreation 26B,” starts with a simple beat and then builds like a rising morning tide with bright synths. It’s the kind of track that tends to take you by surprise. You’re enjoying the opening riffs and then find yourself in another mental place by the end of it and wondering how you got there. It’s a worm hole in space and time.
Pax Americana is a soundscape more than a dance record. It’s a soundscape for your garden studio, your garden party, or your mental garden (which, let’s face it, all of ours need cultivating).
Keep your mind open.
[Hey there. Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]
It was another fun (and much needed for my stress levels, to be honest) show this morning on WSND. Thanks to all who listened and contributed, and again to the University of Notre Dame’s security services for letting me into the building again. Here’s my set list:
John Mayall – Ain’t No Brakeman
Buddy Guy – She’s Nineteen Years Old
Led Zeppelin – What Is and What Should Never Be (live)
And Now the Screaming Starts radio ad
Little Feat – Fatman in the Bathtub (live – request)
I should be back on air July 1st at midnight EDT. I hope you’ll tune in for the show. It’s going to be a “Best of 2019 So Far” show, so send me your suggestions.
Halloween is fun. Halloween in Paris would be even more fun (although I’m not sure how big the holiday is there). Halloween in Paris while a music festival is happening would be even better.
Pitchfork Paris has revealed its 2019 lineup, and it includes heavyweights like Chromatics, Belle & Sebastian, Charli XCX, Ezra Collective, Jamila Woods, Weyes Blood, and more. Get your tickets now before they go up in price.
Keep your mind open.
[Subscribe before you go and keep up on music news and reviews.]
“On their second album, the Houston-based instrumental trio crafts a unique, psychedelic vibe that hangs between continents and eras.” — Pitchfork
“The result is a border-blurring convergence, one likely to propel whatever dance floor is lucky enough to receive it.” — Los Angeles Times
“Buy it, stream it, hear it, get it, live it: It’s been a spell since one of those all-things-to-all-people albums has come along, but Khruangbin’s second full-length, Con Todo El Mundo, seems to be just that.” — VOGUE
“…Khruangbin gives us a window seat on an invigorating musical experience with a serious groove.” — NPR Music (Best Albums of 2018)
“…funky, jumpy tendrils of guitar, mixed with hazy washes of surf rock…” — Vulture
Globetrotting Texan trio Khruangbin are set to release Hasta El Cielo, the band’s glorious dub version of their acclaimed second album Con Todo El Mundo, on July 12th via Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories. The full album has been processed anew along with two bonus dubs by renowned Jamaican producer Scientist. Stream lead single, “Mary Always,” below.
The band’s exotic, spacious, psychedelic funk aligns with the dub treatment particularly well. Indeed, keen fans won’t find this a surprising release. Dubs of tracks from their first album The Universe Smiles Upon You appeared on limited vinyl releases of “People Everywhere” for Record Store Day 2016 and “Zionsville” on the BoogieFuturo remix 12”. The especially eagle-eared will have caught a dub of “Two Fish And An Elephant” playing over the credits of the track’s celebrated video.
“For us, Dub has always felt like a prayer. Spacious, meditative, able to transport the listener to another realm. The first dub albums we listened to were records mixed by Scientist featuring the music of the Roots Radics. Laura Lee learned to play bass by listening to Scientist Wins the World Cup. His unique mixing style, with the emphasis on space and texture, creates the feeling of frozen time; it was hugely influential to us as a band. To be able to work alongside Scientist, a legend in the history of dub, is an honor. This is our dub version of Con Todo El Mundo.” — Khruangbin
Formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums; Khruangbin’s sounds are rooted in the deepest waters of music from around the world, infused with classic soul, dub and psychedelia. Since the release of Con Todo El Mundo, Khruangbin have continued their almost non-stop approach to touring, playing over 130 dates in 2018 alone, most of them selling out well in advance, including sold-out shows across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Khruangbin closed out 2018 supporting Leon Bridges in North America, and have already graced the stages of numerous festivals this year, including Coachella, Marfa Myths, Fortress Festival, FORM Arcosanti, Lightning in a Bottle, and more.
They’ll kick off their summer tour with select shows in the Northeastern US, including a sold out show at Central Park’s SummerStage in NYC, before heading overseas for festival performances at Green Man, Latitude, Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival and Barclaycard British Summer Time. They’ll return to North American to play Pitchfork Music Festival, Pickathon, Lockn’, and THING. A full list of dates is below.
Hasta El Cielo Tracklist: 01. With All The World 02. Sisters & Brothers 03. Mary Always 04. Four of Five 05. How I Love 06. Sunny’s Vision 07. A La Sala 08. The Red Book 09. Order of Operations 010. Hasta El Cielo 11. Rules – Scientist Dub (Bonus Track) 12. Cómo Te Quiero – Scientist Dub (Bonus Track)
Pre-orderHasta El Cielo — https://khruangbin.ffm.to/hastaelcielo
Khruangbin Tour Dates: Fri. June 21 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre Sat. June 22 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre — SOLD OUT Fri. June 28 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter Sat. June 29 – Sete, FR @ Worldwide Festival Sat. June 29 – Sat. July 6 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival Tue. July 2 – Montreux, CH @ Montreux Jazz Festival Sat. July 6 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival Sun. July 7 – Beuningen, NL @ Down the Rabbit Hole Thu. July 11 – Bilbao, ES @ BBK Sat. July 13 – London, UK @ British Summer Time Sun. July 14 – Moseley, UK @ Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival Wed. July 17 – Athens, GR @ Ejekt Festival Thu. July 18 – Bern, CH @ Gurten Festival Fri. July 19 – Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival Sun. July 21 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival Sun. July 28 – Fuji, JP @ Fuji Rocks Wed. July 31 – Honolulu, HI @ The Republik Fri. Aug. 2 – Sun. Aug. 4 – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon Sun. Aug. 4 – Kaslo, BC @ Kaslo Jazz Festival Fri. Aug. 9 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out Fest Festival Thu. Aug. 8 – Sat. Aug. 10 – Rees, DE @ Haldern Pop Festival Sun. Aug. 11 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival Tue. Aug. 13 – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival Thu. Aug. 15 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival Thu. Aug. 15 – Sun. Aug. 18 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival Thu. Aug. 22 – Sun. Aug. 25 – Arrington, VA @ Lockn’ Fri. Aug. 23 – Miami, FL @ The Ground (DJ Set) Sat. Aug. 24 – Sun. Aug. 25 – Port Townsend, WA @ THING Fri. Nov. 15 – São Paulo, BR @ Popload Festival
Stream Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo – https://spoti.fi/2DN1Y2N
NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert – https://youtu.be/vWLJeqLPfSU
Pitchfork Live Session – https://youtu.be/q4xKvHANqjk
Book A Playlist Curated By Khruangbin via AirKhruang – https://www.airkhruang.com/
“Como Te Quiero” video – https://youtu.be/cxrotrIvqyY
“Friday Morning” video – https://youtu.be/KjQSSYOTXzk
“Maria También” video – https://youtu.be/7hlGqj3ImQI
“Evan Finds The Third Room” video – https://youtu.be/QcD_YXCxxZM
“Cómo Me Quieres” video – https://youtu.be/GHzIl82165g
PurchaseCon Todo El Mundo — https://khruangbin.lnk.to/contodoelmundo
“An evolutionary step forward for their sound.” – Metal Hammer
“A woozy wall of Afrobeat inspired fuzzbox riff worship and pounding circular rhythmic power, Here Lies Man connect the stoner rock underground straight to downtown Lagos.” – The Quietus
“Here Lies Man are still really, really good at making riffy, rhythmic psychedelic rock that sounds like the ’60s/’70s but still feels fresh today. Fans of anything from Nuggets to Ty Segall and King Gizzard should take note.” — Brooklyn Vegan
“This is a band ahead of their time.” — The Obelisk
Los Angeles quartet Here Lies Man share the lead single from their forthcoming 7-song mini-album No Ground To Walk Upon today. Hear and share “Clad in Silver” via YouTube and Bandcamp.
Dinked, the UK collective of independent retailers, are offering an exclusive special edition of the release that comes with a signed picture of the band, a patch, and a tote bag, on purple vinyl with orange swirl. For more information see Dinked HERE.
Here Lies Man took the music world by storm in 2017 with their self-titled debut positing the intriguing hypothesis: What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?
Since that time, Here Lies Man has expanded and expounded upon their sound and ideas of heavy riff rock and psych within the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave. The L.A. based band comprised of Antibalas members have toured relentlessly over the past 2 years, while also releasing a second album, You Will Know Nothing and an EP, Animal Noises, both in 2018.
No Ground to Walk Upon is due worldwide in August 2019. It continues with an ongoing concept of HLM playing the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene. The lead single “Clad in Silver” is the soundtrack snippet of a journey to the imaginary place called home, which can never be arrived at. With every step, the character imagines getting closer, but it is a hallucination that fades in and out of perception.
Rough Trade named Here Lies Man in their prestigious Top 10 Albums of 2017. BBC 6 & Classic Rock Magazine deemed it among the year’s best, as well as countless other press outlets singing its praises. 2018’s You Will Know Nothing furthered the band’s reputation for genre-smashing rhythmic experimentation, topping many year-end lists as well as earning features from countless metal and indie rock outlets, plus cover stories in weekly papers. No Ground to Walk Upon is the next step in the band’s rapid ascent to what is bound to be influential upon riff based rock.
“We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” explains founder and vocalist/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Marcos Garcia (who also plays guitar in Antibalas) of the band’s sound. “Tony Iommi’s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”
No Ground To Walk Upon also includes an interesting conceptual mathematics to the entire proceedings, a theme begun on the prior album. “There are interludes between each song that are 2/3 to 3/4 of the tempo of the previous song,” Garcia says. “The reason it breaks down to 2 over 3 or 3 over 4 is that everything in the music rhythmically corresponds to a set of mathematical algorithms known as the clave. The clave is an ancient organizing rhythmic principle developed in Africa.”
Garcia and cofounder/drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann) recorded the mini-album much like they did their previous releases, at their own L.A. studio on a Tascam 388 8-track tape machine. Additional layers were recorded with former Antibalas keyboardist Victor Axelrod and other contributors in various other locations, all while the band continued its rigorous touring schedule.
Here Lies Man has already spent much of the past three years on tour, with dates supporting Antibalas, Earthless and Fu Manchu, as well as headlining treks through the EU & UK. The remaining months of 2019 and 2020 will see the band once again performing at numerous International festivals (including Austin’s Levitation Fest in November.)
No Ground to Walk Upon will be available on LP, CD and download on August 16th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records.
Keep your mind open.
[I’ll feel like I’m clad in silver if you subscribe today.]
Mexico City Blondes have released the first music video from Blush, their full-length debut album out now on Burger Records. Premiering today on woman artist focused music site Gold Hand Girls, the video was directed by Anisha Sisodia.
Trip-hop tinged “Addio” has its roots in a personal loss experienced by vocalist and keyboard player Allie Thompson.
“Writing the song Addio, began with a loss.” Thompson says. “Over time, it also became about not looking over your shoulder for the next loss to come around. It’s about accepting the unacceptable, about letting go instead of holding on. “
Consisting of multi-instrumentalist / producer Greg Doscher, and vocalist / keyboard player Allie Thompson, both from Santa Barbara, Mexico City Blondes achieved surprise success with the release of their first single “Fade.” The track became a breakout hit after getting picked up by an assortment of music blogs, and landing in the top spot on Hype Machine more than once over the next few months.
The duo’s full-length debut album, Blush was written and recorded in Doscher’s garage recording studio. “The writing was difficult at first because we were approaching it under very different circumstances,” Doscher said of the process of making Blush. “Eventually we hit a certain stride and all the writing and recording seemed to fall into place.”
Blush takes Mexico City Blondes deeper down the dreampop rabbit hole they began to explore with their first release and its subsequent EP. Mexico City Blondes debut full-length album Blush is out now on Burger Records on CD, cassette and vinyl and streaming on all major platforms.
