News – Page 114 – 7th Level Music

CHAI unleash another killer single – “Choose Go!” – from album due March 15th.

WATCH “CHOOSE GO!” https://youtu.be/YoCOh2r6ML0

LISTEN TO “FASHIONISTA” https://bit.ly/2sPcNKG

WATCH “GREAT JOB!” https://youtu.be/5Odk94mxeHU

Japanese four-piece CHAI shares a new single, “CHOOSE GO!,” off of their sophomore album, PUNK, due March 15th via Burger Records, and an accompanying video. Following rebellious single, “Fashionista,” and previously released “GREAT JOB,” “CHOOSE GO!” is an upbeat anthem to be free to choose whatever it is you want to do, however you want to do it. Directed by previous collaborators – Japan-based creative collective Team Mikansei (“Boyz Seco Man”) – the video features vibrant set designs, coordinated costumes, synchronized dance moves, and an eccentric twist on sports.

“Cheerleaders, who are usually known for cheering for athletes on the sideline, now become the actual athletes and are shown as baseball players! It’s the evolution of what is already in existence like sports or cheerleaders to then what would be considered non-existent or fantasy like cheerleaders turned into baseball players and barbies tossed instead of footballs by football players, which makes this music video so cool! CHOOSE GO! CHOOSE FREEDOM!”

PUNK follows their debut album, PINK. If PINK was a plastic, hyper-bright introduction, then PUNK is a deeper, more impactful graduation. It’s the movement from vivid orange to radiating red.

CHAI will bring their energetic live shows to North America in support of PUNK. All tour dates are below.

CHAI TOUR DATES Wed. Mar. 13 – Sat.. Mar. 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW Mon. Mar. 18 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage Tue. Mar. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel Wed. Mar. 20 – Toronto, ON @ The Velvet Underground Fri. Mar. 22 – Sat. Mar. 23 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival Mon. Mar. 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge Wed. Mar. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop Fri. Mar. 29 – Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project Sat. Mar. 30 – Portland, OR @ Holocene PRAISE FOR CHAI

“‘Fashionista,’ similarly, is still dressed in a patina of femininity, even as resentment bubbles beneath the surface. Pitted against the capitalist behemoth of the beauty industry, CHAI know the best way to fight their enemy is from within.” – Pitchfork

“By the end of the song, dissonant guitar chords have surfaced, the beat is crashing and ricocheting around, and that cloud of voices has turned into a typhoon: a party out of bounds, or a consumer revolt?” – The New York Times, on “Fashionista”

“”CHAI bursts with an energy that is carefree, effervescent, and unmistakably feminine” – She Shreds

“Giddy, frenzied pop” – Bust Magazine, 5/5

Physical Pre-order: https://burgerrecords.11spot.com/chai-punk.html

CHAI Online:

http://chai-band.com/ https://twitter.com/CHAIofficialJPN https://www.instagram.com/chaiofficialjpn/ https://www.facebook.com/CHAIofficialJPN/

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Cass McComb’s “Tip of the Sphere” is out tomorrow, but you can stream it on NPR right now.

“Here McCombs reaches fully toward the idea of songwriting as myth-making. Pulling from a deeper heredity of mavericks (Guy Clark) and marginals (Bill Callahan); jesters (Warren Zevon), sweet-natured acerbics (Randy Newman) and loners (Elliott Smith), McCombs is an analogous anomaly — a statesman with a penchant for the long, spooling yarn. He revels in the album as cinema, as cosmos, as something that should be written and left for rumination.” — NPR Music’s “First Listen”

“McCombs is no cheap nostalgia merchant, and is rooted far more in earthy post-punk than jam-bandwagoning. But dude’s quite a guitarist, and here’s hoping he stretches things on tour behind his forthcoming LP – it’s a doozy.” — Rolling Stone

“Tip of the Sphere represents McCombs’ practised skills as a shaper of his own world, with pride in his craft, a deep respect for tradition and the drive to refresh it via his own idiosyncratic iteration. It’s a combination likely to seal those ‘finest songwriter of his generation’ nominations.”
— Uncut, 9/10 Album of the Month
Cass McCombs will release Tip of the Sphere, his ninth full-length album, on February 8th via ANTI-. Ahead of its release, the album is now available to stream via NPR Music’s “First Listen.” Additionally, McCombs shares “Absentee,” a track infused with waltzing organ and subtle saxophone. In “Absentee,” McCombs ruminates on ancestral memories of British, colonialist absentee landlords during the Irish Potato Famine, on longing, hunger and untended places in the heart. Cass plays multiple characters in a play created with cast shadows, masks, puppets and analog visual effects created by Lydia Greer and Caryl Kientz of Facing West Shadow Theatre.
Stream Tip of the Sphere via NPR Music –
https://n.pr/2RWfYPD

Watch “Absentee” Video –
https://youtu.be/4ujcP9S1Gmc
Tip of the Sphere presents an artist trying to make sense of it all through a relentless, ever searching creative process. Throughout, he floats through a suite of songs driven by a journeying mysticism and dark grace. While most of his albums have been pieced together in different studios over an extended period of time, Tip of the Sphere was recorded quickly and with a strong sense of purpose at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn. This new approach for McCombs brought his songs a raw immediacy and a special balance of compassion and experimentation with the intent of making a more consistent statement. On “Absentee,” he’s joined by Otto Hauser (drums), Dan Horne (bass), Dan Lead (pedal steel), Frank LoCrasto (hammond organ), and Sam Griffin Owens (saxophone).

As previously announced, the ‘Castillo de la Esfera,’ created by fellow Northern California artist and contemporary Tahiti Pehrson as an homage to Brion Gysin’s dream machine, is featured inside the vinyl edition of Tip of the Sphere. Watch the Tip of the Sphere Instructional Video & Castillo de la Esfera Assembly, narrated by Robyn Hitchock,here.
Watch/Listen/Share:
“Sleeping Volcanoes” Stream – https://youtu.be/aJd_bd9vBFc
“Estrella” Stream – https://youtu.be/sJTR-d8X2jk
“The Great Pixley Train Robbery” Video – https://youtu.be/tJweioHk6t0

Pre-order Tip of the Sphere –
https://ffm.to/cm_tipofthesphere

Cass McCombs Tour Dates:
Thu. Feb. 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Amoeba Records
Mon. March 4 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage *
Tue. March 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live *
Thu. March 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Murmrr
Fri. March 8 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
Sat. March 9 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair *
Mon. March 11 – Toronto, ON @ Horsehoe Tavern *
Tue. March 12 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom*
Thu. March 14 – Nashville, TN @ EXIT/IN *
Fri. March 15 – Indianapolis, IN @ HiFi *
Sat. March 16 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall *
Sun. March 17 – Milwaukee, WI @ The BackRoom at Collectivo *
Mon. March 18 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club *
Wed. March 20 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre *
Sat. March 23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room *
Mon. March 25 – Vancouver, BC @ St. James *
Tue. March 26 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey *
Wed. March 27 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater *
Fri. March 29 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s *
Sat. March 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre *
Sun. March 31 – Las Vegas, NV@ The Beauty Bar*
Tue. April 2 – Santa Barbara, CA @ SOHo *
Thu. April 4 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley *
Fri. April 5 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
Thu. April 25 – Marfa, TX@ Marfa Myths
Sat. May 25 – Madrid, SP @ Tomavistas Festival
Tue. May 28 – Prague, CZ @ MeetFactory
Wed. May 29 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz-Club
Thur. May 30 – Copenhagen, DK @ Alice
Fri. May 31 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
Sat. June 1 – Gent, BE @ DOK Box
Mon. June 3 – Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso Nord
Tue. June 4 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
Thur. June 6 – London, UK @ EartH
Fri. June 7 – Helsinki, FI @ Sideways Festival
Fri. Aug. 30 – Mon. Sep. 2 – Larmer Tree Gardens, UK @ End of the Road Festival

* = with Sam Evian

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Partner release first single, “Long and McQuade” from new album, “Saturday the 14th,” due this April.

Partner, the Canadian duo of Josée Caron and Lucy Niles, have announced their new release out April 5, 2019. Entitled Saturday the 14th, it follows their 2017 debut, In Search of Lost Time which landed on NPR, Stereogum, Noisey, Exclaim, and CBC Music year end lists. Pre-order Saturday the 14th HERE.

Today, Partner is sharing the video for “Long and McQuade,” an ode to the Canadian music store chain. Watch the video HERE. The “Long and McQuade” single is also available on streaming services.

“We wanted to make a song for the musicians, and what experience is more relatable to a Canadian musician than going to Long and McQuade? The song just came out one day while we were talking about Long and McQuade and we liked singing it like Pearl Jam, so it stuck.” – Partner

Partner kicks off a US West Coast tour next month including a show at Noise Pop Fest in San Francisco.

USA & Canadian Tour Dates
February 20 – Fox Cabaret, Vancouver BC*
February 21 – The Queens, Nanaimo BC
February 23 – Lucky Bar, Victoria BC
February 24 – The Vera Project, Seattle WA*
February 25 – Holocene, Portland OR*
February 28 – The Hi Hat, Los Angeles CA*
March 02 – The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz CA*
March 03 – Noise Pop Fest, San Francisco CA*
*co-headlining with Dude York

For any interview requests or phoners contact – mar@maronmusic.com

————————

RIYL – AC/DC, The Breeders, Ween, Melissa Etheridge, Aerosmith

Partner is funny, but not a joke. Gay, but not for each other.

Partner is the “mature” effort of two best friends named Josée Caron and Lucy Niles. Borne of their fortuitous friendship, Partner confidently harnesses the infinite power of Rock to explore a variety of niche yet strangely universal themes.

The two met while attending Mount Allison University in small town Sackville, New Brunswick, on Canada’s East Coast.

The duo played in numerous Sackville bands together over their University years. Around mid 2014 the idea of Partner came to fruition.

Influenced by acts as varied as Tegan and Sara, Melissa Etheridge, Ween, kd lang, and Aerosmith, Partner delivers a refreshing and vital twist on a classic, prompting you to re-think what you thought was possible in Rock.

They released their debut album In Search of Lost Time in September 2017. The album made NPR’s All Songs Considered, Stereogum, Noisey, Exclaim, CBC Music, Indie 88 and many more Best of 2017 lists. The album was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize, and Partner were the recipients of the SOCANsongwriting prize for their song “Play the Field.”

Despite the success of In Search of Lost Time, Partner is committed to exploring and breaking down the limits of their minds in the name of Rock. Saturday the 14th represents the first steps towards a bold new future: the listener will find the band questioning the rules and questioning themselves, and, if they listen closely, a few tantalizing hints for what lies in store next.

Saturday the 14th will be released April 5, 2019 via You’ve Changed Records (CAN) and Father/Daughter Records (US).

Track Listing
Partner – Saturday the 14th (April 5, 2019)
Father/Daughter Records (US), You’ve Changed Records (CA)
PRE-ORDER

1. Fun For Everyone (Minions)
2. Stoned Thought
3. Tell You Off
4. Long and McQuade
5. Les ailes d’un ange

Partner in the press:

“Listening to Partner is like hanging out with your best friends, assuming your best friends are queer Canadian stoners with hooks for days.”
– Stereogum

“The best Canadian rock record of the year wasn’t made by Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene or Mac Demarco, but by two self-deprecating, 1990s-loving stoner best friends known as Partner. ”
– Playboy

“…two young women from Canada, Joseé Caron and Lucy Niles, who write and record as Partner, put out the year’s best guitar rock album.”
– NPR’s All Songs Considered

TOUR DATESFebruary 20 – Fox Cabaret, Vancouver BC*
February 21 – The Queens, Nanaimo BC
February 23 – Lucky Bar, Victoria BC
February 24 – The Vera Project, Seattle WA*^
February 25 – Holocene, Portland OR*^
February 28 – The Hi Hat, Los Angeles CA*^
March 02 – The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz CA*
March 03 – Noise Pop Fest, San Francisco CA*^
*w/ Dude York
^w/ Blushh

April 13 – The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto ON+
April 18 – The Capitol Music Club, Saskatoon SK+
April 19 – The Starlite Room, Edmonton AB+
April 20 – The Palace Theatre, Calgary AB+
April 22 – Spiritbar, Nelson BC+
April 23 – Sapphire Nightclub, Kelowna BC+
April 25 – Cactus Jacks, Kamloops BC+
April 30 – Bo’s Bar & Grill, Red Deer AB+
May 02 – The Exchange, Regina SK+
May 03 – The Garrick, Winnipeg MB+
+ supporting Wintersleep
Partner Links
Website: http://www.partnerband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partner.music.band/
Bandcamp: https://partnerband.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: http://youvechangedrecords.com/portfolio/partner/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/partner_band
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/partnerband

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Pink Mexico gets “Dirty & Stupid” with new single from upcoming album.

“Landing somewhere between My Bloody Valentine’s poppiest moments and Wavves least bratty missives, the result is something like if Nirvana had had a surf rock phase.” — Noisey

“The kind of fuzzy, driving garage punk that you can always trust Burger to put out.” — BrooklynVegan

Brooklyn, NY trio Pink Mexico share a new single from their forthcoming third album Dump via Big Takeover Magazine. Hear and share what Big Takeover calls a “grimy, gritty, chugging lump of treasure,” HERE.

Surf/skate culture outlet What Youth? recently premiered the garage-grunge surf-pop track “High Dive” HERE.

Dump will be released March 1st, 2019 on cassette and digital via Burger Records and vinyl via Little Dickman Records.

After playing drums for countless other bands, including Shilpa Ray, WALTZ and Lola Pistola, Robert Preston Collum went for a change and began his solo project, Pink Mexico. After moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Preston self-released the first Pink Mexico LP, pnik mxeico in June of 2013, attracting the attention of Austin-based record label Fleeting Youth Records, who then re-released pnik mxeico the following December.

Preston relocated to Brooklyn in the fall of 2014 to begin recording his next album while continuing other releases: a split 7″ with Los Angeles-based band, SunLikeDrugs as well as a 12″ vinyl pressing of pnik mxeico by Bordeaux, France based label Big Tomato Records. The underground buzz surrounding the first LP led Preston into the Burger Records family. Following countless Brooklyn shows and making the rounds at this year’s SXSW, Pink Mexico has grown as a band comprised of Grady Walker & Ian Everall.

After the release of Fool via Burger Records Summer 2016, Pink Mexico toured as direct support for Honus Honus (aka Man Man) for his “Use Your Delusion” Tour in November 2016. Spending most of 2017 and 2018 dedicated to recording Dump, the 3rd studio album with Jeremy Scott (Vivian Girls, These Are Powers) at Civil Defense in Brooklyn, NY. The band relentlessly toured North America to support Fool, while Collum also played drums on the new Lola Pistola record Curfew and went out on tour in support of the album in early 2018.

Unlike previous records, where Collum manned all instruments, this release includes both Everall and Walker on bass and drums, respectively.

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Haelos’ new album, “Any Random Kindness,” is due May 10th, but the first haunting single from the record, “Kyoto,” is out now.

HÆLOS will release their sophomore effort, Any Random Kindness, on May 10th via Infectious. Any Random Kindness examines the search for connection in an increasingly fractured world. It’s the follow up to 2016’s intricately-layered, trip hop-influenced Full Circle, a debut album “that both cements them in a genre and leaves them room to grow” (Pitchfork). In conjunction with today’s album announcement, HÆLOS share a new song, “Kyoto,” and an accompanying video.

The first full album cycle for HÆLOS was a baptism of fire, and the year-long creation of Any Random Kindness pushed HÆLOS to the edge and back again. On winding up the Full Circle tour in January 2017, the trio — Lotti Benardout, Arthur Delaney, and Dom Goldsmith — returned to London and immediately installed touring guitarist Daniel Vildósola as a full-time member of the band. His classical background and technical prowess brought a new level of musicality and equilibrium to the band.

For Any Random Kindness, HÆLOS reassessed their creative approach, conducting songwriting experiments – writing a song an hour or finishing a track and then stripping it down and completely re-doing it. Delaney returned to writing on acoustic guitar, while Goldsmith retreated into his love of dance music and the minimal techno of Ricardo Villalobos. The band recorded the album with producer Orlando Leopard at Baltic Studios in East London and at their home studio, and it was mixed by Matt Wiggins (Glass Animals) and Marta Salongi (The xx, Bjork). The latter part of the recording was especially tense, with many near breakups. However, this process led to a new, optimistic perception of each other, and music that explored the push and pull of relationships. A new, increasingly dance-floor oriented direction to their sound emerged.

Throughout Any Random Kindess, HÆLOS refer to different facets that affect the modern world – the isolating nature of technology and social media, the looming climate change, their relationships with each other, and corrupt politics, as heard on “Kyoto,” a glitchy, yet catchy slice of electronica that critiques politicians who prioritize economics above the environment.

Any Random Kindness shows a newly developed HÆLOS, one that’s eager to push forward. Catch them live throughout North America this spring.

Watch “Kyoto” Video – https://Haelos.lnk.to/KyotoVideoPR

Stream “Kyoto” – https://Haelos.lnk.to/KyotoPR

Pre-order Any Random Kindness – https://Haelos.lnk.to/AnyRandomPR

Watch HÆLOS’ “Buried In The Sand” Video – https://Haelos.lnk.to/BITSVidPR

Any Random Kindness Tracklist: 1. Another Universe 2. Buried in the Sand 3. End of World Party 4. Kyoto 5. ARK 6. Boy Girl 7. Deep State 8. Empty Skies 9. Happy Sad 10. So Long, Goodbye 11. Last One Out (Turn the Lights Off)

HÆLOS Tour Dates: Thurs. Feb. 21 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus Fri. Feb. 22 – Brussels, BE @ The Rotonde at Botanique Sat. Feb. 23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet Tue. March 12 – Sat. March 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW Sat. March 16 – Sun. March 17 – Mexico City, MX @ Vive Latino Tue. March 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Wed. March 20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent Fri. March 22 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge Sat. March 23 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile Sun. March 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall Wed. March 27 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Thurs. March 28 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall Fri. March 29 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar Sat. March 30 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison Mon. April 1 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB Tue. April 2 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall Fri. April 5 – New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg Sat. April 6 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall Thu. May 16 – London, UK @ EartH (Hackney Arts Centre) Fri. June 7 – Sat. June 8 – London, UK @ Field Day

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Claude Fontaine’s debut reggae / world music single, “Cry for Another,” is a stunner.

Los Angeles-based songwriter and singer, Claude Fontaine, is thrilled to announce she’s signed with Innovative Leisure (LA-based label who has worked with the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD, Rhye, Allah-Las, Nosaj Thing, Hanni El Khatib, Nick Waterhouse, Classixx, etc). Today, she shares her debut single, “Cry For Another,” a heartfelt nod to the Studio One, Trojan, and Treasure Isle records that inspired it. “‘Cry For Another’ is about the feeling when someone is slipping through your fingers, and even though you know that person may not be right, you’re still pining for more,” says Fontaine. “Possibly to remind yourself of why they’re wrong for you, or perhaps to remember what you’re going to miss.”

Watch Video For “Cry For Another” – https://youtu.be/ztHTOL_EJWM

Fontaine wrote and demoed “Cry For Another”, a track which sounds like it came out of Jamaica in the 1970s, after a living in London and stumbling into Honest Jon’s, a long-lived spot for fringe records. Recorded at Chet Baker’s legendary old studio in Hollywood, Fontaine recorded the track with a murderer’s row of session players, including guitarist Tony Chin, (Althea and Donna, King Tubby, Dennis Brown), drummer Rock Deadrick (Ziggy Marley), bassist Ronnie McQueen (Steel Pulse), and piano/organ player Jaime Hinckson (Hollie Cook, Daniel ‘Bambaata’ Marley).

Set to be released later this year, Fontaine’s debut album is a love song to classic reggae and Brazilian music, and an album honoring that feeling of finding a home away from home. In addition to Chin, Deadrick, McQueen, and Hinckson, Fontaine is joined in the studio by Airto Moreira, the Brazilian drummer whose work both solo and in collaboration—with Miles Davis, Astrud Gilberto, Chick Corea, Annette Peacock—make him an actual living legend, Andre De Santanna (Sergio Mendes, Flora Purim), Gibi Dos Santos (Sergio Mendes), Nando Duarte (Gal Costa, Elza Soares), and Fabiano Do Nascimento (Mia Doi Todd).

“I hope this record will transport people,” she Fontaine. “I want it to feel like those lost records, like it got lost in the dusty bottom bin of some world music store in London because that’s how I felt when I walked in to that record store. I want it to be its own world.”

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Mykele Deville delivers “Free Soul” from full album due February 22nd.

“…’Maintain’ speaks to a meeting of multitudes between the rapper and rap itself. It floats on air and swims through depths, elevated by Deville’s masterful prose and reverence for his city of Chicago.” – Afropunk

“Deville sings about self-worth and self-love in a time of crushing cruelty and hateful rhetoric.” – Consequence of Sound, on “Type Love”

“Deville’s lyrics challenge the hard-skinned ideal of the black male to allow for vulnerability…” – Paste, on “Type Love”

Chicago rapper and poet, Mykele Deville, has shared a video for new single “Free Soul” taken from his upcoming album, Maintain, out February 22nd via No Trend Records. “Free Soul,” was produced by the UK-based, Elements. The track is a jazz and bebop-inspired rap manifesto brimming with pride for Chicago and a disdain for the gate keeping clique mentality that sometimes pervades the music and art scene. The track is an upbeat portrait of a connected Chicago, from the basements to the spotlight.

WATCH MYKELE DEVILLE’S “FREE SOUL” VIDEO – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8-zXnwGRy0

The video for “Free Soul” was directed by Chicago-based film collective, New Trash, and produced by Ramone Hulet. It shows Mykele enjoying his city with friends from Chicago’s many diverse neighborhoods with the flare and carefree nature of a video from the 1990’s. The video is a fun portrait of when its creatives unite.

Part self-help, part self-preservation, Maintain is a motivational collection dedicated to the complexity of black life.

For those in the Chicagoland area, Deville will celebrate Maintain with a release show at Lincoln Hall on March 3rd. Ticket are available here.

WATCH “TYPE LOVE” VIDEO – https://youtu.be/bKAtK4bDy7s

PRE-ORDER MAINTAIN – https://notrendrecords.com/mykele-deville/

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Durand Jones and the Indications release powerful new single and video, “Morning in America,” from upcoming album.

“…its exploration of social and economic challenges (‘It’s morning in America/But I can’t see the dawn’) makes it resonate deeply in the present…” – Billboard, on “Morning In America”

“Is it any wonder that y’all about to blow up!” – Robin Roberts, Good Morning America

“…I can attest that witnessing Jones live is very much akin to how I imagine the early shows of his heroes from the ‘60s and ‘70s – tight as hell, bursting with raw emotion and drenched in sweat.” – Variety

“Durand Jones & The Indications bathe in the glimmering afterglow of early ’70s soul on this stunning track, with occasional nods to heartland folk.” — Bandcamp, on “Don’t You Know”

“From the start, the band’s laid-back, early-’70s groove, when paired with the two impossibly smooth vocalists at the forefront of the project, allowed Jones & The Indications to reach an almost nostalgic, ridiculous level of cool.” — Paste

Durand Jones & The Indications will release their sophomore album, American Love Call, on March 1st via Dead Oceans/Colemine Records. After sharing lead single, “Don’t You Know”, the band returns with the follow-up cut: the poignant, politically charged album opener, “Morning In America”. “It’s a fraught moment in our history. ‘Morning in America’ is a song for this moment,” says the band. Penned by drummer Aaron Frazer, the band has this to say regarding the track:

“The lyrics speak to how many of us feel every day in this time of political and environmental uncertainty— flitting between anger, despair, anxiety but ever returning to a sliver of hope that there’s still a path forward.

“We so often divide ourselves by our differences. Acknowledging those differences is crucial; listening to those different from us is crucial. But viewed solely through that lens, we are fragmented and few. When we look at the country along economic lines, however, a different picture emerges. Suddenly people of all of colors, in every part of this country, can find themselves on the same side, united by a shared struggle to simply survive in the richest nation to ever exist.

“This song was inspired by The Poor People’s Campaign, a movement started by Martin Luther King Jr. shortly before his assassination. It functions today as a nonpartisan organization that promotes intersectionality and inter-movement unity as a tool of addressing systemic injustices.”

It’s accompanying video, directed by Ellie Foumbi, find’s immense inspiration in the song’s message. “It’s impossible to hear this song and not connect its message to the current political climate in America,” says Foumbi. “It makes you stop and question the ways in which our country has changed and whether we’re as far along as we should be. The themes of inequality, social and economic oppression, and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots jumped out at me. The juxtaposition between past and present, rich and poor, black and white are so prevalent in our society that it only felt right to highlight them in the video.”

Watch Video For “Morning In America” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANEafqL5io

Helmed by foil vocalists Jones and Frazer, The Indications’ sound of “old-school soul with a new-school honesty” (NPR’s All Things Considered) is rounded out by Blake Rhein (guitarist), Kyle Houpt (bassist), and Steve Okonski (keyboard). The Indications will tour the US extensively this spring in support of American Love Call. A full list of tour dates are below.

Watch Video For “Don’t You Know” – https://youtu.be/A9rDPXoGSDg

Durand Jones & The Indications’ Tour Dates : March 18 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Tue. March 19 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Thu. March 21 – Santa Fe, NM @ Tumbleroots Fri. March 22 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom Sat. March 23 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah — SOLD OUT Mon. March 25 – Tustin, CA @ Marty’s On Newport — SOLD OUT Tue. March 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom — SOLD OUT Wed. March 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom — SOLD OUT Thu. March 28 – Santa Barbara, CA @ SOhO Restaurant & Music Club Fri. March 29 – Oakland, CA @ The New Parish — SOLD OUT Sat. March 30 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent — SOLD OUT Mon. April 1 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom Tue. April 2 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos Thu. April 4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room Fri. April 5 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater Sat. April 6 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar Sun. April 7 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room Tue. April 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry Wed. April 10 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon Thu. April 11 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Fri. April 12 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar Sat. April 13 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Sun. April 14 – North Charleston, SC @ High Water Festival Tue. April 16 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel Wed. April 17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg Fri. April 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church Sat. April 20 – Uncasville, CT @ Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Resort Sun. April 21 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall Mon. April 22 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Wed. April 24 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Woodward Theater Fri. April 26 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East Sat. April 27 – Oxford, MS @ Double Decker Arts Festival Sun. April 28 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West Sat. May 11 – Bloomington, IN @ Indiana University w/ Neko Case Sun. Sep. 15 – Telluride, CO @ Blues & Brews Festival

Pre-order American Love Call* – https://ffm.to/americanlovecall

*Dead Oceans exclusive bundle includes the album on limited transparent orange vinyl, limited edition transparent purple “Morning in America b/w Cruisin’ to the Park” Colemine Records white label promo 7”, a 7” adapter and poster.

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Ty Segall and Freedom Band to release live album March 29th.

In 2018, Ty Segall and the Freedom Band — Mikal Cronin, Charles Moothart, Emmett Kelly, and Ben Boye — stormed the world in support of Freedom’s Goblin, playing songs from Ty’s catalog in a series of ecstatic setlists. Each night, they sought freedom for themselves and the audience, even it if was just one night of emancipation from the world’s numbing chill. Then they went and did it again the next night! That blunt-force impact of The Freedom Band in full effect is being presented via Deforming Lobes, out March 29th via Drag City. Get a taste early with “Love Fuzz.”

Recorded live on stage at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom via mobile unit onto two-inch tape and mixed at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini, Deforming Lobes updates (and upends) numbers from Melted, Emotional Mugger, Twins, Manipulator, $ingle$ 2 and Ty Segall. From the start, the “Warm Hands” suite shows the growth of the group since recording the original version for the 2017 Self-Titled album. The feeling between audience and band at those shows was its own special thing; here, the band is somehow even more front and center, exploring every song with an unrestrained curiosity and fervor, never forgetting the collective experience they’re sharing.

Following Freedom’s Goblin, the epic double-LP that took the heroic arc of Manipulator and wadded it up into a much more aerodynamic (and harder-hitting) ball, Deforming Lobes is the first original statement from The Freedom Band, bookending the Goblin experience with an exclamation point.

Listen to “Love Fuzz” – https://tysegall.bandcamp.com/album/deforming-lobes

Pre-order Deforming Lobes – http://lnk.to/deforminglobes

Deforming Lobes Tracklist: 1. Warm Hands 2. Squealer 3. Breakfast Eggs 4. The Crawler 5. Finger 6. They Told Me Too 7. Cherry Red 8. Love Fuzz

Keep your mind open.

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Turning Jewels into Water’s debut album, “Map of Absences,” due March 15th.

Turning Jewels Into Water is a live electronic duo led by Indian-born drummer/producer Ravish Momin along with Haitian electronic percussionist Val Jeanty. They seamlessly blend futuristic turntables, ritual chants, polyrhythmic percussion, live loops and synth melodies along with rhythms inspired by global dance music. Their new album, Map of Absences, will be released March 15th via FPE Records. They share the lead single, “Dark waters rushing in,” with an accompanying video directed by Travis Williams and featuring Flex Dancer Infinite.Brynn and Fire dancer RaNubi.

Watch Turning Jewels Into Water’s “Dark waters rushing in” Video – https://youtu.be/TAKwMvOgri0

This new project with Val Jeanty arose from her participation in a jam session at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY while Momin was artist-in-residence there in September of 2017. Their collaboration, rooted in improvisation, evokes the esoteric realms of the creative subconscious. Drawing from the voodoo religion, Val recreates the ancient rhythm and pulse of Haiti through digital beats, while Momin, whose own musical background is rooted in Indian, North African and Middle Eastern traditions, has developed an original blend of electro-acoustic beats, drawing together the improvisational traditions in Jazz and Indian folk music. Together, they employ cutting-edge music-technological tools such as acoustic drums outfitted with Sensory Percussion triggers, Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) drum pads and Smart Fabric MIDI Controllers, but still emphasize the ritual aspects of creating music in the digital realm.

Their unique sounds quickly caught the interest of music curators and in 2018 they performed at the Bang On A Can Marathon (NYC), ZEZ Festival (Croatia), Tarcento Jazz Festival (Italy) and various venues in Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy. They closed out the year with a two-day run in Washington, DC where they performed at the Flash of the Spirit Festival at Georgetown University and the Anacostia Arts Center. They released a critically-acclaimed EP on FPE Records entitled Which Way is Home, which featured remixes from rising-stars Slikback and Zilla, both of whom came heartily recommended by the crew that operates the Kampala, Uganda-based Nyege Nyege Tapes record label.

“Our full-length record, Map of Absences, is a reflection on the regressive state of human rights, deepening refugee crises and the worsening impacts of climate change worldwide. Imagine a world where refugees of color are free to cross borders, LGBTIA people are treated fairly and respectfully, and environmental healing technologies are widespread. These ideas are unfortunately absent from our current reality. We say ‘absent’ instead of ‘forgotten’ as the latter implies an instance of memory or a record of those things having existed. Musically, we drew inspiration from artists such as DJ Lag, Nidia, DJ Rashad, Nihiloxica, and Epic B amongst our other varied global influences. For the album artwork we tapped Marissa Malik, a UK-based artist whose work evokes the mystical and empowered mythical beings. For remixes, we returned to Kenyan maverick Slikback (Hakuna Kulala) and also approached PlayPlay (who ran the legendary Party Illegal in Durham, NC for years) and the modular-synth wielding producer Nueve Vidas from Mexico City.”

Turning Jewels Into Water will tour in support of Map of Absences this spring. A list of dates is below with more to be announced soon.

Watch “Dark waters rushing in” Video – https://youtu.be/TAKwMvOgri0

Stream “Dark waters rushing in” – https://open.spotify.com/track/0x5C7SNgT8TjhnHhSHhD7G?si=KirQJ8-jTdyjUwKv8aQ7fw

Pre-order Map of Absences – https://fperecs.bandcamp.com/album/map-of-absences

Turning Jewels Into Water Live: Saturday, March 16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Warhol Museum Wednesday, March 20 – Boston, MA @ MassArt Friday, March 22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Arete Saturday, March 23 – Williamsburg, MA @ Grange Hall (Collider 5 w/ Noura Mint Seymali)

Keep your mind open.

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