Chicago’s Ratboys, led by singer/guitarist Julia Steiner and guitarist Dave Sagan, will release its sophomore album entitled “GN” on June 30th (Topshelf Records). Drawing influence from the down-to-earth sincerity and confessional confidence of Kim Deal and Jenny Lewis, the songs on “GN” (aka ‘goodnight’) “largely detail experiences of saying goodbye, finding your way home, and then figuring out what the hell to do once you’re back.” says Steiner. More »
Holy Boy is the new project from Norwegian-born, LA based, Helene Alexandra Jaeger, who has had support from the likes of The AV Club, The Sunday Times and The 405, under previous outfit ‘Her Royal Harness’. Recorded and produced with the acclaimed Ben Hillier (The Horrors, Depeche Mode, Blur) at The Pool Studios in London 2016, her new EP is an ominous, metaphysical arrangement out June 9th via Native Habitat. The first single to be released from it is the dark, brooding piece ‘Lay Your Hands’. More »
Releasing themselves from the lo-fi and ambient rock of their debut album “The Merry Monarch” – having spent much of their recent time involved in soundtrack work – the forthcoming full length “Harness” sets its stall out as a move into an eclectic, but no less focussed, sphere of operation. With the February release of the album’s first single “End of An Error”, we got a sense of the record’s more anxious moments and themes of escapism. However, in the way that new single “Without Face” marries skittering percussion with lead singer Nik Glover’s immaculate falsetto – set to a reverberating, chiming panorama– we’re let into the band’s talent for writing skewed, otherworldly, pop songs. Glover comments on the track; “It’s channelling St Etienne for that dawn-of-the-90s, mid-tempo disco thing. The song is about my constant fear of heart attacks, brought about by my dad’s own bypass back when I was in college and my knowledge that me and him have a lot in common. I’m ageing, and starting to think about death in an overly dramatic kind of way.” More »
33 seconds into Lace, there’s a ringing seventh chord that sends chills running down the spine. Hannah Aldridge’s strong, sultry vocals snake around the melody like a wisp of Marlboro smoke on the longest track across the 10 songs on Gold Rush. A barfly’s southern-gothic epic of a tale. More »
There’s a fine art to the lazy day. More »
As a classically trained pianist and multi-instrumentalist, Brett Gleason’s hands are not incapable. However, virtuosity is not synonymous with creativity, and on Manifest Gleason treads water in an ocean of Amos-isms and ivory-tickling. More »
At the end of February, Vagabon, the band project of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Laetitia Tamko, released a debut album “Infinite Worlds” to considerable praise internationally, including an 8.5 at Best New Music at Pitchfork, who had already championed her as an “indie-rock gamechanger” in a feature at the start of the year. More »
The Black Angels have shared a twisted new music video for “Currency”, the lead single off their latest album ‘Death Song’ (out now on Partisan). The clip follows a day in the life of a dollar bill, from the hands of an elementary schooler to a drug lord’s den to a politician’s desk. Watch here via Billboard. More »
Today, Dang Clēts share new single “Lines” from their forthcoming self-titled EP Dang Clēts. More »
Stefanie Blondal Johnson and Jodi Dunlop of Winnipeg, Canada based indie pop outfit Mise en Scene have overseen slow, steady changes in their group since forming in 2012, but the gradual metamorphosis has been well worth the wait. Their second album, ‘Still Life On Fire’, is a set of excellent guitar based songs that takes rock, new wave, post-punk and 90’s indie/alt.rock influences and stamps the band’s personality all over them via Johnson’s powerful vocals and some inventive arrangements. More »
Listen up blues fans, HRH have announced the line-up for HRH Blues 2018: a heady swig of the Brandy of the Damned, to be held up at the O2 Academy in Sheffield between Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th April, 2018. More »
Following on from last year’s fond tribute to David Bowie, ‘Dandy,’ Ian Hunter releases a second cut from his widely acclaimed new solo album, ‘Fingers Crossed.’ A vivacious stomper, recorded at HOBO Studios in New Jersey, and co-produced by Hunter and Andy York, ‘Ghosts’ was inspired by a 2014 visit to Union Avenue in Memphis where Ian and the Rant Band were invited to jam in rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Sam Phillips’ legendary Sun Studio. More »
Having received critical acclaim from the likes of Zane Lowe, Daniel P Carter, NME, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash, Loud & Quiet, The BEAT, Kerrang! and DIY, and with a string of renowned live shows supporting the likes of The Rolling Stones and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes in their wake, now LOOM have released their highly anticipated self-titled debut album via Silent Cult Records. More »
‘Cause he’s got a voice that’d make Tom Waits go “damn man what did you do to yourself?!”, you can’t understand a word James Leg sings. More »
Skinny Puppy commence a short European tour with a rare UK show at the O2 Forum in north London on 30th May. It is the first visit to the capital since 2010 by the group, who are widely acknowledged as pioneers of electro-industrial rock and were a formative influence on artists such as Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Grimes and many more. More »
Grieving are a new band from Cambridge whose music is not as immediately morbid as their name might suggest. With a nod towards classic Dischord and anthemic late 90’s and early 00’s indie-rock and punk, their debut EP, released last year saw support from the likes of Stereogum, Alt Press, The FADER, DIY and Upset. 4 of those 5 songs went on to see plays at either BBC Radio 1 or 6 through Huw Stephens, Dan P Carter and Tom Ravenscroft. More »
Holy Boy is the new project from Norwegian-born, LA based, Helene Alexandra Jaeger, who has had support from the likes of The AV Club, The Sunday Times and The 405, under previous outfit ‘Her Royal Harness’. Recorded and produced with the acclaimed Ben Hillier (The Horrors, Depeche Mode, Blur) at The Pool Studios in London 2016, her new EP is an ominous, metaphysical arrangement out June 6th via Native Habitat. The first single to be released from it is the dark, brooding piece ‘Lay Your Hands’. More »
At the end of February, Vagabon, the band project of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Laetitia Tamko, released a debut album “Infinite Worlds” to considerable praise internationally, including an 8.5 at Best New Music at Pitchfork, who had already championed her as an “indie-rock gamechanger” in a feature at the start of the year. More »
Andy Shauf has delivered a delightfully surreal new video for his song “Early To The Party.” The track is from Shauf’s critically heralded album The Party, which Stereogum called “a lovely, luxuriant thing” and the Independent described as “a baroque-pop exercise with echoes of Seventies smarties like Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman and Steely Dan.” More »
Following live dates this month in support of Jesca Hoop, Chloe Foy released her EP ‘Are We There Yet’ on Friday 12th May. Showcasing her talent for skewed, ambitious folk songwriting, The Line Of Best Fit described her first single ‘Flaws’ as “stunning” in their premiere last week. Folk Radio UK said in their premiere of second single ‘Are We There Yet’ that “she has a unique quality, one that can be heard in her vocal delivery and which is heightened by delicate musical arrangements.” More »
No Vacation is an Indie/Dream-Pop collective that combines the novel sounds of college nostalgia and surf-tinged bedroom pop to create an addictive feeling of weightlessness. Their previous single ‘Mind Fields’ premiered at THE FADER where they not only described the band as ‘very good looking’ but the track as ‘a misty rock song with dreamy hooks’.
What began as a sunny San Francisco dorm-room duo in early 2015 by frontwoman Sabrina Mai, quickly evolved into a band as Marisa Saunders and Nat Lee entered the fold. Eventually, Harrison Spencer joined and No Vacation migrated from their familiar garage practice spaces to the studio, where they recorded their second release Summer Break Mixtape.
This would lead up to their initial break-up later that year. After a year of anticipation, shows under various names, and a few line-up changes, James Shi was added to solidify the official reunion of the 5-piece.
To jumpstart their return, No Vacation released “Mind Fields” via Topshelf Records which was heavily influenced by the break-up itself. New single “Yam Yam” highlights the wistful yet buoyant sounds from their upcoming collection, set for release in June 2017.
No Vacation are:
Sab Mai // Vocals + Guitar
Marisa Saunders // Bass
Nat Lee // Synth
Harrison Spencer // Guitar
James Shi // Drums
Having received critical acclaim from the likes of Zane Lowe, Daniel P Carter, NME, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash, DIY and with a string of renowned live shows supporting the likes of The Rolling Stones and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes in their wake, Loom have announced the details for their highly anticipated debut album. More »
It has been one very busy week for High End Munich 2017 news, Hifi Pig will keep you up to date with everything hifi and audiophile that is happening in the run up to the High End Munich show next week….here’s what has happened in the last 24 hrs, in case you blinked and missed it! News from Mytek, SOtM, Chord Electronics, The Funk Firm and Convert to name just a few….. More »
While the last Kompakt offering from legendary Russian synthesists SCSI-9 dates back to 2008, when the duo released their album “Easy As Down”, co-founder and techno/house virtuoso ANTON KUBIKOV kept himself busy cultivating his own label Pro-Tez Records – and establishing a career as solo artist with a clear penchant for dub-infused soundscapes and ambient music. WHATNESS is Kubikov’s first solo full-length under his proper name, weaving airy and iridescent sonic tapestry that takes up where his excellent contributions to our Pop Ambient compilations left off.
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That Psychic Leash
Ladies and gentlemen; the root of the problem…
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