Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness has shared the cover art for his upcoming self-titled album, which will be released on Vanguard Records on October 14, 2014. The striking image was created by Jimmy Marble. AMITW’s first single, “Cecilia and the Satellite,” is already getting strong airplay across radio formats and is available now on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.
Andrew is currently on tour with Matt Nathanson and Gavin DeGraw and will be performing tonight at Central Park’s Summer Stage. For other tour dates, updates and more information visit: http://www.andrewmcmahon.com/
” …more akin to American weirdos of various unseemliness from Ariel Pink to Jim James, tapping into a bygone era of retro-futurism and resulting in something so out-of-time that it sounds timeless.” – Pitchfork
” …retro-futuristic sound that’s hard to pin down but easy to enjoy — similar in spirit to fellow Vancouver resident Dan Bejar’s Destroyer.” – Stereogum
“… a futuristic, psychedelic rock track that has put us in a trance.” – Refinery29
The new solo project High Ends from Yukon Blonde frontman Jeffrey Innes is titled Super Class and will be released October 7th via Dine Alone Records. Having previously revealed lush album cut “The Weight” and the psych-rock single “Intoxicated,” NYLON has revealed the video for infectious album track “Downtown” today. Filled with irresistible, ‘80s-inspired analogue synths & an infectious refrain, the video is an artistic interpretation about relationships and detachment in the modern age.
Innes explains, “Downtown” is a song I wrote about internet dating. It’s actually more about a conversation I had with a friend regarding dating in general. She was finding internet dating hard to escape because less and less people try to meet people the old way now. She explained that in the old days she felt like a club was like a jungle and people behaved like animals. She used to hate being gawked at and treated like an object, but the internet thing doesn’t feel like anything at all. I feel like the video interpretation that Sabre has made for the song somewhat fits the modern feel of what it’s like to be single and detached from the new way of dating. The girl goes Downtown and still ends up by herself. It looks like she has a clear mind though, which is always nice.
The ten-song LP was recorded with producer Colin Stewart (Dan Mangan, The New Pornographers) at his Vancouver Island facility. During the sessions, Gold & Youth drummer Jeff Mitchelmore handled percussion, Louise Burns and The New Pornographers’ Kathryn Calder contributed backing vocals, and Ladyhawk’s Darcy Hancock laid down guitar. Fans not able to wait until album release can grab the 2-track single featuring “Downtown” and “Intoxicated” available now. Super Class Tracklist
1) Downtown
2) The Weight
3) Intoxicated
4) I’m Gonna Keep On Dancing
5) Cappuccino
6) The Believer
7) River Cruise
8) Ocean Song
9) Feel/Sleep/Aliens
10) Working Man’s Blues
“The record features sounds as diverse as the bouncy basslines and disco vibes of the title-track to the gentle acoustic guitar strumming and mellifluous vocals found on “That’s Not Who We Are.”” – Spin
“Amazon explores a diverse range of style and beats within three tracks while managing not to disrupt the flow of the album as a whole.” – In Your Speakers
Back in June, I posted about my newest love, Favored Nations. And I am thrilled to share the music video for another one of their tracks. Check out “The Setup” below.
“The Setup” will be familiar to anyone who made it to the end of Grand Theft Auto V. Where GTA is all sun, people, and action, the music video for the game’s finale track is foggy, dazed, and striking. However, what the two have in common is powerful, memorable visuals of fantasy.
The product of a night out in the city of angels, Favored Nations has accomplished quite a bit since they cut their first demos in early 2012. Their accomplishments thus far aren’t too surprising since the trio is made up of some very familiar and beloved men on the dance music scene. James Curd is one of the most sought after remixers in the genre and he founded the group with singer Morgan Phalen, whose voice was featured on Justice’s psychy second LP Audio Video Disco. Curd then added Surahn Sidhu, touring bass and guitar player for Empire of the Sun, to the mix.
On July 1st Favored Nations released their second EP Amazon via Jupiter Clique.
Hailing from Australia, multi-instrumentalist production duo Intergalactix consists of longtime friends & collaborators Kristian Attard & Serg Dimitrijevic. An interstellar combustion of music, space travel & vintage devices, the two collided at the beginning of 2013 in Los Angeles. Intergalactix have just announced their debut EP, IWSOM – set for release August 12th! IWSOM is a rich & melodic electro-indie record that propels the listener deep into otherworldly dimensions where futuristic-synth-visions reign supreme. You’ll enjoy it if you like Empire of the Sun.
IWSOM EP cut “Tuesday” is surefire summer dance hit, filled with infectious vocals, layers of beats & a deliciously catchy anthemic chorus.
Intergalactix have been working behind the scenes for more than a decade on projects with the likes of Cool & Dre, Good Charlotte, Jason Mraz, Heart, Earth Wind & Fire, Kelis, Allen Stone, Ariana Grande & Pras Michel (The Fugees), as well as Aussie heavyweights Jimmy Barnes & PNAU.
Dark pop outfit Radclyffe Hall have released the second single, “OMG”, off their forthcoming full-length debut. Following up to their premiere single “Dare to Dream,” “OMG” exhibits Radclyffe Hall’s continued exploration of dark pop, both in music and lyrics.
“OMG” is musically reminiscent of 2013 breakout Lorde, characterized by a strikingly heavy, dark and open ambience enhanced by frontwoman Dhy Berry’s vocal harmonies that echo in cavernous waves.
Earmilk describes “OMG” as having a dark pop feel with “menacing and synthy 80’s stylings,” noting, “Because some people are always leaving, whether physically or within their own minds, and when you realize it that is the “OMG” moment that you dread and a feeling you can’t shake.”
There’s something about Green Stone Garden’s music that remains as elusive and genuine as their home city of Darwin. A remote sensibility, mixed with urban longing. Sometimes you want to escape; sometimes you can’t believe you’ve found paradise at your doorstep. As forthcoming single “Steam” muses, “It’s like the city let go of the rain”.
Together since 2011, alt-rock band Green Stone Garden has become emblematic of the Darwin music scene. They have received critical and industry recognition with the band winning the rock category of the ‘2013 Northern Territory Song of the Year Award’ for single “The Island“ and lead singer Mike Meston winning the Folk category in 2012. The band was a finalist this year for two of their new tracks, “Steam”and “Just a Spark” (yet to be released).
Green Stone Garden have supported the likes of Boy and Bear, Cat Empire, Gomez, Jeff Martin, Husky, Dappled Cities and Big Scary, all of whom have permeated the band’s melodies, storytelling and performance, along with the far away influences of Grizzly Bear and Lou Reed.
“The Island” from North EP (released May 2013) garnered airplay around the nation including spot-play on Triple j and also reached a top ten position in the AMRAP charts. As Home and Hosed host Dom Alessio said, “What can I say? This is just an excellent song”. The band was a Triple j Unearthed spotlight artist in May 2013.
After a three-state EP tour, the band featured in the 2013 Darwin Festival. Combining their songs with members of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra and Darwin’s own Choir of Man, the band rendered a wide-screen concert experience.
This year, GSG has returned to the studio to once again work with celebrated Australian producer Steven Schram (San Cisco, Paul Kelly, Calling All Cars) in Melbourne, with mastering by Grammy nominated Brian Lucey (The Black Keys, Chet Faker, Arctic Monkeys) in the US. The result is the expansive new single “Steam” – set to be released 18 August 2014 – showcasing a new sound for the band and accompanied by a second interstate tour.
London collective Jungle has premiered the video for latest album cut “Time”.
The “Time” video arrives a week before the release of Jungle’s highly anticipated, eponymous debut album out July 15 (14th in the UK) on XL Recordings. Identified by Rolling Stone as a “New Artist You Need To Know”, Junglehas already been described by New York Times as “a beguiling and promising introduction“, by NME as ” the pop-art album of the summer” and Time Out exclaims “the group’s steamy, grooving, creeping neo-soul tracks are something pretty special.” Jungle is available to stream in full exclusively via ITUNES.
Meanwhile the collective will return to the states this fall with a seven-piece Jungle live experience that will perform on over 20 dates across North America, in the largest set of rooms the group has played to date. The group will also make stops at Lollapalooza, Treasure Island and Corona Capital Music Festivals. See full list of dates below.
The Ninjas are a high energy rock duo from Brisbane, Australia returning with their latest single “Never Had Much Time”. Recorded with Australian super producer Magoo this release sees the band take another giant leap forward with slicker production, bigger riffs and a stadium ready sound that is sure to get people dancing. They’re early releases “Yeah Yeah Yeah” and “Kill Em All” gained the band an impressive following online and will all appear on the bands debut EP out this August. If you enjoy The Hives and The Vines, then you’ll love this!
Oakland-based trio Tremor Low clearly defines its sounds as “Synthesizers, drum machines, delay and distortion pedals – in that order.”
The band’s arresting sound and visual style were recently captured in the music video for the single “Give Blood,” and signaling the Tremor Low’s first nationwide shot across the bow. The slow-motion clip, inspired by films such as “Pulp Fiction,” and “Time Crimes,” was shot by director David Dutton in one day while trespassing on private property.
Band member Don Bellenger describes “Give Blood” as “a look at confusion and misplaced blame, and in the end,” he says, “the details of ‘who did what’ or in this case ‘who killed who,’ become irrelevant. We are doomed to repeat our mistakes.”
Of the production itself, Bellenger says, “I tasted lots of fake blood and didn’t like it. In one particular shot, we threw a bloody knife and then couldn’t find it, so there’s still a very incriminating knife covered in blood out there on this person’s property.”
In addition to Bellenger, Tremor Low is comprised of Fabian Paredes, and Ariel Utz Wirnsberger, who was discovered by Bellenger and Paredes after auditioning two dozen prospective band members.
Coming up in the San Francisco scene, Tremor Low has since drawn the attention of respected Bay Area DJ Aaron Axelsen, who brought the band to the stage and greater exposure, as part of his popular local Popscene event. Performances at nationally recognized San Francisco venues such as Great American Music Hall and Bottom of The Hill have further cemented the band’s local reputation.
Now, with “Give Blood” out, and new recordings underway, the world is finally ready to fully experience Tremor Low.
Musically Amusing 