Archive for the ‘Recommended Streams and Videos’ Category

Watch: ‘Castalia’ by The Utopia Strong

Posted: 10 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Coming from the playfully intangible modular synth and multi-instrumental collective The Utopia Strong, is ‘Castalia’, a new taster of the voyage to come from their second full length International Treasure (Rocket Recordings, 10th June).

Here, the band share their thoughts on the second single and album closer:

"Castalia was one of the first tunes we started for International Treasure, it felt so optimistic and forgiving which was such a tonic during the somber period in which the album was recorded. Castalia initially felt at odds with the rest of the album which generally has a much bleaker, melancholic tone – to our ears at least – but by putting it in as the last tune it somehow makes sense of everything that went before.

Kavus continues, "It has this end of the night kind of feeling, it put us in mind of Orbital’s Belfast or Ashra’s Sunrain. Steve and I thought it would sound perfect as the last tune we’d play in a DJ set, in fact initially I wanted to call it ‘Last Song Of The Night’ but thankfully Mike wasn’t having any of it! The vocal at the end once again comes from Katharine Blake who sang on the last piece of our debut album, Moonchild. We liked the conceptual continuity of that but also, along with the use of acoustic instruments, the way it humanises the track too.

"Mike Bourne, who created the video, has been a friend before we were even a band. It was he who inspired Steve to take up the modular synthesiser in the first place. We loved his work anyway and he’d created an astonishing video for The Holy Family, another Rocket band Mike York and I are involved with, so we were very keen to work with him. He’d specifically asked to do the video for Castalia and knowing his work we gave him a free hand. I think the end results absolutely crystallise the vibe and atmosphere of the piece, we couldn’t be happier."

Watch the video for ‘Castalia’ here:

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Photo credit: David Ryder Prangley

Listen: ‘Carcini’ by Grave Lines

Posted: 9 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Two albums in and London’s Grave Lines, purveyors of ‘heavy gloom’ have already carved a unique niche in the myriad spheres of heavy music. Their first album Welcome To Nothing set the tone for their distinct take on doom metal, which was broadened even further with album two Fed Into The Nihilist Engine. An epic feast of hard ‘n’ heavy riffs coupled with brooding sadness interspersed with thoughtful transcendent moments of introspection.

Never a band to rely solely on trotting out those ‘doom metal’ tropes, the band began to weave in gothic and experimental elements into their music, to delve deeper into the dark shadows of the psyche.

Now with their third album Communion Grave Lines continue their exploration into the ugliness of the human condition, at the same time becoming a band that truly defies any pigeonhole.

Continuing to hone and evolve their collective vision and aided by the masterful production of Andy Hawkins at The Nave Studios, Communion sees Grave Lines creep further into the various corners of their sound.

In a nutshell Communion is a violent descent of bile-soaked intensity spiralling between filth laden swagger, and fragile mournful lament. The album delves into the internal aloneness of existence and the failings of the human connection.

Owing as much to Bauhaus and Killing Joke as it does to Black Sabbath or Neurosis, there are moments of gut wrenching doomed up heaviness and bellowing noise rock, contrasting with ambient gothic passages and a thoughtful melancholy, to a create a powerful new chapter in their ceaseless journey through the gloom. Listen to first single ‘Carcini’ now:

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Listen: ‘Drag Nets’ by Venus Principle

Posted: 8 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Venus Principle are premiering the melancholic and powerful new track ‘Drag Nets’ as the final single taken from the dark psychedelic rocker’s debut full-length Stand in Your Light, which has been scheduled for release on May 27.

‘Drag Nets’ makes subtle use of a wide range of instrumentation from sax to mellotron vibes and Mini Moog, and the stunning vocal chemistry between Daisy Chapman and Daniel Änghede comes into play again as well.

The band comment: “After the initial recording sessions for Stand in Your Light were postponed, we had a chance to write a few more songs”, guitarist Jonas Stålhammar tells. “The last one written was ‘Drag Nets’. It turned out to be by far the heaviest track on the album. ‘Drag Nets’ represents the waste and rejects of man. You can trawl the sea for food and treasure, but humankind will always carelessly discard all unwanted matter only for it to be rediscovered as flotsam and jetsam. The idea of adding saxophone was a last minute thought in the studio when I reached the conclusion that we had too many guitar solos on the album already. Our amazing guest on the saxophone, August Eriksson, copied my guitar solo note for note and then added some improvised sprinkles.”

Listen to ‘Drag Nets’ here:

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…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead announce new album and share two new singles

Posted: 6 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Austin’s …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead announce their first quadraphonic surround sound studio album – XI: Bleed Here Now – due out 15th July 2022 via InsideOutMusic in Europe & Dine Alone Records in North America. The new LP is their 11th, was produced by Trail’s own Conrad Keely and Jason Reece alongside Charles Godfrey who also produced 2020’s X: The Godless Void and Other Stories, and was mastered by Scott Sedillo and KamranV at Bernie Grundman Mastering. XI: Bleed Here Now is QUARK encoded to play in both stereo and Regular Matrix quadraphonic sound. Along with the news, Trail of Dead is releasing lead single “No Confidence” today b/w “Salt In Your Eyes” (so perhaps not so much 2 singles as a more traditional A and B / AA side as it would have been back in the day).

Watch ‘No Confidence’ here:

…and ‘Salt In Your Eyes’ here:

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Watch: ‘Aula’ by Kaapstaad

Posted: 6 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Stockholm-based Australian doctor turned musician Tim Spelman (also of Swedish indie pop group Tiny Fighter) has released his new single ‘Aula’ under the name Kaapstaad, his solo electronic music project in pursuit of what could be described as sublime Nordic ambient-chill.

This sophomore single is out today, having achieved that very objective, hot on the trails of his recently-released piano-based ambient debut solo Night.

NYC’s Big Takeover Magazine writes, “There is something in the spaciousness of this piano and beat-driven instrumental that captures more than just a vague feeling of relaxation… minimal structures perfectly describe windswept lands, its spacious ways conjuring big, star-strewn, open skies and wide-open spaces.”

Watch ‘Aula’ here:

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Watch: ‘Baptise Bless & Bleed’ by PIG

Posted: 6 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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The latest release from the darkly delicious mind of Raymond Watts aka PIG is ‘Baptise Bless & Bleed’, a brand new EP awash with religious lyrical fervour and riffs that could effortlessly crush a tank. The title track is a relentless juggernaut before ‘Speak Of Sin’ takes to the dancefloor. It sounds like an instant PIG masterpiece.

Things take a turn for the sublime as ‘Tarantula’ sinks its pernicious fangs deep into the psyche, clasping the listener tight in its electronic web, while closing out the release is the slower but no less ecclesiastic ‘Shooting Up Mercy’, an epic paean to the cosmic joke that is human existence.
Accompanying these four new slices of PIGgish playfulness on its 12” vinyl format are three bonus extended versions added to the digital release to fully sate your fix.

The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? ‘Baptise Bless & Bleed’ completes PIG’s tarot quadrilogy, a tragedy in four parts that also includes the earlier volumes ‘Sex & Death’, ‘Pain is God’ and ‘Drugged Dangerous & Damned’.

Providing blessings, but hopefully not the bleeding, on this particular release are regular PIG collaborators Steve White, En Esch and Michelle Martinez.

As with the other releases in the set, Watts has determined that presentation is paramount, and the spellbinding physical edition of ‘Baptise Bless & Bleed’ comes on opulent 12" white vinyl in a die cut custom sleeve that houses a printed inner sleeve and three brand new tarot cards.

Watch the lyric video for ‘Baptise Bless & Bleed’ here:

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Listen: ‘Crushed Beneath the Weight’ by Insense

Posted: 5 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Norwegian technical metal quartet Insense, have recently shared the opening song of their forthcoming new EP "The Silent Epidemic B-Sides", which is set for release on May 13 via Mas-Kina Records.

The new EP features two songs from the recording sessions of their 2007 album The Silent Epidemic, and although these two tracks didn’t make the final cut they’re still representative of the band’s strong ability to write some powerful, complex and chugging riffs.

Emerging over two decades ago, Insense has grown and evolved their sound with creative hunger but an ability to ignite the senses whilst turning them inside out has been an ever-present fertility they have fuelled their invention since day one.

From their early days Insense were given comparisons to the likes of Machine Head, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Meshuggah, but the reality is that while of course being huge fans of all the aforementioned giants, their sound is simply theirs, a one of a kind sonic predation which sets the band apart from those inspirations and the rest.

Listen to ‘Crushed Beneath the Weight’ here:

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Watch: ‘Dig Your Hips’ by The Bobby Lees

Posted: 3 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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They’ve had records produced by Jon Spencer. Henry Rollins and Debbie Harry are fans. The Bobby Lees are HOT.

Un-tempered, no frills rock ‘n’ roll comes from The Bobby Lees as they release the video for the riotous new track ‘Dig Your Hips’, taken from the upcoming four-song Hollywood Junkyard EP on June 17th. The band are also set to tour throughout June and July, which will mark the band’s first shows in the UK and Ireland.

On the song, Sam (vocals) says "This song’s about a psychotic episode I had while partying in the desert, and the feeling of wanting to set fire to your life and run away from it with someone you barely know."

Drummer Macky adds, "this song is about exactly what it sounds like. With most things but most notably art there’s no such thing as objectivity, pretty ironic considering how objects are viewed as a pretty ubiquitous medium for artistic expression. Anyway, the way we relate with an object, surprisingly, has a lot to do with our own spacial and conceptual relationship to it. All that is to say that it’d feel a little too self indulgent to give a personal overview of the song as at the end of the day I’d just be forcing you to watch the movie, my movie, before you read the book, so to speak… That being said, this song is about exactly what it sounds like. I really hope you like it!"

The video, directed by John Swab, was shot in an abandoned factory whilst the band were on tour in Tulsa, Oklahoma in March.  Watch the video here:

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Photo Credit: John Swab

Watch: ‘Stratum’ by Jana Irmert

Posted: 2 May 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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In the magical volcanic landscapes of Lanzarote, Jana Irmert found images for the ideas, moods and feelings that fueled the work on the tracks of What Happens At Night: For me this release is a window through which I could express my thoughts and feelings about our planet in turmoil. Starting out from a point of hopelessness, my fascination with travelling into Deep Time and learning about geologic ages grew. After all, what will be left of us will only be a delicate layer in the rock.“

‘Stratum’, named after the word used in geology for a single layer of sediment, attempts to dissolve time and space, merging the abstract and the concrete. The volcanic landscapes, which are very young from a geological perspective, thereby become a place where human existence plays only a marginal role.

Watch the video here:

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Watch: ‘It’s Never To Late To Lose Your Life’ by Barzin

Posted: 26 April 2022 in Recommended Streams and Videos
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Four years in making, Toronto artist Barzin is releasing his fifth studio album Voyeurs In The Dark. That the album is more cinematic in its scope and conceptual in feel than his previous studio albums can be attributed to the time he spent over the past several years composing the soundtrack for the independent film, Viewfinder.

Voyeurs In the Dark retains that cinematic quality, and at the same time infuses the music with elements taken from Jazz, electronica, rock and pop. Having primarily explored the quiet side pop and folk in his previous four albums, Barzin has expanded his musical palate, broadening his sound towards a more an experimental direction, while still retaining his preoccupation with exploring the  internal landscape. The uniformity of sound that characterized the previous albums has been abandoned for the expression of differing aspects of the self that at times hold opposing views and desires. This is best represented in the image chosen for the cover of the album, which depicts three figures in one body. The album seems to be the expression of not one unified self, but the various aspects of the self.

Voyeurs In the Dark sees the artist plot a seductive, contemplative route through city haze, shuttling between graceful glimmering interludes, with wonderfully atmospheric songs at every stop. On new single ‘It’s Never Too Late To Lose Your Life’, Barzin has a affirming and urgent tone, shade turning into shapes and motion.

About the track, Barzin explains, “I guess you can say I was chasing my own private white whale when I was writing it. I was trying to create from a place of not knowing. I didn’t want to know what the hell I was talking about. If something started to make sense to me, I knew I was on the wrong track.

The Sufi poet, Rumi, wrote many years back that we must make room inside of us for these unwelcome guests that visit us every day. Not only did I invite the guests to come inside, but I asked them to stay and make an album for me. I have no idea what I/they made, but it was an interesting experience to create something that felt foreign to me.

I think this song and this video is a good example of what happens when you let the “other” take the wheel and drive the car”.

Watch ‘It’s Never To Late To Lose Your Life’ here:

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