Archive for the ‘Recommended Streams and Videos’ Category

BIG|BRAVE have announced their new album A Chaos Of Flowers, out 19th April. Along with the album’s announce, the elemental Canadian trio have shared the video for single ‘i felt a funeral’. BIG|BRAVE have also announced an extensive tour in 2024 throughout the UK, and mainland Europe, including sets at Les Nuits Botanique in Brussels and Portals Festival in London.

‘i felt a funeral’ borrows from the poetry of Emily Dickinson, BIG|BRAVE embodying the inner turmoil of her words with a bold mixture of frothing chords, arcs of bending drones, delicate brushwork, and guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie’s resolute voice.

On the creation of the video, guitarist Mathieu Ball notes, “The making of this video employed a similar process as we do when writing music. As we’ve learned to let the flow of ideas take its course, the act of creating works whether with fully formed concepts or an unfinished notion, starting the work itself acts as a sort of guide to where the final outcome may land. We realised that something more visually minimal than what we first imagined was the way to go.”

By using a single-take that loosely follows Wattie’s movements, with moments of imperfection, lost focus, and fluctuations in lighting, “the performer (Robin) and the audience both partake in this visual and aural conversation together creating a more intimate visual space. The audience is led in and out of her intimate space all while being kept at safe distance. Paired with the lyrical content, it can be considered an apt representation of the elements of mental collapse – a simplified visual dance with the inner and outside world.”

Watch ‘i felt a funeral’ here:

BIG|BRAVE’s music has been described as massive minimalism. Their fusillades of textural distortion and feedback emphasise their music’s frayed edges as much as its all-encompassing weight. The potency of the trio’s work is their singular artistry combining elements of traditional folk techniques and a modern deconstruction of guitar music. Gain, feedback, and amplitude are essential to A Chaos Of Flowers, an album that builds on their ferocious 2023 album nature morte.

Lyrically, the songs explore the most vulnerable of human experiences, how marginalisations manifest internally and externally, the inner struggles of isolation, and co-existence in nature. A Chaos of Flowers draws on catharsis and beauty as well as the quagmire of disorientation and othering. The album is a monument of simultaneous serenity and disquiet, a subtle maelstrom of internal life.

BIG|BRAVE tour dates

May 3 – Duisburg, DE – Stapeltor

May 4 – Brussels, BE – Les Nuits Botanique

May 5 – Paris, FR – Pointe Ephemere

May 6 – Bern, CH – Dachstock

May 7 – Schorndorf, DE – Club Manufaktur

May 8 – Graz, AT – Orpheum Extra

May 9 – Budapest, HU – Durer Kert

May 10 – Wien, AT – Chelsea

May 11 – Krakow, PL – Kamienna12

May 12 – Warsaw, PL – Hydrozagadka

May 14 – Prague Bike, CZ – Jesus

May 15 – Berlin, DE – Kantine am Berghain

May 16 – Aarhus, DK – VoxHall

May 17 – Sonderborg, DK – Mejeriet

May 18 – Copenhagen DK – A Colossal Weekend

May 20 – Den Haag, NL – Paard

May 21 – Antwerp, BE – Bouckenborgh

May 22 – Ramsgate, UK – Ramsgate Music Hall

May 23 – Brighton, UK – The Green Door Store

May 24 – Bristol, UK – Dareshack

May 25 – Leeds, UK – The Lending Room

May 25 – London, UK – Portals Festival

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Gothic rock band, Sirens Of Light have just unveiled their cover of the Led Zeppelin classic song, ‘In The Evening’.

Says Sirens Of Light main member, Andy J. Davies, “I have always thought this was possibly their best work and has always seemed to be underrated. This version is based on the original studio recording and the live version from the Knebworth concert in 1979… which I listened to live from the garden of my home as I was too young to be there!”

Check the video here:

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Sirens Of Light is a gothic rock band from London, originally formed in 2004.

Drawing on influences from the earliest days of gothic rock and the 80’s/90’s London Goth and Glam scenes – Sisters Of Mercy, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Southern Death Cult, March Violets, Rose Of Avalanche, Bauhaus etc. Their first album, Nullus Magis Gothica was recorded in 2004 and saw a very limited release in 2005. It is now almost impossible to find……

Sixteen years later, in 2021, after the lost original recordings were discovered by chance, a new re-mixed version of the record was released on November 8th, 2022.

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Standing alone in the cold north, militant DIY dance punk duo, Polevaulter toil and labour to explore the limits of underground achievement. Known the land over for their hypnotic live performances home and away, the Northern noisemakers have built from nothing something few can argue with.

The sonic assault the two create is almost arrogant, fathered from the marriage of seismically sharp bass and loin-grinding beats. The words are quipped and brayed atop the aural landscape. They are boastful, accusing, repellent and inviting, they question and skewer the veins of masculinity, sexuality, the order of things, the music industry and the miserable reality of the North. Toured with JOHN, shared a stage with Thank, Mandy Indiana, Pink Turns Blue, Bambara, A Place To Bury Strangers, VR Sex, and others.

New Polevaulter single ‘Violently Ill’, is as the title suggests, a hard-hitting dark and fiercely off-kilter slab of awesome sickly noise and follows recent acclaim for the duos work from the likes of The Needle Drop’s Anthony Fantano and Louder Than War. The track combines pulsating beats and glitchy electronics with intense repeating shouts to create an intoxicating and exhilarating experience. With the track, Polevaulter announce their debut album ‘Hang Wave’ for release on 26th January and UK/EU tour dates starting February.

On ‘Violently Ill’, Polevaulter’s Jon Franz explains- “I created the track out of a sample I found from a free library, it was inspired by our trip to Tallinn in April. I demoed the track pretty much as is as soon as we got back, and Dan liked the sampling a lot, so we moved forwards. The lyrics were the first things I thought out at practice, and I like the fact that it has more sparse vocals than most of our tracks, gives our music chance to shine. Its maybe my favourite song on the album.”

Watch the video here:

Alongside the single release, Polevaulter are set to perform the debut album on repeat for 8 hours straight from 4pm to midnight on 13th January via a livestream to raise funds for the Gaza Sunbirds, a para cycling team based in the Gaza Strip. The team is currently providing emergency food parcels and aid to families sheltering around the Gaza Strip. For more info and to donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/polevaulterforgazasunbirds

Polevaulter will tour the UK and EU as follows:

Jan 31st – The Fenton, Leeds – Album launch

Feb 2nd – Hatch, Sheffield

Feb 3rd – Little Buildings, Newcastle

Feb 6th – New Adelphi, Hull

Feb 7th – The Lounge, Manchester

Feb 8th – Old Blue Last, London

Feb 9th – Bear Cave, Bournemouth w/ JOHN

Feb 10th – Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes w/ JOHN

Feb 13th – DAda, Toulouse, France

Feb 14th – Le Mans, France

Feb 15th – TBA, France

Feb 16th – Melody Maker, Rennes, France

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What timing! Getting up and starting work on the dayjob in the dark, on a cold, cold morning on what felt like the Mondayest of Mondays ever, my day suddenly took an unexpected upturn on the arrival of the news of an imminent new album from Pissed Jeans – and best of all, a video for the first track to be released from it.

On 1st March 2024, Pissed Jeans will release Half Divorced, their incredible sixth album, on CD/LP/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop. The band is sharing the official video for indelible lead single “Moving On” from director and frequent collaborator Joe Stakun (“The Bar Is Low,” “Bathroom Laughter,” “Romanticize Me”).

Watch it here:

Pissed Jeans’ Half Divorced is the follow-up to 2017’s Why Love Now, an album that took aim at the mundane discomforts of modern life. The album and its singles received praise from The New York Times, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The Guardian, Uncut, Stereogum, and more.

The twelve songs of Half Divorced skewer the tension between youthful optimism and the sobering realities of adulthood. Pissed Jeans’ – Matt Korvette (vocals), Bradley Fry (guitar),  Randy Huth (bass), and Sean McGuinness (drums) – notorious acerbic sense of humor remains sharper than ever as they dismember some of the joys that contemporary adult life has to offer.

Half Divorced includes the previously mentioned “Moving On,” the omnidirectional piss-take “Everywhere Is Bad” (Spoiler alert: “Seattle is soaking wet”), shrinking debt-to-credit ratios in the bracing “Sixty-Two Thousand Dollars in Debt,” and the harsh truth-telling in the bruising “Cling to a Poisoned Dream.”

Half Divorced was produced and mixed by Pissed Jeans and Don Godwin and engineered by Mike Petillo at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, Maryland, and mastered by Arthur Rizk (co-producer and mixer for Why Love Now).

Pissed Jeans’ previously announced international tour dates in support of Half Divorced span end of February to April. New shows include Friday, 29th March 29th in Schijndel, NL at the Paaspop Festival. Additional live dates will be announced soon.

Thu, Feb 29 Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR Tickets

Fri. Mar. 01 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s Tickets

Sat. Mar. 02 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo Tickets

Fri. Mar. 15 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts

Sat. Mar. 16 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Vitus

Fri, 29th March – Schijndel, NL – Paaspop Festival

Sat, 30th March – EartH (AKA Hackney Arts Centre), London, United Kingdom Tickets

Sun, 31st Mar – Manchester Punk Festival, Manchester, United Kingdom Tickets

Tue, 2nd Apr – Stereo, Glasgow, United Kingdom Tickets

Wed, 3rd Apr – Whelan’s, Dublin 2, Ireland Tickets

Thu, 4th Apr – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, United Kingdom Tickets

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Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz

Norwegian post-punk collective Heave Blood & Die are gearing up to drop their fourth album "Burnout Codes" on January 26th via Fysisk Format.

Dedicated to bassist Eivind Imingen, who decided to end his life just following the recordings of the album, "Burnout Codes" is shrouded in sadness and tragedy, and shows the Norwegian collective offering their most textured and innovative album to date.

Just recently, Heave Blood & Die revealed a new track titled "Mjelle", which is the second single taken from the new album following leading single "Things that Burn".  Listen to "Mjelle" here:

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The band had this to say about the new track: “This is the soundtrack to the industrial mourning march to goth town, screaming Power Corruption and Lies! Mjelle  is about getting up and trying to achieve, falling short and burning  out, it’s a never ending loop of finding false and temporary refuge in  avoidance. This one is for our dear friend Eivind and a nod to one of Northern Norway’s undying classics by Terje Nilsen about the windswept and red beaches of  Mjelle just outside of Bodø.”

Recorded and produced by Karl Løftingsmo Pedersen and Ariel Joshua Sivertsen (Ondt Blod, Die a Legend),  mixed by Magnus Lindberg and featuring the artwork and design by Annika Linn Verdal Homme of Daufødt, "Burnout Codes" will be released on vinyl and digital on Fysisk Format.

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Photo by Brage Pedersen

Totnes-scene post-rock/post-punk band Abrasive Trees, who have become regular features on the pages of Aural Aggravation, have announced the premiere of their latest work, ‘Mill Session’ – a short film featuring new songs, interview material and spellbinding visual art, all filmed within an ancient mill.

The five-piece, which includes Matthew Rochford and Ben Roberts from Bella Union project Silver Moth worked with a team of local professionals and producer Pete Fletcher from the Isle of Lewis to produce the 20-minute video which features two unreleased tracks ‘Star Sapphire’ and ‘Tao To Earth’.

As well as the new music there’s also a live version of the previously released ‘Kali Sends Sunflowers’ and interview material sprinkled through the film – guided by music journalist Andy Hill.

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Visual artist Jess Wooller’s work has also been used throughout to produce a solid document of the band’s current creative direction. Filmed in a centuries-old mill in Totnes, the video was crowd-funded by fans of the band from several countries including Scotland, France, Belgium, and Germany.

Matthew said of the film: “We’d aspired to create this film after meeting earlier this year to discuss what we could and couldn’t do – given our commitments to all of our other creative projects. We had considered going into a recording studio but decided to do something completely different and release some of our new material in this way. Somehow it all came together with the right people at the right time and the right place. We received financial and practical backing from the Abrasive Trees community – so it’s a genuinely crowdfunded project”.

It’s an ambitious project from a musically ambitious band, and you can watch it here:

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Well. Bloody hell. If you’re up for a powerful video – one that really hits home and makes you feel strong and wide-ranging emotions – accompanied by a bold, anthemic song, you need this.

No more words are required.

Watch ‘A Ready Defense’ by Feather Trade here:

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The French darkwave group Divine Shade, has just unveiled their brand new single, ‘Heaven’.

The last single, ‘Oublier’ featured Steve Fox-Harris (guitarist for Gary Numan). These songs will be part of an album, Fragments Vol.1 available in April, 2024.

The album’s theme focuses on the concept of resilience and the inner capacity to fight against self-defense mechanisms and identification with nature. darkness through rebuilding self-esteem and love.

Check ‘Heaven’ here:

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It’s been quite the year for Argonaut, as they land the final instalment for 2023 for their ‘open-ended’ album project Songs from the Black Hat, they started back in October of 2022, and which has seen them release a single a month this year, and despite being reduced to a three-piece due to geographical disparities, they’ve maintained their momentum.

One major benefit of doing everything DIY is having no constraints or dictations, and an open-ended album doesn’t have to conform to any rules of cohesion or length, and ‘Christmas No. 1’ is a bit different from the rest of the album to date – namely it’s an overtly Christmas song, replete with a soft-focus, shimmery, tinsel-draped video.

‘Musically channelling all the classic Christmas songs (6/8 timing, jingle bells, key change, anthemic coda singalong!) and lyrically tracing Lorna, Nathan and Deb’s first London Christmas to our last. Please download for free, play alongside Wham Shaky and Macca and have a number one Christmas and a punk rock new year!’

Watch the video here – best enjoyed with a glass of port, or maybe Bailey’s if that’s your thing:

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Norwegian noise rock innovators Barren Womb have just shared a brand new single off their fifth full-length album titled Chemical Tardigrade, which is set to be released on digital and vinyl formats through Fucking North Pole Records/Blues For The Red Sun on February 16th, 2024.

Entitled ‘Bachelor Of Puppets’, you can hear it here:

“’Bachelor of Puppets’ came together through a swift writing process, mostly by jamming round this crude beat with definite husky tendencies,” says Barren Womb’s drummer/ vocalist Timo Silvola. “It became something we felt sure to be the envy of cavemen everywhere. The title came before the lyrics and they were written very much like a jam as well: late night with beers and a demo version blasting loud through our PA system, comparing notes and reading through the lyrics for Master of Puppets.
”The result became a sordid tale of a Chemical Tardigrade, a half-fictional dope fiend struggling to escape the stale grip of the bourgeoisie. Both being huge fans of The Mandalorian, yelling ‘this is the way’ as a chorus made for a perfect trashy Trailer Park Boys-esque punchline.”

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Barren Womb released their fourth album Lizard Lounge, a bombastic slab of modern noise rock in the vein of Daughters, Metz and Viagra Boys, to critical acclaim through Loyal Blood Records in 2020. They have played close to 300 shows in the US and Europe so far, sharing stages with among others Entombed A.D., Voivod, Conan, Nomeansno and Årabrot, and have played festivals like SXSW, by:Larm, Tallinn Music Week, Øya and Pstereo.

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