Category: Artist Spotlight

Austin based musician and songwriter Tyrone Sanborn Webster took some time over the past year from behind the drum kit to write and record his own songs.

Harnessing his creative background in writing and performing with the Austin art-rock band Desilu, Webster says he has “decided to take a minimalist approach” to his own music.

Armed with an acoustic guitar and his vocals, Webster took his life experience and influences and crafted and molded them into a universal sound with a message to others: “pick up your guitar and simply write from the soul.”

He recently dropped a three-track E.P., Surface, featuring emotive songs with high vocal registers on tracks like the tumbling, “Change Your Mind” and the booming, melancholic, “Out in the World.”

Another track that would have been cool on the E.P. is his latest song, “Jesus Skin.”

Recording from home, Webster captures simple melodies and rhythms blended with captivating acoustic progressions, embodying a haunting sound that resonates through his bass notes, keys and strings.

instagram.com/tyrone_sanborn/

The music of Melbourne artist Nathan Nicholson, (not the Boxer Rebellion vocalist), aka Flicker Vertigo, teems with swirling and overlapping psychedelic and shoegaze textures and sounds on his fourth album, Ephiphany.

The album is brimming with blissful melodies, intricate rhythms, and sweeping grooves all coming together in multiple complex and rich tapestries, such as on songs like “Blissful Existence.”

The track’s busy, fuzzy and bumbling bass lines are shrouded by heavy layers of experimental psych-rock comprising complex guitar and percussion parts – it sounds like all of the instruments and vocals are swirling around inside a tornado.

As Nicholson explains it, his musical cornucopia includes “subliminal nods to Afrobeat, krautrock and jazz bubbling upon the horizon and melting into the kaleidoscopic haze form this swirling, vertigo-inducing mixture that takes inspiration from the past and transmits it skyward.”

On the second feature track from the album, the complex, “Life in Bloom,” Nicholson confirms influences like Tame Impala and My Bloody Valentine. That’s not hard to agree with as the track rifles away on a long psych-rock jam that goes on for at least four minutes, yet never loses its fire.

This is Nicholson’s first album with vocals. He describes his album as: “Bursting with crunchy psychedelic textures, blissed-out melodies fluttering overhead, explosive rhythms and intricate grooves whizzing by…and melting into the kaleidoscopic haze, Epiphany represents a total expansion of the sonic palette

Nicholson armed himself with a “plethora of effects pedals and an obsessive desire to push the sonic boundaries and expand the comfort zone.”

The album was written and recorded during a period of profound self-discovery and growth for Nicholson. He was also inspired by re-occurring dreams and a string of epiphanies experienced in nature.

Note: Flicker Vertigo is a condition that occurs due to exposure to flickering lights.

Danish songwriter and musician Troels Thorkild Sørensen’s tracks have been playing on regular rotation here in the cafe for a couple of weeks, and we are happy now to share this promising talent with all of you.

Sørensen’s new track, “Dad,” is melodically and harmonically surprising and original, wholesome and comfortingly beautiful.

The single is a tribute to his father with lyrical content that explores deep feelings and thoughts about when his father will no longer be around.

It may at first seem a bit premature to write a tribute song to a father who is still alive, and presumably still relatively young, but Sørensen said he wanted his father to be able to hear the song since he obviously wouldn’t be able to after death. (That was a strange sentence to compose)

Sørensen personally found it sad but also “quite meditative” to write and record the song.

It’s a heartbreaking song instrumentally with a bumping guitar vibe and finger-picking all of the way through and vocals and choruses that you won’t hear probably anywhere else.

Now a resident of Copenhagen, he grew up in the small town of Mårslet, near Aarhus, Denmark. He records under the moniker, he is tall, with an emphasis apparently on lowercase letters.

Retreating solo into the countryside, Sørensen recorded the song in a small cabin where he grew up. He captured the natural surroundings with sounds from a passing river, bird songs and the dancing of wind through the trees. He then mixed the samples into the song during mixing.

Coincidentally, Sørensen is actually not that tall, he says, but he feels tall when he goes on the “small stages around Demark” with just his guitar. He expresses a sense that he grows on stage when he plays and “shines with confidence.”

Sørensen said he initially made an impact in the Danish underground music scene and that some have compared him to the legendary Jeff Buckley. We can sort of see that in a way, especially with the unique vocals and delivery.

His musical influences cross genres from indie-pop to hip hop, which he merges interestingly into some of his tracks.

Danish national radio host Sebastian Saxton said about Sørensen during a live broadcast: “I think your style is really original and it’s difficult for me to see how others should imitate you – which is rare praise to give – so thank you so much for your music. I really appreciate it.  I really think your vocal is strong.”

In May, he is tall released a single “little brother” which received airplay in the United States and in Denmark. The track was also featured on Spotify’s playlist Discover: Indie Rising Denmark’s Nordic Hits Playlist by Bands of Tommorrow.

Another song from last year, “Open Mouth Pt. 2”, is a piano-driven singer/songwriter heart-bleeder. A melancholy song, the theme of missing his loved ones plays out once again; obviously, his family is on his mind; perhaps it’s homesickness.

Over the past decade-plus, we have been fortunate enough to be the first indie blog to feature at least many dozens of artists and bands that went on to bigger things because of being featured on IRC.

Something tells us that Sørensen has a good shot at being one of those artists if he plays his hand well.

Follow he is tall on Facebook.

The new single, “Raven,” from Ukranian electronic fusion/world music project Electromush, is the newest enthralling track from a rising musical outfit that is unlike any other.

“Raven” presents a mystic appeal amplified in all ways by the haunting vocals of the female vocalist known only as Petra. The track is a perfectly creepy song for the Halloween season or your Halloween playlist.

Petra’s rich vocals come front and center and then evolve into an all-encompassing rush of layers of dubs. Together with intricate composing and mixing of keys and live instruments like the mandolin, the overall effect is mesmerizing and unmistakably haunting.

Electromush’s world fusion sounds and folk influences are meticulously arranged by fellow Ukranian composer Bohdan Butov and produced by engineer Konstantin Kostenko.

Formed in 2013 in Kyiv, the musical trio – which is not really a band in the traditional sense – set out from the start with a unique multicultural to bridge music of the old world with the new.

The trio purposefully seeks out old, traditional folk songs to give them new life. Often Petra will even sing in the native language interpreted for modern times with the use of electronics.

The band’s stated mission is to “unite eclectic cultures in both geographical and historical sense from Asia to Europe” by “representing the ancient folk music with technology.”

Another recent track to that end is the indie-pop single, “Runaway Crane (Winter Is Coming).” It presents an ancient Celtic flare along with marching band-like drumming and a more defiant vocal delivery from Petra. The band’s sounds are really rich and interesting.

They’re also playful and experimental. This includes recording sound effects from barrels, hoses, plastic bags, and circular saws, among other oddities. In a more mainstream sense, the band’s influences are stated as Peter Gabriel, Dead Can Dance, and Yello.

Electromush on Facebook

Slovenian musician Sasha Raven is an overseas artist that really jumped out at us with his unique and original songwriting, vocals and compositions.

One of his biggest singles has been the track, “Indian Summer,” a mellow yet remarkably bright and optimistic track with a good-feeling melodic hook and chorus throughout.

Over the years, he has gained tens of thousands of plays and followers with songs like “Kiss Me,” “Eternal Dreams,” and “Moonrise,” all of which exhibit his skills as a writer and musician.

Raven, who calls himself an introverted musician, is still largely under-the-radar for the level of his talents and skills, but that probably won’t last for long.

Before striking out on his own a few years ago, he was in a short-lived band called Dharma. The band had a mini-hit indie hit track, “Winter’s Day (Afterglow),” written by Morcheeba’s Paul Godfrey, before they decided to part ways.

“That band didn’t last long because of our different music tastes,” Raven said.

“I’m still grateful for the experience.” The breakup of the band did not stop him from pursuing his music.

He obviously had received some attention working with Godfrey, and of course, for his musical abilities.

Raven writes and records in the town of Jesenice nestled in the mountainous Gorenjska region of Slovenia. His local following has been strong for a number of years, while his international audience grows little by little.

He is also a performer of classical and easy listening music for which he has received many recognitions in Slovenia.

Although he has many influences, the artists and bands that inform his music the most include Radiohead, Muse, Nirvana, The Vines, Royal Blood, QOTSA, Interpol, Suede, and Placebo.

Sasha Raven on Facebook

Now safely established in Austin‘s competitive music scene, 80’s garage rock/Americana band The Savage Poor‘s new album, The Grown Ups, is steeped deep in roots rock and genre-mixing.

TSP is the musical project of brothers Jeff Brown and Ben Brown, both vocalists and guitarists. As teenagers growing up in central Pennsylvania listening to albums from The Ramones and David Bowie, among others, and taking their musical and songwriting cues from many other artists and bands they admire.

When the brothers were in their early 20’s, they decided to start recording their own music. This wasn’t a difficult thing to do for the musically-inclined brothers; in fact, they went the only path that made sense at that point: create original music that combined their love for so many different musical styles, including Americana, garage rock, cinematic music, 80’s UK post punk and indie music.

Further influences such as The Replacements, The Smiths, Lou Reed, Roy Orbison, The Cure and Doug Sahm have all helped to shape their music.

The Savage Poor’s musical influences and other talents and personalities culminate in the release of their new album, The Grown Ups (dropped last week, Aug. 18), engineered and mixed by producer Christine Smith, who has also worked with artists like Crash Test Dummies, Jesse Malin, Ryan Adams and Marah.

One of the highlights of the album, “Caligula,” is “an expansive sound painting that lyrically, through abstraction, tries to capture the emotional insanity and increasing surreality of American politics.”

Another track, “The Violent Bear it Away,” Brown says: “Partially a fish out of water comedy about the kind of American least adapted to modern times, the white conservative male.”

“The best records always straddle the line between accessibility and mystery. Thematically I knew that we wanted to make an unsettling record that spoke to the insanity of modern America, but more poetic than topical in its approach. The records that I like all have something to say.”

The other band members and contributors to The Savage Poor’s new album include Alex Moralez on drums and Roger Wuthrich on bass. Smith also contributed in many ways, including piano, synth, accordion, BVS, melodica, and omnichord.

“Because we used a variety of technology for recording,” Jeff Brown says, “from 60’s Studor tape machine to digital manipulation, and because we combined a lot of different influences from different eras, I really feel that the record sounds outside of time.”

“There will be plenty of times that you might think something sounds like so and so,” he says, adding, “but then you’ll realize that some element of it doesn’t fit your first impression.”

Here’s what you’ll get with the outlaw folk of Rust Dust’s new album, Diviners and Shivs: one voice, a few fine old instruments, and an unflinching, all-of-a-piece performance that will reach you in the moment and resonate with historical memory.

Rust Dust is the new moniker of Jason Shealy Stutts, a South Carolina native with a healthy aversion for barbers and liars. He earns his keep repairing and dealing in guitars and amps of a certain age.

After bonding with Oscar-winning, Grammy-nominated producer John DeNicola over their mutual affection for this sort of vintage gear, Stutts explained his concept for a record.

“A set of songs came together. I rearranged and de-arranged them until they tell the story of Diviners and Shivs [the new LP],” he says.

“They seemed to fit naturally with the country, blues and gospel songs I always held dear, and I hoped to record them, live, with someone who wanted to contribute to the sound and feel so that this wasn’t just a ‘dude with an acoustic’ record.”

DeNicola was enthusiastically on board for the recording.

“Jason wanted to do this like a performance art piece, a live recording straight to two-track tape, and I thought my barn studio in upstate New York would be the perfect setting,” DeNicola says.

“While Jason would be the only guitarist and singer, he saw the project as the work of a ‘band,’ with me and our engineer, Andris J. Balins, ‘playing’ the gear.”

And so Rust Dust made use of the large hayloft and milk house, placing different mics in various locations to capture subtle nuances.

They even used the corn silo as a reverb unit, putting a mic at the top and bottom and sending Stutts’ voice and guitar through a speaker. They also recorded outdoors to capture a more organic, country feel.

You’ll hear this process in the prison-break intensity of the title track and the rawboned blues of “Just Can’t Keep From Crying.”

You’ll feel it in the acidic sincerity of “Nothing Hurts Worse” and know it via a medley that teams Townes Van Zandt’s “Lungs” with Rust Dust’s “Modern Times” – a tragedy for the Trump era with rough and tumble guitar, before seg-waying into the possible salvation of “Everything Got Softer.”

There’s the jaunty delivery of “Wayfaring Stranger” and an “Amazing Grace” from your strangest dream.

“I hope everyone can listen and dream their own story of Diviners and Shivs. John and Andris made sonic changes live and played the barn, board and tape machine while we recorded straight to tape. It gives the album a cool sound and movement.”

Listen to Rust Dust on Spotify

The LP will officially drop on September 22nd via Omad Recordings.