We aren’t going to bore you with a long, drawn-out chunk of this review dedicated to the fact that the covid pandemic – and its effects on our society – have lasted too long. Instead, I’m going to put it like this: Extreme Witchcraft, the 14th album by Mark Oliver Everett’s long-running outfit Eels, isn’t his first quarantine album, but his second.
2020’s gentle Earth to Dora was itself a reaction to the fact that the pandemic had clipped the wings of Everett – or, as he prefers, simply E – one designed to give solace to his fans during that downtime. By the time E returns to the road and the stage, who knows how many albums he’ll have to promote? Will he be able to manage a hat trick?
The pandemic has lasted long enough, though, that life has begun to return to normal for Eels, and while Dora was produced entirely by E himself, Extreme Witchcraft reunites the band with PJ Harvey and Sparklehorse (not to mention Eels’ own Souljacker) producer John Parish, and with it, Eels return to their more rock-oriented sound.
This alone is a breath of fresh air for Eels fans who prefer the group at their most comparatively energetic – which has long been one of the most beloved shades of Eels – and who will easily sink into the grungier shades of Extreme Witchcraft, which help elevate songs like “The Magic” (among the best songs here) and “Better Living Through Desperation,” which are each packed with some pretty hefty firepower.
The most engaging of the bunch is also the most compelling: “What It Isn’t” oscillates between softly-delivered verses and jagged choruses. “If it is what it is, then I’ve got to say,” he coos as he trails off – just in time for the chorus to suckerpunch you in the jaw: “Then make it what it isn’t/ Shut up!” he howls over the track’s dramatic guitars.
This first official DIY edition of 2022 features new music from artists both familiar and those that are brand new to our ears.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Melbourne, Australia Electric Lecture – Los Angeles, California Strangejuice – Perth, Australia The Flashcrackers – Dublin, California NEEDSHES – Tula, Russia HYDE OUT – London, England
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard- Butterfly 3001
As late arrivers (like really late) to the King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard bandwagon of musical pranksters, their new drop is a remix album of hit (mostly hit) and miss mixes.
That said, the band’s abundantly creative exploits into offbeat, even wacky-rock, experiments are exciting artistic sonic paintings – like Picaso meets Pollock and they eat some shrooms. Once you start to dig into their discography, it becomes apparent why they have a loyal following.
Interestingly, the band has their own label – KGLW – and so, they are effectively DIY.
If you’re not on the King Giz and Liz Wiz band wagon, and remixes are not your favs, check out releases like 2016’s Nonagon Infinity or their last two studio releases – L.W. (2021) and K.G. (2020). Those might just be the ones that get you to hop aboard.
The guests making contributions include Vril, DJ Shadow, Yu Su, DaM-Funk, The Flaming Lips, and many others.
Electric Lecture – “Beam Me Up”
Los Angeles-based band Electric Lecture has dropped another new dream-pop/alt. country rock style single with the single “Beam Me Up.”
The new single follows a number of singles dropped by the band over the past couple of years.
“Reverse Evolution” plays like a laid back alt-country pop anthem that pulls together a wide variety of influences.
The track successfully marries elements of Tom Petty and Beck, while presenting an arsenal of inspired sounds unique to the new band. Reverse Evolution hits home in a familiar way, yet it’s unlike anything you’ve heard: ‘Reverse evolution/we want a war/find a solution?/we just want the war.’
Musicians and songwriters Bronson Taalbi and Greg Ansin, the band’s fronters, sing drunkenly in the chorus. This lyric says a lot about the state of some people in the world who are set in their ways instead of welcoming change.
“The ship is sinking!” Bronson sings out as overdriven guitar harmonies steal you away for a monster hook, and what happens next can only be described “as a deconstructed orchestra, flying through space at fiery speeds, and crashing onto a timpani that tosses us int
The third band member, Anthony J. Resta, is a multi-platinum producer, composer and guitar collector whose collaborations include Collective Soul; Elton John and Duran Duran among others.
Ansin, a songwriter, producer and filmmaker is the co-creator of the movies The Drive-In Horrorshow and Infinite Santa 8000.
Taalbi, a singer, songwriter and guitarist, is the second-half of the guitar duo Taalbi Brothers. Their music has been featured in the TV shows like Breaking Bad.
Strangejuice – “The Moth”
Last year, one of our favorite Australian DIY artists, Strangejuice, was featured on our pages because his amazing 2019 album, Raising Cannibals, was, and is, a DIY, under-the-radar classic.
He lives on Mount Nasura in Perth crafting a banquet of sounds, styles and moods such as tracks like “Ghost” “Embreyo” and “The Moth,” to name just a few.
“The Moth” is a grungy rock number with a theatrical element that rolls into a full-on chorus and a romping, slightly meancing beat.
“This is the second track and first single from my 13th album release “The Last Year,” Michael Andersen, aka Strangejuice, says.
A moth symbolises tremendous change, he says, and the song “is about the relationship breakdown of the mother of my child and the change that lead to me being a single father.”
“A moth thinks its beautiful like the butterfly, but it is neither beautiful nor majestic.”
For the actual recording and production process, Andersen used a number of techniques and gear.
“I use tape stops instead of faders to bring music sections in and out,” he addds.
He recorded the song in his home studio with cardboard boxes to “insulate the squawking chickens next door to my makeshift studio using a PRS custom guitar into a Klon Pedal out to a Fender Princeton amp and a Neumann U87 microphone.”
“The Moth” appears on Strangejuice’s 17-track album, The Last Year, available on Bandcamp.
The Last Year is an album written as part if a grieving and healing” he says, adding that he was partly inspired by Beck’s Seachange album
“Into the Sea” is a minimalist and dreamy new track from Dublin, California indie band The Flashcrackers.
The warm track is full of melody and emotion with a sweet rythym to keep it grounded.
“The bass is the anchor of the song with guitar, piano and vocal hanging off it,” says frontman Dave Fedorenko (Curbside Journal; Brave Music).
There are no extra notes, he says, with each instrument “used to maximum effect.” The lyric is about “staring down the future and realizing our best years are ahead of us regardless of what noise our culture throws at us.”
Written and recorded in 30 days, the recording, Fedorenko says, was “a personal challenge to start and finish a song in a limited time frame.”
The Flashcrackers forge decades of varied and disparate influences into their own distinctive style of dreampop. Their music is full of seeming contradictions: sparse yet full, melancholy yet uplifting.
We were immediately taken by the amazing motion picture collage video, and the song itself too, for the new track “One Day” from a DIY band in Russia.
“One Day” is a dreamy retro ode, emotive and epic composition that makes us think about living in the present instead of being caught in dreams of a better future.
The track comes by way of NEEDSHES – an indie rock/alternative band founded by songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Otabek ‘Beck’ Salamov who is originally from Uzbekistan.
“I wrote the melody for the verse probably in 2010 in my hometown of Tashkent. The sketch was in a bad condition until 2020. Sometimes it takes something from outside to push you,” Salamov says.
“For me, it was my friend, music supervisor who asked me to show something old school and dreamy enough to be a song for the closing of the movie. This movie has never been finished but I got the song. I can tell for sure this song was easy to sing and record. It’s personal stuff, I can feel it one hundred percent…”
The story about the kite was a “really bright event” of his childhood Salamov exclaims. “All I had was this kite. When you grow up in poverty and have no future, you don’t waste time on dreams. You have to think about how to find your piece of bread tomorrow.”
Salamov encapsulates his art for composing soaring ballads with funk-soul anthems mixed with swagger rock and suffocating alternative. While studying at the music academy, Bek was awarded the first prize for his precision on clarinet.
As a teen, he was drawn to compose metalcore. He growled hardcore music in nightclubs with the cross-painted face. One day he decided to dilute the hard album with melodic undertones.
The switch gravitated to his liking leading to the formation of NEEDSHES in 2013. Among his main influences, there are Jack White, The Killers, James Brown, Queen, RHCP, among others.
Salamov’s music has been featured in commercials in 32 countries of Europe and television/cable programming.
Currently based in Tula (Russia), he continues to expand his eclectic style rooted in David Bowie, Queen, and James Brown in 2022.
Hyde Out is a London hard rock duo by Omar Merlo (from Switzerland and Australia) and Jaka (from Slovenia).
Last week, the duo dropped their sophomore album, Tunnel Vision, featuring a set of 12 original songs with stronger hard rock influences, opening up yet a new style and direction for the band.
Omar and Jaka come from broad creative musical backgrounds and have played in several groups around the world. Their musical style and influences are diverse, ranging from British alt-pop to American folk music, and from pop-rock to hard rock.
Their music often tries to blend different styles and genres, leading to creative and interesting musical results. Hyde Out make music simply out of passion, looking for new ways to bring to life the sounds that defined their own musical origins.
Following a few experimental self-produced demo projects and collaborations, in November 2020 Hyde Out finally released their first studio album, Smoke and Mirrors , a collection of original songs showcasing Hyde Out’s varied influences and softer side.
Two songs from that album have done particularly well: “Alive” and “Smoke and Mirrors” (the latter was a semi-finalist in the 2021 International Song-writing Contest).
A nice surprise in our mailbox came way of three musicians well-known in the indie folk rock world – Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Tyler Ramsey (formerly Band of Horses), and independent artist Kramies Windt.
Lytle, Ramsey and Windt have been friends and toured and worked together for years. So it’s not that big of a surprise when this unofficial, mini-supergroup dropped a new triple-single this week, Over and Outsider, featuring one new song from each artist.
“We decided to do this project – ‘over and outsider’ – to try and put some light and love back into the world during this crazy time,” the trio’s statement reads. “All three songs are lovely.”
Windt is best known for his work with Lytle and Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Jerry Becker (Train), and Todd Tobias (Guided by Voices) and has toured and performed with artists like Spiritualized, Yo La Tengo, and Calexico.
He established a new indie record label called VanGerrett Records on which the trio released the split single. ‘Kramies’ – as he is more commonly known – is a collector and maker of rare split singles, one-off releases and “magical moments that can only be found here.”
Kramies two 2021 singles, “Days Of” & “Ohio I’ll Be Fine,” entered the U.S. & Canadian college charts’ Top 10.
For this 2022 release, Kramies wrote and recorded “She’s Low Tide”
Lytle, long revered as Grandaddy’s frontman, performs his track, “Drop That Hero,” while Ramsey, a free agent musician since leaving Band of Horses, presents his new song, “Arrow to Bow.”
The breadth of these songs; the quality of songwriting; the emotional pinging of each chord – all come together the way a light rain, a soft wind and singing birds do on a sweet summer afternoon.
January 2022 has been a fairly strong month for notable new album releases.
The first half of the month included new LPs from big indie bands like The Lumineers, The Wombats, Cat Power, Bonobo, Elvis Costello, Blood Red Shoes, Spector, Burial and others.
The second half of the first month of 2022 continued the flow of releases from favorites like Broken Social Scene, Beirut, EELS, Yard Act, Silverbacks, Palace and Years & Years.
In This Volume:
Artist/Band
Homebase
Album Title
Record Label
Genre
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
Toronto, Ontario
Old Dead Young (B-Sides & Rarities)
Arts and Crafts
(alt./indie rock)
Beirut
Sante Fe, New Mexico
Artifcats
Pompeii
(indie rock/pop)
EELS
Los Angeles, California
Extreme Witchcraft
E Works
(indie rock/pop)
Yard Act
Leeds, England
The Overload
Zen FC/Island
(indie rock/avante garde)
Palace
London, England
Shoals
Fiction
(indie rock/pop)
Years & Years
London, England
Night Call
Polydor
(indie rock/pop)
After a blockbuster year for 2021 album releases, it looks like 2022 is shaping up to be a year where a bunch of veteran indie/alt rock giants are set to drop new and highly anticipated albums.
These include new releases from what one could mistaken as a line-up for veteran indie/alt bands like Built to Spill; Spoon; Pavement; Sloan; Urge Overkill; Slowdive; Guided By Voices; Spiritualized with rumors/hopes of new albums from My Bloody Valentine and The Cure.
All said, the second half of January 2022 releases (drop dates: Jan. 21 and Jan. 28) has plenty of great indie music to keep all of us busy.
First things first: we’re a little bummed that BMG moved Band of Horses‘ new album – Things Are Great – from its initial January 21st drop date to March 4th.
That said, Ben Bridwell and friends have shared three tracks from the LP, including BOH-style pleasers like “Crutch” and “In Need of Repair” as only they can do.
Another veteran, influential and amazing indie rock band (more like a collective), Broken Social Scene returns in ’22 with an double-album titled Old Dead Young (B-Sides & Rarities). (Beirut also just dropped a 26-track double album of previously recordings; outtakes; previously-unreleased songs, B-sides, etc.)
Even though Broken Social Scene‘s new album is not technically a ‘studio’ release of new material, BSS die-hard fans are sure to enjoy the B-sides and ‘rarities’ treat.
Of course fans of BSS would welcome with wide-open arms an album of new material, especially following the success of 2017’s Hug of Thunder. In the two decades of existence, BSS has released just five albums.
And while the collection just dropped for streaming, a handful of album tracks have already racked up hundreds of thousands of streams, and not surprisingly mostly for the beautiful folksy chill of “This House is On Fire” or the surreal alt. art rock on “Canada vs. America.”
Record Collector (80): "Between the weather-worn blues reflections of Hard Times and the euphoric lift of closer Coalinga, the sense emerges of a band rediscovering their footing, a little saddle-sore but riding tall once more.
Classic Rock Magazine (80): "The result is a minor wonder of wit, weight and emotion the Horses back to full gallop.
Pitchfork (68): "The Canadian indie rock band sorts through a largely subdued grab bag of material on this career-spanning set, highlighted by offbeat experiments and homespun, intimate moments.
Bandcamper swills1: "BSS was basically a Super Group before the fact. Their lineup all went on to be all stars. I really like hearing the B-sides and how they differed from other tracks that made the A-side cut.
BEIRUT – Artifacts
Not only does BSS have a collection of rarities, B-sides, and various recordings to offer this month, so doesn’t another huge indie band, and IRC favorite since 2007 (they were one of our first posts): Beirut.
The collection is a worthy edition to Beirut fans’ playlists, especially for die-hard fans.
However, for the average indie fan who may dig a few of Beirut’s tracks (if they’ve heard of them), the collection is not as essential as Beirut’s previous years’ releases, including the epic The Flying Club Cub (2007) which followed Beirut breakthrough debut album, Gulag Orkestar (2006).
Artifacts features popular new tracks like “Fisher Island Sound,” and the more modern, dance-oriented “Fyodor Dormant”).
“This song was written while staying in band member Ben Lanz’s old family cottage on the coast of Connecticut, on the Fisher Island Sound,” Condon explains.
“I played with the lines for years before trying to record versions of it in Brooklyn with the band. Perrin Cloutier had taught himself how to play a new button accordion beautifully, and the band was really sounding their best.
“I however, struggled in those years to put vocals on the songs and ended up scrapping a lot of the music from that era in this part of the collection due to fear, stress and self-doubt. I’ve come to rediscover some of these old songs in a different light since then, but they do remain a heavy reminder of unsteady times.
Artifacts chronicles the evolution of Beirut during the past 15 years. It also includes some of Condon’s earliest recordings from the tender age of 14 years old.
“When the decision came to re-release this collection, I found myself digging through hard drives looking for something extra to add to the compilation,” Condon said in the liner notes for Artifacts.
“What started as a few extra unreleased tracks from my formative recording years quickly grew into an entire extra records-worth of music from my past, and a larger project of remixing and remastering everything I found for good measure.”
From XSNoise writer Michael Barron: “The strongest songs on this double album are the EP’s and the B-sides when Zachary had finally met bandmates Paul Collins and Nick Petree, who had taken Middle Eastern percussion classes and knew his way around a Darbuka drum.
“Condon, at this stage, knew how to channel and develop his experimentation. The influences of the minimal German electronica, hip hop and various mixtapes play a less prominent role, and the organic world music sounds come to the forefront. For example, the Portuguese Fado-style guitar over the main melody and trumpets across instrumental “Die Treue zum Ursprung” form the sound template that would eventually provide Beirut with international acclaim.”
EELS – Extreme Witchcraft
This past week sees the release of album #14 for indie vet Eels.
Extreme Witchcraft is a twelve-song album co-produced with PJ Harvey producer and guitarist John Parish.
It marks the first collaboration between Eels frontman (only man) Mark “E” Oliver Everett and Parish since 2001’s Souljacker.
“John Parish is one of the most even-tempered and polite people I’ve ever met. A true gentleman. In fact, he’s probably the most polite person I’ve ever met. But when he gets into the studio, he becomes a mad scientist. When you make music with John Parish you get things that no one else has. He has a really unique tool kit and a unique musical attitude. Maybe his politeness is a coping mechanism to keep Mr. Hyde in check when he’s not in his lab,” E said.
Eels advanced the first single “Good Night On Earth” last September. The album is available on CD, LP and as a limited edition double box set on transparent yellow vinyl (45 RPM, 180 g). The CD includes a digipak with a booklet, a lenticular print of the album artwork, an Extreme Witchcraft Ouija board with Eels’ planchette and a A5 sticker sheet.
It’s amazing to release that singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Oliver Everett first founded Eels back in 1991 – over 30 years ago. Since band members have changed frequently over the years, Everett is the only official Eels’ member with 13 studio albums, seven of which charted in the US Billboard 200. Extreme Witchcraft marks LP #14.
Yard Act – The Overload
While we’re late to the Yard Act love fest, that doesn’t lessen the attraction and intrigue for this interesting and unique no-wave/punk band from Leeds, England.
In recent months, the band has crossed many music bloggers’ radars, including ours, and has become a buzz-band for 2022.
Yard Act’s full-length debut, The Overload, is a rousing, ‘talkie’ punk rock trip that is garnering praise from critics and music lovers alike. Comparisons with bands like The Fall (an obvious heavy influence) and the Parquet Courts are appropriate.
Under The Radar(90): "At its heart, The Overload is a hugely impressive debut bubbling with sardonic wit, wisdom, anger, and compassion.
The (UK) Telegraph(80): "The Overload is a very fine debut from a group that sound like they think they are smarter, funnier and fiercer than all of their peers, and just might prove to be.
PopMatters (70): "Interestingly, the near-constant use of spoken word doesn’t ever become grating. The band have a knack for making their instrumentals minimalistic enough for the vocals to always feel natural while also unique.
Palace – Shoals
The third full-length release for British trio Palace was written during the first COVID lockdowns.
The Line of Best Fit (80): "With this album, Palace have offered a spiritual voyage through the fluctuations of life, and the uncertainty that holds its hand. If Shoals is anything to go by, Palace will be filling stadiums before too long.
Mojo (80) "It feels like Palace's first significant work.
DIY Magazine (70) "A more pure and intense sound, less manufactured and acutely heartfelt.
Yards & Yards – Night Call
The astronomical success of Years & Years in past years has a new chapter: Olly Alexander’s new ‘solo’ album Night Call has already garnered tens of millions of streams with the most going to “Starstruck” and “Sweet Talker”.
If you like to boogy, you may dig the mainstream-oriented dance record of Alexander’s new solo project – framed as such after two members of the once-blockbuster trio left for other projects.
AllMusic (80) "While Night Call builds nicely upon Years & Years' indie electronic roots, it primarily feels like a new beginning for Alexander as he boldly embraces his pop future."
Uncut (60) "Too often, though, good-not-great tunes can't quite make up for generic song structures and performances that seem to have lost a certain charismatic shine during the downsizing operation."
The latest full-length release from the Japanese post-rock band Boris is its first on the Sacred Bones label.
The Wire (80): "Where NO was extreme in its attack, W opts to let the group dream, as a more acoustic angle is explored – with Wata’s ephemeral vocal being an ever present guiding spirit force that trails like incense smoke through the songs."
One of Jacksonville‘s (Florida) most popular rock bands, Shinedown have shared a dope new lyric video for the title track – “Planet Zero” – from the forthcoming album.
Planet Zero is set to drop April 22nd on Atlantic.
Frontman Brent Smith says: “If we shut each other down and allow ourselves to be divided by the information we consume and the way we talk to each other, we lose our humanity.
“When you look outside of your phone, you’ll see there are so many people doing good things and trying to take care of each other. But we’re starting to see parts of society slip into an unknown…the fact is that we’re all here on this planet no matter what, so it’s time to actually move forward together with empathy, perseverance and strength.”
From YouTube comments:
Fish Stick101
I’m getting such Heroes/Cut The Chord vibes from this, it’s great to hear some heavy release from them reminiscent of their old work with a perfect twist. My eyes shot wide when I heard this song, they always impress! I love it!
The first week of January 2022 was thin for indie rock and alt album releases.
But second week of the new year made-up the slack with a slate of solid new releases from Silverbacks, The Wombats, The Lumineers, to mention a few. (We’ll post about Jan 21 and Jan 28 releases next.)
Included below are the most recent music video singles for each album – all officially dropped on January 14,2022.
IRC’s Top Album Picks, Jan. 2022, Vol. I
Artist/Band
Homebase
Album Title
Record Label
Genre
Silverbacks
Dublin, Ireland
Archive Material
Full Time Hobby
(alt./indie rock)
The Wombats
Liverpool, England
Fix Yourself, Not The World
AWAL
(indie rock/pop)
The Lumineers
Denver, Colorado
Brightside
Dualtone/Decca
(indie folk)
Cat Power
Miami, Florida
Covers
Domino
(indie rock/pop)
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
London, England
The Boy Named If
EMI
(pop/rock)
Blood Red Shoes
Brighton, England
Ghosts on Tape
Velveteen Records
(alt.rock)
Silverbacks’Archive Material was already one of the hottest new albums of the year thanks to a number of pre-release singles dropped in the past months. The Irish keep bringing the rock.
Paste Magazine(75): “Whether all our efforts on this dying world will be for naught is an open question, but Silverbacks bear witness nonetheless on Archive Material, advancing their craft even as the ship sinks beneath their feet…”
No Ripcord (70): “Archive Material is a strong release for fans of Fad or newcomers to Silverbacks, the type of album that feels like it’ll only get better with time…”
The Quietus (80): “With Archive Material, Silverbacks bring so much fun, personality, and excellent musicianship across their songs. It’s a record that, once again, confirms a bright future ahead.
Already one of the biggest-selling and charting albums in the U.K. so far this year, The Wombats’Fix Yourself, Not The World is the band’s fifth studio album.
New Musical Express (80): “‘Ready For The High’ barely sits still for a verse at a time, ducking between buzz-rock, falsetto funk and bits that seem written for the first dance at the marriage of MGMT and Jungle. The rest of the album further delivers: confident funk pop (‘Wildfire’, ‘Worry’) and inventive future disco (‘This Car Drives All By Itself’, ‘People Don’t Change People, Time Does’) are staples, but the palette is wide here, the brushstrokes bold.
Clash Music (80) “Perhaps it’s their captivating storytelling taking a psychological turn, or maybe it’s the way they’ve incorporated cutting edge electronica, pop and R&B elements into the melodic energies of classic new wave, alt-rock and indietronica, but, ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ is a record that will appeal. It is arguably their best work yet.
The Guardian (60) “Fix Yourself, Not the World isn’t going to change the face of music, but nor is it going to do anything to impede the Wombats’ latter-day progress.
From MusicGuyMack (7): “Solid (if unremarkable) songwriting and peppy, spirited performances help ensure that The Wombats’ latest at least remains engaging and appealing to pop/indie rock fans throughout, although the group’s largely inside-the-box approach of rigid adherence to the tried and tested tropes of these genres may prove frustrating and ultimately experience-shortening for more demanding listeners.””
Choice Cuts: “This Car Drives All by Itself,” “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You,” “Ready for the High”
The Lumineers have managed to attract a good deal of chatter and streams for their new album, Brightside, dropped officially on Jan 14th. The title track alone is approaching 16 million streams just on Spotify.
AllMusic (80): “The easy melodic hooks that drew fans to the Lumineers in the first place remain, but the combination of stronger material and looser performances make for a strong fourth outing.
No Ripcord (60): “Brightside is no different: belt out vibrant and occasionally resonant anthems that are easy to grasp even if somewhat oversimplified. The nuance is altogether lost, though, like most of their discography, it’ll win you over with its scrappy, can-do charm.
Bandcamper KingandMoon (9): “The film-making of this album is amazing. It gets me emotional and it makes me feel some experience that I’ve never had before.”
It hit like getting hit hard with a heavy pillow: Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, is going to release another covers album in 2022 (we said in 2021)?
Then it hit – ‘hold on!’ she dropped her first covers album – The Covers Record – 21 years ago. Whaaaaaat! 21 years.
Marshall’s raspy, sincere and soft vocals set to heartfelt and introspective songs have attracted fans to Cat Power from the start and to the present day.
On Covers, Marshall pays tribute to songs from Jackson Brown, Nick Cave, Lana Del Rey, Billie Holiday, Iggy Pop, Frank Ocean, The Replacements and Kitty Wells.
The reaction from Marshall’s fans is on display all over the web. On Cat Power’s Bandcamp page are comments like:
“That moment when a Cat Power song has you is like walking through an art gallery and coming upon a piece of art that stops you in your tracks. Erwin Schrödinger famously said that the total number of minds in the universe is one. Listen to a Cat Power record and try to feel alone. I can’t do it. Favorite track: Stay. – via Bandcamper Raymond Stewart
And:
” Covers has been be a great addition to my Cat Power collection :-) Avid Cat Power aficionados will revel in this new ‘audiogasmic’ release. Turn the lights off, pour a whiskey – bliss…” – via Bandcamper Hassles
Critics have largely welcomed the new collection of Marshall covers:
Mojo (80): “This album again showcases Marshall’s exceptional ability to burrow right into the marrow of a song…”
Beats Per Minute (75): “Though the nature of Covers makes it slightly scattershot, and nothing quite hits the heights of some of her past covers, it is decidedly more engaging and diverse than her last album, the lowkey-to-the-point-of-disappearing Wanderer.
The Guardian (60): “Not so much fresh takes on old favourites, Covers is more like watered-down versions of semi-hidden gems.”
Under The Radar(70): “While it doesn’t feature her own lyrics, the record still ambles through archetypal Cat Power moods—insouciance, worry, bliss—steering clear of the pulsating synths à la ‘Manhattan’ and sticking with the stripped-back worry-pop of Wanderer.
It’s amazing in a way that Elvis Costello is still pumping out acclaimed albums after, what, 35-40 years? But he still amazes many critics, as his latest LP, The Boy Named If, demonstrates:
Slant Magazine (80): The tail-end of The Boy Named If finds Costello suddenly back in crooner mode with the soft-shoe swing of “Trick Out the Truth” and the moonstruck “Mr. Crescent.” Both tracks are quietly exquisite and provide a comedown from the adrenaline-fueled highs of the album’s first half. They underscore the ways in which The Boy Named If is as complete and often thrilling as anything Costello has recorded in years.
Pitchfork (75): Costello fans will find many delights in The Boy Named If. For one, his 32nd studio album sounds smashing. Sebastian Krys’ mix stresses the textures of acoustic instruments without walloping listeners; Costello’s guitar, as restless as a child at a symphony even on solid albums like When I Was Cruel and Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, burrows right between Faragher’s bass and Nieve’s keyboards, enunciating hook after hook.
Ghosts on Tape – Blood Red Shoes The sixth full-length release for British duo Blood Red Shoes was inspired in part by true crime documentaries and podcasts.
musicOMH.com (70): “There’s very little here to dislike, so stick it on loud, turn off the lights and sit back and enjoy.”
Mojo (60) “An accomplished study in post-punk boom, synth whoosh and creepy-crawl vocals.”
David Bazan ended Phoenix, his 2019 album as Pedro the Lion, with a big question mark. The album was a reflection on the singer’s youth in Phoenix, where he was born and grew up until moving away when he was in (or about to start) seventh grade. In “Leaving the Valley,” the last song on the album, Bazan faced the unknown as his family pulled out in a U-Haul. “Where the wheel stops, no one knows,” Bazan sang.
As it happens, the wheel stopped next at Lake Havasu, a vast reservoir in northwest Arizona, on the border with California. The biggest municipality in the area, Lake Havasu City, is probably best known as the place where London Bridge ended up, after an oil magnate bought it in 1968 and had the structure reassembled there, block by block. Bridge or no, Lake Havasu was not a place young David Bazan wanted to be, yet his stint there proved formative enough for him to write about it on Pedro the Lion’s latest album, Havasu.
If Phoenix had an air of wide-eyed, sometimes bemused nostalgia, Havasu is more conflicted—and not just about the location. Pedro the Lion’s latest is really an album about starting to come of age. Bazan evokes the tumult of emotion that accompanies the middle school years, sometimes so well that it’s uncomfortable, as he chronicles the year or so he spent in Lake Havasu before his family moved again.
He depicts the anxiety of being the new kid in school, the thrill of a first kiss, the longing to find his place and fit in—a quest made more complicated in Bazan’s case by a religious upbringing that left him in fear of eternal damnation. His lyrics here are unflinching throughout and feel honest to a fault, whether he’s taking too long to think of something cool to say to a new classmate on “Too Much,” or misreading all the signals from everyone and making a hash of things on “My Own Valentine.”
Increasingly popular indie rock duo Ducks Ltd. will set out on a months-long tour of North America and the U.K. starting next Wednesday in their official homebase of Toronto.
Band members Tom McGreevy (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming) possess a boundless love for 1980s jangle-pop. They put their own spin on the post-punk era via Ducks Ltd.’s debut album, Modern Fiction.
The duo is heavily influenced by overseas and North American 80s post-punk and indie pop bands like Close Lobsters, Felt, Orange Juice, McCarthy, the Clean, the Bats, the Feelies, and The Go-Betweensetc.
Ducks Ltd. stitches together layers of intricate melodies and lively, nostalgic pop/rock elements to create an irresistible combination of energy, bliss and introspection.
The duo built a reputation in the Toronto scene sharing the stage with bands like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Weyes Blood, The Goon Sax, Juan Wauters, and Yowler. Their DIY debut EP, Get Bleak, dropped in November of 2019.
Get Bleak was widely praised by the press and blogosphere. Pitchfork wrote: “Ducks Ltd. understand that dancing through misery is healthier than dancing around it. Their brand of lilting, throwback jangle-pop makes that seem like the easiest thing in the world to do.”
In 2020, Ducks Ltd. signed to Carpark Records & Royal Mountain Records
As one of our favorite releases of 2021, Modern Fiction, keeps ringing into the new year.
A self-taught producer since age 11, Rosesleeves (aka Sabrine Alsalih) is a 17-year-old musician and songwriter in the U.K.
Influenced by the avant-garde production of FKA twigs and Purity Ring and the emotive songwriting and melodies of Mitski and Radiohead, his sound is best described as ‘constantly evolving alternative pop’.
Alsalih’s music is a “[My music] is a unique, personal journey that creates an ambient atmosphere,” he says. Structured by pop-influenced shapes and nuances, his discography is a sonic experience for listeners of DIY alt/indie pop.
The featured track, “Alphabet,” is an “atmospheric and evocative composition — anyone’s first listen is a memorable experience,” he adds.
FEATURED TRACK: “Alphabet” – Rosesleeves
We recommend listening to more of his tracks on Spotify. Currently, Alsalih has nearly 30K monthly listeners. That’s a sizeable audience for any DIY artist.
Collaborations with osquinn, Noahh, Mag and Ezekiel show Alsalih range and his transcending ability to adopt different styles. Rosesleeves also founded the indie electronic collective Sewerbratz in 2019 and continues to foster its growth.
Fully self-produced and written, he released his debut album 9920deadline in March 2021. He is currently working on developing new areas of his sound through a series of singles. IRC first featured Rosesleeves last summer.
Beach House‘s new album Once Twice Melody drops on February 18 via Sub Pop and Bella Union.
Baltimore’s famous indie dream pop duo Beach House has just released Chapter 3′ from Once Twice Melody featuring five new tracks, including the seductive “Masquerade”.
The releasing of tracks from the double album via installments over the past months is a smart strategy as it slowly builds anticipation of Beach House fans by revealing a few synth-glazed tracks at a time rather than all at once – or even just one single at a time (which is a more common tactic).
Here’s what one fan, mattyb01, wrote on Bandcamp: “already some of the best dream pop/shoegaze I’ve heard since Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time by Candy Claws.
“The absurd amount of time and talent that must have went into making this album shows, and I’ll be patiently waiting for the rest of the parts as they come out. The mix of synths and drum machines with guitars, as well as the absolutely gorgeous string arrangements make for a extremely entertaining listening experience. Favorite track: Pink Funeral.
Many fan comments selected “Starstruck” as the best of the new tracks.
Once Twice Melody is Beach House’s eighth studio album release.
Despite chapter after chapter drops it’s going to be very interesting to hear the entire project all at once when it officially drops next month.
In all, 13 of the 18 tracks are available to stream via the duo’s Bandcamp page:
Indie/alt rock trailblazers Sonic Youth will release a new mini-album of rarities called In/Out/In on March 11th.
The mini-album assembles five previously-unreleased tracks recorded between 2000 and 2010.
The songs on the new EP were recorded in a number of locations across the country in the early 2000s.
“Basement Contender” and “Machine” were recorded in the Sonic Youth rehearsal room in Northampton, Massachusetts (homebase since forever). During the scrappy, long sessions also emerges “The Eternal.”
The track “In & Out” was recorded in Pomona, California while “Out & In” was recorded in Echo Canyon, New Jersey with Jim O’Rourke , who also performed on “Social Static”.
A passage by the band on their Bandcamp page addresses the amount of ‘rarities’ they still have to go through: “…it’s a massive mountain to chip away at in the sense of the group output alone; individual members’ projects are a whole other game, needless to say. ‘In/Out/In’ ably delivers a new slab of mostly-unheard Sonic righteousness, with a scope on the post 2000-era band in especially zoned/exploratory regions.”
“‘In/Out/In’ ably delivers a new slab of mostly-unheard Sonic righteousness… ” – Sonic Youth
The release of five additional previously unreleased ‘rarities’ from the band follows their 2020 Bandcamp album Raritites 1 featuring a dozen previously-unreleased rarities.
In/Out/In Tracklist: 1 Basement Contender 2 In & Out 3 Machine 4 Social Static 5 Out & In
Irish indie rock bands like Fontaine DC and Silverbacks headline IRC’s first bi-monthly best new singles report of 2022.
We also just posted our Best Songs of 2021 – 125 amazing tracks from the best indie and non-indie albums of the year (and it was a blockbuster year for albums!). Plus, new music from Pavement, Spiritualized and Holodrum.
Dublin indie rockers Fontaines DC just announced a new album Skinty Fia for release this spring. The first new single from the band’s forthcoming third album is the driving first single “Jackie Down The Line”.
There’s confusion about the title of the album swirling around. Basically ‘skinty fia’ is an expletive, but historically it’s an Irish phrase that translates to ‘the damnation of the deer.’ Over time, the original meaning has been Anglicized and diluted.
The band have also announced a North American tour for this spring along with fellow Irish band Just Mustard.
Fontaines DC is one of the hottest Irish indie rock bands of the past half decade. The band members are Grian Chatten, Carlos O’Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan III, and Tom Coll.
Silverbacks start ’22 wih latest single from Archive Material
Irish indie band Silverbacks kick off 2022 with the fourth single, “A Job Worth Something”, from the Archive Material album due out later this month.
“A Job Worth Something” is latest single drop and their first new material of the year. The previous three singles dropped include “Rolodex City”, “Archive Material” and “Wear My Medals”.
“For most of the pandemic I lived with my sister who is a healthcare worker and was working in the designated Covid hospital in St James’ Dublin,” says frontman Daniel O’Kelly. “Unfortunately, I was far less heroic, writing copy for a car insurance company.”
“This song is about feeling embarrassed about how different our lives were at this time,” O’Kelly adds. “When it comes to telling my grandchildren what all this was like, I’ll be telling them about my sisters who have more important stories to share.”
Archive Material drops officially on January 21 .
Pavement drops ‘new’ single from massive Terror Twilight re-issue
As one of the clear purveyors of the indie/alt rock sound slack rockers Pavement will drop a deluxe reissue of Terror Twilight in February with three previously unreleased songs. Here is one of them: “Be The Hook”. Thoughts?
Matador Records will release the reissue on April 8th. According to the label, the reissue will reincarnate producer Nigel Goodrich‘s (Beck, Radiohead) original track listing suggestion along with Pavement’s final track order.
The four LP/2-CD editions will also include a book featuring previously unreleased photos and notes. Obviously, a must-have for die-hard Pavement fans.
The reissue includes a stunning 45 tracks and a remastering of the original album, as well as B-sides, rehearsal tapes, live recordings, home demos, rehearsal tapes, live recordings and sessions – such as recordings from a scrapped session at Sonic Youth’s Echo Canyon studio. In all, the compilation offers 28 unreleased tracks, including “Be The Hook.”
The LP will restore Terror‘s producer Nigel Goodrich (Radiohead, Beck) suggested sequence, yet the new CD will preserve the final track order lined up by Pavement.
U.K. indie trailblazers Spiritutalized drop second single
Ahead of the release of their forthcoming new album, long-time English space rockers Spiritualized unveiled a video for the fresh single, “Crazy.”
The single follows the release of the first single, and opener, “Always Together With You” from the upcoming album release, Everything Was Beautiful, set to drop February 25 on Fat Possum.
For 30 years, Spiritualized, easily one of the U.K.’s first popular ‘indie’ bands, has remained innovative and relevant. The new country-soul single features backing vocals from Nikki Lane. Directing the video – and inspired by Andy Warhol’s 60’s silent film, Kiss – frontman Jason Pierce, a.k.a., J Spaceman.
Speaking of ‘crazy’, the album was recorded in 11 different studios over a couple of years. Pierce plays 16 different instruments on the album with help from some 30 invited musicians, including choirs, chimes, brass and string section and finger bells.
“I felt like I’d been in training for this my whole life,” Pierce said in a statement. “There was so much information on it that the slightest move would unbalance it, but going around in circles is important to me.
“Not like you’re spiraling out of control but you’re going around and around and on each revolution you hold onto the good each time. Sure, you get mistakes as well, but you hold on to some of those too and that’s how you kind of… achieve. Well, you get there.”
Holodrum drops debut single “Free Advice”
Shimmering with disco-like electro-pop, U.K. supergroup Holodrum has drop the debut single, “Free Advice”. The track is layered and complex and atmospheric.
“When it comes to doing music, most bands fall between two extremes of doing it for some goal or as an end to itself,” says guitarist/vocalist Sam Shjipstone. “I think Holodrum is about the joy and complexity of living, and I just hope to god everyone gets to have a good time doing it.”
“[Free Advice] expresses the state of feeling invincible in the face of adversity,” says lead vocalist Emily Garner, “and acts quite explicitly as a piece of good advice, applicable to anyone that’s gone out of their way just to harsh your vibe.”
The accompanying video is steep deep in technicolour with 8-bit animation. “[It] mostly includes things we miss and love about being in a band. Namely jamming, travelling, seeing stuff and enjoying the local delicacies. Iced in a candy-core palette, the video art is a motion collage of 2D, 2.5D and isometric 3D graphics.” shares the group.
“Free Advice” is out now and the debut album drops February 25.
