DATE ARCHIVES : October 2017

The Downtown Lights – ‘My Best Friend’

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In an age of information overload it is quite nice to find an act in which there is little or no information about. It sort of focuses the mind away from the frivolous and keeps us on the matter at hand; the music.

A case is point is The Downtown Lights, an indie/alternative trio based in Paris, France, centred around chief songwriter/producer Briag Maruani (who also provides guitars and vocals) and is ably assisted by Alfred Joseph (drums) and Ivan Queffelec (bass). And that’s it, aside for the fact that there latest single is ‘My Best Friend’, and it is all kinds of marvellous. It’s a super catchy, melodic mesh of jangle-tastic indie that effortlessly shifts from La’s-esque ’60s inspired delights to the fizzy, equally lovable but more oddball psych territory, a la H. Hawkline/Super Furries. Just shy of three minutes, it is an impossible task to resist its super infectious allure.

Listen to ‘My Best Friend’ below & if that is to your liking, there’s a treasure trove of similarly wonderful tunes here.

David Harks – ‘Avalon’

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David Harks is a name that should be familiar to regular patrons of the site.

The British-born, Berlin-based artist and singer has been the recipient of much deserved lavish praise for his work with Safetalk, varying collaborative projects and of course, his solo work.

It is the latter that concerns us on this occasion, more specifically Harks’ new solo single ‘Avalon’ – recorded with Pete Cattermoul from Teleman, it is a soft, psychedelic indie/synthpop song. It shifts along a steady beat, punctuated by a grooving bass and an enchanting combination of airy synths, piano loops and flourishes of electronics creating a chilled, atmospheric soul soothing sound. At points both melancholic and hopeful, Harks’ his transcendent voice conveys a strength in fragility and the pièce de résistance of this magnificent, incredibly chill indie-electro delight. You’ll be all the better for letting this wee gem into you life, guaranteed!

Be good to yourself, and check out ‘Avalon’ below:

Thanks. – ‘Annabelle’

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Steve Pagano and Mario Borgatta make music under the moniker thanks. – which they blend, morph and encompass psych through the prism of melodic and irresistible proggy pop.

The Los Angeles-based duo’s latest single ‘Annabelle’ captures their enchanting psych-pop confection perfectly. It is a hallucinogenic slice of woozy, waltzing and enchanting psych-pop perfection, with an abundance of sinuous melodies. laid-back and spaced-out vibes. Truth be told, it is hard not to be taken by this wonderful, woozy number. A playful, easygoing, enchanting and whimsical, good old fashioned pop gem, with a healthy dose of Lennon/McCartney and Brian Wilson threaded through the fabric of his sound. The pair are currently prepping their debut album ‘Colfax’, which, if ‘Annabelle’ is anything to go by, should be a treasure trove of buoyant and irresistible psych-pop.

Check out ‘Annabelle’ below & watch the video too, while you’re at it:

Superheart – ‘Count On Me’

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Superheart is a new project from UK-based musician and producer Luke Batt.

Superheart’s first introduction is single ‘Count On Me’; a lovely, comforting and dreamy, electronic synthpop jam. It is a wonderful piece of lush electronic-pop that ebbs and flows between soft-psych flourishes and transfixing vocals, gently building until a warm rapture envelops you and everything else around you. ‘Count On Me’ is an undeniably catchy and bound by an uplifting positivity, and one that will leave an indelible mark on you. In other words; it’s remarkably great!

Listen to ‘Count On Me’ below, and let’s hope this is the first of many wonderful aural treats from Superheart.

 

Something for the Weekend: New Music Playlist #28

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A regular slot on blog, a relatively short weekly Spotify playlist featuring some of the finest new music to prick my ears over the course of past seven days.

Clocking in at just over an hour, it’s an easily digestible slice of new music, just in time for the weekend. There’s a nice mix of genres and styles too, allowing me to share even more crackin’ tunes. Well, without further ado, here’s #28 – Something for the Weekend: New Music Playlist. Get stuck into the tunes & enjoy the weekend! You can follow me on Spotify here.

Introducing: Great News

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As evidenced by a series of sublime singles thus far, Norwegian psych-pop trio Great News do a superb trade in dreamy psychedelic pop, blended with big choruses and catchy hooks.

Things are set to get even better still, as the trio have announced their intention to release their much anticipated debut album this autumn. Ahead of it’s release, we’ve been afforded two tantalising tasters in singles ‘Never Get My Love’ and ‘Wonderfault’. ‘Never Get My Love’ is a bass-led beauty that sees Even Kjelby’s commanding-yet-weary vocal croon  wrapped in a heady swirl of psychedelic flourishes to outlandish tropical textures, it’s an irresistible blend of cheerful melodies, steel drums and sparkling guitars that will dispel those Autumnal wearies. Propelled by bass guitar gallops through frazzled electronics, ‘Wonderfault’ is a colorful, hazy and adventure in cheerful and dreamy psychedelic pop, blended with big choruses and catchy hooks. Two sublime examples of how Great News produce some real catchy tunes with great effect, and why their debut album is one to certainly keep an eye out for.

You can listen to ‘Never Get My Love’ and ‘Wonderfault’ below. Keep an eye out for their debut album Wonderfault, which is out in late October/early November.

Celebrity Warship – ‘Best Friends’

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Celebrity Warship is an NYC based five-piece, fronted and led by Jacob Sanders.

Sanders & Company’s self-titled debut is a wonderful collection of understated cuts of melodic indie. There is no faffing about, they are songs that proudly embrace bare bones recording methods and none more so that lead single ‘Best Friends’. Amid the hushed tones and mild cloak of fuzz; this is pure ‘ear-candy’. Shimmering guitars mingle with crashing cymbals and hushed vocals to distil a brand of melodic lo-fi indie that purrs with a lovingly applied warmth and lightly-coated in fuzz. ‘Best Friends’ gets inside your head and refuses leave, such is its insatiably catchy nature. A fine opening introduction from this New York five-piece.

You can listen to ‘Best Friends’ below & listen to their debut album here.

 

Introducing: Maintain Mainframe

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“In the year 3046 a robot searches for the Alpha Key to unlock a cryptic sequence of code” – as far as back stories go, Maintain Mainframe’s is pretty different.

Unusual as it may be, it is pretty apt as this peculiar music outfit treat us to an unusual retro-futuristic fusion of classic rock, synth & psych pop and indie/alt-rock, strewn with science fiction influences. And aside from the imaginative sci-fi backstory, that’s the tale of their self-titled debut record.

Most recent single ‘The Mirror’ opens with a pastoral sounding strum and hushed vocals, before making way for a series of gritty riffs as it swaggers along a danceable groove., that sounds wonderfully gritty, dark and edgy. Similarly danceable is ‘Dreamphase’. Engulfed in layers of fuzz and eerie and menacing tones, muscular guitars and buzzing riffs up the intensity and ferocity, while propelled along an irresistible rhythmic groove and some sparkling retro-futuristic synth work. Meanwhile, ‘I Am A Robot’ channels the sound of The Flaming Lips for a colorful, melody filled and spaced-out spectacle.

This is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the colourful and imaginative creations for sometime. Combining everything from psych-pop, rock, electronica, krautrock and more, they do so with a supreme potency and in full Technicolor.

You can check out some choice cuts below, I assure you I’m not spoofing and you can listen to their debut album here.

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Genius – ‘2226’

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Based out of the port city of Busan, South Korea, GENIUS is Steve C, Lee Chung Mok, and Kim Il Du.

Since forming in 2009, they independently released two studio albums Yangatchi (2009) and Birth, Choice, Death (2010), before releasing their third album, Beaches (2014) through Helicopter Records. The rock and roll foursome released their new and fourth album Starsea back in August and ‘2226’ is the latest single lifted from the record. ‘2226’ is a fuzzed-up, scuzzy and meandering rock and roll jam. Imbued with a punk spirit, the drawled vocals and buzzy punk guitars wade through a haze of fuzz and feedback with a loose, free-flowing vibe. As incessant the buzz and fuzz is, ‘226’ is strongly melancholic, dreamy and somewhat catchy – in short; it’s a top tune!

Starsea is out now & you can stream it here. For now, listen to ‘2226’ below now:

Incoming: A Quick Chat With A.S. Fanning

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Berlin-based, Dublin-raised, singer/songwriter A.S. Fanning will be bringing his Irish tour to BRÚ House, Newbridge on Saturday, October 14 – and the tour coincides with the release of Fanning’s debut solo album Second Life.

This is the first in a series of collaborative shows between Broken Home & I, bringing some of our favourite musicians and artist to Newbridge – of which Fanning fits the bill for us both.

Previously the frontman and chief songwriter of Dublin bands The Last Tycoons and Porn Trauma, Fanning’s songs are often lyrically driven, taking inspiration from Irish literary tradition and folk music as well as from ‘60s psychedelia and gothic rock n roll. Fanning’s finest attribute is his profoundly brilliant songwriting and storytelling abilities, and observational eye, which enable him to depict vivid tales such as his meaty debut single ‘Carmelita’.

As a multi-instrumentalist he has played with acts such as Dublin troubadour The Mighty Stef, Berlin Industrial Electro outfit Suzies Ashes, and Irish songstress Candice Gordon, most recently producing and playing on Gordon’s debut LP, Garden of Beasts.

Support on the night comes from the equally wonderful Appo & the Disappointments & Rory Hughes – Doors @ 8.30pm | Tickets €5/€7.

Ahead of the weekend’s show I caught up with A.S. Fanning, to chat about the project, touring and all things music.

Tell us a little bit about A.S. Fanning. How did it come about? And what is the essence/inspiration behind the new project?

When I moved to Berlin I was working on my my own a lot. The Last Tycoons were still going at that point but we weren’t playing very often except for the occasional tour in Germany so I just started working on stuff on a laptop. That combined with being surrounded by electronic music in Berlin led to the songs taking on a kind of electro incarnation for a while.

I eventually stripped that back quite a bit, but I never really wanted to be a solo guy with an acoustic guitar. I always heard the songs having quite a full sound and having a kind of intensity in them, so I started building the songs around an acoustic guitar and vocal and adding in bits of synthesizers and organ and other atmospheric stuff to fill out the sound.

You’ve just returned from some shows in Ireland – how does it feel to go back after relocating to Berlin and starting a life there?

It feels kind of strange to be honest. Just because I haven’t played here very much in the last 5 years or so, and it’s a strange feeling to come on tour to somewhere I’m so familiar with, but which has obviously changed a lot in the last 5 years as well. But I feel like this album is largely about moving away from here so it’s nice to be able to come back to launch it, it feels like a sort of closing of the circle.

And on that, what are the biggest differences in being a musician in Berlin compared to Dublin? (i.e. audiences, opportunities etc.)

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