DATE ARCHIVES : March 2019

The Legion – ‘Joy’

Almost 25 years on from their debut record Theme + Echo = Krill, Bronx-based rap trio The Legion – Molecules, Cee-Low The Diceman, and Chucky Smash – returned to the fold. 

Having busied themselves with solo projects, various collaborations and the like, a quarter of a century on, their return as a group proper was marked by new album, Three The Bronx Way – a sublime record showcasing the timeless quality of their street-minded Boom bap. The new record is led by the aptly titled feel good banger ‘Joy’. It is a bright, breezy and bouncy tune that fuses a funky bass line with stabs of brass and ‘Cules joyful sample chop, a perfect and irresistible combination for the silky wordplay and rhymes to thrive and leave an indelible mark on your soul. This is an absolute gem of bright feelgood vibes – pure unadulterated magic.

You check out ‘Joy’ and the video below and if if that is too you liking, you listen to new record Three The Bronx Way – homage to the 1974 Blaxploitation classic, Three The Hard Way – here.

BDRMM – ‘Heaven’

BDRMM are a Hull based 5-piece who explore the worlds of ‘90s indie-rock, shoegaze, psychedelic-rock and slacker dream pop.

This knack for weaving dreamy sonics and sentimental tales together was illustrated to perfection with single ‘C.U.’ toward the end of last year, and latest single ‘Heaven’ repeats the trick. It’s a real doozy, too. A perfect cocktail of synth soaked layers and shoe-gazing moments, ‘Heaven’ floats dreamily on by with sweeping cinematic grandeur. There is an other-worldliness to it as intricate glistening guitar lines and warm jangle provide an elegant foundation for those evocative vocals to leave their mark. A twinkling, heartfelt and simply exquisite slice of dream-pop perfection.

Listen to ‘Heaven’ below: 

Cavego – ‘Hunderfossen’

Late last year Norwegian producer Cavego released his debut EP Gudbrandsdalen on Eskimo Recordings; it is a gorgeous mixture of field recordings, vintage synths, ambient sounds and bright, sparkling electronica, and it is fair to say, it is pretty damn great.

The same can be said for the latest instalment from Cavego, sprightly new single ‘Hunderfossen’. Named after a famous Norwegian amusement park, ‘Hunderfossen’ is a bright, bouncy and playful slice of Scandi-Disco. Bursting with buoyant, uplifting sounds, it is a feel-good tune that brings party vibes, radiating an air of unquestionable coolness as it swaggers on a funky bassline and buoyant melody – highly infectious and danceable. With its deep irresistible groove, funk-filled bass and colourful beats, this deliciously vibrant, sparkling slice of cosmic disco struts its way onto the dance floor, leaving you hypnotised as it pops along. Magnificent!

Listen to ‘Hunderfossen’ below:

Munky – ‘One in Five’

artworks-000495077490-0cudi7-original

Having spent the guts of 2018 on the road gigging tirelessly around Ireland and Britain, Dublin-based post-punk outfit Munky returned home and hit the studio towards the end of last year.

The Dublin outfit shared the first fruits of their labour in the studio with the raucous ‘You’ve Got Male’ and Munky are back with another new track called ‘One in Five’. A thrilling five-minutes-plus assault, a sensory overload, of relentless, caustic post-punk and psych fuzz as Munky take victim blaming to task. An unrelenting, furious and feverish song, like a pent up spring, it recoils, unleashing a sprawling barrage of noise; searing riff, spiralling guitars and pounding drums, topped off by a caustic croon and screeching vocal.

A meaty, muscular and raucous post-punk juggernaut, 100% of the proceeds of ‘One in Five’ will go to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (songwriting royalties, sales, streaming etc. you name it).

‘One in Five’ will also take its place alongside previous single ‘You’ve Got Male’ to form the bones of an as-yet-untitled, forthcoming five-track EP.

Listen to ‘One in Five’ below:

Continue reading →

Swimmers Jackson – ‘Believe’

Believe

London-based Dubliner Niall Jackson aka Swimmers Jackson is probably best known for his bass-wielding duties with indie-rock quartet Bouts but aside from that, he’s also known to sporadically serve some sublime sounds via his solo guise, Swimmers Jackson.

Jackson has just released his fourth solo single ‘Believe’; a passionate, heartfelt and stripped back acoustic ballad – his finest release to date. A carefully-crafted tale, imbued with honesty and realness, it revolves around a gently melodic acoustic strum and Jackson’s fervent and deeply touching vocals as he tells a tale of refusing to give up on love and an unwavering belief that things can be worked out. ‘Believe’ is an emotive, compelling and beautiful three-and-a-half minutes that wields a powerful spell.

Listen to ‘Believe’ below

Altvater – ‘This Pertains To Solitude’

Red w Rainbow

Hailing from Columbia, South Carolina, producer Altvater proved a reliable source of downtempo electronica at any given opportunity throughout 2018.

His fusion of cinematic electronica, trip hop, and dark synthwave is marked by an ability to blend colour and warmth to a glacial but imperious ambience, as evidenced by recent releases of the Walking Creatures EP, and singles ‘Moonbird’ and ‘Quietly, The Sea. Really’. Altvater’s latest single is the magnificent ‘This Pertains To Solitude’, ensuring 2019 is set to be of a similar ilk. Propelled along a tidy, steady drumbeat ‘This Pertains To Solitude’ is moody, emotive and pensive as it elegantly navigates its ways way through a cinematic, ambient atmosphere. Its mellow shroud never lifts, delicate keys, ambient sounds, chanting vocals and middle eastern touches only add to the pensive procession – a rich and textured one at that. A beautiful, calm and meditative track, and one that is rather easy-on-the-ear too.

Listen to ‘This Pertains To Solitude’ below:

Adam Melchor – ‘Plan on You’

adam(1)

Adam Melchor is a Jersey-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter with a penchant for rich, melodic and heartfelt old-fashioned pop.

Melchor introduced himself to us last month with swooning slice of orchestral-esque pop ‘3 Hours Ahead’ and as he prepares to release his Plan on You EP this month, he has returned with the equally alluring ‘Plan on You’. It is an intoxicating single, sweet, heartfelt and imbued with a pang of nostalgia. Drifting, delicately, this wistful indie-pop ballad purrs with a rich, dripping melody. It is a beautiful song plain and simple – musically and lyrically – it is warm, hazy and heart-strung. It will take a cold heart to be enamoured by this beauty.

Listen to ‘Plan on You’ below – and keep your eyes peeled for the Plan on You EP later this month.

Hessian – ‘Clarity’

22303f3862cc30b2d75c6a652c73bc27b841495d

Hessian is the moniker of Bristol-based musician and producer Matthew de Souza who has a preference for blurring the lines between the many intricate sub genres of electronic music.

Taking inspiration from artists such as Four Tet, Floating Points and Jon Hopkins, Hessian’s sound combines organic and synthetic sounds for his captivating compositions and latest single ‘Clarity’ is a spellbinding example of this prowess. It introduces itself softly, with a long ambient spell met with warm base line, twinkling keys and soft, pattering beats – transfixing from the off. ‘Clarity’ swells with lush sounds and jazzy chords, rising to a crescendo of sunburned atmospheric warmth before a hypnotising blend of winding, techno-esque synth, deep house groove and crunchy beats emerge to bewitch completely. A lush, elegant and utterly stunning single – this is the best thing you are likely to hear today, if not all week.

Listen to ‘Clarity’ below:

Mesa Luna – ‘Woronoco’

35f09a3a77adbc194e4798b8ea27077c38499fb2

Mesa Luna, the one-man dream-pop project of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, Justice McLellan is preparing to release debut LP Lash on March 22.

Last we encountered the Vancouver artist was with blissful and shimmering synth-filled lead single ‘Dispel’, and McLellan is back with another taste of the forthcoming record in the shape of ‘Woronoco’. It is a blissed-out, majestic and heavenly slice of shoegaze indebted dream-pop that is equally beautiful and affecting. With ‘Woronoco’, Mesa Luna weaves atmospheric textures, glacial elegance, shimmering electronics, reverberating synth, slowburning guitars, yearning emotion and hushed heartfelt vocals together to create a song that is delicate and pristine yet simultaneously powerful and a compelling wall of noise. Yet another exquisite and emphatic track from Vancouver; things are looking rather well for the album on March 2.

Listen to ‘Woronoco’ below:

Heavy Heart – ‘Bed Bug’

heavy-heart

Hot on the heels of sublime single, ‘Bed Bug’, which was released last month the London outfit Heavy Heart have shared a transfixing and unnerving video to go along with it.

‘Bed Bug’ itself is spellbinding; a bright, shimmering tune from the get go, Heavy Heart explore the worlds of ‘90s indie rock, shoegaze and dream pop over the course of four-and-a-half minutes sprinkled with yearning, melancholy, hope and glistening guitar lines and a massive sound. Jangling guitar riffs and crisp but haunted vocals grab you attention before plunging into a soaring bittersweet chorus full of lamenting heartache with a lush backdrop of shimmering strings as ‘Bed Bug’ goes huge on the hooks and choruses. Delicate but powerful, layers of guitars, fuzz, distortion and whirring are moulded into something beautiful, transfixing you as it ekes out a perfect space between light and shade.

‘Bed Bug’, the first of three mixed and co-produced by Gabe Wax (The War On Drugs, Fleet Foxes and Soccer Mommy) and a new EP is expected this spring,

Tune in below.