POST CATEGORY : Free Music

Anderson – ‘Things We Have In Common’ + Debut Album News

Anderson, aka Dublin musician and songwriter Daniel Anderson, has long been a firm favourite around these parts, and with good reason.

With his former band The Rags, Anderson had already marked himself out as a fine songwriter and following the demise of the band, he re-emerged with a different approach from their raspy rock’n’roll. Since unveiling his solo-project in 2012, Anderson brought things to a new level, preferring a folksy sound with irresistible, classic ‘60s/’70s pop melodies. All draped in Anderson’s intuitive song-writing and storytelling abilities, we’ve already been treated to the wonderful delights of double A-side ‘Patterns / History’ & ‘Hallowed Heart’ EP.

Now, after what seems like an eternity, Anderson has announced the brilliant news that his debut solo album, Patterns, shall be released on September 18th. With the new record on the horizon, we’ve been afforded further insight with ‘Things We Have In Common’. It is a beautiful and meticulously crafted pop classic, baring all the wonderful hallmarks of his previous solo releases. Needless to say, September 18th is a date for the diary.

You can listen to ‘Things We Have In Common’ below and download it for free, here. Patterns can be pre-ordered here.

Tracklisting: 1. The Twilight is Folding 2. Patterns 3. Things We Have In Common 4. Vincent 5. History 6. The Melody 7. The Existential Vacuum 8. Cecilia’s Sister 9. Through The Night 10. Sad Lullaby 11. About A Life 12. The Morning’s Never New

BarryGruff’s July 2015 playlist

BGJL15

A now regular monthly feature, whereby we round up all the blog action with a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured during the month.

July was pretty ace! We had new tunes from The School, The Stammer and DRINKS ahead of their respective, forthcoming new albums, and the return of WE//ARE//ANIMAL. There were excellent new singles from Neon Wolf, Galants, Lethal Dialect, Manor, Kelly Lee Owens, The Expert, Glass Sines and Koloto.

Also featured on this month’s playlist are great tracks from Bedbugs, Effin, Gwenno, Trails and Ways, Open Window and Joan. So, July was pretty good. And that’s all before mentioning that Justin Beats gave Jamie xx’s new record In Colour, the once over, Johnny Feeney reported from Knockanstockan and we had a chat with Trails and Ways. And the small matter of my albums of the year so far list.

Listen to BarryGruff’s July 2015 playlist below.

Koloto – ‘Life in Clay’

koloto 2015

We were first introduced to the glorious sounds of Koloto back in 2013, with some early tracks that would later form the bones of the super debut EP, Mechanica.

Canterbury based electronic musician and producer, Koloto AKA Maria Sullivan, has returned with ‘Life in Clay’, a brand new single and part of Ryan Hemsworth’s Secret Song selection. ‘Life in Clay’ illustrates Koloto’s preference for homemade, hand-crafted sounds, to great effect. Light, bright and optimistic, it intricately weaves a wonderful patchwork of colorful fluttering electronics with blend of playful sounds, a hint of the tropical and Koloto’s recognizable touch of glitchy brilliance. Combined with complex melodic and rhythmic shifts, ‘Life in Clay’ is profoundly and wonderfully imaginative, and an irresistible three-minutes of electronica.

You can stream ‘Life in Clay’ below, and it is also available as a free download from Secret Song.

The School – ‘Do I Love You’

11709463_10153036933935875_3902235028442069468_n

Cardiff’s resplendent pop purveyors, The School have a new album coming, entitled Wasting Away and Wondering, it’s out September 4th on Elefant Records.

Ahead of their new album, The School have shared with us, new single ‘Do I Love You?’. It’s superlative Northern Soul inspired indie pop flavours. A timeless pop earworm, it’s bright, breezy and irresistibly catchy, blending a joyous and colourful explosion of soulful chimes with Liz Hunt’s light-as-air angelic tones. A rich and gorgeous sound, the Welsh indie-pop makers remind us exactly what it is they do so very, very well – and why we should be getting excited for the new record. Marvellous as usual.

The new LP, Wasting Away and Wondering is out September 4th Elefant Records. ‘Do I Love You?’ however, is out now and you can sample it’s delights below, or pop over here for a free download.

Sweet Baboo – ‘Black Domino Box’ (H. Hawkline Cover)

maxresdefault

North Wales’ Stephen Black, AKA Sweet Baboo is gearing up to release his new record, The Boombox Ballads, the follow up to 2013’s marvellous LP Ships.

The new record is out on August 14th through Moshi Moshi, with a special launch show for The Boombox Ballads happening at London Fields Brewery (London) on May 21st. Joining Sweet Baboo on the night is fellow countryman and exceptional talent, H. Hawkline. To mark the occasion, Sweet Baboo has covered H. Hawkline’s classic ‘Black Domino Box’. Retaining the upbeat and bright nature of the original, he leaves a compelling mark in his own unique whimsical way – an utterly beautiful, sweet and charming rendition of truly fabulous song. The cover version will be available on a strictly limited cassette single version of the new single, ‘Sometimes’ and only available at London Fields Brewery show.

The cassette single is limited to 50 copies and available on a first come first served basis, but you can check both tracks below. Oh, you can download Sweet Baboo’s cover of ‘Black Domino Box’ from here too, ssshhh!

Disconcerting P – ‘Shakin’ EP’

cover

Disconcerting P AKA Padraig McCauley has impressed as much as any Irish artist over the past few years – prolific, passionate and prodigious – McCauley’s already amassed a pretty impressive back catalogue.

Disconcerting P continues this fine form, bringing the mellow, laid-back vibes with his new EP, entitled Shakin‘. Relying on a gentle and precise indie-folk sound with understated surf-rock harmonies, these are soothing, dreamy and jaunty americana/country tinged songs. Good old fashioned pop songs in fact, filled with sinuous melodies, organic arrangements and an assured sense of style that proves all too infectious. The bubbly and buoyant ‘Hey Man’, breezy ‘Binki’ and rhythmic guitar-pop ditty ‘Ain’t Working’ (full value for of an early Lennon/McCartney comparison) are all on the right side of familiar. However, the lyrics delve into melancholy on more than one occasion, as we are regaled very personal tales submerged in classic pop. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is McCauley’s finest work to date, it is an magnificent collection of homespun tunes. It’s been said many times before, but it is perplexing how someone with an abundance of talent and dearth of great tunes, can remain in the shadows for so long.

The Shakin‘ EP is available to download for however much you feel like paying over at Bandcamp. You can also check out Disconcerting P’s GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Treated You Rough’ – of which you can download here for FREE. Listen to it all below.

GEM_DOS – ‘Veart’

South East London producer GEM_DOS has always been a tough one to place in one genre or another. Each new release has displayed a distinction to what’s gone before and experimentation has become his forte – that and affording us with magnificent tunes.

Recently returned to Blighty, following a number of years in Dublin, GEM_DOS has re-emerged with a new one off track, called ‘Veart’. It continues his preference for the experimental, with this bassy, downtempo and eerily mournful, house indebted cut. Never missing a beat, a classy use of bass combines with some atmospheric synth and a warped and distorted vocal, which morphs into a instrument in itself. Smart, clever and top class as usual.

You can listen to ‘Veart’ below, along with GEM_DOS’s GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Mag D’Allen’ – of which you can download here for FREE.

BarryGruff’s March 2015 Playlist

IMG_20150221_1700gfffgfgfg

A regular monthly feature to the blog; a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured during the month.

It was a pretty big month for the blog to be fair. We celebrated 5 years of BarryGruff with GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging. If somehow you missed all the hoo-ha about ‘GruffWuff’, there’s more info here & you can download / stream it here: Bandcamp / Soundcloud.

Aside from this rather significant milestone, there was the return of Tame Impala, Applescal, Crocodiles and Cian Ciaran with new tracks ahead of their respective albums, and new singles from Teleman, Telegram, Girls Names, Tandem Felix, The Dead Heavys, CaStLeS and Spies. Also featuring on the playlist are: Django Django, Ulrika Spacek, By The Sea, Hippies Vs Ghosts and O Emperor.

Listen to BarryGruff`s March 2015 playlist below. The track listing is after the jump:

 

Continue reading →

Celebrating 5 Years of BarryGruff with ‘GruffWuff’: A 19 Track Compilation Album [Out Now]

So, the day has finally arrived; ‘GruffWuff‘ is out now!

I’ve been itching to share this with everyone and I very, happy this day has finally arrived. The past five years have been very interesting and for the most part, ever so much fun. I think this is a pretty special way to mark the occasion and I really hope you all enjoy the compilation as much as I do. Initially I thought an idea such as this was just a pipe dream and one that would remain just that. However, the enthusiasm that met my initial inquiries bowled me over, I couldn’t believe how eager everyone was. It is something that’ll stay with me forever and it means an awful lot. Hopefully it will shine a light, brief as it maybe on some of the acts that have brought me the most joy over the past few years.

Thanks to Stevie for all his assistance, Caroline for all her support and putting up with me, Peter Lee for mastering & all the artists who provided tracks for the compilation. A huge amount of credit must go to the artists involved for their eagerness and the ever so brilliant music.

So, to mark 5 years of BarryGruff, here is ‘GruffWuff’; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging. There is an act by act guide after the jump, I really hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did putting it together.

It’s yours now, just ‘name your price’ – which includes zero, so technically it’s free.

Continue reading →

By The Sea – ‘At Your Window’

By The Sea - Photo credit - Andrew Ab

Taken from By The Sea‘s second album, Endless Days, Crystal Sky, ‘At Your Window’ is a timely and perfect opportunity to remind the world of the virtues of both the Merseyside quintet, and their wonderful 2014 record.

Synth steeped ‘At Your Window’ offers probably the greatest departure from the band’s signature melodic guitar pop sound. Essentially a duet between Liam Power and Minnetonka, it revolves around a sparse synth pulse and illuminated by subtle, sizzling electronic beats, that combine to convey a deep intimate and wistful air. Taken from the same record, ‘Youth, has kindly just available for free download. A bubbling bass combines with subtle synth, gorgeous melody and drifting, dreamlike atmospherics, that are altogether more akin to By The Sea’s signature sound. A simply super band, if you haven’t checked out either their self-titled debut or Endless Days, Crystal Sky, you should. You do a whole lot worse.

You can check out ‘At Your Window’ and the rather grand video for ‘Youth’ by Dom Foster, below. Download it here.

Photo credit: Andrew Ab.