POST CATEGORY : Introducing

Introducing: Plain Zebra

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Plain Zebra are Derry six-piece – Vadim Zeberg (Vocals, Harmonica & Accordion), Graham Baldrick (Guitars & Vocals), Mick McCafferty (Bass & Vocals), Caolán McLaughlin (Keys & Vocals), Jason Feenan (Drums) & Aaron Mc Callion (Percussion) – who deal in brilliant bluesy/folky rock ‘n roll flavours.

‘In The Town’ sets out their stall, revolving around some stomping bluesy beats, licks a la The Black Keys with some sweet, sweet backing harmonies and some ‘Superstition-esque’ bass notes. Let’s get this clear; after the opening 10-15 seconds, these guys mean business. ‘Brickland’ continues with the bluesy-rock vibe, with an added element of mildly dubby tones, we’re left with another sublime piece of work. If you dig licks, riffs and stomping grooves, well then Derry six-piece Plain Zebra don’t disappoint. Top stuff indeed.

You can check out ‘In The Town’ & ‘Brickland’ below, and if that’s too your liking, there’s more where that came from here.

Introducing: Silver Liz

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Silver Liz are Chicago-based husband-wife duo of Carrie and Matt Wagner who delight, excite and enthral with their shoegaze-meets-dream-pop sound.

With the recording of their debut full length done and dusted, the pair are teasing us with some tantalising tasters. Latest single ‘Him’ captures the Silver Liz’s shoegaze-laden textures. Carrie Wagner’s haunting vocals lead the charge elegantly through a undulating sea of fuzz, distortion and whirring of guitars, which begin to wail piercingly with the introduction of percussion as we’re thrust into a world of enveloping spacey and shoegazey sounds. A stunning atmospheric, yearning and dreamy soundscape. Meanwhile, ‘One and Twenty’ continues with the dreamy charm but garnering a more refined, blissful and breezy lo-fi indie pop. The songs traded-off vocals have a way of transfixing and the combo of clashing guitars, electrified drums, and ambient synths find a sweet spot between pop and indie/alternative. Expect more where this came from on Silver Liz’s upcoming full length album, to be released at some point in the near future.

For now you can check out ‘Him’ & ‘One and Twenty’ below.

Introducing: Michael Rogel

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New Mexico native Michael Rogel has a touch of magic about him when it comes to producing big, banging tunes; Influenced by industrial techno and house, Rogel deals strictly in big old dance club classics.

Rogel is a pretty prolific producer too, in the last 12 months he released LP Hail Mary, a string of singles and an EP. The most recent product of this prolificy is ‘Street Night’; a track that encapsulates what Rogel is all about in just over three minutes. It is a dancefloor-ready blend of big beats, heavy bass, rickety percussion and feverish energy, combined with all manner of electronic noises, alarms, sirens and heavenly vocals. The same can be said for ‘In The Air’ albeit a more tempered take on the floor filling classics. Rogel is well worth keeping tabs one, for both the quality and quantity of his output is on point.

You can check out ‘Street Night’ & ‘In The Air’ below now.

Introducing: Marius

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Marius is a 21-year-old producer from Norway, and he’s releasing an EP on Pelican Fly – the Belgian label behind Cashmere Cat and Lido – later this year.

Based in Oslo, Marius has been making waves with his colourful and imaginative sounds thus far; combining everything from electronica, new wave, trap, psych and rock together. Latest single ‘Lame’ wonderfully whisks together hard-hitting beats and glitches with some supremely potent psych tones, for a full-colour, shimmering and sparkling psychedelic pop meets electronica experience. The delights don’t end there with the genre-defying producer, his previous single ‘Easy’ is an even greater heady brew of wonder. It pushes and pulls in all manner of directions, it shifts and shoves as it crashes, thuds and explodes with a ferocious energy and electric potency. Its gritty, the beats are compelling as they are potent as they shatteringly shuffle with wicked rhythm, as ‘Easy’ slides from light to dark, and calm to stormy in no time. The transition is smooth and the track is a beast.

As yet, the date for Marius’ new EP is unknown but go off what we’ve got here, it looks like it will golden.

For now, check out ‘Lame’ & ‘Easy’ below:

Introducing: Castle Pines

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While their name brings to mind a North American shopping mall or uppity housing development, Castle Pines are in fact an alt-indie-rock foursome.

Comprised of Leandro Barrientos (Guitar & Vox), Sterling Fairfield (Drums), Jesse Briseno (Bass) & Ricky Garvey (Guitar), the Corona, CA quartet excel with mature songwriting and heartfelt indie-rock that pays homage to the sounds it is born from, but remains very current and in the present. They’re gearing up to release their second record soon and offered us some inciting tasters ahead of time. As its name alludes, ‘1996’ is a nostalgic ode of sorts, a melancholic throwback to youth and growing up. Its a highly melodic and emotive alt-rock anthem, shifting through a calm and re-collective subtleness to a loud and yearning outro. A contrast of chaos and calm, especially the snarling vocals around the halfway mark, and toward the end. ‘Stone Wall’ rockin’, rollin’ and stompin’ swamp rock indebted doozy, that bubbles and fizzes with vitality as wails above.

Check out ‘1996’ & ‘Stone Wall’ below – two decidedly exciting jams:

Introducing: Fresco Future

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Fresco Future are an indie-foursome hailing from the musical wonderland that is Newbridge, Co Kildare.

The quartet specialise in a blend of classic ‘indie’ with touches of early ’80s post-punk, fastened with flourishes of jangley guitars, swift, driving rhythms and basslines and hushed vocal delivery. Recorded with Padraig McCauley (P Affection & Disconcerting P) their debut double a-side Morning Mourning / Maybe Ellie sets out their stall in ear-pleasing fashion. ‘Morning Mourning’ is pure ‘ear-candy’; this is melodic, jangley indie with a lo-fi asthetic that purrs with a lovingly applied warmth and lightly-coated in fuzz. It gets inside your head and refuses leave, such is its insatiably catchy nature. ‘Maybe Ellie’ is a bit more rocking but no-less infectious or melodious. A fine opening introduction from the latest in a long and rich line of talented musicians to emerge from Newbridge.

You can listen to Morning Mourning / Maybe Ellie below or grab it for keeps, here.

Introducing: KLANGPLANET

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KLANGPLANET is the moniker of German producer Frieder Mollat.

While Mollat’s work extends back to the mid ’90s, 2017 and KLANGPLANET marks a personal milestone embarking on his solo adventure with he first steps of which, being his aptly titled debut EP, Electronic Journey. KLANGPLANET’s preference is for the chilled, downtempo and meticulously crafted electronic flavours, which are merged with field-recordings from different surroundings to produce an alluring sound collage and musical journey. His latest single ‘Island’ is a prime example with its ambient beats, deep house grooves and relaxing sound of seagulls and lapping waves; delivered with an unwavering precision it is transfixing and tranquil in equal measure. With its lush approach, ‘Downtown’ is so laid-back and chill it is almost a lullaby (even the sound of distance emergency sirens can’t break its spell). Add to that some some lapping waves and pattering beats, you may quickly find yourself destined for the land of nod. This is vivid, cinematic and immersive; music to get lost in, escapism at its very finest.

Stop what you are doing and tune into KLANGPLANET’s EP Electronic Journey, it’s available here right now.

Introducing: The Psychic Alliance

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The Psychic Alliance are a Canadian band, based out of Vancouver, who excite and enthral with their fuzzy west coast psych.

The Vancouver outfit recently released their third LP, Evil Against Evil – blending psych with stomping sixties garage, b-movie horror tones and touches of The Stooges, MC5, Black Sabbath, Ray Davies & Bowie. Offering a favour of their heady brew is ‘No Fixed Address’; a blistering ’60s garage stormer filled with swinging guitars, scintillating riffs, frenetic organ and percussion; and all delivered with a ‘we-mean-business’ attitude. ‘Yesteryear’ is also full of psychedelic endeavour but offers a more melodic take on their West Coast psych. The organ work is still the driving force, and joined by jazzy drums, spooky feedback and guitar licks a plenty. ‘Yesteryear’ like ‘No Fixed Address’ – something of a feature on their new LP – is prone to full-on psych freak-out at any moment, with a healthy dose of the macabre but with an underlying playfulness or wry humour.

To get a flavour of what The Psychic Alliance are all about, you can listen to ‘Yesteryear’ & ‘No Fixed Address’ below.

Their new record Evil Against Evil is available here.

Introducing: Sal Dulu

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Sal Dulu is an emerging Dublin producer with a flair for fantastic hip-hop inspired electronic productions.

Sal Dulu’s fleeting steps into the world have been heralded by two sublime singles – ‘Duluoz Dream’ & ‘Antasma’ – an impressive introduction of simply outstanding quality. Latest single ‘Antasma’ is slick work indeed. Head-nodding beats, twisting vocal sample and hip-hop influenced grooves are met by some guitar funk tones, sax and roughed-up distortion to produce some seriously swaggering funked up and cool jam – one that will bounce around your head all day. Its predecessor ‘Duluoz Dream’ is no less impressive or infectious. Crisp beats, guitar-piano flings, sultry sax and Japanese dialogues mingle to create something rather chilled, captivating and seductive. Sal Dulu’s sound is fresh, original, imaginative and thoroughly enjoyable; one can only imagine time spent in the shadows won’t be for long.

You can check out both ‘Duluoz Dream’ & ‘Antasma’ below now:

 

Introducing: Hollow Everdaze

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Looking from the outside at least, it certainly seems like it is a great time for guitar bands in Australia, and Western Victoria’s Hollow Everdaze are as good as any.

The five piece’s brand of psych-pop is simultaneously retro and current, blending the hooks of ’60s surf with orchestral arrangement and some electronic experimentation – something fully realised on their much-awaited debut LP Cartoons, which came out in June. The LP’s title-track captures their brilliance in just shy of five-minutes of psych splendour. ‘Cartoons’ opens like a joyous and infectious psych-tinged trip to the clouds. It floats along a dreamy path of shimmering guitar licks, hazy synth, which make way for a melodic blend of buoyant licks, sharp rhythms as the tune veers into new territory. There are hints of darkness lurking throughout but it is by the midway point that they come to the fore, enveloping all in its wake. ‘Catastrophe’ is all feelgood echo and reverb that swells, building an energy that demands your undivided attention. Such a cool, breezy vibe, and suitably summery.

Tune into ‘Cartoons’ & ‘Catastrophe’ below & while you’re at it, the album can be found here.