H. Hawkline Shares new track ‘Last Thing On Your Mind’

Welsh artist H. Hawkline is currently working on the followup to 2015’s wondrous In The Pink Of Condition.

No concrete details on the album have been announced but we’re afforded an early taste of what we can expect with new single, ‘The Last Thing On Your Mind’. Featuring frequent collaborators Cate Le Bon and Josiah Steinbrick and powered by synths and a minimal drum machine, the single explores new territory. It does so while retaining the classic Hawkline approach for earworm hooks intertwined with gently groovy sounds, charming oddity and fused with experimental whims into mildly psychedelic, wonky pop song. A marvellously tantalising six-minutes.

As was said previously, there’s no solid info on when we can expect the new record but after all, any new H. Hawkline is good news. Be sure to be on the look out for the full length later this year.

Listen to ‘The Last Thing On Your Mind’ below.

Johnny Feeney’s Albums of 2016

Better late than never, Johnny Feeney would like to share his favourite records from 2016 with you all.

A reliably insightful musical sage, Johnny’s guest appearances are always interesting and add an extra flavour to the blog and I look forward to reading them – surely I’m not alone?

A massive thanks to Johnny for taking time out to compile this list, and on that note, I’ll leave you with his Mr. Feeney’s favourite records of 2016.

10. Laura Mvula – ‘The Dreaming Room’

The Birmingham soul singer’s second studio album comes densely packed with layers of Mvula’s unique vocals and a broad range of sounds and influences, including lead single ‘Overcome’ featuring Nile Rodgers. Despite not always hitting the mark, there are some powerful, intriguing tracks on here. Really needs to be played at a high volume to give everything a chance to be heard.

09. Car Seat Headrest – ‘Teens Of Denial’

Virginia’s Will Toledo has been releasing albums prolifically as Car Seat Headrest for a few years now but this is only his second full release on a major label. Seriously overlong at almost 70 minutes, the album has the capacity to absolutely blow you away with cracking rock songs such as ‘Fill In The Blanks’ or ‘Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales’. The more you listen to it, the better it gets.

08. Hinds – ‘Leave Me Alone’

The debut album from this Madrid all-girl four-piece is a joyous, upbeat lo-fi indie rock affair. There’s a neat trick performed here with the loose, ramshackle guitars and lazy, loose drums in stark contrast with the tightness of the hook-laden, impossibly infectious songs – and the sound of a band having a lot of fun and not taking themselves too seriously.

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BarryGruff Albums of the Year (2016)

Yes. It is that time of year again, lists, lists and more lists. Well, not be out done, here are my 13 (lucky for some) albums of 2016.

There was lots of great music in 2016 but I decided to keep it to a short list this year. Also, I’m hoping the festive period will provide some time to catch up on some records I’ve missed throughout the year, so feel free to recommend some listening material.

Anyway, without further ado, here are my favourite records from 2016:

There is also a Spotify playlist of all the albums, to save you time and hassle, and it is here.

13. Amber Arcades – ‘Fading Lines’

Amber Arcades‘ – Dutch-born musician Annelotte de Graaf – debut album is a dazzling blend of ‘60s tinged psych, lush jangly guitars, floating pop melodies and an abundance of propulsive, hypnotic krautrocky moments. [Listen here]

12. Tuff Love – ‘Resort’

Glaswegian scuzz-pop aficionados Tuff Love, combine a terrific trilogy of EPs into an LP of dazzling, fuzzy indie pop with sugar-sweet melodies and crunching choruses and shoegazey guitars galore. [Listen here]

11. Underworld – ‘Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future’

A first proper Underworld record in half a decade, Karl Hyde and Rick Smith deliver a stomping electronic record that is up there with the best of their work. [Listen here]

10. The Coral – ‘Distance Inbetween’

Distance Inbetween – their eighth LP and first in over five years – saw The Coral rediscover their roots, mojo and discover their dark side and add a harder edge to their brand of psychedelic indie. It’s an evolution of the Wirral five piece’s sound into a cohesive, weird and imaginative psych-rock record, and one that grows with time. [Listen here]

09. Mr Huw – ‘Gwna Dy Feddwl I Lawr’

Gwna Dy Feddwl I Lawr is album number five from one of Wales’ finest, Mr. Huw and with it, he has delivered an irresistible set of inventive, electrifying indie. Sang in his native tongue, these are melodic songs with a spiky edge. Post-punk riffs and snappy drum-machine punctuate infectious pop melodies, mild psychedelic leanings and Huw’s affable Welsh lilt. A magnificent collection of soul consuming tunes which provide proof if proof be needed, that we should never underestimate the power of great music to overcome a small matter, like a language barrier. [Listen here]

08. Jinx Lennon – ‘Magic Bullets of Madness To Uplift The Grief Magnets’

2016 saw Jinx Lennon return with two new albums – Past Pupil Stay Sane and Magic Bullets of Madness To Uplift The Grief Magnets – with each offering distinctly different brilliance. Magic Bullets… is the pick of the pair but in fairness, both find the folk punk poet at his uncompromising best. Recorded with Liverpool experimentalists Clinic, it is a collection of instantly catchy tunes that boasts a meatier, more beat-driven sound, combined with Jinx’s raw truths kicking back against the humdrum bullshit of modern life. Jinx Lennon is a unique talent, a national treasure to be exact and this is him at his inherently brilliant best. [Listen here]

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Cate Le Bon Announces ‘Rock Pool’ EP; Shares Title Track

Hot on the heels of one of 2016’s finest records, Crab Day, Cate Le Bon has announced a new EP Rock Pool.

Released on January 27 2017, the EP will include four previously unreleased songs dating from the ‘Crab Day’ sessions. Ahead of the forthcoming EP, we’ve been provided with taster and title-track. In just over three minutes, ‘Rock Pool’ is the embodiment to why Le Bon is a treasure. The Welsh artist is difficult to box-off with a taste for offbeat folk but an equal a propensity for psych. Swirling and imaginative, ‘Rock Pool’ sees Le Bon’s unique and powerfully versatile voice backed by a steady beat, swaying, acrobatic guitar jangle, odd sounds and keys. The strangeness, jarring arrangements and musical whimsy probably wouldn’t resonate so much were it not for the moments of melodic sweetness. A dazzling display of Cate Le Bon’s boundless versatility, captivating psych-folk and sheer brilliance.

Produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick, and featuring musicians H. Hawkline, Stephen Black (Sweet Baboo) and Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), the EP will be released on January 27th 2017. Listen to ‘Rock Pool’ below.

Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #17

We’re thrilled to share yet another Millions Like Us with you all, Episode #17!

Every two weeks, Justin & I, in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now, aim to deliver an eclectic and hand-picked selection of top class music. There’s plenty to chew on with #17, almost an hour & a half, of great tunes and plenty of chat, on all manner of topics and music including festivals; as we talk Music Waste and Levitation Vancouver.

You can read more on it over here and of course, listen below (and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump too). You can subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic, Mixcloud & SoundCloud, or find us on Facebook & Twitter. Or you can email us at millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

As mentioned previously, Justin has been busy compiling tracks featured in the series. If you’re a Spotify user, then you can access this 6 hours plus playlist here.

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Cate Le Bon – ‘Love Is Not Love’

Cate Le Bon released her latest LP, Crab Day in mid April via Turnstile, and like its 2013 predecessor ‘Mug Museum’; it is wonderful.

Le Bon is a treasure. The Welsh artist is the kind that is difficult to box-off with a taste for offbeat folk but an equal a propensity for psych. Le Bon’s genre defiant sound is equally unique and strange; the oddity, jarring arrangements and musical whimsy probably wouldn’t resonate so much were it not for the moments of melodic sweetness such as latest single, ‘Love Is Not Love’. Le Bon’s powerfully versatile creative voice is there for all to see (or hear), backed by a steady beat, swaying, acrobatic guitar fuzz and keys. A dazzling display of Cate Le Bon’s boundless versatility, ‘Love Is Not Love’ is accompanied by an equally splendid video, filmed in Berlin by director Phil Collins.

You check out ‘Love Is Not Love’ below. And on a side note, if you get the opportunity to catch Cate Le Bon live, don’t pass it up, she was utterly amazing in Vancouver recently.

Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #12

We’re thrilled to share yet another Millions Like Us Podcast with you all. It’s great to back with the latest in a series of music podcasts hosted by Justin & I, in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now.

On a bi-weekly basis we aim to provide some lively and entertaining chat mixed with an eclectic selection of fabulous music from metro Vancouver and elsewhere. There’s plenty in there, well over an hour in fact, of great tunes and plenty of chat.

You can read more on it over here and of course, listen below (and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump too). You can subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find us on Facebook & Twitter. Or you can email us at millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

2016 has been good to us so far, so thanks for all the support thus far and once again, thanks for listening! We hope you enjoy Episode #12. And last but not least, thanks to Caroline for the super image.

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Cate Le Bon shares ‘Wonderful’ from new LP, ‘Crab Day’

Welsh Songstress Cate Le Bon has unveiled ‘Wonderful’, the first single lifted from her forthcoming fourth LP, Crab Day, which is due out on April 15th and follows 2013’s decidedly special Mug Museum.

‘Wonderful’ is Cate Le Bon personified, a totally unique song from a completely unique artist. Transfixing yet unsettling, awkward and jerky, off-kilter concoction of sax, xylophone and guitars, which is sort of offset by Le Bon’s rich and beautiful vocals. There is something about her thick Welsh accent and lilting elocution that just makes her voice swirl around words and utterly all consuming manner. An absolutely marvellous talent, one that would exhaust the use of superlatives.

The Casey Raymond directed video for ‘Wonderful, is available below, for your perusal. Cate Le Bon has confirmed a whole host of live dates across Europe and N. America, including Vancouver on May 12th, at The Cobalt – the full list is available here. (Photo: credit Ivana Kličković)

Introducing: DRINKS (Cate Le Bon & White Fence’s Tim Presley)

Welsh songstress Cate Le Bon is joining forces with White Fence‘s Tim Presley for DRINKS, a new collaborative project. Despite their synergistic efforts, they describe themselves “as solo project, not a collaboration. It has one mouth, one set of lungs, one mind and four legs.”

Moving swiftly away from the pedantry, the duo’s debut album Hermits on Holiday, will be released on August 21st via Heavenly Records. Ahead of the LP’s release, which is not too far away at all, we’ve got a a veritable pair of aces in ‘Hermits On Holiday’ & ‘Laying Down Rock’. Title track, ‘Hermits On Holiday’ is a peculiar (and incredibly catchy), jaunty affair with a jittery, tick-tock rhythm and led by Le Bon’s distinctly soft, supple vocals, before a mash of ragged riffs rise up, and rip it up, to see out the song with chaotic majesty. Meanwhile, Presley handles vocals on ‘Laying Down Rock’, a purposefully graceless, jerky piece of ’60s-leaning-psychedelia, driven by some tremendous riff repetition.

Who looks the majority of vocal responsibility on the album? Guess we’ll have to wait and see, but both are equally affable, no doubt about it. It is a promising start to an interesting partnership and you can hear both tracks below.

Cate Le Bon – ‘Duke’

Welsh songstress Cate Le Bon will release new single ‘Duke’ in September, the 4th to be taken from her album Mug Museum.

Mug Museum is a such sublime piece of work, filled with so much alluring charm, that although released last year, it has been the soundtrack to my 2014. And what of the new single ‘Duke’? Well, it is bestowed with all the wondrous majestic brilliance that makes Mug Museum such an irresistible and utterly bewitching, beguiling and beautiful record. It arrives with a sort of dazed drone of awkward, kind of funky rhythms met with precious, off-kilter melodies, which create a woozy haze, providing the perfect backdrop for Le Bon’s rich and beautiful vocals. There is something about her thick Welsh accent and lilting elocution that just makes her voice swirl around words and utterly consume you. Le Bon’s gentle delivery can make her seem like the shyest of characters at times but with ‘Duke’, we get two sides, as she sweeps from the gentle to belt out some high-pitched soprano notes with the climax of ‘Duke’. An absolutely marvellous talent, one that would exhaust the use of superlatives.

While we’re on the topic of Cate Le Bon, she will also be releasing a limited edition 7″ of ’He’s Leaving’ (which I previously waxed lyrical about here) and ‘Solitude’ (which is just a fantastic). It’s a tour-only seven inch pressing to coincide with her UK tour in September.

You can give both ‘Duke’ & ‘Solitude’ the once over below. And if you’ve not do so already, check out her latest LP Mug Museum here (and I strongly urge to do so).

BARRYGRUFF

Music and other warblings from the man who should have shot JR

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H. Hawkline Shares new track ‘Last Thing On Your Mind’

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