POSTS TAGGED : Trails And Ways

Trails and Ways Share ‘Get Loud’, New Album Out on October 7

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Trails and Ways have been drip feeding us tunes from their forthcoming new record Own It, penned for release on October 7th.

The California foursome are one of the best in the business when it comes to sun-drenched, chipper indie-pop. Something emphatically laid out by their wonderfully infectious debut LP, Pathology and most recent singles taken from the new record; ‘My Things’ & ‘Happiness’. Baring in mind the high standards they have set thus far, their latest single ‘Get Loud’ might just be the best thing they’ve produced to date. Lofty praise indeed but this three-minute pop nugget is divine. This is the most charming, smooth and sprightly of indie-pop. ‘Get Loud’ whizzes and fizzes by with mildly skuzzed guitars, delightful fuzz and smiley melodies. Infectious? Undeniably. Brilliant? Most definitely. This is sparkling indie-pop perfection.

‘Get Loud’ is the final single from their forthcoming LP, Own It (out Oct 7) – listen below. Also, the band are running a Kickstarter to get support for pressing the album, making new videos, and doing an autumn tour across the US and Canada. Check the dates here.

Trails And Ways Share New Single ‘Happiness’; The Second From Their Forthcoming LP

Trails and Ways are gearing up to release their new album, Own It on October 7th.

There is no one better when it comes to sun-drenched, tropical-tinged indie-pop – something laid out emphatically by their wonderfully infectious debut LP, Pathology. The California foursome’s latest single ‘Happiness’ – the second to be lifted from the forthcoming record, following ‘My Things’ earlier this summer – is a blissful, buoyant synth-filled track. ‘Happiness’ with its crisp and bright guitar melody, bubbly chorus, joy-inducing hand claps, powerful rhythmic bass lines and charming male/female vocal interchanges, on the surface at least, everything seems blissfully all right. Lyrically however ‘Happiness’ delves into the challenging issue of whether human pursuit of happiness is impossible and it it is the juxtaposition between this and the carefree sound that makes this tune what it is; magnificent!

Trails and Ways also have a massive tour coming up too, so check here to see if they are playing a town near you soon!

You can listen to ‘Happiness’ below and the new LP, Own It is out on October 7th.

Trails And Ways Announce New Album ‘Own It’, and Share Video For ‘My Things’

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Having released their wonderfully infectious debut LP, Pathology only last year, Trails And Ways are back on it, and have announced its follow up, Own It.

Ahead of the new record’s release on November 7, the California foursome have shared a snappy new video for latest single ‘My Things’. It is yet another strong offering of sun-drenched, tropical-tinged indie-pop but embracing a slightly more rock and roll sound, while retaining their signature infectious, dream-pop air. ‘My Things’ is a simply sublime, joyful distillation of sweet summery vibes. Trails And Ways have been pasting smiles on faces with their alluring, bright and joyous sounds for quite some time, and long may it continue.

You check out ‘My Things’ (and video) below and the track is available free of charge, here. And, if you’re in Vancouver, Trails And Ways play The Cobalt on Friday, August 5th (Yes, that’s TONIGHT!). Not to be missed for sure, and all the details you need are here.

BarryGruff May 2016 Playlist

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Your regular monthly round up all the blog action, in a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured throughout the month.

May was good, as was the weather but even better tunes and whatnot (although I was pretty busy with matters away from the blog). We had loads of great new tracks, with a cursory listen below, I’m pretty sure you’ll agree! Oh, and there were new episodes of ‘Millions Like Us’, Justin Beats & I’s music podcast for 604now (if you missed them, check ’em here). You can also subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find us on Facebook & Twitter.

Well then, that’s that for another month – listen to BarryGruff’s May 2016 playlist below. Enjoy!

Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #16

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After some Mac related issued hampered our first attempt at Podcast #16, we’re thrilled (and relieved) to share yet another Millions Like Us with you all.

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 #16, well over an hour in fact, of great tunes and plenty of chat, encompassing 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.

Podcast #16 Tracklist:

PLAZAS  – ‘2 leave U Behind’

Jay Arner – ‘Like A Dracula’

Rusangano Family – ‘Lights On’

Ffug – ‘Love is Stupid’

Com Truise – ‘Diffraction’

Holy Wave – ‘Minstrel’s Gallop’

IcebergFerg – ‘You’re All On My Mind’

Words Hurt – ”Chekov’s Gun feat. Marilyn Carino’

Hinds – ‘San Diego’

Jade Statues – ‘Hydra’

Trails & Ways – ‘My Things’

Jo Passed – ‘Lego My Ego’

Trails And Ways – ‘My Things’

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California foursome Trails And Ways have been pasting smiles on faces with their alluring, bright and joyous sounds for quite some time.

Having released their wonderfully infectious debut LP, Pathology only last year, the foursome are already prepping it’s follow up. While there is no concrete release date as yet, Trails And Ways have presented us with a taste of what is to come, in the shape of new single, ‘My Things’. It is yet another strong offering of sun-drenched, tropical-tinged indie-pop but with a shift towards a more rock and roll sound, while retaining their signature infectious, dream-pop air. ‘My Things’ is a simply sublime, joyful distillation of sweet summery vibes. Trails And Ways’ music is always particularly suited to summer, good on them for obliging us, and providing us with some early summery sounds.

You can listen to ‘My Things’ below and it is out now, and available free of charge, here. Keep an ear out for the forthcoming LP.

BarryGruff’s July 2015 playlist

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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.

Incoming: A Quick Chat With Trails And Ways

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California foursome – Hannah Van Loon, Ian Quirk, Keith Brower Brown & Emma Oppen – Trails And Ways have been pasting smiles on faces with their alluring, bright and joyous sounds for a few years now.

Having released a slew of free singles and a couple of EPs for good measure, last month the release of their wonderful debut LP, Pathology; an utterly irresistible offering of infectious, sun-drenched, tropical indie-pop, soaked with latin influences. A record flush with pleasure, from the lively beats of songs like ‘Skeletons’ and ‘Downright’ get your body in the groove to the big hooks and guitar lines of ‘Mtn Tune’, or the rich harmonies of ‘Say You Will’. Performing in English, Spanish and Portuguese, it is lyrically dynamic too and they are equally adept with the personal to the political. A simply joyful, uplifting and marvellous record, and without question, a perfect companion for summer.

In support of the new record, Trails And Ways have been touring across North America and they played The Media Club in Vancouver on Saturday last. I caught up with Trails And Ways’ Keith Brower Brown before the show to chat about the new album, touring and all things Trails And Ways.

A big thanks to the Trails And Ways gang for taking time out for this and, for a full list of the band’s tour dates, check here. Check the album below too!

Tell us a little about the band. How did you all meet? And how did Trails and Ways come about?

Keith: We met through playing music and living in cooperatives in Berkeley. The band started by working on some songs that Emma and I wrote when we lived in Spain & Brazil, and then we started playing warehouses and dives and house shows around the Bay Area, and then started sending a few tracks to blogs, and it all started snowballing.

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