New York-based trinity MAINLAND will turn your Blue Monday into a joyful happening. Their new single HOMELAND is a vibrant pop stroke that’ll make you euphoric and give you a boost to scream and dance along. It’s a highly sonic stimulus for young people with doubts. An upbeat encouragement for troubled teenagers. Frontman Jordan Topf explains:
“In writing this song I wanted to channel that feeling of escaping to a big city like New York or Los Angeles and breaking free from the surroundings that haunt your teenage life. A lot of the friends I made and spent time with as a teenager who got stuck in Santa Cruz turned to black tar heroin. I lost many friends to drug abuse. The song is extremely special to me for that reason because I battled to break out of my drug-ridden community to chase my dreams in New York where I met Corey and Alex and formed Mainland. I always knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Many children in America are trying to run away from things that may hurt them, destroy their relationships, or lead them down a dark path. I just hope the song inspires people to hang on and chase their passions, knowing that there’s always someone who understands them out there.”
A heartwarming masterstroke. My wedding song. Thanks, Mr. Cave.
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around
We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything, it comes tumbling down
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When I must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around
Come sail your ships around me (Come sail your ships around me)
And burn your bridges down (And burn your bridges down)
We make a little history, baby (We make a little history, baby)
Every time you come around (Every time you come around)
From the magical album The Good Son ( his sixth album – released in 1990)…
Weekly vibrations to soundtrack your favorite 48 hours…
17 February 2018
ISKWÉ is a Winnipeg-bred, Hamilton-based singer-songwriter (pronounced iss-kway) who “is fostering an unmistakable sound that weaves together her Irish and Cree/Dené roots with poignant politically charged lyrics, dark soulful R&B rhythms, electronic flourishes, and trip
hop breakbeats.”
This fascinating artist just released brand new track THE UNFORGOTTEN featuring the superb throat singer TANYA TAGAQ. It’s ” a community song that’s meant to be shared
by all people, a round dance where everyone holds the hand of the person next to them, forming a circle that connects us with our ancestors, as one. The current climate of events for Indigenous people is not lost on me and makes me feel that much stronger releasing this bad boy now. I’m proud of who we are as Indigenous people. I’m proud of what we’ve fought for, and how we continue to fight for our culture, our languages, our children, our women, our men, our earth and our water. But I’m also proud of all my non-Indigenous family and friends who continue to fight alongside us. This song is for all of us. Let’s dance together!”” explains Iskwé.
THE UNFORGOTTEN is a truly magnificent masterstroke driven by vigorous vivacity, phantasmagorical passion and an immense intensity. The colossal electronic sound
feels like a mighty tribal trance-like celebration and the vocal performance is nothing
less than stunning. You’ll have this on repeat before you’re aware of it. Splendid score!
Sit down, relax, open your ears and your mind for something really special…
. We are the war that’s forgotten
We stand up tall against the other side
We are the nation of tomorrow
We are the children who were not afraid to die
Singing
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ohh ohhhh
We are the ones, the unforgotten
We’re the acquaintance that the stories told you died
But we are here for all tomorrow
We are the keepers to forever hold up high
Electro psych rockers SUUNS from Montreal release their fourth album, titled FELT on 2 March. Just now they shared another new cut, a gloomy sonic reflection, accompanied by an impressive clip. MAKE IT REAL is a gloomy reflection. A slow-mo vibration that will generate chimerical images on that big screen in your mind. What is real? What is fiction? Find it out here while enjoying a metaphysical massage…
REPTILIANS FROM ANDROMEDA – Kinky Star Ghent, Belgium – 15 February 2018
REPTILIANS FROM ANDROMEDA is a smashing punk and roll turbo out of Istanbul, Turkey led by the utterly charismatic frontlady Aybike Çelik Özbey and guitarist Tolga Özbey. Last Thursday they hit my hometown Ghent (Belgium) with crushing rock and punk firework. To be honest I’ve never heard of this trashy tornado until yesterday when I checked the band on YouTube and found this thunderous slam clip, which made me totally exciting to go out and see the band live…
And what a night it was. From the very smoking start to the burning end this 4-piece engine developed a non-stop rawk ‘n’ roll fury fueled with a tremendously clever mix
of own sledgehammers and covers of timeless crackers such as The Stooges‘ nasty firecracker ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ and legendary girl punks The Runways‘ striking smack ‘C-c-c-c-c-c-c-cherry Bomb’. A blistering set capable of inflaming the whole city. BIG FUN! MASSIVE TUNES! HOT PERFORMANCE! Rakish singer Aybike is the eye-catching star in the middle looking like a cross between the Plasmatics‘ Wendy O. Williams and Blondie‘s Debbie Harry on a wild night. Steamy, sexy and sweaty. You don’t need to go to big arenas to go bananas, on the contrary. To hell with mega bands playing mega arenas,
you find the real stuff on the club circuit. Damn right! Thank you, REPTILIANS FROM ANDROMEDA for proving me right!!
DEAP VALLY dropped another clip for another cracker of their 2nd, critically acclaimed, album Femejism. Barbie and her friends are the stars of the video for GRUNGE BOND. Wickedly hilarious, sickly inventive and utterly cool. Press the button and roll the dolls…
British DIY artist GRIS-DE-LIN is a compelling and adventurous singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s about to release her excellent debut album SPRUNG (out 9 March). She combines echoes of post-rock, blues & alt-folk while coloring her sonic pictures with wayward electronics that draw your attention non-stop. Her spiritual voice will bring major-league performers PJ Harvey, Florence Welch and Björk to mind. Yes, that good! Her intriguing compositions will strike you. Enough reasons to meet Gris-de-lin (artist name was inspired by French named materials Gris-De-Lin – Grey Linen – in the warehouse next door to where the artist lives.) Let’s start the acquaintance with the title track of the forthcoming full length. A captivating song about how a little bit of struggle can lead to good things. The cuddly toys in the brand new clip “represent life’s misfits, gathered from local charity shops…”
Welcome Gris-de-lin at Turn Up The Volume!…
1/ When, how and why did you decide to become a musician/artist? “I’d say it’s a compulsion not a decision, I started mucking about on the piano and writing songs at a really young age and always loved to sing. I joined my first band at age 14 so I’ve been loading music equipment in and out of transit vans for a long time.”
2/ When did you know “this is how I want to sound, this is what I want to tell the world”? “This is my first solo album and the songs emerged from a time of big changes in my life. This meant I felt really free to experiment and just see what happened. I also wanted to challenge myself by playing most of the parts on the album myself, a sort of freeform musical bootcamp. It meant I could do things exactly how I wanted and that was really liberating. Lyrically I like to tell quirky stories based on true events though they’re often pretty personal too.”
Artwork debut solo album SPRUNG…
3/ What inspired you to record your debut album SPRUNG in a nursery school? “I wanted to record somewhere spacious with a nice atmosphere and not feel hemmed in like you sometimes do in a studio. Budget also played a big part but the nursery worked out great. Where else would you get to set a train-set up in the control room and play the keyboards with puppets on your hands.”
4/ What’s your own favourite track on the record and why? “I’d say ‘Your Ghost’ because it’s the first track Chris (producer/engineer) and I started working on together. There was this moment when we were listening back and we were like ‘oh this is special!’ and from then on I was really fired up to record a whole album.”
5/ What movie would you pick to visualize SPRUNG on a big screen in the back of the stage when playing a show? “Probably ‘The Wicker Man’ ha ha, though without the human sacrifice bit.”
6/ Your press photos are quite special. Who’s doing the art/drawing part and is there any special reason to integrate it in the real photography? “The artwork is by an artist called Kazland. I really love his work and asked him to design cover images for my 7” single and EP. Then I had the idea of getting him to also add artwork to my photos and it really tied everything together.”
Fascinating Kazland art…
7/ How easy/difficult is it to recreate your orchestral sound live on the podium? “It’s sometimes tricky but I reckon the live sound is pretty close, maybe a little heavier. Having played so many of the recorded parts myself I have to be careful not to be bossy when we’re trying to recreate everything. Luckily I’m working with some great musicians so things have come together really well.”
8/ Which album would you really loved to have played on? “I’d love to have jammed on any albums by Can… oh and ‘Remain in Light’ by Talking Heads. Playing on an album by Mogwai would be pretty awesome too.”
9/ If you could go back in time on which artist’s front door would you knock and ask to have a selfie together? “Well I’m not really a selfie kind of person, but I’d love to have a coffee with Patti Smith or go for a walk in the woods with Leonard Cohen. I’ve a feeling much wisdom would be imparted and I’d come away feeling truly inspired. I’m reading Patti Smith’s ‘M-Train’ On tour at the moment and it’s a real tonic for the soul.”
10/ Plans for 2018? “The album comes out on the 9th March so I’ll be doing some UK shows to coincide, then a few summer festivals and a tour later in the year. I’ve also been working on a new album by the Berlin-based artist Gemma Ray that should be out later this year and also an album with Joe Gideon and Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) that we’ll be mixing soon. So reckon things are gonna get pretty busy!”
Thank you for this interview. May the road rise with Gris-de-lin!
Sonic vibes that thrill us in a way we want to scream out loud…
16 February 2018
Band: TWIST HELIX Home: Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK Who: “Trio born out of the hip bars and rundown rehearsal rooms of Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley, fascinated with the exploration of place and its relation to creativity and identity and drawing influence from their immediate surroundings the band have worked hard to create an effervescent and joyous sound, evocative of the diverse energy and character of their home.” Track: OUSEBURN – brand new single that “pays homage to the group’s humble DIY beginnings. The track is highly allusive, referencing everything from local bands to graffiti
tags that you can find around the Ouseburn area.” Score: I’m sure you’ll do the very same thing after hearing this rhapsodic electro rainbow as I did. You’ll google ‘Ouseburn‘ to find out why this trio glorifies this place. Oh yes, the electronic buzz developed here will enlighten your day, will activate the muscles in your body and will make you curious about this hip Newcastle spot which sounds like this…
Fab singer/songwriter/dreamer/feminist/rocker/wordsmith/storyteller/performer COURTNEY BARNETT returns, after her collaboration with kindred musical spirit Kurt Vile, with the first single of her own fresh, forthcoming album, titled ‘Tell Me
How You Really Feel‘. New track ‘NAMELESS, FACELESS‘ has that vintage Barnett
swagger and slacker catchiness and a crystal clear feminist message. The cool, accompanying clip is made by Lucy Dyson. Listen/watch right here…
Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…
15 February 2018
Artist: KATE BUSH
Album: THE KICK INSIDE – debut LP
Released: 17 February 1978 – 40 years ago
BBC Music wrote (in 2008) : “The tale’s been oft-told, but bears repeating: Discovered by a mutual friend of the Bush family as well as Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Bush was signed on Gilmour’s advice to EMI at 16. Given a large advance and three years, ‘The Kick Inside’ was
her extraordinary debut. To this day nothing sounds like it. Using mainly session musicians,
‘The Kick Inside’ was the result of a record company actually allowing a young talent to blossom. Some of these songs were written when she was 13! Helmed by Gilmour’s friend, Andrew Powell, it’s a lush blend of piano grandiosity, vaguely uncomfortable reggae and intricate, intelligent, wonderful songs. All delivered in a voice that had no precedents. Even so, EMI wanted the dullest, most conventional track, James And The Cold Gun as the lead single, but Kate was no push over. At 19 she knew that the startling whoops and Bronte-influenced narrative of Wuthering Heights would be her make or break moment. Luckily she was allowed her head.
TURN UP THE VOLUME says: “I still remember being completely struck dumb when I
first heard this album (some years after its release, actually). That otherworldly voice. Those peculiar song structures. Those daring, mature and outspoken stories. It took
some time to fully understand the genius of this young, experimental pop phenomenon. Special then, still special now. Oh yeah, after a couple of spins yesterday and today this magnum opus sounds as spectacular and compelling as back then. Well, this is what outstanding artists are all about…
Three highlights: Wuthering Heights / Strange Phenomena / The Man With The Child In Eyes…
* WUTHERING HEIGHTS – unavoidable and imperishable…
* STRANGE PHENOMENA – angelic and mysterious…
* THE MAN WITH THE CHILD IN HIS EYES – a beauty of a different kind…
