A stream of rattling rippers, jagged jams, and romantic reveries
All 20 together on Spotify…
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Knockout by Knockout…
1. ‘TV Or Not TV’ by JODIE LANGFORD (UK)
Langford rages with barbed wire temper towards the
supersonic chorus that resonates like hardcore rap.
This aggressive cry out is a rushing rollercoaster, swinging
forth and back with grim impetus until the gloomy piano
climax.
TV or not TV, that’s the question?
Start the tsunami of words…
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2. ‘The Chefs Song’ by THE CHRONICLES OF MANIMAL AND SAMARA (Singapore/Italy)
Another new cut from the upcoming full length, another astounding
hellraiser swinging your mind from left to right and back, from Samara‘s
sort of vocal broadcasting performance to Manimal‘s death metal
snarls and back.
130 seconds of intimidating thunder-and-lighting brouhaha.
A merciless brainbreaker. From their
2nd, upcoming LP Trust No Leaders.
Let’s cook…
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3. ‘Ain’t No Thief’ by VIAGRA BOYS (Sweden)
Viagra Boys are buzzing and fuzzing, once again,
on this new beast of a speed-up juggernaut.
New album Cave World is out in July.
Steal the track here…
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4. ‘Cheer-Up’ by MEMES (Glasgow, Scotland)
This garage-post-punk-riff turbo took Belgium by storm,
a couple of weeks ago. and left some room on the stage
for my little dance.
I propose to all rawk ‘n roll junks out there to find yourself
a podium to jump on. Trust me, it’ll cheer you up in these
bloody messy times.
Bring a pogo stick along…
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5. ‘The Dripping’ by KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD (Australia)
This 18-minute psych-o-delic marathon alone counts for 1 LP.
Holy smoke, these tireless Aussies confirm again that they are
razor-edged riff fanatics.
From the band’s 22nd album in 10 years!
Omnium Gatherum is out now.
Head-spinning and hair-splitting insanity…
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6. ‘Do You Pray?’ by TESS PARKS (Toronto/London)
This rollicksome ripsnorter is from Parks’ new LP
‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’.
Pushed by a one-note, boogie-woogie piano touch (played by Parks‘ father on her grandfather’s piano – wow, that’s cool) that I couldn’t get out of my head anymore after
a couple of spins. I can’t get her husky, sensual voice out of my mind either, but that’s already been for several years now.
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7. ‘Work It Out’ by CHEROKEE DEATH CATS (Sweden)
Combine the filthy psychobilly swagger of The Cramps, the black-leather
rockabilly of The Raveonettes and the blues-rock coolness of The Kills, and
I am sure you can work out for yourself what will blast out of your
stereo in a minute.
Yes, a sick riff stunner with a speedy version of The Stones’ unforgettable
‘woo woo, woo woo‘ chant on Sympathy For The Devil when the chorus
comes on strong.
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8. ‘Eris’ by VIOLET NOX (Boston)
My favorite track from this experimental electro
duo’s new, excellent album Eris Awakes.
They compose their spaced-out symphonies in an electronic universe of
their own where ambient music shines in all its different reverberations.
Like with this one…
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9. ‘Baby’ by MONOKINO (The Netherlands)
A splendid corker going full steam from the kick-off.
No brakes, no breaks for this blistering bolide.
Hair in the wind, foot on the pedal, going nowhere fast.
Hungry guitars, Billy Idol-esque vocals, magnetic melody.
Don’t feel sad if you’re alone at home, you can dance with
yourself to this pick-me-up thrill.
The video is created by van Wetering, made entirely of ASCII characters
and has a stylistic kind of retro-futurism perfectly befitting of his sound.
The video is created by van Wetering, made entirely of ASCII characters and
has a stylistic kind of retro-futurism perfectly befitting of his sound.
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10. ‘The Hog’ by WOLF VAN WYMEERSCH (Belgium)
Van Wymeersch masters the art of writing smooth, instantly
appealing songs you can play any time of the day.
His crooner voice, the easy-listing construction of his compositions and the gracious orchestrations transfer you to a place where reality fades away and makes room for
sepia-colored memories. As I said before Wolf is a romantic at heart.
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11. ‘Little High Little Low’ by THE ROYAL FOUNDRY (Canada)
I love this adrenalizing booster. Makes me smile from left to right and back.
The little low verses are alternated with a little high chorus, actually a euphoric
resonating high. Feels terrific, for hungry ears and restless minds. This caring
tandem knows what pop-ular music is about. Upper tunes, upper emotions
and upper choruses.
Here we go, high and low…
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12. ‘Mascara’ by IT IT ANITA (Liege, Belgium)
After last year’s clashing and crashing album Sauvé
IIAA came back a few weeks ago, with a new (double)
single with missile Mascare as the first one.
They are racing like a blustery bulldozer on speed, riffing and
screaming their lungs out like madmen is what IIAA is. I’m a
longtime fan of these manic motherrockers on record and
on stage. So should you be(come).
Turn up the heat, guys…
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13. ‘We Are Ukrainian’ by OSCAR MIC (London)
London’s rapper OSCAR MIC decided to write and release a song
for Ukraine after witnessing on the news the horrific violence and
criminal civilian targeting of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion.
All proceeds of the song go to Save The Children’s Ukraine Appeal.
The rad result is WE ARE UKRAINIAN. A tremendously catchy hip-rap-pop
jam featuring steel drums and timpani balancing somewhere between Roots
Manuva and Mr. Scruff. Top tune.
To hell with Putin…
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14. ‘Ain’t No Grave’ by ANNA CALVI (London)
My, oh my! Calvi rocks out with punchy potency on this whisking wallop.
With feverish vocals, she rolls over that good old, irresistible Batman theme.
And when she lets her guitar go berserk
I decided to have this pumped-up stonker
on repeat for multiple times.
Here’s why…
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15. ‘Porcelain’ by PRINCIPE VALIENTE (Sweden)
If you combine Interpol‘s hypnotic guitar romanticism, and their frontman Paul Banks‘ mesmeric vocal timbre and you add your own heart and soul as a band, you have all
my attention. That’s what happens on Porcelain, a standout track from the group’s tremendous new album Barricades.
Time to turn up the bright lights.
Principe Valiente know exactly how to switch them on.
Enjoy…
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16. ‘Worthless Souls’ by MELTED WINGS (Toronto, Ontario)
An addictive synth stomper inviting you to throw your furniture out of the window
to make some room, to hang a disco ball on the ceiling, and rotate yourself dizzy.
Here, now…
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17. ‘Always Together With You’ by SPIRITUALIZED (UK)
Jason Pierce and his orchestra released e new longplayer, named
Everything Was Beautiful a vintage Spiritualized symphonic
achievment.
One of the highlights is this one…
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18. ‘Here Nor There’ by SEADOG (Brighton, UK)
Seadog create a little head-in-the-clouds world of their own.
One you can hide in, and doze for a couple of minutes, to forget about
the worrying times we live in. Titillating melodiousness, sparkling synth-pop
catchiness and feather-light vocals are the fitting ingredients that evoke
that pleasurable dream-away feel.
Press play and close your eyes…
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19. ‘Still Life’ by OLI SPLEEN (Brighton, UK)
A personal story about suffering and surviving. Both somber and hopeful.
Arresting voice, open-hearted reverie, a touching thing of beauty.
The title track from Spleen‘s new, equally impressive album.
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20. ‘All The Good Times’ by ANGEL OLSEN (US)
It’s an epic ballad with a country feel. If this melancholic gem was written
in the 60s it would have been sung by Linda Rondstadt, Tammy Waynette
or Dolly Parton, anyway, by an angelic voice like Olsen‘s magnific one.
A genuine tearjerker…
See/hear you next month, music junkies…