25 March 2023
Band: THE STYLE COUNCIL
Who: Paul Weller‘s new project after splitting up The Jam,
assisted by keyboardist Mick Talbot who had left Dexys
Midnight Runners.
Active: 1983-1989 / 5 LPs
Debut single/clip: SPEAK LIKE A CHILD
A horn-fueled and catchy top tune that
peaked at #4 on the UK Charts.
Watch/listen.
THE STYLE COUNCIL: Bio – Discography
Standout longplayers
25 March 2023
Band: BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD
Who: Experimental 7-piece from London producing a hypnotic mix
of prog and math rock, jazz, post-psych-punk, and other musical roads.
The band made an instant impression with their 2021 debut full-length
For The First Time and repeated the feat with follow-up LP Ants From
Up There.
Dark clouds threatened the collective’s future as frontman and otherwordly
vox Isaac Wood left citing mental health problems, shortly after the 2nd album
was recorded.
But the band doubted not one second to go on without Wood. This live registration
of a gig at London’s Bush Hall venue proves they were totally right to do so, they’re just
to good to vanish. Bassist Taylor Hyde, saxophonist Lewis Evans, and keyboardist May Kershaw take care of the vocals now.
Guess what? I didn’t miss Wood here (mind you, I will go back to their studio longplayers to hear him, annex the full orchestra). Black Country, New Road make it loud and clear: they’re here to stay.
Photo by Holly Whitaker
NME: “‘Live At Bush Hall’, then, offers a remarkable snapshot of a band in transition, one willing to push on and not let circumstances stand in the way of what they love doing most. They’re a collective that remains humble and ready to tackle whatever is yet to come, steadfast that, as a unit, they are unstoppable.” Score 4/5.
LIVE AT BUS HALL
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BC, NR: Facebook – Instagram
25 March 2023
Album artwork
Wayward NYC collective SWANS led by mastermind/multi-instrumentalist
Michael Gira is around for a long time now, actually since 1982.
On 23 June they’ll share their 16th LP, baptized
THE BEGGAR via Young God Records.
(Photo by Turn Up The Volume)
The Beggar will come as a double vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve
with a download card for accessing an additional 44 minutes of music
(a 44-minute piece of music called The Beggar Lover (Three) that is
included on the CD), and as a double CD in a brown chipboard digi-pack.
The first run of 2CD copies purchased via Young God Records will feature
a booklet signed by Gira. The initial run of 2LP copies purchased via Young
God Records will feature a poster signed by Gira.
All info here.
Along with all this news comes an almost 10-minute hypnotic
slo-mo jam called PARADISE IS MINE that gets under your skin
slowly but surely.
Listen.
SWANS: Instagram – Bio – Discography
Daily noise that works faster and harder than any stimulant
25 March 2023
Bloc Party‘s orchestrator KELE OKEREKE launched his 6th LP,
entitled The Flames Pt. 2 yesterday (stream below).
TRUE LOVE KNOWS NO DEATH, one of the singles, is that kind of
tantalizing tunes that makes your day, mine in any case. It’s a movin’
and groovin’ thrill activating your lazy limbs in the morning.
Shake your hips.
The Flames Pt. 2
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KELE: Instagram – Facebook
(Image on top: cover of ‘The Waves Pt.1)
Daily electricity to load your batteries
24 March 2023
Artist: FROM THE TIGER’S MOUTH
Who: Harry Sullivan, a seasoned
London-based singer-songwriter.
New single: GETTING OLD
TUTV: Majestic melody. Stellar orchestration. Sterling vox. Three matching ingredients
that guarantee an epic composition. And it’s all here. Getting Old progresses with tension and passion, forth and back, and magnetizes all the way through. Epic!
The song wrestles with the idea of us freezing in the moment, gripped by anxiety as fear takes over our ability to do the things we really want to. Familiar thoughts for many of us. But affecting music, as always, uplifts a moody state of mind.
First-class accomplishment.
Listen/watch.
.
Also streaming on Spotify.
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FTMM: Facebook – Linktree
24 March 2023
Band: The Charlatans
Active: 1988-present
Single: The Only One I Know
From their debut LP Some Friendly
Released: 14 May 1990 – 30 years ago
Score: #9 in the UK
R.I.P. John Brooks and Rob Collins
Video clip
THE CHARLATANS: Bio – Discography – Instagram
24 March 2023
photo by Nat Wood
America’s veteran emo-rockers FALL OUT BOY (2001–2009, 2013–present)
share their new 8th LP SO MUCH (FOR) STARDUST (stream below) with their
fans today.
KERRANG! had an interview with FOB about that new
album in their new digital mag issue. Read it HERE.
Stream SO MUCH (FOR) STARDUST here.
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FOB: Bio – Discography – Instagram
24 March 2023
British post-punk 4-piece CROSS WIRES impressed
Turn Up The Volume‘s ears with their sharp-cutting
debut full-length A Life Extinct back in 2019.
Review fragment: “Not only do they deliver a series of red-hot cutting rippers but, lyrically, they unveil their loud and clear views on our society. They tackle all sorts of social injustices that still undermine and influence our daily life. Their anger-driven songs awake every nerve in your body and their energetic and in-your-face dynamism makes your blood stream faster. We need honest bands like this in these worrying times This biting team matters, this vital debut LP matters, this kind of outspoken engagement matters.
The band just announced details of their sophomore album, named
YESTERDAY IN MOURNING. It will be out on 5 May (Vinyl/digitally).
Pre-order info here.
About: “Yesterday In Mourning’ is an album about the love you once felt.
The milk turned sour. It’s an album about regret. About loss. An album about
the grief we carry with us and the ghosts that haunt us.”
(So far) CW shared 4 tracks.
– CAMEL BLUES-
Grand, electric
guitar/synth gem.
“I’m damaged.
Drag you down with me.
A breakdown.
Dark energy.
A shifting to another place.
Love fading.
Hides it’s face.”
.
– EXHIBIT A –
An agitated fear of abandonment rush.
.
– DROWNING –
A barbed post-breakup stroke.
.
– MOURNING –
Fuzzy psych cut fueled with
wah-wah guitar resonance.
“The last cup you drank from I never washed up.
Is that pathetic? There’s a book on the coffee table
that you never finished.”
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CROSS WIRES: Facebook – Instagram
24 March 2023
Darkwave pop Goths DEPECHE MODE released their new LP – their 15th – named MEMENTO MORI today. The first one without original member Andy Fletcher who passed away last May – only 60 – following an aortic dissection.
Dave Gahan: “We started work on this project early in the pandemic, and its themes were directly inspired by that time. After Fletch’s passing, we decided to continue as we’re sure this
is what he would have wanted, and that has really given the project an extra level of meaning. Fletch would have loved this album. We’re really looking forward to sharing it with you soon, and we can’t wait to present it to you live at the shows next year.”
NME‘s verdict: “To have an album of this quality after what the band have been through
may seem miraculous, but Depeche Mode have always turned turmoil, tension and life’s
darker moments into magic. ‘Memento Mori’ is comfortably their best album this side of
the millennium, and, most importantly, a testament to creativity and friendship. The music world is richer for it.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Turn Up The Volume: It feels like DM, understandably so, process their grief on this new LP after their longtime friend/colleague Andy Flecther passed away last year. Memento Mori is a mellow and emotive work, very different from their vintage Goth bombast. It’s a stylish and gracious record. Synth-pop created with a melancholic heart.
SINGLES/CLIPS: Cosmos Is Mine / Ghosts Again
– COSMOS IS MINE –
– GHOSTS AGAIN –
FULL ALBUM
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DEPECHE MODE: Facebook – Instagram – All Albums
