American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children’s entertainer PAUL REUBENS (born Rubenfeld in Peekskil, New York) has passed away
yesterday at 70 due to cancer.
He was best known for his role as Pee-wee Herman and starred in films,
TV series and on stage. He played the character from 1977 to 2016, with a
long hiatus in the 90s.
One of his countless fans as a kid was/is former white stripe JACK WHITE.
Nashville songstress SOCCER MOMMY (born Sophia Regina Allison
26 years ago) has reached the status of superstar after 3 albums.
As she’s a vivid fan of that other long-time rock/pop star Sheryl Crow
she recently recorded her cover of Crow‘s 2002 hit SOAK UP THE SUN.
Mommy: “As a big fan of Sheryl Crow, this a song I’ve been wanting to cover
since I used to practice it in my parents’ basement years ago. I’ve always wanted
to work it up again.”
Canadian singer-songwriter Jeen launches her 5th album
later this year and Just Shadows is the first taster.
“I wrote “Just Shadows” just thinking how the darker parts of everything can snuff
out some of the best people’s light. It’s about trying to get out from under it so we
don’t just become casualties of our shittiest days.”
Just Shadows is a cast iron, drumming energy-stroke detonating with firm
puissance when the chorus hits your ears and Jeen‘s towering voice spices
all things up with flamboyant flair. The vitalizing impact of this effervescent
summer anthem is heartening.
It features The Cure drummer LOL TOLHURST (64), BUDGIE (65),
former Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer and Siouxsie‘s husband,
and Irish music producerJacknife Lee.
Los Angeles is the title track of their first, forthcoming LP.
It features LCD Soundsytem‘s mastermind/voice James Murphy
and soundwise it’s what you may expect from these musicians.
Los Angeles is a stompin’ and pumpin’ percussion burst
to stomp your feet and pump your fists like mad.
Happy mondays Shaun Ryder, and rapper Kermit (Paul Leveridge) are back.
They fabricated a new, their 4th, LP named Orange Head hitting the streets
in November.
Milk is the lead single. A pounding disco-rock blast
with the 24-party madchester vibe of the 90s.
The British post-punk mavericks announced a few weeks ago that they finished their
2nd longplayer, but first we can go gaga to this new smashing stand-alone single.
The Trench Coat Museum is an 8+ minute dancefloor filler infused with a flabbergasting bass riff, spiced with Smith‘s parlando vocals, schizo guitars and yes, cowbells. I guess that for the second half of this super-duper knockout, Smith left the studio for a cup of tea. Anyway, from there on jumbo techno-like beats take over.
I swear, when this knife-edged tune hit my ears for the first time, I thought
I pushed the wrong button and instead of these young Irish gunslingers I got
post-punk legends The Fall on my headphones.
These young Irish gunslingers’ combination of hyperkinetic drum/bass beats,
fanatic guitar riffage, Mark E Smith sneering and an overall staccato sonority
is irresistibly engrossing.
If you haven’t found your sonic twilight summer companion yet, then this new Coral tune will be the one. The Liverpool gang are experts in writing/creating hum-along, whistle-song, sing-along and dream-along pearls while you can tap your feet to the beat. Imagine sitting in a rockin’ chair on the porch of your farmhouse in a Serge Leone-directed spaghetti western. That’s the vibe.
8. ‘Do You Mind I’m A Little Late For Life?’ by BY FAR (Belgium)
Their debut single Bricks already entertained my music-addicted ears,
and this new one is a stone gold gem too. The fervent passion and the
overwhelming psychedelic resonance are nothing less than astounding.
The song’s bone-chilling progression blows you away, slowly but surely.
This is a diamond of a song. Vampire Empire is another staggering
new gem by a staggering band. Intense, dynamic, jaunty and avid
vocals by Adrianne Lenker. I love Big Thief.
Through To You is a track from the group’s sophomore album,
titled Days Are Mountains. It lands on August 11th.
It all starts with a steady, feet-activating drum beat, soon followed by an explosion
of hectic guitars. And in an eye/ear blink the whole resistlessly sonic process steamrolls over you, again and again, and riffs and grooves and moves it’s way like an electric-charged whirlwind to a sped-up climax. Frontman MacDonald wants to bang his head against a wall. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea in case you need to get rid of some demons, that is.
The energy developed here is off the charts. Meres rock their tails
off on this sinewy punk missile. Chainsaw guitars, forthright drums/bass
spanks and the both sensual and spiced vocals of Mary Shannon.
This hit-and-run uppercut will start lots of moshpits.
Clone is a lush rock ’n’ roll collage collective that fuses the sequined swagger of 70’s glam with the DIY gut punch of early punk and polishes it all off with the audacious vocals of contemporary pop.
Their new single Queen is a big wham T.Rex bang.
The British trashy 70s riffs, groovy hooks and flashy licks are all over the place. It also echoes Bowie‘s smashing 1974 hit Rebel Rebel. And I can’t but think of glam rock icon Suzy Quatro when front Amazon Juniper Watters comes on with her sensual and sultry vocals.
She’s not a clone, she’s for real, she’s the perfect queen for this firecracker. She’s extremely inspired by drag culture and is a huge supporter of the drag community.
Expect a titanic wall-of-shoegaze-layered sound that takes your breath away for almost
4 razzle-dazzle minutes. It feels as if this spectacular piece of a hallucinatory symphony comes out of space with its reverberated and tremoloed guitars, its scintillating synths,
its mystifying melodiousness and its cosmic vocals.
These British gunslingers kick-start your adrenalin production from the first chord on with this peppery pop-punk cryout fed by schizo guitars and distressed vocals. A thrill, although the song is about the wake of a breakup, an anthem of self-loathing, regret, and ultimately, forgiveness. I said it a million times before, heartache can lead to explosive catharsis in music.
Fury is an explosive cocktail of speed metal(lica), synth sketches, post-punk tumult
and dark-Goth-wave vocals. It’s a fuzz and buzz rocket that whirls forth and back. These messed-up times cause mind-madness and paranoia that leads to furious eruptions as pMAD experiences too.
Floatin’ Stone is a robust tune powered-up by a mean hard rockin’ machine.
References? Muscular Australian noisemakers Wolfmother and stoner rock
mavericks Queens Of The Stone Age. Say no more.
This must be the closest The Underground Youth come to sound like The Velvet
Underground. The repetitive jingle jangle pattern, the midnight hour vocals of Dryer, the dreary harmonies and the ongoing melodic catchiness. All ingredients
for a psych gem are in place here.
This slow-progressing musing appeals instantly with its rudimentary PJ Harvey-esque
guitar play and Abdelbarry‘s affectional voice, think Sharon Van Etten.
Birthday Cake‘s has both a romantic and wistful sonority that captivates
and moves. And halfway melancholic synths accentuate the overall ruminate
timbre in a warm way.
Love Town is a heart-warming and reflective musing about falling in love.
A romantic candlelight ballad for mind-relaxing moments. Sweet and sensitive.
Tuplin‘s vocality made me immediately think of The National‘s melancholic crooner Matt Berninger with its affectional resonance. Beautiful. Let’s follow him to Love Town,
wherever that might be.
Manchester’s melancholic hearts and romantic crooners THE SLOW SHOW
will delight their fans on 22 September with their 5th LP, baptized SUBTLE LOVE.
If you never heard of them, think The National, Father John Misty, Tindersticks and Arctic Monkeys‘ latest accomplishment ‘The Car’. Impressive, right? You betcha.
Album artwork
They just shared the album’s title track following
intimate beauties One Shot and Builder Boy.
Subtle Love is another bittersweet candlelight
ballad for reflective twilight moments.
“Subtle love is light you leave on
Subtle love is a gentle lean on
It’s riding without your hands on
This love’s strong
Subtle love is light you leave on
Subtle love is a gentle lean on
It’s riding without your hands on
This love’s strong
This love is strong”
