Singer-songwriter BILL RYDER-JONES and co-founder of Liverpool psych-pop heroes The Coral back in 1996, went his own way in 2008. He released 4 albums so far and his brand new, highly praised, one named ILECHYD DA (meaning a Welsh toast to ‘good health’) is out now (stream below)
The song that conquered my ears within 10 seconds and still does on repeat, isTHIS CAN’T GO ON, one of the singles of the LP. A heart-and-soul stirring ballad that sends shivers down your spine, the kind of beauties that will last for a very long time.
I walked all night to The Killing Moon
Got to get it right, got to get it right and soon
I feel a little better, but I’m off on one
Got to get myself together because this can’t go on
God, everything’s clear when I need my dad, dad, dad
I’m feeling like a little boy
I feel a little better, but I’m off on one
Got to get myself together because this can’t go on
I wanna go for walks or drive a car
I want some kids, I wanna be your dog
I wanna bag and there’s no harm looking
I wanna fuck, I need a bit of looking after
I want it right, but I need the fun, fun, fun
I feel like a little boy
You’ve got to get outside, go get some sun
Got to get yourself together because this can’t go on
Got to get outside, got to get some sun
Get yourself together because this can’t go on
Get outside, got to get some sun
Get myself together because this can’t go on
BRJ back in 2015, playing a festival in my hometown of Ghent, Belgium. One of the performance locations was the historic Sint-Jacobs Cathedral. This would have been
the perfect setting for This Can’t Go On .
SWIRLPOOL is a German shoegaze trio who started their journey back in 2016 and who remain loyal to the maxim “sounds better with reverb and distortion.” So far they released
an EP (2018) and some singles, and they’re gearing up right now for their debut album, named ‘Distant Echoes’, landing in March.
Swirlpool just dropped the 2nd piece, titled EVERGREEN, from the upcoming full length.
“Evergreen is all about the moment. Brief seconds that feel like an eternity. The beauty of a memory that stays with you forever. We personally like to listen to albums from start to finish.
It captures a time in your life forever, with all its ups and downs. A world you can immerse yourself in.”
Single artwork by Julius Bigott
This is just a beautiful composition, a bittersweet shoegaze symphony that takes your mind and thoughts to la-la land. Layers of hazy guitars create a sonic rainbow, and ghostly vocals seem to come out of a thick fog and augment the illusional atmosphere.
Think early Ride and Slowdive‘s rhapsodic moments. Put your headphones on,
dim the light, sit down, close your eyes and start the relaxing music massage.
In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.
Check the 10 new rad cuts just
added to this rad 2024 playlist.
ALL TOGETHER
.
TRACK BY TRACK
Photo credit: James Alexander
Artist: SUKIE SMITH Who: Artist from London who has collaborated widely with artists, musicians and writers creating cross-disciplinary sonic work, exhibiting and performing internationally. She has released three critically acclaimed albums with her band MADAM and toured throughout the UK and Europe.
New track: INTO THE LIGHT
Piece from her upcoming 4th album, named ‘The Glass Dress and a Ringing Bell’
and will land on 8 March via Sukie Smith’s own label Shillingboy Records.
A song about leaving a turbulent relationship Smith found herself trapped in during lockdown, as Smith succinctly says, “I wrote this, then escaped,” with its focus a celebration of the jubilation felt in newfound freedom and the liberation found in the enlightening processes of recovery.
Into The Light grooves and moves pushed by dynamic eurythmics from the get-go and keeps on cruising throughout its ablaze 3.07-minute duration. Glowing jingle-jangle guitar play, rock-solid drumming and Smith‘s impassioned vocals combine for a striking juggernaut. Top-tier score.
Artist: FRANKIE FLOWERS Who: Singer/songwriter from Ontario, Canada. She creates a genre-bending sound
by merging her love for dark-wave and post-punk music, as well as combining elements
from other genres.
Band: DIE HARD HABITS Who: Texan outfit that draws inspiration from the pioneers of post-punk, infusing
their own restless creativity to forge a sound characterized by angular guitar riffs, pulsating basslines, and propulsive rhythms. Their music conveys a sense of urgency, reflecting their desire to challenge norms and provoke thought.
Arkansas is my ears’ favorite track. It rocks, it rolls, and it rattles with
vivid vehemence, fueled by greedy guitars, a robust drum/bass duo and
firm vocality. Bang-on.
Who: It’s the pseudonym under which French musician Hugo Carmouze chose to release his solo albums at the age of 13, marking the ordinary chapter of a garage rock fan born into the internet generation… Well, not quite, as the young Occitan has never stopped producing an impressive number of albums since, reminiscent of his great master Ty Segall.
Track: HYPERGLAM
Piece from upcoming album Horrible, out 23 February.
Grungy chaos, glammy disturbance, fuzz and buzz stir.
Yep, Ty Segall would like this riff-ripper.
THE SMILE featuring two radioheads – Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood – and
drummer Tom Skinner — just launched their new album WALL OF EYES, only 11
months after their compelling debut A Light For Attracting Attention.
Mesmeric and magnetic track READ THE ROOM is a fascinating highlight.
Band: CROW BABY Who: Berlin-based duo featuring Jean-Louise Parker and Cherilyn MacNeil – both born and raised in Johannesburg,
South Africa, and each a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
with their own projects.
Pity Party is a multi-layered art-pop tingle swinging forth and back,
left and right, around an infectious guitar/drum groove with high-pitched
vocals adding a bouncy vibe.
The self-made video features both Cherlyn and Jean-Louise
as children as well as their animated adult selves.
“The song came from a train-ride down to Brighton with friends with the scenery whizzing
by the transient flashes as things come in and out of focus. It is built around this two-chord pattern that kind of chugs along and motors through, picking out these jolts of feeling or memory that rush by.”
The original blues rock line-up of FLEETWOOD MAC featuring the late great guitarist/vocalist Peter Green scored several hits with crackers such as Oh Well,
Black Magic Woman, The Green Manalishi and Need Your Love Tonight. With instrumental ALBATROSS they topped the UK Singles Chart 55 years ago today, on 29 January 1969.
Grace Kelly:“It’s about the female gaze; the unsaid, but the known. It narrates the earlier stages of a relationship which is shrouded in mystery, making for an addictive and all-consuming sentimentality.”
TUTV: These adrenalised Amazons made my ears tremble for the first time in 2021 with their powerhouse EP Potions. Several singles followed and now we can let off steam with their first one of 2024.
A fierce bass/drum tandem pushes this projectile’s pace with vivid vigor and zappy zeal, from start to finish. Flaming guitars cause pyrotechnics and Grace Kelly‘s vocals cut like a Swiss knife on the trashy chorus. Combine all these roasting ingredients and we end up with a sinewy slice of barbed wire pop blitz. Wowzers.
Press info: Where they’ve pursued ever-higher energy anthems in the past, they’ve
turned inward this time, and unlocked a new level of ferocity, delivering some of their most inspiring and most heartbreaking tracks by doing the opposite: taking their time, making each breath, each syllable, each cymbal crash count. The result is a powerful, defining statement from a group of musicians that have made the best album of their career.
(Photo Turn Up The Volume – live in Belgium)
The Guardian: “It’s an album that’s too involving and engaging and powerful to count as merely more of the same: you leave the turmoil of People Who Aren’t There Anymore feeling moved, rather than jaded.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
TUTV: Baltimore‘s tunesmiths hit again with a tunes-filled longplayer. Not all of them are grade-A earworms, not all of them will be on my headphones for a long time, except for standouts King Of Sweden, The Tower, Say Goodbye, Corner Of My Eye, The Thief and Peach.
I think I’m gonna make myself a ‘The Best Of Future Islands’ jukebox playlist. That will be fantastic.
Cover: Zappa worked together with American illustrator/comics artist Neon Park. He asked him to draw a subversive image based on a cover
story from the September 1956 issue ofMan’s Life.
The magazine’s cover story depicts a shirtless man being attacked by weasels.
After showing Neon a copy, Zappa asked, “This is it. What can you do that’s worse
than this?”. Neon‘s answer was to craft a parody of an advertisement for razors
brand Schick.
