Band: COLD WEATHER CAPTAINS Who: A Toronto-based high-energy rock unit known for their funky and eclectic sound.
The group was originally founded in 2018 as a unique instrumental trio Shortly after the release of their 2021 EP City Limits CWC quickly morphed from laid-back jam band to a fully rounded pack-a-punch machine.
TUTV: Prepare your lazy limbs for an effervescent cocktail of hip-hop funk (Kings and Queens / Still Jammin’), amplified dance vibes (Venom / Royal Purple / Dead Man Dancing), fierce retro rock (Big Bad Band / Smooth Talker / Line Of Fire), and a couple of entrancing power ballads (Eyes On Me / Free). It’s called versatility.
CWC know how to write razzle-dazzle party tunes, how to trigger your coolest
dancefloor moves, how to entertain your body and soul. And when I add that
all 10 tracks are terrifically infectious, you already should scroll to the bottom to
play/buy this splendid album.
NME says: “Two-and-a-half decades into their career, everyone knows The Chemical Brothers are masters of their craft. But it’s the iconic Manchester duo’s constant reinvention of their sound, pushing festival-filling dance music further into the stratosphere, that has kept these dance giants atop the electronic music throne… On their 10th album, The Chemical Brothers remain the best in the business.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
TUTV: After almost 25 years, the Chem Bros still have no intention of slowing down.
On the contrary, with this 10th album, they let the world know that they still are
experts in what they do for so long. This time they offer different vibes for different moods, featuring different vocalists, to fill massive discotheques with and attract big crowds to their rapturous shows
You can go bonkers to vintage CB techno firework (Live Again / No Reason / Feels Like I’m Dreaming / The Weight), you can leave the dancefloor and go to the chill-out space, let your mind absorb the bleeps and beeps and relax to smooth psych grooves like Goodbye (feat. passionate female soul vocals), Fountains (with subtle Freak Le Chic guitar sparks) and the title track with yearning vocals by French singer Hallo Maud, and retro trips for disco fanatics (The Darkness That You fear / Magic Wand / Skipping Like A Stone with Beck).
Enough new intoxicating material to integrate in the setlist for their
upcoming concerts and make fans experience beautiful feelings.
Who: Electro-punk trio from Los Angeles, led by key members Brady Keehn and Melissa Scaduto. Since emerging in 2015, they have been a party-provoking force
on the LA underground, capable of kicking up a riot with the raw-edged squall
of a synth or the sharp-elbowed jerk of a guitar.
Press info: “Sextile are now ready to rage with a serotonin-boosting new album, a new
group dynamic, faster BPMs, and an even wilder new direction. Recorded in Yucca Valley,
Push bounces and bops at the fringes of hardcore dance music, with the hallmarks of drum
& bass, gabber and trance illuminating the record like glow sticks at a ‘90s Fantazia rave.
Push was inspired by the kind of pleasure-seeking music fans whose social calendar comprises both the punk show and the rave. Josh Wink, Iggy Pop, Goldie, and early XL Recording shave all been name checked as influences onPush, and the dance floor remains a constant presence. Repping their place of origin, “New York” brings these musical touchstones off the page, guiding the album like an acid-soaked lodestar with its grinning nod to “Higher State ofConsciousness” and a whirly gig of music-box synths. There are still nods and “hellos” to the caustic post-punk of Sextile’s earlier work. Sextile haven’t relinquished their punk credentials, they’ve just given them a smiley-faced revamp.”
TUTV: Techno punk extravaganza. Chemical Brothers fused with drums & bass expert Goldie‘s breakbeats and produced by NIN’s Trent Reznor. E-tastic nightclub fireworks. Saturday Night Fever for (il)legal raves on a modern weekend. Ghostly vocals coming
from LA’s underground while schizophrenic guitars rip your speakers.
24-party soundtrack for hedonists to lose themselves in again, before crashing.
Non-stop ominous electro-attacks keep on steamrolling out of your speakers
like sonic speedballs with the ferocious force of drilling hammers. Alice Glass,
Pussy Riot and The Prodigy all rolled into one and pushing it to the limits.
Physical and mental preparedness required before entering Sextile‘s world.
SINGLES/CLIPS: New York / Crash
STREAM ALBUM
BUY ALBUM
. TOUR DATES HERE
Don’t hesitate to buy tickets. They’re live beasts.
I know, I saw them before and will soon again.
I always wonder when NEIL YOUNG slept
in the 70s/80s when another lost album from
that era comes along.
As happened now again with CHROME YEARS
marked officially as his 44th longplayer.
The 12 songs were recorded between 1974/1976 and features versions of famous Young songs such as Hurricane, Star Of Bethlehem and Looking Out For My Love. It’s kinda a best of those 2 years. It was first compiled as an acetate in 1977, for an eventual LP release.
Illegal copies of the acetate went viral among fans over the years.
Press info: “Chrome Dreams, one of Neil Young’s most individual and powerful albums, was scheduled to be released in 1977, but as is often the case with Young, things change. And then change again. With Chrome Dreams, it has been a long time coming to get to this final version of an album that includes some of rock’s most unforgettable songs – and now it is released as Neil Young envisioned it.
It’s time for Chrome Dreams to find its way into the world. The music included on Chrome Dreams is the debut release of the legendary lost 1977 album that features 12 classic Neil Young songs, including four originals. The 1974-1976 studio recordings include two previously unreleased versions, four tracks never before released on vinyl.”
01.Pocahontas 02. Will to Love 03.Star of Bethlehem 04. Like a Hurricane 05.Too Far Gone 06.Hold Back the Tears 07.Homegrown 08. Captain Kennedy 09.Stringman 10.Sedan Delivery 11. Powderfinger 12.Look Out for My Love
For a while now Young removed all his music from Spotify after
comedian Joe Rogan‘s spread disinformation about the coronavirus
on his podcast on Spotify and the streaming giant refused to delete it.
You can listen to the album on YouTube.
Click below on play and the songs will play one after another.
“It’s their sophomore LP. Recorded with Grammy-winning producer Steve Christensen.
The 10 tracks discuss only two topics: swimming pools and shopping malls. Although
the themes initially appear whimsical or even trivial on the surface, Swimwear Department skillfully sculpts experiences laden with emotional depth and profundity.”
“Several of the new songs are purely silly. There are elements of the B-52s, Beastie Boys, The Strokes, and The Dead Milkmen in their sound – but absurdity is still
truth, even if it’s coming through a distorted theremin. This daring dance between the sober and the ridiculous is mirrored visually in the album’s cover art – a striking diptych conceived by Rebecca Elise Cook that draws inspiration both from the recorded material and “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by iconic painter Hieronymus Bosch.”
Let’s go. It’s hot. It’s SO HOT!
Summertime hot, air conditioner’s broke
Get up to the mall
And do the Cool Mall Stroll
Below, a word about the band.
TUTV: The summer is not over until it’s over. Enter Swimwear Department and their new jump-up-and-down pool party soundtrack. Expect bouncy, brisk, and bold stuff you can hip-and-hop to like a kangaroo on E. Think postDevo-punk weirdness combined with rap-rant Beastie Boys lunacy translated in 10 instantly infectious tunes (except for coming down closer Memall). If you’re a punk surfer, this is your kind of stimulant to brave the waves.
They spice up all the excitement with schizo 70s-organ glow, non-stop pumping bass turbulence, steadfast drum hits, agitated guitar fragments and an expressive vocalist sneering a bit like The Fall‘s late legend Mark E. Smith used to do for a living. Frequently
all-together-now chants pop up, which you want to be a part of. Sounds like big fun, right? You betcha.
I’m quite sure that British hype Yard Act listened a lot
to SD before writing/recording their debut album.
Get up, stand up
and fight for your right
to party in a bath-suit.
NME says: “Their brilliance continues The band’s joyous reunion only gets more emotional with this tear-jerking, soaring epic. Unlike many of their peers, there has never been a timelessness to a Blur album – that’s a good thing. When you listen to ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ now, you can feel disdain for the culture that surrounded them, or the raw confusion of heartbreak on 1999’s ‘13’; they have a way of transporting you to a precise moment or emotion. It’s why ‘The Ballad of Darren’ is so memorable and touching: you can feel it, everything, in every line sung or note played. Speaking to NME last week, Rowntree says that when they were recording, “everything we tried, worked”, and that “magic was in the air”. It is keenly felt here; may it never fade away.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
TUTV: Lots of slow ones, lots of reflective musings, lots of romantic ballads (including Darren‘s one), lots of melancholia. They only rock out on the punked-up St. Charles Square.
To be honest, a surprisingly intimate record but it grows on you slowly but surely.
Singles/clips: The Narcissist / St. Charles Square
Band: bdrmm Who: Shoegazy pop dreamers
from Kingston Up Hill
New album: I DON’T KNOW
Second one following their arresting
2020 debut Bedroom.
Ryan Smith (songwriter vocalist in an interview with NME: “I’d describe it as the second chapter, the themes are still the same, I definitely had to hone it in because some of my lyrics were pretty to the point. That was an important part of it though. It’s a way of vocalising my own fucking inner turmoil and sharing it with three of my best mates. They understand and they help me shape it into something that people can really enjoy. The listeners can make their own mind up and that’s what we were striving for.”
(Press photo)
Uncut Magazine about I Don’t Know: “bdrmm have expanded their sound, retaining that youthful energy and combining it with ambition and impressive marshalling of dynamics that creates a strangely serene album.” Score: 8/10.
TUTV‘s impressions: I Don’t Know is a wondrous joyride for daydreamers, a spacey trip with starry-eyed pop symphonies (Alps / A Final Movement) and moony wanderings (Be Careful / Advertisement One). Less shoe-gazing than before, more Pink Floyd-esque cinematic than before and some Radiohead turbulence here and there. I do know this Hull team is here to stay. So should you.
Hit squad SQUIDfrom Brighton (sometimes I wonder if there are any people
in this seaside town who are NOT in a band) shared their 2nd full-length, named O MONOLITH with the world. It follows their brutal 2021 debut Bright Green Field.
Press info: “Teeming with melodic epiphanies and layered sounds, Squid’s second album O Monolith is a musical evocation of environment, domesticity and self-made folklore. Like its predecessor, 2021’s critically acclaimed, UK number 4 album Bright Green Field, it is dense and tricksy – but also more warm and characterful, with a meandering, questioning nature.
Expansive, evocative and hugely varied, O Monolith retains Squid’s restless, enigmatic
spirit, but it still holds surprises for those familiar with Bright Green Field. It’s a reflection of the outsized progression of a band always looking to the future. Like its namesake, O Monolith is vast and strange; alive with endless possible interpretations of its inner mysteries.”
NME says: “A monument to daring artistic growth… Their hungry curiosity, combined
with a desire to push their own boundaries, comes to fruition on ‘O Monolith’ to create
an album that is ripe for discovery across multiple listens.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
TUTV: One thing is clear. Despite the overall critical praise and commercial success
of their debut Bright Green Field album, Squid didn’t want to play safe and copy/paste it. Mind you, the tense dynamics, sinewy gusto and emotional turmoil are still present, but
they explored other sound textures with a different musical mindset.
Final result: a more balanced record, a more euphonious approach without losing their
natural soul-and-spirit authenticity. As they say “It was a little bit in the direction of less
drone, more melody.” A bold, artistic triumph.
Singles/clips:The Blades / Bright Green Field / Swing (In A Dream)
Artists: JUNE BUG Who: Experimental electro/EBM duo featuring Sarah June (vocals)
and Béryl Ben (multi-instrumentalist) from Lille, France.
An album that speaks of life, death, hope a little. Domination, celebrities and contradictions. Personal reflection on a world in loss of sense. The folk sounds
flirt with electro, rock and psyche somewhere between the DIY music of Tune
Yards, dark tracks of Billie Eilish and repetitive measures of Stereolab.
Photo by Nicolas Djavanshir
TUTV: June Bug sound like drinking a sonic cocktail with intoxicating flavors.
Expect haunting slo-mo jams (Dusk / Paradise / Fearless), trippy vibes with R&B
rhythms (Clap Your Hands / Bite Me) and a closing dancefloor stomper (Gold Eater).
All infused with a varied palette of shiny sparks, magnetic bass electronics, and sexy vocals. All served with inventive, synth-tastic textures and bewitching psychedelia, but
fully accessible. The duo create an ambient ambiance, a tingling trance for twilight hours and escapist moments from our troubled reality. Supreme stuff. Only 7 tracks? I know,
but the repeat button was invented for records like this. Use it.
Anton Newcombe:“My son Wolfgang is very different to me, thank god, but we have so many things in common; dancing, making up songs, and vocalizing strange combinations of words and ideas that make us laugh, or make sense to us in some meaningful way,” frontman Anton Newcombe said in a press release. “At a certain point, I started writing down these words and random ideas to use as titles.I felt like everything was so sad and hopeless, but I am not helpless. I decided to sing anthems to empower me, to remember to remember, to fight the beast until it dies, to give it everything you got because that’s all there is to give… these were not songs for COVID times, for these times of war and crisis after crisis, these are songs for all time.”
(Photo by Turn Up The Volume)
Louder Than War said:“Aside from plundering the darkest corners of psychedelic rock,
Brian Jonestown Massacre have ventured into all corners of the sonic spectrum from rock’n’roll, blues, folk, country and pop through to blazing swirls of distortion and mesmerising fuzzed up soundscapes. Also do not forget the sonic textures which have been influenced by musical traditions across the globe, especially the middle east. Much of all of this is on this album
albeit in different shades and shapes than before.”
TUTV: Last year’s Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees was unquestionably one of the best BJTM’s longplayers of the 21st Century. An intoxicating piece of work still playing regularly on my stereo.
Guess what? Only eight months later and 24/7 musician Anton Newcombe hits bulseye again with this fantastic new LP. Fans (including me, of course) know his all-time favorite sonic sphere he operates in for years now.
The 60s psychedelic fuzz and buzz, the famed BJTM feedback, the jingle jangle virtuosity, the affecting, feverish vocals are all around again with an (even) richer and coherent reverberation than in the old(er) days, but most of all the record’s 10 songs, are without any exception, TOPNOTCH TUNES. Every single track has its own magnetizing attraction and its own spellbinding aura. No arty-farty redundancy, only pure spot-on crafted melodies. An art in itself, missing with so many artists/bands.
I know and you know the cliché, but it’s the most effective way to describe this magnum psych opus: no fillers, all killers. File between the Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request and Love’s Forever Changes.
