Last August Paris-born, London-based singer/songwriter MADAME SO spoiled
our ears with striking single You Say, a towering tune by a towering voice.
And here’s another, brand new tune called WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE?. A moody, melancholic and wondering reflection “on young hedonism“. This time her mightful
soul voice sounds moony and meditative, giving this catchy, shoe-gazy, guitar-riveting jingle a heartfelt think-about it feel.
Two things are crystal clear now, Madame So
explores different sonic directions with flair and
determination AND she’s here to stay.
This Friday Finnish psych-freak-artist Henrik Björnsson unleashes GOOD SICK FUN, his eleventh album, with his SINGAPORE SLING
mates. Pre-order facilities here.
Label Fuzz Club about the new LP: “‘Good Sick Fun’ is the latest morbid and
characteristically-depraved addition to a back-catalogue spanning nearly
two decades from the cult Icelandic band.”
To get you in the right paranoid coronavirus mood here’s the
lead single SICKIN’ STREET that came out a few weeks ago.
‘It was initially called ‘Tremolo Madness’, for obvious reasons. The beat is inspired
by a big band intro and the tremolo drives the song. Tanja of the group Russian Girls
sings on it.” says Björnsson.
It’s a psych-o-pathetic mindfucker. After this nasty missile leaves the gates it’s full steam ahead until the mental finale. In between, fuzz and buzz electricity makes your hair stand up like if you just underwent an electric-chair treatment. Imagine My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and The Mary Chain having a roaring reverb contest. They’ll blow you out of your straitjacket.
Experience what sick fun is all about.
Right here, right now…
Who: Priestess was formed in London by Kate Fleur Young. She then combined with producer James Mottershead and added a Bristol flavour with producer Jack Drewry.
Sound: With a backdrop of dark beats, bass and lush electronic landscapes, Priestess
bring haunting melodies, harmonies and lyrics with a thread and feeling of hope to brighten the shade.
Score: As enigmatic as Zola Jesus, as intense as Florence Welch and as emotive as Laura Marling. I know, pretty impressive, indeed. When you’ll feel shivers down your spine you’ll agree with me. Zealous sentiments, earnest fervor and heart-tending vocality.
Touring and recording with such artists as Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage and Filter over
the past 25 years shaped Chicago based MATT WALKER‘s professionalism as a music producer and multi-instrumentalist. His solo project of1000FACES is a sonic world of cosmic/ambient bliss.
His new album ASTRONOMICA will be out next week, 25th September.
Info and pre-order facilities via Bandcamp.
Ahead of it you can dream away with two synthscapes that trigger the fantasy side of
your mind. Two starry-eyed symphonic instrumentals circling up there in the cosmos. Pink Floyd‘s classic Dark Side Of The Moon and Spiritualized‘s masterpiece Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space popped up in my imagination when hearing these
two utopian pieces, making you forget our science-fiction-like reality for a while.
Dim the lights, put on our headphones, close your eyes, and start your Space Odyssey…
Get ready for some thunder and lighting stoner blues rock extravaganza as
British inflaming trio BLUE STRAGGLERS unleashed their 5-track debut EP.
“Comprising five heavyweight alt-rock gems that lay equal claim for A-side status, Blue Stragglers’ debut EP captures the Sussex trio at their muscular, melodic finest. Recorded
and mixed by engineer and producer David Holmes in the belly of Lightship 95 at Soup Studios – a houseboat turned recording studio docked on the Thames in East London – the EP sessions were almost over before they had even begun. Recording took place during a ferocious winter storm, which turned the loading of equipment across the Lightship’s ice-covered bridge into a precarious ordeal. Thankfully, the dreaded cry of “man overboard” was never heard and Blue Stragglers laid down five songs to serve as rallying calls of rock’n’roll defiance during a summer that’s been thin on such life-affirming delights.”
Turn Up The Volume already reviewed 3 out of the 5 steamrollers when they were
shared over the past weeks. The clear-cut writing was definitely on the wall-of-sound.
– ALL MINE (SOMETIMES) – “A brain-breaking banger and smoking slam.”
. – SHE – “A riff exploding blues hammer to test your lungs’ capacity.”
. – LATE AT A FESTIVAL – “Blur‘s Britpop flair pumped up with tons of illegal decibels.”
.
Let’s add two other hot-royal-blood haymakers…
– FOREVER AND A DAY –
– LAST CALL –
.
… and what you get is a jaw-dropping debut EP!
For those about to rock BLUE STRAGGLERS
salute you…
Who: Psychedelic shoegaze duo featuring Kevin Gibbard & Sophie Landers producing darkwave soudscapes with an intense, rebellious approach, merging rock ‘n’ roll with euphoric, contemporary psych. More about these most thrilling musicians in the
interview Turn Up The Volume had with the pair last year. You can read it here.
EP: METEMPSYCHOSIS – the term refers to transmigration of the soul, especially
its reincarnation after death. The doctrine of metempsychosis arose in ancient
Greek philosophy, and has been recontextualised by modern philosophers such
as Arthur Schopenhauer and Kurt Gödel. The word also plays an important in James
Joyce‘s classic modernist novel Ulysses and is also associated with Nietzsche.
Info: The duo had completed writing their debut LP and planned to head into the studio
in April 2020. As lockdown took effect however, recording was put on hold. With additional time on their hands, the outfit decided to retool five of their previously issued tracks to create the remix EP.
Black Doldrums about the EP: “The approach to this record was to simplify these songs,
allow some space and reveal the roots of the songs, finding the spark that ignited our interest
in writing them the first time around. Going back to the original stems from the studio we discovered so many interesting parts that never made the final record. This time around we were able to explore those sounds more and the songs to have a whole new feel. The process has helped us develop a different approach to making music. Something you’ll see come together for our debut album”.
Score: Lock yourself up, safely, in your basement, dim the lights, put on your headphones and turn up the decibels. Soon your mind will travel to another stereo dimension where you can experience close sonic encounters of the third kind fueled by reincarnated beats and ongoing, repetitive Brian Jonestown Massacre like jams with an otherworldly effect. A fitting soundtrack for the surreal times we live in. Anything can happen when your soul goes on a remixed ride.
See at first the rapid-eye-movement clip for the droning Palingenesis Remix of It’s A Dandy Massacre…
Who:“Influenced by the stirring vocals of Sam Cooke and Leon Bridges, as well as the indie
rock stylings of Wilco and Whitney, Hollyy has erupted onto the scene with a sound as vibrant and welcoming as the members that comprise it. And those band members are poised and ready now to drop their much anticipated first full-length project since they teamed up
together in 2018.”
Track: Wondering Why – from upcoming EP ‘Miss The feeling’, out 25th September.
Score: The legendary Motown Sound is back. These Chicago musicians look like rockers
but sound like a soul orchestra featuring steaming horns, frisky guitars, warm organs, funky Temptations rhythms and a frontman whose black roots voice brings giants like Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke and Smoky Robinson but also Simply Red‘s Mick Hucknall and Steve Winwood to mind. I’m pretty sure these guys’ papas were rollin’ stones.
Start some sexual healing and go and dance in the streets.
Never heard of South London’s LEG PUPPY? Here’s what they say about themselves:
“Originally formed amongst a backdrop of bingo callers, haunted rickety hotels, dancing
goats and clown worshipers. The electro-psych/multi-media outfit, offer a satirical attack
on the modern world. A complete DIY multi-media band, designing all sleeves, graphics, backdrops, videos and art installations”
Some compare them to the legendary THE KLF, the anti-music-business fanatics,
not only know for their raving dance-techno crackers but also infamous for burning 1 million pounds once upon a time. FACT!
Anyway, Leg Puppy shared – only via Spotify a reworked version of their classic 2018
blockbuster called MEDS AND BEER. Rumour goes the misfits received 1 million pounds from Spotify for that exclusivity. Rumour also goes that they not gonna burn the cash but put it in their pockets and fly to a tax haven. Yes, that’s what greedy capitalists do, folks!
WARNING: Don’t let them fool you with their hallucinating knockout tunes. That’s what they do. Making ass-kicking music that brainwashes your poor mind without leaving traces. Run! Run Run!
One more thing. You’ll hear, on repeat, on this ripper their fake motto: THERE’S NO NEED TO FEAR. Lie, big lie, ladies and gents! Read my lips: Do Not Trust LEG PUPPY. Do Fear These Psychos! I’m warning you one last time. Do not listen to Meds and Beer below on Spotify and do not watch the video of the original version. Capisce?
Do not listen…
. Do not watch…
Ps: I must admit there’s one positive thing to say about these zombies.
They wear the coolest anti-coronavirus mouth masks I’ve seen so far. FACT!
Who: The solo project of Osaka based artist Koji Shibano. Session drummer for the Japanese indie band The fin. Conceptualized around the image of a world from the near future turned into virtual reality, Koji’s composition paints a cutting-edge soundscape influenced by western electro and dance music, with a clear inspiration drawn from SF movies, series and games that stir up excitement in the recent years.
Pick: LONGING – track from his debut EP (listen below)
Score: Expect a big bass synth banger that triggers your body movements and transfers you to a dreamworld somewhere up there in the science-fiction sky. Add sensual vocals
by French girl in Japan Manon Poudat and what you get is an electro-beat injection that
will make you forget, for 3 1/2 minutes, that 2020 is a shit-virus-year. Yeaaahhh!
Americana band THE PINKERTON RAID from Durham, NC joins the rising outcry against
the disgusting, brutal way the police treat anti-racist protesters who come out in the street to condemn the recent killings of black people by law enforcement.
The band shared a striking video clip for their 2018 song JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAY. That way they want to honor Southern activists like Superwoman Bree Newsome, the anti-racist defenders of Charlottesville, VA, and the people of Durham, NC, who kindled a movement, helping to take down a Confederate monument in an act of civil disobedience in their hometown back in 2017. But it’s also a tribute to all victims of cowardly police brutality.
Many of us outside the US look at the most powerful country on this planet (also the most dangerous one. Never forget that America is the one and only country so far who dropped THE bomb, actually two, killing 250.000 civilians) as a giant Hollywood movie.
Glam and glitter distraction. Entertainment for all people who dream the American dream. But the recent, awful events we all witnessed, confronts us again with the horrific reality of America‘s deep-rooted racism, endorsed directly and indirectly, without any shame, by that evil moron in the White House. Being born in the USA doesn’t mean automatically that the authorities will treat you like any fellow American citizen. It’s the color of your skin that determines whether you are a real American. That’s the USA 2020. Back to the ugly past!
Therefore, it’s tremendously important that as many artists – whatever their art is – as possible continue to raise their voice for equality, tolerance, humanity, and unity in the United States of America (and of course, in the whole wide world). THE PINKERTON RAID‘s contribution is a highly touching one. Confronting, gripping and soul-stirring. Let’s hum, whistle, sing, and scream along and cross our fingers for a much-needed change.
The video, by Chapel Hill filmmaker Ye Tun, celebrates the activists “who were fighting to remove the memorials to white supremacy. Most of the video footage came from the people’s uprising after the senseless murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.” says the band’s singer-songwriter Jesse James DeConto.
