Category: Indie Music Page 9 of 69

Introducing… Jackson Reed

On October 4, 2016

Jackson Reed

The thing about nostalgia is: it belongs firmly in the past. If it’s a wistful regret, this means that either we’re romanticizing the past or we haven’t put sufficient energy and attention toward creating a satisfying present. If it’s a shuddering remembrance of mistakes made years ago, then it’s time to learn from those mistakes and move beyond them into a wiser tomorrow. In the case of Jackson Reed’s “Generation Vietnam,” it’s a little of both.

JACKSON REED – Generation Vietnam from Southern Souls on Vimeo.

He describes the song as being “about U.S.A’s military conscription in the 1960’s and imaging men my age being chosen randomly for the Vietnam War. Living in the music and drug culture of the 60’s would be fun, but on the other hand, incredibly scary if you were forced to go to war.” Sadly, it seems that our world’s history is built upon the wars fought and as such, a reality where young men (and women) are sent off to fight someone else’s battles is just one dangerous leader and one bad decision away. This simple fact gives a song like this a contemporary dark undertone.

With his solo album The November Gales EP, Reed returns to music after a three-year hiatus. The album was engineered by Jonas Bonnetta at Port William Sound, mastered by Gavin Gardiner at Lacquer Channel and artwork is drawn by Kyle Field of Little Wings. It comes out on October 14 on Deadplant Records.

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Introducing… Dark Mean

By julie

On September 27, 2016

In Indie Music

Dark Mean

The gentle, laid back Canadian indie folk band Dark Mean must have been named by an anagram aficionado, as they are neither dark nor mean. Actually, Billy Holmes, Sandy Johnston and Mark Dean (a.k.a. Dark Mean, get it?), on their new song “Settle Down,” sound quite light and pleasant, if perhaps a bit wistful. A pretty guitar melody ambles along in a acoustic folksy vein, with a shuffling drum beat and mellow vocals drifting in like a soft daydream. With a simple, sweet piano melody and cymbal flourishes, the dream expands and carries you off. It’s a soothing balm for our harsh, chaotic world.

This past year, the band has been “quietly chipping away” in the studio. Based in Hamilton and Ottawa, they’re accustomed to extended breaks and collaborating via cell phones, Skype calls and filesharing, so coming together for a proper session is something special. For an indie band, balancing everyday life and band life isn’t easy, amidst busy schedules and the occasional show tossed in the middle. But when they do manage to create music together, if the result is something as satisfying as this, then it’s definitely worth the wait.

This new song was recorded, mixed and produced by Michael Kaire and mastered by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering.

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Introducing… WTCHS

By julie

On September 20, 2016

In Indie Music

What begins as a deceptively simple gothic minimalist dirge slowly builds into a hypnotic oddessey that travels through exotic goth, free jazz, industrial, experimental noise soundscapes. With a barrage of sound that ebbs and flows like insistent ocean waves, just four words and a few subtle variations on “you own your bones,” the attentive listener is teased, confirmed, queried, seduced, challenged, stirred to action, soothed.” The repetition with its gradually evolving complexity is as revelatory as a classical Phillip Glass or Terry Riley piece. This is headbanging, cleansing, trance-enducing, life-affirming, meditative music of the highest order.

“You Own Your Bones” is from their debut album She Walks, She Creeps, which comes out on October 28 on Sonic Unyon. The vinyl release is limited to 500 copies worldwide, and you can order that or a digital copy (vinyl comes with a digital copy as well), directly from Sonic Unyon. The song was recorded in one take, and is their first new music in more than two years after various line-up changes. The video was filmed and edited by Mitch Fillion, and the music was recorded and mixed by Sean Pearson at Boxcar Studios.

In an Exclaim interview, this Hamilton, Ontario band explained the gestation of their album. “Recording this record become our therapy. We didn’t care about how long or when it was going to be finished. The urgency, the chaos amongst the songs are real. It was our anxieties, our demons that sit amongst the endless layers of frenzied guitars, using suitcases for drums at times, mellotrons, and a brass section to create something that was boiling on the surface. It’s like we were given a second chance, a much needed change to bring an ounce of peace to our aching, tortured souls.”

“acceptance, acceptance of yourself and others amongst the chaos of the universe. you answer to no one but yourself.”

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Bridges and Powerlines’ National Fantasy

By julie

On September 13, 2016

In Indie Music

photo by Mara Abols

Brooklyn’s Bridges and Powerlines are releasing a new album in October called National Fantasy (Devise Records). This album was two years in the making. Kieran Kelly, who worked on Sufjan Stephen’s Illinoise, produced it, Mattie Safer (The Rapture) contributed backing vocals, and it’s a lovely thing indeed. In fact, there’s a positive, upbeat vibe here that’s not unwelcomed. A little vintage, easy-going, fuzzy and feel good — not to mention those pretty harmonies throughout.

National Fantasy is their third full-length album. Their debut, Ghost Types was released in 2007, followed by Eve in 2011. They’ve toured extensively with bands such as The Antlers, HEALTH, Chappo and Clues. More recently, while they were working on this new album, they were also building their own professional recording studio and, if that wasn’t enough to keep themselves busy, they opened a live music venue, Gold Sounds, in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn.

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Walter Sickert and The Army of Broken Toys – Up to their Old (New) Tricks with Come Black Magic!

By julie

On September 7, 2016

In Boston Bands, Indie Music

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys (Courtesy of Jenny Bergman)

Performing LIVE at The Sinclair on Friday, September 9 with Ruby Rose Fox and Mount Peru == ::: BUY TICKETS NOW!! :::

Now for something entirely different. Well, not so different if you’ve been a regular reader of Musings from Boston, as we’ve often spoken fondly of Walter Sickert and The Army of Broken Toys. As always, they’ve been up to crazy big doings. Their amazing new album Come Black Magic will be officially unveiled at The Sinclair in Cambridge in what promises to be one of those legendary events that people will bragging about having been at years from now. The new album was premiered with a fascinating profile of and interview with the band by WBUR’s The ARTery.

As I’m racing to get this posted, all I will say about this fine music is 1) It’s ever bit as powerful and completely overwhelming as anything this phantasmagoria of a musical theatre troupe has ever done, and then some and 2) you might not want to listen to it just before you go to bed.

Get thee to The Sinclair on Friday night in your most exotic finery. And sweet dreams.

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Introducing… The Motivated Sequence

By julie

On September 3, 2016

In Boston Bands, Indie Music

It’s a strange juxtaposition at first, the swelling strings and campy vintage sci-fi footage. But when the storyline kicks in for the title song from the debut album The Science. The Fiction. from Boston-based The Motivated Sequence, it makes a lot more sense.

“I am the science, I am the fiction, I am the novel that’s poorly written
I am the silence, I am the sound, I am the one that you never found
I’m the horizon, I am the shore, I am the calm just before the storm
I am the science, I am the fiction, I am the novel that’s poorly written

I stretch my arms down the East Coast to reach the conclusion
that no one really knows where they came from or where they are going
but they know the places that they miss the most.”
– The Science. The Fiction.

In this first single and throughout their ten-track album, there’s a feeling of melancholy and disconnectedness, despite the poppiness and hopeful exuberance of the lush strings, jangly guitar, organ melodies and driving percussion. There’s just something in lead singer Zach Burt’s voice that’s vulnerable and compelling. It draws you in to his story which, truth be told, is a little sad. It speaks of relationship misfires, miscommunication and disillusionment. In light of this, the clips of hapless travelers lost in space, floating around with their antiquated equipment, is perfectly apt.

The Motivated Sequence will be releasing the album at their record release show on November 2nd at the Middle East Upstairs (the show starts at 7 p.m.). Before that, they’ll be playing at O’Brien’s Pub on September 20th. Meanwhile, you can listen to the single on Spotify or check it out on Soundcloud.

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Introducing… The Runouts and Feculent Creatures

By julie

On August 30, 2016

In Boston Bands, Indie Music

No, this isn’t an article about the current election season and all the incessant tweeting, baiting, name-calling and general appalling mayhem that has infected our daily existence. But you could be forgiven for thinking it was. No, The Runouts is a dirty, thrashy Boston punk band and “Feculent Creatures” is their wonderfully-titled single from their debut album, Pet Noises to be released September 8.

Feculent creatures
they walk among us, some disguised as children
abominable bipods
they’ve learned our ways, and they’ve formed their own culture
how did they do it
right under our nose? We should’ve sniffed out these monsters
sliding out of their dark, slimy tunnels
loudly spewing waste from their faceholes

I wish I could laugh, I wish I was kidding
but I feel I’ve got to stay vigilant
I thought I was jaded, I thought I was a cynic
was gonna check myself into a clinic
but I saw one day, through my mind’s xÂray, much to my dismay
all these people have shit for brains

you better watch out or you’re gonna turn into a feculent creature

here we go, the cycle never ends
I hate all of you, I hate you all
– Feculent Creatures

Wait a minute, maybe this is about Donald Trump supporters? In any case, it’s 2:01 of good ol’ “I’m from Boston, go f*ck yourself” brilliance. You know, maybe I actually do like living here. Or sometimes.

Though you can probably get the gist of what this band is all about from this one brief, beautiful frantic outburst, here’s the lowdown —

“Though The Runouts are known as a band that likes to have a good time (see: “The Runouts do Drunk History,” featuring lead singer Nolan Hill attempting to explain the Monica Lewinsky scandal while highly intoxicated), their lyrical content shows that the band has a definite message that they’d like to get across. On top of their pop-punk-esque music, the band features angry, sometimes downright hostile lyrics attacking society, religion, the family unit, consumerism, 9-5 culture, and everything else that has typically been held sacred under the American sun.” (from their press release)

Pet Noises was recorded, mixed, and co-produced by Richard Marr at his Galaxy Park Studios in Watertown, MA. The album was mastered at Peerless Mastering in Boston, MA by Jeff Lipton and his assistant mastering engineer Maria Rice. The album’s cover art was designed by Johnny “Peebucks” Bonnel from punk-pioneers the Swingin’ Utters, one of the band’s major influences.

If this seems to fit your mood at the moment, you can download “Feculent Creatures” for free from the band’s Soundcloud page. They also have a mini-tour of the East Coast coming up, with the official CD release show on Saturday, October 1 at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, with Mercury on Mars, Carissa Johnson, and DCDR. See their FB events page for details.

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Brooklyn Doran and The Villain

By julie

On August 27, 2016

In Indie Music

We first introduced you to Canadian musician Brooklyn Doran a few short months ago, but as her debut album These Paper Wings is due out on September 9, we’re revisiting this talented songstress to pass along a lovely second single from this upcoming release. It’s called “The Villain” and it stirs up some strong emotions about a relationship misadventure. It’s sad, but out of pain comes renewed strength and determination.

The music on the 7-track album straddles the line between folk and adult contemporary, but with a sharp edge and a strength of spirit not always found in the former and typically never found in the latter. As she describes it, the songs each represent a different time and place in her life within the past three years, and are about the different stages of being in love (or out of love). The video was filmed at Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto by Public Space Productions, created using a series of cinemagraphs.

Doran will be touring around Canada to support These Paper Wings, starting with an album release show on September 10 in Toronto at The Drake Hotel with Ukae and A Fellow Ship. For more information and a complete listing, see Bandsintown.

Track Listing

Not the Time
Sing Me Your Song
I Found A Home
Paper Wings
Haunt Me
The Villain
Say The Worlds

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Introducing… Sofia Hardig

By julie

On August 23, 2016

In Indie Music

“Low and Slow,” the first single from And The Street Light Leads To The Sea (Solaris Empire), is anything but. From the beginning, this song by Swedish multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Sofia Härdig is adreneline-pumping, edgy and tightly wound with considerable muscle and fury.

The upcoming album, due out October 28th, was recorded in Tambourine Studios. This first single promises a wild ride from the quartet — Härdig on vocals, guitar and synth; John Essing on guitar and synth; Per Svensson playing bass and Knut Finsrud on drums. It was mixed by Damian Press and produced by Damian Press, Sofia HÃ¤rdig and John Essing. Mastering was done by Hans Olsson Brookes.

Known in her native Sweden as the “rocktronica queen of experimental music,” Härdig has collaborated with Bob Hund, The Hellacopters, Boredoms and Yoshimi P-We (Free Kitten). She has also opened for Stevie Jackson (Belle and Sebastian) and Lydia Lunch. Listening to Härdig’s lusty vocals, you can definitely hear how she’d be a natural opener for an artist with the gravitas of Lydia Lunch.

Of her inspiration and artistic vision, the artist says, “I find beauty in flaws and that which is not perfect is what excites me, I love the unusual, the unexpected, untrained and unplanned.”

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Introducing… Darling Cora

By julie

On August 20, 2016

In Indie Music

Darling Cora (a.k.a. Darlene Cuevas) has a secret weapon — it’s an impossibly supple voice that conjures the mysteries of the ages. It soars, glides and flutters overhead with the grace and fluidity of birds whle deftly accompanied by electric and acoustic guitar and strings with occasional touches of soft percussion that combines the best of classical, folk, jazz and shades of world music visited by exotic gypsies from a bygone era. Her astonishing debut album, Heart Strung Out, is a rich bouillabaisse of all these ingredients, yet the music never upstages her hypnotic vocals. Instead, it complements her beautifully, creating magical settings for her to truly shine.

As the album flows, just when you think you’ve figured out her sound, she suddenly surprises (such as with the tremendous power and passion of “Three Pennies Faling” and “Charade”). The album spans a range of emotions. As the artist herself explains, her debut is about “a young woman figuring out matters of the heart, especially to do with love — the good, the bad, the sweet, and the ugly. I wrote about different facets of loving, and how its lack or excess can wear upon the heart and psyche.”

Currently based in the Toronto area, Darling Cora has a pair of shows coming up — at The Cameron House in Toronto on September 23 and at the Red Brick Cafe in Guelph on October 8.

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