Month: August 2017

Yumi Zouma’s new single, “Persephone,” is a nice slice of electro-pop.

Yumi Zouma Share New Single “Persephone”
Listen Here

Willowbank Out October 6th On Cascine

Catch Them On Tour This Fall

Photo by Aaron Lee

Yumi Zouma are sharing “Persephone” from their forthcoming album, Willowbank, coming out October 6th on Cascine. It’s the latest single from the new album following previously released tracks “December” and “Depths Pt. I” and offers another reason why publications like NPR Music are calling Yumi Zouma “perfect pop.”
Listen To Yumi Zouma’s “Persephone”:
https://soundcloud.com/cascine/yumi-zouma-persephone
Limited edition Willowbank 12″s are pressed on baby blue vinyl and include sheet music for album highlight “Carnation” printed on premium cotton paper. Select limited edition LPs will also include hidden entry tickets to invite-only release parties in New York City and Los Angeles, featuring live and DJ sets from the band.

For the making of Willowbank, the members of Yumi Zouma settled on a plan to head home for the New Zealand summer. To complete what would become their first significant work written and recorded entirely in their home country, they rented a studio in Christchurch’s semi-demolished CBD, on one of the few remaining blocks that still characterizes the city from before it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes.

Guitarist, keyboard player and vocalist Josh Burgess says, “It was as though there was a brief pause in all of our lives and we finally felt like a band from New Zealand. We were on home turf and creating from a place that felt fundamentally natural.” That sensation was further underscored by Willowbank’s recording sessions falling over the cherished holiday season, during which the Yumis were surrounded by family. Burgess credits some of the small, often mundane Kiwi traditions of the time for influencing their mindset. “New Zealand has a distinct feel from Christmas to the end of January. Things shut down. It has a calming presence, it’s very peaceful.” That sense of holiday can be heard on lead single “December” where the melodies float and stir themselves into a series of swelling refrains that culminate in horns and handclaps.

When you know it’s there, the feeling of rootedness is undeniable on Willowbank. Being connected to their origins on the bottom of the earth allowed the band’s members, Charlie Ryder, Josh Burgess, Christie Simpson and Sam Perry to craft another essential chapter in the Yumi Zouma storybook.

Yumi Zouma Tour Dates:
Fri. Oct. 6 – London, UK @ Omeara
Sun. Oct. 8 – Brighton, UK @ The Joker
Mon. Oct. 9 – Paris, FR @ L’Espace B
Wed. Oct. 11 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Musikkens Hus – Ideal Bar
Thu. Oct. 12 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser
Sun. Oct. 15 – Amsterdam, NL @ Sugarfactory
Wed. Oct. 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater*
Thu. Oct. 19 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop*
Fri. Oct. 20 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios*
Sat. Oct. 21 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza*
Mon. Oct. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s  ^
Tue. Oct. 24 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall ^
Wed. Oct. 25 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge ^
Thu. Oct. 26 – Boston, MA @ Lilypad ^
Fri. Oct. 27 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz ^
Sat. Oct. 28 – Toronto, ON @ Smiling Buddha ^

*w/ Chad Valley
^ w/ She-Devils


Willowbank artwork

John Dwyer releases 20th album in 20 years with OCS’ “Memories of a Cut Off Head.”

OH SEES’ NEW ALBUM ORC OUT NOW; OH SEES ARE DEAD, LONG LIVE OCS

OCS ANNOUNCES MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD, OUT 11/17 ON CASTLE FACE

LISTEN TO TITLE TRACK OFF 20TH ALBUM IN 20 YEARS

Just as you begin to get comfortable with something, the rug is pulled from under you. Last Friday, John Dwyer and his band Oh Sees released their newest record, the monolithic psych opus Orc. This release represents the 19th album under some amalgam of the name Oh Sees/Thee Oh Sees/The Oh Sees, OCS, etc. Wasting no time, John Dwyer presents the 20th album (in the 20th year of the band’s existence), Memory of a Cut Off Head (out 11/17 on Castle Face), returning to his roots as OCS.

It is easy to forget (especially amidst the ringing of ears and aching of muscles after your typical Oh Sees show) that initially, OCS was a rather hushed affair. After the minimalistic brutality of Coachwhips, OCS was a diametric opposite corner of John’s musical world, quiet to the point of whispered in the wind, buffeted by the airy whirr of singing saw, soft and strange. Those early records especially had a rather contraband hush about them, as if the party has gone on all night and continues into the morning but everyone’s raspy from talking too much and gradually agrees to whisper and pantomime as they watch the sun come up over the hills. Since then of course, things got gradually louder, faster, crazier…the band evolved since then into the Oh Sees everyone knows. For the 20th Oh Sees release, 100th Castle Face title, and 20th year doing it, John re-examines the quieter roots of it all in particularly baroque and homesteadly fashion. Memory of a Cut Off Head was co-written with longtime collaborator and vocal counterpoint Brigid Dawson, recorded in total in John’s own Stu Stu Studio, and it’s lush, sumptuous in texture, but satisfyingly retains the gentle grace of the early stuff. There’s beautifully executed strings throughout, courtesy of Heather Lockie’s fine arrangements, horn arrangements courtesy of Mikal Cronin, and they even brought back the old saw – Patrick Mullins, that is – on saw and electronics. A return and a refinement of old forms, a few solemn meditations on life lived at high velocity, perhaps a respite from it…a softer side of JPD and distinguished company. Listen to the title track below.
LISTEN TO “MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD”
http://bit.ly/2wJQNUt

PRE-ORDER MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD
http://bit.ly/2wiTwSM

MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD TRACKLISTING
1. Memory of a Cut Off Head
2. Cannibal Planet
3. The Baron Sleeps and Dreams
4. The Remote Viewer
5. On & On Corridor
6. Neighbor To None
7. The Fool
8. The Chopping Block
9. Time Tuner
10. Lift A Finger

 

PRAISE FOR ORC

“With their latest full-length, and a minor name change, John Dwyer’s garage-punk band continues to travel further toward rock’s outer limits.” – Pitchfork (7.4/10)

“The record is an absolutely evil stunner from front to back, top to bottom, head to toes and everywhere in between, and whips up the same kind of radiant, strange awe that the band’s overdriven catalog has so generously perpetrated album after wicked album.” – Paste (9.5/1010)

“Many have tried to knock the crown from his head, but essentially most just need to come to the conclusion that they’re not even on the same mountain.” – Raven Sings The Blues

“Whatever their lineup happens to look like, Oh Sees are here to deliver surrealist vignettes of horror and revelation. Dwyer paints sprawling auditory cartoons of aliens, mythical creatures and dominions of the otherworldly here.” – Exclaim! (8/10)

OH SEES/OCS TOUR DATES
Thu. Aug. 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Fri. Sept. 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
Sat. Sept. 2 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
Mon. Sept. 4 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Outside
Tue. Sept. 5 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Wed. Sept. 6 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Sept. 7 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
Fri. Sept. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater
Sa. Sept. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Sun. Sept. 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Wed. Sept. 13 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Thu. Sept. 14 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe I Le National
Fri. Sept. 15 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Theater
Sat. Sept. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Sun. Sept. 17 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Tue. Sept. 19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
Fri. Sept. 22 – Missoula, MT @ Monk’s
Sat. Sept. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
Sun. Sept. 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Mon. Sept. 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Wed. Sept. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Thur. Sept. 28 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

Purchase Orc – https://www.midheaven.com/item/orc-by-oh-sees
Hi-res photos/album art: http://pitchperfectpr.com/thee-oh-sees/

Oh Sees Online:
http://www.theeohsees.com
https://www.castlefacerecords.com
https://www.castlefacerecords.com/collections/thee-oh-sees

Gary Wilson – Let’s Go to Outer Space

It’s a bit surprising that experimental psych-lounge musician Gary Wilson has taken so long to release an album entitled Let’s Go to Outer Space because I’m fairly certain Mr. Wilson is from Saturn or perhaps somewhere outside this solar system.

The album opens with “Back to Where I Belong” and Wilson boldly proclaiming that he met an alien at a bus stop in Johnson City and they then walked all the way to his hometown of Endicott in the rain.  Theremin rolls all around the track as Wilson tells her she’s the prettiest girl from outer space, meaning he’s met others (which shouldn’t surprise anyone).  She offers to take him back with her, but he stays.

“Gary Kissed a Mannequin” is self-explanatory as Wilson falls in love with a mannequin who looks like the girl next door and takes her out to talk to the trees and dance all night long.  It’s quite possible that his encounter with an alien beauty drove him mad.  “Lost in a Mystery” is a song with a familiar theme on Wilson’s records – loneliness.  The song’s peppy keyboards and jazz lounge beats (and more Theremin!) can’t conceal Wilson’s confusion about why his alien girl left (“I want to cry.  I don’t know just why.  You took my heart and ran away.  I’m gonna save my heartache for another day.”).

“Gary Feels Cool” has the never-ending optimism you also find on Wilson’s records.  He’s never completely out of the dating game, despite his many setbacks.  His keyboard solo emphasizes his confident swagger.  He’s just as cool when he dreams of a lovely lady in “You’re the Girl from a Magazine.”  He can’t name her or the magazine.  He just knows she’s pretty and famous for something.  It’s not a sleazy song either.  Wilson just wants to take this pretty girl for a nice walk.

Wilson admits his story is “insane” in “She’s the Girl from Mars,” but he’s so sincere (and his quirky synths are so fun) that you can’t help but believe him.  “Let’s Go on a Walk Tonight” is another plea from Wilson to his Martian girlfriend to stroll with him through Endicott and beyond.  It’s a toe-tapper that you can’t get out of your head for a while after hearing it.

The song’s beats and even the “la la la” chorus continues in “I’m Not Ashamed of You,” as Wilson’s keyboards sound more like a harpsichord.  Wilson has no fear of walking around with an alien, even as others around him are running away in terror.  He’s finally found love, and everyone should be envying him.

The honeymoon ends, however, when we get to “I Want to Cry.”  Everything had been going so well that Wilson even took his outer space lover to his high school reunion, but yet he still wants to weep.  Is it from joy or misery?  It can’t be from his sweet electric piano solo, that’s for sure.

“Let’s Go to Mars” is simple, yet catchy with Wilson singing another song about marrying his Martian girlfriend in front of his hometown pals and then driving her in his new car out of orbit.  He can’t find love on Earth, so will he find it on another planet?

Probably not, if “My Beautiful Wife Walked Away” is any indication.  Wilson has been dumped yet again.  “I don’t know just what do.  I just wanna be with you,” he sings.  Finding a lasting love is an eternal quest for Wilson, and things beyond his control or understanding always seem to screw it up for him.  On “My Pretty Little Space Girl,” Wilson laments the departure of his alien beauty who never plans to return.  “All things gotta come to an end,” Wilson tells us.  That includes his quest, by the way.  It might not have ended with a woman from another planet, but Wilson will find someone someday.

Keep your mind open.

[Updates sent through outer space to your e-mail inbox when you subscribe!]

Public Enemy – Nothing Is Quick in the Desert

The cover to Public Enemy’s new record, Nothing Is Quick in the Desert, features outdated technology ranging from tube TVs and cassettes to an outdated computer and, yes, an iPod classic (like mine). Lit candles circle the items in homage to a time past, which includes some of PE’s classic albums, by the way. The words “Except death” line the bottom of the cover. The desert will reduce you over time, but it will kill you in an instant if you’re unprepared for it. It’s the same with time, and PE are using this record to warn us (again, as we can’t seem to listen) of growing lackadaisical in these tricky times.

The title track has a nice mix of heavy guitar and bass with chimes and piano as Chuck D proclaims “Everybody sellin’, but nobody buyin’” before rolling into “sPEak!” – a slick track encouraging us to use our voices and not let twenty-four hour news cycles and propaganda drown out our concerns (“Speak your mind. Speak. It’s time. Speak your piece. Be free.”).

Flavor Flav throws down a challenge at the beginning of “Yesterday Man” as he proclaims, “You don’t even know who the hell you are.” The song is about those of us who choose to live in (and are thus prisoners of) the past. Chuck D claims many of us want to be a spectacle instead of spectacular. We’d rather be momentarily famous than do something that matters.

“Beat Them All” brings in trance bass as the band sings, “If you can’t join ‘em, you know you gotta beat ‘em.” The song flows well into “Smash the Crowd.” Chuck D puts down some of his best flows on the track (tearing up rappers who’d rather get a quick buck instead of trying to change the world with their art) and I’m sure it’s smashes crowds and clubs live. “So Be It” has Chuck D proclaiming the virtues of “it,” but what is “it?” It’s whatever you believe in, according to him. Only Chuck D could use the word “it” so many times in one song and have it mean a hundred different things. Listen to this track if you’ve forgotten what a master MC sounds like.

“SOC MED Digital Heroin” is heavy on guest stars and warnings about getting “lost in the 1980’s” and becoming lazy thanks to having everything spoon fed to us. Flavor Flav shouts that he’s “shakin’ my damn head” at the proliferation of reality TV (of which, it should be noted, he was a star) and social media. “Terrorwrist” has wicked beats and bass by DJ Lord while Chuck D asks, “How can I make you understand?” – which he’s essentially been asking us since Public Enemy’s first album.

DJ Lord puts down more killer beats and cuts on “Toxic,” while Chuck D asks if MCs can change the world in “this time of 45.” He and Flavor Flav speak about how toxic talk and venomous news cycles have poisoned us. One of the cleverest tracks on the record is “Sells Like Teens Hear It.” It’s a slam on new styles of rap such as mumblecore and trap music. Chuck D likes some of it, but can’t understand why so many teenagers like songs that are essentially empty calories. It also has Flavor Flav’s best rapping on the record. It’s easy to forget that Flav can drop rhymes because he’s the greatest hype man of all time.

The album ends with “Rest in Beats (Parts 1 & 2).” Chuck D laments the losses of so many hip-hop and rap legends from Jam Master Jay to Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. It moves onto the loss of record stores, excellent tours, exquisite rapping, rap teams, “the time when you really had to rhyme,” and having everyone together in one studio instead of e-mailing pieces of tracks back and forth. A lot of what made rap so good is a lost art by now.

Thankfully, we still have records like this.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fts-AH9R2yU

[Nothing is quick in the desert, but subscribing only takes a couple seconds.]

Omni release new single and huge list of tour dates.

OMNI SHARE VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE “SOUTHBOUND STATION“, ANNOUNCE US TOUR DATES

MULTI-TASK OUT 9/22 ON TROUBLE IN MIND

Today, Atlanta-based trio, Omni share a video for their new single – and album opener – “Southbound Station.” This comes to us off their forthcoming sophomore record Multi-task (out 9/22 on Trouble in Mind).  The band had previously shared the song “Equestrian,” perhaps their catchiest song to date. Sonically, “Southbound Station” is just as acrobatic a song as “Equestrian,” full of bounce, tension and release, with melodies seemingly developing out of thin air. The FADER premiered the video today. Here’s what the band had to say about the track:

‘Southbound Station’ is a song about being young in Atlanta, barely aware of anything beyond your immediate surroundings. There was always a sense of urgency to make it to the next destination where there may be a lover or a house show to attend. Years disappeared into the drunken void as I got to know the city—a charming yet challenging experience at the same time. 

Omni’s underlying seductive sophistication creates an aura of romance that many post-punk bands dare not tread, and Omni pulls it off with grace & style.  Their minimalist funk-fused agit-pop whirrs while simultaneously creating an album that is awash in the excitement of new love, or fleeting attraction. As performers, the band deliver this excitement and romance live, and have just announced new US tour dates. If you want an idea of what you’re in store for, watch a video of the band performing in France here.

“[‘Southbound Station’] is a perfect little post-punk jam for a late-evening walk through the city, when your mind is racing with possibilities.” – The FADER 

WATCH “SOUTHBOUND STATION”
https://youtu.be/UmuksS9xLwA

LISTEN TO “EQUESTRIAN”
http://bit.ly/2uqHRQu

OMNI TOUR DATES (new dates in bold)
Thu. Aug. 31 – Amsterdam, NL @ OT301
Fri. Sep. 1 – Larmar Tree Gardens, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Sat. Sep. 2 – Manchester, UK @ Strange Waves Festival
Sun. Sep. 3 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
Mon. Sep. 4 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere
Tue. Sep. 5 – Toulouse, FR @ Pavilion Sauvage
Wed. Sep. 6 – Madrid, ES @ Sirocco
Thu. Sep. 7 – Santiago De Compostela, ES @ WOS
Fri. Sep. 8 – Barcelona, ES @ Altaveu
Sat. Sep. 9 – Marseille, FR @ L’Emeobineuse
Mon. Sep. 11 – Basle, CH @ Renee
Wed. Sep. 13 – Zurich, CH @ Katakombe @ Sender
Thu. Sep. 14 – Bologne, IT @ Freakout
Fri. Sep. 15 – Lyon, FR @ Le Sonic
Sat. Sep. 16 – Orleans, FR @ Hop Hop
Sun. Sep. 17 – Lille, FR @ DIY
Mon. Sep. 18 – London, UK @ Moth Club
Tue. Sep. 19 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
Wed. Sep. 20 – Dublin, IRE @ Whealan’s
Thu. Sep. 21– Glasgow, UK @ Hug & Pint
Fri. Sep. 22 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Psychfest
Sat. Sep. 23 – Brighton, UK @ Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
Tue. Oct. 17 – Nashville, TN @ The End
Wed. Oct. 18 – New Orleans, LA @ Santos
Thu. Oct. 19 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas
Fri. Oct. 20 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Sat. Oct. 21 – El Paso, TX @ Monarch
Sun. Oct. 22 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge
Mon. Oct. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge
Tue. Oct. 24 – San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern
Fri. Oct. 27 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark Lounge
Sat. Oct. 28 – Seattle, WA @ The Central Saloon
Sun. Oct. 29 – Vancouver, BC @ Astoria
Mon. Oct. 30 – Spokane, WA @ Baby Bar
Tue. Oct. 31 – Missoula, MT @ Zootown Arts Community Center
Thu. Nov. 2 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
Fri. Nov. 3 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Sun. Nov. 5 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Tue. Nov. 7 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Bar
Wed. Nov. 8 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Thu. Nov. 9 – Toronto, ON @ Smiling Buddha
Fri. Nov. 10 – Montreal, QC @ Brasserie Beaubien
Sat. Nov. 11 – Somerville, MA @ Boston Hassel Fest (Once Lounge)
Mon. Nov. 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Tue. Nov. 14 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
Thu. Nov. 16 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
Fri. Nov. 17 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings Barcade

PRAISE FOR “EQUESTRIAN”

“Its spry, stair-climbing melody comes off like a jittery call to arms, with bass and guitar bouncing and aligning like magnets. The addition of a rising synth gives the tune a triumphant tone, not far from Devo’s most anthemic moments.” – NPR Music

“With a steady lo-fi pulse, the act layers gritty guitars into a outpouring of analog warmth. Each element feels essential to the build of a tight-knit mid-tempo groove as singer Philip Frobos oscillates between a disaffected croon and the yelps and shouts of high-energy punk.” – SPIN

“The bubbling bassline and cool, taunting vocals on “Equestrian” make for a self-destructive lo-fi dance party” – Stereogum

“‘Equestrian’ picks up with more Verlaine-veined guitar lines nestled atop a skittering drum beat. They lean into progress with some synth strains to back the track up, pouring on a glaze of synth-punk that doesn’t dominate, but pays reverence to their brand of ’70s gods as the track progresses.” – Raven Sings The Blues

Hi-res images/album art – http://pitchperfectpr.com/omni/

Pre-order Physical – http://www.troubleinmindrecs.com/omni-multi-task/
Pre-order Digital – http://apple.co/2sWcrT6

Omni Online:
https://www.facebook.com/omniatl
https://www.instagram.com/omnideluxe/
https://soundcloud.com/omni-band
http://www.troubleinmindrecs.com/
http://pitchperfectpr.com/

DJ set list for August 24, 2017.

Thanks to everyone who listened to my last show of the 2017 summer on WSND. I should be back on air Wednesday nights this winter (or through December, at least).  It was a fun summer at the studio.  I appreciate all the listens, requests, Tweets, chats, and calls.  Here’s my set list from last night:

  1. Bebel Gilberto – Aganju
  2. She-Devils – Come
  3. The Mynabirds – Be Here Now
  4. EMA – I Wanna Destroy
  5. Frenzy radio ad
  6. Kasabian – Underdog
  7. Slowdive – Slomo
  8. Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
  9. Robin Trower – In City Dreams (requested)
  10. RIDE – All I Want
  11. The Misfits – American Nightmare
  12. Fake Limbs – An Inconvenience
  13. Billy Idol – Eyes Without a Face (requested)
  14. Skyland Drive-In Theatre intermission
  15. Devo – Head Like a Hole
  16. Cloakroom – Big World
  17. The Raveonettes – Ignite
  18. So Many Wizards – Sic Boys
  19. Vadaat Charigim – Ein Li Makom
  20. Priests – Design Within Reach
  21. Husker Du – Ice Cold Ice (live)
  22. Gary Wilson – Gary Feels Cool
  23. Male Gaze – Wha Do Wha Do
  24. Screaming Females – The Bearded Lady
  25. Vacation – Fake It
  26. Fats Domino – Whiskey Heaven (requested)
  27. Stepford Wives radio ad
  28. Fairfield Four – Po Lazarus
  29. Elmore James – The Sky Is Crying
  30. The Black Keys – The Desperate Man
  31. Johnny Cash – Get Rhythm

Keep your mind open.

Lindstrom’s new album, “It’s Alright Between Us As It Is,” due out October 20th.

LINDSTRØM ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM, IT’S ALRIGHT BETWEEN US AS IT IS, OUT OCTOBER 20TH ON SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND

LISTEN TO LEAD SINGLE “SHININ” FEAT. GRACE HALL
http://bit.ly/2wrQrm3
(above image by Lin Stensrud)
Norwegian producer Lindstrøm, aka “the king of space disco” (New Yorker), will release his fifth solo album, It’s Alright Between Us As It Is, on October 20th via Smalltown Supersound. The album, presented as one continuous stream of nine interlocked tracks, shows Lindstrøm refining his love of arpeggiated synths, relentless uplifting beats, warm and steamy analogue bubble baths and earworm melodies. In conjunction with today’s album announcement, he shares the shimmery electronic pop of lead single “Shinin” feat. Grace Hall. It’s one of three songs on the album with guest vocalists; the others feature Jenny Hval and Frida Sundemo.

Based in Oslo, Lindstrøm has always made a virtue of his obsessive work ethic, turning his city center studio into a factory floor for churning out monster tracks, then punching out regularly and going home to his family. He’s collaborated with the likes of Todd Terje, Prins Thomas, and Todd Rundgren, remixed a slew of acts, including LCD Soundsystem, Lana Del Ray, Haim, Grizzly Bear, Flume, RAC, London Grammar, and more. On It’s Alright Between Us As It Is, he aggregates all the best elements of his long and varied career and newly reveals himself to be a commanding mood sculptor.

 

Lindstrøm will play select shows this fall.

Listen to Lindstrøm’s “Shinin” feat. Grace Hall –
https://soundcloud.com/smalltownsupersound/lindstrom-shinin-feat-grace-hall-1/

Lindstrøm Tour Dates:
Fri. Aug. 25 – Niort, FR @ Jeudis Niortais – Les Jardins François Mitterand
Fri. Sep. 1 – Randaberg, NO @ Randaberg Kulturhus
Sat. Sep. 2 – London, UK @ Village Underground
Sat. Sep. 16 – Bucharest, RO @ DokStation at Control Club
Thu. Nov. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Good Room
Fri. Nov. 10 – McDade, TX @ Sound On Sound Festival
Sat. Nov. 11 – Chicago, IL @ Smart Bar

It’s Alright Between Us As It Is Tracklist:
1. It’s Alright Between Us As It Is
2. Spire
3. Tensions
4. But Isn’t It feat. Frida Sundemo
5. Versatile Dreams (Interlude)
6. Shinin feat. Grace Hall
7. Drift
8. Bungl (Like A Ghost) feat. Jenny Hval
9. Under Trees

Pre-order It’s Alright Between Us As It Is –
http://smarturl.it/sts320-bcamp

Download hi-res press images of Lindstrøm and album art –
http://pitchperfectpr.com/lindstrom/

(It’s Alright Between Us As It Is cover art)

Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Smalltown Supersound

Kllo deliver excellent new single – “Downfall.”

Kllo Share New Single “Downfall”
Listen Here

Debut Album Backwater Out October 20th On Ghostly International

Photo by Hayley Louise Brown
Having recently announced their debut album, Kllo are back today with their second single from Backwater titled “Downfall.” It follows lead single “Virtue” which The New York Times calls “sterling” with “euphoric, quick-stepping production” that “bridges fiery garage and joyous disco.”

“Downfall” is the leadoff track on Backwater, due out October 20th on Ghostly International. It was also the last song written for Backwater. “We wrote it on a balcony in Croatia overlooking the water,” say Kllo. “It was very beautiful there, warm and still. We were in a good space, reflecting on everything we’d gone through, but also how much we’d grown through making Backwater. It’s a reminder to not get too caught up in your head, to not dwell on the negative things.”

Listen To Kllo’s “Downfall”:
https://soundcloud.com/kllomusic/01-downfall
Kllo – an electronic pop collaboration between Melbourne cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam – waded in figurative backwater for much of 2016 amid an extensive world tour. These were exciting times; the duo’s Well Worn EP furthered the promise of 2014 EP Cusp, receiving millions of streams and landing Kllo on festival stages as well as Artists-to-Watch lists. Nonetheless, the stretch kept them far from home, isolated and vulnerable, treading through perpetual uncharted territory while yearning for the comforts of the familiar.

As a result, Kllo’s full-length debut depicts inner adjustment to outer change. Songs were written partially on the road and developed back at Lam’s bungalow, a haven that harbors creative spontaneity and catharsis.

“It’s the first time we hadn’t felt like kids anymore,” says Kaul. “We were really able to dive in deeper and bring out a lot more of us into the music.”

Kllo first emerged with a sound beyond their years; fully formed, fusing elements of R&B, UK garage, and 2-step. Well-versed students of artists like James Blake, Lauryn Hill, and The xx, the duo extend an amalgamation of established pop elements with modern sensibilities and wide-eyed sincerity. Backwater arrives as a refined, coming-of-age account. The LP format finds Kllo with more room to breathe and sync their rhythms with emotions. Kaul’s smoky voice emanates with assurance and leisure. Lam’s production invents brooding, steely undercurrents hemmed with charming crescendos.

Kllo have officially come out the other end of the stilted estuary with twelve compositions cultivated to feel timeless and crafted, and equally current. The duo’s second release on Ghostly International — and their most realized work to date — Backwater celebrates the ephemeral and the enduring changes in emotion, the downfalls and the dissolves. It’s an album that parts course with its flow, and flourishes in a lowland.

Backwater is out October 20th on Ghostly International.

Listen To Kllo’s “Downfall”:
https://soundcloud.com/kllomusic/01-downfall

Watch & Listen:
“Virtue” video – https://youtu.be/4vSVpoABRRU
“Virtue” audio – https://soundcloud.com/kllomusic/virtue
Kllo Tour Dates:
Nov. 12 – Madrid, ES @ Costello
Nov. 13 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba
Nov. 14 – Barcelona, ES @ Sidecar
Nov. 16 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic
Nov. 17 – Rotterdam, NL @ V11
Nov. 18 – Brussels, BE @ Les TransArdentes at Palais 12
Nov. 20 – Amsterdam, NL @ The Sugar Factory
Nov. 23 – London, UK @ XOYO
Nov. 24 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana
Nov. 25 – Manchester, UK @ The Soup Kitchen
Nov. 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Nov. 28 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
Nov. 29 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
Nov. 30 – Nottingham, UK @ The Bodega
Dec. 3 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
Dec. 4 – Cologne, DE @ Yuca
Dec. 5 – Hamburg, DE @ Haekken
Dec. 8 – Sydney, AUS @ Oxford Arts Factory
Dec. 9 – Perth, AUS @ Jack Rabbit Slim’s
Dec. 14 – Brisbane, AUS @ Woolly Mammoth
Dec. 15 – Melbourne, AUS @ Corner Hotel
Dec. 16 – Adelaide, AUS @ Fat Controller


Backwater artwork

Slow Magic’s new album, “Float,” due October 6th.

Slow Magic Announces New Album, Float
Out October 6th On Downtown/Interscope

Listen To New Single “Light” (Feat. Tropics)
https://soundcloud.com/slowmagic/light-feat-tropics

World Headline Tour Announced

Float artwork
Slow Magic is proud to announce his new album, Float, coming out October 6th on Downtown/Interscope. Float is Slow Magic’s third proper studio album and follows up 2014’s How To Run Away. Along with the announcement of Float, Slow Magic is sharing a new single, “Light,” featuring Tropics. It follows up previously released Float single “Mind” featuring Kate Boy.
Listen To Slow Magic’s “Light” (feat. Tropics):
https://soundcloud.com/slowmagic/light-feat-tropics
“‘Light’ is one of my favorites from the upcoming album. It started with a harp sample I was playing on my keyboard. I really enjoyed the way it played and ended up just messing around with it for hours. I wanted the song to convey the tension between a really calm and expected moment, suddenly followed by something intense. Light has always been an inspiration of mine. It can determine and define our surroundings in a way nothing else really can – it even dictates our mood and emotions. When Chris from Tropics sent me the lyrics it worked perfectly. He captured in a love song everything I wanted to say musically.”

Work on Float began during a trip to Iceland. Slow Magic cites the surreal change in light that far north as an inspiration. “The sun never really went away. It was eternal,” Slow Magic explains. “I wanted to approach this album in ways I never had before.” That meant recording live drums at a studio in Stockholm normally reserved for metal bands. Once the instrumentals took shape, Slow Magic enlisted vocalists Peter Silberman (from The Antlers), Kate Boy, Tropics, Toulouse, and MNDR to help complete Float.

“My last album How To Run Away was about my life at that time, really just moving at all times, running away from any reality and problems. I wanted to capture that feeling of freedom of youth when nothing really seems to matter in the long term. A lot of the songs were about specific places in the world I was able to experience for the very first time.”

“On Float I wanted to go back to the beginning of Slow Magic. I wanted to capture the raw sounds and feelings and freedom of my first albums ▲ and How To Run Away while expanding and evolving into something completely new. Most of the songs started very stripped down, just with piano and organic instruments. I let the songs write themselves without forcing them to go anywhere they didn’t naturally go.”

Slow Magic will tour the world for the rest of 2017 in support of Float headlining his biggest rooms yet. “I’m planning a lot of new things that I haven’t done before. There will be a completely revamped live show with a ton of new music. I’m hoping people that have been to my show and people that never have will all feel like they are experiencing something they never have imagined.”

Listen To Slow Magic’s “Light” (feat. Tropics):
https://soundcloud.com/slowmagic/light-feat-tropics

Buy/Stream “Light”:
http://smarturl.it/SlowMagicLight
Listen to “Mind” (feat. Kate Boy):
https://soundcloud.com/slowmagic/mind-1
Slow Magic Tour Dates:
9/13 – Paris, France @ Batofar
9/14 – Milan, Italy @ Circolo Magnolia
9/15 – Rome, Italy @ Monk Club
9/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Sugar Factory
9/20 – Brussels, Belgium @ Beursschouwburg
9/21 – Liege, Belgium @ Reflektor
9/23 – London, UK @ Oslo
9/24 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Lille Vega
9/27 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser
9/28 – Berlin, Germany @ Gretchen
9/29 – Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz
9/30 – Madrid, Spain @ Costello Club
10/25 – Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room
10/26 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
10/27 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10/28 – New Orleans, LA @ Varsity Theatre
10/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell Stage)
11/2 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
11/3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Secret Location – TBA
11/4 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
11/5 – Boston, MA @ Royale
11/8 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount
11/9 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
11/10 – Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick
11/11 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache
11/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
11/15 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
11/16 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar
11/17 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
11/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
11/30 –Vancouver, BC @ Venue
12/1 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
12/2 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
12/3 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
12/6 – Arcata, CA @ Arcata Theatre
12/7 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
12/8 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
12/9 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
12/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo

Photo by Dream Angel

Protomartyr share new single, “My Children,” and tour dates.

PROTOMARTYR SHARE NEW SONG “MY CHILDREN”

ANNOUNCE BROOKLYN HEADLINE SHOW ON SEPT. 13TH

RELATIVES IN DESCENT OUT SEPT. 29TH ON DOMINO

photo credit: Daniel Topete
Today, Protomartyr share “My Children,” the second single off their forthcoming album Relatives In Descent (out 9/29 on Domino). A song about legacy, about what we pass on to those that come after us, ‘My Children’ is an urgent follow up to the first single, the gloriously epic “A Private Understanding.”
LISTEN TO “MY CHILDREN”
Youtube: http://smarturl.it/MyChildren
Streaming: http://smarturl.it/MyChildrenStrm

Protomartyr have announced worldwide tour dates in support of the album, including a hometown album release party on the Detroit Princess, a 4-level historical cruise ship. The party, which will feature performances from Protomartyr, Adult, Metz, Tyvek, and Preoccupations, also includes a scenic cruise. Tickets available here.

Additionally, Protomartyr have announced another New York headline show, at St. Vitus in Brooklyn on Wednesday September 13th. This more intimate affair will give NY fans a chance to see the band before their Music Hall of Williamsburg show on Oct. 28th. Tickets will be on sale Friday, August 18th.

Anxiety about the precarious nature of reality is a recurring thread on Protomartyr’s 4th full-length and Domino debut. Though not a concept album, it presents twelve variations on a theme: the unknowable nature of truth, and the existential dread that often accompanies that unknowing. After months of rehearsal, the band decamped to Los Angeles for two weeks in March of 2017, to record with Sonny DiPerri (Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors), who co-produced the record and helped capture the band’s long-simmering vision for something more complex, but no less visceral.

Previously shared track “A Private Understanding” is the album’s opening statement and a wellspring from which the following eleven songs flow. At once beautiful and brutal, it mutates from drum-led oddity to unlikely anthem, with some of Casey’s most potent lyrical work at its center.

PRAISE FOR “A PRIVATE UNDERSTANDING”

“There is an entire short story’s worth of action here, but this sentence turns it into something else — a frozen pose, a single moment we can gaze at indefinitely.” – The New York Times Magazine

“‘A Private Understanding’ is another Protomartyr song that rewards repeat listens—to sit with its poetry and tease out its generous hooks” – Pitchfork

“Frontman Joe Casey’s brand of dour, erudite charisma has never been more engaging, with allusions to Stalin and the beliefs of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus sitting next to pained, direct outbursts (“she’s just trying to reach you,” Casey sings over and over as the guitars build into a typhoon at the end).” – Noisey

“A five-minute slow-simmer that captures Protomartyr at their most unsettling and their most accessible.” – Stereogum

“Over an off-kilter drumbeat, bellower-in-chief Joe Casey gives a vision of America in 2017–’this age of blasting trumpets, paradise for fools’–before heading into murkier waters.” – SPIN

Watch the video for ‘A Private Understanding’ here.
Stream ‘A Private Understanding’ here.

Protomartyr will tour the US in September and head to Europe in November including a string of UK dates.
PROTOMARTYR TOUR DATES
Wed. Sep. 6 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Cattivo w/ Melkbelly
Thu-Sep. 7 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery w/ Melkbelly
Fri. Sep 8 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Festival
Sat. Sep. 9 – Asheville, NC @ Mothlight w/ Melkbelly
Sun. Sep. 10 – Cincinnati, OH @ Northside Yacht Club w/ Melkbelly
Wed. Sep. 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ St. Vitus
Thu. Sep. 14 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs w/ John Maus
Fri. Sep. 15 – Jersey City, NJ @ Monty Hall w/ the Gotobeds
Sat. Sep. 16 – Hudson, NY @ Basilica Soundscape
Sun. Sep. 17 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s w/ John Maus
Fri. Sep. 22 – Detroit, MI @ Detroit Princess Riverboat w/ METZ, Preoccupations, ADULT., Tyvek
Sat. Sep. 30 – Long Beach, CA @ Music Tastes Good
Sun. Oct. 8 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall w/ Failed Flowers
Mon. Oct. 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club w/ Failed Flowers
Thu. Oct. 12  – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey w/ Hurry Up
Fri. Oct. 13 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir w/ Hurry Up
Sat. Oct. 14 – Eugene, OR @ Hi Fi Music Hall w/ Hurry Up
Sun. Oct. 15 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall w/ Lars Finberg
Tue. Oct. 17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge w/ Lars Finberg
Thu. Oct. 19 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger w/ Flasher
Fri. Oct. 20 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda, TX w/ Flasher
Sat. Oct. 21 – Dallas, TX @ Dada w/ Flasher
Sun. Oct. 22 – Houston, TX @ Secret Group w/ Flasher
Tue. Oct. 24 – Atlanta, GA @ the Earl w/ Flasher
Wed. Oct. 25 – Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre w/ Flasher
Thu. Oct. 26 – Washington, DC @ Rock n Roll Hotel w/ Flasher
Fri. Oct. 27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle w/ Flasher
Sat. Oct. 28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Flasher
Thu. Nov. 2 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum w/ METZ
Fri. Nov. 3 – Wroclaw, PL @ Klub Firlej w/ METZ
Sat. Nov. 4 – Warsaw, PL @ Klub Hydrozagadka w/ METZ
Mon. Nov. 6 – Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu w/ METZ
Tue. Nov. 7 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen w/ METZ
Wed. Nov. 8 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust w/ METZ
Thu. Nov. 9 – Groningen, NL @ Vera
Fri. Nov. 10 – Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who?
Sat. Nov. 11 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
Sun. Nov. 12 – Brighton, UK @ The Haunt w/ Sauna Youth
Tue. Nov. 14 – London, UK @ Dome Tufnell Park w/ Sauna Youth
Wed. Nov. 15 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute w/ Sauna Youth
Thu. Nov. 16 – Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny w/ Sauna Youth
Fri. Nov. 17 – Glasgow, UK @ CCA w/ Sauna Youth
Sat. Nov. 18 – Dublin, IE @ Whelan’s w/ Sauna Youth
Sun. Nov. 19 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club w/ Sauna Youth
Tue. Nov. 21 – Brussels, BE @ Rotonde w/ Heimat
Wed. Nov. 22 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix w/ Heimat
Thu. Nov. 23 – Nantes, FR @ Pole Etudiant w/ Heimat
Fri. Nov. 24 – Angouleme, FR @ La Nef
Sat. Nov. 25 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie w/ Heimat

Relatives In Descent is available to pre-order now on limited edition purple/white starburst vinyl, CD, and digital download:

Domino Mart pre-order: http://smarturl.it/RIDMart
iTunes pre-order: http://smarturl.it/RIDDownload

Protomartyr Online:
https://www.facebook.com/protomartyr
https://soundcloud.com/protomartyr
http://pitchperfectpr.com/protomartyr/
https://protomartyr.bandcamp.com/
http://www.dominorecordco.us/artists/protomartyr/