“Rooftop Garden” is by Lou Reed. Track released January 1st, 2021 on Drag City. Video directed by Kris Rey. Lou Reed’s vision of domestic placidity and shared moments of remove amid the urban squalor meets George Xylouris’ Cretan lute arrangement, transforming into a dervish dance for Bill Callahan and Bonnie Billy, tapping an ancient and…
Tag: songwriter
[streaming] The Kindling – Flesh And Blood (Slow version)
Taken from “Flesh and Blood (single)”, released January 1, 2021 (free to download throughout January). Guy Weir – vocals, piano, guitars, drum machine. The Kindling are a minimal alt-folk band from London (UK). Their widescreen songs explore themes of disappointment and hope, loss and discovery, action and reflection. Guy Weir’s disarming voice calls to mind…
SELAH BRODERICK Anam (Western Vinyl, 2020) Per i Broderick, la musica è davvero una questione di famiglia. Mentre i compositi profili artistici di Peter ed Heather sono ormai consolidate realtà del panorama indipendente, l’ampiezza dei loro orizzonti creativi è persino riuscita a coinvolgere le inclinazioni musicali dei genitori; dopo che, con il padre Steve, Peter…
[video of the week] James Yorkston & The Second Hand Orchestra – Ella Mary Leather
Taken from the forthcoming album “The Wide, Wide River”, out 22 Jan 2021 on Domino Record Co. James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra will release “The Wide, Wide River on January 22nd”. The album came to be after the blossoming of a long-term friendship between James Yorkston and Karl-Jonas Winqvist, the Swedish music producer,…
PLANTMAN – Days Of The Rocks (Self Released, 2020) Seguendo i lenti tempi della natura e quelli della sua ispirazione creativa, Matthew Randall torna per la quarta volta a confezionare una raccolta di canzoni dai contorni gentili e dalle sfumature dolcemente malinconiche. Lo fa quasi a sorpresa, senza nessuna anticipazione o promozione, nonostante siano trascorsi…
[streaming] Maja Lena – Hammer The Iceberg
“‘Hammer The Iceberg’ is a nostalgic reflection on childhood memories of winters and Christmases spent in Sweden. Musing on the trials and tribulations of growing older and how it can be important to stay connected to and take care of your inner child. The snow-covered island here is Möja in Stockholm’s archipelago, moving in the…
[video of the week] Marina Allen – Belong Here
Marina Allen’s music is like that rollercoaster ride you have in your dreams, a moving, hard-to-believe balancing act that crosses tracks, occasionally leaves the rails and invariably flows unapologetically, succinctly and spine-tinglingly to a glorious conclusion. Her voice surfs many musical tangents, hovers and persists, floats and, only when entirely necessary, stings with honesty and aplomb;…
LUCA & HARUKA NAKAMURA – The World (Kitchen, 2020) Quasi dieci anni dopo il lavoro pubblicato insieme a Janis Crunch (“12 & 1 Song“, 2011), il compositore Haruka Nakamura torna a interagire in maniera organica con una voce femminile. Nell’occasione si tratta della connazionale LUCA, cantautrice e recente collaboratrice di Ryuichi Sakamoto, le cui delicate…
CHRIS JACK – Miles To Go (Action Weekend, 2020) Le vie della musica si rivelano, ogni volta, infinite. Nell’occasione sono quelle che hanno portato il musicista scozzese Chris Jake a vivere per molti anni in Giappone, dove ha pubblicato numerosi album con la band garage The Routes; ma sono anche quelle che conducono al suo…
[streaming] Tim Cohen – Rage On
Taken from Tim Cohen’s sixth solo album “You Are Still Here”, out March 10th 2021 via Bobo Integral. When people muse on the quirky literate songwriter traditions of San Francisco, certain names come to mind. Garcia/ Hunter, Country Joe, Skip Spence, Jonathan Richman; it’s time to add Tim Cohen to the roll call. For more…
SAM BURTON – I Can Go With You (Tompkins Square, 2020) Capita ogni tanto che si affacci alla produzione discografica un artista, magari anche giovane, che dal punto di vista stilistico risulta immediatamente “classico”, senz’altro per gli aspetti del suono e della produzione ma anche per una personalità interpretativa particolarmente pronunciata, tale da renderne le…
[streaming] New Bums – Billy, God Damn
Taken from “Last Time I Saw Grace”, out on 19th March 2021 via Drag City Seven years and a handful of lifetimes ago, New Bums came out of nowhere with their debut album, Voices In a Rented Room – a record the New York Times described as “feeling like it’s falling apart.” New Bums took this as a compliment, and thus…
[streaming] Dannika – I Don’t Wanna Be With Anyone
At some point in history, it became a given that debut albums by indie bands had to be described as some kind of virtuosic, single-minded work. It’s such a boring trope: the suffering auteur, going mad from their own genius, working with a band but channelling some vision they could only ever craft alone. That…
[streaming] Jeremy Tuplin – Night And Day
Taken from “Happiness” EP; out December 11th 2020. Somerset’s now London-residing Jeremy Tuplin is referred to by some as the pioneer of space-folk. Broadcasting stories both mundane and intergalactic, his new TV-inspired album ‘Violet Waves’ came out on 14th August on Trapped Animal Records. http://www.jeremytuplin.com/
[video of the week] Karima Walker – Reconstellated
Taken from “Waking the Dreaming Body”, coming February 26, 2021 via Keeled Scales / Orindal Records. Video by Karima Walker. Tucson artist Karima Walker has long nurtured a duality within her work as a musician, developing her own sonic language as a sound designer in tandem with her craft as a singer/songwriter. The polarity within…
LOUIS PHILIPPE & THE NIGHT MAIL – Thunderclouds (Tapete, 2020)* Quante volte è stata usata l’espressione “piccolo genio del pop” con riferimento a Louis Philippe? Da molti anni a questa parte, lo si è fatto in prevalenza in occasione di dischi altrui, dei quali il musicista (ma anche scrittore e giornalista sportivo) francese aveva curato la…
[streaming] Sucker Crush – End Of Days
New track by Sucker Crush, out now digitally via Bandcamp. Sucker Crush is the solo songwriting project of Oakland-based musician/composer Marissa Deitz, formerly of The Vale, making femmecore dreampop sad summer ballads and midnight breakup songs. https://www.facebook.com/5uckercru5h/
[streaming] Caro Bridges – Angraecum Astroarche
Taken from “Remembrance Species 2020” compilation. “Remembrance Species is a collective based in Scotland, marking Remembrance Day for Lost Species on November 30th through imaginative creative community engagement.” This song is for Angraecum Astroarche, a type of orchid from Sao Tomé and Principe, presumed extinct in 2018. Its existence was recorded only once in scientific…
[video of the week] Calming River – Boats
On December 4th UK alt-folk songwriter Calming River returns with “Boats”, the harrowing first single to be taken from forthcoming debut album ‘Dead Bluebottles Supine’ (due February 2021). ‘Boats’ wonderfully captures the enigmatic songwriting style of Calming River: dextrous finger-picked guitar, shifting song structures and juxtaposed instrumentation, that all combine with significant emotional heft to…
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