Tag: new music

ARTIST INTERVIEW: Mexico City Blondes

Mexico City Blondes

Mexico City Blondes are a musical duo from Santa Barbara, CA, that know how to place the packaged whipped cream with the homemade cherry pie, so to say, lovingly delicious. Or, put more succinctly, “Sort of marriage between the electronic and organic sounds,” says Greg, one-half of the Blondes.

The group recently released the single “Shot the Moon,” a delicately sewn sultry couture dress of a song with layered synths laced with Allie Thompson’s seductive vocals.

 “It’s definitely a snapshot of our dark side,” says singer/songwriter Allie of the single. “A musical confrontation of some of my deepest fears, a way to address nameless faceless foes who don’t have the power to hurt us unless we let them. Even going to the dark side is more satisfying to me when there is redemption and light in the darkness, hence the imagery of a white moon in a dark sky.”

We spoke with Allie and Greg from Mexico City Blondes about fashion influences (Gwen Stefani of course, power to the blondes), the power of Black Sabbath, and getting in touch with their dark side.

AudioFemme: How’d you come up with the name Mexico City Blondes?

Greg Doscher: I came up with it on a flight to, of all places, Mexico City. Really loved it for the project, and Allie liked it immediately when I suggested it. It has a meaning to me, but I don’t like to spell it out for people. It can be whatever comes to anyone’s mind when they hear it, and it’s more fun that way.

AF: How did the band form?

GD: Allie responded to an ad I put on Craigslist a year or so after the last band I was in dissolved. I advertised myself as a local producer looking for singers/songwriters to collaborate with. I can handle the production and recording, but can’t sing to save my life. Allie and I hit it off immediately and seemed to be on the same page as far as influences and the type of music we wanted to make. She’s also a great songwriter and we’ve had a lot of fun collaborating.

AF: Who have been your primary musical influences?

Allie Thompson: Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of folk music with introspective lyrics. Joni Mitchell, Dylan, Paul Simon…The art of crafting a song was always revered in my childhood home, and the production was an afterthought. It wasn’t until I started writing songs that I began to experiment with production style in order to bring the songs to life in the way I wanted to hear them. Around that time I was listening to a lot of Portishead and Beachhouse, and around that time I met Greg who was able to translate my rudimentary descriptors into the songs I wanted to hear!

GD: Aside from those above, as a teenager I picked up a guitar because of Black Sabbath and that’s still with me. Was really into the big 70s groups like Sabbath and Floyd, David Bowie and Zeppelin of course. As I grew up my tastes evolved a bit and realized that electronic music could be as sonically nuanced as some of the rock I grew up on.

AF: Do you have any fashion influences?

AT: I grew up with posters of No Doubt all over my walls, and I guess I never really got over Gwen! 15 years later I still look to her for fashion influence both on and off stage. I’ve always been a sucker for red lipstick, and it sure is convenient that she’s a blonde!

GD: Haha, my wife.

AF: Much is made of labeling sounds, what words do you like best to describe your music?

GD: Hard to say, but from a production standpoint I’ve always been really heavily influenced by groups like Massive Attack and someone like DJ Shadow who’s made incredible music with a sampler. That being said, I’m a guitarist with a pretty extensive rock background, so there’s always going to be some elements of that in there. Sort of marriage between the electronic and organic sounds I like and that we try and use. “Shot the Moon” is a good example of that mix. The electronic elements are the Moog synth that pulses throughout and a drum machine, but we also recorded live drums and live piano on top of those.

AF: Will you tell me about the meaning behind your new single “Shot the Moon?”

AT: It’s definitely a snapshot of our dark side. A musical confrontation of some of my deepest fears, a way to address nameless faceless foes who don’t have the power to hurt us unless we let them. Even going to the dark side is more satisfying to me when there is redemption and light in the darkness, hence the imagery of a white moon in a dark sky.

AF: How much of your personal life gets worked into your songs?

AT: The songs are always personal.  Sometimes I write in a moment of acute emotion, but often a song will take me a few months to complete. It takes me that long to process emotions and gain perspective. The songs have the most power for me in understanding a situation as a whole, and that often takes time to unfold.

GD: Just about all of it. Hard to separate the two because of course whatever you’re feeling emotionally or going through personally is going to bleed into the music in terms of the sounds you pick, the chords you play and more obviously the lyrics that get written

AF: What’s next for Mexico City Blondes?

GD: We have a single that’s sort of the B-side, companion to “Shot the Moon” called “Yellow Sunshine” that we’ll release soon and a video for “Shot the Moon” on the way. Aside from that, lots more music in the pipeline and we’ll try and get out and perform these songs wherever we can.

Listen to “Shot the Moon” below.

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VIDEO REVIEW: Satellite Stories “Heartbeat”

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Similarly like a younger Chris Martin singing “Yellow” and endlessly walking the dead shore-line, Esa Mankinen of Satellite Stories is instead revealing to the world their new single “Heartbeat” along a snowy winding road. Part of the quartet that is also Marko Heikkinen, Jyri Pesonen, and Olli-Pekka Ervasti, Satellite Stories is set to release their third studio album “Vagabonds” in March. The Finns are actually in the middle of their European tour, with a show in Barfly, London sold out.
Aside from Esa wistfully zig-zagging the beautiful countryside, the video features a couple portraying the inevitable stages of a dying relationship. While there’s a spec of joy, the video is mostly filled with angst and depression. At first we catch glimpses of cute waterfront dock dates, then an angry drive (why are the girls always cry-driving?) lead to a pushy break-up scene–appropriate to the melancholy lyrics “We drive and depart, just a smash into the car.”
While this may not have been the Valentine’s Day song you were looking to play in your car on the way to your cheesecake spot, you will find Satellite Stories to have a solid track history. Plus, “Heartbeat” is so damn catchy, and I think we’ve had our fill of cheesy love ballads. Definitely worth checking out their video below.

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TRACK REVIEW: all boy/all girl “Glitters”

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So, you take an ukelele, cello, viola, and stand-up bass, along with the usual guitar and drums. Maybe put some horns in there, too. Then throw in two female vocalists who sound like they’re challenging the limits of sound. This is all boy/all girl’s new single, “Glitters:” Pop music that’s been completely burst open.

“Glitters” is just one of the new tracks the band has finished recently, and will be releasing their new EP Trophy, their follow up to 2013’s Tiny Inglesia on March 3rd. They’ll also be playing an EP release show at The Studio at Webster Hall on March 16th.  

Listen to “Glitters” below:

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TRACK REVIEW: SA “Pogathe”

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When was the last time you heard the sounds of East and West combined in an emotional and uplifting musical context? Let’s make it today after listening to SA’s single release of “Pogathe.”  What is SA?  Well, it’s a “who” and more, it’s a “she.” Shilpa Ananth, bandleader of the group named SA, known on SoundCloud as SoundsofSA, is paving a way in the Brooklyn indie music scene.  Ananth has a background in Indian classical music and an education from Berklee College of Music.  She’s been performing as SA for the past year doing gigs all over the east coast.

The music of SA is nothing less than what I’d call “experienced.”  “Pogathe” is filled with tasteful vocal melisma and saucy guitar tone. The chorus has an emphatic quality as Ananth stretches the word “Pogathe” (or in English, “Don’t leave”) with a rise and quick fall. The sophisticated rhythms and jazzy piano are a delicious bed as Ananth dances over with the lyrics that make you question what she might really be singing about – a lover, a friend, a memory, maybe something entirely internal?  What I do know is that this song is pretty damn sexy, and I am confident that SA has a sound you’d be wise to keep on your radar.

SA’s debut EP, Indian Soul, is coming out Friday, February 13 and will be celebrated with a live performance from the group at the infamous Blue Note Jazz Club in Manhattan on the same evening.

Be ready for the sounds of SA and listen below.

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ARTIST INTERVIEW: Slim Twig

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We’ve all been a bit dizzied by Toronto song man Slim Twig lately. He’s been on a roll reissuing his pop-opera opus A Hound at the Hem, touring the mid and North Easts of the country, and never letting the creative juices run dry. We had a chance to catch up with Slim (or Max Turnbull if you prefer his mortal name)  to see what’s up next, and why being weird is always better.

AudioFemme: So you just finished up a tour; how did it go? Any funny stories?

Slim Twig: It went well. I’m still very much in the throes of building an audience, so there remains a certain amount of crowd fluctuation between shows. The important thing is that the band sounds great, and we’re able to win the attention of anyone who has shown up. Funny tour stories normally involve some element of band stupidity or (modest) debauchery, so I think those are best saved for personal conversation. I have a band like any other, we like to get in trouble from time to time. Mostly we’re alright.

AF: I didn’t recognize anything from A Hound at the Hem when you played at Cake Shop the other week…was the set you played the beginnings of a new record?

ST: It’s funny you say that. The songs off Hound are so densely arranged, it’s heavy slogging trying to arrange for rock n’ roll quartet. I was very pleased that we were able to perform two songs off that record in our set off this last tour… It felt like an achievement of some kind. They are of course re-arranged somewhat to suit what we travel as so if you had your ears perked up for those lovely string quartet moments off the record, you may have missed those tunes completely! It’s something of a point of pride to give an audience that’s come and paid to hear my tunes something that they wouldn’t have encountered on the record… What’s the point otherwise? I think I’m somewhat in the minority in this practice nowadays, many bands seem content to play faithful versions accompanied by backing tracks. To answer your question a little more directly, yes many of the songs you would have heard are off the forthcoming album which is just finished. Very excited to be playing this new stuff.

AF: Hound has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention lately because of the DFA reissue. It really is a fantastic record!  For a lot of us it’s a new discovery, but you recorded it a few years ago…what’s it like promoting something that you wrapped up a while back?  Do you see it in a different light now?

ST: It’s been an odd journey, but I’ve been very pleased with the reception of this older record. I’m prideful of the fact that the album is not easily pigeonholed, and I keep this in mind whenever my mind strays to why its path has been an unanticipated one. It has been an odd feeling of deja vu trying to engender excitement for something that is a clear product of my younger mind, especially for someone whose musical vision is constantly in motion as mine seems to be. In some ways this album marks a new beginning in my music making, so it’s logical that it’s the introduction for most people to my music.

AF: What has your relationship with DFA been like?  They seem to really believe in your work. After I bought the pink version of the Hound LP online Kris sent me a thank you email and put me on the list for your Palisades show. He said buying your album showed ‘discerning tastes.’ It sounds like you really won them over!

ST: In one of my first meetings with DFA, Jonathan Galkin (who runs the label along with Kris) told me to ‘keep the music as weird as possible.’ This was the best encouragement for someone like me, as I took it to mean ‘continue deeper into your own vision’… I don’t think many musicians are working under such a cushy pretext anymore. I suppose they knew what they were getting into being that I was drawn into the fold via a Black Dice connection. In any case, I’m blessed and right where I need to be.

AF: At your set at Cake Shop you introduced a song by saying: ‘This song is about not fetishizing the past.’  What do you mean by that?

ST: Especially in the rock idiom, there seems to be an assumption that all the best music has been and gone. I have a giant classic rock fixation, so I too am guilty of this train of thought every so often. I do feel though that it is this way of thinking itself, that prevents a context for new sounds to break through and seem as vital as the old sounds. Some of my music is concerned with this battle between mining the past for inspiration (the only concrete source of inspiration in a literal sense), and the desire to transcend those elements… I think contemporary rock culture could do with a good dose of killing one’s idols. The trouble is once having killed one’s idols, there’s a tendency to also do away with melody, structure, clever lyrics and a more ambitious approach to production. I have a fondness for all those elements that many punkier folk will simply do away with in an effort to not repeat the classics.

AF: Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists?

ST: I can admire anyone who has their own vision, not to say that they can’t betray influences – but any distinct voice that rises through the murk is appreciated. U.S. Girls, Danava, Zacht Automaat, Jack Name, Jennifer Herrema, Ghost Box artists & Eric Copeland are some good examples of modern stuff I can go deep with.

AF: Can you speak about your artistic relationship with your wife Meghan Remy?  You seem to have a very crucial role in each other’s work.

ST: Basically we just have totally opposite creative sensibilities. Meghan is driven by a very deep emotional place in her music, where my process is a lot more cerebral (if you couldn’t tell by my longwinded answers). Not to say that those tracks don’t intersect, but often times we serve to widen each other’s vision. Obviously, there’s a great personal rapport that makes this process highly enjoyable and repeatable. It’s a good situation.

AF: Where are some places you’d really like to tour that you haven’t had a chance to visit yet?

ST: Italy. Italy. Italy. Have done much of Europe a handful of times, but never Italy. Japan too, though I hate to fly so it’s a bit of a tall order.

AF: From what I’ve read your whole family is creative. Did making art ever seem like an option for you, or was it simply a necessity?

ST: It’s just part of the culture of how I came up. It was never enforced of course, but it’s very natural to always have a project on the go. Any way of life that doesn’t accommodate constant creativity would seem awfully dull in my view.

AF: What’s up next for Slim Twig?

ST: Dragging an appropriation of rock ‘n’ roll kicking and screaming into a place free of cliche, sexism and trod on association. Wish me luck!

AF: GOOD LUCK!!! We’d expect nothing less from you. Keep that fire burning.

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TRACK OF THE WEEK: Lower Dens “To Die in L.A.”

Lower Dens

I live in Brooklyn. Despite years in the entertainment industry, I don’t know L.A. So if I were to die there, I imagine it would be in the air above in a plane crash or by having given into all my vices and overdosed in a mansion dressed still wearing my black leather pants. Either option sends me out at the rock star age of 27. That’s just where my morbid mind goes.

Lower Dens are an “entropics” band from Baltimore. “To Die in L.A.” is hot off their forthcoming third album Escape from Evil, to be released on March 31 via Ribbon Music. A preview of what to expect from the whole damn thing, “To Die in L.A.” is dark; it’s whimsical. The voice of Jana Hunter reverberates loud and bold over an experimental track that standing alone could work as the theme for an indie horror flick. “I wish I could count on you…” echos Hunter’s vocals in the opening line.

Lower Dens will play a release show at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn on Tuesday, March 31. Buy tickets here.

Listen to “To Die in L.A.” below.

ALBUM REVIEW: Ghastly Menace “Songs of Ghastly Menace”

ghastly10

When I looked at their band name, I expected Ghastly Menace to be some kind of punk group, or possible a metal or grunge outfit. But you can’t always judge a band by its name, and I didn’t hear anything ghastly or menacing. Instead, what came through my speakers was a debut album from a lo-fi pop band, reminiscent of Grizzly Bear or The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

Ghastly Menace is now a six-piece band from Chicago. After members Andy Schroeder and Chris Geick released their 2010 EP Pitcairn, they added Kody Nixon, Michael Heringhaus, Pat Lawler, and Clint Weber for their first official album, Songs of Ghastly Menace, released through The Record Machine on January 27th.

For a band’s debut, it’s impressive. Ghastly Menace has figured out their own style, but even within it, they show range and depth. The album starts out strong with its first two singles, “80s” and “Closing,” full of catchy and layered with infectious drums, well-placed guitar hooks, keyboard melodies and bass that glides along beneath it all. The record changes pace with the next two tracks. “You let me do too many things without you/ Know I don’t know how to do them with you,” is sung in harmony on the quiet, “Living Together,” which builds up slowly but always returns to its original tone. In “While You’re Here,” the vocals are laid bare, with only light shakes of percussion and occasional background noise before the track builds up. The only song that sounds out of place on Songs of Ghastly Menace is the seventh track “She Won’t Stay Long,” a piano ballad that breaks the tone of the rest of the record.

Ghastly Menace is able to find a perfect balance with their first album- music that’s low-key without being lazy, vocals that are sleepy without putting you to sleep, and the ability to keep calm without being emotionless. There’s also some interesting sound effects scattering through the record. The band has said that they use “non-instrumental sounds and techniques” on the album, which left me unable to guess what some cool sounds were, but I’m pretty sure someone sacrificed a glass or two while recording “On Our Way.” Whatever sonic experiment Ghastly Menace is conducting, it’s a success.

You can download Songs of Ghastly Menace here, and check out “Closing” below!

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TRACK REVIEW: Hayden “Nowhere We Cannot Go”

Hayden-Hey_Love-Christie_Greyerbiehl

Hayden has released his first single “Nowhere We Cannot Go” from his forthcoming eighth full-length album Hey Love. The Toronto-based musician humbly pulls back the curtain allowing listeners into his heart and home studio with the elated lyrics and conquering piano, saved from the accidental corniness that sometimes happens with triumphant ballads with rock ‘n’ roll shreds of synthesizer and electric guitar.

“It’s been so rough, we have been through more than enough / But without this love, there would be no reason for either of us,” reminds Hayden. In an industry of cynicism such encouragement may be hard to believe, but then you learn that the Canadian spent this fall making music with his wife Christie Greyerbiehl who happens to throw benefits for Toronto’s Beverley St. School for developmentally disabled children. We look forward to hearing the rest of Hey Love to investigate further what lies behind those kind eyes, ’cause when this guy tells you there’s nowhere we can’t go, we tend to believe him.

Enjoy “Nowhere We Cannot Go” below.

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ARTIST OF THE MONTH: BRONCHO

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Dream-pop, garage-rock, black-punk. In an era where the blogosphere battles to name genres, sometimes it’s nice to simply return to rock ‘n’ roll, which is just what we have for you in the first Artist of the Month profile of the new year. “As cliche as that is, I think that’s what we’re going for. A fun rock and roll band,” said Penny, a newly-minted member of the Oklahoma rock group, who recently joined with her partner Mandy, adding a much appreciated feminine flavor. They do after all, have a sky-rocketing new album titled Just Enough Hip to be Woman. 

BRONCHO performs at Beacon Theatre tonight supporting the one and only Billy Idol. Shortly before they hit the road, Sophie Saint Thomas caught up with Penny as she was getting ready to embark on a six-week tour.

ST: What is your experience with touring?

P: Honestly, I’ve loved it since I started doing it. I went on my first tour as a solo artist with another friend of mine who was also a solo artist at that time. I just love it, I love traveling. I love kind of having everything I need with me girl scout style. I see it as not much different than outdoor survival camping. I just kind of see it as the urban woods.

ST: Is this the first tour you guys as a group have done together?

P: No, Mandy and I just joined the band this last summer. We did our first tour with the guys I believe in August. It was like a five week run. We were basically touring from August to December with a few breaks and then we had December off, and now we’re at it again.

ST: How did you end up joining the band?

P: I’ve known Ryan for a few years now. I grew up in Norman, which is the town that they’re based in. Where they were hanging out and went to school. So I had hosted house shows at my house with them, and I’ve been to a lot of shows, just between musical mutual friends I guess. When I met Mandy we started playing music together. I heard that their old bass player was leaving the band. So I kind of pursued it a little bit, and six to eight months later I talked to Ryan, and he invited both of us to be in the band which is awesome because we live together and we’re partners. She’s kind of the only thing that keeps me from being on the road. So it’s really awesome to be able to bring her with me.

ST: How is it being with all those guys?

P: It’s good. The bands I previously was working with and touring with was much different. Musically, and also socially I played with two girls. And so I was mainly traveling with three girls which was a totally different experience. All three of us were around the 21-24 age so needless to say we were kind of crazy all over the place. I think the energy of this current group is like… I just feel like they’re my brothers. I have always been a tomboy so we just feel really comfortable.

ST: “Class Historian” is really blowing up and getting a lot of attention. How has that experience been?

P: I definitely feel lucky to be with them at this time. I’ve been watching these guys tour kind of parallel to my former musical life, and to be able to be in this band at this moment in time is pretty amazing. I do my best to not take too much credit for any of the actual success that’s going on right now. But it is super exciting. And I’m just  constantly being flattered by people always hearing it on the XM Radio or wherever they’ve heard it. It’s kind of far out; We had a spot in the local paper recently, which was definitely the first time I’ve been called out like: “You’re that girl in that band!” It’s very weird, it’s very new, I’m trying not to get too used to it.

ST: I hope you’re enjoying it!

P: Definitely. I’m just trying to let it in and let it be real.

ST: I’m sure you and Mandy joining has changed the dynamic, can you speak to what you’ve brought to the band?

P: One obvious change is certainly the vocal presence. I think we’re moving to a really awesome place vocally where Mandy and I get to be sort of this more angelic presence over kind of the rougher vocals of the guys. It rounds it out really well. I was definitely worried at first about the former fans…I don’t know, it’s probably just girl insecurity. I never wanted people to be like, “Oh you’re good for a girl.” I think especially as the bass player like their former bass player, I respect him a lot. So the first show I was definitely watching a lot of people like, “You approve right?” I’m less about seeking approval now, and I’m just having a really good time with the guys. I’m no longer feeling like I don’t fit in anymore.

ST: I enjoy the female aspect; I love how it’s all come together. The album title Just Enough Hip to be Woman – were you part of the creation?

P: I honestly was not there but I totally can imagine how it came up, and it was probably the guys and some friends totally joking around and one of them probably said it in one way and another one said it in another way and then it went around in circles because it’s worded so strangely. I thought it was funny when I found out what it was because I didn’t even hear the new record or know the title until he had already asked me to be in the band. So part of me was like “Maybe he knew…” but I don’t think that he did. I think it’s just that perfect.

ST: How would you label your sound? I’ve read the term “garage punk” thrown around a lot on the internet.

P: Anytime we’re asked that at a border crossing, because they always ask “What band are you in?” and then “What kind of music do you play?” We all collectively answer with “rock and roll.” As cliche as that is, I think that’s what we’re going for. A fun rock and roll band. We’re all just having fun and ideally we just want everyone in the audience to be loose and crazy. I think “punk” is a bit of a stretch I think “garage rock and roll” is kind of where it’s at.

ST: Well, rock and roll is a cliche for a reason, it’s great. Are you excited to play with Billy Idol?  

P: Yeah, I’m so stoked.

ST: Well congrats on everything that’s happening, and thanks for taking the time to speak with me.

P: Thank you!

ALBUM REVIEW: Stage Hands “Stage Hands”

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Stage Hands is a Johnstown, PA-based project made up of multimedia artist/producer Brandon Locher and drummer/producer Gerald Mattis. The duo started making music together in 2013, and are releasing their debut LP, Stage Hands, on February 10 through the PA music archive My Idea of Fun.

The self-titled LP is only 26 minutes long. It’s a quick listen, but hard to get out of your head once you’re done. The sound is hard to pin down; it’s busy, but also ambient, soothing, but energetic and danceable. Key tracks are “The Populating of Empty Space,” which builds up slowly into a catchy, funky melody, and the contemplative, keyboard-heavy “Adaptive Lines.” 

“It’s snowing styrofoam/ A drone in every home/ For the holidays,” and “Am I just imagining these variant rhythms/ Of antidisestablishmentarianism?”  The One and Only Matt Miller sings on the creeping “#unabomber,” the only track with vocals. Other musicians that appear on Stage Hands are Jon Livingston, who played piano on “Stage Hands,” Jon Beard, who contributed drum engineering for “#unabomber,” and Sean Jackson, who played synths on tracks “Adaptive Lines,” “Regardless,” and “#unabomber.”

If you’re wondering how they’ll be able to pull this sound off live, you’ll be able to see for yourself the day before their record drops. Stage Hands will playing at the Brooklyn DIY venue The Silent Barn on February 9, along with Tallesen, Jono Mi Lo, Middle Grey and Dean Cercone. For a preview, check out a video of Stage Hands below:

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TRACK OF THE WEEK: Annalibera “Black Cat White Cat”

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The first single “Black Cat White Cat,” from Annalibera’s debut full-length Nevermind I Love You is here. Have you ever had an experience I’ve heard referred to as a “crygasm,” where you’re crying so hard you burst out laughing, shaken awake with the knowledge that even though your life situation may be currently twisted and fucked up, that the absurdity is actually rather hilarious because it’s all going to be okay? Our track of the week, the tune for the blizzard, sounds like that: a crygasm. Not to mention, it’s named after a couple of cats, and who doesn’t want to curl up with a couple of cats while working from home and questioning life decisions as our city is blanketed with snow and pelted with ice?

According to Anna Gebhardt of Annaliberna, the voice and mastermind behind the track, “It became an anthem for me about how we all treat the ones we love like shit sometimes, and wishing I could go back and treat everyone I love as perfectly as they deserve and enjoy every moment I ever had with them, instead of focusing on the future.”

Gebhardt studied classical music in college, and after being thrown into the fine arts found herself seeking salvation in her creations, such as the synth-enhanced folk tune “Black Cat White Cat.” The folk influence is a nod to her roots, Gebhardt spent her childhood on a farm in Nebraska.

So grab your cat, stock up on wine and grilled cheese supplies, and hunker down for the blizzard to the soaring joyful melodies paired with dark lyrics of human flaw and redemption.

Nevermind I Love You is set for release via Sump Pump Records on March 24. Listen to “Black Cat White Cat” below.

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EP REVIEW: Carmen Villain “Quietly/Let Go”

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Looking to get lost in a world of sound? Carmen Villain, aka Norwegian singer/songwriter and former model Carmen Hillestad, has released a new 7” single of dreamy pop music, Quietly/Let Go.

“Quietly” is an eerily ethereal soundscape of guitars and brooding background noise. While the music builds around her voice, Villain’s vocals remain tethered down, dark and dreamy. “Let Go” is a quieter track that feels as if you’ve gotten lost in a forest; it starts with chattering bird-like noises and swirls of synths and reverb. Villain’s muffled voice is only present for the last minute of the song, before the track fades quietly out.

Quietly/Let Go is available to download digitally on January 20th. For those of you who prefer a copy you can show off on your bookcase, you’ll have to wait until February 10th when the physical copy is released through Smalltown Supersound. 

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TRACK PREMIERE: Stroamata “A Fantasy”

It’s 2015. If you’re reading this you survived and have made it to strut around the sun another year. You can swipe right and order up sex quicker than an egg roll from the Chinese place next door. It’s (at least in Brooklyn) culturally cool to have a partially shaved head but a bushy vagina, and mainstream media is finally attacking celebrities who say they aren’t a feminist.

What I’m trying to say is that we’re in the goddamn future, even though AC/DC is indeed headlining Coachella.

Now that the cultural context is set, let me go ahead and premiere the self-proclaimed “future rock” band, Brooklyn-based Stroamata‘s single “A Fantasy.” There may be an ironic tone to that title, as the sounds of the in-your-face song pulled me out of my day dreams into radical acceptance of now, for which I thank them. It’s good to get out of your head every now and again.

“Oh no no, I’ve had it all wrong. Life’s not short, it goes on and on…” the track warns.

With DJ Shadow-inspired industrial beats pressed through an alt-rock machine, the female-fronted group thrashes and tears to the front of the climacteric angst of the current musical moment kids crave still reeling from the shit show that was 2014.

Enjoy “A Fantasy” below.

 

TRACK PREMIERE: Kaitlin Riegel “When I Fall Asleep”

Unfortunately for the impatient; Kaitlin Riegel’s sophomore EP, System, isn’t set for release until February 10th. Luckily, we have a sneak peak of a new track from the New Zealand artist. “When I Fall Asleep” is the softer, stripped-down B-side of her catchy, R&B single “System.” It’s produced by James Yuill of Moshi Moshi, who has worked with Hot Chip, Florence & the Machine, and Kate Nash. You can preorder System here, and listen to “When I Fall Asleep” below.

Riegel was born in Portland, then started her music career as a pre-teen hanging around Massachusetts coffee shops. She later relocated to New Zealand where she currently works from. This internationally-minded artist has also recorded in Berlin (with Simon Berkelman of Philadelphia Grand Jury) and more recently in London, and credits her exposure to diverse environments and culture with shaping her unique style and sound. She has a strong foundation in classical and jazz genres, which she augments with contemporary R&B.