Sonntag, 31. Januar 2021

A Hero's Death

 


Dublin based post-punk band Fontaines D.C. was one of my findings last year. I liked their mix poetic essays about life, Irish youth and Dublin and fury guitar riffs. To be honest, I didn't listen much to them during the last year but when their album to my turntable it was a pleasure listening to them. Now they released a remix of the title song from their last album. Soulwax added a skipping bass-line to this song and sometimes it sounds close to LCD Soundsystem. Not the worst you can say about a remix.



Samstag, 30. Januar 2021

Vertigo Days


German indie-band The Notwist released with Vertigo Days their first album since more than six years. This band from Southern Bavaria was one of the most influential German bands in the 90's because you couldn't grab their sound not only because the masterminds the brothers Archer meander between punk, rock and metal. During the years they included some jazz-styles into their sound and worked on soundtracks for independent German movies. Now they are back with an album that sounds like a 50 minutes session when every song slips into the next one and tempo and rhythm changes more than once. And still you can't archive them in one file because each guest musician from all over the world makes the song special. So Chicago clarinetist Angel Bat Dawid give Into The Ice Age a jazzy touch or Japanese vocalist Saya give Ship an exotic touch over a krautrock-groove. The Notwist are back and still open for new sounds. 

Donnerstag, 28. Januar 2021

Islands Past

 


Like many times before I listened to a new song and this song didn't escape my mind. This happened recently when I listen to Island Past by Saccades a solo project by Nicholas Wood the former half of KVB an audio-visual duo which worked on their own kind of electronic post-punk and shoegaze in the last decade. Now he turned more into a sort of escape music for quieter moments. This song is a melange of idyllic synths, an accented bass, laid back guitar parts and dreamlike vocals. Perfect for a start into after-work hours. 

Dienstag, 26. Januar 2021

Our Lips Are Sealed

 


It is now 40 years ago when Los Angeles band The Go-Go's released their first album. They were one of the first female bands writing their own songs and playing their instruments. The music press filed them under new wave but for me they were the perfect power-pop band in their time and I have to admit that I really liked their naturalness and abandon in playing. And they were good and wrote some songs for eternity that makes me smile when I listen to them again. Jane Wiedlin, guitar player by The Go-Go's, wrote together with Fun Boy Three's Terry Hall one of the best pop songs from the early 80's. Seldom the lyrics and music were in harmony like this. Both versions are great but if I had to decide my favorite I will ever go for Fun Boy Three.





Montag, 25. Januar 2021

Monday's Long Song

 


In 1970 Brinsley Schwarz released their eponymous first self titled album and it is one that was a good friend to me over decades. Someone named them as a blend of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bob Dyland and The Band, Buffalo Springfield with a heavy dose of early Yes and I can agree to this description. For me they were the unbeatable band of the pub-rock days and their songs were always a pleasure to listen to. Their debut album showed more roots in rock music before they drifted into country albums later. And it was Nick Lowe who wrote the most songs and shows his abilities on writing great songs. Maybe the reason I like this album is that they turned away from rhythm and blues and added country blues to it. It is  unbelievable that this record still sounds fresh after almost 50 years.  

Brinsley Schwarz - Ballad Of A Has-Been Teenage Queen

Sonntag, 24. Januar 2021

Sabotage

 


Regular readers will know that when I switch on the radio I usually listen to Austria's station FM4. This station features new music with a massive focus on local artists. During the last years I discovered many new bands when they was introduced to the audience. One of those were Cari Cari an Austrian indie-rock band formed with the claim to get their music into a Tarantino film. And their sound would fit well to it. I saw them live a few years ago (in those days when it was possible) and overwhelmed of their presence on stage. Last week the station celebrated their 26th anniversary and many bands made some live home sessions for them. They started with Cari Cari and they covered the first song ever played on the station - Sabotage by the fantastic Beastie Boys following by other songs by them and one more cover by Asap Rock. You can find this session for a limited time here.


Samstag, 23. Januar 2021

Island of Abandonment

 


Almost three years ago International Music, an indie-rock band from Essen, Germany, released with Die Besten Jahre (the best years) one of the best German albums during the last years. I featured this superb band once here and still love their music. Now they announced the release of their second album for April and offered as an appetizer a new single. Insel der Verlassenheit shows what I love them for: psychedelic guitars and repetitive rhythms which resemble to the best krautrock bands of 70th in persuasive manner. In addition they appear with a catchy pop advances in their sound. For me the song of the week.





Freitag, 22. Januar 2021

Socery

 


A few days ago Höga Nord, Gothenburg's finest record label re-released an EP by Higamos Hogamus, a music project Steve Webster and Toby Jenkins. Both were producers, musicians and composers from Canada/USA and in business for decades. I have to admit that I never heard from them before but I like this little gem in electronic music. Spacy synths building the floor for excursions into other dimensions.

Mittwoch, 20. Januar 2021

Mangroves

 


Contours is the project by Manchester based musician, producer and DJ Tom Burford. A few month ago he released a four track EP as Pyramid Project, a collaboration with Kenya's most accomplished musicians. The result is a fantastic interaction of a steady rhythm section with drums, bass and a dubbed out percussion leading into a cosmic club cut. If you have a bit of sympathy for world music have a listen to this.

More roots in African music you can hear on Driver a stomper with added horns that sounds like Fela Kuti is moving to dancefloor.

Montag, 18. Januar 2021

Monday's Long Song

 


In 1928 Russian dancer and actress asked the French composer Maurice Ravel to compose a piece of music similar to a Spanish ballet. The result was Bolero one of the most played classical pieces in music. I am not familiar with classical music but this is truly a masterpiece. The song lives by  changing instrumentation on every variation and a steady crescendo. Many artists in rock music tried to make their own version of this song or used fragments of it in their songs. Not only this shows how great and popular this composition was.

Frank Zappa - Bolero

Deep Purple - Child In Time



Sonntag, 17. Januar 2021

Believer

 


Since last week my company ordered me to work more times from my home because the number of Covid 19 infected are still on a high level in Germany and many co-workers in my office got infected too. As I supposed I worked more than an eight-hour-shift at my place because the work has to be done. Therefore I was more tired in the evening times as I was when I came home from work regular and I find less time to listen to music or reading a good book. 

I found this song last week and I have to say that I like it although it isn't the sound I use to listen often. Black Honey is a band from Brighton and active since 2014. It is simple indie-rock and I think it would sound great on an open-air festival and become a hymn with it's forward driving sound and stomping chords. 



Mittwoch, 13. Januar 2021

Pathfinder

 


The first release this year worth to be featured at this place from Gothenburg's Höga Nord records is the new single by Timothy J. Fairplay. He's well known for his long time collaboration with Andrew Weatherall and I like many of his shows featured on the well known sites. This one is a song with a divert rhythm and a hypnotic grove and the more I listen to it the more I like.

Sonntag, 10. Januar 2021

That's When I Reach For My Revolver

 


I can't forget the pictures I saw a couple of days ago when a right-wing mob stormed the Capitol in Washington. I am far away to blame all Americans but you can see what a so called leader is able to to. Drilling hatred in every speech he did, insulting everyone who don't agree to his words and ignoring every other opinion. He will leave in a few days but I fear he's not gone. If his aim is true to form up in a few year for another election his seed will rise. All those nationalists are going to tear democracy down. I saw pictures like these a few months ago when a similar mob stormed German Bundestag. And you can see in social medias that fools denying Covid 19 and comparing the lockdown rules with a concentration camp having thousands of followers. These scenes and the hatred I hear reminds me on the darkest German days when the Weimar republic died and a big leader took over the control. It may be a dark vision but thinking of this all makes me angry and I remembered a song by Mission of Burma from long times ago (of course not really want to use).

Mission of Burma - That's When I Reach For My Revolver 

Samstag, 9. Januar 2021

Weekend

 


The first working week of this year is over and this year started with a lot of trouble with computing center. I had to do the same jobs twice because our company switches to a new generation of and IBM analysis tool because my programmings in the new world won't work correct until we completely switched. So I came home often exhausted and only wanted to rest and relax. So I spent some times listening to The Orb's overseen release from last year Abolition of the Royal Famila. This album will be released in March as a remix album named Guillotine Mixes. The first one I listened to was by Dom Beken and Kris Need - names that tells me nothing. But it is a relaxed nine minutes trip into other spheres.



Freitag, 8. Januar 2021

Internal Destination

 


The first release of Colognes Kompakt label in 2021 is one of those I didn't expected. While their last releases didn't hit my taste and I ignored them. This changed with the release by Orlando Voorn's new three-track EP. Voorn signed new to Kompakt and is aktive as a DJ an d producer for many years in Netherlands. His music can be described as a fusion of Detroit and Amsterdam house. It makes fun listening to this pulsing little gem.

Donnerstag, 7. Januar 2021

Slippery People


The last album arrived in 2020 was by one of the best findings from last year. I first got aware of them by a review by Beatselector 'Rheinzand is a Belgian collaborative project between Reinhard Vanbergen, the multi-instrumentalist producer, Charlotte Caluwaerts and Mo Disko from the renowned duo The Glimmers. Rheinzand’s songs are a mixture of dance music’s rich history, giving nods to old and new genres, forgotten and popular scenes in order to create their own take on today’s musical landscape. Their exotic style caught the ears of Kenneth Bager’s label Music For Dreams on which they have released their debut self titled album on May 8, 2020.' I listened a lot to this during the last weeks and I can't get enough of the music they make. Their hybrid of modern dancefloor and morphing in and out of shapes of great melodies and vivid instrumentation. That Rheinzand has the courage to cover Talking Heads in a superb way shows how fantastic they are.

 



Mittwoch, 6. Januar 2021

Another Forgotten Band

 


During Christmas time I had a conversation with my brother and quickly we talked about music. Especially about forgotten bands. We agreed that 2020 was a good year with all the re-issues and compilations of band and artists we loved or had almost forgotten. He recommended me a compilatioby Hangmen's Beautiful Daughter as one of the highlights for him. I have to admit that I wasn't firm with this band that borrowed it's name by Scottish Incredible String Band. So I made investigations about them. What I found and what I heard was very good and I ask myself why this band could be overlooked through all these years. Formed in the late 80's in London Hangman's Beautiful Daughter were described as a cross between Jefferson Airplane, MC5 and Velvet Underground. It is true that they borrowed a lot of the music those band made but for me they sound more like Roger McGuinn and The Byrds on a psychedelic trip. Anyway, the legacy of a band that made only an EP, singles and one album is less but worth to be remembered. 


Dienstag, 5. Januar 2021

Better Looking Brother

 


The new year started with a new discovery. Lust For Youth is a two piece Copenhagen based darkwave project by Hannes Norrvide and Mathe Fischer and their first album Compassion from 2016 was re-released a few days ago. Their music is not groundbreaking but their own definition of a sound inspired by early Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and New Order combined with a bit of post-punk is more than notable. It is good to see that young people know their idols and make something new.

Montag, 4. Januar 2021

Monday's Long Song

 


In 1979 Steve Hillage, former guitar player by Gong, released his first solo album Rainbow Dome Musick a remarkable LP with only two songs on it. Trained from his early blues-rock days and long days in various psychedelic rock bands he made an album that was the blueprint of ambient music - long time before this genre was named. After this album he made less records and turned into a producer. His work was long forgotten until The Orb played part of this album and gave him the appraisal it should have. After all the years it is a record some others working in the ambient scene would die for.

Steve Hillage - For Ever Rainbow

Sonntag, 3. Januar 2021

The Divine Chord

 


A few weeks ago Australian sample kings The Avalanches released after a long break with We Will Always Love You their latest album. It is filled with 25 songs each different and with a lot of guest collaborations. All together is their fondness for psychedelic pop and the combination of different styles into one song. I listened to the album a lot during the last days just because you can find so many new things in these songs the more you listen to them. Their latest single is a collaboration with New York's synth-pop artists MGMT and Johnny Marr. Together with a sample by The Shirelles the created a sound the could be played while having a drink at late afternoon in a far away summer.



Samstag, 2. Januar 2021

Autumn Sweater

 


Happy new year all. Another year is ahead and this blog will continue even if I struggled sometimes because I thought I had no more ideas what to post. But there are so many songs to be featured and a lot of new releases will appear. So let's start with a band I really loved in the 90's. Yo La Tengo were an American independent band from Hoboken, New Jersey. What made YLT different from other bands of this era was on the one side their talent in songwriting and their taste for making great cover versions (mostly acoustic). The music press compared them as a new kind of Velvet Underground but for me they just played a kind of adult college rock with tempered guitars in a misty mood. This one is from their third album I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One from 1997 and probably their best. Great to hear them once again after years and a good start into the year. 

Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater