It’s fun to watch a band be in such effortless and complete control of their sound and aesthetic as Donovan Wolfington is right now. This new album is a banger of riffs and hooks that sees the band meander from playfully introspective to downright dark over the course of its 13 songs. For fans of Joyce Manor, Ovlov, Beach Slang or Desaparecidos.
John Nolan’s new album – Sad, Strange, Beautiful Dream is available now from Collective Confusion Records. For a very limited time, you can also grab an “acoustic bootleg” version of the album. Also, John’s tour starts August 19 in Philadelphia — check with John for a list of dates!
Drummer/producer John Roccesano (Johnny Rock) produced an album written and performed by friends, recorded and mixed on tape, pressed on vinyl.
Johnny has been playing the drums since 1992 and has been recording professionally since 1998. He has served as the drummer, background vocalist, and/or producer for many music acts in NJ, and started releasing his own songs in 2009. Johnny is influenced by several generations of rock and pop acts, jazz artists, percussionists, classical composers, experimental music, and even the sounds of Mother Nature.
The album brings together several amazing, unsigned musicians to record a once-in-a-lifetime album. Calling on writers, musicians, and family, Johnny Rock has formed small ensembles to write and record this special vinyl LP. More than a compilation of songs, For The Record was produced as two cohesive sides of new original music, recorded and mixed on tape; analog all the way to the cutting head. The album packaging also features hand drawn artwork to minimize the 1’s and 0’s between the artists and the audience.
From their adopted, boom-town home of Austin, TX, The Bellfuries are constantly within earshot of the latest catchphrase. New brands are always within their peripheral view.
Well and good, vocalist and chief songwriter Joey Simeone says. “But we’re a rock and roll band. People are obsessed with categories, sub-genres. We check into a hotel, and the guy or girl behind the desk asks what kind of music we play. ‘Rock and roll.’ Then they ask what I mean by that. Well…
“…Let’s see. There’s elements of country music, rhythm and blues. There’s some improvisation on stage that I guess you could say is jazz-inspired. Throw in some gospel…plenty of melodies coming out of older pop tunes. That adds up to rock and roll, last time I checked. If we’re not re-inventing the wheel, I’d rather get to work than worry about renaming it.”
Simeone takes a no-nonsense, workingman’s line, and Workingman’s Bellfuries, (available 8/21 from Hi-Style Records) holds that line firm. No doubt, the armchair taxonomist will find plenty of variety. Lead track and single “Loving Arms,” is foot-stomping rockabilly-pop, a la Hamburg-era John Lennon. “Bad Seed Sown” brings finger-popping jive from the Dion school. “Make the Mystery No More” is Phil Spector 2.0, with some Everly Brothers harmony sitting at the top. And “Why Do You Haunt Me” is a shimmering track that suggests nothing so much as Elvis Presley’s operatic pop approach of the 1960s.
Blink and you could miss an East Nashville show played by Yumi and the System. But if you’re listening, you’ll hear about the energy long after the show. They’re Cat Power vs. the Kills. A grunge-rock cousin to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And their energy is sweeping the floor, and providing an integral part of the ever-shifting rock genre. This crunching, energy packed duo swelling up East Nashville has easily become a must-see for locals in the rock scene. With strict punk beats, daring melodies, and seasoned with electronic flavor, Yumi and the System have caught onto something.
Having previously toured in a band for a number of years, Pennsylvania transplants Amy and Ben Wright refreshed their love for music by taking a break from their previous project. With their passion for the rock genre, they started shaping new songs, and the female- fronted rock duo Yumi and the System was born. You can pre-order their debut album – Wonders of Origin – now.
Wolfmen of Mars and The Mangled Dead make music that combines the synth sounds of the 70s-80s and mixing them with heavy grooves. A soundtrack for late night driving or space travel. Includes cover art by Devon Whitehead and back jacket/label art by Kevin Spencer. Available now!
In the depths of a Rochester winter, the beaches of California are a non-reality. The thought of going surfing is more a far off idea than a lifestyle. This leaves a lot of room to interpret what “Surf music” is supposed to be. Enter The Huckleberry Fins — the new album, Pipe Dreams is available everywhere 07/24/15.
The Sun Lions just finished their first full-length album, and it is ready for listening on wax – Whatever’s On Your Mind was recorded at Sonelab Recording and engineered by Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr, Speedy Ortiz, Sonic Youth). Grab it from the band online or at one of their shows!
Silkie’s latest album Fractals on long-time friend and collaborator Distal’s newly minted imprint ” might just be his most forward thinking work to date. Silkie has put together a psychedelically sexy and temperamental record that toys with new ideas, archetypes and bpm’s but still grounds itself in what makes dance music and his music so palpable… repetition.
Raised on-planet, Silkie grew up close to the heart of the people on the streets. At at young age he found a deep hidden connection with music that had been lost in the people for centuries. Leading a musical renaissance Silkie would broadcast his music to the people from a re-apropriated military pod. His pod was his home, his life, his love, and most importantly a platform of hope for the people left on the dying planet. Read on here…..
Cory Allen‘s new album, The Source, travels to a place where avant-garde composition, free jazz drums, and eastern mysticism merge as one. Across the span of four long form pieces, the music shifts from lush string sections and gongs to passionate free drumming and Rhodes piano, to the meditative drones of Hammond organ, tanpura, and harmonium.
These works were composed using performance rules, pitch pools, and guided improvisation in a musical style Allen refers to as psychedelic minimalism. The sessions for The Source were superbly captured at three different studios in Austin: Estuary Recording Facility, Stuck On On, and Altered Ear.
Pre-order now from Punctum Records.