Mikey Coltun (Mdou Moctar) Announces New Label

I’ve always been a fan of the Tuareg sound, and for those in the States, there’s a handful of artists like Mdou Moctar who come to our minds. Just this week, Mdou member/collaborator Mikey Coltun announced Purplish Records, his very own label, with some obvious ties to the band’s work because the first release features both Mikey and Ahmoudou; it’s two very different takes on what looks to be a family of creativity. On Mikey’s side, you get his foray into understanding his own ancestry, and then flip it over to hear Ahmoudou play acoustic guitar with his brother Abdoulaye. For now, you can either grab a limited cassette, or just stream at Bandcamp and below!

Mdou Moctar Announces Afrique Victime

As someone who haphazardly writes about songs I enjoy, I generally have words or phrases that get stuck in my repertoire. Sure, there’s a bit of laziness in that, but when you’re rocking four jobs, that’s just how it be. For me, Mdou Moctar and his band never seem to fit into any of those categorical descriptors; however, the band does resonate with my listening experience. On this particular love song, I can’t help but turn over the word familial, something that swells with the feeling of a strong relationship. Perhaps that’s leaked over from the press release about the video’s turn towards displaying the love of friendships…or perhaps its the vocals when sung by everyone in unison, rising through the speakers. Whatever it is, it leaves you with a sense of belonging, a feeling that you’re a whole part of this world, and thus, I’m super attracted to this hypnotic tune. Look for Afrique Victime to drop on May 21st via Matador Records.

Mdou Moctar Signs with Matador Records

If you browsed through some of the more reputable end of year lists in 2019, I hope you caught Ilana: the Creator in some of those, as Mdou Moctar left us with a release that have very few peers in the grand scheme of things. Today, the Tuareg guitarist celebrates signing to Matador Records by sharing a brand new single, which should appear on a brand new LP slated for next year. The skill set in guitar work is phenomenal; its what I imagine folks who like King Gizzard would enjoy if they had less boring tastes. Mdou explains how the song is about how we lose ourselves in the midst of relationships, allowing envy and jealousy to control our lives; he hopes the he does not succumb to such a way of being. Just check this fire!

Top 12 Albums of 2019…According to Marc from the Midgetmen

Austin punks the Midgetmen are an Austin staple, and have been for quite some time. Thus, we’ve befriended Marc through the years of seeing them at shows and all that. He’s joined up in in our efforts to get some insight into year end lists the nontraditional way. Here’s a few words from Marc. Also, and it should definitely be mentioned; he’s a huge TGI Fridays supporter; I once watched him down slider after slider topped off with potato skins at a SXSW party…sponsored by TGI Fridays.

Marc: As it turns out, I happen to like beverages that come in 12 packs… and I happened to have exactly 12 albums that stood out to me this year. I actually had a lot of trouble cutting the list down from 20 –> 10, which is how I wound up at 12.

These 12 will certainly be in permanent rotation whereas the remaining 8 I wasn’t quite as sure about. (Which is not to say that remaining 8 aren’t great. Neil Young was in that 8!)
Thanks again for letting me give you a list of things that most people will ignore!

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Bill Roe of Trouble in Mind’s 10 Most Listened to LPs

Year-end lists (or “best-of”s as most people term them) are extremely hard for me to compile. I listen to (and buy) a lot of music from day-to-day & despite my best efforts truly cannot keep up with the sheer magnitude of quality recordings coming out each year – and 2019 was a pretty fucking great year for music. So here’s my best shot at compiling a list of my “10 Most-Listened-To” albums from 2019 (plus five honorable mentions). They’re in alphabetical order to avoid any sort of ranking, because honestly ranking something as “best” or assigning a numerical rating seems antiquated & frankly diminishes great art, IMHO. (Trouble In Mind Records releases are excluded, for conflict of interest, but it’s safe to say that anything we’d be investing thousands of dollars releasing is – in our opinion – worth your time). Hope you enjoy & possibly discover something new. Support independent artists & record labels!

Here’s a link to the great Trouble in Mind releases of 2019: Bandcamp or Spotify.

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