Hey, Chuh-vurches left our orbit a while ago, but when the singles from The Bones Of What You Believe were released, we shimmied and we shook. I got to catch Lauren and company in small venues early on and the transformation from shy vocalist, to a confident, powerful front person was rather cool. There will be new material, live tracks and more bonus stuff. Pre-order here. New track will be here. In lieu of an easy share with this announcement, lets bask in the glory of one of my fave jams.
Ya, I’m with ya, pondering a life without Harry Kane, heart attack pending. But Breeze‘s late-90’s dark synth jam puts a focused head nod into motion to distract you from whatever may consume brain cycles. Several contributing genres, from early techno’s synth loops and plinking hooks to darker New Wave’s vocal harmonies and guitar/bass riffs, the track comes at you from multiple directions. Josh Korody leads a strong group of contributors to build the band’s forthcoming release, Sour Grapes, that will land 10/6 on Hand Drawn Dracula.
We have shared Night Drive‘s singles from the Position II EP released to date, but today is the release date for the EP called Position II. I’ve often contended that many pretty good records should have been stunning EPs. This is a tight six song collection. Release party Saturday at the Parish has just a few tix left.
I’d asked a while back about how people listen; ear buds, headphones, through TVs, bluetooth speakers. It actually spawned me to do some tweaking. I moved my speakers a bit further apart and into the room, tinkered with toe-in (no benefit as my kids and highs are concentric) and then reran DIRAC room compensation. If all that sounds technical, it is. However, a little effort yielded a nice benefit. The music now extends further out past the rooms walls. I know that sounds strange and pretentious, but if you ever hear it, you chase the dragon. We love our music and you should enjoy listening.
Anyway, on to some new/recent tracks to listen to intently and critically. Well start below with the latest from Lindstrom, a four song EP titled Everyone Else Is A Stranger. Syrene is the opener, a rather joyous, but tempered study with guitars joining the party a couple minutes in as the build up progresses through to the minor chords and break before smoothly flowing to an elegant end. Solid way to start the weekend.
Click through for a couple more can’t miss songs that may have been missed. Read more
There are plenty of nostalgia acts rolling through Austin this summer. Ive already seen The Cure and Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears and Peter Gabriel are still inbound. BUT, when announced, I knew I had to see Love and Rockets. It is a shorter reunion tour, the first in over twenty years. While they did have one set in 2008, things were fairly bleak that I would get to ever see the band live. Pretty rad.
David J, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins proved that their song catalog is every bit as fresh and relevant to a not quite sold out ACL Live. Opening was artist Vinsanto delivering an introspective collection of poems as songs.
Click through for a few thoughts and plenty of pics
Not even a week has passed since Sigur Ros sprung a new track on the internet, the full record called TTA has been released. Spotify embed below for convenience:
Otherwise, y’all try to stay cool. Maybe I’ll see you at Love and Rockets?
I feel like we are required to share this song. Unlike many mandatory tasks, it is one that I am very happy to complete as it has been seven years since Sigur Ros shared new music, eleven years since Kjartan Sveinsson was part of the band. Haunting, brooding, cathartic, long, but not long enough. August tour dates state side are very sold out.
I recently posted about their full on new wave synth jam that harkens to earlier Depeche Mode or Japan. With the title track to their upcoming release Bitter Reflection, Body of Light goes with a movie soundtrack darkly introspective ballad, catching me completely off guard. The video features James Duval that you may recognize from Donnie Darko. Is it a step too far into nostalgia or glorious indulgence?
Body of Light will be in town as part of Oblivion Access on a day show bill with Drab Majesty and Choir Boy.
The DJs that used to drive the airwaves over at 97X WOXY are friends of ATH. Between shared interests in movies, F1, Premier League and yes, even music, we got to know the team that was on air every day playing the jams we loved. It has been more than a decade since the station moved to Austin only to be disbanded.
One annual tradition over a WOXY was the Modern Rock 500. Think of it as the everlasting gobstopper of playlists; 500 tracks as debated by Mike, Brian, Matt, Barb, Joe, etc. that were influential, impactful or just plain amazing, classics and new jams alike. In conjunction with recent news articles and podcasts involving the DJs and people behind 97X, the Modern Rock 500 is making a return. Inhailer, a pretty great intarwebs radio station in Cincinnati, is playing host. The first play through started this morning with 100 spots per day this week and full replays over the long holiday weekend. The full 500 will be available 5/29 as a complete playlist.
Piling on to what appears to be a VERY busy day for jams, we have Lust For Youth releasing the single “Giorgia”. The track will be instantly recognizable musically with airy distorted synths, great riffs and a driving drum track. What changes here is the language. For the first time, Hannes sings in Swedish. You will still get that feeling in your chest, you will still nod your head in a melancholy that empowers. Interpret what you hear to be what you need at the moment.
Grab the digital track here. Of note, you can get their entire digital catalog for $42. Cool.