Tag: atom records

The Black Watch Prepare For All the World LP

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I know the indie world (myself included) love fawning over the likes of Robert Pollard, but he might not be the most prolific songwriter on the scene; you should all check out John Andrew Fredrick and his long running project The Black Watch. It seems every year, the group offer up at least one record, and as is the case this year, we’re getting a double album called For All the World. On my first few run throughs of the lead single, I’m really impressed with how huge this band sounds right now; there’s this continuous drive that rushes the song, while John seems sated, sitting in the middle of the mix to deliver his vocals, awaiting the swell of strings all around. If you’re into a musician’s musician, this should be your jam! The new record is out this June via Atom Records.

Friday Album Streams: Perennial, Kelley Stoltz, The Black Watch and More

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It’s Bandcamp Friday, so you should ideally put your money where your mouth is, or where your support is…like going over to ATH Records and clearing out some of this stock for super cheap! Or, you can check out the records below that we’ve been enjoying and now encourage you to pick up. Despite all the issues with the current industry, even with what was once the home for independent artists, you can’t go wrong listening to the tunes below and grabbing a copy. There’s rock, pop and even bands from Lockhart!

 

Perennial – Art History (Ernest Jenning Record Co)

The Black Watch – Weird Rooms (Atom Records)

June Jones – Proximity EP (Chapter Music)

Kelley Stoltz – La Fleur (Dandy Boy Records)

Good Looks – Lived Here for a While (Keeled Scales)

The Black Watch Release Now & Then Video

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Always a big fan of The Black Watch, so when a new album and single hit, you know you’re likely to find it here, though probably not as eloquently as John’s own words. Through the first few singles of Here & There, we find Fredrick and company seemingly stretching their sound, at least in terms of the arrangements that are built around the core songwriting. In a sense, this feels a bit sedated, a bit like a tune that could provide the record with a sort of balance. The accompanying video provides a sort of meditative set of black and white imagery to accompany the tune’s natural drift. Feel like this is a great place to spend some time today, and then perhaps you’ll feel as I do and grab a copy of Here & There from Atom Records.

The Black Watch Announce Here & There LP

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You didn’t think 2021 would finish off without another LP from the Black Watch, did you? Fortunately for us, John Andrew Fredrick has never seem fully satisfied with his work, so he’s constantly evolving, and he’s done so through the course of 19 releases. But, now we come to the latest, Here & There, where’s he aimed to add a little more of an untraditional approach to his pop repertoire. John wanted to move away from songs that had ‘proper bridges or pre-choruses,’ thus giving more space in the songs for movement…and the added string arrangements of Ben Eshbach (2 time Emmy winner!). Below you can still hear the textured layers of guitars working in unison to create towering cliffs of noise, crumbling to reveal his velvety pipes. But, where he’s historically had some immediacy with the vocal/lyrical structure, that’s stripped away, leaving the song with this vast bit of space, letting the guitars create their own musical journey for the listener. Here & There will drop on November 12th via Atom Records.

The Black Watch Share Drip Drip Drip Video

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If you thought a band couldn’t surprise you after 18 LPs, I think the Black Watch are out to prove folks wrong. The entirety of Fromthing Somethat gives you a variety of sounds and styles, while still being tethered to the songwriting of leader John Fredrick. I actually like the almost sedate nature of this number, mostly working over a heavy strum. It matches the darkened nature of the video, with clusters of color drifting in to form images upon a black background. Fredrick has a slight rise in certain moments in the song that almost lean towards Bob Pollard similarities…but perhaps I’m stretching too far with my pigeonholing! Alas, its just another great track from a band that never ceases to impress me. Fromthing Somethat is out now via Atom Records.

The Black Watch Share the Lonely Death of Mary Hansen

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As an avid fan of the Black Watch, I think the forthcoming record has the possibility to be one of their strongest to date. You can hear John Andrew Fredrick really pushing himself sonically, especially when you take into account the earlier single from the new album, “The Nothing That Is,” offering us a slightly playful disco sound. Here on the new single, the band swirl the guitars around your ears, almost in a disorienting fashion. The rhythm section pounds away, steadying things, matched by the solemn delivery of Fredrick; I love how there’s a great vocal foil too, bringing in a touch more melody to the heavier tones John offers. Is it possible that after all the albums and all the years that the Black Watch are just now hitting their stride? We’re definitely in for a ride when Fromthing Somethat drops on October 23rd via Atom Records. (Photo by Brendan Holmes)

The Black Watch Return with Fromthing Somethat

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I’m an avowed fan of the Black Watch, and I reckoned this whole quarantine would be more than ample time to get John Andrew Fredrick enough time to muster up a new record…and sure enough, here we are with Fromthing Somethat. Unlike the previous 19 LPs, John brought these songs almost fully formed to the band, used one or two run-throughs, then had them recorded. There’s an innate spirit to a band finding its feet beneath a song, and you can grasp that here on this first single. It’s a sinister disco vibe, club-happy and purely pop oriented; I found it surprising on first listen…and that’s always refreshing when you’re about 19 albums into a career. ATOM Records release the new LP on October 23rd.

The Black Watch Release Legerdemain

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  • Having spent a great deal of my time over the last fifteen LPs of the Black Watch, the thing that still strikes me is how willing John is to continuously attempt new things. He’s claimed that the entirety of Witches was conceived as a dance album…yet songs like the track below might lead you astray. In this number, he seems isolated, standing alone at the front of the mix while everything goes on behind him; you’ll hear the strum of acoustic guitars, matched by cascading lines, there’s faint hints of tambourines in the far off, bass just barely bubbles up from below. Then there’s John, bare before you with his poetry and voice. Witches drops on July 25th via Atom Records.

The Black Watch Prepare New LP

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Having released an EP earlier this year, it only makes sense that prolific act The Black Watch return not too long after with news of a fresh full-length. I’m forever intoxicated by the guitar sound on their records, and the opening lines of this tune grab me immediately…just before vocals and band join in. There’s this calm that seems to hang in Fredrick’s vocal delivery; it carries melodic optimism that rises to meet up with the pace of the song. The accents on this track are pretty spot on too, from the cascading guitar in the distance to the plucking of strings in the front of the mix. Witches! will be released on July 22nd via Atom Records.

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