Missed Albums: Tan Cologne, Little Mazarn and Black Watch
Last week had some solid record released, all of which have made it onto our site in some single or another, but, I was wrapped up in paid employment options on Friday, so I missed out on these. But, there’s never a bad time to check in on great music.
Tan Cologne – Unknown Beyond (Labrador)
This is definitely a record to sit with. The New Mexico duo create these cavernous pop songs, playing with the negative space between ringing notes and offering shadowy excursions into, well, the unknown beyond. Everything on the album feels like its own life force, its own vibration. Here’s the album closer.
Little Mazarn – Mustang Island (Dear Life Records)
While the Austin bunch is known for their traditional folk leanings, this new album illustrates a new lightness, accompanied by the slightest step into modernity. Little electronic flourishes come to life, such as on “Dark Pleasure of Endless Doing,” which might be one of my favorite tunes of the year.
The Black Watch – For All the World (Atom Records)
If you treasure a prolific songwriter, let me introduce you to John Andrew Fredrick. As the lead songwriter of the Black Watch, he’s been pushing out records at an astonishing pace, though he chose to double down by crafting a double LP this go round. I love the approach, as you get heavier punches on tunes like “Surely You Rally,” but you also get some deeper arrangements in the pop realm like “Achilles Past.” If my days were filled with time, I’d do a track by track breakdown, but by then, John would likely already have another LP ready.
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!
Last week kicked off with a bang; we covered a whole bunch of tunes right off the bat, only to kind of fade towards the end of the week. Still, we managed to get up 20 tunes you should listen to, though the Mope City single isn’t out there yet on streaming services. Some Austin love came our way with Tearjerk and Balmorhea getting solid mentions, while we couldn’t help but to continue our fawning over Night Beats and their latest barrage of bangers. Threw in some new Shelflife releases from Lost Tapes and Youth Valley, and in the end, the new stuff from Shrapnel and Special Friend definitely won awards for my faves of the week. You’ve got an hour of legendary streams below!
When looking at the credits on this new