Good day to you and yours, fellow denizens! I hope you’ve had a lovely week, and you’re ready to slide into the weekend without a care.
I hope maybe one or two of my nine recommendations will connect with you, and maybe you can support these musicians, on this BandCamp Friday.
A band from Dublin whose album I recommended last year has followed up with a new single. M(h)aol’s Pursuit opens with a near-whisper, describing an anxious late night walk home (“If I stand up straight will you think I’m a man?). The tension mounts around vocalist Constance Keane as she goes into a repeated frenzy at the climax. Tense and stunning.
Heading north from Dublin now, to Belfast, where we find a noisy trio called Chalk. Their latest EP, Conditions II starts off with raucous Punk sounds, followed by Dance beats and Darkwave. Is that a thing? Anyway, it’s cool.
An esoteric cassette release from London is twisting my head. The Milkweed Society is “slacker trad,” and that is the only information for the Artist(s) that created Folklore 1979. The Music consists of disjointed Folk laments, spliced with Found Sound, and various lo-fi goodies.
Ruth Goller is an Italian-born Bassist and Vocalist living in London. She has earned a healthy living as a session musician, working with Shabaka Hutchings, Damon Albarn, Alabaster DePlume and others. In my pre-WordPress days I discovered Goller via her solo debut album, Skylla, and her detunings and harmonics are captivating. I’m happy to see that on her new album, SKYLLUMINA, she’s added collaborators such as Tom Skinner (The Smile), Bex Burch and the aforementioned DePlume. Mesmerizing.
Are you ready to get down? Let’s do that. A Singer/Songwriter from Austin, Texas is bringing the grooves on her debut album. Tameca Jones is known as the “Empress of Austin Soul,” and Plants and Pills demonstrates her powerful voice as it travels through R&B, Country and Dance. Everybody’s Got A Gun is a barn burner.
A DJ and Producer from Brazil has released a fantastic full-length via the great Ugandan label Nyege Nyege Tapes. As such, DJ Anderson do Paraíso is currently shaking the walls of My Imaginary Nightclub. Queridão takes Baile Funk through an Experimental paradigm, with a broad canvas of sound.
A four-piece from St. Louis is making their debut this week. Still Animals bills themselves as “Limestone basement rock n’ roll”. Their self-titled album is lo-fi, down and dirty, with stabbing guitars and urgent vocals.
Mercury Prize-nominated rockers from Leeds, UK Yard Act have returned with their follow-up to Overload. Where’s My Utopia? is full of creative Production flourishes, uncanny samples, and moreover, it’s catchy and appealing. I hope it does well, and they go on a big World Tour.
I’m pleased to bestow my Feature Pick honours to an Artist I discovered last summer. Daniel Romano appeared at Guelph, Ontario’s Hillside Festival, and was one of the highlights for his competent rockstar swagger. The Welland native has released a new ten-track LP. Too Hot To Sleep, in a word, ROCKS. Taking inspiration from Big Star and 70’s arena-fillers like Cheap Trick, Romano and his brother Ian have written insistent driving earworms. Background vocals from Carson McHone and Julianna Riolino give it a Classic shine.
Have a lovely weekend, and I will be back here again soon! Take care of yourself!
New Music Jason’s Picks 