Friday, June 29, 2018

illuminati hotties - Patience


Illuminati Hotties is a project of LA artist Sarah Tudzin and I just love their sound. Once again, jangly guitars and a slow burn through Patience grabbed my attention the first time I heard it. Not sure she’ll ever get out east, but man, I bet she puts on a great show. Their first full length, Kiss Yr Frenemies just came out and you can bet I will be listening to the rest of the songs!



Bonus 

Friday, June 22, 2018

St. Vincent - Fast Slow Disco


I’ve always been a big fan of St. Vincent (Annie Clark). Her 2009 album Actor brought her to my ears and she has never left. Last year’s Masseduction was fantastic. She recently released a remake of the song Slow Disco from that album and wow, is it hot, in more ways than one! She brings a sultry disco beat and a steaming hot video for it. She is just so talented!

Original Slow Disco:

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Indian Queens - Pretty Little Things


Indian Queens is a dark, gothic, atmospheric indie band from East London. I guess they have been doing a few big shows, like Robert Smith’s curated 2018 Meltdown show. I really like the sweeping vocals, big guitars and catchy riff from this tune, Pretty Little Thing :

As well as the more ethereal Us Against The World:



Wednesday, March 28, 2018

In This Moment - Black Wedding

 AltPress


Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t posted a song from one of my albums of 2017! I’m not really much of a head banger, but every year there are one or two pretty hard core metal albums that get to me. Last year, it was definitely New York rockers In This Moment’s Ritual. It starts off with some intense big drums, chanting and gonging bells on Salvation, seques into one of the finest rockers from all of year with Oh Lord, then into a weird homage to Billy Idol’s White Wedding called, not surprisingly, Black Wedding. Then we get the dark and brooding cover of Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight. Wow - what a run!
Here’s a fantastic version of Black Wedding. To show you how little I know of the heavy metal scene, the song title says “(feat. Rob Halford)” and I didn’t even know that he is the lead singer of Judas Priest! But he shows up in this live video for Loudwire Music Awards. But be sure to check out the rest of the album. It’s fantastic! Wish I could see them in concert but I think my head banging concert days are over (if, in fact, I ever had them!).

Monday, March 26, 2018

Elizabeth and the Catapult - Underwater

 Backbeat Seattle


Keepsake by Elizabeth and the Catapult
Elizabeth and the Catapult focus on the songwriting skills of frontwoman Brooklynite Elizabeth Ziman. Her indie folk/pop style really sounds great, especially when she is bopping along at a good tempo. I am enjoying her 2017 release, Keepsake, where she puts her classical piano training and film scoring techniques to effective use. I really love the infectious Underwater:

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Thievery Corporation - Voyage Libre

Here is a great new tune from Thievery Corporation’s upcoming release Treasures from the Temple. Their 2008 release Radio Retaliation is one of my all time favorite albums and I always love to hear new songs from them. This song is called Voyage Libre and I dare you to keep your toes from tapping:
And here's a couple of my favorite songs from Radio Retaliation
Hare Krsna:
And my mostest favorite, Sweet Tides:

Monday, March 19, 2018

Pale Waves - Heavenly


Pale Waves, a Manchester UK quartet, is gaining quite a following for a band without even a proper release. Their Feb 2018 EP All the Things I Never Said got some ears perked and they have recently come out with a new video for their song Heavenly. I love their dreamy indie pop sound, heavy on the guitars and beat.
Here’s the official video for the song:

but to be honest, I prefer the less frenetic live video from this years SXSW (bucket list!):

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Dungen - Loop



I really enjoyed Dungen’s 2017 release, Häxan and was excited to see a new song released by this group of Swedish rockers, who do a lot of ambient / jazzy / psychedelic rock songs. This is a cut from their upcoming release (I assume!), which will be out later this year on Mexican Summer records and will be called Myths 003. Here’s Loop:

And as an added bonus, here's my favorite cut from Häxan, called Achmed och Peri Banu. According to this articleHäxan is Swedish for "the witch" and Achmed and Peri Banu are characters in the oldest full length animated film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which they were asked to score. It's all pretty wonderful.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Goat Girl - The Man


If you know me at at all, you know I like me some jangly guitars and heavy beats, all fronted by a hard playing woman, like say The Dollyrots or The Courtneys. So of course, I simply adore this song by Goat Girl, a London-based band who’s first full album isn’t due out until later this year. Well, that one certainly jumps to the top of my “Must Listen” list, now doesn’t it!