Next week is the pledge drive, meaning all of you should tune in to my show from 10pm to midnight PST on Friday, April 12 and pledge your support for independent radio. For my April 5 show, I returned to playing primarily new tunes, opening with the stellar new track by Sweden’s Lars Bygdén, dropping in a pair of tunes by San Francisco post-rock outfit Tartufi, and crossing the pond to Spain for an amazing track by Soledad Vélez. (more…)
There’s something a bit timeless about “Black Light in the Forest”, a new track by Soledad Vélez off her forthcoming LP Wild Fishing, out now on Absolute Beginners Records. This makes sense given her background: Originally from Chile, Vélez grew up with her father’s record player and a guitar. She moved to Argentina and ultimately Spain, where she now resides in Valencia. (more…)
Lars Bygdén is a singer/songwriter from Sweden; that’s to say, he’s an artist who creates haunting folk melodies fronted by strong vocals that seem to echo through the darkness. His latest release – his third under his own name – is simply called LB and the opening track, “The Hole”, recently received very stunning video treatment. (more…)
Post-rock, perhaps more than most genres, has an inherent ability to lump together artists so diverse they seemingly should not fit in even close to similar categorical sub-genres, yet alone within the exact same sub-genre. Post-rock, then, features artists as wide-ranging as folk-centric epic-masterpiece purveyors Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, the soft-loud-soft instrumental rock-ists Explosions in the Sky, and this band – Tartufi – who blend lovely melodies with dreamy vocals against intense face-melting rock. (more…)
There is little more fleeting yet memorable about youthful pre/early-teen romance for someone my age than a 1980s roller skating rink. London band Still Corners capitalizes on this nostalgia in their new video for “Berlin Lovers” off their forthcoming Sub Pop LP, Strange Pleasures. (more…)
As you may already know, but I’ll state it nonetheless for those who do not, I have a weekly radio show on KSVR Mount Vernon, KSVU Hamilton and KSJU Friday Harbor. You can tune in via the respective dial pinpoints if you live within those townships, or you can stream from KSVR.org. We will be hosting our pledge drive in April, so I thought I’d kick things off by doing something no other station in Skagit or (to my knowledge) the surrounding areas does: a vinyl only night. (more…)
My introduction to Bored Nothing came last year on a little compilation put together by Bleeding Knees Club. “Snacks” was the third track on the comp, featuring Bleeding Knees Club and several of their musician friends. That track appears on Bored Nothing’s new self-titled LP. (more…)
Melissa Harris and Rebecca Scott of Chicago go by the name Architecture. One of moody pop, their sound blends dark synths, a catchy bass-line and dual vocalists. “Diamond Mind” is the title track off their forth coming 7″ single, out soon on Notes And Bolts Records. (more…)
What can one say about Edmonton artist Renny Wilson‘s Sugarglider that hasn’t already been said in the past month or two? A highlight, from VICE (WARNING: Link language NSFW): “Despite his somewhat dorky looks, I have a feeling Renny could get a girl wetter than Prince can.” Well, VICE, one listen to the occasionally falsetto vocals, that cool bass-line swagger, and that smooth saxophone in opening track “By and By” will tell you that. Nicely said. (more…)
Low, the husband and wife duo of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, have been making beautiful music together for 20 years, and on The Invisible Way, their 10th full-length studio album, the lovely, haunting harmonies and melodies that highlight their distinctive sound are once again in strong evidence.
(more…)