New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Ezra Furman has released a new track, "The Prisoner", which was the b-side to his single "Restless Year". Furman also announced his Spring tour which will have in Austin for SXSW.
You can catch Ezra Furman at Lincoln Hall with Sleepy Kitty on March 26th.
A few months ago, Providence-based act Sensitive Hearts released some pleasantly sensual demos. While the song "Who Is He" is an electronica-oriented piece of skipping beats and percussive pings, the punk-inflected track "I’ll Hold Your Hand" (streaming below) shows the genteel-voiced artist in an antsier manner, his vocals practically punching their way towards love. Damon Albarn’s melancholic solo debut ‘Everyday Robots’ may be an influence on these songs but, as its name shows, Sensitive Hearts has an deep emotional artfulness that makes it fresh. Sensitive Hearts plays AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday (12/12). – Zach Weg
If you wonder why so much electronic music is invading the web-waves, the answer is bifold: portability, and user friendliness (as in: you don’t really need to learn to play an instrument to make electronic music). These two features certainly helped NYC based electronic songriter Amanda Steckler (of Blonde Maze) write songs while traveling back and forth between NYC and London. Tos songs were christallized in four track debut EP "Oceans," which is a sonic diary of the contrasting feelings and thoughts of an transatlantic traveler – always an ocean away from someone or something dear to them, asleep while the loved ones are awake and vice-versa, as single "Awake / Asleep" (streaming) points out. Blonde Maze will perform at Pianos on New Year’s Eve (which is always a lot of fun, with Great Caesar and Controller.
Mr. Bones has been the lo-fi, garagey, pop punky delight that we’ve all needed to get us a little rowdy here in Portland. The Deli mentioned them back in February, when their self titled debut tape came out off Good Cheer Records. We’re bringing the boys of Mr. Bones today to debut the new single of their upcoming album, Bites, due out some time early next year. "Do You Wanna Feel Alright" is a minute and 45 seconds worth of refreshingly pleasant garage pop that is damn near impossible not to get into.
"Do You Wanna Feel Alright" premiered on THRDCOAST and can be listened to here.
The Mr. Bones dudes will be playing at the Analog Cafe and Theater December 13, so give the track a listen and come ready to have a good time.
-Cervante Pope
A.M. Mills, featuring Blood Feathers‘s Drew Mills, who is also backed by some of his former cohorts, is headlining Ortlieb’s this evening. Mills’s latest project continues his journey down the path of roots music but with a maturation. The tempo has been slowed down to a late-night crawl, easing old bones while providing plenty of time for contemplation. Though Mills has been pretty quiet for over a half of a decade now, finding solace in being a background player, he has completed a full-length album that was recorded with Terry Yerves and mixed by Quentin Stoltzfus (Light Heat, ex-Mazarin), so expect to hear more from A.M. Mills soon. Ortlieb’s, 847 N. 3rd St., 8pm, $10, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
Sandcastle has issued a new EP Emeralds of Opium. It creeps into your consciousness as lurking keys and fragile, exposed vocals are brightened with a meshing of folky jangle and warm synth hue. It’s close, and still feels like a transmission from a distant zone.
Eggnog, gift-giving, a much-needed break from work and/or school: The holidays are awesome. And since Thanksgiving has finally passed, we can all unashamedly begin the 24-day pre-game leading up to the big day, complete with a carefully-procured festive playlist. And trust us, we like the classic Christmas tunes as much as the next blog, but listening to local artists put his/her own spin on a holiday favorite, that’s worth toasting to.
Nashville-based soul pop artist Dustin Ransom has gifted us with his sexy, modern version of "Merry Christmas Baby," and we’re dropping it right in your stocking. With Ransom’s layered R&B-inspired vocals atop a smooth, smokey throwback groove, the track is perfect for a classy holiday party or a night cuddled up by the fire.
"I just thought it would be fun to take this song. which is normally performed in a more blues-oriented fashion, and make it into a lo-fi funk thing a la D’Angelo or There’s A Riot Goin’ On-era Sly & The Family Stone. I played all the instrumentation on the track, sang all the vocals and mixed it as well. I honestly would love to do a whole Christmas record in a similar fashion, but that will have to wait for another time…!" says Ransom. Guess we’ll just have to put that on our list for next year.
To hear more of Ransom’s sophisticated soul, check out his EP Thread on Fire on Noisetrade. For every 200 EP downloads, he’ll be releasing one new acoustic track. And once he hits 2500, he’ll release another EP and start bringing his music to the stage. -Caroline Bowman
We were pretty impressed with Brooklyn power pop band Downies’ first single "Widow" back in May, but then silence fell – we even tried to book them for our CMJ show but no reply was had (by the way, here’s an almost absolute truth for you: distorted guitar based bands tend to be horrible at replying to emails, while acoustic musicians tend to be great at it – go figure!). But let’s not digress. Downies is now dead, because it has tramsitioned into something else identical to itself in everything but its name, which is now "Cende." They are about to release a debut, self titled EP scheduled for January 2016, but available for full streaming on their bandcamp page. "Is it good?" – you ask. "It’s good" we answer. It’s fast, distorted grunge-pop, featuring melodies that anybody will have a hard time purging from their system. Five good songs out of five, with the fourth one being not poppy at all, but very Pixies-ish in an extreme and concentrated way. For the record, you’ll never get a complaint from us with the word "Pixies" in it; even "they sound too much like The Pixies" should always be interpreted as a huge compliment, as long as it’s referred to the band’s early years. Listen again to "Widow," and enjoy the speedy catchiness of second track "End," streaming below.
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The Good Hearts will be making their debut live performance this Sunday, December 13, at recordBar. Show starts at 8 pm. Facebook event page. You can also catch them at Coda for MudStomp Records’ Saturday Afternoon Stomp on December 19 at 3 pm. Facebook event page.
Mass Gothic is the project of ex Hooray for Earth Noel Heroux, whose debut, self titled debut LP is scheduled for a February 2016 release under Sub Pop records. The album was written and recorded at Noel’s home over four months during the winter of 2014-2015, and features no collaborations with other musicians: "All I wanted to do was whatever I do when I’m alone and I’m unconcerned with what anyone else wants or expects." in early 2016 Mass Gothic will be touring the US (Brooklyn date at Palisades on February 27) and play SXSW to promote the record. You can listen to first single "Nice Night" below.
Yesterday we shared the first single for Wired Minds debut EP Saudade, "Strange Kind of Love". Today we bring you the video for this Brit-Pop inspired single.
Slutever‘s Rachel Gagliardi has a new project called Pouty, where she is backed by Cat Park (Amanda X, Eight) and Evan Bernard (The Superweaks, ex-Dangerous Ponies) on her debut EP Take Me To Honey Land, which you can stream HERE. It was record with Bernard at Big Mama’s Warehouse in Philly and and R.L. Kelly in Los Angeles. She also premiered a new music video for the single "Sad" today at Cultist. It was directed by Emily Alben, and was shot in LA.
