New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Pool Holograph has released a new single called “Stage Fright”. This track will be part of a new split 7” with Courtesy that is due out this summer via Land and Sea Dept.
Pool Holograph will be taking over SXSW next week, but you can catch them on March 22nd at Thalia Hall with Varisty, Rookie, and Stuyedeyed.
She Killed In Ecstasy (aka SKIE) released their debut EP, "The Fatal", late in 2018. This is the modern take on late ’90’s Trip Hop from Shane, Risky, and Griffin.
They recently released a video for the EP’s lead single, “Dissension”, which was directed by Kevin E. Epperson.
M. Lockwood Porter’s single off his forthcoming EP, Communion In The Ashes (out March 29, 2019) is a what a good folk-Americana song is supposed to be: it’s solid folksy rock infused with cultural heritage and the frustrations of our roots. Think Mountain Goats and Neutral Milk Hotel met the passion of There Will be Blood’s Eli–but less creepy, less religiously obsessed. After teaching in San Francisco for over a decade, Porter’s songwriting began to really reflect what he saw. He writes of the frustration of gentrification, of the sometimes heartless culture of change. In his own words, “The tech boom of the last 10 years has totally transformed the whole Bay Area and essentially made it a playground for the rich…Working-class folks and artists aren’t welcome there anymore and this has manifested in rising housing costs, closure of music venues, and the proliferation of homeless tent cities.” His album is an angry-beautiful homage to the people of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley. Give this song a listen, stay tuned for the full EP, and catch him at Amnesia on April 19. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor
One of the fun parts of writing about the local music scene is that you get to discover new musicians, even if they’re just new to you and have been around for an album or two. Stacey Randol‘s one of those musicians with a couple of records under her belt, but only with the release of Songs in the Soil, her sound brings in elements of legendary artists like Stevie Nicks or Kate Bush as she spins weaving melodies and mellow mood-rock instrumentals into timeless songs. A single listen to "Realize" or "Hammock Cat" will give you a burst of the vintage influence that Randol fuses into her music; you’ll hear why her music has appeared on TV shows like Say Yes To The Dress or All My Children. Check out "Hammock Cat" below. – Will Sisskind
We are proud to be able to premiere the new single, “Famous Bones”, from songwriter and producer William Steffey. The single is taken from his forthcoming LP, Reality Jockey, which will be released on March 12th. This is Steffey’s first solo release since leaving Boolean Knife.
Steffey will be hosting a listening party on March 15th at Esquina (4602 N Western Ave).
Below is a new song, "march 1st.," from singer-songwriter Augusta Koch (Gladie, Cayetana). The reverberation of keys and the snap of percussion create a somber, intimate glow of evening. The personal narrative details experiences of dealing with a narcissist and ignoring one’s instincts. There’s a lingering sadness that has a haunting affect as she addresses past trauma and a future day of reckoning. Koch plans to release a song every Friday this month, and with this latest track, it’s easy to hear why we are looking forward to listen to more.
Butcher and The Florist is the Synth-Pop duo of Kendel Lester and Jody Miller. They recently released their debut single, “Ordinary Love”, which is a dance floor ready track, screaming for endless remixes.
Last year the duo drop a collection of covers, including a fun take on the Bee Gee classic “Stayin’ Alive”.
Shaina Joelle (of Anxiety Sludge) recently shared her debut EP What Did You Expect to Happen?, under the moniker Maggot Museum. Self-exploration and personal observation via a bedroom-folk backdrop creates an endearing, open, emotive sound. There’s a tranquil, catchy momentum to the songs that eases the melancholy experiences being depicted. It aches but in a cathartic, unburdening manner.
Swimming Bell, the solo project of Brooklyn-based songwriter Katie Schottland, found its start in 2015, after Schottland broke her foot and used the downtime to learn guitar. Perhaps a consequence of her homespun background in recording and composition, Swimming Bell’s music is endowed with a rare authenticity, creating raw, unfettered folk songs from memories of people and places past. Her newest effort “1988” is the latest example of this craft, accompanied by a video that seeks to recreate the innocent wonder of childhood against lush acoustics and overdubbed vocals. And as the first single from her forthcoming LP, Wild Sight, it demonstrates a focused, fresh approach to folk ahead of the album’s release later this spring.
Schottland will return to New York on April 6th to perform a record release show at Trans-Pecos, supported by Monteagle, Pale Mara, and Andrew Victor. Until then, you can watch the video fro “1988” below. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)
Y La Bamba’s latest release, Mujeres, weaves a complicated and beautiful story. Each song situates you in a space both abstract and defined. There, you and Mendoza are free to explore. As you go through the album, it expands and contracts and expands again. The limitations of memory, diving into raw and vulnerable identities, and re-imagining histories: Mujeres tackles all of these and more. In exploring her relationship to her Mexican heritage and background, Mendoza forges new spaces and histories. She challenges her audience to do the same with their own narratives. She deftly pucks your heart out of your chest and asks you to see it in a new light.
Of course, this story would be inaccessible if the narrator wasn’t so dextrous and intuitive. Mendoza’s voice is at it’s strongest that we’ve seen thus far. Atmospheric and resolute, she turns each song into something that’s strikingly tangible. You can feel her hands shaping the music, akin to a potter sculpting clay. In “Perder” she sings in long, slow waves, only to end the song with hushed, repetitive muttering. The muttering continues on to the next song “Mujeres” and blends the two together. It’s masterful manipulation. It would be surprising if someone doesn’t get goosebumps while listening to Mujeres.
-By Avril Carrillo
Blues rocker JD Simo has a busy spring ahead of him; having just wrapped up a tour of the States, he’s headed out to Europe to take on the UK and the Netherlands with Tommy Emmanuel before he returns to our side of the pond to support the Allman Betts Band. Plus, Simo has just put out a new record called Off At 11, in which they channel the gritty sound of Clapton, Hendrix, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and B.B. King. The songs retain all of the energy and drive of a live performance of the blues; you can hear the passion in Simo’s guitar solo on the title track as if it’s blistering your eardrums before your eyes. Simo says about the album: “There’s an underlying theme of LOVE that permeates the album. Both outward love but also inner and self love. These days, everything is so heavy, but I just want to point out some joy, love and deep passion; in this world, we all share that spirit. OFF AT 11 does that.” Take a listen to "Off At 11" below. – Will Sisskind
Warm Human (aka Meredith Johnson) has released a second single and video called “Y U" from her forthcoming LP, Ghastly. The video was directed by Chuck Norment and Meredith herself.
Her album is set to be released on March 8th which is timed perfectly for her to make her SXSW debut next week.
