New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Bret Koontz & Truancy Club have released a new single, "Gloaming, Nightshade", from their forthcoming album, A Sparkle Road Cult, which is due out on November 18th via Earth Libraries.
You can catch Bret Koontz & Truancy Club at the California Clipper with Kwaician on October 27th. They will be celebrating the release of their album on November 18th at Constellation with Tasha and Moontype.
Singer/Songwriter Walker Landgraf (aka Walker) recently released a new single called "I’ll Be Right Here".
This is the multi-instrumentalists third single of 2022, and third since the release of his 2021 EP "My Love".
You can catch Walker tonight, September 30th, at Epiphany Center For The Arts (201 S Ashland Ave) with Elisa Latrice.
Sick Day recently released their debut full-length album, Love is a State of Mind.
This is the group lead by Singer/Songwriter Olive Wallace, and the album include’s the band’s two 2022 single, "Stars Shining Over Me" and "Meet Me In The Park".
Way To Go Radio recently released a new track called "Magic". This is his second single of 2022 following "Teenage Summer" which was released back in June.
On a recent trip to Los Angeles, Klevah and TRUTH (aka Mother Nature), were able to team up with José Ríos and Kelsey González of The Free Nationals to create their latest single "Crystal Cadillac".
This is the duo’s first single since the release of the EP "Nature’s World" via Closed Sessions back in June.
Semiratruth has partnered with produced JWords to create a new EP called "loading…".
The talented emcee and vocalist also recently appeared on a new single, "Repossess" from the South Carolina based artist Contour.
Synth Pop trio BARBAЯA recently released a new EP called "is it just a dream".
This is the work of Jonny Drake (lead vocals, guitar, drums, synth pads), Michael Slovenkay (lead synth, piano), and Tom David (bass).
You can catch BARBAЯA at the Hideout on October 4th with Architects of Beauty, and at Golden Dagger on October 21st with La Rosa Noir and Various Blonde.
Dorian Taj has released a new single called "Trees". This is the first of two singles the singer/songwriter/guitarist plans to release this year. On this track he is joined by Anthony Rubino (lead guitar), Danny Severson (bass), Josh Hudson (Organ, piano), and Ryan Farnham (drums, cow, and sleigh bell).
You can catch Dorian Taj at Liar’s Club on October 20th with Sweet Figurines.
Ibises have released a single edit version of the title track, "In The Swim", from their forthcoming debut album which is due out via American Dreams on October 21st.
This is the blend of free jazz and avant rock from the trio of Dan Bitney (Tortoise, Isotope 217), Nick Macri (Stirrup, Euphone), and Steve Marquette (The Few, Ken Vandermark’s Marker).
You can catch Ibises at Constellation of November 11th with Doug McCombs.
Gabacho recently released a new single and video called "Sal De Mar". This is the third single of 2022 from the Indie Pop group fronted by Siul Reynoso.
The single comes in on the heels of the release of Gabacho’s recent Audiotree session that found the group performing six songs from their first three years of existence.
Interpolating from the artist’s own declaration of creative intention, Raavi’s “no bodies” is a song about the ontological insecurity not infrequently experienced by artist types who on the one hand seek self-actualization and authenticity by means of artistic expression and on the other seek some measure of ego-sustaining and career-sustaining public approbation and how these two goals can sometimes be antithetical to one another…
…or put into plain English it’s a song about “measuring one’s own worth” in cases where there’s a little voice in your head saying things like “If I’m giving everything to this music career (or whatever), and I’m not succeeding, then where am I? And what even is success?” and where reaching the top of one figurative ladder leads back to the bottom rungs of another ladder…
…thus making it “incredibly difficult to recognize where you are on your own path” in the words of band frontperson and primary songwriter Raavi Sita who as a self-described queer desi may know a thing or two about what’s it like not fitting into socially-imposed prefabricated categories…
…and granted you’re not gonna get all this from this lyrics which are more evocative than explicit and bully for that—although lines like “you hear what / they say bout me / off-kilter / the f#ck that mean?” put across an overall sense of lack-of-fit and thus insecurity not to mention the song’s title which playfully plays off from the anxiety of being “a nobody” crossed with denial of bodily autonomy routinely applied to The Other as in "no bodies for nobodies" or maybe I’m reading into it too much—but it’s the music of “no bodies” that puts across the theme most clearly to these ears…
…with the pleasingly off-kilter (whoops, sorry!) melodic hook and a song structure that moves from earthbound to ethereal and back with gritty guitar tones set against celestial harp-like harmonics, sustained crystalline syllables combined with vocal hiccups and pitch bends; reflective and musical repetitive verses set against sublime interludes soaring off into the stratosphere—and if this is what ontological insecurity sounds like then it’s got its good points at least…
…and right about here it’s probably relevant to mention “no bodies” was produced and engineered by Justin Termotto and to also mention that Raavi’s rhythm section is comprised up of James Duncan (bass) and Jason Block (drums)…
…and finally also that “no bodies” is the latest chapter in the Hardly Art Singles Series of 2022 with the acclaimed Sub Pop sub-label (check out some of their many fantastic current signees) celebrating 15 years of existence with 15 singles curated/commissioned from some of the label’s favorite artists which should help to bolster anyone’s ontological security we hope. (Jason Lee)
We are proud to be able to premiere the first single and opening track, "Tunnel’s End", from the forthcoming album, Chasing the Light, from Singer/Songwriter Jared Rabin.
This is the follow-up to Rabin’s 2021 album Cold Rain and Snow, and is another example of his ability to pair his original creations with handpicked standards.
Chasing the Light is set to be released on October 7th and you can help Rabin celebrate on October 21st at Madame ZuZu’s Teahouse in Highland Park.
