New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Hardcore Rock group The Ableist has released a new single called "Sucked Back Into The Sun". The track features Alice Kraynak, formerly of Thee Casual Hex, on vocals and violin, and the group has vowed to donate all proceeds to Chicago’s Rogers Park Food Not Bombs to aid in the coronavirus response effort.
The Ableist is Stephan Piven (Guitar), Barry Cabrera (Guitar), Johnny Chacon (Drums), Jairus Paulus (Bass), and Paul Scanty (Lead vocals).
This Friday, March 27th, Jared Rabin is releasing his latest album, No Direction. He had scheduled several shows this month including two sets at SXSW to promote the album. However, all of those plans were cancelled and Rabin will be taking to the internet to live stream a record release show from his basement. Tune in, throw him some hearts and likes, and perhaps request your favorite Jared Rabin tune.
Welcome to Muse of Fire, Act 1, the first installment of Connecticut group Farmertan’s latest album. This first entry is charged-up and bursting at its seams with gritty tunes, dirty, so easy to enjoy. “Automation” contrasts crisp-clean electric guitar riffs ascending against a sonic canvas of energizing distortion. “Mud Season” showcases vocals that have more than a tinge of spice, a type of been-there-done-that attitude that fits with the fortitude of the music. The drums on the track erupt, lead, and accompany the song’s guitar solo to its summit. “Sleepwalker” keeps the intensity going and leans a bit indie with its reverb-heavy chorus lines and rich bass subtleties. This is a modern rock ‘n’ roll record at its purest, introduced by a group of gents always prepared for the long haul. Stream “Mud Season” below and stay tuned for the next act from these CT artists. – Rene Cobar
Slow Dakota (aka Paul Sauerteig) has released a second single, "Coming To The Nuisance", from his forthcoming album Tornado Mass for Voice & Synthesizer which is due out May 1 on his own label Massif Records. This follows "Obelisk (The Tornado Speaks in Pan Flute)" which was released last month.
This is new single is oddly, but perfectly timed as it is about preparing for a mass disaster. When it was written Sauerteig had global warming in mind, but it seems all to fitting these days.
Saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi (of Twin Talk) has released a new album called "Seasonal". This is a collection of home recordings the he made over the last few years using clarinet, drums, guitar, OP-1, and saxophone.
This is the Laurenzi’s follow-up to last year’s highly acclaimed tribute to the legendary Moondog, "Snaketime". Laurenzi is scheduled to perform at Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park on July 17th.
Photo: Maren Celest
Improvisational Pianist Matt Piet has released a new album called Tobacco Monogamy. This collection was recorded live back in 2017 at Elastic Arts and is completely improvised. Piet will be donating all sales of the album to one of three charities and is giving the listener the choice between National Alliance on Mental Illness, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, or The Trevor Project.
This album is the follow-up to 2018’s well-received album City In A Garden.
Photo by Matthew Schwerin
Coldwave trio French Police recently released their sophomore album called "Haunted Castle". Their sound is steeped in the ’80’s New Wave sounds of Depeche Mode and New Order, but with a modern and very melodic take.
The album’s lead single is called "Dance With Me" and we promise it will transport you from the isolation you find yourself in these days.
Spooky Boo recently released the second teaser single, "Wise Man or Fool" b/w "The Aftermath", from their forthcoming full-length debut album Cult Classic. This is an epic Prog Rock, story-telling, concept album about the occurrences of an ambitious cult reaching for influence.
This is the work of Chucky Bowen (Drums), Will Dannen (Lead Vocals), Jerome Wade (Guitar/Keyboard/Vocals), Kesia Hollins (Vocals/Synth), Rob Mayfield (Guitar/Keyboard/Vocals), and Don Pudlowski (Bass)
Dream Pop trio Capital Soiree has released a new EP called "Being Lonely". This is the work of James Kourafas (Vocals, Guitar, Drums, Keys), Max Romero (Bass, Vocals), and Steven Rejdukowski (Guitar, Keys, Vocals, Drums).
Capital Soiree is currently scheduled to perform at House of Blues on April 9th with Friday Pilots Club and Marina City. You can check the House of Blues page of cancellations and updates.
New York experimental outfit Ritual Boys Club is a hard group to pin down. Their debut LP Fishing in Roon radiates a wide range of disparate indie subgenera, sometimes simultaneously and authorities in quick succession — droney slowcore can quickly become upbeat jangle jams, math-y breakdowns congeal into twee indie, with the whole project underscored by the pleasant lo-fi hiss of tape recording. It’s this drive towards experimentation, towards seeking out inscrutable electric guitar-centric soundscapes, that makes the record so incredibly listenable, twisting at each track towards a new undefined direction, yet unified under the intimacy of Ella Sinskey’s intimate, almost home-recording quality vocals and concise, focused songwriting. Recommended for fans of Avi Buffalo, or perhaps those seeking a quieter band in the vein of Captain Beefheart, give it a listen below.
In process of falling for someone, it’s common to recognize minuscule benchmark moments when you know someone is “the One,” the fleeting mental images one surreptitiously captures when they know they’re in it, deep. This experience of recalling such lovely bite-sized memories largely informs “Glue,” the latest track by psych rock savant Constantine Anastasakis, better known as Blonder. Amidst fuzzy riffing and hazy synthesizers, Anastasakis’ sweet phaser-laden vocals deliver plainspoken aphorisms (“love is sunlight going through your brown hair”), finding time in the track’s chorus to employ more metaphorical language that likens infatuation to floating on a cloud or discovering a solution that helps keep things “glued” together. Such misty recollections and dreamy comparisons, when coupled with instrumentation evocative of Tame Impala’s Currents and MGMT’s Congratulations, help to sonically recreate the somewhat indescribable experience of falling — the pleasant disorientation and often surreal headspace inherent to discovering how much we truly value another person. It’s confusing and terrifying, and sometimes the best solution is to just let the music play out — that said, give the song (and its accompanying visuals) a play below.
“Phonograph,” the latest single by New York mutli-instrumentalist and songwriter Vlad Holiday, has all the trappings of neo-noir soundtrack — compressed vox, dreamy telecasters, and a visual component that sets the scene for any variety of seedy midnight capers. Betwixt shots of the M train’s exterior as it snakes through Brooklyn, we catch solitary scenes of Vlad Holiday solitarily crooning in the studio, his echoing vocals seemingly dissipating into the room amidst the hissing of vinyl, creating a brief hush before a full brash fanfare dramatically accents the song’s chorus. Such stirring visuals encapsulate Holiday’s lonely, longing lyrics, and creates the perfect aesthetic for this tune’s backdrop. Reminiscent of equal parts Can and early Phantogram, it’s recommended viewing for those seeking an atmospheric nocture trip — watch it below. Photo by Chaunte Vaughn
