Fantastic new single from Sarah Nixey!
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Monday, November 28, 2022
Röyksopp - Stay Awhile (feat. Susanne Sundfør)
Great track from the THIRD Röyksopp release this year! "Profound Mysteries III" was released a couple weeks ago!
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Saturday, November 26, 2022
Tatiana Hazel - Downer
It's a little bit of a downer that this new single from Tatiana Hazel is only a minute & a half long, but at least it's a mighty fine 1.5 minutes!
Friday, November 25, 2022
Thursday, November 24, 2022
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Monday, November 21, 2022
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Christeene - Alphabets
The lead track off Christeene's new album "Midnite Fukk Train" is a glorious tribute to Amanda Lear's brilliant song "My Alphabet", reimagined the way only Christeene can!
Saturday, November 19, 2022
Friday, November 18, 2022
Thursday, November 17, 2022
The Lavender Scare - Names / Must Be Nice
One of RockyBoo's former work building-mates formed The Lavender Scare in 2016. They hail from Los Angeles (Echo Park) and make some damn fine tunes! They've started releasing many of their tracks this year on Bandcamp so head on over and give them some love!
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Erasure - Angel (Love Eternal Mix by TSF)
While Erasure's latest album may have been a pretty big disappointment considering my longtime fondness for them, I'm excited that my all-time favorite album of theirs, 1995's "Erasure", is getting an expanded reissue this year! It will feature the original album on the first disc and rarities, remixes, b-sides and other gems on disc 2! Here's on the featured remixes!
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Monday, November 14, 2022
Patrick Wolf - Enter the Day
Patrick Wolf returns with his first new music since 2012! A new EP, "The Night Safari", is expected in 2023!
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Friday, November 11, 2022
Fever Ray - Carbon Dioxide
2nd single from Fever Ray's upcoming new album "Radical Romantics", out March 10th!! This is sooo gooood!!!
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Kraków Loves Adana - When the Storm Comes
Kraków Loves Adana releases their 7th album "Oceanflower" in early 2023! Here's the first single from the album featuring some help from two members of Chromatics!
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Heavenly vs. Satan
Anyone who really knows my music taste and has been reading this blog from the beginning knows I have a deep love for the band Heavenly. I discovered them a year after misfortune brought their immediate break-up, but my discovery of them had a deep impact on music's journey through my life. They were my first known introduction to "indie/twee pop" and spearheaded my diving deep into the genre and developing my deep love for it to this day!
When I first heard that Heavenly would be playing their first shows in 28 years(!!) in May, I pounced on the opportunity to see one of the most important musical loves of my life. Not only will I get to see them once, but my greedy ass is going to BOTH their shows with my SisMiss Crys! I like to think my introducing the band to her during her formative high school years had as much an impact on her as they did on me!
The show announcement comes along with other exciting news...the reissues of all four Heavenly albums!
Releasing this Friday, we have their debut "Heavenly vs. Satan".
Originally released in 1991, I'd say their debut is their most jangly, most twee, and most similar to Talula Gosh, the band from whose ashes Heavenly arose. From the opening track, "Cool Guitar Boy" (one of my faves!), you're given a heavy dose of what's to come, quick-paced, energetic, poppy goodness! The faint whistling in "Lemonhead Boy" is one of the most quietly infectious whistles in pop! "Shallow" is undeniably one of their greatest tracks and a staple on many of my college mix-CDs! The greatness doesn't stop there! The speedy "It's You" is a head-bopping 2 1/2 minutes of sing-a-long joy!
The re-issue will also feature Heavenly's first two 1990 singles on the much-beloved Sarah Records with their respective B-sides. The first single "I Fell in Love Last Night" is a pure indie pop classic and perfect introduction to the band, while single #2 "Our Love Is Heavenly" is the most fitting theme song a band could have!
I've featured both videos below and below that, the official press release for the re-issue!
I'm beyond happy for these re-issues, over the moon for their shows in May, and feeling absolutely heavenly to be able to share all this magic with you!
ALL FOUR HEAVENLY ALBUMS TO BE RE-ISSUED ON VINYL
STARTING WITH ‘HEAVENLY vs SATAN’ (RELEASE DATE: 11 NOVEMBER 2022)
HEAVENLY TO PLAY FIRST SHOW IN 28 YEARS
Heavenly released four albums in the early 1990s. The vinyl is hard to obtain these days, so Skep Wax are going to re-issue all four of them over a two year period. The albums will include a 7” booklet with lyrics and new sleeve notes by the members of the band.
The band will also play one-off show at Bush Hall, London on 20 May 2023. The first for 28 years! Rob, Pete, Cathy and Amelia will be joined by their friend Ian Button on drums.
ABOUT HEAVENLY
Heavenly were one of the pioneers of indiepop. Formed from the smouldering ashes of Talulah Gosh in Oxford in 1989, they retained their energy and attitude and used it to fuel catchy, infectious pop melodies. The influence of 60s girl groups was never far from the surface. This was girl-pop, but with the girls in control. Loved by many but derided as ‘twee’ by some, Heavenly ignored the increasingly macho environment of the contemporary UK scene and forged a separate path, along with other bands on the Sarah Records label.
Later, having co-released their albums on K Records in Olympia, Heavenly toured the US, hooking up with bands in the embryonic riot grrrl scene. Heavenly’s quiet feminism became louder and more articulate, and the hostility of the UK music press less relevant. The indie-punk-twee scene was parting company with the fake-indie of the big labels and their lad-rock bands. Back on home turf, Heavenly invited Bratmobile to tour with them and helped import the sound and politics of the riot grrrl movement to the UK.
Heavenly came to an abrupt and tragic end when drummer Mathew Fletcher took his own life in 1996. After a year’s hiatus, the group reformed as the short-lived Marine Research, before going their separate ways musically. Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey currently play in The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound. Peter Momtchiloff plays in Would-Be-Goods and Tufthunter.
The first album ‘Heavenly vs Satan’ will be released in November 2022. ‘Le Jardin de Heavenly’ will follow in early summer 2023. ‘The Decline and Fall of Heavenly’ and ‘Operation Heavenly’ will arrive in 2024. Special edition T-shirts will go on sale alongside each album.
ABOUT HEAVENLY vs SATAN (SKEPWAX 008)
Recorded in the Oxfordshire countryside, the first Heavenly album was a bid to make a pure pop record. The punk noise of Talulah Gosh had exploded and expired. Amelia had had a go at making a disco hit (‘Can You Keep A Secret’, subsequently released on Fierce Recordings), which was fun, but wasn’t going to trouble the charts. Unbothered by critical or popular reactions, the new band decided to immerse themselves in the creation of a sweet, tuneful pop record.
It’s true that the punk influences aren’t hard to discern (Mathew’s favourite band was The Ramones), but it’s Pete’s elegant guitar and Amelia’s melodies and multi-layered harmonies that win out on these recordings. When Heavenly played live it was a different story: the band was driven by Mathew’s and Rob’s energetic rhythm section, and the guitar amps were turned up. Mathew refused to play ‘Shallow’ - possibly the most popular track on the album – as it was too slow for his tastes. Audiences often complained, demanding a performance of their favourite song. Mathew gave in with a smile, but made sure the band played it at top speed.
The eight-track album was released as CD, LP and cassette by Sarah Records in 1991. Subsequent versions included a Danceteria LP and cassette (France), a Quattro CD (Japan) and a CD by K Records (US). These versions included various additional tracks from early 7” releases.
The Skep Wax re-issue of ‘Heavenly vs Satan’ includes Heavenly’s first two Sarah Records singles – ‘I Fell In Love Last Night/Over And Over’ and ‘Our Love Is Heavenly/Wrap My Arms Around Him’.
IG/FB/T: @skepwax www.skepwax.com www.skepwax.bandcamp.com
IG/T: @heavenlyindie
When I first heard that Heavenly would be playing their first shows in 28 years(!!) in May, I pounced on the opportunity to see one of the most important musical loves of my life. Not only will I get to see them once, but my greedy ass is going to BOTH their shows with my SisMiss Crys! I like to think my introducing the band to her during her formative high school years had as much an impact on her as they did on me!
The show announcement comes along with other exciting news...the reissues of all four Heavenly albums!
Releasing this Friday, we have their debut "Heavenly vs. Satan".
Originally released in 1991, I'd say their debut is their most jangly, most twee, and most similar to Talula Gosh, the band from whose ashes Heavenly arose. From the opening track, "Cool Guitar Boy" (one of my faves!), you're given a heavy dose of what's to come, quick-paced, energetic, poppy goodness! The faint whistling in "Lemonhead Boy" is one of the most quietly infectious whistles in pop! "Shallow" is undeniably one of their greatest tracks and a staple on many of my college mix-CDs! The greatness doesn't stop there! The speedy "It's You" is a head-bopping 2 1/2 minutes of sing-a-long joy!
The re-issue will also feature Heavenly's first two 1990 singles on the much-beloved Sarah Records with their respective B-sides. The first single "I Fell in Love Last Night" is a pure indie pop classic and perfect introduction to the band, while single #2 "Our Love Is Heavenly" is the most fitting theme song a band could have!
I've featured both videos below and below that, the official press release for the re-issue!
I'm beyond happy for these re-issues, over the moon for their shows in May, and feeling absolutely heavenly to be able to share all this magic with you!
HEAVENLY TO PLAY FIRST SHOW IN 28 YEARS
Heavenly released four albums in the early 1990s. The vinyl is hard to obtain these days, so Skep Wax are going to re-issue all four of them over a two year period. The albums will include a 7” booklet with lyrics and new sleeve notes by the members of the band.
The band will also play one-off show at Bush Hall, London on 20 May 2023. The first for 28 years! Rob, Pete, Cathy and Amelia will be joined by their friend Ian Button on drums.
ABOUT HEAVENLY
Heavenly were one of the pioneers of indiepop. Formed from the smouldering ashes of Talulah Gosh in Oxford in 1989, they retained their energy and attitude and used it to fuel catchy, infectious pop melodies. The influence of 60s girl groups was never far from the surface. This was girl-pop, but with the girls in control. Loved by many but derided as ‘twee’ by some, Heavenly ignored the increasingly macho environment of the contemporary UK scene and forged a separate path, along with other bands on the Sarah Records label.
Later, having co-released their albums on K Records in Olympia, Heavenly toured the US, hooking up with bands in the embryonic riot grrrl scene. Heavenly’s quiet feminism became louder and more articulate, and the hostility of the UK music press less relevant. The indie-punk-twee scene was parting company with the fake-indie of the big labels and their lad-rock bands. Back on home turf, Heavenly invited Bratmobile to tour with them and helped import the sound and politics of the riot grrrl movement to the UK.
Heavenly came to an abrupt and tragic end when drummer Mathew Fletcher took his own life in 1996. After a year’s hiatus, the group reformed as the short-lived Marine Research, before going their separate ways musically. Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey currently play in The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound. Peter Momtchiloff plays in Would-Be-Goods and Tufthunter.
The first album ‘Heavenly vs Satan’ will be released in November 2022. ‘Le Jardin de Heavenly’ will follow in early summer 2023. ‘The Decline and Fall of Heavenly’ and ‘Operation Heavenly’ will arrive in 2024. Special edition T-shirts will go on sale alongside each album.
ABOUT HEAVENLY vs SATAN (SKEPWAX 008)
Recorded in the Oxfordshire countryside, the first Heavenly album was a bid to make a pure pop record. The punk noise of Talulah Gosh had exploded and expired. Amelia had had a go at making a disco hit (‘Can You Keep A Secret’, subsequently released on Fierce Recordings), which was fun, but wasn’t going to trouble the charts. Unbothered by critical or popular reactions, the new band decided to immerse themselves in the creation of a sweet, tuneful pop record.
It’s true that the punk influences aren’t hard to discern (Mathew’s favourite band was The Ramones), but it’s Pete’s elegant guitar and Amelia’s melodies and multi-layered harmonies that win out on these recordings. When Heavenly played live it was a different story: the band was driven by Mathew’s and Rob’s energetic rhythm section, and the guitar amps were turned up. Mathew refused to play ‘Shallow’ - possibly the most popular track on the album – as it was too slow for his tastes. Audiences often complained, demanding a performance of their favourite song. Mathew gave in with a smile, but made sure the band played it at top speed.
The eight-track album was released as CD, LP and cassette by Sarah Records in 1991. Subsequent versions included a Danceteria LP and cassette (France), a Quattro CD (Japan) and a CD by K Records (US). These versions included various additional tracks from early 7” releases.
The Skep Wax re-issue of ‘Heavenly vs Satan’ includes Heavenly’s first two Sarah Records singles – ‘I Fell In Love Last Night/Over And Over’ and ‘Our Love Is Heavenly/Wrap My Arms Around Him’.
IG/FB/T: @skepwax www.skepwax.com www.skepwax.bandcamp.com
IG/T: @heavenlyindie
Monday, November 7, 2022
Marlody - Summer
Marlody is the latest signing to Skep Wax Records! She's got a debut album coming out in January entitled "I'm Not Sure at All". This lead track "Summer" is absolutely gorgeous, from the piano-playing to the heart-wrenching, poetic lyrics. If this is any indication of what's to come from this album, we have A LOT to look forward to!
And here's the press release from Skep Wax, making me even more eager to hear more of this beauty:
Marlody’s first album I’m Not Sure At All will be released by Skep Wax in January 2023, and this single is the first taste of what’s to come.
About Summer
The beauty of the music – the rolling waves of keyboard, the apparently simple vocal melody – hit you first. But Summer is like a trap: it’s drawing you into a darker place.
Sung from the perspective of a young girl whose mother has died, Summer gives a disturbing, eerie picture of an adult world that’s losing its moorings. The innocence of the child and the sweetness of the music pull us safely through, saving us from the worst of it, but Summer is a perfect example of Marlody’s ability to weave songs so disarming that, for a few minutes, we feel as innocent as the child in the song. For a while, we don’t notice that summer is over. We don’t notice how dark it’s getting.
About the album
Marlody’s first album I’m Not Sure At All takes anxiety, weakness, fear - and turns them into strength: powerful melodies, the sweetest harmonies you ever heard, and lyrics that insist on the possibility of hope, without losing sight of the possibility of despair.
Dominated by her extraordinary keyboard playing, Marlody’s songs are illuminated - and sometimes made sinister - by occasional bursts of programmed percussion, submarine bass and distant, chiming digital bells. These are deep, darkly beautiful pop songs.
When she was a girl, Marlody was one of the higher-achieving classical pianists of her generation, winning competitions and destined for greatness. She hated it, and threw it all away. In the intervening years, putting more and more distance between herself and her classical origins, she listened to Yo La Tengo and Shellac and a hundred other things that took music to new, untutored extremes. I’m Not Sure At All is the outcome.
Marlody’s painful personal journey is not glossed over in the lyrics: Words is about the debilitating effect of psychiatric medication; Malevolence is about the horrible urge to commit inexcusable violence; Friends in Low Places is a remarkable hymn of solidarity with all those people who’ve contemplated taking their own lives. But the songs are strangely uplifting: they offer up their truths so calmly and are so generously wrapped in harmonies that they feel like gifts. There are great stories here too: Summer takes a child’s point of view, describing the beginnings of new life after the loss of a parent. Wrong relates the history of an adulterous affair, with a piercing sympathy for the emotional state of the adulterer.
There are musical echoes: the infectiousness and daring of some of the vocal melodies might remind you of Kate Bush, the intimacy might remind you of Cate Le Bon, the stabs of anger and pain might remind you of Liz Phair. The keyboard is sometimes as smooth as Fleetwood Mac; other times it’s as raucous and distorted as Quasi. The harmonies are from another place again – you could imagine hearing them in an Unthanks recording.
Marlody is from Ashford, Kent. Marlody’s first album I’m Not Sure At All will be released on limited edition vinyl and all digital services on January 13th 2023.
And here's the press release from Skep Wax, making me even more eager to hear more of this beauty:
Marlody’s first album I’m Not Sure At All will be released by Skep Wax in January 2023, and this single is the first taste of what’s to come.
About Summer
The beauty of the music – the rolling waves of keyboard, the apparently simple vocal melody – hit you first. But Summer is like a trap: it’s drawing you into a darker place.
Sung from the perspective of a young girl whose mother has died, Summer gives a disturbing, eerie picture of an adult world that’s losing its moorings. The innocence of the child and the sweetness of the music pull us safely through, saving us from the worst of it, but Summer is a perfect example of Marlody’s ability to weave songs so disarming that, for a few minutes, we feel as innocent as the child in the song. For a while, we don’t notice that summer is over. We don’t notice how dark it’s getting.
About the album
Marlody’s first album I’m Not Sure At All takes anxiety, weakness, fear - and turns them into strength: powerful melodies, the sweetest harmonies you ever heard, and lyrics that insist on the possibility of hope, without losing sight of the possibility of despair.
Dominated by her extraordinary keyboard playing, Marlody’s songs are illuminated - and sometimes made sinister - by occasional bursts of programmed percussion, submarine bass and distant, chiming digital bells. These are deep, darkly beautiful pop songs.
When she was a girl, Marlody was one of the higher-achieving classical pianists of her generation, winning competitions and destined for greatness. She hated it, and threw it all away. In the intervening years, putting more and more distance between herself and her classical origins, she listened to Yo La Tengo and Shellac and a hundred other things that took music to new, untutored extremes. I’m Not Sure At All is the outcome.
Marlody’s painful personal journey is not glossed over in the lyrics: Words is about the debilitating effect of psychiatric medication; Malevolence is about the horrible urge to commit inexcusable violence; Friends in Low Places is a remarkable hymn of solidarity with all those people who’ve contemplated taking their own lives. But the songs are strangely uplifting: they offer up their truths so calmly and are so generously wrapped in harmonies that they feel like gifts. There are great stories here too: Summer takes a child’s point of view, describing the beginnings of new life after the loss of a parent. Wrong relates the history of an adulterous affair, with a piercing sympathy for the emotional state of the adulterer.
There are musical echoes: the infectiousness and daring of some of the vocal melodies might remind you of Kate Bush, the intimacy might remind you of Cate Le Bon, the stabs of anger and pain might remind you of Liz Phair. The keyboard is sometimes as smooth as Fleetwood Mac; other times it’s as raucous and distorted as Quasi. The harmonies are from another place again – you could imagine hearing them in an Unthanks recording.
Marlody is from Ashford, Kent. Marlody’s first album I’m Not Sure At All will be released on limited edition vinyl and all digital services on January 13th 2023.
Sunday, November 6, 2022
Alice Boman - Soon
So happy I found out about Alice Boman thanks to her collab w/ Perfume Genius. Her new album "The Space Between" is a dreamy joy! Here's another example why!
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Ladytron - City of Angels (video)
Official video means 2nd posting for this first track off Ladytron's upcoming album "Time's Arrow"!!
Friday, November 4, 2022
Thursday, November 3, 2022
Jonathan Bree - Destiny
New track from Jonathan Bree (w/ Princess Chelsea) celebrating the 20th anniversary of his Lil' Chief Records! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LIL' CHIEF!!