About normanweatheredmusic

I listen to music.

The Holy/The Rocket Song

Posted on August 25, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

One of my favourite listens this year have been The Holy. They have a new video to go with their newest single release, The Rocket Song.

‘The Rocket Song’ tells the story of human arrogance which results in their extinction. Frontman Eetu Iivari says: “The last people living on earth decide to build a space rocket and try to go through black holes to new galaxies. But they fail, like we humans tend to do. We often think we’re unbeatable.”

Following the success of their dual-single release ‘Twilight Of The Idiots’ / No Trial In The Dark’, which received support from the likes of The Line of Best Fit and Clash Magazine; Finnish quintet, The Holy return with electric new track ‘The Rocket Song’.

Oozing with fiery guitar strings, pounding drum pulses and a touch of hallucinating synths, the group’s latest number surges with euphoria. Exploring other-worldly themes, ‘The Rocket Song’ tells the story of human arrogance which results in their extinction. Frontman Eetu Iivari says: “The last people living on earth decide to build a space rocket and try to go through black holes to new galaxies. But they fail, like we humans tend to do. We often think we’re unbeatable.”

However, with the world undergoing a turn of events recently with the Covid-19 outbreak, the band have discovered a new found perspective for the track. Iivari says: “It feels empowering to write a song when you’re feeling anger towards the world. But when shit actually hits the fan, it just feels sad, empty and depressing. I hope the song will help us remember these times in the future, and to remember how small humanity is in relation to mother nature. That we should respect nature far more than we do.”

In further discussion about the forthcoming LP he also said: “Mono Freedom is a utopian themed album. A fictional story about Mother Nature taking over the earth and how the last humans pack their stuff, build a rocket and head over to the nearest black hole. They know that there is probably nothing out there, but it’s one of humanity’s last ideas. All this is seen as a positive, not as a dark dystopian vision, as is usually the case.”

“The record and the lyrical themes are inspired by Alan Weisman’s book The World Without Us; a classic science book that explores a bunch of scenarios of what would happen to Mother Earth if humans were to disappear today.”

The Holy – The Rocket Song

Release date – 21^st August 2020 via Playground Music

https://www.facebook.com/theholyhki/

https://www.instagram.com/theholyband/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3UzCWOTeYccowgWOPqpItb?si=j4JGsJi4Qg6dEDqiSWdXIQ

KEXP-Filmed performance – Iceland Airwaves 2019

Socials

For UK press enquiries please contact james@mysticsons.com or dan@mysticsons.com

Spunsugar/Run

Posted on August 14, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

I am marking October 2nd on my calendar and set alerts for it to notify me because that is the release date for Spunsugar’s new album Drive-Through-Chapel.

Until then, I am content to listen to their newest single, Run.

It seems like it was forever ago that I posted a favourable review of their then-current single Happier Happyless, it was actually on June 5th of this pandemic year that has completely messed up my sense of time.

Here we are on August 13th, barely two months since my last review of their music and just when I think they can’t get any better they release a new single that blows me away, again. Run to listen to it. Run to pre-order their new album. Run, because it is good for you.

I won’t give too much away because I am waiting for the whole album to spin on my turntable, but I can tell you that if you enjoyed Happier Happyless, you would most likely enjoy a good Run.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/Spunsugar-1954664354594177/

https://www.instagram.com/spunsugarmusic/

https://soundcloud.com/spunsugarmusic

https://spunsugar.bandcamp.com

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NDWJvRwXGTFBngWiSNLu9?si=J8i_Vw-HSUuXxE6m9_sP3w

For Press enquiries, please contact james@mysticsons.com or johnbenjamincalvert@hotmail.com

Crawford Mack Depends On Where You Stand Video

Posted on August 13, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

So, Crawford Mack went to a museum, and while wandering through an exhibit area with his female friend, he decides that his interpretation of the works on display depended on where he stood. So they stood in different places. Not happy with that, although it did provide them with new views of the works, they then attempted to engage with the works of art. That meant them dancing for some, posing for some and imitating some. Was it a success? Depends On Where You Stand.

From where I was standing, this is good music incorporated into an excellent video that would have made Modest Mussorgsky happy.

Directed by Bryan Novelo

Kite/Bowie ’95

Posted on August 11, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

Swedish synth act Kite are releasing new track Bowie ‘95. It’s an ode to being lost, and the existential dread that comes from having to engage with the ‘real world’. Made up of singer Nicklas Stenemo and keyboard player Christian Berg, the band tell us “The lyrics addresses both the feeling of guilt of not being more part of making the real world much better, but also the acceptance that music and escapism have an important role to play in people’s lives.”

Like recent single ‘Teenage Bliss’ the new song has been produced together with Blanck Mass (Benjamin John Power). The pair tell us that “When we started Kite the band F*** .Buttons were a big source of inspiration to us. Since then we have been following Benjamin John Powers brilliant music as Blanck Mass. We are now extremely excited to announce that we are working on the production of two new Kite tracks with him.”

The band have brought their projection filled, brain melting visual live show to audiences in Scandinavia, Germany, the US, Canada and China. It sometimes even includes cats shooting laser beams out of their eyes, and when their performing their sold our show’s at Stockholm’s Royal Opera House – a 16-piece orchestra.

The pair combine an adventurous nature with pop sensibilities, throbbing beats and an early nineties aesthetic. Their lean approach to songwriting – a methodology of ‘cut the fat’ results in tight, focussed songs that never outstay their welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/user-484697670/bowie-95/s-OPqL3655CrK

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nhhoDCycjsJVHS8sk4vzW?si=IRLwBRVATJmf44sn-tz7ug

https://www.facebook.com/KiteHQ

https://www.instagram.com/kitehq/

www.kitehq.band

Press enquiries please contact jgreen@mysticsons.com

Jim Green | Mystic Sons | Press Officer

Mob: +44 (0) 7528 106886

First Floor | Creative Works | 7 Blackhorse Lane | London | E17 6DS

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http://www.mysticsons.com

Review by Norman Weatherly https://weatheredmusic.ca/

Ben Hobbs Better Weather

Posted on July 28, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

Back on July 7th, I did a review of Ben Hobbs single, Own Arms, which was in almost constant rotation on my iTunes account. Today I did a proper listen to Ben’s upcoming EP, dropping on July 31st, and I have no problem giving this a 4-star review, that’s four out of four by the way.

In the EP, Better Weather, I hear a bit of Bowie and his Diamond Dogs through to Heroes era. I also feel a bit of an R&B vibe going on in Better Weather. This EP is not mired in the past though. It has a 2020 vibe to it that is very contemporary and very listenable. Better Weather pays homage to the music of the past, but Ben Hobbs is very much connected to the present and is looking forward to better days with his new music on Better Weather.

The title song, Better Weather, gives me hope, hope for better weather in a literal and a figurative sense, our summer where I live has been very wet with minimal warm, cloudless days. The music and lyrics of Better Weather warmed my soul via my ears, thank you, Ben.

Ben tells us that the EP is about “insecurities, life challenges, everything. My girlfriend, the inspiration for ‘How We Care’, the journey we’ve been on together, and how we’ve helped each other. In contrast, ‘Loaded Gun’ is based the idea of leaving your world behind for a new one, partly inspired by what was is happening in UK politics; feeling like we are being lied to by our government.

A vast pool of inspiration that brings us Better Weather by Ben Hobbs. Do your summer a favour and listen to Better Weather. The Better Weather EP will be available to stream from July 31st, 2020.

https://www.instagram.com/benhobbsmusic/

https://twitter.com/benhobbsmusic

https://www.facebook.com/benhobbsmusic/

https://benhobbs.co.uk/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tU5HsDRcBKvOhKjO24QPj?si=Ju2uHrGWQDS8f43xvyT2uA

Press enquiries please contact jgreen@mysticsons.com1

Tanzos/How Do You Want Me

Posted on July 24, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

Austrian Indie Rocker Tanzos arejump-starting our weekend with squalling guitar harmonics, glitches and outtakes, on their new monochromatic music video for ‘How Do You Want Me?’ It sees Tanzosexploring the emotions and pressures felt when striving for the acceptance of others which is always relevant but perhaps more so during the interesting times that we live in.

Enjoy and play safe.

Tanzos – How Do You Want Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av1M5AwLUyA

http://www.tanzos.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tanzosmusic/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGLsdpn77d1yoy31-R0MDXA

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ZO8qwcR96iCuvtWOXJOVT

https://www.instagram.com/tanzos_music/

Press enquiries, please contact james@mysticsons.com

Tungz “Go Out’

Posted on July 23, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

‘Can’t We Just Be Friends Again’ was a hot release back in March, from the Bristol-based band Tungz. Since then they have garnered positive reviews including one from yours truly. Now they are pushing their music forward in a new and exciting direction as heard on their latest offering ‘Go Out’, released 22nd July 2020 via Heist or Hit.

While written and recorded before lockdown, ‘Go Out’ has become an unintentionally timely release for the band. The lyrics are focusing on anxiety and bad routines, which are all too familiar amid the lockdown.

Speaking about the bands new single, vocalist and songwriter Nicky Green said, “Jamie (Maier) and I spent eight months sofa surfing and sharing rooms while we were looking for a place and saving money to move to London. Because we were moving around so much, the song ended up being written in 4 different places. I wrote it as a conversation with myself. It’s about carrying too much weight in your soul without realising and getting exhausted with a routine that’s no good for you.”

‘Can’t We Just Be Friends Again’ was a hot release back in March, from the Bristol-based band Tungz. Since then they have garnered positive reviews including one from yours truly. Now they are pushing their music forward in a new and exciting direction as heard on their latest offering ‘Go Out’, released 22nd July 2020 via Heist or Hit.

Tungz effortlessly weaves funk into grooving bass lines within a song that still sounds new and fresh to our ears. Self-produced, their latest single ‘Go Out’ will be available to stream and download from Wednesday 22nd July via Heist or Hit.

https://soundcloud.com/tungzz/goout

For Press enquiries please contact james@mysticsons.com

Depends On Where You Stand

Posted on July 22, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

This song has been on replay mode all week. Maybe I like it. Perhaps the sea is a bit salty. Maybe, yeah, just maybe. Here I go listening to it again. Hear I go listening to ‘Depends On Where You Stand” again.

Not only a catchy bit of music but interesting lyrics that reminded me of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures At An Exhibition”. Elaborating on his interpretation of the track, Crawford tells us: “Two former lovers meet together in an art gallery, and they’re out of awkward pleasantries to exchange. No amount of hastily formed opinions on the artwork displayed can drown out what they are neglecting to discuss. They play-out a Hollywood-Esq sequence of trying not to be caught sneaking a glance, whilst attempting to give each other enough space by dancing around each other at a pace that is as excruciating as it is conspicuous.” Brilliant, simply brilliant.

Hailing from Glasgow, Crawford Mack draws on the influence of various works of literature that he devours with an insatiable appetite for words. Crawford is not just a composer and lyricist; he is also a video and art director, and he bringings all of these talents together for the expression of his musical vision.

Initially, Crawford was a jazz musician, breaking out of that genre box he has created a musical sound that, in his words, found ‘the sweet spot between Led Zeppelin and Joni Mitchell’. Crawford has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians from jazz, rock, electronic, and classical music projects. Those experiences came together and resulted in a journey to Antwerp to record his upcoming debut album, ‘Depends On Where You Stand’.

I would encourage you to give the teaser title track a spin while we wait in anticipation of the album release.

https://soundcloud.com/user-671874636-571628367

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6CKMgHCNRQ5bQTV0Nx4LuM?

https://www.facebook.com/crawfordmackmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/crawfordmack_/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/crawfordmack_?lang=en

Goan Dogs/Zombies

Posted on July 16, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

The Beatles:

Woke up, fell out of bed

Dragged a comb across my head

Found my way downstairs and drank a cup

And looking up I noticed I was late

Found my coat and grabbed my hat

Made the bus in seconds flat

Found my way upstairs and had a smoke

And somebody spoke, and I went into a dream.

The Goan Dogs:

I’m waking up like

yesterday

and the day before

have coffee

and I’m out the door

suddenly I’m

I’m surrounded

by the walking dead

wish I was in bed

In 1967 the Beatles recorded ‘A Day in the Life’, a track from their Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album which is generally recognized as one of the most exquisite pieces of vinyl ever recorded.

‘Zombies’ is a song by the up and coming Bristol-based band the Goan Dogs.

As you can see for yourself, there is some commonality between these two beautiful pieces of music. Coffee is the one that immediately got my attention. I think I will have another cup now that we are mentioning it.

The other slice of common ground is the idea of getting caught up in the rat race of life and feeling like we are either caught up in a dream or living amongst zombies.

Discussing the track, Goan Dogs tells us: “Now that the whole world is ill, we all do the same things day in, day out. Stuck on a loop. Remember the good old days? When we were free to wake up, eat food, drink, get bored, get anxious, sleep and repeat. Everyday. Without thinking. Like Zombies.”

The Bristol quintet Goan Dogs have their debut album in the works and with the recent release of their previous songs, ‘Anxiety’ and ‘God Loves a Trier’, the five-piece band announce their third offering ‘Zombies’. Working with illustrator and animator Client_Pleaser1987 who just so happens to be the band’s guitarist, the video is exploring life a world of fast-paced environments, work, commuting and being human puppets to overlord bosses. Goan Dogs’ eerie new project perfectly captures our robotic way of life through the world of animation.

‘Nuff said, time to watch the Zombies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbkiBxIpyNA&feature=youtu.be

https://www.instagram.com/goandogs/

https://www.facebook.com/GOANDOGS

https://www.goandogs.com

Press enquiries, please contact james@mysticsons.com

Review by Norman @ https://weatheredmusic.ca/

Ben Hobbs Own Arms

Posted on July 7, 2020 by normanweatheredmusic

I have listened to Ben Hobbs performing his newest release, “Own Arms”, dozens of times over the last week, and I am still coming up empty on what I want to say in the way of a review.

It is not for lack of liking; this is a pleasing listen, I really do like it. I would give it a solid nine out of ten. Snappy guitars, synthesizing synths and a good groove propel the song along nicely.

My lack of writing is not for lack of connecting to the lyrics. The lyrics look at bidding farewell to people, places or things that may be preventing us from moving forward with our lives. Discussing the project, Ben says: “I wanted to capture this fast-paced punk idea, circling around on three chords and create something with loads of energy. It started out

a lot more electronic with the production, but we decided that to really make it work, everything had to be live and real.” Hence, the lyrics presented no obstacle to my writing of a review.

My silence was not an act of procrastinating. I had the time and resources to write this up a week ago. It was something of a writer’s block I assume, that kept me from putting pen to paper, metaphorically.

Grooving music, smart lyrics and all the time in the world and I am still coming up empty. In place of a proper review, I submit this for your reading and listening pleasure. Put down whatever would distract you from giving this recording an appropriate session of listening. Pull up the lyrics so you can read along, I prefer iTunes for the ease of doing this task, but if you have another method that works for you, all the power to you. Relax and let the music wash over you.

Repeat.

Repeat, and wait with bated breath for Ben to grace us with more material from his forthcoming E.P.

https://soundcloud.com/benhobbsmusic

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tU5HsDRcBKvOhKjO24QPj

https://benhobbs.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/benhobbsmusic/

https://twitter.com/benhobbsmusic?lang=en

Press enquiries, please contact james@mysticsons.com or leanne@mysticsons.com

Review by Norman @ WeatheredMusic.ca

Weathered Music

The musical explorations of Norman and Joel Weatherly.

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