Recorded by and produced with Josh Korody (F*cked Up, Japandroids, Dilly Dally, Beliefs, Nailbiter) atCandle Recording Studio,the new output was mastered by Pete Maher (U2, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Linkin Park, Katy Perry).
Based in Toronto, TRAITRS was formed in 2015 by Sean-Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker. With a cinematic blend of post-punk, goth, alternative and post-rock, their emotive melodies, propulsive rhythms, angular guitars and dark cinematic electronics quickly led to the duo becoming one of the dark music scene’s fastest rising independent artists.
I like what I have heard from the Canuck band TRAITRS. As of August 13, ‘Oh, Ballerina’ will be available digitally everywhere, including Spotify and Apple Music. On November 19, the full-length ‘Horses In The Abattoir’ LP will be released on vinyl, CD and digitally. It can be ordered at https://orcd.co/horsesintheabattoir
I will do a full review when the album drops on November 19, good stuff. I like what I hear.
I couldn’t resist writing a short post about these two tracks from the band name of the year award winners, Emperor of Ice Cream. The album title of the year also goes to Emperor of Ice Cream for the EP titled Weather Vane. We are on a roll here, so how about just giving them the award for indie band of the year.
High accolades for a band that I had never heard of before today, but all hype aside, I do like this release. This release is a bit out of the ordinary. It is a reissue of an album that the band Emperor of Ice Cream first released almost 30 years after forming. Their debut ‘No Sound Ever Dies’ LP is getting a second pressing on white vinyl, CD, cassette & digital download via Ireland’s FIFA RECORDS 25 years after they had split in the wake of a broken contract with Sony Records. Shipping out on August 27, the day before its first anniversary, this long-player was mastered by TOM VOLPICELLI.
It may have taken longer than initially anticipated for this music to reach us, almost 30 years later, but I think it is a job well done. Based in Cork, Waterford, New York and Amsterdam, respectively, Edward Butt (bass), John ‘Haggis’ Hegarty (vocals), Graham Finn (guitars)and Colum Young (drums) managed to assemble parts from home studios in Cork and Waterford. The final touches, edits, and mixes were completed in NY. “It’s an unusual way of doing things, but with the year that world has experienced collectively, not an uncommon one these days, unfortunately. It’s a strange task, to make music with people you haven’t been in the same room as for over two decades, but the challenge was a welcome one. Overseen by Graham from his New York abode, the drums were beautifully recorded in Amsterdam at IJland Studios by Remko Schouten, who has previously worked with Pavement, Stephen Malkamus & The Jicks and Devendra Bernhardt,” says John Haggis.
The new version of No Sound Ever Dies merges the raw energy from the band that started recording this album 25 years ago and the more mature but still sharp musicians that we hear today. There is a melting together of the old and the new that just plain works.
Emperor of Ice Cream has announced their new ‘Weather Vane’ single, set for release on August 24 via FIFA Records. Mixed and produced by Graham Finn, this single was mastered by Tom Volpicelli (The Who, Iggy Pop, The Alarm, Pat Benatar, The Bloodhound Gang) at The Mastering House in New Jersey.
At the same time, they present an audio-visual taster of the B-side ‘High Rise Low Rise’, a song about growing up amongst friends who the world sees only as misfits, oddballs and freaks. Nevertheless, the ideas and dreams that flow between these strange kids will change them all and the world around them forever. The accompanying video was written and directed by Veronica Terreblanche and reimagined by John Haggis with the director’s permission.
Good day, all. I hope all is well in your world—just a short bump today for a new music video. The iconic post-punk band Pink Turns Blue has unveiled the video for ‘You Still Mean Too Much To Me,’ a beautiful film to their new single. Portraying figures who are utterly alone, reflective, and seeking an elusive connection, this video echoes themes of isolation felt during the process or working through grief over the loss of a loved one.
This past week, the band announced that their new album ‘Tainted’ will be released in autumn on limited edition vinyl, CD and digitally via Orden Records.
They also recently shared two enticing singles – ‘There Must Be So Much More’ and ‘So Why Not Save The World’.
‘You Still Mean Too Much To Me’ is now everywhere, including Apple Music and Spotify. Orden Records will release the ‘Tainted’ LP on September 24. It will be available digitally and in two physical formats – a CD with a 16-page booklet and black vinyl, strictly limited to 500 copies, with an 8-page booklet. Both can be pre-ordered exclusively via the band’s website.
The album art on the front sleeve of the new album by FLDPLN shows a young person on an escalator, presumably going down based upon the direction this young person is facing. The direction this album should be going in the charts is up. If you like some chill electro-pop, then this is the album for you.
FLDPLN (“field-plan”) is the solo project of Andrew Saks, the former frontman of Southern California shoegaze band Sway. This album was written, produced, recorded and mixed by Andrew Saks at his home studio in Phoenix, Arizona. FLDPLN is truly a one-man-band.
“Escalator is really the result of my years of dabbling in electronic music production combined with my desire to reconnect with my roots, having been a saxophone player for most of my life,” Andrew tells us.
“For this album, I wanted to write songs that are true to the way I hear things in my head, dreamy, blurry, beautiful without compromise and incorporate the horn as a textural instrument as well as another melodic voice.”
I am on board with Andrew Saks; I like what I hear in my head when I listen to Escalator. It takes me away to a nice place where I can float along blissfully chilled out. Tasteful digital music samples are combined with layers of saxophone and synthesizers to paint a pleasant audio picture.
I have enjoyed putting this album on play and going about some of my regular everyday tasks. Escalator makes a great platform to build my day on. I can hear what Andrew Saks has to offer while taking care of some of the mundane activities of my life.
Escalator is available for your listening pleasure via the Sillas Famosas label through online music stores.
The music created by the Sons of Southern Ulster goes down like a fine whiskey, aged to perfection with all the right ingredients. Turf Accountant Schemes, the new EP from the Sons has all the right ingredients. I have never been to Bailieborough, County Cavan, Ireland, but I have been flat out drunk on my back staring at Polaris and wishing I were at home. Good music soars in strange and beautiful ways to connect with the listeners on some visceral level that can not be explained, so much as felt. Having said that, I will now try to explain it.
Sons of Southern Ulster area couple of musicians from Ireland. Collectively they are, Justin Kelly pummelling us with searing and soaring vocals, David Meagher tastefully adding the guitar palette, Noel Larkin beating the notes into submission on drums and Paddy Glackin holding it all together on a thumping kick-ass bass guitar. Together they explore themes of regret and disappointment, interspersed with moments of light and insight in the EP Turf Accountant Schemes.
Pete Briquette is an Irish bassist, record producer, composer and a member of The Boomtown Rats. As an anecdotal rabbit trail, I went to see The Boomtown Rats when they promoted The Fine Art of Surfacingon tour in 1980. We had consumed more than a few bottles of liquid enhancement, and while I was ramped up for the show, my friend did something I have never seen since. He fell asleep in the middle of the show. I think the lads in Sons of Southern Ulster mightbe able to relate to that. Pete is originally from Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan, and the Sons of Southern Ulster are from the nearby community of Bailieborough.
Justin Kelly, “The first music I ever bought was the ‘Like Clockwork’ single by the Boomtown Rats when I was twelve or thirteen. I was obsessed with The Rats so when Pete Briquette reached out to ask if he could remix a few tracks from our ‘Sinners and Lost Souls‘ album, we were absolutely shocked. Apparently, a mutual friend has passed the album on to him, and he was suitably intrigued. Pete also grew up in Cavan, a lot of the references and the tone.
Lyrically, the songs are very “Cavan” in that they are on the surface often quite harsh but contain a lot of dark humour,”
“I remember when the Boomtown Rats broke through. At that time, it was highly unusual for an Irish band to make it in Britain. But for a Cavan man to be there!!! That was just bizarre. Cavan men were made to be farmers – not No.1 pop stars.”
“In Sons of Southern Ulster, we took a very conscious decision to sing songs about Cavan as it was always a bit underserved, not just in music but in infrastructure and resources. In many ways, the Irish government ignored us and left us to our own devices – for better or worse. I think Pete picked up on that,” says David Meagher.
The government may have ignored Cavan, but I can not ignore Turf Accountant Schemes. It consists of only four tracks of searing music that tell stories that only hearts can bear to hear. Stories of lives well spent juxtaposed against songs of pain and misery. Songs about life would sum that up pretty well. I may not understand all the geography or the customs and habits of Covan, but I know good music when I hear it. This EP sloshes about like the head on a pint of ale on a summer afternoon, and the tales we tell each other ramble on becoming larger upon each telling. I hope that the Sons of Southern Ulster keep this tradition going.
I love the use of vintage sci/fi cover art in this video from The Speed Of Sound. I look forward to the release of the full album on September 17th. Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lEovb1GxrQ
Harry Stafford and Marco Butcher have never actually met in the flesh. But they are punk soul brothers from the same muddy musical pond. Connecting with one another during a year of ‘lockdown hell’, their exchange of ideas and talk of musical influences inadvertently led to their collaboration.
As innovative juices began to boil, the frenetic exchange of digital files culminated in‘Bone Architecture’, a 12-track album that both of them had been itching to make. This superb collection includes reworked older material, brand-new compositions and even a dirty blues version of the Pink Floyd classic ‘Arnold Layne’. Ahead of the album, the duo present lead single ‘There’s Someone Tryin To Get In’with video created by Stafford.
“For me, this record is a blast of energy with a cool raw groove that I have been itching to express for a while and, with Marco Butcher, I found the perfect collaborator to express it. His garage punk soul music, fused with jazz and swing was the tonic I needed after the doldrums of the last year and a half. The songs we put together fell into place like puzzle pieces in a fuzzed up sonic soundscape,” says Harry Stafford.
Best known as founder, guitarist and vocalist of Manchester post-punk gothic rockersInca Babies, Harry’s two most recent solo albums (‘Guitar Shaped Hammers’ and ‘Gothic Urban Blues’) reflect a cooler, less frenetic vibe, leaning on piano, trumpets and blues guitar. All this made him the perfect collaborator to set words and lyrics to Marco’s sonic backdrop.
Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Marco Butcher now lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina. A prolific recording artist, he has recently released music with his various acts: The Jam Messengers, Chicken Snake, and The Jesus and The Groupies. Centred around the American underground of blues, jazz, rockabilly, and screaming punk blues, he has collaborated with Hugo Race, as well as members of Tex and the Horseheads, Pussy Galore, Gumball, The Gories, Gibson Brothers, Jerry Teel, The Oblivians and The Workdogs.
‘Bone Architecture’ is a collection of songs that is raw and, at times, an unforgiving forage into urban punk blues with fuzzed up jazz and garage trash rock. Here, Harry and Marco’s styles have clashed magnificently into a powerful record that crosses a multitude of genres but with a dirty blues makeover.
“There’s something about collaborating that is pure magic to me, cause you’re not sharing ideas at the same time and you’re in the moment. There’s something about the not knowing what the other will bring . . the surprise factor. The fact that music is very elastic and not always the way ya listen to it in your mind but something else, something cooler, greater,” says Marco Butcher.
“I guess mutual respect has a lot to do it too, sharing the same type of ideas about music and life… For a period of time, Inca Babies ‘This Train’ was my bandstand music when I was crossing a very dark and dangerous lifestyle, when I decided NOT to die. This album was the one I listened to the most.”
Marco’s tracks were recorded at his Boombox Studio in Winston Salem, then shipped by a well-known bulk file sender to Manchester, where Harry laid down vocals, piano and any instrumental tomfoolery he saw fit at Black Lagoon Records. On four occasions, the files also flew to London for supremo trumpet player Kevin Davy to lay some jazz tones into the mix. After the engineering, agonising, production and debates, they were finally mastered by Marco.
As of August 6, ‘There’s Someone Tryin To Get In’ will be available everywhere online, includingSpotify and Apple Music. The ‘Bone Architecture’ LP will be released on September 3 via Black Lagoon Records, both digitally and on CD. CDs can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp and the Louder than War shop.
CREDITS Harry Stafford – vocals, piano, guitar Marco Butcher – drums, percussion, bass, sax, guitars, vibraphone Kevin Davy – horns Written by Harry Stafford and Marco Butcher Produced and Mastered by Marco Butcher at Boombox Studio Catalogue no. BLRCD0055
When I opened the P.R. packet for the album HR by the Irish multi-talented artist Meljoann, I hoped for something new and fresh to give my ears a head start heading into the weekend. Today is Friday, album drop day. After a long road trip yesterday and oppressive heat outside today, I was looking forward to listening to Meljoann’s new album in the cool, calm solitude of my basement (*) and finding out who she is and what kind of sound she is making.
And her sound is… It isn’t straightforward. I am not getting a stroll through the Irish countryside with Meljoann giving me a guided tour. No, that is not what I hear on H.R. What I hear is the painful laments of a working woman…
When I strolled through her back catalogue, I found that this refrain about a toxic workplace is on the par for Meljoann. Somewhere in her life cycle, she must have had a shitty boss to trigger songs such as I Quit, Overtime, Business Card, O Supervisor, Personal Assistant, Company Retreat, Trophy Wife, and this theme gets its origin back in her debut project, the EP Squick.
1. Noun. The physical sense of repulsion upon encountering a concept or situation that one finds disgusting.
2. Noun. A condition or concept which engenders this reaction.
3. Verb, transitive. To cause someone to have this reaction.
4. Verb, intransitive. To experience this reaction.
The concept of the “squick” differs from the concept of “disgust” in that “squick” refers purely to the physical sensation of repulsion and does not imply a moral component.
Stating that something is “disgusting” implies a judgement that it is bad or wrong. Saying that something “squicks you” is merely an observation of your reaction to it but does not imply a judgement that such a thing is universally wrong.
So there you go. We are all a little bit smarter than we were at the start of this blog.
In 2014, working under the alias Scout Hardcastle, Meljoann released the BBC Radio 6 Music supported released dance album Masterkinder: Rainbow in my Mind (2014) under the alias Scout Hardcastle.
In 2020 Meljoann received a highly coveted £10k grant from the Arts Council of England to make five videos for her forthcoming album’ HR.’
The first single was Company Retreat, keeping that working woman motif going strong. The follow-up was ‘O Supervisor, and her last single to close out the year 2020 was Trophy Wife.’
Meljoann describes herself this way:
Here’s my little third-person bio:
Meljoann, originally from Ireland, produces experimental electronic pop. In her latest single, ‘Overtime,’ she tells “the grotty tale of a woman who must be overly polite to her predatory boss.” Her sound has been described as “like a long-lost soul-pop album from the mid-1990s as remixed by Aphex Twin” (Eamon de Paor, Metro Herald).
There is a long and storied history of music about how terrible the working world is. From the infamous 9 to 5 of Dolly Parton to the whimsical Heigh-ho by the seven vertically challenged miners working in oppressive conditions for Disney.
Just put work into the search bar on Genius, and you will have more than enough fodder to launch a class-action lawsuit against your nightmare boss. Just make sure you have a good lawyer. They can make or break a court case just by their oratory skills.
Back to the present era, Meljoann earned a couple of asterisks in the single Assf**k the Boss. I smile just saying that (as) terisk, (ass) f**k. A nice pair of asses. Groaning all around, that isn’t even a bad dad joke.
At the end of the day, what do we have going on in this album? HR, which I will assume is Human Resources, has a stream of raw emotions that cry out against the tyranny of the male-dominated workplaces.
Speaking about the new offering, she said,” ‘… is about the emotional labour we do, under gendered systems of control that thrive in the workplace. It tells the story of a woman alienated from her own survival instincts, who is subjugated by a predatory boss.”
We also have an album that speaks to those women and hopefully to the males as well. I can only speak for myself, but as a male who has had both good and bad bosses, I found the lyrical imagery on the album painted a vivid picture of a toxic working world.
A challenging but rewarding listen that needs time to breathe and develop and rewards the listener with a better understanding of the story that Meljoann is telling us after each rotation. Some artists earn one song in my “Songs About Work” mixtape. Meljoanne achieved the remarkable by having the whole album added. Well done.
“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe”
The iconic post-punk band Pink Turns Bluehas announced that their new album ‘Tainted’will be released this autumn on a limited edition vinyl, CD or digitally via Orden Records.
Music doesn’t spring out of nothingness; there has to be something that came before this album, something older than this album. Don’t get me wrong; I am not accusing the band Pink Turns Blue of plagiarism. I am saying that this band’s fantastic music is influenced by what they have heard in the past. From the press kit, I read this line: Pink Turns Blue is Mic Jogwer (vocals, guitar), Reubi Walter (bass, keyboards) and Paul Richter (drums). Inspired by Clan of Xymox, The Cure, Joy Division, The Sound and The Chameleons, Pink Turns Blue play alternative rock heavily influenced by 80s post-punk and new wave. They didn’t list The Call as one of their influences, but I can hear The Call in the vocals. They also listened to plenty of Hüsker Dü. The name of their band, Pink Turns Blue, comes from the song Pink Turns To Blue found on the Hüsker Dü album Zen Arcade. So, there we have the something old part of the wedding rhyme “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe.”
The next part of this little ditty and probably the easiest is “something new.” Pink Turns Blue plays original music influenced by what has come before, but they did not allow themselves to get mired down with that new wave sound.
They play new music, fresh music, a sound and feel that keep me coming back for more because it is just that good.
Something borrowed is redundant because this covers the same ground as something old. Pink Turns Blue has borrowed its sound from the past and sent it back with a slick new paint job.
Something blue.
“How to overcome the grief/pain of lost love, torn between hate, very bad feelings and, at the same time, not being able to let go at all. As there is no understanding why you fall in love with someone in the first place, there is also no reason/understanding why love does end, or your love of life starts to feel attracted to someone else. It all dissolves into nothingness,” says Mic Jogwer.
“Some melodies and moods just call for certain sad themes and touch old wounds that never seem to heal. Normally love stories don’t seem to have a connection to me and my life. But then, when I find a sad melody with some sad chords, it all gets stirred up and comes to life. Maybe love really never ends.”
A Sixpence in your Shoe. What the heck is going on with that zinger? From Knot.com, I learned that the British coin, a sixpence, is a symbol of prosperity. And I do wish Pink Turns Blue prosperity. A rich sound deserves a rich payday. I wish them prosperity in more than a sixpence. I want to wish Pink Turns Blue the wealth that comes from working together on an album of fantastic music and lyrics that enrich the listeners’ lives.
“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe”
I know that this is a little ditty from a wedding rhyme, and in a way, this is a wedding. It binds us, the listeners, to the band that created the music. To be wed is defined in the dictionary as combining two factors or qualities as one, especially desirable attributes such as: “in this album Pink Turns Blue have wed excellent music with a distinctive vocal style.”
And they lived happily ever after.
As of July 30, the single ‘You Still Mean Too Much To Me’ will be released online, including Apple Music and Spotify. The Pink Turns Blue LP ‘Tainted‘ will be released digitally and in two physical formats – a CD with a 16-page booklet and black vinyl, strictly limited to 500 copies, with an 8-page booklet. Both can be pre-ordered exclusively via the band’s website.
Imagine if you can, Prozak For Lovers without the Bossanova, straight-up lounge music. Now run that through an amplifier with distortion added, just a little bit. Add a voice straight out of Fifty Shades of Greyl. And then you turn the whole thing into a shoegazer/emo rendition.
That is sort of what I imagine I hear on the new album from The Mystery Plan, You Also Have Eyes, but it isn’t anything like that. This album is well-crafted music, the sonic equivalent of Glenlivet. Matured to enhance the taste but not mired down in the past. Well rounded, like an oak cask, the music holds the songs together but is an equally important part of the whole; they are better together.
I have been delaying the release of this blog for days and days because I just wanted to listen. I thought that if I started dissecting and analyzing the album, it would no longer be the fantastic package it is.
First off, I had to get past the opening track, Electric Love, which was no easy task. I got stuck in the groove of Electric Love, with its beautiful bass lines and that haunting, enchanting, electric voice shimmering and sparking that is featured in the track.
Once I got out of the first groove Electric Love, I discovered song after song that contained some of the most tasteful indie-pop I have heard recently. Six tracks later on the song Silver Lining, I found a new light on my radar, Big Supreme (a.k.a. Chris Jones), a rapper from Charlotte who has been on the scene since the 1990s. He got his start by winning rap battles on the local Hip-Hop station for months and months, holding the record for the longest run on that station. The Mystery Plan brought the track, Silver Lining, to life during the pandemic as an ode to looking at the bright side of things. The accompanying live lounge-style video was shot and cut by Jay Thomas in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Moving forward, I discovered track after track of delicious music, vocals, and lyrics. That trend maintained a steady course clean through to the closer, Weird Things People Do, which I nominate for the song title of the year. It is also a well-chosen culmination of the album.
In conclusion, I will put this album on my list of highlights of 2021. High praise, but it is for an album that reached for and attained great heights. Tasteful without being pretentious. A big sound without being overbearing. Clever without being bombastic.
In short, I adore You Also Have Eyes, the newest offering from The Mystery Plan.
Weathered Music 