Best known as a co-founding member and co-primary songwriter of renowned indie dance pop/indie funk act and JOVM mainstay Rubblebucket, Alex Toth’s side project, Alexander F, which features Steve Marion, Dandy McDowell. Christian Peslak and Noah Rubin as part of the project’s touring band, along with contributions from Kimbra is a decided change in sonic direction for him. Reeling emotionally after the suicides of a couple of musician friends and struggling with living as recovering alcoholic, Toth went to an eleven day, Buddhist, silent meditation retreat in Quebec. And as the story goes, during the retreat, a handful of Buddhist-themed experimental punk songs exploded in Toth’s head — and as a jazz-trained musician, it was a rather unexpected revelation. Now, if you had been frequenting this site towards the end of last year, you may recall that I wrote about “Swimmers,” off Alexander F’s self-titled debut, and from that single Toth and company revealed that his newest project would specialize in infectiously anthemic, frenetic and stompingly boisterous, pop-leaning take on punk rock — while in the case of that particular single, a mischievous take on the concept of prenatal memory in which the song’s narrator imagines how it must have been to be sperm swimming towards an egg to fertilize it.
The self-titled album’s third and latest single “Call Me Pretty” is a decidedly off-kilter yet rousingly anthemic track featuring guest vocals from Kimbra that sonically seems to owe a debt to New Wave and punk rock, with a neurotic and frenetic energy at its core — and in some way, to my ears at least, the song seems like what I’d imagine if Talking Heads randomly decided to cover A Flock of Seagulls. (In the alternative facts universe, indeed, right?) Lyrically, the song evokes the cripplingly neurotic self-doubt, shame and confusion of the song’s narrator, who despite his every effort, has begun to realize that he can’t run from himself — or his own foolish mistakes. And in someway his only hope is that his friends and lovers will ignore him and his perceived ugliness and unworthiness by “shutting their eyes and calling him pretty.”
With the release of their firs three singles — the achingly vulnerable “What Do You Think They’ll Say About Me,” the part torch song, part wistful and tender farewell “I’m Already Gone” and the slow-burning Quiet Storm-era R&B inspired pop song “Find Me Out,” the Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based electro pop duo ACES, comprised of Russ Flynn and Alexandra Stewart received quite a bit of attention across the blogosphere for a subtly modern and atmospheric take on early-to-mid 80s synth pop.
As Stewart explains in press notes, the Brooklyn-based synth pop duo’s first single of 2016 “I Could Be Your Girl” “is the true ACES getaway track, but today, I’m not sure where we’re headed. ‘I Could Be Your Girl’ is about being honest with yourself and realizing when you deserve more. It’s about embracing that change and still wanting to love anyway. I hope it can be a voice for all of us doing some self-reflection right now . . . the future is female!” Their latest single pairs Stewart’s breathily tender vocals with Flynn’s atmospheric production consisting of gently trembling synths, hi-hat flashes, swirling electronics — and as a result, the song possesses a swooning quality but just underneath the surface there’s a palpable sense of trepidation and uncertainty.
Although the famed duo of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart wrote “Blue Moon” in 1934, while commissioned to write music for MGM Studios, the old standard has an unusual history in which the familiar melody was paired with different sets of lyrics — including a version sung by Jean Harlow in the 1933 film, HollywoodParty, another version titled “It’s Just That Kind of Play” was recorded and filmed for the 1934 film Manhattan Melodrama before being cut and then revised for a nightclub scene, sung by Shirley Ross. After Manhattan Melodrama was released Jack Robbins, the head of MGM’s publishing company decided that the tune was well suited for commercial release but needed more romantic lyrics and a punchier title. As the story goes, Hart was initially reluctant to write another set of lyrics for the same song but he was persuaded and he eventually wrote one of the more beloved and oft-covered pop standards of the past 100 years; in fact, the song was a hit twice in 1949 with Billy Eckstine and Mel Torme recording versions of the song. And over the years, the song has been covered by an impressive array of beloved artists including Billie Holiday, Elvis Presley, The Mavericks, Elkie Brooks, Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton — with the arguably the most famous version being The Marcels’ doo wop version, which hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and the UK Singles chart.
It’s rare that I’ll write about or mention pop standards in any fashion, but bear with me here, there’s a reason. Matilda Mård is a Swedish singer/songwriter, who spent several years writing and performing under her name in Stockholm, Sweden before relocating to the small industrial town of Borlänge as an escape from Stockholm’s busier pace and as a way to rejuvenate and revitalize her approach to music somewhere with far less distractions. And as the story goes, Mård found her creative liberation in a rather unlikely place — a Borlänge karaoke bar. The karaoke bar became a “free zone,” Mård explains in press notes, “far away from my own self doubts and prestige about music.” After several years of piling up songs without releasing them, the Swedish singer/songwriter felt relieved of the pressure she had long felt towards her own original material and began again under the moniker Many Voices Speak. Her debut EP as Many Voices Speak Away For All Time is slated for an October 28, 2016 through Hit City USA Records and the EP’s latest single is a gorgeous and atmospheric rendition of “Blue Moon” in which Mård’s tender and aching vocals glide over a sparse arrangement of shimmering guitar chords and swirling feedback — and as a result, Mård’s rendition adds a bitter and aching sense of regret and nostalgia to the song, while retaining the familiar and beloved melody.
Perhaps best known as the frontman of post-hardcore band Unwound and angular post-punk/post-rock band Survival Knife, Justin Trosper’s latest musical project Nocturnal Habits has Trosper reuniting with Unwound bandmate and collaborator Sara Lund, as well as The Melvins’ Dale Crover, Two Ton Boa’s Scott Seckington and Sherry Fraser. And with the project’s forthcoming debut effort, New Skin For Old Children, Trosper and company have dedicated their focus to sharp songwriting and clean production, while sonically nodding at anthemic, 90s alt rock and shoegaze as you’ll hear on the album’s soaring, latest single “Ecophilia.”
The band will be embarking on a West Coast tour to support the album’s October 28, 2016 release through Glacial Pace Records. Check out tour dates below.
Tour Dates: 11.04.16 – Portland, OR @ The Bakery
11.05.16 – Olympia, WA @ New Moon
11.06.16 – Seattle, WA @ TBD
11.09.16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Hemlock
11.10.16 – Sacramento, CA @ Red Museum
11.11.16 – San Diego, CA @ TBD
11.12.16 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell
Over the past couple of years, you may have come across a handful of posts on punk rock trio Terry Malts. Comprised of Corey Cunningham (guitar vocals), Phil Benson (bass, vocals) and Nathan Sweatt (drums), the members of the trio have developed a reputation for doing things in prototypical fashion; in fact, the trio self-produced and self-recorded their first two albums in their rehearsal space. Since the 2013 release of their critically applauded effort, Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere, the members of the punk rock band have been pretty busy. After a busy schedule that included playing a number of local shows and national touring, Cunningham and Benson had spent the better part of the following year writing, re-writing and revising the material that would eventually comprise their long-awaited third full-length effort, Last At The Party in Los Angeles, where Cunningham had relocated.
Now, as you may remember, earlier this month I wrote about “Seen Everything,” Last At The Party‘s first single, and that single revealed a decided change in sonic direction. Reportedly, during the writing sessions for Party, Cunningham and Benson had decided that for their third album, that they wanted to broaden the band’s sound by creating a kaleidoscopic pop album that had a mixture of moods, with each song turning to a different sound inspired by the albums that influenced and inspired the band over the years. And as a result, the album’s material manages to retain the something of the gritty and grimy punk rock that first caught the attention of the blogosphere, while equally drawing from jangling and shimmering indie pop and power pop. Once they were finished writing and felt they were ready to record, the members of the band then enlisted Monte Vallier, best known for his work with Soft Moon and Weekend Swell to co-produce the band’s first album actually recorded in a professional studio.
The album’s second single “Used To Be” much like its predecessor possesses a professional studio sheen while retaining the band’s uncanny penchant for crafting catchy hooks but where “Seen Everything” was a bit scuzzier, “Used To Be” has the band pairing a bittersweet and wistful nostalgia over the things that have and will continue to irrevocably change — i.e. relationships that come and go, complete with their lingering ghosts, resentments and unfinished business — while at the same time, possessing an almost Zen-like acceptance of impermanence. And they do so with a radio-friendly, power pop feel.
The band will be touring to support the new effort, check out the tour dates below. And it includes an October 24 stop at Shea Stadium.
Tour Dates
Oct 8 – Carmel, CA The Rumpus
Oct 9 – Los Angeles, CA – The Hi Hat,(Release show w/ Devon Williams & Susan)
Oct 10 – San Francisco, CA – Hemlock (Release show w/ Chook Race & Lovebirds)
Oct 22 – Baltimore, MD – U+N Fest
Oct 23 – Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie
Oct 24 – Brooklyn, NY – Shea Stadium
Oct 25 – Allston, MA – O’Brien’s Pub
Oct 27 – Detroit, MI – UFO Factory
Oct 28 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean
Oct 29 – St Louis, MO – San Loo
Nov 18 – Seattle, WA – Vera Project
Nov 19 – Portland, OR – Bunk Bar
Last year, I wrote about Swedish-born and based, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sofia Härdig, who with the release of “Streets,” the first single off her two part EP The Street Light Leads to the Sea added herself to a growing list of Swedish artists that have seen international attention across Europe and North America. And as a result of a growing international profile, Härdig, who is considered Sweden’s “rocktronica queen of experimental music,” has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning acts The Hellacopters and Bob Hund, Boredoms and Free Kitten‘s Yoshimi P-We and has opened for Lydia Lunch and Belle and Sebastian‘s Stevie Jackson.
Interestingly, The Street Light Leads to the Sea was recorded with handpicked musicians, who were known for their improvisational skills, and each musician was encouraged to improvise on the rough sketches that Härdig brought in whenever and however they felt fit. As the Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist explains in press notes “I find beauty in flaws and that which is not perfect is what excites me, I love the unusual, the unexpected, untrained and unplanned . . . ” And as you’ll hear on the EP’s latest single “Sitting Still,” the material possesses a raw and gritty urgency as slashing and angular guitar chords, wild squalls of feedback and rapid fire drumming are paired with Härdig’s punchy delivered vocals in a tense and anxious song that captures a narrator, who’s at odds with herself and her conflicting emotions, thoughts and desires — and does so in a way that feels and sounds like the interior conversations we all have at some point or another. Sonically, the single much like its predecessor still manages to sound as though it were influenced PJ Harvey but equally influenced by Nine Inch Nails and Earthling-era David Bowie, complete with a swaggering, anthemic hook.
Adelaide, Australia-born and Palm Springs, CA-based singer/songwriter Sia has had quite a career, as she can trace her career’s origins to when she was the vocalist in Adelaide-based acid jazz act Crisp in the mid 1990s. After the band’s breakup in 1997, Sia released her debut effort, OnlySee through Flavoured Records and relocated to London, where she provided vocals for British duo Zero 7.
After the release of Healing Is Difficult, an album inspired and informed by the death of her-then boyfriend Dan Pontifex and Colour the Small One, the Australian-born singer/songwriter, who was deeply displeased with the fact that her work was struggling to connect with a mainstream audience, relocated to NYC and began touring the US. During a two year break in which she “retired” as a pop performer and focused on being a pop songwriter, Sia developed a reputation as go-to co-songwriter and songwriter as she’s credited with writing or co-writing songs for and by an incredibly diverse and impressive list of mega-hit artists. A short list of her writing credits include Ne-Yo‘s “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself),” Rihanna‘s “Diamonds,” Kylie Minogue‘s “Sexercize,” Beyonce‘s “Standing On The Sun,” Katy Perry‘s “Double Rainbow,” Britney Spears‘ “Perfume,” Beyonce’s “Pretty Hurts,” Christina Aguilera‘s “You Lost Me,” Lea Michele‘s “Cannonball,” Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte‘s “We Are One (Ole Ola),” and countless others. (This shouldn’t be terribly surprising as Sia’s sound and aesthetic draws from hip-hop, funk, soul and pop while managing to sound unlike any of her contemporaries.)
Interestingly, Sia’s first taste of international stardom came in a rather unexpected fashion. She initially wrote “Titanium,” for Alicia Keys but the song wound up being sent to EDM superstar David Guetta, who included Sia’s demo vocals on the song and released it as single in 2011. The song was a massive commercial success as it peaked on the top of record charts across the US, Australia and Europe. But it was “Chandelier,” the breakout hit off her sixth, full-length effort, 1000 Forms of Fear was a commercial and critical success. The single was nominated for four Grammys last year — Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video; and she nabbed several ARIA Awards and MTV Music Awards, which established the Australian-born singer/songwriter as an internationally-recognized star, in the same lines of the artists she had written for during her “retirement.”
Sia’s seventh, full-length album This Is Acting is slated for a January 29, 2016 release, and in an interview with NME, she has mentioned that the forthcoming album is much more pop-orientated than its predecessor. And interestingly enough, the album’s third and latest single “Alive” was co-written by Adele and was intended to be on Adele’s latest album 25. When you hear the song, you can actually hear Adele’s influence on the song — the piano-led introduction and the song’s soaringly anthemic hooks; however, as gorgeous as Adele’s voice is, the song just feels and sounds as though it just had to be Sia’s. Not to say that Adele hasn’t had profound experiences at a young age but lyrically, the song conveys a sense of wisdom, pride and triumph over life’s fucked up circumstances — deprivation (financial and emotional), heartache, despair, loneliness and worse. And when you hear Sia’s voice crack ever so slightly when she sings “I’m still breathing/I’m still breathing/I’m alive,” during the song’s anthemic hook, it feels like a punch right in the ribs or in the solar plexus. Of course similarly to Gloria Gaynor‘s “I Will Survive,” the song possess an infectious “you can and will get through anything/you go-girl” optimism. It’s honestly the sort of song that the women of your life will lustily yell along to while driving to or from the club.
Recently Sia announced a remix package of “Alive” that features remixes and reworks from Maya Jane Coles, AFSHeeN, Boehm, Cahill and fellow Australian, Plastic Plates. In a recent interview with The Fader, the Australian producer was asked how the “Alive” remix came about, and as he explained to the publication, “Sia and I first met in Sydney 2001. Sam Dixon and I shared an apartment in Bondi and Sia crashed at our place. Until 2010, I played drums on Sia’s albums and toured around the world in her band. This is my 3rd remix for Sia, “Cloud” in 2010, “Chandelier” in 2014 and now “Alive.”Given our musical history, reinterpreting Sia’s vocals is effortless and pure joy for me.”
Plastic Plates’ rework turns the torch burning pop song into a slickly produced synth-based club-banger as his production includes stuttering drum programming, cascading synths, wobbling and tumbling low-end, sirens and other assorted bleeps and bloops while retaining the song’s anthemic hooks and Sia’s achingly heartfelt vocals.
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