Last August, my daughter began an 18-month contract to teach English in China. I decided that this was a unique travel opportunity, so after months of planning, arrangements and probably about four grand out of my wallet, I flew to Shanghai for a week to be with her over Christmas. It was an adventure of …
There’s no limit to Nadia Vaeh’s potential. She is a fantasia of cross-platform energy. She sings, she writes, she walks in beauty like the night. On her new song, “Boomerang,” above, she teaches us that not everything is black and white. On Yoyo, below, her big hit of a few months back, she does technicolor …
Behold the latest from Derrero sent to me by Dan Amor at Cae Gwyn Records. He’s in PR mode year round now. Great Band. Great song. Great Britain. And this is a great time for Welsh music. Pay attention. The NME once described the band as being “like a young lad returning home from a …
She might pass close to your route maybe once a week, a month, a year… sometime she’s so close, you can almost make out her flags; at others, she’s a flickering light in the dark distance. All you can do is keep muscle and coal on hand down in the boiler, the decks swabbed; lines …
Damn, at 2:15 AM, I feel like Donald Fagen on the cover of The Nightfly album. A Valentine’s Day postscript, this song and video from the Dark Prince. Meant to post it earlier, as it is one of the most exquisite love songs of my generation. I’ve heard him sing it on stage many times, …
Imagine how much money was invested in making people believe the New Deal wasn’t a success. Imagine how much it took to get all these Americans to believe The Civil War wasn’t about Slavery. I just knock old people out with facts like the preacher who touches parishioners and they pass out with facts they …
I love the Ocelots and now you will too! Listen hard, listen strong! It’s delicious, crisp, fresh music! View this post on Instagram Thanks for all the love on our new track guys! We continue our excursions this week with a trip down to Tassie! Catch us at @republicbarcafe @monamuseum @williesmithsappleshed and @marakoopacafe . More …
My countdown to Valentine’s Day continues with one of the most romantic songs I can think of. Paired with a brilliantly unusual video that’s somehow absolutely perfect… they have literally brought me to tears, on occasion, for over 30 years now. It. Is. So. Fucking. Great. At the band’s peak, Bono and the Edge evoked …
View this post on Instagram We're really looking forward to 2020 with new tunes and gigs wherever we can get to.. Look out for us turning up in the UK in August where we'll be at Boomtown Festival and around. Wishing you all lovely people a fantastic and happy new year! ❤ #rocknrollband #rocknroll #rockduo …
oh?no!ok. play the kind of music you’d hear blasting forth from a suburban garage in the height of the 90’s alt-rock boom. But with songs which probe entitlement, video game addiction and idolization, it’s clear we’re dealing with a wildly fresh take on slacker rock. “Candy Crush” is about a kid who becomes obsessed with …
On Sunday night February 9, I headed back to El Corazon. This time it was for a night of ska with two great bands headlining – the Toasters and Mustard Plug. Mustard Plug was the last to play, but the previous bands did such an excellent job of warming everyone up, that there was no …
Behold the intensely smart, womanist, ascendant, electronic statement single from LA-based songstress and historian Surrija. Inspired to create— and potentially change the world in the process— by painter Pablo Picasso, aspiring surrealist Surrija moved in her own blue period to Barcelona and cubistically composed her debut album, only to find out there that the Spanish …
Take It!
The HorrorPops Long Awaited Return to Seattle Brings a Maxed Out Crowd to El Corazon, by Holly Homan
Several months have passed since I last attended a concert. Most everyone who came through town I’d already seen many times and I longed for something new. That opportunity came when I learned the HorrorPops were coming on February 7th. After a seven-year hiatus, the HorrorPops were returning. I first saw them live in 2003 …
I clipped the following quote and it sat on my dresser for a short while. I cannot remember the source and I do not recall the writer. “But what I find most abhorrent about lawyers is how they play games, use word tricks, set traps, are not so much after justice as after winning, outfoxing …
“Don’t you love, ‘us?’ My fault I fear…” While I was searching for the Van Morrison-Chet Baker version displayed above I discovered this live take (below) of Sarah Vaughan doing the same tune. Van and Chet have their moments, particularly Chet’s subtle horn emoting under Van’s cooler than usual voice, and their version should have …
This weekend I have two of my most challenging gigs. And it represents some pretty awesome news. Over the last two weeks Tony Verhey, his son, and the amazing women that tend his bar taught me to be a bartender. From scratch. He asked me what I knew about bartending and I told him the truth. …
Founded on the notion of waking up within one’s own dreams, “Silent Sleeper” is a tale of bringing the peaceful bliss of desired reality out from the mind into the shared experience of day-to-day life. Throughout the journey of the single, Kendra & the Bunnies transports us into a trance-like musical experience. Like the sound …
“Heart of Mine was recorded in 2016 at Kleine Audiowelt at Sandhausen, Germany and produced by Daniel Deboy (The Late Call). Percussion was added by Peter Hinz. This song is about fear, anxiety and panic but also hope and finding a way out. Annika writes about the songwriting process: “I was lying in bed, worrying. …
This song was at one Youtube view when I first clicked on it. Let’s watch that number of views grow into the millions. “By the way, why is that song called “Danny’s Run”? When Stella and I in the 80s were making a living with jingles and film music, one of our clients was an …
ADAF by Noisebody We’re so happy to share with you ADAF, Noisebody’s first release on Openers Records, and a video for “Stolen Pleasure”. Noisebody, the keyboard fronted pop outfit based in Louisville, creates an aquatic world full of soft wavy keyboards and a beat that keeps the damn boat moving. Noisebody has been steadily releasing music over …
[An Excellent Metal Band Was in Town: Barishi Performed at Portland’s Twilight Cafe, 1/30/2020, and if you missed them: Shame on you!] I saw the metal band, Barishi, In Chicago last weekend. Dudes are from Brattleboro, Vermont, and one from MA. I liked their short gig (4 bands on the bill). They are trekking across …
More From the Yang Gang: Presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently yukked it up with Bill Maher on HBO before an enthusiastic crowd: During the intro, you see Mr. Yang’s book, The War on Normal People. A signature issue in Mr. Yang’s campaign is a basic income guarantee. I have been a member of the Basic …
View this post on Instagram New year, new photos. 📸: @alex8oa • #assumingwesurvive #sexyboiswag A post shared by Assuming We Survive (@assumingwesurvive) on Jan 24, 2020 at 2:05pm PST Tweets by awsmusic
Icelandic artist Ásgeir just dropped a new single/video perfect for these cold winter days today – the Quentin Tarantino-inspired video for “Pictures” comes ahead of his new album on One Little Indian (Björk, Ólöf Arnalds, etc) – Bury The Moon and its Icelandic counterpart Sátt will be released Feb 7…He’ll also be touring around it. This one follows the resonant “Youth” & “Lazy Giants” – …
Sy Somebody’s final single Ready To Go dropped recently. The song starts off with vibes akin to a garage rockers’ dreams of a tropical vacation, and ends with a journey to Mars a la Elon Musk. There’s a sci-fi inspired guitar breakdown, and druid-esque vocals provided by longtime friends and collaborators David Vandervelde (solo, Father John Misty) …
Someday Tomorrow Maybe, the album upon which “Give Me Some Time” is placed, may only be Lola Marsh’s second full album, but it plays as if it’s by a band that’s had decades to work out the intricacies of their sound. Pulling from their own relationship and its changes, they’ve created something both intimate and …
French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naïm has come a long way since her 2007 single “New Soul” shot to the top of the Billboard charts after Steve Jobs handpicked it to launch Apple’s MacBook Air, making her the first Israeli solo artist to have a Top 10 hit in the US. Now, she is sharing a delicately haunting new single, “How Will …
“The stresses and strains of an abusive, co-dependent relationship inspired the lyrics for the song,” says Nadia Vaeh. “When trapped in this relationship I was broken, and a shell of the person I should have been.” The track moves towards a more uplifting narrative, however, as Vaeh was able to eventually leave the relationship for …
View this post on Instagram Wow! What an evening we had yesterday! We had a blast and met so many great people! 🧡 Thank you so much for having us @100dagarfestival 🙏 Hope to see you all on a festival somewhere soon! 💥 #secrettreehouseband #100dagar #festival #goodtimes A post shared by Secret Treehouse (@secrettreehouseband) on …