GREEN OWL presents the song of the summer “Warm Heart of Africa” ( http://greenowl.com/album/warm-heart-of-africa-7inch ) now as a vinyl 7in!!! SIDE A is “WARM HEART OF AFRICA” a party record playlist shot of Afropop with vocals from THE VERY BEST’s ESAU MWAMWAYA and a surprise appearance from EZRA KOENIG of VAMPIRE WEEKEND! SIDE B is “YALIRA” a previously unreleased song from THE VERY BEST’s debut LP available Physically October 6th…
The final disc out of a three-disc assault by Diaphragm Records, Estee Louder is by far the most punk and dirt-rock influenced of the three acts. This does not stop Estee Louder from being extraordinarily well-versed with their instruments and the arrangements put forward on “Ohio’s Bestâ€. The two-vocal assault found in “Ohio’s Best†runs parallel with the first X album, even down to the aural similarities enjoyed by “Bob…
Music collectors worldwide are ecstatic with the CD release of the legendary ‘Natural Gas’ album featuring Badfinger, Humble Pie and Uriah Heep alumni. The Natural Gas album has been given the CD treatment by premier re-issue label Renaissance Records in conjunction with ItsAboutMusic.com, who has an impressive back catalog of releases. Originally released in 1975 on the Private Stock label, the eponymous debut by Natural Gas featured Joey Molland of…
(Hed)pe have announced they will shoot a video for their new single “Here And Now†with director Dale Resteghini of Raging Nation Films (Mudvayne, Trivium). The video is expected to surface in the coming weeks, while “Here And Now†is now available through iTunes and other digital retailers. The track will also appear on a re-released version of (Hed)pe’s “New World Orphans†along with brand new cover artwork. “I am…
There are only a few lounge tracks that I can honestly tolerate; a disturbing amount of those are re-makes of alternative/popular songs (such as the lounge version of DC Talk’s “Floodâ€). However, there are some interesting tracks on this album; the amount of experimentation that Esquivel and eir band does, seamlessly moving into the Mexican sombrero dance (without sounding too awfully clichéd) during “La Raspaâ€. While a number of the…
Check out Wikipedia for the massive list of samples on Torn Up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torn_Up_(album). “BLAHBLAHBLAH, just fucking download it. Best mash-up artist out there.†– The Hidden Playlist. Taking the gauntlet laid down by Girl Talk and sharpening it even further, the response to Ethan Ward (aka E-603)’s Torn Up has been tremendously positive in the short time since it’s recent completion and instant release — overnight, three tracks from the…
When Haroula Rose left for Spain on a Fulbright scholarship in 2005, the last place the singer/songwriter thought she would return was Los Angeles. But Someday, her debut EP, brings the multi-instrumentalist full circle with “five dreamy melodies” taking listeners on “a gentle and enjoyable acoustic trip into poetic lyricism and soft guitar playing.”(- noizemakesenemies, UK blog) Someday is currently available on iTunes. With “introspective vocals that breathe life into…
Stockholm Syndrome finds Webb once again facing debate head on. The album is the most provocative and stirring release of his storied career and Webb partners the much-anticipated release with a 20-date tour and a DVD documentary of the project. Stockholm Syndrome delivers everything listeners have come to expect from Derek Webb: killer pop hooks and lyrics as thought provoking as they are emotionally revealing. Sonically, however, this record is…
Escape Grace plays a brand of hardcore that is tremendously influencd by the radio rock of the early nineties. This means that songs like “Spartacus†have a tremendous amount of Layne Staley-like vocals that work well with the fury that the rest of the band puts into this composition. The buitars and drums are not the only force present during this track, as the bass has a lot to say…
Following up 2008’s “Daylight Kissing Night”, a best-of collection of songs culled from Marsland’s previous solo releases and his band Cockeyed Ghost’s four full-lengths, Marsland is ready to unleash a double album, “Go West”, his first new studio record since 2004’s “You Don’t Know Me”. “When my last studio album came out in 2004, it was a low point. Nobody really wanted to hear it and I was burnt out…
Turbo – the legend of Polish hard & heavy scene. Metal Mind Productions presents re-releases of two of the band’s albums – “One Way†and “Awatarâ€. “One Wayâ€, the band’s 8th studio album from 1992. Heavier, more brutal and modern than the their previous offerings. It was definetely not a sign of being artistically lost, as some of their fans thought. At that time Grzegorz Hoffmann was the only original…
Six cuts on this self-titled album only stack up to barely break the thirteen-minute mark, so it really is a challenge for a reviewer to adequately gain a proper understanding about the band. The Escaped seem to be a band that takes a lot from early hardcore (Minor Threat, Black Flag) and incorporate it with both newer strains of hardcore (Righteous Jams) and punk (Behind Enemy Lines). As such, each…
This year, Constellation are delivering some mighty fine albums from some treasured artists including Vic Chesnutt, Evangelista and now label veterans *Do Make Say Think*. The sixth full-length from DMST defiantly features four long-form tracks, three of which clock in at over 10 minutes, and all of which trace the inimitable musical arcs that have made this band justly celebrated for their unique sonic palette and vibrant distillation of compositional…
After steadily climbing various Rock radio charts for the past several months, “Champagne,†the propulsive debut single from St. Louis’ Cavo, has hit No. 1 on the BDS/Billboard Active Rock chart. The track has reached an audience of more than 117 million, scoring more than 150 radio adds at all Rock formats across the country, including 60 stations in Top 5 Power Rotation and 80+ stations with Top 5 most…
Coming through the new-rock and nu-metal of the last few years, Escape From Earth will honestly surprise me if they don’t get some national attention in the new few months. “Yesterday†comes to the fray with a Static-X and Hoobastank like sound with multi-part harmonies and tribal drums that just give chills to anyone who listens to it. Each track is radio-friendly without being completely insipid and vacuous, being able…
SANCTUS NEX – Aurelia Origin: UK Coldness can be manifested into many different forms. UK-based SANCTUS NEX are modern black metal wanderers, their harmonic/disharmonic tunes a current of perception. A trip into usual and unusual shadings starts there, where black metal is as much a starting point as it is a departure point to develop a new vision and evocative journey. The traditional black metal instruments are just a gateway……
NME – “An adventurous and modernist concoction of post-new rave DIY sambapunkdisco jiggery-pokery that’ll come as a shot of distorted filth in the arm for an overflowing UK electro-pop scene… They got band. We found heroes.†GUARDIAN – “Part Hot Chip, part Talking Heads, if Fischerspooner topped Emerge it would sound like this… If someone doesn’t sign them, and sharp-ish, we’ll have a whip round and do it ourselves.†DAZED…
Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair, the critically acclaimed debut full-length from La Dispute (Grand Rapids, MI), will finally receive the vinyl pressing it deserves, courtesy of the venerable No Sleep Records. Originally released as a CD in November of 2008, the 2xLP is being pressed on brown / black and clear / black color ways, with each color limited to 500 and a total…
Produced within the four walls of a former DDR radio station in East Berlin, The Rakes are set to release their third album, ‘Klang’, digitally on October 20th in the US. The album has been available as a UK import since March. It’s been over two years from their previous album, ‘Ten New Messages’ (2007), and a debut, ‘Capture/Release’ (2005), that was compared to the fame of The Libertines, While…
Eric Frederickson is a Christian singer-songwriter that is slightly different from the typical Stephen Curtis Chapman / Matthew West clone in that a sense of electronic noise is accompanying eir at all times. However, “Something Else†suffers from a compressed recording that sounds as if the entire disc is being played on a lower-grade mp3. Still, even while this might cause a problem for the average listener, Eric’s music shines…