Syd Arthur release a new track ‘Sun Rays’, ahead of October 21st album release. Listen below:
‘Syd Arthur’ is brothers Liam Magill, Joel Magill (bass, vocals), and Josh Magill (drums) and Raven Bush (violin, keyboards, mandolin). Formed in Canterbury, England, in 2003, the band has explored the myriad possibilities of improvisation, taking an exceptional approach born of prodigious musicianship, elemental song-craft, and an unabashed spirit of adventure. They have released three albums so far, including 2014’s Sound Mirror.
Syd Arthur will tour with Jake Bugg in the US in September 7th. Prior to that, they will perform at Bushstock and Glastonbury Festivals, as well as playing a headline show at London’s Electrowerkz on 13th July.
Since returning from European live runs with both Peaches and YACHT, Berlin-based darkwave-pop duo Evvol have spent the past few months holed up in their Kreuzberg studio writing the follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed debut ‘Eternalism.’‘Physical L.U.V’ (!K7 Records) is the result – a dense, ethereal and very personal EP, documenting the physical and emotional comforts and constraints of love.
“We feel ‘Physical L.U.V’ is a pop song for 2016, a truth-telling story about motivations and expectations, and we wanted a video to match that. Produced in rural Germany, our short film tells the story of Luka, a genderqueer teenager whose everyday life consists of creating creamy ice-cold milkshakes in a gym and taking good care of the equipment. The story begins when Luka hitches a ride from a farmer in a tractor after work and encounters his daughter. Back at her parents’ dairy farm, they experience a special kind of ‘Physical L.U.V.’” Evvol
Formed in 2014 from the ashes of previous musical projects and having rekindled their fractured relationship, Evvol – AKA Irish singer Julie Chance and Australian multi-instrumentalist Jane Arnison – embarked on a new and revitalised direction. Debut full-length ‘Eternalism’ was the sound of commercial pop fused with arty electronica, dripping with industrial charm and evoking Berlin’s seedy underbelly. Under a former moniker they have previously toured the world with Austra, and shared the stage with Grimes, Peaches and TRUST.
Less than a year after announcing their debut album to the world, Evvol look set to pick up the electronic-pop mantle and make 2016 their own. They play The Garage in London on 14th May to mark the release of ‘Physical L.U.V.’
THE ALBUM LEAF have been making their mark steadily since 1999. One year after forming the influential San Diego instrumental group Tristeza, songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Jimmy LaValle founded THE ALBUM LEAF, a solo studio project turned full-fledged live band. Over time, THE ALBUM LEAF (now based in Los Angeles) has grown from a side-project to LaValle’s main focus. The project’s first releases, An Orchestrated Rise To Fall (1999) and One Day I’ll Be On Time (2001), intertwined field recordings, Rhodes piano, and a nuanced treatment of texture with mature songwriting and dense, evocative atmospheres.
Following a European and a second US tour with Sigur Rós, LaValle left Tristeza to devote his full attention to THE ALBUM LEAF. In 2016, the band partnered with renowned label Relapse Records for the release of the group’s sixth studio album and first since 2010’s A Chorus Of Storytellers (Sub Pop).
THE ALBUM LEAF is:
Jimmy LaValle
Matthew Resovich
Brad Lee
David LeBleu
‘Suicidal Tendencies’ was the debut album by American thrash band of the same name. Released in July 1983 through Frontier Records, it was a bestseller at the time. Standout tracks are: ‘Suicide’s an Alternative/You’ll Be Sorry’, ‘Suicidal Failure’ and, of course, ‘Institutionalized’ (the only single released on the album). The cover features an image of the band members (at the time, Mike Muir, Mike Ball, Carlos Egert on drums and Mike Dunnigan on bass) hanging upside down.
Listen here:
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1983 debut album from Sonic Youth on no-wave/post-punk label Neutral Records (headed by Glenn Branca). Neutral Records would later go on to release records by the Swans;
The only song that Lee Ranaldo plays bass on is the second track ‘Protect Me You’, a gothic-like, haunting drone melody that lingers on Gordon’s vocals ‘Protect me from ravagement/I’m ten years old/ I don’t know what I do/ Protect me myself’. The song is around six minutes in length;
The front cover of the album displays a sketch of guitarist Thurston Moore by bassist Kim Gordon;
Parts of the song use a ‘prepared guitar’ technique, which lends the screeching, metallic tones, grounded by the bass.
Review:
The first official studio album from Sonic Youth was put out on nu-wave, post-punk outlet Neutral Records in 1983. Arguably one of their best albums (certainly so, if you compare with every subsequent album between 1985-1988), ‘Confusion is Sex’ is littered with grunge, prepared-guitar riffs that sometimes thrill (cover of The Stooges ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’) and sometimes haunt (‘Protect Me You’). The album was initially released following Sonic Youth’s first tour with label-mates the Swans.
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Il Suicidio dei Samurai is the third album by the Italian alternative-rock band Verdena, released in 2004. In total, Verdena, an Italian alternative rock band originating from Albino, Bergamo have released six full-length albums, no less. Brothers Alberto (guitarist) and Luca Ferrari (drummer), unsurprisingly, had been playing together for ten years. With the addition of Roberta Sammarelli (bassist), they formed the band and in 1999 had their debut ‘Verdena’. Appearing on the Il Suicidio del Samurai (which translates as “Samurai’s Suicide”) was also Fidel Fogaroli, a keyboardist, though he would later leave in 2007 to pursue his own projects. The album’s second record “Luna” has been one of the band’s notable releases.
Verdena’s songs are always sung in Italian, with the exception of some covers, such as (“Reverberation” by 13th Floor Elevators, “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream), “(His Latest Flame) Marie’s The Name” by Elvis Presley, “Harvest” by Neil Young and “Creepy Smell” by Melvins), as well as an original song called “Perfect Day”.
A mixture of rock, grunge and psychedelia, they are well-known on the Italian music scene. With influence drawing from the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana (Il Suicido dei Samurai is a nod toward Nirvana/Fecal Matter’s ‘Samurai Suicide/Anorexorcist’)) and Yuck, this is some good shit.
Brighton noise-pop quartet Morning Smoke are set to release their third single, ‘Soft Decay’ through Cannibal Hymns on 4th December.
The band have released an EP, ‘In Euphoria’ and two singles ‘Hunger’ and ‘Unknown’, since forming in 2013, and already gained support from Radio 1 and XFM. Still, ‘Soft Decay’ might be their most impressive statement yet. Underpinned by Isaac Ide and Christopher Shaw’s inventive bass and drums, Milo McNulty and Max Wright wring thick fogs of distortion from their guitars, as McNulty passionately howls his way through the track.
Recorded by Rory Atwell, who has previously worked with Parma Violets, The Vaccines and Yuck, ‘Soft Decay’ is the kind of infectious, disaffected anthem you thought bands had stopped writing since the nineties/
Okay, not gonna lie. It was the album cover that first attracted me to ‘Spiderland’, by Slint. But okay, hey! Music-lovers alike will be familiar with the influence of iconic album/vinyl art. FYI, I am not implying that ‘Spiderland’ is iconic. Musically, I wouldn’t state that it is. Actually, ‘musically’ (okay, so defining this with respect to music theory) it’s fairly juvenile. Listening back to it, it’s what I would ‘classically’ (again, another over-used phrase, I know) refer to as a ‘stoner’ album; that is, in no more complex terminology, an album to get ‘stoned’ to, or hook up with someone, or fall in love to. It’s an album that can be enjoyed when you don’t really want to think too much (that is, assuming you ever want to think too much); but it’s not an album for those looking for musical complexity.
‘What do you think defines ‘Spiderland’ then?’, I hear you wonder in the depths of your subconscious (or not, as the case is more likely to be). What makes me listen to the album again? Well, the first response I would give is: the album-cover? NSS. After all, this is the first thing that got me listening to it at all. What else? Not the complexity, but it’s light-heartedness. From moments of quiet, slow melody, it blasts into unexpected (albeit simple) riffs that set my soul on fire. It’s awesome. Everytime I listen to it, I get emotional. My point? Music doesn’t haven’t to be complicated to be good. I love complicated music, but sometimes also music doesn’t need mental dissection. For that purpose, ‘Spiderland’ is well worth considering.
As always, sharing the link, where permissible.
With love from London,
Victoria
Crash Music Blog
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The second album from LA band ‘Wand’ is better experienced live (i.e. at the Old Blue Last in London, Sunday 24th May 2015). Still, well worth a good listen.
In Swedish, ‘Makthaverskan’ is translated as ‘the woman with the power’. Masters of uber-melodic, indie pop, the Gothenburg quartet have just released their second full-length album on Swedish label ‘Luxury’.
Listen here:
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CRASH 
Suicidal Tendencies (1983)
15 JunSource: http://bit.ly/1sH0MVk
‘Suicidal Tendencies’ was the debut album by American thrash band of the same name. Released in July 1983 through Frontier Records, it was a bestseller at the time. Standout tracks are: ‘Suicide’s an Alternative/You’ll Be Sorry’, ‘Suicidal Failure’ and, of course, ‘Institutionalized’ (the only single released on the album). The cover features an image of the band members (at the time, Mike Muir, Mike Ball, Carlos Egert on drums and Mike Dunnigan on bass) hanging upside down.
Listen here:
Copyright disclaimer: The editor(s) of Crash Music blog do not own rights to any images or media shared. Content is shared out of mutual admiration and not distributed for financially profitable purposes. The owners and/or license-holders can request removal at any time. Contact info here.
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