2025, week 11. 10 singles

Week 11 comes with cold and sunshine, no rain in sight. Pollen are in the air super abundantly, my eyes are watering for most of the day, but for the rest this year it's fine for a change. Musically, you will find a few familiar names but also totally new ones. It's time to explore once more, enjoy!

Praying For Your Downfall. Jensen McRae

Jensen McRae is an American singer-songwriter who taps in to female singer-songwriters from the U.S. from around 1995, with names we have all but forgotten, like Nathalie Imbruglia and Joan Osborne. Her single Praying For Your Downfall has the same kind of light touch in her music, but the lyrics are rather vindictive. Whoever she's singing about, this relationship did not end well. That makes the song from today, as the lyrics are very direct and far from subtle. "Keep whistling, as I never was your dog". There's not a lot left to imagine there, is there? Musically, the contrast is huge, as I'm not afraid to mention how light the music sounds and even Jensen McRae's way of singing. "What if God was one of us", it sounds like that alright. It makes for a pleasant single nonetheless. Album 'I Don't Know How But They Found Me!' is out on 25 April.

Again Again EP. Dana Gavanski

Last year I reviewed Dana Gavanski's third album 'Late Slap' and Erwin Zijleman her first album 'Yesterday Is Gone' in 2019. Early in 2025 she is back with an EP, Again Again. Let me start with the downside for a difference. Again Again delivers on its title. If anything, there is a lot of conformity on the EP where the choice of songs is concerned. Piano-driven songs in a slow to at best medium tempo. From there the enjoyment starts though. Dana Gavanski sings with an undercooled, somewhat dreamy voice, carried by the music mixed underneath her voice. In between pursuing life in many and very ways, somewhere between touring and silversmithing, Gavanski turned to her piano and learned to play better and started to record the songs she wrote on it with Syd Kemp to assist her finding a more live sound in the studio. Mission accomplished, I'd say. Again Again may be subdued but far from bare or lifeless. Give the songs some attention and beauty opens itself for you. In many and varied ways. One of these ways is a touch of New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, which suits this music well. With Again Again Dana Gavanski has given herself another musical avenue to explore and more options for the future.

Trouble. Voom

And yet another gem from our antipodes in Auckland. After two singles in 2024, you can find them on this blog, Voom returns with an alternative rock song, that could also be named alternative slacker rock. It has a Beck kind of 'Loser' vibe, without the dance rhythm. Buzz Moller, Murray Fisher, Nick Buckton, and Josh Sorenson released their previous record nineteen years ago and have been working on dozens of demos all through these years and now is the time to get them out to fans of old and new, like me. 'Something Good Is Happening' is slated for 16 May. In the meantime we have Trouble. A song with an irresistible groove. One of the kind that makes me nod my head and move my shoulders in this concept of a dance. The kind of groove that takes over my mind and body. Trouble sounds tremendously familiar, like a thousand other songs I like. With ease I'm grooving to number 1001.

No Front Teeth. Perfume Genius feat. Aldous Harding

No Front Teeth is a single of six plus minutes, with a video that's rather confrontational on a few levels. The song has as many twist as the video. Nothing is what it seems. From the very first seconds I'm captured though. Perfume Genius, the alter ego of Mike Hadreas, sings with a voice that reminds me faintly of Roger McGuinn. He sings with Aldous Harding, who has frequented this blog often, then she sings alone with an angelic voice, just before the song explodes in your face. The music takes you from a soft flowing brook to a the wildest cascades right over the edge of a waterfall and back in to soft flowing water but with deep dark depths beneath you. No Front Teeth is musical danger, that may be the best description. Album 'Glory' is out on 28 March.

You're Right There. NoVanGogh

I certainly am not a painter, so that makes me a no Van Gogh as well. Duo Doug Sparks and Colin Hastings are musicians and may want to be Lennon and McCartney or Fagen and Brecker or Crosby and Nash, I digest from listening to You're Right There. NoVanGogh aspires to writing and producing the perfect pop song and come a long way reaching it. Sparks wrote the song with Robin Goodchild, who plays guitar and sings. In fact, You're Right there is a duet sung with Lydia Salnikova. Somehow everything is in its right place. Nothing is overdone and just perfect. My ears are pleased from the very beginning right up to the final seconds. All the elements that make up a good pop song are present it seems. Perhaps it's better I write what used to make a good pop song, as I truly do not hear anything in what is called pop nowadays. NoVanGogh taps into the greats of the 60s and 70s and those artists and bands that used these elements for their own pop songs since then. You're Right There is a song that deserves to be heard.

Save Me. Diederik Nomden

The name Diederik Nomden can be found on this blog many times. Today he returns with the single Save Me, announcing his upcoming album 'Sooner/Later'. Now The Analogues appear to have reached the end of the road with the three final shows in the Ziggo Dome in 2024, it is time for a new solo record. Save Me shows that being able to play The Beatles songs perfectly does not exclude writing extremely good songs yourself. In fact Paul McCartney may wish he writes a song as Save Me today. I haven't hear one approaching it for decades. Save Me is full of confidence, but also so subtle. A pop song like it has to be. Fellow Analogue Jac Bico lays down some nice solo licks, a warm Hammond organ does the rest. Save Me overflows with dedication and warmth for this song. I hope that the people who came to hear Diederik Nomden sing The Beatles will come out to hear him sing Save Me as well. It would be so well deserved. Save Me is a top song.

Westside Pavillion Of Dreams. Hooveriii

Hooveriii? Wasn't that the band that played nice psychpop/rock songs? Not on the first single of it's upcoming album 'Manhunter'(16 May). Westside Pavillion Of Dreams is a very direct song, that goes for it from the get go. Sure, it still has a pop feel, especially in the vocal melody. The band is going for it and is more or less hammering away on my eardrums. In a nice way, sure, but not what I was expecting to hear. Hooveriii is the brainchild of Bert Hoover  III with an ever changing band behind him. On the new album there are many guitarists. Westside Pavillion Of Dreams is a guitar song. The drums may be sweeping things up in the background, rather loud, it is the stack of guitars playing riffs and loud chords that set the tune. Westside Pavillion Of Dreams is a clear change but certainly not for the worse. Let's wait and see what 'Manhunter' will bring.

Only You. Womb

From psych rock with an edge is a small step in the weekly single session to dreampop, just like moving from the south of the U.S.A is to New Zealand. Trio Womb releases another single of its just released third album, 'One Is Always Heading Somewhere. Only You is an extremely soft and floating song. With only a little exaggeration the way a foetus might hear music in the womb. The band, Cello, Haz and Georgette Forrester, are not afraid to tone down completely and let the atmosphere of the song do the talking. Yes, there is drums playing, a bass and guitars and all sorts of sounds going on, what strikes me most is the mood of the song, dreamy and subdued. So. I'm okay with calling Only You dreampop, but not without some relative scary moments in the dream, in the form of unexplained darker sounds in a few moments. Summing up, Only You is more than just nice.

Tuesday. Julien Baker & Torres

So far, I've refrained from writing on the duo's releases. That changes with Tuesday, the third single from the upcoming album of Torres and Julien Baker, 'Send a Prayer My Way', to be released on 18 April. With Lucy Dacus releasing her new solo album soon, two of the three boygenius members are releasing new work. But first, Tuesday. This is a country song of sorts, with a quite dark lyric. A song about a deeply disturbed girl/woman and the impact she has on the "I" in the song. The music is sort of a backdrop to the story, ending in self-mutilation of the "I". Things sort of turn out alright but there is a sense of shame that keeps hanging there, despite Tuesday's shame is not the "I"'s. Being a parent, I can't help feeling worried for someone I do not know and may not even exist in the sense of beyond this song. It's downright scary.

Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love?  Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires

I know nothing of poetry. I do not have the mind for it and can't understand it somehow. While I love reading, I can't read poetry. It can't be helped. So, when I received an email about a song based on a poem set to music, I did not warm for the concept immediately. Brian Bilston is one of currently famous poets in Great Britain. The title is to be taken literally. Bilston is asking Alexa, to answer the question "what is there to know about love"? This is answered by Alexa with an angelic singing voice. This is just the start of existential and post-existential questions, not without humor at that, Bilston fires at Alexa. Who, perhaps in confusion, resorts to just singing 'oohs'. The music though is driving and almost exhilarating, if anything I'd say belated Britpop. The Catenary Wires, Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button, have set 13 poems to music. The album 'Sounds Made By Humans' is to be released on 6 May. In the meantime I've let me be surprised by Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love?. This is actually a very good single.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

Eilen Jewell live. Q-Bus Leiden, Friday 31 May 2024

Photos Karen van de Borght

What a gift! Seeing Eilen Jewell and band play in a smaller venue with great acoustics is an immense pleasure. Singer, band and audience slowly built this interaction and mutual affection. "I am already missing you and wish I could take you along for the rest of the tour", she said at some point. In such a way that I was ready to believe her. It was the result of a relaxed and extremely pleasant show where all were ready to have a good time.

Friday 31st May was the first day of Jewell's weeks long tour through western Europe. We got to hear several songs played live in Europe for the first time. That makes the evening a little more special as well. Eilen Jewell is touring behind her 2023 album 'Get Behind The Wheel', that I have to admit had not heard and actually had missed. I heard many great songs come by and bought the album after the show.

I got to know Eilen Jewell by way of her 2017 album 'Down-hearted Blues, filled with blues covers. In facr "my" band played 'It's Your Voodoo Working' for six years because or it. Four of five members were at the show because of it. Songs come and go in bands. We don''t play it any more and so had Eilen Jewell and band as we found when we were asked for requests. They played a great version any way. And a beautiful song called 'Santa Fé'. I had not heard this one before and stood mesmerised. This song is so extremely beautiful and received a perfect rendition in the Q-Bus.

Eilen Jewell plays what I would call American roots music. One song can be more country, the other folk, the next bluesy and even rocking a little. She has a very nice voice, with supporting harmonies coming from drummer Jason Beek. She plays music that dozens if not hundreds of other female singer-songwriters present to the world. And yet, I prefer to go and see Eilen Jewell, Somehow the mix in which she presents her songs fall on fertile ground where others do not.

With Jerry Miller she has an ace guitarist who knows every guitar trick in the roots segment and plays with the a seeming ease that makes him look very cool on stage. Matt Murphy's upright bass gives the sound of the band a much fuller and warmer sound. Like she said during the show, I'm living my childhood dream: playing in a band and be able to say: "Hit it boys .... and make it smoking". The band received its moment to shine by playing 'Telstar' (if I'm not mistaken).

What I noticed during the show that more and more people around me got more and more in awe of the music coming from the stage. What I saw on the faces of people was admiration and that is the moment that an artist gains more fans because all these people will be telling about this show to friends. That was the big difference with the previous show I saw, in Patronaat in 2018. The big hall was nearly filled but some people left or started talking. This Friday it was pure enrapture. Like I already wrote, it was a privilege to have been present here. Q-Bus is a venue that comes closest to a living room show one can get. Artists like Eilen Jewell and band make sure it becomes one.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Eilen Jewell's music here:

https://eilenjewell.bandcamp.com/music

Peacemaker. Vera Sola

Vera Sola debuteerde in 2018 met een aardedonker en grotendeels onbegrepen album en keert nu terug met het net wat toegankelijkere, maar nog altijd eigenzinnige en zeer stemmige en fraaie Peacemaker.

Luister naar Peacemaker van Vera Sola, het alter ego van Danielle Aykroyd, en je hoort muziek die uit een ver verleden lijkt te komen. Dat heeft deels te maken met de bijzondere stem van de Amerikaanse muzikante, maar ook zeker met de uitbundige inkleuring van het album en met de genres die invloed hebben gehad op Peacemaker. Het tweede album van Vera Sola is nog altijd aan de donkere kant, maar is zeker niet zo aardedonker als haar debuutalbum. De vollere klanken maken de songs van Vera Sola net wat toegankelijker, maar voorzien deze songs ook van een bijzondere sfeer, die zich bij herhaalde beluistering van dit bijzonder mooie album steeds genadelozer opdringt.

Aan het eind van 2018 verscheen Shades, het debuutalbum van de Amerikaanse muzikante Vera Sola. Het is een album dat op mij onmiddellijk een onuitwisbare en diepe indruk maakte, al wist ik niet direct of ik het album nu mooi vond of niet. Shades leek af en toe weggelopen uit een heel ver verleden, liet zich beïnvloeden door zeer uiteenlopende genres en stijlen, viel op door bijzondere zang en was ook nog eens zo donker dat je er af en toe bang van werd. Ik weet inmiddels wel wat ik van Shades vind en schaar het album nu onder de mooiste en meest bijzondere albums van 2018. Alle reden dus om uit te kijken naar het nieuwe album van Vera Sola en dat album is deze week eindelijk verschenen.

Vera Sola is overigens het alter ego van Danielle Aykroyd, die in 1989 in Los Angeles werd geboren als dochter van acteur Dan Aykroyd en actrice Donna Dixon. Na een carrière als actrice en dichter, stortte ze zich in 2018 op de muziek en dat krijgt nu een vervolg met Peacemaker. Vera Sola maakte Shades voor een belangrijk deel in haar eentje, maar werkt op haar tweede album samen met co-producer Kenneth Pattengale, die flink wat muzikanten naar de studio in Nashville haalde. Peacemaker was eigenlijk al zo goed als klaar toen de coronapandemie de muziekwereld aan het begin van 2020 stil legde, wat Vera Sola de tijd gaf om nog flink te sleutelen aan de songs. Het resultaat mag er zijn, want ik vind Peacemaker nog een stuk indrukwekkender dan het prachtige Shades.

Peacemaker ligt voor een deel in het verlengde van zijn voorganger. Ook op haar tweede album kan Vera Sola uit de voeten in meerdere genres en ook dit keer lijkt haar muziek zo af en toe afkomstig uit de jaren 50 en 60. Peacemaker citeert nadrukkelijk uit de rock ’n roll uit de jaren 50 en kan ook uit de voeten met invloeden uit jazz, folk-noir en country-noir uit de jaren 50 en 60. Ook de stem van de Amerikaanse muzikante lijkt afkomstig uit een andere tijd. Het is een stem met hier en daar een vleugje Nico, maar het is ook een stem die makkelijk kan betoveren en die nog meer indruk maakt dan op het debuutalbum. Net als Shades is ook Peacemaker een vooral donker album, maar zo beangstigend donker als het debuutalbum van Vera Sola klinkt het nieuwe album niet en hier en daar is zelfs een lichtpuntje te zien.

De belangrijkste verschillen tussen beide albums hoor je in de instrumentatie en de productie. Vera Sola en Kenneth Pattengale hebben het album voorzien van een wat voller, warmer en sfeervoller geluid dan was te horen op Shades. Er wordt bijzonder knap gemusiceerd op het nieuwe album van Vera Sola, met een hoofdrol voor prachtig gitaarwerk en bijzondere percussie, en dat tilt de songs op Peacemaker een flink stuk op. Het warme en gloedvolle geluid past uitstekend bij de stem van de Amerikaanse muzikante, die je meesleept in een fascinerende luistertrip.

Het met zeer persoonlijke songs gevulde Peacemaker is hier en daar wat theatraal, maar minstens even vaak filmisch. David Lynch hoeft de beelden er alleen maar bij te verzinnen, waarbij beelden uit de nacht en rokerige nachtclubs voor de hand liggen. In muzikaal opzicht heb ik bij beluistering van Peacemaker hier en daar associaties met de muziek van Tom Waits, maar ook Leonard Cohen komt af en toe voorbij in de sfeer van de bijzondere songs op het album. Peacemaker is wat minder zwaar dan Shades, wat Vera Sola hopelijk de aandacht op gaat leveren van een breed publiek.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Peacemaker hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://verasola.bandcamp.com/album/peacemaker

2024. Week 8, 10 singles

There are quite some new names on this week's singles post. A good sign as far as I'm concerned. You will find a few familiar ones though, don't worry. Where last week contained a lot of ballads and softer songs, this week has a good mix that will keep you on your toes. Enjoy!

Love Goes Down The Drain. Canyons & Locusts

Before I had the chance to start writing, the song was already over. Well, almost. 1.45 minutes is all Canyons & Locusts needs to make its point after love went down the drain. Last week, this weekly post had nearly all softer songs in its 10 song roster. To make amends we start with the new outing of the Boston - Phoenix duo. Love Goes Down The Drain punk rocks and no little. The big and fat guitar plays as loud as it can over the drums that are pounded on relentlessly for the whole song. With all the punkrocking noise Justin Keane's voice comes as rough as the genre calls for but not without a melody that allows to singing along to in any environment. Another successful single in a short while. There is supposed to be an EP out soon, called 'The Red Angel'.

Heavy Dream Cycle EP. Otherworldly Things

Released last week, today Otherworldly Things from New York City makes its debut on this blog. Heavy Dream Cycle contains some tough rock songs that combine the best of the last decades of pop and rock. Opening with the song 'I'm Tired Of Monsters' the band makes an impression immediately. Starting with a tight, yet inventive drum intro on the back of which the whole band starts playing and plays from. Pop and rock fans will recognise a host of influences in the song, which is totally infectious in its own right. In the next song, 'No Use', things only get better. A great bass part compliments the again, supertight drumming. The guitars are more frivolous and the harmonies better. Jim Browne (guitar, lead and backing vocals, violin), Matt Revie (guitar, keyboards, glockenspiel), Jason Binnick (bass, backing vocals, keyboards, cello) and Travis Harrison (drums, percussion) know really well what they are doing here. In 'Work Out Right' the band tips its toes deeply into the well of 1960s pop music. Clearly an era Otherworldly Things really likes to listen to. The result is a strong set of originals from the NYC band, adding to what has come before. Otherworldly Things returns to the record front with the release of a very nice EP that leaves me with one complaint only, I wouldn't have minded a double dose.

I Idled. The Follies

The Follies is another band that tipped its toes into the already in the above mentioned well of 60s music. In I Idled the band combines The Beatles with The Byrds (oh, wait, that is the description of The Byrds itself, isn't it?) Added is a solid jolt of poprock from the late 70s and some 80s R.E.M. styled guitar work, and out comes I Idled. On the basis of this single, I'd say that this band is anything but a folly. Gloriously up tempo and catchy, with a lead guitar that is jumping hoops all of the time, with great, fast runs showing pure competence after years of practice. What remains to be mentioned is a punky attitude with which the whole is presented. This is far from a punkrock song, yet I'd venture that the band doesn't mind listening to the music and take from it what spices I Idled. I had never heard of The Follies before. This is the kind of introduction one needs to be wanting to hear more. With 'Permanent Present Tense' around the corner, the wait will not be long.

Burial Ground. The Decemberists (feat. James Mercer)

Only a few weeks back I wondered if I was ever going to be hearing new music by The Decemberists. Only a few days later I ran into this single. It is quite some years since I heard new music, perhaps my bad, but well pre-Covid, I'd say. The time was used to sound familiar and yet different. Colin Meloy's voice is Colin Meloy's voice. There's no changing this factor. It is in the music and melody that I discern the change. Despite the title Burial Ground has a lightness, something I do not associate with The Decemberists. There is always a sense of darkness around most of its music. This is like a 1960s The Kinks single, with Dave Davies' rawking guitar replaced by a light-sounding one. Add Beatlesleque harmony and backing vocals and a trumpet solo and the sun is shining bright over the burial ground Meloy is inviting someone to meet. What a nice return to the record front for The Decemberists.

One For The Road. Scott Clay

One for the road was the name of the bar on a ship called Mississippi Lloyd. After its last voyage, that I sailed on from Rotterdam to London in 1978, to New Orleans, where else, the sign was always in the window of my parents' home. As first officer, my father had brought it home with him. Scott Clay's is a song worthy to have been played there and sung along to. His slow countryrock ballad has two sides, the slow moving pace with the wide ranging instruments that all have a distinct place in the mix, and that dark, brooding electric guitar, that sounds like an announced thunderstorm on the horizon. It sets a mood of resignedness for the deluge coming. There's nothing that can save Scott Clay now. The warm Hammond tries to soothe him, a mandoline urges him to leave, but there's always that guitar, like the lights keeping the rabbit caught. There's only one thing left to do, to take one for the road. I have to say that I simply like the two sides contained within One For The Road.

Floating On A Moment. Beth Gibbons

I have to admit that I had almost clicked the song away for the next one on this list. The song simply did not seem to get started and in a way it does not. In another way it does. There's a wealth of little details to discover and it simply makes the song blossom. Floating On A Moment opens itself in a very baroque way. The tempo remains slow with Beth Gibbons whisper singing over it. Instruments and voices are added to what is already being opened. Any form of beats and hop elements are missing, it's the trip that is contained in Floating On A Moment. The music that is Beth Gibbons and not her former band members'. This single is like a dream come true. The kind of song that carries the listener. I am reminded of what Lou Doillon and Charlotte Gainsbourg are producing in France. That dreamy stuff and the soft singing that these modern French sigh girls use, is here in abundance. Listening to the song again, more and more little sounds and melodies spring up, as if I do not have enough ears to catch them all. This is one intriguing song.

Rice. Slomosa

With Rice by Slomosa we move into rock territory. The band shares some heavy riffing with the world but all in support of a song that has a great vocal melody. Singer Ben Berdous is not necessarily a hardrock singer. I'd even venture that he could replace Morten of Aha if necessary. He stands his ground in Rice, don't worry. Slomosa is also from Norway. Bergen to be precise and in May will release its second album. Based on this single I'd say that lovers of some good old fashioned headbanging will love the fierce riff in between the verses. Call it desert rock, stoner or even grunge, whatever you like, Slomosa rocks in all the right ways.

Punch. Jello Biafra with Motorpsycho / Patrik Fitzgerald

A curious combination on a double sided single where on one side Patrik Fitzgerald plays his song Punch and on the other Motorpsycho plays it with Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra on vocals. The Norwegian procgrockers have left the prog part at home when they entered the studio for this song. This is a rock song of quite some proportions. Motorpsycho is a trio that is always able to make itself at least twice as big than it is. Here the sound becomes huge and extremely broad. Biafra sings a little like John Lydon here and there, with a nice sneer in his voice. The combination works on Punch that much is clear. The band lets it all go and really rocks beyond the well thought out improvisations it is also capable of.

Patrick Fitzgerald's original version could not be more different. His performance is (closer to) spoken word than singing. That riff is there though. All the rest is so different. Weird sounds are all over the place and yet this is fun. The song is from the 1980s my guess is. Thank you for the introduction.

Know Your Religion. Garlands

Garlands are near veterans of this blog. With its new single, it once again manages to sound urgent in 2024 while giving a strong nod as far back as The Kinks of the 1960s. In other words, Know Your Religion has that pop feel and great harmony vocals Ray and Dave Davies were capable of at the time. (With Ray's then then wife Raisa often somewhere in the background as well.) Know Your Religion starts with a good chord progression on the guitar that caught my ear immediately and then the band comes in with a punch telling me to listen should I have wavered for a second. What Garlands is good at, is keeping its songs at lengths that were fashionable on 45s of the 1960s, catching pure pop prowess on vinyl. This song doesn't have anything that is extra. Pop, power, a catchy melody and a little bordering on psychedelia ending. A nice surprise in my Friday inbox indeed.

My Desire Is Pure. Halo Maud

Let us end this week with the single of a modern style sigh girl, who uses synths and modern beats, called My Desire Is Pure. I have no reason to doubt Halo Maud is full of the you she singing about. What is more interesting that everything around that desire is different, at times weird and fascinating. Whoever Halo Maud is, a singer with band, a band, just a singer or a dance producer?, I just do not know. What I like, is that nothing is what it seems here and the listener is challenged the whole time to accept the next weird sound, the change between French and English, the jolts of sounds that are not there to immediately please. Halo Maud is not afraid of taking a left turn a few times, without ending where it started. Is this my kind of music? No, not really, but I like it none the same. There's a little Portishead in here but not enough to not be Halo Maud. My Desire Is Pure dares to take a few risks and that pays off.

Wout de Natris

Bird Machine. Sparklehorse

Mark Linkous is dead longer than this blog is old. He shot himself in 2010 at the age of 47, leaving behind a relatively small oeuvre under the name Sparklehorse. When he released his first album under that name, 'Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot' in 1995, he was already in his 30s when recognition struck and moderate commercial success came with it. Before he died he had recorded songs with musical process manager or facilitator Steve Albini that were never finished. They were kept on the shelf until 2023.

Under the name Bird Machine the world can hear Linkous' latest recordings. What is left of the original, most likely elementary and bare, recordings I can't tell. The question what Linkous would have made of the recordings had he been able to keep his demons at bay, will never be answered.

His brother and sister-in-law took hold of the recordings and went to work with them in the spirit of Mark Linkous and as far as I'm concerned, they've done a great job. Most of the album sounds like a Sparklehorse album, with its characteristic changes between alternative rock and alternative ballads, its weird sounds, the distancing effects on his voice, a country song, who no one in Nashville will recognise as such, and what not, it's all there. What is missing are the hisses and noises of Sparklehorse's debut album, but then, was it present in the later albums? Full disclosure, it's years since I played one of them. I think I have three or four albums.

Bird Machine is a nice album and not just for nostalgic reasons. It lands just right with me. 'It Never Stops' is an ironic title in the face of my disclosure above. Fact is, I immediately got into the album because of this rocker, with the typical distortion on Linkous' voice. Estranging while rocking hard. Short and dirty sweet. 'Kind Ghosts' takes the mood down, the voice is vintage Linkous, the music as weird sounding as it is befitting. Be alert for the mood change when the acoustic guitar comes in. One instrument changes it all, while nothing else seems to change.

The third song, 'Evening Star Supercharger', is as normal as Sparklehorse comes. Without any effort it shows the fine songsmith Linkous was. This is such a sweet song. The flow is so nice, full of melancholy, of excepting things as they are and yet perfect, bittersweet pop. Had only this song been released posthumously, Sparklehorse's repertoire would have been tremendously enriched. Vinegar pissers may state that Mark Linkous would never have made the song this sweet. We'll never know, fact is the wrote and sung this melody and recorded it. The voice led the way for the the posthumous producers and this is the result. Great song.

All that comes after, another 10 songs, all vary between these three examples opening Bird Machine. Right up to the very end, I'm more than pleased with what I'm hearing. Whatever the original recordings sounded like, we'll probably have to live until the 10 to 40 year deluxe edition to find out. In the latter case chances are I never will. It's inconsequential. Bird Machine is a fine addition to Sparklehorse's oeuvre.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Bird Machine here:

https://sparklehorse.bandcamp.com/album/bird-machine

2023. Week 25, 10 singles

The white nights, midsummer's day. I tried to sleep through some for the first time in my life. Falling asleep was easy, but at some point my senses told me to get up, you've overslept. See how light it is?, feel how warm it is? Unfortunately at something like 3.30 AM. For the rest it was a great experience. I'd never been further north on the globe (excluding flying) and it was so hot. The light so incredibly bright! No time for music though, except playing it myself for half an hour, unrehearsed but great fun. Back home, I listened to some new singles for you and my own amusement, so, enjoy, starting with a song with a befitting title.

Endless Night. Clementine Valentine

More from New Zealand, although the sisters Nixon, who were formally working under the name Purple Pilgrims, descend from a family of travelling musicians. Endless Night does not give a clue to that, as the song is a top heavy production with close to a whole orchestra playing for the sisters. It results in a song as if a deep dream, Wearing heavy on the sleeper, while certainly pleasant and in parts even soothing. With a prominent drums Endless Nights certainly can still be categorised as a form of rock music, not unlike Kate Bush was capable of over 40 years ago. Listen close enough and you'll discover more instruments associated with pop and rock. It is the more classical ones that run off with the trophy here. In front of everything else it is the voice of Clementine and Valentine Nixon that steal the centre spot, as they should. In the finale the orchestra runs off, with the sisters singing oohs and aahs over it. Impressive without overdoing it is the conclusion.

Tears To Share. Black Mirrors

A ballad from the album 'Tomorrow Will Be Without Us', released in November 2022. So long ago, I do not mind drawing some attention to it. Also because Tears To Share is a nice song. 20 something years ago, this could have been an Anouk song. Singer Marcella di Troia really goes for it and has just a little more depth in her voice, making her sound just this little more convincing. Tears To Share is that kind of rock ballad that truly offers the best of both worlds. There's no sticky goo in sight, not near, not far. Black Mirrors is obviously ready to rock at any minute, and does. The chorus goes off and so does the song. In the verse the drums and bass make sure that the song rocks, all the time. What happens next, is that singer Marcella can take the song over fully, completely, until near the end guitarist Pierre Lateur, captures the song and plays it home with a fiery solo, like they used to do in the old days. No matter what happens after, the point has been made.

Sorry. THE MYSTICAL HOT CHOCOLATE ENDEAVORS

What's in a name? I'm not certain in this case. It sounds terribly over-ambitions if not a bit ridiculous. The music does not match it though, the latter that is. Musically, Sorry is very ambitious. Not much is left to chance. THE MYSTICAL HOT CHOCOLATE ENDEAVORS is a band from San Francisco around singer-guitarist Craig Harley Schmuhl, whose soft voice is mixed up front and takes centre stage. Sorry is a progrock style song, so, takes seven minutes plus and has a few faces. The soft face opens the song, the rock part takes over making the song explode. The sound becomes huge, not unlike the Norwegian progrockers Soup are capable of as well (and many other bands of course). The two sides of Sorry make the song interesting to listen to and curious about the album 'A Clock Without A Craftsman', to be released on 11 August.

Need For Love. Achings

Chance meetings can result in beautiful things. Singer-songwriter Rebecca Joy had gone on maternity leave, now five years ago and overheard, by chance, a guitar track of Justin Myer. She almost on the spot wrote the melody and lyrics to it and the rest is history like they say. Fast forward to 2023 and Achings is about to release its debut album, 'All These Days', in mid July. The duo combines the dreamy vocals of Rebecca Joy, who could be the singer of Amsterdam band Loupe, and the rocking style of playing of Justin Myer. It results in a song in which the two sides are battling it out as it were. Pushing each other to greater heights. Both not giving in but stepping aside when the song calls for it, until Myer can't restrain himself and goes for the huge finale with guitars like resounding thunder and crackling lighting play the song home.

Light The Fuse. Simpleton

Alert! A real debut single on the blog. The poppy rocking Light The Fuse makes it to this blog, more because of the enthusiasm of the song than because of its originality. Produced by Stijn van Rijsbergen, it is not a big surprise that the name Lucas Hamming (of  several years ago) surfaces. Light The Fuse has that same sort of bubbly pop that Hamming played on his debut album. Simpleton, a project of Chris Berendsen, will release several singles in the coming months leading up to a debut EP. With Light The Fuse the start is promising. The song has a nice signature riff and the energy a good pop-rock song needs. At the same time the chorus is memorable and fine to sing along to. What more can one want from a debut single? Not a lot.

Bananas. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

Yes, I have several albums by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy but how old the last one I own is, I can't tell. The newest may well be the two duo singles with broeder Dieleman. So, Bananas may be the first song in a decade I'm hearing by Will Oldham, as he hides behind the Bonnie moniker. The song sounds immediately recognisable. A slow ballad, an acoustic guitar, Oldham's typical voice and a female vocal accompanying him, as a Nancy to a Lee. Without paying due respect, it is easy to state that many of Oldham's song are interchangeable. In paying it, the difference is in how good an individual song is. And Bananas is just that. Why? What makes that difference? I simply can't tell you. It's good, while sounding totally familiar. Not more than a few simple chords are used and yet, it has it all. You will have to find out for yourself, as this is all I can make of it. Bananas is a very nice song in the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy style with a befitting ending.

Electric Jihad. Dictator Ship

Swedish rockers Dictator Ship releases its first single of the upcoming, same-titled album. The song has this nice forward moving rhythm. Like a steam train that simply keeps chugging, with a guitar solo like the steam flute announcing the train's approach for all wanting to cross the track. Yes, I have heard better songs in the past decades in this genre but there's no denying the fun and enthusiasm going into this single. The band released its first album in 2020, so in a way 'Electic Jihad' is the band's real start, as in 2020 the world stopped in its tracks and so will have Dictator Ship. The band didn't fall apart in utter misery from the forced inertia. All the energy went into a song like Electric Jihad instead. There's absolutely no holding back here. The extra time available may even have led to the fun interludes, there was time enough to experiment.

Is This Love? feat. Alex Kapranos. Pip Blom

I first heard of Pip Blom and heard Pip Blom when they played a support for Franz Ferdinand in Groningen, a birthday present. Pip Blom did not have a record contract yet, I think, and FraFer was touring after 'Always Ascending', its last studio album to date. The circle is round with the release of this single, announcing the third album of Pip Blom. FraFer singer Alex Kapranos sings with Pip Blom and directed the accompanying video. Is This Love? is a nice song, no doubt there, yet it is also a Franz Ferdinand light. The rhythm and melody is all Franz Ferdinand without having the power of that band. So it does make me think why? As an entree it should certainly work but a Dutch band being announced in the newsletter of a New Zealand record shop (and label), that was a first to me, so Pip Blom may not need an entree like this any more. Taking the song at face value, it's fun and that can be enough.

Haunted Mountain. Buck Meek

Buck Meek is a member of the biggest, sort of underground band there is today, Big Thief,  but plays second guitar, after Adrien Lenker. Apparently he has already released several solo records. I'm catching up with this single called Haunted Mountain. In the substack of music called country rock the single does extremely well. If anything there's life in the genre yet. The song does not bring you anything new, you've heard it all before and yet it is totally irresistible. Buck Meek builds up the song slowly but surely moving ever more from country towards rock by adding instruments or making them more prominent. All in all it's a fairly big band that is playing in the video. It also true that I've heard better singers in my life but also here Buck Meek's voice fits the song like a glove. A little tear here and there adds to the atmosphere, underscored by the pedal steel guitar. Come to think if it, this is a song The Rolling Stones could have recorded in their finest days and perhaps ought to cover in 2023. Now that's a thought.

Begin Again. The Mysterines

I have no idea how I ran into The Mysterines but I'm glad I did. Begin Again is great alternative rock song that actually speaks volumes through its mix of directness and mystery. The former through the tight drums and the elementary way the bass kicks in. The latter in the way singer Lia Metcalfe's voice was recorded. It's as if she's somehow in another room yet very present. Listening to Begin Again I am catapulted back a long time ago when alternative rock songs like this were something new. Don't dismiss Begin Again as retro. For that The Mysterines play far too direct. The song is totally in my face from the very start. The acoustic guitar may seem like a falls start, in fact it's the right stepping stone. Again, listen to the way that bass enters to then take off and recede again. The band already has an album out, 'Reeling'. Whether Begin Again is on it, I don't know and too lazy to look it up. The weekend is about to start. Great song and I love the energy in it.

Wout de Natris

 

Everything Grows. Nagasaki Swim

There are albums that make an immediate impression. There are albums that take their time to grow and there are albums that never do anything (and ones that are really not for me). Nagasaki Swim's second album is in the second category, but still not 100% certain. Everything Grows can go by without leaving a single impression if played soft, while doing something else. In that case there's nothing much that captures attention, demanding it as it were. Play louder, give it the time of day and details start coming forward that draw me into the songs.

Nagasaki Swim is a band that was drawing attention over the year, without having a new album out. The name kept popping up, but as you can guess the individual songs did not stick with me. Everything Grows amends this. The music can be categorised in the alt.country segment of music. The darker niche of that segment at that. Jasper Boogaart is not the kind of musician shouting his joy from the mountain tops. More the opposite, whispering his misery or simply every day life occurrences in the microphone. In this I hear a strong resemblance with TMGS and the band's singer Peter Lodiers. The two bands could definitely do a tour together.

By turning the album up, the details start coming forward. Some nice horns in some of the songs, e.g. Not the mariachi inspired ones of TMGS but again, the resemblance is there. The strings giving an extra layer to 'Sleep'. Details that easily remain hidden but jump out with more volume. 'Sleep' is even an upbeat song, in its sort. Nagasaki Swim turns up the tempo and the nice additions do the rest.

Everything Grows isn't the band's first, that was 'The Mirror', 2021. An album I totally missed or did not have the time to pay enough attention to. I can't tell you anymore. Everything Grows seemed to become the band's "difficult second" until Boogaard let things sort of go and depend on chance. This worked as by chance nice things started to happen and (elements of) songs fall(ing) into their place.

It all resorts in a warm album that pleases no little. Take a song like 'The Weight (part 2)'. Again, the strings pop up, the backing vocals in the, yes, background. The band that is very present. All together they lift the album as a whole up considerably. Nagasaki Swim scores the jackpot here.

With 'Wait' a modern classical piano piece is presented with some birds in the background from the Yellowstone National Park website. The composition can go straight into Kairos, the Concertzender radio programme. The theme is related to 'The Weight (part 2)', the song totally unrelated to the rest of the album, but obviously works in this context.

Getting into the mood of the album more and more the mood moves from misery to dreamy. Listening more closely changes the mood for me. That is a feat, as far as I can recall, that never happened before. It is deeper level than changing an opinion on an album. The album itself changed with my sentiment.

Concluding, yes, I am glad I put in the effort and truly started listening to Everything Grows. The album deserves it and is another of the nice releases so far into 2023. It is a rich year already.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Everything Grows here:

https://nagasakiswim.bandcamp.com/album/everything-grows

The Restless. Karen Jonas

With The Restless Karen Jonas sets a new standard. This line sort of says it all.

Go back to the very start of this blog and you will find duo The Parlor Soldiers' 'When The Dust Settles' as the first reviewed album all the way back in February 2012. Sort of a coincidence of course but also a conscious choice as the album, despite being just outside of my musical comfort zone, made a huge impression on me. Ever since then Karen Jonas featured on this blog. With The Restless it's no different.

The Fredricksburg, Virginia based singer never was afraid to explore the edges of her music of choice, which is best described as country. On The Restless however the elastic bands are not stretched, they are severed. Don't worry, there's more than enough sounding familiar, there's also a lot more.

Guitarist Tim Bray explores even more styles of soloing and graduates on every course followed with flying colours. His warm style of playing makes The Restless shine even more while serving Karen Jonas in a way that should make her (and him) a star. This comment is just the beginning of describing the warm sound of The Restless. For example, there is a great piano. Listen how the instrument blends and meanders all through that beautiful ballad and single 'Lay Me Down'. Or, the warm Hammond in 'Elegantly Wasted', one of the more traditional songs on the album. In 'That's Not My Dream Couch' a gypsy kind of song enters Karen Jonas' universe, reminding me of Vaya Con Dios' 'Nah-Neh-Nah'. Again I'm amazed by what Tim Bray presents me with. The dobro in 'Throw Me To The Wolves' makes a song sound totally different once again. Keys and dobro played by Jay Sterling.

This brings me back to the ease with which Karen Jonas is singing. She sounds so relaxed, more rested than restless. This reflects on the mood of The Restless, which often is laidback and concentrated on playing beautiful songs. Love is in the air, to quote John Paul Young, going by some of the lyrics. 'Forever' perhaps is the best example of this mood. "I'll love you always", is the best line one can share with a partner and Karen presents it to hers for all to hear.

The first single of The Restless is what really is a change in style. 'Rock The Boat' came by in the single overview of a couple of months ago, but is special enough to mention again. Dark, pregnant with doom and played in a great way. A slide guitar putting in the eerie element, the 1930s mike effect a ghostly atmosphere. What is going on here?, is the question everyone would ask himself confronted with this mood in real life. Karen Jonas lets us escape with 'Drunken Dreamer'.

Ten years into her solo career Karen Jonas has reached another high. The Restless is one of the best records I've ever heard in this genre. She plays with the format and steps outside of it just as easily. On her new album her songs are of a consistently high level and then some. Even from this elevated position she manages peaks that are extraordinary, in her (jazzy) ballads, 'We could Be Lovers', to the already mentioned 'Lay Me Down' and 'Rock The Boat', not to forget the two opening songs 'Paris Breeze' and 'The Breakdown'. As I already wrote, "With The Restless Karen Jonas sets a new standard. This line sort of says it all".

Wout de Natris

 

You can listen to and order The Restless here:

https://karenjonasmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-restless

2023 week 8, 10 singles

February's nearly over. Only a few weeks left till the start of spring. I have felt the first warm sun on my coat already about a week ago! and not because one of these songs makes the sun come out, as you will read. Time to present a few more of this winter's released singles. All relatively unknown names, which gives you all the opportunity to discover new music, although one single is 20 years old. Enjoy.

State O' Maine. Continental

Rock and roll!!! With State O' Maine Continental combines the best of the Stones around 'Exile On Main Street' or more modern Primal Scream's rendition of said album, 'Give Out But Don't Give Up', with some good old punkrock attitude. Front man Rick Barton rocked with Dropkick Murphies in his day as its founding guitarist. (To my surprise that band played the largest indoor venue of NL recently.) This single is dirty rock and roll to the max. Everything is kept so simple, i.e. deceptively simple, as it all fits so well together. "I'm so glad that you have gone" is the conclusion in the lyrics. Well, I'm glad Continental has kept on rocking and is releasing its album 'Hello' on Rum Bar Records soon. If it's as exciting as State O' Maine it's best to fasten our seatbelts and ride, ride, ride as fast as we can. Great single!

Tell That Girl To Shut Up. Tina and the Total Babes

20 Year anniversaries or less or more years. There's always a reason to formally re-release a record. She's So Tuff by Tina and the Total Babes get a 20 year one. A band I have never heard of before. In 2003 it never reached me. Surprising is, that the band's line up on this song has two names that have been on these pages quite recently, Miss Georgia Peach and Travis Ramin, while Holly Beth Vincent wrote this song and also released work on Rum Bar recently. Tell That Girl To Shut Up is 'She's So Tuff's single and is of the powerpop variety. The better Blondie singles and other female (fronted) bands from around 1980 come to mind but also the big powerpop bands of the late 70s. I just love the enthusiasm jumping out of my speakers. I don't know the girl in question but one can only agree on the basis of the song and in the meantime hope she never does. Who is going to sing this song for us then? I'm afraid that the lyrics are going to be censored by the Roald Dahl sensitivity society. They will turn it into something less offensive. (Would this work for music?) Let us in the meantime enjoy it for what it is: a great single.

Phil Ochs Is Dead. The No Ones

The No Ones had me there. With a title and band name like this I had braced myself for the loudest punk imaginable. Instead this extremely pleasant 60s tinged psychedelic pop song pops out of my speakers. An R.E.M. like lead guitar, double vocals and this lovely music spanning a few decades in the best The Byrds / McGuinn, Clark, Hillman tradition. Add a 60s organ and you're there. The No Ones is a new name to me. Guitarist and co-composer Peter Buck and co-band member Scott McCaughey are not. The combination with Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen and Frode Stromstad, unknown names to me, works really well. Phil Ochs Is Dead (and for quite some time, 1976) is an extremely pleasant song, pleasing my ears and mind. Nostalgia kicks in but not just that. It is a good song in its own right.

Angels' Share - Devil May Care. ATEM

After the utterly brilliant album 'Concrete Americana', see my list for 2022 to see how brilliant, ATEM returns with a double a-side single. Disrespectfully, expect more of the same. Respectfully listen to how Jan Korbach uses his acoustic guitar to recreate a genre from the past that has gone totally out of style and yet feels so fresh thanks to his approach. Korbach took the country out of (spaghetti) western movies soundtracks and breaths life into the genre. I will repeat again, everyone needing a replacement for Ennio Morricone should start looking here. Angel's Share and Devil May Care, two short, filmic, compositions are filled with atmosphere, conjuring up images of a huge desert with a small dust cloud, somewhere at the edge of the screen. The stagecoach with the protagonists or the first victims on route to their doom, one way or another. slowly comes into view. This single holds it all. Quentin Tarantino are you paying attention: ATEM!?

Broken Arrow. Pyramaze

Time for some rock. Danish band Pyramaze brings alive the 80s classic rock bands and adds a power layer to its music, creating a modern version of Europe and Whitesnake at the same time. The drums are all over this song. The double bass is in full use giving Broken Arrow a huge bottom end to fall back on. The rhythm guitar is in full metal mood, deep and dark, assisting the drum to create a thick carpet, the sound bounces off on. The keyboards, synths and piano, are the lead instruments. The solo notes can come from either. In the video there's no bass player. I think there is one in the song, but that could be a synth as well. It would be unique, a power rock-metal band without a bass player. The singer has all this genre needs. Is it enough for a song to rock in a great way? Sometimes it is, screaming singer and all.

Sands Of Gold. Craneium

Sands Of Gold, who wouldn't what to find some, is a dark rock single that explores the edges of rock music by adding some desert and space rock elements. Things that are hard to find in the band's home country Finland. Imagination guides people a long way beyond their daily lives and environments. Craneium has a lot of it. With Sands Of Gold it manages to entertain with ease. The song has a dark sound overall, a thick sound as well, like a supernova in the making, making it harder and harder to escape from. The guitar solo's have a tough job to truly stand out in this sound, besides being great and lifting the song one step up with each guitar. Fans of this dark style rock music better pay attention as Sands Of Gold is a stand alone single.

Lay Down. Bird's View

The song title Lay Down has been taken since 1970 by Melanie (Safka). Her number 1 single with the Edwin Hawkins Singers is one of the great singles of the decade. Young Germans Bird's View can be excused. Perhaps their parents were not even born at the time. With the new single, the band appears for the second time on these pages. Working towards the release of 'Red Light Habits', slated for 19 May, Bird's View delivers a nice visiting card with Lay Down. Easy to sing along to and to move our heads rhythmically back and forth. In the singing it matches Melanie's hit. The number one position will probably remain an illusion, unless the band manages to a Maniskin of some sort. Niko Huber has that edge to his voice making him a very convincing for a rock singer and the band profits from it. Behind him is a solid band that manages to combine power with melody. Lay Down works.

246 Tooothpicks. After Elmer

From the skyline to the harbour, After Elmer shows in its video's what it is all about in Rotterdam. The new clip was recorded right between hundreds of containers in one of the terminals. The new single 246 Toothpicks is a loud and tight affair. The young band shows to have learned from the best. This is not just punk music. The deep bottom end shows a love for metal as well. The mix delivers a song with the seriousness and toughness of metal or emo if you like and the pop element the best punkrock songs hold in them. The Ramones started out with speeding up the hits of the early to mid 60s and then started to write their own, is my guess. After Elmer has this part totally down and successfully brings with it a legacy of decades to its own new single that is chock-full of the right kind of energy to get noticed. 246 Toothpicks is a lot to pick up when spilled onto the floor. Within this song it's all clear, let's play it again.

Raven's Nest. Luka

Time for some modern pop music. Luka is releasing a new single on route to her next record. 'Director In The Dark' is an EP to be released on 7 April. Her debut album 'First Steps Of Letting Go', made these pages in 2020, showing that her kind of pop made enough of an impression on me. This is not a given, as most pop of the 20s goes into the one ear and straight out the other. With Raven's Nest Lisa Lukaszczyk and her producer and co-composer Wannes Salome go for atmosphere and almost a minimal layer of music. Electronic beats drive the song. The synth bass is the backbone of the melody. Singer Luka is the principal driver of melody in the song. The combination makes Raven's Nest a mysterious and intriguing song. What is going on here? The ghost like background vocals moving in and out of the mix. Raven's Nest is a song that achieves a maximum effect with a minimum of effects.

Started Something. Jody and the Jerms

Oh, sweet pop music. Jody and The Jerms know where Abraham got his mustard alright. There's nothing new in this song. It has all been done before, except for the way the chord progression is played and the melody filled in in Started Something. The result is a song anyone with a love for the better female fronted pop bands of the past should want to hear. Bands that, no doubt, Jody Jeger was a fan of herself at the time. Starting with an effective piano riff, the band takes us into soft rock songs territory. Started Something has a strong drive and rhythm, setting it apart from regular pop rock songs. Jody Jeger's voice has that girl like innocence coming with the territory, belying her age. Without sunshine in the song itself, Started Something magically makes the sun come out. It's that kind of song.

Wout de Natris