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Reddit was my first stop to find new music. Lemmy can easily do the same. Drop your favorite hidden tracks here - don’t keep those secrets!

Ratboys have shared the title track from their forthcoming album, The Window, out August 25th on Topshelf Records. Listen to it below.

While the previous single “It’s Alive!” was a bit of a sad track, “The Window” is a love song that starts with acoustic tenderness before building into a Midwest indie rock romance. Through its lyrics, the band appears to use a window as a metaphor for finding what your heart needs. “I saw you through the window,” Julia Steiner sings, “We locked eyes and the window/ Was open, felt the wind blow/ I saw you through it.”

The accompanying music video depicts the lyrics perfectly, with vignettes of young adoration in grassy meadows, fairs, and festivals through a hazy, washed-out filter. Watch the John TerEick-directed clip below.

Ratboys are headed on a supporting tour starting this August, kicking off in their hometown of Chicago. Check out the list of dates here, and find tickets over at StubHub.

Pre-orders for The Window are ongoing. It also features “Black Earth, WI,” one of the best songs of 2023 to date, and follows Ratboys’ 2021 album Happy Birthday, Ratboy.

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What new releases are you guys most excited about? I'll start with a handful of new albums I plan to check out.

Grian Chatten - Chaos for the Fly

Joanna Sternberg - I've Got Me

Angelo de Augustine - Toil and Trouble

brdmm - I Don't Know

The Japanese House - In the End It Always Does

Brigid Mae Power - Dream From The Deep Well

Divide and Dissolve - Systemic

Mike Krol and Mac McCaughan Join Forces as Mac Krol, Share New Song “For Some Other Reason” By Kat Ramkumar

Mike Krol and Mac McCaughan Join Forces as Mac Krol, Share New Song “For Some Other Reason” Seven-Inch Record “For Some Other Reason” b/w “Fair Warning” and “What Would You Say?” Due Out July 28 via Merge

Jun 29, 2023 Photography by Kelly Kettering Bookmark and Share

Mike Krol and Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan have joined forces as Mac Krol and shared a new song, “For Some Other Reason.” It is the A-side to new seven-inch single due out July 28 via Merge. The 7-inch will also feature the songs “Fair Warning” and “What Would You Say?”

The collaboration began in 2015 when Krol and his bandmates had a recording session at San Francisco’s Tiny Telephone after recording Turkey. Their end product was “a handful of riffs and ideas.”

Krol says in a press release: “The plan was to take the rough mixes home and write lyrics to record them later. However, once I got home and listened to the songs, I quickly realized that most of them were in the wrong key for my voice. So I filed them away to deal with later, and eventually lost interest.” After unearthing the recordings during the pandemic, Krol emailed them over to McCaughan. “To my surprise,” he says, “they sounded better than I remembered, but still didn’t work with my voice. I emailed Mac the tracks and said if he was bored in quarantine, maybe he could write some words to sing on top of my instrumentals and possibly give them a second life. He said he hated writing lyrics and politely declined. A few days later, three songs showed up with completed lyrics and iconic Mac McCaughan singing and shredding all over them. I was blown away!”

“Without Mac,” Krol says, “these songs would still be discarded instrumentals, so I’m very thankful that he brought them across the finish line so they can finally be heard!”

Krol’s last album was 2019’s Power Chords. Check out our review of it on our website.

McCaughan is about to embark on a tour with Superchunk. Check out the dates below.

Superchunk Tour Dates:

Jul 08 Chicago, IL – Square Roots Festival Jul 09 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall Sep 08 Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall* Sep 09 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar* Sep 10 Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall* Sep 12 South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground* Sep 13 Portland, ME – SPACE Gallery* Sep 14 Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom* Sep 15 Woodstock, NY – Colony* Sep 16 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom* Oct 11 Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle Oct 12 Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre Oct 14 Durham, NC – That Music Fest Nov 02 Berlin, DE – Lido Nov 03 Bielefeld, DE – Forum Nov 04 Schorndorf, DE – Manufaktur Nov 05 Bologna, IT – Improved Sequence Fest Nov 06 Zurich, CH – El Lokal Nov 09 London, UK – Bush Hall Nov 10 Bristol, UK – Strange Brew Nov 11 Leeds, UK – The Brudenell Social Club Nov 12 Manchester, UK – Night & Day Nov 13 Brighton, UK – Concorde 2 Nov 15 Haarlem, NL – Patronaat

*w/ Cable Ties

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In September, Speedy Ortiz are set to release a new album, Rabbit Rabbit, their first proper full-length since 2018’s Twerp Verse. We’ve heard early singles “Scabs” and “You S02.” Today, Speedy are sharing another album track called “Plus One.” It comes with a video directed by Dylan Mars Greenberg.

Here’s Sadie Dupuis on “Plus One”:

I love touring, but the workaholism it encourages has been a convenient way to repress my feelings. In the pandemic, I found myself ruminating on my estrangement from an abusive family member. I’ve used my songwriting to process other experiences of violence, but had not broached these memories until Rabbit Rabbit. Being able to work on old trauma in therapy and in my writing has helped my boundaries elsewhere, and taught me to move on from exploitative relationships.

That’s what “Plus One” is about, and it came out pretty quickly as a sad acoustic waltz. I was sitting on the floor of an empty living room, mid-move, and the bare surroundings added a liminal starkness, though some of the imagery is inspired by scenes from West Philly that summer. When I went back to do pre-production, Texan post-hardcore was in my head, so I tried to channel At the Drive-In and Trail of Dead, bands that inspired me as a teen.

We made the video with director Dylan Mars Greenberg, whose campiness and B-movie expertise was a perfect fit for the band’s also very campy videography. We’ve done a ton of horror homages but had never paid tribute to an old school monster movie. Dylan’s pet bunny Voodoo was a perfect Godzilla-sized star—a cuddly rabbit who’s mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

Listen and watch below.

Jenny Owen Youngs has kept busy over the past decade: She became a popular podcast host, she co-wrote some big pop songs, she was part of a band called L.A. Exes, and she’s put out some material of her own along the way, including an EP and, just this past spring, an ambient album.

But today she’s announcing her first full-length album since 2012’s An Unwavering Band Of Light. It’s called Avalanche and it’ll be out in September. It was produced by Josh Kaufman and features contributions from S. Carey, the Antlers’ Peter Silberman, Christian Lee Hutson, and the Walkmen’s Matt Barrick. Today, she’s sharing the album’s title track, which was co-written with Madi Diaz.

“An avalanche is an extreme force, it can cause great harm, and when it’s over, you can be certain things will be different than they were before,” Youngs said in a statement. “When it came time to name the album, this song leapt forward as the title track, because the unifying theme of this body of songs, to me, is the idea of moving from destruction to restoration, traveling through pain to possibility.”

Listen below, and check out a live performance video with Silberman.

TRACKLIST: 01 “Avalanche” 02 “Knife Went In” 03 “Goldenrod” 04 “Everglades” 05 “Bury Me Slowly” 06 “Next Time Around” 07 “It’s Later Than You Think” 08 “Salt” 09 “Set It On Fire” 10 “Now Comes The Mystery”

Avalanche is out 9/22 via Yep Roc Records.

Art Feynman, the moniker of Here We Go Magic frontman Luke Temple, has announced the release of his new album, Be Good The Crazy Boys, and shared its lead single, “All I Can Do.” Be Good The Crazy Boys is due out November 10 via Western Vinyl. Listen to the new song below followed by the upcoming album’s tracklist and cover artwork.

Feynman branches out with Be Good The Crazy Boys, experimenting with shimmering synths and vivid sonic landscapes. Of “All I Can Do,” he says in a press release: “It’s kind of about the butterfly effect we have on our own lives. What seems like a mistake in the past or present may inform some kind of success in the future. We are moved through life by much more than we are consciously aware of and most often only through making the mistake and suffering the consequence can the unconscious become conscious. Hence hindsight is always 20/20.”

The first two Feynman records were crafted in a rural part of Northern California, but Temple relocated to LA with a live in-studio full band to make Be Good The Crazy Boys. He drew inspiration from records such as Grace Jones’ Private Life, Lizzy Mercier Descolux’s Mambo Nassau, and Talking Heads’ Remain in Light.

“To me,” Temple says, “there was a lot of energy that needed to be released as the result of living in isolation for six years. It also seems to speak to a general anxiety we’re all holding, but it’s expressed in a cathartic way.”

In 2020, Temple shared his second studio album as Art Feynman titled, Half Price at 3:30.

Read our COVID-19 Quarantine Check-In interview with Temple.

Be Good The Crazy Boys Tracklist:

1. Early Signs of Rhythm
2. In CD
3. Therapy at 3pm
4. All I Can Do
5. He Dances Light
6. PASSED OVER
7. Chasing My Life
8. Desperately Free
9. I Do

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Over the course of nearly eight minutes, Mars Rodriguez leads you by the whisps of her ethereal voice on a transcendent voyage into the depths of her enigmatic and ferociously anthemic music.

June 26, 2023

mars rodriguez

Courtesy of Mars Rodriguez

Mars Rodriguez has shared a new single and video with the release of “Walk Through This,” a dizzyingly gripping sprawl of potent electro-punk. The project is the brainchild of Nicaraguan-American Maria Alejandra Rodriguez Serrano, a DIY producer, visual artist, and a one-person band who excels at creating long-form and immersive soundscapes. Not to mention the hypnotically mind-bending videos that they end up soundtracking. It’s also the second song she has unveiled this year as she gears up for the arrival of their upcoming record Mañana Nobody Knows. Ad

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With its unbridled sonics “Walk Through This” functions as a frayed portal into a whole new dimension of ecstatic sound. Over the course of nearly eight minutes, Mars Rodriguez leads you by the wisps of her ethereal voice on a transcendent voyage into the depths of her enigmatic and ferociously anthemic music. One that is at first defined by the raging tumult of industrial electronica and volcanic riffs.

“We keep rising to overcome,” Rodriguez howls defiantly through the virulent crashes. “We keep dancing to the drums / Melting in the sun.” As the chorus erupts one final time the track starts to morph into a pyroclastic flow of irresistibly searing drum and bass that briefly warps itself into this strident electronica. Ad

The video for “Walk Through This” was created by Rodriguez as well and offers some truly eerie but enthralling visuals to go along with the experimental track. Flashing between glitchy transmissions of a close-up shot of an eyeball projected onto a television set, a group of ghostly figures, and a vibrantly haunting sunset.

Rodriguez has been releasing music since 2018 under her solo project, bringing together elements of electronic music, noise pop, and post-punk in the music that she writes, records, engineers, and produces herself. If you enjoyed her latest offering you need should absolutely plunge into the spellbinding universes of previous singles “Todo Tiempo Futuro fue Mejor” and “FrenesÍ.” artist to watch in 2023

Visit Mars Rodriguez on their Bandcamp and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/652492

Here’s our latest-greatest — Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 263) — a mix of what’s been rattling around in our heads here at Buzz Bands LA. Included arefresh tracks from Cold War Kids, Donna Missal, Allah-Las, Broken Baby, Dani Mack, Isaac Watters, Gal Pal, the Record Company, Trousdale, Velvet Starlings, Jess Kallen, Junior Mesa, Sofia Wolfson, HUNNY, Windser and more, all arranged to bring you in for a most interesting landing for Jonathan Wilson’s jam at the end.

Get started here, find info on the tracks/artists below the player and find our past playlists on our Spotify profile.

Dani Mack, “Everyone’s Watching” Allah-Las, “The Stuff” Sofia Wolfson, “From Up Here” The Holy Knives, “Keep on Lyin’” Broken Baby, “Beautiful Voices” The Record Company, “Talk to Me” Trousdale, “Point Your Finger” Windser, “Get Lost” Isaac Watters, “Coconut in the Street” Jess Kallen, “Exotherm” Octavio F.G., “Keep on Drivin” Kath Myers, “Come Through” Gal Pal, “Pleasures” HaHa, “Only Gets Better” Boyish, “Kill Your Pain” (with King Princess) Current Joys, “LOVE + POP” (feat. Your Angel) Donna Missal, “Move Me” Junior Mesa, “Can I Trust You” Cold War Kids, “Double Life” M.A.G.S., “Destroyer” Velvet Starlings, “Bullfight” The Dollyrots, “Missing You (I Can’t Wait)” HUNNY, “Big Star” Sneakpeek, “Game Face” PRETTY., “Hillside” Tessa Violet, “My God!” Fellow Robot, “Rabbit” Jonathan Wilson, “Charlie Parker”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/617750

TOMI, “If You Tried” Cary Brothers, “Back to the Start” Dani Mack, “Everybody’s Watching” Allah-Las, “The Stuff” Broken Baby, “Beautiful Voices” The Record Company, “Talk to Me” Trousdale, “Point Your Finger” Yoke Lore, “Shake” The Pretty Flowers, “Hit Nothing” M.A.G.S., “Destroyer” Irontom, “Common Chaos” Windser, “Get Lost” Bethany Cosentino, “Easy” Jerry Paper, “Just Say Play” Blondfire, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”

The second single from London-based duo Quenta, “The Two of Us” grips with a heady hip-hop and art-pop fusion, reminiscent of Demon Days-era Gorillaz. Described as “a journey into the realms of relationships, lovers or friends,” “The Two of Us” meshes hip-hop rhythms with dark brass components. The vocals emit a range of charisma and personality, practically laughing with menacing appeal upon the “it’s just the two of us,” beginnings.

An ominous swell past the one-minute mark excels into a bouncier piano-forward pull, as a mellower vocal disposition emerges alongside. The rise from hip-hop mystique into smooth-flowing pop and “game over!” vocal snippet makes for a compelling sound, reflecting the project’s eclectic and creatively melodic sound — even if it’s at time unsettling. “The Two of Us” is a creative success from Quenta.

Quenta also has an upcoming full-length on the way.

Last year, Los Angeles-based indie singer/songwriter Tanner Houghton debuted his solo moniker Oh Bummer! with a new EP, Losing Sunlight. That debut found Houghton fusing his laid-back, indie slacker aesthetic with trip-hop-inspired beats from producer The KickDrums, crafting a woozy and charming style of indie pop with an insular frame. Houghton describes his sound as “songs that are a conglomeration of my manic ADHD thoughts - the diary of an overthinker.”

Later this year, Houghton is set to share his forthcoming sophomore EP. He has already teased the record with its lead single, “Talk About It All The Time,” and today he’s back with an early listen to another new track, “Listen Up,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Listen Up” is another of Houghton’s breezy genre fusions, pulling together a sunny guitar line, mellow beat, and insistent hook. Samples from vintage TV shows color the margins of the track while Houghton’s expressive vocal delivery adds some melancholic shades, contrasting his easygoing style with introspective lyricism. Houghton explains of the song, “‘Listen Up’ is an empathetic take on what I know about my late father. He was taken by brain cancer when I was five, and lost the ability to walk long before that. I have memories of him trying with all his might to get up out of his wheelchair and walk, only to hit the ground. He contained multitudes, and seemed to carry so much darkness and light in his heart. Even though he hurt people I love, I stand firm in the belief that love is what heals. This all relates to me and my younger self too - lost, angry, confused. Constantly falling and sinking deeper into that black hole. I needed love and support more than anything, but you can only receive those things if you let them in.”

Yet, despite the track’s themes, the results feel brilliantly sweet and summery. That balance is central to Houghton’s music. He explains, “I remember sitting in an old abandoned Victorian house in Echo Park 4 years ago, writing this song and screaming the hook, ‘Sat and I watched you fall apart’ with my best friend Sasha on guitar. I kept the demo this whole time knowing it could be something special. Oh Bummer! is my first solo musical project at 27 years old, and it is the perfect outlet for me to express my love for hip-hop, while adding in some pop and folk-punk sensibilities. Little did I know the name Oh Bummer! would be so fitting, as it’s become abundantly clear that no matter how bouncy and fun the beat behind me is, I’ll find a way to make sure the theme of the song is as heavy as my heart. And if you met me in person, you’ll see why - I carry myself with whimsey to compensate for all of the weight underneath. Oh, bummer.”

Check out the song and video below. The sophomore EP from Oh Bummer! is due out later this year.

Local Natives are releasing a new album, Time Will Wait For No One, on July 7 via Loma Vista. Now they have announced some in-store performances at three Southern California record stores and shared a live performance video for the album’s recent single, “NYE.” Check it all out below.

Time Will Wait For No One includes three singles the band shared last year: “Just Before the Morning,” “Desert Snow,”and “Hourglass.” “Desert Snow” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then when the album was announced they shared another single from it, “NYE,” via an amusing music video, and announced some tour dates. “NYE” was also one of our Songs of the Week.

For the album the band worked with three producers—John Congleton (Angel Olsen, Death Cab For Cutie, St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten), Michael Harris (Lana Del Rey, Feist), and Danny Reisch (Sun June, Other Lives)—recording at various studios around Los Angeles.

The band collectively had this to say about the album in a previous press release: “Former selves melting away as some of us became fathers, endured periods of isolation, loss, and identity crisis. The highs and lows we were feeling at the same time were so extreme. There was a moment halfway through making the album, we played one of the most emotional concerts of our lives. A sold out show at the Greek Theater in LA, our first performance in almost two years, and we didn’t know if it would be our last. As individuals and as a band, we were on the verge of a collapse. Time flows on uncontrollably and change is relentless, and the people you love are the only constants. Out of that reckoning we dissolved everything down to start again, and had the most prolific period of songwriting in our history. This is the first chapter, Time Will Wait For No One.”

Whenever one of the members of Local Natives get married, the rest of the members become their wedding band. During the wedding of the band’s Ryan Hahn, he got to watch the rest of the band perform without him for the first time, as they covered some of his favorite songs (including one by The Strokes). That inspired “NYE.”

Hahn further explians: “I was so psyched watching the guys play this from the audience, something I’d never seen before, that I thought we had to do a fast and wild song, and ‘NYE’ was born.”

The rest of Local Natives’ lineup is Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, Matt Frazier, and Nik Ewing.

Local Natives released an EP, Sour Lemon, in 2020. Their most recent album was Violet Street, which was released in 2019 on Loma Vista.

Local Natives SoCal In-Store Tour Dates:

July 11, 2023 - Hollywood, CA - Amoeba July 12 - Long Beach, CA - Fingerprints July 15 - Encinitas, CA - Lou’s Records

Local Natives Tour Dates:

August 1, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA - Ford Theater (Hummingbird 10th Ann. Show) August 2, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA - Ford Theater (Hummingbird 10th Ann. Show) August 18, 2023 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue^ August 19, 2023 - Milwaukee, WI - The Pabst Theater^ August 20, 2023 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre^ August 22, 2023 - Boston, MA - House of Blues^ August 24, 2023 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club^ August 25, 2023 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club^ August 26, 2023 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE^ August 27, 2023 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall^ August 29, 2023 - New York, NY - Pier 17^ September 8, 2023 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre* September 9, 2023 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues* September 11, 2023 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall* September 12, 2023 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works* September 13, 2023 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern* September 15, 2023 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues* September 16, 2023 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater* September 17, 2023 - Tulsa, OK - Cain’s Ballroom* September 19, 2023 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren* September 21, 2023 - Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom* September 22, 2023 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot* September 23, 2023 - Bozeman, MT - The Elm* September 25, 2023 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre* September 26, 2023 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre* September 27, 2023 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Grand Lodge* September 28, 2023 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater* September 30, 2023 - Del Mar, CA - The Sound*

^ w/ Annika Bennett

• w/ Halfnoise

Osees Powerlift Their Way Through Synth-Punk on New Single and Video “Goon”

On their second single from their upcoming album, Intercepted Message, “Goon” wastes no time to turn the amps up with the help of some tasteful 80s synths.

June 23, 2023

Osees - Photo by Titouan Massé

Osees – Photo by Titouan Massé

Released just before they embark on their North American tour, garage-punk band Thee Oh Sees, currently going by Osees, are switching lanes into synth-punk on their latest track and video, “Goon.” Once a solo project of guitarist and vocalist John Dwyer, the band is known for constant name changes and reinventions from album to album. On their second single from their upcoming album, Intercepted Message, “Goon” wastes no time to turn the amps up with the help of some tasteful 80s synths. Ad

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Complete with verses and a chorus that comes rapidly in just over two minutes of track time, Dwyer’s voice, using his gravelly diaphragm, shouts like there’s no tomorrow. From the jump, the drums go at lightning speed without slowing down for a second, fitting for “your 24-hour news cycle eyes,” as Dwyer put it when describing his intentions behind the song. The quote also applies to the lyrics, with Dwyer seemingly speaking to conformities and embracing himself as a goon while simultaneously raising hell on the guitar. Ad

The music video clocks in at the same exact time as the song, keeping matters concise and tight. Perhaps just as tight as Zack Palmisano’s muscles, the focal point of the video. Alone in a mostly empty gym, he pumps iron through constantly changing frames, taking note of posters that tell him to “work hard” and “use every single inch.” He takes the latter to heart and comically uses his hard-on to lift heavy weights like the star of an absurd 80s movie à la Repo Man. artist to watch in 2023

“Goon,” described by Dwyer as “a pop record for tired times. Sugared with bits of shatterproof glass to put more crack in your strap,” just about captures that essence and then some. It also helps that the music video works so well with the track and understands how much it will get your blood flowing. But that should be expected from a band that, after more than twenty studio albums, still manages to keep everyone guessing about what’s around the corner.

“Goon” by Osees is out on all streaming services. For more on their upcoming album and North American tour, including a date at Substance Festival in LA on November 9th, follow them on Bandcamp and their website.

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A stirring single from Chicago-based band SOFT CHARM, “soup” launches quickly into an exhilarating guitar-laden soaring amidst a calming acoustical pulse. The caressing vocal tone emerges amidst a lusher backing disposition; the seamless alternations between urging contemplation and subsequent soaring reminds fondly of Japanese Breakfast.

“Everything that you believe in is a lie,” the vocals let out, the bitter truth contrasted by the exuberant guitar play. The lyrics play poignantly, with this particular line reflective of current society’s trend toward false truths. The track itself “poses itself as a challenge” to such blind acceptances, and does so in rousing form with the climactic rock production.

Check out the band’s track description:

“soup” is a song about brainmelt. Lyrically it weaves gently but potently through subjects such as reproductive justice, gender affirming healthcare, gun control, and police brutality. It poses itself as a challenge to those who may be blindly accepting and reciting dangerous conservative rhetoric. A leftist manifesto tucked into an upbeat sway and melody, reminiscent of an early 2000s indie / pop rock ballad.

—

This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of June 2023’ Spotify playlist.

Impressing in both twangy yearning and bright hooky rock, the I Don’t Hear You Anymore EP is a stellar release from The Money War. The Western Australian-based duo of Dylan Ollivierre and Carmen Pepper concoct a heartrending sound, authentically capturing a range of emotions.

“The songs are special to me because they remind me of moments in the last year where I felt desperate to express myself,” Ollivierre says. “In the past, we often had numerous songs to choose from, but nowadays, with three young kids, our time has significantly decreased. Therefore, a song only progresses beyond the ‘idea’ stage if it strongly demands to be realized.”

The good thing about limited time is that selectivity becomes of greater importance; that’s emphasized in the EP’s 4-for-4 success rate, not wasting any time during its brief yet memorable runtime. Opener “I Don’t Hear You Anymore” is immediately indicative of such, presenting a caressing folk sound. A lush acoustic guitar complements Ollivierre’s affecting vocal lead. “Is this the cross I’m nailed upon, or just my ego out for blood?” the vocals stir.

Pursuing a more playful, peppy sound with twangy guitars and light reflective keys, “Was It Ever Really Anything?” enamors with its hooky, laid-back production. The duo alternate vocal leads, joining for the “if we gave up now, was it ever really anything?” refrain. Further captivation arises upon the gorgeous burst of guitar twangs past the two-minute turn. The track also features FEELDs, the Melbourne-based project of James Seymour.

Taking inspiration “by the beauty of living in the present moment,” “Ride” scales things back with beautiful twangs and a resonating vocal emphasis on the importance of love. “Come on ride with me, come and take the ride of your life with me,” the vocals entice, comforting amidst the western-y, desert-set sound. The closing “Somebody Loves You” brings back the vibrancy, exuding a nostalgic rock quality with its mellow pushes and bouncy guitars. The title-touting chorus shines with replay-inducing warmth.

Featuring two shimmering rockers and two scaled-down beauties, The Money War’s I Don’t Hear You Anymore is an EP with dynamic and melodically impactful resonance.

Although What Matters Most is his first studio album since So There, his collaboration in 2015 with the string ensemble yMusic, Ben Folds has been keeping himself busy. Aside from his day job as the artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, he’s written a memoir (A Dream About Lightning Bugs), launched a podcast, displayed his photography in galleries in the U.S. and Europe, and appeared onscreen in films and television (including the hit Amazon Prime series The Wilds.). He’s also been nominated for an Emmy for his composition and performance of the theme song to the Apple TV special It’s the Small Things. So, what made Mr. Folds go back into the studio to make something as old fashioned as a pop record?

We spoke to Folds, who made a name for himself in the mid to late 1990s with Ben Folds Five, about the new album (recently released by New West) and whether it’s better to retire or turn into a heritage act.

Ian Rushbury (Under the Radar): You’ve said that What Matters Most has a specific sequence which builds to a finale. Was that always the concept or was that organic?

Ben Folds: I remember talking to Scott Litt, the guy that produced R.E.M. and he said they were a fucking mess at the start of their sessions but then right at the end, when you don’t think the goal is going to be scored, you kick the ball through 36 pairs of legs and the goalie’s hands and you score. They did that over and over again with their music. I kind of think that this album had a little bit of that going on.

I was looking to make an album that made a trip because I felt that life is like that. I believe that keeping an LP as the template is the best way to make records. It gives you something to focus on—a format, a time limit and an intermission, because, in the era where everyone forgot about vinyl, I was one of the people that didn’t. Every single one of my records was pressed on vinyl and I was always so concerned about how long the programs are on each side and where the highest dynamic is. I always have those things in mind. I wanted it to be a journey. Sometimes, I got a little bit lost; I thought I was in the park but I was actually on the highway, but that’s fine. I felt my way through.

There’s a cinematic feel to the record and it finishes on a real high with “Moments.” Did you always have in the back of your mind that it was going to end on something uplifting?

I’m willing to admit that I’m not very good at [writing] an utterly positive song. And that’s my problem! I eventually went to my friends Tim Harrington and Paul Wright from Tall Heights for help. I had the first line of the song and I told them, “It needs to be like this but I just can’t do it,” and they finished writing the song for me. It became an “era” thing—my era is not that good at “everything’s gonna be okay” songs. In the ’90s, we thought that everything was gonna be okay but now, when we know everything isn’t gonna be okay, the kids like some fantasy! They’re cool with it. Kids can write positive songs now and I admire that.

One track on What Matters Most—“Exhausting Lover”—is a candid recounting of a liaison with an aggressive groupie, ending with some bizarre flagellation involving a length of Hot Wheels track. Please tell me this is drawn from experience?

I hate to tell you this but it’s a product of amalgamation, exaggeration, and straight up fiction. I did want to write a song like Ice-T’s “The Girl Tried to Kill Me.” It’s so good—what he really nailed in his song was the absurdity of it. How artists have a really inflated idea of who they are. It’s dudes telling stories and they get crazier and crazier. It’s okay with me if people think it’s true. I made most of it up—sorry! Let’s say the guy in this song is just some kind of middle American middle-class kid who’s in over his head. Just when he starts thinking, “I think this might not be the girl of my dreams!” she turns around with a piece of Hot Wheels track in her hand!

Another track I thought was really interesting was “Kristine From the 7th Grade.” It’s got a European feel to it. It’s quite unusual for an American artist to write like that.

Oh yeah, you’re gonna hear Nino Rota in there, and Jacques Brel. Definitely a European influence. You can’t erase Leonard Cohen from the equation either. The song is definitely within the field of rock ‘n’ roll but it owes as much to Neil Hannon [of The Divine Comedy] as it does to any American artist. It’s funny—I don’t know why that song came together in such a way after the content of the lyric.

You’re in the middle of a pretty exhaustive world tour, including a return visit to The Royal Albert Hall in London in November. Surely all the stresses and strains of tour bus life are behind you now?

My initial plan was that this was going to be my last album. I mean I’m 56, why should I be shaking my ass on stage in leather pants after this? I’m not saying I’ll never tour again, but I felt I needed to document my feelings about the changing world in a musical time capsule. I felt like the guy on the hill with a long beard looking down from his cave, saying, “Oh God I suppose I’d better come down from the cave and scare some children,” and go back home.

Have you still got the legs for the leather pants?

I’ve still got the stick-like pins I’ve always had and I’m going to shake my ass one more time. But the day after the Albert Hall I’m gonna be stuffing my face with cake.

Do you feel that more, older artists should be leaving the stage, rather than just carrying on regardless?

I do feel for all of us. Some artists are hard-wired to do what they do. It’s a working-class job—I don’t care how much fucking money you make; this is manual labor. You show up and you get paid. It’s an honest day’s work. Some of these guys have been doing it since they were 15 years old. Who are we to tell them that they can’t go out and make an honest living anymore? When I first heard the term “heritage artists,” I thought, “Are you serious here?” I am not going to be a heritage artist! I’m not saying that I’m retiring from stuff. I just don’t plan to do any of that album cycle stuff where you make an album and you go on tour.

I’ve spent my whole life learning a craft. What I need to capture about this requires every bit of craft that I can muster. The kids don’t got the craft now. They’ve got another kind of craft and that’s fine, but they haven’t got that classic ’70s songwriting craftsmanship. The art of shaking a song out of your sleeve. So, I think it’s time for the old fella to come down from the cave, show some kids how to dot I’s and cross T’s and write a proper three-verse song with a great chorus and modulations and cool chords and metaphors and all kinds of good shit. Then I can head back up to the cave and hang up my leather pants

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/1457908

Over 100 music artists, including Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, have banded together to announce they are boycotting concert venues that use facial recognition technology, as originally reported by Rolling Stone. The artists cite a number of concerns, including privacy infringement and increased discrimination.

The boycott was organized by a digital rights advocacy group called Fight for the Future and its ultimate goal is the elimination of face-scanning technology at all live events. Beyond the two founding members of Rage Against the Machine, other participating artists include Speedy Ortiz, Anti-Flag, Boots Riley and Deerhoof, among more than 80 others. The full list is available right here.

In addition to artists, some venues are getting in on the action, pledging to not use this type of technology for their events. These include House of Yes in Brooklyn, the Lyric Hyperion in Los Angeles and the infamous Black Cat in Washington D.C. In recent months, over 40 big-time music festivals, like Coachella and SXSW, also vowed to stop using facial recognition technology.

Fight for the Future said in a statement that facial scanning companies are “morally corrupt” and that facial recognition tools are “so inaccurate” that they “actually create more harm and problems than they solve.” While the organization says this tech is rife with inaccuracies, for now, it dreads a future world “in which privacy is non-existent, where we are identified, watched and surveilled everywhere we go.”

Nobody wants a Minority Report-esque police state, but proponents of facial recognition tech tout some of the positives. For instance, Taylor Swift recently employed this technology to root out potential stalkers during concerts. However, it’s already being used to do some pretty foul stuff. Madison Square Garden has begun employing the technology to identify and ban lawyers involved with suits against the venue and affiliated companies.

Several attorneys have been forcibly removed from both MSG and Radio City Music Hall in recent months, prompting New York Attorney General Letitia James to issue a formal inquiry. The New York State Liquor Authority also recently initiated proceedings to strip the parent company, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, of its liquor licenses, as reported by the New York Post. MSG sued the state over this decision and doubled down, saying “we understand this policy is disappointing to some, but we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adversarial environment.”

MSG has received the lion’s share of scrutiny here, but other large venues throughout the country have also gotten their Orwell on, from New York’s Citi Field to Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium and Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, among many others. So this is definitely a thing.

Fight for the Future, along with Morello and artists like Speedy Ortiz, have found success with similar boycotts in the past. In 2022, Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver stopped using Amazon’s palm-reading technology following a protest from the organization. All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing. Over 100 artists boycott venues that employ face-scanning tech

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/1430066

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Four decades of music, one legendary band. Duran Duran’s concert documentary A Hollywood High arrived Wednesday (June 21) on Paramount+.

Released in theaters last year, A Hollywood High celebrates the British rock band’s 40-year career and “love affair with Los Angeles.” The film features new interviews with the band alongside a performance on a Hollywood rooftop near the legendary Capitol Records building, the band’s first label home. The concert footage was shot in Los Angeles in March 2022.

Read on for ways to stream A Hollywood High for free. How to Watch Duran Duran’s Concert Documentary on Paramount+

A Hollywood High is available exclusively on Paramount+. If you’re not already subscribed, you can stream the movie with a free trial from Paramount+.

Paramount+ subscriptions start at $4.99/month (or $49.99 a year) for ad-supported streaming and $9.99/month (or $99.99 a year) for the ad-free Premium plan. Both subscription tiers let you stream tens of thousands of episodes and movies but upgrading to the Premium tier gives you access to local CBS stations. And if you’re a Prime member, you can stream Paramount+ on Prime Video.

Paramount+

$4.99/month after 7-day free trial

Paramount+ is home to exclusive shows like Fatal Attraction, The Family Stone, School Spirits, Star Trek: Picard, 1923, 1883, Mayor of Kingstown, Seal Team, Star Trek Discovery, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Why Women Kill, Before I Forget and iCarly.

Additionally, Paramount+ subscribers can stream Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Scream VI, 80 for Brady and, Top Gun: Maverick and other movies on the platform.

In addition to a streaming release, A Hollywood High will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on Aug. 4. The Blu-ray and DVD is packed with 20 extra minutes of exclusive content including unseen footage, an additional song recorded at the band’s live performance and highlights from a film Q&A with the band in Los Angeles.

duran duran

Courtesy Photo

Duran Duran – A Hollywood High: Live In Los Angeles Blu-ray

$24.95

Product bundles will also be available, which will include limited-edition recordings from the show released as flexi-disc test pressings in specially designed booklets and signed items from the band.

Fans in London can attend a special one-night-only screening of A Hollywood High at Outernet on Aug. 3. Tickets will be available via DICE, according to Duran Duran’s website.

As far as music goes, Duran Duran will resume its North American tour with a show in San Diego, Calif., on Aug. 22. The tour will include stops in Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C. and more. Get tickets here.

See the trailer for A Hollywood High below.

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I'm a live sound engineer, and when out-of-town artists ask me about my favorite local acts, this band is in the top two.

I've been bugging them about their album release for quite a while, so I was pleasantly surprised to wake up today to a message from one of the members letting me know it finally dropped.

MADRIQ is a supergroup of local players but isn't quite a jam band

the songs are more structured and the solos more reigned in. A lot of their material has a good dance vibe, but the band is decidedly rock-based rather than EDM.

While the genre is hard to pin down, I always look forward to mixing their shows, despite the large size of the band. Hope y'all enjoy Feelin' Right as much as I've enjoyed working with these folks over the past few years!