Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from January, 2018

CHVRCHES Release New Song "Get Out"

CHVRCHES are actually back with a new song! After teasing an impending release yesterday, they have officially released "Get Out." The song is classic CHVRCHES, with crisp synths crashing over Lauren Mayberry's vocals. Greg Kurstin (who won the Producer of the Year Grammy this week) collaborated with the band on the track. According to a statement, the bass-y synth riff that kicks off the track was "the first thing to emerge on our first day in the studio with him." Hopefully we'll get news about a new full-length sooner rather than later. Listen to "Get Out" below. The band's last studio album was 2015's great Every Open Eye . Last year, they contributed a cover of Tegan and Sara's "Call It Off" to their tenth anniversary edition of The Con . They also released a live version of the Every Open Eye track "Down Side of Me" for a Planned Parenthood compilation album.

Father John Misty Declares "It's What's Outside That Matters"

Josh Tillman (aka Father John Misty) took home a Grammy Sunday night for the packaging of his third album  Pure Comedy . Unfortunately, Tillman was not at the award ceremony to accept his award because he was on tour in Australia. Not being at the award show would not deter Tillman from giving a speech. Instead, the cynical bearded folk man graced his Sydney audience with one of the best Grammy acceptance speeches of the 2018 awards. From center stage Tillman said, " I just wanna say fuck society, I just wanna say that this government is a criminal organization, uhhhh FlatEarth.com, please go check that out. And you know when I was growing up everyone told me—you know, whether it was like mom, or dad, or the church, schoolteachers, whoever, you know—everybody was always saying that like, it's what's on the inside that matters. And I think this is really evidence of the fact that it's what's outside that matters. Thank you, god bless. " Watch the spee

Listen to a New Single From The Dead Century

Minneapolis-based folk rock band Nick Check and the Dead Century have a released a new single to end the month of January. The A-Side, "One More Year," is a War on Drugs-esque song full of yearning. The tune rollicks along and builds to an emotional explosion with a soaring guitar riff to match. "Molly," the B-Side, is a more subdued yet still energetic love song. Previously, the band released the Nevada Sun EP in 2017. You can also see the band play the University of Minnesota Battle of the Bands this Friday, Feb. 2. Listen to "One More Year/Molly" below. One More Year / Molly by Nick Check & the Dead Century

CHVRCHES Tease New Music, Album

Glasgow electro-pop band CHVRCHES appear to finally be ready for Album #3. After teasing fans on social media for months, the band has blacked out their accounts and posted a strange video. In the video, frontwoman Lauren Mayberry draws a crossed-out heart on a mirror while some moody synths play in the background. The video is captioned "GET IN," and provides a link to a Facebook Messenger conversation with the band's page. After following the prompted responses, you receive what is probably going to be the artwork for a soon-to-be-released single, possibly titled "Get Out." Check out the artwork and watch the teaser video below. GET IN https://t.co/uTVnB29QRi pic.twitter.com/RBb5yf5c8d — CHVRCHΞS (@CHVRCHES) January 30, 2018

Deafheaven Is In the Studio

California black metal band Deafheaven are working on new music, apparently recording what will hopefully be their follow-up to 2015's fantastic New Bermuda . The band posted the above picture on their social media with the caption "2018." For the love of God, they better release something soon. We need a new Deafheaven album to make it through the year. Listen to New Bermuda below.

Jeremy Messersmith At The Icehouse

Minneapolis singer-songwriter Jeremy Messersmith had a residency at the Icehouse over the course of January. Like the good music journalists we are, Ear Coffee fought tooth and nail for the last tickets of the sold-out final show to send yours truly to review it. The Icehouse set a mood that was in between a hipster dive bar and supper club. There was a small space in front of the stage cleared for standing room with booths lining the walls. The venue did a good job of filling the club without losing the feeling of intimacy. The only downside to the Icehouse was their sound system. Vocalists with more bassy voices were easily lost in the mix. The first band of the evening was an indie pop/rock band called 4th Curtis . They are a very animated trio from St. Paul that focused their songs on LGBT topics. When the band got on stage, it was hard to tell what they were going to sound like. They looked like they were going to sound super far out and artsy or something really tame. Afte

Week In Reverse 1/27/18

Getty Images More depression music! But it's all fantastic so it doesn't matter! Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015) The saddest album from one of the most consistently sad artists of the past two decades. Stevens' attempt to come to terms with his mother's passing didn't help him do so. If that's the case, then this is the most heartbreaking and gorgeous exercise in futility ever conceived. From a somber conversation with his mother on her deathbed ("Fourth of July") to memories of childhood in Oregon ("Eugene") to romantic feelings and Jesus ("John My Beloved") to contemplating suicide ("The Only Thing"), Carrie & Lowell provides something that will make anyone cry. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (2010) The weird one, the odd one out, the black sheep. All of these phrases have been used to describe The Age of Adz before. Indie folk and chamber pop are traded in for crunc

New Music Friday 1/16/18

iStockPhoto.com  A bunch more white indie rock, a disco fanatic, and Migos! That should be enough to keep listeners busy this week!   Calexico - The Thread That Keeps Us (ANTI-) Arizona indie Latin rock band return with their ninth(!) album. It's kind of a cop out to use the depth of a band's discography to justify listening to them, but once there are eight or more albums, they have to be doing something right. Follows 2015's Edge of the Sun and includes "Under the Wheels" and "End of the World With You." Listen on Spotify here . Listen on Apple Music here . Django Django - Marble Skies (Ribbon) British art rock quartet continue their quest to dominate catchy and generic indie with their third album. These albums are always good on the surface at least. Their last album, Born Under Saturn , came out in 2015. Listen on Spotify here . Listen on Apple Music here . Johnny Jewel - Digital Rain (Italian

Listen to the New Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Song

  Photo by Warwick Baker Melbourne "soft punk/tough pop" trio Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are back with a new single , "Mainland." The song continues RBCF's trend of writing infinitely catchy rollicking rock tunes. It is unclear of this is just an excellent one-off single or if it will end up on an upcoming full-length. The band's latest release was 2017's The French Press EP. Additionally, the band announced tour dates in North America and Europe. Check out dates and listen to "Mainland" below. Tour Dates

Wolf Parade Release Live Video For "You're Dreaming"

Canadian indie rockers Wolf Parade released a live video for their song "You're Dreaming" from their come back album Cry Cry Cry.   The video features black and white footage of the band playing song in a studio. It definitely appeals to that angsy post-punk that lives deep inside all of us. The band also added European dates to their US tour. Check out the tour dates and video below. May 31 - Zurich, Switzerlan June 1 - Dornbirn, Austria June 03 - Praha, Czech Republic June 05 - Ljubljana, Sloveia June 06 - Zagreb, Croatia June 07 - Graz, Austria June 08 - Wien, Austria

The National Release Music Video For "Walk It Back"

The one-year anniversary of Donald Trump taking office was over the weekend. To mark the occasion, The Nation released a music video for "Walk It Back" from their newest album Sleep Well Beast . The video shows grainy video clips of government figures giving speeches. In a statement to Stereogum , director Casey Reas said, " The video documents the performance and spectacle of governance. It captures the pomp and rituals of Congress and its vainglorious, televised culture."  The Nation made headlines in September over a back and forth the band had with former President George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove . Rove was critical of the band using a quote attributed to him in "Walk It Back" because he denies that he ever said the quote. Watch the music video for "Walk It Back" down below. 

In Pursuit Of Something Interesting: Paperilo

Deep diving into places like Bandcamp, Soundcloud, NoiseTrade or the discount bin at your local record store is something that music nerds have done at some point in their lives. We are grabbed by an album cover or a song title, and we hope that music will be something like images that drew us in. In Pursuit Of Something Interesting is going to be a weekly piece that will help you dig through the endless sea of music. We all want to find something new. Whether that is exposure to music we haven't been able to understand, or a record that excites us the way your first album purchase did. The best case scenario is that we find some cool, undiscovered music. What will probably happen is we will wade through a swamp of weird music that should stay undiscovered. Each week I will find a random album, EP, or single (basically something with two or more songs) from an artist I do not know, listen to it, and review it for you. The music will be from all different genres and the pickin

Week in Reverse 1/20/18

Getty Images Maybe I'll actually be consistent with this column. Hopefully. That'd be neat. There's gonna be quite a few depressing albums this week, so buckle up kiddos! Gaussian Curve - The Distance (2017) This record was another leftover from my long queue of albums-to-hear made in December 2017. I'm a sucker for some good ambient, so I went ahead and gave it a go. With an ambient group named after a mathematical concept, you can definitely expect some certain factors - spacey, expansive songs, gently unfolding melody, and relaxing atmosphere. And that's exactly what you get. It seems like virtually every good album in this vein can be described as "hauntingly beautiful." While definitely a bit typical, The Curve is never boring. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Wrong Creatures (2018) What an unfortunate point to jump in to a band's discography. I'd heard of BRMC before and it seemed like they were pretty well respe