Heavy cool vibes coming your by way of 2012 Mobo nominee Zara McFarlane. Not long ago this budding UK jazz aficionado released her debut album, Until Tomorrow, on Giles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. For this new version of “Police & Thieves”, Zara’s vocals glide a top the track’s steady shuffle depicting a story as much relevant to the conflicts of today’s society as any time prior, a true homage to the Junior Murvin classic. Keep an eye on this young voice and check out “Police & Thieves” previewed here from Zara’s forthcoming and sophomore 2013 release.
Die Mason Die channel a darker side of their folky roots with new track, “Hold My Crown”. This, the second song to see release from the UK trio, offers up another exciting glimpse at the band’s unfettered intuition. On “Hold My Crown”, the colorful vocals of 19 year old frontman Samuel Mason trudge through the vast depths of emotive story telling with natural ease. Both technically and structurally, the band’s less-traditional approach is uniquely succinct to the 3:30 pop song delivered. Check out “Hold My Crown” below and keep an eye out for the debut EP from Die Mason Die this November.
NYC based rockers Ghxst effectively mix 90’s alternative rock and a touch of the blues with their own distorted experimental style, delightfully dark and bawdy vocals, and unmistakable guitar excess. The aptly labeled deth-grunge trio who are originally from Britian site their musical influences as Jesus and Mary Chain, White Zombie, and Sonic Youth. Check out their irresistibly fierce track “Black Camaro” (video below) for its raw washed-out-bad-kid sensibility, booming damaged vocals, and relentless guitar grind. By Erin Feathers
This song makes me think of Placebo’s “Pure Morning”, but it’s a little heavier. I was sure these dudes had to be British but no, they’re from New Jersey. Over the next few weeks, they will be playing dates around the eastern third of the country. By Bruce Rave
*Check out Bruce’s Moheak Radio “Go Deep” show on Sunday nights 7-9 pm Pacific, 10-12 am Eastern, 3-5 am GMT. Also, for the benefit of you Europeans the show will now be replayed Wednesday mornings 2-4a Pacific/5 -7a Eastern, so they too can hear it at a civilized time. Listen to past shows at Bruce’s blog and follow Bruce on Twitter.
ROMANS is a new project out of the London, UK. To date there’s been little known about this elusive talent who’s debut release “The Die Is Cast” has been blaring out our speakers lately. So of course B3SCI’s Mike jumped at the chance to ask a few questions to this cheeky fellow about his music, his inspiration and what the future might hold.
B3SCI: First, let’s talk about the blues. Your debut song “The Die Cast” feels like a scorching 21st century update to the timeless sound. What does blues music mean to you?
ROMANS: Not a great deal if I’m honest Mike. I’ve never been a huge follower of blues, although I can’t say that my music hasn’t been affected by it in some way. There’s perhaps a slight Crossroads theme to the storyline of “The Die is Cast”. From time to time I’ve found myself forming a fledgling obsession for Johnny Winter, but I think about 60% of that is down to the whole albino thing.
B3SCI: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, as an artist, where you are based, how long have you been writing and performing, etc.?
ROMANS: I was born and live in London. I’ve been writing and playing instruments for the majority of my life and started producing 0.5 decades ago. I spend the majority of my days alone in my recording studio working on various things.
B3SCI: Romans is a one man band, performing, recording, writing, etc. Is there a band that you recruit/jam with, and will there ever be a live performance component to Romans?
ROMANS: There will certainly be a live performance component to Romans, but not in the conventional sense. What I love about modern recording is how one man can now sit alone in a room and convincingly create the effect of a 70 piece string section and an army of bagpipers standing next to him. Performing my music with a 4 piece band and backing track would be too boring, there are plenty of other more interesting mediums to accompany it.
B3SCI: It seems that every other day a new indie rock band is popping up left and right with some sort of elusive nature to their story. Some are good and some are bad and many lack soul in their music. Is there a conscious statement behind Romans introduction to the music scene, with your debut track and any future releases?
ROMANS: Whoa, slow down there Mike! I think the elusive nature sets the scene nicely, these are tentative releases, all part of a bigger picture. There should be room for discovery with artists, it makes the whole experience of finding someone new a bit more exciting and personal. The 4 tracks and videos that I intend to release are a continuing narrative, all will make sense in the end, I assure you.
B3SCI: I can’t wait! Let’s discuss the juxtaposition of the simple yet captivating near-still visuals of your new video (and only available experience) for “The Die Cast”, and the ridiculously short attention spans of people today, especially given the constant bombardment of flashy media?
ROMANS: I like subtlety Michael. May I call you Michael? You see… the thing is Mickey, I’ve always believed that the focus should be on music. I also think that the culture of the big high-budget music video is on it’s way out and there seem to be more and more still-image videos cropping up online.
B3SCI: The visuals that you’ve released with “The Die Cast” are borderline stunning. How did you come to connect with Charlotte Rutherford?
ROMANS: Thank you for saying so. I think Charlotte will one day be one of the greatest creative photographers this country has ever produced. We have mutual friends.
B3SCI: How do you correlate the art of music and visual representation? Do you see them synonymous or paralleled in any ways to Romans?
ROMANS: They help turn what would seem like 4 unconnected narratives into the continuous puzzle that makes up this EP.
B3SCI: So, what exciting things can we expect to come from Romans?
ROMANS: Plenty but you’ll have to wait and see! Check www.iamromans.com for more.
Wut! indeed!? Project 46 links up with fellow c’nuck club talent Mar!no with this latest free download in celebration of making the DJMAG Top 100 DJ. Shit, we’ll celebrate too… espcially if it means another weekend banger for our speakers. Get in on this party, press play and pick up the track below!
New Zealand electro-poptress LIPS hops on the Frank Ocean caravan of covers with this latest playful take on “Super Rich Kid”. Let her airy interpretation and attention to melody carry you away to somewhere more pleasant, somewhere fitting for a super rich kid. All aboard! Infinite cover stops up next.
Keaton Henson has been a favorite around here since we first stumbled on his Dear… LP earlier this year. Turns out the album was a bit of re-release that had barely ever seen the light of day. So it came as a pleasant suprise when we heard a new rocking track from Keaton titled “Kronos” from a forthcoming new EP release called Sweetheart, What Have you Done To Us. “Kronos” busts out, with a power previously untapped, within the song’s first few measures. Like a well channeled sweet release to the impressive restraints held in check throughout Dear…. Preview “Kronos” below and keep an eye out for Keaton’s new EP dropping early November.
London based producer Benga has just dropped this new remix of the Crystal Figthers fave “Follow”. From the first measure, this trotting rework hits it’s groove and never looks back. The track is available for free download at the soundcloud link below.
Jhameel offers this latest new take on “Thinking About You”. A fine choice for his tenor with an interesting pizzicato rework to go along. Check out the track below.
“Split For The City” is the new single from London duo Peter and Kerry. We first introduced the band with their track “Knees” as a favorite of ours in early 2011, and it’s evident the band has kept busy conjuring up more delectable pop tracks of the finest quality. The complementing back and fourth vocals of Peter Lyons and Kerry Leatham is engaging, like story telling with a saccharine hook that you can’t resist. Grab “Split For The City” on the group’s forthcoming debut album La Trimouille available November 26th via Tape Club/Believe.
Scorching blues rock here by way of Sydney duo Tom and Oli aka The Faults. These dudes serve up plenty of hiss with their pop throwback to those classic days of the White Stripes. Be sure to check out The Faults new sophomore EP Patients.
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