Formed in Liverpool in 2016, Acadian Driftwood makes roots music for the digital age. The band draws on both Americana and their own British musical heritage to produce a diverse alchemy of rock, blues, country, and surrealism.
The band have already earned airplay and support from BBC Radio Merseyside’s Dave Monks and are winning an army of fans thanks to their presence on Liverpool’s vibrant music scene.
“The UK’s freshest purveyors of British Roots n roll, a uniquely British take on roots rocks it would be wrong to pigeon-hole Acadian Driftwood.”
Paul Osborne, Shindig Magazine“As soon as I heard them I had to play the tracks.”
Dave Monks, BBC“Influences shape music and they rarely come with more credibility…showing true potential, the songwriting is strong and the playing organic.”
Denis Parkinson, Liverpool Etc“Spirited melody and tranquil harmonies, although an expected contrast, combine with the lyrical darkness to create an amazing sound.”
Aimee Steven, The Back Door“This is not generic music that has been thrown off an assembly line; this is handcrafted music that has been handled with patience and care.”
Richard Bradshaw, The Culture Journal“Boasting a sea of talent among the three of them Acadian Driftwood delve deep into the roots of musical history, harnessing the best of country and blues and fusing it into modern day jams.”
Matthew Wood, Get Into This
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/acadiandriftwoodmusic
https://www.instagram.com/acadian_driftwood_
http://www.acadiandriftwood.co.uk
https://twitter.com/acadiandriftwud
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Captain Squeegee – Our Children
Psychedelic indie rock band Captain Squeegee has made a name for themselves in Arizona over the years for their over-the-top music videos and their latest release, the delightfully strange “Our Children,” does not disappoint. The song is the first single from their upcoming EP Harmony Cure, a collection of punk rock show tunes due to release on January 26th via 80/20 Records. The uneasy anthem is about passing on a broken world to the next generation as vocalist Danny Torgersen charismatically belts optimistic lines as “And when our children hang out, I hope they save the world. I hope they know about our weapon. And drop it again, that harmony cure.” In order to balance out the serious subject matter, the band opted for Sci-Fi references, 90’s hip-hop aesthetics, and even wheeled out a freakin’ DeLorean in the video.
“Our previous videos always told a narrative story and had a plot, kind of a guided journey, and I wanted this one to be a sensory overload, ‘what the f*ck kind of video.’ I wanted this video to make a lot less sense than other videos.” said vocalist Danny Torgersen.
Harmony Cure was produced, engineered and mixed by Bob Hoag (The Format, The Ataris), the same person behind the band’s 2013 full-length To The Bardos!. The five wickedly clever tracks hover over funk, ska, prog, rock, jazz and everything in between. “It’s about finding hope through song, confronting the demons of the 3D world with HARMONY,” says Torgersen. “A sonic swim through the unsettling swamps of time, age, death, dying art, & the future of Earth. You know, whatever. That’s kind of why we also named our new beer (by SunUp Brewing) after the album…it’s like, ‘dude I know, being human is crazy… here just drink this it might help’”
“…an energy that is irrepressible and unpredictable.”
– Music Connection“Captain Squeegee has dramatically expanded their sound, resulting in a heady brand of neo-psychedelic prog… [like] a van full of jazz performance majors raised on ska would play it”
– AZ Central“Their horn-driven instrumentation, metaphysical lyrics, and intense multi-media performances have hailed them “one of the toughest acts in town to follow” and “prepared to headline Coachella, tomorrow.”
– Modern Times MagLINKS:
http://captainsqueegee.com
https://www.facebook.com/captainsqueegee
https://twitter.com/captainsqueegee
https://www.instagram.com/captainsqueegee -
Slowness – Rose
Dreamy gazey indie space rockers Slowness present their new single ‘Rose’, the first taste of their long-awaited ‘Berths’ album. Schoolkids Records will be releasing the long-play on vinyl, as well as digitally, in June.
As for all Slowness releases, this record was produced by Monte Vallier (Weekend, The Soft Moon, Wax Idols). Side A was engineered by Dave Voigt (Luna, John Cale, Yo La Tengo, Alex Chilton) at his Beyond Notes studio in Brooklyn. Side B was done with Vallier at Ruminator Audio in San Francisco.
This release follows up their 2014 album ‘How to Keep from Falling off a Mountain’ and 2013 album ‘For Those Who Wish to See the Glass Half Full’.
Slowness runs mostly mid-tempo, sometimes fast and occasionally slow. As for this new record, it is purposefully slow, sounding like a hybrid between classic Slowdive, early-Cure and mid-period Neil Young. Often labeled shoegaze or dream pop with elements of slowcore, psych rock, and even Krautrock, this music is perhaps best referred to as drone-pop. Imagine Spacemen 3 teaming up with Murmur-era R.E.M. with female harmonies.
“This is a very personal record. It’s taken a while to make for several reasons. When we started recording during the summer of 2014, we knew wanted a slower, heavier record to reflect the current American grain,” says Geoffrey Scott.
“We tend to think everything’s gone bad since the last election and sometimes forget that that election was 30 years in the making. So we set out to capture that, but then the whole concept probably took a turn when Julie and I decided to end our 11-year relationship as a couple. So the political became blurred with the personal, and the lyrics probably reflect that. In fact, all three members of Slowness were going through a major breakup during the making of this record.”
Formed in 2008 in San Francisco, Julie Lynn and Geoffrey Scott started recording demos, crossing and tripping over wires from the pod to the four-track recorder. In 2009, they enlisted Erik Karl on drums to help turn those demos into the songs that would become their 2011 debut EP ‘Hopeless but Otherwise’.
Eventually, Lynn and Scott were joined by drummer Christy Davis, who has been playing for over 30 years with a wide variety of NYC artists, including Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz, downtown avant-garde artist Rebecca Moore, and political activist Reverend Billy.
“Christy’s drumming helped change our sound significantly. She helped open everything up. With her we were able to record these songs as live, single takes more than we ever have before. This made Monte happy when it came to both recording and mixing, not because it made his life easier, but because he thought it served the music better,” says Julie Lynn.
As of April 3, ‘Rose’ is available across online stores like iTunes and streaming platforms like Spotify. The full ‘Berths’ album will be released on June 7. Their record release show will take place on June 12 at the Make-Out Room in San Francisco with support from Steilacoom and Forest Bees.
LINKS:
http://slownessmusic.com
https://slowness.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/slownessmusic
https://twitter.com/slownessmusic
https://instagram.com/slownessmusic
https://www.youtube.com/slownessmusic
https://soundcloud.com/slownessmusic
https://itunes.apple.com/mt/artist/slowness/415521709
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1GJER0KO8CLQK1VpI6mCdy?si=G2cZKXx8TfawFtcBUBppBw -
Clark Twain – Fly High (Like Richard Branson)
Sanguine indie pop artist Clark Twain has announced his debut single ‘Fly High (Like Richard Branson)’, a fun and upbeat track that is infectious with high positivity. Hailing from Austin, Texas, this song is the first single off his coming debut album ‘Life is Wonderful’.
The fun, high-flying accompanying video was directed by Vanessa Pla, who also co-produced it with Clark Nowlin. His music is influenced by Death Cab for Cutie, the Flaming Lips, Ben Kweller, and John Mayer. Thematically, for this single and the accompanying video, he also took inspiration from an unlikely, but intrepid source – Richard Branson.
‘Fly High’, which features a soundbite of Richard Branson speaking excitedly about flight at high speeds, is dedicated to the Virgin mogul and is timed to release on July 18, Branson’s birthday. With an ardent sense of optimism, he looks forward to a “world with color; a journey with many turns”, asserting “where we’re going, it’s going to be one hell of a ride”.
“I want to live a life like my biggest hero Sir Richard Branson, so I figured the best way to start was to do things that terrified me. I got my hands on a houseboat (Branson lived on one until he was 30) and then a private jet, and the vision for reenacting his life story in a music video was born. Making this music video terrified me. With it behind me, I learned that fear is always smaller when it’s behind you! Thanks for the inspiration Richard to challenge me and push my own boundaries,” says Clark Twain.
“Fun, adventure, and business as a force for good – these are the ingredients of Branson’s life and my own. We both love rock n’ roll and shaking things up for good. That’s what this video is all about it. It honors Sir Branson and I hope it inspires others to take this on!”
Clark Twain is the solo moniker of Clark Nowlin, who began playing guitar at 10, cutting his teeth on Metallica and Nirvana covers with friends in the attic and starting his first band a few years later. He eventually quit his day job to fully immerse himself in the world of music “because the gig money put enough gas in my tank”. After touring and recording with Tim Halperin and Marshall Young for a few years and supporting various artists, he amassed recording gear, learned the ropes, and began producing various musical projects.
“I knew that if I didn’t make a solo album and put out my own music, it would haunt me. That’s what I’m doing now. In an honest state of writing about what’s real for me – a song that embodies my own aspirations – that’s how this single was born,” says Clark Twain.
“Last November, I went to Cozumel for 11 days. The only book I brought with me was Richard Branson’s autobiography ‘Losing My Virginity’, which inspired me to write this song and make a music video re-enacting the big pieces of his story: adventure, business as a force for good, and of course fun. I decided to throw myself into all of these situations… a lifelike Sir Richard’s is one of great fun and chaos!”
Clark dedicated a solid 6-month block of time to working on his new material, beginning in January of this year, and splitting time between Elmwood Studios in Dallas, Clark’s home studio in Austin, and in Denton, Texas with Brack Cantrell, one of Clark’s all-time favorite producers, who also mixed his new material. Mastering was performed by Jon Törnblom.
“If music is to serve any purpose, it’s to remind us that we’re alive and that we’re not alone. For me, making it is a sign that I’m alive. Connecting with it is a sign that this big mysterious journey called life isn’t new territory and that whatever situation we’re in – someone’s already been there and has made it through,” says Clark Twain.
“I’m an eternal optimist and truly believe the best is yet to come in our experiences here on Earth. If there’s a shred of this hope embodied in this music, I’ve achieved my goal. I hope that these sounds put a little wind-in-your-sails when needed on a still day.”
The song eventually meshes into Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ – the first album released on Virgin Records. In fact, this label was created for the purpose of putting out this record. It quickly became an international sensation, selling tens of millions of records and becoming the theme for “The Exorcist”. This success allowed Virgin Records to sign the Sex Pistols, XTC, and many groundbreaking artists and eventually artists such as The Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson. ‘Tubular Bells’ was the initial snowball that got enough momentum to create the avalanche we know as the Virgin empire today.
LINKS:
http://clarktwain.com
https://www.facebook.com/Clark-Twain-1563597527101436
http://www.instagram.com/clarkin
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvpeieaYohK7OkHgeyk82KQ/videos
https://soundcloud.com/clarktwain
https://clarktwain.bandcamp.com