French electronic producer Astrobal has announced his forthcoming ‘Memories of Stars’ EP via German label Karaoke Kalk, combining psychedelic soundings with a soft pop. He is already previewing the lead track ‘Australasie ft. Laetitia Sadier’. The accompanying video was produced by Patrice Curtillat (a.k.a. Poborsk), whose fantastic illustrations flow over the geography of Australasia, as clouds of drones and satellites float in the sky, before inevitably diving in a kaleidoscope from where one emerges on stellar landscapes, where colors and hybrid forms blossom like mechanical insects.
Astrobal is the solo project of Emmanuel (Emma) Mario, who burst onto the scene in his native France through collaborations and production work with some of the country’s most cutting-edge artists, including Laetitia Sadier, Arnaud Fleurent-Didier, Holden, Institut, Monade, Hyperclean. and Iko Chérie. It is no coincidence that the Stereolab songstress should feature on ‘Australasie’, as Emma Mario’s work as a producer and drummer for Laetitia Sadier has left an enduring legacy, rendering some of the most singular work from the iconic French chanteuse.
Mario has produced several Laetitia Sadier albums ‘The Trip’ (2010) and ‘Something Shines’ (2014), as well as the latest ‘Find Me Finding You’ album from Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble, all three albums released through Drag City. He’s been extremely busy this year, touring as part of the Ensemble and sometimes even opening the show as Astrobal.
“Our blood runs hydrous with the seas/The essence of oceans spills through our veins.” Laetitia Sadier matter-of-factly unfurls these words on the opening track and they prove prescient. Astrobal’s wispy, French-accented vocals intermix with Sadier’s enchanting voice as she delivers spiritual and scientific information about the universe as if engaged in a shamanic incantation.
“Emmanuel became a long-time collaborator and he’s very good at working with other people, but there was also a desire to do his own stuff. He was kind of doing it before he started working on this project, but then I guess he found his focus and made this incredible piece of work,” says Laetitia Sadier.
“From one track to another, you’re transported to very different countries, but it’s also very familiar to Emmanuel, and I find that to be a real strength: to have such a variety of different styles, but still be familiar and to have some similarity. He reaches really far out to find certain tracks and to bring them back to a whole.”
The album is aqueous, each track a slow wave building, with clean lines and fluid form. Symphonic strings and ethereal ambient washes are married to buzzing synths and Astrobal’s crisp, crackling drums. Though eclectic, Astrobal presents a cohesive vision, with the guiding principles of texture and fluidity uniting the disparate threads. Astrobal creates a universe one can swim around in – from start to finish, the particular mood always beholden to the vibe. One leaves his dream world having lived a unique experience laced with sonic and solar dreamy.
Karaoke Kalk was founded by Thorsten Lütz in 1997. By releasing music that bridges several electronic genres, including minimal, ambient, and techno, this niche label is helping to define the sound of contemporary pop.
Karaoke Kalk has put out records by Bill Wells, Hauschka, Toulouse Low Trax, and many others. Karaoke Kalk also co-released Astrobal’s debut full-length album ‘Australasie’ with LA-based Plug Research in June of this year.
LINKS:
http://www.astrobal.com
http://www.facebook.com/Astrobalwaves
http://twitter.com/astrobalwaves
http://soundcloud.com/lesfraisessauvages
http://www.instagram.com/astrobal
http://astrobal.bandcamp.com
http://astrobalwaves.tumblr.com
http://open.spotify.com/artist/4CWXZeuMIFCkejorIIbny6
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Davey Woodward And The Winter Orphans – Bad Day
Davey Woodward And The Winter Orphans have premiered their new video for the track titled ‘Bad Day’. Capturing that quirky magic of the music, the video for ‘Bad Day’ gives that alt-rock bravado combined with the first-person perspective in a slow energy style grit guitar fiasco that is the signature of creativity. This is a new anthem for a new age. Let’s hope the title doesn’t carry over (lol).
‘Love and Optimism’ is out now, available on limited edition white vinyl and black vinyl, on gatefold CD with a booklet, and also digitally. It can be ordered via Bandcamp.
Check out our other features with Davey Woodward And The Winter Orphans HERE.
ABOUT DAVEY WOODWARD AND THE WINTER ORPHANS
Bristol indie music legend Davey Woodward and The Winter Orphans present ‘Bad Day’, the latest single from their ‘Love and Optimism’ LP. Best known for his bands The Brilliant Corners, The Experimental Pop Band, and Karen, they recorded this album ‘live’ in the studio. A very personal collection, this is Woodward’s most emotional performance, putting Davey solidly amongst the best songwriters of his generation.
Davey Woodward and the Winter Orphans play alt folk, often intimate songs set in Bristol. Sometimes they get into drainpipes and pointy boots ‘New Wave’ mode. ‘Bad Day’ is one of those moments.
‘Nobody visits. I’d like someone to stay
In my single bed with my microwave
I’m having a bad day.‘“Imagine a time when putting together the best cassette compilation ever (Today it’s called a playlist) was the sole purpose of the day. Getting it right would mean the difference between a good day or a bad day. It was also the best way to impress girls and show your mates how hip you were. A time when dreaming, looking cool, and disregarding the rules was everything. Decades later and life catches up, poverty, broken relationships, broken families. You could make a playlist but who would you send it to?” says Davey Woodward.
Ahead of this, the band previewed two singles – ‘Occupy This Space’ and ‘Warm Hands’, which could be a soundtrack to a David Lynch movie. This is pop music for grown-ups loaded with dark mysteries of desire and loathing, melody and lyrics that stick in your head.
‘Love & Optimism’ is the band’s second collective long-play, following their 2018 self-titled debut album, released via Tapete Records. On both set of recordings, the band wanted to capture that elusive live magic and spontaneity that is often lost by today’s modern recording techniques.
Davey Woodward first came to prominence with his 1980s band The Brilliant Corners, part of the jangly indie C86 scene, but with a diverse palette of indie pop, country, rock n roll, post-punk and humour. The mini-albums ‘Growing up Absurd’, ‘Fruit Machine’ and ‘Whats in a Word‘ brought the band to the attention of the music press and wider public, followed by their best-known album ‘Somebody up there likes me’ (1987), several John Peel sessions, indie chart success and regular tours. In 2013, Cherry Red Records released a retrospective of the band’s work ‘Heart on Your Sleeve’ (A decade in pop 1983-1993)’ to much interest.
Woodward’s next band The Experimental Pop Band (1996- 2012) was again championed by Peel and signed to City Slang Records, enjoying critical acclaim in the UK and Europe, and performing at Glastonbury.
In the last decade, Davey has released a handful of solo LPs, including the lofi folk pop album ‘6 miles east of here 5 miles north of nowhere’ (2011). He also recorded with alt guitar band Karen, releasing several EPs on The Environmental Sounds label.
The album was recorded in Summer 2019 prior to the Covid 19 pandemic and the tragic events that led to Black Lives Matter, but strangely it is still relevant to these times. ‘Occupy This Space’ seemingly captures the whole feeling of ‘Lockdown’ and the song ‘Clara’s Ghost’ is partly about the history of Bristol’s involvement in the Slave Trade. Just a few months after it was written, Bristol residents pulled down the Statue of Slave Trader Edward Colston in the center of town, making worldwide headlines.
LINKS:
https://daveywoodward.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/daveysongs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LjUye3GMgM&feature=youtu.be
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/davey-woodward-mn0000527805/biography
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/davey-woodward-and-the-winter-orphans/1412097438
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Oiv29FDDnrhtM3UiP7Lq2 -
Shishi – Ok Thx Bye
This is what Surf Rock would sound like if it was made in the dark near the frozen shores of the Baltic sea. Because it was. Benadetta, Victoria, and Maria Rosa (these are definitely not their real names) are a trio of Lithuanian mermaids who create ‘zero-waste trash music’ under the name ‘Shishi’. They sing about how it feels to be living in times when nothing makes sense anymore. Their music is perfect for people who care about what’s going on but don’t really know what’s happening.
Genre-wise Shishi takes sugar, spice, and everything nice from Surf Rock and blends it with a chemical formula that has been distilled from the raw sounds of the best Riot-Girl and Punk bands. The result is a beautifully awkward eco-friendly vibe reminiscent of Indie Surf frontrunners like La Luz or Tennis smashing into the powerful femininity of bands like Hole, Kleenex, and Delta 5.
Shishi was initially formed by three vocalists trying to play instruments they couldn’t play. Their 2018 debut album ‘NAx80’ was released after some intense and rapid learning sessions (it was around this time that they became mermaids, just in case you were wondering). Nominations, festivals, and tours followed. As the instrumental skills improved in 2020 Shishi was signed by ‘The state51 Conspiracy’ to release their follow up album ‘Mafitishei’ in which the band searches for new seas in which to splash around.
If this biography left you feeling more confused than informed and you suddenly want to dance upside-down, you are now in the perfect mood for some Shishi.
LINKS:
https://instagram.com/shishiband
https://facebook.com/shishiband
https://youtu.be/H9scVFqJhSA
https://soundcloud.com/user-617918304
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7nmCtibxtJAWRoecSc5EPS
https://apple.co/2y0USTp -
The Fell – Footprints
Newly formed alternative rock band The Fell has released the Official Music Video for their debut single, “Footprints.” The video, filmed in a bomb shelter and biological weapons test site on an active military compound in Poland, will be featured on their upcoming album, release date yet to be announced.
“The Fell is a collaboration of musicians who hail from rock’n’roll upbringings. We wrote this record with no filter, just the pure experience of playing music around the world. The four us met through rock’n’roll, and that is the language we are projecting in this project. Lyrically, we hope to inspire those in doubt and join those who reap. It’s a new world… a new fight”.
This is not typical of any of their past projects, It’s a new fresh direction, but uses their influences to create a more modern sound, with heavy guitars, powerful riffs, crushing grooves and huge vocals.
Get new music from The Fell HERE.
Photo credit John Zocco Photography.
LINKS:
http://www.thefellmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/thefellmusic
https://twitter.com/TheFellBand
https://www.instagram.com/thefellmusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOQsHVeCmEQCpt5ur0BFBRA