Introducing Jammerzine’s Exclusives via Zoom! This week, Jammerzine premiered its new exclusive interview segment, featuring host Sophia Ciravolo, with its first guest, new-wave artist, and Aztec Record Label Executive LAU.
Singer, producer, and song-writer LAU brings a nostalgic yet modern feel to the new-wave, synth-pop scene. LAU just released the retro-influenced single ‘The Cards” and gives us a look into the concepts inspiring her upcoming album ‘Believer’.
LAU speaks of her cultural and musical background, her inspirations for music and synth-pop, 80’s inspired music making a comeback. LAU also provides a sense of what it’s like being a musician and business owner during the COVID pandemic.
ABOUT LAU
LAU is an artist and lyricist from Buenos Aires, Argentina debuting her skills as a solo vocalist.
Located in the UK, she’s been making her way into the modern synth-pop music scene with releases such as ‘Recognize’ and ‘True’ that showcase her retro, 80’s influence. As Creative Director of Aztec Records, LAU has signed over 30 artists and is able to combine her musical talent with her extensive industry knowledge (giving her quite the edge).
LINKS:
https://laufares.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/laufaresmusic
https://www.instagram.com/laufares
https://twitter.com/lau_fares
https://www.youtube.com/laufares
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3i1ZPTMkrfR7cAHBY77Bz4?si=mr0_3YaiTq-x5mU9_Qfgaw
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An Interview with XTC Author Mark Fisher (The Week in #Indie Segment)
When a band, or any kind of artist for that matter, has such a positively fervent following, as XTCdoes, the music and stories surrounding that band or artist can elevate to a kind of mythical status. There is certainly mythology surrounding XTC that has fermented for decades with followers and fans of all ages, ethnicities, and beliefs all captivated with the music in their own special ways.
And now we have author Mark Fisher chronicling some of those stories from those who knew the band personally as well as those who know the music. This is an inciteful book about an inciteful band. And now we get a perspective of XTC from a well-versed author who is also a fan (having run the original XTC newsletter, Limelight).
‘What Do You Call That Noise?’ will be released on March 4 (links below).
About Mark Fisher & ‘What Do You Call That Noise?”
From Mark Fisher, the editor of ‘The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls’, comes a new musical exploration of one of the most essential pop groups of the 20th century. ‘What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book’ is a compelling 228-page book that involves some of the world’s leading musicians and keenest fans of XTC. Here, they come together to discuss what makes this Swindon band so very special and the extent of the impact of their music worldwide.Every member of XTC also makes an appearance. Andy Partridge speaks about mixing, Dave Gregory on arranging and Barry Andrews on the piano. The book also features interviews with XTC drummers Pete Phipps, Pat Mastelotto, Ian Gregory, Prairie Prince, Dave Mattacks and Chuck Sabo.
“Every XTC album that got ignored gave the band a real power jolt. It was like being the Duracell bunny and getting a fresh set of batteries in your back. It made us want to strive harder,” says XTC frontman Andy Partridge.
“Weirdly, it does feel like the band is being appreciated now. We’ve become a historical artifact that’s more important than when it was a pot in Cro-Magnon times. As a museum exhibit it’s become priceless, but as a Neanderthal pot, nobody wanted to bother pissing in it. It makes me feel valued – as long as I don’t go into national treasure territory!”
Fisher also offers an in-depth review of Colin Moulding and Terry Chambers playing live for the first time in 36 years as TC&I. during their recent Swindon Arts Centre residency, a performance named on BBC Radio 6 Music’s Marc Riley show as one of the gigs of 2018.
Contributing musicians include:
- Rick Buckler: The Jam
- Chris Difford: Squeeze
- Debbi Peterson: The Bangles
- Dennis Locorriere: Dr. Hook
- Steve Conte: New York Dolls
- Steven Page: Barenaked Ladies
- Chris Butler: The Waitresses
- Tracey Bryn: Voice of the Beehive
- Jason Falkner: Jellyfish
- Andrew Falkous: Future of the Left
- Peter Gabriel
- Mike Keneally: Frank Zappa
Plus Anton Barbeau, Todd Bernhardt, Chris Braide, Mikey Erg, Anne McCue, Jim Moray, Erich Sellheim, Rosie Vela, Mark Vidler, and David Yazbek, as well as members of Fassine, Big Big Train, bis, Cosmic Rough Riders, Odds, Tin Spirits, Palm Ghosts and many more…
2018 marked the 40-year anniversary of XTC’s first studio album ‘White Music’. While XTC was founded in 1972, it wasn’t until 1979 that XTC had their first UK chart single. Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge continued their partnership until the group’s dissolution in 2006.
Lately there has been renewed interest in XTC, in part due to the release of eye-opening XTC documentary ‘This Is Pop’ about the band’s history and legacy, which looks at XTC and their journey from mercurial pop outsiders to full-blown national treasures and one of Britain’s most influential yet unsung bands.
“The song is a little machine. If you take apart the machine, it’s not a clock anymore and you can’t tell the time by it.”
– Andy Partridge“Music… I couldn’t imagine life without it. It’s always there.”
– Dave Gregory“I was always quite envious of XTC because they weren’t put in the same pigeonhole as punk bands. They were regarded as a bit more arty than that. We always had to fight off this flag, being under the banner of punk… XTC never seemed to fall into that trap. They had that freedom.”
– Rick Buckler ( The Jam)“Seeing them on TV was like being in a tribe. Together I thought we might rule the world… Yes, I stole from them. I’m sure I was not the only one. The wit did woo mee. I fell head over heels for the clever wordplay, the charge of the story and the sentimental Britishness of it all.”
– Chris Difford (Squeeze)“XTC’s music has always been there in my consciousness. I think about it a lot when I’m making records… They come across as an everyday group of people and that’s very much what Barenaked Ladies were about too – living as ordinary a life as you can in a bizarre lifestyle like rock’n’roll.”
– Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies)“I remember when I first heard Making Plans for Nigel on the radio… I absolutely loved the song, especially the drum part… Terry’s drumming was so rhythmic. I was very much influenced by him. In fact, I would drum along to XTC songs to warm up. It was very inspiring to me!”
– Debbi Peterson (The Bangles)LINKS:
http://www.xtclimelight.com
https://twitter.com/LimelightXTC
https://www.facebook.com/XTCLimelight
https://www.facebook.com/groups/425591964471058
http://www.xtclimelight.com/buy.html -
LUCKYANDLOVE Release New Single ‘Soul Alive’ (The Week in #Indie Segment)
Los Angeles’ LUCKYANDLOVE have announced their sophomore album ‘Transitions’, slated for release in late May. Offering 10 new tracks in this sonic neon rainbow, listeners will be immersed in a spectrum of fuzzy sunset synthgaze, blue-black neon darkwave, and tigerprint electro punk. Ahead of this, the duo is previewing the first single off this album – ‘Soul Alive’.
This album takes you on a multi-city adventure. Within the recesses of your mind, you’ll find yourself jetting around to Chicago, LA, and DC… in a pop underground, clubbing in Chinatown, basking in the south of France, moonlight trekking in a Burmese jungle, having a spiritual love connection, or provoking the DMT molecules that are naturally inside you.
LUCKYANDLOVE is vocalist & multi-synth-pedal-instrumentalist April Love and drummer & multi-synth instrumentalist Loren Luck. Originally from Silver Lake, California, the band formed in 2014, named for The Good Luck bar, where they met. Many mai tai’s and 2 full-length records later, the band is now set for this new release, along with third west coast tour and first UK tour.
“This is a very transformational record. Making it was an emotional journey with both heart-breaking and fun experiences because we are always in transition,” says Loren Luck.
This album follows up the synthtastic debut album ‘Lucky+Love’ and debut video for ‘Digging in the Earth’. As with their debut, the duo recorded ‘Transitions’ with Grammy-winning engineer Be Hussey of The Comp-ny Studio, going to extremes in writing and performing live on this record, often finishing songs in one complete take.
Continually inspired by 21st-century music from Chromatics, Washed Out, Tycho and Phantogram and still obsessed with UK 20th century gems from Cocteau Twins, Human League, Gary Numan, LUCKYANDLOVE’s sound dichotomy is dancing with darkwave vs. synthwave, electropunk vs. indie-pop electronica vs. dreamgaze. This electronic music often sounds indie because their Kraftwork-like analog control voltage synth layers are often reminiscent of noise pop guitars.
“We’re having fun; at the same time, there’s much reflection on fun moments, like dancing in clubs or going to the beach… But we transition, going deeper into the unknown. On our first debut record, there were a lot of sky and space concepts introduced. For this second album, we get downright spooky. Like my brain keeps imagining a transition into ‘rainbow body’ while I’m playing ‘Soul Alive’” says April Love.
“I play typical loud and bassy, control filter synths, and Loren has psycho beats and our spoon bending lyrical concepts brush up against danger, and suspense like in ‘Dangerous Run Away’. These songs are up for interpretation cause this ride is totally up to you.”
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Jammerzine’s The Week in #Indie for 6/22/2016
This week’s episode includes the latest from Electro London, Roger Shah, Moya Brennan, Ren Stedman, STFU, Naomi Scott, and the Blue Soap Music Blue Soap Box Top 10 in independent tracks.