The Week in #Indie Segment

The Magic E’s Release 'Into The Fading Light' (The Week in #Indie Segment)

The Magic E’s Release ‘Into The Fading Light’ (The Week in #Indie Segment)

The Magic E’s play melodic Rock ‘n’ Roll that delivers “Sounds of early Brit-Pop and Mod-Rock through building melodies and wonderfully textured sounds.” (Anthem Review).

Their influences range from bands such as The Who, The Clash and The Small Faces and 90’s Indie including The Stone Roses, Ride and The Charlatans whilst comparisons have often been made to Bruce Springsteen, Teenage Fanclub, The Gaslight Anthem and The Jam.

Since forming in 2014 Pete Thompson (vocals/guitar), Jasper Stainthorpe (Bass) and Stuart Catchpole (drums) have released a string of singles and gained worldwide radio play and critical acclaim for their debut album, ‘It Goes On’.

New Jersey-based Henry Lipput, music blogger and reviewer for numerous publications, made it his favorite album of 2017 and went as far as to say that the band was “The best British Rock ‘n’ Roll band since the heyday of the Gallagher brothers”.

The band completed their first UK tour in 2018 and won over an army of new fans as a result. 2019 sees the band release their second album alongside a number of live shows across the country in support of their new music.

‘Into The Fading Light’ is the first single to be taken from the new album and it’s definitely a nod to all of the above, a real feel good, balls out, Rock ‘n’ Roll, tune.

LINKS:
http://wearemagic.uk
https://facebook.com/wearemagicuk
https://twitter.com/wearemagicuk
https://soundcloud.com/the-magic-es

Your 33 Black Angels Premiere 'Hott Funn' on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Your 33 Black Angels Premiere ‘Hott Funn’ on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Your 33 Black Angels (a.k.a. Y33BA) just defined my ideal criteria for originality in music. The quirky personalities of the mindset of each member tossed into something written within the boundaries of the band as a whole. The secret is, is that those boundaries are endless don’t exist. So for Y33BA to come up with something within that definition of that criteria, with their new single and video titled ‘Hott Funn’, is a masterstroke in music.

Y33BA ‘Eternities I’ is slated for release on May 7 and will be available across digital stores and streaming platforms. It can also be pre-ordered via Bandcamp. The band’s album release show will take place on May 10 at Alphaville in Brooklyn.

About Your 33 Black Angels
Your 33 Black Angels (a.k.a. Y33BA) has announced their new album ‘Eternities I’, which is their seventh long-play to date, to be released in early May. Ahead of that, they are previewing the lead track ‘Hott Funn’.

Recorded over three years and more than 60 studio days with endless mixes in the making, ‘Eternities I’ is 13 tracks that are built to stand as the culmination of Y33BA’s labors.

Based out of New York City, Y33BA is a long-running noise-pop freakshow. This genre-defying project has its own stamp of dark pop, electro-paisley new wave space rock, with a dose of crunk bass and rhythm. They produce elegant vibrant melodies with strange, novel sounds. This is the New Age underground for the End Times.

How do a group that has danced around sensibilities and sounds refresh the template? More cutting-edge instruments and riskier, avant-garde pop songs than ever. Imagine Madchester, and imagine dream pop meets Aphex Twin. Imagine the bastard child of Arthur Russell, Rain Parade and Rza and add original 21st century sound design and guitar webs.

This is a radical, angry, watermark record. Designed to embrace and rattle against the times. Combining haute popcraft with touches of the undercurrents of our lives–acid house, Paisley Underground, synth wave, field recordings, minimal electronica, and epic RAWK.

As well, the Y33BA wordsmiths have always been equal part poetry fans as lyricists, so the Poesia Concreta of Augusto de Campos or Guillaume Apollonaire may have as much influence as wonderful lyricists like Neil Hannon, Bjork or Serge Gainsbourg. Breaking rhythms and broken meter match the polarized sounds from start to finish.

Formed in 2003, Y33BA debuted with the album ‘Lonely Street’ in 2007, which was a vinyl-only limited edition. Once the initial pressings sold out, Y33BA released the album on CD and digitally. They followed up with ‘Tales of my Pop-Rock Love Life’ (2008), ‘Pagan Princess’ (2009), ‘Songs from the Near Bleak Future’ (Optical Sounds, 2010), ‘Moon and Morning Star’ ( Optical Sounds, 2012) and ‘Glamour’ (2015).

In that time, they have played over 500 shows across Europe and North America, sharing the stage with some rather fine acts during recent tours. The Monochrome Set selected Y33BA as the direct support act for its first New York City show in 30 years. La Femme, The Veldt and Dyr Faser have toured or shared many nights with the group. The band has also played with King Tuff, Blitzen Trapper, Suuns, Six Organs of Admittance, Blonde Elvis, B-17 and We Melt Chocolate.

The video for ‘Hott Funn’ was made by Richie of Vinyl Villains. “Richie is a mysterious Bushwick programmer that doesn’t leave his loft til the light has disappeared and the day has turned to dark. He is part vampire, part design whiz. He has invented an automated animation program that turns songs into aliens, furry creatures, whatever the sound seems to suggest. Obviously, Your 33 Black Angels have a very alien sound, but he might have horses singing to Neil Young, vegan cupcakes singing Fiona Apple, dolphins singing Supergrass, etc. Richie is so ineffable and distant, we don’t even know his last name. All we know is he commands legions of aliens, faeries, and elves. Literally, that’s what he does!”

“A delight of jangling guitars, spacey-sweet vocals, and electronic squiggles, a psych record rooted in beat-pop and experimentalism”
– Village Voice (on ‘Glamour’)

“One of this year’s treasures… is worth the hunt for its pop-wise rattle (Pavement with a case of the Strokes) and singer Josh Westfal’s resemblance, in dry, frank voice and cautious optimism, to another local institution: Lou Reed on the Velvet Underground’s fourth album, Loaded”
– Rolling Stone (On ‘Lonely Street’)

“This is dark electric frenzied New Wave space-rock, blasting by like a fiery and unexpected sonic guest, clearly defying genres and interacting with cosmic messengers”
– Big Takeover Magazine

“Retro-leaning, though hardly flower pop fetishists… pacey keyboard textures and groove-oriented arrangements, while their penchant for laid-back Daniel Johnston vocals and warbly lo-fi riffs more closely resembles the classic college rock of Pavement and Built to Spill”
– NOW Toronto (On ‘Songs from the Near Bleak Future’)

“Your 33 Black Angels are known for frenetic, unpredictable shows. the interlocking guitars sometimes surged into what seemed like an eternal groove”
– Washington Post (live review)

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/your33blackangels
https://y33ba.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/y33ba
https://www.instagram.com/y33ba
https://soundcloud.com/y33ba
https://itunes.apple.com/bn/artist/your-33-black-angels/271047566

Tito Montana Premieres 'Why Not Me? 2.0' on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Tito Montana Premieres ‘Why Not Me? 2.0’ on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

From his debut release in 2014, when the premiere of ‘Miracle’, produced by Just Blaze appeared on MTV and BET Jams, receiving numerous positive reviews from several renowned sites (The Source, The Hype Magazine, Revolt TV, All Hip Hop, and Medium.) and national radio play – it was evident Tito Montana was here to make a statement in the Hip Hop world.

Tito Montana was born Rayhiem Drayton in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, which at the time was notorious for street crime due to poverty and drug-induced warfare. A young Tito and his family relocated to the quiet town of Poughkeepsie, New York where he would pen lyrics from the age of 12 about the hardships he’d encountered in his youth. Those hardships would become his personal vices, indulging in the illicit and fast-paced lifestyle of the streets, this led to a tumultuous relationship with the law.

After many years hustling, fast forward to April 2009 and Tito Montana launches Final Score Entertainment , the independent record label features some excellent artists including D. Weathers, Foreign Dre, Pro-T, U-Neek, and Jalitha, there are several subsidiaries including a media company: Panoramic Films and an urban clothing brand, Phly or Die.

When the label began picking up traction Tito released his own material and has since been touted by DJ Funk Master Flex on Hot 97 which then led him to open for many great artists including French Montana, 2 Chains, Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Young MA, and Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Elle Varner and also featured on/in Scrilla Guriellas, Felon Magazine, This is 50, and The Source to name a few.

In 2016 Tito collaborated with DJ Tek Wun for a European tour and performed in several countries including Scotland, Germany, Amsterdam, France, and England and he’s planning a return in 2019.

This brings us to this release, ‘Why Not Me?’ which is a culmination of where Tito has come so far. The EP features production by the L.O.X.’s producer Vinny Idol and also Final Score Entertainment’s in-house producer Half and Kenny Buttons, special guest appearances from artists including Dave East, Maino, Fred The Godson, Emanny, (FSE’s own) D-Weathers, and Nino Man.

Tito Montana is a walking testament of hustle and ambition, defying the odds and breaking the barriers of hardships and challenges whilst remaining independent and building his empire, the inevitable is yet to come. Why Not Me?

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/TitoMontanaMusic
https://www.instagram.com/iam_titomontana

An Interview with The Rah’s (The Week in #Indie Segment)

An Interview with The Rah’s (The Week in #Indie Segment)

It’s always an interesting twist to catch a band in a musical transition. And to get an interview with them during said transition is an absolute lesson in evolution. That band, in this case, is The Rah’s, originally from Prestonpans, Scotland and now in the world.

This interview is also a splendid treat because I get to talk to the whole band. So I get some very distinct answers from a group of individuals that make up a very creative unit.

Stay tuned for some great things from The Rah’s in the near future!

Check out our review of one of their earlier tracks called ‘Sweet Talker‘ and their last video (as of this writing) titled ‘Take It All In’ below.

About The Rah’s
With two previously released EP’s under their belt (Give Me Life 2012) & Living The Dream 2013 and support slots with The Fratelli’s, The View, Chris Helme (Seahorses) & Steve Diggle (The Buzzcocks) the band have been working closely with Roni Szpakowski to produce the perfectly crafted ‘Sweet Talker’ which was released on October 24, 2017 and have additional material ready to be unleashed later this year.

The band was selected by FACEBOOK to do a FACEBOOK LIVE show on February 24th, comprising of an interview and acoustic set that included performing the new single ‘SWEET TALKER’, thus far the session has received over 70k views.

LINKS:
https://therahs.bigcartel.com
https://www.facebook.com/therahsmusic
https://twitter.com/therahsmusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCks2udwJN0vKiFpCrezcoaQ
https://therahs.bandcamp.com

Foxfeather Premiere Come and Get Me (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Foxfeather Premiere Come and Get Me (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Foxfeather has made a new video for their track titled ‘Come and Get Me’. In a truly retro-esque anthological style replete with a troubadour’s vision and Americana flare, Foxfeather has truly found and embraced their style that is loved by their fans and adored by music aficionados alike for a multitude of reasons. Foxfeather places a timestamp on what is clearly their time with their music and original ‘family’ take on a beloved genre.

About Foxfeather
Foxfeather is a sultry Alt Americana duo founded in Boulder, CO in 2013 by Carly Ricks Smith (lead vocals), Laura Paige Stratton (acoustic/electric guitars, keys, vocals), and is often supported by various instrumentalists for a full rock sound. They are a local staple in the Colorado Front Range, and also tour nationally.

They released their debut EP, Foul Moon, in 2014. In response to this release, The Marquee stated that “the group is overflowing with talent” and “Carly Ricks Smith has a spectacular voice which lies somewhere between the folky soprano of a young Joni Mitchell and the jazz-heavy range of Lake Street Dive’s Rachel Price. It’s powerful as well as delicate.” Andy Eppler of The Prairie Scholars said “it’s sexy. It’s original. These women have crafted something very special and instantly likable on this album.”

Foxfeather released their first full length, self-titled album in October of 2016, which Rooster magazine described as “time warping…it’s an emotional ride into the forest of folk with low-hanging country branches slapping you in the face without apology… its got a good thing going” (Rooster Magazine).

LINKS:
http://www.foxfeathermusic.com
https://twitter.com/FoxfeatherMusic
https://www.facebook.com/foxfeathermusic
https://instagram.com/foxfeathermusic

Membranes Premiere 'Strange Perfume' on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Membranes Premiere ‘Strange Perfume’ on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

The Membranes are legendary. Pure and simple. But as many people know and seldom discuss, most legends tend to stay in the pocket when it comes to their new music, if they release new music at all. Not so for The Membranes’ new single and video titled ‘A Strange Perfume’. And that, to me, makes them legends. The song sounds as fresh as a new band and the video reflects the energy and creativity that The Membranes are still in abundance of. A band or artist should treat each new release as if it is their favorite newborn child. The Membranes do this and have done it, for decades. They have treated each song as it’s favorite newborn. And they’re all bastards. Brilliant!

As of June 7, ‘What Nature Gives … Nature Takes Away’ will be available on vinyl and CD, and digitally from stores such as iTunes and streaming platforms like Spotify. There is also a deluxe double vinyl ultra limited edition of 150 copies. This summer, cosmetics company Lush will release a Membranes perfume called ‘A Strange Perfume’ after the album’s opening track. In the meantime, the band will tour the UK in support of their new LP.

About The Membranes
With sixteen epic, powerful and darkly romantic songs on offer, this is The Membranes’ eighth studio album overall and the second since they reformed in 2010 when former support band My Bloody Valentine convinced them to return to the stage for the ATP festival. This album is a game changer in the tradition of Manchester bands like Joy Division.

This album features appearances from vocalist Kirk Brandon (Theatre of Hate, Spear of Destiny) and 84-year-old folk singer Shirley Collins, one of England’s premier folk singers of the ’60s revival. Renowned nature TV presenter Chris Packham also contributes, as does the legendary Jordan, who practically invented the punk look in 1975. Half the tracks also feature the 20-piece BIMM Choir, offsetting a sound laden with dark drones and an atmosphere of melancholic epic power.

The album was recorded at 6DB Studio in Manchester with Ding Archer, a former band member with PJ Harvey, The Pixies and producer of the last nine albums by The Fall. John Robb wrote all the parts for the choir. This release follows up their acclaimed album ‘Dark Matter/Dark Energy’, the band’s best selling release, which received rave reviews and ample radio play on BBC 6 Music and internationally.

‘What Nature Gives… Nature Takes Away’ is about the beauty and violence of nature. This is a very diverse work with dark, brooding cinematic choir-driven songs. Imagine the sound of Hieronymus Bosch paintings to discordant wild songs about crows, demon flowers, strange perfumes, voluptuous petals, voluminous oceans, treacherous seasons and the poetry of life and death set to spooked pulsing musical pieces, ranging from epic choir-driven postpunk songs to dark dub workouts, from throbbing dirty disco dark wave pulses to grinding heavy bass-driven pieces, from apocalyptic visions to choir-driven epic swirls.

“This is the pinnacle of our long and strange journey. This album is steeped in the powerful forces of nature and an underlying emotional undertow that is dark and brooding bass driven postpunk with the epic swirl of the choir and diversity of sounds that takes you on a trip. I put my life into this album musically, lyrically and emotionally,” says John Robb.

“The Membranes was born of postpunk in the late 1970s – a time when a generation inspired by punk rock created music on their own terms. We were immersed in that scene and that world and when we reformed we picked up on those themes and ideas and the diverse fellow travelers that we were contemporaries of like Joy Division, Bauhaus, Einsturzende Neubauten, Nick Cave, PiL, Big Black, and newer bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mogwai, Ulver, and Wardruna – bands who fuck with the template to create an atmosphere and mood.”

Formed in 1978 in Blackpool, The Membranes played classic bass-driven northern post-punk and were part of the same world as bands like The Fall, Sisters Of Mercy, Echo and The Bunnymen and Cabaret Voltaire, all inspired by 1977 to launch their own idiosyncratic journeys. The band released a remarkable series of records that combined their small town frustration with a love of heavy bass and distortion. This ultimately became a prime influence and the precursors to such American noiseniks as Steve Albini, Swans and Sonic Youth.

John Peel and music press favorites, a continual frenzy of releases, public acclaim and touring worldwide with national TV appearances, the band went on hiatus in 1990 until finally reforming in 2010.

The Membranes are Peter Byrchmore (guitar), Nick Brown guitar), Rob Haynes (drums), and John Robb (vocals and bass), a renowned TV and radio pundit, editor of Louder Than War, a key UK music site and national magazine, and curator of the Louder Than Words festival. In autumn, John Robb will also release ‘The Art Of Darkness’, a book on the darker side of post-punk, adding to his collection of best-selling books on punk rock.

LINKS:
http://www.themembranes.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/themembranes
https://www.twitter.com/membranes1
https://www.instagram/themembranes
https://membranes.bandcamp.com

Ummagma Premieres 'Caravan' Video on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

Ummagma Premieres ‘Caravan’ Video on Jammerzine (The Week in #Indie Segment)

‘Caravan’, the new single and video from the Indie-Pop duo known as Ummagma, is a bit of a power-departure from their previous work in that it is more upbeat and, honestly, downright danceable in parts. Is this a stylistic rebellion? I think not. Musical groups, the good ones anyway, naturally evolve and progress. ‘Caravan is a positive sign of such musical movement. Combining more diverse instrumentation such as the varied percussion and clashing guitars, the song shows a more perfect blend of genre-crossing and just plain good old innovation. A lesson for musicians.

Ummagma’s ‘Caravan’ single is out on May 8. The ‘Compass’ LP will be released on June 21 via Leonard Skully Records, available on black vinyl and CD with artwork by Alexander Kretov and also digitally everywhere, including on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. In the meantime, it can pre-ordered directly via Bandcamp.

About Ummagma
Indie pop electronic rock duo Ummagma has announced their new album ‘Compass’, to be released in June via Manchester-based label Leonard Skully Records. Their third long-play, this is the duo’s first album in seven years and also the first time the band is releasing a record on vinyl.

Ahead of this album, they present the ‘Caravan’ single, along with a special B-side ‘Ty i Ya’. The title track is an invigorating pop-rock anthem inspired by the musicians’ own journeys and infused with Carpathian gammas and percussion.

‘Ty i Ya’ is a vibe-injected upbeat track, with infectious Daft Punk-esque bassline, that Alexander Kretov composed and performs in his native Ukrainian language. This is the first single Ummagma has ever released in a language other than English, stepping beyond the confines of past songwriting limits.

“Caravan is about a personal journey – one that begins in the mind before any borders have even been crossed,” says Ummagma vocalist Shauna McLarnon. “The trip is so much better when you truly want to be part of it. You map your own destiny in many ways and dreaming is a great place to begin.”

The ‘Compass’ LP is beguiling in its post-genre nature. It is an album of grace and change, of familiarity and exploration, of emotion and euphoria, of sky-scraping cinematic highs and intimate and intriguing lows. This is the sound of a band allowing themselves to jump creative divides, to kick down musical barriers, and rip up the rule book or perhaps just ignore the fact that there ever was one in the first place.

Formed in Moscow in 2003, McLarnon hails from northern Canada while Kretov is originally from western Ukraine. Now based in Peterborough, Ontario, the couple completed this album over the course of five years and multiple moves, ultimately hauling their studio with them across the Atlantic and setting up all over again. With such transience in the real world, how could their sonic world reflect anything other than the same fluidity and movement?

This record follows on the trail of their ‘LCD’ EP with Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) and Dean Garcia (Curve), and ‘Winter Tale’ EP with 4AD dream pop pioneer A.R.Kane. Both of these were released in 2017.

They say you can tell a lot about someone by the company that they keep, and the same holds true for a band. Ummagma’s collaborations speak volumes. Apart from these three dreampop-shoegaze icons, they’ve worked with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s Malcolm Holmes, Swervedriver’s Graham Bonnar, and nu-disco kingpin Alexander Robotnick.

Ummagma’s music has always presented an exhilarating positive vision, showcasing their ability to wander diverse musical pathways. Representing Ukraine among 23 countries, they won the Alternative Eurovision on Amazing Radio in 2013, and have been featured in a full-page spread in Rolling Stone Russia. In 2015, their collaborative ‘New Born’ album with Sounds of Sputnik also received a Jagermeister indie award, Russia’s most esteemed music award.

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/ummagma
https://ummagma.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/ummagma
http://www.youtube.com/ummagma
https://www.soundcloud.com/ummagma

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