THE PORTABLE INFINITE

SUFJAN STEVENS SETS NEW ALBUM
THE ASCENSION FOR SEPTEMBER 25

“AMERICA” OUT TODAY

July 3, 2020—The Ascension, the eighth solo studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens—and the long awaited follow-up to Carrie & Lowell—is set for release September 25 on Asthmatic Kitty Records. “America,” the album’s debut single, is out now alongside a video filmed by Sufjan—stream “America” and pre-order the album here, and watch the video here.

“America,” and in turn The Ascension, is an indictment of a world crumbling around us—and a roadmap out of here.

Sufjan says the foundations of the album are “a call for personal transformation and a refusal to play along with the systems around us.” And its first single stands as “a protest song against the sickness of American culture in particular.”

“Don’t do to me what you did to America,” Sufjan sings. “Don’t do to me what you do to yourself.”

“America” may feel apt for the times, but it was written six years ago—originally worked on during the making of Carrie & Lowell (its forthcoming B-side, non-album track “My Rajneesh,” was culled from these sessions as well).

“I was dumbfounded by the song when I first wrote it,” Sufjan says. “Because it felt vaguely mean-spirited and miles away from everything else on Carrie & Lowell. So I shelved it.

“But when I dug up the demo a few years later I was shocked by its prescience. I could no longer dismiss it as angry and glib. The song was clearly articulating something prophetic and true, even if I hadn’t been able to identify it at the time. That’s when I saw a clear path toward what I had to do next.”

Sufjan then re-recorded the song and spent the next two years writing and recording the rest of the material on The Ascension almost entirely by himself on his computer—working mostly with a drum machine and handful of synthesizers—using “America” as its thematic template.

Sufjan says: “My objective for this album was simple: Interrogate the world around you. Question anything that doesn’t hold water. Exterminate all bullshit. Be part of the solution or get out of the way. Keep it real. Keep it true. Keep it simple. Keep it moving.”

The result is a “lush, editorial pop album”—as Sufjan describes it—that finds us all at a “terrifying crossroad.”

“America” and “My Rajneesh” are out as a double-sided 12-inch single July 31, with “My Rajneesh” to be released digitally July 10. Preorder the 12-inch here.

SUFJAN STEVENS—THE ASCENSION

1. Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse (5:19)

2. Run Away With Me (4:07)

3. Video Game (4:16)

4. Lamentations (3:42)

5. Tell Me You Love Me (4:22)

6. Die Happy (5:47)

7. Ativan (6:32)

8. Ursa Major (3:43)

9. Landslide (5:04)

10. Gilgamesh (3:50)

11. Death Star (4:04)

12. Goodbye To All That (3:48)

13. Sugar (7:37)

14. The Ascension (5:56)

15. America (12:30)

FORTHCOMING ALBUM ON SUNSET OUT TODAY ON POLYDOR RECORDS

INCLUDES NEW SINGLES “VILLAGE,” “EARTH BEAT,” AND “MORE”

PHYSICAL COPIES AVAILABLE JULY 31

“A wide-ranging melange of electronic, soul, pop, and orchestral music that highlights Weller’s hunger for new sounds.”

Rolling Stone

"There's a lot going on, but the way it is all held in balance is magnificent."

UNCUT 8/10

"A creature of ever-changing moods - variously reflective, joyous, hymnal, funny, political, contented.”

Mojo****

“A prolific, world class songwriter and expert arranger.”

American Songwriter

“Impressive.”

The Guardian****

LISTEN TO ON SUNSET HERE: https://PaulWeller.lnk.to/OnSunsetPR

WATCH ON SUNSET VIDEO SHOT IN LA PRE-LOCKDOWN BY DIRECTOR MARTIN KOVALENKO HERE: https://PaulWeller.lnk.to/OnSunsetPR

With a creative peak that continues to shoot skyward, On Sunset features ten classic yet modern Paul Weller songs. On Sunset is a soul album. At the same time, it’s also an electronic album, an orchestral album, an album packed with masterly pop songs and heart-tugging ballads, and an album filled with touches of experimentalism. It’s also an album that sees Weller taking a rare glance into the rear-view mirror as he speeds into the 2020s. As ever, Weller retains a rigorous forward-looking focus when it comes to seeking out the best contemporary sounds and music, but lyrically, Weller – back on his old home, Polydor Records for the first time since the Style Council days – is also starting to look back on the past with the insight of age and experience.

Opening track “Mirror Ball” was from the TM sessions and originally slated as a B-side. Thankfully it was rescued for On Sunset as it’s shimmering opener. As ever, Weller retains a rigorous forward-looking focus when it comes to seeking out the best contemporary sounds and music. But lyrically, Weller is also starting to look back on the past with the insight of age especially on songs like “Old Father Thyme”.

Most of the album sees Weller multi-tasking on various instruments with accompaniment from his regular band - Ben Gordelier appears on all tracks and Andy Crofts on most whilst Steve Cradock pops up with his guitar on 4 songs. An eclectic and sometimes surprising gathering of guests appear on On Sunset including Slade’s Jim Lea contributing violin to the Bonzos-esque “Equanimity”, Col3trane on “Earth Beat,” and Paul’s old Style Council chum Mick Talbot adds his signature Hammond Organ sound to 3 tracks. The beautifully lush “More” features a verse sung by French singer Julie Gros, from the band Le Superhomard (whose album Meadow Lane Park was one of Weller’s favorites of 2019) as well as the return of The Strype’s guitarist Josh McClorey. English folk trio The Staves contribute backing vocals for 3 tracks. Once again Hannah Peel sprinkles her magic over the album with string arrangements and The Paraorchestra were invited to add their expertise to 4 tracks.

The 10 tracks on the album are:

MIRROR BALL / BAPTISTE / OLD FATHER THYME / VILLAGE / MORE / ON SUNSET / EQUANIMITY / WALKIN’ / EARTH BEAT / ROCKETS.

Written and recorded at Black Barn Studios in Surrey, On Sunset was produced by Jan “Stan” Kybert and Paul himself with help from Charles Rees. String arrangements by Hannah Peel.

As well as digitally, the album is released on CD, Deluxe CD (includes extra tracks), double gatefold vinyl, colored vinyl and good old-school cassette.

For more news and rescheduled tour dates go to: www.paulweller.com

Paul Weller

Verve Forecast

On Sunset

July 3, 2020

Standard Track listing:

1. Mirror Ball

2. Baptiste

3. Old Father Tyme

4. Village

5. More

6. On Sunset

7. Equanimity

8. Walkin’

9. Earth Beat

10. Rockets

Deluxe Bonus Tracks:

11. 4th Dimension

12. Ploughman

13. I’ll think of Something

14. On Sunset (Orchestral mix)

15. Baptiste (instrumental version)

# # #

CONNECT WITH PAUL WELLER:

The Dalai Lama: “Inner World”

A sacred offering of mantras & teachings set to music out today

Album & Accompanying Booklet to Released Today, and Birthday Celebration Livestream Honoring His Holiness’ 85^th Birthday

"Music has the potential to reach many more people with the message that the real source of happiness is warm-heartedness

and a concern for others” - The Dalai Lama

July 6^th, 2020 – Today, Hitco Entertainment and Khandro Music released a unique album of mantras and teachings by The Dalai Lama set to music, entitled Inner World. Released to honor his 85^th birthday celebrations on July 6th, 2020, the album is be a great dedication to the decades of his vision and work for world peace and educating the heart.

When asked why he accepted the request to make the album, he answered, “The very purpose of my life is to serve as much as I can.” He also added, “Music can help people in a way that I can’t.”

Listen to “Inner World” HERE

Inner World is an offering of the Dalai Lama reciting mantras and giving short teachings all woven to a bed of music. The album has been released in conjunction with an Inner World companion booklet, revealing the benefits of the mantras written by Venerable Robina Courtin, and exclusive, stunning artwork; a collaboration between the acclaimed New Zealand duo of Ella Brewer (classically trained Thanka Painter) and Tiffany Singh (an award-winning visual artist). This particular work of theirs is a combination of traditional Tibetan and contemporary art.

In addition to the album’s release today, Inner World will be sharing an 85th Birthday Celebration for The Dalai Lama. This dedication will be live-streamed twice, at 9am IST (Delhi) and 1pm EDT (New York), and will be streamed on both the Inner World YouTube channel and Facebook page. The program will include longtime student and friend of The Dalai Lama, Richard Gere as well as other special guests, birthday messages, and musical performances, including one by Anoushka Shankar, who will debut a performance of Ama La, the track from the album that she features on.

About Inner World

The origins of Inner World began in 2015, when one of the project’s co-executive producers and a longtime student of The Dalai Lama, Junelle Kunin, wrote to him requesting his participation, by fervently explaining her feelings that an album by such a compassionate and wise being would help people particularly who struggle with emotional stress. After reading her letter, his response was enthusiastic, saying, “This will benefit many people!”. She and her husband Abraham Kunin, both from New Zealand, spent the next five years working with a small team to bring the project to life. The Dalai Lama’s recordings have been thread through music produced by Abraham and performed on thirty-plus instruments by himself and a cast of collaborators from around the world, including a special guest performance from Anoushka Shankar on “Ama La.” The composer integrated the live performances with artful programming and production, building a peaceful bedrock for these sacred offerings.

Net proceeds from the sales of Inner World will go to The Gaden Phodrang Foundation of the Dalai Lama (Switzerland) chosen program: Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE Learning), an international K-12 education program and part of an academic collaboration between Emory University and His Holiness; and Mind and Life Institute, which brings science & contemplative wisdom together to better understand the mind & create positive change in the world.

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THE OBGMS RELEASE “NOT AGAIN” SINGLE & VIDEO VIA BLACK BOX MUSIC https://youtu.be/o8J4ZkVt6Yc TORONTO TRIO, KNOWN FOR THEIR INCENDIARY LIVE SHOWS, HINT AT 2020 ALBUM

To view the video for “Not Again” click the image above or follow this link: https://youtu.be/o8J4ZkVt6Yc


	July 6, 2020, TORONTO -- The OBGMs, the Toronto based band who “crank out boisterous dance-punk-meets-garage… rock” (Now Toronto), release “Not Again” (https://youtu.be/o8J4ZkVt6Yc), a new single with an accompanying video, out now via Black Box Music. Vocalist and guitarist Densil McFarlane says, when musing on the track: “Bad advice, wrong choice, fake lovers and friends. 'Not Again' is about the lies I tell myself when I look in the mirror. The second single released this summer continues the exploration of internal struggles and self- destruction.” “Not Again” was produced and mixed by the GRAMMY Award winning Dave Schiffman (The Bronx, Pup, Rage Against The Machine), who also produced the recently-released, and equally rowdy, cut “Cash” (http://smarturl.it/obgmscash). The OBGMs are a Black-fronted punk rock band who demand your attention. From their genre-fusing music, to their lyrical creativity, the band's sound brings a spicy raucousness to the palette of your eardrums. Delicious. On-stage, they control the crowd like the preacher controls the congregation. The sermon’s message is: they are here. The trio have played lauded festivals worldwide including Afropunk and Riot Fest, piquing interest from bands like Green Day, who recently included the band in their Black Lives Matter playlist, and fellow Canadian outfit Pup while sharing stages with notable artists such as Bad Brains, Pusha T, Anti-Flag, Glassjaw, Thee Oh Sees, and Saul Williams. Stay tuned for more music from The OBGMs in 2020.

Photo Credit: @savebeee


	# # # Theobgms.com Facebook.com/TheOBGMs Twitter.com/theobgms Instagram.com/theobgms

DREAM WIFE

SOPHOMORE ALBUM SO WHEN YOU GONNA… OUT NOW

All net proceeds from digital orders via Bandcamp donated to

Black Minds Matter + Gendered Intelligence

(Photo credit: Sarah Piantadosi)

“New wave structure meets punk blatancy and 21st-century gender fluency” - New York Times

"[Dream Wife] combine sticky pop flourishes and bruising sounds with brazen self-assurance....extending the continuum of uncompromising feminist musical statements with refreshing directness.” - NPR Music

"one of London's most exciting live acts, combining a punk snarl with brazen classic rock aesthetics...poppier than anything the band have tried before, nodding to Blondie and returning to the girlband melodies of the mid-'90s." - The FADER on “Hasta La Vista”

“...raucous pop-rock with a new wave edge, and proudly in the tradition of riot grrrl, putting politics front and center with an eye toward radical feminism that moves female and nonbinary identities to the front of the stage.” - AV Club

"The art-school project that’s evolved into one of indie-rock’s most politically dynamic emerging acts" - Entertainment Weekly

"Dream Wife just want to dismantle the patriarchy. The U.K. art punks make music that’s roiling with feminist rage and Spice Girls attitude" – Rolling Stone

"The girl gang proving there’s force in femininity. Dream Wife create pop anthems for the Instagram generation" – Dazed

"Part It’s Blitz!-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs, part long-lost Cardigans B-side, their second track of the year is a strawberry-sweet, hazy ode to times gone by” - The Guardian on “Hasta La Vista”

“Their community-focused, sparkly political approach is reflected not just in their second album’s most emotive moments, but is baked right into the DNA of this addictive LP” – Q Magazine 4/5

“Crispy, punky and relevant. They take a driver seat in the ride to gender equality, joyful body awareness and a love-mess."– Dork Magazine 5/5

“So When You Gonna…is Dream Wife truly making the most of their innermost feelings, and expressing that outwards with a rawness like never before.” – Upset Magazine 4/5

“So When You Gonna… is as topical and as empowering as the band have ever been.” – The Line of Best Fit 8.5/10

"Full of prodigious riffs, intoxicating vocals and a narrative you just can't ignore, So When You Gonna… exemplifies just what happens when talent meets passion. If this album is any indication of what's to come from this trio, Dream Wife just might take over the world.” - Exclaim! 9/10

"Dream Wife have always toed the line between pop and punk, but this taste of forthcoming sophomore So When You Gonna… unquestionably leans on the poppier side of proceedings - and that’s a very good thing indeed.” - Guitar World

"So When You Gonna… seems to fit the moment like a perfect soundtrack. It’s energy and angry, it has contemplation and political thought, it’s fun and cathartic — it feels made for the moment." - American Songwriter

"Dream Wife are just as good at reflection as they are at raising hell. There's a newfound tenderness to their music as they find the strength to make a fresh start" - All Music, 4/5

London-based punk trio Dream Wife – Rakel Mjöll, Bella Podpadec and Alice Go – released their explosive sophomore album So When You Gonna… last week via Lucky Number, earning Rough Trade’s coveted title of Album of the Month. So When You Gonna… was produced and mixed by Bjork-producer Marta Salogni, deals with topics such as miscarriage and gender equality, was made entirely by a non-male engineering team, and follows the band’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut from 2018. The record is currently charting in the UK at #8, and is on track for a strong chart debut. Purchase the album now HERE.

Dream Wife are donating all proceeds from digital Bandcamp orders of So When You Gonna… to Black Minds Matter and Gendered Intelligence. Black Minds Matter connects Black individuals and families with professional and mental health services across the U.K., and Gendered Intelligence aims to increase understandings of gender diversity, working with the trans community and those who impact on trans lives, with a focus on supporting young trans people aged 8-25.

Additionally, Dream Wife will embark on a virtual instore album tour of the UK’s finest independent record shops this week. Yesterday they visited Rough Trade, who named So When You Gonna… Album of the Month, and will visit Resident (July 6), Banquet (July 7), Piccadilly (July 8) and Drift Records (July 9) at 7pm UK each day.

Since the band's debut, Dream Wife have played support slots with the likes of Garbage, Sleigh Bells and The Kills, sold-out international headline shows, secured syncs in shows like Orange is The New Black, all the while using their platform to lift up other womxn and non-binary creatives with empowering messages and their “girls to the front” ethos. In addition to the new record, Dream Wife also have a new podcast series, entitled So When You Gonna…where each episode is a one-on-one interview with a different industry professional about how exactly they managed to hone their craft. With a gender divide in music production currently estimated at around ninety-five percent male to five percent female, the podcast is part of the band's continued effort to support womxn and non-binary creatives. Listen to the podcast series HERE.

Track-list:

Sports!
Hasta La Vista
Homesick
Validation
Temporary
U Do U
RH RN
Old Flame
So When You Gonna…
Hold On Me
After The Rain

Tour dates:

4/14/21 - Oxford, UK @ The Bullingdon

4/15/21 - Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute 2

4/16/21 - Leeds, UK @ The Wardrobe

4/17/21 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy 2

4/18/21 - Glasgow, UK @ St Luke's

4/20/21 - Norwich, UK @ Waterfront

4/21/21 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms

4/22/21 - Cambridge, UK @ The Portland Arms

4/24/21 - Brighton, UK @ Chalk

4/25/21 - Portsmouth, UK @ The Wedgewood Rooms

4/27/21 - Bristol, UK @ SWX

4/28/21 - London, UK @ Electric Ballroom

4/30/21 - Paris, France @ La Boule Noire

5/1/21 - Brussels, Belgium @ AB Club

5/3/21 - Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow

5/5/21 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen

5/6/21 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Nalen Klubb

5/7/21 - Oslo, Norway @ Krosset

5/8/21 - Malmo, Sweden @ Plan B

5/10/21 - Berlin, Germany @ Frannz Club

5/11/21 - Munich, Germany @ Ampere

5/12/21 - Nuremberg, Germany @ Club Stereo

Charlotte OC Releases Amazon Original Cover of Portishead’s "Glory Box"

July 6, 2020 - UK pop star Charlotte OC has released an Amazon Original cover of Portishead’s “Glory Box,” which is available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

Listen to Charlotte OC’s “Glory Box” only on Amazon Music:

https://amzn.to/2NXFFdY

Last month, Charlotte OC, “amongst today’s most evocative singers” as Atwood Magazine describes, released a new EP Oh The Agony, Oh The Ecstasy. V Magazine said, “With melodies rooted in her emotive authenticity, ... Charlotte OC sings directly from the heart, and her latest drop is certainly no exception,” while Billboard praised the single “Freedom” for its “churning synths, drums and howling production.” The EP follows her successful debut full length record, 2017’s Careless People, which won fans over at Interview Magazine, ELLE, All Music, and NPR Music who said, “Charlotte O'Connor has been one of those ‘names to watch’ — an artist who seems on the brink of a major breakthrough... she's fully in command of a moodily intoxicating sound that casts her as an electro-pop balladeer of the highest order.”

Amazon Music listeners can find Charlotte OC’s “Glory Box” on the Acoustic Chill playlist. Customers can simply ask, "Alexa play the Amazon Original by Charlotte OC" in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices. In addition to the new track, Amazon Music listeners can access hundreds ofAmazon Originals featuring both emerging and established artists across numerous genres, available to stream and purchase only on Amazon Music.

SPARKS TEAM UP WITH CYRIAK FOR "EXISTENTIAL THREAT" VIDEO

Sparks are excited to share the new video for the song "The Existential Threat," from their new album A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, which was released on CD, vinyl and cassette this past Friday, July 3. The video was created by the iconic animator Cyriak, known for his subversive and surreal work.

"The incredibly manic and overwhelming nature of the existential threats that are facing all of us nowadays and our reaction to those threats, expressed musically and lyrically in our song ‘The Existential Threat’, are brilliantly demonstrated in the frightening and beautiful video for the song by Cyriak." -- Ron and Russell Mael, Sparks

WATCH "THE EXISTENTIAL THREAT"

Speaking about the process Cyriak said: “When I was asked to make a music video for Sparks, I could hardly believe it. They sent me the whole of their new album to choose from, and there was this one song that immediately stood out – ‘The Existential Threat’. Not only did the music fit perfectly with my animation style, the subject of existential dread is something I have been fascinated by for as long as I can remember. It was like I could see the whole video inside my head as I listened to the song.

“The brief was totally open, but I felt this track deserved more than just some crazy visuals. It has a psychology driving it, and a feeling that hangs over us all, especially in these modern times of information overload. Are these threats real, or imaginary? Are they just a paranoid delusion, or do we ignore them at our peril? It was great fun making this video, and I hope it makes people think about their inevitable impending death in a more light-hearted way.”

The extraordinary A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip was released digitally on May 15 to universal acclaim.

“With A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, Sparks have drawn on the many styles and many great moments in a multi-faceted career that began in their native Los Angeles in 1967, while retaining the unique identity. Whatever style they embrace, and they have embraced most – pop, rock, New Wave, synth-pop, disco, dance, electro, orchestral, opera – they always remain ineffably, irrefutably, inescapably, undeniably Sparks.”

- LouderThanWar

“No band should by rights sound as sharp, melodic and funny more than 50 years into their career. But Sparks are no ordinary band.”

– Q

“Sparks remain deftly untouchable” 9/10

- LineofBestFit

"The Picassos of art rock."

- Associated Press

“a work of genius”

- 9/10 Clash

“A masterclass”

- Northern Transmissions

“They’ve done it again”

- ***** Record Collector

“Sparks. Only Sparks.”

- **** FT

Uncut 9/10 Mojo **** Q **** The Times **** Independent **** Daily Mirror **** Daily Telegraph ****

This next year should also see the eagerly awaited premiere of the musical Annette, the first English-language film from groundbreaking French director Leos Carax (Holy Motors, Pola X), written by Ron and Russell Mael and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. In addition, director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver) is putting the finishing touches to his as-yet-untitled Sparks documentary, a long-in-the-making feature-length film celebrating this singular band.

CONNECT WITH SPARKS:

MADEON FEATURING EARTHGANG

“No Fear No More (Remix)”

French songwriter and producer Madeon has collaborated with Grammy-nominated hip hop duo EARTHGANG on a remix of his Good Faith album track “No Fear No More.” The LA-based musician’s signature blend of pop and dance music joins the boundary-smashing style of Atlanta’s Olu (aka Johnny Venus) and WowGr8 (aka Doctur Dot), one of the most buzzed about acts of 2020. Listen to the remix HERE.

Speaking about the collaboration, Madeon said, “EARTHGANG have been doing amazing things for a while now, they’re one of the most creative acts around. I’m so excited they joined me on ‘No Fear No More, their contribution is more than I could have imagined, and has brought an entirely new dimension to the song.”

The duo behind EARTHGANG added,“We want to give people the strength to believe in theirselves and their dreams no matter what.”

Madeon began the Good Faith Era a year ago May with an effort to show fans and the world a body of work that showcased his artistic progression with an album that was written, produced, mixed and mastered, by Madeon himself. After listening to EARTHGANG for the first time, Madeon knew their sound and style was perfect to lead a new phase for Good Faith, with their contribution to “No Fear No More (Remix)” showcasing the way in which the critically acclaimed songs can be recontextualized by collaborating artists and features.

(Photo credit: Jordan Munns)

(Photo Credit: Grizz)

The 10-track LP Good Faith includes singles “Be Fine,” praised for its “big, sweeping melodies” by Billboard, “Dream Dream Dream,” which was named as “Best New Music This Week” by Complex and “All My Friends,” which reached No. 1 at Dance Radio. It follows his debut album Adventure and his massive collaborative project with Porter Robinson, “Shelter.” Adventure was released in 2015 to critical praise from press including Pitchfork, who noted that “on the path to what feels like something huge, Madeon’s journey is just beginning” and The Fader, who described it as “expansive, impossibly beautiful...one of the most radiant pop albums in recent memory.” Adventure was also featured on various “Best of 2015” lists including Complex, who pronounced it “an audio journey that can best be described as rapturous.”

About EARTHGANG

Hailing from Atlanta, GA, EARTHGANG’s Olu and WowGr8 are the Grammy Award nominated, Platinum selling pair who embody the best of the new generation in music and plenty of critics and fans alike have taken note. Marrying lean, sharp eyed lyricism with Southern fried soul, every song arrives fully formed, hitting hard and landing jokes while also delving deep into political issues. Signed to J. Cole’s Intercope imprint, Dreamville, EARTHGANG first hit a stride with 3 EP project inspired by “The Wiz;” Rags (Scarecrow), Robots (Tinman) and Royalty (the lion). The music saw the duo tour the globe relentlessly supporting J. Cole, Young Thug, Billie Eillish, Mac Miller, Jaden Smith and more.

In 2019, EARTHGANG continued their dominance by contributing to the year’s best hip hop compilation in Revenge of The Dreamers III which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 charts is RIAA Platinum certified. It shined a spotlight on the pair as they went into the release of their debut major label album, Mirrorland. The fourteen track album debuted in the Top 40s of the Billboard 200 charts and #20 in the Rap Albums charts. Featuring special guests Young Thug, T-Pain, Kehlani, Arin Ray and more. Mirrorland has cemented EARTHGANG as one of music’s most dynamic forces. Bursting with energy and having garnered a cult like live following, the ATLiens have been critically praised by the likes of Pitchfork, Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, Hot New Hip Hop, Consequence of Sound. Uproxx, Pigeons & Planes and more. Stretching beyond the “indie hip hop” label they’ve been brandished with, EARTHGANG are ready to reach a wider audience with slick sharp lyrics that cut through the hazy blur of ratchet rap and an avid interest in never settling, or resting on their laurels.

Follow Madeon:

Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

MIRAH

SHARES HALF WAIF'S "MURPHY BED" COVER

YOU THINK IT'S LIKE THIS BUT REALLY IT'S LIKE THIS 

 REISSUE AND TRIBUTE LP 

OUT 7/31 VIA DOUBLE DOUBLE WHAMMY

Mirah by Meghan Marin

Mirah has shared a remastered version and Half Waif cover of "Murphy Bed," the latest from her recently announced 20th anniversary reissue of You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This. The double LP reissue, available for pre-order now and due July 31st via Double Double Whammy, includes a remastered version of the record as well as a tribute to the album that features covers by Mount Eerie, Half Waif, Hand Habits, Palehound, Shamir, Sad13, Allison Crutchfield and more.

Of the cover, Half Waif's Nandi Rose said: "It was a huge honor to record a cover for the legendary Mirah in celebration of this 20th anniversary reissue. I chose 'Murphy Bed' because I could immediately hear the chorus being reimagined as a more choral-focused arrangement. There's also something obviously sensual about this song lyrically, so I wanted to play that up with the slow backbeat and just have some fun with it. I'm really grateful to Mirah for her fearless songwriting, and I loved getting to interpret that with my own arrangement."

LISTEN TO HALF WAIF'S "MURPHY BED" COVER

LISTEN TO THE REMASTERED "MURPHY BED"

Half Waif by Tonje Thilesen

In the last months of the 1990s, in the years after she graduated from Evergreen, Mirah would regularly walk from her apartment on 4th avenue in downtown Olympia five minutes up the block to her friends' place, the Track House. On one such occasion, she holed up in their garage all night long with her four-track cassette recorder and their broken, out-of-tune piano. "It's a small town," she sang, over crackly, creeping keys. "I'll see you around...I wish you'd move."

It's sweet but sharp, like much of her expansive, decades-long catalog of beaming pop songs. And it's apt intro to the songs she was writing around that time, all laced with snapshots from small-town Oly: the railroad tracks that run through town, transient friends who'd come and go on tour, the feeling of being a million miles from the city.

"I didn't know I was making a record," recalls the singer, songwriter, recording artist and producer, twenty years later, on the brink of the reissue of her now classic debut full-length, You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This, released in 2000 by K Records. It was just that freedom, following her first couple of EPs and tours, that made the record gleam with possibility: the excitement of beginnings, of unfiltered long-distance longings, the miniature everyday epiphanies of becoming yourself.

When it was written, Mirah was in her early 20s, immersed in a life of cheap rent, constant art-making, "distracting [herself] with the guitar and microphones" (as she sings on the album) and helping to run DIY cafes like the Secret Cafe at the Track House and the Red Horse Cafe out of her own apartment. Some days, she'd be at home experimenting with four-track home-recording. Other days, she'd be over at Dub Narcotic's giant warehouse space, in its wide open second floor studio, the Big Room, meeting up with friends like Phil Elverum (who she had collaborated with in The Microphones, and who co-produced the record), Khaela Maricich (of the Blow, who sings on some of the songs), and really, whichever cast of friends were around and wanted to play music.

LISTEN TO THE PREVIOUSLY RELEASED

REMASTERED "OF PRESSURE" + MOUNT EERIE COVER

"Calvin had incredible equipment and was so generous and trusting," Mirah reflects, mentioning vintage gear like an old Hammond B3 organ with a Leslie speaker used on "Of Pressure". "He gave us all keys. Sometimes we'd go in there to record and Arrington [de Dionyso] would be asleep on a mattress on the floor because he had been recording all night. We didn't even have a schedule. We were all involved with each other's projects. If I needed a choir, we'd just call everybody up and they'd walk over. And a couple minutes later, 10 friends would be there."

That's exactly what happened for "Person Person," a collective love letter to someone traveling far away, where Mirah sings over a dreamy guitar, before her whole friend group turns up for the perfectly messy chorus. It's a bit of an ode to chosen family, much like "La Familia," where interlocking vocal melodies stretch over sparks of subtle guitar noise.

Elsewhere, there's also one of indie pop's most sweeping and visceral crush songs, "Sweepstakes Prize," a perfect encapsulation of Mirah and Elverum's collaborative ability to build sparse minimalism into clattering noise, to make the tension of the lyrics utterly inescapable. For its hooky drumbeats, Elverum set up two kits on opposite ends of the room. "We both played drums at the same time," Mirah remembers. "And had them mic-ed so that it gave a natural room delay. We just had a lot of fun." (It was written about the same person as "Small Town," she recounts, laughing, a testament to the album's rollercoaster of emotions.)

Two decades later, You Think It's Like This... brims with timelessly necessary feelings: of dreaming in the moment, of not having expectations, making art because it's fun, unsupressable exuberance even when the songs are not joyful. "I just hope people can get there again," Mirah says. "My biggest hope with making music is that the music I make can do for other people what all the music I've listened to in my life has done for me. It helps me be alive. It helps me be a person. It helps me feel things. It helps me connect to myself and to other people."

MIRAH

YOU THINK IT'S LIKE THIS BUT REALLY IT'S LIKE THIS

DOUBLE DOUBLE WHAMMY

JULY 31, 2020

PRE-ORDER

1. Million Miles

2. Sweepstakes Prize

3. Of Pressure

4. This Dance

5. La Familia

6. Gone Sugaring

7. Person Person

8. Engine Heart

9. Archipelago

10. 100 Knives

11. Murphy Bed

12. Pollen

13. Small Town

14. Water and Sleep

15. Telephone Wires

16. Words Cannot Describe

17. Words Cannot Describe (2020 Version)

TRIBUTE LP

1. WHY? (Feat. Gabby's World) - Million Miles

2. Y La Bamba - Sweepstakes Prize

3. Mount Eerie - Of Pressure

4. Sad13 & Mal Blum - This Dance

5. Allison Crutchfield - La Familia

6. Madeline Kenney - Gone Sugaring

7. Maia Macdonald - Person Person

8. Lauren Ruth Ward - Engine Heart

9. Hand Habits - Archipelago

10. Flock of Dimes - 100 Knives

11. Half Waif - Murphy Bed

12. Shamir - Pollen

13. Palehound - Small Town

14. Arthur Moon (Feat. Aviva Jaye) - Water and Sleep

15. Night Shop & La Louma - Telephone Wires

16. The Blow - Words Cannot Describe

mirahmusic.com | facebook.com/mirahmusic

Twitter @mirahmusic | Instagram @mirahmusic

DANIEL BLUMBERG

SHARES THREE MORE TRACKS
FROM NEW ALBUM

ON&ON
OUT DIGITALLY JULY 31
VINYL AND CD AVAILABLE AUGUST 28

LISTEN TO “BOUND”

“A song may move around, expand, come apart in its limbs and joints and skin to sink back into the room space, where strings are vibrating, snares rattling.” - David Toop on On&On

Daniel Blumberg has shared the next three tracks to be taken from his new album, On&On. “Bound,” “Silence Breaker,” and “On&On&On&On” continue a gradual unfurling of the forthcoming album, a consolidation of the deconstructed song aesthetic he has been developing, one that finds the artist operating at the intersection between conventional song structures and free improvisation. On&On is set for release July 31 on digital platforms via Mute with vinyl and CD formats to follow on August 28.

Listen to “Bound,” “Silence Breaker,” and “On&On&On&On.”
Pre-order the album here.

These new tracks follow last month’s launch which unveiled the opening three tracks, drawing us further into Daniel Blumberg’s world, confirming the musician and visual artist as a unique creative force.

The album is accompanied by an essay written by the author David Toop, available to read here.

MORE ABOUT ON&ON
On&On - which follows 2018’s Minus, Blumberg’s debut for Mute - incorporates recurring, shape-shifting motifs and at times the boundaries dissolve between songs altogether. Title track ‘On&On’ appears four times across the arc of the record as if coming in and out of focus, an infinite song that encapsulates the paradox of the circle, existing in a liminal space between perpetual motion and stasis, as Daniel sings: ‘On and on and on and on and on…’

The album was born out of live sessions with the same core group of players as Minus: Daniel Blumberg (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Ute Kanngiesser (cello), Billy Steiger (violin), Tom Wheatley (double bass) and Jim White (drums), with the addition of electronic maverick Elvin Brandhi (vocals). As such it represents a deepening of relationships and distillation of techniques for this tight-knit group of free-playing musicians, who are loosely based around Café OTO.

It was recorded by Peter Walsh (Scott Walker), who captures the group’s extraordinary performances - encompassing the full expressive range of their instruments from softly-bowed melodies and tender vocal harmonies to rough-hewn scrapes, plucks and rattles - while the sound of the room and the outside world spill naturally into the sound field, as Toop puts it “as if a window has opened”.

ON&ON TRACKLISTING
1. On & On
2. Sidestep Summer
3. On&On&On
4. Bound
5. Silence Breaker
6. On&On&On&On
7. Teethgritter
8. On&On&On&On&On
9. Pillow

FURTHER LISTENING
Daniel Blumberg performing live at Café OTO (link)
Daniel Blumberg performing “The Bomb” on Later… with Jools Holland (link)
Daniel Blumberg & Keiji Haino present SILVER DINNER: (link)

RECENT QUOTES
"A modern masterpiece" - 5/5 The Times
"Minus is a statement of intent from an artist who has found his voice" - The Quietus
“Traces lines between drawing and improvised music” - The Wire
“One of London’s most exciting emerging artists” - Hans Ulrich Obrist

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
Daniel Blumberg: On&On (Mute, 2020)
GUO: GUO4 (Mute, 2019)
Daniel Blumberg: Minus (Mute, 2018)
Daniel Blumberg & Hebronix: Liv (Mute, 2018)
Daniel Blumberg: Live at Café OTO (OTOroku, 2018)
GUO: GUO2 (OTOroku, 2018)
GUO: GUO1 (self-released, 2017)
Daniel Blumberg & Neil Michael Hagerty: HEB-HEX (ATP Recordings, 2013)
Hebronix: Unreal (ATP Recordings, 2013)

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
The World To Come (dir. Mona Fastvold, 2020)
GUO4 (dir. Peter Strickland, 2019)
GYUTO (dir. Brady Corbet, 2019)
Brigitte (dir. Lynne Ramsey, 2019)
Gleaning Truths (dir. Agnes Varda, 2018)

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Black Album / White Cube, Kunsthall, Rotterdam (2020)
Dance, Stanley, Dance with Marianna Simnett, Matt’s Gallery, London (2020)
JOMO, Macro, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2020)
MK Calling, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes (2020)
Hyper!: Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2019)
Union Gallery, London (2019)
Ways of Listening with [Assemble]: British School at Rome (2018)

LINKS
boiledegg.org
http://mute.com
https://www.brigittelacombe.com
https://davidtoopblog.com/

Pre-order On&On
Listen to the album’s first six tracks
Watch the “On&On” video

EMMA SWIFT UNVEILS VIDEO FOR “QUEEN JANE APPROXIMATELY”

NASHVILLE-BASED SINGER-SONGWRITER’S

NEW COLLECTION INTERPRETING THE SONGS OF BOB DYLAN,

BLONDE ON THE TRACKS, OUT AUGUST 14

FIRST SINGLE, “I CONTAIN MULTITUDES,” ALSO AVAILABLE NOW

Photo Credit: Autumn Dozier

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Emma Swift has announced the release of a new animated lyric video for the song, “Queen Jane Approximately.” The song is taken from her new album, BLONDE ON THE TRACKS – a collection of the Nashville-based artist’s interpretations of Bob Dylan songs, arriving via Tiny Ghost Records on Friday, August 14.

BLONDE ON THE TRACKS is available for pre-order now, including classic black 12” vinyl and limited edition CDs and orange 12” vinyl. All pre-orders are joined by the album’s remarkable first single, “I Contain Multitudes,” recorded at home during lockdown, as well as “Queen Jane Approximately.” Both animated lyric videos are available now.

WATCH “QUEEN JANE APPROXIMATELY”

WATCH “I CONTAIN MULTITUDES”

PRE-ORDER BLONDE ON THE TRACKS

Emma Swift has been hailed for the strength and beauty of her songcraft and a resilient yet vulnerable voice that is both heartbreaking and heartbroken all at once. BLONDE ON THE TRACKS was first begun at Nashville’s famed Magnetic Sound Studio in 2017 but only recently brought to fruition, with Swift working alongside producer Patrick Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) via email in April and May to finesse the unfinished material and record two further songs to complete the project. Swift’s “reimagining” of Dylan’s songs bring a balancing gentleness – clear and soft where the songwriter might rasp; plaintive and emotive where he may perhaps be more sanguine. Indeed, Swift’s vocal on “I Contain Multitudes” is so immediate and clean that it’s almost as if you feel her breath in your ear. It’s striking in its intimacy, especially as heard during this time of communal isolation.

Furthermore, BLONDE ON THE TRACKS marks another chapter in Nashville’s deep connection with Dylan, a long, proud legacy encompassing such timeless LPs as BLONDE ON BLONDE, JOHN WESLEY HARDING, and of course, NASHVILLE SKYLINE. Swift’s “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” harkens back to that distinctive sound, while other tracks call to mind Dylan’s celebrated work with The Band. Sansone’s masterful production provides the perfect light touch, supporting Swift’s vocals with instrumentation by some of the finest session players Nashville has to offer, including pedal steel guitar from Thayer Serrano, Steelism’s Jon Estes and Jon Radford (on bass and drums, respectively), and guitar by legendary British singer-songwriter – and inveterate Dylanologist – Robyn Hitchcock.

“The idea for the album came about during a long depressive phase,” says Swift, “the kind where it’s hard to get out of bed and get dressed and present to the world as a high-functioning human. I was lost on all fronts no doubt, but especially creatively.

“I’ve never been a prolific writer, but this period was especially wordless. Sad, listless and desperate, I began singing Bob Dylan songs as a way to have something to wake up for. Interpreting other people’s emotions is how I learned to sing and I’ve always enjoyed hearing Dylan’s songs from a female perspective. You can learn a lot about melody and feeling by the way a singer chooses to interpret someone else’s song. You can learn alot about words by singing someone else’s. I’m very influenced by singers like Sandy Denny, Joan Baez, Billie Holiday, Sinead O’Connor. There’s an art to interpretation, and for me, these women are the masters. I’m as indebted to them on this record as I am to Bob Dylan.”

EMMA SWIFT

BLONDE ON THE TRACKS

(Tiny Ghost Records)

RELEASE DATE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 14

TRACKLISTING:

Queen Jane Approximately

I Contain Multitudes

One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)

Simple Twist of Fate

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands

The Man In Me

Going Going Gone

You’re A Big Girl Now

All Songs By Bob Dylan

CONNECT WITH EMMA SWIFT:

Chicano Batman - NPR Tiny Desk Concert

New Album ‘Invisible People’ Out Now

WATCH HERE

WATCH THE BAND’S PERFORMANCE ON THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT #PLAYATHOME SERIES

(New York, NY) Chicano Batman’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert (from home) is out now. Filmed in sync with every band member playing in separate rooms, this special socially distanced edition of the Tiny Desk series features four songs performed from this year’s critically-acclaimed Invisible People (ATO), out now.

Pitchfork says the record is “their most accessible...with big hooks and definitive statements to match,” while the LA Times praises the “mix of borderless 1960s and ‘70s rock and percussive contemporary tones.” Invisible People was also recently No. 1 in college radio, making it the first record at No. 1 to feature people of color since Brittany Howard last fall.

Watch the full performance: https://www.npr.org/2020/07/07/887684231/chicano-batman-tiny-desk-home-concert

NPR TINY DESK SETLIST:

1. I know It

2. Moment of Joy

3. Color my life

4. Polymetronomic Harmony

PRAISE FOR CHICANO BATMAN:

"Retro-tinged resistance funk"

– ROLLING STONE

"Supremely groovy"

– FADER

“Beautiful mix of love songs, psychedelia to political consciousness”

– NPR MUSIC

“Progressive lyrics with hard-hitting synth-funk beats”

— V MAN

“A cross of Tame Impala and Neon Indian...shape their tropicalia-bent indie rock into a glossier pop-style”

— CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND

"Perfect musical accompaniment for summer cruisin'”

— AV CLUB

ABOUT CHICANO BATMAN:

Like all the most iconic music born from the West Coast, Chicano Batman’s 'Invisible People' offers an instant escape into the beautifully strange world they inhabit. Throughout their fourth album, vocalist/keyboardist Bardo Martinez, guitarist Carlos Arévalo, bassist Eduardo Arenas, and drummer Gabriel Villa channel the kinetic spirit of their city into a wildly shapeshifting sound, ultimately finding an unstoppable joy in following their most outrageous instincts. Produced by Leon Michels (The Carters, A$AP Rocky, Lee Fields & the Expressions) and mixed by Shawn Everett (Vampire Weekend, Alabama Shakes, Beck), 'Invisible People' taps into the unbridled creativity Chicano Batman previously brought to their 2009 self-titled debut, 2014’s 'Cycles Of Existential Rhyme,' and 2017’s 'Freedom Is Free' (their first release since signing to ATO Records). But as evidenced on songs like lead single “Color My Life” and on the album’s emotionally raw title track (whose lyrics examine race as a scientific fallacy), 'Invisible People' embodies elements of everything from krautrock to hip-hop—all while capturing the powerful energy the band’s shown in touring with artists like Alabama Shakes, Portugal The Man, and Jack White. The result is Chicano Batman’s most imaginative body of work yet, a collection of songs that could only come from their own idiosyncratic minds.

CHICANO BATMAN ON THE WEB:

https://www.instagram.com/chicanobatman/

https://www.facebook.com/chicanobatman/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX_d31bxww8NGANPDV_yuRw

https://twitter.com/chicanobatman

https://soundcloud.com/chicanobatman

RELEASE NEW TRACK "CRIMINALS"

LISTEN HERE

THE GLOW OUT JULY 10TH

"Triumphant." - Q Magazine"

"Everything you'd expect and more...packed with emotional bangers." - DORK

(Photo credit Andy Cotterill)

DMA’S have today released new track "Criminals" taken from their forthcoming album THE GLOW, due for release on July 10th. "Criminals" was written during the last few days of the album recording sessions & perhaps the most surprising track on the record. It begins as a subtle piano based offering and builds quickly into an uplifting pop banger with a punchy, groove-focused hook.

THE GLOW was produced and mixed by Grammy award winning producer Stuart Price (Madonna, The Killers, New Order) in the historic Westlake Recording Studios, a long way from the band’s early days in Sydney. From their emotive heart to their towering hooks, the core traits that have earned DMA’S a huge following are still prominent in new album THE GLOW, but now their anthemic sound is infused with a euphoric flood of alt-pop flair with pulsating synths and taut beats. While the huge choruses will prove to be electrifying highlights of future live shows.

The new album is a mission statement that the trio immediately encapsulate within the opening two tracks. A swaggering mash-up of Screamadelica-era attitude, big beat dynamics and modern alt-pop flair, "Never Before" immediately sets the tone. The title track then keeps that energy firing, a rapid-rush of melodic energy, joyous optimism and a new-found confidence in Tommy O'Dell's vocals. As suggested by the first single "Silver" DMA'S are expanding the scale of their sound. And yet DMA'S save the biggest surprise for last. "Cobracaine" is a celebration of everything the band can be. It's a maximalist melting pot of sounds: an escalating wall of guitars the foundation for a tense, almost trancelike beat with vocals filtered through harmonies and vocoders. And as it hurtles to its mesmerizing conclusion, one thing is certain: this is the most fully realized of the band's three albums to date.

Fans can pre-order THE GLOW now. There are also exclusive merchandise bundles with signed prints plus a few limited edition heavyweight transparent green vinyl & cassettes still available through the band’s official store; https://dmas.lnk.to/storePR

****

DMA’S are made up of Tommy O’Dell, Matt Mason and Johnny Took. The band formed in Sydney and made an immediate impression with their 2014 debut EP. Their full-length debut Hills End saw them crash into Australia’s Top 10, before For Now cemented them as a force to be reckoned with. The album earned three ARIA Music Award nominations for Best Group, Best Rock Album and Best Independent Release.

In 2018 they became one of the first Australian bands to play the iconic MTV Unplugged session, following in the footsteps of all-time greats such as Nirvana, Oasis and R.E.M. The performance was captured in this summer’s MTV Unplugged Live album.

DMA'S - Life is a Game of Changing (Official Video)

THE GLOW ALBUM TRACKLIST

1. Never Before

2. The Glow

3. Silver

4. Life Is A Game of Changing

5. Criminals

6. Strangers

7. Learning Alive

8. Hello Girlfriend

9. Appointment

10. Round & Around

11. Cobracaine

http://dmasdmas.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DMAsDMAs

https://twitter.com/dmasmusic

https://www.instagram.com/dmasmusic/

https://www.youtube.com/c/DMASmusic

MY MORNING JACKET TO RELEASE THE WATERFALL II

THIS FRIDAY, JULY 10

ALBUM LISTENING PARTY CONFIRMED FOR

THIS THURSDAY, JULY 9 AT 9PM ET VIA THE BAND’S YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK

CD AND VINYL OUT AUGUST 28 - ALBUM PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW

PERFORMING ON THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON JULY 15

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch

My Morning Jacket are releasing their new album, this Friday July 10. Out via ATO Records, The Waterfall II was massively inspired by the band’s idyllic surroundings in Stinson Beach, CA — and a sense of charmed isolation that frontman Jim James likened to “living on our own little moon.” There, the Kentucky-bred five-piece ended up creating over two dozen songs at the mountaintop studio known as Panoramic House. Though they flirted with the idea of putting out what would have been a triple album, the band ultimately decided that less would be more at the time and divided the project into two halves, releasing the first segment as The Waterfall: a 2015 full-length that earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. My Morning Jacket are now set to share the second half of the project as The Waterfall II, an unforeseen and timely continuation of a psychic and sonic journey begun long ago.

Fans will get to hear The Waterfall II in its entirety during an online listening party being hosted by the band on Facebook and YouTube at 9pm ET this Thursday, July 9 before the album arrives at all DSPs on July 10. Album pre-orders, including both standard and deluxe versions featuring 180-gram vinyl with Zoetrope labels in a gatefold foil jacket, are available now. The Waterfall II will be released on CD and vinyl on August 28.

SET REMINDER: THE WATERFALL II LISTENING PARTY

PRE-ORDER THE WATERFALL II

As James reveals, the decision to unearth The Waterfall II was sparked from a bit of serendipity in the early days of self-quarantine. While out on a walk, he placed his music library on shuffle and soon stumbled upon “Spinning My Wheels,” a tender rumination on the struggle for presence, its lyrics confessing to feeling “hypnotized from doing the same old thing.” Struck by the song’s enduring relevance, James revisited the other tracks reserved from the Panoramic House sessions and found that they invited a welcome moment of self-reflection—an outcome perhaps even more perfectly suited to the chaos of the current day than the circumstances of their recording.

Like its predecessor, The Waterfall II mines its mood of dreamy contemplation from certain heartbreak James had recently experienced, including the demise of a monumental relationship. Unfolding in a loosely threaded narrative of loss and recovery, the album conjures an indelible pain but never drifts into despair, gracefully conveying James’s message that “there is hope beyond the pain and loss, if you learn to flow with life like water.”

Even in its most heavy-hearted moments, The Waterfall II radiates an undeniable sense of wonder, a testament to the wild-mindedness that’s long imbued the music of My Morning Jacket. With their unabashed curiosity infinitely stirred by their time at Stinson Beach, the band hopes that the album might lead others to look beyond what’s human-made in the search for solace and renewal. “As so many of us feel out of tune and long for the world to be a better place, we have to look to nature and the animals and learn from them: learn to love, accept, move on, and respect each other,” says James. “We gotta work for it and change our ways before it’s too late, and get in harmony with love and equality for all of humanity and for nature too.”

My Morning Jacket will perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday July 15.

MY MORNING JACKET

THE WATERFALL II

(ATO)

RELEASE DATE: JULY 10, 2020

Tracklisting:

Spinning My Wheels

Still Thinkin

Climbing The Ladder

Feel You

Beautiful Love (Wasn’t Enough)

Magic Bullet

Run It

Wasted

Welcome Home

The First Time

# # #

CONNECT WITH MY MORNING JACKET:

# # #

TED LEO DISCUSSES HIS MUSICAL JOURNEY ON

NEW PODCAST SERIES

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE, LIVE!

FEATURES INTERVIEW, LIVE PERFORMANCES

AND CURATED PLAYLIST

“Making a semi-conscious step to not really care about being part of any world of music allowed us to do what we wanted to."

- Ted Leo

Osiris Podcasts releases the third episode of a new, multidimensional podcast series, Past, Present, Future, Live! featuring Ted Leo. Since the early 90’s, Ted Leo has been one of the most progressive forces in independent music. From his band Chisel to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists to his solo work, he's always stayed true to his punk roots, musically and politically. In this episode, he talks to RJ about the music that influenced him over the years, how his style has evolved, and the ‘seatbelt removing moments' that feed him creatively. Ted discusses his decision to use Kickstarter to fund his last album, The Hanged Man, and why ‘deep collaboration makes you throw out your ego’.

At the end of the episode, Ted performs “Rave On” by Buddy Holly, “The Nice People Argument”, and “William Weld In The 21st Century”. Video of the live performance is on YouTube and the playlist from this episode can be found on Spotify and includes 10 songs from Ted’s Front of House playlist.

WATCH TED LEO PERFORM "RAVE ON,""THE NICE PEOPLE ARGUMENT" AND "WILLIAM WELD IN THE 21ST CENTURY"

Ted Leo is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman and lead guitarist of rock group Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and in 2013, he and Aimee Mann formed the indie rock duo the Both. He and Aimee also have a podcast called The Art of Process.

Upcoming Episodes of Past, Present, Future, Live! include conversations with Dani Markham and more. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like this podcast, please be sure to leave us a rating or review on iTunes.

From their first music lesson to the first paid gig, these are stories from the unique journey that is the life of an artist. We’ll discuss early inspirations, creative process, what’s driving them towards the future, and everything in between. Full audio episodes will drop every Tuesday, and video of each live performance will be available on the Osiris website and YouTube. An accompanying curated playlist chronicling the music and artists mentioned in each episode will also be available on the Osiris site and on Spotify.

EPISODES

Ep 1: Eric Krasno (OUT NOW)

Ep 2: Rhett Miller (OUT NOW)

Ep 3: Marco Benevento (OUT NOW)

Ep. 4: Maggie Rose (OUT NOW)

Ep 4: Ted Leo (AIRS TODAY)

AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

# # #

ACCLAIMED CALIFORNIA SINGER-SONGWRITER MATT COSTA RELEASES
NEW HEARTBREAKING ACOUSTIC ELEGY, “LAST LOVE SONG,”
FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM, YELLOW COAT

COSTA TO PERFORM AS PART OF NPR MUSIC’s LIVE SESSIONS

ON THURSDAY, JULY 9 AT 2 P.M. EST

YELLOW COAT, COSTA’s SOULFUL FOLK AND TIMELESS POP-INSPIRED ALBUM
PRODUCED BY ALEX NEWPORT, AVAILABLE VIA DANGERBIRD RECORDS

ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

WATCH: “LAST LOVE SONG” MUSIC VIDEO

(ON YOUTUBE)

PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE: YELLOW COAT

(ON ALL PLATFORMS)

Dangerbird Records and acclaimed California singer-songwriter Matt Costa are pleased to present “Last Love Song,” the latest track to be lifted from the Friday, September 11 release of his brand new full-length album, Yellow Coat (pre-order/pre-save). “Some feelings stick with you forever,” says Costa of “Last Love Song,” one of the most bare and vulnerable moments found on this new album. When he first wrote what became “Last Love Song,” it had a different title and was meant to be an anniversary gift. Instead, it turned into a break-up song. With its almost church-like fragility, the song is a tender folk tune that speaks to the concept that songs can evolve and take on new meaning over time. Watch the video for “Last Love Song” on YouTube HERE.

Additionally, Costa will perform “Last Love Song” along with a few other intimate tracks as part of NPR Music’s Live Sessions on Thursday, July 9 at 2 p.m. EST from his home studio in Los Angeles. Watch Costa’s upcoming performance via NPR Music’s Live Sessions page HERE.

Produced by Alex Newport, Yellow Coat is a masterpiece of heartbreak, equal parts lost Sixties AM radio hits, folk-pop beauty and dark night of the soul music. Taking inspiration from Van Gogh’s Dear Theo along with John Steinbeck’s A Life in Letters, and stamped with the honesty and intimacy of something not meant to be heard, Yellow Coat is the product of Costa penning letters to himself about the end of a relationship that had lasted almost a decade.

Photo credit: Minh Pham

As his second LP for Dangerbird Records and the follow-up to his well-received concept record Santa Rosa Fangs – an album that revealed similar storytelling qualities present in the work of other likeminded American songwriters such as Kurt Vile and Damien Jurado – the forthcoming Yellow Coat channels Costa’s raw emotion into a 12-track collection of hooky love songs, most of them awash in strings, Mellotron, harmonies and groove.

At the time that Costa started writing, he had stripped things down considerably, not only emotionally but in terms of his surroundings. He had moved into a Laguna Beach studio apartment with just the bare minimum of furniture and instruments. Instead of a bedside table, a Wurlitzer Sideman drum machine stands.

After connecting with notable producer Alex Newport (Death Cab for Cutie, At the Drive-In), the songs of Yellow Coat took shape with Costa enlisting the help of touring musicians and friends from afar. From the insinuating acoustic riffs and lo-fi beats of the album’s lead single “Avenal” to the snappy fatalism of “Slow,” Yellow Coat is brimming with bittersweet narratives of love’s power to both soothe and devastate.

Life does go on, however. The album ends with the last song Costa wrote for it, “So I Say Goodbye,” which provides a sense of closure, its piano-driven tunefulness feeling both uplifting and melancholic. And while Yellow Coat may have started as an album about heartbreak, its sense of sadness, continued hope and perseverance also feels completely universal right now. “My songs have always been something that transcends a feeling into something that is healing,” Costa adds. “I hope listeners and fans find these songs as personal and honest as they are to me.”

###

GUIDED BY VOICES Announce Sunny Summer Album
MIRRORED AZTEC
Pre-order album at Rockathon Records

Share "Haircut Sphinx” Via RollingStone

"World Tour" Full Electric Streaming Concert Friday July 17th

LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Guided By Voices - "Haircut Sphinx"

Guided By Voices
Mirrored Aztec
(GBV Inc)
August 21, 2020

When we last heard from Guided by Voices, they had released an astonishing four albums in just over 12 months. Each has a distinctive creative identity: Zeppelin Over China was a meat-and-potatoes double album, Warp and Woof was a return to the band’s low-fidelity roots and under-two-minute earworms, Sweating the Plague was a slice of moody stadium rock, and Surrender Your Poppy Field was an unpredictable grab-bag of all of the above. After venturing through the tangled brambles of Plague and Poppy Field, we’re treated to a sunny Summer reprieve, a relentless barrage of hooks.

Mirrored Aztec, out Aug 21, 2020, is the latest stop on this runaway train. Like its immediate predecessors, it’s both its own entity and unmistakably GBV. It’s also their most immediately welcoming and inviting offering in years. For the GBV uninitiated, the clean, confident hooks will resonate immediately.

If Robert Pollard’s discography—107 albums and counting—seems intimidating, do not fear! With a brand-new, high-quality, all-the-way-there album every several months, it’s abundantly clear that no band’s fanbase has more fun.

Mirrored Aztec
**** 4 stars “Genre-bending insanity” - Shindig

Surrender You Poppy Field:
**** 4 stars "GBV's 30th full-length juggles home-made lo-fi recordings with sculpted studio tracks, but the songs themselves are of a piece, prizing hooks and focus over abstraction, while never losing Pollard's trademark ramshackle charm." - Mojo

**** 4 stars "The towering power hooks, the seismic 4-track charm, and all the psych / pop / punk / prog weirdness in between, proud dizziness abounds, familiar and surprising at once." - Shindig

Sweating The Plague:
Sweating the Plague delivers a compelling statement about both Robert Pollard's legacy as a singer-songwriter and his band's own live reputation that is as coherent as it is goosebump-inducing.” - Popmatters

“Sweating the Plague shows Robert Pollard achieving the near-impossible” - Exclaim!

Warp & Woof:
"It's up there with some of their best... this is the pinnacle so far of the current GBV reformation, reaching in parts the high calibre of classic era albums like Alien Lanes and Under The Bushes Under The Stars." - The Quietus

"Their hot streak continues with this new record." - Paste Magazine

"Grips the listener and refuses to let go. This album plays as a consistent, brilliant album from beginning to end." - Spill Magazine

Zeppelin Over China:
"The opening stretch alone offers babbling, sinewy post-punk, dreamy jangle pop and an ominous dirge in quick succession, while other stretches yield delicate filigrees of chamber pop, lysergic behemoths and heavy slabs of concrete rock. It's everything you've ever loved about Guided By Voices, all smashed together in one record.” - The Line Of Best Fit

"It is somehow surprising that a release from an artist with over 100 albums to their name can sound so inventive and new, but at the same time, it’s completely unsurprising and outright expected when that artist is Robert Pollard." - The Spill Magazine

GUIDED BY VOICES
World Tour 2020
One Night Only!
Streaming concert in your home. BYOB!
Friday July 17 (5pm Eastern time)
Plus 96-hour post-show streaming on demand
Tickets at Noonchorus.com and finer venues

Guided By Voices will be playing a full-electric concert from an empty venue in Dayton Ohio, with a top-notch audio / video crew. No acoustic guitars in pajamas in the living room!

Due to the pandemic, the band has canceled a number of tour dates this year. They’ll be partnering on this web concert with numerous US indie venues, some of whom they’ve worked with for over 25 years. 20% of the ticket price purchased at the venue sites will go to the venues, to help them keep afloat during these tough financial times.

The set will highlight tracks from the February release Surrender Your Poppy Field as well as a few songs off the not-yet-released Mirrored Aztec.

NAÏKA RELEASES DEBUT EP, LOST IN PARADISE PT. 1

"HEAD IN THE CLOUDS" LYRIC VIDEO OUT TODAY

“Truly a child of the world, French-Haitian pop ingénue

Naïka is a breath of fresh air.”

- LADYGUNN

“What happens when a little girl obsessed with music spends her life traveling all over the world? In the case of Naïka, she grows up to serenade her listeners’ ears with global sounds they may not have heard before in pop music.”

- Frontrunner

World-pop singer-songwriter Naïka's debut EP is out now. Lost In Paradise, Pt. 1 is the French-Haitian singer's debut and will be the first of two EPs to be released this year. Together, they take the listener on her personal journey through self-discovery and inner growth. Part 1 tells the story of feeling lost on this journey -- navigating through insecurity, instability and feeling lost in one's own skin. Part 2 will celebrate arriving at a place of confidence and security -- a personal oasis...Paradise.

"My dream is to bring people together through my music," says Naïka. "I want to shatter stigmas and to encourage human connection that goes beyond religion, ethnicity, and gender."

LISTEN TO LOST IN PARADISE PT. 1

WATCH "HEAD IN THE CLOUDS (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)"

Naïka heralded the arrival of Lost in Paradise, Pt. 1 with the release of the song, "Vultures." The song was joined by an official companion video, streaming now at the Miami-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s official YouTube page. “The stunning visuals and carefully constructed characters portray Naïka’s complex inner struggle,” raved LADYGUNN in its exclusive video premiere, “and eventually, she finds a way to come to terms with it.”

STREAM/DOWNLOAD “VULTURES”

WATCH “VULTURES”

In June, Naïka announced the premiere of “African Sun.” The song was joined by an official lyric video, streaming now. Sung in both Haitian Creole and English, the song was written by Naïka as a celebration of her Haitian roots after last year’s massive series of anti-government protests and commemorates Haitian Heritage Month.

“In May, we celebrated Haiti,” Naïka says in an exclusive Audiofemme feature published last week. “The history of the country was a pivotal influence in the Western Hemisphere – Haiti was the first successful slave revolt in the world; the only slave uprising in history to end with the foundation of a new country.They overthrew the colonizers and became the first black independent nation in 1804. Because of this, they were ostracized by the rest of the world for fear that they could influence slave revolts in the rest of the Caribbean and the New World. Since then, the country has experienced trials and tribulations, but the people still maintain their strength, spirit, and liveliness through it all.”

STREAM/DOWNLOAD “AFRICAN SUN”

WATCH “AFRICAN SUN”

Naïka has already earned acclaim and attention for her distinctive fusion of sounds, a sonic approach she describes simply as “world-pop.” Born in Miami, the gifted singer-songwriter fell in love with music at an early age, absorbing inspiration from her French and Haitian heritage as well as her family’s wide-ranging travels around the globe, from Guadeloupe to Kenya, from South Africa to Vanuatu and beyond. Indeed, the influence of African, European, and Caribbean cultures has shaped her both as an artist and as a citizen of the world, evidenced by her hugely popular cover of the Haitian classic, “Papa Gèdè (Bel Gason),” as well as recent tracks like “Oh Mama,” “Déjà Vu,” and the worldwide streaming hit, “Ride.”

International applause has already come from such publications as Germany’s MYP Magazine, which wrote, “Naïka wants to add more color to her favorite thing in the world: pop music…Blessed with an incredible voice, she is free of pretension and seemingly doesn’t have a boring bone in her body.” “Naïka isn’t a typical American pop artist,” declared Frontrunner. “She’s here to bring her own sound…and maybe even do it in French.”

photo credit: Michael Adan

CONNECT WITH NAÏKA:

INTRODUCING:

KATE BOLLINGER

ANNOUNCES A WORD BECOMES A SOUND EP, OUT 8/21

LISTEN TO “GREY SKIES”

Photo Credit: Jonathan Roensch

“Kate Bollinger writes smart, melodic indie pop music. It makes for easy listening, but there's real insight in her lyrics. Dig deeper and you'll discover a thoughtful songwriter coming into her own.” - NPR Music

Charlottesville, VA-based musician Kate Bollinger has announced a new EP titled A word becomes a sound. A breathtaking five-song collection that touches on pop, folk, jazz and beat-driven experimentation, A word becomes a sound, the follow up to Bollinger’s 2019 EP, I Don’t Wanna Lose, is due August 21st via House Arrest. Pre-order HERE.

Today Bollinger shares the EP’s R&B imbued lead single, “Grey Skies.” Provoking a sense of ease though it contemplates the inevitability of oncoming sorrow, Bollinger explains: “The lyrics are a self critique about how indecisive I am and how self sabotaging it can be. And then the later part of the song is about losing steam, becoming apathetic, becoming cold and unworried which can happen after being so anxious for a long period of time. As a whole it’s kind of about looking for warning signs, like ominous clouds or grey skies, and not letting them bother you and convincing myself that they don’t mean anything, I tend to get really anxious about things 20 steps in advance and waste a lot of energy when nothing bad even happens in the end.”

LISTEN TO “GREY SKIES”

For Kate Bollinger, knowing how to articulate exactly what she means would take a seemingly unattainable level of communicational prowess. Because of this, her nuanced songwriting gives listeners a framework within which they can project their own experiences. “I try to write in a way that leaves each song open to interpretation because I want people to hear their own relationships reflected back at them when they listen to my music,” she says.

The forthcoming A word becomes a sound is, in some ways, Bollinger’s first proper release. While she was happy with how her EP I Don’t Wanna Lose turned out, she says “everything was so new to me, so I didn't take things where they could have gone. Every song you hear is a live take and I was so excited to record the songs as I had written them, so there wasn't much in the way of production after the fact. When we recorded A word becomes a sound, I really pushed myself to actualize what I heard in my head.” Recording the EP was hard-fought; the COVID-19 crisis hit before the band was able to finish, so Bollinger and her collaborator John Trainum were forced to complete the project under unprecedented circumstances.

A word becomes a sound flits between sonic sensibilities, never once settling on a single sustained mood. The EP grounds itself in Bollinger’s nimble voice, which fits a torrent of emotion inside of it. “My music has a really soft center and when I write I am finding a balance between something delicate and the darker feelings surrounding it,” Bollinger says. “Many of my songs are about childhood, because I am lucky to have had a pretty idyllic one.”

But what happens when childhood ends and the anxieties of adulthood come to dominate a once-carefree mind? “My songs, and the sadness in them, comes from reflecting on an easier time.” And the end result makes for one of the most exciting introductions to a new artist you’ll hear all Summer.

KATE BOLLINGER

A WORD BECOMES A SOUND

HOUSE ARREST

AUGUST 21, 2020

PRE-ORDER

1. A Couple Things

2. Grey Skies

3. Feel Like Doing Nothing

4. A word becomes a sound

5. Queen to Nobody

katebollinger.com | facebook.com/katebollingermusic

Twitter @katebsongs | Instagram @keetiebee

DANIEL AVERY

SHARES LOVE + LIGHT VISUAL ALBUM

AN ACCOMPANIMENT TO THE SURPRISE
NEW STUDIO ALBUM
LOVE + LIGHT

OUT NOW

Having recently returned with his surprise third studio album, Love + Light, Daniel Avery shares its accompanying visual album. Created by Australian designer Greg Hodgson, who previously collaborated with Avery on visuals for Song For Alpha B-sides & Remixes cut “Think About What You Love” along with PSSU – Avery’s project with Richard Fearless – the mesmerizing imagery was created using feedback loops. Watch here.

"I've always found Daniel Avery's music to be explorative and adventurous,” Hodgson explains, “You can tell he’s more interested in exploring unknown realms in real time with his sound than hunting for some sort of mathematical musical precision. I've embraced that way of thinking while producing this series of videos - I hunkered down in my darkened studio in Northern NSW with my chain of analogue video gear and old CRT monitors and approached the whole project in a live improvised way. Every track has begun with a feedback loop using my trusty old VHS Camera pointing at an old television screen from the '80s with the signal being sent in an infinite loop between camera and screen. Inserted into this loop is my chain of analogue video gear, each with its own character and ability to shape the signal that flows through it.”

Love + Light is out now on digital platforms via Mute/Phantasy in the United States and Canada and via Phantasy worldwide. Stream the album and pre-order limited edition vinyl and CD formats here.

Upon release, Exclaim hailed the album as “some of [Avery’s] most beautiful work to date,” while NME called it "a heartfelt eulogy for the hedonism we’re missing this summer,” continuing, “this two-part record perfectly captures the euphoria of club culture.”

Love + Light arrived unexpectedly following Avery’s recent collaborations with Alessandro Cortini on the critically acclaimed Illusion of Time LP and alongside Roman Flügel under the alias of Noun. Pitchfork described Illusion of Time as “expansive in scope, charmingly rough around the edges, and brimming with possibility...a beautiful record that takes wonder as its defining characteristic,” while Loud & Quiet hailed it as “a record that suggests Godspeed You! Black Emperor in drone mode, reimagining Music For Airports as if the runways were covered in gravel and air traffic control was on strike.” Avery’s previous solo album Song For Alpha was released in 2018 to similar acclaim.

Love + Light tracklisting
London Island
Dusting For Smoke
Dream Distortion
Katana
Darlinnn
Depth Wish
Searing Light, Forward Motion
Infinite Future

After The Fire
Into The Arms Of Stillness
Fuzzwar
Pure Life
A Story In E5
One More Morning

Sufjan Stevens debuts "America," new album The Ascension out September 25

Paul Weller shares forthcoming album, 'On Sunset' today via Polydor Records

The Dalai Lama: "Inner World" Album Out Today, Birthday Celebration Livestream Honoring His Holiness’ 85th Birthday

The OBGMs Release "Not Again" Single/Video via Black Box; Canadian Punk Trio Hint at 2020 Album

DREAM WIFE Release New LP, 'So When You Gonna...' Named Rough Trade's Album of the Month

Charlotte OC Releases Amazon Original Cover of Portishead’s "Glory Box"

Sparks team up with iconic animator, Cyriak, for new video

MADEON Releases "No Fear No More" Remix w/ EARTHGANG

Mirah shares Half Waif cover of "Murphy Bed" from 'You Think It's Like This...' reissue and tribute

Daniel Blumberg Shares Three More Tracks From New Album "On&On"

Emma Swift releases "Queen Jane Approximately" video; new Dylan covers album out Aug 14

Chicano Batman - NPR Tiny Desk Concert New Album ‘Invisible People’ Out Now

Chicano Batman - NPR Tiny Desk Concert

DMA'S Release New Track "Criminals"

My Morning Jacket to release new album this Friday, July 10

Ted Leo describes how to "throw out your ego" on Past, Present, Future, Live! podcast

An Anniversary Gift Becomes A Break-Up Song In MATT COSTA’s New Single, “Last Love Song”

GUIDED BY VOICES Announce New LP 'Mirrored Aztec' Share 1st Track "Haircut Sphinx” Via Rolling Stone "World Tour" Full Electric Streaming Concert 7/17

World-pop singer Naïka is Lost in Paradise on debut EP

Kate Bollinger - 'A word becomes a sound' EP out 8/21 - Listen to Lead Single "Grey Skies"

Daniel Avery Shares "Love + Light" Visual Album; Watch Now