Bloody hell. Sometimes all it takes is one song, and I’m bursting. And on a day when I could really use that “one song”, along comes Michael Kiwanuka’s, “I’m Getting Ready”. Just elegantly smooth, warm, and comforting, this is a tune that has brought me back from one of those lingering low points that you don’t even quite realise you’re in, until you feel yourself come back up.
“I’m Getting Ready”, the title track off Michael’s second EP, arrives alongside “I Need You By My Side” and “Any Day Will Do Fine” on September 18 on Communion Records.
Love Love Love is the first single off Avalanche City’s ‘Our New Life Above The Ground’, which was released in April of this year, but which I am only getting into now.
You know, it really is crazy to think that it’s already been two years since I originally tipped Ben Howard on this blog as one to watch, and I’m still eagerly awaiting the drop of his debut LP (due out in just a few months).
In the meantime, while we wait, here are a few videos that Ben’s recently released. First off, here’s a video of Ben performing his tune, “London” on a houseboat cruising the river Thames. Just because, y’know, we can…
And secondly, the brand new (well, released last month) video for Ben’s song “Wolves”, which two years ago I called “sheer perfection”.
My days don’t get much better than when I get to put out posts regarding new Ryan Adams tunes. According Under The Mag where this premiered, “Shine Through the Dark” was recorded by Adams post-meltdown, while lying in bed with the flu. Our favourite artist, Mr DRA calls it “The first track I wrote after my retirement”.
I call it simply heavenly.
Below, stream Adams’ brand new solo acoustic tune. Shine Through the Dark will appear on benefit compilation Live From Nowhere Near You which you can preorder here.
You know, I tend to shy away from posting the “pitched” stuff on this blog. I like just going out there and finding things myself, rather than relying on being pitched material by label shills. So when the latest one came through saying “New music video filmed totally on Windows Phones”, I thought that this would be another one that I relegated to the “Deleted Items” folder.
Thankfully, I read on, because a few things stopped me. One, it was the video for Kurt Vile‘s new release, “Baby’s Arms”. Secondly, it was filmed by kick-ass photographer Todd Cole. Third… it’s a great bloody track.
Watch the video below, and download the track for free (well, the price of an email) below that.
Kurt Vile’s Smoke Ring For My Halo is out now on Matador Records.
Brian Fallon could pretty much play the nose flute, and I’d give it a listen to see how it goes. After all, the Gaslight Anthem were responsible for one of my “albums of the decade”, “The ’59 Sound”.
So when I heard that Brian had teamed up with Ian Perkins to form “The Horrible Crowes”, I was immediately interested. And when I heard Fallon describe their upcoming debut LP, Elsie, as am “experiment with the darker side of soul music”… well, I was pretty much sold.
So all I can say is, thank God this first preview of their work (a sample of the track, “Black Betty & The Moon” sounds so damn good. Because I would have been devastated if it didn’t.
Check out the first 90 seconds of the track below.
There are few bands who ever affected me the way Dispatch did. And so, when Dispatch sadly called it quits back around 2004, I followed each of the individual band members’ new musical projects with interest. My love affair with Pete Francis is no secret, and I find Braddigan just so inspiring.
But the only one of the trio that I’ve ever managed to catch live since the split is Chad, and his band State Radio. That night was huge for me, and confirmed that Chad still had it.
Anyway, all this is a pretty convoluted way of saying that I have some major history with these dudes. So, when Chad announced that he was just about to release his debut solo album, Chadwick Stokes: Simmerkane II, on June 28, I was – to put it mildly – excited.
And so it’s with no small amount of pleasure that – a week before its official drop – you can now stream the full thing on Burgo’s Blog.
A note from Chad on the release:
“It’d been 6 years since last meeting up with John Dragonetti (checkout Jack Drag and Submarines) and recording Simmerkane in his attic in Arlington, MA. We’d been talking for a few years about getting back together and I was really excited to meet up with him at Jimmy Parr’s studio on Martha’s Vineyard this fall for round two. I played a bunch of songs – most of them from the last year or so: songs about growing up on the farm, some from the recent trips on the freight trains. As they developed, there seemed a singular story that was unfolding. A story about journeying away to understand what was left behind and trying to come to grips with love, loss, escape and return.. We had such fun making the record and being on the island during the stormy season made for warm days, cold windy nights and good surf… and Jimmy’s studio was made from wide planks of wood from the old schooner the Alabama. Thanks for everyone’s help!
– Chadwick”
It takes a certain type of musician to hop freight trains and barrel across the vastness of North America with his brother and cousin. Especially for an artist who, just years before, sold out Madison Square Garden for three consecutive nights. This album tells the tale of that trip.
So hop on that train, and ride along with Chad below…
So… yeah, I know there’s a lot of Bon Iver posts floating around here lately, but what do you expect? The album’s officially dropped now (even though you could stream it two weeks ago if you’d been paying attention) and the promo circuit is well and truly heating up.
But hell… as long as the performances are as killer as this, I’ll keep posting the damn things.
Above, watch Bon Iver perform “Holocene” (one of the album’s standout tracks) alongside saxophonist Colin Stetson and friends. Sheer awesomeness.
