Bent Knee - Leak Water

 #Bent Knee #progressive rock #art rock #industrial #baroque pop #avant-garde #music video

Boston’s Bent Knee proudly occupy the grey area where baroque pop, rock, and the avant-garde meet, but even they are sometimes caught off guard by their intricately woven, surrealist stylings. The element of surprise and desire to fuse disparate sounds was felt throughout their sophomore record, 2014’s well-received Shiny Eyed Babies. It shines through even brighter on follow-up album Say So, due out May 20th through new label home Cuneiform. A press release dubs the forthcoming LP a “thrilling, aural roller-coaster ride with arrangements designed to make listeners throw their arms up in wild abandon.” Surveying Say So’s heady yet meta subject matter, it’s easy to see how such a varied sort of record could come about. Along with “the emergence of personal demons,” the new full-length sees Bent Knee digging into the abstract, specifically “looking at the bigger picture and figuring out where we as individuals stand, and how we carve out meaning in this giant universe,” according to violinist Chris Baum.
While complex, contrasting compositions might be in Bent Knee’s DNA, much of the “surprise” in Say So can likely also be attributed to the unconventional space in which it was recorded. “A friend of ours pointed us to an empty, unlocked, million-square foot industrial complex in Boston,” says frontwoman/keyboardist Courtney Swain. “It felt like zombies were going to jump out anytime. It was a foreboding locale and gave the session a distinctly dark vibe.” As a first look at the album, the band has unveiled a new song called Leak Water. It’s a relatively straightforward number compared to their past releases, as Bent Knee note; still, a potent sense of urgency tingles in the air. In a statement to Consequence of Sound, guitarist Ben Levin explains the track’s backstory and how it’s captured in the corresponding official video: “‘Leak Water’ is written from the perspective of a little girl whose mother is pulling her through a painful morning beauty ritual. With this in mind, for the music video we wanted to feature a little girl singing the lyrics while being thrown around in some way. The video was directed by Greg Bowen, who also created the album art for Say So. Greg makes amazing art in just about any medium you can imagine, and we decided to take advantage of his range by stylizing this video like a collage.”  From: https://consequence.net/2016/04/bent-knee-announce-new-album-say-so-premiere-leak-water-songvideo-watch/

Fairport Convention - Time Will Show The Wiser

 #Fairport Convention #Ian Matthews #Ashley Hutchings #Richard Thompson #folk rock #British folk rock #electric folk #British folk #psychedelic folk rock #1960s #music video

Fairport Convention’s wonderful performance from the French TV Show "Bouton Rouge" was broadcast live on 27 April 1968 and features the original Fairport Line up of Judy Dyble, Iain Matthews, Simon Nicol, Tyger Hutchings, Richard Thompson, and the late Martin Lamble playing Morning Glory, Time Will Show The Wiser and a simply awe-inspiring mind-melting performance of Reno, Nevada. At this time Fairport had just released their first album and were very influenced by American folk rock and psychedelic groups like Jefferson Airplane, Bob Dylan and The Byrds. The sound, look and name of the band led many to think that either they were an American band or at best just a British version of Jefferson Airplane. The star of the show is definitely Richard Thompson who is seen here in mega guitar hero role. After a fairly muscular solo in Morning Glory he delivers an astonishing perfectly paced 4 and a half minute six string marathon in Reno Nevada - so full of power, invention, imagination that the solo seems to run away with itself. Is Richard playing the guitar or is the guitar playing Richard? For the duration of this nearly 5 minute solo they are no longer the British Jefferson Airplane copying their heroes but arguably go beyond anything the Airplane, Grateful Dead or other San Francisco bands were doing in early '68 (although it must be said that the Dead would start to achieve similar high levels of  jazz inspired improv syncopation before the year was out but that is another story and post). And to top it all the band just look so damned cool. As the solo finishes Judy Dyble slowly gets up and wanders back to the microphone and the whole band just have a look of “Hey, this is nothing special. We are this shit hot every night.” After this performance they signed with Island Records, Judy Dyble left the band to be replaced by Sandy Denny and they went off to reinvent British folk rock.  From: http://strangerthanknown.blogspot.com/2013/01/fairport-convention-bouton-rouge.html

IC3PEAK - Kiss Of Death

 #IC3PEAK #experimental rock #electronic rock #witch house #industrial rock #electro-metal #political #subversive #Russian #music video

You have followers in a society, the sheep, and you have those who stand up against the herd mentality and show their middle finger to oppression. One of those bands is the Russian electronic band IC3PEAK. They saw their VK page (the biggest media in Russia) banned because of our anti-war statements. Their concerts are also officially prohibited by the Russian government. Instead of remaining silent, they unleashed the video “Kiss Of Death” (the title track of their most recent album) which is “dedicated to the Russian police state which tries to censor us all but is doomed to fail.” The band is also collecting funds to support Ukrainian humanitarian aid.
IC3PEAK is the duo Anastasia Kreslina and Nikolay Kostilev. They formed the band in 2013 and released the English sung EP “Substances” the following year. Shortly after, they released the video for the song “Ether”. In 2017, IC3PEAK released their first album (in Russian), “Sladkaya zhizn” (“Sweet life”). The duo released another Russian-language album, “Skazka” (“Fairy Tale”), in 2018. The band’s third album in Russian was #Do Svidaniya” (“Goodbye”) and was released on April 24, 2020. By then they were already under political scrutiny, especially because of the video for the song “Smerti bolshe net” which was considered as an insult to law enforcement structures and to the Russian authorities. There were also accusations that the video would be promoting suicide, which, according to the authorities, could have an impact on the duo’s underage fans. What followed was targeted harassment, threats, and intimidation from the Russian security forces. Concert venues throughout Russia were told not to program them or cancel shows. The performance in Novosibirsk on 1 December 2018 became the peak of that confrontation. On that day, the members of IC3PEAK and the local concert organizers were detained while exiting the train at Novosibirsk Central Railway Station. The concert took place at an alternative venue.  From: https://www.side-line.com/russian-band-ic3peak-gets-banned-on-vk-for-anti-war-comments-their-reaction-an-anti-putin-video/

Mark Stoermer - Blood and Guts (The Anatomy Lesson)

 #Mark Stoermer #ex-The Killers #alternative rock #indie rock #post-punk revival #psychedelic rock #pop rock #heavy metal #music video

Mark Stoermer, bassist of The Killers, has released a surreal, bloody new video for “Blood & Guts”. The video is a mini psychedelic rock opera based on the Rembrandt painting “The Anatomy Lesson” featuring Adan Jodorowsky and directed by Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger’s Charlotte Kemp Muhl, which sees Stoermer portraying a crazed conductor hell bent on destruction. “It is a theatrical journey that juxtaposes sex and death, the material and the spiritual, the sacred and the profane, the grotesque and the beautiful, the somber and the silly. It is a celebration of life in the face of our mortality, while paying tribute to the forces of creation, preservation, destruction and resurrection,” Stoermer said of the video.  
Dark Arts, Stoermer’s second solo album, comprises a mosaic of sixties-induced psychedelia, bluesy desert rock swagger, plaintive lyrical poetry, and lithe and lush cinematic orchestration. Co-produced by David Hopkins of Bombay Heavy and recorded at The Killers‘ Las Vegas headquarters Battle Born Studios and Studio at The Palms, Dark Arts weaves together a twisting and turning trip through a myriad of styles.  From: https://ventsmagazine.com/2016/10/25/mark-stoermer-releases-nsfw-blood-guts-video/

Mark Stoermer is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist for the rock band the Killers, with whom he has recorded six studio albums. In addition to his work with the Killers, Stoermer has released three solo albums, Another Life in 2011, Dark Arts in 2016, and Filthy Apes and Lions in 2017. Stoermer also joined the Smashing Pumpkins to tour in support of the band's ninth studio album, Monuments to an Elegy (2014), and produced Howling Bells' third studio album The Loudest Engine (2011).
Stoermer mainly plays with a pick. He says "I love the punch and grit of a pick. I do a lot of unconscious palm muting. I love how you can instantly get that clunky tone with shorter notes. It's a great sound." He tries to play the bass as a "half percussive, half melodic instrument". Stoermer feels that "You can add to a song's melodic side without taking away from the vocals. That's my favorite kind of bass playing." His signature bass playing is featured prominently in the Killers' debut and sophomore albums. While his aggressive playing was a focal point in the Killers' first two albums, Stoermer's playing became more funk-driven in Day & Age, and much more reserved and subtle in Battle Born. His style of playing has influenced many other bands and even a genre of music in bass-driven New Wave-synth rock.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Stoermer

The BellRays - Infection

 #The BellRays #garage rock #soul #punk rock #punk funk #rock & soul #R&B

Blues is the teacher. Punk is the Preacher. It’s all about emotion and energy. Experience and raw talent, spirit and intellect. Exciting things happen when these things collide. Bob Vennum and Lisa Kekaula made The BellRays happen in 1990 in Riverside, California but they weren’t really thinking about any of this then. They wanted to play music and they wanted it to feel good. They wanted people to want to get up, to need to get up and check out what was going on. Form an opinion. React. So they took everything they knew about; the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, the Who, the Ramones Billie Holiday, Lou Rawls, Hank Williams, the DB’s, Jimmy Reed, and Led Zeppelin (to name a very few to whom “blues is the teacher”) and pressed it into service.
Those bands and artists have since become “buzz words”, things to imitate and sound like. That was never The BellRays intention. The BellRays were never about coming up with a “sound”, or fitting in with a scene. It was about the energy that made all that music so irresistible. The BellRays’ influences learned from the Blues and then learned how to to make it their own. The Beatles wanted to play R&B, converted that energy and invented “Rubber Soul”. The Ramones were trying to be Del Shannon or Neil Sedaka and out came “Rocket to Russia”.
The BellRays believe combining Rock and Soul is not meant to be a conscious effort. You shouldn’t have to force them together because they’ve never really been separated in the first place. It’s an organic trail that flows through Bob and Lisa and the current rhythm section of Bernard Yin (Fur Dixon, Par Avion) on bass and Dusty Watson (the Sonics, Dick Dale) on drums, and comes out honest and urgent. You will learn and you will feel. Blues is always teaching and Punk is always preaching. The BellRays are always listening.  From: https://first-avenue.com/performer/the-bellrays/

Jorma Kaukonen - Genesis

 #Jorma Kaukonen #ex-Jefferson Airplane #ex-Hot Tuna #folk rock #blues rock #acoustic blues #singer-songwriter #1970s

Genesis, the opening song on Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s first solo album from 1974, has always been a favorite of mine. It details his plea toward a new beginning that was needed in his relationship with his wife, due to some typical thoughtless indulgence that frequents the lives of traveling musicians. In the liner notes of the re-release we read the following:
Although a wistful romantic ode on its surface. what many apparently don’t realize is that the song is a confessional. Says Jorma, “It’s about a guy who cheated on his wife and got caught. I was living the rock and roll life and one thing led to another and I was forced to fess up. The good news is I got a good song out of it. The bad news is I don’t even remember who it was that caused the song to be written. “At the time,” he continues, “my wife Margareta and I realized we were really miserable and we were trying to be happier together. I was writing a lot of true love songs—true love almost always gone wrong but saved at the last moment. Some people have suggested that wouldn’t it be nice if you could write songs like ‘Genesis’ all the time, and I always say, “Yeah, it would be, but it would be great not to have to be in the place I was when I wrote it.’ Many of the best songs get written in a state of abject misery. I prefer to write fewer songs and have less cataclysmic events in my life.”
Thus, “Genesis” is one of those songs that is ultimately both sad yet beautiful. Sad in it’s potentially cataclysmic origination yet beautiful in its expression of a new beginning. The “flying angel” cover art used for the album called “Quah” was created by his wife. Jorma dedicated the re-issue of the album to the memory of Margareta.  From: https://manifestpropensity.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/genesis-by-jorma-kaukonen-a-song-born-from-the-cataclysmic/

Jorma Kaukonen's 50 plus year career began in his hometown of Washington DC when he and friend Jack Casady formed their first band, the Triumphs. Later, attending Antioch college, Kaukonen learned the fingerpicking style of guitar playing and got his introduction to the music of the Reverend Gary Davis which became an integral part of his performances. Moving on to northern California, Kaukonen enrolled at Santa Clara University where he played in coffee houses and accompanied Janis Joplin on some acoustic demos. From there Kaukonen helped form Jefferson Airplane, followed by Hot Tuna and when that band broke up, he continued a solo career he began when Hot Tuna was still active. Jorma Kaukonen has continued his solo career and work with Hot Tuna over the decades. His career has also been marked by numerous collaborations, from working with Jaco Pastorius to collaborating with former members of the Grateful Dead.  From: https://wnrn.org/decade-of-difference-jorma-kaukonen-2/

Mellow Candle - The Poet And The Witch

 #Mellow Candle #folk rock #progressive folk #acid folk #Celtic folk #1970s #Irish

Although they are anything but a household name today, in their time, Irish folk-rock band Mellow Candle were frequently mentioned in the same breath as more enduring names from the Emerald Isle's late-'60s generation of rock bands, such as Steeleye Span, The Chieftains, Thin Lizzy, Horslips, et al. The origins of Mellow Candle can be traced back to 1963, when precocious young ladies Clodagh Simonds, Alison Bools, and Maria White formed a vocal trio named the Gatecrashers while enrolled at Dublin's Holy Child Convent. After several years of impromptu performances, covering hits of the period inside the school walls, 14-year-olds Simonds and Bools (White had already left) sent a demo to Radio Luxembourg DJ Colin Nichol, who in turn brought it to respected producer Simon Napier-Bell, then manager for the likes of The Yardbirds and John’s Children, among others. Napier-Bell was duly impressed and soon arranged for a recording session from which emerged the 1968 single "Feeling High" b/w "Tea with the Sun," released through his own short-lived SNB label imprint and credited to the already renamed Mellow Candle.
The single's poorly rendered approximation of psychedelic girl group sounds failed to chart, however, and Simonds' parents strategically intervened by shipping her off to school in Italy, while Bools began attending art college back in Ireland and singing with local covers group Blue Tint. This paired her with guitarist and future husband David Williams, so that, with the addition of bassist Pat Morris and Simonds' return from Italy, Mellow Candle were relaunched in 1970, making their debut performance in support of The Chieftans. Numerous concerts and festival appearances alongside fellow rising Irish acts such as Horslips, Taste, and Thin Lizzy helped build the band's public profile over the next year, and Simonds even contributed harpsichord and Mellotron to Thin Lizzy’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage LP. By the time this was released, Mellow Candle were already hard at work on their own debut album for Deram Records, having replaced the unsuitably straight-laced Morris with former Creatures bassist Frank Boylan and augmented their formation with a drummer for the first time in ex-Kevin Ayers man William Murray. That debut album, Swaddling Songs, was produced by David Hitchcock (Genesis, Caravan, etc.) and released in April 1972 -- a month that also saw Mellow Candle supporting Steeleye Span at Dublin's National Stadium.
But this reputable concert booking unfortunately did not reflect the public reaction to Swaddling Songs, which, for reasons unknown, was generally either ignored or dismissed by critics of the time (the NME famously calling it a "tax loss"), only to subsequently transform into a paradigm of overlooked British folk-rock in the decades that followed. In fact, come the 1990s, its magical musical amalgam of Celtic folk, progressive, goth, psych, and rock, topped with Simonds and Williams' otherworldly vocals (honed to telepathic interaction over years of partnership), was being hailed as a lost masterpiece, and exchanging collectors' hands for hundreds of dollars until long overdue CD reissues began covering some of the demand. All too late to save Mellow Candle, of course, which had initially weathered Swaddling Songs' commercial failure with tours alongside Genesis and Curved Air, then briefly changed their name to Grace Before Space, but ultimately crumbled altogether and went their separate ways toward the end of 1973.  From: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wbGwhI4lo3t4mpQt727o4