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“Sick of being tied to you / and I don’t even talk to you” is such a killer line. This and the rest of Mariam Sawires‘ beautiful singing elevates to something special when she switches from jazz lounge to Roots-like R&B that gradually crescendos into a climax colorful like the album cover. And this is just on one song – the rest of the album travels through different peaks and valleys of moods, all done well and all making me very excited for what Sawires has in store for us in the future.

From Bandcamp:

“Egyptian, born in Australia into a worldly, nomadic family of musicians artists originating in desert sands to urban landscapes worldwide. Mariam’s youth was inspired by the sweet lyrical high-pitched melodies of traditional Arabic songs, the rhythms created from the clay Darbuka of her father. Bringing her flavor of Arabic/Northern African infused Jazz/ NuSoul to Europe, Africa, USA, and Asia.”

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(via Kukushai)

It sounds like insects marching towards war at first, and then Eva Poženel’s vocals come in and oh shit it’s a jazz thing but with a Fiona Apple-like stomp. Kukushai‘s explosion of sound could go off any minute, but Sun Mi Hong’s drumming keeps everything in check and Rok Zalokar’s keys move things along. It’s all theatrical, and it’s all quite beautiful and bizarre at times. Poženel, Hong, and Zalokar all met in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and they use their varying cultural heritages (Poženel and Zalokar from Slovenia, Hong from South Korea) to good use.

Fruitile is out now via Slovenian label ZARŠ Records.

From Facebook:

“Avantgarde pop trio with original music that’s flirting with jazz, rock and even punk, but don’t take these labels to heart, listen and decide for yourself”

August 2017 highlights (through music):

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-Passion Pit’s new album feels more like a B-side album, but its front side has song of its strongest material yet

-The new Randy Newman album is great and I’m gonna miss the hell out of him when he goes (go listen to Randy Newman)

-I listen to William Basinski for the first time and I guess electronic music can be OK sometimes

-The YOUR NAME soundtrack still rules

-RIP Glen Campbell

-The majority of these songs come from the INHERENT VICE soundtrack, which might be my favorite PTA film (which means it’s just a pretty OK movie).

-Reigning Sound made one of this decade’s low-key best Americana-ish albums, and years later it still sounds great. Check out ‘Shattered’

-I found a new appreciation for solo Morrissey. He doesn’t have a clear cut best album, but he can fill a whole album of killer singles

-K fine, Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse”

-The new Brand New album is still growing on me, to the point it’s becoming a serious AOTY contender

-The War On Drugs is another AOTY contender, but this week my friend made the comparison to Fleetwood Mac, and now I can’t hear both bands the same way ever again (in a good way!)

-New Queens of the Stone Age is pretty good, but “Fortress” is a top 10 song, a seriously terrific rock song

-And finally, “From The Dining Table” sounds like a Ryan Adams (damn, I guess I actually like Harry Styles’ album)

ENJOY SEPTEMBER, EVERYBODY

https://open.spotify.com/user/121696701/playlist/3uA6faPX3GkHRJ4NwAPenW

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(via Mariesena)

There’s a video on YouTube where Mariesena, a screamo band from Ukraine, plays a cover of Orchid’s “…And The Cat Turned To Smoke” live in their hometown Odessa, on the Black Sea. The song is a classic that fans know, but the reaction of the crowd is not what an American or European screamo lover would expect: the audience sang, cried, desperately held their heads, and comforted each other while falling on their knees.

It’s not a parody nor a meme, but one way to show dedication to a genre that has developed quite a cult following in some ex-USSR countries. While foreign bands are rather worshiped here, the local scenes in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia are alive and well, delivering several interesting emo and screamo bands every year. Mariesena is one of them, and a great starting point for those who want to dig in these unexplored territories. Unlike many of the other bands they share the stage with, their lyrics are in English, exploring romantic and existentialist poetics in a personal style, especially on their full-length Ruth. The music is raw, violent and passionate, with reckless conjunctions between emoviolence chaos and staid moments of lo-fi clean arpeggios and abrupt screams.

The band, which broke up in 2014, has played a reunion show just last week in Odessa, with 200 people sweating and screaming all of their lyrics, but its members have also released a good quantity of material with other bands in the past couple of years. Yotsuya Kaidan, for example, are releasing these days what is one of the most poignant screamo EPs to ever come from Ukraine.

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(via Makoto Kino)

I can’t look away – from the steadily flashing lights, the mysterious purple room that could be The Black Lodge, to the collage of random assortments of pedals and instruments and cherished (or discarded) anime trinkets. It’s all stunning. In the center is Mexican experimental artist Makoto Kinolayering melodies and repetitive drones and turning the room into a fortress of sound. It’s like she’s trying to bring the Loveless album cover to life at 2 a.m. while everyone is still asleep and dreaming. It’s almost otherworldly, and it’s quite beautiful.

Kino’s album is out now on Bandcamp. More information can be found here.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

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(via Sabir)

Sabir plays sleek, Mediterranean dance-influenced My Morning Jacket, stripped-down, dance beat-heavy Tame Impala, or lively Israeli wedding music. Or all three. Or more. Take your pick. MDM (Middle Eastern Dance Music) can mean different sounds to each person and no one is wrong. This band doesn’t mind bending those rigid genres rules, and they’re all the better for it.

The band’s full-length debut is out September 9th.

From Bandcamp:

“סאביר صابر is an instrumental band of six, playing MDM – Middle eastern Dance Music. [Their] music is a mixture of original Mediterranean pieces with elements of rock, electro, and hip-hop.”

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(via AIENU)

couldn’t tell you a thing about Japan’s AIENU or his latest album 222, but this is the kind of ambient, Samurai Champloo-like electronic music that works best the less you know about its creator. 222 is a quick listen and very much worth your time to get lost in, even if you wouldn’t consider yourself a “fan” of slower grooves that take its sweet time.

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(via Los Camaroes)

The next release from Analog Africa is the 1979 final album by Los Camaroes, the legendary Cameroon band with a legendary backstory worthy of some Wes Anderson movie (I can see Anderson entering his tropical Afrobeat phase for his next movie). The full album will be available digitally on September 29th.

From Bandcamp:

“Los Camaroes emerged at the end of the 1960s from the town of Maroua in the northern, predominantly Islamic area of Cameroon. After changes in name, in lineup and in management, they worked their way south to the capital to make a name for themselves; in the span of only a few years they changed Cameroon’s music scene forever, leaving a trail of sold-out nightclubs and monster radio hits in their wake. Then, at the height of their popularity, they broke up.”

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(via Phil From Accounting)

If it seems like my recent posts have been getting shorter, there’s a reason: I’ve been busying recording music with my band! I play guitar in Phil From Accounting. We’re a punk-rock trio where we all sing and write songs together. We just released our first single, “Carrie,” last week, which you can listen to below.

Our debut EP will be out next month. Stay tuned!

From our Bandcamp:

“‘Carrie’ from ‘If You’re Reading This, Please Call Mom,’ out September 2017. Released August 18, 2017. Written by PFA. Brady Gerber: guitar, vocals. Amanda Webster: bass, vocals. Jamie Williams: drums, vocals. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Oliver Ignatius at Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen in Brooklyn, NY. Logo by Scott Carr.”

Phil From Accounting:

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(via Meridian Brothers)

At first, Meridian Brothers’ psych-folk might sound kitschy and novel, especially to someone unfamiliar with one of Bogotá’s most beloved avant-garde acts. Perhaps as kitschy and novel as the album cover shown above. But there’s an urgency throughout the excellent ¿Dónde Estás María? – listen closely and you’ll hear the same fuzzy, driving grooves that you hear in your favorite Vampire Weekend songs. It might be weird, but you can’t say it’s lazy or not well written. And this band has been doing tropicalia longer, and better, than any late ’00s indie band still trying to be relevant.

¿Dónde Estás María? will be released on September 8th.

From Bandcamp:

“The boundary-pushing Colombian group returns to Soundway Records with another unique album: dreamy psych-folk, blending traditional Latin rock with tropicalia, and lush string and choral arrangements.

Meridian Brothers’ sound is a huge palette of influences and inspirations. Drawing from traditional Latin rock (including Colombian, Argentinian and Mexican) as well as Brazilian tropicalia, for this album Alvarez incorporates string instruments – in particular the cello, both bowed and plucked – a timbre rarely used in his previous works.”

Meridian Brothers: