Born in Berlin in early 2014 and nurtured over the following summer, I Declare Nothing'is the spine-tingling collaboration between Tess Parks and Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre), due for release on Anton's A Recordings label on 29th June.
The duo, who co-wrote and co-played on the album, they are touring across Europe this year.
Tess Parks - A native of Toronto, Tess Parks moved to London, England at the age of seventeen where she briefly studied photography before deciding to focus on music. Tess made an impression on industry legend Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records, albeit the timing of their meeting could hardly have been less ideal; McGee was no longer involved in music and Tess was due to move back to Toronto. After moving back to her hometown in 2012, Tess formed a band on the advice of McGee and less than a year after their meeting, he returned to music with his new label, 359 Music.
Tess became one of his first signings and released her debut record Blood Hot'in November 2013 to excellent reviews. One reviewer described her as 'Patti Smith on Quaaludes'. Others have mentioned her "gauzy psychedelic sound' and "smouldering voice'. Alan McGee himself said: 'She's only 24 and is already an amazing songwriter... she just doesn't quite know she is yet - ¦ her most beautiful quality is her lack of ego. Tess is an amazing lady'.
Anton Newcombe - Anton Newcombe is the leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, who returned last May with their 14th full-length album Revelation'to critical acclaim. It is the first album that was fully recorded and produced at Anton Newcombe's recording studio in Berlin and was released on his record label A Recordings. It was supported by a successful European tour.
Named in tribute to the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist and his influence in introducing Eastern culture and music into the world of Western rock & roll, Brian Jonestown Massacre formed in San Francisco, California in 1990.
Two dozen band members later and numerous 'ups and downs' (some have been famously sensationalized in the media), the one thing that has always remained consistent for this psychedelic collective, is front man Mr. Anton Alfred Newcombe.
LP Tracklisting Side A: 1. Wehmut 2. Cocaine Cat 3. Peace Defrost 4. German Tangerine 5. Gone
Side B: 6. October 2nd 7. Mama 8. Voyage de L'âme 9. Melorist 10. Friendlies
CD: 1. Wehmut 2. Cocaine Cat 3. Peace Defrost 4. German Tangerine 5. Gone 6. October 2nd 7. Mama 8. Voyage de L'âme 9. Meliorist 10. Friendlies
Moon Diagrams – the solo project of Deerhunter co-founder and drummer Moses Archuleta – returns with a second album, Cemetery Classics, on June 21.
The 12-track album is a co-release between Sonic Cathedral (in the UK and Europe) and Angus Andrew from Liars’ new label No Gold (in the US and the ROW) and was mixed by James Ford. It features guests including Anastasia Coope, Patrick Flegel (Cindy Lee) and Josh Diamond (Gang Gang Dance).
It’s Moses’ first new music since 2019’s Trappy Bats mini-album and the follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed debut Lifetime of Love and everything seems a bit more extreme – from the Basinski-esque degradation of ‘Neptune’ to the Faustian industrial noise of ‘Listen To Me’ via Art of Noise-style postmodern pop (the first single ‘Very Much My Promise to You’), Daft Punk bangers (‘Fifteen Shows at One Time’), trip-hop, shoegaze, Jan Hammer, Depeche Mode, late Leonard Cohen and more.
“It’s about finding out your arms are too short to box with god,” says Moses of the emotional force that courses through Cemetery Classics. “It’s the inverse of a desert island disc – a graveyard disc. Songs to take into the afterlife.”
Tracklisting: 1. NRG 2. Mousetrap 3. Fifteen Shows at One Time 4. Metallics in Fur 5. Big Ref 6. Rewop 7. Brand New Effie 8. Neptune 9. Very Much My Promise to You 10. Listen to Me 11. Left Hand of God 12. Fragment Rock
Asha Well is a San Francisco Bay Area based non-binary singer, songwriter, and visual artist. “Water Words” is their debut album, featuring atmospheric textures and haunting melodies set to thought provoking imagery.
Working with co-producer Jason Kick (Mild High Club, Sonny and the Sunsets) at his Tunnel Vision studio in Oakland, CA the pair recorded 1-2 songs a week at the height of the pandemic.
Kick brought his knack for arrangement, synthesis, and drum programming, helping to create a supportive environment for Wells’ atmospheric guitars and haunting melodies.
The resulting album pairs textured sounds with tender harmonies, calling to mind the work of contemporary art forward singer-songwriters like Aldous Harding, Hand Habits, and Cate Le Bon as much as torchbearers like Patti Smith, Cat Power, and Jeff Buckley.
Tracklisting: 1. At Night 2. Mood Indigo 3. California 4. Marianne 5. Bonjour Tristesse 6. Blue Angels 7. Drugstore Perfume 8. The Well 9. Up In A Cloud 10. The Weight 11. Motorbike
Can I Communicate With the Unknown? is the new album from Go By Ocean, moniker of Northern California based singer/songwriter/producer Ryan McCaffrey. Co-produced alongside Tim Bluhm (The Mother Hips) and David Glasebrook, the album features contributions from a wide cast of characters, ranging from the tight knit community of Phil Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads to the wider West Coast indie-rock scene, including members of The Mother Hips, Sugar Candy Mountain, ALO, Tea Leaf Green, and more.
Building upon McCaffrey’s catalog of songs, the new album finds inspiration in the down-to-earth music of 1970’s Marin County, when songwriters like Michael Hurley and Jesse Colin Young lived out in Olema and Point Reyes, the kind of places where songs blow in on the breeze from the Pacific Ocean.
Lyrically, the album trace’s a hero’s journey as the narrator struggles with addiction, eventually finding peace and freedom in a tumultuous world, wrestling with metaphysical and spiritual ideas along the way.
Tracklisting: 1. Say Man 2. Goin’ To Die 3. Should Have Known 4. One True Golden Heart 5. Ballad of a Masquerade 6. Roberta 7. Ascending Ghosts 8. Free 9. Autumn Days In Olema 10. Right Moon
Mike Paradinas, veteran producer and Planet Mu label owner has written a new album called ‘Grush' and it's full of weird bangers that reclaim the 'dance' part of the woeful term IDM. A back-to-first-principles record, inspired in part by the group of artists IDM was coined for; melodic dance music that didn't come out of urban scenes, but interpreted them from a distance.
The tracks on ‘Grush’ are all road-tested live favorites developed with feedback from Mike's touring partner and visuals guy Mora (Jan Moravec). It's a detailed and energetic journey which replicates the flow of a live gig. A lot of the tracks have been made in hotel rooms in response to shows, ‘Imperial Crescent’ is named after a Japanese Hotel, as is ‘Belvedere’ in Prague, while some tracks such as ‘Hyper Daddy’ were created specifically to play live.
Drums are confidently at the fore here and the album feels like it traces Mike's musical history and interests neatly around his sweetly nostalgic melodies, with atmospheres and structures which twist and turn with a charming softness which contrasts with the tension in the drums. Take ‘Hyper Daddy’s’ spiralling notes and twinkling piano which remind one of early Black Dog or Omni Trio rushing alongside splashy jungle drums, or the aquatic acid footwork of the title track with its drums softly bubbling and kicking.
Elsewhere there's territory which harks back to his Tusken Raiders pseudonym, like the heads down Drexciyan funk of ‘Windsor Safari Park,’ which transforms from moody electro into a sunny hardcore track midway.
The album is interspersed with Reticulum A, B and C at the start middle and end of the album which suggest a theme which carries across the music in an effortless and joyful way. ‘Grush’ is a strong album that works both for listening and DJing and a great snapshot of where Mike Paradinas musical head is at in 2024.