January 2021 – Fontana North

Squid Announce Debut Album “Bright Green Field” Out 7th May via Warp Records

January 29, 2021 by admin

Photo Credit: Holly Whitaker

Release First Single and Accompanying Video
‘Narrator’ feat. Martha Skye Murphy

(Toronto, ON – January 29, 2021) – Squid are thrilled to announce their debut album, Bright Green Field, already one of 2021’s most highly anticipated albums. Bright Green Field, produced by Dan Carey, will be released 7th May via Warp Records. Alongside this news, the band release the first single lifted from the album, ‘Narrator’, which ricochets from funk strut to screeching chaos via the melodic touch of guest vocalist Martha Skye Murphy. Watch Squid’s first-ever official video for ‘Narrator’, directed by Felix Geen.

Squid on the single “Narrator was inspired by the 2019 film A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, the song follows a man who is losing the distinction between memory, dream and reality and how you can often mould your memories of people to fit a narrative that benefits your ego. Martha Skye Murphy, the track’s guest vocalist, made the point that the unreliable narrator is, more often than not, a male who wishes to portray women as submissive characters in their story. After some discussions with Martha she thought it’d be a good idea that she play the part of the woman wanting to break free from the dominating story the male has set.”

Felix Geen on the video “I had wanted to make a video about the virtual creation process for some time. For example, showing the components and processes behind virtual environment construction and looking closely at those small rocks, pieces of terrain and chunks of regolith that slot together to build something bigger. I often think this “behind the digital curtain” part of 3D design looks more interesting than the final finished product since it conveys a process and an authorship. When I was approached to pitch on Squid’s single Narrator i immediately thought it could be the perfect match for this very visual idea. After talking with the band it became clear we were on similar wavelengths creatively and aesthetically and the whole creative process flowed very smoothly from start to finish”

Bright Green Field is an album of towering scope and ambition, it is deeply considered, paced and intricately constructed. With all band members playing such a vital and equal role, this album is very much the product of five heads operating as one.

Some bands might be tempted to include previous singles on their debut – and the band already released two more in 2020 via ‘Sludge’ and ‘Broadcaster’ – but instead Bright Green Field is completely new. This sense of limitlessness and perpetual forward motion is one of the the key ingredients that makes Squid so loved by fans and critics alike, from BBC Radio 6 Music who have A-Listed previous singles, ‘Houseplants’, ‘The Cleaner’ and ‘Match Bet’ to publications such as, The Guardian, NME, The Face, The Quietus and countless others. The band was also on the longlist for the BBC Music Sound of 2020 poll.

Bright Green Field features field recordings of ringing church bells, tooting bees, microphones swinging from the ceiling orbiting a room of guitar amps, a distorted choir of 30 voices as well as a horn and string ensemble featuring the likes of, Emma-Jean Thackray and Lewis Evans from Black Country, New Road.

Whilst the album title conjures up imagery of pastoral England, in reality, it’s something of a decoy that captures the band’s fondness for paradox and juxtaposition. Within the geography of Bright Green Field lies monolithic concrete buildings and dystopian visions plucked from imagined cities.

Squid’s music – be it agitated and discordant or groove-locked and flowing – has often been a reflection of the tumultuous world we live in and this continues that to some extent. “This album has created an imaginary cityscape,” says Ollie Judge, who writes the majority of the lyrics and plays drums. “The tracks illustrate the places, events and architecture that exist within it. Previous projects were playful and concerned with characters, whereas this project is darker and more concerned with place – the emotional depth of the music has deepened.”

These themes were further embedded and emphasised, almost serendipitously, as Judge began to read more. “Reading Douglas Coupland’s view that we’re living in the “Extreme Present” as well as Mark Fisher and Merlin Coverley’s writings on Hauntology and the slow cancellation of the future made me realise we’ve been living in a dystopian and futurist landscape for a long time.”

However, for all the innovative recording techniques, evolutionary leaps, lyrical themes, ideas and narratives that underpin the album, it’s also a joyous and emphatic record. One, that marries the uncertainties of the world with a curious sense of exploration, as it endlessly twists and turns down unpredictable avenues.

Formed in Brighton, Squid is the brainchild of Louis Borlase (Guitars & Vocals), Ollie Judge (Drums & Lead Vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (Keyboards, Strings, Percussion), Laurie Nankivell (Bass & Brass) and Anton Pearson (Guitars & Vocals).

Tracklist

Resolution Square
G.S.K
Narrator feat Martha Skye Murphy
Boy Racers
Paddling
Documentary Filmmaker
2010
The Flyover
Peel St
Global Groove
Pamphlets

Live Dates

07.09.21 – Concorde 2, Brighton, UK
09.09.21 – Marble Factory, Bristol, UK
10.09.21 – Albert Hall, Manchester, UK
23.09.21 – Printworks, London, UK
24.09.21 – The Crossing, Birmingham
25.09.21 – Rock City, Nottingham, UK
27.09.21 – NUSU, Newcastle, UK
28.09.21 – SW3, Glasgow, UK
29.09.21 – Empire, Belfast, UK
30.09.21 – Button Factory, Dublin, Ireland
03.10.21 – Tramshed, Cardiff, UK
04.10.21 – 1865, Southampton, UK
05.10.21 – The Phoenix, Exeter, UK
07.10.21 – Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
08.10.21 – Botanique, Brussels, Belgium
09.10.21 – Trabendo, Paris, France
11.10.21 – Bumann & Sohn, Cologne, Germany
12.10.21 – Molotow Skybar, Hamburg, Germany
15.10.21 – Plan B, Malmo, Sweden
16.10.21 – Melodybox, Stockholm, Sweden
18.10.21 – Berghain Kantine, Berlin, Germany
19.10.21 – Underdogs’, Prague, Czechia
21.10.21 – Heppel & Ettlich, Munich, Germany
23.10.21 – Bogen F, Zurich, Switzerland
24.10.21 – Bad Bonn, Düdingen, Switzerland
25.10.21 – Magnolia, Milan, Italy
26.10.21 – Locomotiv, Bologna, Italy
28.10.21 – Upload, Barcelona, Spain
29.10.21 – Independence. Madrid, Spain
30.10.21 – Masterclub, Vigo, Spain

https://squidband.uk/

MOIST RETURN WITH NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO “TARANTINO”

January 29, 2021 by admin

News

Photo Credit: Tania Lily / Jerry Abramowicz / Ryan L. Johnson

VISUALS ADAPTED FROM NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA ANIMATED SHORT CATERPILLARPLASTY DIRECTED BY DAVID BARLOW-KRELINA

WATCH “TARANTINO” HERE

(Toronto, ON – January 29, 2021) – Recorded remotely in lockdown by band members in their homes in Toronto and Montreal, and produced by Moist guitarist and producer, Mark Makoway, “Tarantino” is Moist’s first new release since their 2014 album, Glory Under Dangerous Skies.

The song tells a story of a life of meaningless excess. Singer David Usher explains “The first lockdown sent me on a Quentin Tarantino binge and the song came out of a dream sparked by those images where we have lost all sense of ourselves – where there are no limits on our consumption and all we want is more. We deconstruct and reconstruct ourselves to fill an unfillable void and we just eat ourselves alive, and somehow, we still can’t wake up.”

The accompanying visual, adapted from the National Film Board of Canada short, Caterpillarplasty, is a grotesque sci-fi satire that lifts plastic surgery and trans-species body dysmorphia to another level. Re-edited for “Tarantino” by acclaimed director David Barlow-Krelina, the short film is a powerful and sardonic take on how society’s unrelenting obsession with beauty has spiraled out of control. This video will get under your skin.

Usher discovered the short film while perusing the internet after “Tarantino” was completed: “When I saw the long version of Caterpillarplasty it fit perfectly with the vision for the song. The endless desire to remodel and upgrade ourselves, hoping the remaking of our appearance will somehow solve our existential turmoil.”

“When David Usher first got in touch with me about making a Moist music video using footage from Caterpillarplasty, we started making connections between the film and his work in AI and with digital humans. I had initially conceived of the film in a way that relied heavily on music to set the emotional tone of the piece, so it was a great pleasure for me to reimagine the timing and the flow to an entirely different vibe.” – David Barlow-Krelina

Founded in 1993, Moist’s debut album, Silver, propelled the band to prominence with the uniquely powerful alt-rock anthems “Push”,” “Silver”, and “Believe Me”. Like Silver, Moist’s follow up records, – Creature (1996) and Mercedes Five and Dime (1999) – went on to achieve multi-platinum sales (over 1.3 million albums worldwide) and yielded more chart-topping hits including “Resurrection”, “Tangerine”, “Gasoline”, “Breathe”, and “Underground”. Moist also made its mark internationally: touring extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and parts of Asia; appearing on the Top of The Pops in the UK; as musical guests on a pilot for a new show out of NYC called The Jon Stewart Show; and even being lampooned by Beavis and Butthead on MTV. The two-time JUNO Award winners also received numerous accolades for their music and their no-holds-barred approach to touring; and shared stages with international superstars such as Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hole, Green Day, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, as well as virtually all their Canadian contemporaries.

Catch Moist live November 2021 as part of the Saints and Sinners Tour – featuring alt-rock contemporaries The Tea Party, Headstones and Sloan. More details here.

STREAM “TARANTINO” HERE

Moist acknowledge and thank the National Film Board of Canada and David Barlow-Krelina for the exceptional use of Caterpillarplasty.

More about David Barlow-Krelina:

Born in 1988 in Ottawa, David Barlow-Krelina graduated from Concordia University in film animation and computation arts. His first independent film Bless You (2013) was an online hit and screened at the OIAF, The Animation Show of Shows etc. Mixing classical animation and modern CGI to tell experimental narratives, David’s joy of animating is in the ability to create glimpses into new and unusual universes that function by their own unique logic.

For more about David Barlow-Krelina, please visit:

http://www.davidbk.com/
https://www.instagram.com/davidbarlowkrelina/

Caterpillarplasty

Written and Directed by David Barlow-Krelina
Produced at the NFB by Jelena Popović. NFB Executive producer: Michael Fukushima
Fusing elements of Kafka and Kubrick, Caterpillarplasty is a prescient, grotesque sci-fi satire that lifts plastic surgery to another level.

EPK – https://mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/caterpillarplasty/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlseTkThRfY
Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/362160902
NFB – https://www.nfb.ca/film/caterpillarplasty/

More About National Film Board of Canada:

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) produces groundbreaking animation at its studios in Montreal and at NFB centres across Canada, as well as via international co-productions with many of the world’s leading auteur animators. The NFB is a leader in developing new approaches to stereoscopic 3D animation and animated content for new platforms. The NFB has created over 13,000 productions and won over 7,000 awards, with NFB animation accounting for 7 of the NFB’s 12 Oscars, as well as 6 grand prizes at France’s Annecy International Animated Film Festival, 4 Palmes d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and 2 Golden Bears at Berlinale. To access this award-winning content and discover the work of NFB animators, visit NFB.ca, download its apps for mobile devices or visit NFB Pause.

More info: https://www.nfb.ca

Follow Moist:

https://moistonline.com/
https://www.facebook.com/moistonline/
https://www.instagram.com/moisttheband/

BLACK PUMAS Release Spotify Singles

January 20, 2021 by admin

News

Featuring New Version of the GRAMMY® Record of the Year-Nominated Single “Colors” with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble + Cover of Rodriguez’s “Sugar Man”

Performing Tonight on Official Biden/Harris Inauguration Primetime Special

Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) Nominated for Album of the Year at 2021 GRAMMY AWARDS®

Watch Last Night’s “Colors” Performance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert HERE

(Toronto, ON – January 20, 2021) – Today the GRAMMY®-nominated Austin duo Black Pumas release their Spotify Singles – a cover of the iconic 1970 Rodriguez song “Sugar Man” and a reworking of their hit single “Colors,” which is currently nominated for Record of the Year at the 2021 GRAMMY AWARDS®. The new version of “Colors” features the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, the incredible Chicago octet of brothers who have previously collaborated with Prince, Gorillaz, Childish Gambino, and Erykah Badu.

LISTEN: “COLORS” / “SUGAR MAN (RODRIGUEZ COVER)”

“I was floored to see someone take something so specific to me and unapologetically integrate an eclectic blend of hip hop, jazz, and funk to speak their piece,” says frontman Eric Burton of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble collaboration. “It felt good to be invited back to my family’s home city of Chicago in this way.”

“Reimagining ‘Colors’ was no easy feat, so if we were going to try it, it had to be different or it wasn’t worth doing,” says producer and bandleader Adrian Quesada. “I heard a song by the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble on a bike ride one day and their rhythmic phrasing on it reminded me of Eric’s guitar part. They knocked it out of the park with the arrangement they sent, so we didn’t have to do much but re-sing and add some icing on the cake. It was an honor to collaborate with them.”

Of the Rodriguez cover, Quesada says, “‘Sugar Man’ is one of those songs we’ve both been attracted to for years, from Rodriguez’s songwriting and performance to the production of Dennis Coffey, it’s inspired us in more ways than one and is one of those true timeless pieces of music. It was a total blast to dissect it and reinterpret in our voice.”

Driving more than four billion streams since the program began in 2017, Spotify Singles was created to give artists an opportunity to record new versions of their own songs, and the songs of the artists they love. The Singles scope includes a unique version of each artist’s own song (Side A) and a cover song of their choosing (Side B). To date, there have been over 300 Singles recorded as part of the program.

*****

Tonight, Black Pumas are thrilled to perform on Celebrating America, the official primetime special celebrating the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Hosted by Tom Hanks, the event features additional performances by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jon Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, John Legend, Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake, and Tim McGraw. Celebrating America airs tonight at 8:30pm-10pm ET/PT on ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, and PBS. It will be streamed live at https://BidenInaugural.org/watch and on the Presidential Inauguration Committee’s social media channels: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch.

Last night, Black Pumas returned to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert with an incredible performance of “Colors” – watch it HERE.

Black Pumas have been nominated for three awards at the 2021 GRAMMYS® – Album of the Year, Record of the Year (for “Colors”), and Best American Roots Performance (for “Colors”). Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) is available on ATO Records here.

theblackpumas.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

OTTAWA’S WE WERE SHARKS SHARE NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO FOR “BRING ME DOWN”

January 15, 2021 by admin

News

“With a wonderful combination of frantic guitars, rollicking drums and more than a handful of catchy as hell vocal refrains, it’s a short, sharp and rather savage slice of modern pop-punk majesty.” – Rock Sound

(January 15, 2021 – Toronto, ON) – Ottawa pop-punk group We Were Sharks, have released a brand new single, “Bring Me Down” today via Known Accomplice. Give it a spin here, and watch the video now premiering on Rock Sound. “Bring Me Down” follows the release of the band’s previous single “Shameless.” Both come off a larger body of work due out later this year.

On the new single, guitarist Jason Mooney shares, “Bring Me Down” is about a toxic person who injects themselves into your life, they try to be overly genuine when it’s so clear that they have a hidden agenda. Sometimes, it can be tough facing a person and calling them out for how they’re actually seen. Sometimes that person doesn’t even realize the negative impact they’re having on someone and “Bring Me Down” pulls back the curtain, becomes the call-out and tells this person that the charade is over.”

Mooney further explains, “The idea behind the ‘Bring Me Down’ music video was to bring in the new year with some laughs and some lighthearted pokes at the overzealous evangelical ‘healing magic’ powers. We all have problems that are definitely not solved by a simple palm to the forehead or whip of a jacket to absolve you of your woes. We decided to take it a step further and create the music video such that I was the empowered worship leader/healer, magically healing everyone around me (confidently).

We decided to take it a few steps further for our pre-save and launch a whole gag website (https://www.letushealyou.today/) with all links directed to the pre-save within that models after a cheesy/ridiculous website that some of these magic healers would potentially have created for their own marketing. We literally pulled the ideas from some of these other sites, which in itself is absolutely hilarious (highly expensive monthly membership tiers, questionable testimonials from healed members, insanely high priced merchandise items and intangible items for sale, etc.).

In addition to the website, we also created a 1-888 number to really authenticate the experience (voicemail boxes from the band members, “dial 5 to..” etc.). Our mission with this all is to have a unique and engaging pre-save campaign that is both lighthearted and mysterious. Our target is to have our friends, other bands, press and outlets sharing the website and the toll free number in a comical and ominous way.”

We Were Sharks’ flippancy is a breath of fresh air in the face of a pop punk scene that’s very self-serious (and seriously lacking self). While many of their peers wax poetic about wearing their hearts on their sleeves, this Ottawa band wears their wit in their moniker; they literally were a band called Sharks until legalities threatened to stop the party.

Based in Ottawa and collecting members from the far reaches of Eastern Canada, We Were Sharks continue to wield the full-force of Canadian alternative music. Through a penchant for blending melodic harmony with powerful dissonance they continue to produce infectious music. Even though these boys already have a lot of mileage under their belts, their book is far from written.

“Bring Me Down” is out now. For more information, please visit http://www.weweresharks.com/.

We Were Sharks is Randy Frobel (vocals), Jason Mooney (guitar), Colin Jacques (guitar), Matthew Sears (bass) and Will Plummer (drums).

Follow We Were Sharks:

https://www.instagram.com/weweresharksband/
https://www.facebook.com/weweresharks/
https://twitter.com/weweresharks

ALTIN GÜN Share New Single “Yüce Dağ Başında”

January 13, 2021 by admin

News

Photo Credit: Rona Lane

“Altin Gün’s groovy globalism is infectious.” – NPR

“A sextet that recasts Turkish standards in a juicy psychedelic haze.” – THE NEW YORKER

“Altin Gün are easy to love. They create music that combines the influences of Turkish folk songs with 70’s glam-psych.” – KCRW

(Toronto, ON – January 13, 2020) – Amsterdam’s Altin Gün release their vibrant new single “Yüce Dağ Başında” today. The flirtatious dance track features lead vocals by frontwoman Merve Dasdemir and showcases the new synth-driven Europop direction the band explores on its forthcoming new record Yol, due out February 26 on ATO Records. Today the band shares “Yüce Dağ Başında” alongside its colorful video:

Yol is the full-length follow-up to 2019’s Grammy-nominated LP Gece. The new album also features the previously released single “Ordunun Dereleri,” of which MTV raved, “The band has made waves for its athletic, psych- and funk-inspired romps through music of the past, and on the ice-cold ‘Ordunun Dereleri,’ they’ve never sounded cooler.” Yol is available for pre-order HERE.

Altin Gün has won worldwide acclaim from outlets including The Guardian, MOJO, The New Yorker, and NPR Music, who praised the way the music’s “different worlds meet and form a refreshing danceable sound.”The band followed a 2019 tour opening for Tame Impala with a run of sold-out headlining dates in the US and festival plays at Outside Lands, Pickathon, and Desert Daze. Their incredible KEXP session has been viewed on YouTube almost 2 million times. Altin Gün were scheduled for 2020 appearances at Coachella and Bonnaroo, both of which have been moved to 2021.

Altin Gün – Yol
February 26, 2021 – ATO Records

1. Bahçada Yeşil Çınar
2. Ordunun Dereleri
3. Bulunur Mu
4. Hey Nari
5. Yüce Dağ Başında
6. Kesik Çayır
7. Arda Boyları
8. Kara Toprak
9. Sevda Olmasaydı
10. Maçka Yolları
11. Yekte
12. Esmerim Güzelim

MORE ON YOL:

Amsterdam’s Altin Gün have built a strong reputation for fusing past and present to make brilliantly catchy, upbeat pop music, as seen with their Grammy-nominated second album, Gece. Yol, their third album in as many years, continues that trend; while unveiling a number of sonic surprises.

It should be no surprise to learn that the band again draws from the rich and incredibly diverse traditions of Anatolian and Turkish folk music. But however familiar the story, Yol is not just a record that reframes traditional sounds for a contemporary audience. The album, which often presents a strongly international, poppy sound, also signals a very different approach in making and recording for the band. Singer Merve Dasdemir takes up the story: “We were basically stuck at home for three months making home demos, with everybody adding their parts. The transnational feeling maybe comes from that process of swapping demos over the internet, some of the music we did in the studio, but lockdown meant we had to follow a different approach.”

Yol displays a noticeable dreaminess, maybe born from this enforced time to reflect. And select elements of late 1970s or early 1980s “Euro” synth pop also shine through. This new musical landscape was nurtured by certain instrument choices; namely the Omnichord, heard on ‘Arda Boylari’, ‘Kara Toprak’ and ‘Sevda Olmasaydi’, and the drum-machine, an instrument that is key to the gorgeous closing number, ‘Esmerim Güzelim’. Dasdemir once more: “ bass player Jasper Verhulst loved the song. He said, ‘it doesn’t sound like Altın Gün, this sounds like a Turkish kindergarten music teacher from the 1980s using an 808!’

As ever, the tracks are the result of a true group effort, with ideas on Omnichord, 808 and other elements – such as field recordings and new age-esque ideas – continually kicked about between the six band members. At a safe distance of course. The record also owes something to a new approach to recording, with the band working with Asa Moto (the Ghent-based producer-crew, Oliver Geerts and Gilles Noë) who mixed the record. Before this the band always recorded on tape with their own sound engineer.

It would be wrong to say that what made Altın Gün such a loved and successful band has been left to one side. The pressure-cooker frugs, ‘Sevda Olmasaydı’ and ‘Maçka Yolları’ are classic cuts from the band. And their signature employment of a dizzying array of ideas and approaches can be heard with the marked Brazilian feel of ‘Kara Toprak’ and ‘Yekte’. Cosmic reggae filters through the grooves of ‘Yüce Dağ Başında’, and there is a steaming version of ‘Hey Nari’ which gives the traditional composition by Ali Ekber Çiçek a kick onto the dancefloor. And whisper it, but ‘Bulunur Mu’ nods to ‘Pa’ by Doe Maar…

But with Yol, Altın Gün have maybe patented their own magical process of reimagining and sonic path-finding, one probably not heard since the late 1960s and early 1970s British folk-rock boom. Less of a reworking than a seduction, their recordings transport the listener to a world where the original songs never previously inhabited. Merve Dasdemir again: “After we worked on them, they got a whole new life of their own. Maybe we went a little bit too far.”

Altın Gün are:
Merve Dasdemir – vocals, keyboards
Erdinç Ecevit – vocals, saz, keyboards
Jasper Verhulst – bass
Ben Rider – guitar
Daniel Smienk – drums
Gino Groeneveld – percussion

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Monthly Archives: January 2021

Squid Announce Debut Album “Bright Green Field” Out 7th May via Warp Records

MOIST RETURN WITH NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO “TARANTINO”

BLACK PUMAS Release Spotify Singles

OTTAWA’S WE WERE SHARKS SHARE NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO FOR “BRING ME DOWN”

ALTIN GÜN Share New Single “Yüce Dağ Başında”