Go for it! Just do it! “The Gold” by RACKETS is a fun track that embodies positive energy in an uplifting and upbeat manner. The singers voice drifts easily between falsetto and a bold chest voice. When I hear tracks like this I picture a hip looking Silver Lake being strutting down the street in full peacock being an all around g. Or maybe a concert goer who is able to blow of some steam to the hip new band and dance around like they’ve gone mad. Aim for the stars the rest of your week with RACKETS “The Gold”
Rough around the edges and chaotic fun rockers Hot Plastic released their debut single “Keep Up” on September 21st of 2018. The song is infection and fun the instrumentation is familiar bass, guitar, and drums. Instantly the song is a stand out because of the riffage that is joined quickly by a sixteenth note drum groove. The verse enters and the groove becomes dance floor esque while the singer performs with a teasing level of vocal fry. A four on the floor pre-chorus allows the listener to breath before the chorus that is all about youthful rebellion and having your fun before you head home. The form repeats itself and the song becomes more familiar. Then a guitar solo that is wet with reverb and delay and is echoing like an alarm going off while you’re having your fun. The solo swells into a piercing high note that leads back into the pre-chorus and chorus. This song is fun and Hot Plastic is hard at work to crank out more tunes which should debut on the new years eve! Keep your eyes and ears peeled for this band stream “Keep Up” below and find out more about Hot Plastic.
Hot Plastic are based in Jersey, Channel Islands, fronted by Nic Dinnie (vocals and guitar) who co-formed the South African indie group Desmond and the Tutus. Joined by his friends Elisa Da Silva (bass) and Jon Caws (drums), the trio create high energy waves of sound. Their first single, Keep Up, is their statement of intent: hard, fast, loud and catchy. If you like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Smashing Pumpkins, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, The Broken Social scene and LCD Soundsystem then you’re going to love this.
U.K. rock act Final Stair “End of Love” has been featured on notable publications and received synchronization placements on Netflix originals. A major selling point of “End of Love” for myself personally was the dynamic diversity between the verses and choruses. Lyrically the song follows a path that is smart in the way it transitions between to the pianissimo and forte sections. Emotionally evocative and hard hitting is “End of Love” by Final Stair.
The three artists behind Final Stair call themselves blood brothers for a reason. The twins and their best friend on the drums possess the same creative vision. After the release of their single Over The Top in 2016, the acoustic version Over The Top (Acoustic) was licensed to NETFLIX for use in one of their original series. The band gained international attention when viewers of the series started to search for the song on Shazam.
Final Stair create an audacious sound, combining pop, modern rock, post-rock, stoner rock and blues. Their songs capture bold, genuine and direct tones.
The band is very international. The twins have Hungarian roots but the band lived in the UK, France and Germany. Naturally, the end result is a breeding ground for a variety of stories from the trio’s rich background.
The trio formed in 2012 and have already gained international attention through their major tour throughout China in 2015 with a sold-out show at MAO Livehouse, Shanghai. The following year, the triplets played two extended tours through Central and Eastern Europe, with Universal Music signing them onto their publishing division (UPM) in the same year.
Though Final Stair’s timeline might seem short, the trio’s back catalogue is already brimming with several highlights and success – with undoubtedly more to come.
“Small town blues singer, looking for more exposure between releases. Total of 24 songs released on Spotify, looking to expand fanbase before next release and deployment (Army) ”
A gorgeous album artwork allows the listener to feel a sense of isolation with this piece, “Black Sea” by Grant Smith. Through minimalist instrumentation Grant Smith is able to convey a pulling recount of hardship. With a voice bursting with hurt that is straining during the end of melodic phrases. One of my personal favorite layers in the arrangement is the reverberated supporting whistle track. Romantic in nature this song strikes a chord of instinct and purpose within “Black Sea”. Looking forward what is to come of Grant Smith as he pursues his dreams of being a musician through the ranks. Stay safe and best of luck from Its Not Records.
Psychedelic intros lead us into a fast paced tune, “Lost on Us” by Brother Plainview. Reminiscent of acts like Sunny Day Real Estate this song is lo-fi like The Promise Ring or all your favorite young emo bands. Fueled by a youthful and aggressive vocal performance by the frontman. Not much information is out on this young band but they released their debut EP November 2018 and as the band continues to grow listeners will hopefully learn more about where they come from artistically and who they’re influencers were. A selling point of this track was the bass break bridge that changes the rhythmic quality of “Lost on Us”.
“This song is the first track on our EP titled “Reunion Cycle.” The song is about appreciating the good times you have.”
New indie/alternative rock band from Hong Kong. With members from Canada, the UK, and from Hong Kong, there’s a diverse range of influences evident on their new EP, which was recorded during the summer in an industrial building in Hong Kong.
This month’s pick for exceptional use of music in a theatrical trailer is “Roma”- Alfonso Cuaron’s latest creation. Set in the early 1970s, “Roma” is a semi-biographical depiction of life for a middle-class family in Mexico City. The film follows the family as it experiences the strains of a struggling marriage, children coming of age, and the effects of the 1971 Corpus Christi massacre- a tragedy in which Mexican police dispatched to quell student protests resulted in more than 100 deaths. The film’s official trailer, created by LA’s own GrandSon Creative, makes excellent use of music to match not only the time period and style, but the drama of the story at hand.
GrandSon’s trailer opens with a pensive and somewhat dissonant solo piano playing over wide panning shots of idle environments. A man walks his bike down a quiet street; a woman sweeps an empty corridor; and children play with slot-cars in an otherwise motionless apartment. The music serves to accentuate the stillness and tranquility of the family’s environment. As the second act begins, the piano becomes more complex as the white noise of everyday life is added to the mix, such as the family watching TV and the street becoming full of cars and people. For the third act, our soundtrack is now a swinging jazz trio complete with a soulful and dynamic improvisational female vocalist. Her melody swells and ebbs to the energy of the people on screen, and her charged performance borders on screaming as we see riots beginning to consume the streets. By the time the music fades to its conclusion during the closing title card, you’ll think you’ve just heard the entire soundtrack to the characters’ lives. Truly an exceptional example of functional music that does not compromise style or emotion.
Tender and featuring virtuoso fingered guitar with a soothing voice that spurs an urgency of separated lovers. The video fits the lyrics with well constructed prosody. The cold and overcast day with the solitary man has a lonely and slightly depressing atmosphere that is fitting. However the song while lonely has an uplifting hook that reminds the listener that whatever emotional hardship they might be facing it won’t be long until they’re through and everything is much better. A song for your quiet Sunday morning coffee and a tranquil moment of self reflection Okay Mann gives you “It Won’t Be Long”
About The Song:
‘It Won’t Be Long’ tells the story of a lonely man left behind. Straddling the line between invention and convention, the tune’s uplifting pop sensibility helps the dark lyrics hide in plain sight. ’It Won’t Be Long’ begs the question: “What would you do to be next to the one you love?” with simple, patient, production and the melancholy twinge of honesty. I’m open to offers to premiere the song – if you are interested, please let me know!
About The Video:
While in transit from Canada to Norway, Okay Mann’s Katlin Mathison added a short pit stop: a 7-hour layover in Iceland. Not one to waste the opportunity, Mathison connected with JNS Vision, a team of filmmakers based in Reykjavik and came up with the concept for the It Won’t Be Long video. It tells the story of a isolated person struggling to come to terms with his lover’s suicide, a nod to Rúnar Rúnarsson’s 2004 short film, The Last Farm. After a hectic day of shooting in various locations across south-western Iceland, Mathison raced in his rental car to catch his connecting flight to Oslo to finish tracking the accompanying song.
About The Okay Mann:
5’11”, 150 lbs, and eyes like his father; meet Katlin Mathison – otherwise known as Okay Mann. Katlin upholds the indie folk tradition of the rolling stone. 4 years of session work, relentless travel, and a mentorship with Paul McCartney, and a gold single in Norway have eventually led him back to the harsh winters of his home on the Canadian prairies.
In 2017, while exploring both modern recording technology and traditional analog methods, Okay Mann teamed up with Norwegian producer Ni…
Featuring a large dynamic range, well produced vocals over swirling guitars, and intense lyrical content. “Polar Attarction” by The Color Canvas is an intense rock song with a haunted and evocative lead vocals belts through a memorable chorus. The timbre of the vocals is comparable to Three Days Grace but the instrumentals have more of a 30 Seconds To Mars atmosphere. “We could be satellites” is a line you’re really going to have trouble getting out of your head after you listen to this given the heartfelt, authentic, and powerful vocal performance.
“This is the first single off our follow-up album to our Billboard charting debut in 2016 (previous single reached #34 Billboard indicator, #1 on the BDS Neilsen US indie chart for 3 weeks running). It is a completely reimagined sound for the band and we are extremely proud of this new musical direction.”
The Color Canvas formed in Denver, Colorado in 2015 bound by vision, determination to keep live music plugged in, and by a sound that blazes the cycle of musicianship. After several projects grew apart, Drummer DJ Amott of England crossed paths with Denver session guitarist, Scott Walker. Walker, former guitarist to the now defunct H*Wood, had material in the works making Amott a perfect fit. Walker had also been playing with local band Genre Theory as a vocalist/guitarist and decided to reach out to the former vocalist (Todd Pasternak) to weigh in on what he and Amott were creating. The writing process came much easier than anticipated and The Color Canvas was born. After nearly a year of writing and collaboration, they released the EP, “Just in Time,” in the fall of of 2016 recorded at Blasting Room Studios in their home state of Colorado. In November of 2016 their hit single “Love Your Life” topped the Billboard Indie New Music Weekly Chart and Billboard Top 40 Indicator Chart at #7. The song “State of Being Mine” was featured on Amazon Video’s “Teens 101” series in the fall of 2017. The 3-piece is now working on 2 follow up singles, “Polar Attraction,” and “Down,” set to release in the fall/winter of 2018 promising a new direction and progression to listeners.
Invoking an ominous sense of mystery this is dark indie song by the Gravity Drive “The Widlight” features both male and female vocals as well as layered guitars, groovy and playful drumming, as well as a string section and more. “The Wildlight” is a dark song with questioning lyric themes and causes imagery of rural landscapes in the setting sun with ritual and tribal sounding vocal melody as the outro. Featuring strong prosody and imagery “The Wildlight” is an inspiring track that would turn a campfire into a bonfire.
“Married duo Ava and Elijah have throughout the course of their lives been curious about the nature of reality.
The songs that make up their new album due for release in 2019 and this new single, ‘The Wildlight’, are born out of their philosophical wonderings, searching beyond what we are told, sold and programmed to believe and the journey of awakening to return to sovereignty.
Amisdt the drama and hyperbole around the Mayan calendar prophesizing the end of the world in 2012 there was another school of thought claiming humanity was being ushered into a new age of awareness and a shift of consciousness was coming offering hope for a new earth and that through opening our hearts and minds humanity could access a quantum realm, a new level of connection to super consciousness where no matter exists and all potentialities can be made real.
Around this time Ava was struck down with chronic pain for which she was told there was no cure. Not willing to resign herself to that reality Ava came across an online community of spiritually inclined people that call themselves Lightworkers who had a different perspective and point of view on what these symptoms were and why people were experiencing them.
Their belief is that our planet is being bombarded with encoded light which is affecting each and every one of us to a greater or lesser degree.
This encoded light is thought to be contributing to the raising of vibration/frequency within our personal energy fields giving us the opportunity to connect with the unified field of pure source consciousness and become light body and that this 2012 apocalypse was a ‘lifting of the veil’ as in the original meaning of the word, it was an opportunity to go beyond what we think and feel and believe to be true in our perceived 3 dimensional reality and to transcend old programming.
As weird and as bonkers as it sounded Ava was empowered and inspired to look within, embarking on a spiritual journey which lead to a massive transformation. New single ‘The Wildlight’ is the triumphant soundtrack to this magical mystery tour.”
