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Showing posts with label giftshop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label giftshop. Show all posts
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Best Of 2024 Year In Review: New Music and Live Show Coverage
The final month of 2024 offers an opportunity to highlight the best works presented over the whole year. For this music site, its annual “Best Of” collection celebrates the most significant artists written about since the beginning of this time period. Studio recorded music and video continued to dominate the bulk of analysis, with a significant return to detailed live show coverage included as well. Compiled here in monthly chronological order is the “2024 DaveCromwellWrites Best New Music Reviews and Live Show Coverage.”
Friday, June 28, 2024
Cerebral Inquiries Into New Full Album Releases
Full-length Album Reviews are the DaveCromwellWrites focus this go round, as the Summer has now officially begun. Extensive track-by-track analysis is delivered on new releases from artists whose earlier work have been previously featured here on this site. Glam-fronted punky pop rockers share space with a brilliant recreation/tribute to one of the original glam-rocker’s finest works. Rounding out the feature is a new full album release from creative alternative pop rockers.
It’s been far too long since DCW had the opportunity to review new music from enduring Queens, NY rockers GIFTSHOP. Fortunately that wait is over as the band has just released their latest 9 track album “A Bunch Of Singles.” Comprised of some previously released (and reviewed here) singles, five new entries complete the collection, giving us a broader spectrum of rock to dig into. Additionally, a music video accompanies the song that represents their hometown neighborhood and the people who inhabit it.
An unexpected piano-driven power ballad is the first new (to this site) song “There’s You.” With slow moving open arpeggio piano chords and rim-clack percussion, Meghan Taylor’s intimate vocals express a longing nature in lyrics shared. “Oh, so lonely - and oh, it shows - and though I'm broken -you know, no one knows.” Out of this sadness, an uplifting moment arrives with the beautifully harmonized, simple four word chorus “and then, there’s you.” Distinctive guitar figures are placed at just the right moments here, adding necessary accents. The second verse has the piano dropping out, leaving a low bass hum as an even more personal sonic field for Meghan’s heartfelt delivery. Fuller drums kick in behind the subsequent chorus, which adds a pivotal change “and then, it’s true.”
A re-visitation of early era favorite “Spooky Halloween Christmas” adds a “Too” now, while injecting Ska/Rockabilly horns into this macabre delight. Meghan’s vocals are less Debbie Harry (as on the original) and more her own, with fuller emphatic delivery. The walking bassline is still dominant, while appropriate sleigh-bells accompany monster-mash “ghoulish ride” aside voices. The accents are crisp and tight with the head-bopping, catchy chorus “It's Hallows' Eve with Christmas Trees!
Skulls are hanging from the evergreens.”
Built on a deep, chugging, stoner-rock groove, “The Breakthrough” contemplates on the things you’ve needed to do in becoming the person you now are. Giftshop never wastes anyone’s time in getting to the hook, however and it’s a singalong beauty with the lyrics “nothing can stop us now – Are you with me?” Lyrical insight and introspection point out how “glittering gold” is “too good to be true,” and “the journey of lies turned into the truth.” A mid-point breakdown shifts the rhythm while providing a bit of uplift and hope after all the “compromises.” Delivered in call-and-response fashion, “you make a living by when you get” is followed by “you make a life by what you give.” The addition of a rising slide-guitar here provides musical gravity to this ultimate realization “breakthrough.” Repeated vocal “wow” at the end drive home this necessary point.
Arriving with a cameo-filled video of local friends and followers, the already live show favorite sing-along “Astoria” delivers on it’s promise. Opening the footage with quick shots of their favorite hometown places, the bass guitar driven intro meets buzzing-bee axe for the musical throwdown. With copious amounts of live show footage from local favorite bar “Dominie’s” 2023 annual celebration event, the camera follows glamorous lead vocalist Meghan into the venue. The essential riff is sharp and precise, with drums and guitar accenting the changes. Long time fans are visible in front of the band as much of the footage is shot from behind. Quick cuts of the band members are of course necessary and included, as views from both inside and out of the space dance across the screen. Lyrically the song is as instantly classic as “New York, New York” or “I Love LA.” This time, however it is a love tome to a prominent NYC borough. “Drop me off at the Broadway stop
NO! Not in Manhattan - This is my happy place - Join the Queens bandwagon.” The brilliant simplicity of the songs single title word chorus is all you need for fist pumping fans to leap on that bandwagon in that joyous moment of camaraderie.
The band also includes a cover of the groundbreaking classic 90’s Radiohead song “Creep.” While the band charges through it’s progression with thunderous glee, Meghan let’s loose with a powerful voice that hits every note. And who hasn’t at some point in their lives related to the lyrics “what the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here." Tacked on the end is a 41 second punk rock short that joyously concludes with the chanted lines “loaded diaper.”
Earlier released singles from this album are reviewed here: “More Than That” / “Kewl With Me” and “Stylish Junkie”
Previous Reviews Featuring Giftshop can be found on this site here, here, here and here.
Follow GIFTSHOP on their Social Media: Official Website - Facebook - Instagram
Putting his immediate unique personal stamp on opening track “Future Legend,” bold synthesizers provide an ominous background for the spoken word apocalyptic vision. Julian’s proper English accent and voice is deeper than Bowie’s reedier tone, and today’s modern production qualities add a richness that the DB self-produced original couldn’t accomplish in 1974. The lyrics still strike hard as when first heard by this writer back then: “Fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats
And ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes.” A dystopian world is all that’s left, and will end “any day now."
One more spoken word phrase sets up the title track, as Julian delivers the pivotal line “This ain't Rock'n'Roll - This is – Genocide!” Having performed, produced, mixed and mastered everything by himself, Julian stays true to the originals chunky guitar riffing and cowbell percussion. Lifting his voice back up into more familiar Bowie register (the steady #bowietribute shows he does surely solidifies and hones this skill) the initially (and still) amusing lyrics “As they pulled you out of the oxygen tent - You asked for the latest party.” The younger, more reckless version of myself could almost relate to this. The next line “with your silicone hump and your ten inch stump,” however was far more of a head-scratcher. Other catch phrases like “mannequins with kill appeal” always stuck and are delivered here by Julian with aplomb. The chugging Rolling Stone-like chorus turns the mood a bit more rock and roll party, singing “come out of the garden, baby - you'll catch your death in the fog.
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs.” Julian adds new touches to certain lines, like the “Halloween Jack” verse where sonic echoes enhance the lyrics “so he slides down a rope.” Special mention to the bass playing here, which playfully adds wonderful counter rhythms.
Not content to simply re-hash Bowie's most covered track, Julian turns the signature opening riff of "Rebel Rebel" on it’s head with a bass and drums intro, followed by keyboards in place of that recognizable hook. It’s as if Alan Wilder-era Depeche Mode is responsible for this delightful 80-90’s (decades after the original) recreation. Not to sit on one musical statement too long, buzzy guitar does make it’s appearance in that riff spot on the second pass through. The pure joy of these rock and roll lyrics still remain with us all, so many years later. “You like me, and I like it all - We like dancing and we look divine - You love bands when they're playing hard - You want more and you want it fast.” Additional musical interludes like the extended “bongo” production on the “Don’t ya?” segment is curiously inventive.
Julian returns to his dead-on Bowie croon for the Geoff MacCormack co-written power ballad “Rock and Roll With Me.” Noteworthy as being Bowie's first co-writing credit on one of his own albums, the song made the album having been salvaged from a planned but never-completed “Ziggy Stardust musical.” Julian gives it a proper rock and roll treatment, building it around guitars, bass and drums. Memorable lyrics from those formative and impressionable days like “lizards lay crying in the heat” and “I would take a foxy kind of stand - While tens of thousands found me in demand” are still a delight from this 50 years after perspective.
Electric piano serves as the primary musical force behind the William Burroughs/George Orwell inspired “We Are The Dead.” Believed to have been lyrically constructed via Burroughs's famous "cut-up" technique, Julian puts his all in the vocals during big production sections. Still enamored by the line “but I love you in your fuck-me pumps” (stylish teenage lust is hard to shake, even at this advanced age) it’s still a grim resolution “Because of all we've seen, because of all we've said -
We are the dead.”
There’s a subtle trap-hop element to the percussion on Julian’s adaptation of the Orwell inspired “1984.” While acoustic tone guitars initially move around the edges, an unexpected fiddle-sound saws away through center. Funk-guitar is introduced on the second verse as the narrator once again ultimately warns “Beware the savage jaw – of 1984.” Chunkier power chords move in to augment the “come see, come see, remember me?” change section. Things move deeper into a soul direction for the third “I’m looking for a vehicle” section, especially via bass guitar propulsion and funk strummed chords.
The final entry “Big Brother/Chant of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family” finds Julian keeping true-to-the-original reading of the initial rock portion. Tandem bass and drum propulsion with slithering buzz guitar notes around those memorable lyrics. Referencing “dust and roses,” the fey aside “or should we powder our noses?” ultimately give way to “give me steel, give me steel, give me pulses unreal.” The hook always delivers “Someone to claim us, someone to follow - Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo - Someone to fool us, someone like you - We want you Big Brother.” The songs original concept was meant for an adaptation of Orwell’s totalitarian future society 1984. When that project could not be made, at least we got this song here. Julian captures those delightful mid-track melody lines via unique synth tones. Similarly, the reinterpretation of the final chant (which is meant to echo Winston’s “two minutes of hate” depicted in Orwell’s book) benefits from modern production qualities here, and brings the album to it’s conclusion.
Connect with Julian Shah-Tayler/The Singularity via his Social Media: Facebook - Instagram
Last summer DCW reviewed the first single and opening track “Superflower” from The Crushing Violets forthcoming full length album “Filaments of Creation.” That album is now here in it’s entirely, and naturally curiosity has been peaked about what the other tracks sound like. With Antanina (vocals) and BP Brooks (guitars, vocals) writing all the songs, Mick Hargreaves mixed, engineered, played some additional instruments and co-produced with the band. It was recorded at Lantern Sound Recording Rig, in Manorville, NY.
Taking a sequential approach through the album, first new (to this site) track “Hollywood” emerges out of a rat-a-tat drum intro. The progression moves forward at a power ballad pacing and vocals come in tandem, with BP’s male tones out front. Those vocals are further enhanced by guitar lines echoing it’s melody. Not really about California’s movie making capital, the title word’s singular reference comes in the lyrical sequence “now the house is gray - here's a ghost inside these walls today - Hollywood seems so far away.” The following cut “It’s 2am” is an acoustic guitar (only) powered folk song ruminating on introspective thoughts had in those early morning hours. Where “your ghosts will haunt you,” “can’t find what you lost,” and “can’t hide from who you are.” Even though “you got lost among the stars” it’s important to “remember who you are,” and that you belong there.
A chugging Rolling Stones style guitar progression followed by solid drums and bass kick off “Then You Shine.” It’s laid back “Exile On Main Street” vibe echoes that watershed album’s soulful voices with Antanina’s contributions on each verse title line resolution. While BP’s vocals (and all the backing vocal production overall) deliver the poetic lyrics clearly, his guitar solo near the 2 minute mark really sings. Bigger rock production and well placed minor/seventh chords in the songs progression enhance the Antanina voiced “When We Dream.” It all comes together gloriously on the lyrical hook “We’re going where the summer’s waiting - I’m dreaming of enchanted places - We’ll be” and the powerful guitar-bass-drums instrumental section that follows. A return to introspection runs through the acoustic guitar only, predominant BP vocal on “Anyway.” Antanina adds tender harmonies to lyrical content that emphasizes “darkest dream,” “the end of time” and how ultimately “the world is a stage.”
A curious backward motion guitar effect introduces the full bass and drums accompanied, BP lead voiced “Lost in Space.” Reaching the catchy chorus hook in under a minutes, both voices harmonize on the lovely sentiment “if you just hold my hand, we could walk in the sand - Lost in Space.” A wonderfully tasty Dickey Betts style guitar solo graces the song’s midpoint, adding musical sensitivity, sweetness and light. A surprising tempo change commences at the two and a half minute mark, lifting the overall progression to a higher level. Album closer “Back to Neptune” has Antanina weaving a tale of “two lover churning deep beneath the waves” on that giant blue planet. An interesting mix of mellotron-style flutes serve up an instrumental interlude between vivid imagery of “flashing cosmic rays” with “200 billion stars to light the way.”
A full review of the albums opening track and first single “Superflower” can be found here.
Check out this wonderful video here:
Check out the full album on their Bandcamp (including how to acquire it).
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Julian Shah-Tayler is one of those multi-disciplinary musicians who appear to be always busy. In addition to writing, recording and touring his own music as The Singularity, he still finds the time to play live shows as a key member of very popular Depeche Mode tribute band Strangelove. Not content with all of that, he also does an impressive David Bowie show, encompassing the thin white duke’s beloved catalog. In that regard he has released a “50th Anniversary of Diamond Dogs full cover album.” DCW digs down now into this ambitious project, listening for a new interpretation of a treasured classic.
Julian drops his voice down into a lower register for the introductory sequence on the piano-driven 8 minute opus “Sweet Thing.” That quickly shifts to the more Bowie-esque tenor on the line “and isn't it me, putting pain in a stranger?” before going full also on "Boys, Boys, its a sweet thing.” This vocal flex shows Julian’s ability to reinterpret the original croon while simultaneously putting his own stamp on it. Thematically depicting sex-for-sale as transactional commodity, it gets woven into “hope” being a “cheap thing.” Wonderful buzzy guitar lines ride over top of the primary piano chords, leading into the “Candidate” midsection. Notable high harmonies grace the lines “some make you sing and some make you scream - one makes you wish that you'd never been seen” while making pop culture references to Charlie Manson and Cassius Clay. Rattle tambourine quickens the pace behind desperation lines “Anyone out there? Any time?" and “When it's good, it's really good, and when it's bad I go to pieces." The resigned nihilistic partners agree to “buy some drugs and watch a band - then jump in the river holding hands.” Julian masterfully handles the “Reprise” section, going full falsetto on final powerful lines “then let it be, it's all I ever wanted. It's a street with a deal, and a taste. It's got claws, it's got me, it's got youuuuu.”
Check out this amazing album in full here:
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Dig in to the whole album, including how to acquire it here:
Follow The Crushing Violets on their Social Media - Official Website - Facebook - Instagram – Bandcamp
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Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Best Of 2022: New Music Reviews and Interviews
2022's final month offers a time for revisiting music reviews composed and compiled here on this site throughout the year. The annual “Best Of” highlights those notable artists written about since January. A concise listing focused on each months entries in sequential order brings attention once again to the most engaging releases of 2022. 
With the New Year came a fresh crop of album and single releases that were followed by full-length recordings later on. Most of these artists have been developing their individual style for a number of years. Featured on indie labels with consistent track records, the first month of 2022 saw this site digging in to a variety of creative songwriters and sound designers.
Frequent contributors to this site Big Stir Records rolled-out their first major album release of 2022: “Darling Please” from acclaimed North Carolina singer-songwriter Chris Church. A remastering of songs recorded a number of years back, the artists re-imagined his original vision aided by modern recording studio facilitation.
Along with the lyric-heavy vocal music frequently reviewed here, this site has also made it a point to feature quality instrumental releases at times. The Seattle-based soul-jazz groove machine Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio first released the single “Don't Worry 'Bout What I Do” and full album Cold As Weiss via Colemine Records.
Good Eye Records introduced an exciting new track "Boscobel," which served as the first single from new to this site band Sooner's debut album, Days and Nights. Sooner specializes in blending alternative rock, dream pop and gaze with romantic female lead vocals.
The Kool Kat Music label released “Wish I Could See” by Cheap Star. Fronted by Swiss-French musician Remi Vaissiere (who wrote, sings lead and plays guitar on all the songs). A distinct 'Americana/Powerpop' vibe runs through it all due to the artists long-time relationship with seminal late 80's/early 90's Posies frontman Jon Auer. Brought in to produce and mix the record, Jon also plays a variety of guitars and keyboards on nearly all of the tracks. The Posies connection doesn't end there as respected drummer Brian Young (a member of that band during their major label years from 94-98, before moving on to The Fountains of Wayne and then The Jesus and Mary Chain) delivers outstanding percussion on every one of these new songs.
The music of Dead Leaf Echo is no stranger to this site, having covered their recordings and many live shows for over a decade. Notwithstanding some personnel changes one could hardly be surprised at over that length of time, the current lineup has been relatively steady the last few years. After completing their first Latin America tour, they released a six track EP. “Milk.Blue.Kisses.And.Whalebone.Wishes” is the mysterious and poetic title, serving as something of a hybrid to the song titles on it.
Austin, Texas heavy-groove blues-rockers The Dizzy Bangers received a detailed analysis on their song “Painted Bruises,” which displayed an advanced level of musicianship and lyrical mastery within the heavy rock genre.
Equal measures of industrial electronics, heavy rock, seductive vocals, black-clad fashion glamour and spirituality are woven together in the music of Turbo Goth. As popularity continues to grow in both their native Philippines and adopted home of NYC, the duo of Paolo Peralta and Sarah Gaugler released their album “Awakened Imagination.”
The always busy Brighton, England based Shore Dive Records contributed this month, promoting their 111th release featuring Stockholm, Sweden's We.ThePigs. This full-length album highlights a lovely collection of female vocal dreampop, harsh Sonic Youth-like guitar noise and even a JAMC “tribute” as well.
Enticed to check out the music of already established indie rockers Star Collector proved to be a prudent endeavor. Working in the classic 4 piece, two guitar, bass and drums formation, an impressive level of vocal harmonies lift them above rudimentary “garage band” status.
The folks at Shoredive Records seem to instinctively knows what will fly here at this site. Offering the labels 116th release featured an artist out of Chicago called “Glitter Assassin.” That cool name along with the promise of noisy guitar layered indie pop with a heavy gazer influence received the full DCW analysis.
Respected Label BIG STIR RECORDS rolled out the first in a series of singles highlighting Finnish power-pop guitar group The Bablers. An appropriate CromwellWrites deep-dive ensued.
An interesting musician recording under the name Friends from Moon released a concept album titled “Astray.” It's epic and incendiary track “Marvels beyond Madness” garnered intense listen and review.
The Rosie Varela Project released their album “What Remains,” with its single track “Fault Line” receiving a wordy investigation.
Four exciting new audio and video releases summoned attention for the month of May . Storied legends with lengthy discographies (still going strong) share space here with newer established artists along with debut entries as well.
Legendary gothic death-rock pioneers Christian Death have a long history that dates back to their original formation in the 1980's. Equal parts adoration and controversy have continued to surround them ever since. Featured track and video for “Beautiful” from their 17th studio album “Evil Becomes Rule” received primary focus.
Inspired by a 75 million year old rock formation in Thailand that when viewed from above, create the visual illusion of a family of whales, 3 Robots Records indie label artists Sueño con belugas released their epic track “Normal.”
With the release of her latest album “Tresor,” the evolutionary vision of musician Gwenno reached a new pinnacle. The title track and it's accompanying video provided a unique journey into her Cornish and Welsh history.
A collective calling themselves Seedsmen to the World released their debut album on Blue Arrow and Birdman Records. Combining elements of trance-drone and folk music, it's offbeat qualities sparked further investigation.
Frequently featured label Patetico Recordings returned to the DCW realm with a new collaborative effort Heliocentric Overdrive and their debut EP “Weightless.” Their melodic-pop tracks are fuleed by a precise and frenetic delivery.
If it seems like there is yet-another Shoredive Records artist being featured here on this site every other month or so – well, that's because it's true. One of the busiest, most-consistent labels out there, something new, exciting and previously unheard of appears in our listening sphere that simply can't be ignored. This time it was mysterious dreamgaze from Montpellier/Paris going by the name 40 Days Without Water.
Another independent label discovery was the Peruvian based Chip Musik Records. It specializes in ambient, electronic, chillwave, experimental, glitch, dreamgaze, vaporwave and experimental artists from all over the world. Their release Lego 15 – Pulsos de Bosques (Forest Pulses) is an extensive collection of music from Central/South American and other international locales.
Sometimes a record is released in a low key manner with little fanfare, and the band moves right to playing live as a means of showcasing this new material. Such was the case with Tight Lips debut EP, which was released at the end of March. With bands and audiences reconnecting at live shows again, the opportunity to focus on this previously uninvestigated recorded music presented itself.
The good folks over at Big Stir Records released a full-length album by LA psych-pop rockers Maple Mars. Titled “Someone's Got To Listen,” it's the band first album in over a decade, and debut for this label.
Andres Alfonso Lugo is a Baltimore-based recording artist who's work has been featured here on DCW numerous times. While those previous reviews focused on the bands he belongs to, the current work here being delved into is his solo project Los Dientes Hundidos en la Garganta. With that phrase translating into “the sunken teeth in the throat,” the music created is less ferocious (though still quite powerful) than that expression would suggest. Andres provides guitar, loops, programmed drums, bass and synth, while enlisting contributions from Ferran Pont Verges (Die Noia Futuriszka) with guitars, voice and mixing on "Loops of Energy."
Receiving news about a new project involving long-time fave David J (of Bauhaus and Love & Rockets fame) is always welcome. Busy as he's been over the last few years with revived live shows, hearing about brand new songs and group collaboration peaked curiosity. The debut album “A Free Society” by newly minted combo Night Crickets also includes Vincent DeLorenzo (from Violent Femmes) and multi-instrumentalist Darwin Meiners. Drawing their name from a conversation about something David Lynch said, the recordings came together via audio files shared between Los Angeles, Milwaukee, London and San Francisco. Their music video and song “The Unreliable Narrator,” received a detailed review.
An inquisitive individual who records and plays live music under the moniker 77 Apes caught the attention of DCW through their steady persistence. It is a solo artist endeavor where lyric-heavy songs are accompanied by acoustic and electric guitars, fleshed-out with background rhythm tracks.
The original full review writing on all of the above bands (complete with links or song embeds) can be found here.
Longtime friends of this site The Stargazer Lilies released a video for first single “Bending The Lines” in advance of their 5th studio album release “Cosmic Tidal Wave” via Floravinyl Records. The track and video receives appropriate fragmented windswept reverie.
Influential bands of the 90's continued to re-emerge with new material, which was welcome news to audiences who have missed them. Consider the Portland trio – No 2 – back with their third album, but first in a number of years. Fronted by Neil Gust who originally shared songwriting duties in Heatmiser (along with Elliott Smith), No 2 rose out of that bands ashes in the late 90's. The album titled “First Love” was released on Jealous Butcher Records.
Heavy blues rock has always been a particular favorite here at this site, and nobody does it better than Austin, Texas-based The Dizzy Bangers. Though relatively new here to the DCW orbit, a number of reviews have already made their way into prior features. The band returned once again with a new video release for their song “Painted Bruises,” earning additional commentary and analysis on it.
Turning attention once again to one of Shoredive Records releases found this site focusing on the recording project Xeresa. Simply titled “IV” (as in album number 4), the fully named Nicolas Pierre Wardell (previously only known as Label boss Nico Beatastic) serves as the bands primary catalyst. Painstakingly recorded between 2019 and 2022, each song features guest vocalists, some who have full releases on the parent label. Each track was built in the more common now than ever way of sending instrumental basic tracks to each respective artist for their creative additions (predominantly vocals).
UK Power Pop Rockers It's Karma It's Cool released the track “A Gentle Reminder,” accompanied by an in-studio style video performance, providing visual imagery of the band performing. This perfect slice of powerful pop music received a full DCW breakdown.
It had been a year or two since new Lunar Twin music entered our universe. The enigmatic west coast duo returned with “Beyond The Sun,” the first single release from their upcoming album “Aurora.” Bryce Boudreau (vocalist/songwriter) and Christopher Murphy (multi-instrumentalist/producer) continue to expand on their sonic vision with this new material. “Beyond The Sun” received a close listen and complete review. A full nine track album is due soon, with another track “Android Dreams” available now to acquire and listen to.
Returning here for another review is the work of Baltimore-based recording artist Andres Alfonso, who makes solo music as Los Dientes Hundidos en la Garganta. While that phrase loosely translates to “the sunken teeth in the throat,” Andres composes his ambient works with guitars, bass and heavy looping. What comes out of that are wonderfully dreamy experimental ambient electronic soundscapes. The second single “Configurations” from latest album “Infinite Past” on Jak Jonson Tapes has recently dropped, and got the full review treatment.
An in-depth Interview and hotly anticipated EP Review shared space with two full-length, track-by-track reviews from trusted labels and artists. With one returning and another first-time creator receiving detailed analysis on their latest recordings, the quest to make sense of it all carried on without limit.
When press releases about a new band called The Buckleys started showing up via email over the last two years, an appreciation for the music and image they were producing was instantly felt. With the band recently coming to New York, Nashville and LA for press stops and personal appearances, I was honored to catch up with them for a face-to-face interview.
Back in May of this year, ambient dreamgaze collective Sueño con belugas were reviewed here on DCW for their introductory track “Normal” in anticipation of upcoming album “Memoria Cósmica.” With the release of that full eight song album, a chance to dig deeper into their sound presented itself.
Bookending Big Stir Records first major album release of 2022 (as mentioned here at the beginning of this Feature) was their final release of the year, “Sounds In English” by Sweden’s Richard Öhrn. Best known as the guitarist and one of the songwriters for the indie pop band In Deed, this release serves as his solo debut.
Treating the audience to many of their classic tracks like “Despicable,” their careful selection of classic covers contribute to a total live show experience. Check out their glorious rendition of The Cars “Just What I Needed” on this night right here.
A more recent show went down earlier this month at beloved Astoria, Queens venue The Shillelagh Tavern. With dazzling frontwoman and lead vocalist Meghan having morphed from platinum blonde to bright-fire redhead, the band ripped through another killer set of originals and choice covers.
Opening with perennial favorite “Purchase,” they hit the ground in high gear and everything was “soo good – soo good.”
Was great to hear an updated version of “Same” which also included room for Jordan to showcase his drumming skills. There was the how-does-she-do-it hyper-speed vocals on “Things I Feel.”
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The steady output from Philadelphia's Patetico Recordings assures ample opportunity for frequent reviews here on this site. This particular month saw the release of “From the ashes” by Stellarscope, which featured a precision review of single track “All the lies.”
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The Kings and Queens of that glorious Astoria music scene – GIFTSHOP, performed two notable live shows that certainly qualify for “Best Of 2022” designation. Back on the final day of April the band played at Otto's on NYC's lower east side as part of a benefit to aid Ukraine.
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Damian and Matt - axe-slingers on the corners.
Other enjoyable tracks played were "Stylish Junkie," "Spooky Halloween Christmas" along with bring-the-house-down covers of "Creep" and "Only The Lonely" (a clip of which can be heard at the end of this Instagram Post here).
All Aboard For Fun Time!
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