Filed under: first listen, review | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, first aid kit, the big black and the blue
First Aid Kit
The Big Black & The Blue
Due out on January 25 through UK label Wichita Recordings, The Big Black & The Blue is the eagerly awaited debut album from teenage sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, who broke out of their native Sweden in style earlier this year with the spectacular Drunken Trees EP, recorded at home in 2008 when the girls were 15 and 18, respectively. Sellout shows all over Europe ensued in a series of gobsmackingly beautiful performances that cemented the Söderbergs’ brilliance and heart-fluttering simplicity. The success of the EP was partly down to its harmony-infused folk compositions never falling short of bewitching, but also because the sisters’ tender years were at such magical odds with the wise and world-weary narratives of their songs. Though at this point Klara and Johanna have now finished school, travelled far and wide, rubbed shoulders with the great and good of indie rock, and are facing the very real prospect of long-term survival in the music industry, we’re happy to report that The Big Black & The Blue, while perhaps less immediate, doesn’t blanch First Aid Kit of the charms that made them such a breath of clear, mountain air. A full review of the album will be published in January. For now, here’s our track-by-track preview:
Filed under: album, review | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, rykarda parasol
Rykarda Parasol
For Blood & Wine ••••
Self-released
Rykarda Parasol is a self-professed purveyor of ‘rock noir’, a relatively young genre that can trace its creeping roots back to the more established sounds of Americana, Goth and even cabaret. Nick Cave and The Velvet Underground are cited as some of its progenitors, an allusion previously nodded to in Parasol’s 2005 mini album Here She Comes, with current contemporaries including the mighty Elysian Fields. Though her parentage is European – she’s half Polish, half Swedish – the dark eyed, blonde haired artist spent some formative years in Texas, the landscape of which served as her muse for 2006’s debut full-length, Our Hearts First Meet, and continues to shape her material with a countrified drawl and twang in this expertly crafted follow-up.
Filed under: free music friday, mp3 | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, MAdM, melissa auf der maur
Melissa Auf der Maur / MAdM
‘Out Of Our Minds’
Though the promise of MAdM’s multimedia project Out Of Our Minds (or OOOM, as she often refers to it) has been a bright, tantalising promise on the horizon for far too long now. Five years on from her solo debut Auf Der Maur, the former Hole bassist is rewarding patient fans with a free musical gift in exchange for their email addresses. Due for release in February, Out Of Our Minds will be accompanied by a short film of the same name alongside an original score, viral marketing and a comic book. The title track is an intriguing slice of cinematic audio, replete with the flame-haired artist’s rich, wild calls and fiercely romantic lyricism. Big, relentess basslines are married to rapid, ticking guitars and a rolling beat, a perfect soundtrack for the the upcoming video which, according to her blog, was “shot on solar power with real fireballs and bleeding trees”. A sneak preview of the video can be seen on her official website, and while her touring escapades have yet to spill over to our side of the Atlantic, it’s exciting to see this project finally coming to fruition.
Filed under: free music friday, mp3 | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, melleefresh
Melleefresh
‘White, Trashy & Blonde’ [Smut Pushers BMore Trashy xtended rmx]
Melleefresh is a Toronto based ‘electro vixen’ who not only makes dirty electro house numbers, but also stables other artists in house, disco, techno, drum ‘n’ bass and even hip hop in her own label, Play Records. Describing herself as a “drag queen trapped in female body” in a recent interview with DMC, the garish chanteuse is riding a wave of success after her recent collaboration with Deadmau5, ‘Attention Whore’, shot up to #10 in the Billboard Dance Charts, no doubt alerting people to an artist very much on the rise. ‘White, Trashy & Blonde’ is taken from Melleefresh’s upcoming, as yet untitled debut album, which should drop early next year. A collaboration with West Coast house duo CyberSutra, the remix package for the single (out December 21) is sure to be impressive. Today’s freebie comes courtesy of Torontonian ‘fidgit house’ producers Smut Pushers. Expect Melleefresh’s edgy, explicit gyrations combined with a bass heavy electro vibrations and throbbing, killer beats. MP3 after the jump.
Filed under: free music friday, mp3 | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, saint etienne, the pains of being pure at heart
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
‘Higher Than The Stars’ [Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank remix]
NYC-based indie-pop quartet The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart released one of the early contenders for album of 2009 in the shape of their self-titled debut back in February, and followed that up in September with the swoon-worthy EP Higher Than The Stars containing four new songs and four remixes, one of which was this retooling by UK pop legends Saint Etienne. The Pains’ keyboardist / vocalist Peggy Wang-East has become something of an indie pin-up in the process, but aside from being a rad and very pretty musician, she’s also a blogger for the viral real-time site Buzzfeed, a role she meets in tandem with the band. Her vocals were all too often buried in the mix on the album, deferring slightly to the dreamy tones of frontman Kip Berman, but this remix puts them on equal pegging. While the identity of the mysterious Lord Spank is never quite explained, the Saint Etienne tag is all you need to know to get a sense of this track’s dreamy, dance-pop quality. MP3 after the jump.
Filed under: free music friday, mp3 | Tags: ash koley, charlotte richardson andrews
Ash Koley
‘Mary The Inventor’
Ash Koley has come a long way from her stint as a member of Canadian ABBA tribute band Super Trooper. Recently signed to Nettwerk Music Group’s management roster, the Winnipeg-born singer-songwriter is poised to release her debut album in the new year, the culmination of a career that started aged 5 when she first took up formal singing lessons. While her debut is being honed, she has a quartet of EPs waiting in the wings for digital deployment, each one colour coded (The White EP, The Blue EP, The Red EP and The Black EP) and comprised of produced demos given a sparkly sheen by longtime musical partner, Phil Deschambault. Obviously fans of DIY quirk, the pair have produced a number of music videos, using time-lapse photography in some and a no-frills homemade approach in others (see their aptly named ‘Bathroom Series’). Their songs have also featured on mainstream TV, including ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ and high-school drama ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’, which should give you an indication of Ash’s accessible pop sound. ‘Mary The Inventor’ is the lead track from The White EP, out next week. Between them, Koley and Deschambault count Eurythmics, The Cardigans, Imogen Heap, Erasure, Madonna and ABBA as inspirations, and a thread or two of these can be picked out in this track. Musically, ‘Mary The Inventor’ is a wholesome number, energetic and affable in equal measures, and Ash’s voice is both sweet and voluminous, clearly well trained and practically made for pop. MP3 after the jump.
Filed under: news, trouser press | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, rachael dadd
To celebrate their release of Rachael Dadd’s upcoming EP, Moth In The Motor, boutique indie label Broken Sound have launched an arts project of the same name in which aspiring artists are encouraged to submit their own sleeve designs. A number of the submitted pieces will go on display at during an unplugged event headlined by Rachael and friends in February, and every artist who creates a sleeve will be granted the rather fabulous reward of a permanent profile, including a biography and links to their other works, on the Broken Sound website.
Filed under: news, trouser press, where's the gigs | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, slow club
Following on from the success of last year’s free download single ‘Christmas TV’, the ever-likable Sheffield duo Slow Club have announced a shiny new, ribbon-wrapped Yuletide offering. The five-track EP, Christmas, Thanks For Nothing, out December 14 through Moshi Moshi, includes two new originals, two Darlene Love covers and, of course, the brilliant ‘Christmas TV’, which has quite deservedly gone on to be a year-round favourite at gigs. Charles and Rebecca take turns to have fun with the covers; Rebecca sings the Phil Spector-penned ‘Christmas (Please Come Home)’ from the mighty perennial A Christmas Gift For You, while Charles heads up a stripped down version of ‘All Alone On Christmas’, as featured on the soundtrack to ‘Home Alone 2′. The two new songs are the title track and ‘It’s Christmas & You Are Boring Me’.
Filed under: news, trouser press | Tags: charlotte richardson andrews, katiejane garside, ruby throat
Out Of A Black Cloud Came A Bird inspired by plane crash horror
News of fresh Ruby Throat material has come as a pleasantly unexpected surprise today as we were under the impression that all they had in the works was a re-release of their exquisitely crepuscular debut The Ventriloquist. Released on November 12th to coincide with their gig at Madame Jojo’s in London the same day, Out Of A Black Cloud Came A Bird will initially be available as a run of 500 limited edition ‘art packages’, with a standard(ish) gatefold package coming later. The evocative title seems to be a reference to the plane crash that Garside witnessed last year while hiking through the Himalayas, a traumatic experience she described to us back in September saying, “Everything I’ve done since has been infused with that experience. I’m trying to work with it; it’s given me a sense of urgency that I haven’t had for a long time.”
Filed under: feature, women in industry | Tags: chantelle fiddy, charlotte richardson andrews, interview
women in industry #3: chantelle fiddy
After an autumnal mini-break, WII is officially back, shining the spotlight on the ladies working their magic within the music industry. This month we catch up with multitalented journalist Chantelle Fiddy, a resident columnist for RWD Magazine and freelance contributor to Mixmag, SuperSuper and The Guardian. Her earlier ventures included roles at Smash Hits, i-D, Tank, Arena and Sunday Times Style, but she’s not just a writer; Chantelle has also worked hand in hand with artists and labels, spearheading projects with The Streets, 679 Recordings, Island Records, Ministry Of Sound and award-winning TV show Dubplate Drama, and a keenness to share her skills with others resulted in a mentoring role at LIVE Magazine.
Keeping a firm hold on her first love for radio means she’s regularly a guest on air with Diesel U Music radio, Radio1, 1Xtra, BBC Asian Network and Capital FM, but it’s her recent work as editor of www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk and its biannual magazine that’s got her hyped at the moment. The edgy current affairs publication is aimed at turning 18-25 year olds on to social injustice and global development. It’s a project close to her heart, and one clearly made possible by the strong work ethic she rocks and the dedicated years of music journalism that have created this platform. Chantelle talks to Wears The Trousers about facing challenges head on, keeping things competitive whilst staying humble, and the restorative powers of cake baking.
