Watch the Laurie Anderson perform five songs, including a slowed down cover of Dirty Blvd. by her late husband Lou Reed, for a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. She played electronics and violin, with Martha Mooke (viola, electronics) and Doug Wieselman (guitar, clarinet).
Setlist:English baroque-pop band Tugboat Captain have come up with a subtle song in irresistible 5/4 as the lead single for their new album All At Once. The dreamy Us & The Moon is shared canvas for all members, with each one of them adding sonic flourishes, embracing the vocal harmonies. It is a gentle plea to take care of one and other as the world is raging outside.
Us & The Moon is a self-released single. Buy it from their website. The All At Once album will be available on July 17th (vinyl, digital).
HCTF review of Dog Tale
German/English noise rock quartet BLKE have successfully mixed the density of bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain with the pounding rhythms of Krautrock, wrapped in a cloak of in-your-face psychedelic rock and post-punk. Their self-titled debut album is a freight train that pushes aside anything that gets in the way.
The songs come off as a dark and pessimistic - starting an album with a song called How about I end life sets the tone from the get-go, but there are rays of light poking through the clouds as a sign that not everything sucks. The band may be sitting on a wall of sound, but listen more closely and find out that there are some stairs as well as invitations to come up there and enjoy the view.
Brighton based sextet Opus Kink sing about a man bading farewell to his loved on their new single The Sweet Goodbye. Their mix of jazz, folk and punk is spiced up by a full-on choral section, straight out the Eastern European playbook. Over the top? Yes. Does that matter? Not one a bit, because when the emotions run high so should the music. The video was made by Kyle McCarthy & Reuben Davies Lindley.
Mancunian indie quartet Westside Cowboy picked a solid base for their new single Kick Stones (The Boys): a live recording of The Velvet Underground's What Goes On. With that unrelenting riff secured, they went on to write a song inspired by FC United of Manchester, founded shortly after Manchester United was taken over by American billionaire and all-round asshole Malcolm Glazer.
The band loves the lads doing their best to bring football back to people who can't afford a ticket for a Premier League match. Seventh tier fames are not about epic skills, but embracing mistakes as part of the game, a sentiment that is echoed by the warts-and-all lo-fi approach of the track.
