I am Oak: show in Obdam

Dutch musician Thijs Kuijken bring his indie folk project I am Oak to 't Brakenkerkje in Obdam on October 26, a good opportunity to see him perform songs from his latest album Time Drifts: "The pandemic put an end to the usual grind of album > tour > album > tour grind of being a recording artist. Left to his own devices, he had the opportunity to rethink his music and lyrics. The crumbling social cohesion shines through some of the new songs. Those are, although still highly personal, also dealing with the shenanigans and clusterfucks happening in the outside world."

» iamoak.com

HCTF review of Time Drifts

The Tammy Shine: shows in Portland & Seattle

Tammy Ealom, front woman of Denver based punk band Dressy Bessy, has announced shows in Portland and Seattle to promote the release of Ok Shine Ok, the debut album by her solo project The Tammy Shine: "Her guitar is always upfront, acting as the core for her blend of garage rock, grunge and punk. It all sounds so deceptively simple and straightforward, but her less is more approach leaves her plenty of room to make her lyrics about disastrous dates, and wanted (Love Letter) and unwanted (Junk Mail) postal deliveries being heard loud and clear."

Gabriel Vicéns: Niebla

New York based composer and guitarist Gabriel Vicéns goes for a more intimate sound on his new album Niebla. While its predecessor Mural was recorded with a large ensemble, including a prominent role for the strings he now goes back to jazz to tell the story of being an outsider in an environment that turns more hostile each day, although the Big Apple is still a safe haven of sorts. His Puerto Rican roots come to fore in the choices he made for the rhythm, making them adventurous most of the time, alternating between avant-garde and not quite straightforward most of the time.

Vicéns can paint with sound in his compositions and he has the knack to transfer his ideas clearly to people who will have to look up chromesthesia. The most obvious reference to this phenomenon is 900-50-80, inspired by a colourful abstract piece made by Olga Albizu. Throughout the album he mixes abstract bits with almost easy on the ears melodies. Niebla might mean "fog", but Vicéns and his musicians share a joint clear vision: to create music where tone and risk taking are equal partners to create a mesmerising listening experience. Feel free to wander around in his world and get lost in a good way.

BLKE: Satellite

Noise rock quartet BLKE came up in the London underground, before relocating to Berlin, so it is no wonder that they came up with an amalgam of shoegaze a la the Jesus and Mary Chain and early 70s Krautrock. Satellite, the lead single for self-titled album, is a gnarly excursion through noise and surf-inspired melodies, a clash that could have become a major trainwreck, but became an off-kilter sonic journey instead.

Penblwyddyn hapus i chi! Happy Birthday, John Cale!

Penblwyddyn hapus i chi!
Happy Birthday, John Cale!

» john-cale.com
» fearisamansbestfriend.nl