Girl With The Gun set to release somophore album

30 January 2014

Girl With The Gun

Italian psychedelic electro folk outfit Girl With The Gun first came together in 2006 as the duo of Matilde Davoli and Andrea Mangia aka Populous expanding a few years later to a trio with the addition of Andrea Rizzo.
The threesome are ready to release their second album, Ages, written and recorded over a long time long period that saw them absorbing and drawing from different inspirations and references, from the 50’s till now, from the classic to the cutting-edge. Ages is due out in February via Bad Panda Records & Interbang Records.
Girl With The Gun have just premiered a video to accompany the infectious and hypnotic track ‘Hover’. Watch it below and straight after listen to another excellent and warm cut off the album, ‘Hold On For Cues’. Enjoy!


Hydras Dream tease debut album with lead single ‘The Joys Of A New Year’

30 January 2014

Hydras Dream - The Joys Of A New Year

Singer, songwriter and pianist Anna von Hausswolff and silent picture composer Matti Bye, both hailing from Sweden, teamed up to form the new project Hydras Dream. The pair have announced the release of their debut full-length album, The Little Match Girl, due out this Spring via Denovali.
Drawing inspiration from old stories and films, Hydras Dream’s upcoming album is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale bearing the same name.
‘The Joys of a New Year’ is the albums first enchanting single. Listen to it below.

Origamibiro’s fourth album arrives in February

29 January 2014

Origamibiro - Odham's Standard

At the end of last year, the good folks at Denovali Records added Origamibiro to their roster and announced the release of the outfit’s fourth album. Odham’s Standard arrives on February 28th and ahead of it, Denovali have recently released Origamibiro’s entire back catalogue comprising the albums Cracked Mirrors and Stopped Clocks, Shakkei and Shakkei Remixed.
Initially started as the brainchild project of musician, soundtrack composer and producer Tom Hill, the project evolved into an audio-visual collective with the later addition of visual artist and filmmaker The Joy Of Box aka Jim Boxall and multi-instrumentalist Andy Tytherleigh. Origamibiro use unusual sources and ways to create music as the press release notes, and their live shows “involve treated books, typewriters, found celluloid, paper, eerie wildlife recordings, home movies, sellotape and bespoke visual contraptions”.
To get you excited for the release of Odham’s Standard, take a listen to the album’s wonderful opening track ‘Ada Deane’ and straight after watch the video that accompanies the intricate and delicate title track.


Christina Vantzou ready to release new album No2

29 January 2014

Christina Vantzou - No2

Kansas City, Missouri born, Brussels based composer, artist and filmmaker Christina Vantzou, who is perhaps best known for being one half of The Dead Texan with Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie, is ready to unveil the follow-up to her 2011’s No1. In the works for four years, No2 was composed using synthesizers and several unidentified samples. After manipulating these sounds, Vantzou collaborated with Minna Choi of the San Francisco based Magik*Magik Orchestra to transcribe the compositions for a 15-piece ensemble. Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid / A Winged Victory for the Sullen) was also recruited for engineering duties stamping his own signature sound texture on the album. As the press release describes, in No2 “dense layers of strings are augmented by angelic voices, piano, woodwinds, & various synthesizers”.
Take a glimpse at the immersive grandeur of Vantzou’s forthcoming album with the painstakingly beautiful track ‘Going backwards to recover what was left behind’ streaming beneath. And watch out for the release of No2 on February 24th via Kranky.

Listen to three unreleased tracks from Elfin Saddle, courtesy of Pinball Sessions

28 January 2014

Elfin Saddle - Pinball Session

I can’t even begin to describe my affection for the Montreal based outfit Elfin Saddle. Initially birthed as the duo of multi-instrumentalists Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie, they expanded to a trio with the addition of long-standing third member Nathan Gage on double bass and tuba. The group’s earthy, intense and heartfelt music magically fuses various genres, from folk to baroque and to classical Japanese music. Nearly two years ago now, Elfin Saddle released Devastates, a beautiful and majestic album that was one of our Picks of 2012.
Here’s some wonderful news. They have recently recorded three unreleased tracks for the Pinball Sessions, a music project where artists from different horizons record three or four song sessions “live off the floor” in a no-pressure environment. In the studio, artists are invited to “try stuff out” as they describe, and experiment with already recorded songs and unreleased ones. The result gets published twice a week and can be streamed and downloaded for free.
Lucky us, we can now listen to three magnificent new tracks from Elfin Saddle, ‘Bell’, ‘Creature’ and ‘Reed:Rise’. According to the Pinball Sessions’ folks, this session was recorded “on a picturesque summer day” in Guelph, Ontario at the Pinball Studios.
We haven’t heard of any scheduled release but these new songs could well be tied to the follow up of Devastates. We’ll keep a keen eye out. Now head over to pinballsessions.com and listen to the Elfin Saddle session.

Aram Bajakian releases new full-length album there were flowers also in hell

28 January 2014

Aram Bajakian - there were flowers also in hell

New York based guitar virtuoso Aram Bajakian has been keeping himself busy for quite a long time playing and recording with an array of stellar musicians including Lou Reed, John Zorn, Sean Lennon, Diana Krall, Yusef Lateef, Marc Ribot, Nels Cline, James Carter, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Steven Bernstein, Billy Martin, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Mat Maneriand and Malcolm Mooney, to name but a few. Bajakian also leads a number of other diverse projects, including Kef, a chamber string trio that plays arrangements of traditional Armenian Songs, an Afro Punk Ensemble called Beat Down, the improvisatory power hardcore band Pirates, the blues/RnB project Killing Floor and Brno, his Moravian folk duo with vocalist Julia Ulehla. This wide range of influences and musical backgrounds shines through Bajakian’s recently released album there were flowers also in hell. The album saw Bajakian enlist the help of Shazhad Ismaily on bass and Jerome Jennings on drums. You can grab there were flowers also in hell from his website or bandcamp. Now listen to a couple of gems off the album, ‘Orbisonian’ and ‘Medicaid Lullaby’.