Big Thief’s Buck Meek will release his self-titled debut solo album on May 18th via Keeled Scales and has shared the fourth single, “Joe By The Book” today. The album is intimately soulful, like his band, but in a more bluegrass folk kind of way.
Meek on the origin of the song: “I imagined Joe, the patron saint of automechanics, to honor the memory of Gus at ZP Auto in Brooklyn, who kept our van alive with nothing more than his faith until he passed away on a motorcycle, at which point the van seemed to immediately give up. It was also written to cope with the real-life disappointment of my grandparents being ripped off by a dishonest mechanic in Houston.”
Buck Meek Tour
May 30 | Kerrville, TX at Kerrville Folk Festival
June 07 | Allston, MA at Great Scott
June 08 | Brooklyn, NY at Rough Trade
June 09 | Washington, DC at Songbyrd
June 10 | Durham, NC at The Pinhook
June 12 | Nashville, TN at The High Watt
June 13 | Bloomington, IN at The Bishop
June 14 | Chicago, IL at Schuba’s
June 15 | Millvale, PA at The Funhouse
June 16 | Philadelphia, PA at Johnny Brenda’s
June 7-16 with Sam Evian
June 7 & 8 also with Katie Von Schleicher
Benjamin Jaffe
Premiere: Benjamin Jaffe “Lazy Music”
May 04, 2018
Benjamin Jaffe, best known from acclaimed roots/rock duo HoneyHoney, will release his solo debut album Oh, Wild Ocean of Love on May 11th via Diamond Family Records. Moving in a different direction from the rootsy style of HoneyHoney, Jaffe’s more alternative solo effort reveals his many talents as a guitar virtuoso, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, writer, composer, and arranger. The new material on Oh, Wild Ocean of Love has been very positively received so far and for good reasons. Following the lead singles “Dominator”, “Susan the Cat” and “Everlasting Peace”, Under the Radar has the premiere of “Lazy Music”.
The mellow, Andrew Bird vibe of the song is explained by Jaffe: “I recorded this song with me on the instruments and Howard Feibusch and Erik Kertes on the knobs and screens. They are wonderful men. I’m working on taking days off, really kicking back. The sabbath you know? Shabbat. That’s what the song’s about. It used to have totally different lyrics, they were about death and I thought, nope not this time Ben.”
And inspiration for Jaffe’s solo debut is given context in his bio: Jaffe widens his approach with Oh, Wild Ocean of Love. These songs make room for a broad range of influences, from the polyphonic rhythms and improvisational freedom of jazz music to the soul and swagger of Motown…Inspired by a wide of sounds and texts — including Paul Simon, Beck, Randy Newman, Father John Misty and The Essential Chuang Tzu — Oh, Wild Ocean of Love explores the wreckage left by a relationship that’s poorly-defined and headed south. It’s an album about the full spectrum of love: love for yourself, for others, and even your maker. An album about lessons learned. An album about the realization that even in these chaotic times, it’s okay to relax.
Postdata
Premiere: Postdata “Gravity”
May 03, 2018
It’s nice to see all the fraternization in music these days. Postdata is the new project from Wintersleep’s Paul Murphy, featuring Grant Hutchison and Andy Monaghan of Frightened Rabbit, and Simone Pace of Blonde Redhead. Their new LP Let’s Be Wilderness is out May 18 on Paper Bag Records and today Under the Radar is unveiling the premiere of the single “Gravity”.
A vacation in Europe found Murphy ringing up friends and former tour matesGrant and Andy and it was these meetings with old pals that birthed Let’s Be Wilderness. The cast was rounded out, bringing in Simone and Murphy’s Wintersleep bandmates Loel Campbell and Tim D’Eon. Murphy first released music with Postdata in 2010 with a self-titled debut and the new album is charged with the exciting alliance. Murphy offers a glimpse into how “Gravity” came to be, that’s like a mini journal entry of the process:
I have two approaches to lyrics: some songs are narrative and linear and others a bit more abstract. This falls into the latter category. I think the germ of the idea came after walking through a really busy street in New York and just feeling the smallness that comes along with that, or the vastness of it - the world being larger than me and beyond my control. It’s sort of scary and exhilarating at the same time.
This was one of the first songs I worked on for this record. I was also trying to get away from guitars in general for this project or at least trying to get away from guitars as a starting point. So I was working a lot in Garage Band and with IMPC.. recording a scratch vocal and sort of building things around that.
It was probably the most difficult song to track on the record. We did a version in Glasgow and it was neat and definitely had some useable stuff but it was maybe too heavy-handed. When we tried it a second time Simone really helped flesh out the rhythm and bring this to life with a lot of great percussion and just gave it a bit of chiller vibe. I was trying to sort of conjure something you’d hear on a Marvin Gaye record.
The main vocal was 95% live which I really enjoy when that happens. Tim threw in some organs and synths. Loel helped mix it. Felt like a big team effort. It’s funny when I think of it- this is probably the only song everyone involved in the record performed on in some way. It’s sort of the centerpiece of it.
Michael Nau
Listen: Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread Share New Single “Less Than Positive”
May 02, 2018
Maryland folk musicianMichael Nau is returning with his third solo record (with a band) the self-titled Michael Nau & The Mighty Threadon August 3rd and released the lead single “Less Than Positive” today. Hear it below. The new record follows last year’s somewhat overlooked gem Some Twist and looks to follow in its footsteps. Here’s some background from the press release:
Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread is the follow up to 2016’s Mowing — the first record he released under his own name, after fronting psych-folk projects Page France and Cotton Jones — June 2017’s Some Twist, and its extension, The Load EP. The sprawling new album was recorded in Benny Yurco’s one-bedroom apartment in downtown Burlington, Vermont. Nau and his collaborators had a cool little set up going in Yurco’s spot — drums and bass took over the bedroom, the guitar amp in the bathroom, Nau’s vocals and piano in the living room, and a vibraphone in the kitchen. It’s the first time one of Nau’s records happened all in one place, and it feels most like a band record than ever before, he says; Nau and this particular group of musicians held it down together as a true team, which is why Nau named the record in their honor. Nothing more was added to it than what was recorded by Nau and the band in Yurco’s apartment. It didn’t feel like the right thing to do to mess with it post-facto, he adds. “It’s a documented live performance. It happened the way it happened, and that’s how it is.”
Nau shines when he’s nestled in that medium between melancholy and carefree. He seems to be thinking about the past, present, and future, all at the same time, and his songs move between pain and joy, fires and rivers, faraway stars, icy Saturdays, clouds of smoke, between shelter and flowers in the rain…It’s all just part of the waves of life; sometimes you get stuck, or things move slower, and sometimes the pace steps up. And that seems to be the gist of Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread
Big Thief
Stream: Big Thief “Wide Winged Bird”
May 01, 2018
Big Thief has made one of the biggest impressions in alternative music in the past couple of years with their beautifully emotive folk-rock, crystallized in last year’s album Capacity, which had everyone stirred up. Guitarist Buck Meekhas a solo album ready to go but in the meantime, the band released a 30-minute “sound collage” today of field recordings, song and poetry. Here’s what the band said about it on their facebook page:
HEY. It’s called wide-winged bird. It’s a collage of tour field recordings, unreleased songs, poetry and so much more. We only printed 200. Selling at this week’s shows w/ the national. All money goes to Nyc’s viBe theater. Vibe works to empower underserved teenage girls to write and perform original theater, video and music about the real-life issues they face daily.
Sigur Rós
Stream: New Sigur Rós Experimental Road Trip Album “Route One”
Apr 27, 2018
Those not fully keyed into record store day this year will find today’s digital release of the experimental Sigur Rós album Route One a total surprise…a very nice one. Originally one in a series of four limited-edition vinyl albums, all unusual in their own way, for record store day U.K. (April 21), Route One was made available to stream and download today. The album’s genesis is explained best on the band’s website:
On the longest day of summer 2016, Sigur Rós drove the whole way ‘round Iceland’s ring road, broadcasting the entire 1332km journey live on youtube. the soundtrack to this “slow tv” adventure was created using generative music software taking the multi-track stems of the Sigur Rós song ‘óveður’ and endlessly reinventing them to create new and unpredictable musical directions in real time. The very best moments from the 24-hour journey have now been pared down to a single album of great and reflective beauty. 8 tracks.
Route One is mysterious and gorgeous and conveys the feeling of winding, scenic roads in the Icelandic mist. Get lost:
Oneohtrix Point Never
Watch: Oneohtrix Point Never “Black Snow” Video
Apr 26, 2018
The New Oneohtrix Point Never album Age of is set for release on June 1 on Warp. Today he shared the rather odd video, which he also directed, for new song “Black Snow”. Watch it below. The track is a slow build but those very identifiable synth keys start to sink in. Anohni provides vocals for the track, though you wouldn’t recognize it because of the use of auto-tune. Age of looks to be a more collaborative effort than we’re used to from Daniel Lopatin, featuring James Blake keys on a number of songs, Prurient, Kelsey Lu, and more.
Ari Roar
Premiere: Ari Roar “Implode” Video
Apr 25, 2018
Dallas singer-songwriter Ari Roar (Caleb Campbell) has overcome dodgy times and his fair share of instability en route to his debut albumCalm Down, due for digital release on May 25th and physically on June 29th through Bella Union. As it turns out the journey rewards the listener. Under the Radar has the video premiere of one delightful example “Implode”. Watch it below.
Says Ari about the video experience, “We had been planning this other video idea initially but the idea of the arcade seemed less on the nose and more of a fun thing to approach. It was so hard to hear the song playing during shooting since the sounds of the arcade were so loud. We just sort of walked in and shot it covert.”
And Director Kristin Saal adds, “We both have a great affection for arcades, they’re chalked full of the most beautiful kind of nostalgia. Once we got in, I would just point and say go play that game and sing through it. I think Caleb was having a great time getting to play at work and that translated really well on camera.”
Ari first started songwriting on his family’s “super-old, out-of-tune piano” as a child. Early inspirations included Grandaddy’s Under the Western Freeway and Radiohead’s OK Computer but it was a solo performance by Jason Schwartzman in the teen comedy Slackers that really got him going: “I remember being mesmerized by it… and I went into my room and started trying to write something similar. After that, I just never stopped.”
After a couple of moves, it was in Seattle that Ari settled in and wrote Calm Down on which Ari’s plays most of the instruments himself with contributions from his producer, Hunter Davidsohn. Their shared affection for The Beatles and The Zombies finds its way into the “cool moods and warm melodies” of Calm Down. More recent influences include Deerhunter, Beach House and the Frankie Cosmos album Next Thing, which Davidsohn also produced. “Just really simple and strong sounds,” notes Campbell of that record. “Short and to-the-point songs. Great for repeat listens.” Ari Roar has a few of those himself.
