indie – and so she thinks

SHHE – Saint Cyrus

admin — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 12:35:46 +0000

Dreamy, laidback beats from SHHE, the alter-ego of Scottish-Portuguese artist and producer SU Shaw. The delicate soundscapes and lingering electronics in new single Saint Cryus make for a captivating tune that is both enigmatic and elegant. The varied elements tug in different directions, but create a concerted whole that feels powerful even in its gentleness. The artist’s upcoming self-titled debut album tracks a period of intense personal change, and is due for release 11th October on One Little Indian Records.

‘Saint Cyrus is named after the area that I was living in at the time – in the same house that I wrote and recorded the entire record” says SHHE. “The house backed onto a main road so recording during the day wasn’t possible. Most of the vocals were recorded during the night. The synth line which enters half way through the track was also recorded during this time, half awake, half asleep. I only recorded one take, that’s the take that you hear on the record.’

She continues: ‘The track is in constant transition. When I wrote it, I was thinking a lot about identity. How no one is ever complete. Things are added, taken away, obscured, manipulated; certain characteristics, behaviours. In the track there are parts that disintegrate, disappear, are reintroduced elsewhere. But the words stay the same. Living there (in Saint Cyrus) was the only constant when everything else was in transition at the time. I think that environment encouraged a lot of change in my life.’

Sorcha Richardson – Lost

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 11:25:37 +0000

Dublin born and based in New York, Sorcha Richardson sings songs of life, love and loss. So does everyone else you may well say. But in her simple lyrics of stealing your favourite tipple, summers spent in a cider haze, dancing off heartbreak and more, she stands out with the kind of clear storytelling usually only seen in the best novels, with alarmingly arresting pop music, eminently danceable on the same time as being imbued with a flicker of world weary knowingness. Ruin Your Night starts stripped back and melancholy, but then starts looping in a frenzy of chanting hooks and swooping melodies, and the barrage of brilliance lures you into a sweet excitement and before you know it you’re obsessed with Sorcha Richardson. Or at least that’s my experience. Brilliant.

Hater – First Time

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:10:21 +0000

Ooozing wistful charm and care free vibes, but far from simplistic, Hater have blended together joyful melodies and nodding pop with sober impulses. At times eerie, at times enrapturing, the Swedish quartet channel contemporaries such as Alvvays, The Radio Dept. and Melody’s Echo Chamber but wrap their indie pop in hazier fuzz that tiptoes the line between reflection and urgency. Introducing themselves to the world earlier this year with First Time, they release debut EP Radius on PNKSLM on July 8^th, and with it will no doubt garner a whole lot of love.

Independent Bookshop Week

admin — Thu, 21 May 2015 19:30:00 +0000

June 20th-27th is Independent Bookshop Week, a celebration of indie bookshops in the UK and Ireland, and sees over 400 stores across the country throwing parties, organizing events, setting up reading groups, storytelling sessions, author signings and literary lunches to honour the brilliant stops that fuel our passion for reading. As every bookworm knows, there’s nothing like the thrill of a good bookshop, the cosy warmth with which it entices you into its treasure trove of discovery, to reward you with friends you did not know you had and stories you did not know you needed. Reading is hugely beneficial as well as enjoyable, and even more magical when it comes from such a shop.

On the Saturday the second IBW bookshop crawl will take place, where people are being set a simple challenge: pop out to your local bookshop, pick up a book and #giveabook – to anyone you like. Sharing the love of reading is sharing something very personal and powerful, and by the act of #giveabook you are not only introducing someone to something new and potentially profound, but helping independent booksellers.

Of course, you shouldn’t wait until Independent Bookshop Week to get shopping and get reading – so find your nearest store here and get involved.

James Murphy – We Used To Dance

admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 08:24:00 +0000

The frontman from LCD Soundsystem writing an instrumental piece of gooey wonder for the soundtrack to a Noah Baumbach film. It’s the stuff indie dreams are made of. From the movie While We’re Young, We Used To Dance by James Murphy is a dreamy expanse of twitching arpeggios, exploring the traumas and tensions of life and change, and is another notch on the experimental bedpost of one of the world’s most talented producers.
https://soundcloud.com/the-playlist-podcast/we-used-to-dance-by-james-murphy

Trust Fund – No One's Coming For Us

admin — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 17:46:24 +0000

Debut album No One’s Coming For Us by Trust Fund, the brainchild and output of Bristol’s Ellis Jones, is filled with a sparklingly melancholy and elements of pained introspection. There’s singalong choruses and shoegazey fuzz on Cut Me Out, upbeat rhythms on Sadness, as well as optimistic high pitched indie pop songcraft, a la Essay To Write. Ellis Jones is a proficient and clever writer, with the talent for creating a hooky tune, and has selected the perfect rafter of friends for his first full length. Just signed to label Turnstile Music, also home to Los Campesinos and Gruff Rhys, Trust Fund have created a short, snappy and earnest LP quivering with personality.
[bandcamp width=350 height=470 album=2131047522 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false]

Fish Doctor

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 11:05:26 +0000

It’s funny how we think that bands must have one style or be part of one genre. That would be like telling people they could only wear full evening dresses and tuxedos, never rock the casual style. Or that they could only be part of one group – family, doctor’s surgery, or blood type, but never all three. Given that most people go through numerous fluctuations of personality strain daily, what are we to expect when 6 of them are thrown together? Not only that, but when those people are ‘creative types.’ Yes, you know what I mean.
And so I wasn’t surprised to hear that Brooklyn’s Fish Doctor (Michael, Jared, Michael, Alex, Brian and Rocco) change musical direction every time the wind does the same. Sometimes surf, like on last June’s Atlantic and the lead track from their 2011 EP Summer In Wintertime, sometimes electro a la Infantry Song, and sometimes going off kilter completely on the chilled psyche Hawaiian Blizzard, complete with hazy feminine vocals. Things are never as happy go surfy as they seem, with even the simple refrain of ‘and you drown in the Atlantic’ hinting at a more sinister layer below. Fun but far from throwaway, full of confidence and frivolity that smells of experience rather than naivety.

The Khmer Revival of Rock ’n’ Roll: Indie Music in Cambodia

admin — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 06:53:00 +0000

The sounds of drums and rock guitar pierce the air, young voices roar above their buzzing audience: no, this is not a gig in London or New York. It is the sound of Cambodia’s rock revival. As Francesca Baker attests, Khmer music is undergoing a rebirth and emerging as more energetic and determined than ever before.

Cambodia was once home to one of the most advanced and vibrant music scenes in Asia: it was the sixties and there was a thrill in the air. Controversial though he was, ruler at the time Prince Norodom Sihanouk was passionate and liberal about arts, and welcomed western influences. The Vietnam War had played a huge role in introducing rock ‘n’ roll to South East Asia, with the American Special Forces Radio Network dominating the airways, and US Navy flying studios spreading the sound of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country music across Cambodia. People may not have known much about the music, but they knew they liked it, and soon started to imitate it in their own Khmer style. Parallel Lines released a compilation of songs – Cambodian Rocks – compiled by an American tourist named Paul Wheeler from some cassettes he bought in Phnom Penh from a local taxi driver. What’s more, two documentaries have been produced about the pre-war scene: The Golden Voice, Greg Cahill’s thirty minute film on the most famous of the era’s female singers, Ros Sereysothea, and Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten, a feature-length history of the scene from Los Angeles-based cinematographer John Pirozzi.
Read more at The Culture Trip.

Pick A Piper – All Her Colours

admin — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 16:43:13 +0000

It helps to have friends. On latest project Pick a Piper, Caribou’s Brad Weber is joined by members of Ruby Suns, Enon/Brainiac, Born Ruffians and Braids. Beats and bass combine under guitars in what is a successful spread eagle straddling of rock and dance, capable of being played on the stereo and at a gig. All Her Colours is taken from the short and sweet debut album (it is barely longer than an EP at eight tracks long). This will be the first full length, after two EPs, released on November 4th through City Slang, along with a slew of November European tour dates. Complex, rhythmic, with a low rumbling bass line underpinning the euphoric build, it packs a punch whilst remaining intelligent and impactful. Using a palette of instruments not usually found on the dance floor, including glockenspiels, acoustic guitar, and flute. The chorus goes a bit too sunny and breezy, almost Two Door-esque, but on the verses and builds its dark and delicious. Oh, and I love the typewriter at the start of the video. Bonus points for that one.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn2mrotzWfU&w=420&h=315]

Charlie Straight – Coco

admin — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 12:11:32 +0000

An infectious and intense pop tune with a sad tale behind it (discovered courtesy of Infectious), Coco is the new song from Czech band Charlie Straight. The hypnotic and warm vocals are luring and alluring, and the guitar work harmonic without being overwhelming, distinct but not stripped back. It’s not cool. Let’s get that straight. Some people will raise eyebrows, some sneer, but this is perfectly packaged and blissfully britpop, the sound of September days, with the light fading, russet hues starting to appear in the trees, and anthemic melodies still in the air. Glorious. Out September 16th.