Sharing the sharing.
Dragster is a speaker-melting garage rock band out of Rennes, France. Their style is fierce and grimey- somewhat similar to Thee Oh Sees. Check out the fuzzy, distorted, burner “Lou l’Enfer Chasseur De Dragons” from their new EP, Ganja War, below. The Ganja War EP is available now on cassette from Six Tonnes De Chair Records or digitally from Dragster’s Bandcamp page.
Dragster – Lou l’Enfer Chasseur De Dragons from Ganja War EP (2014)
I was a big thrash/metal fan back in the day. Bands like Crumbsuckers, D.R.I., Anthrax and pre-Black album Metallica were the majority of what I listened to. As I grew older I lost my taste for metal and I’ve pretty much been out of touch with it since. That was until Zath’s “Black Goat Razor” (below) showed up in my inbox. It only took seconds from when I clicked play to be taken back in time, to high school art class listening to “Battery” from Master of Puppets as loud as possible. Those were pretty good times. Thanks for the ride Zath!
The riffs are tight and it just plain rips! If there is even a touch of metal head in you, I highly recommend checking this out. “Black Goat Razor” is available now on 7″ from Ty Segall’s Drag City imprint GOD?.
There is not a lot of info on the interweb about David Novick, but I will share with you what I know. He is out of SanFrancisco. He recently released his second album Your Sister’s Hand.
Novick’s psychedelic folk sound is perfect to chill out to. Check out slow builder “Beneath The Line” (below) to sample a taste of Novick’s mellow goodness. Your Sister’s Hand is available now on Ty Segall’s Drag City imprint GOD?. Enjoy.
David Novick – Beneath The Line from Your Sister’s Hand (2014)
Canadian singer-songwriter Toui Manikhouth’s 3 song EP, This Service, is very chill and quite elegant. His hushed vocals are barely audible over his guitar, which reminds me a bit of Elliott Smith.
Have a listen to “Flowers In Zara” (below) the standout track from the EP. This Service is available to stream/download (name your price) on his Bandcamp page. It’s very much worth a listen. Enjoy.
Toui Manikhouth – Flowers In Zara from This Service (2013)
Former Gris Gris singer, Greg Ashley’s new album (and first with Trouble In Mind) A Generation of Slaves is a smooth slab of lo-fi goodness. Mixing jazz and folk with hints of country to create 9 songs that you will find yourself revisiting over and over again.
The male/female vocals and honky-tonk piano on “Misery Again” (below) combine to make it one of the best tracks on the album. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. A Generation of Slaves is out now and available from Trouble In Mind. I suggest you get your hands on a copy as soon as you can.
Greg Ashley – Misery Again from Another Generation of Slaves (2014)
Three year removed from his last album, New York’s Small Wonder (Henry Crawford) has finally released his new album Wendy. The album feels very personal, like Crawford poured his entire soul into the writing and recording of each and every song. The emotions seem at their peak toward the end of “Until I Open My Wings” (below) when guest vocalist Susannah Cutler repeatably tries to convince Henry that she is not Wendy. I am completely fascinated by this song.
Wendy is out now digitally on Small Wonder’s Bandcamp page and on cassette soon from Father/Daughter Records. What a surprise this album has been for me. Everyone needs to hear it. Enjoy.
Small Wonder – Until I Open My Wings from Wendy (2014)
New Bums are a new band featuring Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards) and Ben Chasney (Six Organs of Admittance, Comets on Fire). Their sound is simply put, two guitars (with the occasional drums and other instruments) and two voices.
Their debut LP, Voices in a Rented Room is out now through Drag City. Album opener “Black Bough” (below) illustrates their sound perfectly. Two voices and two guitars playing nicely together, while the minimal amount of drums fill in the extra space to make this one of the standout tracks on the album. Enjoy.
New Bums – Black Bough from Voices in a Rented Room (2014)
Lightning Dust is the side project of Black Mountains’ Amber Webber and Josh Wells. They released their third LP Fantasy last year with Jagjaguwar.
Their synth-pop sound is quite the departure from the heavier music of Black Mountain. Opening track “Diamond” (below) utilizes a driving beat, heavy-synth bass lines and Webbers’ incredible vocals over the top of super catchy electronic beeps and bops.
Lightning Dust – Diamond from Fantasy (2013)
Juan Wauters’ debut solo album, N.A.P. North-American Poetry, is very chill, quite the departure from his more rowdy garage-rock band The Beets. But it still has that edge, do you know what I mean?
Listen to “Water” (below), Juan’s voice plays well with his gentle guitar picking and is one of the standout tracks from the album. N.A.P. North-American Poetry is out now on Captured Tracks. I highly recommend it. Enjoy.
If you like listening to cut up bits of soul, tropical, world and basically any other genre of music all mixed together with some slick hip-hop beats, then Cleveland’s RUMTUM (aka John Hastings) is the artist for you. Even if this concept seems completely foreign to you, trust me, you will dig this.
RUMTUM released his debut LP Mystic Wonders back in September on 1320 Records and his own Bandcamp page. He has also collaborated with the one and only Monster Rally on a couple EPs. Enjoy the songs below, they are just a taste of RUMTUM’s greatness. Now get out there and track down the rest of his stuff, all of it is must have music.
RUMTUM – When from Mystic Wonders (2013)
RUMTUM – Get It from Mystic Wonders (2013)