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Outblinker release video for ‘Pink’!
Outblinker have released the video for their intense EP track 'Pink'. The video premiered on Clash Magazine's website, and you can watch it now via the Outblinker YouTube channel.
You can also stream the track via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
The Antoni Maiovvi remix of EP track 'Blue' is also available to download for free via the ABoF SoundCloud page.
Outblinker is a band not a brand. Something had to be done about the waves of soulless, corporate electro-shit masquerading as art, clogging up our creative veins. They will not be appearing in-store at Topshop or on Hollyoaks in the near future. They have no plans to release their own perfume. They do not endorse Red Bull. They would, however, like the opportunity to blow your face off with huge, cinematic driving krautrock: abrasive electro music with a throbbing punk-rock heart.
Brothers Costello (Jason & Graham), the duo behind Outblinker, also form the formidable avante-noise duo Young Philadelphia. Luigi Pasquini is one half of astonishing art-rock outfit Kabobo. David Warner and Chris Cusack are ongoing contributors to Foreign Tongue, the latter-day incarnation of Scottish DIY post-punk outfit Hey Enemy. It was partly a sense of moral duty that brought these five individuals together as well as a compulsion to explore new musical terrain and provide live audiences with tunes worth dancing to whilst avoiding a stage dominated by Apple logos and 5-figure, synchronised, cascading LED light-shows.
Alongside choice contemporaries, this quintet are looking to bring electro, krautrock and new-wave back to the underground. Up close and personal. No laptops. No safety net. So it follows all aspects of Outblinker (including recording, production, videos, art) handled in-house or via close friends, such as Good Grief Records who will be releasing the forthcoming EP, PR collaborators A Badge of Friendship or Ben Powers (Fuck Buttons/Blanck Mass) who will be producing the group’s debut album this autumn. The emphasis is on side-stepping the inherent bullshit-machine of the modern industry as often as humanly possible.
If you enjoy the sounds of Holy Fuck, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Marvin, Fuck Buttons/Blanck Mass, Trans Am, Neu! and Turing Machine, then chances are you might get a kick out of this.
You can catch Outblinker live at the following dates:
11th June - The Waiting Room (with Y Cvn) - London
13th June - Stereo (with Zyna Hel + Y Cvn) - Glasgow
Pink/Blue by Outblinker is out on June 15th 2015 via Good Grief Records / GabuAsso.
Introducing… Alphas!
Alphas are pleased to announce the release of their second single, Waves, out 6th July 2015 via AlphaBravoCharlie Records.
You can stream Waves and hear Alpha's sound for yourself via the band's SoundCloud page.
Waves is the follow up to the Aberdeen trio’s debut single, Here Comes The Burn, and captures the band’s kinetic onstage presence with a pure punchy indie pop sound that could easily appeal to fans of The Futureheads as well as newcomers The Bulletproof Bomb. The track was written around the idea that people and their dreams change over time, but that everybody needs to keep on searching, within and without, to truly know themselves.
The band’s members not only share their taste in music, citing the likes of Doves and Blur as influences, they also share first names, with Andrew Burden taking on vocal and guitar duties, Andy Kite providing bass guitar and synthesisers, and Andy Clark holding them all together on drums. They plan to spend the summer touring Scotland, including shows at Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh on 26th May and XpoNorth Festival
on 10th June, while they set the scene for the release of their debut album New Fire in September.
Waves is released 6th July 2015 via AlphaBravoCharlie Records.
Introducing… We’re No Heroes!
"Shifty disco beats, syncopated guitars and flawless vocalpassing."
- The 405
- The 405
We’re No Heroes are back with their latest single Voodoo, released 31st July 2015 via Spiral Icon.
You can stream the single and hear the band's distinctive sound for yourself via the Spiral Icon SoundCloud page.
Voodoo is a punk and math rock inspired belter, but its origins come from a very personal place. Lyrically, it captures the uncertainty following a painful break up, and the need to move on into the unknown before being able to truly find happiness. While the theme may sound heavy duty, the upbeat guitar and driving vocals creates a truly accomplished party song.
The lively Cardiff 3-piece draw influence from the raw and aggressive motion of punk and indie but fuse it with the deep grooves, melody & soul of their favourite funk acts, cementing a real & exciting approach to pop music that resonates strong with their dedicated fan base who name themselves the WNH Wolfpack. Originally formed in a downtown studio space in Chicago, the band are Tom Collins (vocals & guitar), Luke Llewellyn (drums & vocals) and Michael Owen (bass & Vocals. Having known each other since childhood, their close connection shows in everything they do from their performances to their hands on approach to the loyal fans who extend past the borders of the UK and around the world.
We’re No Heroes have played alongside the likes of Public Service Broadcast, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Future Of The Left (to name but a few), and plan to spend the rest of the summer playing a host of UK festivals before releasing their next single Stay Weird in September.
Voodoo is released 31st July 2015 via Spiral Icon.
Siv Jakobsen EP ‘The Lingering’ out now!
"...glittering acoustic melodies, swooning strings and acoustic bliss."
- The Line Of Best Fit
Siv Jakobsen has released her EP, The Lingering, via The Nordic Mellow Records. It's available to buy digitally on iTunes and on limited edition CD and Vinyl on BandCamp.
To celebrate the release of the EP, The Line Of Best Fit are hosting an exclusive stream of The Lingering in its entirety. You can also check out the trailer for the EP's release on Siv's YouTube channel.
The video for EP track and single Dark also premiered on The Line Of Best Fit and you can watch it now via Siv's YouTube channel.
You can stream Dark via the ABoF SoundCloud page, and check out the video for the EP's first single, How We Used To Love, on YouTube.
Dark and How We Used To Love explore themes of mortality, loneliness, heartbreak and existential angst, which sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the EP. Even a reworking of Britney Spears’ chart smash Toxic is imbued with such heartfelt emotion that the lyrics are given a new lease of life. From start to finish, whether it’s the romantically tragic ‘Fix You’ or narrative driven ‘Buried In Treasure’, The Lingering is a testament to Siv’s ability to capture and convey emotion with her voice and an almost endless supply of heart piercing lyrics. She is a songwriter who, one day, could stand proudly beside inspirational artists such as Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, as well as her contemporaries Ane Brun and Laura Marling.
Siv has been performing in Europe and the US since 2011, creating emotive music that embraces the themes of melancholy and sadness. She honed her talent while living in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn which she describes as “a door with a bed”, firmly immersing herself into the world of the struggling artist and challenging herself to reach greater heights.
With support for previous singles from the likes of The Line Of Best Fit and Folk Radio UK, and a summer spent gracing the stages of The Alternative Escape as part of The Great Escape Festival as well as Slottsfjell in Norway where she will be playing alongside artists such as Tove Lo, SOAK and Angus & Julia Stone, 2015 looks set to be Siv’s biggest year yet.
The Lingering is released via The Nordic Mellow Records and is available to buy digitally on iTunes and on limited edition CD and Vinyl on BandCamp.
Charlie Barnes releases ‘More Stately Mansions’ making of video!
“Truly promising…” - Drowned in Sound
"...music that moves you in ways you didn't even know was possible..." - Gigwise
"Graceful, soothing songwriting..." - Clash
"...soulful lonesome melancholic singing with grandiose alternative rock bombast" - The Independent
Charlie Barnes has released a short 'making of' video, taking us behind the scenes of his debut album More Stately Mansions, released via Superball Music.
You can watch the video via the Superball Music YouTube channel.
If you'd like to listen to the album in full, then head over to The Independent who are hosting an exclusive track by track stream.
The video for album track 'Easy Kid premiered on The Line Of Best Fit who described it as "...a rock-solid, emotional track that zaps you in the chest". You can watch it now via the Superball Music YouTube channel.
You can also stream album title track and single, More Stately Mansions, which premiered on Clash Magazine's website via the Superball Music SoundCloud page. The video for album track 'Sing To God' premiered on Gigwise and is available to watch on YouTube and stream on SoundCloud.
The album was produced by Steve Durose of Oceansize. The band are all massive fans of Oceansize which is prevalent from their precise musicianship and the more cerebral elements of the album.
Drowned in Sound and Prog Magazine have already noted Charlie’s talent and he’s already supported bands like Secret Chiefs 3 and opened for Vessels and The Twilight Sad as a solo artist.
To help promote the album, Charlie was also asked by Leeds based coffee roastery North Star to create his own signature blend. He spent a lot of his early twenties playing solo in coffee houses around the UK and Europe, whilst working part-time making coffee back home in Leeds and it seems to have paid off.
You can catch Charlie Barnes live at the following dates as he finishes his tour in Germany:
24th May - Maifeld Derby - Mannheim, Germany
More Stately Mansions is bold and elegant, proving that Charlie Barnes is a strong contender for one of the most exciting new acts of 2015 - a true, rare talent.
More Stately Mansions is out now via Superball Music and available to buy digitally on iTunes.