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Rat Tally Unveils New Single ‘Longshot’

Rat Tally (aka Addy Harris) has shared a new song called ‘Longshot’, which will appear on her forthcoming debut LP, In My Car. Check it out below.

“This is the opening track and one of my favorites off the record,” Harris explained in a statement. “The song is a lot about anxiety and not being able to stop overthinking, so I wanted the verses to feel tense, lyrically and musically.”

She continued: “’Longshot’ and ‘In My Car’ have a wall of quadrupled power chord guitars that my producer Max Grazier recorded that just absolutely smack you in the face. When I wrote it I was really obsessively listening to Fountains of Wayne, XTC, and a lot of 90s and early 2000s hits, and I wanted it to have a big stadium rock vibe. I had this hook that I hummed in the demo and thought I would eventually write words to it, but it works so much better as just a melody riding on top of the huge guitars.”

In My Car, which features guest appearances from Jay Som and Madeline Kenney, is out August 12 via 6131 Records. It includes the previously released single ‘Spinning Wheel’.

Album Review: Moor Mother, ‘Jazz Codes’

Throughout Moor Mother (aka Camae Ayewa)’s body of work, she wrestles with the ways dominant conceptions of history and temporality facilitate cycles of oppression. Her catalogue is prolific, including six vastly distinct albums from 2020 alone. Yet each new releases operates with no pulled punches: poetic assailments against the underpinnings of white supremacist narratives. Jazz Codes, her latest album, is a spiritual sequel to last year’s Black Encyclopedia of the Air. Both albums sprout from the theoretical underpinnings of Black Quantum Futurism: a multi-disciplinary project Moor Mother formed with Rasheedah Phillips, which aims to configure a new consciousness based around principles of communal healing, Black feminist liberation, and re-imaginings of both history and temporality. Aptly-titled, Jazz Codes explores the potential of jazz to undo normative aesthetic and social principles, imagining new histories and new futures.

The album is a shift away from the enveloping darkness often attributed to Moor Mother’s catalogue. This isn’t the bleak and furious free jazz of Moor Mother’s Circuit City, wading through the oppressive waters of hyper-corporate, neoliberal housing realities. Instead, Jazz Codes’ songs are breezier than even Black Encyclopedia’s, with more jazz and R&B-influenced production and melodic choruses. The album builds towards something both expansive and immediate. Jazz Codes is Moor Mother at her most optimistic and celebratory, beaming with warmth for her contemporaries, paying tribute to her past idols, and striving towards a radical new consciousness through music and poetry.

For Moor Mother, jazz isn’t a genre unified by fixed conventions. Rather, jazz is an overarching ideal: a Black tradition where instruments push the boundaries of musical convention into free-flowing experiments grounded in collaboration. Jazz Codes begins with Moor Mother’s spoken word murmuring over a hi-hat pattern, the occasional undercurrent of looming saxophone, and the gentle pluck of Mary Lattimore’s harp. It’s a jingly opener, exploring a space between genres which often becomes the album’s home. Jazz Codes’ emotional zenith arrives early with ‘APRIL 7th’. Jazz and ambient elements meld together. Warm drones and airy glitch sounds transition into a blaze of horns and distant rumbles of percussion. “It’s the baritone, the sweet lows/ And sweet chariots coming to take us home,” Moor Mother whispers over the gentle haze of sound. Jazz Codes carves a pathway towards liberation by invoking the fluidity of jazz and reveling in its misty contradictions.

The album is packed with features, highlighting an assortment of voices and musicians into a vast assemblage of stylings. Though Moor Mother’s voice remains a consistent central narration, Jazz Codes emphasizes collective discourse. Radical unities form through artistic collaboration. Moor Mother performs as a bard, guiding us in poem through a futuristic landscape of ruptured temporality. As an MC, the songs tend to align with the energy she offers as a vocalist. The album excels with Moor Mother’s most ferocious, lively verses, like ‘BARELY WOKE’, where she spits about the overwhelming anxieties of trying to fathom a liberated future while inhabiting a suffocating police state. Consistently, Jazz Codes finds Moor Mother experimenting with her voice. On ‘BLUES AWAY’, she tasks her vocals with conveying absolute anguish. Backgrounded by Faboi Sharif’s echoing shouts, Moor Mother navigates the song in a heartbroken moan. Her voice becomes a conduit for absolute loss.

Yet at other points, Moor Mother performs with considerable restraint. On ‘SO SWEET AMINA’, she speak-sings over two separate vocal tracks. The repetitive vocals unfold without the centrality often associated with a vocal line. Rather, Moor Mother’s voice becomes another instrument in the mix, swirling amidst the saxophone and bass. Jazz Codes carefully refutes the individuality of the singular musician, casting Moor Mother’s voice as one instrument amongst a larger orchestra, turning to jazz to bulldoze the structures of late-capitalism. Jazz Codes emphasizes the importance of collective unity in the face of an increasingly fascist state. Liberation, in the end, is never an individual pursuit.

Kassie Krut Share New Songs ‘Copycat’ and ‘Killing It’

Kassie Krut is the new electronic music project of Palm’s Eve Alpert and Kasra Kurt – who released their first song under the moniker in 2020 – and Matt Anderegg, formerly of Mothers and Body Meat. They’ve now released a pair of new tracks, ‘Copycat’ and ‘Killing It’, which were mixed and mastered by Danny Murillo. Give them a listen below.

Florist Release New Song ‘Feathers’

Florist have released a new song, ‘Feathers’, lifted from their upcoming self-titled album. The track follows previous entries ‘Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning)’, ‘Spring In Hours’, and ‘Sci-Fi Silence’. Check it out below.

“This song is a meditation on the cycles we follow all throughout our lives,” Emily Sprague explained in a statement. “As individuals, as families, as humans. The motions we go through that stay the same just set in different scenes. The fears and the dreams that sculpt our journey through this experience of life on earth, and our continually shifting perspective along the way.”

Florist arrives on July 29 via Double Double Whammy.

Manny Charlton, Founding Nazareth Guitarist, Dead at 80

Manny Charlton, founding guitarist of the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, has died at the age of 80. The guitarist’s grandson, Jamie, confirmed the news on social media, sharing a photo with the caption “RIP Grandad.” No cause of death was provided.

Charlton was born in Andalusia, southern Spain, on July 25, 1941. Having relocated to Dunfermline, Scotland in the 1940s, he co-founded Nazareth in 1968 with singer Dan McCafferty, bassist Pete Agnew, and drummer Darrell Sweet. The band opened for Deep Purple on their 1971 tour and started playing their own headline shows a few years later. Deep Purple’s bassist, Roger Glover, would produce several of the band’s early albums, but Charlton took over for 1975’s Hair of the Dog, which featured the hit title track as well as the ballad ‘Love Hurts’, a cover of the 1960 track by the Everly Brothers.

In the 1980s, Axl Rose enlisted Charlton to produce Guns N’ Roses’ iconic 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction. Though Charlton did not end up producing the final version of the album, the band’s sessions with the guitarist were later included on the 2018 reissue of the LP.

Charlon left Nazareth in 1990, after the band released their 17th studio album, 1989’s Snakes ‘N’ Ladders. He issued his first solo album, Drool, in 1997, and went on to release several other solo records, including 2013’s Hellacious, which featured guest appearances from Tim Bogert, Walfredo Reyes, Jr., Steven Adler, Vivian Campbell, and Robyn DeLarenzo. His final project was the 2018 best-of compilation Creme de la Creme.

The 4 Most Underrated Bass Players Ever

With the news that former Ride and Oasis bassist Andy Bell is releasing some new material, we thought it might be a good opportunity to shine a light on the using heroes of the band, the bass players. Always a reliable engine room, you only have to listen to Motown classics to understand just what a bass can do. It drives the song, and forms an amazing rhythm section with the drums, but is also a melodic instrument all by itself. Bass playing is never as showy as lead guitar, which is why some players deserve a bigger light shone upon them. Here are some of the most underrated bassists out there. 

Geddy Lee

Rush is certainly a band that either inspires sheer devotion or sheer hatred. But you can’t argue with someone like singer and bassist Geddy Lee. Rush is an influence on so many little quirky groups, not least bands like Primus, but also the musicians that took their hard rock template and stuck with that. Bass players like Gerard Zappa dealt in the lineage of the 80s anthemic rock template. While rock, in terms of Journey and REO Speedwagon certainly went in one direction, Rush was a group that always ploughed its own path and Geddy’s bass playing is melodic, rhythmic, and dealt with all of those complex time signatures deserves a round of applause. 

Jason Newsted

Clearly, someone who never got his fair slice of the pie. Love or loathe metal music, Metallica were reeling after their original bassist Cliff Burton passed away. Jason Newsted was therefore viewed as a lesser member of Metallica, which is reflected in how he seems inaudible on his first album with the band, …And Justice For All. But he did an amazing job of picking up the rhythm for the band and was a solid part of the engine room and had to keep everything going when Lars Ulrich was not able to even keep time properly. The unsung hero of Metallica in every single way! 

John Deacon

Not only a solid bass player but an amazing songwriter in his own right. Quietly dominating his corner of the most unique musical quartet, Queen, he embodied so much of the traditional stereotype of a bass player. Deacon was always quiet and lurked in the background, but his bass always provided an amazing sense of support whether it’s during the iconic piano-led verses of Bohemian Rhapsody, the McCartney-esque lines of Crazy Little Thing Called Love and, of course, the iconic riff that catapults Under Pressure. John Deacon is someone that brought the bass into the realm of guitar heroes in his own quiet and respectful manner. 

John Paul Jones

The musician’s musician and the most underrated bassist ever. The fact is that people don’t appreciate how good he is. Constantly considered to be one of the greatest bass players of all time. With the galloping bass underpinning Achilles Last Stand, or the iconic sloping line from Dazed and Confused, there’s just too much to choose from!

How to Look Chic and Hot in Casual Clothes

Casual clothes are the best way to look chic and hot without trying too hard. A lot of women are afraid to wear casual clothes because they think they will look frumpy or sloppy. This is not the case at all! With a few simple tips, you can wear casual clothes that make you look stylish and attractive. In this blog post, we will discuss how to put together a chic and sexy casual wardrobe.

1. Start with the basics

A great pair of jeans, a cute top, and a comfortable cardigan are essential pieces for any casual wardrobe. Make sure you have a few different options in each category so you can mix and match to create different looks. Assuming you already have the perfect-fitting jeans, let’s move on to finding the right top. When it comes to tops, there are endless possibilities. You can go with a basic tee shirt, tank top, blouse, or even a button-down shirt. If you want to add some flair to your outfit, look for tops with interesting details like ruffles, beading, or sequins. As for cardigans, they should be fitted, so they don’t look too bulky. The smart casual dress code is specific and can be difficult to master without a few key components. If you’re unsure about what to wear, consider starting with a pair of dark-wash jeans, a nice blouse, and a cardigan. With these basics in your closet, you’ll be able to create endless outfit possibilities.

2. Create a capsule wardrobe

A capsule wardrobe is a small collection of clothes that can be mixed and matched to create multiple outfits. This is the perfect solution for women who want a chic and stylish casual wardrobe because it eliminates the need to have a lot of clothes. To create a capsule wardrobe, start by choosing a color palette. Then, select a few key pieces in each category that you can mix and match. For example, you might choose a black blazer, white tee-shirt, blue jeans or black slacks, and a gray cardigan. With these items in your closet, you can easily create dozens of different looks. If you’re not sure how to get started, many online resources can h create the perfect capsule wardrobe.

3. Accessorize

Accessories are a great way to take your outfit from casual to chic. A few simple accessories can really make an outfit look more put-together and stylish. Some essential accessories for a casual wardrobe include a great pair of sunglasses, a statement necklace, and a cute handbag. If you want to take your outfit up a notch, consider adding a pair of heels or wedges. With the right accessories, you can easily transform any casual outfit into something chic. Also, don’t forget that you can change up your accessories to create different looks. For example, you might wear a chunky necklace with a tee shirt and jeans during the day and then switch to a pair of earrings and a clutch for a night out.

4. Choose the right fabrics

The fabric of your clothes can make a big difference in how they look and feel. When it comes to casual clothes, you want to choose fabrics that are comfortable and breathable. Cotton, linen, and denim are all great choices for casual garments. Avoid synthetic materials like polyester or nylon, which can often look cheap or sloppy. Instead, opt for natural fibers. People avoid casual clothes because they think they will look frumpy or sloppy. However, with a few simple tips, you can easily put together a chic and stylish casual wardrobe. With the right fabric choices, it’s easy to create looks that are both comfortable and stylish.

5. Consider your style

When putting together a casual wardrobe, it’s important to consider your style. After all, you want your clothes to reflect who you are and what you like. If you’re not sure what your style is, take some time to browse fashion magazines or look online for inspiration. Once you have a good idea of the kind of styles you like, start shopping for pieces that will help you create looks that reflect your taste. While it’s important to consider your style, don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and try new things. You might be surprised by how much you like a certain style or trend.

6. Pay attention to fit

One of the most important things to consider when putting together a casual wardrobe is fit. Clothes that are too loose or too tight will never look chic. Instead, you want clothes that have a relaxed and comfortable fit. When in doubt, always err on the side of slightly larger rather than smaller. It’s better to have clothes that are a little bit too big than to have clothes that are too small and uncomfortable.  Sometimes, you can’t tell if clothes fit well just by looking at them. If you’re unsure, always try things on before you buy them. This way, you can be sure that you’re getting the right size and fit.

7. Be mindful of trends

While you don’t want your wardrobe to be completely dictated by trends, it’s still important to be aware of what’s popular. This way, you can incorporate some trendy pieces into your casual wardrobe and keep your looks current. Of course, you don’t want to go overboard with trends. Stick to a few key pieces that you can mix and match with the rest of your wardrobe. For example, if you love the latest denim trend, consider investing in a pair of distressed jeans that you can wear with a variety of different tops and shoes. Or, if you’re loving the off-the-shoulder trend, look for a cute top or dress that you can wear on casual days.

By following these simple tips, you can easily create a stylish casual wardrobe that will make you look hot and sexy. So don’t be afraid to experiment with different pieces and styles. With a little bit of effort, you can put together a look that is both chic and casual. And who knows, you might even discover a new style that you love! What are your favorite tips for looking chic and casual? Share them with us in the comments below!

How Seeing Your Art In A New Light Can Help You Overcome Creative Blocks

It’s a shame to note that sometimes, creativity doesn’t flow as freely and easily as it once did. Even the best writers experience writer’s block from time to time, and it’s certainly been noted that even great painters can feel impotent given the right (wrong?) circumstances.

However, if you use art as a means by which to earn a living, or to free your soul and reduce your stress, then going without this necessary pursuit can be a real drag. For this reason, it might be worth taking a second vantage point in order to kickstart that creativity again.

To begin with, giving yourself permission to play in this space can be crucial. After all, the moment you believe that everything that emanates from you has to serve as a creative masterpiece, you’re holding yourself to a silly standard and might need to relax those rules.In this post, then, we’ll discuss how seeing your art in a new light can help you overcome those creative blocks you may be dealing with  Without further ado, let’s begin:

Restoring Art & Photography

It might be that not only do you need to look at your past work with a different perspective, but perhaps you can alter how your past work actually looks to better fit in with today. Appropriate photo restoration of your physical photo printouts can help you see more details, restore colors, and preserve memories in the best possible manner. This may even help you catch more details and creative intent behind each shot, reminding you of the headspace you were in at the time. 

Read Old Pieces

It’s always healthy to look to your past project and figure out exactly what kind of creative planning you were wrestling with at the time. Old pieces can provide us that sense of inclusivity and wonder that we may have been missing this far; possibly even helping us break through a creative block by remembering who we were and what our intent was at the time. Reading old journal pieces, notes, scrapbook jottings and plans aloud can also help you bring life to that kind of material – it’s not uncommon for fully and new projects to be found this way.

Critical Analysis

Why not apply some critical analysis to your own work? Focusing on this may even help you take that next step towards viewing your own contributions objectively rather than tinted behind the veil of hoping for success and thinking that your art is untouchable. Critical analysis can help you understand exactly how and why you as the artist were thinking that way, what techniques you used, and perhaps how you might do differently if you could approach that subject with quite as much force today. Perhaps you will even curate your old pieces and update them for the modern you. Sometimes, this can help us grow and allow our own art to shape us. This growth strategy will surely make a profound different to your wellbeing and potentially unlock your creative spirit.

With this advice, we hope you can see your art in a new light and possibly even overcome those creative blocks in your mind.

Claude Unveils Video for New Single ‘roses’

Claude, the project of Chicago-based dream-pop artist Claudia Ferme, has shared a new single called ‘roses’. It’s the second offering from their upcoming debut LP, a lot’s gonna change, which was produced with Michael Mac (Tenci, Tasha, Devin Shaffer, Mia Joy) arrives on August 12 via American Dreams Records. ‘roses’ is accompanied by a Reilly Drew-directed music video, which you can check out below (via FLOOD Magazine).

“‘roses’ was inspired by a line in Love in the Time of Cholera where the protagonist starts eating flowers and roses because of how obsessed with someone he is,” Ferme explained in a statement. “I think in the novel it’s supposed to symbolize how his obsession became all-consuming but I thought about a rose and the thorns on its stem and how someone eating a rose was a perfect metaphor for how as humans we’re so self-torturous, mentally and emotionally, and very unforgiving of ourselves. In the video, we wanted to show this imagery in a more abstract way while still including actual roses – I made the purple top and gray dress and am wearing other pieces that have peaks and spikes and that play with the making and release of tension to show the back and forth we have with ourselves in certain situations.”

Lande Hekt Announces New Album ‘House Without a View’, Shares Video for New Song

Lande Hekt has announced her sophomore album, House Without a View, which will drop on September 23 via Get Better Records/Prize Sunflower Records. First single ‘Gay Space Cadets’ is out today, alongside a video by Martin “gingerdope” Bannister. Check it out below, and scroll down for the album cover, tracklist, and Hekt’s upcoming tour dates.

“It’s a daydreaming song about wanting a life of excitement and adventure rather than a dull and ordinary life – one where people underestimate you and belittle you,” Hekt said of ‘Gay Space Cadets’ in a statement. “And where you’re forced to buy into capitalism and become a pathetic, losing player in a game that you hate. I’d rather escape and live in a queer space fantasy and be brave.”

Hekt’s first solo album, Going to Hell, came out last year. Check out our Artist Spotlight interview with Lande Hekt.

House Without a View Cover Artwork:

House Without a View Tracklist:

1. Half with You
2. Backstreet Snow
3. Cut My Hair
4. Gay Space Cadets
5. Always Hurt
6. House Without a View
7. Ground Shaking
8. What Could I Sell
9. Lola
10. Take a Break
11. First Girlfriend

Lande Hekt 2022 Tour Dates:

July 7 – 2000 Trees Festival
July 23 – Newport – Le Pub +
July 24- Exeter – The Cavern +
Aug 6 – Leicester – Handmade Festival
Nov 12 – Cambridge – Blue Moon – Indiepop All-dayer
Nov 14 – London – Shacklewell Arms
Nov 16 – Brighton – The Prince Albert
Nov 17 – Oxford – Port Mahon
Nov 19 – Manchester – Rebellion +
Nov 20 – Leeds – Wharf Chambers
Nov 22 – Glasgow – Hug and Pint
Nov 23 – Sunderland – Pop Recs
Nov 24 – Sheffield – Delicious Clam

+ supporting The Popguns