Thom Yorke, Burial, and Four Tet have collaborated on a surprise new single. The limited-edition 12-inch contains two new songs, ‘Her Revolution’ and ‘His Rope’. News of the black vinyl were first revealed via the Instagram of London record store Phonica, one of two shops (Sounds of the Universe being the other) to receive physical copies of the surprise XL Recordings release. Yorke later confirmed the news in a now-deleted retweet. Check out the post below.
Yorke, Burial, and Four Set previously joined forces on a collaborative double A-side single titled Ego / Mirror in 2011. Back in 2009, Burial and Four Tet teamed up for the single Moth/Wolf Club.
Earlier this year, Yorke shared a remix of Clark’s ‘Isolation Theme’. He released his most recent solo LP, Anima, last year. Later in 2019, Burial issued the compilation Tunes 2011 to 2019. Four Tet recently remixed Krust’s ‘Negative Returns’.
Sylvan Esso have released a surprise new EP called With Love. The six-track effort was recorded just last night (December 1) as part of the final instalment of the group’s virtual concert series From the Satellite, which saw them reworking tracks from their latest album Free Love alongside a 10-piece “dream team” band featuring members of Bon Iver, Wye Oak, Hand Habits, and more. Listen to With Love below, and check out a live performance video of ‘Numb’.
Free Love, the follow-up to 2017’s What Now, came out in late September via Loma Vista.
London-based singer-songwriter and producer Grand Pax – real name Annie Pax – has been honing in her brand of hazy, nocturnal indie pop for a while now. Born and raised in Kentish Town and educated at Goldsmiths, she first emerged in 2018 with her dusky debut single ‘Comet’, followed by the similarly evocative Phase EP later that year. She continued fleshing out her idiosyncratic, vaporous sound with two one-off tracks in 2019, ‘Bunk’ and ‘Lapse’, before returning with her second project, the somewhat more effusive PWR, this June. Now, she’s already back with a new 3-track EP, fittingly titled Wavey, where the lights are dimmed a bit lower and the vibe is more subdued, but the result is just as intoxicating: on opener ‘Wavey’, Pax’s elusive imagery is wrapped around one of her catchiest melodies yet, while ‘Trip’ sounds like being lulled into a subconscious state. Though reminiscent of acts like Warpaint and the xx, both of which she’s cited as major influences, her music reminds me more of a particular feeling or place – catching the Tube home on an especially quiet night, getting lost in your own thoughts, the rhythm of the city. It might be a different night each time, a different web of thoughts, a different city – but that’s what makes you want to keep coming back to these songs; they have a way of casting a light in the dark and revealing something you didn’t realize was there before, be it outside or within.
We caught up with Grand Pax for this edition of our Artist Spotlight series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk about their music.
When did you realize music was a passion of yours?
For me it came in the package of wanting to write. I wanted to speak through it. If a song made me feel something, I wanted to know it, really understand it.
When I would hear something I liked, I would want to go explore that same process, fuck with it. I remember the feeling of being taken by a piece of music, and that idea that it was speaking to me, and I wanted to get in it. I wanted to understand the art of expression. Or the trickery of it I guess. Sometimes you control what you’re saying, and sometimes you don’t.
There’s music that makes you feel good, there’s music that encourages you to reflect, that’s the shit you just feel like playing when you are in a room making something. I always felt like if it made me feel something, I wanted to know it, really understand it. It takes a lot of energy.
Could you talk us through the process of making your new EP? How do you feel it compares to your previous releases?
I think if this EP is different in any way it has to be because I’m more solid in what I’m doing at the moment. I’ve been exploring new ideas, with the same producers for a minute now, and we really just work well together. I say that ’cause I’m pretty easily swayed, I’m like a sponge, It takes a lot of discipline to keep to the same process, or stay true to key elements in your work. That has to be a decision because it’s so easy to keep exploring, to go mad and lose yourself. Nothing wrong with it either. But in this case, I was pretty clear on the imagery I was seeing, and the sounds I wanted to create.
You’ve said that you have an improvisational approach when it comes to writing lyrics. How has the meaning of the songs on Wavey changed since you first wrote them, if at all?
Good question. I remember running a lot during the summer, and I was listening through the demos exclusively. I always do that. to try and figure out what I mean, if I can clarify the ideas in any way.
Wavey was clear at the beginning, and then got a bit vague, ’cause once I put the initial idea down, I had to work on it a lot, and in a way the more you think about it, the more clouded the ideas can get. I see the images the same, but I don’t really know if they have altered yet. It’s too soon to say, I think.
‘Trip’ finds you reuniting with producer Josh Crocker. What was it like working with him again, and what do you feel he brought to the track?
Working with Josh is always easy, I found my sound with him, so it’s natural for me. I’m sure though he facilitates the same ease for everyone he works with. He’s a talented guy. The track really speaks of what I was thinking about at the time, which was just a dark sequence of thoughts, it wuz quite a visual experience. I think in that way it was kind of written in my head before I put it down, ’cause I could see it.
There’s a cinematic quality to a lot of your songs, and you’ve said that ‘Trip’ was inspired by the film Drive. What are some other non-musical influences that inform your music?
The colour of the sky, the tone of the world outside, the stillness you get after you have exhausted yourself feeling something. Other people, ideas of life. Wanting shit I can’t have. Wanting shit I could have but shouldn’t want. All the normal things I think.
Could you talk about the experience of making the music video for ‘Wavey’?
I went in not knowing what to expect. I was nervous. But it was super fun working with Silence. The use of movement and colour were the focus, the track is super vibey so we wanted that to be reflected in the elements in the video. The dancer was amazing and basically stole it and blew my fucking mind.
This is already your second EP of 2020. What are your plans for next year, is there anything you’re excited to share in the near future?
I’m writing a lot, I can’t wait to put out more tunes and keep doing this shit!
There is nothing more we love to see than an artist on a mission. With the intention of growth, Akurei, an Australian artist, set a goal for himself to release three EPs in 2020. Fortunately for us at Our Culture, we are proud to say we are not just here to witness the release of Akurei’s final EP but also here to premiere it.
Titled ‘CLOVER,’ the new EP by Akurei includes three unheard tracks ‘CLOVER,’ ‘BUTTERCUP,’ and ‘QUASIMODO.’ The EP focuses on the theme of social anxiety and like previous work of Akurei carries a potent yet mellow production. To expand the EP sonically, Akurei also joined forces with the well-respected Golden Vessel, the artist behind pieces such as ‘Hesitate,’ and ‘BIGBRIGHT.’
Chatting about the EP, Akurei said: “I wrote CLOVER by myself earlier this year. COVID-19 restrictions had eased at this point; people were finally able to get together in groups and venues had opened in QLD, where I live. I was thinking about social anxiety, which most of us seem to experience from time to time, and specifically about those nights where you feel like you need to drink to feel comfortable.”
CLOVER will be available tomorrow to stream on all major platforms, but before you can fully enjoy it, take a listen of what is to come.
Jordana has shared a new track called ‘The Reason’. It’s the final single from her upcoming album Something To Say To You, out this Friday (December 4) via Grand Jury. Check it out below, alongside an accompanying music video directed by Ethan Nelson.
“’Reason’ is a song of realization, how you can find worth and happiness in life just by showing love and compassion through simple gestures and being present in the moment,” Jordana explained in a statement.
Something To Say To You combines Jordana’s previously released Something to Say EP as well as the forthcoming …To You EP. To read more about the inspiration behind the album, check out our Artist Spotlight interview with Jordana.
Samia has announced The Baby Reimagined, a compilation of covers and remixes of songs from her debut album The Baby. It’s out January 15 via Grand Jury and includes renditions by Bartees Strange, Anjimile, Field Medic, The Districts, Palehound, Donna Missal, Remo Drive, and more. Below, listen to Briston Maroney’s take on ‘Is There Something in the Movies?’ and check out the album’s cover artwork tracklist.
“This song is the most representative of Samia’s ability to tell a very specific story in a relatable way,” Maroney said in a statement. “I really enjoyed the opportunity to retell this story in an attempt to show my appreciation as a listener for Samia’s willingness to share her experiences with us all.”
The Baby Reimagined Tracklist:
1. Is There Something in the Movies? (Briston Maroney Version)
2. Minnesota (MICHELLE Remix)
3. Winnebago (Charlie Hickey Version)
4. Waverly (Anjimile Version)
5. Does Not Heal (Christian Lee Hutson Version)
6. Triptych (Field Medic Version)
7. Stellate (The Districts Remix)
8. Limbo Bitch (Donna Missal Remix)
9. Big Wheel (Palehound Remix)
10. Fit N Full (Remo Drive Version)
11. Pool (Bartees Strange Version)
The Hold Steady have announced a new album called Open Door Policy. It’s set for release on February 19, 2021 via the band’s Positive Jams label and Thirty Tigers. The band recorded the 11-track LP at the Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, New York with producer Josh Kaufman and engineer D. James Goodwin. They’ve also shared a new single titled ‘Family Farm’. Listen to it below, and check out the album’s cover artwork and tracklist.
“Open Door Policy was very much approached as an album vs. a collection of individual songs, and it feels like our most musically expansive record,” frontman Craig Finn explained in a statement. “This album was written and almost entirely recorded before the pandemic started, but the songs and stories explore power, wealth, mental health, technology, capitalism, consumerism, and survival–issues which have compounded in 2020.”
Open Door Policy marks the band’s eighth studio album and the follow-up to 2019’s Thrashing Thru the Passion.
Open Door Policy Cover Artwork:
Open Door Policy Tracklist:
1. The Feelers
2. Spices
3. Lanyards
4. Family Farm
5. Unpleasant Breakfast
6. Heavy Covenant
7. The Prior Procedure
8. Riptown
9. Me & Magdalena
10. Hanover Camera
11. Parade Days (digital only)
The Strokes have shared a new music video for their The New Abnormaltrack ‘The Adults Are Talking’. The visual, in which the band faces off a team of robots in a game of baseball, was directed by previous collaborator Roman Coppola. Check it out below.
Coppola worked on several of the videos for The Strokes’ 2001 debut album This Is It, including ‘Last Nite’, ‘The Modern Age’, and ‘Someday’. He also directed the video for ’12:51′, from 2003’s Room on Fire.
The New Abnormal, the group’s sixth LP and first in seven years, arrived in April. The Strokes released the video for album closer ‘Ode to the Mets’ back in July. Last month, they performed ‘The Adults Are Talking’ and ‘Bad Decisions’ on Saturday Night Live.
Piotr Ogłaszewski, a Polish photographer known for landscape photography, revealed a short but eye-pleasing series named Magic Trees.
Writing about the series Ogłaszewski said “The magic of nature manifests itself almost every moment. It is important to notice and capture this moment. How difficult it is to see this “something” when objects have won us over to each other.”
James Bond is a household name. The movie franchise has 24 official movies and has been in the cultural zeitgeist for at least 50 years. Some argue that it is required cinema. Though this may be true, not every James Bond film was a hit. There were a few throwaways in the bunch that should not have been able to see the light of day. Nonetheless, some producer believed in the project enough to bring it to the big screen. Though measuring the success of Bond films can get dicey, here are some of the top five worst James Bonds films.
Live And Let Die
Live and Let Die was the debut of actor Roger Moore as James Bond. This movie was also released in 1973. Critics said that the plot was peculiar because of all the voodoo and black magic. Not to mention there is also a really bad special effects scene during the villain’s death. With all of that being said, the movie is not a complete waste of time. Actor Yaphet Kotto played the villain really well and the action scenes are still entertaining to watch.
The Spy Who Loved Me
This was released in 1977 and again, starred Moore. The Spy Who Loved Me can easily be considered one of the most over the top James Bond movies from the cars that turn into submarines and a villain’s liar that rises out of the sea, there are a lot of nonsensical things in that movie that do not add up. For instance, the bad guy’s evil plan makes little to no sense. All logic, you can forget about.
For Your Eyes Only
Again, this features Moore as James Bond. Again, this is horrible because instead of doing the over-the-top things they were before, they decided to go a more down-to-earth approach to this movie. This would have been brilliant if only it landed perfectly. Unfortunately, the bad guys are easy to forget and the plot is subpar at best. For Your Eyes Only is not all bad. There are some great action scenes that get the blood pumping. Other than that, you would be doing yourself a favor by skipping this one on your list of James Bond movies to binge over the holidays.
Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies, released in 1997, was the follow-up to GoldenEye. There were high expectations since GoldenEye was such a good movie, but Tomorrow Never Dies was a huge disappointment. The industry rumored that there were production challenges when filming the movie, which was a major reason why the movie was so bad.
The Man With The Golden Gun
This was released in 1974 and Roger Moore is again playing as James Bond. He does a great job along with new Bond girl Marry Goodnight and villain Christopher Lee. What makes this movie terrible is its inability to get the tone just right. There are moments in which you think you are watching a dark thriller, then a few moments later you think you are watching a children’s comedy. It is all very confusing.
