The Mountain Goats have shared a new single called ‘Picture of My Dress’. It’s taken from their upcoming album Getting Into Knives, out October 23rd via Merge. Check it out below.
According to a press release, the new song was inspired by tweet posted in 2019 by ‘Good Bones’ poet Maggie Smith, which reads: “Photo essays that won’t happen: Divorced woman drives her rumpled c. 2005 wedding dress across the country and takes photos of it in various locations. It’s a metaphorical ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ sans stapled-on toupee and sunglasses, because the dead thing is the marriage.” Frontman John Darnielle saw the tweet and responded: “this would be a song called “Picture of My Dress” imo.” Check out the full story behind the song, in tweet form, below.
‘Picture of My Dress’ follows the previously released singles ‘Get Famous’ and ‘As Many Candles as Possible’. Getting into Knives will mark the Mountain Goats’ 19th studio album and their second this year, following April’s Songs for Pierre Chuvin.
Photo essay that won't happen: Divorced woman drives her rumpled c. 2005 wedding dress across the country and takes photos of it in various locations. It's a metaphorical "Weekend at Bernie's" sans stapled-on toupee and sunglasses, because the dead thing is the marriage.
1. I post a wild idea about taking my wedding dress on a post-divorce roadtrip. 2. @mountain_goats starts writing a song about it called "Picture of My Dress." (I have heard the first verse & chorus, & it's perfect.) 3. I have another wild idea: everything is going to be ok. https://t.co/yQiaXUAp3W
Squirrel Flower, the moniker of singer-songwriter Ella Williams, has released a cover of Liz Phair’s ‘Explain It To Me’, as well as a new version of her song ‘Chicago’. Listen to both tracks below.
“‘Explain It To Me’ has been one of my favourite songs since I first heard it when I was 14,” Williams said in a statement. “I made this recording in my basement while experimenting with self harmonising for the first time in a while.”
‘Chicago’ first appeared as the closing bonus track on Squirrel Flower’s Contact Sports EP. “This version of ‘Chicago’ is from a studio session a while back and that never got used, so my brother and I put some extra guitar on it during quarantine and voilà,” Williams explained. “I originally wrote this in 2015 when I lived in the Midwest. It’s for when you’re lost or moving, or arriving.”
James Blake has revealed the full details of his forthcoming EP, Before. Check out the project’s artwork and tracklist below.
Blake first teased new material on his Instagram story, which included two phone numbers, one for the UK and another for the US. When called, an automated voice directs the caller to the website beforeep.com, which displays a timer counting down to Wednesday, October 14.
Along with sharing details on the EP, Blake also announced a live-stream DJ set for Boiler Room, which will be broadcast live from his homeon Friday, October 16 at 10pm BST (2pm PT, 5pm ET). The exclusive set marks Blake’s first Boiler Room appearance in seven years and will feature material from Before.
Earlier this year, James Blake shared the singles ‘Are You Even Real?’ and ‘You’re Too Precious’. He’s also performed a series of covers including Nirvana’s ‘Come As You Are’, Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’, and Frank Ocean’s ‘Godspeed’. His last album was 2019’s Assume Form.
#BeforeEP. 14.10.2020. 1. I Keep Calling 2. Before 3. Do You Ever 4. Summer Of Now@boilerroomtv DJ Set. 16.10.2020. 1400 PT/1700 ET/2200 BST.
If you are thinking about starting a photography business, then there are some things you’ve got to plan out before you can get stuck in. The best way to start a successful company is to make sure that you have got a solid basis to start before you try to put anything in motion. Without doing this, you might find that everything gets super difficult, and you end up not being able to start the business at all. So, in this article, we’re going to be discussing some of the things that you should consider before you start a photography business. Keep reading if you want to find out more.
Get The Right Equipment
The first thing that we suggest you do is look into what equipment you are going to need. We understand that there are plenty of apps for phones that take some decent pictures, but this isn’t going to be good enough if you want to start a photography business. Of course, if you think that someone in your family or friends have captured something wonderful and want to use it for your website or something, you can use icloud photo sharing or anything similar to get these photos. For the actual ones that go to clients, though, you’re going to need the proper equipment.
Make a list of what you think you will need, and then work out how much it is going to cost. It’s essential that you have all of this information before you get started, otherwise you could find yourself in a pickle when you’re trying to work out how it’s all going to be paid for.
How Are You Funding It?
How are you planning on funding this new business? Are you able to fund it out of your own pocket? The answer for most people is going to be no to this question, which means that you’re going to have to move on to option B. This is where you head out and find an investor to put up the money so that you can get started. You’re going to have to give them part ownership of the company more than likely, so be prepared for this. Don’t forget that you also have to pay this money back when you turn a profit or whenever is agreed to in the terms that the lender sets out.
If you would rather not use an investor, then your only other option is to go for crowdfunding. Now, this doesn’t always work, so don’t get your hopes up too high, but sometimes the public are happy to put forward some money to help you achieve your goals. This is especially the case if they would be interested in using your services. Use one of the many sites that are dedicated to this and see what happens. The best part is that you don’t owe anyone money no matter whether you succeed or fail.
Is There Demand For Your Service?
Another consideration is whether or not there is actually demand for the service you want to start. If there isn’t, then you either need to generate some or move onto another idea. You aren’t going to be able to sell your services and create a successful business if nobody wants what you are selling right now. You’ve got to provide what people want, not just what you want to give them.
You can try and create demand if you are determined. One of the ways to do this is to post samples of your work online and get people who have experienced your work to provide testimonials. If you’re lucky, the right people will see this and be interested in hiring you for your services.
How Good Is Your Work?
Finally, you’ve got to consider how good your work is. We’re not trying to insult you here, but all of the industries are extremely competitive, and if you can’t offer a service that is on par with, or even better than what already exists, you’re going to have a tough time on the market. So, it might be the case that you need to table this idea and come back to it when you have improved. Or, you might think that you’re ready and decide to start your business anyway, taking the plunge and seeing what comes of it! Remember if you want to protect yourself, taking out photography insurance is a must.
We hope that you’ve found this advice helpful, and now see some of the things that you’ve got to consider if you’re thinking about starting a photography business. Take your time, there’s no rush to get things going! Good luck.
Julia Jacklin has released two new songs, ‘to Perth, before the border closes’ and ‘CRY’, as part of the ongoing Sub Pop Single Club. Check them out below, along with Jacklin’s self-directed video for ‘to Perth’.
“I’ve moved around a lot the last 5 years; chasing things, love, work, something new, whatever and there’s always this fear that I’m leaving good things behind just to go somewhere else and be lonely,” the Australian singer-songwriter wrote in a statement. “Whispering ‘everything changes’ to myself helps get me to sleep at night.”
The songs mark the first new music from Julia Jacklin in 2020, following her 2019 album Crushing. Last year, she also directed the video for Stella Donnely’s ‘Seasons Greetings’.
Angel Olsen has unveiled a home recording of a new, 11-minute song titled ‘Time Bandits’. Check it out below.
Sharing the track on Instagram, the singer-songwriter wrote: “I wrote this after I came home from St. Louis a few weeks ago… against better judgement I’ve decided to put new songs up, it’s a business but it’s my business.”
Angel Olsen put out her most recent album Whole New Mess back in August. She recently shared a cover of Bobby Vinton’s 1962 classic ‘Mr. Lonely’, which appears on the soundtrack for Miranda July’s upcoming film Kajillionaire. Earlier this month, she appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concertseries.
‘This Is Not the Indie Rock I Signed Up For’, goes the title of the opening track of Girl Friday‘s debut full-length album. There’s certainly something familiar about the wistful guitar melodies that the song kicks off with, but the L.A. outfit – consisting of guitarist Vera Ellen, bassist Libby Hsieh, drummer Virginia Pettis, and guitarist Sierra Scott, all of whom trade vocal duties – refuse to be pigeonholed into a single genre. It’s not long before Androgynous Mary charges into a riveting bricolage of post-punk, grunge, and goth rock, anchored by the unique chemistry and dynamism that characterizes the self-described ‘Goth Wiggles’. There’s a raucous energy simmering throughout the album’s ten tracks, from the listless disaffection of ‘Public Bodies’ (“Does the average man feel like he’s on the outside?”) to the generational malaise that pulses through ‘Earthquake’ (“I just want to feel like an earthquake / Everything is boring for fuck’s sake”). Along with their ability to jump across genres, the group also displays a knack for traversing through a wide range of moods – from righteous anger, to melancholy, to playfulness. Beneath it all, however, lies a feeling of togetherness, one that infuses these songs with a glint of hope and a sense of purpose. “In the end, I’ll be happy if you do your best/You’ve got to fight to keep your breath in this world,” they sing in unison on the album’s closer.
We caught up with Girl Friday 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.
How did you form Girl Friday?
Sierra: We drove to Virginia’s old apartment in the dead of night and played songs very quietly under her loft bed because we didn’t want to make her neighbors angry, and it was a weeknight after all.
Libby: It just happened I guess.
How do you work together as a group? Do you follow a particular process when it comes to constructing your songs?
Vera: Not particularly. I think with music you have to be open to receiving the song in whatever manner it presents itself in. We have a lot of iphone recordings of jams that will likely never eventuate for sure. Ahhh the song graveyard…
Libby: You just have to let it be what it wants to be.
When did you start working on your debut album, and how did the project change shape since then?
Libby: The project changes, distorts, and grows into something else much like this clownery of a reality we are alive and breathing in.
Sierra: We started working on this album in approximately 49 BCE. Back then, it was but a fever dream, and now it is a full fledged daymare who is healthy and happy to be alive.
You’ve described the album as being inspired by “parking lot murals, divine intervention and subverting Western ideologies about holiness”. Could you elaborate on that?
Libby: Listen to it and tell me!
Sierra: Like each of those things, this album will outlive us all.
I see the album as ultimately being about friendship and togetherness. How did the bond you share as a group affect the writing of these songs?
Vera: Being in a band is very much like being in a relationship with 3 other people. Sometimes it’s magic, sometimes it’s tragic, as are the greatest love stories.
Libby: Sometimes you want to punch someone in the eye, and sometimes you want to call someone on the phone and tell them how much you love them.
What was your favourite track to record, and which one posed more difficulties?
Libby: ‘This is Not the Indie Rock’. We didn’t have any of the key parts written before we went into the studio and Norm has this wonderful standup grand piano. It was a delight to fuck around for a bit and hammer out a little diddy on the keys.
Sierra: ‘Earthquake’ was the most fun to record because we got to scream like a choir of mice and turn on every distortion pedal we could find in the studio. I faced a good old fashioned challenge with the guitar solo at the end of ‘Amber’s Knees’ because our producer Norm Block asked me to double it months after I made it up on the spot and promptly forgot it.
Virginia: For ‘Eaten Thing’, we were able to record old fashioned string synths on an ARP Solina that really took it to spooksville, then added some Vermona drum machine beats at the end to add some definition to the sludge and make it sound more industrial. Anytime toys are brought out in the studio I can’t help but have a good time. The most difficult challenge was trying to stay focused and keep spirits high when the inevitable studio hanger set in. Also metronomes.
How do you feel now that the record is out? Are you already working on anything new?
Vera: I’m proud of us. We created something. You have to take the little wins as they come. Tomorrow I’m finally going to the record store to buy it so that’s when it will feel real. Always working away, sometimes the dead space between songs is part of the creative process.
Libby: I’m proud it’s done and it feels surreal and strange. And of course, whistle while you work you know, just trying to carve some diamonds out of the rough these days.
Julia Holter has made her song ‘So Humble the Afternoon’ available in full on digital services for the first time. The track was originally released in February 2018 as part of the Adult Swim Single Series. Check it out below.
“In “So Humble the Afternoon”, recorded a few years back, I was immersing myself in the woozy warmth of the synth and mellotron timbres,” she said of the song in a statement. “And they were a comforting foundation for me to sing over, to soften the harshness of the afternoon which always feels to me like the least introspective and most alienating part of the day. And something about the hazy malaise of this song seems to me to suit this endlessly apocalyptic time.”
Back in August, Julia Holter shared a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Gold Dust Woman’.
Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this segment.
There was plenty of magic going around in this week’s new tracks. This Is The Kit served up a hypnotic, wonderfully produced new track called ‘Was Magician’; equally entrancing is the dynamic, percussion-heavy second single from singer-songwriter Laura Fell, while Loma’s ‘Elliptical Days’ coils around a similarly elusive, ghostly atmosphere. Channel Tres’ sleek, infectious new single is more than enough to transport you straight to the dance floor, while Yola offered a little bit of hope with her stirring new song ‘Hold On’ featuring Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, and Sheryl Crow, and others. And finally, count on Wild Pink to make you feel alive with the wondrously expansive lead single from one of the most anticipated records of 2021.
