Friday Fascination: Widowspeak

Back when We Are Hunted was one of my favorite music websites to visit in hopes of finding a gem or two - I stumbled across Widowspeak, a stellar pair of brunettes from Tacoma/Chicago. "Harsh Realm" was the track featured on WAH, and I immediately became fascinated with the two. 

Molly Hamilton's voice is borderline mesmerizing, and both of their albums are equally as impressive. Another standout from this band is their cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" when released as the B-side to the single "Gun Shy" 

"True Believer" is the first taste from their forthcoming EP titled The Swamps that will be released on October 29th via Brooklyn based label Captured Tracks!

Widowspeak BandCamp.

Widowspeak North American Tour Dates

9/19 - Winnipeg, MB - Pantages Playhouse Theatre* 9/20 - Saskatoon, SK - The Odeon* 9/21 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall* 9/22 - Edmonton, AB  - Francis Winspear Centre* 9/23 - Regina, SK - Orr Centre* 9/24 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Theatre* 9/25 - Des Moines, IA - Hoyt-Sherman Theatre* 9/26 - Madison, WI - Capitol Theatre* 9/27 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre* 9/28 - Toronto, ON - Sound Academy* 10/01 - Oxford, MS - Lamar Lounge 10/02 - New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa 10/04 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival 10/05 - Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ 10/08 - McAllen, TX - Simon Sez 10/11 - Austin TX - Austin City Limits Festival 10/12 - Marfa, TX - El Cosmico 10/13 - Albuquerque, NM - Low Spirits** 10/14 - Phoenix, AZ - The Rhythm Room** * supporting Iron & Wine 10/15 - San Diego, CA - The Void** 10/16 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo** 10/18 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel** 10/19 - Davis, CA - Sophia’s Thai Kitchen** 10/21 - Eugene, OR - Cozmic Pizza** 10/22 - Vancouver, BC - Media Club** 10/23 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey** 10/24 - Portland, OR - Bunk Bar** 10/25 - Boise, ID - Neurolux** 10/26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge** 10/27 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge** 10/28 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown Jr** 10/30 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry** 10/31 - Chicago, IL - Schubas** 11/01 - Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch** 11/02 - Toronto, ON - Silver Dollar Room** 11/03 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore** 11/04 - Winooski, VT - The Monkey House** 11/05 - Cambridge, MA - TT the Bear’s Place** 11/06 - New Haven, CT - BAR Nightclub** 11/08 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom** ** with Pure Bathing Culture

TORRES

Sharon Van Etten is one hell of a woman, and I can't thank her enough for recently posting about Mackenzie Scott aka TORRES. Scott is a 22 year-old singer-songwriter currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.  

When I first listened to "Honey" I literally felt chills run down my spine. It reminded me of the first time I listened to Sharon Van Etten & Wye Oak, borderline emotional. Check out a live performance of the "Honey" courtesy of OURVINYL.TV below!

 Her self -released debut album came out in January of this year, and is as raw as you'd expect it to be. It wasn't long before I found myself diving into the 10 track album, and knee deep in her emotional honesty.  

"No matter how you listen to it, though, the songs will cut right to the bone. Scott spills every inch of her soul on these tracks, reflecting the joys and sorrows, and the unpredictability and uncertainty of life and love." 

This album is definitely one that builds up, so please take my advice & give this album a solid chance before you realize if you like it or not. 
If you do, support this talented artist by picking up her album here! 

Open Those Ears | 5 Fresh Album Releases

Wishbone is album #3 for Nanna Øland Fabricius whose stage moniker is publicly known as Oh Land. This album didn't disappoint me, but in the same breath played it safe with my expectations. Nearly just as playful as her previous albums, but Wishbone is more of an extension from her self-titled sophomore album (see: "Love A Man Dead") but "Pyromaniac" takes the cake for the #1 choice of this album.  

Pick up Wishbones on iTunes here!

If you honestly thought I was going to leave Drake's Nothing Was The Same out of this post, yeah right. This album's list of featured artists on the album are a channel different than Take Care, but with that said -it's nowhere near a negative thing. "Too Much" featuring Sampha is a standout in my book. Sampha, a well known music producer & singer-songwriter who recently released his debut EP Dual brings out another side of Drake that's slightly different from what you hear in "All Me" (the last track on NWTS featuring 2 Chainz & Big Sean.) Sampling the hypnotizing intro from Ellie Goulding's "Don't Say A Word" on "Pound Cake/ Paris Morton Music 2" was clearly a magical moment for my ears, but overall this album is exactly what we needed. 
Aubrey Graham, you've done it again.

Click here to buy NWTS on iTunes, if you haven't snagged it already.

The Bones of What You Believe is the debut album by the Scottish trio CHVRCHES. Last fall I spent most of my time wandering through Philadelphia listening to "Lies" & "The Mother We Share" via their SoundCloud page & am quite pleased to own their debut digitally (and most likely on vinyl in the future.) 

"Night Sky" & "Tether" were two songs that I looked forward to hearing the studio version after hearing them live previously. 

P.S. The Deluxe edition of The Bones of What You Believe featured below via Spotify also features 2 bonus tracks as well as remixes from KDA & We Were Promised Jetpacks. 

Snag this gem of an album on iTunes here! 

Lovers are one of those bands that once you dive into, they're with you for life. This trio from Portland have become a favorite of mine over the years since winning my ears over with "Boxer." A Friend in the World is the follow-up to their 2010 album Darklight has exceeded my expectations of this band to put it gently. Fusing intimacy and empowerment in a way that reminds me a lot of Tegan and Sara's if It Was You, this is the type of indie that we've been searching for in 2013.
Highlights: "Tiger Square" & "The Modern Art Museum of the Modern Kiss Goodbye"

Click here to grab A Friend in the World on iTunes.

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that Icona Pop rules the world. This duo has created an empire of popularity from a single release that has now evolved into the studio debut THIS IS... ICONA POP. Opening the album with their blockbuster hit "I Love It" ft. Charli XCX, this album takes the energetic path for the most part, only to take a breather during "Just Another Night" before proceeding with the rest of the album.  

Like what you hear? Pick up THIS IS... ICONA POP on iTunes now! 

LAUNCH Festival 2013

 If you happen to live on the west coast, this is the one festival that you will want to invest your time & energy in attending next year, believe me.   

This year marked the 5th anniversary of LAUNCH in downtown Sacramento, California and brought the community together in a unique way. Starting off with a block party on Wednesday evening & wrapped up with two full days of music at Cesar Chavez Park, this particular festival covers all of the necessary bases: music, fashion, art, and design.  

Around 10,000 attendees took part in this two-day event of the five-day festival, and was the largest attendance so far. With Imagine Dragons & Girl Talk as two of the main headliners, the crowd surfaced from all over. Elysse Ralph (who wrote about the bands below) & Julia Frather were there to capture the essence of both days, and needless to say it was a great time all around. 

LAUNCH Instagram: @launchsacramento

LAUNCH Twitter: @5432launch

Doombird

Doombird was the 3rd performance on the Tower stage and they did not disappoint. This dancy quad band is Sacramento homegrown. Although this is the 1st time seeing them live, they were a highlight for Day 1.

Minus The Bear

One of the bands I've seen most live, and will never get sick of. They played immediately after Blond Redhead on the main stage, and it couldn't have been a better transition of bands. I had the pleasure of hanging out with Alex and Jake a while before the show, and they are as great as their music- genuine, different, and definitely humble.

Washed Out

 A little different than my live experience with Minus the Bear, a band I have NOT had the pleasure of seeing live. I was like a giddy school girl waiting for this band, arms up on the railing, staring at the stage in awe of what I was about to see. As I had expected, they did not disappoint-they were as equally excited to play for us as we were to see them perform for us as a crowd, which made the set in entirety a music funhouse. The thick bass, and that synthesizing voice pumping through the speakers is all I was focused on.

Geographer

 This band has never failed to not make me sing at the top of my lungs in my car-WITH NO SHAME. Except this time it was in my backyard-Ceaser Chavez Park. Michael Deni's voice sounds like a god, and who could deny the cello along with the synthesizer? Not I! They know how to get the crowd hyped, and they did just that. Michael jumped off stage and into the crowd waving his hands back and forth, and all I could think about is "man, I am so lucky to have these undeniably talented men play in front of me right now."

Surfer Blood 

Ya know, this band has played over our speakers at work and I found myself bobbing my head, then eventually singing along hoping I would seem then live one day. So when I saw they were on Launch's lineup, you could say I was quite excited. Of course i was smack dab in front, sweating, and so pumped. I'll just put it plain & simple - they put on a powerhouse performance.

More highlights from the festival:

Mark Robert Fuller of Gold Fields

Patricia Beranek of St. Lucia 

Van She 

  

With Alex & Jake from Minus The Bear

Be sure to visit Julia's Flickr account to see more of her work - all of the photos above were captured by her! 

White Sea - They Don't Know

You may recognize this face as "the girl from M83" ... but guess what? She is much more than being the lone female in one of the biggest electronic bands today. Her name is Morgan Kibby, and has a solo project called White Sea that's produced quite a few gems  including "Lady Killer" & "Mountaineer." Earlier today she posted on the Facebook page for WS that a new song called "They Don't Know" was streaming over at Gorilla vs. Bear, and as cliche as it sounds - my heart literally skipped a beat. 

Driving home from work tonight couldn't have been a better time to have listened to this song for the 1st time. It's definitely her strongest vocal performance yet, and is an exciting first taste of forthcoming album due out sometime next year via Mom + Pop Records! If you're not familiar with M+P, its an independent record label that is home to artists such as FIDLAR, Flume, Smith Westerns,and Polica to name a few. 

GRAB "They Don't Know" on iTunes here!

Here's a wonderful cover of En Vogue's "Don't Let Go" from 2011 that is certainly one of my favorite covers ever!

whiteseamusic.com

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instagram.com/whiteseamusic

Friday Fascination: NO CEREMONY///

Twitter is an interesting place to say the least. It was well over a year ago when Ellie Goulding would casually tweet YouTube links of songs that she was into, and there was one specifically that I will never forget. It was from a trio from Manchester who go by the name of NO CEREMONY///.  The song was called "HURTLOVE" and unfortunately the original video EG posted has since been replaced with something that's similar but not the same.   

It was unlike anything I was listening to at the moment, and it's dark futuristic vibes had me hooked on the first listen. NO CEREMONY/// released their debut album last week on September 2nd via their very own record label. There isn't a specific date on when it will be released in North America, but it is currently streaming over on The Line of Best Fit. There's a total of 9 tracks on the album and features Joey Santiago of The Pixies on "HEARTBREAKER" & James Vincent McMorrow on "AWAYFROMHERE." I stumbled across an impressive interview with them over on London's BEAT Magazine which goes more in detail about the trio.

"FEELSOLOW"

Catch NO CEREMONY/// opening for The Pixies as apart of the iTunes Festival on September 25th. You can download the App for FREE on iTunes, and it's a pretty stellar lineup that ranges from The 1975 to Lady Gaga to Iggy Azalea. 

Stars - Wishful/The Light

This was a nice surprise when I found out Stars were going to release a split 7" vinyl of two brand new songs "Wishful" & "The Light." I'm a huge fan of their most recent full length The North, but I gotta admit - my ears were on the prowl to hear more from this hypnotizing band from Montreal. They've been around since 2000, and are a band that never fails to deliver a solid live performance. Check out this video when they performed "Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It" over at Studio Q.

Both of these singles were released to celebrate the fall tour that's taking place throughout the US this month, and if you're interested to see where they'll be playing - visit their website!
Wishful/The Light are now available on www.youarestars.com & iTunes!

Summer Camp - Summer Camp [Album]

Just as I mentioned yesterday that it's been a hot minute since we last heard from Miami Horror, I can also say the same for this duo from the UK that go by the name of Summer Camp. It's been 2 years since their debut album Welcome to Condale, and today their self-titled debut album was released in the UK! The proper date for the US is October 6th, but as mentioned on their Face page you can purchase it on iTunes here!

"Fresh" the first single that was released from this album is a definite standout, as I mentioned it previously on LYED's Facebook page. In addition, I am a huge fan of the opening track that's ironically titled "The End." It's one of the two lengthier tracks of the album passing the 5 minute mark. Also, what makes this a strong album opener is that the style of this song goes past what we're familiar with when looking back on Weclome to Condale & dives straight into "Fresh." Album #2 is a definite leap forward yet still retains those charming summertime vibes they first presented us with Young, their 2009 debut EP. This time it's just a whole different ball scene that's lead by Elizabeth Sankey's amorous vocals casually paired with Jeremy Warmsley's, and there you have one of the top feel good albums of 2013.  
So to sum this album up: It's really good,and makes me less angry about the current triple digit temperature that's taking place as I type this in Texas. 
Other favourites: "Crazy", "I Got You", "Pink Summer"

So, after taking a good listen. What did you think of the album? 
Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear! 

Active Child - Subtle (Feat. Mikky Ekko)

Active Child - Subtle (Feat. Mikky Ekko)

Happy Monday! Here is the first proper single from Active Child's forthcoming EP Rapor. It features Mikky Ekko, who's a sultry vocalist you might remember from Rihanna's "Stay." Here's ME's most recent work "Kids." If you're a fan of playlists, I made one for 
LYED's Favorites Tracks of 2013 and it's featured on there as well! 
Last month Patrick Grossi released "She Cut Me" which is the opening track on Rapor, which parallels to the level of bone-chilling that AC is known to produce. Check it out below to hear for yourself! 

Like what you hear? Active Child will be going on a fall tour through the US & UK with JMSN starting on September 21st in Oakdale, California. 

For a list of dates & places, visit AC's bandpage by clicking here.

Miami Horror - Real Slow

It's been a hot minute since we last heard from Miami Horror. This tune is a refreshing one, but is just a taste of what's to come for album #2. I'm looking forward to seeing where the guest vocals will come from, as their debut album Illumination featured Kimbra & Alan Palomo of Neon Indian.

 

"Real Slow" is a fresh tune that sorta picks up where they left off with their debut. The London duo PNAU is the first thing to come to mind after a few listens, which is a great thing. I have a feeling this album will be quite the dance anthem. If you're unfamiliar with Miami Horror, check out their stellar debut album below via Spotify. Enjoy! 

LAUNCH x Sacramento Music Festival

Hey Sacramento, are you ready for what's about to take place in your city? 

"LAUNCH is Sacramento’s annual celebration of creativity. It is our mission to deliver an event that inspires the creative class and beyond through music, art, fashion and design. It is our desire that through this inspiration and cultivation we will see our community become increasingly enriched. 

We want to celebrate creativity with our neighbors. We want to inspire the creativity in our younger generation. We want this generation to be proud of where they’re from, and create with vigor in their own back yards."

You can still grab your tickets here! 

Also, there's a free Block Party taking place later today (9/4) at MARRS Retail Complex situated right in the middle of Midtown. This is a great way to get into the festival spirit! 

Tomorrow (9/5):  Head over to Ace of Spades for the LAUNCH Kickoff Party where Wallpaper, Mister Metaphor, and An Angle will be performing starting at 8PM! 

For more information about the 5 day festival visit www.launchsacramento.com

P.S. This isn't the last you'll hear of LAUNCH Music Festival from Let Your Ears Decide, so stay tuned!