SKOPE NEWS FOR MARCH 8, 2018

Jam In The Trees Announces 2018 Lineup

Jam In The Trees is proud to announce the lineup for the 2018 festival, which will be held on August 24th and 25th. The annual music festival returns with a diverse lineup for the third year to Pisgah Brewing Company in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The roster includes legendary artists The Travelin’ McCourys, Jerry Douglas, Shooter Jennings, Elizabeth Cook, Jane Kramer, Gangstagrass, The Stray Birds, Jim Lauderdale, The Steel Wheels, Fireside Collective, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, The Slocan Ramblers, and Andy Buckner. Following tradition, Jam in the Trees will host music on both an indoor and outdoor stage, and will strategically schedule artists so that there are no overlapping sets. In addition to award-winning Pisgah beer, food trucks will be present on-site, as well as unique vendors and local artisans.

XAVIER RUDD Shares “Walk Away” Official Music Video

Partnering with Relix to premiere, Xavier Rudd shares the official music video for new single “Walk Away.”

The video is a true glimpse into the most beautiful aspects of Rudd’s voice, songs, and spirit. Directed by Solomon Scopazzi & Michael Jennings and filmed in both Australia and The Netherlands, the video is a picturesque and affecting reminder of Rudd’s lifelong message that all people can come together to return to spirit and to protect the Earth and the essence of living.

K.Flay releases track from new Tomb Raider film ‘Reboot’ which premiered in London yesterday

The Grammy nominated artist has just finished a run of UK dates with Imagine Dragons, which included two sold-out shows at London’s O2, and on March the 12th kicks off her second leg of her North American voyage before touring with 30 Seconds To Mars this summer. Despite her busy schedule, K.Flay is also working on the followup to her #1 Billboard Heatseekers charting debut album Every Where Is Some Where, which spawned the breakthrough hit single ‘Blood In The Cut’. The track was nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards which hit the Top 5 at Alternative Radio and spent more than 6 months on the U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs chart, peaking at #4. The song was certified GOLD in Canada and reached #1 in the Canadian Alternative charts.

The Beat Escape Share New Track “Moon In Aquarius”

Long before they were a band, Montreal duo The Beat Escape took a small first step towards a longer journey at a university video class. “We made a short oddball work; a video piece that followed two characters through a psychedelic waking dream,” say Beat escapists Addy Weitzman and Patrick A Boivin of their founding collaboration. Many other projects and outside collaborations later, the duo have crafted a debut album their younger selves would be proud of. The sublimely immersive Life Is Short the Answer’s Long plays like a waking dream of near-psychedelic electronic pop, moving to its own beat in the push-pull of forward motion and submerged reflection.

Scandicana Comes of Age With Slim Loris’ New EP, “Wild & Untamed”

As the leading lights of Scandicana, the Swedish cousin of Americana, Slim Loris have already received glowing tributes from the likes of Huffington Post and Axs, but now embark on a new chapter in their career which sees them moving away from the melancholia of their first three full-length releases and into more uplifting pastures. The previous two years have seen the band battling collectively through personal set-backs but the end result is a Slim Loris which emerges as a tighter unit and even more able to demonstrate the sum of their influences, from UK 60’s Beat to Country-Rock to 90’s Indie.

DJ Nigga Fox Shares New Video

Lisbon’s DJ Nigga Fox has unveiled a video for new cut WAABA-JAH, lifted from his Crânio EP, out on Friday on Warp Records. WAABA-JAH is a beguiling electronic puzzle, in which every element stubbornly shapeshifts while still growing increasingly danceable over the track’s duration – tough wizardry. Fitting for the beautifully skewed sonics, the visual accompaniment to WAABA-JAH is a frenetic travelogue of DJ Nigga Fox’s global rave adventures assembled and processed by the up and coming Lisbon based director Afonso Mota. Albeit digitally smeared until the viewer shares the cocktail of jet lag and elation that inspired the man himself.

Cienfuegos announces debut LP for L.I.E.S., stream a track now!

Based out of Brooklyn by way of Miami, Alex Suarez has been a fixture in the New York City underground electronic music scene for the last few years. He’s released music on BANK Records, Ascetic House, Primitive Languages, Unknown Precept, and previously appeared on the L.I.E.S. compilation 12″ No Payments Rejected.

The Bay Area’s High Sunn premieres a new single on Stereogum

18-year-old Justin Cheromiah, aka High Sunn, chronicles his coming of age expertly with heartfelt and affecting lyrics coupled with immediate songwriting and on May 4th PNKSLM Recordings is set to release his eagerly anticipated debut studio album, Missed Connections!

Poppy Ackroyd shares new video for “Paper”

On February 2nd, breath-taking post-classical artist Poppy Ackroyd released her first full-length album with One Little Indian Records, Resolve. A classically trained pianist, violinist, producer, and composer, Ackroyd turned heads in the neo-classical world with her previous works Escapement and Feathers, as well as her involvement in Hidden Orchestra (Tru Thoughts). Now the artist reveals the brand-new video for haunting single “Paper”, where she creatively recorded and manipulated experimental beats, born from using paper over piano strings, to create the ground-breaking track.

Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington Announces New Album “My Future Is My Past”

“I’m used to playing with another person. To do something like that by myself, I was kind of nervous,” said New Orleans’ Walter “Wolfman” Washington of his intimate new record My Future Is My Past, coming out April 20. Featuring Irma Thomas, Ivan Neville and Jon Cleary and produced by Ben Ellman of Galactic, this is the Wolfman’s first album with ANTI- Records.

“Oh man, it was really a thing,” he smiled and continued. “I had never done something like that. I had to really discipline myself where I couldn’t really underplay and really overplay, so I had to stay really in the middle which was a trick for me. I was amazed at my own self at how it turned out.”

New Lingo Premiere “Swoon” Video on Substream

St Louis, MO alternative rock band New Lingo are debuting a music video for “Swoon” today on Substream.

Singer Joe Glenk tells Substream: “This song is about that moment when you are with someone special and things just click the first time. It’s about going against your head, all of the warning signs of what can go wrong and following your heart into love.”

PREMIERE: New Lingo get back to basics in the music video for “Swoon”

Frances Luke Accord – New Single ‘Maria’

Since their last release, FLA has toured with Darlingside (full national tour, 2016), Anais Mitchell (spring 2017) and The Ballroom Thieves (fall 2017), and will be doing a headlining tour of the midwest and east coast to promote the single this spring. RIYL Iron & Wine, The Milk Carton Kids, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird and Simon & Garfunkel.

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION: “Whispering Spiritscapes” Streaming At Decibel Magazine

An incredible twenty-five years into their existence, MOURNFUL CONGREGATION persists in refining and perfecting their immortal art on The Incubus Of Karma. Reaching innovative new heights, within the bounds they have created for themselves, the bounds in which a multitude of newer bands now draw from like a wellspring, MOURNFUL CONGREGATION cast a giant shadow, steadfastly towering over the landscape like a monolithic obelisk.

Track Premiere: Mournful Congregation – ‘Whispering Spiritscapes’

Hilang Child Shares New Track “Growing Things”

Hilang Child is the moniker of Ed Riman, a half-Welsh, half-Indonesian musician and songwriter from London. With a few exquisite tracks appearing quietly over the last year or so, and praised highly by the likes of Clash, Crack and The Line of Best Fit, Hilang Child also recently collaborated with Lost Horizons (the new project from Simon Raymonde and former Dif Juz drummer Richie Thomas), co-writing two songs and joining their live ensemble for their recent and upcoming tour dates.

Leon III Announce Debut Self-Titled Album

The principle members of Leon III (Leon The Third), Andy Stepanian and Mason Brent, span the space between Houston, TX and Richmond, VA, but their debut album reaches into a different kind of space, with psychedelic flourishes supported by alt-country and Americana tones their self-titled album, slated for release on Cornelius Chapel Records May 11th, looks to contemporaries like Khruangbin as much as it does to the Grateful Dead. With a rich cast of players including drummer Brian Kotzur (Bobby Bare, Silver Jews), pianist Tony Crow (B.J. Thomas, Andrew Bird), singer Jordan Caress (Laura Cantrell, Justin Townes Earle), guitarist Chris Scruggs (grandson of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs), and pedal steel wizard Pete Finney (Justin Townes Earle, Kelly Willis), who joined with storied producer Mark Nevers (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Lambchop, Silver Jews, Yo La Tengo) to help add texture and definition to these already sharply rendered songs. Leon III was the last album to be finished, top to bottom, in Nevers’ Beech House Studios in Nashville before it was torn down.

Stream Acid Dad’s Debut LP via Consequence of Sound

A follow-up to 2016’s Let’s Plan A Robbery EP, the band’s first full-length release has been a long time coming, following sold-out hometown shows and slots opening for bands like White Reaper, Diarrhea Planet, and Night Beats. From the driving, punk-infused opener “Die Hard” to the jangly guitars and hazy psych-pop melodies of lead single “2Ci,” the record covers a lot of ground, showcasing a sound that’s diverse, but always accessible. The full album is currently streaming via Consequence of Sound, where the band offers some insight into each track.

Acid Dad share a Track by Track breakdown of their self-titled debut album: Stream

Sweden’s Nora Karlsson, aka Boys, announces her debut album

Rest In Peace is out May 11th on PNKSLM Recordings and the album’s lead single premiered recently on Gorilla Vs. Bear noting that “the song finds her gentle indie-pop jangle and soothing found sound samples swelling into a throbbing, woozily swirling vintage synth jam.”

Years & Years Return With New Track & Video, “Sanctify.”

Years & Years are back today with an explosive new track, “Sanctify,” the first taste of their hugely anticipated forthcoming sophomore album to be released via Interscope Records. This follows the band’s celebrated debut record “Communion,” which reached #1 in the UK and went on to sell over 1.5 million copies worldwide, scored 4 platinum singles, 5 BRIT Award nominations, sold-out headlining tours across North America and concluded with a sold-out date at London’s Wembley Arena.

A BREACH OF SILENCE reveal new ‘Secrets’ music video

Australia’s award winning powercore-metal pioneers A Breach of Silence have revealed a brand-new music video for the title track off their latest album Secrets. This is the third music video from their latest full-length album produced by Fredrik Nordstrom (Bring Me the Horizon, Arch Enemy, In Flames). The video was directed by Matt Donaldson.

A Breach of Silence reveal new Secrets music video

Colatura Share “Is Love Enough?” Track Via The 405

The 405 has shared the new single from Brooklyn based duo Colatura entitled “Is Love Enough?”. It is the first single off the duo’s upcoming EP ‘Spring Drew Blood’ out 4/13.

Tanga Release ‘Reencarnación’ today

Vancouver based Tanga is a world fusion mob, mixing up Caribbean party beats with Colombian electrocumbia and Guatemalan dancehall. They are set to release their third album Reencarnacion on March 7th via TrebleFive Records.

Reencarnacion is the follow up to the band’s last album Havanaelectro, which was recorded in Havana, Cuba. The critically acclaimed Havanaelectro was nominated for the Western Canadian Music Awards for “World Recording of the Year” and the Canadian Folk Music Awards for “World Group of the Year.” With the new record, the group set their sights on Ecuador to collaborate with local musicians and artists. Featured artists include acclaimed Ecuadorian dancehall artist Guanaco, troubadour Benjamin Venegas, hip-hop duo Systema, and rapper Perrosky.

The Watchers: New LP, ‘Black Abyss’, Streaming in Full

San Francisco doom rock band The Watchers will release its new album, Black Abyss, March 9 via Ripple Music (Mothership, BANG). Recorded in California’s Sonic Room Studios (Forbidden, Zed) and mixed by the legendary Max Norman (Ozzy Osbourne, Y&T), the record features eight tracks of heavy street-riff rock and is the follow-up to The Watchers 2016 debut, Sabbath Highway, an EP hailed as “the veritable creme de la creme of the modern stoner metal”.