@skopemag HQ – http://smarturl.it/skope
SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI stream ‘Demo 2004’ EP in full!
After fifteen years in the archives, UK’s instrumental post-rock torchbearers SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI and H42 Records are reissuing a fully remastered version of their long out-of-run ‘Demo 2004’ EP on extra limited 7″ vinyl and cassette tape. Stream it in full exclusively via Invisible Oranges, and order your copy now!
This is a highly limited one-off pressing of the first documented recordings of SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI featuring the original line up of Marlon King (guitars), Nick Hannon (bass), Stevie B (drums) and Blake (effects). ‘Demo 2004’ reflects on the post-metal and progressive instrumental roots of the band in its original form. The reissue comes with a new artwork from long-term collaborator Seldon Hunt (Neurosis, ISIS, Pelican), and a reversible sleeve print featuring the new 2021 artwork and the original 2004 artwork.
Carlos Niño & Friends share’s 2nd single & video “Thanking The Earth” feat. Sam Gendel & Nate Mercereau
“Thanking The Earth” heavily features two of Carlos Niño’s closest collaborators – Nate Mercereau (LA-based producer and composer known for his work with Leon Bridges, The Weeknd, Lizzo, and Sheila E.) and Sam Gendel (eclectic multi-instrumental artist heard prominently on the new Pino Palladino & Blake Mills album, and his own eponymous releases on Nonesuch and Leaving Records) – and carries forward the album’s naturalist ethos in what is arguably the album’s apex. Slowly developing out of Gendel’s mellow marimba line, the track explodes out of an 808 drop into Mercereau’s soaring synth-guitar melody to reach an epic peak. The accompanying video was shot by Niño in Maui with a small, waterproof camera and the footage was edited and arranged by his son, Azul Niño.
Spud Cannon unveils infectious rocker “Juno” via CoS | New LP out 6/25
Recorded as a part of an all-nighter, one-take, not-campus-approved sessions on a squash court at the band’s now alma mater, Vassar College, “Juno” captures the undeniable energy of a night out on the rails with your friends.
“It was the spring of 2019: we were on the verge of breaking up,” the band’s Jackson Walker Lewis detailed to Consequence of Sound. “I was on the verge of graduating, and we had no budget for a third album. After every legitimate venue on campus was booked up, we opted instead to throw a secret show in the squash courts at the suggestion of Lucy, who thought the court’s location would make it easier to evade security.
McKinley Dixon Shares New Single “Chain Sooo Heavy,” New LP ‘For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her’ Out 5/7/21 (Spacebomb Records)
McKinley Dixon today shared “Chain Sooo Heavy,” the gripping third single from and opening track of his new album, For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her. “‘Chain Sooo Heavy’ is my view on the commodification of the black experience by an outside audience,” explains the Richmond, VA-based Dixon. “The way that trauma can be made palatable and marketable without consent, and how because of capitalism, it’s hard to escape the consolidating parts of you for an audience. It’s a self reflection on how I’m susceptible to that.” The song follows earlier pre-release singles “Swangin’” and “make a poet Black,” and highlights Dixon’s incisive lyricism as well as the album’s rhythmic interplay and array of instrumentation, including horns and keys.
only a warrior until she undresses – Tristen takes on Athena in new song
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Tristen shares the second song from her soon-to-be-released new album, AQUATIC FLOWERS, which arrives via Mama Bird Recording Co. on Friday, June 4. Pre-orders are available now. Co-written with Lera Lynn, “Athena” finds the Nashville-based Tristen empathizing with the goddess of wisdom and strength who is too often a marginalized female character. It is a deeply felt concept that one can also dance to, thanks to the song’s jangly major chord garage-pop groove. An official music video is streaming now.
Listen to Fog Lake’s new Elliot Smith-inspired single, “Catacombs”
About “Catacombs” Powell shares: “The song describes the baggage and fallout of unrequited love through the filter of addiction and self-destruction. “I wrote it on my 27th birthday. It’s one of those songs that seemed to write itself.” With a nostalgic piano line and folk-influenced acoustics that present a bittersweet farewell to the days of hopeful bliss, the catacombs Powell describes are internal – a labyrinth of past mistakes, trauma and love gone astray. “I’d been practicing stitching your memory / Into something I could live without” he sings, in a signature androgynous, double-tracked vocal which calls back to the home recordings of 90’s lo-fi artists like Daniel Johnston and Elliott Smith. In closing, he finds relief in the idea that all is lost: “just tell me if you’re leaving and I’ll try to find a way somehow to make history of you,” hesings, yearning for a feeling of closure after all the dust has settled.”
Indie-folk artist Georgia Lee Johnson’s “Open Ocean” is an invitation stay present in the moment
“Open Ocean” follows the story of a young man who is clinging to the shadows of the past and falling into a complacency of moving on with his life. Johnson beautifully uses the metaphor of an “open ocean,” to convey the endless possibilities that await the young man.
“Open Ocean is an invitation to put down the weight of past, of expectation, and of disappointment, and to step into the invigorating present,” she says.
NOÊTA release title track ‘Elm’ as third single
NOÊTA comment: “The title-track ‘Elm’ is in parts told through the words of Sylvia Plath”, reveals frontwoman Êlea. “Her poem ‘Elm’ is an almost physical expression of anxiety and depression as something real and vivid that is living inside some of us – something that is dark, terrifying and malevolent. Being haunted by anxiety and depression can lead to fear of the uncontrollable malignity living within the self. It claims the afflicted as its own in order to kill. This poem became even more upsetting to me after learning that Sylvia Plath went on to commit suicide not long after she wrote it.”
CALIFORNIA MC 60 EAST AND NEW YORK PRODUCER J57 MAKE DEBUT AS NEW DUO
Indie hip-hop artists 60 East and J57 are today introducing themselves as 6057. The newly formed duo is the result of years-long mutual appreciation between two celebrated artists, though this is the pair’s first collaborative effort. 6057 just released two songs, “Don’t Stop” and “Autumn in NY,” as their first release.
J57 — who is well known as both an accomplished producer and member of Jamo Gang alongside Ras Kass and El Gant — first came to 60 East’s attention through his work with the venerated hip-hop supercrew Brown Bag All Stars. 60 East — whose past collaborations include A-F-R-O, Blu and Fashawn — first came to J57’s attention through his Skyzoo-assisted video single, “Enemies 2 Friends.”
Plato Black – ‘NIKE’
Mother Nature Drop “GOOFIEZ” Ft. Valee
Rising Chicago female rap duo Mother Nature deliver their new single “GOOFIEZ” ft. G.O.O.D. Music rapper and fellow Chicago native Valee. With a more relaxed tone than the first two drops, this new track still features confident bars that pack a punch, expelling all negative energy from those not on their same conscious wavelength. These positive sentiments and spiritual awakening they rap about follow a common theme of their music.
Tierra Whack Teams Up With The LEGO® Brand For Wildly Creative Video “Link”
Before creating “Link,” Whack sat down alongside children from ages 6-9 to build a myriad of objects out of LEGO® bricks to inspire her innovative video. The kids’ imaginations ran wild as they built whatever came to mind. Whack, serving as a blank canvas, received their suggestions whole-heartedly and helped realize their concepts to the best of her abilities.
CVLT OV THE SVN Unleashes “Hellbound” Video from Upcoming Album “We Are The Dragon”
As it often seems modern rock music has lost its sense of palpable danger and mystique, Finnish dark occult rock act CVLT OV THE SVN marks its return in full force with their grim, addictive first full length, We Are The Dragon.
Slated for release on May 7, 2021 via Napalm Records, CVLT OV THE SVN’s debut embodies a reverberating sense of eeriness, danger and fear, enriched with a pinch of gothic romanticism and pitch-black seduction. Finally, there’s a cvlt worth joining: CVLT OV THE SVN’s sound feels dangerously unsettling, lacing its churning heaviness with catchy melodies that travel right through your ears to your central nervous system!
“Sessions Presents: Flip n’ Hits with BNL: A Night of Monster Jams of Pandemic Proportions”
Watch from the comfort of your home live from the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto.
Multi-platinum band Barenaked Ladies announce an epic weekend concert streaming event, Flip n’ Hits with BNL: A Night of Monster Jams of Pandemic Proportions, to take place on Saturday, April 17 at 9pm EDT / 6pm PDT with a very special encore performance on Sunday, April 18 at 8pm GMT. The show will be an hour long and have its own high-powered energy and fun, and will be available for fans to attend from any region, across the globe.
Sorry Share New EP, ‘Twixtustwain’
Today, North London’s Sorry announce and release their brand new EP, Twixtustwain. Alongside the EP, their 2017 mixtapes, Home Demo/ns Vol. I and Home Demo/ns Vol. II, have been reworked and are now available digitally for the very first time.
Following the previously released videos for EP tracks “Cigarette Packet” and “Separate”, Sorry have also released new videos for Twixtustwain tracks “Don’t Be Scared”, “Things To Hold Onto”, and “Favourite”. Created by Flasha Prod. (Sorry’s own Asha Lorenz and longtime collaborator Flo Webb), these three new videos complete the full audiovisual Twixtustwain experience.
Twin XL Talks New Music Video And Radio Single “Slow Heart”
“The music video concept is a perfect visual representation of the song. John and I had this idea of me performing in a coffin, telling the story of where it all went wrong for me. As the story progresses, I come fully back to life and join the band for a high energy performance at my own funeral. To me this wasn’t the literal death of me but more so a metaphor for the death of the person I used to be and the celebration of starting over,” states Twin XL frontman Cameron Walker-Wright about the music video for “Slow Heart”.
VOID VATOR: Decibel premiere thrashy new single “Great Fear Rising”!
L.A. power-packed metallers VOID VATOR teamed up with Decibel Magazine to unleash the full-throttle third single off their massive-sounding new album and title track from ‘Great Fear Rising’, coming April 23rd on Ripple Music. Go thrash and blow your speakers up now!
About the album’s title track and third single, VOID VATOR comment: “We wanted to show a different side of Void Vator with our third single release for Great Fear Rising. Longer and more complex than previous singles I Can’t Take It and I Want More, the title track takes the listener through multiple moods with its balls-out progressive thrash approach.”
The Happy Fits Release Video For “Sailing”
Built to replicate blue mind, the meditative state you fall into when you are near water, the serenity of “Sailing” emphasizes the prolific wisdom of the young New Jersey songwriters. Underneath the vibrant harmonies, which build vividly into the out-of-nowhere-calamity guitars, the narrative of “Sailing” – a song about drifting away from something or someone you want to remain tethered to – mirrors the way an unmanned vessel can drift farther from the shore with each wave in encounters. Accentuated by the layer of airy and echoed percussion and cello, the heartbreakingly poetic ballad is built with the intention of emulating the feeling of a swaying boat.
EXTINGUISH: Cvlt Nation Premieres “The Judge”
Formed in 2017, EXTINGUISH attempts to achieve the darkest/hardest sound they can, merging elements of death metal with the classic ‘90s hardcore sound. With a style somewhere between the output of death metal greats Obituary and Grave, and hardcore icons Next Step Up and Gut instinct, the band delivers a punishing, metallic attack akin to peers Sunami, Hands Of God, Field Of Flames, and more. In their short time as a band, they’ve played throughout the Sacramento and Bay Area scenes, and now present their debut recorded output.
supremely pissed OFF! Experience the Blistering Hardcore of EXTINGUISH
Ana Shine Releases Debut Album, ‘Four Seasons Of Love’
Speaking of her album, Ana says: “On this album, I wanted to talk about the four stages of love. Each season represents a different stage of love; spring is the first stage when love blossoms, summer is the second stage when love is intense and passionate. Autumn is the third stage when you start to have doubts and finally, winter is the fourth stage when you fall out of love, usually it is the hardest stage.
I would say that when you love someone, you want to be a better version of yourself and love gives you wings to fly.”
William Anthony new single “I’m What You Need ” is out on every platform
“I’m What You Need” is a sensual music video with Latin flair produced and recorded in Toronto about self-confidence and love. William expresses a longing for a love that seems to be fleeting and perhaps unattainable. The video and the song presents a strong vocal performance, dancing and an uplifting mood. In this performance William, the song writer, brings his personal view about the positive aspects of unfulfilled love. William Antony is a vibrant Spanish / Canadian singer-songwriter who now resides in Toronto, Canada.
Kristian North Releases New Single “Shadow Of The Pyramids”
After arduous years of touring as he fronted garage punk band Babysitter, Kristian North entered a period of reinvention to perfect his craft. This resulted in The Last Rock N Roll Record, his debut album. He’s now readying the release of his sophomore full-length, Passion Play, out April 30
PACKS (Fire Talk/Royal Mountain) premiere “New TV” w/ FADER
Last month Toronto’s PACKS announced their debut LP Take The Cake, and their signing to Fire Talk Records (Dehd, Patio, Mamalarky) and Royal Mountain Records (Wild Pink, Alvvays, Mac DeMarco) who will release the record on May 21st. The album was announced with the single “Silvertongue,” which caused considerable excitement, earning comparisons to Pavement, Sonic Youth and Best Coast from outlets like Stereogum, Exclaim and So Young, and best of the week nods from NPR, BrooklynVegan, Gorilla vs Bear and Paste.
PACKS (Fader support, ffo: Pavement, Vivian Girls) | Share “New TV” (Fire Talk/Royal Mountain Records)
PACKS are fronted by Madeline Link who acts as the primary songwriter behind the project. Much of the music and new album investigates the turbulence of late adolescence and coming of age in life. It deals, in part, with the quandaries of adult life: at times feeling directionless, dealing with the ups and downs of relationships, processing loss and ultimately, trying to find your place in an expensive city which can quickly consume you. Their sound defintely has an early 90s indie/Slanted & Enchanted feel, but Link really gives it another dimension with her voice and sense of melody.
