Sound Cloud Sunday – October 21, 2018 – Episode 28
Sound Cloud Sunday October 21, 2018 – Click Whole Show Above
Aah…a beautiful warm weekend here at Laurel Canyon Radio in Southern California and it seems to have hailed the beginning of the dreaded Christmas music deluge in my in-basket. Granted, I am a bah=humbugger from way back when, but give me a break, do I really need to be deciding on the Christmas music I will be playing on my station in mid-October? My feeling is keep a lid on it at least until the week before Thanksgiving. I don’t start planting trees for Arbor Day in February do I? Sheesh.
That being said, we’ve got a whole new batch of not-Xmas indie music from all around the globe for you this week and we paid extra attention to our listener box this week and you’ve turned us on to a lot of things we’ve never heard. And lest we not forget our latest website du jour, www.drooble.com – which appears to be this great social media construct/repository for bands to talk, support each other and non-judgementally feedback themselves into reverie! There’s a place for support for critical consideration of the artistic merits of unsigned artists and then there’s the collegial joy of drooble.com
This week we found the delightful singer songwriter Murray Pollard, a Toronto transplant who moved from the crowded hustle and bustle of Toronto to retire to ….the crowded hustle and bustle of Los Angeles? We caught up with Murray last week and his albums are a beautifully engineered collection of classic rock, pop, blues and soul. We’ve included the track “Looking Back” on this week’s show. Thanks Murray!
Nick Dittmeier & The Sawdusters – Head To Rest
Hometown: Bloomington, IN
Album: From the forthcoming sophomore album “All Damn Day” out next Friday on Eastwood Records.
Review Snippet: Dittmeier’s guitar licks have that inherent Southern twang and a tasty adherence to the melody that can’t be taught, while his backing band called The Sawdusters is right on his heels, and lending tasteful harmonies. The stories may be distraught, but it’s an enjoyable album to listen to with developed melodies, smart riffs, and effective choruses that are just loose enough to remind you they’re real.
Website: http://nickdittmeier.com/
Erin Costelo – All In Your Head
Hometown: Nova Scotia, Canada
Album: From the forthcoming album (her 3rd) “Sweet Marie” out November 2 on Compass Records.
Review Snippet:
From the intro alone you’re pulled in by Costelo’s sweet and sultry voice. The first single “Lights Down Low” then goes on to set the tone for the rest of the album; sizzling soulful music matched by her clever storytelling. While these songs were created as Costelo was reexamining an industry that almost left her to end her musical career (according to a press release), the room for interpretation the album provides is certainly one of the most impressive aspects; you can easily find yourself in these lyrics. “Hands on Fire” is a delightful toe-tapping soulful number. “Topic of Notes” leaves one of the best impressions simply for the opening bass line, intoxicating. “I’ll Be Home” brings the album to a close in a slow-burning fashion, with swelling violins and the deep richness of Costelo’s tone.
Sweet Marie is a mystical journey through self-discovery, perseverance and pushback, and powerful songwriting. How impressive that this entire album was recorded in only 10 days. Album number five is masterfully done.
Website: https://www.erincostelo.com
The Murray Pollard Band – Looking Back
Hometown: LA via Toronto
Album: From his second album “Still” released in September. Listen on Drooble.com!
Review Snippet: A true polymath.
Website: https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/TheMurrayPollardBand
The Maries – Train
Hometown: LA via Portland
Album: From their forthcoming “Peace”
Review Snippet:
Website: https://the-maries.com/
Treetop Flyers – Needle
Hometown: London
Album: Their self-titled third album was released in September on LOOSE Music.
Review Snippet: A comforting blend of West Coast pop and soulful tenderness…
Web Site: https://www.facebook.com/TreetopFlyersBand/
Folk Soul Revival – Home Town
Hometown: Southwest Virginia
Album: Their fourth album, self-titled, was self released in August.
Review Snippet: A modern band rooted in old-school southern sounds, Folk Soul Revival whips up its own version of amplified Americana on the band’s self-titled fourth record.
The name says it all. Folk Soul Revival, like the band that created it, is an album that celebrates the sounds, stories, and small-town values of an earlier era, modernizing their approach with sharp songwriting and electrifying instrumental work. There’s country twang, bluegrass bounce, hillbilly hell-raising, chicken-pickin’ guitar, and roadhouse roots-rock, all sandwiched into a tracklist that mixes heartbreak, honesty, and humor in equal doses. Recorded in Nashville and road-tested on stages across the country, this is Folk Soul Revival’s finest work — an album that nods to the glory days of the past while still pushing the band forward.
Website: http://www.folksoulrevival.com/
Whitehorse – Who’s Been Talking
Hometown: Hamilton, ON
Album: From the EP “The Northern South” Volume 2 out January 18, 2019 on Six Shooter Records (the single is available now).
Review Snippet: Although the two started in the Toronto folk scene, they have expanded their sound over time to include alternative rock, atmospheric pop, trip hop and psychedelic surf. In the studio and on stage, the couple has used a looping pedal and multiple instruments to create intricate layers of sound.
Website: https://www.whitehorsemusic.ca/
Linda Mizzi – Crooked Man
Hometown: Katoomba NSW Australia
Album: Her debut album “Real People” was self-released in May.
Review Snippet: Seamlessly blending folk, jazz and blues, she draws on influences as diverse as Rickie Lee Jones, Patty Griffin, Lucinda Williams and Doris Day! Much to the delight of some, Linda refuses to fit comfortably into any one musical niche – instead weaves all her musical influences – along with life experiences, melodies and lyrics into her songs.
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Website: https://www.lindamizzi.com.au/
The Mentalist Collective – I Can’t Believe It
Hometown: Dunedin, NZ
Album: From their debut ep “Mandala”
Review Snippet: A collection of musicians from Dunedin, New Zealand composing music of a variety of styles, instrumentation and timbre. Plenty of vocal harmonies, guitar and stringed instruments such as dulcimers and uku
Website: http://www.thementalistcollective.com/
Rich Krueger – Elizabeth
Hometown: Chicago
Album: From his 2nd album “Now Then” is out this Friday on Rockin’k Records.
Review Snippet: “[Krueger’s] a major songwriter, complete with wavery high baritone that hurts so much it’ll make ordinary mortals wince.” – Robert Christgau, The Dean of American Rock Critics 2/9/18 Noisey (Vice)
Website: https://www.richkrueger.com/
Pressing Strings – The Madness
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
Album: This is a new single just released. No album yet.
Review Snippet: Some of the region’s best music is coming out of Annapolis right now, thanks to the roots-rock trio Pressing Strings. If you listen to local radio, you might have heard their bright ballad, “What It Means,” off of the band’s soulful EP. The Naptown natives keep it real, combining robust rhythms and bluesy songwriting that’s folksy and heartfelt yet funky and feel-good. Toeing the line between hometown darlings and rising stars, these boys-next-door exude the laid-back authenticity you might expect to come out of Maryland. But after their first big tour last fall, we won’t be surprised if their catchy songs capture big-label interest soon enough.
Website: https://pressingstrings.com/
Annie Oakley – Pomp And Swell
Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK
Album: Their second album “Words We Mean” was released this month on Horton Records.
Review Snippet: The Oklahoma Gazette wrote of the prodigious duo as “speaking the same throwback folk-Americana language that eludes most others at their tender age [ . . . ] their pristine but pillow-soft voices folding into immaculate harmonies the envy of even the most vetted musical collaborators out there” (Joshua Boydston).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CQXFcq2R00
Website: http://www.theannieoakley.com/
Joseph St. John – Missed Opportunity
Hometown: Chicago
Album: His debut EP “No Second Chances” just was released on 711 Records.
Review Snippet:
Website: https://josephstjohnmusic.com/
Ferris and Sylvester – London’s Blues
Hometown: London
Album: Their debut album “Made In Streatham” was released in February on Archtop Records.
Review Snippet: We both grew up listening to our dads’ album collections so some of what we listen to now is pretty old-school; Dylan, Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash. Jack White is never too far from the Spotify playlist either. Laura Marling’s new album is brilliant… we could go on, there’s a lot of great music out there!
Website https://www.ferrisandsylvester.com/
Jessie Mary – West Coast Skies
Hometown: Poole Dorset, England
Album: Her debut album will be released on Nine Yards Music.
Review Snippet:
Website: http://nineyardsmusic.com/
