Von Bismark and the whirlwind that is "Moth"

Moth by Von Bismark is a whirlwind of sounds anchored to a deep groove, syncopated lush, lush bass cementing the vocal performance to your brain. Jonathan Smith's voice is self aware, internal, sultry and conflicted. The guitar riffs that almost feel more like radio blips out in space give the whole proggy rock affair a kind of trance like feel. A meditation oh high. 

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Robb Donker




THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

Von Bismark is new project out of Oakland, Calif. produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, Green Day, Two Gallants) and headed by Jonathan Smith, formerly of indie dance outfit The Hundred Days. The band teased out a single, "Rocket Ship" in late 2018.

A recent east bay transplant from SF, Smith discusses how the move affected his sound: “After being in an indie dance rock band for years, touring nationally and overseas,, I decided to refocus on what made me happy as an artist: writing good songs. It was intimidating, but moving to the east bay has made me a better and more honest songwriter.”

The project is expected to start live production summer of 2019. 

DD

The Titos and their unbridled road worn scarred story of "Leandra"

The track Leandra by The Titos who I think are based in (and maybe out of) Atlanta feels like a song / story that is lived in, road worn, scarred and fueled or impaired by swigs of Tequila and or Whiskey. The strain, galloping cadence, nicotine stained rhythm and blues cut rock, haphazard and loose and badass true sound propped up by a stellar vocal performance that is dripping with a beat up wise yet battered character is formidable. The story is inviting in a dark way but ends much too soon. I want to know more about her, Leandra that is. 

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Robb Donker

Heaviness lives and dies in J. Lind's worldly track "For What It's Worth"

J. Lind's worldly track For What It's Worth feels like the cadence of life and death on a South African plain. Interwoven through the tom tom beats and teeming sounds, Lind's voice is folkish and Americana, stoic yet passionate. The song reminds me a bit of Phil Collins' Air Tonight both in it's emotional tone and cagey push and pull around the beats. I can't tell if there is an anti-hero in this life and death story or if the true meaning here is just the interconnectedness of all of us in the life and death drama that is life itself. 

This song is the title track of Lind's forthcoming record which draws inspiration from three years of experiencing the world of hospice care. 

"It is Lind’s hope that the project will serve to catalyze formative conversations on grief, loss, and acceptance."

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Robb Donker





THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM- PRESS NOTES:

Born and raised in Phoenix, J Lind learned early on that inspiration can be found in unlikely spaces. Even so, Lind’s latest project—a record based on the reflections of hospice patients—is unconventional, to say the least.

Lind’s unusual approach to songwriting developed during his time as a student at Princeton. A frequent collaborator, Lind opened for the Grammy-nominated rapper, Big Sean, in the spring of 2015 and participated in songwriting seminars with artists ranging from Steve Martin to Rosanne Cash. Following the release of his debut EP in 2017, Lind studied philosophy at Oxford before continuing his work as a hospice volunteer in New Delhi, India.

J Lind’s forthcoming record, For What It’s Worth (2019), is a careful reflection on three years of experience in the world of hospice care. Supported by a Princeton fellowship, the record draws on the diverse soundscapes of artists such as Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel while invoking the direct, narrative lyric of acts like Passenger and Dawes. It is Lind’s hope that the project will serve to catalyze formative conversations on grief, loss, and acceptance.

Callum Pitt's "Slow My Heart Rate Down" does quite the opposite

Callum Pitt's track Slow My Heart Rate Down does quite the opposite. As you listen to the orchestrated mayhem woven around beautiful piano and vocal melodies, your heart races and you might even feel dashes of anxiety. The track builds in a cinematic way and after it ends you feel a little bit emotionally spent. Beautiful, moving stuff. 

Pitt who hails from Newcastle upon Tyne, has been building audiences since his bedroom produced creations received airplay from BBC 6 Music and Amazing Radio which landed him a gig at Evolution Emerging Festival 2016.

The "Poisoned Reveries" EP is out now.

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Robb Donker

The poetically drawn "Eyes To Monochrome" by Nova Peaks is so cool

The track Eyes to Monochrome is trippy and cool dressed up in a wave of synthetic full color palette of avant garde shapes and machine like grooves. It is at once wondrous and charming and build like a childhood dream.

Nova Peaks is the moniker of Dylan Jongbloed, a producer based in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

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Robb Donker

Partly Sorry by Tipling Rock feels like a mellow party song for the ages

Partly Sorry by Boston Beach pop band Tipling Rock is so chill and feels like time less mellow party pop rock that could transverse decades from 1976 to now.

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Robb Donker

Callum Pitt's "Knocked The Wind Right Out Of Me" feels like a runaway song from the "Poisoned Reveries" EP

The vast Knocked The Wind Right Out Of Me, the last track from Callum Pitt's (UK) debut EP entitled "Poisoned Reveries" runs away at a fast clip suggesting fleeting images rushing past car windows and when the song takes breathes you feel lovely emotions like out of focus glimmers of light through tree branches. While some of my descriptions might feel cliche, the song itself feels fresh and potent, the sounds carried away off cool indie guitar lines and Pitt's endearing vocal quality.

Pitt who hails from Newcastle upon Tyne, has been building audiences since his bedroom produced creations received airplay from BBC 6 Music and Amazing Radio which landed him a gig at Evolution Emerging Festival 2016.

The "Poisoned Reveries" EP is out now.

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Robb Donker


THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

Taking influences from The War On Drugs, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, indie-folk newcomer Callum Pitt combines finger-picked folk riffs with a stunning falsetto voice. His first demos, recorded in his bedroom, received airplay from BBC 6 Music and Amazing Radio, resulting in a spot at Evolution Emerging Festival 2016 and tour support slots with Meadowlark, Cape Cub and Isaac Gracie.

“['You'd Better Sell It While You Can' is a] catchy, floaty, dreamy number, with some easy-going laid back strings and… falsetto vocal that would put Kate Bush to shame. A blend of harmonies adds warmth, dimension and colour [and] halfway through, the chorus pops up in all [its] melodious glory... There’s lots to like about this song – choppy old style piano playing, catchy guitar Fresh from his packed out show at The Great Escape 2019, Callum Pitt is set to release his debut EP ‘Poisoned Reveries’. Callum’s sound combines finger-picked folk riffs with a stunning falsetto voice and rich harmonies. With support from blogs including DIY, Dork and Crack In The Road and radio play with BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6Music, Callum’s previous releases have frequently landed on Spotify's coveted 'New Music Friday' playlists across Europe and Asia. 2019 promises to be an important year for Callum on the live side too, with festival appearances at The Great Escape, Deer Shed, Wild Paths and This Is Tomorrow confirmed ahead of a full UK tour in October.

“Callum Pitt… harnesses the lilting nature of Americana, producing some intricate guitar licks and roll-off-the-tongue lyrics that converge into a swelling chorus that sweeps you off your feet.” (DIY)

"Loggerheads" by Picsel (side project of Broken Fires) is a post punk pop breeze

The upbeat post punk / pop track, Loggerheads by Picsel (UK), the side project of Broken Fires, with it's ear candy guitar melody and 90's college rock sound feels like something between the The Lemonheads and Weezer. The track is inspired by an episode of Freaks & Geeks where the nerd dates the cheerleader and "it all goes to shit" and as the band offers: "Loggerheads is about two people in a relationship realizing that they are completely incompatible."

‘Loggerheads’ is the first single to be taken from Picsel’s forthcoming debut album ‘Modern Life Discovery’, due out in September 2019.

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Robb Donker

One Sentence. Supervisor's tense psyche indie rock "Double You Pt. 2" feels like a fever dream

Double You Pt. 2 by Switzerland's alternative indie rock band One Sentence. Supervisor is a fever dream of a song. Tension builds instantly by the rushed cadence and almost mandolin splashes of electric guitar and rock drone chords amid vocals singing odd words "wire up tongues... wire up teeth... wire up memories." The result is a jagged avant garde post punk jag that goes down like an intoxicating drink that has a serious side kick of psychedelia. As the song moves and twists there are world music appendages of sound. A truly trippy song and I love the aesthetic. The tension builds and builds until it gets absolutely industrial and dirty.

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Robb Donker




THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM BUT MAY NOT UNDERSTAND THEM- PRESS NOTES:

«Acedia» designates a state of torpor, the exhaustion of one’s soul and beliefs. «Acedia» is the title of One Sentence. Supervisor’s third album. The phenomenon of acedia finds its roots in the pre-Middle Ages. Transposed to our times, it could be described as the dull discomfort one feels when flying to Barcelona for 25 Euros, before randomly ending up in a climate strike on the way to the beach bar. At the end of the day, we all know our lifestyle is a farce and that its price is way higher than what we could possibly imagine. How do we respond to our privilege? And to what extent do we really care about the world?

One Sentence. Supervisor’s activism has always been clever. Today’s big debates find an echo in the questions the band asks, being incorporated in many different ways into their creative output. Their new press pictures, for instance, are a good example of their wit: playing with the depiction of stereotypes that are stock photos, the five musicians pose as a «rock band», as well as «young and successful business people». A way of showing the divide between reality and the way it is portrayed.

Since „Temporär Musik 1-13“ (2017), their previous album, One Sentence. Supervisor have become a five-piece, welcoming virtuoso oud player Bahur Ghazi as a permanent member. Additionally, multi-instrumentalist Sarah Palin (Phil Hayes And The Trees, Boytoy, JJ & Palin, etc.) has replaced Dominik Meuter on the drums. The album was produced by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Hotel2Tango/Jerusalem In My Heart).

Winston Vista's audaciously romantic "Blue Luv" veers to the weird and the wonderful

Sometimes press notes are novel-esque and sometimes you literally know nothing about an artist and while I would prefer something in between these two extremes, in this case, I am content to just let the music do the talking (as they say).

The track Blue Luv by Winston Vista (which sounds like the name of a character in a John Waters film) is a spacy lo-fi affair steeped in a sort of indie film kind of romance. It sways like a slow dance with casio-fied tones, orchestrated synth rock strings, and a somber vocal performance that goes for broken hearted passion... the aesthetic here feels like intoxicated raw declarations rather than perfect tones. The last 30 seconds with the chorus slowed down feels eerie and even more indie / avant garde in that David Lynch sort of way. Interesting and cool. 

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Robb Donker