le skunk – Putter

Leveraging context clues, I’m going to say that le skunk is a new band just getting their feet wet. There’s a total of six songs available from them and zero additional information – no Facebook, no Twitter, nothing. Maybe this is intentional or maybe they’re still getting it together.

However, that shouldn’t be read as a condemnation but, rather, as an exciting prospect for what they’ve got in store. Their latest (and technically first) EP, Putter, starts off like a lost AC/DC track but quickly reveals itself as a brilliant dose of pop rock with garage sensibilities. Both “Nothing to Lose” and “One of a Kind” are catchy as hell with their subtle keyboards, call-and-response chorus and constant driving guitars.

It may just be six songs so far but the track record is impressive. Let’s hope we hear a lot more from this outfit, whoever they may be.

Makeup and Vanity Set – PRIS

Makeup and Vanity Set puts out a great deal of music; as of November 2017 he launched a subscription service that offers no less than seven full-length albums of content. That’s a lot of albums for six months. This fact that can often lead to the assumption that the quality of output does match the quantity. Fortunately that is not the case here.

PRIS, the latest offering to emerge from the subscription as a non-exclusive is largely dark and foreboding (as MAVS releases tend to be) but there’s a tone that is much less Horror Film and more Troubled Sci-Fi. The track Lover(s) exemplifies this subtle shift as it carries an overall lighter, almost optimistic, vibe that gets undercut by a sense of imbalance.

In general, original instrumental music can be tough to nail down when it’s not directly tied to a visual narrative because you’re literally relying on the sounds to tell you a story. Taking cues from the song titles and the change in vibe, there’s certainly a story being told with PRIS, it’s just up to you to unearth it.

The R. Stevie Moore Primer

I am fascinated by R. Stevie Moore but I’ve rarely seen an interview or summation of his work that was easily digestable and encapsulated the vastness of his work. He’s either quickly summed up as “pioneer of home recording” or referenced as “that guy that puts out every song he’s ever made.” I’m guilty of both.

Fortunately, this 3-minute piece from Great Big Story does a great job of letting R. Stevie Moore explain R. Stevie Moore. In his own words, he walks through his history of recording, his recent embrace by a wider audience and, most importantly, why his catalog of work is so huge.

Cortney Tidwell – “Be Gentle”

While I patiently wait for the new full-length album from Cortney Tidwell I am happy to report she’s putting out music under the moniker Fever Queen; complete with it’s own Soundcloud. The latest release is a 14 minute, largely improvised, track called “Be Gentle” written in honor of her mother.

Fourteen minutes is a long time for any song but there’s a meditative state that this is capable of putting you in if you embrace it. Turn it up loud and let those booming drums wrap you up tight, like a good ole fashioned swaddling.

7: The Three Kennedys

In Episode Seven, Vidalotry explores Gore Vidal’s entrance into the Kennedy inner circle. Host Ryan Breegle looks at Gore’s family ties to Jackie, the bad blood between Gore and Bobby, and his thoughts on what really led to the assassination of John F Kennedy.

SOURCES:
Books:
The Best Man 1968, Esquire, March 1963
Palimpsest: A Memoir, Gore Vidal, 1995
Empire Of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal, Jay Parini, 2015

Audio:
60 Minutes, CBS, 1975
Profile of a Writer, 1978
Afternoon Plus, 1981
JFK, A Personal Tribute, 1993
The Clive Anderson Show, Channel 4, 1993
We The People with Jerry Brown, July 8 1996

Halloween in May

In this tenth episode blowout extravaganza, Tristen provides a wonderful new theme song while Ashley and Jamie invite their lawyer Brooks aboard Hott Minute to take a deep dive into the Bag of Hotties. Competitive analysis takes place in a head to head challenge and trio dives into Hott Takes on the latest US Weekly.

Discussions include Betty White, Alicia Vikander, Kyle Maclachlan, Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes, Trent Reznor, Dave Franco, Michael Shannon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tom Petty, D’Angelo from that one video, Jordan Peele, Mitt Romney, Dick Van Dyke, Catherine Keener, That Bassist from Pearl Jam with the Hats, Jemaine Clement, Chance the Rapper, present day Dolly Parton to name a few.

MUTHA LUH 2

Spotify Playlist


Listen on Spotify

Theme song by Tristen
New Album Sneaker Waves available now.

Spotify / Vinyl

Artwork by Elizabeth Williams
BG Music by Upright T-Rex Music

Billy Bennett – Moral Calculus

There’s not a wealth of music available from Billy Bennett but after seeing some footage from his Record Store Day performance at Fond Object, I was intrigued to find what was available. To date, he has two EPs – Placate Your Illusion (from 2015) and Moral Calculus, released in July 2017. It’s not a ton to go off of to form an opinion but what’s here is quite good.

The headlining track of the latest EP, entitled “Patchwork Man”, flows between several movements of style all paying homage to different types of 60’s psychedelia, without feeling like they’re aping that style. The first two minutes are a Jefferson Airplane-esque romp before sliding into an absolutely breezy, saxophone fueled, sparseness. Maybe that’s overly flowery language to describe what’s happening but give it a whirl and I think you’ll agree.

The second track, “Centimental”, is a bit more languishing and crooning but every bit as subtlety experimental in the styles it fuses together. On the whole, the two tracks are a promising hint at a potential full-length album that could span any number of genres while still feeling like Billy Bennett.

Meth Dad – “Witness” (feat. Cherub)

Very pleased to premiere “Witness” (featuring Cherub), a brand new track from Meth Dad‘s forthcoming album SWATE DRAMES (due July 6th on Stay Magical Records). It’s an excellent example of the diverse style that Meth Dad is capable of and the inherit darkness they inject into their work. While Cherub’s vocal contribution lean towards their expectedly sexy R&B crooning, Meth Dad bends the track into something altogether ominous and brooding while still releasing a feeling of catharsis.

For more off examples of the goodness coming our way from the new album, you can tune into Volume 106 of the WOTT Music podcast in which we played “Bones” and I stumbled through the proper pronunciation of the album title or hit up their Bandcamp to hear “So Real.”

Gameboi – Kroger sells this wine that’s like three dollars. Yeah​.​.​. That’s what this is.

With a title like Kroger sells this wine that’s like three dollars. Yeah​.​.​. That’s what this is. you’d think you’d be getting a complete shit show of music but the this latest offering from the enigmatic Gameboi is quite the opposite. It’s a collection of laid back, dreamy, guitars intermixed with the occasional, presumably drunken, R&B style crooning.

Soft Robot – “She’s Nice” (Official Video)

If you listened to Volume 107 of the WOTT Music podcast you heard the track “She’s Nice” from Soft Robot‘s latest release, Holographic Wonder Boy.

You also heard me confess to knowing very little about the band, a fact that holds true with the exception of the fact that I now know that there’s an extremely well made, psychedelic, dream-y video for the song. I suggest watching it now as there’s no shortage of trippy in-camera effects, strange transitions, and visual allusions that may or may not mean anything (what’s up with that seashell?).

Jordan Lehning – Nonet for Strings

According to this tweet, Jordan Lehning wrote this 9-piece string arrangement about a month ago, had it performed at a house show, tracked it shortly thereafter and then released it on streaming media. Not too shabby of a turnaround for such an elegant presentation.

Classical style music doesn’t get much love here on the site but that’s out of ignorance, not preference. If anyone else in town is creating pieces akin to this – lush and moving – please let me know.

Cloudmouth – “Nice Looking Mountain”

We are proud to announce a debut track from Cloudmouth off their forthcoming full-length, Dark Energy (due May 18th). Musically, the track layers on from the style of their previous release, Drunk On What I Am, with a deceiving core of folk instrumentation undercut by an ominous vibe building and exploding with a dramatic outpouring of cello and strings. Lyrically, the song speaks to the difficulty of maintaining a healthy mental state, ultimately dragged down by the apex of the song.

Cloudmouth has been around for four years now and really seem to be fully realizing what they do best. As with any band, you hope that the next release is better than the last and “Nice Looking Mountain” is an excellent preview into what the band is going to bring forth.