I’ll admit it, I dove into the latest EP from Cheyenne Medders with skeptical curiosity. If you label your music as Americana and Space Rock, you’re likely crossing streams that should never be crossed. On the whole, the album is a quiet, guitar picking, solemn affair. However, the title track has some memorable textures and a bizarre twist ending that earns him the right to use that Space Rock label.Â
Tony Ortega – Never Mind the New World Order, Hillary Clinton
Tony Ortega facts:
1) He shares a namesake with the former Village Voice editor and current Scientology monitor, Tony Ortega
2) The title and art of his new EP is both patriotic and subversive. It’s also a bit funny.
3) The official release date is June 13th but you can listen to the lo-fi “I Feel Like a Cowboy†now.Â
This is a case for album art doing it’s work to entice listeners. I don’t have much of an opinion on the song itself but I’m quite curious to hear the whole EP just to see how the whole package may play off of itself.
Hurts to Laugh “I Triedâ€
FACT: Nothing ever really dies, especially when the Internet is involved. “I Tried†is a track from Hurts to Laugh first album, released in 2006. Now that the band has evolved to include Buddy Valens and Stevie Ray Ramone, they re-recorded the track and re-issued the video.Â
It’s an amusing green screen extravaganza and certainly has that 2006 sheen to it but it’s nice to see a band with the longevity of Hurts to Laugh finds new ways to reinvent the deeper cuts.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
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Jensen Sportag “Levitation Dreamâ€
I’m real late to the party but I’m just now coming across this new Jensen Sportag track posted in January.  By my count their last album, Stealth of Days, come out in late 2013. That’s a solid four years for any new output but they’ve always been known to take their time crafting some deluxe new direction and this new track is no exception. While still firmly embedded in the world of ethereal R&B, there’s a malfunctioning glitched out aspect to it; but in an atypical manner. As usual, Jensen Sportag defies tradition and has created something refreshingly unique.Â
The track is from a compilation album entitled Up Too Early but my hopes are still high that there’s a full album emerging soon from the world of Sportag.
Penicillin Baby – Who Cares
Pencillin Baby have continuously refined their formula of immersive psychedelic tunes with just the right amount of garage rock punch. I think their song “Working Man†from their 2016 Cryptic Fantasies EP is one of the most overlooked gems of Nashville in last year. So, don’t sleep on the new EP – Who Cares – as it’s sure to delivery more of the same.
Idle Bloom “Seekerâ€
You know what pairs well with a swelling big-riff rock song? Murder. Shady motel room POV Murder to be exact.Â
“Seeker†is from Idle Bloom’s full-length, Little Deaths, available everywhere.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
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The Lees of Memory -Â The Blinding White Of Nothing At All
Shoegaze aficionados The Lees of Memory have announced their next album, the joyously titled The Blinding White of Nothing At All. It’s available for pre-order via PledgeMusic where you can get the 2xLP, a test pressing, 4 track demos or even a tie-dye shirt.Â
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Volume 86
I’ll be honest, it’s easier than ever these days to put together a new edition of the podcast. There’s such a wild variety of great new music flowing freely from our fine city that the difficult part has become selecting just a half hour of music. It’s a great problem to have.
If you would like to be included in a future edition of our transmissions, just reach out!
- Future Crib – Reason
- Kim Logan – Monday Night Soul
- Scale Model – Other Voices
- Daddy Issues – I’m Not
- Levi J Miller – CASH
- Woodsplitter – Lord Of The Isles
- Chompsky – Sad Boy, Baby
- Future Crib – Draag
- Orchid – Wilder
Podcast: Download
Subscribe: RSS
Volume 86
Another blazing example of the wealth of diversity of styles that can be found emerging from Nashville. Melancholy pop, keyboard dancefloor jams, bedroom noodling and even some instrumental metal; Music City’s (secretly) got it all.
- Future Crib – Reason
- Kim Logan – Monday Night Soul
- Scale Model – Other Voices
- Daddy Issues – I’m Not
- Levi J Miller – CASH
- Woodsplitter – Lord Of The Isles
- Chompsky – Sad Boy, Baby
- Future Crib – Draag
- Orchid – Wilder
Podcast: Download
Subscribe: RSS
Steelism - “Eno Nothing†+ “Shake Your Heelâ€
Unsurprisingly, the first two new tracks from Steelism’s forthcoming sophomore LP, ism, are completely infectious. Nice to see them start branching out by adding guest vocalists. Lots more details on this over on The Cream, so I’m sure you already knew about it. Regardless, it’s fine work that’s going into heavy rotation.Â
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Solid Hex – PSA
The cover art for Solid Hex’s latest EP features the Twin Towers surrounded by smoke and a coastline of New York littered with televisions, radios, a beheaded Statue of Liberty and a copy of George Orwell’s 1984. What does it mean? How does the bedroom rock record play into this apocalyptic vision? Why is there a single track that is heavily produced that name drops Eminem?
We may never know the enigmatic secrets lurking in the mind of Solid Hex  but their snarling attitude throughout makes for an enjoyable listen.
Chompsky – Worst Of: A Year In Review: The Chompsky Bedroom Tape Sampler
God bless the weirdos of the world willing to noodle with sounds and experiments in their privacy of their own brains and then share their oddities with the world.Â
The six song EP is a lo-fi pop album filled with bizarre guitar sounds, melancholy observations and often baffling edits. It’s a refreshing dose of honest creativity and the self-deprecating title just makes me like it even more.Â
Be sure not to miss the accompanying videos as well – they’re an excellent augmentation to the whole project.