The surprise resurfacing of
Toni Halliday is always a welcome thing, even if the music doesn’t hold a candle to her spellbinding vocals.
The British singer and songwriter made her mesmerizing mark in the ‘90s as one half of acclaimed guitar-, electro-, and beats-driven alternative music duo
Curve (with musical mastermind
Alan Moulder on production duties).
A detailed Biography and Discography of Curve’s work can be found in my A Guide To The Recordings Of… Curve at this site.
Detailed information about Toni Halliday’s other musical collaborations during and after Curve can be found in my Whatever Happened To Toni Halliday Of Curve? at The Record Stache.
I know they’re on
Sub Pop. I know they’re relative big. That’s all I know. Humungous, quickly lurching Vs. slowly lumbering sound with menacing vocals. Noise rock at its finest? Oh, and I just found out it was recorded by
Steve Albini at Electrical Audio as part of a 2-track “Slow Decay” single (I think).
3.
Cleopatrick – “The Drake
I championed this emotionally raw and raging noise rock two-piece of lifelong Canadian friends from near the start of their career, although I hadn’t followed them all the way through until right now, tuning into the release of this new single with lyrics that kick back at the bullies of their childhood.
4.
a/lpaca – “Beat Club”
Blank out your mind on the dancefloor with this driving and repetitive number from a band I’ve never heard of until now. The Italian psych-rock/post-punk group’s debut album
Make It Better will arrive March 19th via
WWNBB.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – “Oddlife”
Can’t get odder than the band’s name, right? The outfit spark it up and daze out to quickly pattering rhythms on a restless track from November-released LP
K.G..
The Effens – “Pavement Age”
All I know is this indie rock band hail from Toronto, Canada, and this missive is kick-ass.
By Katie On The X
Dec 18, 2020
Donny Donovan and Carolyn Hilliard are partners that make up the dark indie pop band Dinosoul. Donny and Carolyn, who also work together in various projects around Pittsburgh, came up with the name when Donny got a haircut that made them look like a Stegosaurus (BTRtoday).
The pair have completely different vocal styles - but between the two of them, it makes for a really powerful sound. Their web bio describes it best. The joint contrasting vocals, one lower and raspy, the other ethereal and airy, adds another element to draw the listener into the group s emotional songs and messages. -Dinosoul
Rider Shafique (punchline), with
Jan Wagner taking care of music production, engineering, and mixing duties.
The Aint About Me ensemble create an unusual and entrancing stylistic hybrid, melding atmospheric ambient music with jazz and symphonic/classical music accents and a gentle flow of deeply contemplative, trip-hop-derived spoken word.
The vibe is relaxing and restless all at once; soothing and calm on the surface, but searching and urgent underneath.
“I could tell my story in a thousand and one ways / and none of them would be the same / but all of them would be true…” – “let’s kiss and forget”
Each composition is an exploration of the thought process through time, finding meaning in daily life (“writing words is like throwing stones at the sun”), relationships with others (“watch my hand move as I pocket the blues you see nothing”), and the inner psyche (“happiness is a long equation”).