New Tunes 7.6.2024

Hello music lovers! 🎶

The week is over, summer is almost here, music is playing everywhere I look, and here are my thoughts. The #newtunes music suggestions will keep us going for the weekend and beyond. There are well-known, lesser-known, and (as yet) unknown artists ready to entertain us. You may already know some of them, while others will be entirely new to you.

The least we can offer them is to listen to their new creations. The melodies and sounds of different genres and styles may or may not entice you to dig deeper.
What you don't like, you can skip.

Music4life!

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Vampire Weekend – Classical

We'll start with the most famous band (in this post), Vampire Weekend, from New York. They have been one of the most prominent attractions in indie rock since 2006. With their latest album, their fifth, ambitiously titled Only God Was Above Us, released in April this year, they have risen even higher than their previous position on the music scene. Music critics have already named it the best pop album of the year, even though half of the year is still to come.
I chose the song Classical, but nothing is " classical ". It sounds like a collision of unbridled guitar psychedelia and a seemingly mellow pop song, which is later taken over by a daring jazz solo on the saxophone. I highly recommend listening to the entire album.

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Shepherds Reign - Ala Mai

Shepherds Reign is a band from Auckland, New Zealand. This is my first time listening. Since 2018, they have been known for their unique use of traditional Polynesian instruments, especially percussion, and for their energetic and melodic heavy metal.
The guitars chop, the drums pound, and the Samoan language they sing fits this kind of music. Ala Mai means Awaken. It's like some version of Polynesian Soulfly if you ask me.
For fans of the genre.

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Sam Snitchy - First

Sam Snitchy is a poet and musician from Bern, Switzerland. Three weeks ago, he released his second album, Talking Talking. Sam represents the so-called anti-dance scene. He sets his lyrics and verses from the most backstreets of Bern on a soundtrack by multi-instrumentalist Marc Fuorigioco.
With harshly realistic, sometimes even metaphorically humorous lyrics, he puts us in the shoes of the streets of Bern on the one hand. He holds up a mirror to our failings on the other. The musical style is intangible, original, I would say, because we hear a lot of things: beat, rap, pop, synth... the closest I would put it to Suicide.
I recommend the whole album.

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High On Fire - Burning Down

High On Fire is a Californian trio that plays sludge metal (and very intensely). They have released nine albums, the last one, Cometh the Storm, in April this year.
The band's metal charge, stoner flow, and sludge packed with powerful guitar riffs combined with fierce rhythmic rumbling and jumps, all smothered with slight psychedelia (even if you don't watch the video), take the listener into complex sonic dimensions that are hard to escape from.

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Ottla - Duck

Ottla is a Belgian band led by guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Bert Dockx. It is a new band for me, but I was attracted to it because I had already listened to Bert Dockx as frontman of the international trio of the excellent guitar attraction Dans Dans.
Ottla, a sextet that has been harmoniously playing together since 2019, has already left a significant mark on the music scene with two albums, the latest being 'Vogel' released in April this year. Their music is not just shaping but redefining contemporary jazz in Europe. I'm sure Marc Ribot and John Zorn will be happy and highly recommend immersing yourself in the whole album.
I chose the song Duck for the presentation, mainly because they sometimes treat a well-known top band of which I am a fan. Whoever guesses which one in the comments gets a prize! :)

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The Albinos - Bet You Don't

The Albinos, from Houston, Texas, is the new name for me. As I read, they've been playing since last August. They released a couple of singles and their debut album, Montana, in April of this year. They consider themselves a noisy garage-psych band. What captivates me is the vintage 1960s sound that infuses every song with the polished production of our time.
I've always been drawn to this particular sound, so I brought it up. Where and how far they will go is the question. I will continue to track them.

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Dandy Warhols - I Will Never Stop Loving You (feat. Debbie Harry)

The Dandy Warhols are one of the bands I've been following for a long time, practically since they started in 1994. They've released thirteen albums, the last one, Rockmaker, in March this year. A couple of days ago, I came across the previous single from that album, I Will Never Stop Loving You, in which they sing the praises of Debbie Hary, the diva of punk and new wave. Debbie Hary is 78 years old now.
But the video with her archive footage is worth a look at.

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Wild the Coyote - Only Kings

Wild the Coyote is a Tempelton, California guitarist who has been making music since 2017. It's a new name for me. Dark, heavy, folk-rock storyteller with swampy vocals.
His music often delves into the complexities of navigating life in our globalized, postmodern world. In this world, the old rules have lost their influence, and everyone is left to interpret the new ones from their own position of strength and dominance.
Only Kings is the opening song of the new EP Blessed with Curses, which will be released next month.

🎶That's all for today, and enjoy your weekend with new songs!

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newtunes2024 31.5.2024, 24.5.2024, 17.5.2024, 10.5.2024, 3.5.2024, 26.4.2024, 19.4.2024, 12.4.2024, 5.4.2024, 29.3.2024, 22.3.2024, 15.3.2024, 8.3.2024, 1.3.2024, 23.2.2024, 16.2.2024, 9.2.2024, 2.2.2024, 19.1.2024, 12.1.2024, 5.1.2024

If you're interested in #newtunes suggestions from the past five years, you can listen to them at these links - there are Spotify playlists for each year:

newtunes2019 | newtunes2020 | newtunes2021 | newtunes2022 | newtunes2023

If you like rare and alternative live performances, take a look at my recordings - 3speak video channel, or Seckorama Music Podcast - audio.

If you like jazz, I recommend Jazz-Matinee regular Sunday blog by @w74.

And here's something else:
I post everything in the @ecency front-end. So, I invite you to support Ecency Development And Maintenance #4 Proposal because I (and many others, too) would like to keep using it.

Support and vote for those exceptional witnesses:
@good-karma, @liotes, @fbslo and @detlev.witness.

Music4life!
Listen loud!