BAND OF BADGERS PRESENTS MORE BITESIZED MUSIC

Picture taken from the band's official Facebook page

It is just non stop madness right now. Who am I kidding, it has been that way since as far back as I can remember trying to juggle all the things I am doing. Still going strong though so here's some more. As always I have so much on my list - no I mean lists. You should see the collage of post-it notes on my laptop desktop. Then there are physical post-it notes with scribbles and lists on all over the place too. If we had those fridge magnet letters you can get (they were a source of fun in my student house years ago) I dare say there would be notes about music even there. Ever-expanding lists getting longer and longer. It's almost like a nightmare of lists but the music is all so incredibly awesome it could never be a nightmare. Again, there are some top new albums being put out by some of my more established favourites I'd like to cover but there just isn't enough time in the day. Most recently, 30 Seconds To Mars have released their latest record and I haven't even had chance to take a first listen yet so I couldn't even say hit or miss or maybe or yey or need another listen. I'll try and get on that soon.

Picture taken from the band's official Facebook page

Exciting me like I'm Charlie having just won the most coveted prize of all time in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, complete with those little orange and green fellows the Oompa Loompas (who can serenade me all day long with their wise little Oompa Loompa melodies) is the prospect of new Kings Of Leon material. Not only this but every time I hear one of their previous classics on the radio lately I'm instantly reminded I'm actually going to be seeing them live in Birmingham next month. NEXT MONTH! As in roughly 4 or 5 weeks people! If only you could see how high up this makes me float. I've seen some recent footage on YouTube and the new stuff is sounding good. I know these guys got a bit of stick when they just had to stop and take some time out but jeez guys, lets cut them some slack. It doesn't matter how much money they end up commanding and thus earning from their music they are only human and the kind of extensive touring and recording schedule they were working to makes me collapse from exhaustion just reading about it. Even after going for a run this evening. They seem to have gone away, had that much needed R&R time they requested and are now ready to return fully rested and fresh to make us fans quiver at their brilliance. Here's to the 10th July!! I may just faint like one of those screaming girls you see at the front of One Direction concerts. Yuk - I had to go and ruin it and mention something like that atrocity didn't I? Or as my five year old niece refers to them One Directions. Fear not, I am on the mission of vastly improving her music tastes!

Anywho, as time is so precious I will cease immediately with the waffleage and crack on sharing. It's not like I don't have a million other posts on the go right now! Wood Festival review is coming folks, I promise. 

fiN **NEW VIDEO**

Certainly no strangers to this blog, the thoroughly hardworking and deserving, truly one of, if not the, most independent indie bands there is out there at the moment, fiN! This is a brand new video for the song The Truth Lies In Honesty, taken from their superb debut album Life Is Wasted On The Living.

As described too, everything you see and hear has been completely 100% done, performed and produced by the members that make up fiN. Even the releasing they do themselves. You see why these are indie to the core. On their website they mention the fun they had making the video and this shines through like a beacon from deep space! http://www.lifeiswastedontheliving.com/

LET'S GET LOCAL AND PARTY IN PARIS

Forget Paris for a wee moment (although I do love the name of this band), this 4-piece alternative indie rock band certainly know how to put Northampton on the map. Hailing from the town where I live, their sound is smack you in the face fantastic! You know the kind of way I mean. You hear a band play and they sound so tight and accomplished - so ready to rock the roof off any venue they're at, you kind of get smacked in the face but absolutely love it. It ends up being a huge talking point. Party In Paris manage to do this. Admittedly I'm yet to see them live but I'm fully prepared and will ensure I do ASAP!

Just have a listen to their big banging single Distraction. You will get well and truly distracted but only from anything and everything else you were thinking you might do while having that listen. The music via this song will hook you in and probably not even release you by its end. Presence! That's what I'd say these guys have and I'm gutted I missed their gig last Friday as it would have been an awesome opportunity to catch them and to hear more tunes from the album in a glorious live setting. 

They have been working hard recording and finishing off their debut album Desolate which is coming out on JULY 29th so not too much longer to wait. The great news is you can even pre-order a copy and receive it the day before its release by clicking >>here<<. For just £8 too! Bargain! Desolate will also be available via all the usual digital platforms too of course. The single Distraction is available NOW via iTunes >>here<<. You know the drill by now - let me hear those clicks as you get that single and pre-order what promises to be one of the indie albums of the summer! Do have a watch of the band's Video Diary too because they are rather funny (YouTube channel is >>here<<). And what a remarkable b-side they have for Distraction with The Replacement, above. The full single including both these songs is available from their online store >>here<<. https://www.facebook.com/PartyInParisband

THREADS

Stay right where you are. For me that means right here in my (current) home town for another amazing indie rock band from Northampton, Threads. These guys supported Party In Paris at that gig I missed on Friday. Seriously, me missing these gigs is not good. I need shooting. But then I won't be able to go to the gigs as they roll in the future as I'll be recovering in some hospital. Possibly with missing parts. Let's get back to the awesome music and I will be catching Threads live at what for me is an old student haunt, The Pennywhistle. Oh the memories. I will no doubt feel as ancient as a crone but I do not care because music this awesome needs supporting and when it's local I'm getting right on board that bus.

This 4-piece group are off on the road for a mini tour next month with Essex-based pop punk band Forever After who I will follow up in another post shortly. The bands will be taking in Harlow, East London, Birmingham, Colchester as well as that date in Northampton. So please, any of you folks in or near these areas please get down and support them. Like Party In Paris, Threads have a real accomplishment to their sound but it is something rather different to those guys. They compliment each other of course but naturally it is only a great thing they each sound so distinct.

Picture from the band's Facebook credit: Matt Taylor Photography

I was hugely impressed when checking out their stuff and went so far as to pay for their superb EP Surgery, available via bandcamp and for you to check out above. It is a name your price deal so of course you can get it absolutely FREE. This blog and my podcast is all on that fantastic FREE music BUT please if you can spare a quid or two or even more then please do. Then Threads can continue making more marvelous music for you and venture out even further afield to woo you in the flesh. If you want a physical copy of the EP you can get one from the band's online store >>here<<. http://www.wearethreads.co.uk/

FOREVER AFTER

Well, it would be rude of me to mention another band and not feature at least a song or video or something to showcase their music to you. Here's Game Over to whet your appetite.

I will still be following this up with more from Forever After in due course! https://www.facebook.com/foreverafteruk

LEW BEAR HEADS 

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE

I grieve that my lack of time prevents me including a proper write up review of this truly stunning album, Down By The Riverside from Lew Bear (aka Lewis Robinson). Once again we need not travel afar for great independent, heartfelt music. Isn't Echoes Of The Past just so stunning? It is one heck of a magnificent song. Off the page amazing! I really love Merry Tom too. Heck, there's so much to love about the whole thing.

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Please take a listen to these couple of superb tracks featured on the album and get clicking crazy as you pre-order it from >>here<<. The music, arrangements and style of this record isn't all that makes it unique. Oh no. It was also fully recorded live and outside in nature. Various backgrounds and ambiances were featured, including birdsong, running water and wind. There has been no overdubs or effects added afterwards. It really makes for such a wonderfully atmospheric layered sound. Naturally layered though, as opposed to in a studio as is the typical way.

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I can only apologise my review isn't up and ready yet but I can assure you I have many more words of praise to share with you about Down By The Riverside. And soon! The album is released on 16th June so don't miss out! Click >>here<< to pre-order NOW! http://www.lewbear.co.uk

FUCHSIA's GIRL FROM KANDAHAR

Yes, you older readers have read this name correctly. 70s progressive folk legends Fuchsia are soon to release their first album in 40 years. I know. That is a mighty huge gap between records but you know what, who cares? Progressive folk music is well and truly back on the scene and rightly so. The young ones such as the likes of Syd Arthur are doing some pretty amazing and mind-bending stuff but there's always room for some of the originals to step back up to the mark and show the world they still have what it takes. Not only to bring back a fresh piece of that psychedelic decade so you can smell the herbs in the air, but also to show they have something original to offer multiple generations and 21st century music fans.

If Girl From Kandahar is a shape of the forthcoming album then we are in for one heck of a tasty banquet. From Psychedelia...To A Distant Place is released on 17th June and has already been delighting the ears of reviewers from the national press. Please click >>here<< to have a listen to Girl From Kandahar via Soundcloud. 

Talking of the track, band leader Tony Durrant said;

“I wandered past a news agents and something caught my eye in the window, a photo of a girl. But something about the photo, something I could not quite process, drew my attention to it. Something not quite right. As I got closer I noticed the 'Time Magazine' header, and then I suddenly drew back, as I saw what had caught my attention. It was this beautiful dark haired Afghani girl, who stared out proudly, but there was something strange about her, something I could not put my finger on. I moved closer to the shop window. Then I realised in shock what was wrong... where her nose should have been was a dark crater, a hole, a shadow . She was this poor girl who had defied what parental and tribal convention had decreed, much to the chagrin of her parents. And that was where the Taliban stepped in, slashing off her nose and her ears as a warning to others.

So there it was. The girl from Kandahar. What must life be like for a young girl like that? Where do you go? Who to talk to? What possesses people to do this sort of thing? And so the song tells the story of the innocent girl trapped in a system where there seems little hope of escape. How thin is this veneer of humanity and we all shy at the horrors of what people are capable of..”

...shades of Robyn Hitchcock, latter day Lilac Time and pastoral-Psych Floyd.. Uncut

Returning with dignity and verve, Durant's created a worthy follow-up to his age-old gem.. Record Collector

JAMES YOUNGER
BACK FOR ANOTHER MONDAY MORNING

I covered this excellent tune Monday Morning from James Younger a few posts ago and now James is back with a unique video for the track.

It is unique because of its originality. Deliberately lo-fi, it features a nice little visual tribute to XTC's Making Plans for Nigel at the end. James has his album Feelin American due out soon. This record is a collection of songs influenced by classic US bands and artists such as The Strokes, The White Stripes and The Cars. https://www.facebook.com/jamesyoungermusic

TIME FOR THE BRIEFS

I have to do it almost EVERY TIME don't I? Sorry. So....yea.....there's always just way too much so I can't but share some things with much less waffleage. Enjoy!

TRUE APOTHECARY - LOW ON GAS BUT THERE'S FUEL IN THEIR MUSIC

These guys followed me first on Twitter, I believe and checking out their tunes I was mesmerized and captivated. Check out their wonderfully titled EP I'm Low On Gas And You Need A Jacket below and be sure to grab your copy. There are FREE downloads available peoples of the blogosphere. 

Picture taken from the band's Facebook page

If doing so via bandcamp this is a name your price deal, like with the Threads offer earlier. If you really dig this music (and if you don't I want to know the reason why because it is quality), and you can afford to part with a couple of little £'s or $'s or whatever your currency is converted from based on where in this wonderful world you find yourself then please do so. Right, this is supposed to be the brief section I hear you all shouting loudly in my direction. I shall cease rambling now and get on. Lots more from True Apothecary to come on the blog soon. http://www.trueapothecarymusic.com/

SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THOSE
NARROW PLAINS

It was via some tweet I stumbled across the beautiful music of Narrow Plains. They remind me of a cross between The Lumineers and Dry The River (well, the more acoustic side of them) after a fashion, to name just two. And I mean this as the biggest kind of compliment to them and their music. I never feel like they offer up an amalgamation of those bands' music though of course. Narrow Plains are original and play some pretty damn impressive tunes!

Just this sample of three tracks from their recent EP Somewhere In Between will get you exstatically excited and working on finding your way somewhere in between to demand plenty more music from them. You can get the EP via iTunes >>here<<. You'd do well to keep your eyes and ears on this stunning 3-piece acoustic folk rock trio. They are currently unsigned which is a crime. I don't foresee this being the case for too much longer, that's for sure. Needless to say (but I'm typing it), much more from these guys in the future. http://narrowplains.com/

SEAN GRANT

Returning back to Northampton for more tip top local talent with singer-songwriter Sean Grant. One word for the moment - IMPRESSIVE. HUGELY IMPRESSIVE to be fair. Okay, that is indeed two words. I can count. So great I'm struggling to know if I should share the video or the soundcloud. And so to hopefully assist with more listens for Sean I'm sharing both. Not that music this amazing needs my help. Support is what it is all about though and that is my thing.

The soundcloud track is We The Working Class, a song about Sean's grandfather. It is a rather beautiful and poignant life story piece. Real music about real people. I know musicians write about these things all the time but there are some who really connect with a listener in a more fundamental kind of way. Sean Grant is one of these from what I've heard so far.

The video is for Hoist The Sails and serves to demonstrate even more so how Sean has that really special something. I just know this will translate tenfold or more when he performs live. I best get on top of my schedule then and make sure I get to a local gig soon! http://seangrant.co.uk/

LEVELLERS - THE BOATMAN

It's always difficult to choose a favourite song from a band's music. This is even more so for one of my very first ultimate top favorite bands of all-time! This is a coveted position the Levellers have held for me ever since I was first introduced to the mood-altering epic nature of folk rock masterpiece Levelling The Land.  The Boatman is just such a song too.

For the first time since 2005 I was unable to get my ass to one of their gigs last year although I certainly made up for it in the years before. One year I clocked up about five Levellers shows. This video was taken as they appeared at Bearded Theory Festival last month. Their own festival Beautiful Days sold out last week too, as it does each and every year. I am so glad I made sure I got my tickets early. Counting down the days. http://www.levellers.co.uk/

I REALLY MUST GET BRIEF NOW...

Yes, even now there is still more music I MUST share. No waffle as no time but I'll revisit these over the next few months.

THE EPSTEIN **Live Video**

I will be revisiting this awesome alternative indie folk band sooner rather than later as I have their stunning new album to review. It is breathtaking to be quite honest and I cannot wait to share my words about it up here on the blog. Check out this wonderful LIVE VIDEO of the band as they were featured on Radio 1 in The Netherlands. It is a treat. http://www.theepstein.com/

WHITEMOOR ON THE HORIZONS 

**NEW ALBUM**

I have my copy and I will get a review up. I am drowning in new albums to review but I've said many a time before, I quite like this state of affairs. I'll be sure to get some words up soon as I can but in the meantime please do check it out and get yourself a copy.

It is available via iTunes >>here<<. Or visit the band's website at http://www.whitemoor.co.uk/ for more ways to bag it including the beautiful snazzy hard copy CD.

ROB JOHNSON IS ONT' SOFA
For the Ont' Sofa Gibson Sessions with the instrumental tune Eve. WOW!

BEN GRANT 

MAKING THE MOST OF THINGS

This one literally just in as Ben Grant shared this track on his Soundcloud via Twitter this afternoon. It is superb! Wish I had time to write more about it here but in time, I will do. In the meantime enjoy and check out more of his stuff please.

Well, that is it then for the moment folks. Apologies for having to rush the ending and leave right now but I have Star Trek Into Darkness to go see. I know, I know, I am about 6 weeks late or something but I'm a busy fella. Loads more coming at ya in the next few weeks. I'm doing my best but there's so much. Lots of reviews to come as I keep saying but they are coming. And also a second cloudcast via Mixcloud, finally. It is the TV Tunes special I mentioned a while back and I am really excited about it as there are some really great songs from bands and artists on the playlist. It will be longer than the usual podcast hour though, so be warned. Anywho, must dash. Peace to you all!

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