Hunt Sales gets it together, Low hit the market, Grapetooth bleed, Yukon Blonde go digital, Sabaton spell it out, Cameron Nickerson repeats himself and more in today’s Roundup. Let’s take it from the top:
1 | If Hunt Sales had done nothing but play drums on Iggy Pop‘s Lust For Life, he would have made a major contribution to rock ’n’ roll. But he’s done plenty more — including stints with David Bowie, Todd Rundgren, Bootsy Collins and others. On the flip side, he’s also been a junkie, a crackhead and a criminal. But now he’s finally got his shit together and made a new album — conveniently titled Get Your Shit Together — with his band Hunt Sales Memorial. And he’s previewing it with the video for the autobiographical cut One Day. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Whatever I brought to Iggy, whatever I brought to Bowie, whatever I brought to Rundgren … now I’m bringing that to myself, to my own work,” he says. Follow him on his Day above.
2 | Grocery shopping can be a chore. So can making videos. Why not kill two birds with one stone and do both at once? Hey, it works for Duluth slo-core trio Low in the clip for Always Trying to Work It Out, the latest single from their noisy new album Double Negative. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Friends and family star in a stroll through the grocery store; familiar fragments from memory appear; masks are filtering light.” Clean-up in Aisle 7:
3 | Everybody loves ’80s synth-pop — but Chicago duo Grapetooth really have it in the blood. Look no further than this video for their tellingly titled single The Blood, taken from their upcoming debut disc. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Blood video captures the intensity of the band’s sold out, raucous live shows for which they are becoming known.” Don’t you want them, baby:
4 | If you only watch one video today with cavemen, a hairy lizard man on a hoverboard, a clown, a cowboy kid and a bodybuilder, make it Feeling Digital, the eccentric new widescreen clip from Vancouver psych-rock outfit Yukon Blonde. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Feeling Digital is an exercise in anachronisms.” Sure, if you say so:
5 | A time of religion and war, legends tell the tale of a lion — this beast in the shape of a man with a dream to rule sea and land. Want to read more? Watch the new lyric video for The Lion From The North, the latest single from the concept album Caroulex Rex by Swedish power metal gods Sabaton. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “The concept album — which is the band’s biggest success to date — charts the rise and fall of the Swedish Empire, in particular the life of Charles XII (Carolus Rex) who ruled it for 21 years.” Prepare to get schooled:
6 | It’s deja vu all over again for Cameron Nickerson. Less than a week after sending out his latest single Rainy Day Thinkin’, the Halifax singer-songwriter is back with a black and white performance video of the song. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Rainy Day Thinkin’ is a long, dark exploration of relationships and loss, and is described by the singer-songwriter as a simple sad song with a glimpse of hope.” Once is not enough:
7&8 | We’ve got two for the show today from U.K. electro-pop duo Tender. Start with the hypnotically repetitive video for the slow-flowing Fear Of Falling Asleep. Then get bent out of shape with the same-but-different clip for the creepier, slinkier Closer Still. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lying awake at night, when it’s just me and my mind racing, that’s when I drift into the darkest parts of myself. Until I wrote these songs, I never really knew if anyone else struggled with those same thoughts and fears.” It beats counting sheep.
9 | Get yourself a pair of shoes every couple of months. So says Toronto’s Sam Lewis — a.k.a. Pleasure Craft — on his stylish single Back in the Game. Why? Figure it out for yourself as he explores an alienating urban landscape at night in his new video. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “I tried to compare everyday clothing to sports team uniforms. I tried to reflect on the identity I construct for myself and how people will spend most of their money just trying to belong.” That’s too much milk, dude!
10 | Love is where you find it — and when it comes to their new song Moderne Love, Vancouver post-punks Mode Moderne found it in mountain cabin. SEZ THE PRESS RELEASE: “Moderne Love is one of a handful of tracks that we wrote during a brotherly retreat to a cabin on Mount Baker. The goal of the trip was to reconnect with each other and free ourselves to the creative process. Moderne Love feels musically connected to Bona Drag-era Morrissey, but spiritually connected to Roadrunner by the Modern Lovers.” Heare ite nowe:
