Bedouine cruises, The Story Changes skate, MaYan make a power play and more in today’s Roundup. Is anybody else digging Fosse/Verdon on FX? I sure am. But that’s probably because I interviewed Gwen Verdon in person once in the ’90s and thought she was pretty cool. Turns out I didn’t know the half of it.
1 L.A. singer-songwriter Azniv Korkejian — who goes by the musical alter-ego Bedouine — channels the spirit of Joni Mitchell while she cruises the streets in Echo Park, the latest single from her May 31 release Bird Songs of a Killjoy. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Echo Park started as kind of a joke. I was annoyed that my usual café was busy and there was nowhere to sit. I turned back around to my apartment, picked up the guitar, and started riffing on the neighborhood – it ended up being a really fun tune. I love my neighborhood but the rate at which things change can make your head spin. This song is about hanging on for dear life.” Nice wheels:
https://youtu.be/TJLrToj-juU
2 Who would win in a battle between nerds and punks? I think we know the answer to that one. Or do we? For the whole truth, check out the video for Dayton indie-rockers The Story Changes’ track Shooting Stars — an early introduction to their album To Hell With This Delicate Equation, out Friday. And lace up your skates. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Mark McMillon of The Story Changes says, “I love the feel of 80s movies, and what’s not to love about two rival gangs of ‘nerds’ and ‘punks’ battling it out at their local roller rink? I think everyone can relate a little to the nerds as they get picked at until they finally snap and retaliate. I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of the line in that rink when the nerds say enough is enough.” Roll ’em:
3 Power is not a right. It is not a privilege. It is a process, according to the typographically aggressive Dutch symphonic death-metal collective MaYan and their new video for the single The Power Process. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Marcela Bovio comments: “We’re very excited to share with you our new videoclip The Power Process! We had the pleasure of working again with Arno de Haas, who also directed the videoclip of Saints Don’t Die. Can you guess who the story was inspired by? :)” Power up:
4 British singer-songwriter Marika Hackman’s darkly crunching pop-rock single is titled I’m Not Where You Are. I presume she means that in the emotional and relationship sense as opposed to literally, since I can see by looking around that she’s not in my backyard. Unless she’s hiding behind the shed with that little pot-bellied pig of hers. Are you there, Marika? SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “i’m not where you are “is about breaking up with people, or self-sabotaging relationships” Marika explains. “That feeling of not trusting one’s emotions because you can’t seem to get to the same place as the other person. On the surface, it seems like an arrogant everybody falls in love with me” kind of song but its actually incredibly lonely, introspective and self-deprecating.” OK, that explains it. But what about the pig?
5 Some folks think clothes make the man. But teenage Philadelphia singer-songwriter Grant Pavol knows it takes more than that. Last month, he asked us to try his Vintage Clothes on for size. Now he wants us to check out his Hair. Thankfully, his breezy pop tunes don’t make him sound even slightly as vain as these blurbs seem to. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “A quote from Grant: “The song was inspired by a rather disturbing scene I witnessed in a barbershop last summer, and takes on themes of restraint, anxiety, and detached neutrality/apathy explored in the song.” It’s a cut above:
6 Hungry for some skewed electronica? Manchester’s own Loft — whose family and friends presumably know here as Aya Sinclair — feeds your need with the new track And Eats Itself And Eats Itself And Eats Itself, from her oddly titled May 3 EP and departt from mono games. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The track sounds like acid house being reassembled in a myriad of unpredictable twists and turns as quickly as it’s being disassembled from its original form. … Whiplash-inducing drum patterns and beautiful ambient synth waves are twisted and contorted, expertly thrown together and built up into a blistering, breath-taking crescendo of storming break beats and blown out bass. and departt from mono games is an exhilarating continuation of a sound that’s increasingly hard to classify, separating LOFT from the crowd and confirming why she’s undoubtedly one to watch.” Dig in:
