Scratch Buffalo shoot back, Mark Clennon is not perfect, yApex calls an intermission and more in today’s Roundup. Monday, amiright?
1 Chris Naish gets full points for being a good sport — back in 2010, I mercilessly mocked one of his previous singles in newspapers and on websites from coast to coast. Last week, he shared that old review online — and to his credit, graciously refrained from calling me several dirty names I almost certainly deserved and definitely would not have disputed. So, I figured it was only fair to check out his latest work: The unimpeachably cool garage-glam firecracker Shoot Me With Your Kamera, recorded under his alter-ego Scratch Buffalo. You don’t need me to tell you it’s a stone-cold killer: Just click on that sucker and hear for yourself. Looks like Naish is getting the last laugh. And rightly so.
2 Some people aren’t willing to admit when they’re wrong. Mark Clennon is not one of them, based on the title of Not Perfect, the new single from the Jamaican-born Torontonian’s recent EP Passion. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “A sensual and emotional track that embodies a complicated breakup and all the emotions involved. It’s a song about the complicated parts of a relationship and I think that it’s something that everyone can relate to, he explains.”
3 It’s been a while since I heard from experimental hip-hopper and Friend of Tinnitist yApex — aka Addison Parrish. Thankfully, the prolific artist is finally back with another typically oddball delight: Intermittent Intermission, a sample of his upcoming album, which might be called Faceless Fears — or maybe not. You can never tell with him. Either way, it can’t come soon enough for me. And you’d best get to this one soonest: Sounds like it won’t be around for long. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “just a lil intermission off my upcoming album, its that gas.”
4 Montreal rap and R&B experimentalist Hua Li deals with the head and the heart in her single Outwitted, an introduction to her Sept. 20 debut album Dynasty. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Romantic and playful, this song is a doting ballad for the type of love interest that is absolutely wrong for you and your life. Capturing the anxieties of millennial dating, Outwitted alternates between loving admiration and fierce self-protection. The song’s overtly jazz- influenced production combines with Hua Li’s uncharacteristically triplet-based flow, making for an interesting blend of old and new.”
5 Another day, another band using a crappy email-marketing service (whose name might rhyme with bendbid) that apparently encourages them to write goofy blah-blah about their song but doesn’t seem to suggest they tell anyone where they’re from. According to Google, it’s Fredericton. Thankfully, their email did include their name and the song’s title. It’s Kill Chicago and Show Me, in that order. I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere. I can’t be bothered. Maybe another day. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Our new song, Show Me, grew out of a campfire argument with a group of Baby Boomers about the problem with our generation of millennials. Despite following all of their advice, we still landed flat. We lack financial security, health plans and pensions. As a result, we are waiting longer to have children, to settle down in any way. What we’re left with is an unstable, delayed adulthood.”
6 Swiss noise-rockers Coilguns unleash Manicheans, the first taste of their boundary-pushing Oct. 25 album Watchwinders. About time? You be the judge. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “This is a love song. We don’t precisely refer here to an ancient Persian religion, but to a more generic conception of a world that’s made of good and evil. Such a typical heavy metal theme… but let’s leave metal and religion aside. This one is about love. Inclusive love, that embraces all types of attraction and empathy, that can turn any benevolent and polite human being into a narrow-minded selfish animal. This is us, ugly and beautiful. Everything we claim and reject. We wrote this song together, in a very horizontal and collective process. The main riff is a Frankenstein creature of mine and vocalist Louis Jucker’s ideas, and the bridge synth part is a good example of what Donatien Théivent (synth, vocals) has brought to the band, surfing over Luc’s (drums) crawling beat.”
7 Industrial EBM artist 6th Circle will drop his first full-length The Third Estate on Oct. 4. But before that, he wants you to take a second to peruse his single Swallow, which thankfully does not include yet another numerical reference you have to keep track of. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Steeped in themes of anti-religion, evil, magic, and social downfall, on debut LP The Third Estate, Columbus OH-based satanist/anarchist electro-industrial chaos monger 6th Circle synthesizes a pitch black maelstrom of driving beats, harsh samples, and apocalyptic atmospheres to materialize the quintessential post-industrial pandemonium.”
