Bates! hit the streets, Apache Rose find your blind spot, 8821 keeps his head up, Renatus Cartesius has a case of wanderlust, Emma Johnson brings her Gravy Boat out of hiding and more in today’s submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can find my latest Tinnitist Groover playlist on Spotify, at the bottom of this page and at the lower right of every page on this site. If you want to be in an upcoming playlist, click on the widget at right (just below the playlist) or go HERE. Now, let’s do this:
Bates! | Jag Kan Inte Glömma
HOME BASE: Sweden.
GENRE: Punk-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Are You a wanker? Thought so! Bored? Thought so! Want meaning and guidance in your life? Thought so! Well, hula-hula halleluiah, do we have the goods for You! With the all familiar tactic of shock & awe, the Bates! scud your eardrums until they’re vibrating more then your girlfriend on friday nights and will have them shakin’ in utter rock n roll delight for weeks. Why? Because now we’re talkin’ rock n roll in the style that’s never out of style; The Damned, The Dead Boys, Stooges & Nomads. You know You want this! Well, well, well. You think “Oh, no! Not another boring bunch of Swedish Hellacopters-wannabes.” Let me tell you two facts: We were on the scene years before them & and the only Hellacopter we do, we do with our dicks (ever tried that trick?). Bates is a rare brand of men. The band has a unique odour of professional losers (in practise), family values (in theory), job seeking (always), acid consuming (it’s a phase), AA meeting party crashers (a party is a party is a party) & a dress code that makes you think time froze (at a magical moment).”
Apache Rose | Blind Spot
HOME BASE: Russia.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Apache Rose is up-and-coming band from Moscow, Russia, that epitomizes a large part of a new underground rock scene in the country: fresh, energetic and (most importantly) English-speaking on a very fluent level. But unlike local peers, we aim primarily at English-speaking countries. And we been successful with that — our debut single Tiny Love has been already featured in several music blogs and placements on Spotify playlists. The band has already built a small but growing following in the US, mostly on Facebook and Soundcloud.”
8821 | La Tete En L’Air
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “8821, born in Lozère on March 16, 1973, is a French guitarist, songwriter. He composes in different styles, inspired by artists such as Jean-Louis Aubert, U2, Coldplay or even Francis Cabrel. All converge on a keen sense of beautiful melody. 8821 presents his single La Tete En L’Air (Head In The Air). Like Frizzy Pazzy (sparkling little chewing gum from the ’80s), this song is a hymn to resolutely modern happiness. His soft voice and his singular timbre, rock the words he chose to put on his music, as an invitation to travel. Fresh and sparkling, La Tete En L’Air is meant to be an invitation to happiness. Says 8821: “Simple, rhythmic, efficient, the music blends with the image in a clip made on an iPad by my 15-year-old daughter during confinement. A tender and playful look at the most beautiful of feelings: Love.”
Renatus Cartesius | Wanderlust
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Classical.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Born 1984 in Freising, Germany, Renatus Cartesius made his first steps into music by learning the accordion and winning some local contests in Bavaria. Later, he started to play the e-guitar and the piano and managed to compose his first pieces on both instruments. His style of work differs from release to release. His influences are very diverse. His Idols are J.S. Bach and Dave Brubeck, but also all kinds of music, that don’t fit into the label of Classical Music or Jazz, influenced him. Says Cartesius: “Inspired by the actual ongoing crisis and the travel ban around the world, I wrote the song Wanderlust, the title track of my newest album. It features a melody which is transported in the whole song. The end is a bit uplifting but overall a typical composition of mine. Overall it’s a very calm song which is getting more and more energetic to the end.”
Emma Johnson’s Gravy Boat | Where Were You Hiding? (feat. Nishla Smith)
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Jazz.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Emma Johnson’s Gravy Boat is a project led by Leeds (UK) based saxophonist and composer Emma Johnson. Her music has been played on BBC Radio 3 and has been described as ‘a relaxed, melodic and distinctive style of contemporary jazz’. Where Were You Hiding? is a collaboration between Gravy Boat and Nishla Smith, a Manchester-based vocalist and composer, originally hailing from Australia. Emma & Nishla first met at a composer’s jam session in Manchester, where Nishla kindly agreed to perform this song, and since then, they have been writing and performing together regularly.The track itself is about seeing someone familiar in a new light for the first time. Not one for being openly sentimental, Johnson notes ‘I usually get away with saying this song is about matching socks on instrumental gigs, but now there’s vocals on it, I suppose I can’t pretend it’s not a love song anymore’. The group have been described as demonstrating a “strong and joyful bond, immediately apparent in their sound”. Gravy Boat is a band that aspires to write and perform melodic, accessible jazz that anyone can enjoy.”
Kokujin | Long Terme
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Urban.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Artist from another world.”
The Harbours | This Fine Day
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “A five-piece indie band from the East Coast of the UK. Blending their influences, experiences and surroundings they have managed to create a unique sound that’s completely self-produced. Across a trademark mix of uplifting melodies, catchy hooks and driving rhythms. The Harbours blend nostalgia with a sound fit for the future of indie music. With a subtle nod to many classic UK indie bands including; The Stone Roses, The Las and The Cure, their songs tell honest stories of day to day life through the eyes of the observer, underpinned with a bold as brass strut, The Harbours serve to please, inspire and charm. Catchy hooks from the quayside crooks! This Fine Day demonstrates an honest, raw and organic production approach and a restraint that adds to the authenticity of the band’s sound in favour of synthetic and flowery production methods often heard saturating popular music today. Cutting, clean and dynamic guitar riffs against rock solid and driving bass lines, all held together by lively drum rhythms and precision delivery.”
Maine in Havana | Cimarron
HOME BASE: France / Puerto Rico.
GENRE: Psychedelic Folk-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Minimalist music, at times dark, intriguing and possessed. Inspired of folk, blues and rock mixed with psychedelic and Latin American undertones, accompanied by fuzz guitars and vintage organs. Raw and realistic poem sung in english, where the lonely nights of the Atlantic meet the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Maine in Havana, it’s Eduardo Lecleres Diaz (singer, percussions), Frédéric Loumagne (bass, upright bass, vocal), Vincent Thoyer (drums, percussions), Boris Blancas (guitars, vocal) and Yanis Blancas (keyboards, vocal).”
Lenny Fontana | Everybody Put Your Hands Up
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: EDM.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Lenny Fontana a true New Yorker learned his craft from radio personality DJ Frankie Crocker, the program director of WBLS 107.5 In NYC. Inspired by DJ Larry Levan, Fontana went on to play at Studio 54 in the late ’80s and other NYC clubs. Through the 1990s he travelled the world and played at many famous nightclubs globally. His single Top of the World with platinum recording artist Chris Willis has reached an epic 460k streams on Spotify. Here is the Jerry Ropero & Paper Head remix that we all been waiting for. A winning prescription to your set when you need that lift. Great combination of strong drums and that European house sound that seals the deal on the remix and breathes new life into the song.”
Drew Schueler | Head Start
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “New pop artist Drew Schueler is a master at creating unique yet familiar songs full of vibrant vocals and melodies, electro-pop synth textures, electric guitar and programmed beats, similar to Lauv, Justin Bieber, and LANY. Drew cut his teeth in Cincinnati, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee fronting and producing alternative pop bands but is now breaking into the pop mold. He not only wrote his entire debut EP (New Perspective), but also played all the instruments, produced and mixed the entire project himself. “I have always been fascinated by all aspects of creating music,” Drew said. “As with any kind of art, every tiny detail matters and I love knowing everything that goes into my music.” Along with his growing artist career, Schueler is a thriving songwriter, instrumentalist and producer, working out of his studio in Nashville.”
Gaspard Sommer | STP
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Gaspard Sommer is a singer/songwritter from Switzerland based in Geneva. He released two soul/r&b album in English. He is now working on a new projet in French, in a way a bit more mainstream. Says Sommer: “STP is my first single in French, which will announce an EP in October 2020, and the album at the beginning of 2021.”
Ulrich Zehfuss | Thin Ice
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Folk.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Ulrich Zehfuß is a German-speaking singer-songwriter. In 2016 he made his solo debut with the album Dünnes Eis. Before that he had been traveling with the band Bunt for many years, who played his songs. He belongs to the Sago family of songwriters. His second solo album will be released in 2020. Says Zehfuss: “The story of a man thinking about skating on thin ice in his youth, watching his own son doing so right now — moving on thin ice. That’s my first song published with English lyrics after decades with German ones.”
