The men of ’68 turn a draw into a win, Dead Dirty Dinosaurs give you something to hold onto, Prism B!tch reach for the stars, Iceage put a price on your head — and you’ve still got Moon Taxi, Childe, Antlers and plenty more greatness in the first half of your two-part Midweek Roundup. We’re off to a good start:
1 | ’68 | Bad Bite
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The noisy Atlanta duo ‘68 shared the single Bad Bite from their album Give One Take One, out March 26. The video was painstakingly hand-drawn and animated by vocalist and guitarist Josh Scogin. He says: “My computer is old and slow so I had to work on this video in small little three-second chunks each so … I assumed it would never actually be released to the public, but I had to finish it because I made a promise to myself a few years back that if I start something, I have to finish it. So anyway, I just started writing whatever I felt at the time (I think at one point I have some Star Wars references because I was making my way through each of those movies), and I also started writing the date on it somewhere each time I worked on it. Once I was basically done with the animation, I put it all together for the first time and bounced it down (it took an entire 24 hours to render it down) and I was so stoked. I knew I wanted it raw, and I wanted my “mistakes” to shine through (to rebuttal how perfect, pristine, and fake everything seems to be these days.). I wanted it to be HUMAN but before I actually placed it all together, I just thought it wasn’t going to actually work. Once I was able to see it all it blew me away. I love it.”
2 | Dead Dirty Dinosaurs | Holding Back
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Holding Back is the latest single from the Dead Dirty Dinosaurs. “Life is like a licence to do what you please,” sings Julian over the bluesy riff, adding “There’s no time for silence, I’m already on my knees … HEY!” And it’s on, into a rhythmic chugger that’s hard not to get lost in. Says Julian: “Everyone’s got something holding them back, and when I was writing the lyrics to this, I was thinking a lot about the balance that we’re always struggling with, of when to go all in and when to hold back, and what some people will do to tip you over the edge.” Holding Back comes off their EP Too Many Questions: The Abbey Road Masters (Remastered), out March 12.”
3 | Prism B!tch | Starlight
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Emerging rock quartet Prism B!tch released the single Starlight from their debut album Perla, out March 5. Ruminating on the fragility and beauty of existence and death, ethereal vocals blast off over lush instrumentation, a bold drumbeat, and a soaring guest solo from Built To Spill frontman Doug Martsch. The band also released a space-themed video directed and edited by guitarist Chris Walsh. “This deeply personal song … is inspired by the loss of our loved ones and the universality of life and death,” share Prism B!tch. “Starlight is an existential rock ballad on the brevity of life. Life is short, we’re all going to die, so enjoy it. The song is made up of multiple layers of vocal harmonies and slow building energy. Having Doug’s dreamy guest solo on this track just makes it extra special for us as we’re big fans of his guitar playing!”
4 | Iceage | Vendetta
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Copenhagen’s Iceage — Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, Jakob Tvilling Pless, Johan Surrballe Wieth and Dan Kjær Nielsen — revealed that their fifth album Seek Shelter comes out May 7. They also presented the slow-grooving new single Vendetta. Rønnenfelt comments, “Crime is the undercurrent that runs through everything. If you don’t see it, you’re not looking. In its invincible politics, it is the glue that binds it all together. Vendetta is an impartial dance along the illicit lines of infraction. The accompanying video features the band, as well as actor Zlatko Burić. Director Jonas Bang explains: “We wanted it to be less 1:1 story and more short format collage-ish — like if you flick through a chapter in a book reading a bit here and there.”
5 | Safety | Spanish Moss
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In October of 2020, Safety released a new single titled Song of the Night Gator. This marked the first new material from the indie-punk trio since the release of their 2015 EP Congratulate Me, I’ve Lost My Mind, and a preview of their EP Greetings from the Sunshine State, another solid entry in the bands discography. Today, they released the video for Spanish Moss. It’s a moody piece built on crashing drums and dissonant guitar chords that matches a lot of the visual cues in the video that was created by Justine Sweetman & REALnew Collective.”
6 | Bell Orchestre | IV: What You’re Thinking
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bell Orchestre release their new full-length House Music next month. Today they share a second track IV: What You’re Thinking. This album segment is another beguiling rumination bringing further focus and context to a record that leans on the collective’s individual talents to make a fascinating whole. Harnessing elements of the classical with the thrum of electronics, the avant-garde Montreal outfit further their claim as one of the most innovative, with House Music a field study in improvisation and sonic sculpturing.”
7 | Wings Of Desire | Chance Of A Lifetime
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Through three previous singles, Wings Of Desire have held a mirror up to the intensity of modern life, questioned our well-worn paths of existence, and asked important questions on the subjects of conformity and living in the present. Today, Chance Of A Lifetime heralds the arrival of the band’s debut EP End Of An Age. “The EP is an uplifting look at human consciousness at a time when we’re all going through a period of mass-reflection. It embodies that ‘sliding doors’ feeling that our lives are just a series of predetermined events, and it’s up to us change direction. We are yearning for something deeper, wanting to jump off the conveyor belt of life and prepare ourselves for the uncomfortable truth that we’ve never truly known what it is to live.”
https://youtu.be/maAShc6TBJ4
8 | Moon Taxi | Say
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alt-rockers Moon Taxi have released the official music video from their latest single Say, from their new album Silver Dream. The video brings to life the track’s uplifting energy as Moon Taxi, dressed as a school’s marching band, comes together on a high school football field to perform the song. “We feel like there is not enough listening going on in the world right now. Our new video for Say celebrates the voices of those on the edges of social standing. You never know what you will find out about another person until you listen. We want this song to inspire others to listen, and in turn find their own voices along the way,” said frontman Trevor Terndrup.”
9 | Childe | Child
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Childe has shared his new single Child and its accompanying video, taken from his forthcoming self-titled EP that will see release on April 16. Child is a bittersweet and ambient electro pop confession, stripped bare to unveil the artists’ raw feelings towards chaotic passion. Childe says: “This one is bittersweet. It’s about giving in to your primal instinct and being drawn to the dark side of a relationship. Sometimes that bit of friction is what we actually need.”
10 | The Antlers | Just One Sec
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Antlers have recently returned to sharing new music after a seven-year hiatus, revealing a handful of singles. Today they have shared Just One Sec, another reassuring track from their upcoming album Green to Gold, out March 26. The song’s bucolic new video was created in collaboration with directors Derrick Belcham and Emily Terndrup and world-renowned contemporary dancers Bobbi-Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. “This song’s about the difficulty of escaping your reputation with someone you’ve closely known for a long time,” lead singer and songwriter Peter Silberman said. “The sentiment of Just One Sec is an experiment with temporarily dropping the story between the two of you, offering and receiving momentary forgiveness, and experiencing that freedom. The idea was born out of a meditation retreat we attended a couple years ago, and the instructions of one meditation that I found particularly powerful.”
11 | Ballaké Sissoko & Sono Jobarteh | Djourou
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Malian kora player Ballaké Sissoko released the title track of his forthcoming 11th album Djourou, now due for release on April 9. Having previously partnered on projects with Toumani Diabaté, Taj Mahal and Ludovic Einaudi, the new album draws together solo compositions alongside thoughtful collaborations with Nouvelle Vague’s Camille, African legend Salif Keita, French rapper Oxmo Puccino and French cellist Vincent Segal, among others. Djourou’s title track sees Sissoko duet with leading female kora player Sona Jobarteh from The Gambia. The new track arrives alongside a live performance video.”
12 | Oh No Noh | Alba
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Oh No Noh is searching for beauty in unconventional musical settings, obsolete technology and daily surroundings. For first single Alba, from new album Where One Begins And The Other Stops, out March 26, Oh No Noh created a wonderfully beautiful stop-motion video. Mastermind Markus Rom comments: “The piece Alba was created in the first lockdown in March 2020, when I was looking for ways to link several simple melodic patterns together. The accompanying stop-motion video shows an audio cassette coming to life in my home studio and going in search of a battery to play on a Casio keyboard. My desire in this scenario was to show my affinity for audio cassettes and my fondness for unconventional, obsolete and homemade instruments.”
13 | O Future | Dinner
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A. indie-electronic artist O Future share a new video for Dinner, from their new EP Immaculate out this week. “The video was shot as an experiment … in various locations around Los Angeles over two days,” O Future explain. “The video for us is probably summed up like this: A B-movie sci-fi Great Gatsby — if Daisy was actually The Man Who Fell To Earth, trying to fall in love with her endless high-tech duplicates.”
14 | Badlands | Out of Reach
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Out Of Reach is a cathartic new song and video from Swedish producer/composer/sound designer Catharina Jaunviksna aka Badlands. Out of Reach is off her upcoming album Djinn (out March 5) about moving on, even when you don’t want to. Taking its name from the Eastern concept of a supernatural spirit, Djinn is not only a record, but a memorial to Catharina’s mother who passed under unclear circumstances — combining themes of love and loss with a palette of electro, post-punk and new wave reminiscent of Boards of Canada to My Bloody Valentine.”
15 | WordzPerfect | The Purveyor
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “WordzPerfect and we right back on that bullsh*t!!! The official music video to the bar fest of an opening track titled The Purveyor from WordzPerfect’s album 034 is now available.”
16 | Juliana | Mixed Signals
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pop singer and songwriter Juliana has dropped her latest single Mixed Signals, along with a colorful and symbolic video. The electro-pop, R&B-influenced track about confusion in a relationship serves as an empowering anthem. “Since Valentine’s Day was this past weekend, it felt like the perfect time to release my newest single, Mixed Signals, which is meant to be an empowering song for anyone who has ever dealt with confusion in a relationship,” shares Juliana. “With everything being virtual these days, it can be hard to really get a read on the person you’re talking to and that’s exactly what I was going through when I wrote this.”
17 | Sara Watkins | Blue Shadows On The Trail
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek and I’m With Her will release Under the Pepper Tree on March 26. Created with families in mind, the personal project encompasses songs Sara embraced as a child herself and brings storytelling, solace, and encouragement to the listener, no matter the age. Today, she premiered the video for Blue Shadows on the Trail, which features Nickel Creek. Sara said, “As a kid, I watched the movie The Three Amigos a LOT. Specifically, I watched it a lot with my Nickel Creek bandmates at the Thiles’ house. We’d run around quoting jokes, sing along and even tried the My Little Buttercup dance once. As an adult, I’ve sung this countless times to my own daughter. When I decided to make a record full of songs from my childhood, I knew that I wanted Blue Shadows on the Trail to be included, and I also knew the only way to do it was with Nickel Creek.”
18 | FYI Chris | No Sun
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The latest taster of the forthcoming FYI Chris album, No Sun is out now, with a kaleidoscopic video that’s reminiscent of laid-back, hazy days, created by U.K.-based psychedelic visual specialists Ixian Optical.”
