Hello again!
This is Sound Inbox, the feature where after leafing through email and soundcloud submissions, I pick the top bunch of new artists eveyr week giving information on the artists' sound, and where you can find more information. This week features Honeycomb Bones, Madeaux and Bam Spacey!
Honeycomb Bones
First up this week are Hull duo Honeycomb Bones. Don't be fooled by the name, their music isn't crumbly and sweet, instead dealing with reverb-laden DIY punk and psychedelia. 'Catherine Wheel' taken off the group's new self-titled EP is a blistering introduction to what the group are about. It's noisy, rough around the edges and leans heavily on gritty guitar riffs and the kind of nonchalant vocals you might expect from Ian Curtis. The track also delves into more bluesy White Stripes sort of territory and pulls it off with astonishing ease. All in all Honeycomb Bones serve as a mildly twisted all out aural assault, delighting and impressing equally throughout.
Find them on facebook here
Madeaux
Hooray! A mysterious electronic producer who doesn't make you want to claw your own eyeballs out! Madeaux's 'song #2' is an interesting prospect, a blending of Anticon style chopped up beats, chillwave melancholy and more atmospheric beach-funk elements topped off with looped soulful vocals which could be ripped off a Weeknd track. It's wonderfully disjointed, like what you might expect from a Baths track but with a soothing quality more apparent in someone like Balam Acab's work. It's not entirely original, but definitely has its place amongst a plethora of others.
Find Madeaux on facebook here and check out their NeuroPlastic label's bandcamp here
Bam Spacey
Bam Spacey is the project of Swedish producer Magnus Johansson, who specialises in minimal electronic sounds, the kind of spacious night-bus music with less of a dubstep inflection than artists like burial and mount kimbie. 'Vi Delar Samma Grav' or 'We share the same grave' in English, is a luscious piece of percussive electronica, capped with echoed atmospheric synths and wispy light as a cloud vocals. It's not a game-changer but acts as a pleasant piece of electronica, best enjoyed on cold winter nights. Bam Spacey's Land EP is due for release on may 22nd via Ceremony.
Check out Bam Spacey on facebook here
Fancy being featured on the next Sound Inbox? Send your tracks to tobymccarron@hotmail.com or put them in our soundcloud dropbox!
Toby McCarron
Welcome to the 3rd edition of our regular rundown of the best music we here at Sound Influx get submitted to us via email and our soundcloud Dropbox!
Dashius Clay
"cross Dashius Clay is like genocide" spits the rapper from Cali, Colombia. 'Who Am I' however sounds less like mass murder, rather a strong punch to the gut (fitting as his name is surely a pun of Muhammad Ali's real name Cassius Clay). With a smooth flow and impressively accomplished production (sounding not too dissimilar to Clams Casino) Dashius Clay blends often witty lyrics with genuine effort to create a veritable melting pot of what modern rap music sounds like. Sure it's not exactly going to revolutionise the game, but it's certainly not holding back rap's progress and is an impressive effort from a lesser known artist.
For more info check out Dashius Clay's facebook here
Dead Night
If you're looking for new droning synth music, then you need Dead Night. The new york duo peddle strung out nuggets of moody synth-pop bliss, most notably on the standout from their 'Movie' EP, Flatliners. The name of their game is arpeggiated electronic trickery, with nonchalant vocal delivery which ought to be mundane as phrases like "nothing to do" are chanted again and again, but instead rub off as emotive and meaningful, sort of like fellow New Yorker Paul Banks of Interpol.
The EP is ace, and can be found at their bandcamp here
Vapor Eyes
Chicago based producer Vapor Eyes has just released a collection of 14 instrumental beats titled ‘Golden Beats Volume #1’. He says within his music you’ll find ‘a hip-hop heart that pumps blood into the arteries of downtempo, trip-hop and psychedelic territories’ and I can’t find a more fitting description than that. Incredibly chill with frequent samples, this is well produced for a bedroom project. Think Flying Lotus mixed with 60s Psychedelia and a garage drum beat.
Interested in being featured for the next edition of Sound Inbox?
Email your music to tobymccarron@hotmail.com or put them in our soundcloud dropbox!
Toby McCarron
Hello! And welcome to another edition of Sound Inbox. The feature where I leaf through all the music sumbitted to us via email and our soundcloud dropbox, to unearth the best new music out there. This week features two great new young British bands in Trophys and Reversal, and an interesting indie-doom proposition from across the Atlantic. Enjoy!
Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun
First this week are New Jersey band Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun. The band's free EP (available from their bandcamp) is decidedly indie, with slightly darker elements also touched upon. The influences are quite apparent over the four tracks. 'Brasil' is heavily indebted to Radiohead, while highlight 'youth and angels' could easily be mistaken for a more solemn Interpol cut. It's an impressive EP, combining gloomy lyrical tendencies with precise production and brooding sometimes Jazz-like instrumentation. Entirely listenable and largely enjoyable.
Trophys
Off the back of their debut track 'Electro Track' receiving some attention from BBC Radio and over 2000 plays on soundcloud, young Maidstone band Trophys have just put out another cracking track. 'Funeral' is clearly a response to a lot of the best and brightest of British Indie and Synth-pop of recent years. There's nods to the likes of Bloc Party, Los Campesinos and Foals certainly present, but with more of a synth gleam and added angsty lyrics about subjects such as how hard it is being alone. The drums are loud, the vocals carry meaning and the electronics are pleasant if not massively varied. Trophys are youthful, memorable and their sound is surprisingly realised and with an upcoming tour with Casiokids on the cards, their tracks will likely find a wider more devoted audience as part of a live set up.
For more info on Trophys check out their facebook page here
Reversal
Now THIS is more like it. A young UK band with buckets full of ambition and a fantastic EP available for only £2 may sound a bit too good to be true, but Reversal are very promising. They're versatile too, their excellently titled EP 'The Society of Portly Gentlemen' is crammed full of ideas and energy. There's plenty to get excited about here, from the Franz Ferninand like bop of 'City Life', the thrillingly frantic 'Rusty City Martyr', or even the interesting contemporary experimentation with Bhagra (yes bhangra) on 'Bhindie'.
Bewilderingly unsigned, Reversal knock out thrusting energetic tracks which I imagine would also work pretty well live. Their new EP 'A Monotonous Menagerie' is also on its way, and from first impressions sounds equally as gripping.
Check them out on facebook here
Interested in being featured on Sound Inbox?
Send your tracks to tobymccarron@hotmail.com
Or visit our soundcloud dropbox (Link on the right hand side of the Sound Influx hompage)
Toby McCarron
We here at Sound Influx are big fans of all things new music. Doesn't matter what genre or style, we'll give it a listen and let you know if we like it. This new feature sets out to examine just some of the music we get submitted to us by bands via email and our soundcloud dropbox, and most importantly highlights some ace often lesser known acts for your listening pleasure.
DropzoneOur first track this week comes from London based solo musician Louie Denniston, otherwise known under the pseudonym of Dropzone. Off the back of his first EP out late last year and covers of tracks by SBTRKT and Cults, comes new track 'Burning Questions' which to put frankly sounds pretty special. The track is centred around Louie's rich almost folky vocals, atop a swathes of twanging guitar; a sort of hybrid of WU LYF and Noah & the Whale. It's a beautifully produced and clear sounding track from a very promising artist indeed. Check out Dropzone's soundcloud here, you won't be disappointed.
The Bedford IncidentSheffield lot The Bedford Incident have been kicking around since 2003, and the group (seemingly named after the 1965 cold war film) have just put out a belter on their soundcloud with 'Voices on the Radio'. The influences are quite clear, It's a little bit of The Smiths, a smidgen of Pulp and a dashing of Arcade Fire, and actually very good. The track has a real fun collaborative feel to it, as they sing "we live each day like it's our last" it's hard not to get swept up in the joyousness of it allCheck out their soundcloud here or their myspace here
Heidi Klum's BangsFollowing in the footsteps of 'Gay for Johnny Depp' and 'Joanna Gruesome' comes the similarly ludicrously named New York band Heidi Klum's Bangs. So what do they sound like? Well there's a certain amount of multi-instrumental dabbling present on both tracks 'Breath in the Lamplight' and 'The Lanes' which brings to mind artists like Beirut, Sufjan Stevens and Neutral Milk Hotel with the Marimba and Xylophone twinkles and smatterings of trumpet that echo through the tracks, accompanying singer Zach Beck's nonchalant yet affecting vocal delivery. It doesn't exactly bare any resemblence to the hairstyle of the German model, but in this case that is no bad thing. Check out their facebook page hereSend all music submissions to tobymccarron@hotmail.com or put them in our soundcloud dropbox (Link on the right hand bar on the homepage) Toby McCarron
