The British bangers of Black Midi graduated from Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground university last year and have been spring breaking through the greater midlands since. This month will be see them taking the stages across the old continent and Team Poule managed to wrap its feathers around a fresh pair of tickets to their stint at Hamburg’s Aalhaus on Feb. 21. All you need to do to throw your hat in the ring for a chance to call them yours is pop an email over at music@pouledor.com and hope for the best. The lucky winner will be drawn at random on Tuesday, Feb 19th, 8pm CET straight.
In the meantime, bathe yourself in the raw melodies of Black Midi, with their pure live studio piece attached below.
British power house Modern Pleasure struck with a new single last week, offering Downtown and a warm promise of more to come. The group had been silent for a good year or two, but apparently just to enjoy some seclusion of Japanese onsens and return with a fresh mind and a fresh approach to handling their affairs.
Downtown is a grand twilight dreamer of song, driven by pure rhythms, raw drums and winding road type of vibe that just makes you want to hop into your rental car and zoom off into the desert, chasing the stars.
A refreshing wave of 90s flavoured tunes coming in by way of Carolina out of Hamburg‘s hotbed that is Eimsbüttel. Carolina has been at it for more than a decade, as a studied jazz singer touring with the big bands, as well as teaching herself, while producing her own catalogue of music. Her debut EP is titled Everything and just came out in the rush of dark December, just before Christmas.
Four tracks strong, the EP induces a flashback of late 90s greats, while maintaining a firm step in this decade, driven by vast synths and carried by her ever expanding vocals. Exhibit A, and the first single off the EP, He/She is attached below at your convenience. The track comes with mad visuals too, pasted below, too. That’s all reason enough for Team Poule to investigate and hear from Carolina herself what it’s all about.
How did it all start?
Consciously: with Michael Jackson. Thriller. Loved the song like crazy, but when Michael turned into a zombie it scared the shit out of me. Unconsciously: with my parents. Putting me to sleep, dancing and singing to either Bolivian or Greek music. I guess this is why music has always had a huge impact on me.
Swedish vagabonds and regular Martians FEWS unleashed a fury of a new single today with a firm hat-tip to their upcoming second album Into Red which is scheduled to arrive by March 1st via the infamous Play It Again Sam.
More Than Ever is an elegant ode to personal struggles, letting go, and defying gravity, all driven by raw riffs and mesmerizing vocals. Shaking it off, one at a time. Come March, the bunch is off to tour their new songs across the continent, playing the UK just before the looming cliff of Brexit. The tour kicks off in fair Groningen, and takes them to London, Manchester, Barcelona, Paris, Hamburg, Cologne and whole lot more, all nicely listed here. The new piece comes with vintage visuals, attached below at your convenience.
Really gets you going this one. Sweden’s own Summer Heart finished 2018 in full steam, squeezing out this single attached below just before Christmas. Touch is a smooth ode to the sticky nights of July and a gentle reminder of what is good and well and really matters.
The track comes after a whole line of releases last year, themed 12 Songs of Summer, all to be found on Spotify. The concluding installment of the series is rumored to be just around the corner and will give a glimpse into what will be an exciting 2019. First, Team Summer Heart is set to embark on a grand US tour come next month, kicking it off in Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory Feb 21, then working his way down the coast and inland, via SXSW in Austin. All dates nicely listed here.
Halfway through January, and here comes a strong contender for a release of the year. Los Angeles’ cool cats Freedom Fry really get their engines revving early this year, throwing their hats in the ring with a brand new EP titled The Seasons, due January 25th and out now on Soundcloud. The piece of recording comes three tracks strong and with a folky vibe, nicely warming up the icy realities of January, a year’s Monday to some.
Attached below is the extra smooth title track The Seasons, driven by lush August chords and carried by infectious October songwriting, a lovely companion from am to pm. The EP also comes with a rather exciting cover of Molly Nilsson’s Hey Moon which may be just up your alley if you are into music. Snag it here, and stream on lovers.