by Meredith Schneider | Oct 19, 2018 | singles, wolf tracks
Los Angeles based funk-infused soul-pop creator Spencer Ludwig has had quite the year with new music releases. Today, we’ve got the exclusive streaming premiere of the LEFTI remix of his track “Just Wanna Dance”. Though the original track is pure bliss, the updated version gives us all the good vibes, staccato instrumentals and all. Though the track is largely electronic, there is an ethereal feeling to it all, induced by Ludwig’s smooth as honey vocals. The best part about it? It came about due to a sense of community, which is everything and more for a dance track!
I feel a kindred spirit to my friend LEFTI since we both shared the experience of being in a popular indie-pop band (LEFTI was the bass player in Cobra Starship) around the same time and also for deciding to break off and do our own thing around the same time. We’re also neighbors in Brooklyn! The NY music scene is small and I’m a big fan of LEFTI and of collaborating with NY artists in general. This remix foreshadows a collaboration between LEFTI and me called “Every Time”, which comes out in early 2019. It’s really just to give you a taste of what’s to come!
Get yourself in the mood for a spectacular weekend below!
Keep up with Spencer Ludwig here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 19, 2018 | albums, review
Alternative musician Novo Amor may have written and recorded the entirety of his new album in his home studio in Whales, but the sound is so polished and ethereal in its disposition that you would think it came to be in a garden somewhere. Beginning with tranquil, tone-setting track “Emigrate”, the album slowly layers in like a delectable dream sequence. “Birthplace” brings in more staccato notes – invoking a sense of excitement during parts of the song – and percussion that will change the rate of your heartbeat. “Utican” can be described as nothing if not as a freeing, energetic anthem, while “Seneca” dances delicately along the edges of your shoulders, as if to wrap you in an other-worldly hug.
“Anniversary” is largely instrumental, ushering in an energy and sound that feels like everyone you know is singing along. “13494” follows a similar feel to its predecessor, though darker in tone in a way that makes the track feel more robust. “State Lines” falls into the more conventional “folk singer-songwriter” category, and we’re eating it up like there’s no tomorrow. Seriously, turn this one on, turn your most twinkling lights on, and gaze out the window for a while. Pure bliss.
“Sleepless” is a more conventional anthem in its composition, but equally ethereal as the vocals maintain their light as a feather tone. Even “Repeat Until Death” doesn’t have the negative or dark tones to it as implied in the title, but to categorize it as anything other than melancholic would be a miss in our minds. And that’s fine, as the range of emotion and writing styles allows us a more intense peek into the creative mind of Novo Amor. He ends it all with “Oh, Round Lake”, a simplistic by impactful track that leaves you wanting to dance in that fairy-lit garden, breathing in the autumn night air.
Novo Amor kicks off his UK tour tonight. Head out to one of the dates below to check it out!
NOVO AMOR INTERNATIONAL TOUR DATES:
Fri 19 Oct – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds UK
Sat 20 Oct – The Haunt, Brighton, UK
Mon 22 Oct – Union Chapel, London, UK
Tue 23 Oct – Union Chapel, London, UK
Wed 24 Oct – La Maroquinerie, Paris, FR
Thu 25 Oct – Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg, DE
Sat 27 Oct – Vega, Copenhagen, DK
Sun 28 Oct – Kagelbanan, Stockholm, SE
Tue 30 Oct – Botanique Orangerie, Brussels, Belgium BE
Wed 31 Oct – Paradiso Noord, Amsterdam, NL
Thu 1 Nov – Gruenspan, Hamburg DE
Fri 2 Nov – Funkhaus Berlin Nalepastrasse, Berlin DE
Mon 12 Nov – Atlanta GA, US
Wed 14 Nov – Union Stage, Washington DC, US
Thu 15 Nov – Bowery Ballroom, New York NY, US
Sat 17 Nov – The Sinclair, Cambridge MA, US
Tue 20 Nov – Theatre Farimount, Montreal, CA
Wed 21 Nov – Velvet Underground, Toronto, CA
Fri 23 Nov – Lincoln Hall, Chicago IL, US
Sat 24 Nov – Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis MN, US
Tue 27 Nov – Bluebird Theater, Denver CO, US
Wed Nov 28 – The Commonwealth Room, Salt Lake City UT, US
Fri 30 Nov – St. James Hall, Vancouver, CA
Sat 1 Dec – Columbia City Theater, Seattle WA US
Sun 2 Dec – Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR, US
Tue 4 Dec – Swedish American Hall, San Francisco CA, US
Thu 6 Dec – Lodge Room, Los Angeles CA, US
Birthplace is available now. Keep up with Novo Amor here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 17, 2018 | singles, wolf tracks
Electronic duo O Future – comprised of Katherine Mills Rymer and Jens Bjornkjaer – is coming atchya full throttle today with the release of latest single “Smell You”. Quirky percussion weaves in staccato cowbell moments to bring a fun twist to the track, ethereal vocals setting the tone for a light-as-a-feather take on a title that would otherwise be a bit concerning when paired with the press photo. (No judgment, we like to smell bread too.) A fun take on a moment of attraction, we’re down to play this all season long.
Explains Katherine of the track:
It’s a about flirting. Deep heavy breathed flirting, to the point of almost crossing the line into not harmless into the realm of actually doing the thing your body says you are aiming at. That moment is the sexiest moment, the unsaid attraction between to people, the hidden secret thing between two people, all the animal non language turn on. Sometimes and, I would say most times in my life, those moments are the most delicious.
Keep up with O Future here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 16, 2018 | videos, wolf tracks
Asheville-based neo-indie/folk artist Corey Parlamento is Livingdog, and he is living proof that talent is still alive and well in the music industry. His new video for single “Creation. Stagnation.” is depicted exactly how the mellifluous music would insinuate, comprised of footage as Parlamento drives around town at night. Storefronts, homes, street lights. All of the small, beautiful things that seem to be underappreciated. They make up the community, they tell their own stories. The video is sweet in its simplicity, the music the perfect backdrop to a night drive.
Keep up with Livingdog here.
by Gemma Harewood | Oct 16, 2018 | singles, wolf tracks
Oozing with understated flow and serene melodies is Ruben Pol’s “Meet Again.” We first encountered the Dutch high fashion model and musician with his debut “Bedsheets,” which saw widespread critical acclaim. Now he is back to deliver more, and again dazzles.
With production taken care of by respected dance producer Tom Martin, Ruben Pol is left to inject “Meet Again” with his brooding, straight from the soul appeal. Discussing the message behind it, Pol says of this magnetic cut: “Meet Again’ is about a broken relationship and it reflects on the enormous value it still has to me. No matter how much suffering has taken place or how much pain has been done, I’m sure that in the end ‘we’ll meet again’.”
Take a listen here.
by Meredith Schneider | Oct 16, 2018 | albums, review
Indie pop-rock collective Roaming Herds of Buffalo releases their new album Mountain Rabbit today, and we’re blown away by the way the entire collection induces an energy field no matter what setting you listen to it in. Beginning with the fast paced “Does NOT Exist”, second track “Judgment Day” brings the pace down, but not the crashing of cymbals nor the hard guitar chords that we’ve come to know and love of this band. By “Into The Void”, we’re pleased to realize the vocal nods to the 60s and 70s will be a mainstay, indulging in the soft and glittering instrumentals of the third track.
This album truly leads you on an audible journey, a storyline attached at every turn. It’s colorful and interesting, bouncing from topic to topic while treating its listener to a soundscape unlike most others. The change of tempo after the intro in “Ray Gun” is sublime, the throwback punk feels of “Brain Stem!” really rev you up, and the title track feels like its from another world. “Dressed Like Sheep” brings it to a simpler acoustic sound, allowing the album to round out in a more delicate and light-hearted way. But the subject matter is another thing altogether…
Keep up with Roaming Herds of Buffalo here.
by Gemma Harewood | Oct 11, 2018 | singles, wolf tracks
Continuing a steady stream of releases this week is Absent Mind, a label that focuses on chilled, lightly electronic sounds. We’ve enjoyed everything they’ve put on offer this year, and their latest is another example of this. “Just Friends” comes courtesy of Unlovable, an act that we know very little about.
This track shimmers with clean melodic flow and some oozing vocals; a musical match made in heaven. This one is ideal for winding down for the weekend with, and it’s had several rotations from us already.
Listen to it here.
