Here’s a really nice slice of 60s-tinged, indie guitar pop from Portland-based artist Alex Schiff who records under the name Blue Canopy. The vocal layering in particular grabbed our attention with their tripped-out Beach Boys vibe. ‘St. Albans‘ comes from his debut EP Mild Anxiety which is out now. “St. Albans is about an old friend who I lost touch with, but consistently visits me … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Blue Canopy – St. Albans
UK psych and baggy indie combine with 60s melodies and 21st century psych-pop explorations on this new catchy and expansive track from Los Angeles-based singer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Danyew who played in Foster The People for six years before leaving to focus on his own music as Elephant Castle. Danyew calls the song “A tongue-in-cheek anthem for the underdog.” Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Elephant Castle – I’m A Loser
US composer Chris Child & sound artist Micah Frank have recently released their second collection of songs – Tape Pieces Vol. 2, featuring this fine track, ‘Static Wheels’. Experimental post-rock and ambient drone are at the core of it, generated by the heavy use of filtering with effects so the loops blur together and bear just an echo of resemblance to its original. The ebb and … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Chris Child & Micah Frank – Static Wheels
Composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has recently released her new album The Mosaic of Transformation, featuring these two exceptional tracks ‘The Steady Heart’ and ‘Carrying Gravity’. Over a push/pull rhythm track, Smith weaves dream fragments of vocals amid a wafting, gossamer haze of twinkling synths and textural pads on ‘The Steady Heart’. ‘Carrying Gravity’ begins with strings before taking an almost Oriental sound and filtering it … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – The Steady Heart / Carrying Gravity
Straight outta Sydney come Key Out with their driving, insistent new post-punk single ‘Chorus‘. Their dark, melancholic and moody synth-rock is built on an insistent bass/drum machine combination and a melodic yet wistful lead vocal, bringing to mind acts such as Underground Lovers, Ride and New Order. Key Out is an indie pop trio from Sydney, Australia. Its members (Paddy Haid, Rohan Geddes and Caroline … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Key Out – Chorus
Sugar Factory (Greece) is the solo project of Stelios Gagaris, who has been releasing 7″, cassette and digital recordings for the last decade. ‘Birdie’ comes from the new seven song cassette release Home and finds him digging into some propulsive and angular instrumental psych rock sounds. It’s heavy but the dynamics give it weight and relief in all the right places. Elsewhere the release contains some … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Sugar Factory – Birdie
London based Greek singer/songwriter George Gaudy has released this new track of dark, bluesy alt-rock that also draws on North Africa desert-rock and Greek folk in it’s wandering psych grooves. The song comes from his new album Little Pieces, released in April 2020. ‘Mother (Reprise)‘ is a loose-limbed smoky affair, brimming with sonic diversions into horn-fuelled hypnosis and blank-eyed vocal mantras, twisting and writing over … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: George Gaudy – Mother (Reprise)
Strange Things from Vancouver, British Columbia recently released their Sunshine EP and one of its highlights is ‘I Feel Fine’, a tumbling cascade of distorted guitars and howled vocals that flies along on sustained notes of electricity and an endless groove. The heavier psych end of shoegaze is the order of the day here. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Strange Things – I Feel Fine
Million Square (UK) released their new EP Spirit Bloom last month and one of the highlights is this track, ‘First Block’. Glitchy, effervescent, sparkly notes dart between the speakers above frantic scattershot beats. It’s IDM music but when a haunting, romantic saxophone enters the fray it takes on a new, jazz-leaning vibe and it works wonderfully. London-based electronic duo, Million Square features double-bassist Max Luthert … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Million Square – First Block
Stand back, turn it up and hold onto something. Swiss trio Heavy Harvest hit the afterburners on this blistering one and a half minutes of hardcore noise rock. Think Jesus Lizard in a blizzard, or a practice session in a shipping container with METZ and Shihad. It’s brutally good and a sample of their new album Iron Lung which explores all corners of intense, heavy, … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Heavy Harvest – Candy
Blue Canopy, the moniker of Portland Oregon musician Alex Schiff, has recently released his debut EP called Mild Anxiety, featuring this track – ‘Keys To The Garden’, a shimmering slice of psychedelia with a hazy tropical bent. According to Schiff, ‘Keys to the Garden’ was written about the New York Knicks, cloaked with fantasy lore imagery. “At that point in my life, I knew that my … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Blue Canopy – Keys to The Garden
Bittersweet swerving guitars and sonic verve are two of the defining aspects of War Strings‘ single ‘Tragedy (Lovesong)’. Think New Order, The Cure, Girls and the dense static and fuzz of Swervedriver all combine to form a transatlantic blend of angst and shoegaze. Tough and tender, the song is a gem of the kind that inhabits that sweet spot where melody meets melancholy. War … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: War Strings – Tragedy (Lovesong)
Doubtful Sounds 