La Sera's Hour Of The Dawn

Most of you probably already know who La Sera is without actually knowing who La Sera is. La Sera for those of you who don't know is Katy Goodman, who you may know from her former day job in The Vivian Girls. Purveyors of all things garage-like and twee, it only makes sense that some of the Vivian Girls if not all of it rubbed off on La Sera's third album. Entitled Hour of the Dawn the album leaves no doubt that Katy is guided by the divine hand of rock and roll and it points her in all the right directions.

Fizzed out, fuzzed out and filled with awesome songs Hour of the Dawn is an indie pop treat that's utterly fantastic. Katy has a keen ability to write peppy garage flavored indie pop that's as sweet as it is sour and as soft as it is edgy. Her songs are bristling with energy, punky basslines, three chord riffs, waves of distorted Mascisisms and huggable melodies. If there's one thing La Sera is...it's awesome.

Elements of surf guitar, twee pop, her old day job, Big Muff pedals, and power pop pulsate through the each of songs here. While those influences are undeniable Hour of the Dawn has a huge heart and sounds as if it's been broken a few times. Hour of the Dawn is a sweet record; the kind you want to give a hug to and the kind of record you walk away from with a crush on it. Kind of like Katy herself.

Whether it's The Vivian Girls or La Sera, Katy Goodman is one heck of a musician and all of her projects reflect that. La Sera is just the latest and greatest step in her illustrious career. This rather fine and fuzzy indie pop gem is great at the Hour of the Dawn or any time of the day.

The Wet Secrets Love Free Candy

I’m not 100% sure I know what a Wet Secret is…or if I even want to know what one is…but this five piece band formed as a result of a dare are the kind of band you do want to know. Their latest album, Free Candy, is an unpolished rock and roll gem that might be a little bit late to the rock and roll party but sometimes it’s better to be late than to never show up at all. I’m definitely pleased they finally made it and I’m pretty sure after one or two listens to Free Candy you’ll be pretty glad as well.

Sounding like a Stroksian wave of revivalism from revivalists, this grotty, snarly rock and roll band stumble their way through the songs on Free Candy as if they had a bit too much of it to begin with. Taking lots of elements from early 21st century indie and fusing it with loads of keys, horns, dirty basslines and a drunken sense of awareness The Wet Secrets are the sort of band that would make The Libertines try a little bit harder. Plodding, catchy, and a bit persistent The Wet Secrets have so many memorable choruses on Free Candy that it almost gets hard to keep track of them all (I've got a list here beside me) With harmonies you’d swear they lifted off of Kim Wilde’s, “Kids In America,” to more Killers like electro you're sucked into their vortex of scuzzy cool by about the fourth song.

I really enjoyed how the band has this under-produced retro vibe to them and how Free Candy wouldn’t sound out of place in yours or your parents record collection. 1968 or 2003…you be the judge it makes sense either way. The feel, the songs, and the way that this is all presented is all a bit subversive and doesn’t feel right in a totally feels right kind of way and it works for the band perfectly. If this were polished and produced it would fail miserably; thankfully it isn't. They might have been formed on a dare, but The Wet Secrets are far from a sloppy concoction; these guys are actually really quite good. Messy and grotty in all the best ways Free Candy is definitely worth a taste.

Lyla Foy Looks At Mirrors In The Sky

As the Targetization of folk music continues and any singer with a lilting voice and a bit of quirkiness about them is used to market clothing, cleaning products, cars and just about everything else it’s becoming harder to find those singers that are, you know, actually entertaining. Sub Pop thankfully has searched high and low and found the latest quality singer songwriter with a difference. Her name Lyla Foy, her album Mirrors In The Sky. The pitch? Think a bit of chillwave from a quirky and cute singer/songwriter singing under a dull grey sky in the mountains and you have an idea of where Lyla is coming from.

Mirrors In The Sky is a moody, soaring affair that takes the singer/songwriter template and chucks it out the window. Sure there’s plenty of strummy guitars and lilting melodies but the melancholic minimal beats and gloomy atmospherics make the record feel and sound completely different. Lyla Foy constructs her songs in such an intimate way that the lyrics are practically whispered and some of the sounds barely audible. Her and her band use these subtle textures and instrumentation to set the scene and mood in fine fashion. A song like, “Rumour, “ for example, barely raises its voice but it’s waltz like rhythm and ghost-like ambiance allows the song to sound detached, unobtrusive, and veiled in mystery. While her quieter acoustic moments do little for me, when Lyla and her cohorts embrace the more electronic end of things and her songs envelope us she’s clearly at her best.

Perhaps a bit like Kate Bush at times, Lyla Foy has the weird angle thing down pat. This is an artist who takes her own obscure path towards being a singer/songwriter and lets her songs march to the beat of a different drum. Because of this Mirrors In The Sky is a bit outside of the retail folk mainstream. It’s for that reason that her songs are good and why I found her Sub Pop debut worthwhile.

Atash Know Everything Is Music

When one thinks of Austin, Texas one thinks of Stubbs BBQ, the Live Music Capital of the World, SXSW and things like that, one does not think of world music. It is Texas after all. But here in the midst of the Texas sunshine comes one of the most diverse and globally aware bands you’ll ever run into. Atash are a group of Texans who look to the far east for inspiration and to the music of Persia, Turkey, India and the Middle East; talk about a fish out of water. Yet, here they are smashing boundaries and musical stereotypes and in doing so creating a sound that is uniquely their own deep in the heart of the Lone Star State.

Atash’s latest album, Everything Is Music is a spiritual and mystical journey through the traditions and sounds of the Far East fused with more familiar influences including reggae, flamenco, rock, and even classical music. It’s a combination that lives up to the album’s title of Everything Is Music in fine fashion. The title, pulled from a poem by Rumi, is meant to portray music as pervading every aspect of a musician’s life and that music is the essence of our being. One listen to this record and you’ll find that this is pretty much the case. Their ability to blend cultural streams and sounds into a cohesive and accessible blend is impressive. Loaded with musical mysticism and global awareness this is an absolutely gorgeous record that while deeply rooted in traditional Middle Eastern sounds is unlike anything you’ve heard before; if Dead Can Dance were more 13th century Persia than 13th century Europe Everything Is Music could have very well been released by them.

Hypnotizing, enlightening, open minded and globally aware Atash makes you feel as though you are in the Arabian Desert in search of a market town to seek shelter in. Everything Is Music is atmospheric, creative, soul stirring, and endlessly fascinating. I found myself wrapped up and absorbed with the nine songs Atash have created here. A brilliant release it’s easy to get lost within the ancient soundworld Everything Is Music creates. Having been transported to faraway lands and on my own personal version of Lawrence of Arabia it’s hard to believe that that Atash are a bunch of Americans from Texas!

Thomas Blodet Creates His Futureworld

Washington D.C. producer and musical wunderkind Thomas Blondet has recently released his debut album Futureworld. Featuring a genre and influence bending multitude of sounds, Blondet creates a pan-continental global journey for the mind and ears. Having spent some time with this record and a few others it’s really got me wondering whether or not there’s something in Washington D.C. water that does something to producers up there. The amount of quality chill out that comes out of that city is simply staggering and Blondet’s Futureworld is leading the way.

Futureworld is the culmination of nearly twenty five years of experience from Blondet who, over the course of his career, has taken just about every kind of beat ever created and mixed it in with Arab, Latin, Indian, Balkan, and Caribbean influences. Easily one of the most open minded and creatively exploratory people on the planet Blondet does all this so easily that it never seems odd, out of character or bad. Futureworld’s soundworld is proof of that as it seamlessly blends Arab, Asian, and Caribbean influences into a hazy brew of infectious rhythms, chilled out beats and mind warping atmospherics. Blondet then takes all those sounds and carefully chooses vocal collaborations to layer on top of them to create even more diverse sounds. The resulting blend is like a math formula that's actually quite pleasurable.

If you want real, proper world music than Futureworld is the best example of that currently on offer. Blodet takes the listener on a journey throughout his debut and it’s a consciousness expanding chilled out trip around the world that carries the sounds and influences of the global community with it. Futureworld really is a vision of the future because it’s a statement of how small the world is becoming day by day and how music is rapidly becoming a communal and world experience to be shared by all. This is a gorgeous record that’s stunningly put together and is an impressive debut.

Euforquestra Light A Fire

Euforquestra’s fourth album Fire is a funky treasure trove of tunes that weaves its way between soulful blasts of brass, far out funk and chilled out reggae vibes. Not too shabby for a band based out of Colorado…then again in light of certain laws taking affect, these guys make total sense. Regardless of location, Euforquestra are one heck of a band that melt snow with songs so hot and so darn funky that you can almost see them oozing out of your speakers.

The tunes are huge and a bit retro infused so that at times it sounds as though Fire were released in 1974 and sound tracked a variety of Super Fly movies. The stuff is as catchy as the Ebola virus and just as difficult to shake off; it’s just too much. You simply can’t forget the riffs these guys come up with and when those horns blow through it’s all over. This is the sort of record that Flea listens to for ideas and inspiration. And who can blame him? The basslines are ridiculous and the hooks are as big as the Rocky Mountains. Let there be no doubt, these guys know how to play and play they do.

Jazz, soul, funk, dub and reggae all fuse together in a harmonious blend of grooves and brass explosions that make this record a sweaty and energetic experience. When the band are allowed to take over and express themselves through those influences it’s almost like a musically religious experience. Fire is a fantastically fun and funky excursion that stops at variety of musical ports and brings the party with it. Euforquestra are energetic and incredibly talented and after four albums it’s easy to see why they’re still around…they just can’t stop playing and writing songs that move.

The Jones Family Singers Wait Until The Spirit Speaks

 

The Jones Family Singers are a family of musicians that embrace a Staples Singers like approach to Gospel. This eight piece band have been bringing the sound of the Lord to their congregation for over twenty years. Amazingly thought, they've never released an album until now. Their debut, twenty years in the making, goes by the name of Until The Spirit Speaks and it's a treasure trove of harmonious glory.

Pulling material from a wealth of live recordings over the years the family headed into the studio with an idea of making a sort of greatest hits. When they emerged they came out with one of the most soulful Gospel experiences ever recorded. If Gospel can be soul and soul is rooted in Gospel than you won't be disappointed as this funky and soulful album packed with positivity and compassion. Religion and messaging aside, this is a great record of reassurance and heart no matter your denomination or beliefs. When you are low and down this is the kind of record that picks you up and gives you the motivation to carry on and I think that's ultimately what The Jones Family Singers hoped to provide. With organs, basslines, and more melodies than you can shake a stick at this is an almost Blues Brothers-like musical revelation that hits at your heart. They might be on a mission from God, but anyone of any religion or belief system can find something to enjoy on Until The Spirit Speaks and that ultimately is what the power of music is all about.