Boulder-based folk singer Joseph Tonelli makes intimate, introspective, heartfelt music. His new album, Dust And Snow, is seven tracks of reflective, hushed songs done in true DIY style: recorded in his living room, then sent to a friend in Italy for production and instrumentation.
Continue reading ‘Music Review: Joseph Tonelli, Dust And Snow’
It’s difficult to call Daniel Romano’s new album, Mosey, a follow-up to last year’s country-flavored If I’ve Only One Time Askin’ (review). It follows the prior album, but stylistically, it’s an exciting left-hand turn.
By Tim Murr
We’re lumbering ever closer to the launch date of Eibon Press’s Fulci Comics! Preorders begin at midnight on June 10. The legacy of the Italian godfather of gore lives on in a new ongoing series based on the 1979 classic Zombie and 1980’s City Of The Living Dead as well as an original series called Bottomfeeder.
This is one of the most unique approaches to comic publishing I’ve ever seen and there is clearly a lot of hard work and love being poured into the production. These comics will be produced in full color, distributed in sturdy sleeves (like records), and are limited to 1,000 copies, with the first 250 being accompanied by signed art plates.
And if that wasn’t juicy enough, just wait until you see all the grindhouse legends “starring” in Bottomfeeder, like Zoe Lund from Ms .45 and Joe Spinell from Maniac (for starters)!
For more background on this production, check out this interview I conducted with writer and creator Stephen Romano on the Stranger With Friction blog.
Nearly every person who will write about how Big Thief’s debut for Saddle Creek, Masterpiece, will note how nervy it is to name an album that… blah blah blah. I wanted to write that, too (because we’re all so very clever). And then we’ll all come to the same conclusion: it’s a pretty apt title.
By Tim Murr
Following up 2014’s Doom Fortress (review), Detroit, Michigan’s Voyag3r returns with a spaced-out concept album called Are You Synthetic? Artist and Acid Witch singer Slasher Dave provides the gorgeous album cover, outdoing his iconic cover for Doom Fortress. Musically Voyag3r continues to give fans what they want while growing and evolving.
Continue reading ‘Music Review: Voyag3r, Are You Synthetic?’
By Tyler Hodg
Nearly everyone has a personal anecdote about The Monkees, but in their 50th year, a commemorative album destined to be a throw-away discount bin item is sure to create an entirely different set of memories. Good Times!, the first record from the band in 20 years, is a collection of new and unreleased (but recently finished) songs that few people asked for, but many will enjoy.
The third single from Popincourt, “Happy Town,” provides an answer to what might have happened if Paul Weller had been French instead of English.
Check out our exclusive stream of Popincourt’s latest single from their upcoming album A New Dimension To Modern Love, released on June 17 from Jigsaw Records.
Popincourt says of the track:
On this one, I really wanted to have an up tempo beat, mixing Soul and Pop. I had “Dancing In the Streets” by Martha and the Vandellas in mind, but as well “The Gift” by the Jam. Then came the first terrorist attack in Paris early 2015: I was at this Unity March in Paris on January 11. Something you cannot forget: great sadness but at the same time this massive feeling of fraternity. People were even kissing cops!
I finalized the lyrics having this in mind, in a very naïve and optimistic way: the power of the street, the music that could change the world, the fact to live any minute “now”! Sadly enough, I received the master of the album two days after the second terrorist attack where 130 people were shot dead, some of them at this rock venue, le Bataclan, in November 2015.
It’s Good News/Bad News time. The good news is that I am submitting a chapter to an upcoming book anthology. The bad news is that the deadline is quickly approaching and I need to finish!
This means that Popshifter will be going on a bit of a break until June. In the meantime, please enjoy the following articles that you might have missed over the last couple of weeks.
What about movies? If you’re looking for something to see this weekend that is the exact opposite of The Nice Guys, you might try Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise. Tyler Hodg enjoyed the videogame adaptation of Rachet and Clank, while Christine Makepeace was appalled by the sexism in documentary All Dolled Up.
If you want music recommendations, look no further than Popshifter! Melissa Bratcher enjoyed the self-titled debut of Big Star’s Jody Stephens with Luther Russell, a.k.a. Those Pretty Wrongs; adores by Ominivore’s reissue of two albums from The Blind Boys Of Alabama; thinks the latest album from Gregg Martinez, Soul of the Bayou, is a charmer; and is thrilled by the way On The Ropes shows that the Honeycutters keep getting better.
Tim Murr thinks Black Absinthe could be as big as AC/DC after hearing Early Signs of Denial; Tyler fondly reminisces about Sloan’s album The Double Cross on its five-year anniversary and praises Royal Tusk for adding some spice to the frequently stale genre of rock on DealBreaker; and Eric Weber describes his history of discovering Divine’s music in his review of the Cherry Red Records anthology, Shoot Your Shot.
Finally, Sachin Hingoo catches us up with what’s happening on Lucha Underground.
Asheville, North Carolina’s The Honeycutters have followed up 2015’s sublime Me Oh My with the completely wonderful On The Ropes. It’s good to have them back with such strong, satisfying material. Vocalist and songwriter Amanda Anne Platt’s voice is a treat: maybe older and wiser (by a year), but still hopeful. Hearts have been broken and mistakes have been made, but she’s not giving up. Ever.
Continue reading ‘Music Review: The Honeycutters, On The Ropes’
By Eric Weber
The time was 1991; the place was Wax n Facts in Atlanta, Georgia.
Flipping through the packed cardboard box, my jaw dropped when I saw the huge white letters emblazoned across the top of the record sleeve: DIVINE.
I quickly snatched it up, examining every inch of the album. I couldn’t believe it. Divine: Greatest Hits. He had hits?
Continue reading ‘Music Review: Shoot Your Shot: The Divine Anthology’