Gabriel black makes music in his room. Alone. At night. And the result is pretty damn cool. His latest track, "freedom", our just a few weeks back, is really interesting. It's guitar-lead hip-hop with a bit of a dark feel to it. In addition to making music alone in his room at night, he makes fun animations for his songs. Check out the "video" for "freedom" below. And, if any of this sparks your interest, read/watch this interview.
RIYL: Why?, Dan Deacon, Panda Bear, Islands
Every day’s another shot
But all I do is fuck it up
Screaming cause I’ve got it too good to cry
I put the medicine inside my head
Apologize for all the things I said
Girl it takes guts to just surviveI gotta oh, I gotta find another way
I’m learning to live
I’m trying to be better
I’m learning to give
But I don’t know if I’m a giver
Kristine Flaherty was raised in Illinois and started making music while a psych major at Stanford. It kind of blows my mind that she started out as a hip-hop artist and still describes herself as a low-fi hip-hop-rock hybrid because I first heard "Blood in the Cut" last year and thought it was a pretty lame but solidly alt-rock anthem. Come to find out her make-it-up-as-you-go, true indie cred (leaving behind 60 songs written while under contract at RCA), and that her fans range from Taylor Swift to Dan Reynolds, who signed her to his small imprint and put her on tour currently (with Imagine Dragons). Anyway, this single reached my ears this week (from Everywhere is Somewhere, same album as "Blood in the Cut") and I can't believe how much more nuanced and enjoyable it is. Or how she slipped my notice before all this!
RIYL: Bishop Briggs, Lewis Del Mar, Meg Myers, Grieves
So the good man said
Turns out God is dead
We’re on our own this time
To work out what is yours and mine
No reward to being kind
No quick fix for the day, you’ll find
Welcome to the spiritual dark age
Posting Childcare yesterday (with it's former TKAK member) prompted me to check and behold I was rewarded with a long-awaited new release. It's another darkly upbeat track like their best off their debut. I love how percussive and urgent it gets midway. Right now they have plans to tour native UK early next year and my fingers are crossed they'll be invited back to SXSW.
RIYL: Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Foals, The National
To help me get over you
I get dressed up in your clothes, I do
When I need to feel something new
I turn into you
We're always delighted when an artist we feature notices our little blog with a "like" or a retweet or something, but this was a first: a rep contacting us via FB to mention that a former member of a band we featured (TKAK) was in a great other band in London and would we take a listen? Childcare is that band and I've been listening. They have a couple earlier EPs not imported into Spotify that got glowing reviews across the pond, one saying something like 'They're bringing pop-rock back!" And the quartet finished out 2016 as a pre-opener for Bastille on a bunch of shows (ah, of course, friendship is a lovely thing). I almost posted "Film Club" from their Made Simple EP from earlier this year, but in my wait/backlog of other artists to post they released this track which is even more catchy and interesting. Hope you enjoy it and hat tip to Chris - and any other band member/rep in the indie scene trying to get exposure. The only requisite for being a Most Important Song is that we like it (and it's on Spotify)!
RIYL: Blaenavon, Black Honey, Knox Hamilton, Little Comets
The good old days, the honest man
The restless heart, the Promised Land
A subtle kiss that no one sees
A broken wrist and a big trapeze
Oh well, I don't mind, you don't mind
Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you go, can you read my mind?
ACL is over for another year. They expanded the festival this time, throughout a bigger portion of Zilker Park, adding another medium-big stage, spreading out the sound for less overlap, and allowing a second area for eating and merch buying. AND they had awesome outhouses that flushed, were never out of paper, and the line was never very long. Great job, ACL! We were suffering from allergies and didn't hit as many shows as usual, but still saw some really great, memorable sets. A few highlights: Crystal Castles, Skepta, Foster the People, Car Seat Headrest, Ice Cube, Tove Lo, Day Wave, RKS, Run the Jewels, Gorillaz, and the set I was most looking forward to, the festival closer and they did not disappoint: The Killers. I hadn't realized how many of their hits translate spectacularly for a stadium/festival crowd - it was so much fun and is now ranked as one of my top concerts ever. Haters gonna hate (Keith), but I thought that such a sweet show earned the band another spot on TMIS. Also - if you haven't checked out the new album yet (I posted "The Man" before it was released, I think) you should, it's got a handful of gems (but esp "Run for Cover").
