Bandcamp discovery of the week

 Continuing the thread of artists who should be far more famous than they are...

A browse round other people's blogs brought up The Men I Trust, a Canadian 3 piece who despite being new to me have enough of a following to be able to tour in China, as well as North America.  They describe themselves as "Dream Pop" which puts me in mind of The Cocteau Twins, and there is certainly a touch of that band about them. Their current album release 'Oncle Jazz' is available at a pay what you want price on Bandcamp (although I'm trusting you to put in a decent amount). Touches of Downtempo, house as well as guitars drenched in the chorus pedal and some excellent bass playing. Oddly their breakthough song 'Lauren' is the main absence from the album, but you can buy it on its own so that's ok.

The relaxed vibe is great for a work soundtrack, as it has been in the shed this morning, but it never slides into aural wallpaper land. As well as the indie pop, occasional flashes of Cowboy Junkies style Americana and 80s funky synths drift past to keep things inetresting. There is also a French feel to much of what is going on here Perhaps that should be Canadian-ness, singer Emma's voice does have a vague resemblance to compatriot Béatrice Martin, 'Cœur de pirate', although the music is quite different. Top songs are the two videos below, 'Show Me How' and 'Seven' which features the album's sole guitar solo moment. 24 songs may seem like a lot but at around 3 minutes each they never outstay their welcome. Men I Trust should certainly be enjoying the success of current top Dream Pop faves London Granmmar, assuming that is what they want. Count me a fan.

The good news is that they are coming to the UK next February (Covid permitting) and are at St Lukes, Glasgow on the 12th. You can expect to find me in the audience...

 

Further down the rabbit hole...

 It's funny how some things strike a chord (so to speak). My last post about music that was off the radar prompted more interest than posts about many far better known people. So...

I talked recently to Damien Mahoney who is Caulbearers. Both his offerings on Bandcamp are worth having, I just bought them in fact, and they will be on the iPod for the drive home from Scotland on Sunday. The single 'Hollow Bones' would be at home on Tru Thoughts Records, very Quantic Soul Orchestra. The 'More Lie Deep' EP is a bit more varied, bits of a variety of world musics, Jazz and Soul. If you buy the CD version you get a unique hand stamped card case. May have to buy that as well. Highly recommended. Much like the Power Pop we talked about last time not massively fashionable, but good tunes well played and produced are always a good calling card and Caulbearers have them in spades.

I'll talk more about Antarma when his new music starts appearing. In the meantime his last single 'Chill for a Minute' is still available on Bandcamp. The music is a clash of all sorts of Funky, Jazzy, Hip Hop styles, and the words don't take themselves too seriously, always a good thing in this corner of the musical forest. 

Something that has changed over the last few months in my posts is that Bandcamp has featured more often. From the John McLaughlin album in April to Pennan Brae last week, artists are starting to take control back from the corporations. Another example of this to round off a fairly funky feature is The Sultan's Swing. On heavy rotation on Jazz FM with 'Dune' featuring flautist Chip Wickham and a Fender Rhodes powered groove straight out of 1975, you can get their 2 album 2 single discography for around £10, which is stupidly cheap. Nothing quite equals 'Dune' but they have a neat line in atmospheric piano Jazz as well as the more Jazz Funk material. With the continuation of Bandcamp Fridays at the start of every month for the rest of this year, when they hand back their revenue share to the artists, this is the portal to support. We'll cover CD Baby's abandonement of the independent artist by way of contrast soon.

Speaking of Jazz Funk, if you haven't seen Rodney P's documentary for BBC on the origins and rise of that genre. He makes a compelling case for the London Soul Boys as begetters of the New Romantics in the early 80s. Worth a watch on iPlayer while you can.

Keep looking under the radar

Out in business land I belong to an organisation called 4Networking who've done a great job of keeping their members connected over Coronavid, including through a meeting aimed at musicians and those interested in music. Listening to the recommendations of others in the group reminds me of how much good music now flies miles under the radar.

I think I’ve mentioned before that in 33 Songs Nick Hornby decides that after listening to the US top 10 albums for a given week that his preferences aren’t part of the mainstream and perhaps shouldn’t be called “pop music” at all. I’m not sure what you call it if you don’t call it pop, so I’ll stick with that especially as my first example is…

Power Pop

Bruce Brodeen was the owner of Not Lame records back in the 90s, and now has a site called Pop Geek Heaven, which focuses on the world of jangly guitars and Power Pop. One of the best music lists books is “Shake Some Action:  The Ultimate Power Pop Guide” by John Borack which Bruce publishes. I have the 1^st edition which is a great source for new music buys. There is a new edition due out, I can’t justify £50 on a book when over half of that is postage, but I’m sure I will regret that decision soon. Anyway, much of the music being made now is high quality pop, which may be a bit “old fashioned” but the tunes! As a quick guide sign up for Bruce’s newsletter, but try anything on the Big Stir, and Ice Cream Man labels for songs that you will be singing in the shower. If you’re quick Ice Cream Man have a free sampler on Bandcamp now.

Pennan Brae

A friend introduced me to this Canadian singer/songwriter. His website is here and features his acting as well as his music. His most recent album 2 Below 0 is like most recent ones tied to a film. It would be interesting to hear what he does when the songs stand alone. It’s very much old school guitar-based indie rock. All his pictures show him with cheap Fender Mustang and Musicmaster guitars

which tells you about his attitude to simple well-structured songs. Whatever, you’ve never heard of him and you should.

In my networking group you must keep alert as there are loads of new suggestions for music being thrown out all the time. I have picked up on Parquet Courts, Endless Boogie, and following a talk about him I’m now expanding my David Bowie collection rapidly, particularly his 90s albums… but that’s another story.