IYESAYA - Monster SCS

This song totally surprised me when I was going through my SC feed the other day. Monster by IYESAYA is such a unique and brilliant take on song-writing and lyricism, in my head he has created a niche genre to call his own. Occasionally in my head I try to compare songs or artists to other similar people to have something of a reference point (which I know can diminish from the artist themselves) but he has a such a strong individual sound that it sort of expanded my previously child sized mind, *queue Explosion sound effect* The track is definitely powerful and has the raw quality that I seemingly always bang on about and I am looking forward to more great tracks from the kid. Download his track and more great music at the Art Is Hard Records website artishardrecords.limitedrun.com and enjoy the song below!

Isaac Gracie - Terrified YTV

One big thank you to Burberry for creating this video. Their YouTube channel posts plenty of brilliant acoustic versions of tracks (too many to mention) but this one really caught my attention in a big way. The track is Terrified and is sung by Isaac Gracie (www.facebook.com/isaacgraciemusic) It is a track off of the EP honestly titled Songs From My Bedroom that was released late March just gone. What makes this version spectacular is the distinctive and mellow vocals that you can tell are singing his feelings that are straight out of the heart, true raw emotion at it's best. Enjoy!

Alexis Panidis WMF

Name: Alexis Panidis

Age: 22

Location: Manchester

Occupation: Student/Work in bar/Band 

1.At this second, favourite artist/band in the world?

Probably Red Hot Chili Peppers

2.What song is guaranteed to get you in a good mood?
Anything from Bob Marley's album kaya

3.Which artist/band that no longer makes music would you want to hear new stuff from (dead/alive)?

Talking Heads

4.Which festival anywhere in the world would you go to (money is no object)?

Coachella or one of the Lollapalooza's in South America

5.Dream festival head-liners, Fri, Sat & Sun?

Rage against the machine, Red hot Chili Peppers, Talking Heads

6.If you could master any instrument which would you choose?

Guitar

7.What artist/band wouldn't you miss if they stopped making music?

Got a lot of hate for The 1975 and The Vaccines

8.Favourite decade for music?
Hard to say late 60's and 70's was sweet. A lot of innovative musicians and really talented musicians unlike most of the shit these days.

9.And favourite artist from that decade?

I'm a big fan of The Doors

10.What artist/band would your friends be surprised to know you liked?

Wild Beasts

11.Ideal musical dinner guest/guests and what would you eat?
David Byrne, Flea, Alex Turner, Matt Helders, Zach de La Rocha, and Susan Boyle because that would just be funny. Steak

12.Artist/band that you are a fan of that more people should be listening to?

Queasy

13.Last album you listened to in its entirety?

Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come To Expect

14.Last concert you went to as a fan?

Twin Peaks

Any links to social media:

  

Thank You

Jessica Lea Mayfield AS

As I hope you can tell, I have had a bit of a re-brand of this blog. Musicopedia no longer....now The Beacon, I think it looks and sounds nicer, more professional and all that good stuff. I hope you like it too. Anyway, on with the feature:

This month I want the whole world to know about Jessica Lea Mayfield and fall for her music as hard as I have. She is a 26 year old singer songwriter from Kent, Ohio and has released 4 solo and one joint album to date. Yes she is incredibly prolific.

Her first released material back in 2005 was called White Lies and she released it under the name of Chittlin'. The album is very much rooted in folk/roots sounds with a splash of Country here and there. Finding out she made this when she was a teenager shows how talented she was from such a young age.

Following that came her first release under her birth name called With Blasphemy So Heartfelt. The difference between her first and second album (and so far all following releases to date) is the progression and experimentation that is added and grown with each piece of music she releases. WBSH shows JLM keeping the great guitar techniques from the previous but mixing and messing with vocal effects and adding other more electronical sounds and techniques to the music. One of many of my favourite tracks off of the album is Bible Days which has haunting yet melodic vocals that I find oddly hypnotic.

Her next release was Tell Me which was released in early 2011 and is her most commercially popular LP to date. On first listen I noticed a clear difference with the vocals (than from the previous work), possibly how they were recorded, they sounded slightly brighter, definitely clearer, the instrumentation sounds more refined and you can tell she is getting even closer to truly becoming a  master of her instruments.

The latest solo release 'Make My Head Sing...' is a turn down a different alley in terms of sound. If the previous LP was JLM sounding slightly 'pop' this has dirty grunge written (or wiped) all over it. Straight off from the first track 'Oblivious' you can tell, everything has a darker, more dulled down sound with catchy chugging guitars and more down heartened vocals. This album has to be my favourite from JLM, I think it includes the bits and pieces that I loved from each of her previous albums and combines them to create this epic piece of music.

JLMs latest musical venture is with Seth Avett (from The Avett Brothers fame) They have released a 12 track album of Elliot Smith covers. Prior to this LP I hadn't really heard much music from Elliot Smith, only references made of him from people in movies and TV trying to sound cool. But these two singers make the songs feel so heartfelt and full of emotion I can imagine that they are in a relationship singing the songs into each others eyes. Beautiful performances all round.

Wherever she goes next, I know it is going to be magical and truly exciting. Check out the video below for some live tunes. She is a talent and hopefully keeps making stuff for years to come. Enjoy!

Car Seat Headrest - Fill In The Blank YTV

Matador Records ever so kindly released this clever lyric video of Fill In The Blank. Which is one of the tracks from Car Seat Headrests' upcoming second album out at the end of May, called Teens Of Denial. The guy behind CSH is one Will Toledo and this 4 minute track truly shows that he is one very talented boy. The screeching jagged guitar, crashing cymbals on simple yet powerful drums and use of silence that helps accentuate the catchy lyrics are just several reasons that make CSH an exciting musical prospect. For the cherry on the imaginary cake, he is coming to The Deaf Institute in June so fun times all round. Enjoy!    

Dan West WMF

Name: Dan West
 Age: 22
 Location: Manchester, U.K
 Occupation: Student, Bar tender, Record label owner and event organiser.
 
1. At this second, favourite artist/band in the world? 

OM (https://www.facebook.com/om.band/)

2. What song is guaranteed to get you in a good mood? 
Automatic - Pointer Sisters, pretty much any 80s pop song.

3. Which artist/band that no longer makes music would you want to hear new stuff from (dead/alive)? 
Tool, they've taken so long I thought they weren't alive!
 
4. Which festival anywhere in the world would you go to (money is no object)? 
Burning Man, it just looks so sweet!

5. Dream festival head-liners, Fri, Sat & Sun? 
Mala, Tool, OM. Probably in that order too.
 
6. If you could get any current band/artist to play a show in your living room, who would you pick? 
Tool over OM this time because I've never seen Tool.
 
7. If you could master any instrument which would you choose? 
Bass

8. What artist/band do you think should stop making music? 
I don't think anyone should stop but I wouldn't miss The Killers.

9. Favourite decade for music?
Every decade has something that I enjoy but I'd have to pick 80s
 
10. And favourite artist from that decade? Not just an 80s artist but David Bowie.

11. What artist/band would your friends be surprised to know you liked? 
Maybe the fact that I like most things from Meshuggah (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4GXNzom6ik) to WHAM!
 
12. Ideal musical dinner guest/guests and what would you eat? 
Prince, Moby, KRS One since we're all vegan and we'd eat a Tofurky or something :)

13. Artist/band that you are a fan of that more people should be listening to? 
The guys on my label ;) Also I'm really into False Advertising at the moment, Diving Station are sweet too!

 

14. Last album you listened to in its entirety? 
I listen to all albums in their entirety, currently listening through one of our releases, deeB - Evening Island as I write this.
 
15. Last concert you went to as a fan? 
Mura Masa at the Deaf Institute, the support act, Bonzai, were incredible! Maybe better than Mura Masa himself.

16. Last song you listened to? 
Currently listening to Nightswim by deeB

Finally any links to social media:

 

Thank You

E S T R O N S - Drop SCS

SoundCloud Song

Estrons are back in a big way with Drop. Back as in 5 months of quiet since Make A Man was posted on their SoundCloud, so more just a short period of time. Anyway Drop has everything I loved from their prevoius release: thrashy, relentless guitars, constant driving drums & bass and the in your face vocals that refuse to be ignored. On top of all that, this track has an extra level of darkness similar to early Queens Of The Stone Age (maybe it is that killer bass line) that feels like a punch to the gut in the nicest way possible. These guys are destined for big things, I can see their name in big lights. Enjoy!

Spookyland - Big Head YTV

12/04/16 YouTube Video

Another great hit by the Spooklyland boys. I have been a big fan of these Australian guys since I heard their previous single Gods Eyes that was released like 2 months ago now. This track 'Big Head' may be less anthemic that GE (in terms of lyrics) but the instrumentation is as big and balshy as ever. With under a month to go until their début release (6th May, go pre-order it), all signs are pointing towards an absolute cracker of an LP. One more brilliant band coming out of Oz keeping the rock and roll sound alive. Enjoy!

Brian Fallon - Painkillers MA

March Album

Another month another absolutely fantastic lot of albums that have been released. Such new albums from The Joy Formidable, Bob Mould, Richmond Fontaine, The Wild Feathers and Adult Books have been particularly great but my top favourite has to be Brian Fallons first release as a solo agent titled Painkillers.

This post was ideally meant to be posted last week but better late than never, thats a phrase people say? Anyways, I have been a big Brian Fallon fan from his years in The Gaslight Anthem. Their blend of emotion stirring Americana rock and roll has always made me some kind of way in the same way that of Springsteen (to give a nice and dated reference) does. It is that quality of storytelling lyrics about the every-man that connects seemingly easy with me and gives a personal extra layer of enjoyment from the music. This solo release was a great progression from his work in the band, keeping everything that I loved about the bands sound, then adding the more personal lyrics to the tracks and taking more responsibility on his shoulders for being a solo effort. My track highlights are Among Other Foolish Things (possibly for the Beatles influences), Steve McQueen and Long Drives.  Below is one of the single releases Painkillers, please watch the video and go get the album if you like what you hear! Enjoy!

Antoine - Petite fille, ne crois pas YTV

05/04/16 YouTube Video

I am back after an eventful few days in Paris, seeing the sights, attractions and eating particularly great food. One of my personal highlights aside from the tasty pastries and other goodies was visiting the Born Bad record store which is on the Eastern side of the city if you are ever around that way. And seeing as I was in the country, I thought what better record to buy than one by a French musician. Namely a self-titled LP by Antoine which caught my eye in the 60's rock section, with his classic guitar harmonica combination, I thought I couldn't really go wrong. A great song off of the album that I chose for this weeks pick is 'Petite fille, ne crois pas' which roughly translates to mean 'Little girl, do not believe'. On my first few listens it sounds like quite a jolly little pop/folk ditty but on further reading into the lyrics it seems to be more about the ending of short term relationships and possibly times when the partner has greater feelings for you than you do for her. Definitely deeper and less obviously romantic than I first imagined. Enjoy!

Nai Harvest - Just Like You YTV

29/03/16 YouTube Video

Exciting times for me as I'm off to Paris tomorrow for a couple of days and what better song to send me off than this banger from the Nai Harvest boys. Top Shelf Records released this video from the band just yesterday entitled Just Like You which is taken off of their forthcoming EP which is out at the end of April, practically a year since their cracking album Hairball was released. This band are another great example that less is truly more. They are a great two piece that produce killer guitar lead rock songs that get stuck in my head so easily. Yet another band that I am longing for the second album to come....it can't be too much longer, can it? Enjoy!

DICE Podcast - Episode 6 SCS

SoundCloud Song

This post I decided on not so much of a song but more a particularly interesting podcast. Specifically The DICE Podcast episode 6. In this episode, the brilliant Jen Long (below) takes the trip to Australia to go to the Laneway Festival. She talks with East India Youth, a chap from Health and one of the creators of the festival: St. Jerome. The festivals history is it started way back in 2005 and in a similar way to festivals like The Vans Warped Tour, they take the artists around to different cities each week to perform. The festival has finished for this year but by the sounds of it, it was a pretty magical time had by all. Looking at the line up I would take the trip to see Fidlar and Chvrches alone and just go where the wind takes me for the rest of the festival becasue there are so many good bands playing. Laneway currently runs mainly around Australia with spots in Detroit and Singapore but I hope great festivals like this get the support they deserve and continue to get better and better. Amazing podcast which I hope you take the time to listen to. Enjoy!

Pony Time - Geordie YTV

22/03/16 YouTube Video

Yesterday morning I took a trip to one of my favourite record stores in Manchester Piccadilly Records. As I was flicking through the vast indie/rock selection that they have, I noticed an album by Pony Time called Rumours 2 (pictured below) It caught my eye 95% because of the Fleetwood Mac Rumours similarity but after reading more about the band and the album from the little bio that the store includes in the sleeve they sounded like right up my street. So when I got back home, I did a bit of browsing on the YouTubes and found a video they did for Geordie which is a single off of their first album. A simple and brilliantly crafted garage rock song from the two piece. For me the vocals pack a punch that is greatly enhanced by the harsh and powerful drumming from Stacey Peck. After listening to this I went through Rumours 2 and to my enjoyment, it was more of the same style tunes in the same vein as Georgie. So if you like this be sure to check out more. Enjoy!

The Wild Feathers AS

Artist Showcase

I have been thinking about doing this feature for a while now and the time has finally come. I wanted to do a new type of post that highlights and shares great bands, not just on their latest releases or a specific album but over a whole body of work, both current and older artists included in the mix to keep things interesting. Th aim will be to post these once month but occasionally it may double up if the mood takes me.

It just so happens that the first band I want to showcase is The Wild Feathers has just released their sophomore album 'Lonely Is A Lifetime'. The Wild Feathers are a 4 piece Alt-Country band from Nashville, Tennessee. Members consisting of Ben Dumas on drums, Joel King on Bass & Vocals and both Ricky Young and Taylor Burns on Guitar & Vocals. They released their first self titled album back in August 2013 and their latest was released just in this great month of March 2016. The blend of soulful country rock and roll that they make has worked perfectly across their body of work so far and really hope they come play at The Deaf Institute sometime in the future. Speaking of live dates, they are currently doing a bunch of shows for SXSW then following that with a big tour around the US. No signs of any UK dates as of yet but we wait with hope and fingers crossed. Below is a brilliant live performance of one of the latest singles 'Happy Again'

I hope you like these guys music and even this new music showcase feature thing. It will improve with time and a little practise just like everything else. Enjoy!