The Honeydogs - Love & Cannibalism (Review)

The Honeydogs are back. Four years after What Comes After comes ... Love & Cannibalism.  Adam Levy and his band recorded the album at The Pearl Studio in Minneapolis with producer John Fields (Semisonic, Rooney). Love & Cannibalism will be out April 16, 2016.

The album opens with a straight rocker: Vermillion Billows (Shouldn't Take It So Hard). Devices sums up classic Honeydogs sound with soul and jazz influences. Art & Vandalism goes into your ears and gets stuck in your brain (careful!) - it's such an ear-worm. Wheels has a classic (maybe 1970s) touch - the ending is magnificent. Gorgeous harmonies accompany Left Alone. Yet another bad-ass ear-worm. 

And then comes Sandstorm: My gosh - this is such a strong song. By the way: the intro reminds me of Bleu's Redhead. Again a hard rocking track: Blue-Backed Speller. The guitar work is stunning, reminds me sometimes of Brian May's Queen sound. 

Look Through The Sun (Photokeratits),Arguing With Fiction and Ordinary Legs are instant Honeydogs classics. I rest my case.  
The record finishes with a slightly seldom kind of album ending song: Little Sister is so positive - or better: it just makes you happy. The track mixes upbeat elements (I LOVE the chorus) with Caribbean sound.

For me Love & Cannibalism is the counterpart to Adam Levy's Naubinway from 2015. While Naubinway is sometime hard to get through because of its meaning (which is reflected in every song), Love & Cannibalism is straight, positive and full of joy.
Just to make sure: Don't get me wrong about Naubinway - I love the record (see my Top 10 list of 2015).

In my opinion there is not a single filler or skippable song on Love & Cannibalism. Every songs stands on his own. This may be one of the best things you can say about a record.

 

Listen (and watch the video) to "Arguing With Fiction" here:

You can and would do well to buy Love & Cannibalism at Bandcamp after its mid-April 2016 release.

Paul Steel - April & II (Update - March 13, 2016)

Paul Steel is back with a new record. The PledgeMusic campaign for April & II is out now.

Paul explains: 
"‘April & I’ the first time round was a pre-emptive teenage rebellion against all the musical sacrifices I suspected I’d have to make once I’d signed a record deal. That was in 2007. 
I’m nearly 30 now, I have facial hair, hypothyroidism, occasional back problems and I’ve been working as a commercial pop writer and producer where my own personal musical sacrifice has earned me a living.
However, more and more I’ve been craving that rush you get from making music for its own sake. After a few years of nothingness, I had a thought. Then shortly after another different thought appeared. Then another. And another. By the end of 2014 I could count at least 20 different thoughts and observations roughly speaking! This giddy feeling of infinite possibility and inspiration took me straight back to the ‘April & I’ days so it made sense for this new record to be a sequel."

BEWARE! Listen to the first song and you will HAVE TO pledge. It's stunning.
 

Update (March 13, 2016) - here is another song from the record:
 
 

Paul Steel @ PledgeMusic

Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones - Little Windows

Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones recorded an album together with the help of our co-writer Bill DeMain and producer Mike Viola. It’s called Little Windows and will be out April 1, 2016.

On their debut collaboration, Teddy Thompson and Kelly Jones give listeners ten engaging views of the joys and sorrows of love and the vagaries of the human heart - from wide-eyed wonderment ("Wondering") to lingering nostalgia ("I Thought That We Said Goodbye"), from promises ("Make A Wish On Me") and pleas ("Don't Remind Me") to sad self-deception ("Better At Lying").

Teddy and Kelly first sang together at LA's Club Largo in 2011. A George Jones song. The harmony blend was goosebump good. It seemed only natural to do more.

The songs create complex emotions with simple honesty, that measure up to those by favorite artists like the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and Sam Cooke.

Johnson & McAuley - Illuminated Dream

Alexz Johnson and Bleu team up for a new record: Johnson & McAuley - Illuminated Dream.

 

Track Listing: 

01 Illuminated Dream

02 The Promise

03 Heartbeat (Beatin’ You Up)

04 The Secrets You Keep

05 Diametrical

06 No More Fear

Pre-Order via PayPal:

US Shipping - Black Vinyl Album

International Shipping - Black Vinyl Album

US Shipping - PINK Opaque Vinyl Album

International Shipping - PINK Opaque Vinyl Album

Bleu - Won't Make It Out Alive

Won't Make It Out Alive is the new video of To Hell With You from Bleu:
 

Air Traffic Controller - Black Box

Serving in the US Navy as an air traffic controller, Dave Munro sent home demos written during deployment. Band mate Casey Sullivan met Dave soon thereafter, and the two founded Air Traffic Controller. Their third record BLACK BOX is out now.

Listen to BLACK BOX here:

 

BLACK BOX - digital
iTunes

Spotify

BLACK BOX - CD Digipack

ATC PayPal

Linda Perhacs - The Third Album

"Legendary" is a kind of inflationary phrase. But sometime it fits quite well: Linda Perhacs’ record Parallelograms is one of those. Released in 1970 it wasn't a big hits back then, but became a record in great demand. The original vinyl release was quite rare, but also quite badly pressed. Perhacs says: “I could only bear to listen to it once. I then threw my copy of my own record away.”

In 2003 a CD release followed and in 2010 she began slowly again making music.

2014 - after 43 years - her second record finally was made. With producers (and Perhacs fans) Fernando Perdomo and Chris Price the stunning follow-up The Soul of All Natural Things was released.

Presently Perhacs will be self-releasing her third album. She has decided to go without a label to get the music straight to the people. Joining her on her new album will be co producers, Pat Sansone of Wilco and The Autumn Defense, and Fernando Perdomo. Guests will include Chris Price, Julia Holter, Jonathan Wilson, Durga McBroom, Michelle Vidal, Devendra Banhart and more.

Perks include signed CD's and LP's, Signed Lyric Sheets, Signed Guitars, Skype Sessions, and more.

+ + + New Music - March 2016 + + +

Air Traffic Controller - Black Box (Release: March 11, 2016)



Johnson & McAuley - Illuminated Dream (Release: April 8, 2016)



Hotel Lights - Get Your Hand in My Hand (Out Now)



Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones - Little Windows (Release: April 1, 2016)



Kerosene Stars - A Million Little Trees EP



Linda Perhacs - The Dancer (Release: TBA)



The Honeydogs - Love & Cannibalism (Release: April 16, 2016)



Travis - Everything at Once (Release: April 9, 2016)