Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band "Expansions (Big Crown Records)"
From Big Crown Records:
Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, Germany have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7”s and two critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their third album, aptly titled “Expansions”, BRSB are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago.
Moon King "The Audition (Arbutus)"
From Arbutus Records:
‘The Audition’ is the latest release from Canadian artist Daniel Benjamin, to be released July 16, 2021 on Arbutus Records.
“I’ve become fascinated with actors, auditioning, ‘trying to get the part’. Things that might seem silly in a high school drama class, but stay with you. Learning how to perform – whether that’s onstage, online, or at a job”, says Benjamin on the subject matter for the new songs.
On The Audition, Moon King is in a class of his own, offering a look ‘inside the actor’s studio’ with a new set of fun, fanciful and unabashedly lo-fi synthpop, and heightening his skills as a producer in the vein of Patrick Cowley or Patrick Adams.
Cavemen "Smash (Fortune Tellers)"
From Fortune Tellers Records:
Since Caveman began in 2010, they’ve released 3 full records, toured endlessly(sharingstages with The War on Drugs, Jeff Tweedy, and Weezer, and playing festivals including Coachella, Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits), receiving accolades from Pitchfork to the New York Times. Now in 2021, they’ve become one of the mainstays of the NYC music world. More than anything, Caveman are the band that everyone seems to know, who always seemed to be out on the town for years if you needed someone to meet up with late into the night, the throughline to a dozen disparate crowds of artists. Led by Matthew Iwanusa, lifelong city resident, with guitarist Jimmy Carbonetti (who grew up on Roosevelt Island) they quickly started their first band in high school. At 18, they met Jeff Berrall (bass) to complete the trio. Nowadays, they’ve grown from young punk kids into statesmen of sorts for NYC indie music. Jimmy’s Brooklyn shop The Guitar Shop NYC is a city institution and a clubhouse for the band. Practicing and working out of Williamsburg nightclub Baby’s Alright during it’s down hours, the band are just beginning to recreate the momentum of their early career after a period of false starts, legal issues and delays that slowed the release of their new record for several years.
Graduating Life "II (Pure Noise)"
From Pure Noise Records:
It’s a good thing that Bart Thompson doesn’t believe in fate. If he did, he might have followed the signs that the universe was giving him and not made this second Graduating Life full-length. Not only was the first tour for this once-but-no-longer solo project cancelled midway through because of the coronavirus outbreak, but Thompson didn’t have a particularly enjoyable time recording it. Most artists would shy away from being so candid about the negative aspects, but Thompson isn’t most artists.
“The recording process wasn’t that fun,” he admits. “There were moments that were, but I had this falling out with the friend who was tracking us. We’re fine now, but it kind of made me realize that I just I don’t fucking care about that shit. It ruins it for me, in a way. Then when that tour, which was first tour I was able to do with Grad Life, was cancelled, it was almost like if there’s a God, it’s pretty obvious that I’m not supposed to fucking do this! It really bummed me out.”