Marissa Paternoster "Peace Meter"
Marissa Paternoster (Screaming Females, Noun) began writing Peace Meter immediately after arriving home from a west coast tour cut short due to COVID. Alone in her posthumous grandmother’s empty home, Paternoster sent the skeleton of a song to Andy Gibbs from the metal band THOU with the hopes that he might be able to extrapolate on the original idea. Andy sent his accompaniment back, and that process continued for the bulk of the first wave of quarantine. As the songs developed, Paternoster decided to include two other musicians whom she admired: long time friend Shanna Polley of the NYC-based band Snakeskin on backup vocals, and the cellist Kate Wakefield from the Cincinnati-based band Lung. All parties recorded their parts within their respective homes. Once the songs seemed fully realized, they were mixed by Eric Bennett, one of Marissa’s oldest friends and closest collaborators, who was also quarantined at home alongside his mixing studio.
Chris Liebing "Another Day"
Another Day sees Chris Liebing once again collaborating with an eclectic mix of artists, including several who were involved with Burn Slow. Miles Cooper Seaton, in one of his last performances following his sad and untimely passing earlier this year, and Polly Scattergood lend vocals to a track each, while Ralf Hildenbeutel returns to produce. Ladan (formerly known as Cold Specks), Tom Adams and Maria Uzor (Sink Ya Teeth) are new collaborators for Liebing.
“With this album, I wanted to take myself out of it as much as possible,” explains Chris Liebing. After three decades working dancefloors with pummelling techno, Chris Liebing formidable reputation as a DJ and is certainly comfortable with being in the spotlight, but for his solo work he has chosen a different avenue.
Weakened Friends "Quitter"
You know how sometimes you have to listen to an album a few times to warm up to it and let it really sink in? That was not the case with the brand new release from rock trio Weakened Friends. “Quitter” grabbed me seven seconds into the opening track, “Bargain Bin,” and kept its claws in me all the way to the closer, “Point of Interest.” “Quitter” is out on Friday on Don Giovanni Records, and the band is thrilled to be back on a Maine stage for the first time since 2019 when it headlines at Portland House of Music on Dec. 3.
Same Side: "In Place"
The Story So Far and Elder Brother’s Kevin Geyer has announced new EP “In Place,” Under the guise of Same Side, The Story So Far and Elder Brother’s Kevin Geyer opens his personal musical journal to the world. With his penchant for uncovering buried feelings of melancholy and yearning, often weaving and conjuring in isolation in a stream of consciousness style flow, Geyer’s Same Side alter-ego is the perfect repository for unflinchingly intimate minimalism with depth, vibrancy, and earnestness.