Or Best Offer announces their debut album releases their single “Jacket”

Or Best Offer announces their debut album, ‘Center’, out January 26th, and releases “Jacket,” the first single.

On ‘Center’, Grace Schmidhauser and Brian Culligan invite us into a world of unstable nostalgia; footsteps, carnival noises, and sludgy guitars coalesce with moments of sublimity.

The experimental rock duo made up of primary songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Schmidhauser, and drummer and synthesist Culligan. They work with a sense of ceaseless wonder and invention, moving between instruments and technique with fluidity and intuition. After years of collaboration in various forms since their initial meeting in 2018, Or Best Offer’s debut album Center arrives as both a document of and extrapolation on their live sound. The album was created and mixed during a period of geographical transition for Schmidhauser, and fittingly, the world of Center has a unique physics and an unstable gravity, as prone to sudden weightlessness as it is brute force. Recorded and produced by the two entirely in Culligan’s Ridgewood bedroom, Center takes a sensitive, loving approach to its materials with both molecular precision and widescreen grandeur. Distorted ribbons of Wurlitzer twirl against clattering cymbals; signals cut in and out like farewell transmissions.

Listen to “Jacket” here

BARBARA MANNING HAS A NEW RECORD & IS PLAYING SHOWS WITH CODEINE

Barbara Manning’s new CD ‘Charm of Yesterday...Convenience of Tomorrow’ is out December 8th. 

In a four minute catchy song, Manning can communicate what others require novels to express. Whether it’s the songs she covers or her original material, Manning’s music is compact and succinct, and is steeped in multitudes of genre periods and styles.

With an upcoming tour joining Codeine, Manning felt the time was right for something new. Thus, ‘Charm of Yesterday...Convenience of Tomorrow’. It compiles a few different periods. ‘Chico Daze’ is a song cycle that absorbed the dark times and experiences she had in Northern California through the 2010s. ‘The Porch Series’ cover songs were Manning’s antidote to pandemic madness, and features the music by Elliott Smith, Edgar Winter, Richard & Linda Thompson, Galaxie 500, Bob Dylan and The Handsome Family.

The first two singles off of her new album are already out and give a taste of her genius; Her rendition of ‘Twilight’ by Elliott Smith, and her original ‘I’m Running’.

Listen to songs from the album and preorder here

Delia Meshlir Releases New Single, Announces Sophomore Album

Delia Meshlir announces sophomore album ‘Bring Back The Light’, out on November 10th.

Grief can open a window to the past. Nostalgia whelms, and childhood memories surface. We come face to face with a longing to feel grounded and alive, and in these moments, we can forget our purpose in the universe. While making ‘Bring Back The Light’, Delia Meshlir struggled with the loss of her grandmother and the severed ties she felt with her family. The phrase “bring back the light” served as a mantra, manifesting with return to authenticity and a celebration of healing.

Her first single off the new album, ‘Love’, is out today. The video for ‘Love’, directed by Stephane Ryter, is a moody backlit affair, where Meshlir slowly emerges from the dark to dance and sing. And that is precisely the feeling this song evokes. The song has a melancholy tone, while also making you want to lace up your dancing shoes to get up and boogie just like Meshlir does in the video. 

Watch the video here.

Big Blood August Show Dates

First Aid Kit. Released June 2023.

The psychedelic-folk-rock family trio band, Big Blood, are hitting the stages in August. Each night has an eclectic roster and eccentric location, bound to stir delight. Check out the dates below and stop by to see some songs from their recent album release, First Aid Kid, in action.

8/5 Dream Away lodge - Becket, MA

Big Blood, Mal Devisa, and Wednesday Knudsen 

Show Starts at 7:30 PM

8/6 LOST BAG - Providence, ri

Black Pus, Big Blood, Baby Baby Explores, Membrana Monstera

Tickets $15-$20, Doors 7:30 pm

8/11 WFMU Monty Hall - Jersey City, NJ

Big Blood, Snake Union, Motte

Doors Open 8 pm

8/12 Farm Music Festival - Spring Hills farm Dalton, PA

Aviva Jaye, Hot Tears, Big Blood, Kimya Dawson

Show at 7 pm 

Big Blood Announce New Record; First Single '1000 Times' Out Today

Big Blood announces the upcoming release of another spellbinding LP, First Aid Kit, to be released collaboratively on Ba Da Bing Records and Feeding Tube Records. Out today, ‘1000 Times’ is a sincere teenage ode to crushing hard; intense and emotive psychedelic rock melodies are interwoven with orchestral harmonies and lulling guitar solos. All the while, the drum is steady and prominent - like a pulse. The record is out June 9th.

“She can be a real pain in the ass,” is how Big Blood’s Caleb Mulkerin and Colleen Kinsella describe having their daughter as a member of the band they formed in the wake of Cerberus Shoal’s dissolution. A band made up of family seems like an ideal situation. You get to play with those you love, and practicing/recording is always just a matter of going into the next room. “If you don’t have kids, I can imagine that is an obvious assumption,” Caleb says. “However, if you do have children, I don’t need to explain how much of an emotional mess this can be.”

While any fan of the band will tell you that no two albums sound very much alike, First Aid Kit displaying for the first time their affinity for the emotional effects of bands like The Cure, Bauhaus and The Clean, there’s a clear thread throughout all their records. Their songs achieve the double satisfaction of being immediate, catchy and memorable, while also revealing inner depths at repeated listens. Some of the best experimental music is cloaked as mundane.

First Aid Kit was recorded entirely at the family’s home onto 1” eight-track tape. It achieves the magic of capturing a moment and making a lasting impression. There aren’t many family bands, and there’s definitely no other band like this.

Listen to “1000 Times”

Pre-order First Aid Kit

Lady Lamb announces 'Ripely Pine [2023 Deluxe Edition]

We are a decade on from the release of Lady Lamb's Ripely Pine, marking a nice round number to create this definitive, luxury edition of the album. With the original songs remastered, as well as reams of additional material produced and arranged by Spaltro and mixed by original co-producer Nadim Issa, Ripely Pine [2023 Deluxe Edition] captures the time, mood, art and ambition of Aly Spaltro in her early twenties, who had already accumulated years of playing and self-recording experience before laying down tracks for this giant of a debut record. She took her poetry, set it to music and fueled it with the energy she experienced sharing the songs with early audiences. The album was cause for immediate celebration in New England, while serving as a new talent clarion call around the world. 

Ripely Pine means so much to its fans that it’s become more than just an album. Many relate it to their own lives and wherever they were ten years ago, a testament to the raw emotion it contains. From her early days writing after-hours in the basement of her day-job video rental store, using her poetry as lyrics, Spaltro fueled the music with the energy and anxieties of the late teen she was. While many awaited the debut in her hometown New England, Ripely’s release brought international recognition of her burgeoning talent. In the ten years since her debut, Aly Spaltro has remained focused on music that connects, empowers and astonishes.

The Ten Years of Ripely Pine [5xLP box set] contains:

• The classic 2xLP Ripely Pine from 2013, newly remastered by original engineer Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound, including the bonus track "Up In The Rafters," long a mainstay of Lady Lamb live shows that in retrospect should have been on the record in the first place. 

• 23 new recordings made in 2023 with original producer Nadim Issa

• 9 songs from the Ripely Pine era, often played live but never put on tape.

• 7 songs from the Ripely years that have never been heard.

• 6 new arrangements by Aly Spaltro of Ripely classics, including acoustic, piano and strings versions.
• Completely new artwork and design by Aly Spaltro with imagery from the Ripely period

The Veils '...And Out of the Void Came Love' Out Now

Breaking a 7-year hiatus, The Veils make a striking return with the release of ‘And Out of the Void Comes Love.’

Recorded in New Zealand, the double album is the result of a tumultuous period of injury, isolation, and new life. Andrews crafted the music slowly and deliberately, playing the left and right hands' piano parts separately to construct the album around his injury and evoke his emotion through every chord. It is an album intended to be listened to in two sittings with a short break in the middle, or as Andrews instructs: “Make a coffee or smoke a cigarette – but don’t mow the lawn or go to the movies or something, that takes too long.”

Composer Victoria Kelly’s soaring string arrangements play an integral role in bringing the songs to life, as do musicians Cass Basil (bass), Dan Raishbrook (lap steel, guitar), Liam Gerrard (piano), Joseph McCallum (drums) the NZTrio and special guests the Smoke Fairies on backing vocals.

 Buy the record and digital album here.

Tiny Ruins Release Single "Dorothy Bay"

New Zealand band Tiny Ruins remain true to their dream pop roots in their latest release, “Dorothy Bay.” The song’s mellow vocals and beautifully simple chord progressions emulate the tide of the bay being described. Hollie Fullbrook, the band’s lead singer, has a voice that dances over the notes and relaxes into the story being told. She describes the ebb and flow of the bay’s tides, which reveal the mud underneath ever so often, just to be drawn back out by it’s “strong pull harbour-way.”

Just as Hollie describes the movement of the water, the harmonious instruments move in and out of focus over the course of the track. The bass, consistently thrumming in the background, suddenly becomes the most essential noise guiding the song, just to disappear undearneath layers of instrumentation again. Similarly, the electric guitar unexpectedly pulls forward to release powerful chords that add grit to the song’s entire sound. The pull of the psychedelia sound move the listener gently from verse to chorus and back again, creating a song that imitates the natural wonders of which Hollie so eloquently paints a picture.

Directed by Alexander Gandar, the accompanying video is an epic, psychedelic survey of the southern headland of the Manukau Harbour. It took the small crew and band two days of filming to capture the landscape in all its glory - the results are a buzzy, colour- shifting, dreamlike visual confection. Watch the video here

Juni Habel Announces New Album 'Carvings'

Norway’s Juni Habel is joining the team at Ba Da Bing with the announcement of Carvings. Habel is bringing in the new year with the album, out on January 6. The first single/video ‘Chicory’ is out today.

It took us precisely one minute of listening to her new album Carvings to know we wanted to work with her. The album carries this history, one of family intimacy and overcoming grief, through minimal string arrangements, close-mic singing and by acknowledging that sadness can lead to the finest artistry.

Crackled radio-like transmissions from Norway’s rural hinterland. Juni Habel’s fragile finger-picked lullabies warm themselves by the open fire with her rich intimate voice atop twinkling arrangements and strange percussive instrumentation. Like glowing embers in the dark, these songs are odes to life and death, the beauty of belonging and human kinship with nature.

Ba Da Bing is releasing Carvings in North America. It will be out on Koke Plate in Scandinavia and Basin Rock everywhere else.

Preorder the LP here

Listen to/Watch the video for ‘Chicory’ here

Fusilier Album 'Treason' Out Now

Fusilier officially joins the team at Ba Da Bing with the announcement of Treason. The first single from the record, ‘No Words’ was released on July 27. In the accompanying video, dancers twirl and swivel around Fusilier, clutching at him desperately as the punchy song turns mesmeric.  It was directed by Nathan Bajar and choreographed by J. Bouey. 

Mixing genres and styles into a pastiche of emotionally gripping songs, Fusilier hypothesizes that the only road to true freedom of the spirit is through radicalization and reimagining. He questions the complexities of the self and the realities of race & sexuality alongside the expectations of the artist, asking: “How can I exist given that the size of my imagination of me doesn’t yet fit into the ways I am seen?” It fits in today somewhere between TV On The Radio, Perfume Genius, and Radiohead with its precise yet opaque lyrics, guitar riffs, classical motifs and sometimes-soaring, sometimes-crooning melodies. 

Prior to working with Ba Da Bing, multi-instrumentalist Blake Fusilier released his first single ‘The Moment’ in 2016, and his notable recent single, ‘Upstream.’ Raised in Atlanta and based in Brooklyn, Fusilier uses the record as a sort of blank slate on which to explore a myriad of concepts varying from race and sexuality to the internalized pressure and expectations of an artist. Inspired by artists that serve as inspiration to Fusilier, the record contains notes of Bill Withers, Nine Inch Nails, and Fela Kuti.

Buy the CD and digital album here

Heather Trost Releases First Single 'Blue Fish' Off of Upcoming Album 'Desert Flowers'

Heather Trost completed a new album, Desert Flowers, and she’s letting us put it out! This is her third stint away from A Hawk and a Hacksaw, her Eastern-Europe-gone-bananas band with husband Jeremy Barnes, and much like AHAAH, the musicality and musicianship on here is extraordinary. Heather writes angular avant pop for her band, the kind that fans of Catherine Ribeiro, The Zombies, or The Ex would like, and on this album, she truly coalesces her sound into something both alien and fun. “Blue Fish” is the first single, a lullaby with a stinging synth that was chosen by director Peter Strickland to be used as a repeating musical theme in his latest movie, Flux Gourmet. The song recounts a dream resembling a cryptic prophecy: “a gray bird appeared to me on a pebble beach. When the bird opened his beak there was a blue fish flopping around and speaking to me.”

As Trost put together her new album Desert Flowers, she imagined herself sitting out on the mesa amidst the arid climate and sand. Even with such little water to survive, wildflowers bloom. This vision is an embellishment of Trost’s Albuquerque surroundings, an intersection of rural splendor and emptiness. She remains focused on those purple, yellow and orange flowers with faces beaming up to the sky, thriving on very little. “How does a flower grow in the desert?” she sings. Desert Flowers postulates the potential for new life.

Written and recorded in her home studio, Trost’s album began with harmonic frameworks, allowing the melodies to naturally take root. Lush strings and bass are complimented by a slow guitar groove, as Trost soulfully fantasizes about Earth’s regeneration. Each song conveys how opening one's eyes, both literally and metaphysically, is the key to finding beauty. Desert Flowers is out November 11th.

Watch a clip of the Flux Gourmet featuring Blue Fish here

Preorder the CD and LP here

Motte Releases Second Single 'Plateau' Off Of Upcoming Album 'Cold + Liquid'

Today, Anita Clark releases ‘Plateau,’ the second track off her upcoming album Cold + Liquid, accompanied by a video in collaboration with Threading Frames, a movement and film company directed by Joshua and Tyler Carney-Faleatua. Inspired by her work with dancers and modern circus, Clark’s atmospheric soundscapes are visualized through experimental body movement and New Zealand’s austere landscapes: the vast mountainscapes of Duder Regional Park, the remote serenity of Maraetai and Anawhata Beaches, and the deep green shades of Riverhead Forest.

A track of two parts, “Plateau” begins with a sweeping arpeggiated violin pattern and an ethereal shimmering violin. The song’s second phase starts with a triumphant, over-driven violin riff and a pulsing bass line, played on a Korg Volca.

Preorder the LP here

Watch the video here

Motte Announces New Album, ‘Cold + Liquid’

For the first time in half a decade, Anita Clark, better-known as Motte, will be releasing a new album. Motte is known throughout New Zealand as an expert violinist, and has been employed by Nadia Reid, Marlon Williams, Lawrence Arabia and Maryrose Crook of the Renderers for her skills. 

The upcoming release, entitled ‘Cold + Liquid,’ came from months of struggle stemming from Clark’s vocal cord paralysis. Initially unable to sing, it started as a purely instrumental project, drawing on sounds sourced from Clark’s home country of New Zealand. Along with collaborator Ben Woods, Motte created an album that expanded upon the mysticism created in the first Motte album, ‘Strange Dreams.’

To kick off the countdown to her new album release, Motte has released her first single, “Only I” with an accompanying music video. Both eerie and tender, Clark’s video expresses the fear and freedom of being untethered. Jareen Wee’s stunning performance underpins a message of devastation.

The full album will be released August 12th. Pre-order and pre-save using the link below!

https://lnk.to/motteonlyi

Hawthonn Announces New Album Earth Mirror out October 22

Hawthonn’s entrancing new album, Earth Mirror, will be released October 22nd on Ba Da Bing Records. This is Layla and Phil Legard’s second release on Ba Da Bing following 2018’s Red Goddess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing). Galvanized by their deep knowledge of occult history, Hawthonn intertwines literary references with field recordings, enchanting vocals and minimal instrumentation to make a mesmerizing musical work. Each song waxes and wanes like phases of the moon, while the album’s themes source from visions and dreams. Earth Mirror offers a powerful connection between the music and the musician.

Listen to the first single Dream Cairn

Preorder album at Grapefruit Record Club

Courtney Barnett feat. Vagabon Release cover of "Don't Do It"

Courtney Barnett and Vagabon have teamed up to release the newest cover, “Don’t Do It” off of Sharon Van Etten’s epic Ten. Sharon shares her relationship with Courtney Barnett and Vagabon:

“Courtney Barnett has been an important musical influence on me since 2014, when we first met at The Neptune theater in Seattle. From the first time we met, I felt like I made an immediate friend. From performing together, to having home hangs in between tours, commiserating with the very specific mixed feelings of tour life assimilating back to home life and figuring out the in between as we have been learning how to nurture our domestic lives while paying attention to our creative selves outside of the album and touring cycle. I admire Courtney’s writing style in that she has such a unique and intimate narrative approach while being personal and funny, without giving too much away. I feel connected to her music and perspective, while always wanting to learn more - and as a friend she has offered me guidance and advice while also being an ear when I have been in a rut or when I am in need of a new approach to look at my writing in a new way.

The last show I played before the COVID lockdown was for a benefit in Los Angeles that Courtney put together for the Newport Folk Festival. There, we got to perform a song together and she introduced me to the incredibly talented artist, Vagabon. Little did I know that a year later, I would be putting together this compilation of songs from my album ‘epic’ in which we are celebrating the 10 year anniversary now. Happily surprised that she was able to make the emotional space to cover my song ‘Don’t Do It’ with Vagabon - she thoughtfully reached out on what the lyrics meant to me when I wrote it and what it means to me now. Obviously, a deep time of introspection as I reflect on the meanings of the songs now, it was important to give more light and personality and someone else’s narrative in order to give the songs new life and new meaning. Their voices together and choice of arrangement helped breathe more hope in a song that when I wrote it was from more of a desperate mindset. Thanks to Courtney & Vagabon, I feel like ‘Don’t Do It’ is now a more optimistic view of someone getting to the other side. And it means the world to collaborate, even at a distance, to feel a bit closer to getting to the other side as a collective.”

To read more about Sharon Van Etten’s epic Ten anniversary album check out this posting.
If you like what you hear, you can pre-save and pre-order epic Ten here.

Listen to “Don’t Do It” here or watch below:

For more information on Sharon Van Etten , check out her twitter, instagram, and tik tok.

And Courtney Barnett and Vagabon on instagram.

Sharon Van Etten Announces "epic Ten" Anniversary Album

Ten years after Sharon Van Etten released her critically-acclaimed masterpiece, epic, she is back to reissue the album and has a slew of musicians to reimagine the work. On April 16th, epic Ten will be available for digital download. It features the talents of Fiona Apple, Lucinda Williams, Courtney Barnett ft. Vagabon, Big Red Machine, IDLES, Shamir, and St. Panther as they make the staples of Van Etten their own. epic Ten: the documentary and concert streams on April 16th & 17th as a benefit for the Zebulon in LA, where the special was filmed. Virtual tickets can be purchased online. A physical edition of the album is set for release on June 11th.

Van Etten writes, “epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist. Going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”

Lead single “A Crime” by Big Red Machine is available today for streaming.

Pre-save and pre-order epic Ten here.

Cassandra Jenkins releases much-anticipated LP "An Overview on Phenomenal Nature"

Cassandra Jenkins has released her latest album, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, to instant success. Pitchfork has given it a solid 8.3 rating alongside the Best New Album accolade, writing, “The whole thing flows like an emotional breakthrough, tying together disparate observations into a serene and unified vision.” Single “Hard Drive” was listed in NPR’s “Best Music of January”. Paste Magazine spotlighted the LP as one of their “New Albums to Stream Today”. They share, “Whether it’s a security guard lending wisdom on an art exhibition or a dear friend offering to mend a heart via mystical yet well-intentioned means, Jenkins mines profundity from the mundane.”

Sarah Mary Chadwick's new release "Me And Ennui Are Friends, Baby" featured in Pitchfork and paste

Sarah Mary Chadwick’s brand new LP, Me And Ennui Are Friends, Baby, has been listed by Pitchfork in their top eight new albums. The album was also listed in Paste Magazine’s “The 10 Albums We’re Most Excited About in February”. Scott Russell writes, “Chadwick’s unusual vocal delivery and unsparing, darkly funny songwriting combine to make Ennui’s stark sensibility unforgettable, and Chadwick never flinches, wondering of her struggles at one point, “Is it all for this song? / If it is, is that wrong?” It will take all of your inner fortitude to answer her.”

Watch Cassandra Jenkins' "Hard Drive"; Pitchfork's Best New Track

Cassandra Jenkins released the second single from her upcoming An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, about which Pitchfork wrote “Plenty of songwriters can present with confidence the hard lessons they’ve learned; it is rare to hear someone so masterfully document the long, lonely journey of trying to get there.”

Watch the video below:

Sarah Mary Chadwick releases Full Mood, Directed by Tristan Scott Behrends

Sarah Mary Chadwick’s “Full Mood” is an absolute stunner. For the video, filmmaker Tristan Scott-Behrends has made a mood-perfect counterpart, a double-screen experience of NYC and intimacy.

Of the song, Chadwick says: “‘Full Mood’ is about a Valentine’s Day date I went on. The owner of the bar we were at tried to get us both to fuck her, but she wouldn’t let me be in charge so we didn’t. I remember afterwards we were walking down the road and it was streetlights and still at 3am and everything felt great and shining and I remember thinking that I wish my dad could’ve done this, got drunk and kicked around the city at night when it’s all sparkly, holding onto someone who lights you up, not been stuck in silent dark rural New Zealand, watching other people’s lives on TV, drinking half glasses of box wine while his frowning wife ironed.”

Watch below: