(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 128: Seablite

Seablite

Seablite is a four-piece pop band from San Francisco inspired by 80s/90s indie and shoegaze. Seablite was formed in 2016 when Lauren Matsui (vocals / guitar) and Galine Tumasyan (vocals / bass) bonded over a mutual appreciation of early 90’s Britpop and UK underground music. The pair began writing songs and soon after Jen Mundy (ex-Wax Idols) joined on second guitar and Andy Pastalaniec (Chime School) would eventually join on drums. They have released an LP (2019’s Grass Stains and Novocaine) and 7″ single (Breadcrumbs c/w Ink Bleeds) via Emotional Response Records and a 10″ EP (High-Rise Mannequins – recorded and produced by Alicia Vanden Heuvel of the Aislers Set) in conjunction with Spain’s Meritorio Records. The new album, recorded over the summer of 2022 and mastered by Mark Gardener of Ride, contains twelve dreamy pop tracks showcasing the group’s continued growth and maturity and marks a strong progression from their debut album. Lemon Lights is out tomorrow, September 29th, on Mt.St.Mtn.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 127: The Garment District

The Garment District

The Garment District is the project of musician and songwriter Jennifer Baron, who has deep roots in independent music, including being a founding member of The Ladybug Transistor (Merge Records), and having worked with English musician Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Spectrum) and Jowe Head (Swell Maps, Television Personalities). The Garment District brings Baron’s extended musical circle to the fore by featuring Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor), Kyle Forester (Crystal Stilts), Shivika Asthana (Papas Fritas) and her cousin Lucy Blehar (vocals). Adding to the sonic depth are contributions from Jennifer’s close collective of musicians, including Dan Koshute, Corry Drake, Sean Finn and Alex Korshin. There’s an archival pleasure to be found in the music of The Garment District, which makes sense if you consider Baron’s background in museum education, independent crafts and photography. Their second full-length LP, Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of the World, out on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records on September 22nd, was recorded in a friend’s home studio nestled in the labyrinthian hills of Western Pennsylvania during the time warp surrounding the pandemic. For composer and arranger Jennifer Baron (who plays numerous instruments on the album) working with her cousin Lucy Blehar, who supplies lead vocals, continues her family music-making heritage (she plays in The Ladybug Transistor with her brother Jeff).

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 126: Soft Science

Soft Science

Formed in 2009 by longtime collaborators Katie Haley (Holiday Flyer, California Oranges) and brothers Ross and Matt Levine (Welt, The Tank, California Oranges), the group was later joined by partners Tony and Becky Cale (English Singles, Arts & Leisure), and Hans Munz. With alluring vocals, two 12-string guitars, bass, drums, and synthesizers, the ensemble layers copious melodies, celestial harmonies, and propulsive rhythms with lush electronic soundscapes to create “a sound built to outlast trends“. Previous Soft Science recordings include LPs Maps (2018), Detour (2013), and Highs and Lows (2011), a few singles, including a split 7″ with The Luxembourg Signal (2015), and covers of House of Love’s“I Don’t Know Why I Love You” and Northern Picture Library’s“Paris” (both 2018). Soft Science began working on their recently completed album Lines in 2019, forging the record in their home studios together and at times in isolation from each other during the height of the pandemic, swapping tracks and making adjustments from a distance for what felt like an eternity. Reuniting in person to finalize the mix created a palpable excitement, an energy that can be felt throughout the record. Lines addresses living and loving within the complexities and challenges of everyday life in our fast-paced digital world. Their new fourth album will be out tomorrow, September 8th, on Shelflife / Spinout Nuggets / Fastcut Records. 

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 125: swelt (+ single premiere)

swelt (©Tom Whitson)

Weaving tapestries of sparse, melancholic compositions, swelt meld influences of folk, Americana and post-rock. The four-piece, composed of members of Talons, Repo Man and Iceman Furniss Quintet, formed in Bristol in 2020 and spent the next two years writing and playing intimate shows around the city. Delicate melody and vulnerability form the core of the band’s atmospheric arrangements, using voices and strings to create open harmony.
swelt’s debut release, Red Mountain EP was released by Candlepin Records on the 28th October 2022. The release was followed up by a new single, My Only Reflection, on 18th May 2023. swelt have recently recorded a new EP with Euan Hinshelwood (Cate Le Bon, H Hawkline, Younghusband), due to be released later in 2023.Tomorrow their new single, I Thought This Winter Would Never End, will be out everywhere. But, for today, you can listen to it only on TRISTE©!

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 124: Scrounge

Scrounge

Emerging out of the South London DIY scene, Scrounge have spent time boiling down their ideas into a brand of sharp, concise art-punk that introduces elements of folk, techno and industrial music into a more familiar cocktail of noise-rock and riot grrl influences. Since meeting at Goldsmiths University in the middle of the last decade, Lucy Alexander (vocals, guitar) and Luke Cartledge (drums, vocals, electronics) have been expressing how it feels to be a young person living and working in a fast-changing metropolis, balancing the pressure of making rent and staying healthy with a desire to make art and properly engage with the communities that make London what it is. With an array of work under their belt, including debut singles, Etch and Crimson, and EP, Ideal, Scrounge released their debut mini-album, Sugar, Daddy in 2022. Their new single, Corner Cutting Boredom, is their first material of 2023, and is out now via State51 and available as a digital download, as well as a limited edition Zine & Flexi Disc. “This zine is a snapshot of the south London scene we love so much. We’re extremely grateful to have found ourselves living and working within a grassroots community that’s inclusive, accessible, radical and loads of fun. Bands, artists, organisers, writers, agitators, promoters, friends – it’s got it all. The zine documents and celebrates what’s going on south of the river and, although this is our small thank you, we’re pleased to be a tiny part of something much bigger.”

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