(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 201: Faith Elliott

Faith Elliott

Faith Eliott is a songwriter and visual artist. Born in Minneapolis, they moved to Scotland nearly two decades ago. Through storytelling and world-building, they illustrate intuitive landscapes populated by hagfish, Pleistocene volcanoes, cursed memes, and late-Renaissance apocryphal monsters lurking in the aisles of Asda. Sonically, Eliott grounds themself in a stripped-back, lyric-driven songwriting approach that evolves through the recording process to incorporate orchestral elements—often contributed by frequent collaborator Robyn Dawson—along with electronic textures and found sounds.Their forthcoming album Dryas will be release on Lost Map Records tomorrow, May 30th. This record follows two previous releases, Impossible Bodies (2019, OK Pal Records) and Insects (2016, Song, by Toad Records), both of which received critical acclaim, including coverage from The List and The Scotsman, as well as national radio play on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction, and 6Music.

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Fortunato Durutti Marinetti – Full of Fire (Single and video Premiere)

Born in Turin and based in Toronto, Fortunato Durutti Marinetti (Daniel Colussi’s new moniker after Pinc Lincolns or The Shilohs) playied in various bands for the last twenty years, and quietly self-released solo albums. Memory’s Fool, a small, complete and in-depth work on the relationship between the sounds of the past and the present, a small philosophical treatise and his second release under this name (following 2020’s Desire) was his first time working with proper label support. Drawing inspiration from the restless, explorative spirit of 1970s songwriters like Lou Reed, Robert Wyatt and Joni Mitchell, Marinetti chose to first wrote all the lyrics before assembling a hybrid pickup band of jazz, folk and rock musicians to render his songs into a form he calls “poetic jazz rock”. And indeed, Eight Waves In Search Of An Ocean, his 2023 album and its first for Quindi Records is poetic jazz rock of the highest order. Known on both sides of the Atlantic for his baroque, poetic approach to songwriting, now Fortunato Durutti Marinetti returns with Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter, out via Quindi Records on July 25th, his most sweeping, absurd, and emotionally acute statement to date. Calling it Poetic Jazz Rock — at once a private joke and an honest descriptor — the Toronto-via-Turin cantautore (Italian for singer-songwriter) delivers an album of maximalist grace, gilded sorrow, and lyrical intensity. Today he unveils the first single from the album, Full Of Fire.

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Whitney’s Playland – Long Rehearsal (Video Premiere)

Whitney’s Playland

After making their debut in 2023 with Sunset Sea Breeze (Meritorio / Paisley Shirt), Whitney’s Playland, the duo of Inna Showalter (Magic Fig, Blades of Joy, Modern Charms) and George Tarlson (Grandma’s Boyfriend) have fleshed out the band to include drummer Evan Showalter (Blank Square) and multi-instrumentalist Paul DeMartini and have returned with Long Rehearsal, a short and sweet three-song 7” EP set to be released on June 20th, 2025 via Dandy Boy Records (Oakland, CA) and Meritorio Records (Madrid, Spain). Their sound has evolved with the additional accompaniment, and this brand new batch of songs make for a fuller actualization of Showalter and Tarlson’s brand of Bay Area jangle pop. While these new songs recall the first album’s distinct style, they diverge from their bedroom pop introduction. Long Rehearsal sees the full band performing together for the first time on a record since expanding into a four-piece. The trio of tracks bridges the divide between jangle-pop and crunchy 90’s alt rock, plumbing the depths of tonality and mood. The whole thing is anchored by Inna Showalter’s delicately determined voice, which might help you forget about your trials and tribulations for a brief moment. The result is a more polished production but still keeps in touch with the band’s lo-fi roots. All three tracks were recorded at the band members’ San Francisco, El Cerrito, and Santa Rosa home studios.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 200: Exploding Flowers

Exploding Flowers (© Dean Yoshihara)

Exploding Flowers are a Los Angeles quartet who have crafted their own universe of guitar-based pop, with its flourishes of piano, organ, synthesizers, vibraphone and glockenspiel on top of a foundational rhythm section. This music continues a lineage of like-minded melody chasers, from both past and present. Led by Sharif Dumani who has worked with a variety of artists which include Alice Bag, Cody Chesnutt, Sex Stains, the Moon Upstairs, Classics Of Love, Nick Garrie, Jowe Head, Nikki Sudden, Silver Apples and many more, the quartet is comprised of members Josh Mancell (the Moon Upstairs, Cell\Borg), Happy Tsugawa-Banta (Lassie Foundation, Ray Barbee), and Mark Sogomian (the Moon Upstairs). With two previous albums and an ep released, they have been compared to everything from Big Star to the Soft Boys, and L.A.’s Paisley Underground to New Zealand’s 1980s-era Flying Nun Records guitar pop roster (such as the Chills, the Bats, etc.). Exploding Flowers explore some similar territory but expand to occupy their own space in that landscape. Watermelon/Peacock is Exploding Flowers third release packed with analog production, poetic lyricism, and the same strong melodies and hooks we’ve now come to expect from a band that prioritizes its songwriting with smart left turns. Both economic and expansive, they utilize all measures to craft something both beautiful, grand, and driving. Joined on this release by indie veterans Rachel Love of seminal pop legends Dolly Mixture, and Jowe Head of D.I.Y. legends Swell Maps and post-punk/mod/psychedelia legends Television Personalities, this is a release that has something for everyone to enjoy. The album artwork is by artist and musician Jill Emery (Hole, Mazzy Star).

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