The Murder Capital – Blindness

Siete mai stati in Irlanda? 
Ho sempre pensato a questo paese come  a un potenziale spazio liminale. Attraversarlo, anche solo per una piccola parte, crea un piacevole disorientamento. Non si riesce a non immergersi completamente nella sua cultura, che non è del tutto e semplicemente anglofona. I suoi abitanti hanno a cuore quello che è, già di per sé, un posto magico, sentono un legame inestricabile -che rivendicano sempre e ovunque si trovino- con la loro casa. Le storie, che siano leggende del passato o passaggi storici recenti e di inaudita crudezza, si tramandano nei romanzi, nei racconti (consiglio vivamente di recuperare il podcast “Troubles” di Samuele Sciarrillo) e attraverso i canti, fondamentali per l’emancipazione culturale e politica di questo paese. Negli ultimi anni, in Irlanda, stiamo assistendo a un rinnovato fermento musicale. Una nuova rivoluzione, un movimento musicale e culturale di cui The Murder Capital sono uno dei punti fermi e imprescindibili. 

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 191: Expose

Expose

Los Angeles’ Expose were born in 2019, as the brainchild of vocalist and drummer Trent Rivas, but since its embryonic stages as Rivas’ solo outlet, the experimental noise rock collective has expanded, taking on guitarists Jeff Stephens and Duke Guisness, synthesizer James Novick, bassist Jake Getz, viola player Coleman Sawyer, and saxophonist Brian Bartus alongside contributions from Ray Monde of the experimental psych-pop duo Monde UFO. Expose’s debut album, E., was released in 2019, while their second full-length, ETC., was released in January this year via the magnificent Italian label Quindi Records, based in Florence. On this second release, the LA outfit double-down on a unique blend of bloated guitar fuzz and grimy analogue synths, and come out with a curiously cosmic kind of kick-ass.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 190: The Royal Landscaping Society

The Royal Landscaping Society

The Royal Landscaping Society started in Seville (Spain) in 2012 as a solo project, then expanded into a band and eventually shrunk again into a duo with Cris Romero (vocals, guitar, synths and machines) and David Vidal (bass, bass synth). With an obvious love for the breezier side of indiepop, The Royal Landscaping Society mix crystalline guitars and primitive electronics in a sound described as “shimmery romantic pop” that has earned comparisons to The Cure and Sarah Records legends Brighter and The Field Mice, among others. The story so far includes an eponymous debut mini-album on Beko Disques in 2014, a series of compilation appearances on Little Treasure, La Souterraine, Cloudberry, Beko, February and TBTCI. In 2022 Matinée Records released brilliant Means of Production collection, that includes remastered versions of six tracks from the band’s 2014 eponymous mini-album on French label Beko Disques, a song from a special Beko Olympics compilation, the auspicious Matinée debut from the ‘Matinée Idols’ compilation in 2017, and their incredible contribution to Matinée’s World Cup EP in 2018. It also includes eight tremendous cover versions of indie classics including songs originally performed by Adorable, The Cure, Etienne Daho, Harper Lee, McCarthy, Slowdive, The Softies, and They Go Boom!. The Fractals EP, out in February, is their new three tracks single, once again on Matinée Records.

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Anna B Savage – You & I Are Earth

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 189: The Bird Calls

The Bird Calls (©Kim Chang Studio)

The Bird Calls is the musical project of Sam Sodomsky, a writer (a Pitchfork contributor for many years), based in Brooklyn, New York. For a long time, he self-released lots of albums that he recorded at home with just his acoustic guitar and vocals. Since 2022, his approach has expanded and his albums have arrived via Ruination Record Co. Sodomsky released near 40 albums since 2011.His latest, Melody Trail, came out on February 7th, 2025. It features eclectic, colorful production by Ryan Weiner and the sharpest songwriting of Sam’s career. The lyrics are characterized by wry quotations, traces of frontier Americana imagery, and an inimitable cocktail of melancholy, nostalgia, humor, and stone-tablet wisdom about the natural rhythms of self-actualization and disappointment.

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