(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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The Hives – The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons

Sempre in uniforme, sui vari palchi estivi sudano come tocchi di burro senza mai, dico mai, togliersi la giacca. Il cantante spreca tutto il fiato in lunghe declamazioni demenziali per poi sfiatare sulle canzoni. Annunciano l’uscita del nuovo disco con un video di un carro funebre che sgomma sull’asfalto.
Make the Hives album again” era scritto sul penultimo stock di merchandising della band svedese e l’hanno fatto. Dopo dieci anni sono tornati gli Hives e io non potrei essere più felice.

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Un Tramonto TRISTE© – Canzoni per gli ombrelloni che chiudono

Naturalmente, anche se TRISTE© è in vacanza, la musica non si ferma.
Così, per alleviare un po’ la pesantezza del rientro e per fare il punto della situazione, abbiamo pensato di farvi cosa gradita nell’affiancare alla nostra playlist estiva (che abbiamo notato avete molto gradito) una nuova raccolta di brani che stanno allietando le nostre vacanze.
Purtroppo alcune delle canzoni che più ci hanno entusiasmato non sono ancora disponibili su questo servizio di streaming (che preferiamo non menzionare, anche se siamo costretti usare). Alcune perché usciranno solo a settembre (vedi il magnifico album di Grand Drifter o quello degli Slowdive), altre perché probabilmente (ancora?) non distribuite qui (e se è una scelta politica buon per loro, più seri e coerenti di noi): almeno The BV’s con la loro Warp (extended version) e i Theory Of Ghosts con You Can’t Happen Again (ma anche gli altri loro due brani presenti sullo stesso EP sono allo stesso -altissimo- livello) avrebbero fatto parte del lotto.
In ogni caso, speriamo che le trenta canzoni che abbiamo scelto possano accompagnarvi in ogni momento di queste giornate un po’ malinconiche ma -ci si augura- ancora con qualche sprazzo di luce estiva.
Buon ascolto e a presto!

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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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