Postal Blue – Chance Occurrence (single premiere)

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Postal Blue first started out as a 4-piece in 1998, setting out to be a return to the golden standard of songwriting of the sixties and eighties exemplified by The Byrds, The Zombies, The Smiths and The Go-Betweens. The band quickly attracted a following and the attention of American labels, including Drive-In Records, which released their self-titled debut CD-EP, released in 2000. Shelflife Records released Postal Blue’s Weather Sensitive CD-EP two years later (2002). International Breeze, the band’s 2004 debut LP was all recorded and mixed at home and marked a change in the band’s sound: what was once very direct guitar indiepop was replaced by a softer bossanova-infused folk pop. The band went on to put out another CD-EP in 2006, Road to Happiness, on Canadian label Humblebee Recordings and in 2008, the band had already been in a hiatus which ended up being final for the 4-piece formation, and singer and lead songwriter Adriano  decided to carry on under the name Postal Blue releasing a 3″ single on Cloudberry Records, Laughing and Crying. Despite the single’s warm welcome, the band was once again put on hold for a few years, until Adriano decided, in 2012, to get back on the horse and finish the much vaunted second album. In 2013 Postal Blue released a 7″ as part of the Dufflecoat Records / Jigsaw Records Singles Club co-release. After 11 years, the band’s sophomore album Of Love & Other Affections finally saw the light of day on Jigsaw Records in 2015. Now after 8 years, Postal Blue is back with a new single, Chance Occurrence, which will be out on November 2nd, and a slew of releases planned for the next several months extending into 2024.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 131: Tapir!

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Tapir! (©Sebastian Garraway)

The South London six-piece – Ike Gray (vocals/guitar), Will McCrossan (keys/drum machine), Tom Rogers-Coltman (guitar/saxophone), Ronnie Longfellow (bass), Emily Hubbard (cornet/synth) and Wilf Cartwright (drums/cello) – describe Tapir! as a ‘boiling together’ of different mediums: at once musical, theatrical, mythological, artistic, collaborative, narrative-led and, above all, something to be enjoyed and shared. The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain, their first album, follows a three-act structure – released by Heavenly Recordings as three four-track EPs (Acts I and II in 2023, Act III early 2024) – telling the story of a solitary traveller, an ambiguous red creature known as The Pilgrim, on a journey across a mythical landscape. Prior to the pandemic, Gray and McCrossan had been putting on ultra-inclusive, ultra-informal poetry nights, creating comical videos and promoting gigs as part of the Brixton art collective My Life is Big. The platform had likewise motivated the pair to form Tapir! in 2019. Having brought Rogers-Coltman and Longfellow on-board during the pandemic (Hubbard and Cartwright would join later, in the summer of 2022), Tapir! released their debut single My God in February 2022. When Honeyglaze drummer Yuri Shibuichi saw Tapir! live at the venue, he encouraged them to record their songs, and the band stress it was his enthusiasm that led them to take the project more seriously. Shibuichi’s playful, carefree production (always urging the band not to overthink) perfectly suits Tapir!’s unassuming, handmade, DIY nature.

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Mary Lattimore – Goodbye, Hotel Arkada

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Peppe Trotta per TRISTE©

C’è qualcosa di magico connesso al suono melodioso dell’arpa, un’aura soavemente celestiale capace di infondere quiete e riconnettere con lo spirito. Legato al mondo classico, questo strumento dalla qualità uniche si è man mano affrancato trovando spazio – grazie al lavoro di artisti talentuosi – in correnti musicali contemporanee spaziando dall’ambito ristretto dell’avanguardia fino al multiforme universo pop.

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Sufjan Stevens – Javelin

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Francesco Amoroso per TRISTE©

Se avessi mai pensato di darmi -davvero- alla scrittura e fossi stato tormentato dal fuoco sacro dello scrittore (tanto simile alla paura della morte), quell’ansia costante che obbliga a fissare in modo indelebile inezie evanescenti, allora, forse, le disquisizioni su minuscoli dettagli che mi erano tanto familiari avrebbero potuto suscitare in me una fitta d’invidia e il desiderio di scrivere ancora meglio sugli stessi argomenti. Invece sono stato travolto da un tale sentimento di caldo affetto per alcuni di coloro che avevano scritto tali disquisizioni, che gli occhi hanno cominciato addirittura a pizzicarmi.
Comincio, mio malgrado, a credere nella cosiddetta serendipity: mentre, immerso nella lettura di uno dei romanzi minori di Vladimir Nabokov (La gloria; ma esistono romanzi minori di Nabokov?), ero alla ricerca della bellezza assoluta – che nella scrittura dell’autore russo si trova, a profusione- mi sono imbattuto in questo passaggio che ho, qui sopra, indegnamente parafrasato. Cercavo la bellezza e ho trovato la descrizione perfetta, puntale -quasi un’epifania- del mio rimescolamento, dell’emozione che mi ha colto nel leggere alcune delle recensioni dell’ultimo album di Sufjan Stevens.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 130: Human Colonies

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Human Colonies (©Angelica Scaroni)

Human Colonies are: Giuseppe Mazzoni, Sara Telesca, Andrea Guardabascio and Zannunzio. Born in Bologna in 2013 and currently based between Valtellina and Mantua, Human Colonies is a shoegaze/noisepop band. Since the very beginning, they played with shoegazey sounds and post-punkesque lyrics, resulting in a s/t short demo [2013]. After performing several live gigs throughout Italy, they recorded a bunch of new songs at VDSS Recording Studio run by Filippo Strang. That’s how Big Domino Vortex (2017, MiaCameretta Records/Lady Sometimes Records) came to life. It’s a journey back to 90s indie lo-fi dirty sounds filled with drowned lyrics. Their first full-lenght album Midnight Screamer (2018, MiaCameretta Records/Lady Sometimes Records) shows off since the very beginning how to perfectly balance some shiny catchy melodies with a rather coarse, tough background. Its cover art was drawn by Travis Millard (Dinosaur Jr., Primus, Get Up Kids). Real 90s fans will be captured by the overall atmosphere reminding of Dinosaur Jr., Rodan and more. In November 2019 Human Colonies published a new EP Cloudchaser and Old Songs (again on MiaCameretta Records/Lady Sometimes Records).
On September 22nd Human Colonies second album, Kintsukuroi was out on Custom Made Music / Shore Dive Records / Waddafuzz Records.

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