[engl] Marietta is the new project of Guillaume Marietta after The Feeling Of Love.

[engl] Sophomore album by Marietta, La Passagère follows Basement Dreams Are The Bedroom Cream (Born Bad Records, 2015), which was lauded by French daily newspaper Liberation, magazines Les Inrockuptibles, Magic, New Noise and online magazine Noisey. After touring with his band for two years and playing well-received concerts at Villette Sonique, Rock en Seine, Levitation Festival, Musiques Volantes, Bars en Trans, laureate of leading French development prize Fair 2017 Guillaume Marietta has come back with nine songs written in French for the first time. The album was recorded in Los Angeles by Chris Cohen, singer-songwriter and producer extraordinaire, with two albums signed on Captured Tracks and past member of Deerhoof and The Curtains. Mixed by Kenneth Gilmore, permanent member of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, who counts in his mixing catalogue Front Row Seat To Earth by Weyes Blood and My Dreams Dictate My Reality by SOKO. A carnal, sensual, hallucinating and melancholic record, fed by representations of the woman, the modern city, self-abandon, paranoia and redemption. La Passagère is inhabited by the ghosts of Syd Barret and Lou Reed, and nods to contemporary productions by Kurt Vile, Cate Lebon, Tim Presley, Kevin Morby, and of course Chris Cohen.

[engl] In 20 or 30 years, we’ll talk about Guillaume Marietta the same way we talk about Arthur Russell or Robert Johnson today – people ignored by their contemporaries and rediscovered later in prestigious anthologies or picaresque documentaries. Future being rather incertain these days, it would maybe be better if you didn’t lose any time and enjoy Marietta right away. Sure, it won’t be easy to map Marietta’s journey – one of the key players of the GrandeTriple Alliance De l’Est, an anarchic scene which exploded between Metz and Strasbourg in the early 2000s, fronting bands such as A.H. Kraken, Plastobe?ton and The Feeling Of Love. In 2015 he released his first solo album, Basement Dreams Are The Bedroom Cream, an amazing collection of 4-track twisted lullabies who got him comparisons with Syd Barrett and John Frusciante. Then comes his second LP and suddenly you lose the track – footprints have been covered – no more of that sweet demo sounding folky weirdness : La Passage?re is recorded in Los Angeles with Chris Cohen and it’s a lush and mesmerizing record, like Berlin with windows wide open or a sun-drenched The Idiot. A record that gives Marietta’s music new layers of depth and complexity – even if he loses part of his audience in the process. Following this would be tough – and hazardous No studio sessions in LA, no 4-track demos, Prazepam St. has been recorded with cracked computer music software. Richer and fuller than the two previous records, this new LP is also, paradoxically, unbashed and easier to grasp. “I wanted to have fun,” says Marietta. Build a dark and bright world with my little hands and raw material, like David Lynch when he did Eraserhead “- one of the main keys to the album. It is also, more involuntarily a synthesis – there’s the raw side of the first album, that more flamboyant and ambitious of the second, but also small pieces of AH Kraken, Feeling Of Love and even Funk Police. Marietta went back to some of his teenage years fovorite records – Sonic Youth, Beck, Nirvana, the Beastie Boys, but also Jim O’Rourke or David Pajo – “Pajo” is a nod to te guitarist from Slint whose solo project Papa M is a mainstay on Guillaume’s record collection. Prazepam St. is also a dark and twisted record, as its title shows – a reference to an anxiolitic used for severe depression. “I have often tried to speak in my lyrics of the way the human mind works, of our contradictions, of our inner darkness, explains Marietta. And this time I wanted to bring the lexical field of drugs into my texts. Our body and mind are shaped by these substances that we use and abuse and I wanted to play with that. It’s a chemical album. » Proof made with « Dmpa », a molecule used as a chemical castrator on American sex offenders, transformed here into a battered folk song crushed by samples, rhythm machines and breaks from outer space. Or « Aluminum”, a solid and shiny but highly harmful element, like the incandescent ride full of rumbling synths, which opens the album – not an innocent choice: “Aluminum fairly well reflects our ability to accept all the things that we are presented with as being necessary for our daily life, concludes Marietta. Despite the experience, we always do the opposite of what is good for us. ” Like ignoring Marietta records, for exemple. Awaiting for 20 or 30 years to praise them. But you know what? He’s here. Right now. Enjoy.

[engl] Long-awaited debut album from progressive and psychedelic rock band from Pula, Croatia, offers a berserk kick start into their world of music. Influenced by Kyuss, The Mars Volta and Tool.

[engl] Weaving a fragile thread through collectible outsider genres such as acid folk, French jazz, Braziliana and world music it is virtually incomprehensible that this incredible one-off solo album by mononymous Occitan language singer, songwriter and activist Miquela has managed to evade notoriety and wider affection zover five decades. Captured via a humble makeshift studio set-up in a classroom in 1977, this startlingly crystalline recording is one of the best examples you are likely to hear, not shying from ambitious small string arrangements and intimate Gallic jazz infusions this LP represents the quiet storm erupting from the pride and protection of the ancient “romance” language known as Occitan, as spoken by less than 1.5 million people in Southern France (as well as parts of Italy and Spain). Naturally combining a wide range of influences, and fuelled by the same impassioned fervour found in privately pressed minority language records from Britanny, Catalonia and Wales, Miquela’s first and only solo record was recorded by request of poet Ives Roqueta for his exclusively Occitan language label Ventadorn. Including players from Miquela’s surrounding area of Toulon the album also enlisted arrangements from important musicians such as co-author Jean-Michel Mariou, jazz contrabass player Didier Capeille (later affiliate of Marseilles’ Etron Fou Leloublan), and guitarist Gilles Cardon, who would regularly play for Britanny based label Nevenoe (knotting the ties between both French language rehabilitation movements). Released and well-received by a supportive and emotional Occitan fan base, this would be Miquela’s only ever solo LP (preceded by a 7? picture sleeve EP, drawing similarities to Welsh label Sain) and laid the foundations for future releases with her folk rock girl group Lei Chapacans (The Vagabonds) which led to tours as far as Sardinia, Yemen and Moscow. As a vital forerunner of a maligned genre of Occitan femme-folk singers such as Estela, Nicòla, Jacmelina, Rosina De Peira E Martina and Claudia Galibert, this LP marks the start of a journey that would eventually find its beloved protagonist at the heart of the galvanised Occitan language media.

[engl] Thirteen perfectly balanced, keyboard saturated songs 7lutter like 7lags threaded on a string: a collection of 7leeting thoughts stirred by the winds of Eighties pop. Riffs soar, the drum machine gallops and vocals are as carefully blended as a mango smoothie on a white-sky day. Modal Melodies is the duo made up of Violetta Del Conte-Race (Primo! / The Glass Picture) & Jake Robertson (Alien Nosejob, etc.) The group stemmed from a loose chat at Geelong’s Jerkfest in early 2021, where they made plans to help each other complete some un7inished demos. After emailing ideas back and forth through lockdown, they were soon able to be in the same room together to structure their quickly blossoming songs. Vio added vocals from home and Jake mixed them into their sessions. Six to eight months after making their 7irst arrangements, Modal Melodies had matured into this debut record. There’s something about a duo - something intimate and serious: it requires full trust and an act of balance. These are people who have listened to so much music they know how to make tunes in a way that seems intuitive. Karen Marks, Saada Bonaire and Lena Platonos have been mentioned as influences, but it seems like the biggest inspiration to cite came from each other. There’s an untamed instinct for melody, and layers like clouds, slowly rolling in. Drenched with colours and understated tension in parts, coupled with reckless joy, this album speaks to this moment.

[engl] "On one hand, the music is very melodic and cheerful. The lyrics, however, deal with death, decay, change ... no wonder we are rather popular with the undead," says singer, guitarist and songwriter Bid of the new THE MONOCHROME SET album "Spaces Everywhere". A very particular humor. And a very unique sound: Although this time banjos, Hammond organ, female backing vocals and even flutes can be heard on the new album, experts and laymen alike will recognize: This is THE MONOCHROME SET. Undistorted, nervous guitars, like the soundtrack to a Nouvelle Vague film ... but one featuring Michael Caine, Louis de Funès and Belmondo (directed by Andy Warhol).

[engl] Released in February 1980, their first album "Strange Boutique" – featuring the band's percussion-heavy theme song (predating Adam & The Ants' "Kings of the Wild Frontier" by months) and the Johnny Marr-anticipating "Love Goes Down the Drain" – caught The Monochrome Set in full flight, quickly followed by the equally taut, funny and adventurously dynamic "Love Zombies".

[engl] 33 years after the release of the classic “Volume, Contrast, Brilliance... Vol.1” comes this wonderful collection of unreleased and rare demos. Spanning 1978 to 1991, these range from DIY to high quality studio recordings - many are real gems, but some also failed to be released or properly recorded for a variety of reasons (which are explained in the liner notes) - bad timing, odd decisions, even forgetfulness! The range of styles displayed are typical of this iconic and highly influential band - slices of their sound can be heard throughout the indie and mainstream genres of many countries.

[engl] What's going on in Lyon? Is there something in the water? So many unbelievable great bands are from that little city in France. After a great demo LP from 2017 comes finally the highly-anticipated debut from Monplaisir. Playful Indie / Noiserock in the vein of Unwound, Sonic Youth, ... Featuring members of Sport

[engl] Formed in 2012, the Perth quintet released a string of releases in their formative years, slowly setting themselves aside from the influx of Australian psychedelia through the combination of powerful live performances and genre-spanning sensibilities. Soon they were sharing stages with international heavyweights the likes of Sleep, Thee Oh Sees and Moon Duo. On their 2016 debut, Cosmos Terros, the quintet crystallised their aesthetic ambitions: an enchanting fusion of krautrock rhythms, sun-dappled guitars, haunting vocals and tectonic crescendos, brimming with equal parts menace and melody. The 2017 follow-up, Dust, unfolds like the score for a film yet unwritten, a long form musical homage to the landscapes of the Australia’s Western seaboard. Mt. Mountain would go on to perform Dust in full in concert halls and historic civic spaces, silhouetted by a carefully curated set of visuals depicting the diverse scenery from which the songs draw their inspiration. Golden Rise mark’s the band’s return to the traditional song format, but the powerful connection to landscapes remain. Each of the album’s 10 track feel rich with depth and space, even in the midst of crushing crescendos. It’s appropriate that it, along with Dust, emerged in a rural studio two hours form Perth, where country roads give ways to pastures. But the sublime green views are never far from the vast deserts. That juxtaposition of elements remains the constant throughout Mt. Mountain’s oeuvre, whether the sound emanating from the speakers is a bang or a whisper.

[engl] "Second full length from Muncie Girls! 13 new songs, sounding more personal than ever without losing their political edge. Produced by Lewis Johns at The Ranch in Southampton and mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge in New York."

[engl] Japanese idol-metal.

[engl] Croatian band Nellcote was formed in 2010. Their music traverses through alternative rock, indie, and blues. While ‘running away from the past’ sound-wise, the band draws heavily on it thematically. Having exposed himself completely in an intimate semi-acoustic atmosphere on the acclaimed EP Surrender (2017), this time, with the help of a full band, Vinko Ergoti? has recorded a louder, groovier, cheekier album, with more psychedelic elements. The author is now ready to face the past – he is confronting bad dreams, toxic relationships, and hostile environment, using the power and energy of the band to get everything out of himself and out of the way.

[engl] Nolan Potter is putting us home recording freaks to shame. We had a year of global pandemic to lay out our grand ideas and the sum total of most artists “quar-riffs” wouldn’t push the constraints of a normal band practice (gosh, remember those?). Nolan Potter, in the meantime, has quietly painted us a beatific masterpiece that veers from the whimsical to the wigged out, deftly weaving an untamed tapestry of sound all the while archly commenting on the present musician’s predicament - and he did it alone. No drum machine clattering in the background amidst tape hiss and 4 track grime here - this is a fully realized, insanely well played, full on rock record that might even one-up his first LP for us, last years excellent Nightmare Forever. The guys’ got more chops than a beauticians’ college across a wide array of instruments - no small feat, and easily overlooked when you leave the lyric sheet and credits on the dining room table. That the songs travel far, wide, up, down, backwards, and gamely spill out over the 5 minute mark with exceptionally loose interludes and diversions is just another marvel in this carnival of aural delights.

[engl] Nord is a band from Rijeka, Croatia. Their sound is a great blend of dark textural ambiance, massive guitar riffs and emotional lyrics with a very personal feeling. Play Restart is their debut album and it echoes the work of influential artists such as Faith No More, Tool, Soundgarden, but also Massive Attack, Depeche Mode or David Bowie.

[engl] The opening song on «Vain Bleak and Iconic» sounds like Olivia Tremor Control jamming an unreleased Robert Wyatt track. Way up there, high as a kite, these crafted melodies nourish our sense of hope. At last, there’s some space left for nuances, refinement and pondering. Nothing is obvious and so much the better. There’s so much to say about these tones, sung, pinched, struck and basically just begging to burst in to the gaps whether they’re contemplative and dilated movements or intricate and hammered. NOUR is Bastien Torre, François Rosenfeld and Thomas Leuwers. They are 2/3 of Yacht Club and have started out under the moniker Tasty Granny. The Tours three-piece is so appealing because of their ability to foster moods with their melodically dynamic prowess. This new album nods at the old wise men of the 60’s/70’s (Think «Smile», Canterbury scene, Curt Boettcher) and wants to make everything like the wackiest bands of the 90’s (Deerhoof, Daniel Johnston, Mercury Rev). Beautiful nursery rhymes like «A doleful rise» with its bedroom pop synth sounds coexist with head banging free rock hymns («Pretty Tale», «Totally Awesome»), prog-ish musings («SilverDust»), atmosphere oscillating from library music to ambient («Drab», «Guide»). Creatively put to tape, these eight very good tracks are hard to pin down and leave a long aftertaste like a subtle Loire Chenin wine, high in acid with a full-bodied fruity palate. This NOUR album is a keeper, enjoy it now and for many years to come.