What Music Stood Out In May 2017

As in January, February, March and April, The Future Heart asked various music journalists, bloggers, columnists and the like a simple question, “what music stood out to you in May?” The intention was to get their immediate reaction, a quick response that could be anything: an album, or several; a new song or music video; a mind-melting concert. What pops into mind without having to think?

See what stood out to our panel below and sound off with the May music that sticks out to you in the comment section below.

Psych Insight Music founder, Simon Smith

Across the River of Time by Father Sky Mother Earth

“…it requires an investment of time and attention from the listener, it will repay that many times over. So if you’re put off by words like ‘drone’ and ‘doom’, don’t be, alternatively if those things are your thing this is going to be one of your key albums of the year. Just try to stop listening to it.”

Hasta La Victoria by The Myrrors

“This is as much an experience as an album, the sound of a band who have gone away and re-thought what they are about and where they need to go next. A band that have recognised the paucity of our current situation and sought to wreak their own change, to inspire us to think afresh, and to give us the space to do it. In some ways Hasta La Victoria is a creative space in which The Myrrors have poured their own creativity, but probably their own feelings of inadequateness, fear, determination and fortitude as well. Listen to this album and you can certainly see that positive change is possible, change away from traditional structures…change towards something more holistic and inclusive, change that does not rest on tradition but seeks power from a synthesis of tradition. If this is the future…sign me up!”

Vibe Killer by Endless Boogie

“I may be new to Endless Boogie but I have fallen for this band hard…as hard and heavy as this album showcases the band’s sound and ability. Vibe Killer is just that, simply an amazing slab of psychedelic blues rock that delivers in spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds. There’s not much more to be said really, just have a listen and tell me I’m not wrong! Because, on this occasion, I know I’m definitely not!”

Psych Insight Music is the essential reference for staying up to date with the current psych scene, particularly the new releases overlooked elsewhere on the web. Follow Simon’s favorite new listens at bandcamp.com/psychinsightmusic and twitter.com/psychinsightmsc and read his reviews of the aforementioned albums from Father Sky Mother Earth, The Myrrors and Endless Boogie.

Simon is also walking 3000 miles this year to raise £3000 for a cancer charity. Details on how you can help him reach his goal are here.

Ravin’ Wire founder, Bob Sarles

“Ray Davies Americana produced by John Jackson, backed by The Jayhawks”

The roots of The Ravin Wire go back to a mid-1990s e-mail list-service that sent subscribers several articles per day. Since 2009 followers have been updated with a variety of content from across the web shared on the Ravin Wire facebook page by Bob Sarles – a filmmaker and film and television editor based out of San Francisco and Los Angeles – and by following Bob Sarles’ twitter account.

The Owl Mag’s Wayne Jessup

“The latest obsession out this way has been the new Chastity Belt LP, I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone (out June 2nd on Hardly Art). Watching the evolution of the band from their first full-length, No Regrets, has been a singular pleasure, and a nice treat to see a band respond more to their own internal cycles of growth rather than perceived demands of the marketplace. The formal take in The Owl Mag is viewable here. This kindly offered space I’ll use to take an evolutionary perspective:

The video is an early live take of the song from March 2016, and, while fundamentally the same, gives a view of the individual contributions that might not be as apparent in the studio mix, as well as the pure joy and group interplay that they bring to performance.”

Read Wayne’s pieces for The Owl Mag here (including his Chastity Belt review here) and follow him at twitter.com/waj1.

musicOMH’s Sam Shepherd

“It’s been a bit of a quiet month for me I’m afraid. I have been enjoying the new Royal Trux album [Platinum Tips + Ice Cream] though, and the forthcoming release from Melvins is a corker as well. I would say that new Alex G album [Rocket] is definitely worth a look – he never lets me down!”

Sam reviews new albums, mostly for musicOMH (but also Sings The Browns). Read his reviews of the aforementioned albums by Alex G and Royal Trux and follow Sam on twitter at twitter.com/socksinhell.

Audiophile Review’s Mark Smotroff

“Things I’m playing / checking out at present include:
Fleet Foxes Crack Up
Big Star The Best of Big Star (audiophile 45 RPM remastered best of)
Chris Bell Looking Forward (“roots of Big Star” compilation)
Flamin’ Groovies Live in San Francisco 1971
The Posies Solid States
Girls in the Garage (Record Store Day collection of ‘60a Asian girl group sounds)
George Harrison Live in Japan (first time LP issue)
Bowie Promo (Record Store Day limited edition)
Bowie No Plan (Record Store Day EP 12-inch)
Case Lang Veirs (Neko Case, k.d. lnage, Laura Veirs)
The Creation Action Painting
Art Pepper CD reissues
Monks of Doom The Bronte Pin (long awaited new release)
Chris Price Stop Talking (new album from Emmit Rhodes producer)
Rosebud (reissue + bonus tracks of Judy Henske & Jerry Yester’s follow up to Farewell Aldebaran)

There is lots more I’m exploring, but trying to keep this more concise than my past updates.”

Among many other pursuits – including creating the rock opera dial with his band ing – Mark writes for audiophilereview.com specializing in commentary specifically for vinyl collectors (very helpful for making purchasing decisions especially concerning which reissues are worth buying). Want an assessment not just of the music, but also the package? His reviews are what you’re looking for (often with photos of the vinyl or sleeve included). Follow Mark at twitter.com/Smotroff.

IndieNugget co-founder, Maria Lopes

“My favorite was this Katiya Falcone ‘Lust Is A Ride Through Hell’ for no specific reason. I just loved it.”

Facebook/IndieNugget shares new music that mostly have not already been shared on other pages and collects them in easy to stream playlist on soundsgood/indie-nugget.

Indie Shuffle

Jason Grishkoff from Indie Shuffle linked us to his site’s monthly playlist. He says, “This must have been one of the best months for new music in 2017 (so far). New songs from Alt-j, Broken Social Scene, RAC, The National, some solid covers, and a whole bunch of new acts with fresh and exciting sounds.”

We Were Evergreen – Leeway
Phoenix – Ti Amo
Beshken – The Roman Call
Parcels – Hideout (Disco Despair Remix)
MGMT – Electric Feel (Nick Talos vs CRW Cover)
Washed Out – Get Lost
ANIMA! – Blood
Foreign Air – Call Off The Dogs
Jimpster – Silent Stars
Seb Wildblood – Coconut Oil
Jordan Mackampa – Battlecry
LCD Soundsystem – call the police
Dreamspook – Island Castle
Gourmet – Delicious
Caro – Closet Lunatic
The National – The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
RAC – I Still Wanna Know (Ft. Rivers Cuomo)
Parcels – Allaround (Kraak & Smaak Remix)
Haim – Right Now
Scotch Mist – Gone Bloom
Lanks – Sometimes
Broken Social Scene – Hug Of Thunder (Ft. Feist)
Men I Trust – You Deserve This
RÜFÜS – Innerbloom (Dustin Tebbutt x Lisa Mitchell Cover)
Christian Tiger School – If You Want To
Camel Power Club – Ventura (Surfing Version)
Zola Blood – The Only Thing
Jarami – Pretty Big House
Twin Oaks – Collapse
Alt-J – Adeline

An essential site for discovering the greatest of the latest new music, Indie Shuffle uses a unique music player powered by SoundCloud to facilitate carefully curated listening. Follow Indie Shuffle at twitter.com/indieshuffle.

Hype Machine

Zoya Feldman from Hype Machine linked us to Stack, the site’s weekly “mix of the most interesting new music on the web, handpicked by the Hype Machine team.”

Since 2005 Hype Machine has tracked the new tunes generating buzz on the countless blogs around the world and allowed an easy way to listen to them all. Subscribe to Stack by e-mail here and follow Hype Machine at twitter.com/hypem.

Fingertips’ Jeremy Schlosberg

The Cairo Gang – “Real Enough to Believe”

“Emmett Kelly, the L.A.-based singer/songwriter doing musical business as The Cairo Gang, has a preternatural knack for pop rock at once knotty and charming. Funneling sounds and melodies born in the power pop origin years of 1967 through 1974, ‘Real Enough to Believe’ combines Byrdsian jangle and Beatlesque chords (um: 2:18!) with the melancholy, inside-out tunefulness of Big Star.”
Read more and download the song at fingertipsmusic.com

Louise Burns – “Storms”

“’Storms’ is at once nothing special and exceptional—a fast-paced backbeater that arrives, through arrangement, voice, vibe, melody, and guitar work at something greater than the sum of its parts. I can do my best to identify specific moments that I connect with—the sonorous, minor-key guitar lines; the understated but incisive hook of the chorus; the new timber in Burns’ appealing voice in the bridge—but this still doesn’t get near the effect the song has on me. All I know is I heard it and felt moved on the spot to buy the album, without having heard anything else from it.”
Read more and download the song at fingertipsmusic.com

Old 97’s feat. Brandi Carlile – “Good With God”

“So the first verse is Miller singing as some smug pretty boy who imagines that his earthly transgressions aren’t that bad in the scheme of things, that his lip service to the almighty keeps him on the good side of the heavenly register. Cue furious guitar solo. On its heels comes Carlile, a bundle of sharpened fury, voice distorted in a subtly uncanny way. She’s not so nice, she tells him. Watch out. Now then, Miller did signal the plot twist (i.e., female God) in the last lyric of the song’s narrator, who sings, “All’s I know’s I’m good with God/I wonder how she feels about me,” and at first I’m thinking, hm, is this joker the kind to even conceive of a female Creator, never mind employ such a casual reference? But then I’m thinking yes maybe he is precisely that kind of joker. All the worse for him when Brandi Carlile shows up. I’d forgotten what an impressive singer she is. Stick around for the guitar coda, which acquires a grim-reaper-y kind of glee as it climbs up the neck.”
Read more and download the song at fingertipsmusic.com

Fingertips‘ self-appointed mission is ‘to help discerning music lovers find the web’s best free and legal downloads,’ which it does with its monthly MP3 picks. The site also features its Eclectic Playlist Series, a monthly playlist that curates music from six or more decades and many different genres. Follow at twitter.com/fingertipsmusic.