Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Big Fresh follows-up last year’s “Fall Preview” with this season’s “Sweeps” EP, out Aug. 10th from Lexington, Kentucky-based Desperate Spirits.


“Tuneful, quirky pop,” says Brooklyn Vegan.  Hear “The Voices” single now via PopMatters featuring vocals from Ken Stringfellow of The Posies.

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Big Fresh (clockwise from lower left): Ben Phelan, Brian Connors Manke, John Ferguson, Ben Fulton, Nick Coleman, Dave Farris, Kim Conlee, Matthew Clarke, Faith Diamond. Photo credit: Chad Stockfleth.

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Big Fresh – In The Press

“Tuneful, quirky pop.” — Brooklyn Vegan

“Big Fresh throws the listener one curveball after another.” — PopMatters

“Proud purveyors of exotically down-home art pop.” — Ace Weekly (Lexington)

“This is the bloody mythic core of pop tunesmithery.” — Power of Pop

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“Summons memories of Todd Rundgren’s marriages between booty shaking rhythms and embittered observations about the soul-draining nature of conformity and well-manicured laws and lawns...” – PopMatters on “The Voices” by Big Fresh



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The collective known as Big Fresh, one of Lexington, Kentucky’s most venerable pop music institutions, is back this summer!

Following up last year’s “Fall Preview” EP with the five-track EP “Sweeps” on August 10th, the new collection of tunes is essentially the other side of the coin that we saw the face of last year. “Sweeps” arrives on the band’s Desperate Spirits label (Jeanne Vomit-Terror, ATTEMPT, Italian Beaches) – co-founded by John Ferguson of The Apples In Stereo – and will be available digitally, as well as in a limited vinyl edition.

Similar to the ebullient sonic tropes of “Fall Preview,” “Sweeps” draws from musical touchstones near and far, synthesizing the breezy harmonies of The Free Design, the lush arrangements of David Axelrod, and the gleeful deconstructionism of XTC.

Like its predecessor, “Sweeps” also features notable guest contributions from the band’s friends including Ken Stringfellow of The Posies (hear “The Voices” now via PopMatters), Per Sunding of Eggstone, Karen and Ryan Hover of Sound of Ceres and Candy Claws, along with vocalist Reva English of label mates Italian Beaches, and local Lexington heroes Tim Welch and Chris Dennison.

Its cover art, once again by the amazing Chad Stockfleth, is itself worthy of a biblical tome, too. Bookending the TV Guide-theme introduced with “Fall Preview,” it features nearly the same concept and composition, “Only this time the digest sits amid trailer trash, and underclass accoutrement,” says Ferguson.

The “Sweeps” EP by Big Fresh arrives August 10th, 2018 on Desperate Spirits. John Ferguson of Big Fresh is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Big Fresh – Live

08/09/2018: Lexington, KY @ WRFL Studios (Trivial Thursdays)
08/19/2018: Lexington, KY @ The Burl (Record Release Show, 1PM)
09/08/2018: Lexington, KY @ Tahlsound Music Festival

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Big Fresh
“Sweeps” EP
Aug. 10th, 2018
(Desperate Spirits)
  

Track Listing:

01. Hottie Tottie (feat. Ryan Hover)
02. I Found Out
03. Uh Oh (feat. Per Sunding & Karen Hover)
04. Cosmos Song (feat. Reva English)
05. The Voices (feat. Ken Stringfellow) (STREAM | MP3)

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Big Fresh Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Scott Danbom of Texas alt-country pioneers Centro-matic (“an artist’s band, a muse to the creative.” – No Depression) to release solo debut, July 27th.

Static Diary songs span genres from ethereal keyboard-vocals to ambient instrumental. Hear “Phrase From Business,” KUTX, Austin's “Song of The Day.”

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Scott Danbom of Static Diary as photographed by Jenny VanDivier.

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“Phrase From Business” by Static Diary is the “Song of The Day” at NPR-affiliate KUTX, Austin. Listen here or at the links below!




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Static Diary – Live

Denton / Dallas! Sat., July 28th: See Static Diary live! Record release show (w/ Margaret Chavez) at Dan’s Silver Leaf. Info / RSVP here.

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Static Diary – In The Press

Scott Danbom creates moods. His ambient-centered sound uses traditional (and sometimes not-so-traditional) instruments to fill a space with a calculated atmosphere that also employs the blank space between to let each sound air out organically and unmarred. – KUTX, Austin

“It’s an adventure... Unassumingly infectious.” – PopMatters

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About Static Diary

"It's a hopeful song about searching,” says Denton, Texas-based Scott Danbom of “Phrase From Business,” the single taken from the former Centro-Matic member’s debut solo album under the name Static Diary.

The track was recently named a “Song of The Day” by Austin-based NPR-affiliate, KUTX.

“Of course it comes with a generous helping of sarcasm with the idea that any self-help book about business acumen can be thrown out the window when it comes to approaching a life philosophy,” Danbom continues. “The chorus ended up sounding like a B-side by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. I love chimey glockenspiel-type bells!”

Static Diary’s self-titled full-length arrives on July 27th via Goliad Media Group, and Danbom will play a record release show at Denton venue Dan’s Silver Leaf the following evening alongside label mate Margaret Chavez, the solo moniker of Marcus William Striplin of Pleasant Grove, who also released a solo record on the Goliad Media Group label earlier this year.

In addition to his work with the pioneering alt-country band Centro-matic, Danbom is a veteran performer and accompanist, who has also worked with Centro-matic leader Will Johnson (who appears on Static Diary), as well as Sarah Jaffe, Drive-By Truckers, and many more throughout his long career. As Danbom explains, Goliad’s Chris Welch played an integral role in motivating Danbom to bring his debut solo album into existence.

“Talking to Chris about my work, and the idea of Goliad as an outlet that could capture some of what had been collecting throughout the years, really inspired the latest collection of ideas and songs,” he says. The record is a long time coming for Danbom, who has been composing since he was a child.

“I’ve been writing and arranging pretty much since the first time I sat down at the piano,” he says. “I entered a couple of composition contests in early grade school, and the first synth I owned inspired countless compositions in high school and college.”

Even so, while Danbom has had the good fortune to play with many prolific writers and original voices throughout his professional life, he confesses that this scenario “can stall your confidence when you are trying to find your own voice. It was always in the back of my mind to find a situation where I could focus this creative energy.”

With Static Diary, Danbom succeeds at bringing his haunting keyboard and vocal arrangements, and his experimental ambient and instrumental concepts, together under one roof. He describes these divergent artistic personalities as “a word and a symbol that mean the same thing but just have a blurry, different feel. Nothing too complex and nothing too simple.”

Static Diary, the debut solo album by Scott Danbom, arrives July 27th, 2018 via Goliad Media Group.  Danbom is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.


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Static Diary
S/T
(Goliad Media Group)
July 27th, 2018


Track Listing:

01. One Song
02. Phrase From Business (STREAM | MP3)
03. Cone
04. fORTRAN
05. UFO’s (YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
06. Snippet
07. Remember
08. Pump
09. Grace
10. Carefully Poisoned
11. N5IWN
12. Open Close Letter

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Static Diary Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


Monday, July 9, 2018

Mysterious chanteuse Jeanne Vomit-Terror to follow-up “The Seat of Same” 12-inch with debut eight-song full-length, “Empire Waste.”


Hear “sonic chop-shop job of Detroit techno, Latin freestyle” single at MAGNET now. Album arrives via Desperate Spirits, Aug. 3rd.

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Jeanne Vomit-Terror by Chad Stockfleth.

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“Boogie shoes not included, but strongly recommended,” says MAGNET about “Jokes Come True” by Jeanne Vomit-Terror. Head there to hear or click the link below!


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Jeanne Vomit-Terror – Live

07/30/2018: Lexington, KY @ The Green Lantern Bar (w/ Italian Beaches, Kee Avil)
08/03/2018: Lexington, KY @ The Green Lantern Bar (Record Release Show) RSVP

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“Boogie shoes not included, but strongly recommended.” – MAGNET

Lexington, Kentucky based label collective Desperate Spirits will issue Empire Waste, the debut album by mysterious disco-influenced chanteuse Jeanne Vomit-Terror on Aug. 3rd. Hear the album’s single “Jokes Comes True” via MAGNET now.

‘Jokes Come True’ is a sonic chop-shop job of Detroit techno and Latin freestyle with gaudy detailing of Egyptian modes and breathy insouciance,” Vomit-Terror tells us. The message is this: absurdity is the fundamental element of this reality, and if you learn to manipulate it like rolling mercury in your hands, you can score some real points in causality (and reverse causality).”

Though sparse, Vomit-Terror’s discography is eclectic, encompassing electro-pop (“Mirror School,” which boasts a suitably trashy Robert Beatty music video), Italo disco (“The Seat of Same,” touted by Rub N Tug and Mike Simonetti, remixed by the latter), and industrial noise (The Quixotrix Tapes).

The eight songs that comprise Empire Waste showcase Vomit-Terror’s fearless weirdness and pop ingenuity. “Jokes Come True” wheels a sleek dystopian Drexciya groove into a joyous, synthetic Gloria Estefan refrain. “Lost in Luxury” juxtaposes a soaring anthemic chorus that wouldn't be out of place on a Ke$ha B-side with turbulent analog riffage straight out of Hardcore Devo: Volume One.

Vomit-Terror rips black metal guitar solos over minimal house, climaxes a pop epic with the first straight-faced industrial rap since Pretty Hate Machine, and gives Thinking Fellers Union Local 282’s “Tell Me” the “Jellybean” Benitez treatment, all the while cooing, moaning, and growling her Dadaist screeds, exhorting (or else, demanding) the listener to “close the door on reality forever!”

Empire Waste, the debut album by Jeanne Vomit-Terror, arrives Aug. 3rd via Lexington, Kentucky-based Desperate Spirits. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Jeanne Vomit-Terror
Empire Waste
(Desperate Spirits)
Aug. 3rd, 2018
  

Track Listing:

01. The Preening
02. Tiger Training
03. Lost In Luxury
04. Jokes Come True (LISTEN | MP3)
05. Axis Denied
06. Tell Me
07. The Author and His Egg
08. Cast No Shadow

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Jeanne Vomit-Terror Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion



Friday, July 6, 2018

El Paso-based dreampop trio Sleepspent, led by 21-year-old Austin North, launches second leg of summer tour tonight in support of critically praised debut.


Chris Common (Minus The Bear, Chelsea Wolfe)-produced EP, features “perfect soundtrack” single “Come Smile With Me,” streaming at All Things Go.

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Sleepspent (L-R): Cecilia Otero, Josh Mendoza, Austin North. Photo credit: Jon-Carlo Diaz.

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Check out the premiere of “Come Smile With Me” by Sleepspent at All Things Go or on your platform of choice at the link below!


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“Hypnotically bittersweet.” — The Big Takeover

“Deep, focused vocals seem to glide effortlessly through a dense fog. This may be the perfect soundtrack to the morning.” — All Things Go

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About Sleepspent

‘Come Smile With Me’ started out being written while I was in still in San Diego,” says 21-year-old songwriter and guitarist, Austin North of the song (hear it at All Things Go), the latest single from his band Sleepspent’s debut EP, out now via El Paso-based Slow Start Records. Sleepspent will launch the second leg of its summer tour this evening in El Paso at The Lowbrow Palace. See below for full itinerary. “It’s mostly about miscommunication and how people don’t think before they speak, or don’t care about the impact their words have.”

North began performing as a UC San Diego student before eventually returning to his hometown of El Paso to form Sleepspent with friend and co-writer, Aaron Quintanilla. The band, now a trio including Cecilia Otero on bass and Josh Mendoza on drums, released its Chris Common (Minus The Bear, Chelsea Wolfe, Le Butcherettes)-produced debut “It’s Better If You Don’t Speak Or Think on May 4th.

North’s knack for creating music that is bathed in atmosphere (think Slowdive mixed with a more reverb-y Radiohead, led by a guitarist with an effects pedal fetish) that doesn’t lean away from authentic lyricism and captivating vocal performances (think Jeff Buckley) is proven on “It’s Better If You Don’t Speak Or Think”.

“We’re also definitely inspired by shoegaze and dreampop,” North says, elaborating on Sleepspent’s sound. “That can be heard in the alternate tunings used throughout our music as well as the melodic chord progressions and melodies.”

And though he’s young, North also takes influence from future hall-of-famers like The Cure and The Smiths – two more acts with definitive “sounds” that have never sacrificed art for artifice. North’s formative years studying jazz guitar wraps it all up in a solid technical foundation, too, but ultimately, Sleepspent songs exist to make you feel.

Sleepspent has already been nominated as a ‘Best Band in the City’ by The City Magazine in El Paso, who called the trio “completely captivating, live and through your speakers.” As Sleepspent’s local following has grown, the group has become a go-to local act to support nationally touring artists, in addition to beginning to hit the road itself.

“It’s Better If You Don’t Speak Or Think,” the debut EP by Sleepspent, is out now via Slow Start Records. Austin North is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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Sleepspent – Live

07/06/2018: El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace (w/ Red Light Cameras, Emily David and the Murder Police, If We Were Turtles)
07/07/2018:  Marfa, TX @ Lost Horse Tavern (w/ If We Were Turtles)
07/08/2018: San Antonio, TX @ Ventura
07/09/2018:  Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie's
07/12/2018: Memphis, TN @ Sounds Good Memphis
07/13/2018: Nashville, TN @ Drifters BBQ
07/14/2018: Cincinnati, OH @ The Comet
07/16/2018: Minneapolis, MN @ Char Bar
07/17/2018: Omaha, NE @ B Bar
07/18/2018: Tulsa, OK @ Soundpony
07/19/2018: Wichita, KS @ Kirby’s Beer Store
07/21/2018: Norman, OK @ Red Brick Bar
07/22/2018: Albuquerque, NM @ Moonlight Lounge

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Sleepspent
“It’s Better If You Don’t Speak Or Think” EP
(Slow Start Records)
Out Now


Track Listing:

01. Something (LISTEN | MP3)         
02. Roots
03. Come Smile With Me (LISTEN | MP3)
04. Stars
05. Cracking
06. What's The Rush?

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Sleepspent Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion