Friday, September 6, 2013

Still a teenager, but wise beyond his years, San Francisco-based songwriter Andrew St James to release “Doldrums” debut, Sept. 24th.

New single “The Lost, The Vain” is pointed commentary on vanity and class.  Hear it via Interview Magazine, see it via SF Weekly.

+++


Andrew St James as photographed by Peter Ellenby

+++

Check out the premiere of the “The Lost, The Vain” single via Interview

See the premiere of the “The Lost, The Vain” video via SF Weekly

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

“The Lost, The Vain” is the latest single and video by Andrew St James

  




+++

“This kid is headed for big things.” – USA Today

“He possesses remarkable lyricism and self-awareness.” – Interview

 
“Class is deceiving when it comes to understanding people,” Andrew St James says of “The Lost, The Vain,” the latest single from his upcoming debut album Doldrums.  Incorporating a beyond-his-years lyrical vision with a unique gift for melody-making, the 18-year-old musician from the fog-enshrouded misty hills of San Francisco’s Twin Peaks lands firmly in the alt-folk world, but displays a real knack for timeless songwriting.

“The Lost, The Vain,” recently premiered via Interview Magazine, is, as St James explains, “a comment on vanity, and more specifically that it won’t matter what your bank statement said when you’re six feet under. It’s a lyrically heavy song, so for the video, we didn’t want to distract from it with a narrative or too much production,” he says of the Aaron Eisenberg-directed clip for the song, streaming now via hometown tabloid SF Weekly.  The simplicity of the video is moving, with St James seen performing the song in a redwood grove in Nicasio, California, contrasted with some of the more upscale areas of Pacific Heights.

The scenes play directly into the song’s references to the rich and famous and whether or not there is any personal fulfillment to be gained from those lifestyles.  The video also highlights the subtle psychedelic undertones of the songs, as well, with the sparse lighting in the trees providing a backdrop for some post-production tricks.  Produced by St James himself along with veteran Bay Area producer Jim Greer (a platinum record recipient for his work with Foster The People), Doldrums will be released on September 24th via the Island Jar / Fortune label.

+++

Andrew St James
Doldrums
(Island Jar/Fortune – Sept. 24th, 2013)


Track Listing:

01. Cassidy (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3 | VIDEO)
02. Maybe It’s Time For Me To Go
03. Visions
4. The Lost, The Vain (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3 | VIDEO)
5. A Prayer For East Oakland
6. No Hurry (Subterfuge)
7. Nightmares Pt. 5
8. East of Eden
9. I’m All About You
10. Marigold
11. Before The Flood

+++

Andrew St James Links

INFO : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE

+++

Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : TUMBLR : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : LAST.FM : BLOG : E-MAIL

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Called “a national treasure” by L.A. Weekly, The Black Watch follows-up “Led Zeppelin Five” with “The End of When,” plus “Best Of” CD.

Produced in a “Scotch-fueled frenzy,” video for indie-pop veteran’s “Meg” single now streaming via USA Today; Album arrives Sept. 10th.

+++


The Black Watch (clockwise from upper left):

John Andrew Fredrick, Steven Schayer, Rick Woodard, Chris Rackard. Photos by Steve Keros.

+++


 See the video for “Meg” by The Black Watch via USA Today

Hear “Meg” by The Black Watch via The A.V. Club

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

“Meg” is the first single and video from The End of When by The Black Watch!


 [STREAM]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/the-black-watch-meg

[DOWNLOAD]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/the-black-watch-meg/download

[MP3]: http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/theblackwatch/mp3/theblackwatch-meg.mp3

[VIDEO]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE2B4aXTBok

+++

“L.A. has not produced a band as capable of both My Bloody Valentine miasma and Nick Drake quietness.” — Andy Gill, Gang of Four

Referred to as “a national treasure” by the L.A. Weekly, the Los Angeles-based veteran indie-pop band The Black Watch formed in the late 1980’s and has released “17-and-counting CDs of remarkable consistency” in that time, according to the paper.  With all of that work and time behind The Black Watch frontman/songwriter John Andrew Frederick, he might have decided by now to spend a bit more time playing ping-pong or with his set of official Andy Partridge toy soldiers.  Not so.

Following up 2011’s brilliantly-titled Led Zeppelin Five, The Black Watch returns on September 10th with a new release The End of When, packaged with a second CD collecting some of the band’s best and brightest tunes from its catalog.  The lead single and video from the new album is “Meg,” which Frederick describes as “revolving around the singer’s appreciation of a woman’s uniqueness and beauty and how he goes all ‘ice cream inside’ when he thinks of her looking at him ‘green-eyed-shyly’ through ‘imperfect bangs.’”

The track recently premiered via The Onion’s A.V. Club and the now the video for the song has made its debut via USA Today.  The animated clip, co-created by band member Steven Schayer, was produced under duress.  As Schayer explains, “We'd previously gone through a truly hideous and soul-demolishing experience paying someone to do a video that was unusable. In a Scotch-fueled frenzy, I decided to do it myself and drew a caricature of John playing guitar.  It sort of snowballed from there.”

Of the production process Schayer says, “We arranged all of the cutouts on different surfaces (tabletops, pillows, guitars) and created this admittedly, but unapologetically low-tech stop animation. I doubt either of us expected it would be as much work as it was.  But, anyway. That's how it's done, kids!”

The End of When is the first release for Austin’s Pop Culture Press Records, an offshoot of the well-respected indie zine of the same name. Members of The Black Watch are available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information, guest list needs, etc.

+++

The Black Watch
The End of When
(Pop Culture Press, Sept. 10th)


Disc 1 (The End of When)

01. I Don't Feel The Same
02. Meg (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3 | VIDEO)
03. Hardly Nothing Never Ending
04. Oh Oh
05. Sum
06. Always Honey
07. The End of When
08. Of Lovely Surprises
09. The Spare Side
10. A Pleasing Dream / That's You and Me All Over
11. Unlistening

Disc 2 (Best Of)

01. How Much About Love
02. Emily, Are You Sleeping?
03. Like In The Movies
04. Kinda Sorta
05. On Another Plane (Scott Campbell Remix)
06. Come Inside
07. Quasi Stellar Radio Source
08. Williamsburg
09. Innercity Garden
10. All These Shivers
11. Tear The Sky
12. The Wrong People
13. Caroline
14. Christopher Smart
15. Whatever You Need
16. The Tennis Playing Poet Roethke Said

+++

The Black Watch Links

INFO : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : POP CULTURE PRESS

+++

Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : TUMBLR : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : LAST.FM : BLOG : E-MAIL

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, September 2, 2013

Upcoming Clara May album confronts stereotypes head-on as Indian-American band leader Tom Silva discusses with MTV Desi.

“Amercan Desi” arrives October 8th.  Lead single “Badlands,” featuring sonic tributes to John Bonham, Keith Moon, streaming now.

+++



Clara May (L-R): Tom Silva, Jon Lewchenko, Michael Sinclair, Alex Gowland, Marcus Smith, Phillip Amererson. Photo Credit: Rachel Oftedahl.

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

“Badlands” is the first single from the new album “American Desi” by Clara May





+++

"Rich and alluring... a mini-melting pot of new American music.” – Chicago Sun-Times

Visit MTV Desi where Tom Silva of Clara May discusses his Malaysian roots, Desi-rock fusion, and how his own ideas about the American Dream have evolved.

Chicago-based band Clara May will release its second album American Desi on October 8th, and like its predecessor, the album explores themes surrounding identity and ethnicity, but this time from a more singular perspective.  Indian-American filmmaker, songwriter and musician, Tom Silva is the man behind this story, as he recently discussed with MTV’s Desi website here. At a time when immigration has become a flashpoint topic, American Desi makes the issue intensely personal by following a young man from the shores of Asia to Los Angeles to Middle America on a haunting journey of border crossings, loneliness, love and ultimately triumph.

“American Desi charts the inner journey of an immigrant to America,” Silva explains. “He’s wowed by the American dream, but is forced to face the reality that, for this country’s 11 million undocumented aliens, it can be an even harder life than what they left behind.”  It’s a story that may seem too heavy for a rock and roll record until you actually listen to American Desi.  The album’s sound is heavy itself in all the right ways, making an epic noise with anthemic guitars, rattling bass, booming drums and Silva’s baritone.

Combined, it conjures something as offbeat but interesting as Lou Reed fronting Led Zeppelin.  This can be heard on American Desi’s first single “Badlands,” which features a drum solo in the great tradition of British drummers like John Bonham and Keith Moon. Of the song’s lyrics, Silva describes them as a plea to immigrants to own their heritage.

"Be yourself and honor who you are,” he says. “The song grew out of wanting to represent what an illegal immigrant feels like in a new culture. I deeply love America, but the truth is that half of new aliens have no health insurance and less than a high school education. Many do not see their family or friends for decades and feel trapped.” Ultimately, Silva reminds us that the overall message of the song is triumphant, saying, “‘Badlands’ calls to immigrants to assert themselves as people who deserve dignity and respect.”

American Desi by Clara May is scheduled for release on October 8th.  Tom Silva is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

+++

Clara May
American Desi
(S/R – Oct. 8th, 2013)


Track Listing:

01. American Desi
02. Badlands (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3)
03. Kanyakumari
04. The Last Word
05. You Called Out to Me
06. Long Shadow
07. KL Days
08. LA
09. Seville
10. Perfect One
+++

Clara May Links

INFO : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE

+++

Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : TUMBLR : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : LAST.FM : BLOG : E-MAIL
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)