“Fastracks” 26: New Music Discovery Podcast

Late TV continue their grooving exploration of the human condition and it’s complexities that they artfully established on their previous single ‘Night Tennis’. This time, the band shift up the gears from that louche cruise through the greasy night, and roar towards a rendezvous at a neon lit cocktail bar, where the music feels like it’s waving cash at the barman and impatiently demanding another, and another and another.

The song struts in with stomping drums as the bass guitar groove dances around the melodic synth lines, while howling harmonized guitars urgently pull us up onto the dancefloor and into the story of a hopeless romance.

Lyricist and Vocalist Luke J Novak explains; “I initially wrote this song as a Tom Waits style drunken ballad, in the vein of ‘Invitation To The Blues’, but the band weren’t having it. Martin (Keyboards) suggested making it more of a Prince style Funk-New Wave crossover track, and amazingly it all just fell into place. It’s still theatrical, but with more bounce.”

Once again we follow a hopeful romantic on a night out, only whereas in ‘Night Tennis’ they found thoughtful solace through their thwarted advances, on ‘Fools Fools Fools’ our protagonist’s lust fueled desperation runs headlong into a wall of ambivalence only to constantly repeat the process despite its bruising futility. The tension builds to a boiling point only to give way to a moment of clarity where our hapless suitor momentarily reflects on why they keep returning for more punishment.

Culling influences from jazz cats and art rockers, B-movies and trash television via Lynch and Tarentino, Late TV are the moonlighting house band for a surreal all-night dream club nestled amidst the cultural detritus of television’s after hours. Guitarist and vocalist Luke J Novak and drummer Richard ‘Beu’ Bowman left their hometown of Kidderminster and hooked-up with Chicago’s jazz obsessed bassist Ryan Szanyi and Parisian keyboard maestro Martin Coxall in London. Kick-started with the release of their brilliant ‘Citizen’ single, the group then appeared at Standon Calling Festival in 2018 alongside Goldfrapp and spiritual forefather Bryan Ferry. In 2021 singles ‘Night Tennis’ and ‘Fools Fools Fools’ both debuted on BBC Introducing.

‘Fools Fools Fools’ is the second single to be taken from the band’s forthcoming debut album, where the group explore the postmodern wastelands of pop as high-brow/low-brow mutant junk dwellers, collecting the shards of our fragmented culture and building something both irresistibly dangerous and dangerously irresistible.

It’s been eighteen years in the making but The Spitfires have finally managed to release “Live at the Pic,” recorded by producer Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, Mother Mother, New Pornographers) on his mobile recording studio at Vancouver’s infamous Piccadilly Pub in 2003.

The album celebrates their 25th anniversary and the accompanying video showcases a time-capsulized look at the Canadian underground rock ‘n’ roll scene of the era. The live footage for video “Down On It” was shot via Danny Nowack (Hard Core Logo) and Doug Donut (Death Sentence) in the sweatiest, smokiest, mainstay-venue of Vancouver’s “Gunk Punk” revolution: The Pic.

The Spitfires made a name for themselves in the late 90’s and early 00’s not only for their raucous, beer-soaked live shows, but also for their well-crafted rock songs. They shared stages with contemporaries like The Hellacopters, The Murder City Devils, The Black Halos, and the New Bomb Turks while winning awards from the Georgia Straight, and CFOX radio’s Seeds competition. The band toured extensively in the United States, the U.K. and Canada, but unfortunately they’ll probably be most remembered for the night they were banned in Toronto.

In 2002 The Spitfires signed on with one of Canada’s premier booking agents at The Agency Group. The band was firing on all cylinders, touring with the Headstones (ruining their attempt at sobriety) and being courted by labels in the United States and Europe. They were invited to the Canadian Music Week festival in Toronto, where NOW Magazine offered them “pick of the week” for their headlining show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern.

Celebrities like Robbie Robertson, Chad Kroeger and Brittany Murphy were in attendance, sharing drinks with the band backstage. Upon commencing their performance, singer Jason Solyom shot off a chemical-filled fire extinguisher which choked the crowd and created a panicked rush to the exit. This all occurred very shortly after the Great White nightclub fire in Rhode Island, and concert goers were justifiably on edge. It effectively ended their career. They were dropped by their agent, their label, and banned by most clubs in the Toronto area. Their agent is rumored to have said “I’ve never seen a band shoot themselves in the foot like this in my life.”

The Spitfires had all but thrown in the towel on the project until singer Jason Solyom discovered the lost recordings while spring cleaning in 2020. It was only fitting that Tony Lima at Yeah Right! Records should release the album. His infamous rock club Call The Office hosted The Spitfires repeatedly and was arguably one of the best rock ‘n’ roll venues in Canada at the time. “Live at the Pic” captures the band in their heyday, right after a European tour and right before they imploded at the Horseshoe. They were a band you either loved or hated. If you were from Toronto, probably the latter. It’s been eighteen years and the Spitfires have to wonder, “are we still banned in Toronto?”

Luckily the careers of the Spitfires weren’t completely ruined. Jason Solyom went on to join stoner rock outfit La Chinga, CC Voltage joined new wave act Autogramm, and Jay Millette has continued with the Black Halos, Midnight Towers and his solo project, Silver Receiver.

Glasgow-based psychedelic rock’n’roll collective The Kundalini Genie has revealed the video for their new single ‘Half In, Half Out’, the title track from their fifth studio album ‘Half In, Half Out’, which was filmed and edited by the band’s guitarist Louis Martin.

Mixed by Jason Shaw (Cambodian Space Project, Frankie Teardrop, Sonic Jesus, Aerofall) and mastered by RIDE’s Mark Gardener at OX4 Sound Studio in Oxford, this long-player will be released on November 12.

The Kundalini Genie centers around singer-songwriter Robbie Wilson (sitar, guitar, vocals) and also involves Jason Houston (guitar, vocals), Melissa Rennie (guitar, keys, vocals), Lloyd Ledingham (bass, vocals), Louis Martin (guitar, vocals) and Grant Robertson (drums).

“This song is about assholes, really. People who aren’t nice. People who think they’re better than you, or too cool for you, or higher and mightier than you, it’s also about when those people inevitably fall short of their own high opinion of themselves and make themselves look a fool, in a nutshell,” says Robbie Wilson.

This new album follows their ’11:11′ album, released via Space Ranch Records (Europe) and Little Cloud Records (USA) in 2020.

“Robbie Wilson (Kundalini Genie) is a total force and a total star in the making . He’s so driven and I loved mastering his record,” says Mark Gardener.

Emerging from the nether regions of Glasgow, The Kundalini Genie has been blowing minds globally with music characterized by droning hypnotic fuzz rock, 60’s British Invasion-inspired melodies, transcendental sitar, and dreamy, spaced out soundscapes.

Sauntering hypnotic guitars stride steadily forward as the sitar floats along, carrying the subconscious into a benevolent flow and inner journey. Their sonic journey ranges across the spectrum of their own musical influences – The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spiritualized, The Dandy Warhols, The Warlocks, The Beatles, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Black Ryder and Black Market Karma.

With live shows involving eclectic displays of voodoo mojo and sound that ripples through the audience like a sonic tranquilizer, the band has performed with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Warlocks, The Underground Youth, The Myrrors, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians, Triptides, New Candys and Spindrift, in addition to ripping it up at numerous festivals.

The ‘Half In, Half Out’ single is available everywhere online, including Apple Music and Spotify. The full album will be released digitally, on vinyl-style CD, and on aubergine-coloured 12″ vinyl with reverse board artwork. It can be ordered via Bandcamp, where the single is also an instant grat download.

Recording artist and Grammy® nominee Seth Glier has just released a new music video for “Somebody Break My Heart” from his new album The Coronation via MPress Records . Written about the healing powers of water through his own experience with the waters of Key West, Florida, the song captures the dreamy qualities of being beneath the surface with its warm elegance and creative sampling.

“Somebody Break My Heart” features instruments like the Plethora (waterphone), samples of water, and crushed sand that tie in with the song’s theme, while the mesmerizing visuals follow a graceful aquatic dancer through the deep oceans and above magnificent reefs for a most calming, lucid experience The steady, orchestral arrangements contribute to the emotive power of the song.

Seth says of the video, “I knew I wanted water and specially movement through water as the predominate story telling aspect to the video. I reached out to this free diver on Instagram, Gabriel Forestieri, and shared with him what inspired the song and that I’d love to have him consider making a music video for it. About three days later he emailed me back with a rough cut of footage he shot in Sicily. We made a few rounds of edits back and forth but this video sort of just happened without any discussion. We clearly both understood the feeling well, had a deep reverence for water, and working with Gabriel felt more like surfing the energy of an idea than making a music video. I’m eternally grateful and connected to Gabriel now.”

The Coronation is Glier’s sixth album on MPress Records, and is a beautiful and powerful collection that explores an expansive range of musical styles and topics from the personal to the political. A Grammy®-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Western Massachusetts, Glier has also won five Independent Music Awards.

NPR describes his voice as “otherworldly” while praising him as “an engaging performer and storyteller.” His critically acclaimed, emotionally dense catalog of work often draws upon traditional roots music, experimental instrumentation, and moody atmospheres that result in soulfully intelligent stories that can alternately fight the power and break your heart.

Ivy, 24, belongs to a new generation of female singers and artists who take the control (and controller) into their hands, and other than just singing the song she also wrote and produced it.

In her new single, Ivy introduces a kicking and honest song wrapped in alt-pop production influenced by alternative, hip-hop, pop, and RnB music.