New Tunes 2.6.2023

Hello music lovers! 🎵

Finally, Friday and then the weekend! The #newtunes selection of new songs by interesting known and (still) unknown artists is also available.

Eight songs from different genres can give you a taste of the diversity of world music, but only if you want it. Or if you take a few minutes of your time.

As usual, if you don't like something you can skip it or comment.

Music4life

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THE CULT - VENDETTA X

The Cult, the British rock institution, has just released the third single from their current album "Under The Midnight Sun", the 11th in a row, confirming that The Cult has been a cult name in rock since their inception in the mid-1980s, they are still packing concert halls and there is not a rock club that doesn't spin their songs.
Post-punk goth, infused with the ghosts of the Doors, Led Zeppelin, and even AC/DC, and the mystique of the Indians, a constant inspiration in the lyrics, have played a major role in their expression.

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Queens of the Stone Age - Carnavoyeur

Carnavoyeur is the second single from the album "In Times New Roman...", which will be released on 16 June. I featured the first single, Emotional Sickness, three weeks ago.
Unlike the first single, Carnavoyeur weaves subtler shades of the sinister: a hypnotic wash of strings overlays the familiar, solid rock that is the hallmark of one of today's best bands, while Joshua Homme's vocals captivate the listener with the familiar tones of the music. Acceptance and resignation: "When I can't do anything, I smile..."
The melodies are indeed enchanting, but there is no shortage of gut-punching drums and bass, or screaming guitars. Carnavoyeur has to be heard to be believed.

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The Bomboras - The Man From Planet X

After a 25-year hiatus, Californian surfers The Bomboras have released their new fourth album "Songs From Beyond". Although some might rightly wonder how the band sounds after so much time off, after listening to them I can say that they are fresh, bouncy and full of energy. They arrive with a time machine from the 90s, the decade in which surf roared the last great revival wave in harmony with a bunch of garage bands.
Like everything else on the album, this song is an instrumental, and if you ask me, it takes a certain kind of musicianship to tell a story without words, using "just" sounds. Bomboras manages to do this with a bunch of song melodies that create momentum and add a dose of filmicness to the songs.

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Spoon - Sugar Babies

Spoon has announced a new EP "Memory Dust" which will be released on 13th July. The EP is a collection of unreleased material from their acclaimed album "Lucifer on the Sofa" from 2022, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
The songs retain a touch of rock'n'roll character, hypnotically drawn out. The EP opens with "Sugar Babies", a cowboy ballad from the desert of hell, conjured from parlour piano, campfire acoustics, brass and swirling organ.
This summer we will see them on tour with The Black Keys in major European cities.

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Colin Stetson - The Surface And The Light

The name Colin Stetson may sound familiar to you because of his film scores or one of his many collaborations - with Tom Waits, Sinead O'Connor, The National, Lou Reed, Feist, Godspeed You Black Emperor, and LCD Soundsystem, and tours with Arcade Fire and Bon Iver.
"When we were that what wept for the Sea" is a record dedicated to the saxophonist's late father, illustrating both loss and the desire for a peaceful landing.
The one-man-band saxophonist, who in concerts is surrounded by contact microphones strung around his torso, neck, and at several points on the instrument, creates pulsating atmospheric music and fuses his enriched sound into hypnotic songs that are built on circular repetition, yet holds the attention until the last beat. And indeed, it has at least the effect of making us admire its technical perfection. Some consider him the finest saxophonist alive.
I recommend it.

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moshimoshi - Anime Theme

The young Finnish quartet from Helsinki came to attention in 2021 when they released a demo EP of five tracks called "moshimoshi I", drawing on influences from post-hardcore, math rock and emo legacies, while suggesting a penchant for guitar adventurism with the aforementioned forms. The debut album "Green" was released a month ago.
The varied and playful content is embodied by an upbeat pulse and a higher lying scream vocalisation. The latter stands as an obligatory monotone for the smooth flow of all the guitar variations and rhythm's fussiness. At times, melodic strolls into good old independent rock, the one that stole the indie label, can also be heard.
In short, a youthful energy that suggests a will and perseverance for the future.

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Complete Mountain Almanac - May

Complete Mountain Almanac is a new name for me, a duo consisting of Rebekka Karijord, a Norwegian singer-songwriter whose work ranges from six solo albums to composing film and theatre scores, and Jessica Dessner, an American poet, professional dancer and visual artist.
Jessica's brothers Aaron and Bryce, both members of the rock band The National, joined them for the recording, guitar sounds and production.
The result is an intimate, authentic and listenable album, "Complete Mountain Almanac", with two philosophies, from the personal, self-confessional level to the global, a journey from decay to renewal, a confession of hope and rebirth. It provides the listener with spiritual depth and emotional awareness, and the lyrics stimulate further reflection on existential questions.

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Baskot - Baskot (Cookies) بَسْكُوت

Hiding under the dark concrete streets of Cairo, Egyptian artists Adham Zidan and Anwar Dabbour cook up a playful musical mix of outsiderism, synthesizers and rebellion. They offer it all on their album "Baskot Lel Baltageyya" translated as in the title Cookie.
Lyrically, Dabbour describes a world that is slowly collapsing into chaos and where reality is turning absurd. All the lyrics are in colloquial Arabic, which makes it difficult for the average listener to grasp, but through the animation of the vocalist, one can make out enough of the atmosphere he is trying to conjure. Musically, he draws on the origins of electronic music, Western psychedelia, and Egyptian shaabi music.
Completely indigenous elements are mixed with global cultural references, creating a sense of the familiar yet alien. A new world with different aesthetics, values, and ideas, is certainly commendable.