Hello, music friends! πΆ
It's Friday again, and we've got our regular (almost) selection of fresh music, #newtunes, for the weekend and beyond!
Today, we have a selection of lesser-known musicians who have been making music for a while.
Here are eight songs from various genres worth a minute or two to listen to. Just by listening to them, you'll be supporting the artists. Someone may be interested and dig deeper.
If you don't like something, skip it.
Music4life!
Squid - Cro-Magnon Man
Squid is a London-based band performing since 2015 and has released several EPs, singles, and three albums. The latest, Cowards, is out at the beginning of February. The album is driven by the notion of evil in its most banal form, which we humans constantly impose on each other.
Cro-Magnon is a paranoid ambient post-rock song that uses squealing synths to evoke discomfort.
Rien Virgule - Chute imaginaire d'un astre
Rien Virgule is a trio from Bordeaux, France. Although French, the lyrics are in Italian. Maybe that's why they are also associated with the musical genre of Giallo, a reference to the Italian filmography of the sixties and seventies, by directors Dario Argento and Mario Bava, famous for its stylized visuals in both eros and thanatos, accompanied by a remarkable soundtrack.
Berceuses des deux mondes, or 'Lullabies of the two worlds,' is their fourth studio album. As in the previous albums, it deals with a haunting vision of the world that sounds quite retro, using synth sounds.
Blown Leaves_λ°μ§ν Park Jiha
Park Jiha is a Korean composer and multi-instrumentalist who drowns traditional instruments from her homeland in layers of gentle electronica, creating soothing and uplifting sounds. Her music could be classified as somewhere between ambient and even experimental music and what is popularly known as contemporary classical.
Last week, she released her fourth album, All Living Things, from which the song Blown Leaves is taken. A melancholic instrumental track with an elegiac melody played on saenghwang, accompanied by electronic elements, brings a sense of calm and unobtrusive beauty that is not easy to find today.
New Gondoliers - Zinedine Cezanne
New Gondoliers is a Croatian band from Split that has been on the music scene for five years. They released two albums, the latest, Art Cartel, in January of this year. It's a new name for me, a friend of mine listened to it when I visited him and I liked it immediately.
Split is known as the Croatian music capital of Mediterranean indie pop, and this band is going exactly in that direction. The influences are from everywhere. The charm of Mediterranean Americana is present in all the songs, including the one I chose, Zinedine Cezanne. Although it deals with the French, it has a touch of sixties nostalgia.
Thomas Marriott - You Only Live Twice
Thomas Marriot is a jazz trumpeter, composer, and producer from Seattle. He has released 15 solo albums and several more in collaboration with other musicians. His latest album, Screen Time, deals with screens, large and small, and uses familiar themes for his improvisations. He has been written about by
Marriott's trumpet paints a cinematic portrait of the music in vivid technicolor sound, backed by a crew of musical luminaries who set the stage for blockbuster action, romance, and drama.
You Only Live Twice is an improvisation on the James Bond theme sung by Nancy Sinatra, if anyone remembers her.
Pure and classic jazz, if you ask me.
ODDLY β Nautilus
Oddly is an indie rock trio from Kyoto, Japan. They have been performing since 2019 and have released one EP and two albums, the last one, Swerve, a week ago. This is a new name for me.
Melodic pop and post-rock with catchy guitar riffs that force your ears from all sides are heard in every song.
Art d'Ecco - Honeycomb
Art d'Ecco is a Canadian musician, multi-instrumentalist, and composer from Victoria, British Columbia. Although he is a new name to me, he has performed since 2018.
He has released five albums, the latest, Serene Demon, last week.
Melodic glamour from the seventies, club classics fused with contemporary angst. I will follow him to see where he climbs.
Warhaus - Zero One Code
Warhaus is a side project of Maarten Devoldere, a Belgian singer-songwriter better known as the frontman of the band Balthazar, with whom he still performs and has released seven albums. He has released four albums as Warhaus, the latest Karaoke Moon, in January this year.
He has been described as a continuation of Leonard Cohen, influenced by Tom Waits and Serge Gainsbourg's ballad style.
There may be something to that, but otherwise, you be the judge.
πΆThat's all for today, and enjoy your weekend with new songs!
#newtunes this year:
14.2.2025
7.2.2025
31.1.2025
24.1.2025
17.1.2025
10.1.2025
If you're interested in #newtunes suggestions from the past six years, you can listen to them at these links - there are Spotify playlists for each year:
newtunes2019
newtunes2020
newtunes2021
newtunes2022
newtunes2023
newtunes2024
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