Single Of The Week – Page 21 – Spinning Platters

Single Of The Week: TFW by Divide & Dissolve

So, each Single of the Week during the pandemic seems to be tapping into a very specific place of my own emotional well being during this whole nonsense. This week’s comes from probably the heaviest band to ever sign to Saddle Creek, Divide & Dissolve. The song “TFW” is a slow, heavy dirge that keeps building and building until the weight of it feels like it’s crushing your bones. There is never relief. Just stacks and stacks of thick, heavy guitars and heavy, pounding drums. You know, just like COVID. It’s all pain and pressure, and there is no relief in sight, and no way out to feel human, and everything you can think of doing will almost definitely cause you or a loved one to get horrifically ill and either die or have to live with painful disabilities for the rest of their lives. It’s a fucker.

“TFW” is streaming on all the usual places now. A physical 7″, with the b-side “8VA” drops August 7th. You can preorder that here!

Single Of The Week: Tuesday Night by Fast Times

This week’s Single Of The Week, “Tuesday Night,” comes from Fast Times, a Bay Area rock supergroup comprised of leader Andrew St James, Duncan Nielsen of Doncat and Cody Rhodes of Geographer. It’s a fun, lofi number with a swing that’s reminiscent of The Strokes at their best, and is another Summer number perfect for helping keep the serotonin pumping while we remain stuck, not getting to see each other or commune together at a rock show. (Which I miss so much, I don’t care if the first version of the vaccine causes me to grow a third arm, I’m in as long as my attendance at a show doesn’t threaten anyone’s life)

Speaking of needing to get to a show, Fast Times were going to do a single release party at Rickshaw Stop, but instead will be doing a livestream benefitting both Rickshaw Stop and it’s employees displaced by COVID-19, but also local charity Hip Hop For Change. The livestream will be Wednesday, July 15th, and can be viewed on both Rickshaw Stop‘s and Fast Times‘ Instagram pages.

Single Of The Week: Waiting For Me by Madame Gandhi

Madame Ghandi is the former drummer for Thievery Corporation and M.I.A. “Waiting For Me” is her major label debut, and it’s a bright number that explores the complex nature of how societal norms contribute to oppression. The video is a bold piece of filmmaking, feature a cast and crew made of entirely female identifying persons, including many queer and trans women. Oh, and it was shot entirely in India!

“Waiting For Me” is available now in all the usual places. Madame Ghandi also has an amazing Tiny Desk Concert and TEDTalk to enjoy while waiting for the full length to drop!

Single Of The Week: Si Te Portas Mal (Be Bad) by Loyal Lobos

Loyal Lobos is Andrea Silva, a Colombian-born / Los Angeles-based singer songwriter. “Si Te Portas Mal (Be Bad)” is a sexy little groove that hits the veins in all the right ways. It’s a song that understands that you are cooped up right now in your apartment with no hope in sight for getting back out into the freedom of the world, and is there for you to help you feel human again. It’s hard to feel “sexy” with the world on the brink of collapse. But Loyal Lobos has gifted us with the cure.

“Si To Portas Mal (Be Bad)” can be streamed or downloaded from all the usual places. Their debut record, Everlasting, is due out August 7th from AWAL.

Single Of The Week: SNIPERS by blackgirlsaremagic

This week’s Single of the Week is an intense one. It comes from Oakland’s very own blackgirlsaregood. The nom de plume of local multimedia artist and author Nick Lovett. The song is a dark, sweeping piece about police activity during the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests. This one is specifically calling out the presence of snipers during peaceful marches. It’s a chilling, vital piece.

You can download this track from blackgirlsaregood’s Bandcamp page. And, since today is Juneteenth, Bandcamp is donating 100% of their portion of the proceeds to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. So buy a bunch of blackgirldaregood music, or any indie music you have been thinking of picking up.

Single Of The Week: Back For More by Kat Meoz

This week’s single of the week comes from Venezuelan-American Singer/Songwriter Kat Meoz. “Back For More” is an exhilarating blend pop beats with heavy as fuck guitars, calling to mind Sleigh Bells in many ways. Only she has more than a hint of dirty, bluesy swagger. Imagine if Jon Spencer Blues Explosion worked with an 808, and then upped the dirty/sexy thing by like 100 degrees. That’s what Kat Meoz is giving with this track, and it’s EXACTLY what I needed to hear this week.

“Back For More” can be found in all the usual places. Expect to hear a lot more from her later this year!

Single of the Week: Someone’s Lost Their Goddamn Wallet by MAITA

MAITA is a band from Portland, Oregon that’s fronted by singer/songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler. “Someone’s Lost Their Goddam Wallet” is the second single to drop off their debut record, Best Wishes. It’s a fun little number that’s great for dancing around to, but also reminds you that parties and such might not be as fun as you recall. Especially when throwing a party is suddenly the deadliest thing on Earth, next to going to work in an office or choir practice at church. It’s exactly what I needed to help deal with the norms of now.

Best Wishes is out NOW on Kill Rock Stars, and it’s FANTASTIC. You should buy it TODAY on Bandcamp, because not only is Bandcamp not taking a commission on sales today, but Kill Rock Stars is donating 20% of all sales to community bail funds, mutual aid funds, and racial justice organizations through ActBlue. So buy a few records today, actually. Pick up the Elliot Smith, Marnie Stern, Deerhoof, and many other great Kill Rock Stars releases that you should already own but don’t.

Oh, and if you either forget to buy stuff today, or you want to split your purchases, on Juneteenth (June 19th), Bandcamp is donating their proceeds to NAACP Action Fund.

Single of the Week: New Mood / LPX

I’m desperate for exhilarating music these days. Every bit of information out there is draining the soul, and some days it feels like we will never have good news. One of the few things that has turned that around for me lately is the latest single from LPX, “New Mood.” This song is ferocious. This song is angry. This song is also optimistic and perky has hell. This is one of those songs that forces you to take whatever is hurting your reality (which is the pandemic that’s hurting EVERYONE IN THE WORLD), and forces you to squash that and take your life back over. This song is vital listening for anyone that needs to escape the hell of now and get motivated to live.

God bless you, LPX.

“New Mood” is the first single off LPX’s upcoming, as yet untitled EP, due out this Summer. You can listen / buy this track here, and don’t forget to follow her on Twitter and Instagram to get up to do info on preordering what may be the soundtrack to your Summer.

Single of the Week: Is The Season For New Incarnations by Brigid Dawson at The Mothers Network

Brigid Dawson spent years as part of San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees, providing additional percussion and haunting harmonies to counter the psychedelic assault going on in the foreground. When Thee Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer relocated to Los Angeles, he broke up the original band, leaving Dawson out of the mix, and kind of changing the color of the band a bit. Dawson and Dwyer reunited in 2017 to record a record under the name OCS called Memory Of A Cut Off Head, which, in my humble opinion, is the best Dwyer work since Coachwhips’ Bangers vs Fuckers. This record also brought Dawson’s voice into the foreground, really showing off her stunning chops. I’ve been waiting for Dawson to finally take the limelight, and we get to enjoy that today with our single of the week, “Is The Season For New Incarnations.” It’s a stunning, slow burning, psych number that spins around the brain in beautiful ways. I’ve listened to it at least 10 times today.

“Is The Season For New Incarnations” is the lead track off Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network’s debut record Ballet of Apes. This record can be streamed in all the usual places, and can be purchased at your local record store. Which, I might add, is likely to be open for curbside pickup, so please give them a call so you can grab this and other records today!

Single Of The Week: Something by Avataria

Avataria is the alias of Niki Avataria, a musician from Philadelphia, PA. She’s been putting out excellent singles for a number of years now, but she’s been on a roll lately with fine EPs. “Something” is the first single off her forthcoming EP, Inside Out, due out June 5th. This is an anxious number that helps encapsulate that feeling of wanting all of this to be over and for us to make it through the chaos of today safe and sound. Is that the writer’s intent? I have no idea, but this song feels like a warm hug that both say, “I totally get what you are going through, and I want the same. And, you know what? I think we are actually going to be fine. It’s just tough right now, and it’s really hard to stay patient.”

Inside Out can be preordered through Bandcamp, or if you are more of the “streaming” type, you can get your resave situated right here.