Fiona Brown is a singer-songwriter songwriter whom – by her own admission – absorbs many influences into her work. On her 2016 EP ‘Demons’, there’s a little rock and pop, nods to things of a more soulful nature and more besides, but never in a way that makes the release sound like a directionless show reel of her talents. She prefers instead not to separate the influences too much. You could experience any one of them at any time and often within just one track. but perhaps best of all, though, her songs are cloaked in a shroud of darkness. Never a “woe is me” self pity, but a genuinely dark quality that informs the heart of her best tunes.
Tag Archives: alternative
Listen to a new track from Tokyo Tea Room
In 2016, Kent based psych/dreampop band Tokyo Tea Room made underground waves with their live shows and debut cassette. Drawing influence from lots of early 90s artists, their sound showed great promise, with vocalist Beth Plumb’s angelic vocal style in sharp contrast to the drone of the guitar lines. In a handful of tracks, the band set themselves up as one to watch – a rival to Ireland’s Elastic Sleep for dreampop/shoegaze goodness.
At the beginning of 2017, a new track began to circulate. This, too, very much cements TTR’s place as bright lights on an underground scene. You can hear ‘World’s Away’ in full via the Soundcloud link provided below. [Watch the video clip for ‘Sleep’ here.]
KING COLUBUS – King Colobus EP
“Breathe out, breathe in…it’s time for the circus to reel you all in” exclaims King Colobus frontman Stewart MacPherson during ‘Tits & Teeth’ – very much a contender the most interesting track on the Devon-based band’s self titled EP release. Acting as part of the main hook, his unsettling request seems at odds with the old stage maxim at first, but it’s that unflinching contrast that makes the track so appealing. There’s nothing flippant about this performance; no greasepaint masking the true emotions. Nor is there anything nothing disposable about the surrounding heavy riffs or swathes of fuzz that drive the band’s sound. Here, perhaps more than ever, the band put across their musical intents with the most clarity. With a combination of stoner rock grooves, dark vocals and alt-rock leanings, these guys have solid foundations.
A Million Ways To Change Your Life (A Real Gone Sampler)
In 2016, Real Gone celebrated it’s seventh full year online. This year also marked the sixth year we’ve given away new music at the end of the year. Now a staple of the RG catalogue, the free album-length download is looked forward to by a core of our supporters and in turn helps bring new readers and listeners to our site.
2016 hasn’t been quite as notable for new music compared with a couple of years previously, but that’s not to say it hasn’t thrown up some great stuff. On the first of Real Gone’s free compilations for 2016, we take a look at a broad selection of tunes from punk, country, singer-songwriter fare and more… [a selection of metal oriented artists can be found over here]. If you’ve been paying attention to our website over the past twelve months, a few of these names will be familiar. If not, it’s time to say hello to new music. If you find a couple of things to love, our work here is done!
NO JOY – Drool Sucker EP
Combining elements of shoegaze, dreampop, drone and a touch of post-hardcore noise, Montreal’s No Joy have carved out a career as part of the alternative underground, making music that can be both darkly captivating and brutal, yet retain some kind of mystic beauty within that general dystopia. Previous full length releases have featured a broad range of retro sounds and huge echoes of an alt-rock past. From the 90s throwback loveliness of tracks like ‘Wrack Attack’ and the pure dream pop of ‘Moon In My Mouth’, to the Jesus and Mary Chain ugliness of ‘Still’, there’s very little to link the tracks with being the same band, yet at the same time, their unsettling qualities suggest they’re all the product of No Joy. Each record is home to buried treasure – it can be laborious to find that gold, but rest assured it’s there.