Doris Brendel first appeared on the music scene as a member of The Violet Hour, a pop-rock band who achieved cult success and will be best remembered as the support band on Marillion’s ‘Holidays In Eden’ tour back in 1991. Since those days, Brendel has worked on an extensive musical career, various solo projects covering many moods and styles, cultivating a cult audience along the way. Teaming up with multi-instrumentalist Lee Dunham for a second time, 2015’s ‘Upsidedown World’ is a mixed bag of treats, clearly designed for different ears to love different things within. It is, however, quite unlikely that most people will like it all.
Tag Archives: pop
THE HANGABOUTS – Illustrated Bird
The Hangabouts are a retro-pop trio from Michigan, whose music conveys much love from the mid-late 60s, although often recycled on a smaller budget. Given they’ve got a similar musical mindset to so many great musicians – particularly the acoustic side of Fountains of Wayne and the woozy output of DIY outfit The Paul & John – their 2014 release ‘Illustrated Bird’ should be great. However, due to a limited budget that doesn’t always suit their chosen style, it sometimes falls short of the mark. That’s not to say, however, it doesn’t have some great bits.
I US & WE – Mono EP
Blending elements of dream pop and synth pop, California’s I Us & We create a fairly spacious, yet melancholy sound on their debut EP ‘Mono’. Like Australia’s MNTNS, their core sound is heavy on electronic drones and synths, but thankfully like the more melodic elements of Moby or the very best parts of Depeche Mode’s expansive catalogue, somehow manages to eschew most of the coldness that such humanly detached sounds might conjure if left in the hands of the lesser talented.
JENNIE VEE – Die Alone EP
On this five track EP Toronto born, New York based singer-songwriter Jennie Vee is set to melt the hearts and heads of those whose musical tastes hark back to the early-mid nineties. Maybe not those who reminisce about plaid shirts and muddy fields and blonde unshaven men with a glassy stare, but those who hold fond memories of seeing the faces of Tanya Donelly and Miki Berenyi gazing blankly and unobtainably from the pages of NME. Vee’s recordings hark back to a time when Frank Black and Kim Deal liked each other (okay, so maybe there was never such a time); a time when you got excited about that next 12” single from Chapterhouse; when Ride were kings of their own UK kingdom and The Jesus and Mary Chain wanted you to venture under ‘April Skies’.
Awake & Dreaming: Real Gone meets Mick Terry
In 2010, London based singer-songwriter Mick Terry released ‘The Grown Ups’, a debut album with a personal quality. Its creation came as a surprise, since Terry wasn’t especially planning on recording an album after returning to music after a family-raising break. Since 2012, he’s been working on a follow-up. Real Gone caught up with him in January 2015 to find out if it’s almost finished…
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