We’ve always aimed to bring an eclectic coverage of music at Real Gone. We’ve always insisted on mixing genres and covering bigger bands we love alongside some really underground DIY releases.
Since the site launched in November 2009, there’s been a lot of music to get excited about, but the first quarter of 2018 could be one of the most enjoyable yet.
Mark Lane’s fourth album ‘New Memory’ continues the Californian singer-songwriter’s voyage down a rabbit hole of retro pop. So much so, that it’s hard to work out whether its title is meant to be ironic. These ten songs do not so much create things that’ll eventually become a new memory as delve into old musical memories and stir them up. To say that Lane’s work is often the sum of its many influences would be an understatement, but there’s no avoiding the fact that – assuming you like retro pop/rock with a heavy 70s bias – ‘New Memory’ is a thoroughly enjoyable record.
From it’s birth in the coldest extremes of Scandinavia, black metal slowly spread across Europe like a harsh plague, invading territories with a barrage of riffs, twig shaped logos, minimalist artwork and sounds often characterised by especially harsh, thin vocals. Over the years, the style has become more refined, mixing the purer elements with death metal depths and complexities. In allowing itself to be more inclusive of a few other extreme metal styles, it seemed to become even more influential – a huge surprise for a metal subgenre born within such extremities. In short, it’s all come a very long way from it’s roots; it’s no longer about painting your face white and considering burning a church during your spare time.
Fusing elements of shoegaze and the more accessible bits of a post rock sound, Norwegian trio Spielbergs make a big impression on their new single.
‘We Are All Going To Die’ harks back to the 90s whilst keeping one foot firmly in the present. Their wall of sound approach can be emotionally draining, yet at the same time, their new music has an intensely rousing quality that fans of shoegaze and associated subgenres shouldn’t miss.
You can listen in full below.
They’ve been away for a while, but Chilean shoegaze sensations MAFF are back with a new EP ‘Melañiña’, which releases in April.
Before the full release, you can check out two of the new songs on Soundcloud, including the new digital single ‘Hawaii’, which absolutely destroys by a way of a heavy and pulsing bass, before the whole track explodes into a world of 90s distortion culling the very best from Catherine Wheel and My Bloody Valentine.