Enjoy this special midweek mixtape which opens with an infectiously upbeat new single from David Keenan titled Tick Tock (out on 2 June via Barrack Street Records – Pre-Save it here). David is on touring England & Scotland next month, taking in Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester, Cambridge, Sheffield, London – Tickets and details here.
David says:
The song is inhabited by an apathetic character who laments the loss of creative motivation, boasting of their talents but ultimately doing nothing with them. Brain drain induced by a certain app is also at the centre of the story; they wonder where all their energy is gone before escaping back into the void.
I am not preaching, I also fall prey to the addictive nature of screen time and its consequences but music/words are the vessels that carry my observations from within and without, and so here it is, beautifully charged with the potential to induce a smile, a change, (maybe even a boogie). It’s an infectious, rebellious number, so we may as well dance and shake ourselves into a positive state!
The song features a new live band that is gelling fast, having spent the past few weeks on an Irish tour from Donegal to Kerry and back again. Gratitude to all who came out and also to those who came to my European shows in April.
We also have new music from Bonnie “Prince” Billy, ‘Bananas‘ is his new single taken from his forthcoming new album ‘Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You’..Bonny’s call-n-response with Dane Waters passes the love around until flowers bloom forth from the desert… (read more about the new album here).
Channelling some beautiful Laurel Canyon psychedelic vibes, we have a track from Kassi Valazza‘s new album, which we have just reviewed here.
Plus, a gorgeous instrumental from those six and twelve-string guitar maestros Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay. The track, A Year and a Day, is from their self-titled album (also one of our Featured Albums of the Month) being released on Topic Records this week (26 May) – Pre-order & pre-save here. We have also a Vinyl Giveaway, details of which can be found at the end of our recent review here.
There’s also a handful of favourites, including This is the Kit – make sure you check out our recent ‘Off the Shelf’ feature with bandleader Kate Stables – read it here.
Enjoy
Music Played
David Keenan – Tick Tock
This Is the Kit – Magic Spell
Cass McCombs – Big Wheel
Damien Jurado – Helena
Bonny Billy – Hemlocks and Primroses
Flatt & Scruggs – If I Were a Carpenter
The Weather Station – Way It Is, Way It Could Be
Michael Chapman & the Woodpiles – A Stranger’s Map of Texas
Big Thief – Change
Kassi Valazza – Watching Planes Go By
King Creosote – I’ll Fly By The Seat Of My Pants
Buck Meek – Candle
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Bananas
Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay – A Year and a Day
James Yorkston – Summer’s Not The Same Without You
Emiliana Torrini & The Colorist Orchestra – Wedding Song