RIDE

As Ride were working on their excellent new record, the quartet realised they had now been a band longer in their second phase than their original incarnation had lasted. When Andy Bell, Laurence “Loz” Colbert, Mark Gardener and Steve Queralt reunited in 2015, it was with a desire to re-conjure the musical alchemy that had made them one of the most exciting British bands of the late 80s and early 90s. Yes, there was a legacy to celebrate, album anniversaries to mark and old classics to dust off, but what Ride really wanted to do was keep pushing forward, pick up the thread of what made them such an exhilarating proposition in the first place. It was a reunion underpinned with a sense of unfinished business. There have been two records since then, 2017’s Weather Diaries and 2019’s This Is Not A Safe Place. Both produced by Erol Alkan, they were albums that re-lit the spark, both pleasing old diehards and introducing one of the most forward-thinking guitar bands of their generation to a whole new audience. Everything feels like it has been leading to Interplay, the group’s forthcoming seventh album. It’s the sound of Ride connecting all the dots, taking the frenzied guitar attacks, hypnotic grooves and dreamy melodic hooks of their early work and setting it to a more expansive sonic template, one that takes in synth flourishes, psychedelic folk, electronic beats and noir-pop soundscapes. “You learn this is a special thing,” says singer and guitarist Gardener of the dynamic between them. “It’s easy to take it for granted the first time round, when you just come out and everything is great.” Shall we take a quick trip back to that period for the uninitiated? Ride were formed in Oxford in 1988 by four friends rooted in art-school aesthetics who combined 60s guitar-pop sensibilities with avalanches of noise and driving rhythms. It was a recalibration of indie-rock that would come to be defined as shoegazing, music that was both experimental and pop, powerful and fragile. Preceded by a run of three criticallyacclaimed EPs, their 1990 debut album Nowhere is regarded as one of the greatest debuts of the ’90s. By the time they released fourth record Tarantula in 1996, however, they’d hit the skids, intra-band turmoil prompting them to call it day. But something curious happened whilst the four-piece had put the band out to pasture and when Ride reunited in 2014, they were surrounded by a wave of groups — Tame Impala, Beach House, Animal Collective amongst them — who sounded like they had been inhaling heavy doses of early Ride recordings. Eight years into their second era, the band are increasingly beginning to acknowledge the period themselves. Interplay is pockmarked with nods to their younger selves. “It’s got a lot of references within the writing to earlier days,” says Bell. “Then on a sonic level, it’s got the feel of some of the later 90s stuff. There’s a grown-up-ness to it as well as the early influences coming through.” “Obviously, there’s a big heritage angle to this band because loads of people were so in love with Nowhere,” adds Gardener. “But for me the whole reformation was because I felt we still had great chemistry as a band. That was why I wanted to do it, for moments that we felt in the studio making this record.” Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

All Under Heaven

Originally formed in 2017, New Jersey’s All Under Heaven regrouped in 2020 and will release their new LP, What Lies Ahead, in May. The new album marks a shift from songs backed by walls of guitars to a broader spectrum of tracks embracing keyboards, synthesizers, and beats. With nods to bands like Starflyer 59, The Cure, and Pinback, All Under Heaven weaves themes of loss, love, and friendship into their dynamic sound, carving out their space in the shoegaze sphere.Instagram | Spotify

Rich Ruth

Recorded under a loft bed in the guest bedroom of his Nashville home, Michael Ruth aka Rich Ruth’s I Survived, It’s Over starts in a humble space. And while many contemporary music projects are produced in such an environment, I Survived, It’s Over sets itself apart in its transformative properties as well as its transparency What we have here is honest sound exploration, session musician-level instrumentation, and a true love for nature run through the fingers of a dude who can channel some acute and undeniable magic. This music goes deep. “I conceived much of this record amidst the quiet and tumult of 2020 in my neighborhood that had recently been ravaged by a tornado,” Ruth recalls, “I spent most of my days working on these pieces between bicycle rides – watching the beautiful Tennessee ecosystem flourish in Shelby Park, listening to Keith Jarrett’s The Koln Concert and John Coltrane’s Ascension.” Underneath the swell of the strings and the shredding of the guitars, this record has hard working, rustbelt, drum-heavy roots all over it (which makes sense as Ruth hails from outside of Toledo, the album was mixed by John McEntire from Chicago band Tortoise). Many of the flutes, saxophones, pedal steel, and other instruments were recorded remotely because we live in the future, but this only adds to the collage of sampled and sample-able material that Rich Ruth has to offer. The organic relationships between the artist and other musicians on the album is evident even in the compilation style sampling that needs to occur in putting such a project together. “Working on this music is a daily meditation,” says Ruth. “I constantly experiment with sound until it reflects the way I am feeling and attempt to sculpt something meaningful from it. Through years of being a touring musician, it is a constant inspiration and privilege to collaborate with the individuals that graced this record with their voices.” And those relationships pay off, because I Survived, It’s Over is a sonic meal. It’s rich (no pun intended) with massive instrumentation that’s usually reserved for more symphonic delights. But at the same time it’s simple and leaves space to breathe–space you didn’t know you needed. In his own words; “I Survived, It’s Over is a meditation on healing, confronting trauma, surrendering, and finding peace. I wanted to encapsulate the tranquility and disarray found within this process.” Ruth’s heart and the peace that his presence produces is all over this album. And despite his midwestern humility and willingness to brush off any praise, he’s put together something really special that carries its own weight. It’s the kind of record that only comes around every once in a while and it’s worthy of all the head-bobs, acclaim, and celebratory potlucks that Mike and the gang have coming their way. – Mic Fox, 2022Bandcamp | Instagram

The Greeting Committee

For a decade, Nashville-based band The Greeting Committee has proven their knack for storytelling. Now, with the release of their third studio album “Everyone’s Gone and I Know I’m The Cause,” they have a lot to get off their chests.Since garnering 100+ million global streams and a dedicated fanbase, the band, which now consists of founding members Addie Sartino and Pierce Turcotte, longtime member Noah Spencer, and newcomer Micah Ritchie has gone from strength to strength. They’ve opened for the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club and Hippocampus, while selling out headline shows across America and simultaneously releasing acclaimed albums, including 2018’s “This Is It” and 2022’s “Dandelion” which garnered support from Billboard, The Washington Post, NYLON and more.With “Everyone’s Gone and I Know I’m The Cause,” an album born amid grief and loss, Sartino and Turcotte are meticulously balancing vulnerability and self- reflection — all wrapped up in 10 tracks that include the lead single “popmoneyhits.” “I was afraid if I didn’t hold tightly enough, if I didn’t struggle enough, if I didn’t sacrifice enough that I wouldn’t be enough,” says Sartino on the process of making of their third album. “And if I couldn’t be enough then how could I ever deserve this? But I promise you, the things and the people that are meant for you will always believe you are enough.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok

Delia-h and the Male Gaze

Delia-h is a local writer and singer in Carrboro. From a young age, she has used songwriting as a way to mark the chapters of her life; if she doesn’t write a song about it, it’s almost like it didn’t happen. She prides herself in protecting her own sacred, private relationship with creativity, and hopes to inspire others in her community to do the same. However, she also really likes it when people clap for her. So you do the math. Her band The Male Gaze, made up of her brothers, father, and hot blonde roommate, helps arrange her original music, typically over alcoholic ciders in an old, creature-ridden cabin. The band’s genre is quite fluid; songs in a Male Gaze set range from cheeky punk to soulful funk to pensive folk. But Delia-h’s lyricism and melodic instincts act as the glue, connecting all of the tunes with authentic themes of love, guilt, anger and introspection. Instagram | SpotifyHypnic Jerks InstagramThe Twits Instagram | Spotify

Cedric Burnside

The official credit tells it like it is. “Recorded in an old building in Ripley, Mississippi” – that’s all the info we get, and all that we need. When Cedric Burnside prepared to record Hill Country Love, the follow-up to his 2021 Grammy-winning album I Be Trying, he set up shop in a former legal office located in a row of structures in the seat of Tippah County, a town with 5,000 residents that’s known as the birthplace of the Hill Country Blues style. “That building was actually going to be my juke joint. Everything was made out of wood, which made the sound resonate like a big wooden box,” said Burnside. He called up producer Luther Dickinson (co-founder of the acclaimed North Mississippi Allstars and the son of legendary Memphis producer/musician Jim Dickinson), who brought recording equipment into the empty space. “We recorded in the middle of a bunch of rubbish – wood everywhere and garbage cans,” Burnside says. “We just laid everything out the way and recorded the album right there.” The 14 songs on the record were finished in two days, but in addition to being satisfied with the sound, Burnside believes that Hill Country Love represents real creative progress. “Every time I write an album, it’s always different,” he says. “I’m always looking to express myself a little bit better than I did on the last one and talk about more things happen in my life. I think that every day that you’re able to open your eyes, life is gonna throw you something to write about and to talk about. “So on this album,” he continues, “I’m a little bit more upfront and direct, because I went through some crazy feelings with family and with friends. Winning the Grammy was awesome, but people tend to treat you a little different when things like that happen.” Certainly, plenty of things have happened in Cedric Burnside’s life since he went on the road at age 13, drumming for his grandfather, the pioneering bluesman R.L. Burnside. His two albums before I Be Trying – 2015’s Descendants of Hill Country and 2018’s Benton County Relic – were both nominated for Grammys. He has also appeared in several films, including Tempted and Big Bad Love (both released in 2001) and the 2006 hit Black Snake Moan, and he played the title character in 2021’s Texas Red. Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Jive Talk

Built To Spill

Built to Spill is an indie rock band from Boise, ID, formed in 1992 by guitarist/vocalist Doug Martsch. In 2024 they celebrate 30 years of “There’s’ Nothing Wrong with Love, their second full-length album, performing it in its entirely. For this celebration tour the band also brings the recording’s original cello player, John McMahon. Known as well for their rotating line up, Built to Spill currently counts with Melanie Radford on bass and Teresa Esguerra on drums. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Lloyd Cole

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this show is canceled at this time. We look forward to a rescheduled show some time in the future.This is a seated show. “I certainly didn’t set about making something that was going to be quite this intense,” says Lloyd Cole about his stunning new album On Pain. “But I wanted it to be more extreme in all directions: I wanted the minimalist stuff to be more minimal, I wanted the poppy stuff to be more poppy, and I wanted the abstract stuff to be more abstract.” And so, to paraphrase one of the songs from On Pain, Cole’s music has become more of what it is: there’s an elegant economy here that only comes with experience, magnified by an evocative way with technology that can only come with insatiable curiosity. Sixteen albums and nearly 40 years into his illustrious career, Lloyd Cole is exploring what the 21st-century version of what a singer-songwriter is. This is certainly sophisticated music, both harmonically and sonically, but the spaces within it, and the straightforward language Cole croons over it, allow in ineffable feelings: often, they’re powerful currents of melancholy, even dread. What with the current state of things, the songs assume an almost oracular feeling, like maybe On Pain is a musical canary in a cultural coal mine. Although best known for guitar-oriented music with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and a long line of acclaimed solo records, Cole has made plenty of exquisite synth-based music: 2001’s Plastic Wood, 2013’s Selected Studies, Vol. I (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius of legendary Krautrock band Cluster), and 2015’s sublimely minimalist 1D. 2019’s Guesswork achieved a compelling singularity between digital electronics and the literate pop that made Cole’s name. But On Pain takes it a step further into the future. After Cole used a random digital noise generator as the basis for the four long, abstract compositions of 2020’s Dunst, “I decided I’d apply that musique concrète approach to songs,” he says. “And that’s how a lot of On Pain was created. The challenge was to make music that I’d want to listen to, a record that might be able to stand next to records that I love.” Besides Cole’s four songs, former Commotions keyboardist Blair Cowan contributed the music for three songs and Commotions guitarist Neil Clark wrote the music for one, then Cole edited the tracks, reshaped some of the sounds, and added additional instruments, lyrics and vocals at The Establishment, the studio in the attic of his home in western Massachusetts. The only other musicians on the album are backing singers Joan Wasser (Joan as Police Woman), Renée LoBue (Elk City) and Dave Derby (Gramercy Arms). While he was recording, Cole FaceTimed with producer Chris Hughes (Tears for Fears, Adam and the Ants, Robert Plant), then traveled to Hughes’ studio in Wiltshire, England, where they did some instrumental overdubs and mixed the record. — Michael AzerradNew York City, March 2023 Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Arden Jones

21-year-old Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Arden Jones captures unforgettable, serotonin-filled California summers into a perfect blend of pop, hip-hop, and alt that, while familiar, is undeniably his own. His clever rhymes and witty lyricism paint heartfelt, relatable sentiments that beautifully juxtapose his infectious hooks and euphoric, nostalgia-inspired beats. From a young age, Arden’s love of skating and surfing came second only to his love of music, successfully teaching himself to play an array of instruments including upright bass, mandolin, guitar, piano, and ukelele. His musical household introduced him to legends like The Avett Brothers, Bright Eyes, and 50 Cent, but it wasn’t long before he began forging his own musical identity inspired by J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Mac Miller. A prolific user of Garageband and SoundCloud, Arden posted his internet-beat smash “Parallel Parking” on TikTok at the end of 2020 where it caught the attention of newly minted label, vnclm_, and eventually into the hearts of 14 million Spotify listeners. Since the song’s release, Arden continues to pave his own way into the music world. Following a series of hit singles (including rollercoaster, SMILE, either way) and performances to screaming fans across the country, Arden was determined to reward his die-hard fanbase in 2022, dropping a new three-song EP at the beginning of every month to immense critical acclaim. With millions of streams independently and an unrelenting work ethic, Arden Jones proves that he really is “just trying to make you smile.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud | TikTokRelay RelayRelay Relay is the husband-and-wife musical team of Jamie and Hannah Rowen. The pair perform all over the country and have a super fun set of unique indie pop originals and genre-spanning upbeat covers they make their own. The pair packs a full band punch into a tiny duo package. While Jamie handles everything guitar, Hannah bounces between a tiny keyboard, glockenspiel, electronic drum pads and various percussion (like her foot tambourine!) all while holding down a powerful lead vocal. The tight vocal harmonies are the cherry on top. Relay Relay has a unique sound all their own, and not only sounds great, they are fun to watch!Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Genre: Miscellaneous