July Talk | Album Review| New Album has that magic 'Touch'

By CA Marshall

Canadian-born blues/alternative rock band July Talk, notorious for their epic contrast of dark and light lyrical ability, have dropped their Album 'Touch' today and it's FABULOUS! Lead vocalists Peter  Dreimanis and Leah Fay are a combined force unlike ANY we have heard on earth: a combustible energy not to be contended with when we also combine them with instrumentation that is cutting edge via band mates Ian Docherty (Guitar), Josh Warburton (Bass Guitar), and Danny Miles (Drums). 

Let's begin with my fave 'Jesus Said So', a legitimate four minute twenty three second song/dose of reality: the worlds gone to shit, and Peter and Leah have no qualms about delivering this fact through carefully written lyrics delivered with their own unique 'let's do this/in your face' flair. It's genius and probably one of my most favourite July Talk songs to date. Why? Because these Artists aren't afraid to sing about the 'not so pleasant' things in life which the world needs right now: let's talk - not ignore the issues because only then can real change be made. 

Delving further into the album, we have previously released singles 'Push + Pull' and 'Strange Habit'. 'Push + Pull' became my go-to gym song, and we gym rats need something worthy of repeatable nature when we are in mid run and aren't able change the tunes for fear of falling face first into the machine - also, in this case, why would I want to? The song is highly addictive! It was inspiring enough to want to listen on repeat and the tempo throughout was consistent, fast paced and conpletely addictive. If 'Push + Pull' was the 'taste' of what's to come for the upcoming album release then 'Strange Habit' became its predecessor quickly leaving all July Talk fans wanting more, anticipating this albums release. 'Strange Habit' was a nice contrast and truly showed the diversity of what this band has to offer as far as style, composition, and creativity. 

The albums title song 'Touch' is a song which also harnesses humanity and all our idiosyncracies: the craving to be understood and loved while also not wanting to reveal too much for fear of being 'exposed' and 'vulnerable'. Another brilliant song. 

Going further still, songs like 'Picturing Love' (first track off the album) is a good dose of Peters gravelly vocals and intensity followed by 'Beck + Call', 'Now I Know', 'Johnny + Mary', 'Lola + Joseph', and 'So Sorry' lend vivacity, power, and balance to this already epic 10-track album. 

As a Music Journalist, I have to say that I am completely satisfied with this album in its entirety. There are no flaws here and I tip my hat to these Artists who have not only been consistently touring across country throughout the summer, but also charming and acquiring (and maybe even shocking? Just a little) a rapidly growing new fan base. Their onstage performances coincide with the powerful image and persona which they have engraved into the hearts and souls of their loyal fans. This album gets a Starlight Music Chronicles five out of five star rating! 

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Listen to the Album on Spotify here!

July Talk on Social Media (click to view):

Facebook 

Twitter

Website

iTunes 

 

Never Mind the Magic Bus, Here’s the Paper Mâché Dream Balloon | King Gizzard Review by Xristopher Bland

by Xristopher Bland

If progressive rock can be likened to a planet long thought to have spun beyond the outer orbits of the musical solar system, nobody told King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Like some fresh satellite transmission from that world, King Gizzard not only proves that prog is alive and vibrant but orbiting back around in the form of their new album, “Paper Mâché Dream Balloon.”

Scheduled for general release on Nov. 13th through the band’s own label, Flightless, the acoustic album unplugs from the band’s more traditional, heavier electric instrumentation. As well, where previous albums by King Gizzard have involved music intertwining around conceptual themes (yup, the concept album—a term the band isn’t afraid to use), “Paper Mâché Dream Balloon” features tracks crafted as stand-alone songs. Yet such slicing shouldn’t be misconstrued as a move by the band toward mainstream song composition and album production. Where progressive rock found its original foothold as a richly embroidered alternative to popular music of the day, King Gizzard has re-opened and held that door open since the band’s formation in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia, and they’ve done it prolifically.

Just as bands once released more than one album per year for fans, King Gizzard has astonishingly released two EPs and six albums on Flightless in five years, and not as digital downloads alone. As evidence of the growing market in vinyl and retro technology amongst baby boomers and young music fans discovering prog for the first time, King Gizzard currently offers “Paper Mâché Dream Balloon” pre-orders on vinyl, CD and digital. The band has also just offered a cassette package—a definite wanna-have for retro-media collectors in that the yellow packaging lends the album artwork a distinct Sgt. Pepper-ishness.

Musically, the band fuses much and echoes many of prog’s greatest pioneers, yet stands contemporarily. As a young seven-piece band that includes two drummers, King Gizzard embodies an eclectic, jazz-influenced intricacy. At times, the sound of Carlos Santana comes through. Other times, the music sounds like Klaatu (the incredible Canadian prog band that was once thought to be the Beatles). Then Yes seems to drift in and out. In their experimental approach to music, King Gizzard plays freely and ignores the three-minute formula of typical pop songs. Because of this, the music often finds itself under the categories of alternative or psychedelic, with the latter having more to do with associated artwork and graphics than any real psychedelic edging. While the band doesn’t definitively claim prog as its label, King Gizzard moves music in the same manner that gave progressive rock its name. In embracing the notion of concept art, they’ve joined other young bands helping to re-open the door to the world where Peter Gabriel found the Lamb lying on Broadway. If they’re a keyhole, they’re a glimpse into the place where Pink Floyd explored “The Dark Side of the Moon” and the Who found “Tommy” and drove the “Magic Bus,” and if such grand potentials are easily dismissed by those who’ve bought into prog as caricature or leftover oddments from the living museum of classic-rock artifacts, the title of King Gizzard’s new album may be more than the sum of its parts. Intended or not, the words are a reminder that all lastingness—from songs to albums to the trust and courage to hang onto any dream—began in fragility, like a paper mâché balloon.

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To pre-order “Paper Mâché Dream Balloon” or anything from the band’s slammin’ swag bag,

visit the King Gizzard website:

kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com

To preview and purchase back-releases, visit Bandcamp:

kinggizzard.bandcamp.com

Extended Play: Watch King Gizzard perform 21 minutes of incredible live music from their

album “Quarters!” in the studios of KEXP 90.3 FM in Seattle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W19twyYD2Q

SMC | Artist of the Month MAYHEM!

by CA Marshall | Editor 
Starlight Music Chronicles

I am writing this now because it's about to get nuts. REAL nuts in the next couple weeks for all of us at Starlight Music Chronicles. We have our very first inaugural issue Magazine launching in a few short weeks, Photo Shoots, Branding, Interviews, (editing) and THEN...............there's our Artist of the Month Competition which has been growing at break neck speed within the Indie Music Industry as one of the most creative and fun Music Competitions going on Facebook.Best part? NO ONE has to leave their homes to attend! It's all by the click of a button from your computer, laptop, phone or other electronic device: anywhere you can connect to facebook and the Starlight Music Chronicles Page (https://www.facebook.com/starlightmusicchronicles) you can get to the EVENTS section of the page and scroll through each month, past, present, and future (we are always open for submissions at least a month and a half in advance - see above poster for the December 2015 Artist Submissions) (click here to enter) 80% of our monthly global views are coming through facebook via this forum. Exciting! Not just for Starlight Music Chronicles, but for the Artists being Promoted! 

Even today, there are two submissions waiting in cue for the December 2015 Competition! What began as a 'trial' has turned into a phenomenal response from Industry Peers and Musicians from all over the globe. And this is not just a casual statement either because each month, we are checking the stats and we are easily surpassing the previous whole month's visits globally in one WEEK! This is occurring more and more as the competition keeps moving forward and shows no signs of slowing down.

Each Artist that has won the competition so far have been very pleased to be cast as 'Starlight Music Chronicles Artist of the Month Alumni', a 'Class' (for lack of better words) of Indie Artists that are attending a (Music-School of Rock?) event of sorts where at the end of the year, all 12 winners will compete for the Starlight Music Chronicles Artist of the YEAR! This will include YEAR-LONG free promotion for the winning artist which can showcase new music, branding, etc. Considering that we get thousands of views per day globally to the website, this is a great addition to artists wanting promotion on what is becoming one of the Best Music Entertainment websites for Indie & Signed Artists. 

So far, we have Olivia Rose (August 2015 Winner), IAMWARFACE (September 2015 Winner), and Shay Esposito (October 2015 Winner) who have been featured for a month long promo spot for FREE on our site simply by participating in the Competition. (see this months promo spot) Aside from a few glitches here are there (facebook can be a ton of fun to try to get these tech things fixed in a timely manner *sarcasm*!), things have been running pretty smoothly. In addition to being featured for a month long spot on our website, we also include the Artists in our quarterly Magazine (launching later this month) with any new updates and progress that they have made since their win. 

But what is the point of these kinds of competitions? For Starlight Music Chronicles, first and foremost, it's the chance for Indie Artists to be showcased in a small forum (Only 10 Bands/Artists MAX are allowed per month) which allows the fans to digest what they are all about. We post the bands' Biography, Music, Achievements as well as allow the Artists themselves to post banners and info about themselves which ups the ante for the Competition. *Reference the September 2015 Artist of the Month Competition to see what we are talking about here. The Posters and even FAN videos that were submitted on the page was brilliant, encouraged, and interactive.

Another reason for hosting these competitions is for SMC to garner exactly what music the fans want to hear more of or read more about on our site. We have an 'Our Faves' page on the website as well as Spotlight features (www.starlightmusicchroniclesspotlight.com) on featured artists and The Chronicles (www.starlightmusicchronicles.blogspot.ca) where there are many featured Artists on Video as well as Song reviews, Announcements, Behind-the-scenes features, and much, much, more based on the genre and type of Artists our SMC fans want to hear more of.  

What we know so far is that many Indie Artists have been reaching out to us via this Monthly Competition for various reasons, some not even related to the competition (some want photo shoots, branding, etc). It's safe to say that since opening the SMC Artist of the Month Event, we could easily sum up the Competition has amalgamated the Starlight Music Chronicles website (and all social media outlets for that matter) as a sweet combo of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets The Wizard of Oz with a side twist of Rocky Horror Picture show. Yeah, and maybe a little of Alice in Wonderland and The Nightmare Before Christmas in there too for good measure! 

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Editor's Note: It always excites me (like Christmas, one of my favorite times of the year!) when I go to click the 'Submit Now' and launch button for the monthly Voting Poll to OPEN on the event. Something about that 'OPEN' sign that suggests freedom and joy and It isn't much longer after I hit 'Refresh' and the fan votes are off and running....and then the likes.....and then the comments.....(see above photo).

The few snags we have run across are really minor.......other Artists trying to post their fan pages or art on the event wall but it is strictly prohibited as the artists took the time to submit to us all of the requirements PRIOR to the poll launch. Usually when this happens, we encourage all artists that wish to have their music promoted to contact myself at editor@starlightmusicchronicles.com and I will be happy to discuss the event and the requirements. There have been some pretty wild comments on the content in these events as well but that is one thing I AM grateful for with facebook: they block those comments and delete them for us. We try to keep the competitions as clean and fun as possible because at the end of the day all we are trying to do is offer Indie Artists the support that is severely lacking in the Industry. 

We look forward to the next 9 months of competition and talks are already in the work of having an annual festival or 'showcase' of these artists so stay tuned for more information on that when we go to launch the Artist of the Year Competition next July 2016! 

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Starlight Music Chronicles Social Media:

Website: www.starlightmusicchronicles.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starlightmusicchronicles
Twitter: @StarlightMusicC and @CAMARSHALLSMC 
Google+: +Candice Marshall 
Instagram: www.instagram.com/starlightmusicchronicles/