Young Jesus

“I think you can confront darkness with sincerity and that the best stuff acknowledges the light that is in the dark and vice versa” – an interview with Young Jesus, chatting about concept albums, life-changing novels & the balance between darkness and light.

Sharon Van Etten

“Heartfelt, brave and benevolent, not exactly an answer but a reassuring hand to hold while you’re working on the question” – You should be excited about the new EP from Sharon Van Etten.

Elvis Depressedly

“Elvis Depressedly will not mend broken bones or cast out demons or have you walking across hot coals. Instead they… offer an achievable version of optimism, one which does not require manic enthusiasm or God-like goodwill but instead a pinch of determination and a firm belief in love” – we get to grips with the new Elvis Depressedly record New Alhambra.

Bells Atlas

“Blending the visceral emotions of R&B and soul with an off-the-wall, avant-garde vibe akin to Dirty Projectors and tUnE-yArDs” – ‘Bling’ welcomes you to the eclectic world of Bells Atlas.

Gay Angel

“The sound of one creative mind expressing itself in the most maximalist way imaginable” – The second floret of Gay Angel’s 100-song bonquet is .

Zee Town and the Dog Boys

“Think Beach House in their sad teenage bedroom years” – the self-titled album from Zee Town and the Dog Boys combines shoegazy fuzz with intimate bedroom pop.

Aisha Badru

“The confessional, angry-but-still-in-love style of all the best break-up songs” – an introduction to the organic folk of Aisha Badru.

Noah Gundersen

“A rousing, textured love song that would be a radio hit in any just world” – we get the first taste of the new Noah Gundersen album with ‘Slow Dancer’.

Ruth & Trudy

“An unorthodox brand of lo-fi pop that blends a laidback hipness with heartfelt naivete” – Still Pond Songs, an album from Ruth & Trudy, out on Slovakian label Z Tapes.

Alynda Segarra

“Blues women foreshadowed a movement of feminists of color that is vibrantly alive today… leaving behind the embarrassing and soul crushing caricatures of women of color that I was fed my whole life” – Hurray for Riff Raff leading lady Alynda Segarra (who we have had the pleasure of talking to) has written a great piece on the feminist legacy blues women for American Songwriter.

The Weather Station

“Country songs are always about driving, journeys, and these sorts of things. I found that these songs were about journeys but not” – Exclaim talk to Tamara Lindeman about Loyalty, the excellent new album from The Weather Station.

Bedroom Pop

“The qualities they share are somewhat intangible, more emotional than sonic, and can be more easily felt than described” – Jacob W. Moore wrote a primer on bedroom pop for the uninitiated, citing bands such as R.L. Kelly, Ricky Eat Acid, Alex G and Foxes in Fiction, as well as the overwhelming influence of the folks at Orchid Tapes. Head to Flavorwire to check it out and then browse our ‘bedroom pop’ tag as further reading.

Sufjan Stevens

“The striking sense of solemnity hangs like a noose around its neck, rugged and impossible to ignore, from the first moment to the last” – A little late to this one, but GoldFlakePaint’s review of Sufjan’s new album is really lovely (and mentions Cormac McCarthy, which is never a bad thing).

King of Cats

DIY Magazine are streaming the new King of Cats album, which will be released on Art Reeks, a joint label that combined Art is Hard and Reeks of Effort…

Barna Howard

…and you can stream the new Barna Howard album at Line of Best Fit.

Bellows

Bellows did a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR!

And Finally… the 8tracks Playlist of the Week

The inaugural winner of this coveted accolade is Ratfriend, with this round-up of the best music so far in 2015:

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and 8tracks to keep up to date with the best new music.

The post Week in Review: #1 (11-15th May 2015) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

First up, we were lucky enough to speak to Alynda Lee Segarra from Hurray For The Riff Raff, fresh from an appearance in The Sunday Times, who’s (lovely) album Look Out Mama is out today (review here).

One of the themes that strike me on Look Out Mama is the idea that loneliness can be escaped by moving somewhere fresh. Much has been made of your travels down through America. Obviously the type of music is (at least in part) determined by your experiences with other musicians but how much did the journey influence the stories and ideas on the album? Could you have written these narratives in The Bronx?

Loneliness cannot be escaped simply by heading somewhere new, although everyone has their knee-jerk reactions to feelings of isolation and sadness.  Leaving town is most definitely mine. I think loneliness is only cured by a sense of community, by love and understanding with those around you.

Sometimes when I travel I interact with someone I never would have met had I stayed at home and done “the right thing” and that person will illuminate my mind to what it means to be truly happy. That is a precious moment, but it’s something you gotta take with you and put into motion. A big lesson i’ve learned is if I want to feel really satisfied I need my community of artists. I need people that I respect artistically around me to feed off of and learn from. To show new songs to and get feedback from. These people are what has really inspired my music, the idea that we can create our own lives and build something together. When I reached New Orleans I found my second family. So, it’s thanks to that great city.

For me, the album harks back to an expansive old country that is exciting and welcoming. Here, sitting at my computer (as someone whose experience of the US is limited to the ‘big’ cities), the idea of the ‘old America’ seems very distant yet very alluring. Is the traditional sense of adventure still available if you look for it?

Adventure is everywhere, but you do have to work harder at finding it. There’s a lot of forces today that are trying to sell you a packaged version of life. If you want to break out of that then kudos to you, you’re making the world an interesting place to live! You got to take risks, you’ve got to find your passion and follow it.

I reluctantly used the term ‘Country’ to describe your music in the review. The demographic has a rather bad rep (especially here in the UK – I can’t really think of any respected British Country acts). Do you see yourself as a Country musician? I see the big Country ‘stars’ in the US and can’t help but feel there is a rather large disparity between them and what you are trying to do.

That term should be reclaimed. I want to take a lot of things back, music in general! The Carter Family is who I think of when I think of Country music, Hank Williams Sr and all of those incredibly talented musicians that I’ve learned from on records.

Now, a lot of people may say that since I’m from the Bronx, the term “country” does not belong to me.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I feel that music, and that has to do with feeling someone’s soul on a record, not just where they came from in the world.

So I’m gonna do my best to do it right and do it from the heart. I’m also gonna do it the way I am, and that is not with the goal to make a million dollars, or to spread some message of war or bigotry. My point is, I know there is a huge history of country music from the past that I would love to be categorized with, and my goal is to remind people of that music. There’s also a lot of folks today who are with me on this, and we get the privilege of touring with them!

A question I always want to ask musicians – removing the aforementioned personal experiences and any musical influences, what else shapes your songs? Are there are writers or other artists which you would say have a large impact on your thinking?

Frida Kahlo, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, and of course friends and family. I am very influenced by feminist thinkers and artists, lately my major inspiration has been Sampat Pal of the Gulabi Gang in India. She is the leader of a group of lower caste women who stand up for each other in times of domestic violence.

Finally, could you suggest 4 or 5 bands or musicians that you are currently enjoying? They could have formed yesterday or died fifty years ago, be known to three people or playing on MTV, any artist that is catching your attention at the moment.

I love this question! Shovels and Rope, Sam Doores and the Tumbleweeds, Morgan O’Kane, Spirit Family Reunion, Clear Plastic Masks, Feral Foster, and the Alabama Shakes. These are musicians of today making me proud to be alive in these times. My dream is that we all play a festival together someday.

Thanks to the good folks over at Loose Music for putting us in touch and to Alynda for answering our questions (in super-quick time too!). We appreciate it!

The post Interview: Alynda Lee Segarra appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Her previous releases have received some rather impressive attention, with glowing reviews from The Times and Mojo, airtime on the BBC and use on HBO’s Treme. Look Out Mama, the new album out this week, looks to continue Segarra’s rise in the musical community. The main sense you get while hearing the music is one of timelessness. This may sound a tired cliché but with strong lyricism and a voice that wouldn’t be out of place alongside Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, a real sense of history runs through these songs. Maybe prior knowledge of Segarra’s back-story influences thinking but you can’t help but feel that this is someone who has experienced all of the songs, lived through something and written it down, rather than made up based on old ideas.

The beauty of the album is how they manage to evoke so many different images in each song. Opener ‘Little Black Star’ has links to her time in New Orleans and wouldn’t be out of place in the French Quarter, whereas ‘Lake of Fire’ is much more of a rock song with a surfy Californian jangle. ‘Riley’ (a personal favourite) is again completely different, a dark and foreboding song that always threatens to explode but never quite does, a beauty underpinned with a desolation and violence that brings to mind a journey across a Western mountain range. Look Out Mama captures America. Not the country of Starbucks and SUVs but rather that old enchanting, welcoming and dangerous land that still perseveres in many minds today. A place that I truly hope still exists.

Country music has a bit of a bad reputation (at least here in the UK) so there is real reluctance on my part to use that word here. Maybe ‘Roots’ is more appropriate? Is there a better term to describe music that captures all of those small nameless American towns? Wind and dust and mountains? Hurray For The Riff Raff (along with other acts such as Mount Moriah) show that with good songwriting and a bit of emotion, ‘Country’ does not have to be a derogatory term.

Look Out Mama is released today (20^th August) on Loose Music. We were lucky enough to get the chance to ask Alynda few questions so keep an eye out for them very soon.

The post Hurray For The Riff Raff – Look Out Mama appeared first on Various Small Flames.