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Evan Uhlmann – Chasing Daisies

Jon Doyle — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 18:49:46 +0000

Back in June we introduced a new series of singles by Chicago’s Evan Uhlmann on Future Gods, writing about first offering ‘Lake Michigan’. The single offered a glimpse of “the kind of intimate, reflective tone of this phase of Uhlmann’s career,” as we wrote, “tapping into the quotidian rhythms of life to better explore a deep well of emotions.” Written amid the early days of a burgeoning relationship, the track served as a space for Uhlmann to process the experience in real time, offering an outlet in which he might grapple with doubts, concerns and hopes as they arose.

Again produced by brother Greg Uhlmann, latest single ‘Chasing Daisies’ sees Evan Uhlmann continue these intimate, exploratory sensibilities. With Jessica Larrabee (AKA She Keeps Bees) lending backing vocals, the song unfolds with a simplicity which allows the emotion to ring true. However, the sparse arrangement builds gradually behind Uhlmann’s plainspoken delivery, as though the sentiment of the vocals charges its surroundings, and by the closing minutes an affirming crescendo is reached.

Chasing Daisies ft. She Keeps Bees by Evan Uhlmann

Watch the video directed by Sam Congdon below, a multi-media film featuring post-processing, video collage and stop-motion animation:

‘Chasing Daisies’ is out now via Future Gods and available from the Evan Uhlmann Bandcamp page.

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March 2019 Roundup Mix

Jon Doyle — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 18:37:12 +0000

Here’s a roundup of everything we covered during March 2019.

Swim Camp – Pretty Bird
Black Belt Eagle Scout – Indian Never Die
Pedro The Lion – Quietest Friend
Cat Clyde – Anymore
She Keeps Bees – Coyote
Cartwheel – Nothing
Tempertwig – Comfort Blanket
Downhaul – Wires / Enough
Witching Waves – Eye 2 Eye
LISA – Primitive Us
Yamachan – Rose Gold Blue
Spelling Reform – The Second Coming
Faith & Majesty – Summer Fling
Caroline Lazar – Georgia
Jeffrey Silverstein – Easy Rider
Ronnie Rogers – Leaning On
Nanami Ozone – Alone Too
Fresh – Willa
Perfume V – Perfume Homes Movies
Hand Habits – Can’t Calm Down
MUNYA – Benjamin
LUNCH – Forget Everything
Control Top – Chain Reaction
Prudence – Euphoria
Cult Film – Bored to Death
Walking Bicycles – Fat Cat
Lost Dog – DFT
Sharkmuffin – Serpentina
Bandy – Trying to Reach You
Gold Connections – Like a Shadow
AllegrA – Spoon or Fork
Parkway & Columbia – Wondering and Wandering
la loye – to live underwater
Kitchen – Claws
Spectator – Waves
Sailor Boyfriend – The Battle of Sugarhill
Ladada – My Van
The Exbats – 2027
Adir L.C. – Reacting
minihorse – Drink You Dry
Trevor Stott – Halfway in the Night
Tyler Burkhart – Waiting For You
Or Sobre Blau – Mártires

Like what you hear? Catch up with the rest of our Monthly Mixes!

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She Keeps Bees – Coyote

Liam Doyle — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 16:20:46 +0000

Back in 2014, we mentioned Eight Houses by She Keeps Bees, describing the record as “no one thing,” arguing that “to limit itself to fragile, or gritty, or happy or sad, would be limit its ability to depict believable stories and emotions. The narrator is vulnerable,” we concluded, “but knows everyone else is too.” The Brooklyn based duo, AKA Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant, have a new album on the way. Kinship will be their first full-length record since 2014, and promises to see them once again explore the nuances of existence, this time turning their focus to “our current shared social and environmental woes, but from a learned vantage point.”

First single ‘Coyote’ makes good on this in itself, dedicated to folk singer, actress and environmental activist Katie Lee. It’s a song that’s stark and powerful, Larrabee’s voice ringing around slashes of guitar and mournful strings. Again, the emotional range is wide, the tone possessing both a bluesy swagger and burning anger, ferocity born of an intimate understanding of the fragility of things.

Lyrically, the focus is on Lee’s campaign to protect the natural world, in particular her stance opposing the damming of the Colorado River. “Carved by rain, by rivers, by streams,” Larrabee sings, “Flood the canyons, drown everything, ignore the rules of balance.” If there is a futility to the words then it is balanced by fury, Larrabee like some harbinger of doom whose warning far surpasses any single dam.

The accompanying video collects footage of Lee shot by filmmaker Natalie Gignoux and held in the Cline Library Special Collections and Archives, making for a fitting companion.

Kinship will be released on the 10th May via Ba Da Bing (USA) and BB*Island (Europe).

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September 2014 Roundup – A Mixtape

Jon Doyle — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 11:26:00 +0000

We’ve put together a mix of all the acts we covered during September. Why not have a listen? Click the links in the tracklisting to read about each artist in more depth.

Tracklisting:
1. Le Sigh – Johnny Foreigner
2. What You Need – Jacques Greene
3. Opinion Piece – Jon Hynes
4. Is What It Is – She Keeps Bees
5. Dead Lamb – King of Cats
6. Full of Minnows – Happyness (from 80n7)
7. Gypsy Dead Girl – Field Medic
8. Do Girls – Theophilus London
9. Fireworks (Reprise) – Radiator Hospital
10. Garden – Hiatus
11. All the Experts Say – Joyride!
12. 24 – Shipwrecks
13. The Way He Looks at Me – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
14. G – Young Jesus
15. Spring Sheet – Fairweather Currents
16. 925 – Gorgeous Bully (from 80n7)
17. On the Rocks – The Rural Alberta Advantage
18. Never Catch Me – Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar
19. Seraphine – Peirson
20. Colorado – Noah Young

September Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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Feet on the Ground: Vol. 12

Jon Doyle — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 16:53:00 +0000

It’s time for a round-up of some of the things we’ve been enjoying over the last month or so (that could, at a stretch, be described as folk music).

Paddy Neill – Widow’s Town

The debut EP from New Zealand’s Paddy Neill, Widow’s Town is a four-song blend of heartfelt folk and toe-tapping country, more suited to the Great Plains than the middle of the Pacific. You can download the EP via Neill’s Bandcamp page.

She Keeps Bees – Eight Houses

Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant are back with a new She Keeps Bees album, Eight Houses. It may push the folky limits of Feet on the Ground, but the ten tracks of slow, sad music warrant inclusion. Our friend over at Slowcoustic described it as ‘gritty and fragile’ which, although rather paradoxical, is maybe the perfect way to capture the mood of this album. A glass hammer, a steel spider web, Eight Houses is no one thing, and to limit itself to fragile, or gritty or happy or sad, would be limit its ability to depict believable stories and emotions. The narrator is vulnerable, but knows everyone else is too. Eight Houses is out on Future Gods (US) and BB Island (EU) on the 16^th September.

Noah Young – Colorado

Noah Young is a folk artist from Boston. There isn’t all that much information about him on his Bandcamp, so I’ll spare you the details. What I do know is that he has recently released an EP called Colorado and I really like it. Fans of Bright Eyes or Blind Pilot will love this. Listen to the title track in the player. He also has three other releases from the past few years which are well worth checking out.

Kris Ellestad – ‘Surrender’

Next we have a brand new track from Calgary’s Kris Ellestad. ‘Surrender’ is really lovely, a sort of dreamy, ethereal folk song, backed up with Ellestad’s trademark croon. You can download the track for however much you like on the Kris Ellestad Bandcamp page. Also, in case you missed it, Ellestad released a wonderful album of covers earlier this year. Get it for nothing here.

Field Medic – P E G A S U S T H O T Z

Last but not least we have Field Medic, aka Kevin Patrick from San Francisco. He released his latest EP P E G A S U S T H O T Z back in June and it’s really good. My current favourite track is the imaginatively titled ‘i swallowed five silver dollars and was a prince painting flowers for an evening’, which sounds a little bit like Frontier Ruckus and has some pretty despondent lyrics which detail (another) break-up. Listen below and then head over to Bandcamp to buy the EP as a digital download or on cassette.

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