Physical setbacks almost ended his career, instead Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets adapted his style for three new 2022 EPs

NEWS

After citing Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Prince as influences, it is only natural that Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets concludes, “These songs are all about the groove.”

The nine new tunes by the crushedvelvets are presented three at a time, as if placed on a dark club’s bar like mixed drinks over the course of a mild summer evening.

EP 1 is out now, with the second arriving Sept. 2, and the third on Oct. 21.

For Meza, getting to that stone cold groove meant first getting his own groove back, and not just in the sense of the popular turn of phrase. Meza literally lost his ability to write and perform following an aneurism and stroke.

“These new songs and style came out of necessity,” Meza confides. “The incident forced me to change my perspective on how to write and perform. My vocal delivery had to be more laid back and the groovy pace of these songs keeps me from over-stimulating myself.”

The circumstances surrounding these recordings are out of the ordinary, but for listeners, they are even more alive with Meza’s soul and survival because of it.

Ghettoblaster speaks with CLIFFWALKER's Cliff

INTERVIEW

Hey!! How are you?!

That's my less-mild Daniel Johnston impression. Like it?

Check it out: Cliff Hayes from CLIFFWALKER chatted with Ghettoblaster Magazine about the duo's debut EP Painted Gray Sky recently.

"Edgy, pulsating... The melodic bass work from Hayes adheres to A. Walker Spring’s enthralling guitar and synth lines. In total, Painted Gray Sky naturally moves from track to track with shadowy underlining that is compelling and progressive." This is accurate!

The instrumental pairing of Cliff's bass and Walker's vibraphone is a sound that I have been here for all year long. I love it! Please give a look-see and a hear-hear (is that the ear version of what eyes do? I don't know.)

D Magazine interviews Dallas staple Paul Slavens

FEATURE

I'm never going to stop posting Paul Slavens photo shoots because I need to make sure every Kroger in the Dallas area turns into an impromptu autograph signing for Paul.

So, today, this two-page spread in D Magazine with lovely images by photographer Marc Montoya.

One of the perverse joys I get out of my job is writing an artist's bio and then subsequently reading interviews where the artist is questioned about the details I brought up. It's like me (not a journalist) getting an actual journalist to do my dirty work.

Anyway, that'll do it for another post about someone else that I made about me! Paul's new album 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘝𝘰𝘭. 𝘐𝘐 is out now on State Fair Records.

With a new video premiere, Beats Per Minute compares The March Divide to a bevy of heavy hitters including Big Star and Fountains of Wayne

VIDEO PREMIERE


With all due respect to Jared Putnam, the story here is: “This clip just so happens to star a puppet that could have been a background extra in Labyrinth.”

Yes! Maurice, the puppet star of The March Divide's “Tension In The Air” video (worked by director Hector at Subharmonic City Productions) is back, staring in the clip for “Corduroy,” a deep cut from the new album 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴, out now on Slow Start Records.

Beats Per Minute writer Josh Pickard says, “The song brings to mind the jangling echoes and chunky rhythms of bands like Big Star and Cheap Trick, but also lays some of its earnest adoration at the altar of mid-90’s alt-rock (I’m looking at you Gin Blossoms and Matthew Sweet) — a rumbling sound which was repurposed in the early aughts by bands like Fountains Of Wayne and Sloan.”

How could you not listen to that at work?!

Buzzbands shares the new warped, mangled version of GANGI's hit "Animals"

PREMIERE

“‘Animals Figure 427’ is revelatory — imagine if 2008 visitors from a distant galaxy got just close enough to Earth to pick up warped snippets of the song ‘Animals.’” Thanks a million to Kevin Bronson at Buzzbands.la for the reveal of another cut from the first official release from GANGI in a decade!

“Animals Figure 427” is from the upcoming 𝘈𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, a nod to the duo's name going forward. The limited (100 copies!) vinyl of this release (with etched B-side!) is an actual artifact.

These pieces were pressed, then stored, when the songs were originally recorded and “mangled” ten years ago. They were gone once. They'll be gone again!

Pre-order here. 𝘈𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 is out August 5 via Office of Analogue and Digital.

Dallas Morning News publishes a big, fat feature on Paul Slavens

FEATURE

Did you know that the hold music at The Dallas Morning News is The Dream Academy's instrumental version of The Smiths classic “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want,” as heard in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? I know because I had to get around the paywall to bring you this big, fat article about Paul Slavens in yesterday's paper! Thanks to Thor Christensen for the thoughtful words and to Shafkat Anowar for the fantastic photos!

Thor writes, “His new album, 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘝𝘰𝘭. 𝘐𝘐 (State Fair Records), shows off his dazzling songwriting talents as he jumps from Parisian classical-jazz (‘Naomi‘) to razor-edge bebop (‘Queenie‘) to new-wave cabaret (‘X on My Heart‘).”

It's been a sincere pleasure for me to work on this album by a master of his craft. Click for your life… paywall, sorry!

V13 premieres "I Wanna Hate You" and notes The March Divide's deftness for blending "melody, levity, and popular appeal"

VIDEO PREMIERE


“The perfect blend of melody, levity, and popular appeal... pop-rock gems with lots of fun melodies and hooks.”

In their premiere coverage of the “I Wanna Hate You” video by The March Divide – in which a perfectly nice picnic goes perfectly wrong – V13 also calls the tunes on the new album 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴, “Sarcastic for sure, certainly humorous,” but also “rather confessional.” I love that!

𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 is out now on Slow Start Records. Jared Putnam's got lots of tour dates coming up that are also included in the article… Click for your life!

Los Angeles duo GANGI to finally release limited-edition vinyl EP pressed and stored more than a decade ago.

NEWS

“As Fake Estates” by Los Angeles-based duo GANGI arrives on Aug. 5 via the band’s Office of Analogue and Digital label, streaming on all digital services, and also as a vinyl release with etched B-side.

These very limited vinyl copies are artifacts, having been pressed and stored at the time that the original recordings were made a decade ago, only to be released now.

Previously praised as “dark and rich” (Los Angeles Times) for its “aural collage that seems aimed at warping any expectations” (LA Weekly) or more esoterically, “a soundtrack to cognitive dissonance” (Under the Radar), GANGI’s “electro-psych evolution has been years in the making” according to SPIN, writing in the summer of 2012 about the Los Angeles-based duo’s second album.

Now, “making” is made as GANGI (Matt Gangi and Eric Chramosta) lands in the future with a three-song suite of sonic disturbance from the past.

The material on “As Fake Estates” was recorded around the same time as the 2012 GANGI album gesture is, and is mostly comprised of what Matt Gangi describes as “mangled” versions of songs that date back to the debut GANGI album A, released in 2007. “We sampled and re-constructed our own re-recordings to make most of it,” he explains.

Chramosta terms the new release “a multiple-decade long lineage of assembly, disassembly and reassembly” or the re-examination of “that which had been left to collect digital dust. Two men’s trash can be the same men’s treasure.”

The elements that call back GANGI’s psych-pop past are heavily spliced and fed through myriad electronic components, channeling the anarchy of The Pop Group and melting warble of DJ Screw. Other influences include Black Dice and Salem.

CLIFFWALKER gets vibey with the visuals on "Pulling Threads," viewable now via Glide Mag

VIDEO PREMIERE

“I'm hiding from the cops.” Man, such a vibe of a visual to open the new video for “Pulling Threads” by CLIFFWALKER.

The instrumental music of the bass (Cliff Hayes of CARCRASHLANDER) and vibraphone (A. Walker Spring of Old Time Relijun) duo is so dangerous-sounding, after all.

To wit, Glide Magazine says, “This unique pairing of vibes, bass and synth... feels like it could be the score of an 80s sci-fi thriller.”

Then we have this rave throwback to the “gloving” phenomenon going on during the rest of the show. I love this thing! Go and watch!

The debut EP Painted Gray Sky is out now. You can listen at any of the entities that use your money to do bad things.

Dallas Observer takes a deep dive into Paul Slavens' new LP

FEATURE

Many thanks to Danny Gallagher at the Dallas Observer for this deep dive on 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘝𝘰𝘭. 𝘐𝘐 and wide-ranging interview with Paul Slavens about it.

This record encompasses so many styles, genres, nuances and niches. It's the perfect soundtrack to whatever weird alcohol and meat-fueled weekend you have planned for yourself.

Out now on State Fair Records.

Listen here!

JAZZIZ editors choose Paul Slavens "Ophelia"

REVIEW

“Paul Slavens channeling the spirit of Frank Zappa on a track from his first album in twelve years.”

Thanks out to Jazziz Magazine for including Paul and “Ophelia,” one of the women of 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘝𝘰𝘭. 𝘐𝘐, on this week's Editor's Choice playlist!

Album out now on State Fair Records. Click for your life!

The High Water Marks Get Lost In The Nordics

INTERVIEW

Three-quarters of The High Water Marks live in Norway. They have invited me to move there. I am posting this publicly for posterity. I have been to Oslo and it is very expensive, but America is becoming more costly by the minute and I ain't talkin' 'bout inflation, yo!

Anyway, did you know that the band has been announced for Indiefjord 2022 in the western Norway village of Bjørke on July 9 + 10?!

Also, too, as well, and additionally: follow the link to check this interview with Norwegian site Lost In The Nordics (formerly A Portal To The Nordics). Per Ole manages to squeeze in a mention of the failed KISS soundtrack 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳.”