New single from Rose City Band, 2 singles from Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano, and a personal playlist from microtonal guitarist Jules Reidy
This week's news and new music from your friends at Thrill Jockey
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Rose City Band ride the airwaves on aptly named new single “Radio Song”
New album Sol Y Sombra coming Jan. 24th, grip the limited-edition clear w/ pink LP now
“Radio Song” by Rose City Band
When it comes to radio, Rose City Band are steeped in the subtle static hum of the airwaves. The group's luscious country-psych draws from a deep love of obscure 70s private press records, the kind you might catch while scanning the dial on a California desert drive back in the day - or more recently on Ripley Johnson's own monthly show on NTS Radio.
Ahead of the release of their new album Sol Y Sombra on January 24th, the group pay homage to their longtime love of radio with the aptly titled new single "Radio Song". The band's delectable melodies, laid-back groove and freewheeling solos ooze from the speakers, an instant earworm buoyed by blissful hooks and emanating the warm glow of the California sun.
Ripley gives us the low down:
"Some of the songs on the new album have little nods to my past life, my college years, living in California. The title gives it away, but "Radio Song" really did feel like a song I would hear on the radio back in the day, driving around Santa Cruz in my '64 Plymouth Fury, with its mono AM radio. I appreciate how rock and roll songs can be simultaneously really simple and familiar, but also emotionally affecting at the same time. I guess that’s part of their power."
Just a reminder - they will be hitting the road soon. Check our tour tab for upcoming dates.
We are running low on the limited-edition clear w/ pink LPs, and the Forest green hoodies are sold out (being printed as we speak!). We’re looking to ship them just ahead of the release date.
But …. NEW and available now: some excellent Purple hoodies with the Rose City Band logo on the front and a Saguaro Cactus guy on the back. He must be in the Rose City Zone because he looks damn happy strumming against those spikes! Limited purple will sell out and should ship mid-to-late Feb.
You get FIRST LISTEN at not one but TWO transcendent new singles from Brueder Selke and Midori Hirano’s new ambient classic Split Scale - “Scale G” and “Scale AA”
“Scale G” by Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano
Don’t say we never treat you - today we’re giving you a first listen of not just one, but TWO transcendent, meditative new singles from Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano. Whether you’re still enjoying the holidays (lucky you!), or right back into the thick of it with work and life, these tracks are perfect for taking a quiet moment for yourself this winter.
Showing off the breadth of the group’s debut collaborative album Split Scale, the two singles push in different, yet equally affecting explorations of mood and atmosphere. “Scale AA” pushes the duo’s music into more explicitly electronic territory, the duo weaving impressionist instrumental flourishes around a prismatic, hypnotic synthesizer pulse, while “Scale G” breaks apart into vaporous ambient textures, Hirano’s yearning piano notes echoing out through the haze like a beacon.
We’re calling it now - the new album is going to be a touchstone for ambient and modern classical artists for years to come, make sure you grab your copy now before everyone else gets on it.
The album Split Scale is out Jan 24th, on limited-edition clear LP and CD.
“Scale AA“ by Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano
Cratediggers: Jules Reidy
Jules Reidy’s sublime new album Ghost/Spirit out Feb. 21st, available on limited-edition white LP. Jules will be playing Big Ears and select dates soon!
Jules Reidy’s music taste runs as deep as their eclectic, expansive output. A deep interest in everything from microtonal mysticism to transcendental folk, minimalism and outsider rave has informed their work as a composer and guitarist, filtered through their wide-eyed imagination and technical mastery.
Ahead of their sublime new album Ghost/Spirit, coming February 21st, Reidy takes over our Cratediggers playlist this week, with a selection of tracks from their longstanding favorite records alongside more recent discoveries.
mark hollis - watershed (mark hollis)
judith hamann - study for cello and humming (music for cello and humming)
andreas dzialocha - I (for always)
cloistral sorrow - petals are blue (cloistral sorrow)
catherine christer hennix - equal temperament fender mix (selected early keyboard works)
ludwig wandinger - blue blood (spiritual decay)
amnesia scanner + freekatet - AS over (HOAX)
weston olencki - vernon, L.M (verd mont)
ellen arkbro + johan graden - close (i get along without you very well)
marta forsberg - part 1: echo (sjunger for varandra)
léo duplex - resonant tree i (resonant trees)
elliott smith - can't make a sound (figure 8)
david behrman - on the other ocean (on the other ocean)
Jules says: Here are some tracks that left an impression on me during the timeframe of making Ghost/Spirit. Some of them I’ve been listening to for years, and some are newer discoveries.
Enjoy xo
OUT NOW:
BIG|BRAVE’s A Chaos Of Flowers got several mentions on best albums of 2024 lists (no surprise to us) and their live show realizes their dynamic, subtle, crushing intensity even better than you could imagine. If you’re able to catch them on their Spring EU+UK tour with MJ Guider, please cheer extra loud.
Super-cool! I like this format. Will be checking out all the sounds. Kudos to Jules Reidy for including Weston Olencki on their playlist!