Aug
02
2018
August 2nd, 2018 by Ubikkidus

The Grid is a column featuring acts on Chiswick Radio’s radar, along with all pertinent information to get you started:

Act: Kittenhead

Genre: Rockin It

Based: California

Twitter:  @KittenheadLA

Comments:   New release on Spotify – an EP called “NYB” came out in July.   Some songs that aren’t on Spotify are on the Kittenhead Reverbnation page, so check both if you want to hear everything.  Great photography of Kittenhead in action can be found on their Twitter page. 

Where You Can Hear Them: 

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6mN6ze8FyR-c181W0v290Q

Spotify:

Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/KITTENHEAD/songs

 

 

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Sep
20
2017
September 20th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

Kittenhead

Kittenhead is a band based out of California and I’ve been listening to them a bunch lately since we became friends on Twitter a couple of months back.

Straight ahead timeless rock, hell this could’ve been on a cassette of mine from the 80’s (that’s a compliment–I don’t fuck around with my cassettes and there is a whole collorary around did you buy cassettes or were you always grubbing off other’s people shit with your blank tapes but we won’t go there).

I started listening to them on Spotify. If you want to what I mean by straight ahead, go to “Tuesday” the first song of their 2014 album “We’re Here”.

Love songs that keep chugging along. And while we’re at it, the very next song “Ready to Roll”  has some good chugging too (just go with it) with a nice, slower groove.

 

One change of pace one I really dig is “Privacy”, which digs into the alternative rock bag of tricks.

 

Finally, love “Derby Girl”,   an earlier song from Kittenhead, which, reading their bio, gets played at roller derbies throughout California, and made me realize, I’ve never been to one!!!!! (staring at my toes).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIl2U9JWd6c

 

Changes of direction, great guitars and vocals (#younarcissiticbastard), and the groove of the drum / bass interaction is inifectious throughout.  You can tell these guys would be fun to see live (I’ve seen some videos), and I need to make a trip to the Left Coast one of these days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sep
13
2017
September 13th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

Image result for birdie bees gavin turek

 

So I’ve been listening to Gavin Turek for the last year or so, enjoying everything I’ve heard through Spotify.   But until recently,  I thought that Gavin was a DJ who had a really good female singer accompanying him.  That is incorrect.

Gavin Turek is a singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress from L.A. and you get the point, I’m an ignorant idiot. At least she’s a sport.about it:

Gavin’s music runs the gamut of R&B to disco club hits and the common thread is there’s  a nice groove in every song.There’s about 25-30 of her songs on Spotify (ncluding remixes) so it’s easy to catch up on what you’ve been missing.  Being a perky dimply dude, I’m focusing on the more dancy stuff (yep, and I don’t dance), but give it all a listen–it’s worth it.

The first two songs are from 2015. Both “Frontline” and “Don’t Fight It” both have 1980’s dance pop sensibility but not over the top that you don’t feel comfortable sitting in 2017.

Gavin’s “Good Look for You” EP came out in 2017, and I really dig the title track, which like “Frontline” and “Don’t Fight It” straddles the line between the 80’s and today.

 

“Birdie Bees”,  which came out this month, has it’s feet firmly in the now, and has a slower funky feel, and some vocal gymnastics from Gavin.  This is a nice kickback, change of pace from the songs above and look forward to hearing mre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sep
08
2017
September 8th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzoEK545j64

  1. “Groove Is In the Heart” by Deee-Lite (1990)—- this is an obvious song, with a less obvious fact.   There is a musical threesome of hall of fame all-stars here.   Q-Tip(ATCQ), Bootsy Collins (Parliament/Funkadelic, maybe the GOAT of funk bassists) and Maceo Parker (James Brown’s sax player).

2.  ” Over Everything” by Courtney Barrett and Kurt Vile (2017) –  So Courtney Barrett and Kurt Vile did a song together?  Really.   They did a whole album together? Yep. If you like either one of them, you’ll probably like this.   And this is my kind of country music (ok, I know it’s not country).

 

 

3. “E=MC2” by J Dilla (2006) – Because when I hear this groove by J Dilla, I feel like I can take bullets. Any one who was ever overcaffeinated, overstimulated or just intelligent should understand that last sentence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sep
06
2017
September 6th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

I’m not sure who followed who on Twitter, but Frances-Frances has the least Twitter or Facebook followers I’ve seen for a legitimately good band (They can be found on Twitter via  https://twitter.com/FRNCS_FRNCS or Twitter handle @FRNCS_FRNCS).

Frances-Frances image

Their Twitter page says Glitz ‘n’ Blitz | Glam/Post-Punk from South London. To me, it’s straight up fun alternativ-ey British rock.   There is something about these guys, I can’t put my finger on it but it was fun listening to all of the tracks on their Bandcamp page.

There is the current batch that just came out called “Demos”, which was released a few days ago (9/1/2017):   https://frances-frances.bandcamp.com/album/demos

Also, from March 2017- “Venus Incarnate / Ides of March”:   https://frances-frances.bandcamp.com/album/venus-incarnate-the-ides-of-march

You can’t go wrong here. I’m assuming (hoping) that they are continuing to work on new material (hey guys, how about putting these up on Spotify?).

 

 

 

 

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Aug
30
2017
August 30th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

So what were you doing at the age of 20?    Enisa is a 20-year-old singer from Brooklyn, and she sounds amazing. Her voice is both beautiful with a touch of hostility, like she would kick my ass if she needed to. Below is her video for “Burn this Bridge”.

Sounds great,right?   I really hope this is the beginning, it’s clear she has runway here to go far.

Enisa currently has three other songs on Spotify (4 if you count a remix of Burn This Bridge).   I gave them all a listen and you can’t go wrong with any of them.

Enisa’s current single is “Freedom”, which sounds like she is going for it. Can’t wait to hear more of this.  Below is a list of her songs on Spotify, but I think you can find her on Apple Music too.

 

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Aug
08
2017
August 8th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

Here we go folks, Monday night and I’ve got five songs for ya to get through the week, or the next 25 minutes.

1. “You Are In My System” by The System. Love 80’s music and fashion!

 

2: Between Us & Them” by Moving Units – anything that sounds remotely like vintage Franz Ferdinand is welcome.

 

3. “Ye Ye Yamaha” by The Go! Team. I love The Go! Team so much–this song is in French, no clue what they’re saying, and still love it.

4. “Myage” by Descendents. This is old school punk you may never heard of, and it’s more punk to me than anything else.

5. Lotus Eater by Foster the People.  These guys keep pushing new sounds. They could’ve gone the pop route and stayed in a lane but kept playing around and I appreciate that.

 

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Feb
09
2017
February 9th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

I will keep this very brief.   I did a deep dive of the Strokes catalog on Spotify, and pulled the songs that I thought merited being on this Stokes playlist (I like to call it a “digital box set”).

Admittedly, this list is weighed heavy on the first album “This Is It”—- as almost every song appears on it.  I’m sure I will get it from someone for the two songs I left off (and don’t get me started on “New York City Cops”) .

But there is some balance here with songs from every album, including an independent single and the recent EP.

The Strokes have been a great band, the last 15 years. The only issue was their first album will be the most highly regarded fom now until eternity—there was no rising action—we were at the top of the mountain from the beginning.   But, the entire catalog is definitely worth going through a few times.

There are 31 songs here that come in a little under two hours. Enjoy.

 

 

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Feb
06
2017
February 6th, 2017 by Ubikkidus

If you follow your favorite band’s history, there’s usually a height it reaches artistically before a decline or plateau.  In some cases, the music that is produced after their peak is unbearable to listen to.  I’m not a hater so won’t name names, I’d rather just walk away from it (or run) and not speak ill. But you can probably find a few bands you used to love who fall under this category.

Another flavor is the band that will be remembered for a certain height, like what I mentioned above.  After that height, though, they continue to produce music that, while it won’t be on the short list of your all time faves, create that distinct sound and artistry that you crave and welcome when you hear it.

Which brings me to Dear World, by Nine Inch Nails.   I’m by no means a hardcore fan of NIN, but I’ve listened enough of them over the last oh god, I don’t know how many years, oh let’s stop there.

Dear World sounds like a distinct Nine Inch Nails song with the instrumentation and Trent Reznor vocals.   We are not breaking new ground here, neither will it be in the retrospective video when they gets into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (shouldn’t NIN be in already)?

I’ll keep it brief, listen to it below, and you’ll know exactly what I mean. Enjoy.

 

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Oct
20
2016
October 20th, 2016 by Ubikkidus

Once or twice a year, we release an extended mixtape, or a “jukebox” as we call it.  The jukebox usually consists of 200 songs, usually clocking in at around 12-14 hours.

We call it a jukebox since it has a variety of styles from retro to new, well-known and up and coming, and rock, hip-hop/R&B and other.

This is the fifth jukebox we’ve done, and it’s so new we haven’t given it a proper name yet so stayed tuned…….

Chiswick Radio

 

 

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