Something For The Weekend?
CONTAINING a blissful mix of Stereolab, Burt Bacharach and AIR, Brooklyn-based ROMAN ANGELOS today delivers an early contender for song of the year with ‘Swimming Through The Aisles,’ the lead track from the forthcoming ‘Music for Underwater Supermarkets’ album.
Roman Angelos is the solo project of producer Rich Bennett, allowing him to explore his obsession with library recordings of the 60’s and 70s, muzak and exotica. Dreamy, and wistful, this is the sound of a jazz sextet as channelled through synths and drum machines, creating a beautiful, dreamy, spacey feel.
Beyond the world of library electronica, Bennett has been involved in a number of musical projects, including proto-punk group The Shaggs, dream pop outfit Mahogany, and Brazilian funk group Limoncello.
‘Music for Underwater Supermarkets,’ a dreamy aquatic meditation, an ode to joyous childhood memories, was recorded live to tape, all together in one room, with most of the tracks being first takes.
“This record is very near and dear to my heart because it is filled with so many personal childhood memories,” said Bennett. “A lot of the musical ideas and vibe are drawn from aural memories I had while shopping with my parents when I was younger.”
“The underwater idea came to me while I started working on the tunes, so much of the writing seemed to have this hazy yet buoyant quality, and the idea of placing a supermarket underwater seemed to give the music both a bit of whimsy and seriousness. Which I’d say I always try and straddle.”
Keep up with — and listen to — Roman Angelos:
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RELEASED TODAY, ‘Falling Knives, the latest single from Glasgow’s BEAFETS.
Following on from one of the singles of 2021, the punchy ‘Open Letter,’ with its tale of the lingering embers of a doomed relationship, ‘Falling Knives’ has an altogether different feel, yet manages to retain the unmistakeable Beafets sound – this time with the added bonus of an unexpected, blissed out ‘Cure-esque’ intro.
“Don’t waste a crisis, it’s not always like this,” was the first line written during the height of lockdown and its message would become the focal point of the track,” explained vocalist and guitarist, Adam McMonagie.
“The aim was to write an anthem that could inspire people to see the best in a bad situation. Whilst the lyrical content in the verses is heavy, we wanted the chorus to counterpoint this with a positive message and be backed up by uplifting instrumentals.”
Beafets are a four-piece indie outfit consisting of McMonagle, John Loughran (lead guitar), Scott Taylor (bass) and Robbie Thomson (drums).
McMonagle and Loughran have been playing together since high school and formed Beafets in 2015 once they had enough original songs to fill a set.
“Over a few months we released two home recorded singles and played a string of live shows in Glasgow supporting the likes of Beach Baby, The Ninth Wave and The Lapelles but a couple of members started other projects, so it fizzled out.
“But we started up again in 2019 in a reformed line-up and recorded our sixth studio single, ‘Falling Knives’ with producer Jamie Holmes at Castle of Doom Studios. We have worked with Jamie on all our studio recordings and have grown the sound together. We have big plans for 2022, with our first headline of the year at the 13th Note in Glasgow next month and if all goes well we’ll also be releasing four more singles this year.”
Music | Beafets (bandcamp.com)
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OUT NOW
LEGENDARY post-punk bass maestro Jah Wobble serves up an extraordinary dub mix created for TELEFIS – the duo of Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee (REM, Modest Mouse and Editors) and Cathal Coughlan (Microdisney, Fatima Mansions).
‘Falun Gong Dancer,’ is the third single from the two Irish iconoclasts, coming ahead of the debut Telefís album, ‘a hAon,’ released next month.
Probably the most innovative bass player of his generation, Jah Wobble transforms the disarmingly quiet and reflective original version, with its stark vocals and ghostly piano chords, into a deep-dub odyssey, his signature low-end bass runs anchoring crisp percussion and panoramic space-echo effects.
“Even a relatively obscure musical life such as mine can fortunately bring ‘pinch-yourself’ moments of proximity to greatness, and so it is with Jah Wobble’s transformative contribution to this version of ‘Falun Gong Dancer,’” said Coughlan.
“The song was already a high-point of the first Telefís album, but in this version, it goes somewhere else entirely, thanks to JW’s signature contribution.”
Jacknife Lee added, “There are few bass players as iconic as Jah Wobble. I have studied and tried to copy his style for decades but never really got close. Brian from Dimple Discs suggested we ask him to get on ‘Falun Gong Dancer,’ but I didn’t believe it would happen. We are still shocked he agreed to collaborate with us and are excited for it to be heard.”
With Jacknife based in LA and Cathal in London, the two traded ideas and music files during lockdown, hatching plans for a satirical, mischievous examination of Irish history and pop culture in their lifetimes – with the result being their debut ‘a hAon’ (Number One) album.
The Jah Wobble mix of ‘Falun Gong Dancer’ is now available on Bandcamp while the
‘a hAon’ album will be released by London’s Dimple Discs on February 11.
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