TROUT01, R McClure and Tall Shadows, Kate Von Heart, and Slightest Clue
TROUT01 - EP1
TROUT01 is the moniker of producer Sebastien Perry, whose production work with Owen Davies and Pony Girl has been a big hit here at the Cups N Cakes Network. His first release under TROUT01 does not disappoint. EP1 has the quality of listening to a collage; it’s the sonic equivalent of watching someone build a Lego set, and delighting as they place the pieces in places you didn’t think they could. Perry does this while maintaining a rock solid emotional core to the music, and it makes for a special listen.
R McClure and Tall Shadows - “when i get back home”
The new song from R McClure and Tall Shadows is, more than anything, a completely inescapable vibe. The timpani accents, the mariachi-esque string lines, and the sense that you’re literally drowning in reverb, make it so incredibly easy to just lie back and sink into that all important vibe. It helps too that the melody is achingly beautiful, and the lyrics have a sort of “awe shucks” sadness to them that binds the melody and the arrangement together.
Kate Von Heart - That Isn’t You and Me
Kate Von Heart’s new EP is a quick shot of gothic rock that reads like a sly combination of the best of both sides of the Atlantic in the early 2000’s alternative scene. There are spacey, drama filled moments that bring to mind some of the more hard rocking Radiohead tunes, while other moments on the EP are channeling a more rhythmic, overdriven, New York sound of the same era.
Slightest Clue - Carousel
At the root of it, Carousel, the new EP from Vancouver’s Slightest Clue, is just an excellent piece of 90’s slacker rock. But the way that the band hints at myriad other influences through the composition and production gives the songs a density and pacing that’s something to behold. “When You Wake Up” and “Carousel” are particular highlights; the guitar riff that starts the former is outrageous in the best way.
- Sean Davis Newton