November 2018 | Music Junkie Press

Music Friday Live

Violet Days Made in My Head and we feel it all over. Album review.

November 19, 2018

Patrick O’Heffernan Violet Days’ music has always been addictive. This Swedish collaborative project made up of singer-songwriter/artist Lina Hansson and renowned producer Kris Eriksson knows exactly how to create earworms that stay with you. Happily, Violet Days just released their debut EP, Made in My Head, produced by Eriksson. It may have been made their heads, but it joyfully inhabits my dance muscles and eardrums as well. The five tracks on the EP – seven with the addition of two earlier tracks “Leave But Go” and “Just A Little Remixes” — range from the high energy pop storytelling “I Think…” to the dreamy “Two Years” which launches with full orchestration and then goes into out-there dream pop mode, followed by the jerky even dreamier pop “Cocaine Lover” with its complex beats, swooping background melodies and Lina’s pure, sensually-textured female vocals. The EP gives you an interesting break with a 33-second mono-tonal instrumental that sets you up for the final song, “Leave But Don’t Go”, a very satisfying mélange of complex drum machine rhythms, vocal overdubs [Read More]

It’s time to WAKE UP and watch the new video out now from rockers Swanky Tiger!

November 19, 2018

Wondering how to get through the week? With some nasty rock n roll from Swanky Tiger! Rockers Swanky Tiger have just released their new video for their infectious track, Wake Up. Vocalist/Guitarist Oliver explains about the making of the new video: The making of the video was interesting, as we wanted to make sure we weren’t in it – that the story is left to stand on its own. The footage was shot by Virgile Jardin in Paris, starring Adélaide de Cerjat and Frédérique Rivest. I had met Virgile in France through his brother, the singer Hugo Jardin, who used to be in a band with us in high school, and was impressed by his video on Hugo’s project. When it came time to make a video for “Wake Up,” we thought Virgile would be able to conjure the right mood, so we had a few phone meetings, us in NYC and him in Paris, and we would basically go back and forth with the edits until we got it right. Check out the [Read More]

Architects release new video. Contributed by Alex Bock

November 15, 2018

Only a few days after the release of their 8th studio record ‘Holy Hell’, Architects release another new track/video for the first song on the album ‘Death Is Not Defeat’. Dan Hillier, a British artist, did the artwork for ‘Holy Hell’ and also for the video. He’s well-known for his monochromatic art pieces. For more information on the band, follow their social media. https://www.facebook.com/architectsuk/ http://www.architectsofficial.com/ https://twitter.com/Architectsuk https://www.instagram.com/architects/ ~ Contributed by Alex Bock, https://twitter.com/abphotomjp

The fire this time, and its impact on music in California. By Patrick O’Heffernan

November 15, 2018

Patrick O’Heffernan (Los Angeles) As a high school student in Los Angeles in the 60’s I was volunteered to help with firefighting in the Hollywood Hills. We didn’t actually fight fires – we removed debris, shoveled mud, and cleared streets of fallen trees and other obstacles so firefighters and emergency workers could get through quickly. I remember that the destruction taught me the power of fire and water. But his week, I learned another lesson: fire and water have no respect for fame or talent. The two fires now ripping across Southern and Northern California have leveled the lives of the famous, the up and coming, and the heroic. With the Woolsey Fire only 47% contained as I write this and the Camp Fire gobbling up another 5000 acres last night and raising the death toll to 59, it is far too early to take account of the devastation. But one thing is certain, there will be an impact on music in California. What I know so far about the Malibu [Read More]

Our Last Night with Hands Like Houses, Hawthorne Heights and Jule Vera in Munich at the Backstage

November 11, 2018

On November 5th I had the pleasure to join yet another Our Last Night show. As usual great parts of the audience were quite young, but don’t get me wrong, there were also lots of guys in the audience. While the show started out with a quieter act, Jule Vera, it got more and more energetic through the sets of Hawthorne Heigts and Hands Like Houses. A perfect preparation for a killer set of Our Last Night. With four acts on the list, the show started earlier than usual at 9.15 pm. Different from most shows, the venue was already packed, when Jule Vera opened their set. Not what one would expect as an opener for Our Last Night, since they do play way heavier stuff, while Jule Vera mainly played quieter songs. Hawthorne Heights just finished a headliner tour through the UK and are right now touring the US & Canada with Silverstein. They are around for about 17 years now. In 2018 they released their latest record ‘Bad Frequencies’. With 500k followers on [Read More]

Devin Townsend announces European tour dates for 2019

November 11, 2018

Devin Townsend released dates for a very special acoustic solo tour through Europe in 2019. The evenings will feature an acoustic performance and a Q&A with the man himself. An excellent chance to catch up on what he’s up to at the moment and to get more details on his upcoming record ‘Empath’ that is set to be released in March 2019. https://www.facebook.com/notes/devin-townsend/devin-townsend-announces-an-evening-with-acoustic-solo-tour/2306367116102261/ Here’s a full set of tour dates: 7th March – Piano Man Jazz Club, Delhi, India 8th March – Levi’s Lounge, Mumbai, India 30th March – Savoy-teatteri, Helsinki, Finland 31st March – Sodra Teatern, Stockholm, Sweden 1st April – Edderkoppen, Oslo, Norway 2nd April – Bremen Theater, Copenhagen, Denmark 4th April – PassionsKirche, Berlin, Germany 5th April – Stodola, Warsaw, Poland 6th April – La Fabrica, Prague, Czech Republic 7th April – Freiheiz, Munich, Germany 9th April – Kulturkirche, Cologne, Germany 10th April – Grunspan, Hamburg, Germany 11th April – St-Bavokerk, Haarlem, The Netherlands 13th April – Reading 3, Tel Aviv, Israel 24th April – Bush Hall, London, UK 25th April – [Read More]

Architects released new record ‚Holy Hell‘

November 11, 2018

Two years after ‘All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us’, one of UK’s most successful Metalcore bands, Architects, released their 8th studio record yesterday. The making of the record was kept secret. Just two months before the release of Holy Hell the band shared the the first song (aside from ‘Doomsday’ that was released a little over a year ago) from the new record ‘Hereafter’. Shortly after that, tour announcements followed and two more songs, ‘Royal Beggars’ and ‘Modern Misery’. In many ways it’s a special record. Read Dan Searle’s statement on facebook: Our eighth album, ‘Holy Hell’, is released today. I always had faith that we would make this album a reality, but now that the day has arrived I feel a sense of disbelief. Two years ago we were just wrapping up our first stretch of touring without Tom and once we returned home we set about building this record from the ground up. It seemed like a mountain to climb. I’ve already seen so many kind things said about the album and that [Read More]