Beyondify is our periodic feature which features new music before it hits Spotify. As usual, we mine Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and YouTube for the goods. Suprisingly, not a lot of HUGE names in this edition, but what's here is certainly of high quality. Check it out if you're looking for some new tunes to rescue you from the same old same old.
Nathan Moore gets the top spot in this edition. He's going the self marketing route for his latest, Goodbye America, which I guess means no Spotify. That doesn't mean you should skip out on this insightful songwriter, who first came onto my radar fronting The Slip, as the Surprise Me, Mr. Davis.
Thee Oh Sees are back again with another track in this edition of Beyondify. "Web" further spins their pscyhelicized punk rock, entangling those unsuspecting who fly too close. Too on the nose?
Scott Metzger has floored us with JRAD, touring with Anders Osborne and other projects. He returns "home" to WOLF!, his project that can take many forms... all of which are clinics in the art of guitar. "Pork N Slaw" puts stacatto funk on the menu, with a sound that some Phish fans might describe as "Plinko". Looking forward to this album dropping for sure.
Here's a new artist for me (hat tip to the invaluable @neddyo newsletter). Besides from having an extremely melliflouos name, Xylouris White (the surnames of its principals) brings together a Cretan lute player and an Australian drummer, both over 50 years old. Not surprising that "Black Peak" sounds so remarkable. If ever think you've heard it all, give this a listen...
Another entry that restored my faith in the power of new music. Here's a band that not only was new on my radar, they have no presence on Spotfiy whatsover. Evolfo is a seven piece formed in 2011, and they combine so many elements from many of my favorite bands (think horn-fueled White Denim meets Vulfpeck on Mars), I'm guessing you're gonna hear a lot more about these guys when they release more music you can sink your teeth into (Last Of The Acid Cowboys LP is out 9/16). Here's "Moon Eclipsed The Sun"
This track ("Seed") is not even six minutes but feels like it contains worlds. (Keep listening, the next track is just over eight minutes and contains universes). Elkhorn is a guitar duo (twelve string acoustic + electric) that describe themselves as combining "the past and future in a rich multilayered music that shifts fluidly from pre-rock to post-rock". Agreed.
I feel like I've been hearing about Chicago bluegrass band Growler for some time now, but the act has proved to be nearly un-Googleable. With bands like The Growlers, Growlers, The Growler, Random Canyon Growlers, and (the other) Growler sucking up their web hits. Luckily, a friend directed me to their new website (growlermusic.com) and was able to check out two of these tracks via their Bandcamp. The chops are there and the attitude seems perfect. Next stop, competing with the rest of those bands on Spotify.
Evolfo
