Oliver Bouchard

Music

NEW TRACK: Mackenzie Thoms - Shout!

Here’s another upbeat pop song from the West Coast by Los Angeles via Seattle singer/songwriter Mackenzie Thoms. “Shout!” is a good advice for when you want to go loose and “do whatever turns you on”. Enjoy!

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NEW TRACK: Scavenger Hunt - Never Enough

For Jill Lamoureux, singer of the California duo Scavenger Hunt “too much is never enough”. It may be hard to live by this maxim, but it makes a great line for an upbeat pop anthem like “Never Enough”. Listen here:

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SONG PICK: Shells - Jailbird

“Not gonna be a jailbird anymore” sings Shells in her new song “Jailbird”. And the track indeed does not evoke a prison at all: it is light as air, using many different instruments and sounds with Shells’ voice floating over it. The U.K. singer is working on her debut

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NEW MUSIC: L. $hamPain - To Kill a Mocking Girl (EP)

“To Kill a Mocking Girl” is EP number four by the prolific Texan singer/songwriter L.$hamPain. She describes the songs as pages from her notebook, set to minimal electronics, pianos and her haunting vocals. My favorite is maybe “Zoe’s on a Freight Train”: it evokes the association of

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SONG PICK: Bonzai - I Did

Bonzai was born in Indiana, raised in Dublin and now lives in London. Still, that doesn’t fully explain how she conceived a track like “I Did”. If you’re starting to get bored by the relentless parade of “New R&B” music, here is a way out. Where

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PLAYLIST: Song Picks of the Day 16.40

1. Cape Cub 2. Tiny Dinosaurs 3. Chinah 4. Sløtface 5. Lewis Fieldhouse 6. Votaries 7. Laurel

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SONG PICK: Laurel - Hurricane

London-based singer/songwriter Laurel does everything herself: writing, performing, producing and mixing. You would not guess this from her latest song “Hurricane”, a rich and powerful but still intimate rock song. And then there are Laurel’s unique dark and breathy vocals that can give you the chills. Her debut

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RELEASED TODAY: Patawawa - The Heat

Out today: “The Heat” by the U.K. three-piece Patanawa. The track features a funky guitar, a driving rhythm and female/male vocals. Listen and you will get a kick for the weekend! Patawawa also has an EP “Hold Tight Pt. 1” out with three remixes and another track. Listen

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PHOTOS: Dirty Dishes live at The Bowery Electric (Mondo.NYC)

Dirty Dishes is a three-piece from New York around singer/guitarist Jenny Tuite. They played a relaxed show Saturday early evening at The Bowery Electric, with Jenny’s parents in the audience being the only thing that made her nervous, as she admitted. In any case that didn’t reduce

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SONG PICK: Sløtface - Bright Lights

Norwegian four-piece Sløtface changed their name a few months ago (to a less offensive, more Scandinavian spelling) and are about to release their second EP “Empire Records” for this year. “I need Bright Lights shining into my eyes, taking me away from the edge of the stage”, sings Haley Shea

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NEW MUSIC: Cappa - Queen of Hearts

“You can be my next ex-boyfriend” is all Nashville singer Cappa is willing to offer to that cool guy in the ’69 Mustang in the opening cut “Next Ex”. She is also able to show her romantic side, as witnessed in some of the other songs of her 5-track debut

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LATE NIGHT: Kinkajous - All Kinds

A couple of days after we had moved to New York City, we had a late night ride along the east side of Manhattan in cab that had an excellent sound system playing jazz music. The cabbie, of course, was not playing the London nu-jazz quintet Kinkajous back then, but

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SONG PICK: Tiny Dinosaurs - Sit and Stare

“Sit and Stare” aptly summarizes the new EP “Awake” by Julie Jay, who records as Tiny Dinosaurs: it has a reflective feel to it, with an undercurrent of melancholy beneath the bright synth and guitar lines. Julie, who emerged from a long illness, is based in L.A. and found

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NEW TRACK: Few Bits - Big Sparks

Looking already forward to Friday? Here’s one more reason: listen to the beautiful title track “Big Sparks” of the new album by Belgian dream pop band Few Bits, out on September 30:

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PLAYLIST: Song Picks of the Day 16.39

1. Sivan Talmor 2. Argonaut & Wasp 3. Denny White 4. Mt. Wolf 5. Krusoe 6. NOIA 7. Kelly Lee Owens

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SONG PICK: Kelly Lee Owens - CBM

“CBM” stands for colors, beauty and motion and London producer Kelly Lee Owens told The Fader that it is inspired by the experience of seeing the earth from space. Of course she has not been in space herself, but this subtle techno track conveys the feeling of weightlessness and disorientation

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PHOTOS: Negative Gemini plays an energetic show at The Bowery Electric and releases debut album “Body Works”

Negative Gemini, aka Lindsey French, is live a one-woman powerhouse. She produces all her music alone and she is singing and dancing around the stage, so that it is hard to stand still in the audience. Doing this with electronic music in a way that feels authentic and in-the-moment is

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SONG PICK: Noia - Love Hack

Gisela Fulla-Silvestre aka NOIA goes all out in her latest track: she combines synths, noise, diverse beats and multiple vocal layers into a rich musical experience. Noia is originally from Spain, but now based in New York, which seems to be the right place to make music that mixes so

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NEW TRACK: Wingtip (ft. Sophie Strauss)

The Brooklyn producer Wingtip teamed up with Sophie Strauss for a bright, upbeat track with an end-of-summer feeling.

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SONG PICK: Mt. Wolf - Golden (ft. St. South)

London trio Mt. Wolf enlisted the help of Australian singer/songwriter St. South for their beautiful song “Golden”. I just love the interplay between female and male vocals, accompanied by a smooth blend of acoustic and electronic textures. Mt. Wolf are working on the debut album, which is expected for

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PHOTOS: Elle Exxe dazzles at The Delancey (Mondo.NYC)

Elle Exxe is an indie pop singer/songwriter from London via Edinburgh, Scotland, who brought not only big vocals but also dazzling dance moves to the small stage of The Delancey. She surly has star-qualities and that may have been the last opportunity to see her from close-up. Watch the

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NEW TRACK: Donna Missal - Slide

New Jersey singer/songwriter Donna Missal is on a roll: here’s another song, “Slide”, which perfectly blends modern and classic pop music.

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Mondo.NYC Roundup Day 4: Dirty Dishes // Clones of Clones // Darkbird // Brave Baby // Overlord

On Saturday, the fourth day of Mondo.NYC we went straight back to The Bowery Electric to see Dirty Dishes, the alternative rock band of singer and guitarist Jenny Tuite for an intimate show (her parents were in attendance). This is a band I certainly want to hear more form.

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SONG PICK: Sivan Talmor - Fire

Our Song Pick of the Day is a track which I’ve been listening a lot lately: “Fire” by Israeli singer/songwriter Sivan Talmor. It is slow, moody and full of melancholy and yearning. Sivan is well-known in her home country and now crosses over to the U.S. – hopefully

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PLAYLIST: Song Picks of the Day 16.38

1. A Festival, A Parade 2. Ofelia K. 3. Bad Wave 4. Sorcha Richardson 5. Cocoa Futures 6. Francie Moon 7. Cote