Introducing a Band: Giant Rooks

Today, I want you to get to know a band I found 2 months ago and loved them ever since. I'm talking about 'Giant Rooks', a German band based in Hamm. The five boys have released 2 EPs so far but only one of them, called 'New Estate', can be found on online platforms such as Spotify.

'New Estate' is a five-track EP that contains very catchy but yet special songs. In the big indie-world the guys managed to find their own sound and the lead singer Frederiks unique voice makes their Music even more remarkable.
In my opinion, the EP has a lot of hits and shows the bands huge potential. Every song on the EP is different but yet it's very cohesive. Everytime I listen to the EP, I find something new that I love.
The first song I heard - and I still think it's my favourite- is 'Bright Lies' which you can listen to below to get a first impression of the band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm2RgfwFZDg

The band is currently touring and will play on a few festivals this summer, such as Lollapalooza Berlin. So if you want to see them live, you should definitely use the opportunity now because I think they won't play in front of such a small audience much longer. 

Introducing a band: City of the Sun

 

https://www.billboard.com/files/media/City-of-The-Sun-Press-Photo-2016-billboard-1548.jpg 

Today I want to talk about one of my favourite bands "City of the Sun".
City of the Sun is a trio from New York, consisting of the two guitarists John Pita and Avi Snow and the percussionist Zach Para.
Their music is completely instrumental which I love. The trio is able to create such a magic atmosphere and convey a story solely through their instrumental music. When you listen to one of their songs you really get emotionally and mentally drawn into their music.

The band was touring this year but since I was in Australia at that time, I sadly missed their concert in Berlin. But since they started their musical journey with busking on the streets of New York, they know how to catch and keep the attention of people walking by. Therefore I imagine their live shows to be very captivating and unique (as you can already imagine when watching one of their live videos).
So if you get the chance to see them play you should definitely go! Their next show will be on February, 23rd 2018 in Brookly, New York.
You can check out their tour dates here.

Their debut album "To the sun and all the cities in between" was released in March 2016 via the American record label "Chesky Records".
Their Album is a mixed genre piece with 13 brilliant songs on it. City of the Sun are best described as an indie-post rock trio, but they don't really fit into one specific genre since they are inspired by many different ones, such as jazz, rock and flamenco. This is one aspect which makes their music so special.

Below you can watch a live video from their "Sofar Session" in New York, covering "Intro" by the XX and find the links to their youtube, soundcloud and spotify accounts.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIdKbSeAueY 

 

Yotube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cityofthesunTV
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4DkYxtaASIKQnk4Gj0TB7k
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cityofthesun

Introducing a Band: Fil Bo Riva

For a little while, I've been listening to Fil Bo Riva on repeat now.
Fil Bo Riva is a German band consisting of singer and songwriter Fil and Felix on the guitar. They're my insider's tip for all lovers of guitar based indie music since they're still very unknown (They only have about 1150 fans on facebook so far).
About one and a half years ago, Fil posted his first song 'Eye Look' on youtube. His second song 'Like Eye Did' has recently been uploaded to youtube. It's the first song of their new EP 'If you're right, it's alright' that's only available at a few live shows in Germany.
The song is an absolute earwig with a very nice instrumental of the acustic guitar. The electric guitar creates a very unique atmospheric sound compareable to some Scottish guitarists from the 80s that accompanies Fil's singing harmoniously . Despite the extremely nice instrumental music, the focus is still on Fil's unique, rough voice. His voice will give you goosebumps, especially since he sings very emotionally fitting to the touching and deep lyrics that he is singing. The words he uses are very beautiful and along with the instrumental music, they make up a perfect song.
'Like Eye Did' is one of my favorite songs at the moment and I really recommend you listening to it!

 The band was recently touring with AnnenMayKantereit, a popular German band and also with Matt Corby so it could be that Fil Bo Rive will soon be successful with their music, too.
They are currently touring with Lola Mesh. You can check the tour dates on their official facebook page.

Album Review: 'Speakerzoid'

The Album 'Speakerzoid' is the second studio album of Brisbane-based band 'The Jungle Giants'.
It was released on August, 7th in Australia via the recordlabel 'Amplifire'; the official release date for America, Canada and the UK is October, 2nd. Therefore you can only listen to 5 of their songs on spotify as a preview.
'Speakerzoid' is not very similar to their first Album 'Learn to Exist'. While 'Learn to Exist' was a very loud, powerful and happy album, The Jungle Giants experiment in 'Speakerzoid' with different sounds that are similar to 'MGMT' and 'Arcade Fire'. Their first Album was really only an Album to listen to when in a good mood, but 'Speakerzoid' is one for all moods. The Album is a great mixture of very different songs and 'The Jungle Giants' have made a great developement.
'Speakerzoid' is definitely one of my favorite Albums this year and you should totally give it a listen!
The Band is touring from September until October through Australia.

Check out the official music video to the first single of their new Album 'Kooky Eyes' below, that's been released on August, 16th:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFG8HafUsfM

Song of the Week: Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread

Today, I want to recommend the song 'Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread' by British Indie-Rock Band Everything Everything to you. The Song is taken from their third studio album 'Get to Heaven' which was released in June 2015. 'Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread ' is the 5th song on the album.
To me, it's a very typical Everything Everything song, putting you in a good mood when you're listening to it. Once you listen to the song it'll be stuck in your head for days, it's an absolute earwig that I think is a great song for summer. The song is easy to listen to but if you pay some attention to the lyrics you will find some great lines that you can interpret a lot into.

You can find their music on Itunes, Spotify and Youtube.

Here is the official music video of  'Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread' that's just been released:

Due to their newly released album, they are touring through europe from the end of August until December. You can check out their tour dates at their official website.

Album Review: 'Letters'

Last Thursday (July,23rd), Nick Cunningham dropped his debut EP 'Letters' with 6 songs on it.

The Album is a great mix of more quiet and powerful songs that you can listen to, no matter what mood your in.

To me, the EP is an easy summer listen that I can imagine listening to while on a road trip.

Nick Cunningham is an Australian Newcommer artist who is currently playing at bars and a few shows in Byron Bay in Australia. The Singer-Songwriter also played at the Australian Music Festival 'Splendour in the Grass' this year and last year as well.

In my opinion, Nick's Music is comparable to Ben Howard's and Matt Corby's so if you're a fan of either one you should definitely give him a listen. Due to Nick's unique voice and 6 guitar-based heart-warming songs, 'Letters' is definitely a set part of my this year's summer playlist.

You can find his music on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.

To get your hands on a hard copy of the EP, head to his webpage: nickcunningham.com.au 

Introducing a Band: Satellite Stories

In 2008 the four Finns Esa Mankinen, Marko Heikkinen, Jyri Peson and Olli Pekka Ervasti formed their indie dance rock band 'Satellite Stories'. They are signed to the independent recordlabel 'XYZ Berlin', and have released 2 Ablums so far:
Their debut Album 'Phrases to Break the Ice' was released September, 21st 2012 and they released 5 Singles from it, such as the songs 'Anti-Lover' (Track 1) and 'Family' (Track 9).
Their second Album 'Pine Trails' was released November, 1st 2013 and they are currently touring with it. The first track 'Campfire' was released as a Pre-Single October, 18th 2013.Additionally, they've released 3 EP's and the Single 'Scandinavian Girls'.
All of their songs have the same sound but are still very different to one another. They all have very nice guitar riffs and are very catchy. To me, their music has a summer atmosphere and always puts me in a good mood. I also really like the lyrics of their songs and the lead singer's, Eda Mankinen's remarkable voice. If you like one of their songs, you're probably going to like all of them.
You can find their music on youtube, itunes, amazon, spotify and soundcloud.

Following is the official video to 'Campfire':

                                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt43vyqoRHY