music Archives - Slow Culture Magazine

Fast Preacher (for Figure It Out, out now) – ITW #27

19 August 202020 September 2020Interviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Glamorous enlightened people of all kinds, rejoice! Daniel Hanson and his Fast Preacher project just released Figure It Out, or in other words, what you dreamed of hearing after typing “alternative” on your favorite search engine.

Remember TALsounds, Stuck and NIIKA? As demonstrated on Slow Culture more than once, Chicago is currently overflowing with inspirational musical power. Figure It Out, Fast Preacher’s latest release is no exception, and was in fact the missing spice to our recent cultural wonderments.

The album is out now (link to the project’s Bandcamp at the end of the article), and multiple music players will give you a taste of Daniel’s songwriting all along the interview.

Cathlene Pineda, Rainbow Baby – ALBUM REVIEW #27

2 August 202020 September 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

The first notes of Rainbow Baby instantly let us believe that keeping quiet about this album for long was an impossible mission. To be honest, at that time we didn’t know much about Cathlene Pineda despite her indisputable talent and extensive curriculum.

We first heard Cathlene’s music the exact same way we would have heard the music of an interesting stranger. Thanks to her vivid sense of communication and her generosity of spirit, we now hear Rainbow Baby the exact same way we would listen to the music of a friend.

And we really hope you will too.

Be Afraid, Remember Fun – ALBUM REVIEW #26

14 June 202014 June 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Coming from Vancouver and signed on Hidden Bay Records, the band Be Afraid released Remember Fun on May 8th.

For the record (no pun intended), these six tracks were engineered through the summer of 2019, but not in any case does the music sound outdated.

Remember Fun is a memorable party of many colors, and you’re invited.

Leni Stern (‘4’ album, out June 19th) – ITW #25

8 June 20208 June 2020Interviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Legendary guitarist Leni Stern releases her forthcoming album ‘4’ on June 19th. ‘4’ is an album recorded with three other musicians and featuring an appearance of her husband Mike Stern.

As our readers know, we love jazz! Beyond our love for this genre, this album and this interview demonstrate once again Leni Stern’s intercultural intelligence and musical thoughtfulness.

Find our two favorite songs off ‘4’ in this article, plus a video of Leni and Mike playing together.

Beauty Pill, Please Advise – ALBUM REVIEW #25

25 May 202025 May 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Chicago has been under the spotlight on this blog for a series of recent reviews, but now is the time to bring Washington D.C. on the forefront with Beauty Pill’s not-so-enigmatic album Please Advise, out now on Northern Spy Records.

Marketing being what it is, personal choices are often induced by the attractiveness of an album cover. Something deeper attracted us this time. If you haven’t missed our guide to Miles Davis, you know how much we love the man and the music. The album title, Please Advise, is actually made of the two words who sealed Bitches Brew’s naming.

Now, this might be quite a futile reason too. Nonetheless, we’re glad that this potential futility led us to discover the music of Beauty Pill, a band which has been active since 2001 but unheard of since 2015.

NIIKA, Close But Not Too Close – ALBUM REVIEW #24

17 May 202017 May 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Albums like NIIKA’s Close But Not Too Close are the reviewer’s most disconcerting challenges. Listening to this album is like opening a treasure made of so many valuables that the whole sensorial experience is paradoxically unspeakable.

That being said, let us not use this unspeakable reality as an excuse. Pleasures of this kind, when kept, are nothing but halved in the end.

The artist’s promise is the following:

A genre-bending, continent-crossing, soft explosion of intimate indie, soul, and dirty pop.

Let’s see how Chicago’s vibrant scene managed to conquer our soul again, before next time, as it is usually a matter of days.