• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Politics
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Gay Pride
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Gun Control
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox

NEW MUSIC: Bleeding Heart Pigeons, Milk ‘N’ Cookies, nonkeen

Michael Fitzgerald February 24, 2016 Leave a Comment

Bleeding Heart Pigeons

This week in new music: Irish trio Bleeding Heart Pigeons emerge with something entirely original on debut album Its, a Milk ‘n’ Cookies retrospective and an experiment in sound from Nils Frahm‘s reformed trio nonkeen.


 

Bleeding Heart Pigeons – Is | @BleedingHeartPS

bleeding heart pigeonsIf it’s produced by David Wrench (FKA Twigs) you’d be right to expect something exceptional and original from new Irish act Bleeding Heart Pigeons.

Apparently conceived in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere in the west of Ireland, “Is” aims to transcend influences in favor of something fresh. It succeeds in spades.

From their earliest released track “Visiting Myself in Hospital,” it was clear that the trio were intent on following the beat of their own drum. The effervescent opening guitar work on that track echoed to a degree the best of New Order but that gave way to a timelessness evoking one of the band’s seeming obsessions – glorious isolation – via the early experiments of Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark.

The lads do have something of a tendency towards longer tracks – at 13 tracks, Is weighs in at 74 minutes. However, what could be a potentially meandering mash of ideas is a perfect distillation of ideas spewing forth. Many of the songs build to something of a frenzied climax which sets the band squarely above the relentlessly cool concerns of the likes of Halls and James Blake.

Possibly the center-point of the album is the wonderful “Song With No Meaning,” a track with a huge presence both in terms of intent (check out that guitar squall and drummer Brendan McInerney’s unbridled outburst at 2 minutes) and…well….meaning.

A truly exceptional debut.


Milk ‘N’ Cookies – Milk ‘N’ Cookies Boxset

milk-n-cookiesA few weeks back we reviewed Look Around, a compilation of tracks by 80s/early 90s indie act Beat Happening. As under the radar as you can get, Beat Happening were the almost-rans who nonetheless continue to wield their enviable influence to contemporary indie upstarts like Speedy Ortiz,

Similarly under the radar we now have a boxset from New York indie pop/pre-punk act Milk ‘N’ Cookies, perhaps the epitome of a band that really should have been huge but somehow failed commercially. With the androgynous vocals of Justin Strauss, think Marc Bolan with a more mainstream pop sensibility.

Containing a best of with a demo and a band practise, there’s a lot here to not bother with. The demo is charming but so low-fi as to become irritating. Likewise the band practise session is a bit if an anti-climax but “Stuck on a Star” is a perfect accompaniment to “(Dee Dee) You’re Stuck on a Star,” probably the band’s best known song which concerns a starstruck girl groupie who can’t get up enough interest to see a small time band like Milk ‘n’ Cookies live.


nonkeen – The Gamble | @nonkeen

nonkeen the gamblenonkeen was a 90s German experimental trio that included Nils Frahm who has since gone on to forge a successful career with a variety of instrumental albums that include improvised piano recordings to 2013’s explosive Spaces.

The Gamble is essentially a repurposing of nonkeen tracks that Frahm and bandmates Frederic Gmeiner and Sebastian Singwald have sometimes straight recorded over using apparently the same or similar instruments that were used for the original recordings. Given that, the album is probably – for the musicians – as much about technique as the music itself. That may sound a little bit out there for the average listener but Frahm fans (like me) will revel in his early influences and the extent of his reach on current deconstructed jazz outfits like GoGo Penguin and the sublime Dawn of Midi.

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3748456990 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]

Topics: Uncategorized More Posts About: Bleeding Heart Pigeons, Milk 'N' Cookies, Music, New Music, nonkeen

Related Posts
  • ‘Hot Summer’ and Podcast Drop to Promote 1st Album from the Prince Vault,’Welcome 2 America,’ ‘a laser-focused assault on the condition of America;’
  • Olly Alexander Starstruck. It’s Not A Sin. It’s a Poptastic Anthem about Human Connection…with Years and Years
  • By Popular Demand, Randy Rainbow Slams Trump, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley with ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Parody: ‘Sedition’ — WATCH
  • Country music stars distance themselves from NRA after school massacre

    Country music stars distance themselves from NRA after school massacre

    Published by AFP Country musician Lee Greenwood addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference 2022 in Orlando, Florida on February 27, 2022 New York (AFP) – Country music has long been closely linked to America’s pro-gun lobby, …Read More »
  • Protests at NRA convention in Texas, but speakers reject new gun laws

    Protests at NRA convention in Texas, but speakers reject new gun laws

    Published by Reuters By Arathy Somasekhar HOUSTON (Reuters) -Protesters holding signs and crosses with photos of victims from the Texas elementary school shooting protested Friday outside the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Houston, as the …Read More »
  • Portia De Rossi hails Ellen DeGeneres as her ‘idol’

    Portia De Rossi hails Ellen DeGeneres as her ‘idol’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Ellen DeGeneres is Portia de Rossi’s “idol”. The ‘Arrested Development’ star heaped praise on her wife as she hosted her last-ever episode of her long-running chat show. Portia, 49, shared a …Read More »
  • David Beckham doesn’t think footballers coming out should be ‘strange’

    David Beckham doesn’t think footballers coming out should be ‘strange’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English David Beckham doesn’t think it should be “strange” for gay footballers to come out. The former England captain – who has Brooklyn, 23, Romeo, 19, Cruz, 17, and 10-year-old Harper with …Read More »
Previous Post: « Brian Sandoval, GOP Governor of Nevada, Being Vetted by White House as Possible SCOTUS Pick – VIDEO
Next Post: Donald Trump Promises to Appoint ‘Very Conservative’ SCOTUS Justices: WATCH »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Harrowing new accounts emerge from Uvalde’s young survivors

    Harrowing new accounts emerge from Uvalde’s young survivors

  • Russia steps up battle for eastern Ukraine

    Russia steps up battle for eastern Ukraine

  • Don McLean, Larry Gatlin Pull Out Of NRA Convention Concert In Texas

    Don McLean, Larry Gatlin Pull Out Of NRA Convention Concert In Texas

  • Trump must testify in New York probe, appeals court rules

    Trump must testify in New York probe, appeals court rules

Break

  • Johnny Depp rumoured to be signed for ‘Beetlejuice 2’

    Johnny Depp rumoured to be signed for ‘Beetlejuice 2’

  • Abba ‘need to recoup £140m from digital show’ after splashing out on flashy Abba-tars from George Lucas firm

    Abba ‘need to recoup £140m from digital show’ after splashing out on flashy Abba-tars from George Lucas firm

  • Prince William holds future of British monarchy in his hands

    Prince William holds future of British monarchy in his hands

  • Justin Timberlake has sold his song catalogue in a deal reportedly worth 100 million dollars

    Justin Timberlake has sold his song catalogue in a deal reportedly worth 100 million dollars

RSS Partner Links

  • OMG, I’m Gay! Ellen has ended her daytime TV show after 19 seasons
  • Gay Man Dead After Night Out In NYC — Who Killed Him? Who Robbed Him?
  • OMG, new music: ‘Count 2 Ten’ by Deer
  • Chris Colfer spends birthday exploring castles
  • Saturday Round-Up: “Hacks” cruise; Laverne Cox; Isaiah Rashad; Matthew Morrison; “Top Gun” & more!
  • Birthday Sluts
  • Song of the Day: 'The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game' by Blondie
  • On the Rag, Vol. 710
  • Saturday 'Stache

Most Recent

  • As U.S. states restrict abortions, pro-choice lawmakers look to Mexico

    As U.S. states restrict abortions, pro-choice lawmakers look to Mexico

  • Country music stars distance themselves from NRA after school massacre

    Country music stars distance themselves from NRA after school massacre

  • Protests at NRA convention in Texas, but speakers reject new gun laws

    Protests at NRA convention in Texas, but speakers reject new gun laws

  • Portia De Rossi hails Ellen DeGeneres as her ‘idol’

    Portia De Rossi hails Ellen DeGeneres as her ‘idol’

  • David Beckham doesn’t think footballers coming out should be ‘strange’

    David Beckham doesn’t think footballers coming out should be ‘strange’

  • Legislators and LGBTQ advocates call out State Farm after insurance giant pulls support for gender identity program

    Legislators and LGBTQ advocates call out State Farm after insurance giant pulls support for gender identity program

  • Florida orders Orange County schools to reveal who bought ‘Gender Queer’ book for libraries

    Florida orders Orange County schools to reveal who bought ‘Gender Queer’ book for libraries

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Log in