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  First of all, and because it cannot be said often enough: нет войны | ні війні | No War How to help the people in Ukraine ______________________________________________________ Picture Credit: Lee The road to the release of The Black Elephant Band's sixth album goes Sunday by Sunday, song for song. 01/15 - This Runs on Love and Duct Tape (11/09/2022) Some things are not meant to be perfect - or instead, their imperfection is what makes them so gorgeous and lovely. An instrument held together by duct tape, a pair of jeans repaired with patches, or a relationship fixed by love. Life can be so beautiful. Fixing Great Mistakes With Duct Tape by The Black Elephant Band Guest musicians: John Steam Jr. - electric guitar Bommy Duck - pizzabox percussion More posts on The Black Elephant Band Looking for affordable and high quality promotion for your music?  Here's MusoSoup! Follow MangoWave DONATE

First of all, and because it cannot be said often enough: нет войны | ні війні | No War How to help the people in Ukraine ______________________________________________________ Picture Credit: Tim and Verena Schulze Sh!t out of Luck - Afraid of Peace Release Date: June 01, 2022 Label: R.O.O.T. Records / selfrelease Format: CD / Cassette / Digital Duration: 36:41 Genre: Punk Rock / Indie Rock / Garage Rock Origin: Stuttgart , Germany Not too long ago, Sh!t out of Luck was still an acoustic duo from the metropolitan area of Swabia. Their Acoustic Punk or Anti-Folk sound can be compared to the works by Harry Gump , and it can be streamed and bought on bandcamp . Nevertheless, things have changed. Sh!t out of Luck are still based in the greater region of Stuttgart and they still play dynamic music with antifascist lyrics. But since the release of " Acoustic as Fuck " SooL have grown to become a quartet. Founding members Quentin  (tambourine and drums) and Tim  (guitars, bas...

Picture Credit: mUmbo   mUmbo - I fly with swallows Release Date: August 13, 2021 Label: Silhouette Records Format: Digital Length: 39:51 Genre: Shoegaze / Art Rock Origin: London , England The current pandemic has had its impact on almost every aspect of our lives. And therefore, it is no surprise that culture has been affected, too. I can imagine that in some decades, people will refer to the early 2020s by giving their arts names such as "COVID Wave", "Corona Period", or "Lockdown Arts". Content,meaning, and sound of many musical releases since March 2020 are coined by a very emotional impact that often conveys desolation or hope - or the ambivalent in-between that musicks our new reality. And here is where the bridge to London's mUmbo can be forged. The duo was formed in the coronacene, and their first album "I fly with swallows" conveys that very mood that the pandemic has brought to us. It is that constant back and forth between stands...

Picture Credit: Pete Gardiner   Pete Gardiner - Sing from the Heart Release Date: June 25, 2021 Length: 04:31 Genre: Americana / Folk Rock Origin: London , England London-based Pete Gardiner  has provided us with an exciting new sonic narrative. His latest single deals with a person who is fed up with modern society and with life in general. As the pandemic kicked in, the protagonist finally had it, and thus simply said "flip it, I'm gonna be an outlaw"! Instead of singing from the heart as they used to do, the protagonist is now howling from a grave. In the thrilling sound, Pete Gardiner  fuses Folk and Anti-Folk, Americana and Country, and hence produces an atmospheric dark soundscape. Pete Gardiner 's "Sing from the Heart" is a hot recommendation for fans of Tito & Tarantula, Neil Young , or The Devil's Dandy Dogs . Content from the  MangoNews  will always stay in the  MangoRotation  playlist for 14 days. This coverage was created via Musosoup...

Picture Credit: String Bone Photograph: Emma Hefkey   String Bone - Waitin' For My Dyin' Day Release Date: May 21, 2021 Length: 02:58 Genre: Americana / Anti-Folk Origin: Straford , Ontario , Canada When String Bone wrote music and lyrics for the single "Waitin' for my dyin' day", the Ontarian artist got inspired by the Netflix series "Lucifer". Nevertheless, the plot of the narrative in the song can easily be read without connecting it to the series. "Waitin' for my dyin' day" follows a protagonist who is yearning for mercy. This desire is so strong that they do not insist on the relief coming to them in life. Instead, death has a merciful value to the protagonist, too. Between the howling chorus "I'm alive", Barry James Payne  and George Leger III , create (Anti-) Folk and Americana as cold and dark as the inside of an open grave around midwinter. The gloomily harmonic soundscapes built by slowly stomping guitars an...

Picture Credit: Mäkkelä Artwork: Frisches Ufo vor der Stadt Mäkkelä - Trad & Anger Release Date: April 01, 2021 Label: 9pm Records / Folk's Worst Nightmare Format: CD Length: 37:39 Genre: Folk Noir Origin: Fürth , Germany There are two reasons why I commence this review with an unpacking video. Firstly, Mäkkelä's "Trad & Anger" is a physical only release. You can order the CD on the artist's homepage, but there will be no Bandcamp, Spotify, TikTok, Myspace, whatever version. You find the link to the homepag at the bottom of the page. Secondly, packaging, artwork, and design are just gorgeous. Each CD is packed by hand and comes with a unique stamp. The stamp on my CD is from former Czecho-Slovakia and once cost 120 Koruna. Why a physical-only release you might ask? Forprofessional musicians such as Mäkkelä, a year without concerts and tours has been... let's stay special. And with special circumstances come special releases. "Trad & Anger...

Picture Credit: Harry Gump Harry Gump - Von Mauern, Türmen, Brücken und Wegen Release Date: December 18, 2020 Label: True Trash Records / 30 Kilo Fieber Records / Never Grow Up Format: CD / Digital Length: 38:05 Genre: Acoustic Punk / Anti-Folk Origin: Munich , Germany The digital version of the Never Grow Up Fest is still running and meanwhile Munich's Punk bard Harry Gump  is releasing his newest album "Von Mauern, Türmen, Brücken und Wegen". The long German title can be translated to "Of Walls, Towers, Bridges, and Paths". The album contains a dozen of songs that were recorded in the artist's living room. Some of the songs are completely new, others are not. For example, 'Alles Gute (bei allem was du machst)' (German: 'All the best (with everthing that you do)') was also featured on the recent EP " Stimmen aus den Trümmern " ("Voices from the Debris"). And the EP's title track opens the new album. Also, the song...

Cover Photo: Cris Civitillo Cover Artwork: Killererartworx.de John Steam Jr. - Simple Release Date: December 04, 2020 Label: selfrelease Format: CD / Digital Length: 30:21 Genre: Acoustic Road Blues Origin: Nuremberg , Germany Our world is a hectic, confusing and stressful place these days - not only because of the pandemic. Advertisements, social and professional pressure, and the multimedial impact have their steady influence on our bodies and minds. Where is that easy and simple life we all yearning for? Well, if I had an answer to that question, I probably might do something else than writing these reviews. But I can tell you that Nuremberg's Anti-Cowboy John Steam Jr. went after the same question. And at least the musician from Folk's Worst Nightmare has some really good thoughts to share on that topic. "Simple" is the name of John Steam Jr.'s newest album and it a deeply soulful and thoughtful output. Compared to his last release " Anywhere but here ...

Picture Credit: EgoTherapie   EgoTherapie - Hope Release: August 28. 2020 Label: selfrelease Format: Digital Length: 28:17 Genre: Singer Songwriter / Acoustic  / Anti-Folk Origin: Franconia, Germany Since my last reviews on releases by EgoTherapie were written in German, I think a little re-introduction might be adequate. Lee  played in plenty of Metal, Hardcore, Stoner Rock, etc band. His solo project went parallel to all those bands for quiate some time and it combined many of the musical influences Lee  made in and outside the Anti-Folk / Singer Songwriter scene. With close contact to the amiable weirdo collective Folk's Worst Nightmare EgoTherapie played shows in numerous venues, bars, cafés, precincts and living room, presenting his idiosyncratic mixture of Acoustic Rock and Metal, Anti-Folk and nihilism. But enough for that, here's the newest release: "Hope". "Hope" might be the darkest album EgoTherapie has released in recent times. Thus, joayful d...

Auch in schwierigen Zeiten wie diesen ist die Welt voller schöner Dinge. Kurz nachdem Ministerpräsident die Ausgangssperre ausgerufen hat, kann ich euch die neue EP des Nürnberger Singer and Songwriters The Black Elephant präsentieren. Erst letztes Jahr erschien das letzte Album des mittelfränkischen Barden des Kollektivs Folk's Worst Nightmare " Pop Smears " und nur geschätzte 300 Konzerte später dürfen wir seit dem 20. März die EP "It's been a Shitshow so far" hören. Auf dem Cover von Tattoo Artist Blood Larry sieht man die Ein-Mann-Band in einer alltäglichen aber doch unangenehmen Situation: aufgespießt durch die Hörner eines Triceratops. Ja, das sind diese Momente, in den man zurecht sagen kann "die Show war eher kacke bisher". Zu hören gibt es auf der neuen EP sechs neue Tracks, die sich zynisch an der Schnittstelle von Realität, Fantasie, Comic Büchern und Träumen bewegen. Etwa eine Viertelstunde dauert der ganze Spaß, auf denen Th...

Hier ist der Abschluss der Reader Suggestions . Und heute wollen wir den Teufel nicht an die Wand malen, aber zumindest von ihm sprechen. Das Objekt der Betrachtung ist das vor etwa einem halben Jahr über Timezone Records erschienene "Speak of the Devil" von Baby Kreuzberg. Wie der Name schon vermuten lässt, kommt der Singer Songwriter aus der Hauptstadt des deutschen Bundeslandes Berlin, Berlin. Seinen Stil würde ich als erquickende Mischung aus Acoustic Road Blues , Anti-Folk , Americana und 70s Rock beschreiben. Und das stellt der begabte Künstler auf seiner neuesten Veröffentlichung wieder mit Bravour unter Beweis. Auf zehn Songs, die knapp vierzig Minuten in Anspruch nehmen entführt uns Baby Kreuzberg in eine farbenfrohe Welt, in der stets ein sehnsüchtiger Blick in Richtung Horizont gerichtet. Melancholisch und optimistisch begleitet uns Reiseleiter Baby Kreuzberg auf unserem Trip, bei dem wir vom Teufel sprechen. Sein Liedermacher Blues ist der Antrieb für...

Man mag es kaum glauben, aber wir sind bei der vorletzten Reader Suggestion angelangt. Kurz vor Schluss beenden wir jetzt die Elefanten Runde. Nachdem eine ganze Menge Vorschläge von The Black Elephant kam und zuletzt die Münchner This is not an Elephant besprochen wurden, schließen wir heute den Elephant Content mit The Elephant Circus ab. Genauer genommen wird das im November 2019 bei Gänseblümchen Tonträger erschienene selbstbetitelte Album betrachtet. Uli Tsitsos und  Michael Szivolics  sind die Rock'n'Roll Schwindler, die sich mit einem ganzen Sack voll Instrumente dem gepflegten Anti-Folk mit gehöriger Country - und Punk Attitüde und angenehmer Americana Atmosphäre widmen. Und das machen The Elephant Circus schon seit geraumer Zeit. Das vorliegende Album ist bereits die vierte Veröffentlichung, und das dritte Album vom mittelfränkischen Duo. Hören könnt ihr das Ganze auf CD oder auch im Stream bei iTunes oder Spotify . Auf Percussions und Schlagzeug ba...

Und da sind wir schon wieder bei der nächsten Reader Suggestion . Beim Vorschlag für diese Woche handelt es sich um den Haigerlocher Singer and Songwriter Stumfol. Das neueste Album des Künstlers trägt den Namen "Long Story Short" und ist letztes Jahr bei Homebound Records erschienen. "Long Story Short" ist das dritte Album von Stumfol und ist in digitaler Form sowie als CD oder Schallplatte erhältlich. Stumfol verpackt schöne und minimalistische Melodien aus Americana , Acoustic Road Blues , Anti-Folk und Rock in seine Musik. Mit dezentem Schlagzeug, akustischen Blues und Country Riffs tänzeln sich die elf Songs über 25 Minuten durch die Prärie. Dazu gibt es schöne Verzierungen aus Percussion, E-Gitarren Leads, Loops und Hintergrundgesang. Zentral ist aber Stumfols angenehm klare Stimme, die beruhigend und fesselnd über die weite Musiklandschaft reitet. Mit seinen dynamischen aber ruhigen Songs geht Stumfol direkt ins Ohr. Die Stimmung auf "Long S...