The Saturday Surf #25

This is the 25^th edition of the Saturday Surf. If you’re new to the blog, then a quick explanation is due. It works like this.

Stage 1 - We post an iPhone Hipstamatic picture of some waves / surf. This could be interpreted as attempting to be ironically retro-cool because a while back that’s what all the cool blogs did; irrelevant arty pictures of girls in bikinis or the sea were what you did to display your knowingly hip credentials. Or it could just be because this blog is called Breaking More Waves and this feature is called The Saturday Surf which is frankly a rather obvious pun on the word surf both of the internet and the sea and therefore a picture of surf / waves seems appropriate.

Stage 2 - We post some tracks that we’ve come across this week that we didn’t get the chance to write properly about. The rules are no more than 5 tracks in a post and no more than 15 minutes of music, because let’s be honest everyone has short attention spans these days and nobody actually sits and listens to an hour of music on one blog these days do they ? So we promise not to waste more than 15 minutes of your life every Saturday. We’ll keep the text to a short paragraph as well, because we’re fully aware sometimes we waffle on a bit.

Stage 3 - Put the kettle on, make yourself a coffee or tea and spend the next few minutes listening to these songs. You may like some of them, you will hate others, but give them all a chance at least. That is how the Saturday Surf works. It’s simple really. Here’s the music.

Labyrinth Ear - Humble Ears

First up is new material from Labyrinth Ear, an electronic duo who we’ve featured a number of times previously. Humble Bones is a track from their new EP which is due on February 7. Rythmic danceable electronica that tips its hat a little towards New Order but with airy feminine vocals, it’s impeccable stuff.

We Were Evergreen - Baby Blue

Slightly twee French indie popsters We Were Evergreen have a toytown sensibility that’s built from brushed delicate melodies. There’s ukulele, banjo, toy piano, kazoo, glockenspiel, guitar and all sorts of other instrumentation thrown in. It’s fun and if the concept of fun makes you squirm and think that it can’t actually be good music then go back and listen to your dark gothic  underground dirge or whatever it is that makes you feel even more miserable, whilst the rest of the world gets on with things.

Frankie Rose - Know Me

Frankie Rose (ex-Vivian Girls, ex-Dum Dum Girls and ex-Crystal Stilts) has been whizzing round the blogs like an out of control spinning top with this rather excellent solo effort entitled Know Me which is due for release on Feb 20 before a new album surfaces in March. Check out the Cure-ish Close To Me drum intro and ethereal atmospheres straight out of a Now That’s What I Call Alt ‘80’s compilation.

Willis Earl Beal - Evening's Kiss

Finally, here’s something from a new artist Willis Earl Bill – one of the only artists we’ve come across recently that doesn’t seem to have any online social media presence. Sounding like a particularly downbeat minimalist Willy Mason this track is not his best, but right now it’s the only one streaming through Soundcloud. Have a listen for sure, but what we really recommend you do is go and look at this You Tube clip where you’ll see his acapella vintage-blues and soul come into its own. There's also some rather brilliant demos over at City of Dust blog where you can find out a lot more about the man himself.