For 10 years, music engineer Joshua Lewis twiddled the knobs in recording studios, helping Boise artists bring their songs to fruition. But last year, he finally walked around the soundboards and began recording his own music.
Continue readingExclusive Video Premiere: ‘Thinkin’ About You’ by Joshua Lewis
Posted in Exclusives with tags Joshua Lewis on 10/25/2022 by Kurt OrzeckOrchestra GOLD Roll Out New Song, ‘Keleya’
Posted in Interviews, New Releases with tags Orchestra Gold on 10/19/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
It’s been a minute since we caught up with our pals, African psychedelic-rock combo and Treefort Festival 2021 participants Orchestra GOLD. But it was a good time to do so recently, as the Oakland combo just unveiled a new song, “Keleya.” Check it out here:
https://orchestragold.bandcamp.com/track/keleya-2
“Back in 2019, we recorded at Tiny Telephone Studios in Oakland, CA and now we are finally getting Medicine out into the world,” frontman Erich Huffaker recently told The Bad Penny. “It was mixed by Chico Mann of Antibalas, Afrobeat Orchestra and Here Lies Man. We are super-thrilled with the sound.”
Huffaker further commented: “This song is about jealousy in the context of polygamy/polyamory. It illustrates how destructive it is when men pit women against each other for selfish reasons.”
The tune will appear on the group’s third album, Medicine, due January 20. Orchestra GOLD are self-releasing the effort, with a vinyl version to follow later.
A press statement issued with Wednesday’s release of “Keleya” reads: “This profoundly spiritual and dance-inducing ensemble continues their pursuit of spreading healing and community through the universal gift of music.”
Huffaker imparted to The Bad Penny that Orchestra GOLD will give two more early tastes of their new Medicine when they release new songs from it on December 7 and January 11.
For more on Orchestra Gold, read our in-depth interview with main members Erich Huffaker and Mariam Diakité right here:
Hailey Haus: ‘I Went From 0 to 100!’
Posted in Interviews on 10/13/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Pick up the latest issue of Music Connection — or check out the magazine’s website — for my feature article on pop-music newcomer Hailey Haus.
The French Tips: Flipside Fest Pick of the Day
Posted in Interviews with tags French Tips on 09/25/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Can you remember the best time in your life? Like, really remember it — the sensory experience, how it affected you emotionally, the “belly feeling” (as Wend’s Riley Johnson calls it). Is the part of your life so vivid in your mind that, closing your eyes, you can mentally transport yourself back in time to relive that experience again?
Right now, as you read this, tens or hundreds of thousands of people — or maybe millions (but probably not billions) — are enjoying not just the best time of their life so far, but maybe the best time they’ll ever have. It’s a good thing we humans can’t see into the future, because we’d obsess over the clock ticking down till the moment our life ends.
Continue readingWend: Flipside Fest Pick of the Day
Posted in Interviews with tags Flipside, Flipside Festival, Wend on 09/24/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
The must-see band today, the second day of the inaugural Flipside Fest in Garden City, is actually one of the first scheduled to play. In a city with many promising bands, Wend are one of the most ambitious — and riveting.
While early in the day, Wend’s Main Stage slotting speaks volumes about a band that hasn’t yet produced a full-length. Curious music nerds looking for a point of reference might consider Rachel’s, the chamber music band from Kentucky that rode the rise of underground post-rock popularity with Quarterstick Records bandmates June of 44 and Shipping News.
Continue readingL’Éclair: Flipside Fest Pick of the Day
Posted in Interviews with tags Flipside, Flipside Festival, L'Eclair on 09/23/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Treefort is, hands-down, Boise’s premiere music event. But once it’s over in the spring, a “long winter” of music inactivity ensues in the City of Trees. The biggest contributing factor is that Boise isn’t on the radar for most touring bands.
Enter Flipside Fest, a new three-day music event starting from today and ending Sunday in Garden City, which is next door to Boise. The team that runs Treefort Music Fest — which is trying to set up a new venue in downtown Boise — organized this shindig as well.
Continue readingNew Releases 9.2.22: Megadeth, In Grief, Ensanguinate, 156/Silence
Posted in New Releases with tags 156/Silence, Defacing God, Megadeth on 09/02/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
This week, we examine a long-awaited album by one of the biggest heavy metal bands ever, an expertly crafted debut by a Danish band and the most bottom-heavy metal/hardcore record in recent memory.
Continue readingMantar: Making New LP Was A Nightmare
Posted in Interviews with tags Mantar on 09/01/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Ten years into their career, the German two-piece are marauding back with a new slab of sludge, black metal and melodic doom. It’s a gem of a record, even if they admit that “recording this album was no fun. It completely blew and sucked through and through.”
Read my full Mantar profile as it appears in the new issue of New Noise, which just hit stands.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: The Wild Ones
Posted in Interviews with tags Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, BRMC, Jason Spaceman, Spiritualized on 08/28/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Today we take a brief respite from heralding the posse of promising artists emerging post-COVID in not just the U.S. but across the world. Have no fear: We’ll get back to the up-and-comers soon enough. But for now, The Bad Penny is taking a breather and dusting off a hard-to-find yet epic conversation with the legendary Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
We’re rolling out the exhaustive interview shortly before one of San Francisco’s most iconic garage/psych bands celebrates it 25th anniversary next year. Buckle up: This cover story from the May/June 2002 issue of Amplifier is one of the more comprehensive accounts of BRMC that you’ll find anywhere.
Continue readingMuse, Sigh, Becoming the Archetype: Best New Releases
Posted in Lists with tags Becoming the Archetype, Muse, Sigh on 08/26/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Hop over to New Noise to check out our favorite new releases that just dropped.
The Bad Penny (beta) 