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Our final Rearview Rewind Rural Juror impossible for Danno to pronounce indie & underground finale for 2021 is on the airwaves! Prince Paolo's indie faves for the year enclosed. Happy New Year!
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
UTR 12.21.2021 REVIEW PT 2
PART 1 SONGS
Otis Kane – Sweet Sensation
Dragonfruit – Exhale
Freedom Fry – Corde Senible
Griffith James feat Tennis – Market & Black
Kevin Mark Trail – Rainbow Girl
DL Rossi – Great Lakes State Line
PART 1 FACTS
Otis Kane – Sweet Sensation
- The lead single to the debut album from the artist, who’s based in LA.
- Had him on the show just after Purple Black was released, and seriously it’s great to build with this young cat.
- He’s also making some serious moves, as I’ve noticed quite a few videos he’s putting out that are sponsored by, let’s say, the big 3 stars company here in Korea. Wow.
Dragonfruit – Exhale
- Great quartet out of Rotterdam in The Netherlands, and we were fortunate to have two of the members in man on the beats Anton along with lead singer Danique join us back in November.
- Gears of the Giant Machine, the band’s debut full-length album, is available everywhere now. Great electronic & soul vibes on this one.
Freedom Fry – Corde Senible
- Another one of our absolute favorite artists on the show this year, Bruce & Marie, the American-French couple that joined us on the gig for our Halloween special.
- This tune appeared on their all French LP, L’Invitation, or The Invitation, released over the summer.
Griffith James feat Tennis – Market & Black
- Another debut album that came out this year in September was this artist’s “Comfortably High.”
- If you want more to the man’s life story, check out my article in The Korea Times, but for our purposes here, it’s an amazing story of growing up in a religious group that became a Christian cult, moving to Seoul in the 1980’s, and being saved by a Buddhist monk.
Kevin Mark Trail – Rainbow Girl
- Another wonderful artist we were so blessed to have join us was Kevin Mark Trail, who came out with Heart String over the summer, which was dedicated to his daughter.
- Interestingly too, he talked about how local accents in music are now much more accepted.
DL Rossi – Great Lakes State Line
- Back to Michigan with our final tune here, and final debut album of 2021. Lonesome Kind dropped the day that Grand Rapids-based DL Rossi was on the show, and we had a great time with him.
- Interesting playlist mix of songs that inspire his sound, but also local artists from around Michigan.
PART 2 SONGS
Pearl Charles - Only for Tonight
MUNYA – Voyage
CHAI – Action
Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul - Blenda
Twin Rains - All Of The Angels
afternoon bike ride - Terrace Rain
PART 2 FACTS
Pearl Charles - Only for Tonight
- We started off part 2 with some serious disco vibes. Very ABBA-esque for sure. Pearl Charles is an artist from LA whose sound has been described as a melding of 60s rock, 70s cosmic country, and of course some disco.
- In January, she released a very groovy album called “Magic Mirror”. The album is a really strong 10-track offering, but “Only for Tonight” is a real stand-out track in my books, probably because I do enjoy me some ABBA.
- I know Danno is a huge fan of ABBA as well.
MUNYA – Voyage
- What would a 2021 review show be like without a little MUNYA.
- MUNYA of course, is the moniker of Josianne Boivin, and she hails from Montreal, Canada. Just last month she released a beautiful new album called “Voyage to Mars”. I was eagerly awaiting the release of the album months prior and when I finally heard it, it did not disappoint.
- Definitely go and check it out, it is fantastic.
CHAI – ACTION
- CHAI is a Japanese house-pop quartet and their music is really cool. this past spring they released an album called “WINK”. If you like the song we have on tonight’s program, you MUST listen to the album. It’s sleek, fun, and it’s a nice blend of hard and soft elements.
- The band released this song, “ACTION” way back in February. They wrote the song after being inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the US last summer.
- Since the release of “WINK” they have put of 3 more singles and they are also really cool. I’m hoping that those tracks lead to another album next year, this band is awesome.
Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul – Blenda
- We played this track on the show a little over a month ago and it is still stuck in my head. I mean sometimes I'm just doing random things throughout the day and I just hear the chorus of this tune in my head.
- The song is a bouncy dancefloor banger but it’s got a pretty deep meaning as it is a track about racism, colonialism and identity.
- Charlotte Adigery and Bolis Pupul are based in Belgium and they have announced that they debut album, “Tropical Dancer” will be out this coming spring so be on the look out for that.
Twin Rains - All Of The Angels
- Twin Rains is a dream pop duo from Toronto. The duo is comprised of Jay Merrow and Christine Stoesser. They’ve been releasing great singles all year and just recently, they dropped their sophomore EP, “Unreal City”.
- This song explores the idea of how things don’t always turn out how you think they will. Seemingly bad situations may turn out to be good and situations that seems good at first might turn out to be terrible.
afternoon bike ride - Terrace Rain
- We have a very smooth landing for the end of the first half of tonight’s playlist. Afternoon Bike Ride is from Montreal and this track was released back in June.
- The track was part of a double single release. The other track was called “Grid Search” and it is also pretty cool.
- What I like about this “Terrace Rain” track is how textured it is. It is deceptively minimal but there is definitely a lot going on in terms of production. Definitely play this one on your headphones or best speakers, it sounds really good.
PART 3 SONGS
Wah Together - Sayonara
Ducks Ltd. - 18 Cigarettes
Paul Jacobs - Christopher Robbins
Mazey Haze - Don't Care
Nana Yamato - Before Sunrise
Esther Rose - How Many Times
PART 3 FACTS
Wah Together – Sayonara
- I know this is supposed to be a review show for the year, but I heard this one and instantly loved the energy. It’s just so full of sound and I love the Japanese language vocals, they caught me by surprise to be honest.
- This track is the band’s official debut single but it technically one half of a double release. The other track is called “I’m a Swimmer”.
- In any case, this is our first taste of Wah Together’s forthcoming self-titled album, which is scheduled for release in March.
Ducks Ltd. - 18 Cigarettes
- We started off part 3 with some good ol’ fashioned indie rock courtesy of Ducks Ltd. I love how straightforward this song is. Just catchy, uncomplicated, indie rock music.
- Ducks Ltd., which was actually formerly known as Ducks Unlimited, which I find hilarious for some reason, is a duo from Toronto.
- They released their debut album this fall. It’s called “Modern Fiction” and it came via Royal Mountain Records and Carpark Records.
Paul Jacobs - Christopher Robbins
- The song is called Christopher Robbins, so naturally, the first thought is Winnie the Pooh, but musically this song is not cute and cuddily. It’s actually kind of brooding and little scary, and that’s why I like it.
- Paul Jacobs is a Montreal-based musician and visual artist, and also the drummer for the band Pottery. Back in June, he released an album called “Pink Dogs on the Green Grass”, which came via Blow the Fuse Records.
- He says that “Christopher Robbins” is a song about working for the man and doing what you need to do to pay bills, until you find another way to live.
Mazey Haze - Don't Care
- Mazey Haze is the moniker of 21-year-old Amsterdam-based indie-pop artist Nadine Appeldoorn. She recently released her debut EP, Always Dancing.
- About this song, she says that it is about coming out of the darkness and stepping into the light.
- More specifically, it is about the sadness and heartache of a break-up and finally getting over it. Musically, this track is just so cleanly crafted. Super-catchy and super-accessible, great stuff from the young Mazey Haze.
Nana Yamato - Before Sunrise
- Nana Yamato is a young artist who grew up in the rural town of Chiba, Japan. She moved to Tokyo in 2019, where she got a job at a record store in the famed Harijuku district.
- It was there where she found both the inspiration and freedom to create her debut album, “Before Sunrise” which came out at the start of 2021.
- She quickly made a name for herself in Japan’s underground indie scene as well as abroad. Very much looking forward to what Nana comes up with in the new year.
Esther Rose - How Many Times
- As you know Danno, I’ve got to get some country music on the playlist, and this week’s country track comes to us from Esther Rose.
- Esther rose is a singer-songwriter originally from Michigan, but who is now based in New Orleans. “How Many Times” was the title track of her third album, which she released back in March.
- What can I say about this one, it just has that typical love-sick, break-up, country sound to it which I love.
PART 4 SONGS
Flava D - All We Ever Do (feat DRS & Paige Eliza)
Maston with L'elair – Ghost
Quickly Quickly - Everything is Different (To Me)
L'Rain - Two Face
Pleasure Systems - Corpse Pose
Tasha - Would You Mind Please Pulling Me Close?
PART 4 FACTS
Flava D - All We Ever Do (feat DRS & Paige Eliza)
- I find that drum and bass is one of the more polarizing genres in music but I think that Flava D track is something that pretty much everyone can enjoy.
- The track is super-slick. Flava D is the moniker of London artist Danielle Gooding. The track features the vocals of Leeds singer Paige Eliza and Manchester MC DRS.
Maston with L'elair – Ghost
- Maston, aka Frank Maston, is an LA-based songwriter and producer. This track “Ghost” was one of our first peeks into his project with Swiss band, L’eclair.
- The collaboration led to “Soouvenir”, a beautiful 8-track album that came out back in September. Really strong album, I highly recommend it.
- About this track “Ghost”, Maston says that it was one of the first songs they completed on the album, and it was all recorded in one take.
Quickly Quickly - Everything is Different (To Me)
- Quickly, Quickly is the alias of Portland’s Graham Jonson. Near the end of summer, Quickly, Quickly released a new album called “The Long and Short of It”, which came via Ghostly International.
- I like Quickly, Quickly’s sound a lot. I guess you could categorize it as folk-tronica, but he definitely has a hip hop flavor in his music. There’s definitely shades of J Dilla and Madlib there in his beats for sure.
L'Rain - Two Face
- L’Rain is the alias of Brooklyn-based artist Taja Cheek. “Two Face” is a song about a falling out with a friend. The friend was a Gemini so that’s why the song is called “Two Face”.
- The song is an imaginary conversation between them but musically, it is full on contrast. The happy lyrics are paired with spooky sounds and the sad lyrics are paired with happy instrumentation.
- L’Rain released a new album in the summer called “Fatigue”. Definitely worthy of a spin or two so go and check that one out.
Pleasure Systems - Corpse Pose
- Pleasure Systems is the solo project of Philly based artist Clarke Sondermann. He released a new album back in March entitled “Visiting the Well”.
- This song is a highly personal one. The track is inspired by the traumatic memories that stemmed from the night when his partner died.
- He says that the only way that he was able to cope with the loss was to just keep imagining alternate endings to this sad story, as a means for finding a greater meaning and purpose to what happened.
Tasha - Would You Mind Please Pulling Me Close?
- From one song about loss to another, we have “Would You Mind Pulling Me Close?” by Tasha. Tasha is a Chicago-based artist who is signed to Father/Daughter.
- This song is about losing people close to you when you least expect it, and wanting to hold on to those precious moments just a little bit longer.
- Kind of an emotional end to tonight’s show, and I guess for the year as well. It’s a festive season right now but just before we head into the new year, I think it’s always nice to take some time to reflect, count all your blessings, and get ready for what is to come.
- On that note, I want thank you Danno for putting up with me for another year. And thanks to all you people out there supporting the show, it really means a lot. I wish you Danno, and all our listeners a very happy holiday season and all the best in the year ahead.