Upcycled Sounds Records

feels like we're getting older doesn't it

April 2021

Our monthly playlist of the songs we've been digging.

Songs of May 2021

Any artist is welcome to send us a track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Thursday morning (or when we receive 200 submissions, whichever is sooner) - and all our moderators, including Tom Robinson, will listen to every track. This is our full inbox from the week beginning Mon 3rd May: from Friday afternoon you'll be able to hear our shortlist and pick your favourites on this week's Listening Post which will appear at freshonthenet.co.uk/batch404

If a track you submitted does not appear in this list, it’s probably because another of your tracks appeared in our Fresh Faves or on the BBC Music Introducing Mixtape during the last three months — we ask that artists featured on either wait three months before resubmitting to give others a chance. We also don’t accept short previews or SoundCloud GO tracks that can only be heard as 30 second previews, and tracks made private after submission, which cannot be included in playlists. You will be able to resubmit the track in future. Tracks that have been previously submitted and tracks from banned artists will also be removed.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 404

Upcycled Sounds - Portfolio

Waves

Drown

The sky’s been falling ever since day 1
Ever since we first laid eyes upon the setting sun
Ever since consciousness was passed from mind to tongue
Ever since the day we became what we’ve become

Ever since Eve was roaming round in Eden
Back when knowledge looked like apple flavoured freedom
To grow the mind
To reap the fruit
To raise the ceiling
And so began the chain of ritual feeding

After that first moment of our origin
Spent a few thousand years
Killing and stealing for religion
Till after centuries and centuries of poor decisions
We settle down with our new God
We call consumerism

It’s a long long con
And it works so well
The less we need
The more we feed
The further we get from ourselves
The shit we buy
The drugs we take
The lies we tell
Well I don’t wanna tell them anymore

Keep wondering how long I should give it
Before I set fire to this sinking ship and go down with it
The parasite keeps feasting quick somebody kill it
Let’s nip this in the bud before it gets too vivid


Now don’t get me wrong you know
I quite enjoy
The poetry in how we just create then destroy
But this game like all games must end at some point
And I don’t feel like losing anymore

Is everybody crazy or is it just me
Wanna take one of those blue pills and go back to sleep
Shake me out of this bad dream
‘Cause I don’t wanna be here anymore

Waiting for the world to end
I’ve had enough I can’t pretend
Im just waiting for the world to end
Im good to go
Just tell me when

But did you see the sky last night
Peeling gold from pink in fading light
And all the cars stopped
And together we watched time slide by
So human in devotion, we were mystified

Last week
I fell in love for the hundredth time
He held his heart in the browns of his eyes
And we danced like we were ready to collide
And in the morning with tangled limbs and tired smiles
We waited for the world to end

Written and Performed by feeo
Drums Niko O’brien
Coproduced by feeo and Upcycled Sounds

End Song

James

Babe
Everybody talks so loud
Fighting over time
drowning each other out
Bombs like tears are falling now
I guess we’re not so far from where we started
How I wonder
Is it me or is it you?
Who needs this more
Who’s making do
Babe
Babe
Things keep falling right outside
And the fear it grips and chokes me from inside
Pull on your arms like a frightened child
Though I know you’re just as terrified
Babe
Are we in love?
Or is it the drugs, babe?
Still never feels quite enough
Babe
Can hardly sleep when you lie with me
Stay up all night so I can hear you leave
‘Cause I am many things
But I’m not naive
Babe
No I won’t be the fool waking up to haunted sheets
Babe
And it’s all piling up at our feet
Dust and rubble gathering in heaps
I’ll get lost in you
You can get lost in me
Being lost is a bit like being free isn’t it?
Babe
It’s not you it’s me isn’t it ?
Babe
It feels like we’re getting older doesn’t it?
Babe

Written and Performed by feeo
Coproduced by feeo and Upcycled Sounds

blue river running

Memento Mori

Sand Fight

Soldiers & Cowards (radio edit)

SUPER 8 DAYS [TIPLER MIX}

Ft. Bunny Legit - Zombie Apocalypse Radio Edit

'closer' is the new single from pecq - producer and multi-instrumentalist duo Hannah (Jakes) Jacobs (keys player for Arlo Parks) and Niko O'Brien (engineer for the likes of Liz Fraser and Porij). The innovative pair create 'pop at its most exploratory' [Clash] and have been featured by the likes of BBC Radio 1 and 2, Amazing Radio Top 40, Bandcamp Front Page, NOTION and the 6 Music Introducing Best of 2022.

closer was written and produced across numerous different time zones, zeroing in on the psychological impact of distance between loved ones. Referencing the experimental, spiraling work of Boards Of Canada and Ultraísta along with the meditative songwriting of Sampha and Caribou as influences on their music, pecq ride the line between electronic and indie - real drums slowly morphing into glitchy samples, classic synth tones and soft piano coming in and out of focus, sounds re-sampled and mangled through DIY studio equipment, tape-machines, spring-reverbs and modern computer processes.

pecq - closer

Hermit

“Green Leaves" is a celebration of the profound benefits of immersing oneself in nature. “Green leaves” skilfully captures the essence of a perfect summer day, where the gentle rustle of leaves and warm sunshine merge to create an idyllic setting. Through this song, listeners are invited to indulge in the therapeutic effects of nature, allowing it to influence their mood and shift their perspective.

Green Leaves ft Ywnlkasnb

it was then that i

'in the dark' is new lead single from pecq - producer and multi-instrumentalist duo Hannah (Jakes) Jacobs (synth player for Barry Can’t Swim and Arlo Parks) and Niko O'Brien (engineer for the likes of Liz Fraser and Porij). The innovative pair create 'pop at its most exploratory' [Clash] and have been featured by the likes of BBC Radio 1, 2 and 6, Amazing Radio Top 40, Bandcamp Front Page, NOTION and the 6 Music Introducing Best of 2022.

The focus track ‘in the dark’ is about a situationship, falling for someone who’s avoidant and getting burnt.

‘I’ve been on both sides of the situationship vibe and they’re isolating in their own way - one cos you’re chasing an unattainable version of someone and the other cos you can’t let someone in. So it’s not a ragey situationship revenge song, it’s about that empty feeling at the end of the night when you wanted to feel closer to someone but just feel more alone’’

Jakes - pecq

pecq - in the dark

The Real Story Behind my Unique version of Jean-Michael Jarre's "Robots Don't Cry" 

I was less interested in winning, if I'm honest, than in "getting noticed!" I'd seen how Jean-Michel appeared to genuinely enjoy collaborating with artists he'd never previously worked with. And, coming from an "Operatic" background - I was hoping for the chance to get noticed by my "unusual" competition entries, and maybe persuade Jean-Michel to explore his "operatic side," as a composer. While researching, I came across an interview in which JMJ says "in a world of Cats and Dogs, try to be a Kangaroo!" So - I decided to take him up on exactly that challenge! I would be an "Operatic Kangaroo!"

So, I listened to JMJ's track, "Robots Don't Cry," 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTnP6MpVXnM
And then I thought - "what's the MOST "Kangaroo" thing I can do here? 

So I decided to write my remix - for one of THE most prestigious Competitions at the time, of music by a World-wide acknowledged Icon of not just the "Pop music industry," but also an Artist who'd been at the vanguard of Electronic Music since the early 70s! -  in the style of Jean-Michel's "supposed" arch-rival from the era, the one and only Vangelis! (In reality, of course, the two are great friends and colleagues, but the media desperately tried to create this impression of rivalry between the two!)

THIS - struck me as a "VERY" Kangaroo thing to do, in this world of "les Chats et les Chiens!"

And my choice of track, was no coincidence! I went for not just ANY OLD Vangelis track! But one of his absolute classics, from his years of collaboration with Jon Anderson - "THE FRIENDS OF MR CAIRO" - a 12 minute long odyssey I'd loved since the 1st moment I heard the opening bars... I would literally listen to Oxygene one night, in bed as a teenager. And the next, I'd listen to "Friends of Mr Cairo." 

I loved both Artists equally - but for quite different reasons - because they were very different musicians. 

Synposis: A group of hapless Tech-thieves try to steal Vangelis' robots - responsible for his many great film-scores. But in the panic after the alarm goes off, steal the wrong robots, only realising the mistake when, later at Schloss Zimmer, they are met by the 'villain of the piece' Hans Zimmer, who had persuaded Simon to commit the theft - to prevent any more Oscar-winning film-scores by Vangelis. Simon admits that the robots they stole in fact belong to Jean-Michel Jarre. In the nick of time, JMJ himself appears, and saves the day, by doing something extraordinary with his laser-harp!

ROBOTS DON'T CRY

Hazy drone rock from Solilians, from the 2020 split 7-inch with the band Skyjelly on the iconic I Heart Noise Record Label. (Neptune Sweet - Vocals' Benjamin Malkin - Bass, Keyboards; Gabriel Walsh - Guitar, Producer; Mike Margulis - Drums. Mastered by Merc Yes.)

There Is No Michigan

Debut single from psych pop band pecq. 

Check out the music video -> hyperurl.co/pecqstranger

Produced by pecq and Upcycled Sounds: upcycledsounds.co.uk
Mixed by Upcycled Sounds.
Mastered by Felix Davis at Metropolis Studios.

pecq - Stranger

Buy the Album: raremonk.bandcamp.com
Written and Recorded by Rare Monk
Engineered and Mixed by Victor Nash at Destination Universe!
Produced by Victor Nash and Rare Monk
Mastered by Gus Elg @ Sky Onion Studios
Artwork by Madeleine Tonzi

Bitter Baby

Voyager

American Honey

Daddy's Gone For Cigarettes

Having personally witnessed firsthand a tragic incident on the London Underground, this song acted as a kind of catharsis. The song expands the occurrence into a fictional narrative around the central protagonist. An ode to the fragility of human life and the importance of leading our best lives despite the cards we're often dealt.

Reset

Sirens

Brightside is the second single taken from the EP "Unemployment, Broken Bones, Death, Baby", out May 14 on VÅRØ Records. Damen is Danial Bin Ismail Ärlig (vocals/guitar), David Nordell (bass), Adrian Gejrot (drums) and Gustav Bondesson (guitar). 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/damenmusic/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/damenmusic/
Contact: hello@varorecords.com