Any artist is welcome to send us ONE track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Thursday morning - and all our moderators, including Tom Robinson, will listen to every track. This is our full inbox from the week beginning Mon 15 January, 2018: from midday on Friday 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/batch268

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 268

That's what happens when you tie your heart to balloons... it floats away. 

Thanks to Frankie Sunswept for playing keys, recording, mixing, and mastering!

That's What Happens

"Lach is the mastermind of Antifolk, like a Lower East Side 
rendezvous of Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. Like black snow, 
stalled subway cars and random violence, Lach is a Manhattan institution."-NY Times

"Lach is incredibly bright, he's influential, he's funny, he's smart, and he’s got his own, sort of, counter-culture charm. A very intelligent songwriter, funny, poetic. He became part of New York folklore."-Suzanne Vega

"The roots of modern songwriting: Bob Dylan, Syd Barrett, The New York Dolls, Nick Drake and Lach!"-Timeout London

"He's a street-corner ambassador. Lach is beat. He's a ringmaster. He's a poet's poet."-Michelle Shocked

"Lach is so what the East Village used to be all about. He's a gruff‑and-tough punk turned poet with a heart of gold."-Timeout New York

"Lach is a face-ache funny, beat-punk-unplugged joy!"-The Guardian UK

"Lach is a star! More Woody Allen than Woody Guthrie and a raised middle finger to the folk purists."-NME

"The best punk rhythm guitarist since Johnny Ramone."-Billy Ficca of Television



George At Coney

From the album Only The Now released October 2015. Produced by Gerry Diver. Written by Tom Robinson, Gerry Diver (p) BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited

"Hold to the now, the here, 
through which all future plunges to the past"
James Joyce, Ulysses

For Child A and Child K. 
Thanks to Guy Garvey for inspiring the song, and special thanks to Nitin for playing on it. (TR)

Tom Robinson: vocal
Nitin Sawhney: piano, acoustic guitar
Gerry Diver: violin, acoustic guitar, harmonium

------------------------------------------------------------

Felt like I'd known you 
For all of my life
Long before you both arrived
Those black and white Polaroids 
Signalled the shift
Before we looked 
Into your eyes

The freedom to choose 
I was happy to lose
When freedom's a prison 
With walls CAPITALISE "WITH"
You lifted the sentence 
That blighted my life
And captured me 
Once and for all 

The present seems endless 
As seconds slide by
And birthdays roll 
Endlessly on
Familiar rituals year after year
Who could imagine them gone

Two brilliant stars 
Shining under the tree
Two treasures 
We tucked up in bed
No home movie moments 
Recapture the time
Or words that can
Not be unsaid

Only the now
There's only the now
The moments roll on into days
There's only the now
Only the now
Don't ever wish it away

Blink for a minute
An era has gone
All futures 
Plunge into the past
That room full of echoes
Stands silent at night
Its emptiness suddenly vast 
I love you forever
And long may you know 
The comfort and joy 
We all shared
And long may your laughter 
Ring out in this world
Long after we're 
No longer there

Only the now
There's only the now
The moments roll on into days
There's only the now
Only the now
Don't ever wish it away


TOM ROBINSON - Only The Now (feat Nitin Sawhney)

(This is the second version recorded. The first was a place holder)
This song sounds a bit bitter and sarcastic, and it is. Nothing should be taken too seriously here; it's just an expression of my frustration with trying to break into music again after so many years out of the scene. Playing indie music in southern california can be a true hell. Whereas hipsters are always difficult to please, it seems to me that they are especially unwelcoming around these parts. Venues I've played 10 times are now seemingly impossible to book. I would say it's because of my terrible music, however I'm positive there are way worse bands playing every night in L.A. and the I.E. 
And by the way, I don't mean any offense to the Silversun Pickups (i've never actually heard their music, their name just fit well with the lyrics about "silverlake". I'm sure they're nice guys.) nor do I mean to offend the venue El Cid (it's one of my favorite l.a. venues, along with Los Globos, same owners. If the lyrics are taken to be an assault, I promise that's not how they were intended. El Cid is one of the good ones).

Lyrics:
"Maybe if  I got a synthesizer and thermin/Got some tattoos and a pink didjeridoo./Maybe if My mom and dad had money, then I could've gone to college/and then I could have been cool./Maybe if I sold off fifty tickets to a gig where I would play 5:30 pm tuesday night/Maybe if I went on to my facebook and I spam them/started chanting out my name, would it go right?/What am I doing wrong? What the fuck can I do? I hate to admit it, but shit dude I have no tattoos/
I'll go pull out my old weezer glasses with the black frames/Try hard as I can to look like a nerd/I'll go find a couple mexicans and africans/play some NOISE-RANCHERO-AFRICAN-SPOKEN WORD./Maybe if I had a small apartment in silverlake/then the silversun pickups would call me up/and say "oh hey koala! I heard from someone you're a baller, let's go play next saturday down at EL Cid/Should I not write this song? Will somebody sue? Or maybe I should just quit now cause I have no tattoos./I thought once that punks and artists/hippies hipsters were the farthest/thing from all those shiny ones/who made my life hell one by one/in elementary and junior high/highschool laughing, making me cry/i'm sure i sound bitter and you may be right/I've lived here in this whole for all of my life/But I can't get a gig anymore, I think that I'm screwed/Because I'm a recluse and because I have no tattoos/I can't get a gig anymore I think that I'm through/because I'm a recluse and cause my strange lack of tattoos"

"The No Tattoos Song (Lyrics now included in description!)" by  K0ala?! (and the K-Holes)

Dave Keener’s new album Like An Animal is 8 tracks of singer-songwriter/power pop that may remind some listeners of artists like Marshall Crenshaw and Nick Lowe.  Keener’s songs are often playful—romantic with a touch of irony, funny without snark. He brings his lyrics and stories to life life with an intimate vocal style that is both youthful and knowing. Babe Magnet is about the dog he adopted in hopes of attracting women, only to find the animal drove them away. Ooh Ooh Ooh—to which Dave’s wife Jo Honig-Keener walked down the aisle— is a mid-tempo ballad with lush harmonies that tells the story of two Gen X’ers who were meant to be together but took decades to connect.

The song Who Told the Jukebox? tells the disco driven tale of a spurned lover who believes someone is playing sad songs on the barroom jukebox just to torment him. The music video takes the singer’s paranoia to an even higher level—depicting him on the streets of Brooklyn pursued by a mobile jukebox that only he can see.

Like An Animal is Keener’s third solo album in the past five years. The first of these was The Easy Way (“This one’s a winner” — Jeffrey Sisk, The Daily News (PA)). Keener followed up with Slugger (2013). This album was acclaimed for its “witty, white-collar storytelling” (Tris McCall, Newark Star-Ledger) and “instantly lovable guitar pop with infectious melodies” (LMNOP aka dONW7, BabySue.com). The album was also recognized by Absolute Powerpop as one of the top Power Pop albums of the year.

Keener hosts the songwriter showcase , Songwriter Deathmatch (“Not to be missed”—South Slope News”), in which he shares the stage with three or four other songwriters, each bringing their A game and their audience for a show that’s been called “A win-win concept” by Hans Werkmann of Here Comes the Flood.

As Them Keener Boys, Dave and his brother Tom (“Best Local Comedians” New York Press) recorded an eponymously titled full length music and comedy CD. Keener also wrote the song Mr. Johnson, which was recorded by the Shimmy-Disc band, King Missile.Russ Alderson: Bass 

James Morris: Drums 

Karen Dahlstrom: Vocals 

Mark Humble: Vocals + Vocal Arrangement on Babe Magnet 

Recorded and Mixed by Jon Altschuler at The Seaside Lounge, Brooklyn 

Cover Design by Elizabeth Connor 

All Songs © Dave Keener 2016

Girls And Guitars

Lyrics & music: Piotr Sobolczyk. Programming & keyboards: Piotr Sobolczyk.  Recorded at Neptun V Studio. Piano solo: Julia Chen (recorded at Chen Studio, New York). Guitar solo: Michał Korzeniowski (recorded at Nonagram Studio). Choir of enemies: Friends. Contains a quotation from Józef Tishner’s essay “Homo sovieticus” in Piotr Sobolczyk’s translation. Mixed & mastered by Michał Korzeniowski at Nonagram Studio.
      Piotr Sobolczyk's second album contains various styles of dance music. From tropical house ("Infant Sorrow") through deep house ("Gay Melancholy", No Skin Off My Clone Remix of "Looking for My Zombie Clone", "Manie Blue"), late 80s British acid house ("Built On a One Night Stand"), classical 70s/80s disco ("Pest Gets Greased"), a venture into new jack swing ("Map of Para-Lies"), tropical house fused with latin vibe ("Everytime You Lie"), bhangra beats on "Manie Blue" and "The Art of Losing", progressive house ("Phandom Fantom"), the guitarish "The Skin I'm In", and a more traditional rendition of the evergreen "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (mashed up with the gospel "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"). Additionaly in the bonus section there is a flamenco inspired song "Habibi Olvida Tu Dolor" in Spanish and Arabic, as well as two versions of the originl songs in Polish. 
    All songs produced and programmed by Piotr Sobolczyk at Neptun V Studio. Vocals recorded at Neptun V Studio except “The Skin I’m In” (only additional spoken vocals recorded at Neptun V Studio), “Don’t let me be misunderstood” & “Manie Blue” recorded at Nonagram Studio by Michał Korzeniowski. Guitars by Michał Korzeniowski (recorded at Nonagram Studio). Piano solos by Julia Chen (recorded at Chen Studios, New York). All tracks mixed & mastered by Michał Korzeniowski at Nonagram Studio.
Recorded between October 2016 – April 2017. 
Graphic design & cover photo: Michał Korzeniowski.

Zombie Clones, Phantoms & Para-lies

Buy on Amazon

Pest Gets Greased

The debut album by Belfast based indie band Buí, released on November 27th 2017.

People Don't Think

Nosunsincesarajevo

LYRICS...

(Verse 1)
Yea i’d fly away
Honey i would fly away
If you ask me if you if you ask me

I got mad dreams, wonder if we catch heat
We could rent a car, live on out the back seat

Got my girl here, we ain't got no worry here
Turn the day round, we could run away now
We could seize the moment run it like a playground
We could do whatever honey if you say now

(Pre-Chorus)
Now now now
We could leave this town
We could do whatever we want to, want to

(Chorus)
Simple man from Africa
One day love i'll marry ya
Home is anywhere we are

I don't drive no shiny car
Dine in suits or smoke cigars
but i'll love you to the stars

(Verse 2)
What a day, what a day
Now won't you listen to what i've got to say
Girl heed the man on the steeple
Love we don't need no other people

We need the right way
But we do em our way
Oh you're my best-friend, hit the road then text them
We ain't gotta try impress them all

(Verse 3)
Tell your friends, i'll tell my friends, we'll lay the plans yea
Then i'll call me an Uber to your ends yea
We can break it to your mama, make amends yea
We'll lay the plans yea
Go for the win yea 


(Pre-Chorus)
Now now now
We could leave this town
We could do whatever we want to, want to

(Chorus)
Simple man from Africa
One day love i'll marry ya
Home is anywhere we are

I don't drive no shiny car
dine in suits or smoke cigars
but i'll love you to the stars

SIMPLE MAN

Free Download

God Save Rock'n'Roll

New York's The Optic Nerve performs "Take Me" at E6th Street bookstore Neither/Nor in 1986

The Optic Nerve - Take Me @Neither/Nor

month

chicken nugget peeler 5:14:19, 12.02 AM

1 It’s just natural for a catus
to stand there and stare….

2 where did u come from ?
I came from there 
I came to here
I came from somewhere else….

3 It’s time to pass a law 
that we can only marry
someone from
our own planet

4 where are you from

Planet Marriage song- 5:18:19, 8.54 PM

a safe distance

Excerpt from the "To Folk or to 'anti-folk'?" panel at 1990 New Music Seminar in NYC.  Ed Ward, Lynelle E. - WJUL (now WUML), Lach, roger m, Tom Goodkind.
(From https://rogermanning.bandcamp.com/album/short-sharp-shook)

rm misc

Anti-folk panel excerpt, NMS 1990

Fresh On The Net is a music blog hosted by Tom Robinson and Team Freshnet, offering independent artists an open door and a level playing field for their music. Our inbox is open at http://freshonthenet.co.uk every Monday to Thursday morning - if you share a track with us there it will be heard by every member of our moderation team.

IMPORTANT: 
Only send ONE track, and make sure the dropbox says "OPEN".  Sorry, but tracks sent while the dropbox is closed - or shared drectly with this Soundcloud account - will not get heard.

	Lach has been called “New York’s living legend” by Time Out London and "The roots of modern songwriting: Bob Dylan, Syd Barrett, The New York Dolls, Nick Drake and Lach!" High praise indeed but not uncommon for the founder of Antifolk, the international phenomenon that’s been cited as a main inspiration for such acts as Beck, Regina Spektor, Laura Marling and hundreds of others. 

"Lach is incredibly bright, influential, funny, smart, with his own counter-culture charm. He’s become part of New York folklore."-Suzanne Vega,

 "Lach is the best punk rhythm guitarist since Johnny Ramone."-Billy Ficca of Television)

	With six critically acclaimed albums (“5 stars. Splendid, best of its kind!”-Mojo Magazine), a newly published book of poetry (“Outstandingly beautiful.” - stirlingwriter.com) and a hit BBC Radio 4 comedy series ‘The Lach Chronicles’ (Top Radio Pick Hit from The London Times, The Observer, The Independent, The Telegraph and RadioTimes!) Lach still cites playing live as his favorite part of his artistic life.
	
	Lach says, “I actually dig all of it or I wouldn’t do it. The albums, the books, the radio show, I see them all as just falling under the general umbrella of being a writer. But it’s at the gigs that it all comes together and I’m so lucky to have an audience that’s there for the ecstatic live moments like I am whether I’m singing a song, telling a story or just riffing. No genre, no definitions just that campfire glow of total possibility.”

	Three years ago Lach moved from New York City’s Lower East Side, where he hosted the most successful, longest-running open mike in town, to Edinburgh, Scotland. Since then he has been constantly touring the UK and building up a fanatically loyal indie-club circuit. Not surprising for a man that founded a worldwide music and art movement and who’s been compared to Dylan and Lenny Bruce in the same breath with the admonishment, “You’ve got to see him live!”

	With his UK touring circuit firmly intact Lach has begun inviting some of his favorite performers along for the ride. Past UK tours have included bills with Suzanne Vega and Hamell on Trial, duets with Florence and The Machine and in July 2015 Lach will be double-billed on The Revolving Doors Tour with multi-platinum artist Chris Barron (of The Spin Doctors). Two journeymen from New York’s East Village mixing tales of the Rock and Roll life with songs that are loved by millions. Not to be missed!

“A Lach show is a face-ache funny, beat-punk-unplugged joy, and likely to send you home with several favourite new songs"- The Guardian UK



George At Coney

Lach Sounds

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