He Arrived By Helicopter is a new project by Christian Gibbs (Lucinda Black Bear etc). The debut album The Shiny Hostel will be co-released by Eastern Spurs and Very Special Recordings on the 14th of September. The lead single Cold Damn Truth it a really great folk-tinged beauty that reminds me a bit of Joe Pernice’s work. However, this sweetness is only a tiny fraction of the He Arrived By Helicopter story. The album is actually mostly instrumental and contains a lot of experimental sounds and ambient moods. Not an issue though even for a pop kid like yours truly, because it’s all intriquing and inspring. This is the gorgeous first outtake Cold Damn Truth from the forthcoming album.

He Arrived By Helicopter at Facebook

Static Diary is the first solo album from Centro-Matic’s keyboard wizard Scott Danbom and it came out on Goliad Media on the 27th of July. The atmosphere carries me to a place somewhat similar to Grandaddy or Mercury Rev, but there’s also a lot more to this blissfully weird and endearingly beautiful adventure. I might not normally recommend records that contain experimental ambient moods, but this one has the magic to make my prejudices disappear. What an enchanting album to get lost into. Here’s a few of my own favorites, but you really need to get onboard and experience the whole journey. Preferably with good headphones.

Oh and thanks to Daniel Markham for introducing this record to me.

This is like a meeting with an old friend. Valley Maker aka songwriter Austin Crane has signed a deal with Frenchkiss Records and his new album Rhododendron will be released on the 12th of October. Not that it has been that long really. The original release of the previous one was 2013 and the label reissue in 2015. Still it’s been a while since that beautiful voice has carried a new song into my arms and I’ve missed that. The first outtake from the forthcoming album is called Light On the Ground.

Valley Maker Website

A couple of weeks ago Becky Warren launched the countdown to the release of her forthcoming album with a brilliant first single We’re All We Got. It’s an anthem for the outcasts and the underdogs who may have been given a two and a seven, but together, they can all be aces. A powerful and humane rock’n’roll testimony about the good in everyone. Becky Warren’s new album Undesirable is due out on the 19th of October and it’s a perfect antidote against the horrible lack of empathy that is polluting the world. It kicks your ass and it makes you think. This is We’re All We Got.

Bonus track. A great song from her previous album War Surplus.

Becky Warren Website