new music friday – Dazzle ☆ Яebel

Finally, a Spotify Playlist for Rock’n’Roll Rebels

Fri, 12 Aug, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

It’s Friday. It’s the weekend! It’s time for some brand new music!

The trouble with many playlists on Spotify, including most of Spotify’s own playlists, is there’s never any passion in curating them. That comes across in the final playlist. Sure, Spotify will argue that you’re supposed to listen to them on ‘shuffle’ mode but that’s just laziness. Any decent playlist should be curated in a way that the music flows without anything poking out like a pussy spot on the end of your nose.

It’s really off-putting when you’re listening to a playlist and it’s grooving. You’re enjoying the vibe when suddenly a track pops in there that throws off the groove. It’s jarring and it’s fucking annoying. At least it is for me. That’s why I tend to prefer listening to playlists from people who take what order they place the tracks. Quite often, actually, most of the time that’s from smaller playlisters.

I like to think that when I curate a playlist I do it with the same care and attention. I like my playlists to flow with a certain vibe, whatever grooves with the track that came before. I’ve been that way ever since I was creating my own mixtapes with my Panasonic boom box (yes, I am that old).

And so to the main feature of today’s post. I have curated a brand new playlist that has a pretty rebellious vibe to it. It’s music that sticks it to the mainstream. Music for people like me and if you’re still reading this, music for people like you too.

So, it is my pleasure and privilege to introduce to you my latest Spotify playlist Rebel Rock Rebels! (Yeah ok, the name is rather tongue-in-cheek but you won’t forget it easily). As you’ll see (and hear), I like to sprinkle most of my playlists with a mix of new and established artists because I like to think that it helps to give more context. Have a listen, give it a save, give it a download and then follow all of the artists that you haven’t heard of before. If there’s someone else you think will like this playlist, send them the link. The gift of music is always one of my favourite gifts to receive.

Let me know how this playlist made you feel. Comments are open below but if you’d rather find me on social media here’s where you can find me:

Have an awesome weekend and rock-eth the fuck-eth out-eth!

Dazzle Rebel

It’s Fringe Rock and I Like It

Fri, 22 Jul, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

To celebrate the official release of my new single ‘Let Me In’ I have updated my Fringe Rock playlist with some awesome tracks from Confyde, Billy Nomates, DEADLETTER, The Rebel Yell$, You Want Fox, Kelsey Cork and the Swigs, Pricey (ex The Chats), Amyl and the Sniffers, Surfbort, Hoon, The City Kids, The Wristslitters, Mortimer Nyx, Verity White, Inward Strange, Maggie Foley, deep tan and loads more!

So, if you fancy a change from the generic rock music you’ll hear on the radio this afternoon, stick on Spotify and download this playlist.

This Darkly Humorous Song Will Leave You Unnerved!

Fri, 8 Jul, 2022Wed, 6 Jul, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

My latest release, ‘Let Me In’ is a darkly humorous song that follows a criminal and his search to silence a witness to one of his crimes. Behind the dark satire, the song hints at how justice is never fulfilled when you enter into a perpetual cycle of violence. With an ominous bassline and deadpan vocals, the verse sets the mood for a chorus filled with a crescendo of craziness as the narrator descends into paranoia.

The song is due for general release on all major streaming platforms on 22nd July. However, you can listen and download it for FREE right now on my Bandcamp page!

LET ME IN – FREE DOWNLOAD

Let Me In

Fri, 24 Jun, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

Surprise! For you beautiful people that follow me on Bandcamp, here’s a pre-release special of my new single “Let Me In”. It’s not due for general release for another 4 weeks but you guys can have it now – totally FREE!

If you enjoy the track then any sharing would be very much appreciated ahead of its general release on 22nd July. For now though, please let me know what you think of my latest Fringe Rock offering.

You can also pre-save it on your favourite streaming service at distrokid.com/hyperfollow/dazzlerebel/let-me-in

About Let Me In:

Let Me In is a darkly humorous song that follows a criminal and his search to silence a witness to one of his crimes. Behind the dark satire, the song hints at how justice is never fulfilled when entering a perpetual cycle of violence. With an ominous bassline and deadpan vocals, the verse sets the mood for a chorus filled with a crescendo of craziness as the narrator descends into paranoia.

Have a smashing weekend!

Daz

Roadkill – New Music Friday

Fri, 20 May, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

Although this week has been quite a quiet one as far as me listening to new music goes, this track certainly ain’t, quiet that is.

I first became aware of the awesome band that is Starcrawler towards the end of last year and I’ve been really enjoying listening to them. When they dropped this track a couple of weeks ago I was there like a shot and was probably one of the first members of Joe Public to hear it. Since then I’ve listened to it several times a day, not least because I’ve added it to my Summer Hot Rocks playlist.

In typical Starcrawler fashion, it’s a gnarly glam rocker with all the grit and dirt that we’ve come to expect from this band. I love the very pink music video which features a cameo from Jackass’s Steve-O.

What have you been listening to lately? Drop me a line with any hot tips!

Dazzle Rebel

Cookin’ in the Sun

Sat, 14 May, 2022Thu, 12 May, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

The Fringe Rock song of the summer!

This song is one of those that just wrote itself. I wrote it one evening in January 2022, in between working on tracks for my first full-on debut album. It was cold and dark and I was daydreaming about the summer to come.

I was remembering my wedding and honeymoon in Las Vegas and how I’d ended up with a swollen face because I’d spent too long sunbathing around the pool at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. This was two days before my wedding but that’s a story for another time! It was ferociously hot and I felt my skin literally cooking in the sun.

I started writing the lyrics taking in cues from this memory and merging them with a satirical poke at the favourite pastime of us Brits to complain about the weather, no matter what the weather is doing. We’re never satisfied, it’s either too cold, too wet or in this case, too hot!

The music is written around the bass line. Something that I have decided I should do a lot more of as I am predominantly a bass guitarist!

The drums are a simple program that I put together using BDF2 (I’m recording on a PC from 2008 running Cubase 4 Essential remember). I remember trying to be a bit too flash and ‘realistic’ sounding when I was recording Condor Leader and I was never really satisfied with the results. I decided that if it wasn’t to be real drums then I shouldn’t try to hide the fact that this is a drum program, created by me, a non-drummer.

I recorded the track in between working on other music during January 2022, putting the final touches on it in February 2022. It’s my first attempt at producing, mixing and mastering a finished song entirely myself (that wasn’t intended as a demo).

Available on:

*I’m not a fan of ReverbNation and I rarely update it with new music as I don’t believe it represents value for money (not least you can’t upload anything larger than 8mb without a pro account). If enough people actively engage with me on that platform I might reconsider my stance on the platform.

This Fringe Rock Song Will Have You Dancin’ In Your Speedos! – New Music Friday

Fri, 13 May, 2022Thu, 12 May, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

New Single, Cookin’ in the Sun – Out Now!

13th May 2022

“Cookin’ in the Sun” is available on all major platforms.

Hey! My brand new single, Cookin’ in the Sun is out today! I had so much fun writing, recording and producing this track. In true Fringe Rock, DIY fashion I did everything on this release myself. Everything to do with the music right through to the artwork was done by my own hands.

I even made my directorial debut when making the music video. I mean, technically I suppose every music video I’ve produced was directed by myself but this is the first one where I was directing other people. Speaking of whom, a huge thank you to the great sports that gave up their Bank Holiday Sunday afternoon to be filmed doing crazy things in front of a camera.

So here’s a big shout out to Jason for letting us film in the upstairs function room at Ye Olde Salutation Inn, Nottingham. Of course, I need to acknowledge “the girls” Lisa, Celina and Gemma. Adi and Ali for the shots they took on holiday and Gill for taking some awesome stills.

Here’s the video, which will premiere at 8pm GMT, so if it’s not there yet you can click to set a reminder and be one of the first to see it!

The song is me riffing on a story of how I ended up with major sunburn and a swollen face on my wedding day. It’s also a farcical take on how we Brits are never satisfied with the weather. It’s either too cold, too wet or too hot! There is also a subtle nod to the fact that we’re finally seeing the negative effects of climate change in action. I mean, you’d be a blithering idiot not to recognise what’s going on in the world but I’ve already hit that subject matter pretty hard in the past. Twice in fact; with This Burning Town and Four Horsemen from The Attic Transmission. Songs that I wrote way back in the 00s. Will we ever learn?

Anyway, if you want to hear more about the story behind this song I’ll be going into more detail in a later post. To make sure you never miss a post, enter your email below and subscribe. Posts will be sent direct to your inbox and I’ll never sell off your info or spam you. I hate spam, it’s not effective and it’s very annoying so I’d never do that to you either!

In the meantime why not give the song a listen on your streaming service of choice. If you like it then I’d sure appreciate if you’d save it or even add it to one of your playlists? Maybe even download it FOR FREE on my Bandcamp page, so that you can keep it forever?

Regardless, thank you for supporting independent music and have a great weekend!

Dazzle Rebel

LISTEN NOW

Links to my Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and YouTube, along with my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter social media pages can be found below:

Music Links

Social Media

Man Up! – New Music Friday

Fri, 6 May, 2022Fri, 6 May, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

About a month ago I was involved in an interesting music project that targets toxic masculinity. Although the part I played was very small, the message is an important one.

At the beginning of April, I took my first trip to a proper music studio in over a decade. I was already a little nervous and thinking back to how long it had been since I was in a pro studio didn’t make my anxiety any easier.

Luckily the project was for Confyde, the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Martin Jackson, who just happens to be a really nice guy. Labyrinth studios, where the session was being held is run by a couple of really nice guys too, so my nerves were quickly eased.

My task for the day was to sing with a group of other guys who had been recruited for the same goal; to create an epic vocal crescendo for the end of Confyde’s new single “Man Down”. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to sing in a group like that. In fact, even though I’ve sung in professional studios before, I’d not sung in a group like that since I was at school back in the 90s!

I won’t go into the process any further, that would be for Martin to divulge if he’s so inclined. What I will do is introduce to you my New Music Friday pick of the week, which (drum roll please) is of course Man Down by Confyde.

Wow, what an epic track! I am so pleased to have been part of it, even if it was a very small part indeed. The song is out today (May 6th) on all major platforms but I’d head over to Confyde’s Bandcamp page and buy the digital download first.

My second track featured this week is this raucous number from The City Kids, It Should Have Been You. The music video can be found below but it won’t be available on Spotify until 13th May.

The track is from their upcoming album “Filth” and shows that their songwriting confidence is growing. Frontman JJ is also growing in confidence as a singer and it really shows on this track. It must also be mentioned that, as a bass player myself, I fully endorse Berty’s crunchy outro riff.

Finally, the wonderful Aussie group The Chats dropped this glorious 2-minute Pub-Punk ode to a classic muscle car. I love this band’s enthusiasm and spirit. They’ve got no fucks to give and there’s a lot to be said for that kind of attitude.

The tracks featured have been added to my Fringe Rock playlist (below). Why not give it a listen (save and share if you enjoy it) and then add these tracks to one of your own playlists? Every such action goes towards these artists being picked up by the Spotify algorithm so they reach more people.

That’s all for New Music Friday this week. Next week, well next week I’ll be banging my own drum as I bring you my new single “Cookin’ in the Sun” – (Which you can pre-save here)!

Please have an awesome weekend!

Dazzle Rebel

This Is Why It’s Good To Be A Freak – New Music Friday

Fri, 29 Apr, 2022Sat, 23 Apr, 2022 Dazzle RebelLeave a comment

Before you start furiously shouting at me in the comment section that the music that I’m talking about today isn’t strictly “new” music. Not in the sense that it’s been released in the past month, well, kinda. Regardless of that, it’s new to me and I freakin’ well love it! Okay?

It’s cool to be a freak. That’s what all the cool kids say anyway. The trouble is those cool kids claiming their freak credentials are often anything but freaks. They’re the norms. Sure, such artists may target the real freaks and geeks but usually, they themselves are anything but freakish and different. They’ll often and quite predictably have the backing of a major record label and have a sound that’s been polished to remove all the patina. They’re often quite dull, actually.

That’s certainly not the case with the music that I’m bringing you today. First up is a band that wears their freak credentials on their tattooed sleeves. This is a band that puts the “eak” in “freak”! People of the world, I give you Surfbort.

Surfbort are not afraid to be different. They are freaks because that’s who they are, not because that’s what a label is pushing them to be. They were the kids that wore fancy-dress to the supermarket, the kids that licked the ice on metal rails just to get stuck and give their mates a right good laugh. They are exactly how they look, it’s not an act. They’re total nutters and I love them!

I mentioned earlier that the music feature this week isn’t “new”. The Surfbort track I’m bringing you is from their 2021 album “Keep On Truckin'” but they have just dropped a brand new video for the song “Open Your Eyes”. A video that features none other than skateboarding legend Tony Hawk! So, it’s kinda new, sort of.

The song is an infectious pop-punk number, in the traditional pop-punk sense, not this modern auto-tuned bollocks. It’s complete with a sunkissed, surf-rock feel-good vibe and I can’t get enough of it.

The music video is really close to my heart. No, I’m not a skateboarder. Far from it. My Marty McFly aspirations were killed back when I was around seven or eight and had an oversized adult skateboard that was just too difficult to do anything with. I am however someone who makes my own music videos and the DIY green screen efforts in this flick are something to be proud of. There is no attempt to hide the janky animation and I don’t think anyone would suggest that it wasn’t intentional. I absolutely love it. A middle-finger to over-produced bullshit and that’s something I fully embrace.

Open Your Eyes (Official Video) – Surfbort Ft. Tony Hawk

Keep On Truckin’ – Surfbort – Album 2021

Pub Rock for the Masses

My second music this pick also hasn’t released anything “new” in the past month. However, I only heard about them a few weeks ago and they’re totally busting the fuck out of America at the moment. I present to you Amyl and The Sniffers.

This Australian band is a riot of Punk and Pub Rock. The music they produce is raw and punchy. It’s like visiting some dodgy shithole pub somewhere in the outback and getting into a fight with the natives.

They are certainly not the kind of band that you’d expect to be featured on mainstream US TV but that’s exactly what happened recently on Late Night with Seth Meyers!

Amyl and The Sniffers – Late Night with Seth Meyers

The band are the epitome of “No Fucks Given”. Just get out there and play your nuts off, the music you wanna play not the music some suited arsehat is saying sells.

They’re a band that I’m sure will cause a riot when they hit the UK. Which is why I’ve already got tickets for the 5th June show at Nottingham Rock City!

What music have you been rockin’ this week? Anything you think I should be aware of? Leave me a comment or hit me up on social media. Have an awesome week!

Dazzle Rebel