The end of the year is on the horizon but YK Records has MANY new treats for you still left to be unveiled. Just last week you got two brand new songs from The Robe! Hope you’re devouring those.

Today, we’re excited to announce the YK Records Holiday Sampler 2024. This has been in the works for the entire year and we finally get to unveil it to the world. Twenty tracks from twenty YK artists of original and classic holiday songs. We are biased but you are going to love it.

This compilation of goodies won’t be released until December 6th but you can preorder it today. By doing so, I’ll ensure you get to hear 2 of the songs before it’s officially released. And that’s not even the best news!

The proceeds of the compilation will donated to CASA Nashville, a non-profit organization that ensures foster children have safe homes. Paying for music may seem archaic in 2024 but helping kids have safe and happy holidays is timeless.

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The Tracks!

Roger Moutenot – Letter to Santa
Tower Defense – What Do You Want For Christmas?
Matt & The Watt Gives – No Child (Wants Their Picture Made With Santa)
The Robe – Gloria In Excelsis Deo (Calceamentum Vultus)
Coupler – Christmas Time Is Here
New Man – Christmas is a Mirror of the Mind
Trash Man – Wire Christmas Tree
Birdcloud – Cool Christmas
Telefone – Toys
Little Bandit – (Have Yourself) A Merry Little Christmas
Talking with Hands – Christmas Time
Fetching Pails – Where the Santas Meet
Stone Jack Jones – Away in a Manger
Annie Williams – Ave Maria
The Myrrhmen – Ding Dong Merrily On High
Shaboi – The Day After Christmas
Mac Burrus & Tiffany Topol – With You (This Christmas)
The Features – The New Christmas Wish Book
sugar sk*–*lls – Last Christmas
Black Bra – Just Like Christmas (Ode to Mimi)

Hopefully by now when you see The Robe and J.B. Bennett listed together, you know you’re in for a treat. Previously, the two released The Jason EP (2021) and “Suddenly Last Summer” (2024) and it’s clear that their mind meld works wonders together. Now they are back in collaboration with “N as in Nina” b/w “In Panorma.” I recommend tuning in and letting yourself soar into the outer reaches – fully immerse yourself.

The tracks are on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and everywhere you like to stream. Get them in your rotation.

Here are both tracks on YouTube, for your convenience.

If you haven’t heard everything from The Robe this year, please steer your browser over to this playlist and hit shuffle.

As with Eve Maret and Meadownoise and many others who have contributed to this exercise, it’s always fascinating to hear the inspirations and influences of an artist, particularly when they select the playlist themselves!

Trash Man has provided an absolute blast of a playlist – 30 minutes across 11 songs. It’s appropriately brief given the brevity of his own work. The playlist is available on Spotify and YouTube Music (which, if you didn’t know, is really just differently looking YouTube). Here it is embedded for your convenience:

When you’re done listening, go queue up Moment of Bleakness and see if you can hear those influences seeping through. It’s on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and all the rest!

The Privates were active from 2004 to 2009; releasing two albums and two EPs in that time. They played a good number of shows but never toured outside of Nashville. Every band members all went on to do additional projects that are fascinating and compelling in their own, very different, ways.

When Dave Paulson approached me to release We Are Really Rocking Now, Haven’t We? I was immediately on board. I’ve listened to the catalog of Privates work countless times and immediately loved the two new songs. I think it’s safe to say I am not alone in that feeling.

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First off, the Nashville Scene provided a full page article on the Best Of compilation – “The Privates Revisit a Standout Catalog in Nashville Rock.” It’s a great read filled with insightful and memorable quotes from the band, including this one:

“We’re like cicadas,” says Paulson. “We basically come back and do the same thing. I assume when all those cicadas get out of the ground, they’re like, ‘Ah, we still got it. Nothing’s changed.’”

The Basement was absolutely packed with fans like myself ready to hear the band reunite for the first time in over a decade. The night was opened by Matt & The Watt Gives with an absolutely stellar set and then The Privates returned to the stage. They did not disappoint.

The Scene returned with even more coverage of the show – “The Privates Pilot Their Local-Rock Time Machine Back to 2008” – providing eloquent insights on the performances of both bands and a set of photos from Steve Cross that help capture the evening.

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It’s unclear if this is the end of the line for The Privates re-emergence. There are no plans for additional shows but there’s also no plans to not have shows.

There’s no telling if there will be more music or more shows from the band but it’s clear that their music still grabs people in all the right ways. YK is honored to be a part of the preservation process to ensure that anyone that has previously enjoyed the band can continue to do so and, maybe, some new fans will hop along as well.

Let’s hope that it won’t be a full cicada cycle before we speak of them again.

Talking with Hands third album, Organic Machine, is an examination of the relationship between man, machine and the music indsutry. Generative AI and Human Creativity have a fascinating coupling at this point in time. It’s undeniably helpful but also potentially teetering on taking creative jobs. In that same wheelhouse, music as an art form is being devalued due to tech moguls decisions to treat everything as content. It’s not personal, it’s just business.

These are all heady subjects but Talking with Hands tackles them incredibly effectively and charmingly. With the latest single, “Everything is Better,” there’s a direct dialogue between these two things. However, it’s unclear how that relationship is going.

Matthew Smith has never told me directly what the song is about but the combination of his delivery and the lyrics themselves leaves plenty of room for interpretation. Does the narrator truly love the subject? Is it reciprocal? Is the narrator a human or machine? Does the music video undermine the song itself as a bit of distracting hand waving? Only you can decide these things.

The video is available on YouTube and the album is streaming everywhere. If you wish to support it, find it on Bandcamp and Ampwall.

Hearing the songs that inspire and influence an artist is never not a compelling undertaking. Eve Maret recently put together a wonderful collection of songs that sparked “Mantra” / “Miracle,” her latest single.

Listening to these tracks and then playing back the single, you can clearly hear the through line of inspiration. It’s also a nice reminder of just how hard that David Geutta / Benny Benassi collaboration hits!

Hear it on Spotify or YouTube. If you want to hear it somewhere else, get in touch!

Getting a peek into an artist’s process is always a fascinating endeavor. Demo’s of songs can often be so compelling that artists suffer from demoitis; an all too common infliction that prevents them from trying anything other than the demo!

Fortunately, Trash Man did not encounter that fate and was able to capture his ideas in some compelling demos and then proceed with letting them flourish into full-fledged versions of themselves. Listen below for the direct compare and contrast playback – the demo and the final Moment of Bleakness version.

To hear the full version of the studio versions of these songs from Moment of Bleakness, head over to Bandcamp, Ampwall or any ole streaming service.

A little over a year ago, Talking with Hands (aka Matthew Smith) was working on some new music to follow-up his second full-length, New Public Domain. He set out to craft two EPs; less daunting than an album and more concise in their subject matter. The topics most top of mind were Artificial Intelligence’s entanglements with creativity and the general bleakness of being a musician in the era of streaming. Heady to say the least.

While honing those batches of songs a funny thing happened; it became abundantly clear that these two separate-and-heady concepts were actually one album’s worth of cohesive-and-clear thoughts. Organic Machine officially emerged.

Songs like “#1 Record” are about the desire for recognition as an artist, despite big tech leaders like Spotify’s Daniel Ek making it clear that music is only becoming more devalued. “King of Hands” is a nod to AI’s inability to manifest a standard five digit hand while also ruminating on creativity itself. “Unprofessional Artist” (a personal favorite) is a contemplative piece about the compulsion towards creativity; the enjoyment of the process and not just working towards some nebulous prize.

These concepts sound like dense tomes but Smith allowed himself to embrace an “anything goes” approach to the sonic landscape. He weaves these ideas into big hooks with buzzy guitars, memorable verses with sampling flourishes or hyper-processed vocals with multiple narrators. It is anything but dense feeling. It is light, catch and memorable start to finish.

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Organic Machine is available everywhere today. It’s on Bandcamp, Ampwall and your streaming service. Get it on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music or whatever it is you like to use. Listen to it while you’re reading this. Tell a friend about it.

On a personal note, I’m over the moon excited for everyone to hear this. Conceptually, the album is right up my alley. Musically, the album checks a ton of boxes for me as it is reminiscent of AIR, Jason Falkner, XTC, et al but imbues so much of Smith’s own originality you can’t pin it down.

We worked extensively on the lead up to today; culling remixes for “#1 Record“, “King of Hands” and “Organic Machine“, making videos with Asher Rogers lending a ton of creativity. Matt flew to Austin to film a short for “Organic Machine” with TJ Masters – it’s an honest-to-god incredible piece of work. We made all the artwork for everything collaboratively; I’m incredibly proud of the Black Mirror-esque animated album design. Tye Bellar mastered it with a finesse that should not go unnoticed.

All that is to say, for an album about the fears of AI and the self-doubt of being an artist, we created something undeniably human. No amount of prompt engineering could have gotten us here. I hope you enjoy the results as much as we enjoyed creating them… human to human.

Back in August, Fetching Pails introduced a new era of the band with fresh trio lineup and a new single called “Shattery.” Today, that new era of the band continues with “The Witching Hour” – an ethereal track that is both moody and dance-y. As Samhain approaches, it’s an excellent soundtrack addition for parties, coven meetings and staying awake until 3am.

We don’t like to give too much away about the meaning of songs but “The Witching Hour” is, supposedly, partially inspired by that feeling of creative inspiration that keeps you up all night. If you go to sleep, that feeling may be gone. Stay awake. Keep going!

The track is available on Bandcamp, Ampwall and all your streaming services – Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, etc. etc. Please click through and add it to your favorite Halloween playlist.

Directed by TJ Masters, the final preview single from Talking with Hands is no mere music video; this is a full-on short film. Before you proceed any further, hit play below.

The film was shot in Austin, TX and was captured entirely on Kodak film. The film leans into the practical over the digital, despite the subject matter. Clearly we’re biased but it’s a beautiful piece of work.

To learn more about the pre-production and production of the short, read through TJ Masters notes here and here. I recommend both, highly.

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As with our previous singles for Organic Machine, this film is accompanied by a maxi-single containing multiple remixes. The first remix is by Matt Smith himself (aka Talking with Hands), providing an absolutely wild deconstruction of his own song. The second, from Needless Frets, is the debut offering from a drummer and director of another YK band – we’re happy to have it here!

It’s all available on Bandcamp, Ampwall and all your streaming services.

While any and all support is appreciated, if you pick up the album, you will receive all of the remixes as well.