The Blog Flamingo

 ØSTELLA - EASY TO KEEP ØStella, the tenacious Irish-Canadian alt-rock sensation from Edmonton, Alberta, is set to captivate global audiences. She merges Canadian rock tradition, Irish storytelling, and folk music for a mesmerizing sound. As I write this she is on her Who Needs This Tour-tour that already brought her from Canada to Europe. And she is doing this tour ... on her bicycle ! Driven by her passion for sustainability, ØStella's name reflects her commitment to responsible touring (hence the zero). She already covered an astonishing distance of more than 7.000 kilometers from gig to gig and we're still counting. It was hard to choose a song to put on my little blog, I like them all ! But Easy To Keep is the last song that she released. It's an earworm and I love the video that comes with it. Easy To Keep is a song that comes from ØStella's latest album Skyward. Skyward is the second of two mini albums (Freefall and Skyward) that comprise one larger record, Pe...

 STATIC - BROTHER It's a habit of mine to use Youtube-video's to go with the songs I write about. In this case I could not wait because this one is special to me.  Static are the artists in residence at The Black Flamingo (I wrote about them before in this article) and for Brother I had the privilege to see the song grow from scratch for they recorded it here on Flamingo soil. The song starts of in a tranquil way and builds up to be almost impending and there is a reason for this : Brother is a song about betrayal and backstabbing. Lander (the singer) sets of in a fragile, hurt voice but as the song evolves you can hear his anger. This, in combination with the secant guitar parts, tense bass and impressive pounding drums turns this into a song that gives me goosebumps when I hear it. No Youtube-video like I wrote before but you can listen to Brother on Spotify and Soundcloud . Stream their music, go see them live if you can (you won't be dissapointed), buy their merch an...

 ANDREW McGIBBON - FLAMINGOES OF LOVE Do you know The Bonnevilles ? The Northern Irish duo from Lurgan that don't so much play punk blues but rather used it as a spring board to create a completely new genre. They take Mississippi Hill Blues and Punk Rock and mix it into their own unique dark Northern Irish Punk Blues stew. If you don't know them it's your loss (seriously, just check them out) and you did not read this blog very well because I already mentioned them in this blogpost. Andrew McGibbon is one half of The Bonnevilles and in 2020 he already touched my music-loving hearth with his first solo album Northern Gothic and I was glad to hear that there is a new album coming up : Northern Gothic 2 - Letters To a Young Rebel. The album will not be ready for a while yet but Andrew already released a first single : Flamingoes of Love. It's a song in different layers. The first half of the song is very cinematic. When I close my eyes listening to it I see landscapes ...

 THE GREAT FAULTS - HOW DO YOU FEEL The Great Faults are an Indie Rock duo from Mülheim an der Ruhr in Germany. The two musicians switch instruments on stage, between guitar, drums, piano and bluesharp, expressing their love for old rock'n'roll and soul. The resulting energy always shows their earliest musical punk and grunge influences. How do you feel, for me, is a song that sticks in your head and the creative (diy?) video that comes with it is awesome. If you get the chance, go see them live, I think it's an amazing experience. And who knows, in the near future, they will come to a Black Flamingo near you. Lyrics : Partially in the video.

  TUESDAY VIOLENCE - MARABOU Last Friday I had the privilege to attend the Bridge City Sinners gig at Trefpunt in Ghent.  The gig was completely sold out but thanks to some great people (you know who you are) I still could go. The icing on the cake was that Tuesday Violence opened for BCS. Tuesday Violence is a Belgian (and a little bit of Dutch) trio that brings querky primitive garage punk... with an organ. And this (vintage) organ is important. Next to the straight in your face guitar rifs and pounding drums this organ provides a haunting atmosphere to the songs that throws you straight back to the sixties. All this combined with great vocals and an endless source of energy makes it almost impossible to stay unmoved by their show. The reason I chose Marabou was completely random. It could have been any of their songs, they are all amazing. Just check out the rest of their songs and I think you will know what I mean. Better yet, check them out live. I'm sure they will play...

  HE SAID NO - ALL THE BEST DAYS A new Eindhoven punk sensation. That's about all the info I found about this band. I don't know how they crossed my path but when I heared All The Best Days for the first time they drew my attention. You might have noticed on this blog that I am into a lot of different music styles and the songs I listen to are mostly influenced by the state of mind I'm in. Listening to (ska) punk music can give me energy to start my day when it comes from a band that "connects" with me. And I can feel a connection with He Said No. They stick with straight-forward, no nonsense punk and I like it. This video is not in the best quality but it seems that He Said No is not easy to find on Youtube. You can also find them on Spotify if you want to listen to them with a better sound. And in this version you also get a brass-section with it: ALL THE BEST DAYS (SPOTIFY) So, remember the name and go see them live. They are on my "wanna see" list f...

BLAKEFIELD - IN MY ARMS Blakefield is a Belgian band formed around Hans Bekaert (aka John Blakefield), a singer-songwriter hailing from the city of Leuven. Blakefield's music is a deeply personal reflection of his own struggles and experiences. The debut single, In My Arms is - according to the band - a meditation on love and loss but it also gives me a positive vibe. There is a fragrance of hope throughout the song. It's one of the songs I would like to listen to on a roadtrip where the journey is more important than the destination. And that's why it went on my playlist from the moment I heared it.  Lyrics : Did not find any yet.