Champanes was started by Lexi Freider after he made a Dutch bargain with a bass savage. Getting reinforcements from Puerto Rico, the band rehearses for the first time with drummer Tommy Daimes in April 2014. Lexi used to hang out in backstreet bars at the time, boozing up pure alcohol drinks. That is how he met Lisa, an Ariel Pink’s unlawful bride, and invited her to join the band. Defining themselves as a sparkling fun from outer space, Champanes were recording their first bedroom tapes. With regular line up changes, the band approached the ionosphere playing a number of shows. First half of 2015 caught Tommy and Lexi playing as a duo since Lisa had left the band at the beginning of the year. Writing a new song at each rehearsal, they presented a completely new set of songs in June. However, the going gets very tough in mid-summer. Only a miracle can save Champanes,and it actually does: in a haze of shoe Lexi meets Nick, a prophet pimping a red nine.
By the end of August, Champanes had reunited with Lisa and locked themselves in their own studio to set out into a six-month journey. “Daniel Laments”, a first song from the journey, was dropped by the band to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2016. Next Champanes' release was brought by Washington-based Really Rad records and contained two songs recorded during the journey. At this point the band has joined Beko disques family and started to prepare their new release called “Daysaway”. Lisa left the band for the last time. The female voice for “Daysaway” was provided by Laura, a friend of the band, when she coincidentally had boarded the band’s studio. From Pop 2 Top is happy to premiere the video for 'Daysaway', the title track of their new EP which is out today on Beko disques. The EP also contains a remix by Aldous RH and you can find it as 'Name your price' on Bandcamp. Enjoy the breezy and refreshing dreampop tune below.
Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, The Blessed Isles is a duo that makes dreamy pop music. In 2011 Aaron Closson and Nolan Thies released an EP and in 2012 they signed with the amazing Saint Marie Records and last year they caught our attention with 'Winter Moon' and a beautiful cover of Slowdive's 'When The Sun Hits', both part of Static Waves 3 . April 29th marks the release of their debut album "Straining Hard Against The Strength Of Night", which you can order on CD or vinyl here. The band have just premiered a video for 'Caroline', one of the album's gleaming tracks. You can watch it below.
