While we travelled cross interstates, highways, rails and airways to endure some of that classic Thanksgiving-togetherness, we catch up on everything not pertaining to football, electoral colleges and geopolitical crises. First we heard that Dave Grohl thinks QOTSA are the “baddest rock and roll band in the world”, Lil B followed up his Halloween H2O tape with the Crime Fetish mixtape just in time for Thanksgiving while Dum Dum Girls' Dee Dee and Crocodiles' Brandon Welchez formed the indie-ish supergroup Haunted Hearts with word of their single “Something That Feels Bad is Something That Feels Good”/”House of Lords” coming February 5 on Zoo Music featuring a crotch shot cover. We can all rest assured knowing that Sir Paul McCartney is still simply having a wonderful Christmas time sans turkey, while the Odd Future folks are making their Christmas show plans with a lyrical video sing along for Earl Sweatshirt's “Chum“, and Lil Wayne gets all Fear and Loathing in his music video for “No Worries“. While all that soaks in, we invite you to check out the what has made our turkey season bright in no particular order.
Exile & Johaz are readying their Dag Savage EP for January 15 from Dirty Science but in the meantime we just got their Salvation mixtape to bump, chocked full of appearances from Aloe Blacc, Blame One, Blu, Fashawn, Gonjasufi, J Mitchell, Justin Taylor, and more. On the savage road to redemptive salvation, Ex and Joh prepare for a certain spritual warfare where their hearts and minds must be both enboldened and open to battle against a post-apocalypse of robo cops and other evils to make their way to the safety of the dream dimension.
Also check out the video for “Dag Sav”, directed by Exile Manfredi where the Dag Savage duo gathers around the burning barrel drums for warmth and solidarity that turns in a surrealistic battle for the soul, met with masked entities from the other side.
Cincinnati’s Randall Rigdo operates under the handle Dark Colour, titling his hue driven moniker in the cross-the-pond English vernacular while keeping his dance music international at the nucleic core. Randall wears his heart on his sleeve with the dream dance wooing on “Be Your Man”, where he sounds like a man waking from a dream and finding himself in a world of flashing lights, repeating the logics that differentiate the unconscious and wakened life realms. Look for the upcoming Dark Colour album Prisoner coming in 2013.
Jason Lytle and Sea Of Bees teamed up together on a limited 7″ release where Jason covers Sea of Bees' “Won't Be Long” while Sea of Bees covers Lytle's “Get Up and Go”. The story revolves around the Twilight movie franchise's people reaching out to Jules Bees for an unreleased song, then Lytle performing a Bees cover complete with mechanical cricket chirps that fell upon the deaf ears of the movie soundtrack executives but is the world's gain. Jules in return covered “Get Up” with the encouragement of xylophonic confidence and sparse fuzz guitar, with extra helpings of that “everythings going to be alright” attitude of carefree whistling. Now the mutual collaboration between the two artists can be enjoyed now on 500 7″ copies pressed on transparent electric blue vinyl available now through a partnership between Crossbill Records and Off The Air Recordings.
Boody & Le1f get the beat popping as they dropped the Sam Jones directed “Soda” from the Liquid EP available now from Boysnoize Records. Memorable lines amid the a capella minimalist bassed out beat boxes are Le1f's chorus hook with, “She think she a cool cat but she don't like the water, step up to my ocean and dip in with the daughters, we wavy but the waves make you slave to the rhythm game, I'm emancipated put the syrup in your system.”
Fresh from touring with Black Milk and receiving Dallas Observer Awards; A.Dd+ have set to work on their new mixtape DiveHiFlyLo and share their new cut “Suitcases” to reiterate their might. Paris Pershun and Slim Gravy talk about living life on the road in and out of a suitcase, putting up with surroundings beyond one's control when on the tour circuit, but always letting you know that this Texas duo is definitely in the house.
The Crystal Ark's Viva Ruiz directed their video for “We Came To” from their self-titled album out now from DFA. In this visual treatment things get weird and wild from the outer space dimensions.
The indie gazettes heralded news this week of Parquet Courts signing to What's Your Rupture? and celebrated with a listen to their new single “Light Up Gold II”, which in 1 minute 13 seconds time rapid action fires the hopped up sound with “the color of something I was looking for”, making the kind of terse punk we have been looking months and years for. WYR? will release the Parquets Light Up Gold CD on January 15 who are also repressing it on vinyl for Dull Tools.
Following up Platinum: The Mixtape, the Baltimore-Brooklyn collabo of M.I. and DJ Cutt are Constant Deviants are proud to bring you their full-length album Diamond which will be available on vinyl and digital wise this coming January, available now on digital only from the group's own imprint, Six2Six Records.
Stirring up excitement is news of Jessica Pratt's self-titled available from Tim Presley's new label imprint, Birth Records. More Sibylle Baier than White Fence, Pratt takes you through the clear crystal waters of folk that rock critics pontificate about as by gone eras that are immediately disproven by both Presley and Pratt. Jessica's debut self-titled is available now from Birth Records.
Get ghettotech with these party beeps and Casio boops from Canada's Philthkids. Their Sweatpants EP comes out November 26 on Loose Squares and can be previewed with all the wonky electronic trimmings to work off those gravy-saturated calories.
Karriem Riggins' album Alone Together is out now from Stones Throw and we have the video for the first person perspective, morning to evening rumba,”Summer Madness” followed by a jazzy night club edit of “Matator” all directed by Donovan Glover and Gerard Victor.
Incan Abraham released the video for their title track “Springhouse” that encases the group with visual altering lights that flicker in time with the persistent keyboard loop. The clever direction from Jack Johnson and Teddy Cafaro utilizes the image superpositions to create twisting overlays of Teddy, Spencer, Giulano and Andrew's visages. Incan Abraham's Springhouse EP will be available November 27 on digital and limited edition 10″ vinyl from JAXART.
Dee-1 dishes his video for “Love Me Some You” while his #TheFocusTape free off of iTunes. Catch our boy playing class speaker for a day and getting caught up in some ratchet teacher's cheating triangle.
North Carolina's Ahleuchatistas bring their Courtney Chappel directed video for “Lighted Stairs” to the thanksgiving table that takes the band's instrumental pan-global approach that forges and fuses disparaties of musical approaches set to bars that climb stairways to the sky where Chappel collages visuals of military planes in flight, dropping bombs and providing a thought provoking visual conundrum to concepts of war and peace amid the swirls of shredding guitars and aural shrapnel. Ahleuchatistas' album Heads Full of Poison is available now on LP from Harvest Recordings and CD via Cuneiform Records.
Ahleuchatistas' percussive storm of “Wisps” takes out every drum stick in the garage to take on this dualistic monster jam.
Digits has been working on a serialized story/album called In the City of the Dead and released both Chapter 8 and the euro dance zombie-tech of “Walk With The Dead” courtesy of Bad Panda Records.
“Chapter 8: Walking with the Dead
The flatbed truck rolls slowly through the streets of the city, speakers blaring as J performs from its centre. Five armed Mona Lisas are also aboard, in case of trouble.
J’s recruitment jingle seems to go over well. People in the city are unaccustomed to hearing music much anymore, and the truck quickly attracts a following of impoverished and impressionable youth.
They occasionally have to re-route around packs of zombies, but the membership drive goes smoothly. They celebrate later at the Underground. The Mona Lisas are pleased with J and are happy to keep him under their protection. J feels a slight sense of security, a feeling he hasn’t experienced since it all started.
But his conscience is not clean.”
Brooklyn's Railbird released their single “MIRRORs” this week from their forthcoming Lucky EP available November 27. Listen to the elastic electric zaps contrasted by Sarah Pedinotti's vocals that flutter like an image bouncing between two mirrors reflecting an object or sound, then replicating it times the frames of infinity.
NYC MC Jesse Abraham dropped his Paul White produced new cut, “Not Enough Warriors”, mixed/mastered by Alejandro “Sosa” Tello Jr. that was recorded at Ampliphonic Studios, Queens NY. Bringing more champs, and warriors of words, peep the further production from !LLMIND, Paul White, Tommy Black and guest starring appearances from Emilio Rojas and Chino XL. Abraham's I Am Water will be released January 29 from Fat Beats with proceeds going to Charity Water.
If you dig holiday, happy, forest dancing vibes; then check out Mynabirds video for “Body of Work” directed by Allie Avital Tsypin off their album GENERALS.
Freeway delivered the early bird special “Early” featuring production from by Just Blaze dropping some pearls ahead of the release of Diamond In The Ruff, due November 27 on Babygrande Records. Freeway's words of knowledge are kitted out from the percussion driven clasps and slaps from blaze who keeps a nod to the old school with a Sly and the Family Stone “hey, hey” sample.
We also got Freeway's video for “Jungle”, where Jimmy Giambrone along with GRVTY bring you visuals from the concrete and brick jungles with the rolling Porches and Bentleys from Phillie's bearded baller. Shout outs to the string sampled cinematics courtesy of Incredible Stro.
Errors' “White Infinity” received the royal remix treatment from Memory Tapes, along with being featured on that cryptic Displaced Mix we debuted earlier this week from Dayve Hawk. Errors’ album New Relics is available from Rock Action Records, while the new Memory Tapes album Grace/Confusion is slated for release December 4 from Carpark.
Ulrich Schnauss delivered the video for title track, “A Long Way To Fall” ahead of the album's Domino release, scheduled for February 12 and on January 18 from Scripted Realities. Hidden Shrine's Nat Urazmetova sets the falling sound of keys and ancient piano instruments to the slow and still lifes of red streaked nights, calm settings, green cast waters and the municipal light utilities that stand like palm trees. Schnauss prepares what will be his solo work in 6 years time that has seen him sue Axl Rose for infringement while building what we can only begin to describe as an electronic dream ziggurat to crush the threat Rose poses to potentially jeopardize the GnR legacy further. (we hope)
Darlings stopped by with their new single “Nothing I Don't Care For” from 2013's forthcoming album, The Perfect Trip. Peter, Maura, Joe and Matt take their college days of Bleecker Street demos to Philadelphia's Headroom Studio with mixing accomplished at Brooklyn's Death by Audio for a sound that you might care a lot for.
Pac Div brings it all back with “The Return” featuring Ty$ and production from Mars 1500. Mibbs champions the divisions returning reign while reaching out to their beloved LA scene that saw them kicking it with the likes of fellow kingpin mic killers Blu and Kendrick Lamar on the recent Swiff D produced album cut, “Cross Trainers“. Pac Div drops their big album return GMB November 27.
Girls Names get the remix treatment from JD Twitch (Optimo) as their 12″ single is available now from Slumberland/Tough Love. The bands echoes of searching for a better, brighter existence is the central essence of “The New Life” that Twitch expands upon with more drums, keyboards that add a few minutes on to the 7 minute original.
We also got the Lifelike dance-athon-chic remix of The Presets' “Promises” from the Promises Remix EP coming to dancefloors worldwide December 4 in the US, December 7 and December 10 in the UK from Modular People.
Turbonegro keeps the season of thanks grizzled with the “I Got A Knife” video directed by Andy Capper off Sweden's ever evolving and aging cockrockers' new album, Sexual Harassment.
7evenThirty dropped Oddissee's remix of “Nightmare” that reworks the track with choral choirs, strings and computer sounds that turn the cinematic switches way up. The original cut is on 7's new album, Heaven's Computer, available now from the Mello Music Group.
L'Orange drops the title cut “The Mad Writer (feat. yU)”, takes a sip from the gold goblet where U brings high drama tales of life, love, death and a writer on the edge. L'Orange's new album The Mad Writer is available now via Bandcamp.
Boys Noize is setting up a massive live American tour rumored to include the likes of Spank Rock, Strip Steve, DJEDJOTRONIC, Rynecologist, UZ and Le1f (of Boody & Le1f) and Destructo. We have the new Noize cut “Yellow (featuring Siriusmo) off of the Ich R U single availble now from Boys Noize Records sure to lift up your frontal lobes.
La Sera's Katy Goodman guests on Episode 9 of T.J. Miller's Funny Or Die/The Warner Sound talk show; “The Gorburger Show”. Watch as the barbaric, comedic alien does his usual Japanese news show take over while presses Goodman about rumors of her “kickball” past. La Sera's Sees The Light is available now from Hardly Art.
Pittsburgh, Cali's A-Wax dropped his latest mixtape, Pie-Rx Muzik as he rolls out the debut of his new label, Pie-Rx Recordz. If your thanksgiving had you cooking up a storm in you family's kitchen, then grab a listen to what A's been cooking up at home these days.
Fresh from their NYC record release show for The Dunham/Daptone album The Crossing; Menahan Street Band give you “Lights Out” with some vintage boxing visuals and that brass brought to you from the The Dap-Kings, Antibalas, Budos Band and The Expressions.
Night Moves' album Colored Emotions saw recent release from Domino Records and this week they dropped the Isaac Gale and David Jensen directed video for “Country Queen”, full of that 70s proto-dawn of the music video style of glassy stage lights illuminating colorful, sappy emotions.
Helping close out this week is Australia's Dancing Heals' soft, smooth romantic pop with “Charlie Brown” that begs the Peanuts protagonist not to cry, a pledge to keep him by and in mind amid the keyboard hand wave glow and sparse guitar murmurs.
Azita brought a live studio session of her piano driven “It's Understanding” that looks to find answers and reasons why behind the useless futilities that go lifetimes unexplained. Azita Youseffi's album Year is available now from Drag City.
In remembrance of Austin Peralta, we leave you with “Epilogue: Renaissance Bubbles” from the Brainfeeder release Endless Planets.
