Keeping you up to date with all the advancements, evolutions, and changes of our time is the latest edition of Impose's trusty, Week in Pop. With hosts of breaking headliners to share with you all, we first drive head on into the week's following headlines, like Heems' pretty fly Japanese Vitaminwater commercial, Nirvana's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and star studded afterparty, overdrive hype surrounding the Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López and Flea project Antemasque, Drake asking folks on the street about Drake in disguise on Kimmel, Colbert to inherit The Late Show from the retiring Letterman in 2015, the sudden losses of Peaches Geldoff and the Ultimate Warrior, ICP's merry fan-bands of juggalos have started their own cryptocurrency called JuggaloCoin, and according to reports, bizarro dentist Michael Zuk from Alberta, Canada is damn serious about cloning John Lennon and raising him as his own progeny. So while we figure out what to make of it all, we bring you insights, interviews, exclusives, and more from our friends The Other Bones, Dub Thompson, Aunt Dracula, Brett, Walking Shapes, Young Boy, and more — in no particular order.
Rising electro pop group The Other Bones have made the move to Portland, Maine from their apartment recorded demo days in Somerville, Massachusetts. Their story begins with vocalist Loretta Allen embracing her own Loretta Lynn, with producer and instrumentalist Andrew Mead recording a country cover a Killers' track, before bringing in New Jersey guitarist Eric Bruce. Garnering attention around their new Northeast home, The Other Bones trio is gearing up some East Coast dates running from April 22 through 26, but not before sharing their single and lyric video for, “Damage”.
Following up the electric evening fever of the Hinges EP; “Damage” takes those at home big pop sentiments to larger and higher stakes. Mead's production keeps everything closer and tighter together, where the dance-jazzed synths rub against Loretta's vocals, and electronic auras of evening wrap around Eric's guitar. The close stitching of instruments keeps all the bold and low calls from Loretta to, “get up, get up” into the disco ball damages of dancehall dynamics and etiquette. Like the lyric videos reflections of disotheque lights, The Other Bones make a move to take over the electro-channeled radio waves and charts dominated by the echelons of the overblown and overload. Switching on all the electric charm and exhibition of abilities, these three warriors take on dance pop music's royal courts and falsely occupied thrones.
The Other Bones's Loretta Allen talked to us about recording their Hinges EP, their new single, the roads ahead, and more.
What was the process of recording Hinges like?
To record Hinges, we gathered up the only songs we'd written as a band — having existed as The Other Bones for a few months or so — and worked for weeks to bring them out of the loop-based environment into a more structured form. Being in the studio let us give the songs the clean-cut sheen they have now, but they all still have the best pieces of what the three of us wrote together in a romantically disgusting practice space by the local train station.
What are you all working now for the follow up?
Once we released Hinges, we realized that the quality of our record was greatly outstripping the quality of our live show. We spent the better part of a year improving ourselves as live musicians, learning how to work and play and write with each other, and being uncompromisingly picky about what music to make next. In the last several months we've been able to narrow our focus to the combination of R&B and electronic pop that our next record will have. We're expecting our debut LP to be released at the end of this summer.
What inspired and went into the chemistry of the switched on, and electrified single, “Damage”?
The original version of “Damage” sprang from a love of the dance-heavy pop coming from British musicians like Disclosure and Rudimental. Andrew put together a beat that Eric played over during one of our writing sessions, and I took an iPhone recording of it with me on a walk the next day. I wrote most of the lyrics in 20 minutes on that walk and brought them to our next practice. The song was infused with more of our hip hop and synth-pop roots during our final studio session for the track, resulting in the blend of genres in the single.
(The Other Bones at Port City Music Hall, courtesy of Tom Couture Photography.)
What's the state of the indie scenes of Portland, Maine?
Portland's a small city, but the indie scene is startlingly large and thriving. It is hands-down the most welcoming, community-based, and loving group of musicians I've ever been a part of.
The Other Bones' Hinges EP is available now via Bandcamp.
Check out their following dates with Ace Reporter.
April
22 – Winooski, VT – The Monkey House
23 – Cambridge, MA – TT The Bears
24 – Portsmouth, NH – Thirsty Moose
25 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby's All Right (BAR)
26 – Portland, ME – Empire with Clifflight + Contrapposto
(Enjoying the home life with Dub Thompson's Max and Evan. (all photos used courtesy of Ward Robinson Photography.)
The following piece was weeks in the making. When news of a band from Agoura Hills, California that went by the name of Dub Thompson was recording an album with Jonathan Rado in Bloomington- our attention was piqued. An initial early listen to their upcoming album 9 Songs for Dead Oceans was reminiscent of Rado's time capsule smashing solo work, but also something much more anarchic. We wanted to know everything, so we began pitching a variety of inquiries and nosy questions to the band.
We were bitten on first listen, as opener “Hayward” shreds up the kraut-canons while destroying everything in it's path. “Dograce” keeps the tube amps glowing with an advancement and upgrade from the 'rat race' chic, to raise a rocking toast to the undisputed underdog champions of the world. Living up to their name Dub Thompson, Max and Evan, under the auspices of Rado ghost through dub plates with space echoplex vocal sirens. But the sound and styles never sit still through the hypnotic exercises in explosive exremism present on “Epicondyles” and “Pterodactyls”, and the radio dial turn up on, “Mono”. The garage grinding wonders of 9 Songs stings with excitement, and we brainstormed a series of deconstructive Dub Thompson survey of song breakdowns that never happened.
With the record playing in the Goldmine Sacks office on repeat, we were determined to get inside the heady worlds of Dub Thompson. Our initial ill-fated feature proposals revolved around questions surrounding Max and Evan's erratic affection for transforming vintage acetates of audio artifacts into some kind of post-new jazz. Neither accepted were our propositions to get the group's own self-defined semantic correlatives for the Dub Thompson sound, or the also ignored mono record collecting theories and metaphors. But after weeks of back and forth dialogues through publicists and managment, we were finally able to break through the red and yellow tape, to get a closer view and listen to some of Agoura Hill's coolest cats in our following interview with Max and Evan.
And how did the whole idea of titling the album 9 songs come about while only providing 8 songs?
There should really be 9.
Is the title like one of those Johnny Rotten moments, when the 'Pistols played their last gig at Winterland in SF, and he snarls into the microphone, “Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?” Like taking the piss right out of the whole album titling game?
I'm sticking with, yes.
The state of albums in 2014 according to Dub Thompson?
The album seems to be in stable condition. We could be absolutely wrong though. We listen to albums a lot I've realized lately…
The state of the single in 2014 according to Dub Thompson?
Sometimes we all just wanna hear one really cool song y'know? Rock the Casbah.
Tell how the upbringing in Agoura Hills affected and gave rise to the phenomenon of Dub Thompson.
Agoura happens to be a faceless vanilla black hole. We still rep the colors, though. Agoura high school rules.
What are the scenes there like? Any favorite artist or groups from there of past or recent you all care to name?
We grew up playing in bands and all that. There'd be a lotto breakups and swapping members and recording everyone's Blink-182 rock music. I was in a spinoff band from this one guy Chris Bowman, who ended up in Bad Suns and played on Conan last night. Epic.
What were the recording seshes like with Jonathan when you were sharing a roof?
Violently rushed.
Love that throwback, soft focus rendering on the television performance video that Robert Beatty did.
How did that whole production come about with your track, “Dograce”?
The concept for that video was to copy EXACTLY that Can video on youtube where they play “Paperhouse” on live in 1972 on German TV with some public access vibe.
Ours is better though right?
You have described your music and kind of reflection of our of everyone making music in this internet connected portable that has erased these former constructs like “place and time”, and as bands continue to do away with these constraints of genre, where do you all see these evolving music movements traveling toward?
There will always be the purists out there, and they're mostly harmless. Forward music.
What do you project Dub Thompson to be doing and perhaps sounding in 2015?
We've been fantasizing about making something very commercial. Lucrative. Next year we will be making a lot of money.
I'm sure you got everyone asking what's in your record store bag, iPod, or whatever, but can you give us a top 3 from the Dub Thompson tour van(s)?
Check Your Head, Beastie Boys
Dirty Mind, Prince
Empire Burlesque, Bob Dylan
Dub Thompson's album 9 Songs will be available June 10 from Dead Oceans.
Philadelphia visionary, Aunt Dracula saw the Excepter remix of his single, “Statue of Gordon”, get the television tube-abstract visualized treatment, courtesy of Logan Owlbeemoth. Found on the forthcoming remix release of tracks from Aunt Dracula's album epic, Face Peel entitled, Peel Face; Logan draws together clashed VHS vanity through utilization of footage reels from Rodney Mullen's “Quiet Storm”, Fantazia “Donnington '92” and Gou Miyagi. The spliced and sliced video tape approach presents processed visuals pureed in a VCR cassette-recorder blender to match Excepter's exceptional rework of Aunt Dracula's “Gordon”.
By now, we consider Aunt Dracula's mighty album, Face Peel to be part of the great post-modern musical canon, as everything surrounding this project continues to mesmerize our melons. The project of Scott Daly, recording a new Aunt Dracula full length in Philadelphia with Jeff Zeigler, and the Peel Face remix release that will feature The Swirlies' Damon Tutunjian, Eric Copeland from Black Dice, Markus Popp from Oval, Prince Rama, Tex from Indian Jewelry and Excepter, as featured in the video. Like we have seen in the previous videos from Owlbeemoth, from “Speckled Hawk” to “Timecoat“; the scrambled analog cable channels snaps from their coaxial tethered coils and into the enigmatic, and every shape-shifting movements of Daly's aural designs. So for Excepter's reworking of “Statue of Gordon” we get the “Quit Storm” collage from Rodney Mullen, mixed with Fantazia “Donnington '92” and Gou Miyagi for full on dance-skate event that is effaced and obscured through the art of visual dissonance, and blistering yet blissful static distortion. The color contrasts flip in time to Excepter's abrasive rhythm take over that throws Scott's ethereal air, along with any sense of safety and caution into the obliterating-oblivion of the wind.
Without further ado, we bring you our recent conversation with one of indie America's greatest underground heroes from Philly; Aunt Dracula's Scott Daly.
What first inspired you to create the music vehicle known as Aunt Dracula?
I started making music kind of late and was very into experimental sounding pop music. I guess I always knew I wanted to be in a band and gravitated towards the more esoteric or forward thinking ones. I liked the idea of using the whammy bar like bands like MBV, and Swirlies did so I guess that was probably my first inspiration. Also, seeing what a band like Animal Collective were up to around 2000-2005 was a catalyst because I recognized them as in a league of their own as far as combining experimentation and pop sensibility.
How did the name come together?
I guess just one day I was messing around with names in my head and it popped up. I guess when people ask that question I usually say that Aunt is kind of like a representation of the sweet and sugary pop parts of the project, while Dracula obviously being a horror thing also represents the darker more abrasive elements of the music.
What is your own creative-developmental approach when it comes to writing, composing, and making music as Aunt Dracula?
I usually just mess with sounds a lot. Sometimes I will record a few hours of random stuff and then cull through it and pick out the stuff that I think fits in with whatever I am working on with guitar or samples. I use weird tunings a good bit because you can find different dissonant tones that sound different than something you could do with a standard tuning. Sometimes you find some really complex sounding chords that way.
When you recorded the full-length, Face Peel, was the concept working behind some kind of Indiana Jones “face melting” type of idea? I loved those reptilian / alien eyes that peer through on the album's cover.
I'm not sure what you mean by Indiana Jones, but the name has a a number of meanings. First, as you bring up I suppose it could be said to describe the characteristics of the music. Face peeling pop or something. Also Face Peel has more to do with the discarding of the false self and the embrace of the true self. You can also get a face peel. The reptilian/alien eyes can interpreted however you wish I suppose.
Tell us about the remix album, Peel Face that is in the works. What other sorts of remixes can we expect and who all else will be remixing on this release?
The remixers on the Peel Face record besides this Excepter track include, Eric Copeland from Black Dice, Markus Popp from Oval, Prince Rama, Damon Tutunjian from Swirlies, and Tex from Indian Jewelry just to name a few..
(Exceptor, courtesy of the band)
Interested in hearing your thoughts on Excepter taking “Statue of Gordon” and making it trippier, dancier, stranger, and clocking in over eight minutes.
Excepter did an awesome job remixing the track. I love it and think it grows on you the more you listen to it. It sounds best loud. It's just that kind of track. The dance-y, trance-y, direction they took the track in is definitely sweet since it's completely different than my track. The way the track evolves and then eventually climaxes is also way great.
How did the Logan Owlbeemoth video (that pulls from Rodney Mullen's “Quiet Storm”, Fantazia “Donnington '92”, and Gou Miyagi) for the Exceptor remix happen? Those analogue visual abstracts add another layer to the remix's state of kinesis.
It is filmed using a Tachyons+ video glitch synth using HI-8 and CRT television to capture the analog visual effects. Logan is the supreme glitch wizard and his videos are always top notch as far as I'm concerned. He is definitely one of the best video artists out there right now.
State of the Philly scene these days?
Philly has a good music scene with some bands that are really doing well right now. It's always had potential since the rent here is cheaper than New York, but I think that recently some artists have really broken out which is great to see.
Some of your favorite Philly acts?
The War on Drugs, Bardo Pond, Mary Lattimore/Jeff Zeigler duo, Kurt Vile, Purling Hiss, Drums Like Machine Guns, Creepoid.
Some of your favorite acts that aren't from Philadelphia?
Indian Jewelry, Swirlies, Wolf Eyes, Excepter, Black Dice, Pictureplane, Oval, Prince Rama, MBV, Soft Metals, Ariel Pink, Os Ovni, Gang Gang Dance, Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks, Beedeegee.
Spring and summer plans?
I am working a lot right now trying to be able to move to NY and also finish these records, as the next Aunt Dracula full length has been in the works for a long time and a single to precede that will probably be out shortly after Peel Face is finished. Very, very excited for people to hear that stuff.
Aunt Dracula's album, Face Peel is available now via Bandcamp.
Meet Washington, D.C.'s Brett, the newest signee to Cascine, who are preparing their self-titled for release May 20, sharing the gorgeous album opener, “Chalon”. A new duo comprised of Kevin Bayly and Mick Coogan, they tackle collective situations of social discontinuities of the past that have ended the greatest and worst relationships ever. The senses of separation and the glory of closure is told in terms of some of the biggest and boldest stones of sound, covering the up charms and caverns of resentment through lyrics that draw lines in the sand, reiterating “don't come around here”, while hovering and shining keys ring out.
Kevin and Mick have the that perfect close texture of guitar-to-synth and vocals tied neatly to every fiber and thread of the production's canvas. On “Chalon”, break ups are boasted in the brightest of sensibilities that takes off after packing up and collecting Brett's rightful belongs, making a sports car get away to the sound of a newfound freedom. Heartbreak and the onset of sadness is served with a shrug and a smile, and chorus builds that keep shining while busting out lists of deal breaking woes. “All the holidays, on the telephone, with the hangers on, all the boys you know, and I swear I thought, that I knew you well, when I piss you off, I can never tell.” The pasts and times wasted with passive aggressive debutantes are told off in the most elegant of electronic indie pop terms.
We bring you our recent discussion with Brett's Kevin Bayly and Mick Coogan that takes us into their visual and imaginative aspects of their composition process, amongst other things.
With news of your upcoming album for Cascine, tell us how you discovered your inner pop singer-songwriter.
Mick: I think good pop inspires imagination. Listening and composing music is a very visual and imaginative process for me. No one is re-inventing pop music — it's the same notes on the piano for everyone and the patterns and rhythms will always be the same. But as an artist, you try to achieve subtle and timely moments within those patterns that hopefully define a song as truly 'yours.' As a fan, that's what I'm listening for at least.
How did the composing and song-sketch compiling come together in the creation of the Brett album?
M: Kevin and I had been bouncing ideas back in forth for a few years. And everyone in the band shares a similar melodic palette, so we really enjoyed collaborating on the productions. I think this collection is the result of looking very closely at a group of songs and working and working them to a point where we felt there was a cohesive expression and that we could share our vision of pop.
On the opening number and single, “Chalon”, I am all about this opening lyric:
“I know you remember, what you said in Baltimore, okay just forget it, let's turn on the t.v. show, I can't bear to take you, places you already go, kills me when you're laughing, with those guys you hardly know.”
There is something so real about that situation, like one of those autobiographical relays of situations set to the all-consuming electric-bath production. What is the story behind “Chalon”? And why does the backdrop of Baltimore always make for epic break-up songs and stories? I know Gram Parsons has one with, “Streets of Baltimore”, and I remember an old relationship I had that went south during a trip to Baltimore to meet my girlfriend at the time's estranged father. Brutal.
M: Baltimore has always been a stimulating place for me. It's a city where I have made many memories and I think the landscape of the city is ghostly and beautiful and the humanity there palpable.
I love the interplay between those crystalline keys and then that 90s Brit-pop glam guitars (a la Bernard Butler) that take over toward the end. What is the secret to composing these beautiful, delicate and well-manicured productions?
M: I always felt there was a certain prettiness to this record and I think the guitars take a little bit of the sheen off the production and give it more life. I think the cacophony is welcome. I think we hope to pull the listener closer and closer, then push them away a little.
Kevin: I loved the phasey gazey guitar layers in the early Smashing Pumpkins records — I think we were trying to bring that evocative vibe into a more subtle place.
Give us a scene snapshot of what the latest haps are in D.C. these days.
K: There's a lot more going on nowadays — lot's of good electronic music around the city. More venues — both clubs and DIY spaces. A lot of new stuff has been going on the last year or so.
Who are some of your D.C. musician peers that you truly appreciate?
K: I really like the artists in the city that are making interesting electronic music — the guys in Beautiful Swimmers and Mysteries of the Mind. We also share some members with our friends Misun and Furniteur.
What are you listening to these days?
M: Unfortunately, the internet has been liquifying music for me recently. But I think “Makthaverskan” is pretty pure.
K: I'm somewhere between deep house and thrift store disco records. Lot's of Beats in Space.
Brett's self-titled will be available May 20 from Cascine.
The other week we shared Walking Shapes' video for “Winter Fell”, full of fancy feet and body work from Karolina Wallace and Darla Baker, captured by filmographers Alexander Evan Morales and Adam Erick Wallace. Since before the debut of their debut release Mixtape Vol 1, we have followed the Brooklyn band through the various stages of slow leaks that have lead up to the release of Taka Come On for No Shame.
The frigid air of winter is described in Nathaniel's song as the boredom that brings about the anxiety, through the repetitions of, “I worry too much.” The new-new-New York groove of Walking Shapes brings the shades of Mixtape into the folds of more elaborate art forms, with the dance classroom performances that make gorgeous choreography to chase out the cold spells of winter. The Shapes ring out and sing out the loneliness of urban living during the seasons of ice and snow, with a companion piece video to that keeps everything alive like a generator or furnace heater that moves within the 8mm frames.
Earlier today, we had the pleasure of getting into contact with frontman Nathaniel of Walking Shapes to discuss the new single, their new album Taka Come On, and more.
“Winter Fell” evokes the kind of cabin fever anxiousness of being shut in during cold NYC winters. What inspired this song for you guys?
“Winter Fell” was inspired by sitting in my apartment looking outside at our 1 tree and thinking about how fortunate i was to have all my friends and family in my life. At the time i was feeling a little trapped and had nowhere to go and felt like i had no one to see. It's easy to get down on yourself sometimes and always refreshing to sit back and realize there's up and downs, but its all good.
How has the transition from winter to spring in New York been for you all?
Its been so easy! We've been on tour for March and April mostly on the west coast and in the south. This winter was pretty brutal at times hunched shoulders and too much money spent on cabs. We're very excited to get back to the city for May and happy to have skipped the end of winter, summer in the city is a beautiful thing.
In what ways do you feel that the legendary Gus Oberg's contributions to Taka Come On effected the sound of Walking Shapes?
Working with Gus was a solid experience. Things got weird and spirits were always high, we worked late late nights and would consistently go in with an open mind and an eagerness to 'fuck things up.' We sent him 60 songs we had been working on, he choose what he thought would make the best album. It was exciting to work with someone we all trusted to hone in and help us put an album together. Gus is a brilliant person let alone killer producer so his knowledge and good vibes are really what made this record gel.
What inspired the album's name?
How does one name a child, why is the sky blue, why is the grass green? One can't really put words to such things. I think this album probably named itself, but i'm sure at some point it will reveal itself, although it could take years.
Do you feel that he added some of that Strokes cadence, or just brought out more of Walking Shapes' New York sound?
I think Gus's attitude and person brought out our personalities and helped us capture that. I can remember at one point I was working on a vocal and he said, 'think of the streets, get out of the jungle,' so maybe that's what you're picking up on for that New York reflection.
How did the Alexander Evan Morales and Adam Erick Wallace video happen, showcasing the 8mm dance moves of Karolina Wallace and Darla Baker?
Adam and Alex have been working on a full length 8mm film that streams the entirety of the album, we'll be releasing this soon. They are dear friends of ours and we share a rehearsal space and miso soup recipes with Adam and Karolina who play in NYC band Radiant Reveries. The concept for doing a full length album stream came together from Adam coming to the studio and photographing us while recording “Taka Come On”. Darla and Karolina were sweet enough to be involved and allow us to capture their artistic expression. Big thanks to all of them, we truly love those guys.
What else are you guys working on that we should know about?
On April 24 we are going to be doing 24 shows in 24 hours, which is going to be a little crazy considering tour ends April 25. For “24/24/24” we're going to be playing at different boutiques, publications, and NYC venues and landmarks. The last show of the day will be with Har Mar Superstar at Bowery Electric.
Spring/summer plans for Walking Shapes?
We're finishing up our spring tour and working on a video right now for “Feel Good”, track 10 on Taka Come On. We're also prepping plans to head on the road again late this summer and writing music for the next record.
Walking Shape's new album, Taka Come On is available now from iTunes and No Shame Records.
Known for their work in the indie band, L'Altra; Italy's Alessandro Baris and Pittsburgh's Joseph Desler Costa are Young Boy, half-brothers who just released their album, Other Summers this past week for Saint Marie Records. Their years raised in different countries comes together in a reunion that forges the sensibilities of where a lot of current indie Italo pop seems to be headed (see the We Were Never Being Boring collective for further evidence of this), coupled with the nostalgic geared intimacy that much of indie America has been experiencing in the recent half-decade.
Ale and Joe paint their respective and different upbringings through the shared club houses of yesterday on, “Secret Place”. The connection across the Atlantic brings the distances and waters a little closer, collapsing the continent of sea into a backyard above-ground Doughboy pools. The chord and keys become folded like scrapbooks, and letters sent across foreign seas that share the similar interests expressed through amplified electronics and earnest expression.
Joe from Young Boy describes the creative balance discovered and shared with Alessandro, insights into the recording of Other Summers, and other short stories.
Tell us about your respective Italian and American upbringings that became reunited with the vehicle of, Young Boy.
I was raised in Pittsburgh and Ale grew up near Rome in Italy. We met in person 2007 and started to talk and share music, not our own music, but songs and bands we liked. It turned out we were really into the same things. The world we live in is global. A teenager in Rome is exposed more or less to the same pop culture as a teenager in Pittsburgh. We both love the Cure, Joy Division, Pavement etc. It is really quite amazing.
How have both these geographic locales informed your guy's sound?
Pittsburgh has a reputation for being a very industrial area, but nowadays its actually quite the opposite. I grew up with a lot of green and stars but always in the shadow of the city. Also growing up where I did, there were not a lot of people into the music I was into, so I had this feeling that the bands I listened to were my secrets, songs just for me. I think at the beginning we tried to replicate the feeling of a song being just for you. making music that hopefully feels very personal to someone or like their own little secret. Ale brings a very interesting songwriting component to YB. I think Italians write songs differently that Americans. At times he would find chord structures or melodies that I would have never thought of, I think it comes from growing up surround by Italian music as well as indie music.
Interested in hearing stories about recording Other Summers with Ivan A. Rossi.
Well, we recorded the album at SAM studio in a medieval town on top of a mountain in Tuscany called Lari. There is a big tower in the town that actually used to be a prison and sometimes the studio felt like that. It was recorded in the winter and it was always raining and wet and cold. I think that’s part of the reason we began making a summer feeling record. Nostalgia for the warm sun. The producer Ivan was amazing to work with, Ale and I are not the easiest people to work with and we certainly don’t always agree, but Ivan had a way off balancing us out and getting the best from us. Also, I broke my wrist playing soccer a week before the recording, so it was difficult to play the guitar. Ale and Ivan actually ended up learning and recording most of my parts.
What's the secret histories and stories behind your single, “Secret Place”?
“Secret Place” is about losing the feeling of youth. About finally realizing you are not invincible. About realizing that we’re all here for a finite time. All is fleeting. There is a sadness and a beauty in that realization.
What currently are you both listening too as of lately?
The new Beck album Morning Phase is beautiful, and Ale I know has been on a Jesus and Mary Chain Darklands binge lately.
Young Boy's Other Summers is available now from Saint Marie Records.
We have been following the various singles that have lined the way toward Fear of Men's debut album, Loom, available from Kanine Records April 21 in the UK, and April 22 stateside. On our listen to the gorgeous “what dreams may come” beauty of, “Descent”, one could spend innumerable paragraphs gushing about comparisons to numerous lesser sung indie bands that have stayed beneath the buzz radars. The tender-splendor of “Descent” is that FoM go deep into the unknowns of nothingness and into the undergrounds that comprise specters of all tomorrow's essences of future DIY stages, venues, and clandestine concert halls.
Prism House's Landfall EP will be available April 29 from Ceremony Recordings, and we have the single, “The Skyline Breathes Tonight”, to enjoy while taking in a city skyline view at night.
Off their forthcoming Dreamers EP, San Francisco's The She's lent a listen to their new single, “My Secret To Keep”. The Bay Area's premiere girl group on the move and on the rise presents the best open secret of their sweet coastal stylistics that concludes with the all consuming waves of wonderful noise by the song's end. Find The She's playing at SF's The Rickshaw Stop on April 18 with Cocktails, Lemme Adams, and TV Girl.
Off his upcoming SID album available April 22 for Livewire Records, J Stalin dropped the track, “Regal” that features Compton's own, Problem. Sporting some fine production from Trend of League of Starz, J keeps that Bay Area sound mobbing with a feel that is flyer than royally rolling down Highway 1 in a Buick Regal.
From Cologne, Germany; The Nest dropped a taste of Eastern horns and multi-rhythmic patterns on, “Kairos”, from the forthcoming album SAYWEENJOY, available May 23 from Album Label.
Go rogue, go weird, get all Stallone, and just get wild with, “Go Rambo”, the blistering A-side from Dasher's forthcoming 7″ available May 10 courtesy of the ATL imprint, Die Slaughterhaus. Sly himself would consider this to be the soundtrack for the next scene of gratuitous violence from any of his upcoming action flicks.
Nikki Nack is available May 6 from 4AD, with pre-orders happening now from tUnE-yArDs themselves; and in case you missed it, we have all the excitement, moments, and minutes of “Wait For a Minute”. Audio adventures get illuminated into the East Bay electronic ether.
On the release of the cut, “Smalls” with a not to The Sandlot off JPNSGRLS' upcoming album Circulation coming this summer from Light Organ; the band's drummer Graham Serl released this statement about what informs their sound:
“Our music is inspired by fun, we have such a good time playing our songs loud and fast. We get sweaty and get people dancing.”
Check out “Small” following the jump, and read JPNSGRLS' headlining feature and interview here.
A remastered edition of Wyrd Visions' Half-Eaten Guitar will be available April 15 from P.W. Elverum & Sun, and we have that strange strums and picking ways that resonate and reverberate from within the acoustic guitar hollowed chamber on, “Sigill”. Listen closely how the strings almost sing out in their own dialogues and narratives, that fight against the fingers and folk chants.
Seen touring with The Hold Steady bunch, check out Cheap Girls new track of inquisitive and questionable proportions on, “Man In Question”, from the Michigan power-poppers' forthcoming album, Famous Graves available May 13 from Xtra Mile Recordings.
Get a look at the Zach Villafania video for League of Extraordinary Gz' track, “Billie Jean”, off their 2013 release, #LeagueShit. Slanging rhymes about triple beam competitions, check out visual competitions between lemonade stands that keep the game extra real.
It was almost midweek, and we were stuck running the racetrack rut, placing $5 on a horse named 'Trembling Tracy' to place second – when out of the blue, we caught a listen to Survival Knife's “Roman Fever”. Guitar riffs that crumble the urban and suburban jungles for a primitive dawning of western civ with aquaducts and marble pillars. The Olympia, Washington dudes from Unwound will hit you with their Survival Knife outfit on the release of Loose Power available April 29 from Glacial Pace.
Off her album Changing Light available May 13 from Absolute Magnitude Recordings and support from K Records, check out Mirah's new dream steward, “Goat Shepherd”.
Listen to Mirah's “Goat Shepherd” here via Soundcloud.
After a four year break, NYC's DJ Center is dropping the gold 12″ single for “Dem Say Ah” featuring Akoya Afrobeat on April 15 from his own imprint, Push The Fader. Check out the danced-up A-side following the jump, and peep the behind the scenes video for the visualization version here. This is what tomorrow's most pivotal sounds will be influenced from, believe that.
Bay Area's own nature boy, Antwon sent us the Matrixxman produced track, “Cold Tears”, off the upcoming Heavy Hearted In Doldrums album available May 6 from UNIF. Tears are as cold as an icy tall boy of brew, with Antwon's self-asserted flows taking charge of the reins of Matrixx's b-ball bouncing beats.
Grab a listen to Memoir's new single, “Minimum Wage (The Heist)”, off their upcoming album, Fire In Me, available April 29. With big brass horns and lots of action, this heist hits the shop, grabs the dough and makes a bolt for it to a larger than life sound.
The Low Anthem’s Jocie Adams has a new group called Arc Iris, and we have the natural spendor visuals from Anne Beal for Jocie's romantic piano lead song, “Canadian Cowboy”. The self-titled Arc Iris album is available now from Bella Union.
With some of that Fortified Sounds and Drew Manita production, get rich with some of that Chi-town chic on ProbCause's “Chicago Style”, spitting forth from his upcoming album, Waves.
Dances dropped the Alec Macdonald and Bernardo Garcia video for, “Rat”, off their upcoming Whiter Sands EP, coming this Tuesday, April 15 from Black Bell. Read our premiere of their single, “Holy Fool”, and interview with the band here, and catch Dances May 10 at NYC's Pianos for a Black Bell Records night with labelmates Honduras, Slonk Donkerson, Painted Zeros and The Gradients.
With Sivu's “Can't Stop Now” single available from Canvasclub, get a listen to the fun-inducing Bombay Bicycle Club remix from Jack Steadman of the single here.
We have the title cut from Frame's upcoming album, Polarizer. One of our favorite rising vocal talents, Frame gathers the polemics, the isolators, and all of those that take it to the polar-extremes, and bundles it all up into one pop song. Be sure to catch Frame's previous single, “Run Around” plus our interview in the feature found here.
Martijn Veltman made the following karaoke staged video for The Single's single, “Inamorata”, found off their album, Look How Fast A Heart Can Break.
Matthew Dear's alter ego, Audion, is dropping a remix 12″ June 30 from Spectral Sound, and we have the re-routed digital audio waves courtesy of the Scuba remix of, “Sky” for your cloud gazing merriment.
Peep the gory video for Slothrust's “No Eye Candy”, courtesy of Chessy Normile, off their recent album Of Course You Do, available now from now on Ba Da Bing! Records.
We championed the arrival of Clear Soul Forces' Gold PP7's before it dropped on Fat Beats, and we got the Richard Taylor for CSF's “Solar Heat” with that IIajide production. This is the look and sound of Detroit on the rise.
Stagnant Pools gave us some of their loudest and scuzziest, “Intentions”, on this single from their forthcoming album, Geist, available June 10 from Polyvinyl.
Celebrating the one year anniversary of Love the Unicorn's Sports EP, the We Were Never Being Boring collective is giving the afternoon dreaming extended player away for free here.
Bart Davenport released his new album, Physical World from Lovemonk/Burger Records, and we have a look at the timeless romanticism from the Cassandra Lee hamilton video for, “Dust in the Circuits”. Once again Bart proves that he can emulate, exude, execute your favorite styles from all times, for all time.
Killer Mike and The Alchemist's collaboration cut, “The Boonies,” drops as The Boondocks' new season begins April 21 via Adult Swim.
WIFE lent us a listen to the haunted atmosphere cathedrals of, “Heart Is a Far Light”, off the anticipated album, What’s Between, available June 10 from Tri Angle.
Coming May 22, David Douglas, the multi-talented producer and director from the Netherlands is prepping his new album Moon Observations for Atomnation, and sent us a listen to the serene organic dance cut, “Selene”.
Charlotte, NC's rising emcee, Well$ dropped another gold nugget off his forthcoming tape, MTSYD: The Revenge of the African Booty Scratcher with, “Dreams Of An Insomniac”, produced by Atu. The young rhyme smith spills game with a whole lotta heart, looking for answering, and searching for the right questions while A keeps that beat hazy.
Bogotá, Columbia by Brussels, Belgium artist, Victor Lenis is Cute Heels, who gives the world a privy glimpse of his electro shrouded master work, Spiritual, available April 15 from Dark Entries.
Opal dropped us some old school dance trax with, “Ain't No Way”, off the upcoming release, Horse Meat Disco IV, available June 16 from the purveyors of beats over at Strut.
Peep the Espen Friberg & Emil Høgset for Todd Terje's “Leisure Suit Problem”, with some of that new weird drunken jukebox rhythm and blues off Terje's new full-length, It's Album Time. We get an interesting look at the life and times of a character known as Preben, played by Edvard Tidemann, who is described as, “a singer, dancer and party animal from Carl Berner, Oslo.”
The Fresh & Onlys declared the forthcoming of their new album, House Of Spirits, available June 10 from Mexican Summer, and we have your listen to their new 7″ single off the full-length, “Animal of One”. Hear your heroes, Tim, Wymond, Shayde, and more, bringing you some of the world's best psychic pop imaginable.
Pharmakos shared the clanging catharsis of, “Only Child”, off the album Nude from April 15 from Pour le Corps Records.
Rodney Connell and Brandon Duhon are Night Drive, who dropped a listen to the After Dark EP that features remixes from The Penelopes, Orthy, and Bagheera.
From a series of EPs of the same name coming from DFA, peep the jagged dance-inducing video for Factory Floor's “How You Say” from Dan Tombs & Nik Void.
Tomorrow’s Hits is available now from the almighty Sacred Bones, and we have the winning fan-made video from Helge Mundt for, “Different Days”, with plenty of nature hikes and tree-climbing for your viewing pleasure.
Philly's Creepoid got big plans to release their EP Wet 12″ vinyl for Record Store Day, April 19 from Graveface, and we have the slow haunting burn of, “Truth”, for you to drift away to with one of our favorite bands. Follow all of our Creepoid coverage here and become their biggest fan.
After premiering Delooze's “Deathstar” single, we give you an advance streaming listen to Stacy's upcoming album, Glass Army. Prepare to take the pledge, and take the plunge into the battle of the self and the galactic dimensions. For those in London on April 16, check out the Glass Army album launch show at Electrowerkz.
Featuring Wilco's Mikael Jorgensen, check out Curtin's easy and gentle riding, “Better Ride”, off their upcoming album, One for the Doghearted available this summer. Catch the Brooklyn duo of Jason Rueger and Austin Nelson on a tour spanning from April 18 through May 28.
Foxing have signed to Triple Crown Records, share a trailer for their remixed and re-mastered album, The Albatross, available May 27. Find them on tour through June 5 with select dates from Seahaven.
Get ready for a world of head-banging and, “Worry”, off OBN III's upcoming third album, Third Time to Harm available May 27 from Tic Tac Totally Records.
Peep the Popstrangers' multi-framed Conan Roberts directed video for, “Country Kills”, chock-full of the ennui of political geogrpahy, off their upcoming Fortuna album, available May 27 from Carpark Records.
Originally off Gardens & Villa's album, Dunes, available now from, Secretly Canadian; check out the glitzy and shining, Mark McGuire's Road Chief remix of “Colony Glen”.
Off their album Fuzz Steilacoom recorded by our hero Calvin Johnson at Dub Narcotic Studios in Olympia; check out Skating Polly's beautiful and riotous video for video for, “Ugly”, directed by Drake Matney and Shad West. Step-sisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse might just be the future of garage.
Australia by LA's Andy Clockwise is preparing his Dancing World EP, but is about to drop a covers EP entitled, Gower Street, that comes with pre-orders for his forthcoming EP on April 14. In the meantime, tests the sciences of cynicism and optimism on, “Murphy's Law”.
Brooklyn's Awning is about to release their album, Two Against Me this Tuesday, April 15, and this week they shared the games of sport, track, field, and decayed piano indie pop with, “Running Game”.
Check out the pumped up video from Ryan Heffington for, SONNS' “On My Mind”, from the Love Me Too compilation from Plant Music, featuring tracks from Eli Escobar, Ian Pooley, amongst others.
Off their Night Window EP available April 29 from Nettwerk, check out Young Liars' title cut getting super-snazzed up and decked out with the Great Good Fine Ok remix.
The seven strong act of Ikebe Shakedown shares a limited time listen to their second album, Stone By Stone, recorded at Daptone Studio's own “House of Soul”, available April 15 from Ubiquity Records.
Get a listen to Mike Cooper, who could have been one of the Rolling Stones back in the day, kick out some 70s vintage throwback hot licks on, “The Singing Tree”. Cooper's classic albums, Trout Steel and Places I Know/The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper are being repressed June 17 through the imprint, Paradise of Bachelors.
Sporting a fancy new interactive website and a hot single, catch a listen to Dessert's infectious cut, “Player”.
With tour dates running through May 2 at Brooklyn's Glasslands, and their self-titled EP available April 29 from Jullian Records; check out DWNTWN's “Missing You” that dresses up memories with earnest sentiments and pop beauty.
Hejira celebrates the launch of his upcoming single April 28 at Servant Jazz Quarters in London' get a listen to the Crewdson remix of “Echoes”.
Off the album MASS, get weird all extra-terrestrial with SoftSpot's own Sarah Kinlaw in the video for, “Pickup Lines”.
The Bay Area's own power-popper, Tony Molina, re-released his album, Dissed and Dismissed, Slumberland, and have a listen to the scuzzy infectious and affections of, “Nowhere To Go” and “Change My Ways” for your listening enjoyment.
We brought you the incredible, and heartbreaking beauty of Dylan Shearer's “meadow mines (fort polio)” with a devastating accompanying interview with the San Francisco singer-songwriter. Releasing his album garagearray April 15 through Empty Cellar Records / Castle Face, we have more of Shearer's lush, and personal tapestries with accompaniment courtesy of Thee Oh Sees Petey Dammit and Noel Von Harmonson of Comets on Fire on, “mold in the fold”.
Our friends Unicycle Loves You delivered, “Falling Off”, their upcoming album, The Dead Age, available June 10 as a joint release from, Highwheel Records / Mecca Lecca Recording Co. We knew we love these folks with “Face Tattoo”, and enjoyed our recent interview, and once again the Unicyclers hit us in all the right core places that couples nerve endings to the four chambers of the heart.
The multi-taltented multimedia artist, Jónó Mí Ló has stared an Indiegogo campaign for both his upcoming tour and release of, End of Light. The artist who has brought you countless music videos, audio aesthetic alterations, T.E.A.M.S., Daytime Television, Teamm Jordan, and more is asking for you to help a little, and in return will give you a lot. Check out the details on Indiegogo, and catch some of those fly-vaporwaves with a listen to T.E.A.M.S.', OneWorld 開発: These are the continuing and further chapters that bring the URL worlds into the manifested reality of IRL. This here is where the digital dives into real life.
