In keeping up with the world this week, we found out that M.I.A. is keeping a “STEALING LOG” of everyone who may or may not be ripping off her styles, all the buzz surrounding Frank Ocean's collaboration with Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, learned that Morrissey's March 1 Staples Center show will indeed be meat-free with a statement that, “all McDonalds vendors shall be closed down, and the only thing burning shall be my heart”, while we continue to mourn the loss of Soft Machine's Kevin Ayers, East Coast versus West Coast instigator Timothy “Tim Dog” Blair, country's Mindy McCready, and aspiring Oakland MC Kenny “Clutch” Cherry Jr who went out in a blazing Maserati car wreck on the Las Vegas Strip. While we give you a moment to let all this sink in and for you to reflect on these tumultuous past 7 days; get ready to experience everything that you might have left to oversight in no particular order.
Brooklyn by California's Joey Genovese is Big Tits and he drops the single “Ex Repeater” chocked full of DIY garage-glam-rock with circular and cyclical relationship issues of dysfunctions. Look out for Joey hulking about his new home of Oakland where he is rounding up the rest of the Tits to record more pop put downs directed toward ex-significant others and various repeated offenders at Fuzz City Studios. Joey makes pop as if it was the mid 70s still (why the hell not, right?) and Malcolm McLaren was still shepherding the proto-punks on his Glitterbest Ltd management firm as this noisy action is loud, snotty and full to the brim of piss and confidence. “It happened again, I was drunk around my girlfriend, every day, treats me the same, one way, fucking lame”, in between with chorus chick gossip as our hearts break for Genovese as he pouts with the hope of, “And I hope, and I pray, I will find someone who's gonna treat me the right way”. The Ex Repeater 7″ is available now from Fuzz City Records.
Knoxville, Tennessee's Gabriel White of Yung Life dropped his new single, “What v.2.0 Do” from ∜♡MDISCS. Get into the downtempo-time-machine electro and wait for the reversed vocal bit at the end. The track works like the life-support machine sequencing of electronic heart rate transfers of the tear drop streaked lyrics of, “I'm telling you, you can tell me anything and I won't tell you that you are wrong, you rather disappear than come to something we can settle on”. Gabriel's debut album Relay is available from ∜♡MDISCS while this single can found off the compilation, ∜♡MDISCS 2K13 – 2013 available now. The Amdiscs comp features 71 brand new cuts from Honeydrum, Horse Head, NUDITY, Danniel Radall, and dozens more than we can list to keep you happy all throughout 2013 while “What v.2.0 Do” has us around the office wondering what further solo work to expect from Mr. White this year.
Luxury Liners is Carter Tanton (War on Drugs, Lower Dens, solo, etc) takes you down a synthesizer streaked, “Valley High” off the forthcoming albumThey're Flowers available April 2 from Western Vinyl. The Liners project came out of Tanton's fun with electronics with the Dens that lead him to make what started out as what has been described as a Nick Drake style concept in early sketch theory. The results are the synth ray guns that oscillate between your speakers, strafing like roving vehicles in panning key effects. With Carter's vocals echoing in slow sentimental billows within the mix, the keyboards and song title take this listener back to the early days of growing up around South Sacramento's tough hoods around Valley Hi Drive where the only real entertainment and luxury came from boom-box r n'b mixtapes, and local energetic gospel worship teams.
Mozart's Sister presents her eponymous track off her solo moniker, “Mozart Sister” Following up 2011's Dear Fear EP, Caila Thompson-Hannat prepares her Hello EP for release February 25 from the influential taste-making imprint, Merok. The conversational measurements of song craft and meter is a punchy sequence structure unique to Caila's delivery and songwriting process that depicts a rivalry between siblings of prestige and prodigies in their own rights. “I just had to get real now, to know that truth will show that the world loves you better than me, I would never be more than number 2 to the color guards, well at least 2 is better than 3”. The central core of her moniker is divulged before the eponymous chorus bar, “why do I have to prove that daddy loves you, it's got me feeling like Mozart's sister…”
Seasick Mama presents her music video for “Quit Your Job” directed by Russ Roe off the debut Dead Like Money EP available now via iTunes. Combined with additional footage from Ian Tilghman, Lawrence Martinez, and Mattie Krall; the message of “quit your job and just be free” spans from sea to shining sea, relaxing swimming pools, fashion photo shoots, Mardi Gras in New Orleans and all things that go with the song's anthemic message to untie yourself from the bonds that chain you. With the anticipatory piano ticking of escapism where “leave this place”, front woman Marial Maher repeats the urgings of “don't become the things you hate”, echoing the immortal Lou Reed-ian wisdom of, “Stephanie says that she wants to know why she's given half her life, to people she hates now”.
Listen to Seasick Mama & Walking Shapes covering Frank Ocean's “Lost” arranged by the multi-talents of Nathaniel Hoho, Dan Krysa, Will Fegan, and Marial Maher.
Keep Shelly in Athens returns with more electro steeped moods and announces her signing to Cascine with the serpentine dark lands of the single “Madmen Love”, available now via iTunes and limited 300 pressed 7″ from sixteen tambourines. With Keep Shelly's full length from Cascine coming later this Fall, listen as the reel spinning percussion travels down electrified barbed-wire-synth-fences that course through beautiful lies until the break down around 3 minutes in that transforms the song into an unveiling of what we are imagining to be the snazziest, neon dipped sports car from a future in retrograde.
Tune into Eddie B with his cut “Courage” produced by Harry Fraud. With a Fraud sped up vocal sample with a slippery when sticky syrup motion, B steps into self as both a preacher and an entertainer with a lion's courage and a Cali calm to keep the handle real but always aspirational. “It isn't acting bro, I ain't going Hollywood, talented as fuck though, bet you that I could”.
Be the first on your block to stream Lusine's album The Waiting Room ahead of the February 25 release from Ghostly International. Seattle's Jeff McIlwain's programming gives out panoramic messages of electro atmospheres and organic sampling that invite the kind of rhythmic constructions created by a full on house band playing house music du jour from scratch. Catch Lusine on a national tour in March that includes stops in Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and naturally SXSW.
Crush some skulls with Danny Wahlfeldt's guitar-hammer and the Emily Denton video for “Skull” off Grave Babies' upcoming album Crusher, available February 26 on Hardly Art. Never mind the Aughts, Seattle's Babies are destroying the stone to the crypt that holds the secret to alt rock's past that has never been seen or heard before until now.
Erick Lee shoots and directs the San Francisco set video for DJ Day's “Land of 1,000 Chances” that marinates in the soul jazz grooves asking, is this for real, amid your 4-minute tour of the town by the Bay. Find Day's 12″ of the same name from Piecelock 70 and digital via iTunes.
Listen to The Embassy's latest reconstruction of euro-house prior to the 90s with Thomas Hämén's seizure inducing floral bloom fest set to awaken your brightest inner third eye. The Embassy's new album Sweet Sensation will be available February 26 from their label, International.
Oakland's Legs dropped their single “Two Colours” that takes the English spelling of color and the UK indie aesthetic of the early/mid '80s and puts them together. The crew of Jeffrey Harland, New Zealand by West Oakland's Matt Bullimore, vocalist Amelia Adams and percussionist Kevin Walker have found a home with contemporary independent music preservation society-enthusiasts at Loglady where the long legged art pop of the East Bay group can flourish, and their jangle guitar/boy/girl pop colors can mesh together as one beautiful sound. Legs' full-length Pass the Ringo will be available April 23 from Loglady Records.
Check out Oddissee performing with his group Mammoth at Live at the Loft that features vocals and guitar work from Olivier Daysoul, Dennis Turner on bass, key handler Ralph Real, Akai MPC attacker Unown, and drummer Jon Laine.
Drone out, oh westward wandering travelers with Tjutjuna's “Mousetrap” off the forthcoming album Westerner available April 30 from Fire Talk.
Berlin by Ireland's Mano Le Tough snaps some fingers and drops the big keys with the electro-vocoded single, “A Thing From Above”, off the album Changing Days available now from Permanent Vacation.
Catch Parenthetical Girls' performance of “Curtains” on an old Oregon riverboat, courtesy of Intothewoods.tv while Privilege is available now from Slender Means Society / Marriage.
Listen to the new Purling Hiss single, “Mercury Retrograde” as we enter the Gregorian retrograde period spanning from February 23 through March 17 while their album of the same name comes out March 19 from Drag City. Philadelphia's power-indie-grit heroes depict the out of sync again epoch as, “Waiting way, moments today, and there is no sign of the times, nothing at all, I don't know, I don't know, and we can't do anything, I don't know, I don't know, and we're out of time”. With the cosmos all around, time becomes obfuscated by astrological interval interventions for the Hiss.
We got digital Kurt Cobain in the ring duking it out with a digital G. W. in the “Primetime Clown” video for Neil Hagerty's forthcoming, The Best of Howling Hex, featuring the best new material from the Hex (not to be confused with anything too nostalgic or clunky conventional 'best of' comps), available from Drag City. Oh yeah, happy birthday Kurt, you are missed in this life.
From the good folks at Don Giovanni, tune your ear antenaes to Waxahatchee's new single “Coast to Coast” ahead of the March 5 Don G. release of the full length Cerulean Salt album. Katie Crutchfield of P.S. Eliot displays the epitome of stripped down perfect pop that gives more than an instagram of the sound of North American indie now while encouraging you to “dance every reckless whim”.
Cass McCombs and White Magic released new 7″ today LAMC #6 (Less Artists More Condos series) for the benefit of Ariel Panero VH1 Save The Music Foundation through Famous Class. White Magic's “Out Beyond the Moon” litters the evening with sparse piano, the Magic takes you past the phases of the moon, “to find out whose the maker…”
Last seen on the The Hunger Games soundtrack is Tying Tiffany who brings the ultra electro pop currents moving in gaudy fashions in the time constrained titled, “One Second” off her forthcoming EP One available March 12 from ZerOKilled Music.
Alexander Antebi, aka Conquistador is the dude who has been writing songs for Kinky, has been feeling the Arab Spring vibes and collaborated with the Free Iran organization whilest declaring a wonky love for lo-fi pop affectations and spandex with “I'm Alive”.
Hip-hop imprint Funk Volume presents the, “Don't Fu[n]k Up Our Beats Rap Contest 5” that is accepting submissions through Sunday, March 10 at 11:59 PDT. The voting commences the next day on March 11 and the winners will be declared March 31. Check out Funk Volume's Facebook for further details.
The wait for the follow up to RxGibbs' 2012 Futures EP is over as frontman Ron Gibbs prepares to release his debut full-length, Contact April 2 from Cascine. The album's title track sounds like people, creatures and various lifeforms making contact for the first time. A place where subterranean ambient waves spring from the center of the earth meet the rhythms of heavy portable stereos spilling out breaks and beats flanging at times in a mix that is sewn through the skill of Boat Club's Magnus Wahlström.
Ajnabi, alias Blake Luley presents the two home made ambient pieces “Namblus” and “Gaza” courtesy of Mecca Lecca Recording Co., where the first was recorded in the West Bank town of Nablus, Palestine in 2011 and the latter in Brooklyn, New York during the Gaza War of last Fall 2012. Recording as a series of loops via a built-in laptop microphone captured in close confines; Luley presents a few pieces that provide thoughts, perspectives, meditative prayers and a sample of Simon and Garfunkle's “America” on the piece “Gaza” that distorts time, place, identity and distorts senses of nationality into abstractions and questions that collide the constructs of East and West.
We got your listen to Born Ruffians' new single “Needle” from their forthcoming Yep Roc album Birthmarks available April 16. Find that proverbial needle-in-the-haystack with this life affirming, embracing single of jubilance that Luke Lalonde wraps around the opening lyric of, “I belong to no one, you belong to me”.
Check New York's own Joey Bada$$ and the Pro Era as they prepare to embark on the Beast Coastal Tour beginning March 21 in Portland and closing things up with a tribute concert to Capital STEEZ at NYC's Gramercy Theatre on April 20. Check it as Joey and A La $ole, CJ Fly, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Dessy Hinds, Dirty Sanchez, Dyemond Lewis, Roka Mouth, DJ Statik Selektah along with Flatbush Zombies and The Underachievers.
SSION drops the video for “HIGH”. Directed by forntman Cody Critcheloe. SSION's Bent is available now on Dovecote Records. Cody surounds himself with fans, karaoke that turn into sultry singing about the “things we do for some kind of reaction”, amid birthday cake pizza pies, strange giant fortune cookie fetishes and high living robotic recitations and a blanket delivery service.
Eat Skull drops a sugar cube or two and gets things reeling and strange in the Bob Moricz and Ben Popp video for “How Do I Know When to Say Goodnight”. Their new album III is available now through the good minds and souls at Woodsist.
Creative Adult's debut 7” Dead Air and has confirmed March tour dates with performances at this year’s SXSW with the follow up Bulls In The Yard EP coming in April from Run For Cover Records. Take a bite of the “Forbidden Fruit” here:
Listen to the Marcus D remix of Substantial's “Resilient” ripped from Sub's album Home is Where the Art Is from the Mello Music Group. Listen while Bop Alloy's Marcus turns the affair into a downtempo jazz number while Substizzle lays down the “speak about it, think about it, where would I be without it” gospel with bars like, “But sorry to disappoint, never been to the clink Known to kill shit, just not the way that you think And not afraid to do just that, I ain't stupid Some get brain then act scared to use it”.
The Mary Onettes drop their title single “Hit The Waves” from the album of the same name produced by Studio's Dan Lissvik available March 12 from Labrador. Philip Ekström entertains the passion of nurturing the inner desire to speak through deep felt sentiments like, “something buried deep inside is shaking me, we're going to let it grow because we hardly speak through what we feel”, in the wave crashing production from Lissvik who can create instant familiarity on the first listen.
John Grant's “Black Belt” gets remixed by Baltimore duo Dungeonesse who sketches some new sequencing for the original found off of Grant's upcoming Pale Green Ghosts album available May 14 Partisan Records. With a sparse mixed canvas, listen as John lays down the memorable diss litanies of, “You aint got no time to waste on entry level middle class, you are supercilious, pretty and ridiculous, you got really good taste, you know how to cut and paste, what you got is a black belt in b.s., what you cant mark your pretty ways up in here anymore, hit your head on the playground at recess, etch-a-sketch your way out of this one reject”.
With more Dan Lissvik productions, we got the new Young Galaxy single “Fall For You” off their forthcoming album Ultramarine available April 23 from Paper Bag Records. Listen as Catherine McCandless and crew dance to a digitized tribal key-toned drum beat.
The Courtney John Project performs a cover of Errol Dunkley’s roots extra classic, “Black Cinderella” that provides some chill dub effects that gives a particular reverence to not mess with the original's potency and power by refraining from excessive effect noodling. The single will be available February 25 with The Courtney John's Project's full-length The Future already being billed as, “Kingston mash up, one part euro-electronica and, 100% provocative in its approach to contemporary music”, available later this year from FiWi Music.
Watch San Francisco's dark synth chic boss Black Jeans' blood and roses video for “No Safety” off the Black Tourmaline LP that comes out today from ∜♡MDISCS.
Strap up as Curly Castro just dropped his album FIDEL featuring The Wrecking Crew of Has-Lo, Small Professor, Zilla Rocca, as they get fired up and politically minded on this full-length release.
Download FIDEL here courtesy of DJBooth.net
Meet Ensemble Pearl, the combined talents of Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley, Boris's Atsuo, Ghost's Michio Kurihara and William Herzog. The Ensemble's debut will be available March 19 from Drag City where the suspense over when and which minimalist-minor chord will strike first will have you in love and on the edge of your seat. Listen to their debut single “Painting on a Corpse” that brings together the group's doom-ier facets shot in cinematic, blade screeching and blood chilling horrorscopic sound.
Grab a listen to North Ireland's producer The Cyclist's analog spinning bone clinking cut, “Bones in Motion” off the album of the same name from Stones Throw / Leaving Records.
Listen to Sunshine Jones' remix of Dragonette's “Run Run Run” that runs with creative house party redecorations while the Dragons prepare to kick off a national tour with Major Lazer beginning March 1. Jones is also headlining with our good friend Hesohi and Rhythm People at Cleveland, Ohio's DNA Level C March 2 with more details in the above flyer.
The Lonely Wild dropped off “Everything You Need” with the impassioned, galloping pop message of, “I'll be your heart, if you'll be mine” which is as much and probably more than anyone could ever ask of anyone in these fickle, half-hearted times. The Wild's album The Sun As It Comes will be available April 2 from Ursa Major Recordings / Thirty Tigers / RED.
Listen to the new GRMLN song “Night Racer” ahead of Yoodoo Park's forthcoming full-length expected later this year with the Tommy Sugimoto video for the single. Featuring Chase Ellison as the driver, Tommy plays around with time elapsed film captures, back window car views, waves crashing and pulling into reverse, vehicles and things moving slowly and then expediently at various times in backwards winding motions amid the star chasing dream pop. We look forward to hearing the album follow up to GRMLN's Explore EP from Carpark Records.
Japan's brooding band of indie rock brothers Hotel Mexico give you their video for “A.I. in Dreams” directed by Richard Law that presents the Kyoto rockers' strangelove hypnotica sound with the visual mixing of skate videos and romance. Hotel Mexico's A Space in the Loveless Field is available from both Double Denim Records and Second Royal Records.
Feel free to gawk at Darwin Deez creeping out on couples while feeling his inner, pop sleazy chanteur in the video for “You Can’t Be My Girl” off the single out April 9 from Lucky Number with an international tour in effect now.
Get into the protect yo neck mode with the self-proclaimed 'last of a dying breed', Kutt Calhoun and his video for “Self Preservation (Feat. Krizz Kaliko)” off Calhoun's LP Black Gold, available February 26 from Strange Music. Catch Kutt on Tech N9ne's Independent Powerhouse Tour beginning this March.
Listen to a glimpse of the pop rock 'threesixfive project' from the culmination from frontman Chris Snyder daily songwriting with a listen to the adhesive single, “Stick To” off Ace Reporter's debut album Yearling, out February 26 via Ooh La La.
Manchester's Dutch Uncles have authorized you to press the play button on their new single “Bellio” off the forthcoming album Out of Touch In the Wild available April 2 from Memphis Industries. Let Duncan Wallis help you shake your bodies while he and his mates lather on the synth sweeps, blinks and zaps surrounded by piano plinks.
Music and Technology academic purveyor from Cork, Ireland Peter Lawlor is REPLETE who dropped the single “Easy Love” this week that begins by stirring some strange digital cyclone trap distortions before dropping to the underground water pipe systems and aquafirs of synths that shimmer and stir like bodies of water in states of slithering movements. Look for Lawlor touring Europe and the States this year.
The Men kick off their spring tour March 7, a few days after the March 5 release of their new Sacred Bones album New Moon that features this brand new track “I Saw Her Face”. The new single shows the healthy and generative side effects brought on from the band's work up in Big Indian, New York's Catskills where the endless drifting collision of heart and soul comes to a head with the lyrics of “take me a way, to that special place, when I open the door, and I can see her face…yeah…”, and shreds into the oblivion.
Our buddies Team Ghost dropped the Canblaster-club-demolition-demon remix of their single “Curtains” that we recently debuted here at Impose. Catch the the former M83 o.g. Nicolas Fromageau and friends on their upcoming album Rituals available April 16 stateside from Wsphere.
Former Emeralds dude Mark McGuire dropped his reworking of Ducktails' single “Letter of Intent” with the rhythmic synth beats of his “Road Chief Remix”. Find Mark's remix along with the likes of DJ Sprinkles and Heatsick with the Ducktails original from their full-length The Flower Lane while their digital Letter of Intent Remixes EP drops February 25 from Domino.
Have you heard the new Honeymooon single “Hail The Madmen”? Well you are about to jump into a world of the chirpiest keyboards you have heard in a minute as Aaron Shanahan and Benjamin Plant herald from Australia to bring you their own passion for bright pop colors and textures while giving a toast to their new LA home and some conscious attention toward the issues of homlessness on the west coast. With posi bursts of “let me get you off the street” and “we got to work it out”, we look forward to seeing the forthcoming Dimitri Basil video for the tune while “Hail the Madmen” is available now for download via iTunes.
Our Portland buddies Radiation City are playing San Francisco's The Independent March 8 and we give you their single “Hide From The Night” off their Cool Nightmare EP from Tender Loving Empire that features the pop stylistics from the golden, 50s era with some of that post-millenial know-how.
Listen to Okkervil River's cover of Tim Hardin's classic folk beauty, “It'll Never Happen Again” from the Full Time Hobby tribute Reason to Believe coming February 26 that toasts the life of one of America's great folk/psych/singer songwriters.
Get the mellow doubt feeling with Utah's Desert Noises who dropped their video for “I Won't See You” where bass player Tyler Osmond edits the Super 8 footage of westward travels from the1940s thanks to guitarist Patrick Boyer's grandma. Lend some heart to the boys as the original footage was lost after their tour van was broken into, as this video is the surviving document of family memories and warm sentiments captured and encapsulated here.
Patrick Watson is scheduled to play this year's 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and drops the beautiful, handcrafted Chloé Poirier Sauvé animated video for the orchestral winds of “Blackwind” off last year's Adventures In Your Own Backyard from Domino Records.
Peep UK's Scanners' video for “State of Wonder” filmed by Amer Chadha-Patel near the band's home in East London along the river Lea. Look for them in SXSW as well.
Oh, we just heard that King Tuff's Was Dead will be reissued April 30 from the true believers at Burger Records. Just remember that you can't get down or go anywhere without your “Sun Medallion”.
Hot As Sun has come to pick you pretty wallflowers up and onto the dance floor with their Jim Wright directed video for their ballroom ballistic, “Dahnce To The Beat,” that features the one and only Chester Whitmore with featured fancy footwork fellows Edward Santiago and Reynaldo Santiago . Their debut full length Night Time Sound Desire is slated for release March 26 from Last Gang Records.
With the arrival of Flume's anticipated self-titled debut here stateside from Mom+Pop, check the kickback cool of DJ Chrome Sparks' remix of the single “Left Alone” featuring Chet Faker.
FIELDED, an alt grand concept project of Lindsay Powell of Ga'an and Skyblazer who gets all gothic gospel choir of souls on us with her single, “Chapel of Lies” ahead of the full-length release of Ninety Thirty Thirty available April 25 from Captcha Records.
Got a message from Surf Club's frontman Frankie Soto that they have released their new single “Heaven” mastered by Matt Bishop and was recorded in a living room in Northern California. From the dream ceiling scraping guitar tones and Frankie's “I want us to get closer” whispers; this is one of the prettiest home recorded singles you might have heard all 2013 thus far.
Watch the Mikel Cee Karlsson 'part 1' video for Junip's single “Line of Fire” that answers the question of memories past/present/future of the lyrical, “what would you do, if it all came back to you” from the band's self titled available April 23 from Mute and on April 22 through City Slang.
Australia's UV Race have dropped their Racism LP from In The Red as they prepare to go on the tour beat this May through LA, NYC and Austin, TX for Chaos In Tejas. Watch the trailer for Racism here.
Good authority has it that Australia's Bored Nothing, aka Fergus Miller has signed to Spunk and Cooperative Music and prepares the self-titled full-length for release April 9 that gives you the vintage analog soul and sound of the new brand of Melbourne indie pop with tunes like, “Popcorn”.
80s indie pioneers The Pastels present to you what the world's been waiting for since 1997's Illumination with the forthcoming full-length, Slow Summits, slated for release May 28 from Domino. The o.g. indie front liners are Stephen 'Pastel' McRobbie, Katrina Mitchell, Tom Crossley, Gerard Love, Alison Mitchell, John Hogart, Annabel 'Aggi' Wright, Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake, To Rococo Rot's Stefan Schneider and Ronald Lippok, Tenniscoats; all recorded in Glasgow by John McEntire and Bal Cooke with John handling the mixing in Chicago. Dust off your anoraks, make a daisy chain, and dust off that special 12″ disc of “Baby Honey” you have kept neglected in a cubby basket somewhere.
