As the week comes to a close, we gather up the pros and cons with a bit of hope and optimism despite the odds. Chief Keef's gun range Pitchfork interview cost him 2 months in juvie for violating probation while Meyhem Lauren struck back at the 'fork with the diss track, “The Laurenovich Angle (Fuck Pitchfork)“. While word has it that Lil B will not be performing at the Grammys, the legions of Radiohead fans can hear unreleased material Thom Yorke dropped via Dazed Digital while The Strokes refuse to say 'this is it' and might be releasing their new single, “All the Time” any moment now. So while we await further gossip and buzz of interest, check out what the week brought and told us in no particular order.
Charlie Button, aka Eb7#9 has started a jazz forward group called Doctor Magnum that takes on elements of 60s arrangement and production values into modern day hip-hop constructs, while embodying a post-constructural approach. On their just released album Live at Red Square, hear a new rethought instrumental arrangement of Frank Ocean's “Thinkin' About You“, or covering Madvillain / Nas with “ALL CAPS/N.Y. State of Mind“, or the featured original track “¿Donde Está el Retrete?” that makes a Spanish request for the latrine an adventure into the electric jazz spheres fit for a fancy supper club but dive ready. Heralding from Albany, NY; J. Steele, and Charlie oversee the guitars, Boris keeps the bass lines trill and Rob Colpoys on drums, take on covers to show the myriad applications of the originals while bringing out overstated sounds (i.e. the persistent synth sway and swing on the original version of “Thinkin' About You” gets brought out later in strange ways on the Magnum re-write) in new, unfound and understated ways. Doctor Magnum's Live at Red Square is available now via Bandcamp.
The Embassy has it all. The indie pop chops, the understanding of the guitar's importance and practicalities and taking the notion of “Related Artist” on their new single into those terms of identity concepts of the creative/original talents who want to be more than just another RIYL post-script bantered about on the coattails of the newcomers that owe a debt to all those who broke ground somewhere in the end of the millenium chaos of the late 90s. Anouncing their first album since 2005 Futile Crimes on the fabled Service imprint, Fredrik Lindson & Torbjörn Håkansson take the next step from the collected singles and b-sides from Life in the Trenches to provide you with the next phase of developments. Steering forward the duo ponder matters of an artist relating to the world through the channels and signifiers of self-identity as much as they are moving closer to the listener's heart, they make a bid to be part of that fan's life with lines like; “can I be related too?” The long awaited album Sweet Sensation from The Embassy comes out February 26 on their own International imprint.
The History Of Colour TV's single, “1-800-BADNITE”. The US by UK by Berlin dark scanning-synth-scapers dial up the most antagonistic night like a vintage Bell System “reach out and touch someone” tagline while the listener walks through the thick black German forest looking for a sign of day break from above the tree canopied cathedral ceiling. The Cedric Dupire video presents the art of being lost in the video tape woods with the sound of THOCTV echoing from every corner, creating an eternal night screaming with guitars that lead toward the static shrieks of reception interferences.
But that's not all, tune into the promo for The History of Colour TV's forthcoming Emerald Cures Chic Ills available January 29 from Saint Marie Records. Lulling you with rich textures of warm televised tones, rapid fire words are hurled at the viewer/listener at such a rate that everyone will put together their own quip assemblage while awaiting on the release of Emerald Cures.
La Mirada, California's Lovely Bad Things play it cool, loud, quiet, then loud again on their single “Fried Eyes”. Sister and brother Brayden and Camron Ward, along with Tim Hatch and Lauren Curtius seek the solace of their Lovely Bad Pad garage headquarters, “free from everyone” hosting Orange County's raddest backyard sets away from “the speakers talk too loud about the things that we never wish to learn about”. The high school friends are preparing to release their album The Late Great Whatever on February 26 through Volcom Entertainment with the cassette available on Burger Records.
Nervous Nellie presents the title track “Gloves” from the forthcoming EP of the same name. Henrik, Sebastian, Magnus, and Andy take the combination of their respective US/Sweden countries to provide brave new twists on the smooth, soulful, subtle dance pop that mixes a sound that is equal parts Stockholm, Falkenberg, and tracks of Chicago. Rip off the Everlasts and put your dukes up to choruses like, “We're bouncing above each other, the gloves are coming off, the signal is lost in water, it's never drying off”. Nervous Nellie's Gloves EP comes out February 12.
Brooklyn's Young Boys hit hard with their single “Love Hits”. The leather on synth attitude pretends that the no wave ideals remained crystallized according to the band's definition of time and era that favors the distorted sides of the new and a romanticism somewhere in the brooding delivery from David “Legs” McDaniel and his thoughts on how the effects of the 'L' word got him down. Following up a limited edition 7″ on Rococo, and a split cassette EP last year, their forthcoming debut LP New York Sun will be available February 26 on digital and vinyl from LA imprint Holloweyed Records.
Al Lover gives you a listen to his set from January 5 at Milk Bar SF where he played with Alexander Spit and Bago sponsored by The Hundreds. Listen now as the much of the following tracks are unreleased, yet to be released, and may only be ever available here.
More from Saint Marie Records, we have Panda Riot's single “Black Pyramids”, where The Chicago foursome bring pop from the land of guitars where at moments the tremelo clears and Rebecca Scott suggests; “If you think that you can tell me what the point of everything will be then you should take the time to tell me why we're not through,” before the washes of raging but restrained electric buzzsaws of your dreams take over again.
And get in on the trailer for Panda Riot's forthcoming album Northern Automatic Music available February 19 from Saint Marie Records.
For those of you that don't have it yet, here's Toro y Moi x TheHllywd$, Anything in Return ($wamped) for your slowed & screwed pleasure.
Get “Nnormal” with Javelin's latest single off the forthcoming album Hi Beams, available March 5 on Luaka Bop. Note the spinal bass structure in the beginning that breaks into handclaps that leads to the squelching, starting, stopping, then spinning lazer storm. George Langford and cousin Tom Van Buskirk share some of their humorous and random poetic moments with voice effect laden lines like, “Sentences winking in the stars, how I wonder what you are, controlling my world from afar. Vultures circling in the sky, how I wonder what's in your eye, stay high, fly and dry”.
Thank the folks at BLUNN!TV who are about to take you into the studio to watch A$AP Rocky and OverDoz. work on the cut, “Pain” off the album Long.Live.A$AP. While there is no gold-Letterman live throne thrown in the mix; you get an intimate perspective over a 40oz, insights into the rhyme construction process with banter about the last episode of Arsenio Hall that features hip-hop all stars and ODB's infamous “the Black Man is God” chant.
Companion are preparing to release their self-released/self-titled debut album February 5 and this week Pepi Ginsberg and friends released the latest official leak “Only”. The focus on acknowledging, “the only thing I recognize, on the avenue, in the night sky”, are a list of attachments recited as a series of gasped quips to describe the connections between two not-so strangers in the night. The songwriting charges all involved objects and places with a connective pertinence seen applied to the empty subway graffiti scrawled stairwell on the wall to the personified city backdrop that Pepi describes as, “a part of us, she's a part of me, can't deny.” Watch and listen to Companion's Selector piece here.
Rockie Fresh has come back from the future preaching his style of longevity with the new cut, “Life Long” featuring Rick Ross and Nipsey Hussle. The rising Chicago MC will drop his mixtape Electric Highway January 21 from the Maybach Music Group.
Manchester's Dutch Uncles dropped the video for “Flexxin” featuring frontman Duncan Wallis sorting out his inner dancer. Betrween the strings and the rousing upbeat swing, The Uncles' forthcoming album Out of Touch In the Wild comes out April 2 from Memphis Industries.
We also have live captured footage of Parquet Courts performing “Borrowed Time” at Death by Audio this past January 11. Get up to your neck in motivation with some of the most exciting and crowd surfing-inspring music and prepared to get nostalgic for that time when your thoughts fit or the latter twentieth century's minimalist rebels that made life rich and anarchic. The re-release of their album Light Up Gold is available now from Dull Tools / What's Your Rupture?
We got pretty weird with SFV Acid last weekend with the video for “As Is (Part 1)” at the Woodland Hills, CA, Westfield Shopping Center and this week we're getting bugged out in Reseda ,CA, Hub Of The West Valley for a visual, mind altering adventure in “As Is (Part 2)”. So go suburban, make sure those landfill bound garbage bins are parked curbside, wave the flag high, drop one, venture down the streetways, roadside memorials, palm trees, strip malls, vacated building, see the defaced signs, the retro signage, behold a Vons, the 'Light Bulb Connection' shop, an abandoned old theater and getting weirder while gorging on a hoagie on top of the Reseda Village sign. SFV Acid's Neighborhood Archives EP is available now from UNO NYC.
Our boy from the Bay sayknowledge just released his album Vibe Called Quest, and we got your listen to the bouncy single “HEEM!” produced by Mars Today and co-produced by Mikos with some waterside vibes from the area with shout outs to watching “American Me” and sharing the keef.
A news cable wire came in about the Bay Area's Mwahaha signing to Plug Research, as their self-titled record revamped with new cuts and artwork is slated for release on March 26. Giving us visions of the energetic third eye prism pop of “Rainbow Diamond”, we present you memory tokens courtesy of Ross Peacock and NED's bro team Nathan and Cyrus Tilton as you re-fall in “Love (feat. Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs)” followed by “Sleep Deep”.
Throw the alarm clock out the window and plug in to this kind of r.e.m. on Mwahaha's “Sleep Deep”.
Get a look at Alan Resnick's tour bus road trip companion video for Dan Deacon's “Guilford Avenue Bridge” from the Deak's latest album America from Domino. Shot in the rapid frame time elapsing style, you can finally get a fuller experience of a roadie with a video's edit to match the frenetic audio trips that collide into the orhestra pit of percussion and fuzzed out bass lines. Dan Deacon takes off for an international tour adventure from February through April, touring from March 7 onward with Animal Collective.
Brooklyn's Leapling has released their debut 10″ EP Losing Face this past week on Father/Daughter Records. Frontman Dan Arnes, Yoni David on drums, Joey Postiglione along with bassist/EP masterer R.J. Gordon present their latest single, “Nature Must Not Win” that is like awaking to a morning of criticisms that lift off into a carefully carved, psych-transcendelic helium balloon. “Sometime in the morning time I'm wasting all my time, I guess that's just the kind of thing I do in your eyes,” as their sound keeps a percolating percussion boiling, the lyrical “in your eyes” cues the keyboard woodwinds and guitar to blow the mind wide open. Also catch Leapling's single “If You're Patient” and catch the power-indie-pop excitement from Father/Daughter's Cocktails' (of Warm Soda and Bare Wires) self-titled 7″ coming out February 12 with our debut of their single, “Hey Winnie” streaming here.
Tune in here to Unknown Mortal Orchestra's new single, “So Good At Being In Trouble” from the fuzz-fi rockers' forthcoming album II out February 5 from Jagjaguwar. “So bad at being in love”, they describe a lost love with troubled proclivities amid a minimalist backbeat, some sparse guitar strums and a little bit of thoughtful sung soul.
Cue up SL Jones' “Let'm Talk” from the upcoming Trapper's Delight EP dropping January 23. The tape is produced by M16 with hosting by DJ MLK of Hoodrich/Grand Hustle. Following up the Paraphernalia mixtape, Jonesy gets himself up off the ropes reasserting matters with a new sip of confidence in both himself and his crew while M16 keeps the production bossy.
Hot As Sun puts their best British affected 'a' pronounciations forward as they dahnce, dahnce “Dahnce to the Beat” of the drum push LA indie dance outward and upward in an attitude that is just as at home on the other side of the pond. Their much anticipated full-length album Night Time Sound Desire comes out March 26 from Last Gang Records.
Get dub wise with “Padre Ichiro”, a cut by Bill “DJ Prophesy” Wendt of Dub Club / Glitch Mob from The Lions' album This Generation available February 26 from Stones Throw Records.
PAWS album Cokefloat! is out now on FatCat Records and they drop their wide-angle-lens-fish-bowl-view video for “Sore Tummy” featuring extras vocals from Alice Costelloe. Look for PAWS on tour in the UK in the month of February, and taking over the US including SXSW dates in the month of March. With the grungy shambles set courtesy of Mischa Zielinska and editing from Philip Taylor, the indie Scots would like to give the following thank yous for the following video you are about to enjoy.
“Thank you to Fionn and Mairi for cutting out the leaves.
Thank you Xav for letting Phil borrow your laptop to make this.
Thank you Phil's flatmates for putting up with the tree's in the hallway…”
Blues Control opens the pandora's box video for “Opium Den / Fade to Blue” directed by Kathy Rose. Like the bending meditative psychedelia of the track's third eye focus control, Rose moves the video to create an homage to the inner pantheon council that commands the central nervous system from the hidden sanctum of the soul. Blues Control's album Valley Tangents is available now from Drag City with a massive national tour beginning tonight at Brooklyn's Cozy Royale with Sightings and 1-800-BAND with performances scheduled through June.
Listen to the new Wax Idols track, “AD RE:IAN” off the forthcoming Slumberland album Discipline & Desire, available March 26. Front woman Hether Fortune, and Jen Mundy, Amy Rosenoff and Keven Tecon embrace a pop future of forever with the help of Monte Vallier and Mark Burgess in creating a dark yet shimmering sound you can feel that encourages you to “give yourself to dreams”. Catch their record release show at SF's Brick & Mortar Music Hall on March 30.
Edinburgh's fast rising trio Young Fathers dropped their video for “Romance” off the upcoming TAPE ONE available January 22 from Anticon. Alloysious Massaquoi reps Liberia, Kayus Bankole has roots in Nigeria, and G Hastings claims the suburb of Drylaw, and on their current single they rattle the obsolete orders of the bald-headed Colonial preacher men while making a plea to “fill up the cup”, “free from disaster” in new romantic terms, verse and visuals.
Kriget unveiled their Fredrik Joelson and Henrik Gyllenskiöld directed video for their single, “Holy Mountain” that gears the futuristic wonder of everything you have thought, and feared about the might of Stockholm's electronic might and power. The Swedish electro-noisemakers will release their album Dystopico later this year while the Holy Mountain 7″ will be available February 5 from The Control Group.
Boys Noize Ich R U/ Ich R U Remixes are out now now via iTunes and Beatport and we share the dance reworking from Jacques Lu Cont's remix, aka Les Rhymes Digitales, aka Stuart Price.
Ahead of DENA's “Cash, Diamond Rings, Swimming Pools” single dropping January 28 from Kitsuné; the rising Berlin-ghetto superstar gets her new track re-twerked with some new abstract bass and beat synthesis by Obi Blanche. Remember peoples, if you got a swimming pool don't leave DENA hanging.
Micachu and the Shapes' Raisa K is raising some gritty loud distortion pop with her video for “Feeder” featuring a beachside bikini-clad Betty Grumble getting freaky and weird in the sand. Raisa K's self-titled EP comes out January 22 stateside from Technicolour and is available in the UK now.
Woods dropped the Adarsha Benjamin directed video for their single “Size Meets the Sound”. Ardasha's video captures the influential Brooklyn indie poppers jamming some time-bending fuzz with travel film captures celebrating America's outlands near and far. Woods' Bend Beyond is available now on their imprint Woodsist while those lucky enough can catch them touring Australia / New Zealand now, check local listings.
Herbcraft drops the mighty “No Land” space jammer that inspire a mountain of adjectives synonomous with words like 'epic.' With Matt Lajoie's psyched out, working class struggle mantras, feel the slipstreams of the proletariat's plights with lyrics like, “we work to the bone, and we don't have a home, we work so hard, we have been working so hard…” Taking the project out of the bedroom and into a New England barn from the 1700s, Lajoie is joined by the organ swells from Dawn Aquarius, drums and synth drones from Nicholas Barker, flute from Corinna Marshall, members from Woods helping out and Mmoss's Doug Tuttle recording the action direct to tape. Get ready to board the Herbcraft as they bring you The Astral Body Electric March 5 from Woodsist.
Minnesota's Carroll get out the heavy synths for their single “Lead Balloon” that took flight this week ahead of their February 12 EP Needs. Brian Hurlow's personal journeys of fall and flight are given permission for take off from Lance Conrad at Humans Win! Studios in NE Minneapolisa along with Huntley Miller from HM Mastering.
We got the Rare Times “No One's Looking Out” video directed by Mike Harris and Barney Patterson, aka Sus Boy with some late night/red light confessions of some serious don juan talk of, “I don't want to fuck around” big time game. Get down missionary steez with Rare Times' forthcoming Missionary EP available February 25 on Feel So Real.
Take two songwriters James Marshall from Austin and Reid Comstock from Chicago to create Tiger Waves, who create a shining pop sound that reaches for the Western coasts despite the involved geographies. They present their new single “Fields” that presents that free, long exhaling feeling guitar and harmonizing that stirs the happiness unstraint sprinting through open fields with hearts of unspeakable joy. Check local listings for Tiger Waves' current national tour through February with a Kickstarter set up to assist with the gas funds.
LA's Steffaloo brings the stark black and white simplicity for the visual treatment of “Can't You See”. Steph Thompson brings honest sentiment in the chorus strong tear-jerking confessionals of “don't want you,” “don't need you”, “I broke my own heart loving you” that burn deepest with acoustic framed lyrics like, “one life, shared with you, is one life, I want back.” Steffaloo's album Would You Stay is available now from Mush Records.
We have the Geographer remix of Bogan Via's “Kanye” that continues the dance movement cycles that have been remixing up their Wait Up EP in every which way. Bogan Via's Remix EP is available now via Bandcamp.
Dominic “Mocky” Salole brings his music video styled by his wife, fashion designer Desiree Klein for the slow melting-money maker-rump shaker, “Make You Rich ft. Hilary Gay and Pegasus Warning” directed by Vice Cooler and camera by Dalton Blanco. Working behind the scenes with Feist and Jamie Lidell; Mocky prepares a helping of his tricky next wave productions on the Graveyard Novelas EP available February 15 from Heavy Sheet.
Get a listen to Nihiti's cover of “Ghosts and Lovers”, originally by Marissa Nadler get tricked out to a rising and falling dance beat pattern progressions courtesy of Mark Verbos' “Sordid Future Mix”. NYC's Nihiti will release the remix 12″ Ghosts and Versions February 14 on Lo Bit Landscapes that will also feature reworkings from La Big Vic's Alienboy, Hrdvsion, National Park System, and Excerpter's Nathan remixing as Zebrablood.
New York's jammy-alchemists/deconstructionists Ahleuchatistas begin their North America tour January 30 through the month of February with Buke & Gase in support of their new album Heads Full of Poison, available now via CD and digital on Cuneiform Records with double LP available from Harvest Records. Reignite your senses with the audio tapestries that take over in an organic, natural fashion on “Wisps”.
Spare a little bit of horn lined soul and don your best denim Canadian tuxedo as Renny Wilson prepares the release of his album Sugarglider this coming January 22 from Mint Records. Songs for sunny Saturday afternoon, Renny's “Nobody” takes his thoughts on affection and romance on a personal stroll down the street without a care other than an ache of loneliness amid the subtle dance charms. Listen to the sound that has taken musicians since the dawn of the disco 70s some 40 years to master now.
Girls Names their new single “Pittura Infamante” from their forthcoming full-length, The New Life available February 26 from Slumberland Records. Their new track takes it's name from the Italian expression for 'defaming portrait' and rising into the new life that the Belfast quartet have been fostering for the past few years. If the previous title track “The New Life” and the dark tunneling 8 minutes of glory was any indication; things are looking adventurous and ambitious from Northern Ireland's indie pop upstarts. Pre-order available now from iTunes.
LA's The Little Ones dropped the crowd pleaser “Forro” ahead of the February 12 release of their album, The Dawn Sang Along from the Branches Recording Collective imprint. Catch them at their release show February 8 at LA's The Echo and listen to the “there's no place around us that will ever hold us down” arena-igniting-optimism that will be heard on every athlete sponsored commercial from 2013 onward.
Live at Thrill Jockey's 20th Anniversary show is the Folk Hero Films grab of Matmos covering the Buzzcocks' “ESP”. Their Ganzfeld EP is available now while their forthcoming full length, The Mariage of True Minds is coming out in February from Thrill Jockey.
Amor de DĂas combines The Clientele's Alasdair and Pipas's Lupe where they share the Grant Wilkinson video for “Jean's Waving” from the forthcoming collabo album, The House at Sea available January 29 from Merge Records. Word has it that director Grant chose the coastal setting of Wivenhoe on the Essex in the hopes of catching The Plod/Cleaners From Venus frontman, Martin Newell, but to no avail.
SSION's Cody Critcheloe and Mitch Moore direct the sweaty DIY party video for “Luvvbazaar”. Get dressed down in fashionable hedonistic trash “rolling in, another faded feeling, take no mistake, make the connection, whatever you want, no limited selection”. Get bent into shape with SSION's Bent available now from Dovecote Records.
Listen to Julia Holter's live Arthur Russell tribute with her cover of “You & Me” from the compilation Dual Form available on double cassette & out January 22 on LP, CD and digital as a label collaboration between Stones Throw and Leaving Records. Catch album release party in LA with performances by Matthewdavid, Julia Holter, Trance Farmers, Diva, and more with details listed above.
Young Galaxy's new album electro pop album Ultramarine has been scheduled for April 23 on Paper Bag Records and we have the illuminous video for to enjoy here until then.
Arrica Rose & the …'s (pronounced Dot, Dot, Dots) dropped the single, “Without My Love” from her forthcoming EP scheduled for release in February on her imprint, pOprOck records. Following up Let Alone Sea, Arrica's upcoming extended player continues her survey of Cali-candy-pop landscapes through the green light audio lens glow of a vintage push button car stereo that plays the FM station sounds in that familiar cadence found on the AM dial.
Bringing back a glimmer of the magic captured on Lovage / Handsome Boy Modeling School, Dan the Automator and Emily Wells' collaborative Pillowfight LP is streaming for a limited time. Also pitching in on the eclectic beat action is Kid Koala and Lateef the Truthspeaker on the Pillowfight LP coming out on digital and CD on January 22 while the vinyl drops February 26 from Automator's own, Bulk Recordings.
The battle between DJs Espinosa, Dstrukt, D-Sharp, Mei-Lwun and Richie Panic has been anounced and is about to betgin as they prepare to duke it out at the Red Bull Thre3Style at San Francisco's the Independent January 24. Go here for more info.
Cali by Canada's Peach Kelli Pop released her self-titled sophomore album this week on Burger and let the world listen to the candy-coated garage girl pop of “Panchito Blues ii” that crashes through the living room at a consice one minute-sixteen seconds time. Order here if you want to be one of the lucky first 300 with blue vinyl.
Tucson, Arizona's Matt Rendon is slated to release the sixth studio disc from his solo project The Resonars with Crummy Desert Sound January 29 from Burger Records. Forsaking the big city lights, Rendon takes it to the desert with the pop ballad brilliance of “A City Out of Reach”. “Why should I take a Sunday now, I've no direction anyhow,” while the twisting effects of a horn blare is kept calm and controlled in the oasis of a Spanish guitar. Not to be missed, pre-order here.
