Helping to turn up the thermostats, Impose’s Week in Pop presents a plethora of exclusives, insights, and a handful of media items you have may have missed. First, you can thank Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker/University of Georgia researcher David Lowery for getting the National Music Publishers’ Association to crusade against lyrics sites that saw Rap Genius find a Sony ATV Publishing licensing deal, while Johnny Marr never to be outdone by Morrissey is also jumping in on the autobiography game, and an MIA documentary and a Giorgio Moroder disco Vegas show are all in the works, as Trinidad “All Gold Everything” James got us all turned up and learned up in a rant about how ATL is allegedly running the current state of NYC hip-hop. Take all the time you need to digest this, but we are proud to hand over the week to all the talents from Holy Wave, Jensen Sportag, Vaadat Chagirim, Lord Echo, Pravada, and more who all contributed to make our week’s a happier, and warmer place-in no particular order.
Introduce yourself to the latest from Austin Psych Fest imprint Reverberation Appreciation Society, with the sacred psych-slipstreams of Holy Wave. Known to bring their transcendent liquid organ wave motions that run from El Paso to Austin; the Texan gang of Kyle Hager, Dustin Zozaya, Julian Ruiz, Joey Cook, and Ryan Fuson melt their sound like a ceremonial vinyl-dripping-bonfire of instruments and sounds that meld themselves into the mind’s caverns and bottomless chasms.
Their sound moves in the same ways like the many colors of oils that turn and tumble in front of the light from the projector’s glass lens. Holy Wave have a sound that takes heavily from all your parents heady 60s discs to all the new currents unknown to the previous baby-boomer generation. But to the band, all these past and present iconic sounds of crunchy guitar and organ harmonizing dip into the same psychedelic pool as these collected sounds are held in a reverence that allows them to have such an effective resonance. Holy Wave picks up where your best friends and family’s favorite records left off. “Star Stamp” leaves an impression that marks the next line in the narrative of creating music for the mind. These sounds swirl in ways that will find new hosts as they move to reach psyches that are open and receptive, and to gently knock at the cerebral frontal lobes that stand like twin doors shut like an iron sarcophagus.
Holy Wave talked with us for a bit about their new album Relax, their new single “Star Stamp”, and a view of Austin beyond the live music capital hype.
What was the process and secrets to creating the astral organ glow of “Star Stamp”?
Our good friends Josh Phipps and Dillon Fernandez play in a great band in El Paso called Lake of Fire. They helped write this song in many ways, including the organ part.
Having expanding to a quintet, tell us about recording your second album, Relax.
We spent most of 2012 touring around the states and we were all listening to the same bands every day as a unit. When we finished the tours we were able to hone in on something we liked so we recorded for about a week. We were able to do plenty of messing around in Erik Woffords studio so it was a pretty fun process.
What have been some of your favorite recent psych records?
Broadcast Tender Buttons, Magic Castles, Goat World Music, CosmonautsWear Your Hair Like a Weapon, White Fence Is Growing Faith…
Favorite old psych records?
The Clean’s early records, Spacemen 3 Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To, Beach Boys Pet Sounds, Captain Beefheart Safe As Milk…
How do you all feel Austin has informed your sound?
Everyone is so friendly and supportive in Austin. I think we’ve been lucky to meet friends, bands, and promoters who support us doing our own thing.
Best things about Austin these days?
Hidden Ritual, Low Times, Taquerias Arandinas, Hotel Vegas…. and the chicks are great.
Least best things about Austin of late?
Bastardization of cool music genres, Condo-mania, Bob Schneider.
Winter/2014 plans for Holy Wave?
Record release in January, followed by European and North American tours.
Holy Wave’s new album Relax will be available January 28 from Austin Psych Fest’s Reverberation Appreciation Society imprint.
Jensen Sportag have been pretty busy in the years spent between the recent Cascine release of Stealth of Days and their break-through Pure Wet EP. Having explored their recent single “Bellz” with Austin and Elvis, we bring you the Fennesz remix of “Rain Code”. If the original reminded you of the natural code that informs the rain patterns on where and how to fall when and with what degree of impact; then Christian Fennesz works to crack the key to transform the convection cycles of “Code” to the water vapor mirages and mist prisms that create audio opticals of rainbows, the awe-inspiring beauty of a borealis translated to sound, through a study of audio cadences.
A close listen reveals to how deep of a score “Rain Code” is, as Christian follows the most understated sound paths like the rain drops that make their way into the earth’s soil beneath the surficial crust. The vocal chops from Austin and Elvis flash and pan between the channels, as the cistern light brightens up further as the remix carries on along the encrypted incandescence of “Code”. An even closer listen finds an entire new layer here where the subterranean and the celestial meet like folded hands, holding the other tight in a yin and yang metaphor that can be applied to the original, the remix, and perhaps the universe we all inhabit together.
Austin Sportag talked with us for a bit this morning, as we deconstructed “Rain Code”, reflected a bit on the future, Stealth of Days‘ completion, and discussed the further explorations of the natural code by the Fennesz remix.
First, “Rain Code” always sounded like a definitive Jensen Sportag track to begin with, the way your music seeks to show the encryption of natural occurring elements in the world through your sound. When you were creating the original, did you have this kind of decoding of the elements translated to sound theory in mind?
For Rain Code, which is deconstructionist new-jack swing in style, we open with a time lapse of thaw, exposing a single molded coil of cold liquid bass, drum, and keys. There are many filter sweeps to be found in Nature and none of them cut-off abruptly. We carve and polish and mirror many of our sounds to reflect their own details occasionally impersonating the infinitely reducing, multiplying shapes in Nature.
Fennesz opened the track up in an expansive way, kind of like those ambient sustains you hear on that classic 10cc “I’m Not in Love” song. How do you all feel about the reinterpretation of one of your babies put to new, elongated patterns?
We love what he did. He unravels the song to expose it’s chordal ancestral strains through his long and gentle guitar strokes. It was slightly hallucinatory upon first listens.
I liked how Fennesz brings in your more abstract stems and sounds in the second portion of the remix, was wondering what the communication between you guys and Fennesz was like over track selecting and the rearrangement process?
We put our full trust in Christian. As true devotees of his work we wanted to be, and were indeed, quite happily surprised by the result. The song selection was a simple choice as it was both our favorite song from the record, and a favorite of Christian’s too. It’s the earliest composition on the record also and therefore a bit sentimental, so we wanted to give it something special.
Will there perhaps be any upcoming collaborations between Jensen Sportag and Fennesz? Any foreseeable tours per chance?
This would be a sweet dream of course, but no, it hasn’t come up yet. While we’re dreaming, maybe one day we’ll join a supergroup with Fennesz, Burnt Friedman, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Atom Heart. Jensen Sportag will be touring this spring, barring several unforeseeable misfortunes.
Having worked on Stealth of Days for so long now, how does it feel to have it out in the world?
Like the conclusion of a slow motion near death experience, resulting in a wake up call to our misspent youths. A wonderful time to be alive.
What is next for Jensen Sportag?
We are nearly finished developing a modest theatrical presentation of Stealth Of Days, while working on new music as always. We have pinpointed the next stage of our sound – and I say pinpointed, because it’s noticeably more precisionist.
What else do you all have up your sleeves in the days, weeks and months to come?
We’ll be joined by two masters of adult romance, Obey City and Caroline Polachek of Chairlift for our live debut in Brooklyn on December the 5th at Sea Level. This will be a more casual and intimate performance in celebration of the record’s release prior to our official touring dates.
If you both could come up with an ethos or philosophy behind your beautiful music, what would it be?
Trusting the words of Stevie Wonder: “Music is, in essence, what gives us memories.” A beautiful memory is a many faceted thing. It may even hold some painful thoughts. It will change as we change and grow older. We hope to make beautiful music that is many faceted so it can stay with us for a long time, and change like a memory in our minds.
Stealth of Days is available now from Cascine.
In the recent months and weeks leading up to the release of The World is Well Lost from Tel Aviv, Israel’s indie titans Vaadat Charigim; we have discussed and observed the Israeli underground scenes in interviews and through exclusive photo journeys. While we continue to rock their breakthrough U.S. debut release, Juval Haring, Yuval Guttman, and Dan Fabian Bloch made us the following mix to give the world a view into their local influences that have had an impact on one of the best albums you will have heard all year:
“Our debut LP is [available now] on Warm Ratio on vinyl, Burger Records on cassette and ANOVA, our Israeli label, on CD and Digital. For our Selector peice we decided to list our Israeli influences, rather than our American or British ones.”
Berry Sakharof – “Halaliyot” – 1991
This video is priceless. One of Berry’s biggest hits from the 90s. Berry Sakharof started our in some very experimental bands in the 70s and 80s, but towards the 90s and 2000s became a celebrated mainstream rock musician, for his ability to blend middle-eastern harmonies with an 80s UK sound. Every girl in Israel has a crush on Berry.
Yossi Elephant with Lehaka Retorit (Retoric Band) – “Seder Yom” – 1983
Probably one of Elephant’s most well known songs. Yossi’s music was influenced by the likes pf Joy Division, and have a spark of Johnny Thunders in it, especially in his persona and in the lyrics. A great musician that hardly saw any of his music released in his lifetime. After his death backstage at the legendary Logus club in Tel Aviv, his material was released as a compilation.
Plastic Venus – Raz Im Techabek Ze Yaazor – 1991
As a teen this was my favorite band. Jerusalem based Indie label FACT re-issued their seminal 1991 debut LP, with a few bonus songs and I played that CD till it was too scratched to work. In my opinion, the finest band, noise rock, or other, to ever exist in this region. A heavy influence on my music writing and just generally on what
I consider to be cool.
Sadranei Hadeshe – Mavet Lasamelet – 1997
“Death to the Sergeant”. Sadranei Haseshe were one of my favorite bands in 1997. Israeli is a very deeply militant society, and this song is about saying “no” to the military’s control over you.
Hemyutarim (The Disposables) – Kalaniyot – 2005
Growing up I used to go to a club in South Tel Aviv called the Patiphone, which later also became label to some of my bands. Patiphone had analog recording equipment, had a club that was basic and raw, was home to such bands as Monotonix, and as a label, released vinyl, which is extremely rare in Israel, where digital and CD are the main forms of music consumption. The Disposables were the Patiphone’s resident kids. So good live.
Eled Zeev – Al Tefahed Mehamachshev (Dont be afraid of the Computer) – 2007
Solo project of the lead singer of the band Arufey Sfatahim. His band was one of the first bands I saw when I started going out at night to Tel Aviv to see shows, way back when, all the way from the suburb I lived in before I moved to Tel Aviv. Just great lyrics, and raw noise-rock. Very influential on my choice to keep Vaadat Charigim in our native language. This video is a great example of Zeev’s, and actualy everyone around him who are part of the PITKIT group of artists, amazing talent to make raw, honest, direct music with a very low budget. PITKIT is one of the only true lo-fi labels around.
Monotonix – Body Language – 2008
Monotonix are still in my opinion a revolutionary band, not only show-wise, but also as a band that showed other Israeli bands how the job is done when it comes to touring outside the country. They will always be a perfect example for me of the ‘otherness’ you are expected to portray as an Israeli artist trying to cross the ocean.
Charlie Megira – Etmol Hayom Vemachar – 2002
Charlie Megira’s first album from 2002 was this sort of rare record you would look for and ask shops about and most of them didnt know anything about it, but you knew you had to find it. Charlie, living today in Berlin, is still one the most amazing musicians to ever spawn in these parts.
Minimal Compact – Creation is Perfect – 1982
This band includes one of Israeli most well known pairs – Berry Sakharof (1st song on the list) and Rami Fortis, aka Fortis-Sakharof. This song is off Minimal Compact’s first record from 1982.
Rami Fortis – Dvash – 1978
Just to show the other side of the Fortis-Sakharof pair, this is Rami Fortis, also part of Minimal Compact. I think he’s probably the greatest Hebrew vocalist to ever exist. From his seminal 1978 debut LP. Still performs to this day, and still has one of the most involving, exciting, emotional live shows.
Vaadat Charigim’s album The World is Well Lost is available now from Warm Ratio on vinyl, Burger Records on cassette, ANOVA in Israel, and iTunes for digital.
New Zealand producer Lord Echo, aka Mike Fab, released the anticipated album Curiosities this week on Bastard Jazz. Hit play and start your day and every other day with the rising scales of “Endless Dawn”, the street beat dub-styles of Toby Laing on “Bohemian Idol”, the whirlwind dance party of “Digital Haircut”, the sheer strength of “Street Knowledge”, the Leila Adu adornments of the smooth “Molten Lava”, Mara TK’s trip-steez of “Put It In My Head”, the coffee shop cool of “The Creator Has a Master Plan” with Lisa Tomlins, to the closing specter-funk chapter of “Ghost Hands”.
Lord Echo’s Mike Fab dropped some knowledge on us about how he got into making and producing music, his new album Curiosities, and all about recording everything without samples.
How did you first get into the production game?
My first foray into the world of recording was going back and forth between two tape decks, recording myself then playing along to that playback and recording that and so on. So for me it’s been a long, arduous and exciting journey of experimentation to get to the point where I am today. I started on tape machines and their sound and the restrictions imposed by using them are still a big part of my ethos.
What brought you to title yourself, Lord Echo?
I was copying the names of all the old calypso singers – Lord Melody, King Radio, The Mighty Sparrow etc. Also, I had fallen in love with this font but I didn’t have the full alphabet. Lord Echo was one of the things I could spell with the letters I did have.
Tell us about the painstaking task of making Curiosities completely without resorting to samples.
Ha, we’ll call me old fashioned but that’s the only way I know how to make music, I write it then I record it. I have tried to make sample based music in the past and I found it incredibly difficult to make anything interesting. You need to have a killer hook and a great vocal to really make it work. To me, it’s easier to make a song from scratch.
What kind of pressure did that put on you?
I put an incredible amount of pressure on myself to try and make a record that sounds as good as any other record I might DJ. To my ears, I’m not there yet. Most of my time is still spent trying to get things to sound good as opposed to working on musical ideas, which is frustrating. But at the same time it’s always good to have something to keep striving for.
What kind of creative releases did it provide?
My favorite part about making music is the feeling you get when an idea is just getting born. It’s such a high, a real feeling of euphoria and its definitely a healthy outlet for the psyche and the body too, so of course I enjoyed that aspect of it.
What does genre still mean to you now in the post-genre world?
It doesn’t mean a lot to me. I guess it’s a necessary evil that allows people to share a simple common language when talking about and describing music with each other, but beyond that it often does a grave
Injustice to people’s personal expression and experience.
What does Lord Echo predict about the sounds and styles of tomorrow’s trends in sounds and tunes?
Ha, you’re asking the wrong guy. I couldn’t possibly be more out of touch with today’s music, let alone tomorrow’s. If I think far ahead into the future – not that it seems likely that humanity will survive that far – then I wonder if music could evolve to use other frequency spectrums in new ways. And maybe physical bodies might not be obligatory. Obviously I’m looking fairly far ahead into the future here.
Curiosities is available now from Bastard Jazz.
Indianapolis trio Pravada premieres a listen to their new album Dirty Looks, and joins us for a discussion following the stream. Born out of the dissolution of Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, Jesse Lee, Casey Tennis and Hubert Glover take their combined talents and experiences to give us a fresh listen to encore songs, campfire tales, stories about the ones that got away, and all the ones met along the roads traveled and well toured.
Dirty Looks in some ways is like an Indiana DIY goes to NYC album. “Campfire Song” takes the Midwest middle of a nowhere bonfire with a cool-it-down attitude that makes for an end of the year single sure to be played everywhere throughout 2014. “Flatbush” crashes into those aforementioned NYC scenes in a song about girls gone bad and guys gone wild, before grinding into grit and black tar tales on, “Junky’s Life”. Roller-coaster songs about touring life, anecdotes of relationships hitting the rocks and romantic reminiscence permeate “Teacher”, “Someone Else”, “Touch Too Much” to the closing trifecta of “Molly”, “Pauline”, and “You’re Fun”. Weird tales of dudes hitting the out-of-town gay bars sets the scene on the rocker, “Straight Guys”, as the closing number “You’re Fun” dishes out the group’s delicate balance of life’s disenchantment and disappointment that are attended in the same measure and weight as the tender and more cherished moments. All together, this is the Pravada sound.
Pravada’s Casey Tennis joins us for an end of the week discussion on the making of Dirty Looks, over coffee and brunch.
Tell us about the rise of Pravada’s life after Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s.
Jesse and I have been playing and writing together for years. When Margot dissolved we knew it was time to push Pravada to the next level. Other ‘So & So’s” like Andy Fry and Tyler Watkins were a big help. Filling in on gigs and of course, recording “Dirty Looks”.
How had those former musical experiences informed Pravada?
We learned so much in our 5-6 years of recording and touring with Margot. How to live on $20 a day, and make Taco Bell edible. Actually talking to fans and when they tell you their own personal experience with your music is really intense and profound. Also the time spent with other bands, we learned soooo much, and made friendships that will last our lifetimes. All of these things and many many more just cement the feeling that we have to do this. We have to make music
“Campfire Song” is one helluva single and opener, can you tell us about the writing and recording process of this? Lots of cool, punctuated songwriting happening here.
‘Campfire Song’ is a fun one and it was written with the goal of being a song that people play while sitting around together when there is only a guitar and you want to do a sing-along. It used to function as what Jesse used to call an ‘encore piece’: something to play when put on the spot at a show, or a studio or friend’s party. The lyrics are amusingly suggestive as well. Because we wanted it to sound classic, Jesse used a guitar tuning trick for the verse’s acoustic track and it’s chorus is our play at being big-time arena rock. Definitely one of the most playful recordings we have done.
What inspired the promiscuous rocker, “Flatbush”?
Flatbush was inspired by a group of four women that we were friends with that lived in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Jesse used them as a fictional start for a dream-turned-nightmare of the NYC Lou Reed fantasy. Pravada looks forward to dressing him in drag soon.
With all the gender politics and Latter Day Saint references of “Straight Guys”, is this a commentary on the Indianapolis dating scene?
This is a great question for ‘Straight Guys’! Of course, there is the gender bender aspect, its not necessarily about Indy, though it was written about going to a large gay dance club with a couple seedy straight dudes. I’m not sure that Indianapolis is known for it’s L.D.S. population. It’s more a song about escaping your little city, finding the wild life and the tricky roles in the gay scene more than a specific commentary on a dating scene.
“Molly”, “Pauline” and closer “You’re Fun” are like songs about girlfriends, exes and desired traits in a significant other. What is about love songs, ballads and odes that attracts you to all to this time honored tradition and craft?
Those three songs are interesting to think of as love songs. That’s kind of insightful for you to notice this. [As Jesse put it] ‘I’d always thought of Molly as a girl that we saw interacting and then commented on to each other, telling her story, which we thought of as quite sad in a way. And of course, that says something about us by doing so.’ Girlfriends, Boyfriends, exes and enemies, lusts ad passions; these things consume us. ‘Pauline’ was a song about a breakup Jesse witnessed of close friends that were also roommates of his that were engaged, then split suddenly, and of the feelings of being trapped that all three of them felt. We loved this song, it was one of the older tunes that had been lying around for years. ‘You’re Fun’ is a good example of sexual frustrations that arise from party life and touring. What attracts us to the craft is expressing disenchantment and disappointment as much as the tender moments that seem to saturate the genre.
Thoughts and dispatches on the state of the Indianapolis scenes you all can share?
There’s always been a great underground punk scene here and there are a lot of people now honoring that and documenting it. The city’s rarely been better. Lots of bands we like and play with, Bonesetters, KO, The Icks, SM Wolf, are all working and releasing things currently. There are so many bands we won’t try to mention all haha . . . Many groups need mentioning, labels, clubs, promoters, etc., but Musical Family Tree, Cataracts, General Public Collective, and Glory Hole Records as well as Foam City in Lafayette and Magnetic South in Bloomington are doing things that people anywhere in the world would love. The avant and recital scene are small but devoted and active, thanks to people like Kyle Long of Cultural Cannibals, Chris Dance, Derek Johnson and Nic Ohler of Mythiopic.
What’s next for Pravada?
We are recording a 7″ with SM Wolf at Twinsize Studios to release next year. Also some travel to New York City in May.
Dirty Looks will be available November 19.
Taken from their upcoming album Daughter of Everything available February 25, 2014 from Merge Records; we have Vertical Scratchers’ “These Plains” that cruises it’s chords jaggedly out to some infectious outer plains.
“Eyes For You” from Steffaloo & Chrome Sparks gets the Niva remix treatment, as Steff’s vocals and CS’s spark-lit stylings get done up to a dancier dream state of fashion.
Nasimiyu Murumba will awaken all your cells and inspire you to raise your bow on her new single, “Raise Your Arrow (The Hunt)”. Following up her Rules Aren’t Real album with the January 24 slated dirt EP, the Minneapolis by Brooklyn artist enlists talents from a production crew that name checks Andreas Gustafsson, Ben Lorio, Rubblebucket’s Kalmia Traver, Naughty Professor, amongst others.
Heatsick’s engineered to trippy perfection album, RE-ENGINEERING available November 26t from PAN_ACT, and switches mode into the billboard busting track, “CLEAR CHANEL”. We imagine drone flying above a milion Clear Channel corporate sponsored billboards, locking sites on massive displays of luxury advertisements that propagate mainstream radio, mainstream film, and everything that is in your face to sell you every inane product you never need but you swear you can’t live without it.
ODESZA follows up their recent EP with multiple takes on the My Friends Never Die Remixes, available now. Little People mix it jacuzzi styles, Kodak keep it cloudy, 1990 makes it ultra bright, Ki: Theory, Tor makes a chill technicolor track, with Vindata sending everything out with a digital dimension of zapped out electronica. Look for ODESZA playing near you with the likes of Pretty Lights, Above & Beyond, Emancipator, Real Magic and Star Slinger.
If you haven’t yet, get the OverDoz. LA collective’s BOOM mixtape, courtesy of LiveMixtapes. One of SoCal’s freshest brings you appearances from your boy Pimp C, Juicy J, Problem, Nipsey Hussle, and others, giving you something to keep that your weekend kicking.
P-Lo dropped the latest single “Going To Work” off the forthcoming MBMGC2, with some real work being put in by The Invasion/HBK’s Iamsu! on the production end of things. Listen as this cut slaps and P spills some real talk. The tape More Bitches More Gold Chains 2 will be available December 9.
Peep the tripped out Alex Grigg video for DZ Deathrays’ “Northern Lights”, as they prepare their second album for release in 2014.
Taken from the Castle Face Records Live in San Francisco series, get yer scuzzed out/fuzed out listen to Ty Segall’s Fuzz rocking “You Won’t See Me” live at SF’s leather haven, The Eagle.
Jared Bartman hung out with us last week for an exclusive debut and interview, and this week we bring you a stream of his new album Misery Makes Strange Bedfellows, available November 19.
Ghost up with the DallasK remix of Ghost Beach’s “Miracle” fresh off the release of the Remixes EP with a track that presents creative pop alliterations built off a fascination of the supernatural.
Coultrain’s album Jungle Mumbo Jumbo is available now from Plug Research, and we got the video for “Asherah Le Chameleon” direct from your boy, Kenny Fresh, aka FRSH SLCTS. Marinate and meditate on this, immediately.
We’ve talked about it. You’ve heard about it. You’ve read about it. Got down to their “1990″ single, and now you can hear Soviet Soviet’s just released Felte album Fate now, for a limited time. Stay tuned for further dispatches from Pesaro, Italy; new indie capital of 2013. Catch them November 15 in 15 Brooklyn, NY at Saint Vitus with Excepter, ERAAS, Felte (DJ) and Sunday November 17 in Los Angeles, CA at The Echo for Part Time Punks with Felte cohorts Flaamingos.
Tempers’ “Hell Hotline” gets the Brian DeGraw of Gang Gang Dance royal treatment, with the bEEdEEgEE remix that kicks up the switch to dance, dance, dance-mode. Having covered Swans’ “Killing For Company”, catch Jasmine Golestaneh and Eddie Cooper of Tempers playing EU gigs with Jarboe, as well as with ERAAS.
Big it up for legends of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Polvo, who released their new Merge Records album Siberia and dropped by the video for “Light, Raking” from Jason Sievers that rolls and wraps the worlds of light and nature all up into one epic piece.
We got your look at the last VHS recording of when Beachwood Sparks were a sextet, with this vintage visual of “Make It Together”, found off their revived time capsule masterpiece, Desert Skies available 26 from Alive Naturalsound Records. Get to know why the ultimate cali-sunshine-indie pop was one of your beloved favorites to begin with.
DFA and Flying Nun luminary Shocking Pinks, aka Nick Harte, begins his trilogy with Guilt Mirrors slated for release February 18 2014 for our friends at Stars & Letters. On the first released single “Not Gambling”, listen as the coins are dispensed from the machines as the moral weights of frivilous financial loss through the games of chance and sport are put to the most musical of organic percussion, that sound like change and wind chimes put on a tumble dryer and set to guitar strums. This is an event not to be missed, and a song and forthcoming trilogy that should not go unheard.
With the Rapor EP available now, get into the Liar remix of Active Child’s “Subtle” that features Mikky Ekko and gets spun into the electro pop oblivion.
Get illicit with The New Royales as they cover The Monks’ “Drugs In My Pocket” that rocks with a narcotic motion that kicks it class A, with intention to distribute.
Get a listen to The Darcys’ Warring Statement mix, that cuts up Mount Kimbie, Caribou, and more…
Former Yuck-man Daniel Blumberg, currently of Hebronix has teamed up with Neil Hagerty of the legendary Royal Trux to become Heb-Hex, and we got their Claes Nordwall figurine poses for the syrup-laced indie rockin’ cut, “Bad Days”. Their forthcoming Heb-Hex 7″ will be available November 25 from ATP Recordings. This song and DIY video will make even the worst days of the week feel just a little bit better
Mode Moderne brought us the single “She, Untamed” off their forthcoming Occult Delight slated for release January 21 from Light Organ Records. Operating on a restrained (perhaps courtesy of producer Joshua Stevenson) but untamed edge, Phillip Intilé brings a passion that is torn from the pages of waves, no waves of disaffection, that rises from the rubble that lays marked with the labels of post hoc fallen sub-genres and broken statues of fallen idols
Get a look at My Midnight Heart’s video for “Chest Of Hearts”, where the vocals of Angelica Allen are hurdled through sci-fi-futuristic visuals to suit her synth and silk styled sound.
Austra brought the night haunting visuals from Claire Edmondson for the song, “Forgive Me”, their single slated for November 26 slated single for Domino Records. Peer across the blue evening, through the park, scary streets, past the canoodling lovers and barren trees that frame the dawn breaking neon words that spell out, “FORGIVE ME”. Find them on tour now in the EU.
White Fence / Ariel Pink tour guitarist John Webster John is now operating under the handle of Jack Name, and gave the world a listen to the buzzing and humming pop brilliance of “Pure Terror” that is sure to make you sit up, stand up, pay attention and take note. Light Show will be available out January 21 on Ty Segall’s God? Records/Drag City.
Fresh from Manimal TV, get a look at the rise and shine video from Amberlie Bankoff for Chains of Love’s “Enough for Tonight” off the album, Misery Makers. Nathalia Pizarro dances about to the spinning disco mirror lights, sometimes looking as if from within the reflecting globe to the intimate wooden floor spaces of home.
SL Jones dropped the Signal Point Studios video for his Metro Boomin produced cut “Been a While”, off his recent tape, Way Of Life No Hobby.
Psapp have released their new album, What Makes Us Glow this week, and we got your look at the Žygimantas Kudirka video for, “Wet Salt” that presents the adventure of a piece of paper moving about the city to the tune of Psapp’s electrified pop. The duo of Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant wrote this on their new video:
“Wet Salt is a song about the dirt, greyness and magic of city life. For this video, we wanted everyday rubbish and litter to be elevated into something magical and strange. We love anthropomorphism and we liked the idea of a secret parallel world of friendships, hardships and struggles going on in miniature at our feet. It could be true. It probably is true.
This video tells the stopframe story of a hapless but intrepid paper shape on her journey through a hostile city, and the strange band of litter creatures she befriends on her way. Banana skins, scouring pads, ants, shuttlecocks and benevolent hats all appear to help our plucky protagonist.”
De Lux is preparing their self-titled EP for the new imprint of, Scion Audio Visual, set for digital release November 19 and physically December 10, and you can dance along to the car company-sponsored dance jam, “Better At Making Time” here.
Crushed Stars dropped the explosive pop florals on us with “Flowerbomb”, off their forthcoming album Farewell Young Lovers available January 21 from Simulacra Records. While we were swept by the track’s understated, and mellow dream tonesp; drummer Jeff Ryan describes it further in the following paragraph:
“It seems there’s a new sense of energy woven into these new tracks, there are more textures and electronics expanding the musical landscape. The straightforward harder songs like “Flowerbomb” and “Haters” show a musical side that hasn’t been seen before from us, even though there’s still a common thread between these songs and the others on the album.”
Off the upcoming Spaces album slated for release November 19 from Erased Tapes, grab a listen to the looping piano atmospheres of “Says” to give your room and chambers some enhanced moods.
Joanna Gruesome dropped the cover of Galaxie 500’s classic cut, “Tugboat”, while we continue to love and get weird to their excellent album, Weird Sister, available now from Slumberland Records. Dream out and shred out, now.
Jus Post Bellum seeks that certain Justice After War on their second, Civil War inspired album, Oh July that you can stream here in it’s entirety and old world glory for a limited time.
Having recently interviewed The Landing about their recent “Strange Charm” single; this week have been moving and grooving to the feel good fears of the latest cut, “Anxieties”.
Taken from their album Today We’re Believers, Royal Canoe gets real surreal and weird with the Scott Cudmore video for “Birthday”.
Having released their self-released Trilingual EP earlier, Trails and Ways dropped their Portuguese cover rendition of Frank Ocean’s “Lost” as they prepare to play a hometown gig tonight, November 15 at Oakland’s New Parish.
Alice Cohen directs the pastiche collected images for Band in Heaven’s “Music Television” video, from their Caught in a Summer Swell album available from Decades Records. Let the visuals and upbeat sounds move you.
Also check out Jean Jacket’s remix of Band in Heaven’s “Music Television” that adds more spaces, synths, and spaced out facets to the equation.
Dude York’s album Dehumanize will be available January 28 from Help Yourself Records, but we got the flesh eating thrasher “Cannibal” for you to chew on for your enjoyment, and general and overall merriment.
Check out the Nirvana Nevermind cover-looking Jesper Berg video for Swedish group, This Is Head’s “Repetition Radio”, off their Repetition EP that features remixes from Prince Rama, Korallreven, El Perro Del Mar, etc. Look and listen why Sweden remains to be one of the world’s greatest indie exporters.
Check out the Brendan Canty & Conal Thomson video for Keep Shelly in Athens’ “Oostende” off the recent At Home album from Cascine. As if the music of KSiA on it’s own wasn’t captivating enough, the visuals that follow Ruben Lefever and Aveen Kinsella on a journey through Belgian only add further dimensions and layers to some of the year’s most intimate music.
From the upcoming Don’t Tell the Driver album available November 19 from Drag City; check out the Cam Archer video for Mick Turner’s “The Bird Catcher” that bends and warps washes of instrumental strings, heart strings and jazzy drums in a video that features Karen Black hanging about low-lit environments.
Turning heads, breaking hearts, and ripping at the heart strings is chanteause Emily Jane White and an advance listen to her new album, Blood / Lines. Get all tethered up in “My Beloved”, chant down the speed of Satan on “Faster Than the Devil” (which features the always amazing, Melissa Nadler, we might add), the soul haunting “Keeley”, the weirdness of “Thoroughbred”, the solemnity of “Wake”, more appearances from Ms. Nadler on “Dandelion Daze”, “Holiday Song” brings together the family guilt, closing with the goth folk of “The Roses” and “The Wolves”. Stay for the bonus track of extra ethereal nuggets, with “Silence/Slain” and “Here It Lies”. Blood / Lines will be available 19 on Important Records.
