Week in Pop
From Dog-Hat Bootlegz, we bring you the collaboration between Victoria Haynes & Shodé Non with the spirit awakening beauty of the heloise embarks couplet. These new-consciousness enlightening stages arrives first with the soft synth & vocal ballad whispers of “Have You Seen Him?” where restraint is illustrated from the harmonic song to the synths that move in a hushed ambiance, complete with surface noise. The next step is “The Promise of Loneliness” where Victoria & Shodé completely immerse you in a throwback 90s era of public television science specials and the programs & interfaces enjoyed on throwback 486 PC desktops. This is a soundtrack for future chamber environments that can be experienced in the awakened morning of now.
Featured off Henry the Rabbit’s Abraham’s Sausage Pot cassette from Moon Glyph; we present a listen to the rustic primitive pop of “Conjunction Day” that is coupled with visuals taken from 狂った一頁 directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. A cycle of visceral vignettes that were made in Copenhagen & recorded from 2011 to 2015, Henry the Rabbit makes melodies of magic, mysticism & intrigue that offer inspiration for tomorrow’s tunesmith to make their own organic opuses.
Oakland’s felsen shared the passion wielding pop single “Vultures On Your Bones” featured off their upcoming album Blood Orange Moon that brings more hymns for surviving beyond the modern age. From the delicately constructed electric guitar-woven pastorals, leader Andrew Griffin continues toward elevated audio echelons that are further reinforced by fellow musician mates Dylan Brock, Dara Ackerman, Joanne de Mars, Scarth Locke, Peter Canton, Tal Ariel, Jules Leyhe & more.
The grand choral core of our unwavering devotion of pop flights of fancy, Fascinations Grand Chorus sent news of their third EP Anglesea available December 8 via Silent Stereo Records with a listen to yet another one of their timelessly threaded productions on the grandeur of “When You’re Mine”. This is the sound of a freak-beat throwback boomeranging to the here & now time & place of the present as the duo resurrects some of the most intrinsic components of 60s garage construction through clever re-constructive updates & elaborations upon their original source material/inspirations et al.
Arc Waves presented a listen to the just released album The Sound The Circle, fresh from last night’s release show at Pianos where Elaine Lachica brings experiments in arrangements & compositions to create narratives from the mystical ether. The sentiment of strolling the earth is felt on “Walking in Space”, the inner reckoning spaces of identity on “Silviculture”, to electric corridor passages on “Hallways”, the nature observances of “Baby Goose”, to the surreal dance pop of “Space Age”. Elaine extends the plane of creative possibilities over the course of the entire album where an entire new world is practically created through careful decorum considerations of sound styling & design. A certain cosmic power is entertained on “Geiger”, the choral creations of “Acadia”, where the of Arc Waves’ tunnel that is The Sound The Circle returns the audience to their world after a ride through somersault slip & slide of “Pensive Universe” where their survey into the circular worlds of perpetual inner thought makes the sphere complete.
Dream Wife presented us with the Aidan Zamiri video for “Let’s Make Out” featured off the trio’s upcoming self-titled for Lucky Number available January 26. The schmaltz setting of a throwback prom gets turned inside out into a big infectious outburst of mass affection set to the London/Icelandic group’s blazing bonfire of razor sharp riffs & uncompromising power & presence.
Hovvdy provided a listen to the heart-string strumming new single “Late” featured off the new album Cranberry available February 9 through Double Double Whammy. Austin’s Charlie Martin & Will Taylor follow up Taster with more introspective items of home-recorded ore where lo-fi frequencies hum like that warm voice that breaks the veil of the night’s curtain of darkness with an emotion stirring sound of love & light.
Taking the audience on a journey to the heart of infinite evening-Sophie Fay dropped the city light-lit video for “Late Night Thoughts” (LNT). Adventures around the city that never sleeps shows off the meet-ups with friends around all the iconic NYC locales carries into the early hours of daybreak that slowly sends the moon-glowing beats into a slowed sun-lit prelude to slept-in daydreams. Sophie explained the inspirations behind “LNT” with the following reflections:
It was 1am when I went to my piano and wrote “LNT”. The meaning of this single might seem really unclear on the surface for some people, but it becomes clearer when you actually read the lyrics. I made the song about six months ago and I was just shocked how society and stereotypes can affect people’s minds. “LNT” or “Late Night Thoughts” might seem dark, but it’s me, Sophie Fay.
NYC by New Jersey by DC & currently based out of LA artist Alexander Bernard presents the single “Daydream” that twists & turns with the tides of life in swathes of synths & an all around enveloping arrangement. The feeling of entering into virtual reality realms can be felt from the futuristic & electronic impulses that undulate & murmur across the various frequency levels of the track that paint an audio portrait of a whole new world of wonder.
Stockholm, Sweden’s own Humble Moon comprised of siblings Carl & Tom Jirlow delivered the throwback power-pop & glam vibes on their single “It Ain’t Easy”. Musings on the hardest things in the world & scales of difficulty levels & the like are exalted as if the mid-70s never any occurred & riff-riding rock never lost it’s cadences to the proto-punk hordes.
Fieldings just released the debut album Soft Tissue with a release show happening November 18 at Alphaville; we bring you a listen to the natural, nu-folk luster of “Soft Jewels”. The feeling of walking through fields of thought where reflections & environment are mixed in a spirit lifting sense of wonder; the vocal stylings from Australian leader Lucinda Hearn delivers musical dulcets of musings that shine like the most precious of stones in the rough.
I Hate You Just Kidding’s couple team of Jeremy & Jessi Brock announced the follow-up to their 2011 debut Days Grow Longer with the good word that their second album Constellations will be available February 2 (Groundhog Day) with a listen to the glimmering shine & glow of “Smokestacks”. The duo’s return after half a decade is marked with their most experimental, ambitious & absolutely expansively arranged sound yet that only continues to grow in emotive depth as the listener becomes engrossed in a barrage of bright chords & string tones that will sweep you outward toward a grandeur of pure imagination.
Marquis Hill dropped the track “Coming Out Of The Universe” featured off the forthcoming Meditation Tape EP available December 1 that blends brass with rhythmic arrangements of percussive vibrancy. From Hill’s expressive trumpet work; the back bone of the track further catapults every note toward the outer reaches of environments & universes that seek new dimensions of sonic sound.
Take in the live visuals for Spooky Cool’s “Black Wine” performed live at Manchester, Richmond Virginia’s The Warehouse courtesy of Good Day RVA. The group’s own experimental & smartly-synched up aesthetic is observed in the low key auburn lights that affixes the focus on the energy of their delivery that is nothing short of impressive.
Brisbane, Australia’s own Harriette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, is readying their Sugar & Spice EP providing the dream-stream of infinite feelings on the shining new single “Sure”. The certainty & cycles of relationships that spin & whirl from youth to adulthood are heard in all of their narratives that are experienced with a soundtrack of emotive-strung hooks that seems as if you are privy to some vintage young adult prime-time soap opera serial.
Marmalakes dropped the single “Vittoria” found off their upcoming album Please Don’t Stop available in February from ATH Records. Rustic & organic rhythms egg on the notes that jog & gallop in harmonic progressions that are full of life & pep.
Uncle Meg & John Debt dropped their video for “Winning It Or Losing It” featured off the forthcoming album Can’t Stay Say The Same available December 1 that embraces the back & forth of wins & losses in the great game of life. Intriguing inquiries revolving around identity & aspirations of who & what you want to be when you grow up are illustrated in absurdest & earnest visuals that utilize hyperbole to paint a hyper real portrait of our own weird & familiar worlds.
Ukraine’s own On The Wane presents the Viktor Klimenko & Mykhailo Yefimenko video for “Sultry Song” featured off the upcoming Schism album available November 20. The group takes you deep to their practice/performance layer where their thunderous sound blares in manners untethered & unbound by the conventions of gravity.
Clustersun presented the Psyche Coaster video for “Lonely Moon” of epic falls featured off the album Surfacing To Breathe available now via Seahorse Recordings. The out of body experience of life flashing before your eyes in an apocalyptic/dystopian setting takes flight like a surreal dream of soaring through the velocity equations of gravity where descending & ascending are mixed around like up & down compasses are spun for a loop.
Quicksilver Daydream brings the ghost-echoing ballad “Ferryman” from the upcoming A Thousand Shadows EP available February 9 via A Single Flame. The Brooklyn group works in mysterious ways with a plethora of winter vibes that shiver & shimmer with the shakes that the icy cold always brings in once the seasons of fall changes in trade for something chillier in temperature & temperament.
New York’s Derek Chilvers & Eric Essebag (of Caché Life) are Provocado who present the Eric Essebag & Yurek Akbar video for “Only You” that expresses valentine vignettes that spring from the deepest zones of the heart. The fashionable b/w images follow Ariane Martins throughout the Big Apple where the city is their oyster.
Empathy Test offers a listen to Everything Will Work Out, celebrating the releases of Safe From Harm and Losing Touch (Remastered) today. Emotion painted through pretense of the ultra-pop lens blares forth on the tile track & “Losing Touch” while the eponymous number is reinvented in varying disciplines of rhythms n’ synths & more via remixes by Furniteur & Waterbaby.
Palm Springsteen dropped the video for “She’s Got Claws” off the album Trouble in Paradise that brings lo-fi media that is the stuff to interject in between flicks at your late-post-midnight movie screenings. The LA group brings the VHS vernacular where party-camp thrillers are done DIY style with wicked whispers of wolverine transformations.
Mansions present the analog VHS animated visuals for “Heel Theme” featured off their Deserter EP available now through Bad Timing Records. From retro designs & electric appearances; Mansions mold their melange of amplified arts to visuals representations of faces & profiles as seen through the VCR lens.
Rosie Carney provided a listen to the evocative emotions of “Winter” available now from Akira Records. The feeling of hunkering down in the cabin for the season & ensuing holidays is felt throughout the holistic ballad that throws an extra kindling in the fireplace for warmth.
Chances provided a listen to “Rishikesh” that was partially recorded via mobile phone in Rishikesh, Indiana along the Ganges. Decisive motions of sound build in manners of voices & electronic instruments that create swells of inner stirring sentiments where the past & future can be felt collapsing to the presence of now. Chances described the song with the following reflections:
We love this song and feel it has a certain power to it. It’s about choice and intention…the intention to trust your instinct, and to align action with thought. The song’s driving rhythm continually pushes forward, the vocals play off each other in a sort of call and response, the synths spark up a colorful chaos.
Toronto’s Est-Her offered a look at the Ram Accoumeh visuals for “Last Minute Wedding” where the emotions & depths of shared nuptials are taken to life-lit bonfires of introspection & demolished ceremony sets. The former ballet dancer channels the choreography & traditions toward new electro-ambient forms that entertain the frames of the audio & visual where the inward & outward confessions of apprehension & fears boil up to the point where they cannot be re-bottled again. In Est-Her’s own reflective words on the new single:
I’ve been sitting on some of these tracks for a year now, and it feels so good to release more and more. My first track “Sympathy” was pretty aggressive, so thought I’d take a deep breath with “Last Minute Wedding” which I wrote with a crazy talented young producer from France named Poter Elvinger. I have about three albums-worth of music I’m sitting on at the moment, and my laptop is dying. I think it’s time.
When I’m writing, I always have some film playing in the background. When I finish each track, I splice together these super-cuts from either scenes of films that I love, or random clips I think best suits the song. For “Last Minute Wedding”, I started compiling a ton of home movies of weddings taped on VHS, and sped them up to look like a flip book. I had fleshed out a whole bride and hearse concept, and brought it to a good friend of mine to help me film it on a small budget. It was way too much work for the team of people we had, but it all worked out and it feels good share it.
Gel Set, oka Laura Callier, dropped the projected Jason Ogawa & Justin Thye visuals for “Bounce” starring Julia Sharrock featured off the 2MR release Body Copy. With illuminations provided by Lux Aeterna, watch as the video for the video takes shape equipped with grip crew & all that compliments the reiterations of the track’s refrain of you dropped me like I was acid.
Palehound announced their YMCA Pool 7″ co-produced by Ellen Kempner & Bully’s Alicia Bognanno available January 26 via Saddle Creek’s Document series. With a four week tour beginning February 2 with Weaves, the band presents a listen to “Sea of Blood” where an electric-econo-jangle take on religious & natural notions makes for one catchy song that will burrow deep into the recesses of your consciousness.
Jonti presented a look at the mystical & mesmerizing Andy Koeger video for “Zuki” featured off the album Tokorats available via Stones Throw. Worlds of magical & the material realm that we know breaks beyond the life/death continuum as Joni’s music takes us to the sides that might even extend beyond the mythic other side.
Aabo brought us a cover of Drake’s “Child’s Play” feat. Megan Gage that will have you going whoa with track’s wavy new take. Vocal contributions from San Jose’s Gage finds a new rhythmic & purposeful presence that elevates youthful sports to a decidedly adult’s game.
LA’s Sleeping Lion provided a listen to a gorgeous & intimate version of their single “Stop It” where the starts & ceases of movements & bonds is both heard & felt between the harmonies & serenity of the strings. Penned by Abby Carey & Nate Flaks; the two brings about narratives of the personal & universal together in a melancholy of words where the listener can virtually witnessed the act & art of pangaea caught in the act of continental drifts.
Toronto’s FRIGS are touring with Wolf Parade ahead of their upcoming debut album for Arts & Crafts (available in 2018 TBD) & brought the moody post-punk clamor & growl of “Doghead”. Bria Salmena leads & directs the group with a confrontational & unapologetic presence where the progressions of rhythms & teeth-grinding noise is steered like a conductor & their orchestra-quartet of minimalism.
MYNTH presented a look at the pop-glamorous Rupert Höller & Adrian Bidron video for “Smog” featured off the new album Parallels available November 24 via Seayou Records. From colorful backdrops to sea-scapes & shows of hands galore; MYNTH’s mythic/mystical tour mixes electronically charged atmospheres & expressive hues of emotion into universes that M.C. Escher & more would adore.
Iceland’s own GKR presented a look at the eye & ear catching “UPP” video co-directed by Magnus Andersen with the artist. The track visual brings about an abundance of neon lights, high flying locales & more jet-setting environments that further accentuate the econo-maximalism at work.
AlunaGeorge remixed Tom Walker’s new single “Leave A Light On” that expands the waving fans of consciousness on the track that accentuates original stems while introducing new synth tones. Warm & whirling feelings stir around the subject of keeping a porch lamp lit as a gesture of open arms for a loved one.
France’s Astrobal provided a listen to the snazzy & sensational new single “Belle comme la nuit” featured off the forthcoming cosmic creation Memories of Stars EP available November 24 via Karaoke Kalk. Wild feelings flock like creatures from the sea & outer stretches of space that collect like connective spirits that make contact somewhere in the spellbinding ether of the atmospheres that separate sea, earth & the galaxies above.
Cici Jack kept the summer sun blazing as the entire world becomes enraptured in the clutches of winter with “Island Vibes” courtesy of 37 Adventures. The tranquility of a never-ending vacation ordained from the throes of paradise shines forward to create the feeling of dwelling up on an escapist of isle of eternal sun & sweetness. In Cici’s own reflective words:
I love it. It’s like “Island Vibes” with a few more drinks, some more good people and a party that just shouldn’t finish 😜
SLO’s Cayden Wemple provided the introspective single “Better” featured off the upcoming Car Crash From an Aerial View release available February 2. Internal processes of reckoning of the better or less than components of feeling & character mull about with all those existential weights & inner dialogues that often occur in the waiting rooms of layover lobbies.
Swiss artist/producer Pablo Nouvelle presented the world a vibed-out listen to the title track “Wired” featuring vocal stylings by Lulu James that brings rhythmic sequences to dream upon. The glaciers can be heard melting as suddenly the winter season is met with synth-saturated senses of warmth & comforting shelter from the seemingly inescapable cold that surrounds the season.
Ireland’s The Academic have signed to Downtown Records with word of their debut album available January 12 & brought their infinite holiday fun of “Permanent Vacation”. Supporting the Kooks on tour throughout Europe this month, The Academic offers pop panache with flair & rhythmic rolling progressions that create instant ear-worms.
Also don’t miss The Academic’s other new single “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” that highlights the negotiations of friendly exchanges & all the barricades & social stumbling blocks that stand between us.
Soak in the luster & emotions of “Black” featured off Cavalry’s upcoming Fierce Panda debut EP that offers introspection for the heart & ear. Vocals & arrangements lift in soaring senses of wonder & thought that mingle out into the cold of the winter atmosphere.
New Orleans’ own pop punk high-fliers HiGH just released their album Evil Gene via Wiretap Records that balances the forces of bad & good in an infectious album that runs just under half an hour. Produced/engineered by James Whitten (known for work with PEARS, Thou, Donovan Wolfington, I’m Fine, Streetlight Manifesto) at NOLA’s own Hightower Recordings; specters of DIY past & present convergence in a catchy cauldron of power chords to help coast you through the rest of 2017.
Emeli Sandé presented the visuals for “Higher” ft. Giggs featured off the Kingdom Coming EP that reaches upward for higher elevations & echelons of experience. Through future r&b expressions & immersive visuals, Emeli & Giggs excel upward for a more lifted & enlightened experience of the world & generative human interactions.
