Here to keep you warm this Valentine's season is Impose's Week in Pop, rolling out the red carpet of exclusives with a listen and look at the latest sounds and sites. Glossing over the buzz news, we learned that Drake is not pleased with Rolling Stone giving his cover to the departed Philip Seymour Hoffman, with plenty more beef circulating around that undeserved Macklemore Grammy [you may remember Le1f brought that thrift shop sax styles first with “Wut“], Odd Future are banned from New Zealand, it looks like The Unicorns got a reunion in the cards, John Singleton will be directing a Tupac flick, and Sex Pilstols/P.I.L. punk grandfather John Lydon has an autobiography in the works. But get ready, and bust out the heart shaped chocolate boxes as we present you exclusives from Intimatchine, Bear Hands, Wake Up, Kile Atwater, Shadow Shadow, amongst other good comrades — in no particular order.
In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we present an intimate listen and look into the world of Intimatchine, the project of LA's Chelsey Holland and Christopher Wormald. On the premiere of, “Do Me”, off the upcoming I'll Eat You Last, synths and the smoke trails of guitar follow through a seduction of sensational propositions, and even larger proportions. The Los Angeles couple provided a sensational account on the steamy genesis of Intimatchine, and the technological enabling for this match to synthesize differences, and shared eye levels of dark,sparse, industrial-tech-audio.
But all the hyphenated word conjunctions in all the world cannot contain or begin to describe the Holland-Wormald industrial complex. One moment Chelsey and Christopher study with a zealous fervor the goth book of slow charred synths, to the “Do Me” croon and call where Holland sings a smoky and sultry song like a chanteuse performing in a bombed out, war-torn venue. Stirring these post-war backdrops further is the that doomed-out key shift (around one minute and forty-one seconds in) that shifts situations and environments like reaching the second level of a video game, or the frustrations of staying in the second base 'friendosphere'. Christopher's menacing production seethes with the smoldering sound of rising smoke and steam pouring skyward from imagined exclusion zones. It is here where Chelsey lords her vocal smoke towers high above the soft surge of stark keys and Wormald's programming — like a sky disintegrating radioactive cloud of glowing and spinning metallic particles.
Chelsey Rae Holland of Intimatchine describes the love story exotica of Intimatchine, and takes us deep into the duo's collaborative, and personal approaches.
When and how did the two of you know that you were Intimatchine?
This was meant to be temporary. I never thought Chris was my type. I was an Orange County girl, on my way out to UC Berkeley. I was going to tutor him and then leave him. We were both taking the same Government course at Orange Coast College, and we'd go back to his place and study. I was performing in some psych band and he would post up in his bedroom producing these complex electronic beats on machines I didn't understand. But he showed his bravery in bed, called me everyday, and gave me his theremin. I wanted a long-haired guy. I was going to Berkeley and I cried when I left home and everyday after when I wasn't with him. There was a lot of reading and writing and violent meltdowns over a glitchy video chat connection. He would share his electronic compositions with me and I would secretly record my voice over them. It was dark stuff and way heavier than any of the stoner metal music I was used to with full 4-piece bands. So during that time, I took public transit, wrote essays, and learned how to fucking program my own music so I could connect with him on every possible level: iChat, email, social media, telephone and music. He provided the outlet and that was under his personal project Into Machine. We did not realize that it was Intimatchine until 2012, when we could look back at that chaotic time apart and piece together all our fragmented (and archived) iChat conversations, sex videos, and recordings. We were in awe of all of the content and we needed to perform it.
Given the title, what do you both feel is the allure of both the intimate and the mechanical?
We were able to maintain a relationship through technology. And not only did the Internet and all these new technical platforms enable a relationship, it informed the ways we could be intimate. It's an eerie thing — very emotional and probably something having to do with bio-power.
I'm interested in that decay effect that you applied to the drum programming, and the echo tones on the guitars and keys. That ominous key change wraps everything together. What went into this sound design?
I work through a process that combines unconventional recording techniques with an adulterated form of sound engineering. This helps me create a specific atmosphere and texture for each instrument. There are many technological limitations accentuated by the stress I put on my hardware and software. The resulting textures are either pleasing or displeasing, which I use accordingly to how I want to affect the listener. New melodies and rhythms come from the interaction and layering of multiple instruments and chains of effects. Undertones, phasing, glitches, all contribute to composition. Although we may both exhaust all possibilities when writing and recording, the resulting song comes after a process of remixing and eliminating.
Chelsey, I like how your lyrical proposition invites Christopher's brooding 90s PC game pop score, and then your voice tangos with the mechanical electro elements in a cold and emboldened synergy. How did you all connect this kind of audio electricity?
Both our musical styles inform what kind of roles we're playing in each song. By default, Chris' crude and intellectual rhythms act as a structure for the whimsical nature of my voice. Sometimes we switch this role, allowing the synthesizers to become more flamboyant whilst the female vocals hold back and embody a narrative.
Your upcoming EP I'll Eat You Last sounds intense. What other intimate details do you all care to share about what went into recording your extended player?
I'll Eat You Last is the name of a current play. We're both huge fans of Bette Midler.
Thoughts, notes, love letters, complaint mail, etc on the state of the LA scenes?
We've been developing friendships with those devoted to the industrial and dark wave scene in Los Angeles. We are working on getting more involved with The Complex, Handbag Factory, Pehrspace, Mount Analog, Part Time Punks….as they all are on the forefront of promoting new artists and curating cohesive shows.
Intimatchine's I'll Eat You Last EP will be available in March, listen to from the duo on their Bandcamp.
Brooklyn based four piece Bear Hands give us one of the first listens to Distraction, ahead of the album's release this coming Tuesday, February 18 from Cantora. Frontman Dylan Rau joined up with us for a chat after the premiere, describing for us the band's Wesleyan University, Connecticut connective road to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, writing songs from Garageband drum loops, and other insights into the recording and writing developments. So make yourself comfortable, as Bear Hands takes the gloves off to give the Valentine's gift of necessary diversions of interest.
One of the descriptive tags that used to always make me laugh when perusing through the All Music Guide was the one that reads, 'Guys Night Out.' A reference to some kind of bro-code expressed in a sound that hovers between the three descriptive 'Rs' of reckoning, revelry, and rowdy. Distraction is a modern Brooklyn pop embodiment of that phrase, entertained on a large, fraternal scale. The grand opening with, “Moment of Silence” practically steals the show from the big single, “Giant” arrives on the scene. “Moment” moves with a slow rising moment of truth that can only be heard to be fully understood, before the aforementioned single jumps in your face with the, “I am loving you more”, refrain. “Agora” lives it up as an agoraphobic party night for shut-ins, “Bone Digger” trades gold digging for a different kind of collector's hobby, while “Vile Iowa” slows it down to get really bummed on the titular state.
Then Bear Hands take you into the buddy fallout of bro-politics on “Bad Friend”, phone call politics on “The Bug”, keeping it posi with the mighty anthem “Peacekeeper”, as “Sleeping On the Floor” eschews the couch luxuries for crashing on the floorboards. Keeping the vibe electric and switched in to good-time mode, don your “Party Hats”, as the Bear Hands boys leaves on the soft notes of romantic appeals to former and future significant others on the cool closer, “Thought Wrong”.
Bear Hands frontman Dylan Rau joins us for an inside look behind the distractions that made up their upcoming album, Distractions.
First up, how are you all surviving this cold, ass, winter?
Thinking of moving to southern California. Having been a New Englander for most of my life I think it might be time for a change.
You have called yourself a “musical Luddite”, and I was wondering what your alternate engagement with melody, music, and lyrics was life outside of the conventional music reading realm?
I think my lack of technical music knowledge is both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes pretty things will come from an instrument I can barely play but sometimes it just tells me to return it to it's case immediately.
Give us some snapshots on what recording your second record Distraction was like.
Did the basic tracking at Ted's parent's house in Armonk, NY and the rest at a home studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Generally we got iced coffee at around 11:45am for a noon start and worked until 1-2am depending on how things were going/whether there were any attractive social invitations that evening.
“Vile Iowa”; how vile is Iowa really?
Not one of my favorite states.
Like on the song “Agora”, do you find agoraphobia to assist your creative process in any way?
Yes being locked away from friends and loved ones does wonders for your art. I also like to not show people tunes until they're 'done done.'
From your days a as a film student at Connecticut’s Wesleyan University, what do you see when you reflect on where you have come from there to here?
I wanted to play in a band from probably age 10 on so it definitely took precedence over film/school/whatever. Glad that I learned something about working in a different medium though. I have a couple ideas for movies that I would love to try to write later in life.
There are lots of inspired by life numbers here, “Bad Friend”, “Sleeping on the Floor”, “Party Hats”, etc, I was wondering what does a regular Bear Hands songwriting session look or sound like for you all?
Recently I've been starting by building a drum loop in Garageband on my laptop. Then I'll listen back to it really loud and see if any lyrics magically appear to me.
What is the spring/summer plan for Bear Hands?
We're leaving for a US tour down to SXSW on February 26th, then over to the UK for some London shows, then out to America's west coast to do Coachella and party and bullshit. Come say hi!
Bear Hands' album Distraction will be available February 18 from Cantora.
(Wake Up, captured by Kelly O'Rourke)
Live from Lake Worth, Florida; meet the Southeast coast's new power-poppers, Wake Up. Preparing to release their 7″ single “Forever Home” for Decades Records out of West Palm Beach, the wide eyed quartet gives us an exclusive listen to the A-side ahead of it's release and their subsequent tour with Surfer Blood.
I've been hearing and reading a lot of talk lately about the alleged and so-called “grunge revival” that has been taking over the stereos, and iPods lately. And what seems to break down into arguments over semantics, some larger pieces of the auditory inquiry have gone unaddressed in this comment section polemics-by-way-of-discussion. The traditions that the “grunge” thing grew out of were imbricated in the ideas that you could still embrace the big wailing guitars — that the real do it yourselfers were vehemently against after the age of arena rock and baby-boomer schlock — and still keep your street credentials in tip-top order. This would be proven in the historic and much described output of Nirvana, Teenage Fanclub, Sloan, and so on, something that Wake Up's Evan, Bobby, Austen, and Bryan understand very well also.
“Forever Home” operates on the level where the power chords keep up to match the mood of the vocals. In that sentimental rock tradition about expressing feelings, the honesty of “always got to let it show”; Wake Up shines some sunlight on the relationships through a metaphor inspired by a West Palm animal shelter. The band explained to us in the interview following the debut that their own inspiration and correlations centered around kennel tags placed on the cages of strays that read; 'looking to find a forever home.” Wake Up leaves it to you to find your own home for forever, while sending up guitar progressions that enjoy their own eternity, with the memorable, and sleepy ambivalence of the shoulder shrugs of, “that's okay, for a while.” The joys and drags of people coming, going, and leaving are expressed in the honesty that mixes those days of wine and roses with the feeling of waking up alone and finding that 'Dear John' letter waiting patiently on the dining room table, rife with unsightly grammatical oversights in a trajectory of second thoughts. Misgivings never sounded or felt so at home before.
We now take you to the places betwen Lake Worth and Palm Beach, Florida, in our interview with Wake Up.
First give us the latest from Lake Worth, Florida. What's it like out there? State of the scenes?
Right now it's pretty sunny and warm. Usually in south Florida we are lucky to have a few straight months of cool weather during winter time, but this year the cold fronts came in right before December and have come and gone pretty randomly since, so we are hoping to be surprised by another one soon. Lake Worth pretty much epitomizes the classic old Florida beach town, which is something a lot of other places down here almost advertise themselves as being but don't really own up to. I think what sets Lake Worth apart is that it hasn't really changed much since the seventies, both architecture-wise as well as mentality. It's a very laid back relaxed little town with everything you need and all of your friends within walking/biking distance. As far as the scene goes here it can be really exciting and seems like a lot is happening but then at the same time seems like a bit of a mess. There is an enormous amount of talent around here but every time it centralizes itself it seems to just as quickly disband… I think it's partly because of the mentality people who grew up here have about staying in Florida, everyone either goes off to college or moves away. But on the flip side I think that same sense of stagnation is probably the same catalyst that inspired us and all of our friends to start bands and write/record records in the first place. We love it here, Lake Worth is definitely a hidden little gem.
Why the name wake up versus something like, 'go to sleep?'
Haha.. well, the irony of it is that none of us are morning people and all have a hard time getting out of bed. We'd much rather sleep all day and are usually hanging out or working on songs in the wee hours of the morning. When we were starting the band there were quite a few names being tossed around but wake up was always in the back our minds… It was like, uh yeah we could be called the shitty teenagers or Phil Spector's toupee or something but we could always just go with wake up. to me it means people should all embrace the pointlessness in the void of our reality as a comfort and let go of the superficialities that chain us to our every day monotonous society-instilled misery. Y'know?
A name-play on vintage indie bands like The Wake, or Make Up?
Nope, but next time i think we'll go with something like YOLO Tengo or maybe Captain Sweetheart?
What is more fascinating about the waking world than the dream states?
Hmm… I think it may be the opposite? Dreams are incredibly fascinating because they can be your deepest longings, hopes, or fears manifested. Or they can be completely random, surreal, and nonsensical. Or you can even be a completely different person. What to me is amazing about that kind of dream is that you don't question it. You're not thinking hey why am i not myself? Where am i? Who are these people?Wwhat is this situation? You just kinda go with it, and in that sense it's almost like your soul is astral projecting or you are potentially viewing another persons reality for a moment. Which is really fascinating to me, or you could have a lucid dream and do anything your mind can imagine. The waking world is overrated, man…
Everyone is talking about your 90s sound, but we would rather hear from you what the 90s styles mean for wake up.
We just sound like the music we want to make. Growing up in the 90s was great, and a lot of our favorite music is definitely from that decade. But I think we are just as influenced (if not more so) by bands like Big Star and the Beatles… we were all raised on the Beatles, Kinks, Dylan, beach boys, etc.. and that's probably where our initial friendships really took root. But if you want the truth, we actually all wear LA lights sneakers we religiously buy on eBay, and get together to watch re-runs of Are You Afraid of the Dark? while gorging ourselves on Gushers, Fruit by the Foot, and listening to Edie Brickell records on repeat.
“Forever Home” is anthemic, what inspired you to make a feel good homage to that sort of, home at heart feeling?
It's actually more of an analogy for relationships and unrealistic expectations portrayed through cat adoption. There's an animal shelter in West Palm called the Peggy Adams center, they are a no kill shelter that also offers cheap vaccinations, medications, and neutering. I've been bringing my cats there for years and whenever I go I like to visit the strays in the shelter. Each cage has a little card with the name of the cat and a little back story that explains how they ended up there and each card says, 'looking to find a forever home', which I think really hits a soft spot for anyone who loves cats. But that's just my inspiration, I'm more so interested in people relating to it in their own way and having their own interpretations.
What are you all most excited about with your upcoming Surfer Blood tour?
We're excited to be hitting the road again! We all love to tour as much as possible.. the dudes in Surfer Blood are all great long-time friends of ours and we love them. so it's gonna be a real treat to be on tour with them and get to play together almost every night.
Wake Up's Forever Home 7″ will be available March 11 from Decades Records.
Catch Wake Up on the following dates with their friends, Surfer Blood.
February
16 – Orlando, FL – Back Booth
17 – Gainesville, FL – High Dive
18 – Tallahassee, FL – Club Rehab
19 – West Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern
21 – Kingston, NY – BSP Lounge
23 – Burlington, VT – Signal Kitchen
24 – Providence, RI – The Met
25 – Hamden, CT – The Space
26 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse
27 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Saint
March
01 – Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade
02 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
03 – Richmond, VA – Camel
04 – Greensboro, NC – Blind Tiger
05 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits
In case you haven't heard, meet Kile Atwater, who officially debuts his latest track “Low”, throwing up some high spirits for low tides and low times. Turning up the pop switches, Kile packs together a production that reflects his Georgia by Houston by NYC savoir-faire. Working with producer JNTHN STEIN, their most recent collaborative Low EP finds the two running through the boldest styles and biggest electro arrangements that points to further directions of their forthcoming works. Like the effect of a quick paced spin of the underground radio dial, the high and low frequencies fly tight from the opener, “Calm Down”, to the title track finale.
All over the track “Low”, Atwater goes for the gold medal by keeping the dreams big, as described in the indulgent chorus about, “riding in the backseat and trying new things.” There is no room or time for rest on this track, as Kile grabs you in for a wild ride that wraps around the Southwest, through the Southern 808 pop vein, and riding thorugh the chaotic, and cluttered streets of New York City chaos, that embarks on new creative opportunities. “I'm not the long shot, I'm fucking broke, the night was my friend, I was the lookout, now I'm the roadkill,” Kile recites in the song's rapid raging intro. From here the “Low” car drives into the ultra-treated, big-time bright production that is all about owning your potential despite any glum circumstances. The personal demons are wrestled like battles with electronica angels, that rise aboves the sad tugging pull of life's lower lands.
Kile Atwater joins us to talk influences of people, places, Southern sounds, working with JNTHN STEIN, further collaborations, and more.
How did the move from the ATL to NYC effect both you and impact your sound?
I actually lived in a lot of places before moving to New York. I graduated high school from Houston, Texas which I consider my home as well. It's funny cause Houston and Atlanta are polar opposites in sounds. Atlanta's sound is super energetic and hype and Houston's is extremely chill. I used to listen to chopped and screwed music every Sunday on '97.9 the box' which was the best hip hop radio station in Houston at the time.
I think being from those two places and living in all the other places I've lived has made my sound very adaptable and eclectic. For sure Houston has taught me how to vibe with music more and to always find a groove that works for me.
I moved to New York because I knew that there was something I needed from an early age here. So when I graduated I decided to pack my bags and try to find it. Living here has effected me in so many ways. From being broke and not knowing where you're going to live or eat next to discovering who you really are and molding out your future. I think this city just forces the greatness out of you and after awhile you just go with it.
What Southern styles do you find have permeated your music? I feel like the super-charged approach to your song writing and arranging is like some ATL-futurism or something…Andre 3000 be darned.
That's funny you say that I am hugely influenced by OutKast. Their Speakerboxx/Love Below album was all I wanted for Christmas the year it came out. I studied Andre 3000's portion of that album like it was homework. I also loved southern hip hop in general. Like the Ying Yang Twins and Lil Jon and the East Side Boys even though I was waaay to young to be listening to that. When I start writing a song I usually think about the rhythm first before the melody or the lyrics so I think all those years of nodding my head to my Walkman on the school bus is definitely where that came from.
In what ways has the New York groove rubbed off on you and your music?
New York has opened my mind to so many different aspects of music and songwriting styles. Like the whole music scene out of Brooklyn is crazy to me. My friends will play me their music and I'll be like 'Whoa you made this in the basement?!' Every other person in New York is extremely talented so I just try to surround myself with people who are progressive and forward thinking with their music. Every time I record I always want to be better and try something new and that came from New York all the way.
Tell me about working with JNTHN Stein, like on the amazing single “Low”. How does that creative chemistry translate to the studio?
JNTHN is one of the most versatile producers I have ever met. He knows some serious stuff about music from a technical stand point and because he is really confident in his decisions it pushes me to take risks. Like for “Low” I had some very specific ideas that I thought about for weeks and he figured out what I needed in like 5 minutes. So I was damn let me try this rapping part then. Working with him also made me trust myself more. I remember listening to one of the songs we did thinking “I can actually do this music thing.”
Describe for us the organized chaos behind the rollercoaster highs, lows, peaks, and electro pop valleys of “Low”.
Well I just wanted “Low” to be fast with super introspective lyrics to represent all the changes taking place in my life at the time. A lot of them were natural but there was also some extreme test of faith. The lyrics we're just streams of consciousness that I had floating around my head when I was feeling at my worst. But then there was also some parts that were like a cry for help at the time. I'm usually drawn to moodier sounding music but I wanted this song to have an overall positive message, maybe because I want my life to have the same.
Is “Low” like both a moment as part of your own self-styled movement where you jump from the proverbial back seat to the front, switching lanes, gripping wood grain, and kicking your sound into high gear?
Yeah! With this song I pretty much figured out that my motto with music is that I'm doing this shit my way. As I grow as an artist I just want to let people into my mind more and more with the music that do.
While “Low” references feeling “so low,” the confidence sounds up, and the spirits are definitely lifted. What is it about those lowly pockets that allow a person to regroup in order to shine brighter than they ever have before?
The feeling of being stuck in a bad situation just forces you to take a deeper look at who you are and what's really important to you. I think over all when I wrote this song there was a point where I realized that I can turn my life around and get back on track if I just kept trying. I love that feeling when you're thinking about all the struggles you had to face in your life in your life thus far and you realize it was all worth it.
What's next for you, release wise, collaboration wise, etc?
Well right now I'm preparing for a set at Ella Lounge on February 28th to promote this EP! Then I hope to do some bigger shows and festivals this year. I am also collaborating with Shane Dinet of the band Ether Teeth on a brand new musical project which I'm super pumped for.
Spring and summer projections?
I'll be performing live around the New York area and recording more music at the same time. Also I will have a brand new EP out by the end of this year! First song from my new project will be out by the beginning of the summer!
Kile Atwater's Low EP is available now.
Of the illustrious Stockholm centered INGRID collective, Shadow Shadow's Mattias Friberg and vocalist Kicki Halmos made some monumental synth pop with “Kill Screen”. As noted on the prior singles “Riviera” and “1000001”, the Shadow Shadow sound is made of the things that would have been in every 80s/early 90s Tony Scott film. “Kill Screen” is the song that embodies the final showdown in a movie or digital game of confronting the main antagonist, last boss character with a valor that is accomplished with the synthesized notes of sweet victory. With the long awaited album Riviera dropping March 4 Friberg's imprint Molnstaden, the vertigo of retro euphoria is conveyed like an illustrious movie score.
The keyboard bells and supportive production shine like the sundown scene where the entire movie cast gathers around the hero, hoisting them on their shoulders as the lens gives a long take of soft focus. Mattias makes music with that cinema for the ear aspect in mind, that still holds tight to an entire VHS collections of heroic 80s popcorn flicks. “Kill Screen” is further projected in the wide angle lens of Kicki's voice that describes the final fight in breathy detail. The final notes zoom out the entire scene and song like a credit roll, where the audience begins to file out from the multiplex while thoughts remain on the leftover feelings from Friberg's skilled arrangement.
Mattias Friberg talked with us for a bit about the inspirations that exists between gardens and life in LA (where Friberg currently resides), giving us details on the making of Riviera, and a crazy story about confronting a wolf while walking in a forest.
Describe for us the inspirations that are to be found around the Southern Swedish countrysides that have impacted your music.
Inspiration comes mostly in the form of the little critters you happen upon digging in the garden or walking in the forest. I think it's really healthy to compare yourself to them and their goals in life. We’re all very similar. Some are bigger than others but we all toil away, carry stuff here and there, eat our breakfasts and prance around. Being in that environment for a long time really creates a little disdain for anything urban or materialistic. But I don’t wanna be sitting on any high horse. I do live in Los Angeles these days and I love that too.
“Kill Screen” has a really cool Philip K. Dick allusory kind of futurism that imagines a collection of LCD monitors mixed in with like those old tube monitors from back in the day. What was the creation of the single for “Kill Screen” like, and what lent vision for the glorious arranging, sequencing, and writing?
Yeah some parts of the song do have a retro-futuristic feel to them that can’t be removed even if you tried, so I felt I had to run with it. I love Philip K. Dick and there’s also a lot of Angela Carter and Stephen Crane in there. Hallucinatory stuff. And it all came together when I watched the King of Kong. How the last boss fight can’t be won since you’re trying to beat a system with a built-in death wish.
How did Kicki Halmos get involved to provide her guest vocals?
Kicki is a friend of mine and I'm thrilled that she was into lending her voice to my songs. She’s a phenomenal singer.
What has the construction process of Riviera been like?
Long. I started writing and recording in 2009 and made the final touches in late 2012. I had so much fun with the project that I had a really hard time letting it go. Somehow it gave me back more than I put into it. A lot of it is performed live in the studio with a full band and then tweaked and chopped, broken down and built up again for months and years in my countryside studio.
Behind the board tales you can share?
Speaking of forest dwellers – during the production of the album I actually met a wolf in the woods. It wasn’t like a spiritual experience or anything, not like when Homer Simpson eats too much chili and meets the Johnny Cash fox in the desert. I wish it could have been like that but I was mostly scared out of my wits.
Shadow Shadow's forthcoming album, Riviera will be available on Mattias's label Molnstaden on March 4.
Fresh from performing at Cannes, France's Midem, Denmark's CALLmeKAT rolled away the stone of, “Rolling”, that bounces and steams along steadily, “all alone in the night”. CALLmeKAT can be caught in NYC March 10 at Rockwood Music Hall, with an SxSW appearances March 12-16. Read our interview and debut of “Where The River Turns Black (mountain version)” here.
JPNSGRLS lent a listen to the frantic fungi of, “Mushroom” off their just release The Sharkweek EP with a limited edition 12″ pressing from Light Organ Records. The Steve Bays produced track keeps the action frenetic, with memorable lines that continue to linger amid the shredding licks like, “we are the furniture.” So sit down, make yourself cozy, and consider yourself part of the furniture.
Give it up for Upstate New York's The Doppelgangaz who give you this following limited time stream of their forthcoming album, Peace Kehd, available from the group via Bandcamp February 18. Get ready as EP and Matter Ov Fact dish out everything you have been waiting and jonesing for since the two dropped the disc Hark last year.
Recorded in the city province of João Pessoa, Northest of Brazil; meet Glue Trip, a duo comprised of Lucas Moura and Felipe Augusto. The two recently released their Just Trippin EP, and you are encouraged to lose yourelf in the home studio recordings of the whirring wonder of “Old Blood”. On songs like this, things are nothing what it seems, as the old Brazilian books of psych are reopened for new interpretations and translations.
Also peep Glue Trip's Daniel Vincent animated video for “Elbow Pain”, also off the Just Trippin EP. Gentle Samba guitars, far-out vocals, and subtle strums like rain drops await.
Sydney's East of Ely gives you a listen to their big stage sounding single, “Came Without”, and plenty of lights and camera visuals coutesy of kaleidaskohp.
Bleeding Rainbow sent us their single “Tell Me”, with Sarah and Rob commanding the vocal conversation. Find this venue trashing teller along with some of your other Bleeding favorites on their new album Interrupt available February 28 from Kanine Records. Catch Bleeding Rainbow on tour now with Hunters through March 1.
And in case you missed it everywhere else, check out Jorge Elbrose (Ariel Pink & Jorge Elbrecht) performing “Called to Ring”, for the Mexican Summer: Five Years commemorative book available now.
Phantogram's Voices drops on February 18, and we got the Timothy Saccenti video for, “Fall In Love”, to send some strings and keys into your heart.
Mandarin Dynasty's album Perpendicular Crosstalk is available now from Trabuco Records, and we have the title track here for you to enjoy, along with our interview with the band and premiere of “Lap Steel Blues” streaming here.
With a spring tour with Mozart's Sister spanning from March 7 through May 4, check out TRUST's video for “Capitol” off the upcoming Arts & Crafts album Joyland, slated for release March 4. Robert Alfons has been kicking out some of the most beguiling synth cut tracks in the coming week from his forthcoming album that are sure to convert even the most devout of dogmatic acoustic-only diehards. This is the what time machine music was always supposed to sound like.
Kan Wakan has been enjoying a Monday night residency at LA's Echoplex, where they can be found on the remaining dates of February 17 and 24, with SXSW appearances also in the works. But today we want to make sure you get a look at their video for “Forever Found”, ahead of his Moving On album available April 29 for Verve Records. Equestrian adventures and more await your ears and eyes.
Oscar Key Sung's dropped the silk and syrup sould of the title from his upcoming Holograms EP available March 3 on Two Bright Lakes in Australia and New Zealand. Built out of the lessons from rhythm and blues patterns of the past's masters, listen to the effective beauty that Oscar creates with clever beat and production assigments.
Canvasclub via Canvasback Music just released ABUELA's 7″ last week, and we got the visuals for the A-side “True Colors” that pertain to boomboxes and more mystical happenings in the middle of rural Peru.
Gardens & Villa just released Dunes on Secretly Canadian, and we got the Tony Katai video for “Bullet Train” where Chris Lynch's drum machine and lo-fidelity fun gets meshed in with the mechanical thrills of suburban living.
With a mix that brings you tracks from Theo Parrish, Machinedrum, Thundercat, Jan Jelinek, and more; check out Brandt Brauer Frick's new track “Hugo” off their DJ-Kicks comp.
Horrible Houses just sent word that Canadian artist, Alice Arm, just dropped the first track, “Darnley in the Garden” off the upcoming album of the same name. This is that guitar grooving bedroom pop that proudly presents itself as the, “anti-with house”, creating a gleam of a secret, backyard, DIY garden.
Off his Yung Archetype EP, available February 25 from Quite Scientific, get a listen to Tunde Olaniran's “The Highway” that chirps and slaps with words bounced against an bass bumping production. Welcome to the place where all the promises are made, smack dab down on the asphalt.
Mirah shares some organ and vocal lead wishes with, “Oxen Hope” off her upcoming Changing Light LP available May 13 from Absolute Magnitude Recordings and support from K Records with a spring tour beginning in SF March 6, running through SxSW and further yonder. Observe how the production, the improvisational percussion met with the mechanical, and synths are work together to underline the lyrical expressions.
We recently got hipped to LA's Historian, and bring you the Leslie Andrew Ridings video for, “The Letter” off the band's Gazelle Recordings album, Shelf Life. Strange bonfire rituals, Missing Persons / Bowie-esque facepaint and other occurrences of the surreal to accompany the seductive and surreal sound and visions of Chris Karman.
From straight out of the LBC, peep the Jeremy Ian Thomas video for Oddisee's “Caprice Down”, off his Mello Music album, The Beauty in All. Odd is joined by a skate crew who call themselves, “Hammer City”, who take you all around Long Beach in tune to the afternoon chill production from the good man himself.
Tough Age is coming to America on March 7, at Seattle's Heartland and they aren't leaving until they play Stockton's Bus Stop March 23. They also bring you the vintage flick frequencies in their video for, “I Waste Too Much Time On Myself”, from Rob Feulner. Watch Tough Age's tune chug away to the altered images of martial arts film merged into a PBS painting program.
We just got word of Betrayers' new album, Let the Good Times Die from Perfect Master/Shake! Records, that features the Edmonton, AB group rolling hard with a couple drum kits, and a whole lot of sunglass sporting attitudes. Check out what we mean, with “Spinnin' Wheel”.
Also check out Betrayers “Cherry Beach” where the organ grinding, fruit-filled orchards crash into the coast. With a sound an aesthetic that is as convincingly vintage, as it is new, but retreads and re-threads the retro — Betrayers have made themselves a force worthy of keeping a close ear on.
Off his upcoming album Thyluxe, our buddy Tynethys drops some v-day warmth with, “Made For Me”. Don't miss our interview here.
Flagland's Love Hard is available February 25 from the wonderful people at Father / Daughter Records, and just in time for V-Day, you can get down to the saccharine sweet goodness of “Sugarcube”. Because a bag full of sugarcubes never fails to help that wicked medicine go down oh-so-sweetly.
Off The Growler's Gilded Pleasures EP from Everloving Records, peep the Taylor Bonin video for “Humdrum Blues”. The sensibilities from the Costa Mesa team are seen on the road, performing, lighting off fireworks, and traveling about anywhere they want to go to. Every time Brooks Nielsen repeats the chorus line about, “she's so tired of my broke ass life”, it somehow never ceases to bring a smile and a laugh. This song and visual reading also presents one of the timeless reasons why so many Southern California bands, and even Norther bros are looking to The Growlers as an influence and inspiration.
Pandr Eyez are moving in any direction they please, as we have chronicled in our recent weeklies and interview from a few weeks back. Preparing to release their new EP Present February 18, vocalist Ferren Gipson with the wild production styles of Tom Lloyd are connecting the dots with their own takes on how they feel the current climates of sound should resonate. The result is the rough and tough “Don't Hurt 'Em”, where they continue to turn the conventions of dance, balladry, modern day blues, and rhythm into electro gold melting pots of pure gold. If Pandr Eyez were already three years ahead of the game three years ago, then they have again set their own bar up another three years higher.
Freshly signed to Partisan Records, Brighton, UK's new likely bunch The Wytches gave us the weird ways of their new cut, “Wire Frame Mattress”, that howl's with grit while giving up memorable moments with verses that end with, “while my dignity collapses.”
Taken from the upcoming Peace Kehd album dropping February 18 from The Doppelgangaz, get a look at the video for, “KnowntchooTahLie”, from Jermarcus Peppercorn that features the cloaked crew kicking it with affiliates bringing some food for thought.
And from Ariel Pink and Justin Raisen's Raw Deal production crew, check out this v-day bit of weirdness with Jerry James' ode to none other than, “Lana Del Rey”.
Off Tweens' self-titled debut album out April 8 from Frenchkiss, get into the great ever after with the garage gold of, “Forever”.
Oakland's Angela LaBaw, aka Hopscotch dropped the “Hunter In The Night (Sigrah Remix)”, ahead of the Archer EP coming this spring. Hopscotch dropped the “Hunter In The Night (Sigrah Remix)”, ahead of the Archer EP coming this spring. Electrofied programming begins right now.
With Lenses out on Captured Tracks and a spring EU tour in the works, take a close look at the tarot allegories of destruction on the pulverising Erica Schreiner video for, “No Turning Back”.
The Music For Robots EP will be available April 8 from Warp, and you can check out Squarepusher battle the rise of the droids right now. A 78-fingered guitar, 22 drums, the Z-Machines present the future today.
Touring with Mac DeMarco this April, check out the Juan Wauters video for “Water” here, off his Captured Tracks album North American Poetry.
Austin's Ghetto Gouls are prepping their self-titled LP for release April 8 from Monofonus Press, and we got the wild ruckus of “Peepshow” for you to peep with your ears until they bleed.
Bart Davenport's new album, Physical World will be available March 4 from Burger Records / Lovemonk, and we got the cut, “Fuck Fame”, full of semi-autobiographical thoughts thrown into the way-back machine approach of sound design.
Michigan's La Dispute dropped the breaking up is hard to do video for, “For Mayor In Splitsville”, off their upcoming album, Rooms Of The House, available March 18 via Better Living Records and Staple Records.
Off their Dead Oceans album Ride Your Heart and just in time for V-day, check out Bleached's cemetery scenes and floral sweetness in the Micayla Grace video for, “Guy Like You”.
Datassette, aka John Davies, dropped the “Helvetica Calcium” beat fortifier from the forthcoming Cagney XOR Lacey EP out March 11 on Apollo Records.
Bill Baird's presents his debut cassette for Moon Glyph called, Diamond Eyepatch, and we got your listen to “I've Waited My Whole Life To Disappear”. The Austin by SF arist takes the song composition process to places my words would fail to relay to you in full. Read Bill's editorial here.
Because we can't get enough, here is another gem from Bill's Diamond Eyepatch, with “Skull Castle Decorator”.
Forsthays' Begins With You EP dropped on Bandcamp, and you are invited to feel even better with the Berlin, by Melbourne, by Minneapolis sound on via, “Better Off Now”.
Get a look at the Taylor Cohen video for”Klapp Klapp”, the first single from Little Dragon's new album Nabuma Rubberband, available May 13 from Loma Vista Recordings. Crosses, clapping, grave digging, zombies, and electro balladry abound.
Off the March 25 slated self-titled full-length from Decades Records, check out Miami's Jean Jacket busting out the red Solo synth-soul cups on the cut, “Super Party Cups”.
Catch The Henry Millers' progeny and roof raising video for, “Children,” taken off their upcoming album, Posies.
With Cass McCombs' Big Wheel And Others available from Domino, check out the Jeffrey Peixoto video for “Name Written In Water”. Folk feelings intersect with the sacrifice of cloven hooved, pork products being processed for human consumption.
With their album Rookie available May 12 from Bella Union, The Trouble With Templeton, aka Thomas Calder, brings the shore wandering sea tide between keys and vocals.
Our old buddies Aaron, Bryson, Ryan and Landon Baggaley of Brown Shoe dropped the track title track to their upcoming Lonely Beast Part I album available April 8, with Lonely Beast Part II and Part III coming later this year. A band that has marched to the beat of their own traveling instincts, this presents the largest Brown Shoe sound you have heard yet.
Off Memoir's upcoming album Fire in Me, and following their single “Los Angeles”; get a listen to the identity affirming anthem, “Who I Am” with the assertive statement of, “but if you can’t love me like I am, I’m loving myself, 'cause my story it won’t be the kind that stays on the shelf.”
Off Faces On Film's upcoming March 25 album Elite Lines, get a listen to “The Rule” that breaks down the regulations, and then breaks them down in a cinematic style.
Every so often there is that single that drops on our desks toward the end of the week that makes an eleventh hour inclusion on merits and scale of grandiosity alone. That is exactly what James Supercave's “The Right Thing” single did for us, off an upcoming 4 cut EP coming in late March from Hit City USA, with a Spring tour with Warpaint and SxSW appearances also in the works. This is that progressive, big time sweeping rock sound that your dad always told you, and swore up and down that folks these days never understand.
Yep. We warned you about this. Peace Creep themselves even warned us all about this, and now the time is almost here for the Creeps 12″ record release, with Future Twin, Buffalo Creep, comedy courtesy of George Chen, and Jello Biafra on the DJ wheels of steel. It's all going down in SF's Elbo Room, February 19, peep the deets on the above flyer.
And in more Future Twin news, check out who's hitting up Bender's in SF, February 28 for Noise Pop. Details are above, and read a great interview with the band here. And from Future Twin, here is a listen to “<3" off their Situation EP. Indie hearts run free, forever and ever.
Get a listen to a a sonic Valentine's Day gift of love from your friends at Ceremony Recordings with a new edit of “Callin' Your Body” from Braxton/Palmer. It's R. Kelly's 90's classic that gets the Houston c&s work by way of that NYC cool. Following up the B/P's single, “Creeper”, this syrup-slowed remix is a sign of further singles to come from the Ceremony house. Listen on.
