This is what our pop culture media hubs gave us this week: Keeping fans on “A Tattered Line of String” for the new Postal Service single, we watched the wrestling antics of the much hyped Tyler, the Creator single “Domo 23“, Passion Pit got “Carried Away“, ignored Bieber v. Black Keys beefs, and feigned excitement for Lana Del Rey's “Burning Desire” toward car commercial pop commodities. Believe the hype if you want to, but we got a whole week for you to explore in no particular order.
Brooklyn-Flatbush-by-Philly's prodigal son Curly Castro is dropping his debut for Man Bites Dog Records with the album FIDEL coming next week, February 19 from DJBooth.net. In The Mighty Joe Castro video for “They Call Me Castro”, depicts protest footage from #occupy wall street, civil rights upheavals, retro moments with Fidel Castro, while Curly moves in a unilateral “militant, militant,” lyrical front. “Rebel to the bone, vigilante to the marrow…channel all my oligarchs, words to the pharaohs, Spike Lee and a little Chuck D…” The other week we heard Castro's cut “Coal” that features Has-Lo and production touches from Georgia Anne Muldrow, while the forthcoming FIDEL also presents guests like Small Professor, Zilla Rocca and other appearances.
James Wallace and the Naked Light present their single “Colored Lights” that provides a collection of incandescent organic spun folk spirituals. Like a global gathering of tribes to gather around with guitars, brass and any nearby rhythmic percussion devices; James & company spread the gospel of 'there is still time' where life's fancies are met with both the fantastical and imaginative occurrences within the songwriting whimsicalities. “You remember when you kicked me down the stairs when I told you we could fly, and though I cannot fly love, I could stand by you a thousand miles above me, but they danced around me, colored lights, dance around me like a pole, 10,000 miles long, wrapped around the sun, it looked just like a fantasy I drew”. The joy of Wallace and friends music are the unpredictable paths chosen where the heart of their instrumentation is steeped in rustic traditions that are joined through the subtle hum of modern day electronic accompaniments and treatments. James Wallace and the Naked Light's album More Strange News From Another Star comes out April 30.
Prism House are the latest additions to the Ceremony imprint family where Brian Wenner's electro music holistics are met with visual landscaping visions of Matt O'Hare. Their single “Someone Save Me” presents the electro creativity of Brian's captured percussion sounds that litter the track in new ways while motifs of saviorship like voice interjections of “I feel so relieved” amid spray can aerosol bursts and more collaged samples that are arranged with skilled and control. Pay close attention to the idle chatter in the background where a couple blathers on to foregone conclusions such as the “I think both of those sound good!”, are followed by the track's conclusive yell amid the banal yet humorous conversation trappings. The Reflections EP comes out March 5 from Brooklyn's Ceremony Recordings.
Also catch the industrial light and magic show courtesy of Prism House's visual artist Matt O'Hare with the steel clang iron pulse of “Show Yr Hands”.
Get down to the Afghan-American goth duo of Brooklyn based Zohra Atash and Josh Strawn formerly of Religious to Damn with their outfit, Azar Swan. Zebra Katz's Mike Dextro produces their latest single “Lusty” that attacks with every industrial trick from the hope chest with ominous coasting keys that rise then just as quick bend in the oppposite direction. Keep on the look out for their debut slated for release this spring.
Portland's The Bear & The Sea has released their album Trees Like You from Nueva Forma and this week shared their experimental electronic frontal lobe blender, “Stardust in Your Lungs”. Samples on computer communications interupt the patterns of organic drum clasps and synthesizers that are arranged like fluorescent reflector dots that light up the interstates like constellations.
You have rocked out to Wampires' 7″ The Hearse and now you can get down, get strange, get weird, and get Kraftwerk with the Wamps cover of “Das Modell” from the aforementioned single's b-side. The cover showcases the group's more electrified chops, and can catch them on the road now with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, while The Hearse single from Polyvinyl.
The Coathangers and N
