Fuck Crz.

05 Jan 2011 — Tonje Thilesen

In Lieu, the moniker of UK producer and musician Martin Ruffin, is someone you definitely should  look out for this year. Even though he released his newest name-a-price EP Fuck Crz on bandcamp just a couple of days ago, it has already been recognized and highly praised over at The 405 — and that for a good reason indeed. Creating a unique, widespread blend between post-rock, electronic and shoegaze, the music of In Lieu truly has the ability of paralyzing the listener. Don't miss this out.

In Lieu - Stala Knight

In Lieu - Halune

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In Lieu, the moniker of UK producer and musician Martin Ruffin, is someone you definitely should  look out for this year. Even though he released his newest name-a-price EP Fuck Crz on bandcamp just a couple of days ago, it has already been recognized and highly praised over at The 405 — and that for a good reason indeed. Creating a unique, widespread blend between post-rock, electronic and shoegaze, the music of In Lieu truly has the ability of paralyzing the listener. Don't miss this out.

In Lieu - Stala Knight

In Lieu - Halune

Terror At Tampa Bay.

05 Jan 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Finally someone hit me up willing to bring some light into my dark and freezing Berlin January. Philadelphia's Chris Coulton makes lush, summery sunshine pop with some hints of shoegaze under the moniker Terror At Tampa Bay, and folks, you know this is all it needs to make me smile a bit. Playing all instruments and doing all recording matters by himself, Bungalow and Indigo Cabana are the first songs Coulton has finished so far, but what we hear is more than just promising, in fact this is the first big surprise in this oh so young year 2011. More of this, please. Terror At Tampa Bay - Bungalow Terror At Tampa Bay - Indigo Cabana Read more → Finally someone hit me up willing to bring some light into my dark and freezing Berlin January. Philadelphia's Chris Coulton makes lush, summery sunshine pop with some hints of shoegaze under the moniker Terror At Tampa Bay, and folks, you know this is all it needs to make me smile a bit. Playing all instruments and doing all recording matters by himself, Bungalow and Indigo Cabana are the first songs Coulton has finished so far, but what we hear is more than just promising, in fact this is the first big surprise in this oh so young year 2011. More of this, please. Terror At Tampa Bay - Bungalow Terror At Tampa Bay - Indigo Cabana

Hey Dumb Dumb Freedom.

05 Jan 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Some very splendid news dropping into our inbox the other day by our beloved wizard of twisted beats from half around the planet, if rumors are true that it is a globe, Auckland's Liam Richardson aka Forest Spirits: pretty irresistible rhythms and thick ambient synth patterns melting into some very fine sampling on Hey Dumb Dumb Freedom, very relaxed yet grooving all the way across continents. Forest Spirits - Hey Dumb Dumb Freedom Read more → Some very splendid news dropping into our inbox the other day by our beloved wizard of twisted beats from half around the planet, if rumors are true that it is a globe, Auckland's Liam Richardson aka Forest Spirits: pretty irresistible rhythms and thick ambient synth patterns melting into some very fine sampling on Hey Dumb Dumb Freedom, very relaxed yet grooving all the way across continents. Forest Spirits - Hey Dumb Dumb Freedom

Sometimes we’re blue.

05 Jan 2011 — Tonje Thilesen

A little over a month ago our Baltimore based favorite Sam Ray aka Ricky Eat Acid dropped his latest EP Sometimes We're Blue on his bandamp, containing five beautifully composed, slightly dark ambient tracks, which for some reason passed my ears unheard. Sam is a mastermind in creating soundwaves of beautifully fragile and water-like type, almost like a dandelion cutting through the dry earth, gracefully opening its bud towards the blood-red sky. Download. Ricky Eat Acid - Bones Ricky Eat Acid - I Found Your Flower Crown Read more → A little over a month ago our Baltimore based favorite Sam Ray aka Ricky Eat Acid dropped his latest EP Sometimes We're Blue on his bandamp, containing five beautifully composed, slightly dark ambient tracks, which for some reason passed my ears unheard. Sam is a mastermind in creating soundwaves of beautifully fragile and water-like type, almost like a dandelion cutting through the dry earth, gracefully opening its bud towards the blood-red sky. Download. Ricky Eat Acid - Bones Ricky Eat Acid - I Found Your Flower Crown

Premiere: Lee Noble / Hobo Cubes.

04 Jan 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Dropping split tapes, 7 inches or even EPs might be artistically challenging, a way to connect like-minded musicians who are able to inspire each other, but on the other hand it might also be considered a very effective way to put out tunes at times when your material won't suffice to finish a full-length. Anyway, the latter suggestion is without any doubt no problem these four artists have to deal with. Upon Austin, Texas drone experimentalist Derek Rogers' initiative, he, Eric Hardiman aka Rambutan, plus NFOP darlings Lee Noble and our favorite Québécois Frank Ouellette aka Hobo Cubes have gathered to compose a double cassette, quadruple split release that's gonna be put out later this month via Oakland's Deep Tapes. Every single musician got 15 minutes of finest magnetic tape to fill, and below you can take an exclusive first listen to two tracks by Lee Noble and Hobo Cubes. Noble's Indian Princess marks another milestone in his already impressive oeuvre, nearly seven minutes of beautiful contemplation, an ambient playground for Noble's calm and comforting voice over layers of synth and some gentle guitar lines. The first track on Hobo Cubes' side, Waiting to Return, is a different matter but no less intriguing. The tune is a fine example of Ouellette's incredible synth craftsmanship, a six minute trip of drone-infused psychedelia that draws quite heavily on kosmische and even subtly on early 80s minimal synth. (Photo) Lee Noble - Indian Princess Hobo Cubes - Waiting to Return Read more → Dropping split tapes, 7 inches or even EPs might be artistically challenging, a way to connect like-minded musicians who are able to inspire each other, but on the other hand it might also be considered a very effective way to put out tunes at times when your material won't suffice to finish a full-length. Anyway, the latter suggestion is without any doubt no problem these four artists have to deal with. Upon Austin, Texas drone experimentalist Derek Rogers' initiative, he, Eric Hardiman aka Rambutan, plus NFOP darlings Lee Noble and our favorite Québécois Frank Ouellette aka Hobo Cubes have gathered to compose a double cassette, quadruple split release that's gonna be put out later this month via Oakland's Deep Tapes. Every single musician got 15 minutes of finest magnetic tape to fill, and below you can take an exclusive first listen to two tracks by Lee Noble and Hobo Cubes. Noble's Indian Princess marks another milestone in his already impressive oeuvre, nearly seven minutes of beautiful contemplation, an ambient playground for Noble's calm and comforting voice over layers of synth and some gentle guitar lines. The first track on Hobo Cubes' side, Waiting to Return, is a different matter but no less intriguing. The tune is a fine example of Ouellette's incredible synth craftsmanship, a six minute trip of drone-infused psychedelia that draws quite heavily on kosmische and even subtly on early 80s minimal synth. (Photo) Lee Noble - Indian Princess Hobo Cubes - Waiting to Return

Video premiere: Teaadora - Pre-Agricultural…

03 Jan 2011 — Henning Lahmann

There is something about Teaadora Nikolova's music that you won't find anywhere else these days. Driven by an ethereal and otherworldly beautiful voice, her slow-burning experimental folk songs never entirely step out of the darkness, there always remains something very unsettling about them despite a blooming surface. Pre-Agricultural Languageless Culture, taken from her forthcoming full-length, is a perfect example for her approach, an eerie, sparsely instrumented ballad that calmly meanders along, the quietness constantly being obstructed by heavy use of tape manipulation, until the whole song finally disappears in emerging clouds of drone and sheer noise. A masterpiece all along. The accompanying video, shot by Theodore Darst and Chelsey Hoff, perfectly transfers the music's eeriness - there is something twisted and impalpable about the blurry images of the bathing nude in the peaceful, green and blue forest landscape. The viewer is put into the position of a hidden voyeur, but at the same time, there might actually be more to this scene: Who (else) is watching her - and why? We won't get an answer. Teaadora's album À Jamais Vierge / Virgin Forever will be released soon, on vinyl by Hot Releases and on CDr via the Belgian imprint MNÒAD. Teaadora - Pre-Agricultural Languageless Culture Read more → There is something about Teaadora Nikolova's music that you won't find anywhere else these days. Driven by an ethereal and otherworldly beautiful voice, her slow-burning experimental folk songs never entirely step out of the darkness, there always remains something very unsettling about them despite a blooming surface. Pre-Agricultural Languageless Culture, taken from her forthcoming full-length, is a perfect example for her approach, an eerie, sparsely instrumented ballad that calmly meanders along, the quietness constantly being obstructed by heavy use of tape manipulation, until the whole song finally disappears in emerging clouds of drone and sheer noise. A masterpiece all along. The accompanying video, shot by Theodore Darst and Chelsey Hoff, perfectly transfers the music's eeriness - there is something twisted and impalpable about the blurry images of the bathing nude in the peaceful, green and blue forest landscape. The viewer is put into the position of a hidden voyeur, but at the same time, there might actually be more to this scene: Who (else) is watching her - and why? We won't get an answer. Teaadora's album À Jamais Vierge / Virgin Forever will be released soon, on vinyl by Hot Releases and on CDr via the Belgian imprint MNÒAD. Teaadora - Pre-Agricultural Languageless Culture

Ira Rat.

03 Jan 2011 — Henning Lahmann

In the current issue of The Wire, Joseph Stannard tells us that "some of the most compelling music of 2010 has drawn inspiration from the sickly phantasmagoria of international horror cinema". Why am I telling you this? Well, first, Ira Rat's music comprises some considerable, horror movie-infused scariness, which particularly applies to the video that accompanies Catatonic, one of the few tunes that this band seems to have dropped so far. Second, I'm cheaply referring to other authors' thoughts to write anything at all, as Ira Rat apparently like to remain in the shades of anonymity, by the way another phenomenon that got extremely popular among up and coming bands in 2010. Last year. Got it? Anyway, Ira Rat seem to hail from Iowa, a fact that is kinda scary in and of itself. Just saying. And they make some extremely fine tunes, obviously, so watch out for more to come. Oh, and I really hope the two girls are fine. Ira Rat - Catatonic Ira Rat - Cellar Door Read more → In the current issue of The Wire, Joseph Stannard tells us that "some of the most compelling music of 2010 has drawn inspiration from the sickly phantasmagoria of international horror cinema". Why am I telling you this? Well, first, Ira Rat's music comprises some considerable, horror movie-infused scariness, which particularly applies to the video that accompanies Catatonic, one of the few tunes that this band seems to have dropped so far. Second, I'm cheaply referring to other authors' thoughts to write anything at all, as Ira Rat apparently like to remain in the shades of anonymity, by the way another phenomenon that got extremely popular among up and coming bands in 2010. Last year. Got it? Anyway, Ira Rat seem to hail from Iowa, a fact that is kinda scary in and of itself. Just saying. And they make some extremely fine tunes, obviously, so watch out for more to come. Oh, and I really hope the two girls are fine. Ira Rat - Catatonic Ira Rat - Cellar Door