Video: Quiet Evenings - Transcending Spheres.

19 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

A few weeks back, we wrote about the Circa Limited Edition CD Series by New South Wales imprint Preservation. The series has just seen its fourth installment, and to our delight it's the first full-length CD release by LaGrange, Georgia husband/wife duo Quiet Evenings, consisting of Rachel aka Motion Sickness Of Time Travel and Grant Evans aka Nova Scotian Arms. The title track of Transcending Spheres is a slow-burning piece of ambient drones and noise, with deep yet reduced layers of synth patterns and guitars leading to another contemplating experience in sonic drifting that we've come to love so much in recent underground psychedelia. Listen to the track below and get lost in the perfectly ethereal (and very erotic) visualization by Rachel Evans. You can order Transcending Spheres here. Again limited to 300. Read more → A few weeks back, we wrote about the Circa Limited Edition CD Series by New South Wales imprint Preservation. The series has just seen its fourth installment, and to our delight it's the first full-length CD release by LaGrange, Georgia husband/wife duo Quiet Evenings, consisting of Rachel aka Motion Sickness Of Time Travel and Grant Evans aka Nova Scotian Arms. The title track of Transcending Spheres is a slow-burning piece of ambient drones and noise, with deep yet reduced layers of synth patterns and guitars leading to another contemplating experience in sonic drifting that we've come to love so much in recent underground psychedelia. Listen to the track below and get lost in the perfectly ethereal (and very erotic) visualization by Rachel Evans. You can order Transcending Spheres here. Again limited to 300.

Glacial.

17 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Apparently, some people don't have those things we call "links". They don't talk that much about themselves, either. They just send over their music. Take as an example some dude named Tom from Hereford, England, who records music under the moniker Apostles that he likes to call "icy art-psych". We don't know what "icy art-psych" might be, but man are we blown away by these tunes. No further words needed. (Photo by Ktinka) Apostles - Glacial Apostles - Wasting Away Read more → Apparently, some people don't have those things we call "links". They don't talk that much about themselves, either. They just send over their music. Take as an example some dude named Tom from Hereford, England, who records music under the moniker Apostles that he likes to call "icy art-psych". We don't know what "icy art-psych" might be, but man are we blown away by these tunes. No further words needed. (Photo by Ktinka) Apostles - Glacial Apostles - Wasting Away

Premiere: Aguirre - Layphi.

17 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

The highly prolific Chicago synth wizard Elon Katz of White Car must've had a particularly busy time lately. Not enough that he's dropped two cassettes via Catholic Tapes, The Pylori Program under his own name and Ooze as Streetwalker, the project he pursues together with Beau Wanzer (read about it here) - now, he has additionally teamed up with Berkeley, California's Gryphon Myers to come up as Aguirre. The duo's debut effort New Sects, out now via our beloved Burlington, Vermont imprint NNA Tapes, is a 54-minute exploration into the depths of electronic music, "equal parts swirling and chaotic synth debris, 90’s style IDM throwback, and hard-hitting electro pulse dance action", according to the label. We're not entirely sure which category closing track Layphi belongs to, but over almost six minutes the slow-burning piece unfolds a wide range of synth-induced chirps and tweets over a subdued bassline, restrained electronic percussion and a melody made up of spacey synth patterns and chimes that give the tune a wonderfully tense, almost cinematic feel, leaving the listener waiting for the villain to finally appear on the scene. Get the tape over here. Aguirre - Layphi Read more → The highly prolific Chicago synth wizard Elon Katz of White Car must've had a particularly busy time lately. Not enough that he's dropped two cassettes via Catholic Tapes, The Pylori Program under his own name and Ooze as Streetwalker, the project he pursues together with Beau Wanzer (read about it here) - now, he has additionally teamed up with Berkeley, California's Gryphon Myers to come up as Aguirre. The duo's debut effort New Sects, out now via our beloved Burlington, Vermont imprint NNA Tapes, is a 54-minute exploration into the depths of electronic music, "equal parts swirling and chaotic synth debris, 90’s style IDM throwback, and hard-hitting electro pulse dance action", according to the label. We're not entirely sure which category closing track Layphi belongs to, but over almost six minutes the slow-burning piece unfolds a wide range of synth-induced chirps and tweets over a subdued bassline, restrained electronic percussion and a melody made up of spacey synth patterns and chimes that give the tune a wonderfully tense, almost cinematic feel, leaving the listener waiting for the villain to finally appear on the scene. Get the tape over here. Aguirre - Layphi

Thieves.

16 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

After Rites Wild Theme and Ill Health, here's another dark beauty by Adelaide, South Australia's Stacey Wilson aka Rites Wild from her self-titled EP, released on cassette and available now via mail ordering. EP opening track Thieves is driven by gloomy organs and subtle drum machine loops to give appropriate room for Wilson's eerie, reverb-drenched vocals, all in all a very reduced, almost cautious song that nonetheless may serve as an excellent introduction into the sonic otherworld of Rites Wild. (Photo) Rites Wild - Thieves Read more → After Rites Wild Theme and Ill Health, here's another dark beauty by Adelaide, South Australia's Stacey Wilson aka Rites Wild from her self-titled EP, released on cassette and available now via mail ordering. EP opening track Thieves is driven by gloomy organs and subtle drum machine loops to give appropriate room for Wilson's eerie, reverb-drenched vocals, all in all a very reduced, almost cautious song that nonetheless may serve as an excellent introduction into the sonic otherworld of Rites Wild. (Photo) Rites Wild - Thieves

So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star.

16 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Gunk TV CEO and master of everything weird and awesome, Brooklyn resident Zak Mering of Raw Thrills et al., dropped a brand new gem via his still newish label site yesterday, a nicely off-kilter cover of the Byrds' So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star - and seriously, who doesn't? Raw Thrills - So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star (Byrds Cover) Read more → Gunk TV CEO and master of everything weird and awesome, Brooklyn resident Zak Mering of Raw Thrills et al., dropped a brand new gem via his still newish label site yesterday, a nicely off-kilter cover of the Byrds' So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star - and seriously, who doesn't? Raw Thrills - So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star (Byrds Cover)

Musica.

16 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

With the means of cheap contemporary blogosphere jabbering (yes, I guess this is self-criticism), it's kinda hard to describe the music of Brooklyn trio La Big Vic. We're not alone though. The band itself struggles to come up with any fitting adjectives attributable to their sound, coming up with rather obvious and sorta lame characteristics such as cosmic ("no") or weird ("..."). So as a start, let's stick to the bare facts: We got a rather unusual setting, with Emilie Friedlander (of Visitation Rites and AZ) on violin and vocals, and her bandmates Peter Pearson and Toshio Masuda on synth, drum machine, guitar, and whatever else might be necessary to create those sounds that indeed do speak a language of their own. Take their first single Musica as a striking instance: The song starts with a slow drum loop, kraut-informed synth patterns and Emilie's almost classic folk-like violin play, and it takes more than two and a half minutes until her vocals finally set in, gently, almost subtly uttering "musica", "mystica", or "maxima" again and again while the instrumentation unobtrusively meanders along over the course of the piece's almost eleven minutes. A rare, gratifying experience. Musica will be the closing track of La Big Vic's forthcoming full-length Actually on Underwater Peoples. The song itself was recorded as part of Philadelphia's Shaking Through music and video web series for emerging independent artists, curated by Pixelhorse's Elise Oleksiak. Don't miss the video of the recording session below. La Big Vic - Musica Read more → With the means of cheap contemporary blogosphere jabbering (yes, I guess this is self-criticism), it's kinda hard to describe the music of Brooklyn trio La Big Vic. We're not alone though. The band itself struggles to come up with any fitting adjectives attributable to their sound, coming up with rather obvious and sorta lame characteristics such as cosmic ("no") or weird ("..."). So as a start, let's stick to the bare facts: We got a rather unusual setting, with Emilie Friedlander (of Visitation Rites and AZ) on violin and vocals, and her bandmates Peter Pearson and Toshio Masuda on synth, drum machine, guitar, and whatever else might be necessary to create those sounds that indeed do speak a language of their own. Take their first single Musica as a striking instance: The song starts with a slow drum loop, kraut-informed synth patterns and Emilie's almost classic folk-like violin play, and it takes more than two and a half minutes until her vocals finally set in, gently, almost subtly uttering "musica", "mystica", or "maxima" again and again while the instrumentation unobtrusively meanders along over the course of the piece's almost eleven minutes. A rare, gratifying experience. Musica will be the closing track of La Big Vic's forthcoming full-length Actually on Underwater Peoples. The song itself was recorded as part of Philadelphia's Shaking Through music and video web series for emerging independent artists, curated by Pixelhorse's Elise Oleksiak. Don't miss the video of the recording session below. La Big Vic - Musica

The Voight Score.

15 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

On Sunday, we familiarized you with the deep and heavy analog synth sounds by Portuguese experimentalist Luís Fernandes aka The Astroboy and his terrific new album The Chromium Fence. Now, let's go one step further ahead with this sapid, album-closing remix of the track The Voight Score by fellow Portuguese producer Bruno Miguel who's known under his moniker :papercutz. He has reworked the dark and threatening synth noises of the original into a slightly brighter, in any case more comfortable ambient soundscape by adding some cinematic piano chords and widescreen sampled string patterns over the dense layers of drone, ending up with something entirely different but equally compelling. The Astroboy - The Voight Score (:papercutz rework) Read more → On Sunday, we familiarized you with the deep and heavy analog synth sounds by Portuguese experimentalist Luís Fernandes aka The Astroboy and his terrific new album The Chromium Fence. Now, let's go one step further ahead with this sapid, album-closing remix of the track The Voight Score by fellow Portuguese producer Bruno Miguel who's known under his moniker :papercutz. He has reworked the dark and threatening synth noises of the original into a slightly brighter, in any case more comfortable ambient soundscape by adding some cinematic piano chords and widescreen sampled string patterns over the dense layers of drone, ending up with something entirely different but equally compelling. The Astroboy - The Voight Score (:papercutz rework)