Video Sunday vol. 28

27 May 2012 — NFOP

After (yet another) break of Video Sunday last weekend, we're back in business. We obviously continue our obsession with the mysterious audio-visual project iamamiwhoami, of which last song and video 'kill' traditionally reached our inbox las week in form of a youtube link — as well as a haunting, dreamy pop jam of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the new Friends single "Mind Control", plus new videos by Ye77a, Big Clouds, WHITE BIRDS, Teengirl Fantasy, Golden Birthday, Sofa Pits, and uhm, a bit shameless self-promoting. iamamiwhoami - kill Brother Sun, Sister Moon - Ghosts of Barry (by As Human Pattern) Friends - Mind Control (directed by Hiro Murai
) Ye77a - SILVER (by Yella) Thallus - Focus The Play (by Tonje Thilesen) Big Clouds - The Sun (by Brandon Kelly and Alex Romero) WHITE BIRDS - WATERS Teengirl Fantasy - Motif Golden Birthday - Start Swimming (by Ben Driggs) Sofa Pits - If You Got Some Read more → After (yet another) break of Video Sunday last weekend, we're back in business. We obviously continue our obsession with the mysterious audio-visual project iamamiwhoami, of which last song and video 'kill' traditionally reached our inbox las week in form of a youtube link — as well as a haunting, dreamy pop jam of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the new Friends single "Mind Control", plus new videos by Ye77a, Big Clouds, WHITE BIRDS, Teengirl Fantasy, Golden Birthday, Sofa Pits, and uhm, a bit shameless self-promoting. iamamiwhoami - kill Brother Sun, Sister Moon - Ghosts of Barry (by As Human Pattern) Friends - Mind Control (directed by Hiro Murai
) Ye77a - SILVER (by Yella) Thallus - Focus The Play (by Tonje Thilesen) Big Clouds - The Sun (by Brandon Kelly and Alex Romero) WHITE BIRDS - WATERS Teengirl Fantasy - Motif Golden Birthday - Start Swimming (by Ben Driggs) Sofa Pits - If You Got Some

Helmut: “Sepi”.

27 May 2012 — Tonje Thilesen

So, I guess it's not everyday you pass an original musician on the streets of Berlin, playing melancholic lo-fi pop and selling colourful diskettes with bandcamp download codes for five euros, but then again this enormous city is always full of surprises. Nicely set up with a guitar and a whole bunch of amps in a little sunny spot on the Oberbaum bridge (that links Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain together), Berlin local Helmut was jamming sweetly composed melodies, melted together with the sound of people rushing carelessly by, rather leaving a few coins to the Australian guy up the street playing a 'Wonderwall' cover. Funny, eh. Grab a copy of his EP via Bandcamp. Read more → So, I guess it's not everyday you pass an original musician on the streets of Berlin, playing melancholic lo-fi pop and selling colourful diskettes with bandcamp download codes for five euros, but then again this enormous city is always full of surprises. Nicely set up with a guitar and a whole bunch of amps in a little sunny spot on the Oberbaum bridge (that links Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain together), Berlin local Helmut was jamming sweetly composed melodies, melted together with the sound of people rushing carelessly by, rather leaving a few coins to the Australian guy up the street playing a 'Wonderwall' cover. Funny, eh. Grab a copy of his EP via Bandcamp.

Video: The Haiduks - “Sometimes It Scares Me”.

27 May 2012 — Henning Lahmann

About half a year ago, Ela Orleans sang the "Song for Beko After It's Dead", a haunting obituary for one of the most exciting web ventures in recent times, French "digital singles label" Beko, which brought us fresh new artists every Monday over the course of roughly two and a half years, until founder Charly called it quits after reaching single numer 100. Now, Beko returns as a "proper" imprint putting out physical releases, starting with On Air, a 7 inch by Québec's The Haiduks aka Élément Kuuda mastermind Christian Richer, of course very well known to the avid reader of this publication, featuring vocal contributions by Montréal singer/accordeonist Jordi Rosen. Below, you may watch the Moduli TV-made video for A-side "Sometimes It Scares Me" (title track "On Air" is actually the B-side), a song that musically is very different from the mellow, 60s-infused psych-pop of most of the previous The Haiduks stuff, yet with its shoegaze/dream pop-informed fuzz is actually very close to the first-ever track put out under this moniker, "Use Up My Time" from April 2011. Just another truly excellent track, unashamedly nostalgic yet saturated with a distinctly timeless quality, rightly called "a definite summer classic" by Moduli TV/Hobo Cult's Francesco De Gallo. On Air will be out soon via Beko. You will be able to pre-order it over here. Read more → About half a year ago, Ela Orleans sang the "Song for Beko After It's Dead", a haunting obituary for one of the most exciting web ventures in recent times, French "digital singles label" Beko, which brought us fresh new artists every Monday over the course of roughly two and a half years, until founder Charly called it quits after reaching single numer 100. Now, Beko returns as a "proper" imprint putting out physical releases, starting with On Air, a 7 inch by Québec's The Haiduks aka Élément Kuuda mastermind Christian Richer, of course very well known to the avid reader of this publication, featuring vocal contributions by Montréal singer/accordeonist Jordi Rosen. Below, you may watch the Moduli TV-made video for A-side "Sometimes It Scares Me" (title track "On Air" is actually the B-side), a song that musically is very different from the mellow, 60s-infused psych-pop of most of the previous The Haiduks stuff, yet with its shoegaze/dream pop-informed fuzz is actually very close to the first-ever track put out under this moniker, "Use Up My Time" from April 2011. Just another truly excellent track, unashamedly nostalgic yet saturated with a distinctly timeless quality, rightly called "a definite summer classic" by Moduli TV/Hobo Cult's Francesco De Gallo. On Air will be out soon via Beko. You will be able to pre-order it over here.

Blanche Blanche Blanche: “Mercantile Rugs”.

26 May 2012 — Henning Lahmann

Night-People's Shawn Reed sent over the latest Blanche Blanche Blanche LP Wink With Both Eyes the other day but for some inexcusable reason it got buried somewhere deep down in my inbox, and I would've forgotten about it completely were it not for my friends over at Ad Hoc. Yesterday, Matt Sullivan admirably reviewed the record, calling it "one of the best pop albums of the year so far", and now that I've listened properly, I can only emphatically agree. The Brattleboro, Vermont outfit has delivered a stupendous effort, lo-fi and weird yet consistently catchy as hell and very sophisticated. Below you may listen to my favorite song, though they're all kinda great, but "Mercantile Rugs" in particular hits all the right spots with its gently melancholic sheen when singer Sarah Smith sincerely and somewhat naively aks, "Where do we go from here?", over and over again on top of ingenuous synth chords and an oddly joyful acoustic guitar. Picture-perfect, faithful pop music, highly recommended. Wink With Both Eyes is out now on Night-People. Stream the whole LP via Ad Hoc. Read more → Night-People's Shawn Reed sent over the latest Blanche Blanche Blanche LP Wink With Both Eyes the other day but for some inexcusable reason it got buried somewhere deep down in my inbox, and I would've forgotten about it completely were it not for my friends over at Ad Hoc. Yesterday, Matt Sullivan admirably reviewed the record, calling it "one of the best pop albums of the year so far", and now that I've listened properly, I can only emphatically agree. The Brattleboro, Vermont outfit has delivered a stupendous effort, lo-fi and weird yet consistently catchy as hell and very sophisticated. Below you may listen to my favorite song, though they're all kinda great, but "Mercantile Rugs" in particular hits all the right spots with its gently melancholic sheen when singer Sarah Smith sincerely and somewhat naively aks, "Where do we go from here?", over and over again on top of ingenuous synth chords and an oddly joyful acoustic guitar. Picture-perfect, faithful pop music, highly recommended. Wink With Both Eyes is out now on Night-People. Stream the whole LP via Ad Hoc.

Video: Samaritan - “Heaven”.

26 May 2012 — Henning Lahmann

We've been waiting for a proper full-length or at least new EP by our fav Sam Martin aka Samaritan for a good while now, but despite a constant stream of excellent tracks and/or sketches via Soundcloud, there's still no word on any release. Anyway, a couple of days ago Martin dropped the eerie and menacing étude "Heaven", which today received the visualisation treatment by his friend Sam Johnson of Forty Ounce Clothing, who as usual offers a highly unique and quite extraordinary interpretation of the musical work. Read more → We've been waiting for a proper full-length or at least new EP by our fav Sam Martin aka Samaritan for a good while now, but despite a constant stream of excellent tracks and/or sketches via Soundcloud, there's still no word on any release. Anyway, a couple of days ago Martin dropped the eerie and menacing étude "Heaven", which today received the visualisation treatment by his friend Sam Johnson of Forty Ounce Clothing, who as usual offers a highly unique and quite extraordinary interpretation of the musical work.

Premiere: La Big Vic - “Heyo (Nihiti Storm the Morning Mix)”.

26 May 2012 — Henning Lahmann

Way back in September 2010, elusive NYC project Nihiti published their take on the already classic and emblematic La Big Vic tune, "Heyo (Silver Morning)", from the band's excellent debut album, Actually. Now, probably because Nihiti themselves have a new album coming out, or perhaps due to completely different reasons that weren't disclosed to us, the outfit once again heavily manipulated the very same original. However, while the first "Pulsing Morning Mix" was "slow and melodic, with just enough sci-fi efx to keep heads spinning" (Chocolate Bobka), this new one, named "Storm in the Morning Mix", is certainly made for the dancefloor, with frantic tribal drums and a straight techno-ish beat. We're delighted to present it right here, right now. Nihiti's forthcoming album For Ostland will be released May 27 via Lo Bit Landscapes. Listen to three tracks from the album below, including the standout "Sun Shatterer". Read more → Way back in September 2010, elusive NYC project Nihiti published their take on the already classic and emblematic La Big Vic tune, "Heyo (Silver Morning)", from the band's excellent debut album, Actually. Now, probably because Nihiti themselves have a new album coming out, or perhaps due to completely different reasons that weren't disclosed to us, the outfit once again heavily manipulated the very same original. However, while the first "Pulsing Morning Mix" was "slow and melodic, with just enough sci-fi efx to keep heads spinning" (Chocolate Bobka), this new one, named "Storm in the Morning Mix", is certainly made for the dancefloor, with frantic tribal drums and a straight techno-ish beat. We're delighted to present it right here, right now. Nihiti's forthcoming album For Ostland will be released May 27 via Lo Bit Landscapes. Listen to three tracks from the album below, including the standout "Sun Shatterer".

Nomadic Firs: “In the Morning”.

25 May 2012 — Henning Lahmann

I realize we're just a little late on this one, but let us nonetheless get a few seconds of your precious attention to praise the fuzzy sounds of Knoxville, Tennessee native Ryan Boos aka Nomadic Firs, whose very worthwhile self-titled full-length is out now on Crash Symbols. Just listen to the excellent, upbeat "In the Morning" to get into the right mood, a joyful tune that evokes images of a blithe life somewhere in a remote area of the United States, folky and weird while thankfully avoiding all the clichés that usually follow such a description. Instead, simply fine, elaborate pop music for the coming summer. Available digitally and on cassette, limited edition of 200. Get it here. Read more → I realize we're just a little late on this one, but let us nonetheless get a few seconds of your precious attention to praise the fuzzy sounds of Knoxville, Tennessee native Ryan Boos aka Nomadic Firs, whose very worthwhile self-titled full-length is out now on Crash Symbols. Just listen to the excellent, upbeat "In the Morning" to get into the right mood, a joyful tune that evokes images of a blithe life somewhere in a remote area of the United States, folky and weird while thankfully avoiding all the clichés that usually follow such a description. Instead, simply fine, elaborate pop music for the coming summer. Available digitally and on cassette, limited edition of 200. Get it here.