In the January issue of my monthly column for Electronic Beats (not yet published, don't blame me), I've predicted that 2012 will be dominated by RVNG Intl, but if Software continues in this manner, maybe I'm gonna have to correct myself in a few weeks. What I've heard so far from the forthcoming Megafortress release is among the most painstakingly beautiful I've come across in recent months, and Slava's footwork-induced house anthem "I've Got Feelings Too" (see below) is frickin' excellent. But it's "Evidence" by NYC via Venezuela musician Carlos Giffoni, otherwise known as the organizer of the preeminent No Fun Fest, that has just completely taken my breath away. Starting with a few simple piano chords and bare vocals, the track quickly develops into a massive acid techno slasher that would be an embellishment for any Berghain club night. Absolutely unexpected and outright terrific.
Update: As both Dummy and FACT just reported, the title track's "mechanized piano and synth riffage" is actually provided by Laurel Halo.
And yeah, you should really listen to Slava as well:
Both Carlos Giffoni's Evidence EP and Slava's Soft Control EP will be out February 7 via Software.
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We've been loving the mildly off-kilter synth pop by San Francisco's Amanda Harper aka Running In the Fog ever since we got lost in the foggy bliss of "Missed the Rain" last summer, yet somehow we totally missed out on Harper's latest single "Know When to Run", dropped sometime late last year through Bad Panda Records. Anyway, I'm glad we can make up for that now by debuting the brand new video for this truly awesome song, shot at San Francisco's Ocean Beach by Zach Ehrlich of Sonny & the Sunsets. Harper explains: "As lovers of the ocean and specifically this SF break, we edited it together to make a dreamy homage to being wrapped up and carried away from everything, which is exactly what I try to make my music do." If you need to get carried away from something or everything as well (and who doesn't), then this has been made for you:
Running In the Fog - Know When to RunRead more →
Cleared is the duo of Chicago-based artists Steven Hess and Michael Vallera. After last year's debut, originally put out by Digitalis Ltd., Chicago's excellent Immune Recordings has just released the project's second full-length Breaking Day. The album is a staggering blend of stone-cold drones and pitch-black noise elements that are piled up to form massive, breathtaking soundscapes, all tied together by ultra-precise, relentless drumming. This is all very unsettling yet strangely mesmerizing, like watching quickly rising flood waters, deadly yet sublime, and completely irresistible. A highly recommended record, listen to the mind-boggling title track below.
Update: Immune released the self-titled debut from Cleared in January 2011 on both LP and cassette. Digitalis Ltd then released a cassette of different material that was also self-titled. Sorry for the misinformation (but the label admitted that this has confused people before).
Order Breaking Day directly via the label or (recommended if you're in Europe) via Boomkat now.
Cleared - Breaking DayRead more →
Hhappiness are a jolly good outfit hailing from Stockholm with a growing musical repertoire somewhere between straight lo-fi and somewhat more polished guitar glory, at times rather noisy but invariably playful and with that certain amount of pop appeal that is somewhere in the genes of every Swede, pardon my cheap stereotyping. Don't ask me about that extra "H" - it's not even googleable, the mighty search engine will correct it bluntly. To quote the label's description: "Amongst the trails of their three years as a band they have (...) picked up an H along the way."
Anyway, "Bananas" is the title track of the band's first official release, a 7 inch that will be put out by French boutique imprint Almost Musique on February 14. Order the vinyl now over here and stream or download the songs until the release date right here.
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All the way from Tbilisi, Georgia (this one, duh), producer Gacha is about to drop his initial release on Apollo Records, the recently revived subdivision of acclaimed London via Ghent, Belgium label R&S Records. The two tracks below, which will both be part of the EP, have been floating around through the interwebs for a couple of months now, a fact that doesn't make them feel less fresh. There's no definite release date yet, but the record will presumably be out sometime in March or April. Listen to the ambient-infused downbeat tune "Remember" and the more trippy, deliberately more post-dubstep track "Bowl" below.
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I recently stumbled across Tokyo-based producer Taka Noda aka Mystica Tribe, whose debut single "Meditation Stick", released last fall via SD Records, was an excellent excursion into grooving dub. Noda recently put "Flowers" up on his Soundcloud, an intriguingly meandering, bright and shiny yet comfortably mysterious house jam, playful and rhythmically complex, a terrific work all along. We don't have too much information on this one, but Mystica Tribe surely is an artist to keep an eye on.
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London via Hiroshima's Mariko Doi, better known as the bassist/vocalist of everyone's favorite noise poppers Yuck, has got a new project named Parakeet, a two-piece together with James Llewellyn Thomas. Their first 7 inch will be released March 5, listen to the a-side below. And you thought Yuck were noisy and 90s-infused.
Parakeet - TomorrowRead more →
After such a long time without new material, and after last year's breathtaking collection of previous works, Lagan Qord, it's amazing to see that Elijah Forrest apparently has managed to finally record new songs for his Terrors project. At least two new tunes popped up on Soundcloud recently, and both stated "from forthcoming George Jones Sings the Great Songs of Leon Payne cassette", an album that of course has been recorded before, but even after countless comparing listens, it's kinda hard to speak of "Lifetime to Regret" as being a cover song of this one, though it technically is. Wood's sparse, restrained instrumentation together with his mourning, insistent voice still are an almost unbearably devastating listen.
If the Soundcloud tagging is correct, George Jones Sings the Great Songs of Leon Payne will be released by Ehse Records.
Terrors - Lifetime to RegretRead more →
We've been loving the mildly off-kilter synth pop by San Francisco's Amanda Harper aka Running In the Fog ever since we got lost in the foggy bliss of "Missed the Rain" last summer, yet somehow we totally missed out on Harper's latest single "Know When to Run", dropped sometime late last year through Bad Panda Records. Anyway, I'm glad we can make up for that now by debuting the brand new video for this truly awesome song, shot at San Francisco's Ocean Beach by Zach Ehrlich of Sonny & the Sunsets. Harper explains: "As lovers of the ocean and specifically this SF break, we edited it together to make a dreamy homage to being wrapped up and carried away from everything, which is exactly what I try to make my music do." If you need to get carried away from something or everything as well (and who doesn't), then this has been made for you:
Running In the Fog - Know When to Run
Read more →
