Recently profiled, unanimously and rightfully acclaimed imprint 100% SILK apparently feels no urge to slow down in 2012, so here's a quick overview on what's going on in LA's silky headquarters.
Out now are two delicious 12 inch records, the first one by SFV Acid aka Dublab DJ Zane Reynolds. Listen to the pretty classic and funky house jam "Knights" from his Grown EP below:
The other one is the Just Browsing 12 inch by Oakland's Andre Ferreira aka Bobby Browser. In particular b-side cut "No Appointments" is intriguing, featuring vocals by the amazing SF artist Mara Barrenbaum aka Group Rhoda (whose awesome "At the Dark" you need to check out right now). But a-side "Smooth Cruise" is very nice, too:
Next, yesterday Fact pointed to "Jack Rollin'" by London's Fort Romeau, the solo project by La Roux keyboardist (huh?) Mike Norris. The track is an instant call to the dancefloor yet rolls along very smoothly, all in all probably the best and most subtly sophisticated track of the lot. Fort Romeau's debut LP Kingdoms will be put out by 100% SILK on March 6.
Fort Romeau - Jack Rollin'
Finally, long-standing NFOP fav Coyote Clean Up has also turned to straight, extremely compelling house music, and thanks to Rose Quartz and Friendship Bracelet, word is out that he's releasing his forthcoming Frozen Solid 12 inch via Amanda Brown's label, too. Last night, FBUS tipped us off to the brand new video of album track "At Home", directed by Steven Hamilton. Watch it below.
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Speaker Snacks Recs will drop their latest (and last) release today, and very much to our delight it's a new EP by our boy Evan Adams aka Top Girls, once again conquering the ice cold halls we live in with his warming, comforting falsetto. Listen to lead single "It's Over" below and head over here later to receive the full glory of After Life.
Top Girls - It's Over
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Already having supported the likes of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Grimes, Outside aka Christian from NYC has an interesting sound, indeed with similarity to the last-mentioned acts, however heavily inspired by Scandinavian (ehrm, Swedish) pop. CEO might be a keyword here, or even Jonathan Johansson, but Outside is definitely leaning more in the direction of psychedelia; infusing his lush pop melodies with strange synth riffs and beats that will remind you of coconuts and Hawaiian horizons.
Pay what you want via bandcamp.
Outside - Icaro
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Sydney's dreamfunk outfit Albatross just released a 7 inch on Life Aquatic Records, curated by our good aussie pal Jarred Beeler. Both "Caspar's Theme" and the a-side "Murder" are both enchanted with a mysterious, Mount Kimbie esque feel, with roots that lead deep beneath the ocean surface. NFOP favourite and Sydney based Guerre also added a little of his sexy touch to "Murder"; a perfect combination of two of Sydney's finest up-and-coming musicians.
Pre-order the beauty here, and download "Caspar's Theme" exclusively below.
Albatross - Caspar's Theme
Albatross - Murder (Guerre's Suede Remix)
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As already reported in December, Zak Mering is about to drop Sick Steez, the next LP of his Raw Thrills project. While his work as one half of Greatest Hits (together with Tyler Thacker) arguably gets a lot more attention by the press (the guys recently successfully finished a Kickstarter to fund money for mixing their first full-length Breakdown, not to be confused with Zak's Raw Thrills effort Shakedown from 2011) than his countless other creative commitments (including Philip La Fonde, Old School Mak, The Sweethearts, or, just recently, this), his previous efforts as Raw Thrills all were brilliant enough to get excited about his second full-length.
And there's indeed no room for disappointment. Zak's gently flamboyant and eccentric psychedelic pop on Sick Steez, which was once again accomplished with the help of some of the most colorful personalities in today's underground, is both deliberately lo-fi and at times strident, thus sharing certain sonic signifiers with his contemporaries such as OLR's Sam Mehran and James Ferraro, Ariel Pink or John Maus, in particular the latters' earlier records. In fact, there even is a proper collaboration with Pink on the album. On the song "Daddy Don't Go", while Zak has written the lyrics and sings, Pink is responsible for the music.
Yet unlike the mentioned artists, Zak's principal influences lie much more within the heyday of sixties psych-pop and especially the golden era's more outré offerings, an affection that is best illustrated by his wonderful, incredibly faithful re-interpretation of "Run Spot Run", a song originally recorded by the short-lived Californian all-girl group The Daisy Chain, together with his sister Natalie (aka Weyes Blood). All along, despite the record's low fidelity, Zak Mering has once again set great value on lush harmonizations and arrangement, and above all proven that he's really obsessed with the subtle details of production. A highly recommended album.
Besides listening to "Run Spot Run" below, also take an exclusive look at the new video for "Easy For Me (It's Not That)", a song featuring Ryan Howe of Punks On Mars, who has written and performed the song's guitar and bass parts.
Sick Steez will be out this spring via Sixteen Tambourines.
Raw Thrills - Run Spot Run
Previously:
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Last time we wrote about Golden Birthday's forthcoming full-length Blue Island, it was April 2011, and we optimistically predicted a release that following summer. Now while that obviously has not happened, the latest album cut "Start Swimming" is another reminder that the second proper record by one of Chicago's prime synth exponents is surely something worth waiting for just a little longer. When the time has come, Blue Island will be dropped by Rainbow Body Records.
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Very intelligent minimal dub from the duo Brickwall Brigade aka Goran Simonoski (Piece of Shh) and dub-techno producer Jan Nemerek, two excellent producers from Serbia's capital Belgrade. Their first EP Celcius features four different versions of the original dub track, whereas the the rest have added vocals from 'some of the best Serbian reggae vocalists', as Goran points out. The result is somewhat like a distant call from the rural underground, from unlit back alleys that would tickle your curiosity to explore, however be a wise decision to keep distance from.
Snatch it for free here.
Brickwall Brigade - Celcius (Lovers Dub)
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It has been a very interesting visual week, with not only one, but two new works of our favourite man Jamie Harley, this time for Caged Animals and A Classic Education. The amazingly beautiful video by Thanasis Tsimpinis featuring Keep Shelly In Athens' "Running Out Of You" has also been a notable gem this week, as well as :papercutz' The Cure cover, Norway's Love Dance, Rites Wild and- of course, the very splendid session with Grimes on Yours Truly. As always, enjoy.
Keep Shelly In Athens - Running Out of You (by Thanasis Tsimpinis)
A Classic Education - Baby, It's Fine (by Jamie Harley)
Grimes - Genesis (Yours Truly Session)
Rites Wild - Work Ethic (by Stacey Wilson)
Love Dance - Bergen, again
Caged Animals - All the Beautiful Things In The World (by Jamie Harley)
:papercutz - Disintegration (The Cure Cover) (Directed by Pedro Pinto)
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