Video Premiere: Modern Witch - “Desire”.

28 Jun 2011 — Henning Lahmann

We won't use its name - you'll know anyway - so suffice it to say that Denver, Colorado duo Modern Witch has always been one of the more interesting, radical and innovative exponents of that certain short-lived microgenre that had something to do with the dark side and a contemporary definition of goth (go here to find out what that means in particular). The Sterling Crispin-produced video for Modern Witch's brand new tune Desire perfectly sums up what this music is all about, with its baffling mélange of occultist symbolism and post-modern, internet age-informed digital collage experimentation that constantly hovers between ironic amusement and unsettling disturbance. It is in fact exactly this obvious sense for subtle, almost romantic irony and the blatant rejection to take themselves too seriously that sets the contemporary darkness-worshipping crowd apart from their hilarious predecessors that we used to despise so relentlessly back in our high school days. This here, in fact, is pretty cool. Berkeley, California imprint Tundra Dubs has united Modern Witch with Austin-based project Os Ovni for their rad Love/Desire split 7 inch which is out today. Order now right here. _____________________________________________ Check out Os Ovni's side of the split as well: Read more →

Vehicle Blues: “Koz Park”.

28 Jun 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Here's the a-side and title track of Vehicle Blues' new cassingle Koz Park that's part of Bridgetown Records' immense summer batch. Jangly, noisy and reverb-heavy as ever, Gabe Holcombe's purest guitar-wash glory is clear-cut "bedroom shoegaze" (Kevin Greenspon) for those who do know both the downsides of dull happiness and the upsides of splendid melancholia. Order the cassette over here. Vehicle Blues - Koz Park Read more →

Brandon Biondo: “Sleeve”.

28 Jun 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Completely unanticipated mellow vibes coming straight outta Knoxville, Tennessee. Coolrunnings' mastermind and Dracula Horse CEO Brandon Ian Biondo is up for some seriously melancholic shit here with his brand new tune Sleeve, a shamelessly beautiful dream pop effort featuring all the echo you could ask for, Brandon's sweeter than ever voice and even some sampled flutes to make up for your favorite lost childhood lullaby. Enchanted we are. Brandon Biondo - Sleeve Read more →

Baby Lips: “No Blood”.

27 Jun 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Charleston, South Carolina's Mirror Universe gained some decent interweb fame when the widely buzzed-about so-called "cassette revival" seriously took off sometime between the summer of 2009 and this, mainly due to the coincident hype around chillwave/glo-fi that initially happened to involve quite a few South Carolina artists, most significantly Toro Y Moi and Washed Out who both had their first releases on Mirror Universe in July and September 09, respectively. Both tapes are of course long sold out now, and since the buzz around that certain microgenre has started to fade it has gotten rather quiet around the small imprint, which of course doesn't imply that they've stopped dropping gems on magnetic material. To the contrary, without a big fuss the dudes have kept on doing what they do best, unearthing the most incredible new leftfield pop stuff both homegrown and from across the States or even the world (most notably releases by His Clancyness and the heart-melting Weakend by Yu(c)k/Oupa), and they've hardly ever failed. Baby Lips belong in the "homegrown" category. Charleston-based Joel T. Hamilton (who also has a solo project) and his girlfriend have just dropped their debut C26 Nineteen Ninety Ching via MU, and it's just another proof of the imprint's impeccable sense for rad fresh voices. Sporting rather peculiar outfits on stage, the duo has created five baroque pop tunes that despite their obviously lo-fi production means feature an almost pompous demeanor, constantly leaning towards the dark side with opaque organ melodies and eerie, at times deliberately clownesque vocals. A very worthwhile debut altogether, and another pleasant surprise hailing from the Old South. The tape is available for pre-order over here. You may also stream/purchase it digitally via Baby Lips' bandcamp. Baby Lips - No Blood Read more →

Yung Life: “I Be Scared”.

27 Jun 2011 — Henning Lahmann

It's been almost a year since we last heard news from thriving Knoxville, Tennessee duo Yung Life, but here they are finally returning with yet another lush and dense shoegaze-informed new wave anthem that immediately sticks on your eardrums with its upbeat drum machine pattern and very 80s-leaning washes of distorted and heavily reverberated synth layers. Expect more to come soon. Yung Life - I Be Scared Read more →

ole torjus / himstregims split.

27 Jun 2011 — Tonje Thilesen

From Norway's rainy west coast city Bergen, comes a new label that has just emerged from the surface; Unn Records, run by the beardy friend couple Ole Torjus Hofvind and Søren Andreasen, whom is also behind the first split release of this new-born project. Wishing to convey 'some sort of closeness to the everyday thing' through warm and minimalistic electronica tunes (as they state themselves), the ole torjus / himstregims split is a sweet little album aiming to warm our hearts on a rainy summer day with their pure and honest sound in the veins of Kim Hiorthøy. Other exciting future releases are already in the making, so don't forget to stay tuned over at their facebook page for more updates. That is, if you somehow know Norwegian.

Download or grab one of their delicious physical copies over at bandcamp.

ole torjus - lotst

himstregims - tingeltangel

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Katie Kim: “The Feast”.

25 Jun 2011 — Tonje Thilesen

Our dearest friend John of the Irish electronic duo Solar Bears sends us a new music recommendation every week or so, which has almost become a tradition ever since I stumbled over their splendid record She Was Coloured In last year, a record that also made one of our Best Of lists back in December. Ireland's Katie Kim, the solo project of  singer-songwriter Katie Sullivan was this week's name-drop, and as the melancholic pop lover I am, I was instantly captivated by Katie Kim's mellow, delicately wistful tunes combined with her husky voice, as if we were caught in a meltdown between Zola Jesus and Braids, with a hint of lesser-known Anana's underwater pop in the middle of it all. We were lucky enough to have a sneak peak at her forthcoming album Cover and Flood, which will supposedly be released on vinyl sometime soon, but a final date of the release is yet to be set. Stream a few more songs off the album here. Katie Kim - The Feast Katie Kim - Heavy Lighting Read more →