03 May 2011 — Henning Lahmann
Malibu Wands is one of the numerous creative monikers of the incredibly prolific William Cody Watson, and since the abandonment of
Pink Priest it appears to be his main focus. Revolving around harsh noise and mesmerizing patterns of ambient sounds, Malibu Wands is Watson's most experimental project to date and one that's deliberately not an easy listen. Take
Malibu Hounds (Skeptic Sleeper), one of four versions of
Malibu Hounds which will all be bundled on an upcoming free release, a track that's an almost ten minute long trip into the outer realms of psychedelia. A seriously mind-altering, stunning experience.
Update: The whole EP is now available
over here.
Malibu Wands - Malibu Hounds (Skeptic Sleeper)
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03 May 2011 — Henning Lahmann
So with all those big news yesterday, we think it's about time this morning to just sit down for a minute, close the eyes, and re-evaluate stuff. Good thing is that Mr.
Teen Daze graciously sent over the soundtrack for this little exercise last night, nothing "finished or official or anything like that", just "a little taste of stuff" he's working on. Wish every demo was as delightful as this one. Stay calm, everything's gonna be fine.
Teen Daze - Waves
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02 May 2011 — Henning Lahmann
Last night, I finally received the soundfiles of the eagerly awaited split release between Chicago, Illinois shoegaze devotee Gabe Holcombe aka
Vehicle Blues and the musically more, say, pragmatic but by no means less passionate California dude Brent Mitzner, known for the honest and bare lo-fi rock'n'roll he creates as
Trudgers. And the term "split release" never made more sense, as it is not only an artistic but also a commercial collaboration, the C32 being put out jointly by Brent's and Gabe's very own little imprints,
Hi Shadow Records and
Lillerne Tapes, respectively.
Take an exclusive listen to one track by each artist below, Trudger's gloomy and carthartic
Dead Geranium and Gabe's devastatingly beautiful
East River Pipe cover Sleeping With Tallboy, and
go here for details on how to order one of the wonderfully crafted tapes.
Trudgers - Dead Geranium (Version)
Vehicle Blues - Sleeping With Tallboy (East River Pipe Cover)
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02 May 2011 — Henning Lahmann
Literally stellar tune by Washington State-based electronic producer
Vektroid.
Planetary Zones is the latest track to leak from Vektroid's forthcoming debut full-length
Starcalc, which is gonna be "an experimental response to artists like Com Truise and Ford & Lopatin and the late 80s new age/soundscape movements", according to the artist. A lot of analogue synth chirps we find here indeed, heavily reminiscing early arcade game soundtracks, all slightly dark, with some splendid hip hop beat patterns to keep the whole thing tight and nicely fraying towards the end after the princess has been rescued.
Starcalc will be out May 13 though Vektroid's
bandcamp.
Vektroid - Planetary Zones
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02 May 2011 — Henning Lahmann
Hereford native Tom Sandwell, who's making pretty amazing post-whatever art rock under his solo moniker
Apostles, had already psyched us back
in March with the aural wonderlands named
Glacial and
Wasting Away, and now the dude returns with a double a-side digital single, dropped today via his newly installed
bandcamp. Both tunes are considerably more upbeat than their predecessors and owe quite a lot to early 90s fuzz pop which is, as readers know, always enough to leave us happy. Listen to
Centre Fade below, and then cop the slightly fiercer track
Disconnect over here.
Apostles - Centre Fade
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02 May 2011 — Henning Lahmann
Completely fallen for this lonesome, melancholy-dripping "spectralist pop" gem by Baltimore, Maryland duo
Other Colors, a slow-burning tune with devastating harmonies drenched in a low-profile, restrained fog of noise and reverb.
Make Your Move appears on Other Colors' self-titled full-length which is out now via
Genpop Records. You can order/stream the whole thing
here.
Other Colors - Make Your Move
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29 Apr 2011 — Henning Lahmann
This one kinda caught me off guard. Irvine, California's Sean Raji aka
Thought Tempo's curiously off-kilter ambient jam
Soft Day needs more than a minute to get started, but then the heavily filtered, slightly early Boards Of Canada-reminiscent synth arpeggios and the loose, supposedly deliberately askew vocal layers over the smooth and trippy beat evolve into a pretty irresistible aural experience. The whole thing gets really extraordinary in combination with the stellar video by
Zoom Lens.
The small, Anaheim-based imprint
Zoom Lens is also responsible for putting out the
Soft Day single, which can be downloaded for free
over here.
Thought Tempo - Soft Day
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