Exclusively for you beautiful people on this rainy Monday morning, here's another track off the forthcoming Two Bicycles full-length The Ocean. For this side-project, Jon of our ever-adored Teen Daze has focused on his inner self, coming up with a deeply contemplating work of instrumental ambient music based on guitar plucking, piano and bass over soothing layers of synth patterns. I Always Feel Like I'm Being Followed in particular is a pleasantly calm piece evoking images of peaceful, secluded coastal landscapes, resembling the great masters of ambient composition like Max Richter or Brian Eno, or also the recent solo works of Memoryhouse mastermind Evan Abeele.
Here's what Jon himself has to say about The Ocean:
The new Two Bicycles record is one of the most personal records I’ve made to date. Even though there aren’t any vocals on the record, I feel that I’ve expressed myself more clearly than I have on any other release I’ve done. (...) The record tells the story of a night spent at sea. The beauty and hope that comes with the watching of the sun set, swimming in the moonlight and looking back at life back on land in fondness and happiness. But as the night falls, and the endless ocean reveals itself as the chaotic, exilic wilderness, the main character begins to feel isolated and on edge. The ocean can bring both optimism and fear, hope and loneliness.
The Ocean will be out April 5 on cassette via our dearest friends over at Crash Symbols and digitally through bandcamp. The gorgeous artwork was done by Crash Symbols CEO/Get Off The Coast genius Jheri Evans.
Two Bicycles - I Always Feel Like I'm Being FollowedRead more →
The rad Pacific Northwest artist collective Dropping Gems has put out a fantastic compilation this week: Gem Drops is a collection of 21 tracks by some extremely talented beat wizards that all share the same idea of producing contemporary instrumental hip hop and electronic music, being influenced by the greats of West Coast beatmaking - think J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Matthew David, or Madlib. This uncompromised artistic vision receives an appropriate setting on Gem Drops, leading to a remarkably coherent result that showcases one of the most exciting directions in modern music. Featuring recently hyped artists such as Sumsun, Shigeto or yuk. alongside almost unknown young talents, the compilation may even be regarded as a formal introduction to contemporary beat-focused music from the US in general.
But most of all, the compilation pursues a good cause as all of the sales will be donated to the American Cancer Society. So while the whole thing is available for pay-what-you -want over at bandcamp, make sure to contribute at least a few bucks.
The Great Mundane - Solar Foodyuk. - SundazeSumsun - Stay FRESH YoungRead more →
This gorgeous young Parisian lady has been around for quite some time now already, but it took a relocation to Berlin and some gracious intervention by Gucci Goth mastermind Daniel for me to finally take notice of the otherworldly beautiful, dark and gloomy pop sounds of Laura aka Butterclock. Without dispute and deliberately deep in the vein of shameless superstar divas of the nineties and naughties, only two octaves beneath and twice as twisted, Laura's heavily hip hop/R'n'B-informed approach to song production touches the realms of the recent witch house movement while avoiding the redundant sub genre's creative shortcomings, rather landing her spaceship safely between more serious and exciting artists such as Zola Jesus or LA Vampires. Briefly, a unique musical attitude that is nothing short of amazing live as well as on record. Speaking of, Laura is about to leave the city for New York to finish her first full-length, due later this year and aptly put out by NYC's Pendu Sound Recordings. Certainly a voice to watch out for in 2011.
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The Astroboy is the alias of Portuguese musician Luís Fernandes, member of the PAD artist collective and judging from the few cuts I got sent one of the most interesting drone musicians to come from Europe in recent years. His forthcoming full-length The Chromium Fence is already his third album after A derrota da engrenagem in 2007 and 090309 from two years ago. Building complex arrangements of layered patterns generated through analog synthesis and digital manipulations, The Astroboy's heavy drones create a very contemplative yet demanding ambient feel, indeed not unlike Emeralds or other exponents of the recent wave of synth minimalism. Listen to Coordination Sphere below, and get the rest of The Chromium Fence once it's been dropped on tape and mp3 via PAD's online store.
The Astroboy - Coordination SphereRead more →
Christelle Gualdi aka Stellar OM Source just posted this terrific new track, to be released soon on 7 inch vinyl via Tokyo imprint Big Love. Following her recent upbeat wave path, Energy is another impulsive, even dancefloor-ready synth jam, as usual incredibly skillfully arranged.
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After her brilliant 12 inch release Noble Savage via Amanda Brown's 100% Silk imprint, London via Tallinn diva Maria Juur aka Maria Minerva has now put out her debut cassette Tallinn At Dawn via the mighty mothership Not Not Fun. Unlike her dancefloor-focused vinyl (listen to a track here), which is in line with Amanda's shameless disco agenda, Tallinn At Dawn is more centered around eerie and ethereal, twisted bedroom pop, with quite a heavy amount of zeitgeist-laden lo-fi feel yet apart from that mostly concentrated on Maria's apparent enthusiasm for otherworldly beautiful, amorous late-night fairytales. Instantly mesmerizing and sure one of the essential cassettes to have been released so far in 2011.
Listen to my two favorite tracks below, and then hurry and cop the whole tape that is limited to 150 copies here. If you're too slow, don't worry: Her Cabaret Cixous LP is planned to be dropped in summer, also on NNF.
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In related news, here's the video for Maria's song A Little Lonely from her 100% Silk single, a slightly creepy but aptly arranged VHS collage of dancing girls, supposedly sometime way back in the 80s. Get the 12 inch here.
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San Diego's electro/fuzzy pop duo Tropical Depression sent over their latest single Departures b/w 40 Winters last night. A-side Departures is a deeply atmospheric, shoegaze-informed piece that relies on a straight-up beat and a rather simple drum machine pattern to leave room for the boys' hazily distorted sounds and the blurry vocalization.
Get the b-side for free over at bandcamp.
Tropical Depression - DeparturesRead more →
Pitchfork TV has debuted the latest work by the ever-stunning visual wizard Jamie Harley, the video for the wonderful dream pop gem School Night by Warren Hildebrand aka Foxes In Fiction, our favorite track off the Alberto EP that was released on Hildebrand's own Orchid Tapes late last year.
As expected, Harley has once again perfectly captured the song's spirit, beautifully converting its mildly melancholic mood into a collage of blurred childhood memories of untroubled and lighthearted late summer adventures.
The video is part of the incredible "visual mixtape" Slow Motion that was revealed last night via our wonderful friends over at Stadiums & Shrines and Flashlight Tag. Make sure to enjoy all of the eleven works by some of our favorite contemporary visual artists, every one of them having a unique and original idea of transform pop music into pictures.
Foxes In Fiction - School NightRead more →
The rad Pacific Northwest artist collective Dropping Gems has put out a fantastic compilation this week: Gem Drops is a collection of 21 tracks by some extremely talented beat wizards that all share the same idea of producing contemporary instrumental hip hop and electronic music, being influenced by the greats of West Coast beatmaking - think J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Matthew David, or Madlib. This uncompromised artistic vision receives an appropriate setting on Gem Drops, leading to a remarkably coherent result that showcases one of the most exciting directions in modern music. Featuring recently hyped artists such as Sumsun, Shigeto or yuk. alongside almost unknown young talents, the compilation may even be regarded as a formal introduction to contemporary beat-focused music from the US in general.
But most of all, the compilation pursues a good cause as all of the sales will be donated to the American Cancer Society. So while the whole thing is available for pay-what-you -want over at bandcamp, make sure to contribute at least a few bucks.
The Great Mundane - Solar Food
yuk. - Sundaze
Sumsun - Stay FRESH Young
Read more →
