Forget.

07 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Remember that the whole Yu(c)k thing last year which culminated in the breathtakingly beautiful four-track cassette release Weakend on Mirror Universe was supposed to be some "piano focused side project" of everybody's indie darlings Yuck? Well yes, I was confused as well. And apparently, too many people were, as today we've officially been informed that Yu(c)k was/is in fact exclusively singer/guitarist Daniel Blumberg's solo endeavor, and to avoid further complications he now has changed his recording moniker into the no less puzzling but at least more distinct name Oupa. Below, listen to the utterly amazing brand new track Forget, once again drenched in pain and most fragile beauty. Daniel has a whole album coming out in June, and after listening to this gem we know it's gonna be hard to wait. Oupa - Forget Read more →

Det Lilla Extra.

06 Mar 2011 — Tonje Thilesen

Other than the fact that they're hailing from Umeå in Sweden, little is known about the newly emerged drone pop duo (?) Det Lilla Extra. Describing themselves as 'witch house' however is something I would question, that is if you look past the reverbed vocals and drony, circulating synths. In fact, I would rather say that Det Lilla Extra explores the hidden space within the dark, electronic pop genre than anything else, as if a slowed-down The Tough Alliance were having a bad trip on LSD. Let's hope that more tunes will be available up on their soundcloud page in not too long, so far only consisting of these two rather amazing tracks below. Det Lilla Extra - Vad Som Helst Det Lilla Extra - Planer För Livet Read more →

Transcending the River.

06 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Mr Frank Ouellette of Hobo Cubes just released another mind-altering video to give notice of the forthcoming quadruple split cassette named Sleep Searchers with Lee Noble, Rambutan and Derek Rogers on Deep Tapes that we had reported about back in January (see here and here). Transcending the River is a quick dive into your inner self, solely built on almost arhythmic synth chirps and squeaks that come into their own in Ouellette's beautifully arranged, nature-laden psychedelic video collage. (Photo) Hobo Cubes - Transcending the River Read more →

The Girl from the Earth.

05 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Thanks to Rachel Evans aka Motion Sickness of Time Travel for turning me towards the works of St. Petersburg, Russian Federation based songstress Galja Chikiss. I honestly admit that when writing about music like this, it appears all too easy to drift into lame and outworn clichés about the "Russian soul" (душа), if only because I have no clue what Chikiss is singing about, but all in all this feels like a melody emerging from the sheer endlessness of the Russian taiga, and the song smells and tastes like a long and dark winter, with its slow, spellbinding build-up of tension and the pervasive melancholy, enriched with a vast mysticism evoked by Chikiss' eerie voice. This is a scarily beautiful song. Take a listen to the whole Медленно / Slowly EP from 2010 over at Soundcloud. Out of mutual respect and admiration, Rachel Evans and Galja Chikiss are planning on a split cassette tape between MSOTT and Galja's solo ambient works, and perhaps even an actual collaboration sometime soon. We'll keep you informed. Till then, get lost with The Girl from the Earth. Read more →

Karaoke.

05 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Knoxville, Tennessee's Brandon Ian Biondo of Coolrunnings and the Dracula Horse collective has dropped a new EP this week under his solo recording moniker Walsh, and just as expected it is another chance to enjoy Biondo's seemingly ceaseless musical creativity: Karaoke collects five pieces of the artist's explorations into the realms of pure, generally 80s-infused and more specifically Italo Disco-informed synth music, definitely not made for laid-back Sunday couch listening but rather finest Saturday night dancefloor banging. See for yourself with Dark Future below, and then take this shit to your trustworthy neighborhood DJ tonight. Cop Karaoke for pay-what-you-want over here. Walsh - Dark Future Read more →

Dance With Me.

05 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Man The Hunter is Evan Doering from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and right at this moment I'm really enjoying his effortless take on fuzzed-out slacker pop that has some seriously awesome AM vibes going on. His brand new Less For You b/w Dance With Me double a-side 7 inch is now out on Ann Arbor's Ginkgo Records, and I strongly recommend this exquisite piece of lo-fi guitar goodness if you're looking for something to keep your spirits up on a freezing Friday night. Irresistible. Man The Hunter - Dance With Me Read more →

In the Blink of an Eye.

04 Mar 2011 — Henning Lahmann

The fine folks at Minneapolis, Minnesota imprint De Stijl Records have a new 7 inch in the pipeline, In the Blink of an Eye b/w Condo Stress by Taipei-born, Brooklyn via Cincinnati, Ohio-based musician C S(pencer) Yeh, who according to the label has already made "seemingly hundreds of recordings", but none of them so far involved actual songwriting. Until now that is, as the two songs on the single and in particular In the Blink of an Eye may serve as proof that Yeh is also ready to join the ever-growing crowd of lo-fi infused pop exponents. The record is out March 15. C S Yeh - In the Blink of an Eye Read more →