I recently stumbled across an e-mail from Gramae Coop, an UK based musician producing some quirky, experimental sounds under the moniker Birkwin Jersey, seemingly using samples and anything he finds lying around to create his gentle tunes. I can't help but drawing parallells to the Oslo based solo project of Benjamin Finger, whom put out the rather fantastic record For You, Sleepsleeper last year. Birkwin Jersey's most recent album Sleep somehow approaches the music with quite the similar method, picking up inspiration from Japanese ambient and folk music along the way, chops it up and spice it with vocal samples and weird structures, until the final result is shown below. Download Sleep for free here, or his earlier noises Songs Of Winter here.
Birkwin Jersey - We Can Be New TooBirkwin Jersey - HighhorsesBirkwin Jersey - Asleep At The SeasideRead more →
Mind-altering drone and psychedelic noise journeys here by Brisbane, Queensland native D. Black aka Secret Birds, currently residing in Tokyo, who returns with his sophomore full-length Peace Forest later this month. The four-track cassette is a breathless exploration into meandering soundscapes made up of distorted guitar drones, heavy layers of synth and restless, tropical drum machine trances, somewhere between Sun Araw, High Wolf and Ducktails, according to the artist "inspired by night rides around Shibuya". Hot and sultry these nights were, we assume. The tape is absolutely mesmerizing stuff from start to finish. Highly recommended.
Peace Forest is out March 15 in the US and March 25 everywhere else via Brisbane's terrific new cassette imprint Bon Voyage. Pre-order should start tomorrow over here.
Read more →
Lab Coast, a friendly four-piece from Calgary, Alberta, have just released their second album on cassette via Eggy Records. Pictures on the Wall is a collection of nice and easy, sophisticated garage pop, exemplified by album opener Really Realize, a melodic pure 90s throwback with an amount of sundrenched joy you'd never have expected to come out of the central Canadian plains.
Lab Coast - Really RealizeRead more →
Airy and floating like a breeze chasing the coastline, the two-piece Le Gros Ballon from Milan, Italy play beautiful, cinematic tunes on the egde of lo-fi and ambient. By using nothing but acoustic instruments, they manage to craft together an unique and eternal sound, sometimes a little in the direction of the more minimalistic pieces of our own Norwegian duo Kings Of Convenience, however with a less focus on the vocals but rather on the atmosphere behind the relatively simple, dream-like tunes, truly speaking the love they share for music and acoustics. Grab their five-track EP La Nuit from bandcamp.
Le Gros Ballon - La Nuit (+ Alexandra Dadier)Le Gros Ballon - SleepingRead more →
More good news coming from our favorite "North Mississippi Infotainment Cult" Cats Purring with this lush cut by Georgia, Mississippi's Tommy Toussaint, otherwise known as one part of Dent May's backing band. Sloppy Sentimentalists stays in the vein of May's own uplifting, vintage pop feel, an upbeat feel-good tune just in time for spring. Sing along.
Tommy Toussaint - Sloppy SentimentalistsRead more →
Just a quick heads-up, the amazing new John Maus track we'd erroneously featured last week is back up on the net, this time courtesy of Ribbon Music's Soundcloud for free download and guess what, it's still just as mind-blowing as it was last week.
Read more →
Everybody's darlings du jour, the beyond wonderful psychedelic guitar pop outfit Arches from Philadelphia, recently asked lo-fi genius Julian Lynch if it was alright to cover Travelers, one of the best songs off his shortlisted effort Mare from last year. Apparently it was, and here is the outcome - staying true to the original, Julien Rossow Greenberg and Tom Herman Jr. managed to add some of their distinct flavors, gently lifting some of Lynch's muffling haze to brighten the song with their splendidly swirling guitar textures, coming up with a deeply compelling result.
(Photo)
Arches - Travelers (Julian Lynch Cover)
______________________________________
Also, help Arches to put their debut full-length Wide Awake on vinyl, a marvelous concept album "about a character who lives alone in a city". The guys still need a couple of dollars to make it happen, so head over to their Kickstarter page to donate a few bucks. Meanwhile, stream the whole thing on bandcamp and listen to/download my favorite track This Isn't a Good Night for Walking below.
Arches - This Isn't a Good Night for WalkingRead more →
I recently stumbled across an e-mail from Gramae Coop, an UK based musician producing some quirky, experimental sounds under the moniker Birkwin Jersey, seemingly using samples and anything he finds lying around to create his gentle tunes. I can't help but drawing parallells to the Oslo based solo project of Benjamin Finger, whom put out the rather fantastic record For You, Sleepsleeper last year. Birkwin Jersey's most recent album Sleep somehow approaches the music with quite the similar method, picking up inspiration from Japanese ambient and folk music along the way, chops it up and spice it with vocal samples and weird structures, until the final result is shown below. Download Sleep for free here, or his earlier noises Songs Of Winter here.
Birkwin Jersey - We Can Be New Too
Birkwin Jersey - Highhorses
Birkwin Jersey - Asleep At The Seaside
Read more →
Mind-altering drone and psychedelic noise journeys here by Brisbane, Queensland native D. Black aka Secret Birds, currently residing in Tokyo, who returns with his sophomore full-length Peace Forest later this month. The four-track cassette is a breathless exploration into meandering soundscapes made up of distorted guitar drones, heavy layers of synth and restless, tropical drum machine trances, somewhere between Sun Araw, High Wolf and Ducktails, according to the artist "inspired by night rides around Shibuya". Hot and sultry these nights were, we assume. The tape is absolutely mesmerizing stuff from start to finish. Highly recommended.
Peace Forest is out March 15 in the US and March 25 everywhere else via Brisbane's terrific new cassette imprint Bon Voyage. Pre-order should start tomorrow over here.
Read more →
Lab Coast, a friendly four-piece from Calgary, Alberta, have just released their second album on cassette via Eggy Records. Pictures on the Wall is a collection of nice and easy, sophisticated garage pop, exemplified by album opener Really Realize, a melodic pure 90s throwback with an amount of sundrenched joy you'd never have expected to come out of the central Canadian plains.
Lab Coast - Really Realize
Read more →
More good news coming from our favorite "North Mississippi Infotainment Cult" Cats Purring with this lush cut by Georgia, Mississippi's Tommy Toussaint, otherwise known as one part of Dent May's backing band. Sloppy Sentimentalists stays in the vein of May's own uplifting, vintage pop feel, an upbeat feel-good tune just in time for spring. Sing along.
Tommy Toussaint - Sloppy Sentimentalists
Read more →
Just a quick heads-up, the amazing new John Maus track we'd erroneously featured last week is back up on the net, this time courtesy of Ribbon Music's Soundcloud for free download and guess what, it's still just as mind-blowing as it was last week.
Read more →
Everybody's darlings du jour, the beyond wonderful psychedelic guitar pop outfit Arches from Philadelphia, recently asked lo-fi genius Julian Lynch if it was alright to cover Travelers, one of the best songs off his shortlisted effort Mare from last year. Apparently it was, and here is the outcome - staying true to the original, Julien Rossow Greenberg and Tom Herman Jr. managed to add some of their distinct flavors, gently lifting some of Lynch's muffling haze to brighten the song with their splendidly swirling guitar textures, coming up with a deeply compelling result.
(Photo)
Arches - Travelers (Julian Lynch Cover)
______________________________________
Also, help Arches to put their debut full-length Wide Awake on vinyl, a marvelous concept album "about a character who lives alone in a city". The guys still need a couple of dollars to make it happen, so head over to their Kickstarter page to donate a few bucks. Meanwhile, stream the whole thing on bandcamp and listen to/download my favorite track This Isn't a Good Night for Walking below.
Arches - This Isn't a Good Night for Walking
Read more →