Completely thrown to the ground by this devastatingly beautiful lovesick ballade by Swiss-born, NYC via Black Forest artist Birdie Hilltop, two and a half minutes of purest longing and hopeless affection, a slow dance for the lost ones, an early morning lament, a simple, perfect pop song.
Birdie Hilltop - The Ready DanceRead more →
Brooklyn ambient outfit Lush returns with the brief Bog Talk EP, four short pieces of very contemplating sonic explorations, true soundscapes of layered synth patterns meandering through time and space, music that is only devoted to itself and to the very moment it unfolds, as if nothing had existed before and nothing would ever come into being after the last note has faded into the depths of the subconscious.
Lush - Bright HorizonLush - South RampRead more →
A slow and simple, subtly reverberated e-piano melody line, over and over again. A drum machine pattern that doesn't hurt anyone with its gentle base and repetitive conga percussion. Some heavily manipulated vocals. Basically, that's about it. But honestly, what this young Helsinki, Finland native who records under the name Forest Cry delivers here is all it needs to leave us hypnotized. Constant repeat.
The whole Drifter EP is available for stream/download over here.
Forest Cry - Please StayRead more →
Apparently I'm not the only one drawing parallels to The Antlers or The XX as the tunes of the Oxford based quartet Glass Animalsfill my ears, wich also made it to Relentless Noisemaker's end of the year list with the genius track Life Lomographic (below). Blending dubstep and pop with sweet, ethereal-sounding vocals is nothing new to the musicsphere these days, already having the likes of Jamie Woon filling up the lists of 2011 faster than anyone could have imagined, something I'm sure Glass Animals' mysteriously psychedelic forest-pop also will experience in not too long. Production-wise (in similarity to many other DIY bands), the sound might not be as good as one would wish for, mainly considering the otherwise superb vocals of Joe, sometimes pitched little too high in my opinion. Having such a splendid line-up of demos already listed for streaming/downloading off their soundcloud page however, this little detail is easy to forgive. And besides, who knows, maybe it's not long before we hear rumors of an upcoming debut?
Here's another cut taken from Lil Daggers' forthcoming self-titled LP on Florida's Livid Records - Past Due is further support for the allegation that this Miami outfit is among the most exciting psych rock bands around, a sick trip built around an impulsive drum section, with slick guitar play and the group's signature dark'n'dirty organ howling. This is classic stuff that still very much belongs to the 21st century. Watch this site to order the record when it's due April 12.
Lil Daggers - Past DueRead more →
We've seen a series of mysterious, puzzling videos over the last few months. We've had a brief EP aptly titled Beta as the ultimate prequel to what was about to hit us straight in the face and blow us away this weekend. We've been blessed with twotrack premieres during the last couple of days to announce its arrival. Needless to say, we still don't have a clue who might be behind RxRy. But we do know that it is finally here: Alpha.
Consisting of 20 mostly short tracks that are divided into groups of four, each of the five groups being assigned to one of the letters of the album title, Alpha marks a huge leap forward for the artistic development of this mysterious project, and apart from that the work is probably indeed "redefining the album in a digital age". The whole piece is more than anything a triumph of thought and conception, an intellectual masterpiece that is stunningly consistent and with all its mindfully crafted beats and effects one of the most astonishing efforts of electronic music I've come across in quite a while, without any exaggeration whatsoever.
In the artist's own words:
microLP/megaEP
5 modes
4 phases
20 cuts
26:51
waves over wings of glass kingfisher
glacial vapor barrier between a voided
ulterior gravity vacuum complex.
Get Alpha for free over here.
RxRy - P.4_Signals (mp3 premiere)
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Montréal's Sean Nicolas Savage returns today with another work of "sexual and psychedelic soul music", his new cassette Trippple Midnight Karma that has Savage once again moving terrifyingly close to the realms of outright, ridiculous kitsch yet without ever actually crossing the line. Instead, this simply is truest, passionate pop music, a graceful tribute to the Sexual Healing-era Marvin Gaye, drenched in lush melodies and played on a setup that's coming straight from the late 70s soft rock and Motown scene. When Savage sings about "a Hawaiian dancer under the moon", of course the initial impulse of the sane music connaisseur would be to slam the stop button, but out of his mouth it works, in a strange, transcendent way perhaps, but still ending in a deeply satisfying, very uplifting listening experience. After all, what Savage showcases here once more is a truly unique voice digging deep into popular music territory that has long been lost to the ignorant masses, and that alone is really something. Let's admit that after all, we all just wanna be happy.
Trippple Midnight Karma is out now on Arbutus Records.
Sean Nicolas Savage - Common Be HappyRead more →
Ssaliva's Thought Has Wings, the quite heavily anticipated cassette by this Belgian enigma (well ok, his name we have: François Boulanger, but the rest remains blurred) on LA's Leaving Records, is finally out today. I strongly recommend this piece of warm and hazy, lo-fi and backward-leaning synth goodness that is as relaxing and, oh yes, even hypnagogic as something should get in the year 2011.
Limited to 200, so go get your copy right here.
Ssaliva - CrayolaRead more →
Brooklyn ambient outfit Lush returns with the brief Bog Talk EP, four short pieces of very contemplating sonic explorations, true soundscapes of layered synth patterns meandering through time and space, music that is only devoted to itself and to the very moment it unfolds, as if nothing had existed before and nothing would ever come into being after the last note has faded into the depths of the subconscious.
Lush - Bright Horizon
Lush - South Ramp
Read more →
