First Listen: Circa (Limited Edition CD Series).

16 Feb 2011 — Henning Lahmann

The Australian label Preservation from Marrickville, New South Wales recently started a special edition CD series named Circa, limited to 300 copies per release and featuring cover art by Sydney's Mark Gowing, each work consisting of "a specially created abstract alphabet of shapes, determined by artist, title and catalogue number for something both fixed and random". Listen to four cuts from the first two, mind-blowing Circa releases by Fabio Orsi and Area C below: Originally hailing from southern Italy but currently based out of Berlin, Fabio Orsi makes some kind of very dark and raw ambience on Stand Up Before Me, Oh My Soul!, a guitar-based record that focuses on non-electronic instruments to create immense walls of sound that get interrupted by crude, crushing drum patterns, bass guitars or subtle horn blows, apparently whatever is available to break open the thick layers of reverberated and distorted noise. Fabio Orsi - Folks! My Soul Stands Up Before You! Fabio Orsi - Papa Show Me Your Blues LPs The record by Providence, Rhode Island's Erik Carlson aka Area C is no less ambient but still something entirely different. Building on amazingly arranged patterns of warm analog synth, guitar and organ sounds, Carlson creates rich soundscapes with most minimal means. Map of Circular Thought is a very contemplative effort, sonic meditations that sometimes almost adopt the shape of sound installations - a slow-burning masterpiece all along. Area C - Twos Area C - Radio Basis Read more →

Premiere: Wonder Wheel - Think Too Much.

15 Feb 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Until today mostly known for his incredible solo endeavors, Orange, California's musical genius and production mastermind (Puro Instinct, Tan Dollar, Dash Jacket, etc.) Paul Andrew Rosales aka Wonder Wheel recently teamed up with his pals Raul Esparza and Danny Gonzales to record the first full-length band album under his own recording moniker. The outcome is no less than absolutely compelling, Rosales' fine pop compositions seriously benefit from the lineup, the instruments have more space to unfold which leads to an overall richer, more mature and developed sound. Just like Ariel Pink, with whom Rosales often got compared in the past, and his band recording of Before Today, the cheap term "lo-fi" has lost its justification for the latest Wonder Wheel effort. The wonderful, SoCal psych-pop tune Think Too Much, debuted below, even features a short guitar solo, giving the song a delightful 70s classic rock touch. Wonder Wheel's Total Bundy is out on cassette this spring via California's Burger Records. The band's digital single IMHO + Deep in the Bottle is available for free on bandcamp. Wonder Wheel - Think Too Much Read more →

Beach Graffiti.

15 Feb 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Speedway Star is San Francisco's Justin McNiff, and apparently so far there's nothing to check out apart from two short tracks on Soundcloud, but one of those caught my attention with its no-fi/no-care ambition that still doesn't let the song slip out of focus, always sticking to the hazy pop melody and the nicely melancholy-drenched vocals. If you're not fed up with this kind of production yet, all in all Beach Graffiti is a very fine little summer pop tune. Speedway Star - Beach Graffiti Read more →

Love Fades.

15 Feb 2011 — Tonje Thilesen

If you had been keeping an eye up on the lovely, newly formed label Denmark Records sites lately, you might've also have gotten a nice little Valentines gift e-mail today, containing two free mp3's taken from ArnHao's digital 7" - also including a sweet remix of Love Fades by Holygrailers, and special note from ArnHao themselves. If I were you, I would definitely keep an eye up for this Atlanta based electronic pop duo, mixing beautiful, glass-like vocals with distant layers of synthesizers (and as you probably should have known by now, we love everything containing synths), or sometimes leaning more towards danceable and catchy electro-pop. If that little Valentines gift didn't pop up in your inbox today however, don't you worry: the whole thing can be snatched for free via their bandcamp, while the Denmark ONE Split EP + 7" can be ordered physically or digitally here. ArnHao - Love Fades ArnHao - Love Fades (Holygrailers' Memory Mix) Read more →

Rites Wild.

14 Feb 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Stacey Wilson aka Rites Wild, hailing from Adelaide, South Australia, recently sent over these eerie synth gems that add up to both sides of her latest release, a cassingle that is available via Faux Friends now. Wilson's haunting, heavily echoed magic does remind us of an earlier Zola Jesus, which is far from saying that both sound alike - in fact, automatically mingling every female artist who's able to work on synthesizers and is moreover tending towards the dark side is nothing else than pursuing sexist patterns in writing about music. So enough with that already. Suffice it to say that in particular the utterly brilliant Rites Wild Theme is far from anything that has come up stateside recently, as Wilson manages to blend her signature otherworldliness with quite an infectious, upbeat bass line that is obviously made for sinister dance moves over misty fields at night. Both tracks will be part of a forthcoming home-recorded EP, as well as featured on one of the next New Weird Australia compilations, which is quite something actually. Cut short, this exciting new artist is surely someone to keep in mind this year. Rites Wild - Rites Wild Theme Rites Wild - Ill Health Read more →

Premiere: Three Orphans.

14 Feb 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Portland, Maine's Jakob Battick & Friends finally return with their very unique take on contemporary folk music, once again turning classic tropes of 20th century Americana into haunted and eerie pieces of forward-looking yet history-informed "nightmarefolk". On March 11, the group will drop their new EP Bloodworm Songs, a collection of reworked and reinterpreted Battick songs as well as two entirely new ones, one of those being Three Orphans, a slowly meandering composition driven by a lonely acoustic guitar line and beautiful male/female vocalizing. This piece instantly puts the listener into a comfortable state of dread in view of the inconnu, evoking an overwhelming maelstrom of dark sensations. The accompanying video is aptly underlining the song's tone, a monochromatic stream of hidden memories and suppressed fears. Jakob Battick & Friends - Three Orphans Read more →

We’re all fucked up.

13 Feb 2011 — Henning Lahmann

Deeply terrified and confused but also seriously intrigued by this honest and true early 90s throwback, immense stompers rising from the ashes of the Northwest Rock Explosion performed by Edmonton's Catlin W. Kuzyk aka Service:Fair who keeps on spitting out unashamedly catchy tunes as if good ol' Kurt were still alive and kicking, you know what I mean? His EP It Ended Badly, a pretty coherent failed relationship payoff, is out now on Nowhere Fast and available via bandcamp. Highly recommended - Weird Canada has called this piece both "revisionist" and a "colossal success", and HE knows no words ever have been more to the point. Oh, and I guess y'all know what to do next: Service:Fair - F.U.K.T. Service:Fair - Just To Be Nice Read more →