This little gem has just dropped into my inbox, right in time for the apparently eventual return of winter, and I will dedicate To Be in particular to all my people stateside that are stuck in that blizzard now or in the coming hours. Moon Tides' first song is nothing too spectacular, but this is actually exactly the quality that makes it outright perfect for my wintry mood. Moon Tides are Act So Big Forest affiliates and thus presumably hail from Colorado, and since Tennis, we know that the citizens of this particular landlocked state have a special affinity towards the sea, and To Be is just this: a summery surf tune that instantly dispels all memories of snowy days, even if the weather forecast suggests otherwise. With its beautiful melody, the innocent and simple guitar riff and the washed-out, slightly distant male/female vocals, this is short song promises to be the first sign of yet another Colorado group devoted to make us happy simply be the means of purest pop perfection. Summer will come again.
Moon Tides - To BeRead more →
Local Windsis the new-born dizzy ambient side project of Scott Dickson aka Closed Cassette, but all though it's easy to fall into the temptation of calling it 'chillwave' after listening to the track below, his upcoming EP In The World Of Ours has more to its sound than you may think behind this obvious tropical, day-dreaming surface. In fact, the rest of the EP differs quite a lot to his single Small Towns, which probably also makes it, in my opinion, not the most interesting pick when being compared to other slightly more atmospheric tracks on the EP. In The World Of Ours varies from the very humid beats on Small Towns to the more slow and mysterious Footprints, often mixed with a strong feeling of curiousness towards the unknown and unexplored, both in its physical and psychological form. If the rainforest had a soundtrack, however, it'd be this.
The EP is due to February 22 via Alchemist Records, but you can already pre-order and/or stream it here.
While doing some research about White Car recently before posting Hunter Husar's incredible remix of No Better, I stumbled across the interview Fact Magazine had done with the outfit's mastermind Elon Katz, and though I had been aware of the fact that Katz was involved in other projects (The Pylori Program tape under his own name in particular), I sure hadn't heard about Streetwalker before, the duo Katz has started with fellow Chicago synth musician Beau Wanzer. And well, it turns out that they, too, have a cassette out on the incredible Catholic Tapes, and, moreover, that it's insanely amazing: Ooze is some seriously deep shit, an eleven minute trip that deals with every feature we could've ever asked for to be included in a dance track, some Roland driven minimal wave with dark, manipulated vocals, messing with a classic disco tune that has just about everything including handclaps, all coated with the finest Chicago House icing I've come across in ages. Terrific.
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It's been exactly a year since we were blessed with one of my favorite records of 2010, Moddi's Floriography — a record which made my love for music flourish and grow like never before. In other words - today is a great opportunity to celebrate with sharing this lovely music video of Magpie Eggs, directed by the creative minds Simen and Synne of Apparatet, whom are also the brains behind the Einar Stray video Yr Heart Isn't A Heart.
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Just a quick heads-up to this year's first essential pop release on cassette, Mauro Remiddi aka Porcelain Raft's Ghosts of The Perfect Language, out now in a gorgeously crafted edition by our darlings in the Far East, Tokyo's Sixteen Tambourines. The tape collects five of the numerous gems Remiddi let out into the world over the course of 2010, plus the relatively new tune Come Closer which has been recorded exclusively for this release. Together with the beautifully edited video by the artist himself, Come Closer is dream pop in its ultimate perfection and my favorite Porcelain Raft song to date.
Order one of the clear cassettes with adequate silver printing right now over here, the edition is strictly limited to 150 items.
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After releasing his critically acclaimed (and shortlisted) LP Warmy Girls on Moon Glyph last November, Velvet Davenport's Parker Sprout decided to spend the winter months in Berlin - which might even make some sense if you hail from Minneapolis, Minnesota - to play some shows around Europe and record new songs for an upcoming, as yet unnamed album.
This Saturday, having just returned from a short trip to Spain with shows in Madrid and Barcelona, Parker will play for us at Neukölln's tiny but wonderful venue Ida Nowhere, presumably already presenting some of his brand new material. No admission, though donations to help the artist and the venue will be greatly appreciated.
A little earlier, Revolog, a new Austrian start-up that produces special effects films for 35 mm cameras, is gonna start an open photography competition to present its sweet product. From six p.m., admission to participate is 16 Euros (including one film and its development/scanning/printing).
Photo/artwork by Florian ReischauerVelvet Davenport - Warmy Personal RoutineRead more →
There is something about Fielded, the solo project of Chicago based Lindsay Powell that truly captivates me. First of all Fielded is, as you might hear, mainly focused on the vocals of Powell, spiced up with layers upon layers creating her very own 'backing' vocals, accompanied with simple beats and dark, dizzy synths in the background. Her voice shines up from the otherwise dark scenes with bright, shining beauty, almost a little like our own underwater pop princess Anana from Oslo at times. Following up from her critically acclaimed vinyl release Terrageist (on Catholic Tapes) in 2010, the four-track, limited edition 7 inch White Death is just around the corner, and is due to March 1st on Sophomore Lounge - a release you definitely should not miss.
The biggest and brightest gold nugget from the ever-astonishing Colorado music scene, Matthew Sage's Patient Sounds (Intl), finally came back from the woods (aka college graduation) last Friday with the second installment of the very adorable Patient Sounds Sampler series, once again showcasing the finest new stuff from Fort Collins and around, eleven artists both from the PS roster as well as some friends who were so kind to provide some of their recent works.
Out of the very nice and wonderfully eclectic collection, three tracks should be highlighted as they serve as delicious teasers for forthcoming tapes on Patient Sounds, the hazy, chopped-up sound collage Buried White by Recombinants, the lush and marvelously meandering, sample-heavy aural refuge Stand By by SF resident Mario Baltodano aka Kites Sail High, and finally long standing NFOP favorite M. Pyres who is of course no one else than Sage's very own artistic endeavor. The alternate version of '94 Fractures is a brief instrumental, in fact not much more than a simple beat-driven acoustic guitar study that nonetheless once again reveals Sage's incredible songwriting skills. It is yet to be seen when the new M. Pyres cassette is finally coming out, but this little offering makes sure that every single day we'll be left waiting from now on will be one day too long.
Download the sampler for free over here.
Recombinants - Buried WhiteM. Pyres - '94 Fractures (alt. version)Kites Sail High - Stand ByRead more →
