26 Oct 2010 — Henning Lahmann
Lotus Feet is the recording moniker of Bay Area resident Kris Lorenz. He has written a bunch of songs mostly all by himself for a period of roughly three months and put them up on his
bandcamp a while back. Now, apparently Lorenz has decided to consider
Child's Play his debut effort's "single", and what a neat choice this was: The song is a wonderfully easy lullaby, beautifully meandering through your head like a sparklingly clear river running towards the blue Californian sea, an almost perfect pop song with rich, dreamy harmonies and a very sophisticated yet unobtrusive production. But it's actually not only this tune, the whole album
Animals in the Attic is pretty terrific for a first, entirely self-produced record, so make sure to
download and cherish the entire thing.
Lotus Feet - Child's Play
Read more →
26 Oct 2010 — Tonje Thilesen
Since our radars are already put Vancouver (see:
yesterday), the experimental/electronic two-piece
Spring Break is yet another example of why we have declared our love for this very city. While
Heatwave has that hot and summer-y, feel, their most recent stuff such as
Stephenie Meyer's 115th Dream (below) might be better fitting not that's Halloween is coming up and all. Check out their
Bandcamp site for some free downloads, or head over to their
blog to get a hold of some sweet remixes.
Read more →
25 Oct 2010 — Henning Lahmann
I'm sure that by now you've already read
a line or two about the, well, shimmering retro pop of British Columbia's
Shimmering Stars, but a short while ago I was hit up with the announcement of the band's 7 inch release of
East Van Girls / I'm Gonna Try on
Almost Musique, and along with it came this simply otherworldly beautiful cover of the
Everly Brothers'
Let It Be Me, a song that perfectly fits the Shimmering Stars' take on fifties to sixties-inspired, melancholy-drenched indie pop. Order the limited, four track debuting 7 inch
here and make sure you don't miss the new, heartbreaking video for
I'm Gonna Try below.
Shimmering Stars - Let It Be Me
Read more →
25 Oct 2010 — Henning Lahmann
There apparently still is a considerable amount of confusion and uncertainty concerning any kind of deeper background information about
Police Academy 6, but I've decided not to care in any way as long as he/she/they keep on producing those amazingly lush and blissed-out gems. This morning, another beauty dropped into my inbox -
Fill in the Blanks is yet another tune to jump on this year's oh-so-prolific collaborations bandwagon, but honestly how could we ever mind if the vocals turn out to be sung by our admired South Carolina pal Evan Adams aka
Top Girls? Right. Police Academy 6 once more blow our minds with a chill yet twisted drum pattern and almost ethereal synth lines that Adams gilds with his smooth voice.
Police Academy 6 - Fill in the Blanks (feat. Top Girls)
Read more →
25 Oct 2010 — Tonje Thilesen
Photography: Tonje Thilesen
It took me half an hour, two different stamps and one large, black
x with permanent marker on each of my hands to finally get into the Oslo based club and venue
Dattera yesteday. Why
Proviant Audio aka the 18 year old Mathias Stubø + live band had decided to set the location to the release party of his
All This Time 12" to an ID 20 venue is still a mystery to me. However, once they started playing, I finally wiped the sadness off my face (due to the fact that I was drinking
water and not beer), and enjoyed every bit of this splendid mix of electronica and acid jazz on the dancefloor.
What I love so much about Proviant Audio is his ability to mix so many genres all at once: the warm elements of 70-s disco and soul, funky electronic, cut-up beats and just that little extra: the delicate, pragmatic jazz, performed with glance with great help from his amazingly tight live band.
Order
All This Time 12" here, or grab some free mp3's over at
Urørt. Also, he
might just have a little collaboration going on together with Canadian rapper and
Seeing Suge star
Emay at the moment, hopefully coming up before new year (or at least to be featured on his upcoming full-lenght) — so keep your ears open.
Tracklisting:
01: Proviant Audio - All This Time
03: Proviant Audio - Play Your Own Game
Read more →
23 Oct 2010 — Tonje Thilesen
The first snow fell last night. Slowly, carefully and almost sneaking upon my city, covering the hard and grey surface of Oslo with powdered, white snow. The days are gradually getting colder, too, and the presence of the sun seem rarer (and more precious), as we dive into the cold and icy winter time, slowly waiting to embrace us with its dark blanket. So are the mysterious
The Dawns as well, giving us a little peak through the otherwise cold and hard surface; filled with heavy, distorted synths and dark, noisy "poltergaze" (I couldn't resist using that word). Frightening and beautiful at the same time, these ghost-like tunes triggers your curiosity to the very limit. You are hereby warned.
Stay tuned for their upcoming cassette release of
In Heat and Angels Dust via
Bathetic Records, or download/stream some of their tracks
here.
The Dawns - In Heat:
http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F4997124&secret_url=false
Read more →
22 Oct 2010 — Henning Lahmann
Connecting the Garden State community Ridgewood with hazy, sundrenched garage pop has just gotten even more cogent.
Spook Houses is yet another four piece based out of this very suburban town, and indeed their sound is not too far away from their famous predecessors who have "made it" across the Hudson and East River by now. Their debuting
Real Ghosts/Pretend Ghosts EP was already released in July, but it appears that only now the lovely guys are starting to reach out to the internet buzz machine. In any case, the EP really is worth a listen, embracing the scene's signature summery feel while adding dome distinct flavors to it, all in all finishing slightly more craggy and less psych-infused than
Real Estate and the likes. You can download the whole EP over at the quartet's
bandcamp.
Spook Houses - Family PlotSpook Houses - Blood
Read more →
