From Birmingham, UK comes ambient composer Three Fields with the lovely new release Wild Blue Yonder, which dropped in my mailbox the other day in form of a CD-R. Being pretty much a sucker for anything that goes in the same veins as Boards of Canada or Helios, the spaced-out atmosphere of Three Fields caught my ears already throughout the first listen. The unknown brain behind Three Fields is inspired by technology, travel, open spaces and, a bit more specific, ’’the open sky and those who fly in it’’. Pretty much anything, in other words.
Stream the EP via Soundcloud, or purchase it here.
Three Fields - How It Rains Here
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From Birmingham, UK comes ambient composer Three Fields with the lovely new release Wild Blue Yonder, which dropped in my mailbox the other day in form of a CD-R. Being pretty much a sucker for anything that goes in the same veins as Boards of Canada or Helios, the spaced-out atmosphere of Three Fields caught my ears already throughout the first listen. The unknown brain behind Three Fields is inspired by technology, travel, open spaces and, a bit more specific, ’’the open sky and those who fly in it’’. Pretty much anything, in other words.
Stream the EP via Soundcloud, or purchase it here.
Three Fields - How It Rains Here
Brisbane four-piece Feathers might be a little late for jumping on the 60s-inspired girl group bandwagon that has been thoroughly championed by Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, and the whole lot stateside for the last couple of years now, but we here at NFOP would like to firmly reassure you that it all doesn't really matter at all as long as you know how to do things right. And these ladies do indeed: "Heartbreakers" is an aptly dark lo-fi pop song that certainly received just the right amount of Spector-ish treatment, with subtle hints of shoegaze and actually a pretty damn fine groove. Nice.
"Heartbreakers" appears on Feathers' sophomore LP Hunter's Moon, out October 24 on Brisbane boutique imprint Bon Voyage, limited to 100 copies.
Feathers - HeartbreakersRead more →
Brisbane four-piece Feathers might be a little late for jumping on the 60s-inspired girl group bandwagon that has been thoroughly championed by Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, and the whole lot stateside for the last couple of years now, but we here at NFOP would like to firmly reassure you that it all doesn't really matter at all as long as you know how to do things right. And these ladies do indeed: "Heartbreakers" is an aptly dark lo-fi pop song that certainly received just the right amount of Spector-ish treatment, with subtle hints of shoegaze and actually a pretty damn fine groove. Nice.
"Heartbreakers" appears on Feathers' sophomore LP Hunter's Moon, out October 24 on Brisbane boutique imprint Bon Voyage, limited to 100 copies.
Feathers - Heartbreakers
Though Southampton's Klaus von Barrel (sadly not his real name) has more than one face, musically speaking (under the moniker Die Jungen, he explores the more twisted realms of early rock'n'roll nostalgia), one thing remains consistent throughout his work: He embraces the minor keys, and his music's undertone is gloomy and dark. And consequently, this does not merely comprise his songs, but it holds true for their visual realisations as well. The video for "Closing In", the opening track of his latest EP as The KVB - his main, post-punk/dark wave-induced project - perfectly illustrates this. Using images from the 1968 silent short film "La révolution n'est qu'un début. Continuons le combat" by Pierre Clémenti, the eerie, blurred images augment and intensify the impression that something is fundamentally wrong - we might just not know yet what exactly.
Subjection/Subordination is out now on cassette via Clan Destine Records.
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Though Southampton's Klaus von Barrel (sadly not his real name) has more than one face, musically speaking (under the moniker Die Jungen, he explores the more twisted realms of early rock'n'roll nostalgia), one thing remains consistent throughout his work: He embraces the minor keys, and his music's undertone is gloomy and dark. And consequently, this does not merely comprise his songs, but it holds true for their visual realisations as well. The video for "Closing In", the opening track of his latest EP as The KVB - his main, post-punk/dark wave-induced project - perfectly illustrates this. Using images from the 1968 silent short film "La révolution n'est qu'un début. Continuons le combat" by Pierre Clémenti, the eerie, blurred images augment and intensify the impression that something is fundamentally wrong - we might just not know yet what exactly.
Subjection/Subordination is out now on cassette via Clan Destine Records.
After "Kyrie Eleison", here's the second track to surface off our girl Maria Minerva's upcoming 12 inch on everyone's favorite deranged house imprint 100% Silk. Maria maintains her glossy bedroom shimmer on this one, but with its killer bassline and the very nice breakbeats over the straight base, "Gloria" might actually be her most instantly accessible tune to date.
Oh, and:
"This song is my destiny / I want everyone to know". We do now.
The Sacred & Profane Love EP is due November 15.
Previously:
Maria Minerva - Kyrie EleisonRead more →
After "Kyrie Eleison", here's the second track to surface off our girl Maria Minerva's upcoming 12 inch on everyone's favorite deranged house imprint 100% Silk. Maria maintains her glossy bedroom shimmer on this one, but with its killer bassline and the very nice breakbeats over the straight base, "Gloria" might actually be her most instantly accessible tune to date.
Oh, and:
"This song is my destiny / I want everyone to know". We do now.
The Sacred & Profane Love EP is due November 15.
Previously:
Maria Minerva - Kyrie Eleison
Arbutus kills it again with this pitch-perfect soft rock jam by recently introduced Montréal outfit TOPS. Still no word on a proper release whatsoever, but anticipation is surely rising after these two absolutely flawless 70s throwbacks. And oh man that cover art, more seductive than Emmanuelle could've ever been.
TOPS - Diamond LookRead more →
Arbutus kills it again with this pitch-perfect soft rock jam by recently introduced Montréal outfit TOPS. Still no word on a proper release whatsoever, but anticipation is surely rising after these two absolutely flawless 70s throwbacks. And oh man that cover art, more seductive than Emmanuelle could've ever been.
TOPS - Diamond Look
Whatever you might think about the concept of "hypnagogic pop" roughly two years after its incarnation, and whoever you might want to include, provided you consider the term useful or apt in any way, Joe Knight aka Rangers (who most would count as having a top spot in the h-pop pantheon) certainly put the original idea of translating faintly remembered, glossy 80s pop sounds perceived in a state of half-consciousness into a perfect stream of slightly melancholic haziness on a whole new level. And however you put it, last year's Suburban Tours (Olde English Spelling Bee) was not only a masterpiece, but also - again, if it exists - one of the genre's defining moments.
Now, almost twelve months after the first cut "Zombies" (now extended by the appendix "Day") appeared on these pages, and only a few months after his stellar split with KWJAZ Lite (Brunch Groupe), Knight has readied his second proper full-length Pan Am Stories, released a few days ago by Not Not Fun. The double LP is another, immensely expansive trip into the other side of your memories, in every aspect living up to the expectations that had been left by Suburban Tours and clearly one of those releases that 2011 will be remembered for. Without compromising his sonic conception, Knight has vastly refined his skills in arrangement and, occasionally, even applied something that amounts to actual songwriting. All this is incredibly catchy in all its swirling psychedelia and soft rock leanings, perfectly encapsulated in the sundrenched (in a very autumnal sort of way), misty slow-burner "John Is The Last Of A Dying Breed", one of the finest tracks on this amazing album.
Get Pan Am Stories now via Boomkat or directly over at Not Not Fun.
Also check "Conversations on a Jet Stream", recently premiered by The Fader:
Rangers - Conversations on a Jet Stream
Previously:
Rangers - Zombies (Day)Rangers - Xochimilco (Excerpt) (from the split cassette Angel Island with KWJAZ Lite)
Read more →
Whatever you might think about the concept of "hypnagogic pop" roughly two years after its incarnation, and whoever you might want to include, provided you consider the term useful or apt in any way, Joe Knight aka Rangers (who most would count as having a top spot in the h-pop pantheon) certainly put the original idea of translating faintly remembered, glossy 80s pop sounds perceived in a state of half-consciousness into a perfect stream of slightly melancholic haziness on a whole new level. And however you put it, last year's Suburban Tours (Olde English Spelling Bee) was not only a masterpiece, but also - again, if it exists - one of the genre's defining moments.
Now, almost twelve months after the first cut "Zombies" (now extended by the appendix "Day") appeared on these pages, and only a few months after his stellar split with KWJAZ Lite (Brunch Groupe), Knight has readied his second proper full-length Pan Am Stories, released a few days ago by Not Not Fun. The double LP is another, immensely expansive trip into the other side of your memories, in every aspect living up to the expectations that had been left by Suburban Tours and clearly one of those releases that 2011 will be remembered for. Without compromising his sonic conception, Knight has vastly refined his skills in arrangement and, occasionally, even applied something that amounts to actual songwriting. All this is incredibly catchy in all its swirling psychedelia and soft rock leanings, perfectly encapsulated in the sundrenched (in a very autumnal sort of way), misty slow-burner "John Is The Last Of A Dying Breed", one of the finest tracks on this amazing album.
Get Pan Am Stories now via Boomkat or directly over at Not Not Fun.
Also check "Conversations on a Jet Stream", recently premiered by The Fader:
Rangers - Conversations on a Jet Stream
Previously:
Rangers - Zombies (Day)Rangers - Xochimilco (Excerpt) (from the split cassette Angel Island with KWJAZ Lite)
New video for one of our favorite dancefloor bangers this year, "Tons of Love" from the collaborative Streetwise 12 inch by LA Vampires and Ital, still out on Not Not Fun, made by VC from The Deeep.
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New video for one of our favorite dancefloor bangers this year, "Tons of Love" from the collaborative Streetwise 12 inch by LA Vampires and Ital, still out on Not Not Fun, made by VC from The Deeep.
Palmz, a band that's mainly the brainchild of Santa Cruz, California resident Lexie Corfiatis who gets supported by friends and family for her little sonic endeavor, is some seriously admirable hybrid of everything guitar-related we've come to love so relentlessly. In particular "I Will Never, Ever, EVER, Feel Again" simply is a gorgeous blend of mildly surf-y, shoegaze-induced dream-pop, perfectly showcasing Corfiatis' charming voice. She appears to have been around for quite a while already, and we feel it's about time to shed some more light on her beautiful nostalgia.
Find more tunes over here.
Palmz - I Will Never, Ever, EVER, Feel AgainRead more →
Palmz, a band that's mainly the brainchild of Santa Cruz, California resident Lexie Corfiatis who gets supported by friends and family for her little sonic endeavor, is some seriously admirable hybrid of everything guitar-related we've come to love so relentlessly. In particular "I Will Never, Ever, EVER, Feel Again" simply is a gorgeous blend of mildly surf-y, shoegaze-induced dream-pop, perfectly showcasing Corfiatis' charming voice. She appears to have been around for quite a while already, and we feel it's about time to shed some more light on her beautiful nostalgia.
Find more tunes over here.
Palmz - I Will Never, Ever, EVER, Feel Again
Brisbane four-piece Feathers might be a little late for jumping on the 60s-inspired girl group bandwagon that has been thoroughly championed by Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, and the whole lot stateside for the last couple of years now, but we here at NFOP would like to firmly reassure you that it all doesn't really matter at all as long as you know how to do things right. And these ladies do indeed: "Heartbreakers" is an aptly dark lo-fi pop song that certainly received just the right amount of Spector-ish treatment, with subtle hints of shoegaze and actually a pretty damn fine groove. Nice.
"Heartbreakers" appears on Feathers' sophomore LP Hunter's Moon, out October 24 on Brisbane boutique imprint Bon Voyage, limited to 100 copies.
Feathers - Heartbreakers
Read more →
