Trinity.

15 Jul 2010 — NFOP

Originally hailing from Fort Benning, Georgia, the two friends Aaron Hodges and Michael Barron relocated to the still cherished Mecca of everything that's hip and rad experimental, and apparently, in Brooklyn the two have found the perfect environment for their amazing project Holy Spirits (now with Rob Alvarez as additional member), a band devoted to complex folky pop music, very harmony-driven yet very much leaning towards that certain latter day experimentalism that put this very borough on everyone's map in the last couple of years.

Bridges, a track from their debut EP The Afternoon's Blood, is a splendid tune with breathtaking instrumentation and amazing harmonies, equally uplifting and demanding, and without doubt one of the finest things I've come across this year. Well done, guys.

Holy Spirits - Bridges

Read more →
Originally hailing from Fort Benning, Georgia, the two friends Aaron Hodges and Michael Barron relocated to the still cherished Mecca of everything that's hip and rad experimental, and apparently, in Brooklyn the two have found the perfect environment for their amazing project Holy Spirits (now with Rob Alvarez as additional member), a band devoted to complex folky pop music, very harmony-driven yet very much leaning towards that certain latter day experimentalism that put this very borough on everyone's map in the last couple of years.

Bridges, a track from their debut EP The Afternoon's Blood, is a splendid tune with breathtaking instrumentation and amazing harmonies, equally uplifting and demanding, and without doubt one of the finest things I've come across this year. Well done, guys.

Holy Spirits - Bridges

Want my last look to be the moon in your eyes.

15 Jul 2010 — NFOP

As Lady Lioness, Vermont native Erin Cavellier makes slow and dreamy late-night bedroom folk, fragile music that might make you wanna drown in your sorrows or, equally likely, will let you see the light at the end of the tunnel. In any case, Cavellier's tunes are intimate reminders of the beauty that is music. Hope is coming closer.

All Lady Lioness albums are available for free on her bandcamp.


Lady Lioness - My Defeat

Lady Lioness - My Feet So Bare

Read more →
As Lady Lioness, Vermont native Erin Cavellier makes slow and dreamy late-night bedroom folk, fragile music that might make you wanna drown in your sorrows or, equally likely, will let you see the light at the end of the tunnel. In any case, Cavellier's tunes are intimate reminders of the beauty that is music. Hope is coming closer.

All Lady Lioness albums are available for free on her bandcamp.


Lady Lioness - My Defeat

Lady Lioness - My Feet So Bare

All My Friends #1

15 Jul 2010 — NFOP

So, it's Wednesday again, and here's yet another change of concept: Four weeks ago, I introduced my dear readers to The Fallout, a series of mixes that were intended to cover bands/songs that I didn't post about, for whatever reason. Now, while I'm gonna stick with that basic idea, I thought if NFOP features tunes that other beloved blogs posted before, then I might as well mention them and pay tribute to the amazing discoveries these devoted folks make every day. Because above anything else, I'm still simply - a fan. So, the tracks you find below have all been posted on my favourite blogs during the past two weeks; there are links to each of their write-ups. Those are not the only blogs I adore and follow, so hopefully the lineup changes at least slightly from issue to issue. I'm planning on keeping the biweekly schedule, we'll see if I'll be able to keep the beat.

The idea to "All My Friends" goes back to Mike of Dead As Digital and his amazing compilation We Get By Vol. 1, with the difference that I'm the one responsible for the picks here.

Consider it my very own Altered Zones.

Listen to each of the songs below, or grab the whole thing in a neat .zip right here.

1. Coma Cinema - Business As Usual (myspace) // Delicious Scopitone

2. Teenage Cool Kids - Volvo To a Kiss (myspace) // Transparent

3. The Young Friends - Downtown (myspace) // Delicious Scopitone

4. The Fruhstucks - Magic Dust (myspace) // No Modest Bear

5. Cults - Oh My God (bandcamp) // Gorilla vs. Bear

6. Clive Tanaka y su orquesta - I Want You (So Bad) (website) // Get Off The Coast

7. Paul A Rosales - Crimes (myspace) // No Conclusion

8. Heart Shaped Rock - Heart Shaped Rock (Nite Jewel myspace) // Gorilla vs. Bear

9. Hunting Hat - Home, WA (myspace) // The Road Goes Ever On

10. High Wolf - Solar System Is My God (myspace) // Friendship Bracelet

Read more →
So, it's Wednesday again, and here's yet another change of concept: Four weeks ago, I introduced my dear readers to The Fallout, a series of mixes that were intended to cover bands/songs that I didn't post about, for whatever reason. Now, while I'm gonna stick with that basic idea, I thought if NFOP features tunes that other beloved blogs posted before, then I might as well mention them and pay tribute to the amazing discoveries these devoted folks make every day. Because above anything else, I'm still simply - a fan. So, the tracks you find below have all been posted on my favourite blogs during the past two weeks; there are links to each of their write-ups. Those are not the only blogs I adore and follow, so hopefully the lineup changes at least slightly from issue to issue. I'm planning on keeping the biweekly schedule, we'll see if I'll be able to keep the beat.

The idea to "All My Friends" goes back to Mike of Dead As Digital and his amazing compilation We Get By Vol. 1, with the difference that I'm the one responsible for the picks here.

Consider it my very own Altered Zones.

Listen to each of the songs below, or grab the whole thing in a neat .zip right here.

1. Coma Cinema - Business As Usual (myspace) // Delicious Scopitone

2. Teenage Cool Kids - Volvo To a Kiss (myspace) // Transparent

3. The Young Friends - Downtown (myspace) // Delicious Scopitone

4. The Fruhstucks - Magic Dust (myspace) // No Modest Bear

5. Cults - Oh My God (bandcamp) // Gorilla vs. Bear

6. Clive Tanaka y su orquesta - I Want You (So Bad) (website) // Get Off The Coast

7. Paul A Rosales - Crimes (myspace) // No Conclusion

8. Heart Shaped Rock - Heart Shaped Rock (Nite Jewel myspace) // Gorilla vs. Bear

9. Hunting Hat - Home, WA (myspace) // The Road Goes Ever On

10. High Wolf - Solar System Is My God (myspace) // Friendship Bracelet

We don’t need no information.

14 Jul 2010 — NFOP

This morning (or last night, depending on the time zone), the international community of bloggers (aka the blogosphere) was suddenly all of a dither when one of the most buzzed-about bands of 2010 Cults bluntly twittered a rather unexpected message to their followers: "Cults feat. on new Guards EP" - G-u-a-r-d-s? Never heard. A quick click on their bandcamp brought not a single more detailed information about this mysterious band except for the fact that they had additionally cooperated with Chairlift's Caroline Polachek on another track of what apparently is their debut self-titled EP, which made the whole thing only more exciting.

I tried hard, I really did. But just like Cults, Guards don't seem to have a myspace, and just try to google their name, it's absolutely futile. So all there is right now is this EP that popped up literally out of nothing, but probably all we need in these way too hot weeks is seven tracks full of late 60s inspired summer breeze, purest sunshine pop not too far away from Cults themselves actually. And honestly, we would have forgotten the rest very soon anyway.

Guards - Trophy Queen (feat. Caroline Polachek)

Guards - Sail It Slow (feat. Cults)

Guards - Crystal Truth

Read more →
This morning (or last night, depending on the time zone), the international community of bloggers (aka the blogosphere) was suddenly all of a dither when one of the most buzzed-about bands of 2010 Cults bluntly twittered a rather unexpected message to their followers: "Cults feat. on new Guards EP" - G-u-a-r-d-s? Never heard. A quick click on their bandcamp brought not a single more detailed information about this mysterious band except for the fact that they had additionally cooperated with Chairlift's Caroline Polachek on another track of what apparently is their debut self-titled EP, which made the whole thing only more exciting.

I tried hard, I really did. But just like Cults, Guards don't seem to have a myspace, and just try to google their name, it's absolutely futile. So all there is right now is this EP that popped up literally out of nothing, but probably all we need in these way too hot weeks is seven tracks full of late 60s inspired summer breeze, purest sunshine pop not too far away from Cults themselves actually. And honestly, we would have forgotten the rest very soon anyway.

Guards - Trophy Queen (feat. Caroline Polachek)

Guards - Sail It Slow (feat. Cults)

Guards - Crystal Truth

Introducing: Ambassador Engine

13 Jul 2010 — NFOP

Greeley, Colorado is probably the most boring town on Planet Earth. Of course I'd never arrogate to make such judgments, however, this is more or less what Aaron Landgraf suggests when talking about his hometown. Apparently, the best thing about this settlement is its proximity to Fort Collins, home of the Act So Big Forest collective and Matthew Sage's delightful Patient Sounds label, so Aaron could at least find a base to channel his musical talent and his longing for his own creative expressions. Under the moniker Ambassador Engine, he makes beautiful bedroom pop that differs significantly from his many contemporaries in its pretty experimental approach towards the use of computers, which means that in this case, computer-generated sounds may actually sound like exactly what they are and are not merely a means to let the tune appear more nostalgic or, sorry, washed-out. This fact becomes most obvious as regards the computer voice in his latest track Destroy Everything, something that we haven't heard in this straightforwardness since Radiohead's Fitter Happier (though we admit that we might have missed something). Also, though Ambassador Engine is all about ambient downtempo soundscapes meandering through your head, there are no chillwaves to be ridden as the tunes' tranquility regularly gets interrupted by rather unwieldy rhythm sections.

Ambassador Engine's Live Dismally EP (featuring Live Hopeful) is available for free download here. Nowhere Near the Beach has appeared on the before mentioned essential Patient Sounds Sampler V.1, and Destroy Everything will probably be one of the tunes on Aaron's first full length, hopefully due later this year.

Ambassador Engine - Destroy Everything

Ambassador Engine - Live Hopeful

Ambassador Engine - Nowhere Near the Beach

Read more →
Greeley, Colorado is probably the most boring town on Planet Earth. Of course I'd never arrogate to make such judgments, however, this is more or less what Aaron Landgraf suggests when talking about his hometown. Apparently, the best thing about this settlement is its proximity to Fort Collins, home of the Act So Big Forest collective and Matthew Sage's delightful Patient Sounds label, so Aaron could at least find a base to channel his musical talent and his longing for his own creative expressions. Under the moniker Ambassador Engine, he makes beautiful bedroom pop that differs significantly from his many contemporaries in its pretty experimental approach towards the use of computers, which means that in this case, computer-generated sounds may actually sound like exactly what they are and are not merely a means to let the tune appear more nostalgic or, sorry, washed-out. This fact becomes most obvious as regards the computer voice in his latest track Destroy Everything, something that we haven't heard in this straightforwardness since Radiohead's Fitter Happier (though we admit that we might have missed something). Also, though Ambassador Engine is all about ambient downtempo soundscapes meandering through your head, there are no chillwaves to be ridden as the tunes' tranquility regularly gets interrupted by rather unwieldy rhythm sections.

Ambassador Engine's Live Dismally EP (featuring Live Hopeful) is available for free download here. Nowhere Near the Beach has appeared on the before mentioned essential Patient Sounds Sampler V.1, and Destroy Everything will probably be one of the tunes on Aaron's first full length, hopefully due later this year.

Ambassador Engine - Destroy Everything

Ambassador Engine - Live Hopeful

Ambassador Engine - Nowhere Near the Beach

The world before today.

12 Jul 2010 — NFOP

I really don't know how those folks are doing this, but my infallible mates from Ashtapes - which is more and more becoming my favourite blog at the moment - have once again come up with an amazing discovery. Sacramento's duo Tony Bonanza make "lo-fi stoned bedroom pop", which pretty much says it all, and if you think that Ariel Pink has all 'gone mainstream' now with his sophisticated production on Before Today, then Andy and Tom might just be the right guys for you. More or less everything on their debut Rockabilly People reminisces early Ariel Pink's then unique approach to lo-fi ethics in production techniques and the embracing of classic 70s and 80s pop music, which is everything but a bad thing. Tony Bonanza's tunes are brief pieces of pure pop extravaganza, and isn't that all we demand?

Rockabilly People is available for free download via the duo's bandcamp.

Tony Bonanza - She Is

Tony Bonanza - Trust

Tony Bonanza - Just Playin

Read more →
I really don't know how those folks are doing this, but my infallible mates from Ashtapes - which is more and more becoming my favourite blog at the moment - have once again come up with an amazing discovery. Sacramento's duo Tony Bonanza make "lo-fi stoned bedroom pop", which pretty much says it all, and if you think that Ariel Pink has all 'gone mainstream' now with his sophisticated production on Before Today, then Andy and Tom might just be the right guys for you. More or less everything on their debut Rockabilly People reminisces early Ariel Pink's then unique approach to lo-fi ethics in production techniques and the embracing of classic 70s and 80s pop music, which is everything but a bad thing. Tony Bonanza's tunes are brief pieces of pure pop extravaganza, and isn't that all we demand?

Rockabilly People is available for free download via the duo's bandcamp.

Tony Bonanza - She Is

Tony Bonanza - Trust

Tony Bonanza - Just Playin

On her own now.

12 Jul 2010 — NFOP

From the ever creatively vibrant Bay Area town Oakland hails Heather Fedewa, a pretty busy girl that used to play drums for Bare Wires and lead guitar for the marvelous Hunx and His Punx before eventually realising that she isn't at all into playing in other people's bands, so she came up with Wax Idols, her solo project that only gets a little friends' help when performing live.

Anyway, all this apparently doesn't mean that Heather is shying away from collaborations whatsoever. Besides having started a band named Blasted Canyons, she recently joined forces with Dresden's finest Oliver Scharf aka Hanoi Janes who we had on these pages before to come up with the wonderfully upbeat Bat Cave, some pretty 80s infused tune complete with hand clapping glory and The Cure-inspired analogue synth happiness.

Wax Idols & Hanoi Janes - Bat Cave

Read more →
From the ever creatively vibrant Bay Area town Oakland hails Heather Fedewa, a pretty busy girl that used to play drums for Bare Wires and lead guitar for the marvelous Hunx and His Punx before eventually realising that she isn't at all into playing in other people's bands, so she came up with Wax Idols, her solo project that only gets a little friends' help when performing live.

Anyway, all this apparently doesn't mean that Heather is shying away from collaborations whatsoever. Besides having started a band named Blasted Canyons, she recently joined forces with Dresden's finest Oliver Scharf aka Hanoi Janes who we had on these pages before to come up with the wonderfully upbeat Bat Cave, some pretty 80s infused tune complete with hand clapping glory and The Cure-inspired analogue synth happiness.

Wax Idols & Hanoi Janes - Bat Cave