10 Jan 2014 — Evelyn Malinowski
After four years of no material releases, Adam Forkner aka White Rainbow is back with a lo-fi, glitch-hop full-length which he's going to self-release on February 11. Surely this is an omin.
Although he hasn't been pressing records, Forkner has remained busy crafting a tropical, melodic, and soothing sound. "Batman Palace" is the opener taken from thru.u and speaks strongly of the style we can expect on the rest of the LP. It pulls us in immediately with the rolling hi-hat and steady clap hits. The assuring lyrics that it "feels alright" keep us in a friendly trance, eager to learn what lies beyond this song in the depths of the album. You'll just have to wait and in the meantime get used to the new vibe of 2014.
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10 Jan 2014 — Andi Wilson
Baltimore R&B-pop duo, Chiffon are bringing sexiness back with an originality that's truly challenging to compare to anything else happening at the moment. Prepare yourself for everlasting claps, rolling snare hits, bubble gum bursts, and in-your-face samples down to the dirty bed squeaks. If you thought autotuned vocals were out of style, you better think again. Everything touched by these two turns into tasteful pure magic and life immediately feels like a sensual, steamy dance party.
Honestly, you just need to listen. Stream their delicious, self-released EP, Marble below.
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08 Jan 2014 — Evelyn Malinowski
What exactly are we looking at?
Jane Eastlight's production, suited nearly perfectly for patten's "Drift," taken from ESTOILE NAIANT, out this February on Warp, offers a warm, wavering bulb that greets us at the beginning of the track and stays throughout the flashing gallery of moving images from all over the world. It serves as an anchor, the very heart of the song which, as it builds, is covered up and expanded upon, but, because of this image, is never forgotten or completely moved away from. We remember where we started and what is at the core of the matter: something simple and shimmering.
The brilliant bassline and jutting keys amount to happy anxiety encountered in travel, the milling over of beautiful images from recent experiences in a rhythmic yet staggering fashion. There is a Baruka-esque feel here, a cadence commenting on the synchronicity available in the world. Then, during the Oneohtrix Point Never break, we detach completely from the orb and flip through a more relentless display of images from the world. Both track and video end abruptly, just like visions of the future getting cut off by the present. While Eastlight's work reminds me of Nicolás Méndez of CANADA, there is something more pressing in this work, perhaps something solidified by the severity of patten's style.
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07 Jan 2014 — Henry Schiller
New York experimental group takes on a Northern European savagery, eliciting immediate comparisons to the Knife. But wait, because there's more to it than a bunch of Americans just tagging themselves in to follow up one of last year’s most ambitious releases. Somewhere along the way Excepter abandon the plan for a proletariat revolution and discover LSD, methadone, and the awesome power of the sine wave. “Maids” is the laidback comedown from the mad rush of driving a bayonet through capitalism's shoulder blades.
Harrison Owen’s video has a deliciously unsleek public access vibe; two dancers are superimposed with sunflowers, then gobbled up in the glare of a white hot sun. Flashes of someone wearing a fedora, various secret service types vogueing against plaster walls. Video reminds me of dry spells during east coast summers, it makes me thirsty; also provides excellent contrast to the track’s impenetrable murkiness. Refuse to get over that fedora, though.
Excepter’s upcoming LP, Familiar, was recorded last summer in Prague, and will soon be out on Blast First Petite. Tour dates to be announced as well.
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06 Jan 2014 — Tonje Thilesen
I first heard the demo of "A Selfish Man" back in September last year, sitting at the Ilium Media headquarters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and was pretty much blown away. Following the ex-Wu Lyf member's stellar debut with "Age Limits", "A Selfish Man" was a step in a new direction for Francis Lung; refreshingly bold and oh-so clever, finally speaking out loud about the turbulent relationship within the band, "when everything becomes too much / you have to leave / abandoning was not the plan / but I don't wanna know you / or wanna understand / I can let you go / cause I'm a selfish man". It's quite hard to get this one out of your head, so you might as well want to play it another 10 times while you're at it.
The 7", featuring "A Selfish Man" and "Tsunami Blues (Cause Of Me), is out on January 16th via Atelier Ciseaux.
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05 Jan 2014 — Henry Schiller
School sound like New Order but they don't sound like they're trying to sound like New Order. Excellent: as we all know you should never sound like you’re trying. Vocals on "SoLong" have enough energy to shake some actual life into exactly the kind of lyrics you expect to populate the sullenly insistent synth-pop we're dealing with here. Something slippery and weird beneath the surface, too; dustmites of synthwork that sound almost inquisitive, and a bassline that rides fat globs of tone. It sounds like a sheet of aluminum getting bent in a pummeling rain. Fadeout at the end is gloriously reminiscent of “Some Girls are Bigger Than Others.” Not the kind of thing you here too often these days, come to think of it. Strangely, this place of dying is where some of “SoLong”’s best guitar work seems to have anchored itself. Couldn't you guys have let it run a little longer? No worries, no worries: I'm more than happy with this song as is.
"SoLong" is out now on Luxury Records.
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03 Jan 2014 — Andi Wilson
In most people's college years it is a time of transformation and discovery. One of those life-changing discoveries for me was being a part of a small yet continuously moving music scene in the fairly desolate towns of Pullman, Washington and Moscow, Idaho. It was quite amusing that a 10 minute drive between these state borders created two pretty incomparable spaces. Pullman consumed a typical university-lifestyle while Moscow was more homey and welcoming. Despite these differences, local musicians crossed paths and significantly collaborated while raising awareness to up and coming venues in the area.
Returning to the idea of transformation, Moscow-native, Misé stands as an impressive example of differentiation within a community while also staying ground to his roots. Originally the act was a solo one and formed by Cooper Trail who would sing, loop guitars, and play a small drum-kit during his set. At the time he was only 17 and seeing a young performer in an advanced setting is always groundbreaking. Little Mountain was the project's first beautifully-crafted EP, released in 2012 and warmed-up many listener's winters that year.
"Eclipses; eyelashes" experiments in a new realm where the first half of the track grows and intensenly clenches a darker pop sound. Just as rapidly, the fuzz-soaked guitars fade into a cassette-recorded, honest love story. The tape aspect was brought in by producer/engineer, Bart Budwig, running CasetteNW which focuses on more intimate sessions with Northwest artists such as Breathe Owl Breathe and Radiation City.
Stream and download "Eclipses; eyelashes" and catch a preview for Misé's debut album, Arts & Crafts which will be released sometime in 2014 from Moscow label, Woolly Records. Live shows are being set for the new year as a duo piece including Nevada Sowle on drums.
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27 Dec 2013 — Henning Lahmann
It's December again, the year 2013 is almost over, and it has been a great year for music. I'm not sure if we say this every year, but this time I do want to stress that I really mean it. There have been tons of remarkable records in the past twelve months, coming in all colours and flavours, some of them blown up big time, even more flying under most critics' radar. When you click on the link below, you will find our thoughts on the musical class of 2013. But instead of delivering another neatly ordered and well considered list of the best albums and tracks, we've decided to try something different this year. We hope you enjoy.
Get to the No Fear Of Pop year-end special here.
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