17 Mar 2014 — Parker Bruce
Bristol's Trust Fund (real name Ellis) has a conundrum: his "best friend", who is a girl, and not currently with him, is going to return sometime soon so he has to essentially shun his other friend. Such is the conflict of "No Surprise" which plays out like a conversation albeit just Ellis' side of it, informing his friend of the changes that will occur: "Except maybe/You're right I guess/When she's around I won't reply to texts" and "And you and me will be hanging out much less." Bascially, Ellis looks for simple pleasures: a collage-crafting partner ("And we'll cut stuff out/Oblivious") (think of this song as his version of Hannah's speech from "Girls"). It's almost a rejection song in a way, but it's not mean. After that first verse, a big, walloping guitar comes in as if to hammer home what Ellis has just said. The Waxahatchee comparisons are apt.
"No Surprise" comes from UK's ever expanding collective Reeks of Effort's upcoming Sick of Hits Vol. 2 tape, to be released in April. Check out Vol. 1 here and pre-order Vol. 2 here. Everyone needs a nice springtime mixtape right?
Read more →
14 Mar 2014 — Parker Bruce
The second track previewed by London's Playlounge from their album pilot, "waves and waves and waves" is all breathless, teetering drumming and clanging guitar with lyrics that imply an interest in the USA ("We'd play American") particularly driving (like a way more intense "Hannah Hunt"): "Weightless we'd sleep sprawled across this town," "Driving doe eyed a million miles far," "Get up/get out/go." At one point, Playlounge ask us, "Can you feel it caving in?", and that is kind of what it feels like the song is doing: going through a canyon while rocks crash down around you. You can download "waves and waves and waves" for free on their Soundcloud, and pre-order pilot, which Dog Knights Productions is releasing April 14. The magic vinyl words I have for you are: "Pink w/ Silver Glitter" and "Blue/Pink Mix."
Read more →
13 Mar 2014 — Parker Bruce
Saxsyndrum, a two man band from Montreal, are doing a remix album with songs taken from last year's Future Circus. Fellow Montreal-er ¡FLIST!'s remix of "Les Belles Nanas" (French slang for "the pretty girls") tempers Saxsyndrum and Emma Frank's zippy verve in the way only ¡FLIST! can. Sounds lumber along, hang like Weeping Willows, squat, and balk, and the brass sounds fat and squished. These are all good things! Be sure to also check out NFOP favorite Syngja's, remix of "Heartstrings." "Future Circus Remixed" is out March 22, and if you're in Montreal, be sure to head to Le Cagibi for a fête of sorts, with Syngja scheduled to play as well.
Read more →
13 Mar 2014 — Parker Bruce
Brooklyn's FRAME (aka Caitlin Frame) has an album called Polarizer coming out this spring. Not to go for the easy pun, but the first song released from it, "Run Around," is not polarizing at all. It's splendid. Calling to mind the sound of Dragonette (particularly "Pick Up The Phone"), Tegan and Sara, Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)," and in a way, Michelle Branch ("Breathe" among others), "Run Around" seems to be a song straight out of 2002 in the best way possible, fitting her in with the great female singer-songwriters of yore. It's the debut single popstars dream about in their bedrooms at night with a strident guitar, a very good chorus, and a lyric that sticks in the form of: "Cause I think I thought I saw you after all." While on her Soundcloud, be sure to check out the mix she put up a few days ago which features remixes from all corners (Bjork, Kelis, Blondie, and Fleetwood Mac). FRAME has done her homework.
Read more →
12 Mar 2014 — Trey Reis
I used to see that Dropping Gems label diamond around the streets of Portland, although sometimes I was confusing the symbol for the ones on those Diamond Supply Co hats. What is that, Pac-Sun? Like Pacific Sun? Not in the Pacific Northwest. It might not actually rain here all the time like we tell everyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s sunny. But through the gloom shone that diamond. And these people were dropping gems.
Philip Grass have been beating the rainy streets of Portland, OR for a couple of years now. I remember seeing them play one of the Dropping Gems showcases at the Holocene, and everyone basically went nuts when they started sputtering 50 Cent samples into the mix. Implants from Massachusetts, the duo met at the University of Massachusetts, before relocating to the Pacific Northwest. There, alongside the burgeoning beat scene, they began releasing material as small as Soundcloud streams or compilation contributions and as large as entire self-released albums, and now label-backed EPs like this one; the four track Find EP from Dropping Gems.
Each of the tracks sputters with that familiar Philip Grass fog of jazz clips of department store piano and flute swirls. The beats sprinkled in like rain drops from clouds of soft, gray synthesizer hums. Dance music for the soft carpet of the bedroom floor. No birds outside. Those twitters are coming from the speakers.
The digital version of the EP is available now from label’s Bandcamp page. RIYL: Softening the blow of what’s left of your winter blues.
Read more →
12 Mar 2014 — Henning Lahmann
While elusive London collective Old Apparatus kept things relatively low-key last year, merely putting out one – albeit excellent – free EP in October, founding member Asher Levitas had quite a busy 2013, producing some commissioned remixes and above all releasing a very compelling EP as Saa together with Oslo vocalist Linn Carin Dirdal on left_blank. But as two projects don't appear to be enough, Levitas has come up with Penny, a joint venture with visual artist and writer Michael Crowe.
Sonically, the duo's first, self-titled EP does share quite a few significant resemblances with both Old Apparatus and Saa – nocturnal sounds and melodies suitable for scoring any latter-day film noire, inspired as much by contemporary UK bass as by more continental varieties of techno and house, all spiced up with same dashes of post-modern grittiness. Which is all fine and still amounts to a listening experience that outshines most experimental electronic music of today. The focus of Penny however is its integrated audiovisual concept, though Old Apparatus, too, always has been more than the music alone. Still, Michael Crowe manages to genuinely elevate the project, coming up with a visual language that not simply accompanies but truly complements Levitas' productions. Watch the piece for first track "Pen#1":
The Penny EP is out next Monday, March 17, via Overshare Records. More material is set to follow later this year. Below, you may exclusively stream all three (aptly untitled) tracks from the EP:
Read more →
12 Mar 2014 — Parker Bruce
The whole vague-band-sends-vague-email-with-link-to-music-thing has been done a million times but Belgian duo drömbild put a new spin on it. When I asked them for more information I found out they were just 16 and just had their first practice as a group a few Sundays ago. With scraping bass guitar that sounds like it's dredging up rust, drömbild manage to create a very distinct, trilling moment with their song "Blank Letter." The keyboard sounds like a tiny bell ringing or glass chandelier tinkling, and the vocals are expansive. You can download it on their Soundcloud and hear it below. Excited to see what drömbild comes up with next.
Read more →
07 Mar 2014 — Noah Klein
“Writing has nothing to do with meaning. It has to do with land surveying and cartography, including the mapping of countries yet to come.”
-Gilles Deleuze
Approaching M. Sage’s tapestry of field recordings, gentle electronics, and affected instrumentation is to unravel a poetics of space. Regardless of the intent behind dissecting the letter, syllable, or phrase, the words will bloom and become new formations.
M. Sage’s latest, A Singular Continent, is just that, “singular”. Outside of Matthew’s own archive from his former RxRy universe I cannot say that I have ever approached an album so dense, so total, so heart-achingly flawless in its multidisciplinary execution. Less a purely aural experience than a cartography of interaction subject to emotionally driven plate shifts and territories whose environments fluctuate in rhythm, each track within A Singular Continent expounds upon a happening from the smallest of observations to the feelings trapped within memories of existence. A genuine practice in the prophetic potential of what music can achieve as an art form, exercising breath beyond relatively futile politics and projecting the foundation for an alternative reality where all directions are plausible.
In addition to the 12” release, A Singular Continent encompasses a collaboration of collage, by Nathaniel Whitcomb, and a collaboration of prose, by Grant Souders. As well as creating wondrous worlds of sonic exploration Matthew is also the curatorial and organizational force behind Patient Sounds, a music label and small press headquartered out of Matthew’s home. Purchase A Singular Continent here, and while you wait for the USPS to knock on your door make sure to visit the stunning imaginary webscape for the collection ~ I’ve certainly spent more time there in the last two weeks than I care to share.
Read more →
