14 Jan 2014 — Ashley Canino
Gabriel Garzón-Montano has released the first video from his debut solo EP, Bishouné: Alma del Huila. The video for "Everything is Everything," produced by Santiago Carrasquilla and Joe Hollier, gets its stuttering surreal vibe from a reproccessing of the shoot's still frames. The effect is a sweet and organic clip that complements and doesn't distract from a thoughtful and well produced track.
You may remember Garzón-Montano from other projects. He leads Mokaad – a 12-piece funk band with a tight sound, and a thrilling and infectious live show – and more recently joined the buzzworthy band Gospels. Bishouné: Alma del Huila sounds as if it emerged out of a dialectic between those two outfits. In this comparatively pared down environment, Garzón-Montano's expressive voice carries his vignette lyrics up out of the trappings of any sort of soul canon. Even though we are bound to pick up on some aesthetic influences (D'Angelo, Bilal) "Everything is Everything" and the rest of the tracks on Bishouné: Alma del Huila deliver a unique expression of a genre heavily co-opted in today's pop.
Bishouné: Alma del Huila is out February 11th on Styles Upon Styles. Pre-order the EP here.
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14 Jan 2014 — Tonje Thilesen
The Norwegian disco pop (one-man) outfit Tôg is back after the release of his excellent single "Maridalen" last year, a track that unfortunately most music sites decides to sleep on. Then again, it seems like "Av Hengslene" has that extra touch that "Maridalen" might have lacked in the first place, and I'm not just talking about the incredibly catchy synth line — it sounds 'Swedish', and that my friends, is a huge compliment to Norwegian pop music. Balearic disco references aside, this could totally be Norway's reply to The Tough Alliance or Delorean, if you ask me.
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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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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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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 — Andrew Wagner
Another holiday treat for you all: Mykki Blanco has just dropped a new track, “Booty Bamboo.” The track finds Blanco returning back to the aggressiveness of earlier songs like “Join My Militia” – a move underscored by the accompanying Soundcloud description: “Will hip hop ever accept me? Who gives a fuck. Will the gay community turn their back on me if I stop dressing in drag? Who gives a fuck. Will I get signed? Who gives a fuck.” With its pulsating, noisy, and static-y beat, “Booty Bamboo” delivers on the sort of danceable yet in-your-face rap that Blanco’s become known for. Blanco’s intermittent yells of “Booty Bamboo” take on a quasi-ritualistic feel, and the song is no doubt bound to inspire more to join the ranks of Blanco’s “militia”.
Download "Booty Bamboo" here.
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