Exclusive: Soft As Snow “Halo Heart (A Levitas of Old Apparatus Remix)”

21 Oct 2013 — Tonje Thilesen

Norwegians, you know, are simple people. We enjoy music that tends to sound awfully similar the 'band nextdoor', preferably drenched in pretty, shoegazing guitar noise, menially following the classic post-rock composition — or, then of course, the two girls who found a drum machine at a yard sale and decided that well, it'd sure as hell be a great idea to start a band together. Which by all means they should, don't get me wrong, but more than half of the time, its outcome proves to be exactly what you expected: a cheap version of another local up-and-coming duo with the same drum machine and sugary, Jenny Hval influenced vocals. Of course, the average Norwegian music journalist thinks it's absolutely brilliant. 

You may call me harsh (and I'm fine with that, I guess), but to break out of the Norwegian "cloning" structure in music only happens every so often; an essence so profoundly built into our minds in hope of creating the next national hype, likely to end up in a music export sensation. Even so, the artist has probably been around for years, hardly gaining any national press at all. In a refreshing contrast to this, London-based Norwegian duo Soft as Snow look towards Montreal in their darkened, minimal wave -influenced electro pop, which first came to our notice a few weeks ago with the brilliant single "Halo Heart". And guess what, they know exactly what's up these days. A Levitas aka Saa of Old Apparatus, one of 2013's very finest producer outfits, has given "Halo Heart" a well-deserved touch, wrapping Oda Egjar Starheim's vocals into his low-tech, aerial soundscape. Have a first listen below. 

Also, Soft as Snow might be coming to your city very soon. 

09/10/13 London, Power Lunches
19/10/13 Oslo, Etch Wear Festival
23/10/13 Madrid, Calvario Bar
25/10/13 Barcelona, Brucstock Festival
29/10/13 Berlin, Showcase hosted by Nordic By Nature

Read more →

Stream: Gothen “s/t”

21 Oct 2013 — Trey Reis

There’s a degree of quality that you come to expect from the sound of a new, unreleased artist. Especially with the current trend of homemade, lo-fi recordings. So, it’s always unexpected to hear this level of professionalism from some Bandcamp page with only one release set and dated. It’s like seeing a shimmer, shining through the grains of sand.

Salt Lake City’s Evan Jolley creates music as Gothen, and his self-titled first album is out now. It’s the kind of release you’d expect to hear in pristine quality on some NPR music program, not quietly through computer speakers at your desk at work. His Fleet Fox(es)ian production of free flowing folk instrumentation is as clearly beautiful as anything you’d expect to hear from an entire live ensemble. It’s hard to understand the context of this kind of sound when all we get is an embed. We read so much about one person creating music as so-and-so on a 4-track in their basement or through the ease of recording software, and it makes sense. It sounds that way. Sometimes, it is part of the appeal. But where did Gothen come from?

Read more →

Katie Gately “Pipes”

18 Oct 2013 — Evelyn Malinowski

Björk's Medulla is an album to which we are still catching up. Back in 2004, voices, accapella sound effects, and beat-boxing all running through a sound board for minimal editing and of course capturing was a bold move. Katie Gately's production for Blue Tapes at once resembles Medulla's fragmentation of mouth-centric music. It is dark, restless, unpredictably glitchy, and mouthed; However, these traits are so dominant that there is room to ponder whether supremacy amounts to toppling, and that the ferociousness is one of dark aural hyperbole.

“Pipes” is a fourteen minute long bumpy ride which starts off dreaming, buoyant. But eventually the voice-based acid drums and their panning shake whatever stable grounds the more pure-sounding, premature part of the song is, or was, on. The swelling occurs again, and, like before, it is devoured and taken away, swallowed, done being chewed, to present us with a completely different and unforeseen, jarring design: the next bite. This surprise design differs per swell, categorizing the track as overall improvisationalistic.

Are these nuisances mimicries of indecisive human (social) behavior? Whatever interpretative niche they may take, there is doubtlessly a tone of anger in Gately's musical world, refracted by Gregorian chant. Such can be also gleaned from her highly recommended self-titled release on Public Information.
 

Read more →

Ariel Pink “Tractor Man” (exclusive)

16 Oct 2013 — Henning Lahmann

My first live experience with Mr Rosenberg, the LA man the world knows and admires as one Ariel Pink, was at Prinzenbar, still Hamburg's most curiously beautiful small venue, sometime in June of 2010. The beautiful, baroque room fits perhaps some 100 to 150 people, if really packed. The night Ariel played, maybe 20 showed up. The one thing I clearly remember is that he wore a fasciated, blue and white shirt, odd not least because the three danish hipsters who had come down to Hamburg for the concert sported the exact same piece of clothing while they were goofily dancing in the first row, half a meter away from the musicians. All of them looked and acted ridiculously stoned, another thing they had in common not only with the artist but also with his whole band. To sum up, it was a great night. I don't really remember the music, which might or might not be telling. The date is of note though, only a few days after the 4AD release of Before Today had finally pushed Ariel Pink to well-deserved indie superstardom. I guess that was one of the last shows in such a room before such a negligible audience.

As is well known, to call Pink a notorious live performer is an understatement. Google 'ariel pink live boo-ing' or in fact look no further than Wikipedia, which quotes from a 2005 interview with LA Weekly: "People boo me everywhere...They don't even hide their contempt. I'm used to it now...Hey, I'm giving audiences the real thing...For better or worse, I'm out there, and those are the circumstances. People don't like it when it seems like you don't know what's happening, or I'm getting bummed out with certain aspects and I can't hide it. I think people feel that pain and just think it's bad." An explanation is offered, stating that Pink's "music was never intended to be performed live for commercial audiences".

Not sure if that is entirely true and really does him justice, notwithstanding the artist's obvious coyness, which may well turn into awkwardness on stage. In any case, what you hear below is one of Pink's very early live pieces, recorded at a gig sometime between 1998 and 2001. The most striking thing is of course the fact that "Tractor Man" doesn't sound like Pink's signature, nothing like, say, "For Kate I Wait". Instead it's even rawer, more leaning towards garage pop; but whatever you might want to call it, this song is a pretty fascinating early document of a true musical genius, one of the most significant and influential artists of the last decade. So click play and take a thorough listen. There's more to follow soon.

Read more →

Girls In Uniform “The Fortune Tapes” (exclusive)

16 Oct 2013 — Parker Bruce

"Like a Star" from Girls In Uniform's – otherwise known as Nicole Brenny – cassingle, The Fortune Tapes is bulbous bellies blubbering and spindly, uptight, and upright harpsichord. The idea for the project came to Brenny while being in Montréal, but didn't reach fruition until her move to Brooklyn. There's a release show for The Fortune Tapes at Brooklyn's Silent Barn on October 30. Check out both sides of the cassingle on Girls In Uniform's Soundcloud.

Read more →

Preview: CMJ 2013

15 Oct 2013 — Ashley Canino

The 2013 CMJ Music Marathon is upon us. You have probably already glanced at the absurdly long list of participating artists and venues over on CMJ's site and, in turn, given up completely on navigating showcases. Here is a manageable guide to my must-see, Brooklyn-based picks (and their picks) for this year's festival.

Clouty

Genre: Gothspell folk
Most excited to play with... Eastern Hollows
Most excited to see... First glance at the full schedule looming...
Best CMJ memory... "This will be my first CMJ fest."

Look for Clouty's upcoming EP to drop at the end of 2013, the follow up to The Dark Side of the Room.

Showcase(s):

BestNewBands.com @ Bar Matchless - 557 Manhattan Avenue, Tuesday @ 8

 

Read more →

Eastern Hollows

Genre: Shoegaze, Brit, dreampop
Most excited to play with... they don't play favorites
Most excited to see... The Dismemberment Plan
Best CMJ memory... Gull at XPO929 at CMJ 2012

Their eponymous debut full length will be out soon on vinyl in the UK, and for digital download everywhere.

Showcase(s):

BestNewBands.com @ Bar Matchless - 557 Manhattan Avenue, Tuesday @ 8

Haybaby

Genre: Post grunge
Most excited to play with... Radical Dads
Most excited to see... The Dismemberment Plan
Best CMJ memory... "Performance wise, who remembers but last year it was really cold and Leslie made the mistake of wearing a dress with nothing underneath it so we went to the closest store with and bought a three-pack of boxer briefs and shared them. It was cute. Actually, that may not have happened."

Haybaby released their first EP Superpresent! for digital download on October 2nd.

Showcase(s):

BestNewBands.com @ The Flat - 308 Hooper St, Friday @ 8

Hippy

Genre: Garage pop
Most excited to play with... Radical Dads, Caged Animals, Sharkmuffin, Crazy Pills
Most excited to see... "...The Meaning of Life, Surfing, Lost Boy?, Zula, the list goes on"
Best CMJ memory... "Tarra from Sharkmuffin smashing her guitar. Also we played CMJ after having only played 3 shows total on a mini tour in Virginia and Maryland in the 3 days leading up to the first day of CMJ so it was a memorable time in our band history. "

Showcase(s):

Campers' Rule Records @ Muchmore's - 2 Havemeyer Street - Tuesday @ 7:30

Norwegian Arms

Genre... "folk twinged frantic polyrhythmic tribal mandolin freakout"
Most excited to play with... "The entire lineup of our showcase with Team Clermont/Hometapes is incredible. Laser Background, Celestial Shore & Pattern is Movement."
Most excited to see... Arms

Look for Jitterbug out on 7" vinyl in November 2013.

Showcase(s):

Campers' Rule Records @ Muchmore's - 2 Havemeyer Street - Tuesday @ 7:30
Team Clermont @ Union Pool - 484 Union Avenue - Wednesday @ 7

Saint Pepsi

Genre: Psychedelic disco
Most excited to play with... Heavenly Beat
Most excited to see... Foxes in Fiction, Julia Brown, Braid
Best CMJ memory... "This is gonna be my first year ever playing CMJ! i'm playing more shows this week than i have so far as SAINT PEPSI actually!"

Showcase(s):

Crack in the Road, Disco Naivete, and Unrecorded @ Pianos - 158 Ludlow, Wednesday @ 8
Pigeons and Planes, Popgun @ Glasslands - 289 Kent Avenue, Friday @ 8

The Veda Rays

Genre: Death disco
Most excited to play with... Haybaby
Most excited to see... Wet Paint
Best CMJ memory... "Seeing The Stepkids for the first time at Piano's in 2011 was interesting because of the way they were able to create their own atmosphere so well in a setting like that."

Showcase(s):

BestNewBands.com @ The Flat - 308 Hooper St, Friday @ 8

 

David Van Tieghem & Georgia “Slippery Slope”

15 Oct 2013 — Trey Reis

Have you heard of this FRKWYS thing yet? It took me until Volume 9 to really know about it. And reading/writing about music is how I spend my free time. I guess I was behind on this one.

Well, Volume 10 is on its way and the whole process of making the album pretty much fills in the vowels missing between the letters in FRKWYS (and RVNG, the label behind the series). This NY experimental pioneer, David  Van Tieghem, who has played with the likes of Steve Reich, David Byrne, and Brian Eno, collaborated for this one in an unusual sense of the word. Ten artists from the current NY experimental scene submitted percussive items which were used to craft a kind of “bulletin board” drum it. Van Tieghem then recorded hours of percussion experimentation into recording, and distributed those songs back to the contributing artists, to remix and reinterpret. Those edits were then given back to Van Tieghem to organize and finalize. It’s a wonderful mess of percussion turned melody.

FRKWYS Vol. 10: Fits & Starts is out November 12, from RVNG Intl. You can hear the first single (do albums like this have singles?), a collaboration with NYC’s Georgia, entitled “Slippery Slope” below.

Read more →