The visuals might be a bit too wilfully occult, but "Labyrinth" itself, the lead-off single from Austin-based dream pop outfit Boy Friend's new four-track tape Secret City, is in itself another very strong reminder of the all-female trio's marvelous knack for light-footed, sorrowful melodies that will stay with you for days. Also, the video certainly has its charms, and there's no denying that it is somewhat appropriate. Watch it below.
Secret City is out on Nigh-People. Order the cassette here.
Read more →
The sun is out, spring is in the air etc. etc...anyway, it's the perfect day for some aptly drugged-out, psychedelic and (yes) hazy vibes by Lawrence, Kansas outfit Karma Vision. The video for the lovely, hopelessly nostalgic new single "Plastic Ocean" was shot during the band's recent tour along the West Coast.
Get "Plastic Ocean" digitally over here.
Read more →
Ian Paige is mainly known for his work as part of stellar Portland, Maine-based astral folk collective Planets Around the Sun alongside Caitlin King (and occasionally Herbcraft's Matt Lajoie, among others), but he recently dropped his first-ever solo effort Poor Palimpsest, a four-track EP that further explores Paige's signature style of relentlessly trippy, heavily psychedelic and purposelessly meandering soundscape improvisations so well known from his main venture. This is music to zone out to, which doesn't mean that it's not worth to take a closer listen in order to actually yourself in the delicate, finely woven textures of the artist's sublime arrangements. Paige's visual treatment of opener "Reflections" essentially enhances the experience: more installation than actual video, the flickering patterns in basic colours open up complete sensual dimensions that eventually alter your state of mind. Psychedelic music like its supposed to be.
Poor Palimpsest is out now on tape via Chicago's Teen River.
Read more →
Yet another fabulous addition to ClanDestine's impeccable roster (though there has actually been a split tape with Ela Orleans before already), Philadelphia's Curt Crachrach sports a ridiculously enjoyable talent for digging out long-lost record collection and library gems and blending those found snippets into brief pieces of funky, hip-hop induced beat music. On debut LP Lonely Holiday however, it's the collaborations that clearly stand out, like "Rehab" featuring lyricist Milo Martin. Over an organ-heavy funk break, the rapper laconically spits a story about drug abuse and life failures in general. Marvelous. Watch the accompanying video below.
Lonely Holiday is out on ClanDestine Records now. Order the LP over here.
Read more →
SWAYS Records, known for introducing us to NFOP favourites M O N E Y and The Louche, definitely know how to create a mood, and that being said, the video for Emperor Zero’s “Mental Health Café” (which was released on a 7’' February 1) is the definition of said moodiness. Reading the video’s back story makes it even more crazy: “The video to ‘Mental Health Café’ was filmed inside the infamous wooden cage in the main room of the warehouse, a Kafkaesque structure that deliberately recalls the Kafes (‘cage’) of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, that was built to protect members of the ruling elite from fratricide and safeguard their succession to the throne. Since the days of Beyazit II, it had been ruled that a new sultan should execute all of his brothers, in order to avoid bloody wars of succession. To prevent such barbarity, Ahmet I decreed that a new sultan’s brothers should instead be locked in a cage with deaf mutes and a harem of concubines who were not allowed to leave the cage unless they got pregnant — in which case they were drowned. Thereafter, for several generations, when the sultan finally died and the time came for the younger sibling to leave the cage, the new ruler of the Ottoman Empire would emerge, unsteady on his feet and quite, quite mad.”
We'll leave you to the mystery: have a first peak at the strange video below.
Read more →
London resident Karen Gwyer's slow house cut "Tehe! Blah Blah! Shhhh!" was probably our favourite track on No Pain In Pop's more than excellent recent compilation, The Bedroom Club II. In contrast, "Pikku-Kokki", the first track to be unveiled from Gwyer's forthcoming debut full-length Needs Contiunuum, is a somewhat more psychedelic, ambient-leaning affair. a distinct, relatively straight rhythm is still present and discernible, which leaves comparisons to Motion Sickness Of Time Travel and other proponents of the US psych synth scene a bit unconvincing after all, but the steering towards more liberal textures seems nonetheless remarkable, although it should be pointed out that most material on last year's limited Kaleidoscope release I've Been You Twice had also been anything but but made for the dancefloor proper. We're very excited for the upcoming LP – indulge yourself with the sprawling synth patterns of "Pikku-Kokki" now.
Needs Continuum is out February 25 via No Pain In Pop. Pre-order now here.
Read more →
The combination of the band name The Cyclist and the organic-style production of his take on dance music remind me of the 2003 animated film, The Triplets of Bellville. Hear me out here. The film follows the kidnapping of a woman’s grandson, who has trained his entire life to be a competitive force in the Tour de France. The grandmother teams up with the triplets--an aging trio of performers who created music entirely built on noises from household found items—to track down those responsible for her grandson’s kidnapping. It’s a strange film, without any real dialogue and still opting to use the hand-drawn animation style when most animated films had moved on to using CGI.
It’s a stylistic choice similar to that of The Cyclist’s single, "Visions", which builds a voiceless, organic foundation of bass-heavy dance music dotted with found-sound style drums in a time when everyone is dropping vocal samples and drum beats into their software of choice and producing highly effected beat music devoid of the roots from which it grew.
This video treatment for "Visions" by Miko Revereza follows suit with The Cyclist’s production, building itself up slowly from simple, moving patterns. It patiently begins to add more colour as the song transforms, and more of the clicking and tapping drums are revealed. It’s a reminder of the appeal of flow and simplicity, and proof that sometimes the old ways are still worth pursuing.
“Visions” is the first single from The Cyclist’s upcoming debut album Bones in Motion, out March 26 via Leaving Records and Stones Throw.
Read more →
Young producer Kirk Spencer, part of Nottingham's Stranger Zoo collective, is yet another fresh face to emerge from the seemingly inexhaustible well of UK beat making. Debut single "Kukcu", which features Safia May on vocals, is a fine blend of intense bass, a dash of South Asian influences, and some rather lush synth lines, proving that here's someone already confident enough to search for his own voice while apparently effortlessly dropping a damn fine pop song that should work on your headphones just as well as on your local dancefloor.
Spencer's EP Wonderland is set to be released March 25.
Read more →
