Montréal-based Blue Hawaii add sprinkles to our weekend by dropping the second track of their forthcoming album Untogether. While the robust, entrancing counterpart of first single "In Two" moved the duo far away from their tropical-infused, warm debut EP Blooming Summer from 2010, the softer, melancholic "Try To Be" seems to land somewhere in between. Having spent a lot of time in Berlin, band member Alexander Cowan draws inspiration from the electronic scene, accentuating the first part of their name with a cooler, more steely and direct sound. We can't wait to hear the rest of the LP on March 5th.
We're tremendously pleased to premiere the video for a brief excerpt of "Something to Find" by all-time NFOP favourite Rachel Evans aka Motion Sickness Of Time Travel, taken from her recent split cassette with Imperial Topaz on Tranquility Tapes. On "Something to Find", Evans moves on to explore the infinite facets of her blend of quiet, minimal synth melodies and spaced-out drones that have so much become her very own over the past few years. The interspersed, distant vocals emphasize the overall dreamlike state that the music puts you in immediately, and the abstract, unobtrusive yet colourful visuals, which could actually be depicting very much real-world objects that however gently stay out of focus, complete the genuinely entrancing experience.
Sadly, the tape appears to be sold out already, but you should check the label's distro links in order to snatch one of those precious pieces of music.
Paco Sala's wonderfully dense and sophisticated effort Ro-Me-Ro was one of last year's most remarkable debuts. This week, the project of Hackney's Anthony Harrison (otherwise known as Konntinent) and vocalist Leyli returns with another release on the ever-convincing Digitalis. The Fo, which is put out on cassette, is not to be considered a proper full-length, though its length of 43 minutes would certainly suffice for most works to be deemed as such; however, according to the label it rather is 'a sort of intermediary between last year’s debut LP and their next proper full-length, Put Your Hands On Me'. The tape continues Harrison's quest the perfect balance between delicate pop arrangements and hushed, restrained sonic experimentalism, landing in a sublime place between ambient introspection and more straightforward if foggy songwriting.
Edition of 75; already sold out at the label it should be available via Boomkat soon. In anticipation of the release, Harrison made us an exclusive, and rather excellent, mix, which you may listen to after the jump. First though, take a look at the actual tape and listen to "9" below:
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Paco Sala's "Primary.1" Mix:
Tracklist:
01 Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Requiem (edit)
02 Nguzunguzu - Warm Pulse
03Claudio Simonetti, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli - Gemini (edit)
04 Malaysia Vasudevan & S.P. Sailaja - Pattu Engey (Where is the Song?)
05 Desire - Don't Call
06 Terminal Twilight - Neon Palm
07 The Advisory Circle - Unforgotten Path
08 Vessel - Stillborn Dub
09 Ike Yard - Control (edit)
10 Holy Balm - Losing Control
11 Group Rhoda - At the Dark
12 Asa Chang - Hana (edit)
13 Connie Francis - Siboney
Of all 'haunted folk' artists that primarily stem from the Midwest, Chicago's Haley Fohr aka Circuit Des Yeux has always given the impression of having a creative vision that goes deeper and is somewhat more sincere than that of most of her contemporaries. Sure it's bleak, and yes you may call it lo-fi, but all those superficial characteristics merely hint at the real underlying profundity of Fohr's work, at complexities and subtle intricacies that unfold only hesitantly if you care to take a closer listen. "Lithonia", taken from Circuit Des Yeux's new mini album CDY3, might well be Fohr's strongest song to date. Starting out quietly with the vocals aloof and wrapped in stereotyped reverb, the track takes its time to develop, steadily adopting arcane elements that preserve the song from the lurking cliché, before resolution arrives by means of a pleasant explosion of the arrangement, subsequently paving the way for one of Fohr's most developed and breathtaking vocal deliveries yet.
Butterclock is ready to start releasing again after a year of touring with oOoOO, with whom she also collaborated on last year's Our Love Is Hurting Us EP. We're looking forward to see the full picture of where that brought her musically and await more of that haunted art pop. Below is "Don't", the first snip of upcoming EP First Prom. Frenchborn Laura Clock lived in the outer reaches of Berlin last year and the industrial German grittiness really seeps through in this 90's inspired universe.
Christoph Hochheim, who used to be in one of my favorite bands of all time, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, as well as The Depreciation Guild, is putting out his first solo EP All My Everybody on January 29. This time around he records as Ablebody, and below you may listen to the first song from the EP, "Sally Hot Jazz". The drums, courtesy of Anton Hochheim, pounce, the synths dream a little dream of pinging (hence Hochheim’s Soundcloud descriptor, "Mere Tsorises and Dream-Pops"), the guitars are uncouth, and the title calls to mind Bob Fosse. Some of it even reminds me of Maria Minerva’s "Pirate’s Tale" – what a mash-up that would be! Check out Ablebody’s bandcamp over here.
Last year we became enchanted with the haunting voice of Cristina Checa, the vocalist for Barcelonian dream pop duo Granit. Now she's back with a new project, this time a collaboration with Eloi Caballé, the man who produced Granit's self-titled EP. Desert retains many of the same characteristics that made Granit so remarkable with a notably higher energy level and pop-pier songwriting. Of course, throughout both "Desert" and "Camins" is Cristina's gorgeous voice leading the way.
Desert 7" is limited to 300 copies and available for pre-order now via Glitter End Records. Stream both sides below.
The New Zealand-based Cooper Cult is a label clouded under relative anonymity due to the limited coverage it has received in Europe. Their first musical affirmation was back in the 2011 with a spectral cassette release from Brother Sun, Sister Moon, but since then, the label has gone on to release a couple of similarly mystical albums, full of naturalistic drone and intrinsic beauty. But the turn of the New Year seems to have brought about a new urgency within the label as the release of this new mixtape proves.
Compiled of excerpts from tracks to be released in 2013, the mixtape titled ‘the sun warms the skins but also burns it too’ exhibits a new sense of direction and purpose for the label. Eleven artists are featured all with a distinctive sound, but agreeably, continuing on with the lineage created through the label’s previous releases. Snoqualmie Falls’ "Red Fire Dark" is a track very much of the Cooper Cult Sound. A morose guitar is plucked through a discourse of ambience, drone and slight vocals. Roof Light’s "Untitled" with its distinct owl sample, also follows suit, however the rest of the mix produces quiet unexpected outcomes.
Most Cooper Cult tracks invoke the imagery of piety and nature, but tracks such as the UK Base sounding "Interested in You" by VVV and in particular Ensemble Economique’s "The Sun Going DOWN (live)" are wholly urbanized. With sound recordings of sirens, horns and a buzzing that mimics car acceleration, you could be forgiven for thinking it was being released on a different label. Further unusual qualities can be found with the schizophrenic but brilliant "Untitled" track from Crippling which leads onto the equally brilliant Midnight Tales – "Hibernate", whose name perfectly describe the emotions of the track. There is also time for a release from the Russian duo Love Cult, who released "Fingers Crossed" on Public Information LTD last year.
All together this is a hugely satisfying sound, full of immaculate details that necessitate the listener to contemplate. There is also simply an abundance of music to consider, as all the tracks have eccentricity to them. But through some masterly curation the tracks are compellingly bound together with a running narrative that as a collective, makes for a hugely exciting year of releases from Cooper Cult Records.
