Hamburg-based duo Circuit Diagram are about to drop a 12" via the city's famed Pudel Produkte imprint; it's an encounter that obviously makes sense, no place on earth could possibly be more suited for the project's deranged post-oriental dub alienations than Hamburg's unsurpassable and most cherished spot for the otherness in contemporary dance music. 10 and a half minute "Amanar" is a tour de force through elusive realms of neglected kraut afterthoughts, very likely one of the strangest yet most stupefying tracks I've come across all year. That vocal sample is as catchy as it is impossible to pigeonhole, the groove plainly seductive, while the virtuoso, unexpected middle section somehow pushes all the right buttons. Truly superb.
Hippy's two EPs, constant gigs around New York, and a trip to SXSW have established the band on everyone's list of who's taking off in the Brooklyn music scene, and the timing is just right for the release of their upcoming LP Almost Live. The 12 tracks promise to be more of the lo-fi garage pop, always with a twist, for which Hippy is known. Enjoy an early listen of "Magic Wand" off of the new album below, available today for digital download.
Once in a while, something entirely unexpected emerges from the basements of Toronto, out of nowhere unless you happen to be listening at the right window or living on the floor above. Rarely, however, are they armed and dangerous, and coming down for the Maltese Budgie. Me and My Rhythm Box is a combination of members of other, more well-known and established Toronto bands, such as Dinosaur Dinosaur and Drugs in Japan, but we still had no idea this was coming. Teaspoons and Tablesalts is a brilliant debut EP, full of twists and turns, memorable vocal harmonies, charmingly rough-around-the-edges production and some loveable barely on-tempo moments. Pranks and profundities sung through clenched teeth. Bedroom indie rock done properly, for once.
Teaspoons and Tablesalts can be purchased PWYW from Bandcamp.
Home Alone's "Teddybears & Weed" comes to us from dreary suburbs of Toronto, and its studied, meandering lo-fi grandeur is a testament to the benefits of semi-urban isolation. Its languid tempos, heavy reverb and bedroom and basement production create a space that is at once limited and expansive, building a sense of wonder and possibility through understated means. Beneath the layers of fuzz and delay there is a sharp pop sensibility at work, perhaps most evident in the reeling sample driven stomp of the title track, which recalls Toronto's lo-fi heroes of yesteryear The Russian Futurists. Elsewhere, "Sleep.Walk.In" delivers a Buddy Holly guitar lick at a glacial pace, while the leadoff track, "Keep Breathing", is a hypnotic semi-instrumental trip, gradually building through a haze of unintelligible vocal samples. "Teenage Tide might be the highlight, shambling along under the power of a jangly lead guitar line it's reminiscent of The Shins' pre-Shins band Flake Music, but with a greater eye for adventure. Over the album's six songs there really isn't a bad track and they hold together remarkably well, its a near-perfect dispatch from too-stoned suburbia.
Teddybears & Weed is available as a download on bandcamp and in a physical format through Orchid Tapes.
On June 25, Audraglint will bring us The-Drum's album, Contact. First track "Sirens" eschews the usual employment of, well, sirens in songs as a crowd-pleasing device and instead gets to the matter of what sirens really signify, and the hysteria that comes along with that. Sirens don’t always mean party people or "all about the wetness here. AMAZON JUNGLE RAGER". The track is like Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" or "Work It", minus Missy with some nibbling morse coding and the infamous Harry Potter screaming mandrakes added for good measure. It's parsed out Missy, though, as we know, her songs are already pretty darn deconstructed thanks to the work of Timbaland.
As reported on FACT the other day, recently founded Lyon/Geneva label Danse Noire Records seeks to 'deconstruct club conventions', and if their first release already justifies any generalisations, they certainly are on the right track. The Out Of Body EP by Turin native Daniele Mana aka Vaghe Stelle is one of the most accomplished and compelling instances of deranged dancefloor deviations that we've come across lately. The EP's five original tracks showcase a stupendous variety while confidently remaining left of the field. We're happy to premiere the first full stream of one tracks below - "Spiral Gloom" starts off with warped, contorted synth phrases and quickly develops into a straightforward if blurred and twisted off-kilter noise/techno hybrid that manages to stay highly original without unduely hiding its inspirations.
Out Of Body is out May 6. Preview snippets of all tracks below "Spiral Gloom", including the remixes by Peaking Lights and Nguzunguzu (tracks 6 and 7). Fourth track "The Sure Thing", we'd like to point out, sounds like something The Joker would produce if Kuedo were Batman (which he probably is). Highly recommended.
Harrisonburg, Virginia-based Surfing have recorded five new tracks, produced by Lopato of Lil Kids, and are preparing to release an EP featuring on vinyl this summer. The first single, "Hollow Sparrow," is a stark switch to shoegaze from the band's previous punk tracks. Lead singer Jordan Stern's vocals, which manage to be open and breathy, but maintain a soulful timbre, are complemented by aggressive guitar and percussion. Surfing fully owns their new sound and I anticipate the EP will inject the East coast shoegaze scene with a new energy.
The anonymous producer and NFOP regular Unknown returns to the surface after a few months of silence (remember we posted a new track pretty much once a week for a while?), this time bringing together bits and pieces of MMOTHS "For Her" into his eclipse club universe. Not much more to say really: listen to the brilliance yourself below.
