Paw Paw is the palpably celestial, drone-heavy solo project by Woodsman drummer Eston Lathrop. After a slew of digital releases, dropped over the course of the last two years via bandcamp, Brooklyn imprint Fire Talk is going to release the 16-track double cassette Temporalis / Epiphysis next month. Predominantly unobtrusive and low-key, Lathrop's music meanders gently along a mellow path of contemplation, the almost 70 minutes playing time being enough to put the listener into a welcome state of mild and warming sedation. Listenened to en passant, the individual tracks may sometimes come across as somewhat nondesript, but closer attention reveals a wealth of well-constructed details emerging from the all-encompassing wall of sound. A very rewarding listen taken by itself, shrooms or other means of narcotization will probably enhance the overall experience. We're happy to premiere today another track from the cassette, the especially beatific "Plural Being". Stream it below.
Temporalis / Epiphysis is out digitally and on cassette via Fire Talk on April 23. Pre-order now over here.
Moonless is the latest release from the consistently brilliant Astro:Dynamics. When one has such faith (as I do) in the quality of the A&R at a label, it is hard to autonomously critique anything they put out. Their most recent tape comes courtesy of California-bred and Brooklyn-based Lotide aka visual artist Devon Hansen.
The album is an expansive twelve-track piece of sound art – constructed from more of a series of well crafted extracts of music, rather than a twelve-track assemblage. Even though the record has quite an abstract approach, there are similarities to early Flying Lotus output, particularly on "You, Asleep" and "Diamond Plum" – it seems Hansen’s upbringing has left an unshakable impact on his production. But there is enough in the album to dissuade the listener otherwise, especially from the ambient sound extracts heard from "Latitudes", or the Gregorian-styled chanting on "Monks" and "Moth Communion". The album finishes very strongly with the grandiose "Lovers' Masque", which rounds off an extremely absorbing listen. There really isn't any particular low points during Moonless, as the record flows so effortlessly forward. Once again you have to say Astro:Dynamics have come up trumps. Below, check out the visuals for the brief "Monks", and take an exclusive listen to the stunning track "Lovers' Masque".
Moonless will be released on cassette and digital via Astro:Dynamics on April 1.
The eye test Justin Timberlake is so fond of these days (see The 20/20 Experience) rears its head in the premiere video for boys of Brooklyn VISUALS’ (Marshall Ryan and Andrew Fox, the latter probably still known to some as part of probably defunct BK outfit Translations) "Levitation", in which an eye test conjures projections of highlighter and maybe outer space. The eye test doesn’t just function as a cool music video angle. Fox possessed only 'partial vision' and had to be trained in how to see in all-encompassing 3D. So as you can imagine, everything about the band, its name and music video conceit, mean more with this story – he was in the position of the little girl quite a bit. Announcements about a debut EP haven’t been made yet, but another track is up on their Soundcloud.
Iowa City's ever-reliable Night-People imprint has once again been on fire recently, without a lot of fuss dropping superb and modestly high-profile releases by underground pop luminaries such as Featureless Ghost, Dylan Ettinger, or Boy Friend. Next in line is the latest tape by Some Ember, the Bay Area-based outfit gathered around mastermind Dylan Travis, whose 2012 full-length Hotel of Lost Light on Crash Symbols managed to enthral with its blend of post-punk faithfulness and latter-day electronics, unobtrusively experimental on the edges and by all means gloomy without slipping into shallow cliché, which happens all too easily within this genre. Follow-up EP Asleep in the Ice Palace now is another tight and compellingly mature effort, delivered with a surprising amount of confidence. The group persists on exploring the darker side of 80s wave tropes, at times rather obviously reminiscing authorities such as Joy Division or The Cure, at other plunging deep into more remote currents of the era, demonstrating a considerable expertise in minimal wave and other left-field subgenres, evoking images of bleak and empty basements crowded with sweaty, belligerent youngsters dressed in black. Overall, Asleep in the Ice Palace might not exactly reinvent the wheel when it comes to heavy, dead serious synth music, but it is a highly enjoyable and very convincing EP without any doubt. Stream it in full below.
Asleep in the Ice Palace is out on cassette via Night-People.
Hyetal’s "Northwest Passage" is all come-on-everybody-and-gather-around high five happy pancaking and slopping slaps and tingling shoulder chugs. The tufted slaps have jangles hanging off them. The vocals of Gwilym Gold raise aloft appropriately. Suffice to add that the publicist's description does the song perfect justice, "Northwest Passage" being 'percussively a more refined and aggressive record to Broadcast, break-neck drum machines informed by post punk experimentalists and hip hop micro genres are set against melodies conceived from daydreams of childhood nostalgia and imagined futuristic vistas.' Yes. See for yourself below.
The track is out digitally and on 12" vinyl on April 29, and Hyetal's forthcoming album Modern Worship set to arrive May 20 courtesy of True Panther Sounds.
SOHN's "Bloodflows" starts out like any tune with a heavy R’n’B influence – modern emotive male vocals sing through a minimal, eerie musical presence. The initial introduction of the drum rhythm, an 808 drum machine effect, does little to persuade you otherwise. Then the track takes a drastic turn and all its anonymities dissipate into a thick wave of vocal effects, potent organs and accelerated drum rhythms. It’s a welcome change and importantly validates all the track's endeavours. "Bloodflows" is certainly not a bad track, but Vienna and London-based SOHN is playing in a field brimming with this sort of artists, who produce this exact type of music. Still, "Bloodflows" gives just enough to imply the artist might be able to separate himself from the rest of the pack and hold his own position in this slightly saturated genre.
Emily Reo's latest, "Peach", was released earlier today as part of the Clubhouse Split, a collaborative tape that also features a re-mastered version of her song "Metal" (formerly known as "Metal on Your Skin") and two tracks each by female artists Yohuna (Johanne Swanson), MoonLasso (Malee Bringardner), and Brown Bread (Rebecca Doerfer). "Peach" is at the pinnacle of the bedroom pop aesthetic and makes a great lead off for the tape. Siren-like vocals make the song addictive. The listener is stepped up into the track as it builds from playful percussion into a layered, atmospheric dreamscape. The tune is round, juicy, and fuzzy—just like its namesake.
The Clubhouse Split is out today on Crash Symbols. Order the tape, stream it in full or just download it for pay-what-you-want over here.
Long-standing NFOP favourite Dan Svizeny aka Cough Cool is about to drop 29, the follow-up full-length to his excellent 2011 LP Lately. The first two tracks unveiled in anticipation of the record see the Philadelphia-based musician continuing to walk down the never-ending and never-tiring path of sunburnt slacker fuzz pop, recited with Svizeny's very own gift for confident melancholia, whether or not this makes any sense to you at all. Listen to both "Intro to Regret" and "Cross" below.
