Premiere: Shimmering Stars - “Hold on Magnolia (Songs: Ohia)”.

03 Feb 2012 — Henning Lahmann

If saying something like this makes any sense at all, Jason Molina's Songs: Ohia is easily one of the very most important bands of my life, ever since accidentally stumbling across "Nervous Bride" on a compilation given out by the German Rolling Stone in the spring of 2000. To my delight, apparently this is something I and Shimmering Stars frontman Rory McClure have in common: "Jason Molina's music has been a constant source of inspiration for me and for countless others. His songs tap into something dark, beautiful, and eternal. He is a musician in the truest sense of the word - someone who puts their entire heart and soul into their craft." As reported by Pitchfork early last week, French boutique imprint Almost Musique and the Vancouver-based band have decided to put out a cover of "Hold on Magnolia", the last song from the last-ever Songs: Ohia album Magnolia Electric Co. from 2003. It will the b-side of Shimmering Stars' forthcoming three-track 7 inch Ghosts Past EP, and the band and label will donate 10% of the proceeds of the record to the Jason Molina Medical Fund, which was set up last year to help Molina with his financial troubles following stays at a number of rehab facilities over the course of two years, while lacking medical insurance (a fate he shares with many artists in the US). The Ghosts Past EP will be out March 5. Pre-order it now over here. Also check out a-side track "When I See You Again" below: Shimmering Stars - When I See You Again If you want to donate to the fund yourself, you find more information on how to do that via Secretly Canadian. You may also show your support by sending letters or postcards to: Jason Molina c/o Ashley Lawson 4632 Quincy Adams Ct. Lorain, OH 44053 USA Read more → If saying something like this makes any sense at all, Jason Molina's Songs: Ohia is easily one of the very most important bands of my life, ever since accidentally stumbling across "Nervous Bride" on a compilation given out by the German Rolling Stone in the spring of 2000. To my delight, apparently this is something I and Shimmering Stars frontman Rory McClure have in common: "Jason Molina's music has been a constant source of inspiration for me and for countless others. His songs tap into something dark, beautiful, and eternal. He is a musician in the truest sense of the word - someone who puts their entire heart and soul into their craft." As reported by Pitchfork early last week, French boutique imprint Almost Musique and the Vancouver-based band have decided to put out a cover of "Hold on Magnolia", the last song from the last-ever Songs: Ohia album Magnolia Electric Co. from 2003. It will the b-side of Shimmering Stars' forthcoming three-track 7 inch Ghosts Past EP, and the band and label will donate 10% of the proceeds of the record to the Jason Molina Medical Fund, which was set up last year to help Molina with his financial troubles following stays at a number of rehab facilities over the course of two years, while lacking medical insurance (a fate he shares with many artists in the US). The Ghosts Past EP will be out March 5. Pre-order it now over here. Also check out a-side track "When I See You Again" below: Shimmering Stars - When I See You Again If you want to donate to the fund yourself, you find more information on how to do that via Secretly Canadian. You may also show your support by sending letters or postcards to: Jason Molina c/o Ashley Lawson 4632 Quincy Adams Ct. Lorain, OH 44053 USA

Stay+: “Protection”.

03 Feb 2012 — Henning Lahmann

There are a few different and indeed mutually contradictory stories about the initial formation of Manchester dance project Stay+, nowadays a duo consisting of Matt Farthing and Christopher Poole (the most prominent, presumably "official" version is this one). In any case, the two have announced a new EP named Arem to be dropped in March. For the time being, Ramp Recordings has released the Fuck Christian AIDS EP today, a five-track "archive" that features long-standing NFOP favorites such as "Young Luv" and "Stay Positive", but also tracks that haven't been available before, like "Protection", which you can listen to below. Get Fuck Christian AIDS now over here. Read more → There are a few different and indeed mutually contradictory stories about the initial formation of Manchester dance project Stay+, nowadays a duo consisting of Matt Farthing and Christopher Poole (the most prominent, presumably "official" version is this one). In any case, the two have announced a new EP named Arem to be dropped in March. For the time being, Ramp Recordings has released the Fuck Christian AIDS EP today, a five-track "archive" that features long-standing NFOP favorites such as "Young Luv" and "Stay Positive", but also tracks that haven't been available before, like "Protection", which you can listen to below. Get Fuck Christian AIDS now over here.

Premiere: Die Jungen - “I Pray To You”.

02 Feb 2012 — Henning Lahmann

UK-based artist Klaus Von Barrel is keeping himself busy: Besides delivering crisp and cold synth jams with his main project The KVB, only recently releasing a new full-length via Clan Destine Records, he has also had a long-standing passion for early Rock'n'Roll with his side-project Die Jungen, not unlike contemporaries such as Dirty Beaches, most notably, but less sparse and grim and sonically not as harsh in comparison. Now, Portugal boutique imprint LebensStrasse Records has decided to put out At Breath's End, Die Jungen's proper debut LP after a number of singles and EPs mostly distributed via bandcamp. Below, listen to the album's opening track "I Pray To You", a song that has a very vintage cinematic feel to it, as if something grand and sublime was just about to begin. At Breath's End will be out soon via LebensStrasse Records. This is a co-premiere with our friends over at YVYNYL. Read more → UK-based artist Klaus Von Barrel is keeping himself busy: Besides delivering crisp and cold synth jams with his main project The KVB, only recently releasing a new full-length via Clan Destine Records, he has also had a long-standing passion for early Rock'n'Roll with his side-project Die Jungen, not unlike contemporaries such as Dirty Beaches, most notably, but less sparse and grim and sonically not as harsh in comparison. Now, Portugal boutique imprint LebensStrasse Records has decided to put out At Breath's End, Die Jungen's proper debut LP after a number of singles and EPs mostly distributed via bandcamp. Below, listen to the album's opening track "I Pray To You", a song that has a very vintage cinematic feel to it, as if something grand and sublime was just about to begin. At Breath's End will be out soon via LebensStrasse Records. This is a co-premiere with our friends over at YVYNYL.

Julia Holter: “In the Same Room”.

02 Feb 2012 — Henning Lahmann

After the breathtaking "Marienbad", here's the second track to be unveiled from what clearly his one of this year's most eagerly anticipated albums, Julia Holter's Ekstasis. I've written a few more things about it over at Electronic Beats, publiched later today, but for now get lost in in the lush organ arrangement of "In the Same Room". Ekstasis will be out March 8 on RVNG Intl. Read more → After the breathtaking "Marienbad", here's the second track to be unveiled from what clearly his one of this year's most eagerly anticipated albums, Julia Holter's Ekstasis. I've written a few more things about it over at Electronic Beats, publiched later today, but for now get lost in in the lush organ arrangement of "In the Same Room". Ekstasis will be out March 8 on RVNG Intl.

RxRy: “DLTRA”.

01 Feb 2012 — Henning Lahmann

Maybe that's just me, but in my humble opinion, the enigmatic, US-based producer RxRy has dropped some of the finest, most forward-thinking and demanding electronic music over the past year, yet he still lacks that kind of attention and appreciation that you'd expect. But then again, maybe that's just me. However, I seriously dig his latest effort DLTRA, made available for free only a few days ago via his blog. And honestly, though they might not recite any hip house tropes or motivate anyone to dance along in excitement, you don't hear tracks as finely arranged and twisted as album standouts "Aertheiwflx" or opener "Tvarng" all that often, and RxRy's close attention on every detail is a sheer delight. Listen below, and download the whole thing over here. Highly recommended. Read more → Maybe that's just me, but in my humble opinion, the enigmatic, US-based producer RxRy has dropped some of the finest, most forward-thinking and demanding electronic music over the past year, yet he still lacks that kind of attention and appreciation that you'd expect. But then again, maybe that's just me. However, I seriously dig his latest effort DLTRA, made available for free only a few days ago via his blog. And honestly, though they might not recite any hip house tropes or motivate anyone to dance along in excitement, you don't hear tracks as finely arranged and twisted as album standouts "Aertheiwflx" or opener "Tvarng" all that often, and RxRy's close attention on every detail is a sheer delight. Listen below, and download the whole thing over here. Highly recommended.

Samaritan: “Untitled 1982”.

01 Feb 2012 — Henning Lahmann

Norwich producer Sam Martin aka Samaritan uploaded a short yet very rewarding new track to his Soundcloud recently, the slowly flickering "Untitled 1982 ". Martin earned some well deserved props last year for his brilliant first efforts Part of the Jurys Vol. 1 and the Don't Try Love EP, and this track is a pleasant reminder that we can hope for more to come soon. Read more → Norwich producer Sam Martin aka Samaritan uploaded a short yet very rewarding new track to his Soundcloud recently, the slowly flickering "Untitled 1982 ". Martin earned some well deserved props last year for his brilliant first efforts Part of the Jurys Vol. 1 and the Don't Try Love EP, and this track is a pleasant reminder that we can hope for more to come soon.

Announcing: Ad Hoc.

01 Feb 2012 — Henning Lahmann

When we mourned over the sudden demise of one of our favorite underground music resources Altered Zones last November (and thereby unfortunately upset a few people who we actually love and whose work we admire), we did neither know nor expect that something even more amazing would soon be announced by former AZ editors Emilie Friedlander and Ric Leichtung to follow in its footsteps - Ad Hoc - and that we, as a rather exciting side note, would subsequently be asked to take part as one of the ten music blogs that will constitute the core of the site, alongside all those truly essential and devoted music sites Visitation Rites, Raven Sings The Blues, Decoder, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Dummy Magazine, Mutant Sounds, Rose Quartz, International Tapes, and Distonal (ex-The Decibel Tolls). But as announced in the video above, Ad Hoc will be more than a blog collective: "Ad Hoc is also a quarterly zine - available in electronic and paper formats, and full of original art work and long-form features. Resurrecting the curatorial logic of zine culture, Ad Hoc will paint a dynamic, living landscape of the underground music world at large, setting the reflections of professional journalists and critics alongside artists, promoters, and other music-world personalities. Ad Hoc is a mosaic of voices, each offering its own partial illumination of underground music today, and what it means to navigate a rapidly changing industry in the era of information." Emilie and Ric and all other people involved have worked hard to make all this possible in the past weeks, and will continue to do so until the site's launch. However, we could use a little bit of your help, too, so a Kickstarter page has been set up, with (seriously) amazing rewards to gently convince you to aid us funding our dream. Regular transmissions will start soon. Until then, you may already connect via Facebook and Twitter, and we'll also keep you updated here. We hope Ad Hoc will be able to deliver what we've promised: Everything That You Could Ever Want In A Blog. Please help us make it happen. Read more → When we mourned over the sudden demise of one of our favorite underground music resources Altered Zones last November (and thereby unfortunately upset a few people who we actually love and whose work we admire), we did neither know nor expect that something even more amazing would soon be announced by former AZ editors Emilie Friedlander and Ric Leichtung to follow in its footsteps - Ad Hoc - and that we, as a rather exciting side note, would subsequently be asked to take part as one of the ten music blogs that will constitute the core of the site, alongside all those truly essential and devoted music sites Visitation Rites, Raven Sings The Blues, Decoder, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Dummy Magazine, Mutant Sounds, Rose Quartz, International Tapes, and Distonal (ex-The Decibel Tolls). But as announced in the video above, Ad Hoc will be more than a blog collective: "Ad Hoc is also a quarterly zine - available in electronic and paper formats, and full of original art work and long-form features. Resurrecting the curatorial logic of zine culture, Ad Hoc will paint a dynamic, living landscape of the underground music world at large, setting the reflections of professional journalists and critics alongside artists, promoters, and other music-world personalities. Ad Hoc is a mosaic of voices, each offering its own partial illumination of underground music today, and what it means to navigate a rapidly changing industry in the era of information." Emilie and Ric and all other people involved have worked hard to make all this possible in the past weeks, and will continue to do so until the site's launch. However, we could use a little bit of your help, too, so a Kickstarter page has been set up, with (seriously) amazing rewards to gently convince you to aid us funding our dream. Regular transmissions will start soon. Until then, you may already connect via Facebook and Twitter, and we'll also keep you updated here. We hope Ad Hoc will be able to deliver what we've promised: Everything That You Could Ever Want In A Blog. Please help us make it happen.