The Radio Dept. - (2004) Why Won't You Talk About It?

 

 XL Recordings ‎– REKD 41

Like many a cult artist, the Radio Dept have frequently proven their own worst enemies. Take it from their label boss, Johan Angergård of Stockholm’s Labrador Records:

There’s been fights and threats regarding contracts. They’ve cancelled more interviews than all the other bands I’ve worked with altogether. They are unworldly time optimists (they can miss a deadline by three years). They’ve demanded – and received – so much advances that we haven’t been able to pay our bills. I’ve had to bribe them with drugs to persuade them to talk to selected parts of the press. They’ve been soundly pissed off when a colour of their artwork didn’t turn out exactly the shade they intended … the story goes on.”

Now consider that these complaints were listed in the liner notes to the band’s 2010 singles and rarities collection Passive Aggressive (in case you’re wondering why Angergård bothers releasing the Radio Dept’s music at all, elsewhere he hails them as “fantastic songwriters and almost geniusly wayward producers”), and you begin to appreciate that a kind of glorious dysfunctionality is written into these painfully shy lo-fi electro dreampop Swedes’ DNA. That and an integrity few other groups could claim to possess.

A rotating cast of musicians based around long-term friends Johan Duncanson and Martin Larsson (occasional third member Daniel Tjäder also plays with Korallreven), the Radio Dept originally hail from the southern Swedish university town of Lund. Their name, taken from a local petrol station turned radio repair shop, has been used by Duncanson since 1995. But the band’s noisy-melodic signature sound only really came to be with a string of EPs from 2000’s Against the Tide through to 2003’s Pulling Our Weight, each of them self-produced – like all of the Radio Dept’s music to date – by Duncanson and Larsson at their home studio.

There’s true magic in these early formative toyings with wonky drum machines, gauzy synths and guitars soaked in fuzz and reverb. Only semi-discernible through an enigmatic cloak of ambient drones and tape hiss, Duncanson’s softly sung words speak to his stubborn iconoclasm and bored disillusionment with normative power structures, be they within the music industry, politics or relationships. The pseudo-shoegazey, feedback- and distortion-torn Against the Tide and Why Won’t You Talk About It? – each recorded initially as demos, now firm fan favourites – are so overdriven it feels like your speakers can barely take it...

White Poppy - (2017) The Pink Haze Of Love

 

Self-released ‎– none 

White Poppy's latest EP marks something of a departure for Crystal Dorval's oft-titled "dream pop" project. Ironically, Pink Haze of Love clears some of the "haze" that masked her previous releases and positions Dorval as a new age singer songwriter. The album weaves through 8 songs that deal in matters of love, limerence and heartbreak in an uncharacteristically forward manner. Dorval's hypnotic guitar circles its way around warm, droning synths while her lyrics and voice take centre stage for the first time. The result is a short but sweet meditation, sung from a candlelit cabin, that echoes over a calm tide.

Teams, Noah & Repeat Pattern - (2018) Kwaidan

 

flau ‎– FLAU72  

 KWAIDAN is collection of reverb soaked harmonies leaning on a couch of field recordings and heavy drums all accompanying the vocals of flau’s Noah. Songs referencing Japanese folk tales about ghosts and spirits presented, not in the usual tone of a ghost story but rather, in a romanticized air of normalcy and matter-of-factness.

Stranded Whale - (2018) The Revival

 

 Qiii Snacks Records ‎– none

The ten-song album signifies the transformation of the band, from urban folk to alternative, within three years. The Revival features Grey, a song collaborated with Taiwanese chamber group Cicada during the band’s tour in 2016. The album also highlights two songs, Why Don’t You and Dies In A Room, from a limited edition of 7” lathe-cut “Why Don’t You?”, which is distributed by indie label Sweaty and Cramped. In 2017, a dreamy and obscure music video of Sunday’s Over was released, which demonstrated the band’s avid interest in alternative, electronic and jazz.

The whale has voyaged from the sea and plunged into the deepest ditch.

Sparrows - (2019) Berries LP

 

flau ‎– FLAU79 

 “Travel is always the theme of Sparrows’ work,” says Ryota Miyake (aka Sparrows himself). It’s on his latest album Berries that this is truly exemplified, not just in the international smorgasbord of featuring artists from Fazerdaze (New Zealand), Julián Mayorga (Spain), Casey MQ (Canada) and Vincent Ruiz aka Yung Veerp (Switzland), to Iranian-American producer Kamron Saniee, but in the actual feeling of the music itself. “I wanted it to be a little hard-boiled and rough,” he admits, “but in the end, the concept is to travel like science fiction.”

And when it comes to “travel like science fiction”, nothing does it better than Miyake’s latest body of work. Taking cues from the retro dadaist electronica of his band CRYSTAL, there are tracks like ‘Moon’, drenched in atmospheric VGM flavours, ‘The Star Tours’ which Ryota himself describes as “pre-YMO fusion”, and the “phony jazz band, acid house bass and synth noise” of ‘Bands In The Sand’. This theme of the “imaginary band” crops up more than once.

Elsewhere Berries tumbles along in a patchwork of ‘Coffee and TV’ jangle, splashy jazz elements, ‘60s psychedelia and galloping, airy space rock, making for a journey that’s as vivid as it is varied. Sounds, we’re told, from Miyake’s student days.

“I had a lot of opportunities to listen to jazz, fusion, and soul,” he admits, “but I decided on the overall tone thinking that I would be able to mix the feeling of the puffy life I had spent abroad with the pale, dreamy, psychic atmosphere I had always liked.”

Speaking of that “puffy life”, he was originally going to name the album Sparrows’ Lazy Life but decided on Berries when a friend suggested “a short title like Taylor Swift because there were a lot of sweet pop songs.” Each track on Berries bursts with flavour: the perfect road trip snack for a mystical mixed salad of journeys and travels.

somesurprises - (2019) ST LP

 

 Drawing Room Records ‎– DRLP00036

Somesurprises is the moniker of Seattle singer/songwriter Natasha El-Sergany. What once was a solo project focusing on spectral balladry and late night exploration, somesurprises has since formed into a dynamic live band. Motorik beats, reverb-drenched vocals, washes of fingerpicked guitars, and hazy synths expand El-Sergany’s delicate and blissful songwriting. Over the years, somesurprises has built a strong presence in the Seattle music scene, and toured the west coast. In Seattle, they have opened for touring artists such as Circuit Des Yeux, Carla dal Forno, A Place to Bury Strangers, and the Cave Singers...

...With its 36th release, Drawing Room brings in a new wonder with somesurprises’ self-titled debut LP, a treasure among pop treasures. The album explores a range of styles, from gradually intensifying meditative drones, to songs where the same moment never quite happens twice. As in previous cassette releases with fewer members, El-Sergany uses her ethereal voice as an instrument, no more or less central to the music than a guitar hook or a drumbeat. But the vocals and lyrics are more in focus than ever before. From shimmering cascades of reverbed guitar chords, to driving bass and percussion guiding guitar and synth freak-out outros, as a full band, somesurprises finds its fullest expression yet. The songwriting here, laden with effects and orchestral arrangements, reaches for more than navel-gazing, or (even shoegazing) and seeks, perhaps, through knowledge of the self, to guide the way out of one’s own mind.

somesurprises & supercandy - (2019) Some Candy

 

Crash Symbols ‎– PBUH126 

Our latest split is returns to the Pacific Northwest with two exciting psych projects: Natasha El-Sergany's somesurprises, since expanded into a full band for their Doom Trip group debut, and Brenan Chamber's solo vehicle supercandy. Both sides are atmospheric and engrossing, a witches' brew that draws from a variety of influences. While somesurprises offer five tracks with an oblique, almost noirish tint, supercandy follows a similar shade in a more cosmic direction.

"Beautiful music in free fall..." -Lost in a Sea of Sound

"Imagine hearing another person’s dream put to cassette." -Ruix Zine

"...truly a perfect meld of two incredible psych rock projects out of the Pacific Northwest." -Houdini Mansions

"...laden with ghostly soundscapes and mist-inducing reverb." -Infinite Headphones

Holy Motors - (2018) Slow Sundown

 

Wharf Cat Records ‎– none 

2017’s equal parts somnambulant and sultry Sleeprydr 7” was aptly described as “psychedelic rock that hits like a dream despite undoubtedly seeking to soundtrack nightmares” (-Stereogum). Thankfully, Slow Sundown, Holy Motors’ debut full length release, finds the Estonian dreamcatchers utilizing a similar sonic palette ranging from dark psychedelic pop to shoegaze-inflected western music. But while Sleeprydr, much like 2015’s Heavenly Creatures 7”, provided only a fleeting glimpse into the dreamscape that their music evokes, Slow Sundown’s eight tracks offer a more immersive experience for those brave enough to take the ride. While the guitar lines from lonely cowboy ballads like “Honeymooning” could easily serve as the central themes for unwritten Morriccone scores, dystopian anthems like the rhythmically propelled “Signs” break new ground for the band and demonstrate that Holy Motors are not bound by their influences. Thematically the album is comprised primarily of sad love songs centered around the idea of motion – the motion of a satellite orbiting a planet, the motion of a passenger riding shotgun in a car – as it relates to stellar-scale and existential isolation. Produced by Merchandise’s Carson Cox and recorded at Brooklyn’s Kutch1 Studios when the band was visiting the US on tourist visas, Slow Sundown is a beautiful alien artifact that definitively delivers on everything we have been promised by Holy Motors’ work to date. 

Seablite - (2020) High-Rise Mannequins

 

Emotional Response – ER 102

 2019 finished with critical acclaim across the board for SEABLITE’s lives shows and their excellent debut album topping many Year End “Best-Of” lists. There was even a surprise and welcome placing at #36 in Good Morning America’s top 50 albums of the year, rubbing shoulders with some industry giants!

The new year sees the band off to a flying start, with a brand new 4 song 10inch EP, that builds on their growing stature as songwriters and performers. Recorded by Alicia Vanden Heuvel (The Aislers Set, Poundsign etc), in San Francisco, the new recordings capture the band at an exciting moment in time, as they take their place amongst the growing list of Bay Area fuzz-pop indie-greats.

Same Waves - (2018) Algorithm of Desire

 

 flau ‎– flau71 

 Same Waves is Lindsay Anderson and John Hughes. Hughes first crossed paths with Anderson in 2002 when she recorded vocals for Telefon Tel Aviv’s single, “Sound in a Dark Room”, which would appear on Hughes’ Hefty Records imprint. Hefty went on to release work from Anderson’s group L’Altra, as well as her vocal contributions for Telefon Tel Aviv and Hughes’ own studio projects. The two reconnected over a cup of coffee 3 years ago, eager to document a new period in their musical lives through a collaboration from the ground up. Anderson, a songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist and Hughes, a producer and electronic musician, create a beautiful and strange hybrid of synthesized and organic elements on Algorithm of Desire. The album, equal parts pristine and weathered, lyrically and sonically explores themes of human connection, algorithmic technology, desire and artistic creation, all within the confines of a surrealist landscape. The album was recorded outside of Chicago at HFT Studio and includes several players from the Chicago jazz and improvisational scene.

Pure X - (2020) Rare Ecstasy 2009-2019 LP

 

Infinite Best Recordings ‎– FTK163

Rare Ecstasy 2009-2019 is a collection of unreleased b-sides, demos, and covers that span the more than a decade career of the Texas underground legends. Rare Ecstasy includes early tracks that reflect what Pitchfork once called the “druggy, wall-of-sound escapism that put them on the map,” as well as unreleased recordings from each album session that document the evolution of the Pure X sound. A must- have addition to the collection of any Pure X fan.

Purple Pilgrims - (2019) Perfumed Earth

 

 Flying Nun Records ‎– FN589LP

Purple Pilgrims emerged in 2011 with an 8-inch lathe cut in an edition of 50. It held two untitled tracks with a cover photo swiped from the poster for the Wes Craven-directed 1981 cult horror movie Deadly Blessing and was accompanied by a hand-sewn 12-page zine. Checking out the tracks on Bandcamp (via the PseudoArcana label), they radiate like a mixture of environmental field recordings and pop that’s as psychedelic as it is dreamy; that it was mastered by Brian Crook of the Renderers provides a clue as to where it’s all situated.

From there, Purple Pilgrims shared a 2013 split LP with the US-based twisted synth psych sculptor Gary War on Upset! The Rhythm and they followed that in 2016 with their proper full-length debut Eternal Delight on the Not Not Fun label. The songs on the split lessened the hazy drifty quality that could make ‘em seem like a byproduct of the Xpressway label in favor of dreamy glisten-glide, and all was well.

With Eternal Delight, the sound blossomed even more, all while retaining tangible but subtle edge in the delivery, so that folks who gravitated toward the lathe-cut debut could continue to relate. There was also an increase in attention to synth ambiance that underscored the association with Gary War. On Perfumed Earth, this connection persists, as War contributed bass and synth lines to the record from various US hotels while he was out touring with John Maus.

For this recording, the Nixons utilized the same rustic studio in Tapu where Eternal Delight was cut, augmenting the vibe with those abovementioned assists, which include drumming from Lorde keyboardist Jimmy Mac and guitar from Surf City’s Joshua Kennedy. But the moody lushness of the brief opener “How Long Is Too Long” puts the sisters solidly in the foreground.

And it’s not like they get lost in the proceedings as Perfumed Earth unfolds, but “Ancestors Watching” does register as a more collaborative affair, or at least more layered, even as it mingles vocal beauty with a gemlike glistening keyboard pattern. And speaking of patterns, those drums do add heft, but it’s not like Purple Pilgrims are standing on the precipice of rocking out.

And that’s cool. Pop splendor is increasingly the fruits of the Nixon’s artistic labor, with “Sensing Me” the sorta tune that will inevitably draw comparisons to Kate Bush. One crucial difference is the elevated vocal harmony; hey, it’s like having two Kate Bush’s on hand, and that circumstance blends well with the non-clichéd and often subtle synth-pop current that runs throughout the disc.

This synth-pop aura, with an emphasis on pop, intensifies during “I’m Not Saying,” the song reminding me a little bit of Stephin Merritt (like something he might’ve recorded with Susan Amway, or as part of the 6ths project), but just a wee bit, as the Nixons lack Merritt’s strain of eccentricity and his anachronistic qualities. That is, “I’m Not Saying” has nothing to do with the Tin Pan Alley. It’s just good pure synth-pop that calls out for chilly autumn weather.

To my ear, synth-pop and the fall season complement each other particularly well. A personal idiosyncrasy perhaps, but one not unworthy of comment. I’m also taken with how well the Nixonian dream-pop sensibility blends with the playing of experimental saxophonist Jeff Henderson. While his playing does flirt with free jazz a smidge along the way, the whole is much more about prettiness, courtesy of a vibraphone-like keyboard line. There is also a hovering synth.

But most notably, as neither Nixon sings it all holds up extremely well. The voices do return in “Two Worlds Apart.” Here, the tempo shifts. It’s now up, and it’s dancy, though there’s an instrumental ambiance reminding me just a little of very early Stereolab. Others may not hear this similarity at all, but hopefully it’s getting driven home that Purple Pilgrims are far from a typical dream-pop/ synth-pop scenario.

“Love in Lunacy (Saturn Return)” cultivates a touch of retro-futurist strangeness while keeping on the pop course. Closer “Tragic Gloss” heads wholeheartedly down that the same avenue and with some appealing synth cascades thrown in. However, it’s penultimate track “Ruinous Splendour,” in part through the guitar of Roy Montgomery, that stands as one of Perfumed Earth’s highlights.

As Purple Pilgrims assisted Montgomery on his very nifty Suffuse from last year, their association is a sturdy one. I’m also struck that the most enjoyable (if not necessarily best) Flying Nun record I’ve heard in quite a while features guitar from a member of the Pin Group, a unit responsible for the very first Flying Nun record, the “Ambivalence” 45. But I don’t want to stray from the point here; even with a handful of help, the core of Perfumed Earth’s goodness derives from Valentine and Clementine Nixon.

Parker and Lily - (2004) Here Comes Winter

 

Manifesto ‎– MFO 43601

Like their debut album, Hello Halo, Parker and Lily stick with a gauzy, dream rock sound for their second effort. Here Comes Winter is as charming as its predecessor; delicate synth beats weave in and around humming organs, soft-hued bells, and vibraphones. Lily Wolfe is an angel with her warm, girlish vocals, while her partner, Parker Noon's vocal hushing is nearly cheerless. Together, they're a darling pair, making Here Comes Winter a daydreamy songbook of broken hearts. "You Are My Matinee" is a glossy, lo-fi gem where Noon gushes about his crush in an unnervy, cinematic tone. "Bridge and Tunnel" and "Motel Lights" are more sinister and dark with creepy instrumentation thanks to Noon's quiet, spoken narrative. When Wolfe takes to the mic, she gives Parker and Lily a new light -- a sweetness. She swoons over young love on the carnival-like, candied fun of "My Apartment Complex," while "For C.L. (Iowa Is Passing By)" aches with poetic heartbreak. Elements of travel and holiday also highlight Parker and Lily's musical life on Here Comes Winter; the bossa nova shimmy of "Three-Day Life" is a delightful match for the salsa twists of electronic beats on "Planes in Clouds." Here Comes Winter slowly works against the entangled mess of love and life. Parker and Lily's personal relationship is more apparent on this album; how imperfect they might be as lovers makes for a mesmerizing set of songs. There's a genuine sense of longing and desire on Here Comes Winter, but without self-pity. Their art is divinely complex and that's what makes Parker and Lily so interesting. 

Paco Sala - (2019) Our Love Is The Gold LP

 

Denovali Records ‎– DEN312 

“"Our Love Is The Gold" is the third proper studio album from Paco Sala following "Ro-Me-Ro" & "Put Your Hands On Me". Written over 4 years it marks a return to song-writing for the duo, employing fever-dream melodies and synth drunk hooks, balanced against off-kilter production that sets them apart from their peers.

Intense, impassioned, guttural yet enigmatic - the album documents the process of leaving London and the empowerment a new life inspires. The opening & title track is a statement of intent “are you aware of my power?” repeats Garza, leaving us in no doubt that we really shouldn’t doubt her.

Tone set, what follows is gloriously idiosyncratic and deeply personal pop, presented without compromise or concession. Direct, confident, articulate - gone are the the opiated improvisations of 2017’s "The Silent Season", though the wilful sense of adventure remains throughout. "Our Love is The Gold" is a record of awakenings and self-discovery.”

Thibault - (2020) Or Not Thibault

 

Chapter Music ‎– CH165LP

Thibault is the long-awaited new project for Melbourne musician Nicole Thibault.

Her drily-titled debut album Or Not Thibault is full of harmonic invention, unexpected arrangements, and atmospheres so lush they make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It moves seamlessly from humour to genuine pathos, from spacious mystery to kinetic energy.

Nicole’s former band Minimum Chips were a cornerstone of Chapter Music’s fabled 90s roster. For a decade or so, Minimum Chips played Moog-driven motorik pop that made them support band of choice for touring artists like Stereolab, Pavement, Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Nicole’s vocals, trombone, keyboards and songwriting helped grow a cult mystique around Min Chips that persists to this day.

Nicole took time off in the late 00s to raise a family, but recently returned to music with the support of a new generation of Melbourne pop kids. Or Not Thibault includes contributions from Zak Olsen (Orb, Traffik Island), Rebecca Liston (Parsnip), Lachlan Denton (The Ocean Party) as well as Minimum Chips co-conspirator Julian Patterson. The live Thibault band currently features Zak, Rebecca and Stella Rennex (Parsnip).

The album’s dreamy space-age pop feel has been beautifully captured by producer James Cecil (The Goon Sax, Architecture In Helsinki).

Or Not Thibault is a richly rewarding return from a master of melody and charm. 

Oh! Calcutta! - (2016) The Greatest Story Ever Told

 

Frank de Jong ‎– none

Nubes en mi casa - (2018) ¿Qué Viene Después?

 

Plastilina Records ‎– none

La banda argentina Nubes en mi casa después de un prolongado silencio, nos regala un nuevo sencillo, uno que se pasea entre géneros como el rock, dream pop e incluso la electrónica.

El track llamado “¿Que viene después?” con ese perfil experimental, está envuelto en una atmósfera melancólica y misteriosa, se pasea por algunas secuencias y su ritmos cambiantes y contrastes le otorgan una personalidad singular y satisfactoria. Además, la melodiosa voz de Josefina sigue siendo un importante componente, un instrumento más que se desenvuelve líquidamente entre los sonidos que van brotando.

Schonwald - (2017) Night Idyll LP

 

Manic Depression ‎– MD084-LP

 With the artistic promise to make a step forward from the gloomy shades, "Night Idyll" transforms dark into psychedelic drone made of shimmering ethereal movements strongly inspired by a brighter nocturnal dance in particular making "Love Collides" an ideal new start.
Significantly, the songs favour imagery of love-passion lasting over time and massive melodies replacing the claustrophobic, smothering mood of previous SCHONWALD work
is new-found appreciation of space and the actual melody itself, infused with a kind of vainglorious mix of shoegaze, darkwave and dream pop.

Nicholas Krgovich & Friends - (2020) Pasadena Afternoon

 

 Moone Records – MR045

 “Pasadena Afternoon” was recorded this past February, in a day, for fun. The previous summer there was a NK show booked at Zebulon opening for Chris Cohen and after doing multiple solo tours I was excited by the idea of throwing together a pick-up band for this one. So I roped in my Dear Nora bandmates Zach Burba and Greg Campanile to play bass and drums and Aaron Olson from LA Takedown to play guitar and we learned a bunch of songs written by our friends. We learned two by Lake, a Chris Cohen one, two by Dear Nora, one by Little Wings, one by Ruth Garbus and a couple Canadian ones from Veda Hille and Marker Starling. The show felt so good and our interpretations of the songs were so fun to play that we ended up reconvening half a year later and recorded everything. The next day we went to Disneyland.

I’m so glad we made this thing! It feels good to celebrate the work of your friends, and to make something so easy breezy. Hope you like it!

Death Bells - (2020) New Signs Of Life LP

 

Dais Records ‎– DAIS156 

Australian outfit Death Bells return with their sophomore album, New Signs of Life. Nine Captivating tracks for fans of eighties indie, classic antipodean new wave, and turn of the century post-punk.

After swapping hemispheres, Australian outfit Death Bells have found a new home in Los Angeles, emerging with a new album of fervent guitar-driven rock, stripped of gloom and punching through with a new sense of positivity. New Signs of Life, their debut for Dais Records, finds Death Bells using a DIY pedigree to plunder the conventions of “rock music” with a saxophone along for the mission. Rather than leaping genres or formats, New Signs of Life is refined and nuanced—a methodology built on process, craft, and perspective.

Following their 2017 debut, Standing at the Edge of the World, and follow-up single “Echoes,” Death Bells left their hometown of Sydney for the United States. Energized by impulse, extensive touring and exploration led to the formation of an ambitious six-piece band that eventually coalesced as a collaboration between founding members Will Canning and Remy Veselis. With Canning and Veselis becoming the engine, Death Bells began to employ several underground mainstay musicians to complete their live presentation, including Cortland Gibson (Dock Hellis), Colin Knight (Object of Affection), and on occasion Brian Vega (Fearing).

Revitalized and centered, Death Bells released the single “Around the Bend” in 2019, before workshopping material that would eventually comprise their second full-length effort. As much as Standing at the Edge of the World was an energized disclosure informed by fresh naivete, New Signs of Life harnesses those initial sparks, cloaking the threads of Death Bells with authority, allowing each of the nine tracks which embody New Signs of Life to become lush streamlined vehicles.

The eponymous lead single is a grandiose statement, influenced by the theme song of HBO’s classic television program Six Feet Under. The lyrics are a shopping list of personal neuroses charged with wry optimism, dressed with jagged guitars, brass, and percussion providing a deliberate pace for Death Bell’s new chapter. As method gives way to melody, New Signs of Life exudes an urgent hope laced with drive and verve.

The first track for New Signs of Life, “Heavenly Bodies,” signals Death Bells’ point-blank delivery of a laconic truth: “We all vanish, anyway.” Somber and cool, it eases into hushed staccato hypnosis while still finding the tenets of guitar-driven rock. ”A Different Kind of Happy” and “Alison” push the edge of convention, speaking to the power of love in a world gone mad. A nod to their homeland and new city’s surf heritage, “Shot Down (Falling)” pivots playful to a sun-soaked beach strum, layered with shimmer before the horizon fades. As a new statement of purpose, New Signs of Life subverts the band’s moniker, offering breath during suffocation; optimism in chaos with sound over sinking.

Nemui pj - (2017) Pumpkin CD

 

flau ‎– FLAUR29 

 nemui pj is a new duo comprised of UK producer kidkanevil and Japanese musician Noah, both of whom have release solo albums on flau. The pair met when performing at a show in Tokyo, following which kidkanevil remixed a piano piece from Noah’s debut album ‘Sivutie’. It wasn’t long before they began collaborating and a musical friendship was born. Named after the groups mutual appreciation for making music in pyjamas, nemui pj have crafted a delicate and emotive journey through those hazy half asleep moments when you’re not sure what’s real or a dream.

nemui pjは、BonoboやTOKiMONSTAらも絶賛するイギリスのDJ／プロデューサーkidkanevilと北海道出身の女性アーティストNoahによる新しいデュオ。東京のフェスティバルで出会った彼らは、ある日オンラインでお互いのパジャマ姿で盛り上がり、nemui pjのコンセプトをスタートさせます。ヒップホップ、ベースミュージックにトトロやポッキーなど愛する日本のカルチャーを融合させたkidkanevilのキッチュでチャイルディッシュなトラックに、神秘的なNoahの歌声とピアノの旋律が絡み合う、絵本の中にいるような純度の高いトイ・ポップ。このファーストEPで、日英の注目デュオは現実なのか夢なのかさえ分からないぼんやりとした心地よいうたた寝の時間を、繊細で感情的なトリップへと仕立て上げます。同じくflauより両者とも親交深いsubmerse、名古屋のトイトロニカ・デュオLullatone、シンガポールの新世代アーティストfrpzによるリミックスを収録。

Fazerdaze - (2017) Morningside LP

 

 Flying Nun Records ‎– FN574 

The music of Amelia Murray, who records as Fazerdaze, is on its surface bright and summery. Pick any track at random from Morningside, her excellent full-length debut for Flying Nun, and you’ll be greeted by foamy waves of guitar and Murray’s warm, sighing voice. But zero in on the lyrics, and the sun begins to fade. A portrait of romantic uncertainty, Morningside rests Murray’s emotionally-candid lyrics in silvery latticeworks of guitar, and the resulting tension is one of the things that makes the record so alluring. (It was one of our Essential Releases the week it came out.) A step up from her excellent, self-recorded, self-titled 2014 EP, Morningside is the sound of a person who—as Murray herself puts it in her song “Little Uneasy”—is feeling their way through the world, in every sense of the word.

Midwife - (2017) Like Author, Like Daughter LP

 

Whited Sepulchre ‎– WS003

 Under the name Sister Grotto, Denver based artist Madeline Johnston explores the limits of minimalism in transcendental drone-pop. With "Like Author, Like Daughter", Johnston uses the Midwife moniker to craft triumphant, fist-in-the-air anthems that tackle themes of dislocation and falling in (and out) of love with a person, a home and yourself.

"Like Author, Like Daughter" is a portrait of Johnston’s last year as a resident of Denver’s famed D.I.Y venue Rhinoceropolis which closed in a rash of politically motivated assaults on creative spaces across the United States. The album internalizes loss, addiction, abandonment and wrings them through distorted power chords, powerful leads, sheets of drone to create building, aching monuments to past-selves and lost relationships into a positivist statement of resilience and self-love. It’s a record that is impossible to listen to without a lump in your throat.

Performed, recorded and co-produced by Tucker Theodore (Buffalo Voice, Gunmothers Head), "Like Author, Like Daughter" was recorded in Denver at Rhinoceropolis and INAMBULANCE in Olympia, WA. LA,LD will be released with companion split cassette with Planning for Burial.

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"Blends waves of distortion with a delicate edge, finessing a kind of strained beauty. Her vocals sound distant and obscured underneath the layers of guitar static and noise. It creates a spectral effect, her presence fading in and out like some kind of memory recorded to tape, creating faint, comforting feelings of nostalgia that fade out as soon as they arrive." - CLRVYNT

"Johnston’s latest album, this time under the name Midwife, is a perfect record for bleak times, depicting the singer with head held high as she stares straight into the void. Like the abandoned mattress on the album cover, everything is in decay for Madeline Johnston, but the human spirit might just be the one exception." - Slow Breathing Circuit

"This is an album best experienced loud, as turning it up makes it all the easier to surrender to the songs' heartache and share in its affirmative, even at times celebratory spirit. Whatever the hardships Johnston's endured, songs such as “Way Out” and “Liar” reveal Like Author, Like Daughter's tone to be triumphant rather than resigned or mired in despair."

Kidbug - (2020) ST LP

 

 Joyful Noise Recordings ‎– JNR329

Kidbug is Marina Tadic (Eerie Wanda), Adam Harding (Dumb Numbers), Thor Harris (Swans) and Bobb Bruno (Best Coast). The band was born from the romance of Tadic and Harding, and together with Harris and Bruno they make self-described "cuddlebug sludge”, the harmoniously spiky offspring of Harding’s fuzzy guitar grunge-gaze and Tadic’s dreamy left field pop.


Kidbug’s roots stretch back to December of 2018. For the last several years Joyful Noise has invited their roster of artists to the label’s office in Indianapolis for an annual holiday party. This is when Australian transplant Adam Harding was first introduced to the Croatian-born, Netherlands-based artist Marina Tadic. "We all convened at Postal Recording in Indianapolis to record Christmas songs for the label, and it just sort of grew from there,” Harding explains. When Tadic learned that Harding was also an accomplished video maker (having directed music videos for DJ Shadow, Warpaint, Best Coast, Swervedriver, Sebadoh) she asked if he would make a video for Eerie Wanda. According to Tadic, the creative sparks started flying immediately, inspiring a series of long-distance musical love letters. “The writing started when I went back home. We were both very inspired to start writing songs to each other. It's a funny thing because we're both really slow at songwriting, but for some reason the songs just kept flowing. Within two months or so we had enough to make an album."


The resulting music was raw and personal, naked in its emotional honesty. Tadic and Harding agreed to preserve that purity of expression. “We made a pact that whatever came out, we wouldn't second guess it,” Harding shared. “We were inspired by the honesty and purity of John and Yoko singing love songs to each other,” Tadic added. "We wrote the songs for each other and there was no reason to overthink them or purposefully obscure the lyrics. This made both the writing and recording process extremely fun and spontaneous".


The compositional chemistry between Tadic and Harding effectively channels the late twentieth-century melodic noise-rockers that inspired Kidbug. “We love Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pixies, Sonic Youth, and all that is definitely an influence,” Harding stated. “We decided to borrow the term ‘cuddlebug sludge’ to describe our music. It was a cute little description that Spin magazine used when writing about the first Dumb Numbers album back in 2013, but it feels even more fitting for Kidbug,” Harding explains. "I’ve often referred to Dumb Numbers as a collaboration, but for the most part I write all the songs and then ask friends to play on them. But writing Kidbug songs with Marina is a dream and feels so effortless". "Kidbug is a true collaboration," Tadic adds. "I have never really been able to write a song with another person. But together we did it effortlessly, like we were one person."


To achieve the full cohesion of cuddlebug sludge, strong rhythmic components were required - Best Coast’s Bobb Bruno was recruited for bass, and Joyful Noise’s 2019 artist in residence Thor Harris was called to fill the drummer’s chair. “Thor was the glue that brought everyone together in a really collaborative way at the Joyful Noise holiday party. He was our first and only choice for a drummer,” Harding emphasized. The album was recorded in 3 days at Postal Recording in Indianapolis, with Tadic once again flying out from the Netherlands, and Thor Harris coming up from his home in Austin, Texas. Melvins’ legend Dale Crover makes a special guest appearance behind the kit on the album's closing track “Dreamy.” “Dale was in town with the Melvins and had a rare day off in between shows so we asked him to come into the studio. I’ve known Dale for a long time and he’s recorded a bunch of songs with me before, but it’s always a huge thrill to record with Dale”, says Harding.

Kidbug’s debut LP is fueled by a deeply charged electrical love, and they hope to return that magical energy to listeners. “This album is a celebration of love. All of my songs with Dumb Numbers have been about endings, but Kidbug is about beginnings,” Harding shared. “We hope to bring love into the world with this album” Tadic adds. “We dig love". 

Cruel Summer - (2017) Ivy LP

 

Mt. St. Mtn. ‎– MTN-19 

CRUEL SUMMER's sound evokes the dazed, fuzzed-out, swirling noise of the late 1980s UK sound while still sticking to their pop roots—they’ve aptly been crowned San Francisco’s “jangle darlings.” Following their 2013 self-titled EP (Mt. St. Mtn.,) they released the sold-out lathe-cut 7” for “Leeches,” accompanied by a video. In 2016 Cruel Summer released “Around You, Around Me,” recorded for L.A.’s Part Time Punks, the 7” B-side features a moody cover of Pylon’s “Crazy.” Mastered by Kramer (Galaxie 500 and Low). Ivy is the long-awaited, first full-length album from this quartet, who have become a mainstay in the San Francisco and Oakland club scene. Recorded at Santo Studio in Oakland, California by JASON KICK (Sonny & the Sunsets, Once and Future Band, Mild High Club, Maus Haus), the record is a love poem to San Francisco, with all its changes and disappointments. Cruel Summer recently completed a California tour with the UK’s Primitives, and in early August they will be accompanying the '90s noise pop demons Swirlies on a full West Coast tour.

Holy Motors - (2020) Horse LP

 

Wharf Cat Records ‎– WCR 106

 “Hold your horses, cowboy, put your pickup in reverse,” drawls Holy Motors vocalist Eliann Tulve on “Country Church.” Tulve makes a conscious effort to enunciate on the Estonian rock band’s second album, Horse. The result is an immediacy similar to when critics had to stop calling R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe “Mumbles” in the late 1980s.

Horse is akin to a Holy Motors hootenanny, markedly more confident and forward-facing than their debut. This time around, instead of directly appropriating Americana and American western film soundtracks, the guitars achieve cinematic grandeur by simply being evocative. The best example of this is their finest song to date, “Endless Night.” Hitting all the frequencies, this song alone earns the accolades lauding guitarists Lauri Raus and Gert Gutmann. At once elegiac and propulsive, “Endless Night” ends too soon. Speaking of frequencies, you’ll know if your bass EQ is too high from the low-end flicker of doom in “Midnight Cowboy,” sounding like Holy Motors playing at a prom where everyone forgot to show up.

That psychedelic spaghetti western template fuels intriguing dramatic turns in both “Trouble” and “Matador,” which has a false ending that pre-empts a searing guitar outro, and holy Epiphones, is it breathtaking. Although “Road Stars” is effective as an experimental, mid-album palate cleanser, the male voice unexpectedly joining Tulve’s is jarring; it’s just not a good duet. “Life Valley (So Many Miles Away),” a major-key instrumental with wordless vocals, closes the album on a high note. It’s the most ‘shoegaze’ of anything on Horse, and with some different effects pedals, this song would sound right at home on Ride’s Nowhere. Readily compared to Mazzy Star, Lana Del Rey, and Cowboy Junkies, with Horse, Holy Motors have made a gorgeous, stately record that puts miles between them and their reference points.

Gosh! - (2018) Odyssey LP

 

Nicey Music ‎– NICEY15

 Returning to Chicago after yet another self-booked tour marked by engine failure and a drummer jumping ship, Padraig Steadman and Claire Lambach wrote a stunningly beautiful album reflecting on the melancholy of a life in pursuit of art and music. Here’s GOSH!’s Odyssey, the too-real opposite to the Wayne’s World quest-for-rock-stardom narrative. It remembers an underpaid journey as arduous as the real Ulysses’s, full of tragic twists and chemical quicksands, dating back to Padraig’s years as the frontperson of Nude Sunrise — one of the most notoriously drug-fueled bands to churn through the DIY circuit in the first part of this decade, who always played louder than any band on the bill, who’s volume got our co-founder arrested in 2011, who toured with 200 hits of acid at least once in my experience, and who all worked at the same Papa John’s when they weren’t on tour. Since forming GOSH! with bassist/vocalist Claire Lambach in 2015, Steadman’s output has been far more sober (literally) — the group has become known for their uniquely minimal and sensitive psych rock, at times traversing into almost ambient territory. They can’t escape their distinctly Midwestern tempos, with vast gaping expanses between some chords, and a gritty, industrial drum machine popping in only occasionally to drive their more social numbers, but Odyssey takes on a western palette at the same time, emulating some of LA’s great country stars through the stark emotionality of voice and strum. There’s an optimistic stripe buried in all GOSH!’s music too, never put more plainly than in the album’s opener, “I can feel it coming soon.” Ultimately, the GOSH! story isn’t about hopelessness — it’s about an unquenchable faith in the power of love and music to survive even the most fucked up circumstances, and it’s always been a big inspiration to us. Here’s hoping this album can carry GOSH! onto a brighter leg of their Odyssey.

Choir Boy - (2020) Gathering Swans

 

 Dais Records ‎– none 

Salt Lake City’s indie pop favorites Choir Boy return after four years with the release of their new cosmic album, Gathering Swans. An emotionally powerful record, full of poignant heartbreak and gently steeped in pop nostalgia, Choir Boy push their distinctive sound further, while tenderly romancing the unsuspected.

Since the release of their well-received 2016 debut Passive With Desire, of which Slug Magazine’s Erin Moore declares to be “...packed with songs that are infectious by way of their sound, as well as their emotion...”, and their 2018 single “Sunday Light”, the band evolved from singer Adam Klopp’s project accompanied by a rotating cast of players into a solidified, permanent lineup featuring long-time collaborator and bassist Chaz Costello, saxophonist and keyboardist Jeff Kleinman, and guitarist Michael Paulsen. Following a series of tours with such notable acts as Cold Cave, Snail Mail, and Ceremony, Choir Boy began writing their new album. Proving to be a worthy successor, Gathering Swans builds upon Choir Boy’s infectiousness with unique pop sensibilities and impeccable polish.

The first single, Complainer, demonstrates Klopp’s angelic voice effortlessly floating within the heart-wrenchingly somber melodies, that in a tender state, will surely render tears. Lyrically, the song poses a form of wounded optimism, declaring “Oh my life, what a pitiful thing to hear...But it’s not that bad...I’m just a complainer”. Tracks such as Toxic Eye undoubtedly present the touching “choral-pop” sound that has come to be a hallmark of Choir Boy. Repetitious, layered vocal hooks that fade into the background, allowing the absence between breaths to be filled with the serene melody that embodies the foundation of Choir Boy’s appeal, demonstrating that the ethereal moments between the bright choruses and memorable hooks are as equally crucial and unforgettable as the lyrical content itself. A slightly more solemn ballad, Eat The Frog, skillfully adapts Choir Boy’s taste for nostalgia and translates such desire into a fully mature statement. The propulsive drive behind Eat The Frog possesses the emotional equivalent to sitting atop a hillside, just outside of the city, gazing at the sunset on a warm Summer night.

Creative, sincere, passionate and glaring with intention, Gathering Swans paints a bright, hopeful, and deeply heartfelt image that will most assuredly attract anyone who accompanies Choir Boy upon their journey.

Far Caspian - (2019) The Heights 12''

 

Dance To The Radio ‎– none

 Far Caspian have delivered another thoughtful and dynamic set of songs with their latest EP, The Heights. The five track EP takes listeners on a wistful journey. With their impeccable production and tasteful use of synth and lo-fi sensibilities, Far Caspian make their music more than just a listening session, but a full on experience. The record flows smoothly and softly. The band had released three of the five songs prior to the release. It was the perfect set of teaser songs to introduce new listeners to this unique and engaging group.

All of their songs have the ability to encapsulate you and carry you away. Despite the lyrical content, the songs feel dynamic enough to fit any situation or location. The title track The Heights carries a melancholic vibe while Conversations features an indie pop tune with 80s tendencies. A Dream Of You takes on more personal emotions while engaging with the same soft-pop synth sound.

Far Caspian - (2018) Between Days 12''

 

Dance To The Radio ‎– none 

Far Caspian’s debut EP is ready to whisk listeners into the clouds: Awash with hazy guitars and faraway vocals, the plaintive and dreamy Between Days (November 19, 2018 via Dance to the Radio) marries nostalgia and disconnect in a stirring display of vulnerability. In evoking the emotional magnitude of solitude, loneliness and wandering, the Leeds-based band have created a thing of striking resonance and beauty.
Formed this January, Far Caspian are very much the new kids on the block, to say the least. The four-piece consists of frontman and guitarist Joel Johnston, Jof Cabedo (drums and vocals), Alessio Scozarro (bass and vocals), and Nath Sayers (guitar). Though their story is just beginning, they’ve managed to make quite an entrance – earning early acclaim from critics on both sides of the pond as they splashed onto the music scene with melancholy tones and poetic lyrics.
If dwelling in your own dark, ruminative space is the current trend, then Far Caspian are a shoe-in for this season’s “it” band. Joel Johnston’s heart-heavy lyrics depict the natural turbulence of a life in transition: From the artist’s move from Ireland to the UK, to matters of love, purpose, and well-being, Far Caspian embed themselves in the throes of change.
And yet, almost in spite of itself, Between Days appeals to a wide swathe of listeners and situations. “I think we’ve ended up with a batch of songs that all have their own character,” Johnston, who also produced the EP, shared via press release. “Listen to this when you’re feeling low, when you’re late-night driving on a road trip, when you’re getting ready for a date or just with a friend.”
EP opener and title track “Between Days” sets the scene with its propellant beat and intoxicating sonic haze, immersing listeners in a rich, mellow slumber. The rhythms intensify on “Blue,” as Johnston somberly sings of acceptance and moving on. “The Place,” rich with catchy harmonies and a drowsily fun chorus, showcases the band’s ability to build up to big crescendos.
Penultimate song “Let’s Go Outside” is Far Caspian’s most successful release to date, putting their full character on display through wondrous melodies that fill the space with fresh hope and warmth – even if the lyrics themselves focus on homesick themes.
Concluding with “Finding My Way Home,” Far Caspian bring us down from the clouds in style: Dynamic highs clash with subtle lows as the band evoke a sense of the “new” and “unknown.” For the first time, we feel some excitement float into the mix – and with that sense of renewal and looking up, Between Days ends.

Emma Gatrill - (2017) Cocoon LP

 

 Willkommen Records ‎– WILLKOMMEN021

 Emma Gatrill is a multi-instrumentalist based in Brighton, UK. Her debut, 2012’s Chapter I, was a poignant collection of songs based around her then-latest acquisition – the harp. Subtly accompanied by various members of Brighton’s Willkommen Collective, her intricate harp playing coupled with a unique vocal fragility drew comparisons to Björk and Joni Mitchell as well as her friends and co-conspirators Rachael Dadd and Rozi Plain.

By the time the album came out, she’d already played clarinet in Laura Marling’s band on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage, made up part of Broken Social Scene’s horn section on a run of UK dates and toured all over Europe as part of Sons Of Noel And Adrian. Since then she’s been touring and collaborating with kindred spirit Kristin McClement and as a member of Matthew & The Atlas.

In amongst it all, Gatrill somehow found time to develop her own live show beyond the simplicity of Chapter I; augmenting her harp and vocal with ambient analogue synths and drum machines using foot controllers, as well as introducing accompanying guitar atmospherics from label-mate Marcus Hamblett.

Five years and hundreds of live shows with dozens of different bands later, her larger-scale live ambitions fed back into the writing and recording process for Gatrill’s forthcoming second album, Cocoon.

The album showcases a huge leap forward in scope and imagination. The harp, tender vocal and unique take on classic songwriting are still at the core of Gatrill’s sound, but the arrangements draw from a much wider and often darker sonic palette – from orchestral strings to monosynths, drum machines to tap shoes and Casio keyboards to vibraphones.

Gatrill’s circle of influences has widened too – on Cocoon Emma draws from the joyful experimentation of Juana Molina and the intelligent pop and texturally rich arrangements of Julia Holter and My Brightest Diamond.

While the songs are more honed and focused, the lyrical content is broader. Philomela explores Greek mythology to the backdrop of tumultuous strings and thunderous drums and Robin tackles climate change set to chamber pop orchestration; while universal concerns of loss, isolation, hope and togetherness tie the album together.

The album was mixed by Dan Cox whose work for the likes of Laura Marling, Thurston Moore and Florence and the Machine lead to him being named Breakthrough Engineer Of The Year at the Music Producer’s Guild awards.

Dylan Moon - (2019) Only the Blues

 

Rvng Intl. ‎– RVNGNL57 

 Only the Blues is an introduction deferred, and it is the debut album by Dylan Moon. Across its 35 minutes, we are rarely made to understand what, exactly, the source of Moon’s blues is, how that feeling has mutated, or whether there is a life beyond the small rooms and cramped spaces where this music was made. If not opaque, this first meeting with Moon is at least hazily translucent.

This makes Only the Blues something of an esoteric response to an age of radical transparency. Broadly speaking, Moon works in the field of folk music. But from this pasture, he glances pathways to digression; seeking scenic routes and counterintuitive cartography, trusting that even the most aimless trip becomes lucid if the foggy details are documented well enough.

On this trip, images spill from Moon, and most of them seem foreboding. We are given the sense - both from his lyrics and from the viscous mood he creates, using electronic manipulation to send his songs down compositional egresses, from which they emerge with a mysterious residue - that things have not been going well. Even the most saccharine memories, dancing before a freshly lit fire or hanging out with childhood cartoons come to life, feel caked with a hidden history.

Moon studied electronic production and sound design at music school, and then moved to Los Angeles in hopes of working in the film industry. While simultaneously graduating from pop to psych to prog to beat-making, he returned to traditional songwriting on the west coast, working out his ideas over a pair of self-released EPs. He also stumbled upon an ancient drum machine with scratched contact points and seventy years spent under restless thumbs, finding a kind of sonic entropy in its past-futurist rhythm signals that serve as Only the Blues’ spiritual center.

The album was recorded in Moon’s bedrooms in L.A. and Boston, small spaces made more claustrophobic by the soundproofing he hammered into the doors and the bedding he leaned against the walls. A single soul, spinning away (and out) in a cramped room: It’s a state of mind — and being — that Moon used his formal training to refine across Only the Blues. This is an album ornate with so many musical ideas to express that it teeters between ecstasy and anxiety.

Tamaryn - (2019) Dreaming the Dark

 

Dero Arcade ‎– none 

TAMARYN has been crafting gothic dreampop and soaring shoegaze records for the better part of a decade. With each subsequent release she has both expanded her sonic palette and playfully deconstructed it, the project itself an iconoclastic exploration involving a variety of collaborators and genre-melding that has spanned three previous albums, an EP and a handful of singles. While 2015’s lush Cranekiss marked a synth-inflected left turn for the artist, Dreaming the Dark pushes her sound even further. It’s simultaneously her hardest, darkest record and still somehow her most accessible, landing squarely in the sweet spot between between pop and post-punk. Produced by and co-written with JORGE ELBRECHT (Ariel Pink, Frankie Rose, Wild Nothing, Gang Gang Dance), the nine tracks on Dreaming the Dark represent an emotional and aesthetic evolution, the front and center guitar washes and foggy ennui of her earlier records giving way to crystalline beats, synths and lyrical narratives aimed directly at the jugular. While the record still occasionally mines a 4AD-adjacent musical palette—all manner of Cocteau Twins gauze, her Kate Bush meets Tears for Fears level vocality and melodic guitar lines that might have swirled off of a mid-80’s Cure record—Dreaming also pack a hefty emotional wallop. The album flirts with the aesthetics of classic '80s synthpop while playing at the fringes of hip hop production and forward-thinking electronica.

Dean Wareham & Cheval Sombre - (2018) Dean Wareham vs. Cheval Sombre

 

 Double Feature Records ‎– LP-DBL 0015 

 Dean Wareham and Cheval Sombre bill their new collaboration as “western dream-pop,” which isn’t such a strange pairing: western-style songs have always had a dreamlike air. From Sons of the Pioneers through Hollywood’s singing cowboys to Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash, tunes like “Blue Shadows on the Trail,” “El Paso” or “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” offer a romanticized vision of the Old West, with dual emphases on manly self-reliance and tender longing for home. Wareham and Sombre (the project of Chris Porpora) co-opt the sentiments and add hazy musical arrangements to match on 10 songs drawn from the western-music canon and more contemporary artists, including Bob Dylan, the Magnetic Fields and Townes Van Zandt.

Wareham has considerable dream-pop credentials, having played in Galaxie 500 and Luna—touchstone bands for fans of atmospheric guitars and quavering vocals. Porpora is less well known, but Wareham has played on his albums and released Cheval Sombre’s self-titled 2009 LP on his own Double Feature label. They make a potent duo, giving more defined musical structures to the sometimes amorphous nature of dream-pop, and creasing the songs with a taut edge. The twosome tilts the balance more toward pop, but there’s still enough western here to make these songs sound like modern updates of what had been a bygone musical tradition.
The musical arrangements play up the sense of dreamy fantasy. Backed Britta Phillips of Luna and Dean & Britta, Anthony LaMarca from the War on Drugs and Will Halsey of Sugarcandy Mountain, Warham and Sombre employ chiming guitar arpeggios, soft-focus wordless backing vocals and understated ornamentation. Tightly coiled tremolo guitar and whistling add atmosphere to “Wand’rin’ Star,” written for the stage (and, later, movie) musical Paint Your Wagon. There’s an eerie keening from what sounds like a singing saw on another movie song, “My Rifle, My Pony and Me,” which Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson performed in Rio Bravo in 1959. Steel guitar underpins the lonesome air of Van Zandt’s “Greensboro Woman,” and muted piano chords and quiet acoustic guitar give the Magnetic Fields’ “Grand Canyon” a stately feel.

Wareham and Sombre take turns singing lead, a curtain of reverb adding depth to their vocals. That hypnotic, from-a-distance sensibility accentuates trebly electric guitars and booming tom-toms on Robbins’ “A Bend in the River,” and lends an otherworldly feel to the traditional “Wayfaring Stranger,” which mixes in majestic ’60s-style folk-rock vocal harmonies worthy of the Mamas & the Papas. Wareham sings that one, his voice still clear and appealingly plaintive. Sombre’s vocals have a darker cast, and he tends to murmur as if he’s sharing deep secrets, especially on Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is a Long Time” and Blaze Foley’s wistful “If Only I Could Fly,” which Merle Haggard recorded on his 2000 album by the same name.

A dream-pop icon teaming up with a protégé on an album of western(-ish) songs is probably not a collaboration anyone was looking for, but if Dean Wareham vs. Cheval Sombre was unexpected, it also turns out to be unexpectedly satisfying. They sing well together, they picked interesting songs to interpret and they perform them in a way that is reverent without feeling too earnest. Sounds like a dream.

Temple Of Angels - (2019) Cerise Dream 7''

 

Funeral Party Records ‎– FP034 

Los Angeles-based dream pop act Temple of Angels are back with “Cerise Dream”, their first single of 2019. The new song follows the release of their sophomore EP Foiled and debut US tour in 2018 which saw them sharing the stage with the likes of Iceage, Beach Fossils, Boy Harsher, and John Maus.

“Cerise Dream”, along with its B-side Breathless showcases the band diving into more a melodic direction, creating the perfect soundtrack for the summer days ahead. This is music to fall in love to, and with, capturing the same shimmering pastel daydreams of the Cocteau Twins on Blue Bell Knoll, and Heaven or Las Vegas, or The Sundays via Reading, Writing and Arithmetic—music from a time of unbridled optimism and sincerity, when goth, shoegaze, and alternative rock blended together in warm reverie.

Carla dal Forno - (2019) Look Up Sharp

 

Kallista Records ‎– KALLISTALP001 

 Carla dal Forno announces her second full-length album, ​Look Up Sharp​, on her own Kallista Records.

The London-based artist enters a new era in her peerless output pushing her dub-damaged DIY dispatches to the limits of flawless dream-pop. In a transformative move towards crystal clear vocals and sharpened production, Look Up Sharp is an evolutionary leap from the thick fog and pastoral stillness of her Blackest Ever Black missives, You Know What It’s Like (2016) and The Garden EP (2017).

Three years since her plain-speaking debut album, the Melbourne-via-Berlin artist finds herself absorbed in London’s sprawling mess. The small-town dreams and inertia that preoccupied dal Forno’s first album have dissolved into the chaotic city, its shifting identities, far-flung surroundings and blank faces. Look Up Sharp is the story of this life in flux, longing for intimacy, falling short and embracing the unfamiliar. Dal Forno connects with kindred spirits and finds refuge in darkened alleys, secret gardens and wherever else she dares to look.

In her own territory between plaintive pop, folk and post-punk dal Forno conjures the ghosts of AC Marias, Virginia Astley and Broadcast through her brushwork of art-damaged fx and spectral atmospheres. The first half of the record is filled with dubbed-out humid bass lines, which tether stoned hazes of psychedelic synth work as on ‘Took A Long Time’ and ‘No Trace.’ These are contrasted with songs like ‘I’m Conscious and ‘So Much better’ that channel the lilting power of YMG and are clear sequels-in-waiting to dead-eyed classics like ‘Fast Moving Cars.’

The B-side begins with the feverish bass and meandering melody of ‘Don’t Follow Me,’ which takes The Cure’s ‘A Forest’ as its conceptual springboard. It’s the clearest lyrical example since ‘The Garden’ of dal
Forno’s unmatched ability to unpick the masculine void of post-punk and new wave nostalgia to reflect contemporary nuance. Look Up Sharp reaches its satisfying conclusion with ‘Push On’ - dal Forno’s most explicit foray into an undiscovered trip hop universe between Massive Attack and Tracey Thorn. The album’s last gasp finds personal validation in fragility: ‘I push on / I’m the Place I’m Going,’ a self discovery lifted by reverberant broken beats and glass-blown vocals.

Adding further depth to Look Up Sharp are the instrumentals, which flow seamlessly between the vocal-led pieces. ‘Hype Sleep’ and ‘Heart of Hearts’ drink from the same stream as The Flying Lizard’s dubbed-out madness and the vivid purple sunsets of Eno’s Another Green World. While ‘Creep Out of Bed’ and ‘Leaving for Japan’ funnel the fourth-world psychedelia of Cyclobe’s industrial-folk into the vortex of Nico’s The Marble Index.

Conceived as a whole, Look Up Sharp is a singular prism in which light, sound and concept bend at all angles. A deeply personal but infinitely relatable album its many surfaces are complex but authentic, enduring but imperfect, hard-edged but delicate. A diamond. Look up sharp or you’ll miss it.

Zoon - (2020) Bleached Wavves

 

Paper Bag Records ‎– PAPER128LP 

The opener on Zoon's debut album, Bleached Wavves, sounds like a familiar shoegaze prologue. Titled "Cloud Formations," it sounds like something My Bloody Valentine or Lilys might have come up with, with hypnotically swirling, textured guitars that meet and diverge in blissful dissonance.

While Bleached Wavves continues the path set out in its intro — featuring textured guitars that glide and crash in a collage of reverb and delay effects — it also blazes new trails in shoegaze, particularly in the way it implements sounds from traditional First Nations music, an inventive mixture Daniel Monkman cheekily calls "moccasin-gaze."

The most ambitious example of this mixture comes on "Was & Always Will Be," which features a layered, gauzy hum, jingly percussion, resonant drums, and voices singing in refrain — a breathtaking kaleidoscope of sound that uses shoegaze's blueprint for something totally new.

Because Monkman's influences are wide, the sounds on Bleached Wavves are varied, but never beyond cohesion. On the title track, guitars whirr and pulse, recalling MBV, and on "Light Prism," they plink and wail, like something off a Slowdive record. The influence is clear, but it's not distracting: both tracks feel like astute observations of the genre, honing in on its elements to subtly evoke nostalgia, longing and hope.

Bleached Wavves is rich with emotion, offering a nuanced account of Monkman's own journey of pain, sobriety and healing. Much of this journey is implied even in the band's name, which is derived from the Ojibwe word Zoongide'ewin, meaning "bravery," "courage" and "the Bear Spirit."

On "Infinite Horizons," as drums echo, collaborator Jesse Davidson says, "This is my attempt to reveal our truth in your language," before describing how he understands his past pain as strength: "strength of oneself, strength in numbers, strength to protect my people and our future from the pain your ancestors cut into our DNA. With one last journey into the sun let the fire be the ritual. Cleanse my spirit from this underserving pain."

The standout closer, "Help Me Understand," whirls with a haze of guitars and thrumming traditional drums, creating an expansive, looping soundscape that seems to transcend shoegaze. Like much of Bleached Wavves, it's intricate and subtle, familiar yet inventive, and rich with layers of life and sound. Zoon's debut album is nothing short of remarkable.

BlackieBlueBird - (2018) Ghost River

 

 T&E Records ‎– 1014

 Copenhagen’s dream pop duo BlackieBlueBird arrive with their debut album “Ghost River”.

BlackieBlueBird are the vocalist Heidi Lindahl and the composer Nils Lassen; together they create delicate torch songs of reverb and echo that captivate the listener with resonating guitars, lap steels, mandolins and a choir of mermaids that sporadically embraces Heidi’s golden voice. The echoes of love and longing, hellos and deceiving goodbyes live within her unique and clear vibrato.

GHOST RIVER symbolizes a subterranean river of memories that flows beneath our cities while on the surface we live our lives behind walls, among buildings and clamorous streets, ever pursuing our hopes and dreams. Unaware that deep within we are influenced by the GHOST RIVER, we fulfill what lies in our destinies as tiny twigs floating along the flow of a gentle water stream.

Resembling a dream, GHOST RIVER is an album that dwells in a drumless, cinematic atmosphere filled with romantic soundscapes of yearning desire and melodic choruses that caress the ear in a liberating and cathartic way.

Routine Death - (2019) 2 Weeks to 4 Months

 

 Fuzz Club Records ‎– FC113V12 

‘2 Weeks to 4 Months’ is the second album from Gothenburg-via-Texas duo Routine Death, comprised of Lisa and Dustin Zozaya. The album fuses shoegaze-y psych-pop and lo-fi electronics to create something that’s at times mesmerising and atmospheric and at others, distorted and unpredictable. The new album arrives following their 2018 debut album Parallel Universes and a summer of live dates that included a short tour with Wooden Shjips and performance at Fuzz Club Eindhoven 2019.

Lisa and Dustin – two musicians from Sweden and the US respectively – met whilst Dustin was on the road with his previous band Holy Wave. Now married but still separated by 7000 odd miles, the pair began working on music together to bide the time and give them something to channel themselves into collectively. After a few years spent recording things in their bedrooms and sending them forwards and backwards via WeTransfer, in 2018 the duo released their first set of songs as Routine Death: a debut album called ‘Parallel Universes’.

Just over a year on and they’re back with another collection of songs which, Dustin says, picks up where the last left off: “2 weeks to 4 months is the second part of this whole thing. There are some similarities to the last record, Lisa and I wrote and recorded it separately for the most part. It’s a collection of songs that are pretty reflective and cohesive of a certain period of our lives. When I started to look at all the work we’d done I realized it was one linear piece.”

Ai Aso - (2020) The Faintest Hint LP

 

 Ideologic Organ ‎– SOMA034

 Ai Aso’s immaculately crafted form of minimalist pop music skirts the edges of tensity with the manner and with the skill of a tight rope walker, calmly balancing repeatedly at every step, with a combination of surety and the risk of a slip, a fall, and an unknown uncoiling of events. Aso's capacity to capture, or inspire, the tension and attention from within the listener and observer are quite pronounced. At Aso's concert the performance constantly teeters near the brink, a sharpened awareness in the hall emerges from all observing, with the will of that most delicate balance. On “The Faintest Hint” she brings a meta level to the proceedings, the dream of a singer in a bright sunlit room in the centre of the density of the society, simply and precisely searching for single ideas, single tones, a sense of sensuality and even a dream of a grandeur (rock dream) emerge. A stillness prevails, even a sharp set of instances of dreaming, melancholia, nostalgia… or even saudade. The album was recorded, mixed & mastered by Soichiro Nakamura at Peace Music between 2018-2020. Atsuo and I joined these sessions as producers, and moreso as catalysts, yet also became the skeleton of a band on the album (with the tender touch). The legendary Japanese rock band Boris accompany Aso on two pieces. A faintest hint of sharpness and la tendresse féroce quickly erodes into a fine brief cloud of the purest crystalline dust.

Beach House - (2018) 7

 

Sub Pop ‎– SP1240 

While Beach House's sound has always focused on hypnotic melodies and Victoria Legrand's rich vocals -- and likely always will -- they've found different ways to explore this potent combination on each album. Legrand and Alex Scally delivered some of their most dramatic experiments on 2015's Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars, which presented a surprising amount of sides to their music even as they stripped it down to the basics. If possible, they're even more committed to change on their aptly named seventh album. To make 7, Beach House opted to work with Sonic Boom instead of longtime producer Chris Coady; brought their live drummer James Barone into the studio; and recorded songs as soon as they were done writing them instead of waiting to record all of them at once. This creative liberation resonates on every track, whether Scally and Legrand build up the instrumentation or pare it back, touch on their familiar sounds or invent new ones. 7's sequencing spotlights just how wide its range is, juxtaposing songs that sound wildly different, but equally like Beach House. The galactic whoosh of "Dark Spring" -- a key example of Boom's influence -- sounds all the more vast next to "Pay No Mind," the band's warmest, most down-to-earth love song yet. Similarly, "L'Inconnue"'s blissful call-and-response contrasts nicely with the edgy "Drunk in LA," where the beats and synths evoke rain-slicked streets and city lights. Then there are the songs that feel completely new: with its warping synths and enigmatic vibe, "Lemon Glow" gives the Beach House mystique a sci-fi update, while the sleek "Black Car" incorporates hints of dance and R&B without sounding like the duo is chasing trends. "Dive" is another standout, shifting from rainy-day contemplation to speeding down the road with the windows down in a way that's seamless and exhilarating. Elsewhere, Legrand uses 7's eclectic sounds as an opportunity to experiment with different lyrical perspectives that add depth to the album's dreamy surfaces, as on "Girl of the Year," where its cavernous sweetness echoes its tale of a young woman famous for self-destruction. Throughout 7, Beach House feel more concerned with capturing moments fully rather than conforming to notions of what a cohesive album is. That these songs sound like they came from different albums is ultimately more refreshing than disorienting, and the excitement that courses through each track is palpable. Scally and Legrand could have only made 7 at this point in their career -- not only do they have the skill to change things up, but the wisdom to know how and when to do so.

Beach House - (2015) Thank You Lucky Stars

 

Sub Pop ‎– SP1142

 Thank Your Lucky Stars is our sixth full length record. It was written after Depression Cherry from July 2014 - November 2014 and recorded during the same session as Depression Cherry. The songs came together very quickly and were driven by the lyrics and the narrative. In this way, the record feels very new for us, and a great departure from our last few records. Thematically, this record often feels political. It's hard to put it into words, but something about the record made us want to release it without the normal "campaign." We wanted it to simply enter the world and exist.

Carlo Giustini - (2019) Custodi

 

 Lontano Series ‎– LONTANO-TP05

Is it possible to capture the sound of a state of being, of a memory, of a past sensation?
Is there a possibility to translate a thought which once was into vibrational waves?
Behind this concept is based much of this work, this research carried out in the early autumn days of 2018.
The spark that started this research came by chance, or rather this spark was manifested to me in a place full of heavy memory, full of words, rich of dense and contradictory emotions. It was mid-August and I was at the local central bar in my neighborhood in Sant’Angelo. At the bar counter I happened to hear a tale that struck me in particular: a gentleman holding a glass of merlot told a friend the story of the tragic end of the custodians of Villa Letizia:
Villa Letizia is an ancient Venetian villa located inside the national park of the river Sile, a structure of the 18th century located right in front of my house, a villa which I see every day from my window while I have breakfast in the...

Black Zone Myth Chant - (2017) Feng Shen

 

Editions Gravats ‎– GRVTS010

The mighty Black Zone Myth Chant returns with a new LP of Chopped and Screwed electronics via deep space New Age for Low Jack and Jean Carval’s Gravats label...

Max P, aka Black Zone Myth Chant, presents the project’s most adventurous and urgent despatch yet, dosing with the unfathomably layered and immersive Feng Shen. What was initially intended as a one-away project has now morphed into something powerfully undefinable and strangely affective over the course of two albums, Straight Cassette and Mane Thecel Phares, an EP and a mixtape, realising something of a butterfly effect feedback between the gestures of his strangely formed objects and their dilated reception by listeners around the world.

Over the course of eight tracks he renders a phenomenal space where he can best describe the paradoxical, impossible physics of a psychedelic soul, by toying with the listener’s gauge of anticipation, perspective and temporality with a poetic clash of ideas lent from chopped & screwed hip hop and liminal club musics.

It’s music which exists in two states at once, driving yet floating, as with the pull and push of pitched down voices and rolling rhythms in Their Love For You, or with impenetrable density of clarity in the layered dimensions of Kubara, following a line that binds kosmische and dancehall in Under Protest/Telos, to the polymetric harmonic swirl of War Paint (DAPL Resistance), and connects the heat-seeking techno impulses of Ideas In Action, to the centre-less ambient panorama of Feng Jing.