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Showing posts from April, 2017

Online Sounds: Swansea — Flaws

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Swansea Flaws Self Group Release: 4.28.17 Vocalist Rebecca Sanborn freely details a running stream of thoughts and observations as "Red Mittens" unfolds, introducing Flaws , the newly released second LP from Portland trio Swansea . While Sanborn riffs through what she sees and feels, ( "And, I don't sound cool/I don't sound smart/I don't sound awesome/I don't even sound like a freak" ), she's anchored by a clap-along backbeat and minimalist stabs of synthesized tone, electronically enabled pop sugar a touch more elaborate than the "Warm Leatherette" of yore. Swansea, the work of Sanborn ( Loch Lomond , Blue Cranes ), drummer Ji Tanzer ( Blue Cranes ), and multi-instrumentalist Kyleen King , is fun sans guilt, integrity and attention paid to how they approach synthpop constructs ("This Time") and percussive loops ("No Blame"), ear candy that's neither MOR or disposable.  Particularly engaging is the cha

Music Pounding In My Head: Parlor Walls

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Parlor Walls Opposites Northern Spy Records Released: 3.17.17 The Azerrad -approved outskirts of rock n’ roll music seem a largely accessible landscape since the days of tape trading and ‘zines, that subculture of miscreants and weirdos who, for a period of decades, subsisted on fodder cultivated by DIY record labels and performers who operated a little to the left of the synthetic tastes catered to by the American spoon feed. While rock music has lost relevance to a populace auto-tuned out and engaged by karaoke television, those outskirts still thrive and produce smart, thoughtful, and provocative sounds, aided by the tools granted them by the Internet to enable limitless self-promotion. This is necessary in post-truth America, especially when the powers-that-be seem poised to strip away funding for public broadcasting and the arts. Listening to Parlor Walls ’ debut LP, Opposites , I thought about how I would’ve interpreted an album like this twenty or thirty years ago, its

Gotta Read The Labels: RidingEasy Records

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Yes, it's April 20th.  4/20: The day all marijuana connoisseurs and casual appreciators light up as a community and celebrate their common love of altered reality.  Normally, I'd be combing through my music library trying to locate the perfect songs for the occasion and throwing together a nice little online compilation for everyone's enjoyment.  Instead, I'm going to take the opportunity to spotlight a series of stoner rock compilations from RidingEasy Records , Brown Acid , which, as of today, will see the release of its fourth installment.  Beginning with its first volume in 2015, Brown Acid is comprised of obscure stoner rock and proto-metal singles from the 60s and 70s, located and curated by Permanent Records ' Lance Barresi .  Collaborating with RidingEasy's Daniel Hill , Barresi's passion for digging up these largely forgotten tracks has offered new life to this music via this expanding collection.  So, since Brown Acid: The Fourth Trip is

The Evil Usses: "Gambino"

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Bristol's The Evil Usses have released their new album, Amateur Pro Wrestling , via Stolen Body Records . The album was produced by Deerhoof 's John Dieterich , an appropriate choice given the group's level of spirited experimentation relative to Deerhoof's own distinct brand of avant-laden rock n' roll. In the interest of promoting The Evil Usses and the band's honorable and clear attempts at avoiding convention, I'm recommending you give a listen to the single, "Gambino," which is an energized bit of art-prog replete with jazz accents and structural creativity, zero pretension and none of the staleness one may associate with what I would call a genuinely fun listen.   All info comes courtesy of mutante-inc. The Evil Usses are a Psychedelic Jazz Rock band from Bristol, comprising of guitar, saxophone, bass and drums. They have been praised for their wild and energetic live shows and, since forming in 2013, have performed extensivel

TRAX!: Girls In Synthesis, The Peacers, Demen

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Girls In Synthesis : "Disappear" (via Big Mouth Publicity/YouTube) The Peacers : "Jurgen's Layout" (via mutante-inc./ Drag City /Bandcamp) Introducing the Crimsmen by The Peacers Demen : "Ambur" (via Rarely Unable/ kranky /Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

clipping.: "True Believer"

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A new video from clipping. 's 2016 LP, Splendor & Misery , premiered today via Sub Pop.  You can check out the video below.    Splendor & Misery is currently available for purchase at Sub Pop and Deathbomb Arc .  The video and all associated links and info come to you courtesy of Sub Pop.  Watch Clipping’s new video for “True Believer” from Splendor & Misery , the group’s Hugo Award-nominated album Clipping have just delivered an official video for “True Believer,” from Splendor & Misery , out now on Sub Pop. “True Believer” was directed by longtime collaborator Carlos Lopez-Estrada and stars guest vocalist Paul Outlaw as an astronaut floating from planet earth into outer space [ watch here ]. In further exciting news, Clipping’s Splendor & Misery has been shortlisted for the “Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)” category of the Hugo Awards, which are given for specific works of science fiction or fantasy in the preceding calendar year. The award

H.R. Statuette...

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From the good people at AGGRONAUTIX : Available for Pre-Order Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead