Archive for June, 2010
Vitamins & Danny Shyman – Jean Painlevé’s “Liquid Crystals”
Crawford of Denver, CO’s Vitamins just sent over a link to video they helped score, along with Danny Shyman (also of Colorado) and producer Matthew Daniels. The score was composed for French Surrealist director Jean Painlevé’s 1937 short film “Liquid Crystals.” You may actually recognize Painlevé’s name from a similar project; Yo La Tengo composed part of the score for the Criterion Collection’s Science is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé.
Cheerios,
Dwight
GOBBLE GOBBLE – Beko 55
Now just a few weeks away from the gory, shambolic onslaught of our GOBBLE GOBBLE releases that will shepherd Summer 2010 into Fall 2010, we’ve a pair of Cecil’s new terror tracks debuting on Beko DSL’s 55th free single. I doubt anyone will need any more encouragement than that to serpentine over to Beko, but don’t rush away either; July 5th will bring their third free compilation, with tracks from… I’ve no idea, but I’m sure they’ll all be great.
GOBBLE GOBBLE – Becoming Legion
Hugs n Bugs,
Dwight
D.A. – Dallas Acid & Fall and Winter
This week I became aware of the slew of film projects that LA’s D.A. was working on. Based on the trailers above, the band seems uniquely suited to film scoring. Expect news on the documentary Fall and Winter before Dallas Acid, and a couple new releases on Olde English Spelling Bee before either one.
Alarming winters,
Dwight
tooth ache. – Skin 7″
Let me start this post off by saying that Father/Daughter Records is the realization of one of the sweetest (as in, “aw, that’s sweet,” rather than, “ah sweet, bro!”) concepts I’ve ever heard; as the name suggests, a label directed by a father and a daughter, presumably her father and his daughter. Last week, they announced their second release, tooth ache.’s Skin 7″, due out on August 17th. Although the electric organ on the title track is probably not going to be to everyone’s taste, there’s very little else about it that isn’t unambiguously infectious.
❤ ❤ ❤
Dwight
Regolith Volume One
Moon Glyph is a Minneapolis-based record label, historically working primarily with cassettes and an assortment of bands that run the gamut from pop to the more experimental. The label claims that something special is happening in Minneapolis’ psych-scene and the bands that the first in their 12″ compilation series Regolith showcases easily bears that out, offering ten new recordings from ten local bands. The contributions tend to have a garage or lo-fi edge, coloring the surfer-rock of Leisure Birds and eventually ascending to the lunatic heights of noise-pop with Skoal Kodiak, to name two standouts. Suffice to say, the indication is that something special is indeed happening in Minneapolis, and hopefully we can rely on Moon Glyph to chronicle it for us.
“Regolith” is a term used by lunar scientists to describe the loose scree of stones covering the solid rock of the moon. From the scrappy fuzzabilly of the Leisure Birds’ “Burn the Beach” to Moonstone’s pontificate-n-jam, Moon Glyph have found an apt title for their first compilation of local bands. Regolith Vol.1 is a wide sampling of songs scattershot across a solid foundation of rock by artists committed to the exploration of new vibrations and frequencies. The listener will find all forms of psychedelia on this record: laid back odes to laid-back women from Magic Castles and Velvet Davenport (with a little help from Ariel Pink and Gary War), a rave-up from Vampire Hands, a spaced out war-drum workout from the Daughters of the Sun, and a pair of face-melters courtesy of The Blind Shake and Skoal Kodiak amongst others.
A1 Leisure Birds – “Burn the Beach”
A2 Magic Castles – “Patron Saint”
A3 Dante & the Lobster – “Waiting for the Moon”
A4 Velvet Davenport (with Ariel Pink & Gary War) – “Surfer Girl”
A5 Camden – “Headstone”
A6 Vampire Hands – “3D Yin-Yang”B1 Daughters of the Sun – “Mystical Babe”
B2 The Blind Shake – “Lucky Day”
B3 Skoal Kodiak – “Tinsel Tongue”
B4 Moonstone – “Exhortations of the Prophet M.”
Leisure Birds – Burn the Beach
Toodly tonk,
Dwight
Mickey Mickey Rourke – M M R
Mickey Mickey Rourke’s sort of self-titled sophomore release M M R is twelve tracks shamelessly intended to make you relax; a recent release announcement even says “let time & distance disappear.” Absent these dimensions, the only thing left to suggest any kind of passage or motion from one thing to another is an awareness of the music, though the album’s hypnotic layers of ambience and drone aren’t communicating with your active consciousness: your subconscious is sated and you relax of your own accord. This isn’t to say that scrutinizing the album from track to track isn’t gratifying, it’s just a very different proposition. M M R is beautifully composed, and pleasant for both its sonic architecture and the peaceful change that it can affect.
Mickey Mickey Rourke – Biggie
Mickey Mickey Rourke – Hildebrand Brothers
Download the entire album here.
Luv,
Dwight
PC Worship – Dune of Heroin/Godless Love CS
On the latest cassette from Moon Glyph, the prolific PC Worship offers a pair of sprawling acoustic improvisations, clocking in together at nearly 30 minutes. It’s a far cry from the psych-pop so commonly in vogue, at least as of this morning, but even in all their shambolic majesty, the songs are very listenable. PC Worship quickly establishes informal tones and parameters within the two tracks, making for an engaging and conscientious, if meditative, listening experience, ultimately falling well shy of the alienation that some spontaneous wrecks can inspire.
From Moon Glyph…
PC Worship is a seven-piece band out of Brooklyn. They live together in a warehouse called Le Wallet where they are surrounded by hundreds of musical instruments – and it shows on Dune of Heroin/Godless Love. Acoustic guitars, contrabasses, violins, tenor saxes, pianos, bowed saws, bass clarinets and drums coalesce and fragment, collide off each other in a way that showcases a nimble touch when it comes to lawless and maelstromic music-making.
XOXOXO,
Dwight
Devices Disguised – True Tides EP
Devices Disguised is native Floridian Kyle Warden, an enthusiast of visual arts and the self-avowed friend of musicians. His recordings developed as interest in the former gave way and the latter helped him build up a repertoire of sounds and techniques, with enough accumulating that Devices Disguised became a convenient platform for releasing the backlog of solo material. Inspired by a late introduction to MIDI based production by his college roommate, Kyle self-released his Yonder EP and a two-song single on French label Beko DSL. His most recent material stays percussion minded while experimenting with more rhythmically sequenced synths, sampling, multi layered ambient soundscapes, alongside altered strings and pianos. The five track True Tides EP is his physical debut and the prelude to a fall full length.
$7Shipping & Handling, Domestic (US & Canada):
$9 Shipping & Handling, International (Rest of the World):
Adore YOU,
Dwight
Persona la Ave – Brothers Was Taken
The enigmatic groovers at UUU, now revealed as “UUU Tapes,” just passed along Brothers Was Taken, a free, 3 song EP from Persona la Ave via their bandcamp. It’s not a surprising offering given UUU’s recent promo track from Termeric, with which it shares a similar tone and construction, but Brothers Was Taken is far less densely layered and a good deal slower-paced, veering a bit more into the ambient range.
& here’s that Termeric track that started it all, under an entertaining new “mystery” name…
BYEBYEBYE,
Dwight
Kiss Kiss Fantastic – “Beautiful Mess”
Kiss Kiss Fantastic, Royal Rhino Flying super-friends of exceptional distinction, just sent over a cheerful new track with a triumphant Christmas sound weirdly at odds with the 90 degree weather here in the mountains. Tone aside, it’s one of their best tracks to date and bodes well for stardom before we hit a more appropriate season.
Kiss Kiss Fantastic – Beautiful Mess
❤ ❤ ❤
Dwight
Royal Rhino Flying Records 