Stag Hare + Glasser

It's been a while, I know. Sorry. Someone asked me if this blog was dead. It's not - I just got a new job and it's a big job and I've been trying really hard to make sure I get everything right. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. As they say.

Lately everything I have been listening to has a blues and rockabilly edge. After the popularity of psyche and electro pop bands and soloists last year, I think 2009 is the year for guitars, harmonised choruses, and country swagger. If Bob Dylan has a new album you know the times, they are a-changing... My prediction: Dolly Parton sound-a-likes plenty to come.

Before I drag out the cowboy boots, I first wanted to flag two incredible artists who have kept me interested in indie disco and psyche sounds despite the plethora of middle-of-the-road Animal Collective/Glass Candy inspired home producers currently circulating.


Stag Hare is blowing my mind. I've been listening to tracks from his latest independently released record Black Medicine Music endlessly; psychedelic melodies and electronic drones with pop hooks and strange highlights evocative of springtime, and Panda Bear and Here We Go Magic.

'Holy Quinn' Stag Hare Mp3 [Z Share]
Like what you hear? Buy Black Medicine Music here


Glasser

"If the walls were too thin, you'd break in" sings Glasser's Cameron Mesiro in 'Apply'.

For Glasser, LA resident Meriso teamed up with Foreign Born's Matt Popieluchis. Her haunting vocals are wonderfully suited to his downbeat, percussive production - moody, pensive, sexy, and anticipatory. True Panther are releasing a 12" in May (which features a Lucky Dragons remix), available for pre-order now from the True Panther store. The limited edition packaging features a 3-layer silkscreen op-art wheel print designed by Tauba Auerbach.

'Apply' Glasser Mp3 [Z Share]

In high school I had a friend called james who had a pool that looked exactly like the one Mesiro is swimming in above. We used to smoke and listen to music and, if it was warm enough, go late-night swimming. Glasser would have been the perfect soundtrack to those after-midnight dips.

Twin Lion

Last month Twin Lion (aka Californian Tyler Haran) released Awesome Power through Family Time but the cassettes were only shipped last week. In the vein of Wavves' debut, the recent Vivian Girls and Women self-titled albums and Abe Vigoda's Skeleton, Twin Lion merges garage beats with the romantic electronic reverb of 70s psychedelia. It is a sound that is so popular now - sun-drenched pop melodies (focused for the most part on catchy and simple repeated guitar lines) layered in hazy electronica and synth drones.

'Vacation part 2' Twin Lion Mp3 [z share]

It makes me want to take a vacation. I was in New York and Egypt for the majority of Sydney's summer and missed the beach picnics and back-yard bbqs. Maybe I could jump on a plane and visit LA? The Miami Music conference was last week and I did consider going to that. I think i'll wait and go to LA in June or July, when it's coldest in Australia. I say coldest, but Sydney's winter temperatures are still around 10 degrees Celcius during the day, at the lowest. Cold is pretty relative though, isn't it. I was hoping for a colder-than-normal winter so I could wear the wool coat I bought in New York, I doutb it'll be cold enough to pull from the wardrobe though. Speaking of clothes, I really love these shoes - Lagerfeld has teamed up with Repetto for their next season. I'd like the black flats.

I listened to the Sharam's 'She Came Along' featuring Kid Cudi today. I enjoyed it.