After touring together earlier this year, High Places and Soft Circle decided they'd release a split 12", scheduled for release late July. I totally forgot they were releasing this until today when insound's newsletter reminded me!
High Places have said they're taking the summer off to write and record their new album, and Hisham has been writing his second record for the past year and a bit, also keeping busy exhibiting his art in galleries all over the world.
This video premiered last night on Rolling Stone online:
Then today, on Pete Ohs' website, he wrote the following:
In February, I traveled around Europe with Wavves. I filmed everything that happened. Then I edited down the 30+ hours of footage into this 2+ minute music video. Then Rolling Stone premiered it and didn’t credit me. Then I cried a single salty tear.
Aww Pete!
This Wavves video is super simple and I love it! It's really well shot and wonderfully edited (particularly considering he had over 30 hours of footage!)
I also loved his Ghosthunter video from 2007. Watch it below if you've never seen it - super fun!
Every time I listen to 'My Heart' by Wildbirds & Peacedrums I am captivated, enchanted, invigorated.
"Don't run. You see, I'm lost without your rhythm"
Its so simple. We've all found ourselves at some stage or another without that one special person who had always helped us keep time. Helped us decide where to go next, what our next move should me. It's such a simple but also such a sad idea - that you can so easily lose momentum and fall off course without someone acting as your guide; your shining light.
But. The way Mariam cries and swoops around notes generates an excited energy, and rather than wallow she urges you to get up, shake it off, and clap. Clap along, cry out, stamp your feet and shake every part of your body. Her tremulous husky shouts are hypnotic.
The Snake is their second album (the Sweedish twosome Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin), and is typically Swedish - a pop record splattered with the unexpected, emphasising quirks rather than smoothing them over, with heavy percussive jazz improvisation. It has been out around a month or two, and you can get a copy online from the Leaf Label website.
'There Is No Light' Wildbirds & Peacedrums. Video by Andreas Nilsson.
I've talked about Andreas Nilssion before on Grey Gardens - I love his work and adored his clip for Fever Ray earlier this year. Here, just another example of the Swedes doing great things together.
My friend Radge just finished the last in his seasons series: winter
I saw Radge on the weekend at our friend Elke's birthday dinner after a long period of not spending time together. I had the flu and felt terrible, but was trying hard to be 'social' - my will wasn't nearly strong enough though, and after sinking into elke's couch post dinner and pre party Kevina told me to go home to bed, which I did. The reason I've not seen Radge in a while is because I've been working heaps and going to see bands, and he's been working heaps and going to see DJs. He also likes hanging out with people who are all fashion and cool, which isnt really my scene.
But it was really nice to see him. Which I was reminded of today when he announced his new mix was ready.
A collection of downtempo and at times melencholic electronica peppered with old classics, electric guitar and some wondeful gentle melodies. Prefectly curated for cooking soups and sitting with friends, or for long walks on cold mornings.
Oh dear I sound so serious (and mean) in that last post!
Let's lift the mood!!
Bradford Cox solo tomorrow atBlack & Blue. Early show - 6:00 start no supports - $15 (door sales only) and all proceeds go to FBi's current fundraising campaign.
Party!!!
My gorgeous friend Kevina is having an exhibition at Black & Blue at the moment. After the launch last week the show wraps up this Sunday, so you can check it out on tomorrow night and then go back for a better look before the weekend is out. She's wonderfully talented and has spent the last three months knitting, weaving, braiding, knotting, drawing, painting, carving, machine sewing and hand sewing.
A girl I went to high school with is releasing a single on Friday. She was never interested in singing when we were at school, but seems to have found her calling in pop (or so her myspace will have you believe.) I know this because she added me on twitter and curiosity got the better of me and I followed her links to her website. I wish I hadn't. There are too many people who put their name to music just because they can, for the 'glamour' of it. Her's is honestly the most poorly executed single I have heard in as long as I can remember - bland, vacuous and indulged, and demonstrative of the glossed over mediocrity of the mainstream. What the fuck is the point?!
Women with talent: Blank Dogs' Captured Tracks label is releasing a heap of wonderful stuff at the moment. The Little Girls 7" , Dum Dum Girls 7", his own stuff with Dee Dee as The Mayfair Set, the fucked up noise of Kid Romance...
With their childish harmonies, lazy meandering melodies and jangling country tambourine, The Girls At Dawn are, next to Dum Dum Girls, my favourites of the current Captured Tracks roster. Like Those Darlins, their sound is a thick, bubbling stew of country ballads, flat post punk vocals , skuzzy Brooklyn garage and 60s Shangri-Las pop.
There is a Girls At Dawn 7" scheduled for release on Hozac in the latter half of this year. The demos on their myspace page now are promising, and after some time and live shows I'm hoping they'll have put together something pretty great.
To finish - a female powerhouse. I really love her. Her new album is out August 25 - titled 'Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'. Straight up.
Late addition: Speaking of hot female powerhouses:
I really love to discover artists who've been releasing material for years - I like playing catchups with their back catalogue. My current fascination is Natural Snow Buildings' Mehdi Ameziane - a Frenchman performing magestic hippy folk belonging to another world in another time.
The unfortunate thing about finding him late though, is that the Dull Knife 7" and the album (a micropressing with a silkscreened chipboard sleeve and art booklet limited to 100 copies) are both sold out.
Ghoul released their debut EP A Mouthful Of Gold in January - hosting a free download on their Myspace. I remember for the first few listens, Ivan's vocals really annoyed me - muted falsetto cries with grunt, or something. Like Antony Hegarty, who I find really irritating if I'm not in the right mood for him.
I've been listening to the EP again this past month. Namely because people kept telling me about them and I finally caved and revisited the release. I don't usually do that. Most of the time i'll decide if I like something or not and then my mind is firmly made up. But this time. Who knows. People were persuasive. I am glad though, because I've been really enjoying it. Then I saw them live a month or so ago and they were really engaging!
What I like most is their un-sydney'ness. Sydney's music community is very focused on DJs and dance production, and while Ghoul have a heavily produced Atlas Sound vibe, they're still trying to keep things a little different. Theirs is a cluttered, abstracted sound sometimes jarring math rock and sometimes floaty and ambient. Every time I go out to a place that isn't my local pub (poached pears and cider = perfect post friday night family dinner), I hear bad disco remixes and way too many 10 min long Emperor Machine edits. Dear Sydney, please get a grip. So while I'm still not sold 100% on the vocal lines, I think Ghoul write good songs and have real potential to build themselves into one of the rare Aussie bands with international appeal - alongside their DIY peers My Disco, Seekae, Bearhug etc. Someone has to fill Wolfmother's boots.
If you can't make it then, my amazing flatmate Katherine (she of Greedy Hen) is showing her new film at the MCA while they perform a live soundtrack as part of Vivid and Creative Sydney. The show is called low-fi & loving it and is free from 8pm on June 11th and it will be amazing.
All this drama about Wavves... I feel so sorry for him. How can you not get fucked up on too many drugs after passing the point of absolute exhaustion brought on by months of constant touring? I'd be a mess. And I know that people have been touring and not losing their shit forever, but it must be so daunting and so exhausting - being 'discovered' when you've been writing great stuff for years.
I love his older stuff. Nathan's recordings as Fantastic Magic was much less noisy - psychedelic surf pop with a gentle summer vibe and lots of joy and jangling bells.
They don't write together anymore, but I really wish they did. Reminds me of early Devendra recordings. They played with Arial Pink, U.S Girls, Vampire Weekend, The Muslims (pre Soft Pack obvs), Crocodiles, even Strange Boys. Their show with Strange Boys show would have been amazing actually - Strange Boys, Fantastic Magic and Crystal Antlers on the one bill. 'Sea Of Gold' Fantastic Magic Mp3 [zshare]
For what it's worth, I hope he gets his shit together.
Also, while you're here - If you're in Sydney next weekend we're having a party -
‘Another Night On Earth’ Monday 8th June, 2009 at Sydney’s Metro Theatre All Ages 5:00 pm -10:00 pm
With Sarah Blasko, Holly Throsby, New Buffalo (solo), Jack Ladder, Firekites, Machine Translations, Grand Salvo, Songs, Megastick Fanfare, Bearhug, Sherlocks Daughter, Fergus Brown, Ghoul, Parades, Caitlin Park, The Holy Soul and many more! Plus, secret special guests to be announced soon...
The Donuts girls are staring a new party on Sunday night and Soft Circle is playing!!!!
Its at my favourite bk venue glasslands and for only $5 you can see SC do his trippty soundscapes with sets from Justin Miller, Jacques Renault and Lovefingers.
They've also got free vegan treats for all and you can watch the Galaxie movie someone called AC has made.
Soft Circle has been saying he has a "new album in the works" forever... I've already complained about that so won't again. But go see what he's been up to and let me know how the new stuff sounds! The tunes on his Myspace sound really spread out and ambient. It's a Sunday night too - Apart from watching Desperate Housewives what else is there to do?!
I've loved my fair share of girl-groups in my time (Girlfriend, Spice Girls, TLC) but there comes a time when a girl need to accept musical maturation.
But then Rich produces another girl group and I lose my shit
I've found myself with some time today to check in on some of the music I'd not been keeping up to date with.
I first heard Ghostape when he featured on Canberra born, Swiss raised, Berlin based Plastique de Reve's Death From Abroad released 12" Lost In The City.
To draw comparisons - The Swiss 19 year old has the homemade wonky pop sensibilities of Miccachu, the wooziness of Ducktails, and the percussive disco of Mi Ami.
People In The Sky released his Many Stars EP last year, which you can still buy online here. The tracks are wackier and less dancey than those he's posting on Myspace now. I prefer his more recent tunes, but I still really like the 80s synth daggyness of Many Stars.
In this week's 'Slept On' you didn't seem like yourself. Not that we've ever actually met, I'm hardly the best judge. But you seemed less, I don't know. What? Less cheery. Less inspired.
I just wanted to tell you that I look forward to your column every week. I'm not often engaged by magazine and online editorial, but this morning was really excited when I remembered Fader would have published your latest ramblings over night. Ramblings implies an incoherence, so perhaps that is the wrong word to use. But what I most enjoy about your column is its looseness. Journalists who review albums by describing technical structures and stressing compositional details bore me. I want to know how music pushes people to consider and reconsider their world, and what someone daydreams when they listen to a piece of music.
I manage a record label called Spunk. I think you'd really like some of the music on the label. Holly Throsby got a 4 star review in Mojo this month. Not that I read Mojo. But it's a huge thing for an independent from Sydney. We're so far away from the rest of the world. It is such a long way. I was in New York in January and I fell in love with Brooklyn. I want to come back for CMJ, but there is always so much work that needs to be done, and it's not like I can take a weekend vacation and be back for Monday morning. There is some great things happening in Sydney at the moment though. Last night Brian Eno curated a light show which was projected on to the Opera House for a festival called Vivid Sydney. It was pretty cool.
I have difficulty with the Black Cab sessions. The thing I love about live music videos recorded of bands in suburban locations is that the band is forced to interact with the spaces they find themselves in, whether unusual or banal. This always creates unique, layered and unpredictable videos that often tell you a lot more about a band or soloist that you will see in a live show. Forced to interact with an unsuspecting audience, in situations that they have no control over, performers often reveal much more of themselves. This is why I help out with Shoot The Player - I love seeing what happens when musicians are let lose, free to roam and perform and take chances they typically can't take when in a concert-setting. Recently for STP we filmed Ben Lee in a park in Rushcutters Bay, and his spontaneity and the response he received from those around at the time was remarkable and made fantastic viewing. The same goes for a shoot we did with Lightspeed Champion, who on a whim decided to film an awfully awkward cover of The Strokes' Heart In A Cage in a sex shop on Oxford Street in Sydney last year.
My issue with Black Cab is that the performers don't have to take themselves out of their comfort zones. They perform in an enclosed space much like a stage, removed from their audience. The format does nothing to humanise them, and they seem as untouchable as they do when on stage.
Black Cab Sessions have just released a video of Grizzly Bear performing All We Ask. You can watch ithere
Also just released is the monumentally talented Patrick Daughters' video for Two Weeks.
I feel like you learn much more about the band watching Daughters' video, than you do the Black Cab Session clip.
Daughterss first video was in 2003 for Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Since, he's been invited into the Directors Bureau and is now responsible for some of the most innovative and/or adorable clips I've recently seen, including the totally trippy video of Liar's Plaster Casts of Everything and Feist's gorgeously entertaining 1, 2, 3, 4 (which had him nominated for a Grammy.)
For Two Weeks, he seems to have really captured their playfulness and vibrancy, and want not to be taken too seriously. The whimsical pop melody, somewhat surreal lyrics and pretty harmonies are so suited to his approach - the boy's expressions are hilarious, and as their heads start to glow and sparks start to fly, I can imagine the five of them all sitting around a table full of beers laughing as they sketch out the idea of playing possessed puppets.
They might have never happened. But at least the clip made me imagine it did. Not like the Black Cab video, which I had to play through three times because I kept losing interest and getting distracted.
My fave blog boys have an interview with Ed Droste online now - head to www.rosequartz.blogspot.com. And tell them I say hello.
"I got drunk and I ate a chicken, I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen. Not just a leg and not just a wing, I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing."
Such a great chorus AND it's a true story apparently, written after Nikki Darling came home wasted and found an old chicken was all there was to eat in the fridge.
I've been saying for a while I think 70s rockabilly is where its at. After the recent popularity of drone and post punk Velvet Underground inspired sounds, ital disco revivalists and d.i.y garage band productions, it is high time for some jangly, rootsy Americana and upbeat harmonized fun! By the way the guy isn't in the band - he's just the rouge, nameless male fill-in drummer.
Pre-order their debut album from their website. If you head to their Myspace there is a heap of dates as they're currently touring America.
I would totally love a live singalong to Wild One:
"I may be the sweetheart you dreamed of all your life, but just 'cos Im sweet don't mean I'm always nice... If you don't want it wild then quit hanging 'round with me, you knew right from the start that's my personality..."
Watson and his band (the Wooden Arms) are touring Wooden Arms now. Details and ticket information are available at his website patrickwatson.net Apparently the live show is breathtaking (if just for Watson's voice alone!)
I got an email from Dean from True Panther yesterday with a link to the new video for Apply by Glasser.
The swirls and hazy silhouettes coupled with her gorgeous haunting vocals sent me straight into the deepest trance and my eyes couldn't focus on my computer screen. Drifting in and out of the pictures swirling like coloured oils in water on glass, I had to watch the video a few times to take it all in. See stills/inspiration at her blog, and watch the video on Pitchfork.
It reminded me of the video for Luke Temple's Tunnelvision. Even though his is shot on Super 8 and totally different visually, it has the same feel.
You can still pre-order Glasser's Apply 12" (with the remixes and artwork I talked about a few weeks back) from the True Panther store. Hurry though, after a Pitchfork premiere I imagine copies will sell out very quickly.
I watched Angel Deradoorian perform earlier this year at BAM with The Dirty Projectors. Live, her voice is as resonant as it is on record - powerful but carefully considered, so as not to overwhelm. Her solo material is waftier and more romantic than material by Longstreth and The Dirty Projectors, reminding me a little of Grouper in her echoed, whispered melodies.
She's 22 and has just finished a mini album Mind Raft, released yesterday through Brooklyn indie label Love Pump United. If you head to their website you can grab a copy, but you can also find it atInsound - who are selling the EP with a limited edition poster!
I wrote about Sarah Ruba in a piece for Pages Magazine last year. It was a feature called 'Model Musicians' about women who are pretty enough to walk catwalks by day and musically talented enough to perform in bands by night.
At 23 years old Ruba is a talented cookie. Her and her husband (28 year old producer and multi-instrumentalist Adam Pavao) make super cool pop electro as New Look and they have recently made their latest recordings available for free download from their website.
Pavao's sparse electronica is gorgeously complimented by Ruba's soulful and sweet vocals. The prodcution work of Jimmy Edgar (his low-fi electronic beats and pop melodies) has obviously had a huge influence on their recordings and in fact, one of their latest singles Function Of Your Love is a cover of a soon-to-be-released Edgar 12". I think they might be friends or something. That, or they're just huge fans! Download How's My Hair? EP [.zip direct download]
They should work on their live show though. Their visuals are great, but it wouldn't hurt to look up from the DJ booth once or twice (particularly when most of your music is already pre-recorded.)
Any music featured on this site is for promotional purposes only. If you like what you hear, please purchase the albums.
If I have featured your music and you would rather I hadn't, please get in touch and I'll remove any links
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