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.

Fever Ray tour teaser

As The Knife Karin Drejer Andersson rarely toured, her and her brother limiting their circuits to short runs of dates in cities close to Sweden. With her new solo project Fever Ray however, Karin has decided she'd like to tour more extensively and is about to embark on a run of Scandanavian dates April through August.

Her label Rabid Records has released a tour video for the shows which draws on the unhinged yet delicate aesthetic of the album - a collection of songs as much macarbe, manic and conspiratorial as they are romantic, playful and gentle.


Fever Ray Tour 2009 from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

10 Apr Motel Mozaique, Rotterdam
11 Apr The Royal Festival Hall, London
20 Jun Sonar By Night, Barcelona
03 Jul Roskilde Festival, Roskilde
04 Jul Arvika Festival, Arvika
12 Aug Öyafestivalen, Oslo, Oslo
14 Aug Way Out West, Göteborg
16 Aug Flow, Helsinki

Read more details and purchase tickets from her website, feverray.com/shows

also

If you live in New York, I couldn't be more jealous! Stereogum has some news for you this morning:

Björk and Dirty Projectors are joining forces for a one-time benefit show Friday, May 8th, at 8PM at Housing Works Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby Street) in Manhattan. Tickets go on sale 4/1. The night's part of Housing Works' "Live From Home" series, and all proceeds go to Housing Works. Stereogum is a proud sponsor.

Society

If you love Passion Pit, I think you'll enjoy this. The lead singer has a shouty twang quite similar to PP's Michael Angelakos and the echoing, swirling electronic melody punched out an old synth has the same post-punk feel of PP's Chunk Of Change E.P.

'Future Days (getting high)' Society Mp3 [z share]

It's not extraordinary but it really suits an uninspiring drizzly Friday mid-morning when you're looking towards an exciting Friday night.

The London duo released their debut E.P digitally and on vinyl (limited pressing) through Asphalt Duchess yesterday. If you like what you hear, please support them and grab a copy via the Asphalt Duchess online store.

If you're in Sydney and have no plans tonight, Midnight Juggernauts' Siberia Records are hosting a party. I don't know where else you'll see M83 for $5, so print a copy of this flier and come down to dance.

tUnE-yArDs

Released March 10, Bird Brains is tUnE-yArDs latest solo album - a collection of idiosyncratic pop made only using a Sony recorder tracked into Audacity. Doesn't get much more lo-fi that that!

She's performing her new solo show at SXSW today and tomorrow and you gotta go for me if you're in Texas!

Thursday 11pm:
FXNC: Free By No Cover
Flipnotics Coffeespace
1601 Barton Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78704
512.480.TOGO

Friday 2pm:
Forcefield/Asthmatic Kitty Showcase
Okay Mountain
1312 E. Cesar Chavez

Bird Brains was available from her website tuneyards.com on a pay-what-you-like basis, but after being picked up for distribution by Marriage Records (where she sits comfortably amongst Lucky Dragons, Panther and White Rainbow) is now on sale for $10 via their online store.

'Sunlight' tUnE-yArDs Mp3 [z share]

follow the golden fox through the golden door

A healthy Monday morning breakfast: Videos

Solid Gold The Golden Filter


... I hate that now, every time I see a tribal headpiece I think of MGMT

The Muzik Ebony Bones



Ebony Bones is releasing her debut album in the upcoming months and in February The Golden Filter released their Solid Gold 7" through the label arm of Dummy Magazine

I also watched this oldie this morning, just because I love Andreas Nilsson videos so much.

Heartbeats The Knife

Bosque Brown

When I think of Texas I think Kings of Leon rock and roll, not the lush, expansive country leanings of Bosque Brown. This week Gorilla Vs Bear posted a video of their single Phone Call and having never heard them before I clicked through Myspace and band and label websites to Insound where I ordered a copy of their LP Baby.

The band's front-woman Mara Lee Miller was raised a Baptist and she has a hymnal tone reminiscent of church Sundays, so hauntingly beautiful and honest.

See them at sxsw at the Asthmatic Kitty/Forcefield PR party on the 20th. Wish I could go.

wildildlife

In January Wildildlife re-released their hand-made CD-R Peas Feast on pressed on yellow wax vinyl through Crucial Blast (USA), in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. If you but the vinyl you also get a digital downloads of all the tracks from Peas Feast as well as a digital-only EP. of unreleased material called Drongolet Demos.

I don't often love these sort of noise bands, but Wildildlife contast their heavier metal moments with psychedelic veberb and echoing freak-out vocals (which I always love) and while it's confusing at first, the more I hear the more I like.

They sound stoned (which is fitting considering their San Fransisco roots) and it's not easy listening, but it's a great trip into the oft uncharted territories of druggy shoegaze metal music.

Did they just invent a genre?!

Listen to their stuff at their Myspace, marvel at the penis chandellier background, and buy their records here at insound.

high places & grouper in sydney

I've finally remembered to check Soft Circle's myspace page and apparently he is working on a new album. This would be great news, had he not been suggesting a new album was in the works for the past year. It may very well be, but I was hoping for something new a little sooner than 2010.

Today was my parents 30th anniversary. They had their first date 30 years ago and married 20 years ago today. I was a flower girl. Today I also saw one of my favourite musical entities perform live for the first time - High Places. I interviewed them for Pages magazine a year or so ago and it was so wonderful to see them play. I had been really excited about the show all week and they didn't dissapoint at all. It was a short sharp explosion of densely layered synthesizer samples, live drum machine, bells, whistles, Mary's tender vocals and early 80s heavy hip-hop beats. Rob was wonderfully energetic, smacking the drum pads with such a wild enthusiasm you'd easily assume he was playing to a crowd much larger than the 30 or so people in the room. The show was really wonderful, and great to dance around to such positive, organic, fun music.

So all in all. What a day!

Tomorrow night, Grouper is performing at Sydney's Serial Space.

Grouper is Portland artist Liz Harris and last year's Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill was a favourite of mine. Described (perfectly) as "the future soundtracks to love, despair and ultimately, hope" her whispered trance-like dream-pop is a little melencholic at times and nothing like the explosive calipso hip hop of High Places - the sort of music she writes would sound perfect as the soundtrack to a Gus Van Sant film.

What I love so much about her is that as she sings you can hear real emotion, the acoustic melodies and harmonised vocal lines creating hauntingly beautiful compositions that resonate with you hours after the CD has run its course.

She is still unsigned, but come May is touring with Animal Collective. So see her now (for $12 at Serial Space tomorrow, obvs) before you have to qeue for days to see her at 500+ capacity venues (Bon Iver, anyone?!)

Grouper with Pimmon and Seaworthy
Serial Space, 33 Wellington Street Chippendale
8pm, $12

Buy Dragging a Dead Dear Up A Hill on Insound

(This is such a creepy album cover... not a great idea to be looking at this before bed...)

Sleep tight x

Rainbow Arabia

Ahh! This just arrived!! Finally!


Rainbow Arabia 'Omar K' Mp3 [z share]

Buy it here,

New 12" out in Summer (USA)

Daisy Tulley, High God People, Bells, more

Parisian stylist Elisa Nalin has just been photographed for The Selby. While looking through the images, I wondered how often she dusted her apartment

We have the same yellow lamp. But she has more shoes than I do. See photos here. I love the premise of Todd's website - capturing creatives in the places that best reflect their practises and artistic personalities. Because, face it, your home (or bedroom if you live in a share house like I do) is the best exemplar of who you are and want to be.

Todd Selby will be in Sydney soon for a collaborative show with Marc Hunter at Monster Children Gallery. It opens next Friday, March 6, at 6pm.

Speaking of openings, this Friday Black and Blue have Dylan Martorell's first solo show outside Melbourne, Stolon Tonals.

Martorell's work is heavily influenced by the music he makes with his bands Hi God People and Snawklor, and this Black and Blue show is a collection of sculpture and drawings all about sound and body and how the two inform one another.

The first I discovered of Hi God People was their split 7" on the now defunct Nervous Jerk. Their output, although sporadic is wonderfully prolific (a fluid grouping of nomads and artists), and their live shows are some of the best you'll see in the country - incorporating sculpture, costumes, and performance pieces into every gig.

High God People

Another gig worth checking out is Daisy Tulley's solo performance this Saturday at Hibernian House.

She's playing with Jai Payne (The Paper Scissors, Pork Pies) and a few others. Gig details changed. I've only seen her perform with her group Brizedilla, never solo, but can't stop lostening to her recordings on her myspace. Truly beautiful stuff; exceptional maturity for someone as young as she is.

Daisy M Tulley

Sorry for the lack of posts lately too (Max!) but I just haven't had anything to say.

Soon though, I have images of our Brethren Just Below shoot for Summerwinter Magazine!

Now, I leave you with these three women rocking my world:

'Strangest Thing' Claire Maguire Mp3 [z share]

'Jail La La' Dum Dum Girls Mp3 [z share]

'Magic Tape' Bell Mp3 [z share]

Day N Night

This week: I've been listening to Circle Square, new stuff from The Emergency (it is really amazing!), and The Golden Filter non stop. I've also been enjoying Hamilton's latest mixtape and the new albums by Here We Go Magic, Bat For Lashes, and Jenny Wilson (which surprised me - I didn't dislike her debut, but I like this so much better!).

Today: I've been watching this on repeat.



I've never been to L.A. but if it's really as weird as this So Me clip makes it out to be, I think I'll be flying to NYC via San Fransisco in October!

So Me seems set to take over the world. he's been a huge presence in the art/graff community for a while (particularly influential considering his association with Ed Banger) and after releasing a dance track through Ed Banger late last year he seems poised on the edge of great successes! My friend Matt took me to a show of his in Paris in January and we were shocked how expensive the prints were!

OK bye! Have a great weekend! If you're looking for something to do on Saturday night:


I know right... Tank?! But still, a great line up excuses a terrible venue!

Amendment: Anonymous commentator alerted me to the fact that it was a Parra show we visited, not So Me. I keep doing that - mental-blanks-while-blogging. Oh well. So Me's prints are super dooper pricey too, and Parra and he are the same communtiy so to speak. Appologies for my mixup and thanks for the heads up anonymous!

Eva Husson for The Presets

It wasn't Jaron Albertin as I'd guessed...

Eva Husson is the director behind the latest video clip for 'If I Know You' by The Presets. This is the latest single lifted from their most recent record Apocalypso.

Much more Billy Elliot that I'd anticipated - but it has the same vibe as the clip she filmed for M83's 'Kim & Jesse' (you know, the whole youths, movement and dance focus)

The video just premiered on Pitchfork. I'd love to know what you think... I'm not sold.

summer valentines

An obvious favourite of mine is Harlem's Charles Hamilton

He's releasing a mix tape on Valentines Day called Well Isn't This Awkward and The Fader previewed a single last night. Have a listen and download below (thanks Fader x)

'Scorpion' Charles Hamilton Mp3 [z share]

He's also just released a video for 'Brooklyn Girls'



While thinking about Valentines Day, this is a lovely mixtape my friend Radge made for Hole In The Sky. If you're a bit strapped for cash this VD but have a not so understanding lover, why not package it up for someone along with a heartfelt homemade card? DIY Valentines, baby!

'Summer Sundayze' Radge Mp3 [z share]

Or if you're single like me, download it, put it on your ipod,and head to the beach for some warm rays and tasty beats this Saturday. Love? Who needs it when you've got rad (radge) mix tapes?!

Half Alseep

I'm listening to the new album by Whitest Boy Alive. So far, so good! But I'm only half way through...

Its been a weird day today. The weather has been steamy the past few days and then today, Sydney woke up to rain and fog. From 32 Celsius to 18 Celsius overnight. I had to pull my sweatshirts and jeans from the wardrobe and find my umbrella (which weirdly was in the back shed?) Anyway, drastic changes in weather always throw me, and so today I've been half asleep and a little off sorts, whilst also having one of the busiest work days I've had in ages. Made me think of SoSB 'Half Asleep' video directed by Toby Halbrooks which (fittingly) Pitchfork TV just premiered a few days ago. I saw them perform at Le Poisson Rouge while I was in New York. It was a wonderful show. It was also very smokey.



Watch video here

They're touring AUS through April - tickets go on sale Friday and I highly recommend you check them out.

The Gaelic Theatre, Sydney, 23rd April - tickets from www.moshtix.com.au
The Zoo, Brisbane, 24th April - tickets from www.oztix.com.au
The Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 25th April - tickets from www.cornerhotel.com

Black Dice, you make my heart sing

I love that about half way through this it sounds as if he is singing the chorus to 'Wild Thing'

'Glazin' Black Dice Mp3 [z share]

5th Black Dice album out through Paw Tracks in April and I'm JUST A BIT EXCITED!
Order REPO here (no pre-order, you'll have to wait until it's officially released)

Australian Music Prize finalists just announced

This afternoon at the St Kilda festival in Melbourne AMP announced it's finalists for 2008

Beaches 'Beaches'
Cut Copy 'In Ghost Colours'
The Presets 'Apocalypso'
Jack Ladder 'Love Is Gone'
The Drones 'Havilah'
CW Stoneking 'Jungle Blues'
Eddie Current Suppression Ring 'Primary Colours'
Ross McLennan 'Sympathy For The New World'
Tom Cooney 'Presque Vu'

Due to an exceptionally great year in Australian music, there are 9 finalists this year instead of the previous years' 8. Winning album is awarded $30,000 cash, and there is also a $15,000 cash prize for 'Outstanding Potential' donated by Red Bull Music Academy.

Who I want to win:
Jack Ladder's 'Love Is Gone' for Album of the Year and either Eddie Current or Beaches for Outstanding Potential (because all the members in both those bands have side-projects, whereas Tim performs full-time as Jack Ladder.)

Who I think will win:
Ross McLennan 'Sympathy For The New World' for Album of the Year and Jack Ladder 'Love Is Gone' for Outstanding Potential.

We'll see when results come through March 13...

Black Panther

I can find the aggressiveness of Crystal Castles difficult sometimes, but sometimes I am totally in the mood for some angsty punk electro!

Today is one of those days!

'Black Panther' Crystal Castles Mp3 [Z Share]

It's hot. It's Sunday and I am finding it really difficult to concentrate on all the work I have to do today. And also, I woke up super early to go for a swim, and I'm wishing I'd just stayed at the beach!

Jaron Albertin for The Presets

Stills from the new video being made for If I Know You by The Presets (via the mod blog)

The clips looks like it'll have a very similar aesthetic to Muscles' film clip for The Lake and also the film clip for Junior Boys' In The Morning - both directed by Jaron Albertin.

Check out Albertin's website (link above) his stuff is gorgeous! I wrote about him on movestill a while back, when the Muscles video leaked last year.

Can't wait to see the full clip! Hopefully it is as gentle as the pictures above suggest, and not like their video for Talk Like That...