Thursday, 24 June 2010

new salem - king night


If Salem are the Trinity does that mean John is the Father, Jack the Son and Heather the Holy Spirit?


...Here lies the sublimely brittle intro to Salem's forthcoming King Night. Save your pennies.

Salem - King Night

Sunday, 20 June 2010

universal swimsuit - she's the one (overnight mix)


London's Universal Swimsuit is a remix project like none other. Think less bouncy 4 on the 4loor chillywave and more spike-bombs jabbing downwards in time with eachother like brothers. Give it time though! You may well find the sound of this music to be similar to Panda Bear lying on a bed of spikes.

'She's the One' fits this bill. Beginning like a scratchy glasspaper rendition of the opener to the new Crystal Castles, it ends up a tousling, liquid conditioner of a massage - like practicing wrestling and then chilling out on the leather sofas of your mind.

[CHUK CHIK, BANG]
(kills self)

Universal Swimsuit - She's the One (Overnight Remix)

P.S. Noam at Don't Die Wondering took a look at Universal Swimsuit's comforting and fun remix of Whigfield's Saturday Night.

Thursday, 17 June 2010

party trash - rabid


Shape-shiftin', data-moshin' video from Disaro's Party Trash.

Saturday, 12 June 2010

crypt thing






















...meanwhile, somewhere in the UK, Crypt Thing is making instrumental magic that harkens back to Hounds of Hate, amongst others, mixing melancholy wit with genuine rhythmic and harmonic innovation.

One of the nicest things about the short, pithy sketches in the Crypt Thing melange is their titles. They are brilliant. 'Ladies Mountain Bike', for example, paints a brave picture of the aliens-eye-view world the songs sadly ponder. Just vulnerable, vibrant and curt enough, the titles scratch a rough arc in graphite across the instumentals' green graph paper, allowing for play between a single phrase and a musical gesture. In other words, 'Ugly Men' is ugly - a pockmarked, embarassed track; and 'Michael' oddly tender and awkward - it's for someone, as strange and shy as its message might be.

Crypt Thing - Acid Blob
Crypt Thing - Michael

Thursday, 10 June 2010

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

pink priest - endless luv (GR†LLGR†LL Dr3AmS mix)


Track II of Hexes Vol. 1 (remixes, re-imaginings and rapings of various Pink Priest tracks [that you should download now]) is a good example of the work of Denmark's GR†LLGR†LL.
Imagine a humid swamp, or the beginning of Return to Oz, then hover (witch-like, let's be honest) across the sump oil water to a small, dark field of pale, facially wrong couples having nihilistic sex in the murk. It's a really successfully dark track that just crawls centipede-like through its peaty textures up to its cruel orgasm, yet still sounds fresh as fuck.

If you're new to the seductive Witch House baby-genre, Lital at Keyboards is Drunk has a great introductory post here.

Pink Priest - Endless Luv (GR†LLGR†LL Dr3AmS mix)

Monday, 7 June 2010

lashes - never was






















A new track from Lashes (a.k.a. tara from Pink Playground). It's effortlessly moody pink gold. It's the sound of opening up to something.

I got a vision of a girl I knew and loved at primary school changing her mind, standing by the grassy alleyway outside her house. That guitar drop tugs us somewhere else.

Lashes - Never Was

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

james ferraro - demon channels



Unbelievably sexy new video from James Ferraro.
(via OESB)

Friday, 14 May 2010

taterbug



Listening to Charles Free’s music as Taterbug makes me think of that scene from Mister Lonely where, after performing a hammy, warm musical, the cast run through corn fields holding up gaslamps, laughing and singing into the night, to find their friend, Marilyn Monroe, hanging by the neck from a tree. This is where the music of Taterbug takes place – it is the sound of the weathered, faded machinery you find out in woods: rained on, rusty, but still working. It is Ariel Pink squared – not in terms of fidelity, but in terms of sheer emotional murk.

Charles sings over manipulated found tapes, or tapes he’s recorded himself, often with a trying amount of repetition (à la Liars’ ‘This Dust Makes that Mud’), but there is always an instant emotional connection with the snippets he chooses to loop, and with each cycle comes abstract, slight difference, like imagery working itself out in a lucid dream. Charles has “only loose connections” to the Night People label, yet his singular nature makes him even more interesting – like a kid you meet on holiday that does everything differently.

Taterbug - Raw Flower

Saturday, 8 May 2010

phédre

Daniel Woodhead of Snakes + Ladders just sent me Phédre's debut EP - free download here. Phédre are estranged cousins that make charming, wooden pop with memorable lines, weirdo vox and clapping, cluttering sounds dug out of a dusty, suspicious chest of a dead relative's attic. Occasionally spacey, mostly grainy, each song displays its fundementals through the red gaze of a botched disposable snap. There's a pleasant whiff of Graffiti Island in places - it's witty without commiting itself.

'Glitter on her Face' is a standout for me, with its Mayfair Set vocal playoff of sweet and creep and its mixture of stodgy, grotty textures.

Phédre - Glitter on her Face