[ Spectral Sound ] ( buy vinyl ) ( buy mp3s ) I find it hard to believe anyone reading this site is not at least somewhat familiar with the work of Matthew Dear. His records have been both critical and commercial successes, resulting in bona-fide classics under multiple monikers (Jabberjaw's "Girlfriend" and "EP23 under his birth name spring to mind immediately). 2008, however, was a disappointing year for Matthew Dear fans, and March's "Love Letters" as False offered little reprieve. It was as if all Dear's once-varied identities had simmered [...]
[ Minimise ] ( buy mp3s ) A new Minimise release? After retiring the label earlier this year in response to the minimal boom, Donnacha Costello started the Look Long imprint with the philosophy that music should be produced for the long term, not to satisfy any trends. Yet the only "trendy" thing about Minimise, however, was its name; the label's 35 releases were full of Donnacha's colorful and melodic take on techno without once sounding like the now oft-maligned "genre." Nevertheless, a new label seems to have refreshed the Irish producer, [...]
Art by José Parlá [ Frozen Border ] ( buy vinyl ) Amid the current explosion of stamped white labels, Frozen Border stand apart for being among the truly mysterious. What do we know about them? Frozen Border is a record label and each 123 is done by a different producer; aside from that, nothing. Their preference for anonymity and austere packaging hark back to the days of 90s techno, and it should come as little surprise the music does [...]
[ Fifty Weapons ] ( buy vinyl ) Moderat's album came and went, sounding exactly as everyone had expected while still being a successful and fully satisfying listen. Less successful, however, was the first round of remixes for obvious lead single "Rusty Nails." TRG fashioned a peaktime remix that was perhaps too much so, while Booka Shade's version was a thoughtless tech-house workout. Lucky for us, the 50 Weapons imprint comes up with the "Unofficial" remixes on a limited, stamped white label that give two Moderat's originals truly exceptional overhauls. [...]
[ Apple Pips ] ( buy vinyl ) ( buy mp3s ) Apple Pips have spent their first five records mining the area between techno and dubstep, releasing 123s from established techno vets and some of dubstep's biggest, freshest names. Appleblim, however, is not content to stick with a single sound, and the latest records from his Bristol-based label bring even more genres into the melting pot. Their sixth comes from Brackles, a man earning lots of attention for both his fantastic DJing and his productions as well. Brackles has previously [...]
[ 2nd Drop Records ] ( buy vinyl ) ( buy mp3s ) [Hessle Audio] ( buy vinyl ) (buy mp3s tk) That David Kennedy is only 21 years old may come as a surprise to those who've seen all the man has achieved. He's the co-founder of Hessle Audio, a label experimenting all across the dubstep axis while keeping the sound firmly planted on the dance floor. He's at the top of his game as a DJ with a packed tour schedule and equally packed sets, [...]
[ Tartelet ] ( buy vinyl ) ( buy mp3 ) The name Kenton Slash Demon is probably not too familiar to most house and techno fans, but they are in fact members of indie band When Saints Go Machine (recently featured as remixed by dOP in Koze's RA podcast). You're not going to find any dance-rock or blog house or whatever it's called these days here, though. "Khattabi," the sixth installment for Copenhagen's Tartelet Records offers multi-faceted tech house with a couple of surprises thrown in. Percussion [...]
[ Sandwell District ] ( buy vinyl ) ( buy mp3s ) Where is the original version of "Variance"? What about "Variance II"? Who is N/A (or is the artist's name just "not available")? Thing is, the original artist's name doesn't really matter; the only name that does is Sandwell District. They've always had a penchant for facelessness, and with the recent release of the "Variance Edits" over two pieces of vinyl they've gone a step further into anonymity. But you always know where you stand with Sandwell District, and here [...]
Artwork by Clair Morgan [ Laid ] ( buy vinyl ) I first heard of Dial's plan to start a deep house sub-label called Laid about two years ago. It sounded like a great idea; a way to bring in a fresh sound in what was then still a minimal-soaked dance music world. Finally in 2009 Dial's younger brother was born with the first two records from Laid. Of course, a lot happens in two years of [...]
[ Time To Express ] ( buy vinyl ) ( buy mp3 ) Peter Van Hoesen is a very busy man, releasing a whirlwind of records in the past year. At a time when uncompromising techno has been all the rage, Van Hoesen has been exploring the area where the dark sounds of Berghain meet the atmospherics of dub techno. He's been shaping Time to Express into one of the premier techno labels around with killer records such as this year's "Attribute One," and continues the label's ongoing run of [...]
Edit: I wanted to post this yesterday, but the Zunepocalypse of 2008 made me freak out and I didn't finish it in time. Its really hard to put these lists together, and on a given day/hour I can change my mind about the order of any of these albums, but this is what I submitted to the AltCountryTab message board for their annual Gambler Awards. I think this list is slightly biased towards the bands I saw live this year (see #4, 5, 6, 9). You [...]
My previous post and subsequent discussion on how I am clueless about the band Muse led to the question of how I discover new music. There are four primary ways in which I learn about new artists/bands and new releases (roughly in order of importance). 1) Message Boards I post and lurk on a few alt country themed message boards. I have been really into alt country styles of music for the last five years or so, but the genre is very loosely defined and often blurs into indie rock, [...]
Alright, alright, alright... Three local country acts--Dallas' Craig Boyd , Arlington's Maren Morris , and Carrolton's Chris Miller Band --have made the Top 10 in the Stetson Rocks competition, which aims to highlight Texas-bred country artists while, at the same time, supporting the Texas Music Project , an organization focused on improving music education in Texas schools. Voting for the competition closed last week, and, on Wednesday, the winner--who will earn an opening slot for Neal McCoy in Houston later this month, as well [...]
Chris Mills: Watch Chain [ purchase ] Chris Mills's album Kiss it Goodbye is, in my opinion, an unheralded classic of the turn-of-the-century alt-country boom. His lyrics can be decimating (though this song isn't the best example of that), and the musicianship on the record is great. I think some people are put off by his gravelly voice, if they give enough time to listen at all. What I like about a lot of the songs on this album, as opposed to some of his later records, [...]
According to Last.FM and Zune.net , these are the tracks that I have been listening to the most over the last few months (one track per artist), although I suspect that the Zune counter is not very accurate as it shows the same tracks every month. By the way, I have no "Zune Friends," so if you have a Zune and use the crappy "Zune Social" and want to be my "friend," search for Aimz54901. 01 The Sadies - Dying Is Easy.mp3 [...]
The GloNo Video crew caught up with Mills at Schubas Tavern in Chicago in April.
I thought I'd continue with the theme of 'Beautiful' this week, so let's start out with a few quotations: "The world is beautiful, but has a disease called man" - Friedrich Nietzsche "You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her" - Anon "The only beautiful things are the things [...]
Acerbic, politically-aware lyrics and a show-stopping band raise Chris Mills' best material above the ordinary... but you'll be happiest if you stick to the rockers.
I'd never heard of Chris Mills before but it seems he's been around for nearly a decade. In the past 2 years he's played alongside Ben Folds, Bishop Allen, Lucero, Limbeck, and many more. His new album "Living in the Aftermath" was released on 22nd April. Having heard a couple of tracks and listened at his Myspace page, I'm [...]
The Americana singer/songwriter Chris Mills dropped a new album titled Living In The Aftermath . "Chris Mills' Living in the Aftermath is the latest collection from one of America's most wandering-est of wandering troubadours. After almost a decade of rave reviews and countless shows in stadiums and shoeboxes (the past 2 years alone have seen him alongside Ben Folds, Bishop Allen, Lucero, Limbeck, and many more), Mills, once again, threatens to break free from seemingly perpetual obscurity, by providing some of the most unaffected, and yet emotionally affecting work of his career." [...]
Little White Earbuds
Rockstar Aimz
DC9 At Night
Star Maker Machine
Glorious Noise
ONE WORD TRIGGERS
PopMatters
Welikeit.indie
J-Ax Meglio Live Tour 2012: la scaletta della data zero a Rovereto con l'omaggio ai Beastie Boys
Sound of Summer (v. 3.1)
Another All-Star In The Studio With Daft Punk
The National - The Rains Of Castamere [Game of Thrones Soundtrack]
