With little fanfare -- at least here in America -- Kent, England-based It Hugs Back has been steadily building a formidable catalog of records and singles over the last several years. Its latest long-player, Recommended Record , is a lush, engaging and often aurally stunning marvel that gives the foursome a strong claim on a place in the vanguard of contemporary psych-pop. The set is roughly split into motorik groovers ("Sometimes") and gentle strummers that cushion persistently breathy vocals ("Teenage Drone"), although there are exciting moments that don't fit neatly into either pile, such as the blaring [...]
Lila Engel is 40 years old and sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. Somewhere in Michael Rother's attic there must be a portrait or a demo tape or something that's looking really awful by now, as this hasn't aged at all. An audacious piece of motorik art/noise rock that deviates from the typical Neu! sound with some chainsaw guitar. Add Klaus Dinger's wordless post-punkish vocals and this has a sense of urgency that's unmatched by anything else the band recorded. It's an overstatement to say that modern music began here, but an allowable [...]
While his former charges may be headlining Longitude in July, founding member of NEU! , Michael Rother , has announced a date at the Village on Monday, 29th April. The motorik icon will be joined by his backing band, Camera , for his first ever Irish concert, but they will have the unenviable task of matching the noise created by Death Grips, who will be demolishing Whelan's at the same time. Tickets are priced at €23.50, including booking fee, and are available from www.wavtickets.ie or by calling [...]
I know nussing of Alby Love and, truth be known, I'd have drawn a blank on Paddy Fred too prior to this morning, though I suppose we're here to intrigue, inspire and enlighten so we'll impart some newfound wisdom right around now, shall we? Right, well Paddy arose to the surface of our attentions thanks to the ever acutely attuned Jamie Milton , who implored we give You Belong a spin. And, ingratiating though it may sound, seems his ears weren't deceived. They never, really literally ever seem to be, for this particular Kiwi [...]
Around about a month ago, Delaware trio FIANCÉ all too fleetingly arose to the surfaces of our attentions with the intoxicating amalgam of electronic and organic that was the therefore inappositely entitled Division though back vying for that same attention, adoration, and all else below can now be found its follow-up in the again beguiling form of For Now. This time that bit more straight-up, the indubitable Local Natives influence sticks about though as the samples subsequently abate, their refined ear for a debonair melody lingering lonesome about the key of despondence becomes that bit more [...]
Here's a sprawling, dreamy racket from Melbourne's Beaches , taken from the band's forthcoming LP, due in May via our favorite Australian label, Chapter Music . The gorgeous/swirling heavy psych-out " Distance " is one of two tracks on the new record that features guitar from Neu!'s Michael Rother . She Beats is out May 3 .
From the very fucking moment Ellie Roswell and her fellow howlers emerged onstage before a heaving Old Blue Last a couple weeks back, it became grotesquely apparent as to just how good Wolf Alice were, and indeed of course still are. The standout back then went by the name White Leather and, as the flipside to forthcoming début single Fluffy (out February 11th on Chess Club Records ), it's now available for digestion in a hopefully less disgusting environ to only further enhance their still undimmed allure. Caught somewhere cute between the rugged 'n' ramshackle bawling [...]
It's an odd one, is January: widely renowned as that most innately depressing of months, once the turkey sweats have been swept aside and the end of years have all, well, ended you're left with the bare bones of boredom with little, to nothing to pick from. Unless, of course, you just so happen to hold that most desirous of occupations in A&R: often sighted somewhere or other dingy about these parts though never seen to be particularly engaged by anything in particular, the scout is something of a rare and enigmatic breed. And with the inevitable litany of Ones to [...]
Phil Manley wants you to "Make Good Choices" // Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.
champoyhate Wooden Shjips started by making crazy/noisy punk-drone records that they would mail you for free—you just had to ask!—and eventually revealed themselves as the California inheritors of that neverending motorik beat. They build riffs for miles, and if they ever invent the extra-extra-extra-long-play record, Wooden Shjips will finally have the space to release their ultimate record. Drummer Omar Ahsanuddin speaks now before the Shjips play the Thrill Jockey anniversary show this weekend . This interview by Chris Ziegler. What’s the practical lesson of Wooden Shjips? You guys didn’t do anything [...]
Six Of The Best is a semi-regular feature that pokes, prods and persuades your favourite bands, bards and barometers of hip opinion to tell us six of the best tracks they’ve ever heard. The tracks could be mainstream million-sellers or they could be obfuscatingly obscure, it doesn’t matter. The only criteria set is that, aye, they must be Six of the Best . Think of it like a mini, groovier version of Desert Island Discs… Number 12 in a series : It's not often these days that a [...]
Experimental indie rock can take many forms and they're not always from where you think. Take Fantasmes , for example. Based out of Puerto Rico, you'd maybe guess they'd have more of a regional influence. If you guessed on psychedelic experimentalism, you'd be correct. Fantasmes create music best suited to a more chill attitude with their latest, Redness Moon . What makes them even more impressive is their modest make-up, consisting of duo Mario Negron and Dario Morales. I was recently able to catch up with Darío and here's what he had to say... [...]
Band reunions: they're a dicey business, as far as fans are concerned, because they risk tarnishing the memory of the band in question's glory days. Sometimes they do exactly that, but occasionally a band get back together and make a record that's as good — or sometimes actually better — than their back catalog. Such records are few and far between, but one of them came along this week: Researching the Blues , the new studio album by the recently reunited Redd Kross. In celebration of that band's return, we thought we'd have a look [...]
Aug 7, 2012, 7:50am
DOA
Two distinct yet likeminded instrumental albums prove the subtle power of exploring musical life non-verbally.
Lower Dens & No Joy at Neumo's, Seattle | 6 July 2012 It wasn't hot in Neumo's Friday night, but if it had been Lower Dens could have cooled it off with their Hyberborean hypnotic mix of ethereal and motorik. I will be the first to admit that I wasn't a fan of the Baltimore band's first album Twin Hand Movement. It was too uneven to really make an impact, but second album Nootropics is a different story. It isn't vastly [...]
Beak> , Bristol's ungoogleable krautrock trio-du-jour, have returned after three years with a great new album in tow. Billy Fuller, Matt Williams, and Geoff Barrow (of Portishead ; though Barrow has been clear that Beak> is not a Portishead side-project ) have refined the menacing beat-driven jams of their 2009 debut and released a collection of songs whose consistency, songwriting, and level of professional quality should be a template for any band of a similar nature. Krautrock is a loose term at its root. Some bands [...]
As with any Beak> release, certain aspects are so intrinsic that were they not present and correct you'd feel compelled to take issue with Geoff Barrow via the medium of an @reply . One thing leading to another, unorthodox punctuation mark usage is one such element as is of course the involvement of Barrow himself: his twiddling of analog knobs and fascination with rejuvenated machinery is the critical peak of Beak>; the band's raison d'être as it were and it's therefore all too easy for any old hack to fob the thing off as a [...]
Billy Joel's song, " I Go To Extremes ", is the sound of me choosing a cereal. The anthem accompanies my heated decision as to what type of sugar I will have on Tuesday morning. A banal choice such as this surely deserves a tune that will properly amplify its importance. Billy Joel is not currently going to extremes, not future, not past, perhaps never. The track's title is a misnomer so brazen, it would be like saying Bruce Hornsby is more punk than Iggy Pop , more psychotic than G.G. Allin . So from this [...]
Jun 19, 2012, 8:00am DOA
Featuring 30 unreleased recordings, The Lost Tapes unspools the secret history of Can’s studio vaults.
:: clicky clicky music blog ::
Doklands
State Magazine
Dots & Dashes
Gorilla Vs. Bear
owl and bear
L.A. RECORD
Plain Or Pan?
Easy Music for Difficult Ears
Violent Success
Flavorwire
the finest kiss
Listen Before You Buy
Kanye Debuts New Song Projected On Walls
Kanye West to release new album Yeezus on June 18th
MS MR- “Hurricane (CHVRCHES Remix)”
