Polynya (an area of open water surrounded by sea ice) sound like they're auditioning to be the 4AD house band. Orlando , with it's isolated, whispering vocals, guitars ringing with reverb, the basslines wriggling along underneath the song sounds like it's been created from a 4AD flat pack. It's not all epic shoegazing, it's not all updated Cocteau Twins and Lush for the 21st century. No there's more to Polynya than mere 4AD mimickery. Taking their cue from the source of their band name for Polynya shoegazing is merely the solid sea ice [...]
I never get much mail really. The electronic type I get tons of, but the real type that comes from Mr. Mailman, rarely. So imagine my delight when I received a CD in the mail, along with a cool numbered art print from Chapel Hill, NC band - Polynya . I have a weakness for indie-pop, female vocals and electronic music, so after a few listens to Crop Rotation , I knew I just had to feature this band. Luckily, band member Luke Berchowitz allowed us to do a virtual sit down, and [...]
Chapel Hill, NC "Fan Fiction" Polynya on MySpace Polynya on The Hype Machine
Drinking water when it's hot out, going all in when rocking the royal flush, only dating hot shallow models, not fighting bears bare handed, never getting burned to death, not dating people you work with (or live in the same building as), buying really good headphones, passing on any food labeled as circus fresh, enjoying anything that glows in the dark, listening to Polynya . These are all good ideas. Pushing over the elderly, walking under ladders, eating McDonalds, giving yourself 1,000 paper cuts and then pouring lemon juice all over them, listening to music [...]
I am SORRY. The last couple months have been crazy since I moved back to school, and because of that I've had less time for checking the blog e-mail. I've gotten tons of talented people sending me shit, and I haven't had the time to post a good portion of it. This is my making like Little Boots and remedying this shitty situation. Here's thirteen artists I've really enjoyed from my e-mail, listed from oldest to newest. Disclaimer: All of these artists deserve far longer write-ups; these accumulation posts won't be happening often if [...]
We usually get flooded by junk mail in our contact address here in Athens66 and it takes hour to sort the crap. However, there are times that all this sorting pays off. A mail from Polynya back in early August was such a case. I've received their second album via mail when I got back from holiday and I must say I was quite impressed. Crop Rotation is a mix of of pop, indie and shoegaze that really hits the right spots sometimes (although not quite always). It's nevertheless worth more than a few spins! [...]
A Polynya is an oceanographic term that refers to an area of open water generally engulfed by sea ice. The band Polynya do not provoke such imagery. Rather, Polynya come to us from fun, friendly, and gorgeous North Carolina, and their sophomore effort Crop Rotation sort of evokes more of that same feeling. Polynya is a group firmly planted in neo-gaze, or what I call "second wave dream pop" or "shadow dream pop." They don't exactly emmulate, say, Slowdive or The Catherine Wheel, which is probably for the best anyway. Rather, the [...]
Who agrees with Speech Debelle becoming the Mercury Prize winner then? Comment your opinions please. We covered her in a recent post , so we have to say that we backed her. However, we've also covered Friendly Fires , La Roux , The Invisible , Florence & The Machine and Bat For Lashes on here before, so we could have backed them all!! V? Indie, dance and rock music is undeniably our [...]
...first of all, we'd like to say one thing: we love it when bands drop in on us from out of the blue... ...such was the case when we got a line from Chapel Hill, NC quartet Polynya [pronounced poe - LIN - eeee - uh]. The band recently self-released their sophomore disc, Crop Rotations, which we've been enjoying around here. While drawing from some common reference points [Kraut/Shoegaze/90s Indie], their inventive recombinations make this an enjoyable listen. Add to the fact that the band is without a drummer [employing primarily electronic percussion]. Sprinkle [...]
Since last year, I've been thinking more and more about fandom and subculture. I suppose a good deal of it came from the research involved in writing my MA thesis, but I haven't really stopped examining both concepts. I tried to steer clear of fandom studies (led by the lovely Henry Jenkins) for my thesis in order to stay on course and not get myself mired too deeply in several different arguments (rhetoric, remediation and subculture seemed like sufficient material when studying MP3 blogs). However, I've now tried to delve back into the world of the fan to see how [...]
Photography by Tsuru TSURUFOTO now on ETSY! Well, it's Wednesday and our "Dirty" Photo Contest is over! Cameras down! Heeeenry, I'm looking at you, I said CAMERAS DOWN! There, that's better. I gotta say, you guys really came through! We had a lot of great entries, I've got some great photobug readers, it was very hard to figure out who the winner should be.... Also, if you read the title [...]
Flying to the moon 400 years ago seems palpably idiotic to most people. Yet incredible as it may seem, one of the greatest scientific minds of the time, Dr John Wilkins, Brother-in-Law to Oliver Cromwell and a founder of the Royal Society, was planning his own lunar mission four centuries ago around the time of the English Civil War. 17th century England was experiencing a great renaissance in the realms of science and discovery during the 1600's. Coffee House Society swept the intelligencia and the very mood of conversation had changed. At the time when coffee first [...]
I received a promotional copy of Crop Rotation , the second album from North Carolina band, Polynya, and as a rather beautiful personal touch, they also included a numbered screen print of their abstract cover artwork. Named after an area of open water surrounded by sea ice, this band creates a self-contained core of warm, honeyed sounds while sometimes bracketed by icier electronic elements or stirred up guitars, and the album title is apt considering the continuous refreshment garnered by the band's changes in direction as they till new musical landscape on each of the eleven tracks. While they [...]
polynya calico 2009 (française version) Dans une des leurs ( fan fiction ): "listen to the radio tune into the wind..." ...et le vent m'a dit une chanson. D'océan... de bateaux... un lac aussi... Une nuit d'août ou d'ailleurs. J'avance. Dans un rêve. Les mains, d'abord. Mes mains écartent les flots comme elles feraient d'un feuillage. En quête... temps perdu et blancs pétales, où trouver jamais le [...]
Random music goodness! Ah, a very busy week. I was not able to post as many songs as I was planning this week... which makes this Random Music Fridays my outlet for what I was holding back this week. We start of with a " Super Mix " from a very talented DJ that goes by the name of Akilles. I had a chance to talk to him about his new remix/mashup "In For the Kill". This is what he had to say: "it's actually a mash of 3 different remixes [...]
So I've finished the last matryoshka piece that I'm doing for a while. I like how they wrapped up, and shaking up of the unintentional formula I was using is, at the very least, a new take on what's familiar. Mr. Skips dropped me this little nugget of Russian nesting doll cuteness: Designer Ben Schlitter makes these adorable matryoshka icon available for download. The website revamp is coming along at a glorious clip-I'm a little amazed at how much I've [...]
Photography by Alberto Guerra So, I came home from work yesterday and what was laying on our living room floor underneath our mail slot (which, even though it lets in the occasional bug and always the cold air during the winter, is too vintage/historical/awesome to remove and replace with a regular mail box thingy)?? Why a brand-spanking new CD by Polynya called Crop Rotation ! You see, a week or so ago, I got an email from Luke from the band asking me to take a gander [...]
A Polynya is a stretch of open water surrounded by ice. For the purposes of this blog though it is a band from North Carolina. I know which one I'd spend my leisure time in the company though, despite the uncommonly warm Irish weather. 'Crop Rotation' is the name of Polynya's latest early 90's infected LP. 'Ribbon Dragons' is too short but over its teensy lifespan triggers all manner of memories via mountainous cascading guitars and wonderfully realised intertwining vocals. It's quite the song for those who can't sing, just now my nearest and dearest asked whether I was having [...]
m'kay. part two of the half assed apology for getting free shit in the (e)mail then hoarding it all in my big swag bag under the bed with nary a kind word to say about any of the buggers involved. this'll be a short one mainly because i've been exhausted/ill/drinking for about four days and i [...]
![Polynya: Crop Rotation [Album Review]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1899401_lg.jpg)
In Crop Rotation , North Carolina's Polynya draws influence from various unrelated sources to concoct a style all their own. There are three primary segments in their music: epic shoegaze-based rock, swirling electronic experimentation, and indie pop. While the first two are obvious, a deeper look into "Fan Fiction" finds pop-centric vocals backed by upbeat tambourine and percussion. While indie pop is a genre which I absolutely adore, it quickly becomes apparent that Polynya is at their best when their songs find added emphasis in the first two styles. [...]
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Music Singles Chart #95
Bobby Brown Breaks Down On Stage After Whitney Houston’s Death
Whitney! ♥
Sunday #83
Didn’t We Almost Have It All – Whitney Houston 1963-2012
