As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosphere hopes to pull back the curtain on a wealth of sights and sound from luminaries such as Tilth . The rolling entrance of Angular Music , the proper debut from Nathan McLaughlin/Cody Yantis duo Tilth, [...]
This set of solo banjo pieces feels fresh enough to be a debut, but Bowles is seasoned enough to make it sound mature and, at its best, even timeless. Nathan Bowles, as a member of Black Twig Pickers and having played with the likes of Jack Rose, is firmly steeped in Appalachian folk and other folk traditions. He's also played with more out-there acts like Pelt and Pigeons. But, A Bottle, A Buckeye, his first solo record, isn't quite like anything he's done before. It seems, as a collection of solo banjo pieces, to align with his folk work, [...]
Suggested NYC Concerts The Best Indie Shows Hand-picked Each Week After taking the last few weeks as a much-needed break from our concert listing, we are back in action with an exciting week in music here in New York City. You will be seriously missing out if you miss Sky Ferreira with Ghost Beach , k.flay , Haerts , and Blondfire on Thursday night. More great shows listed below! #1 [...]
Veteran underground experimenters Jackie Beckey and Andie Mazorol began their sludge-punk band Myrrh three years ago, adding lap steel guitarist Jason Millard a year ago. On their new untitled...
Toen Nathan Bowles in 2005 Mike Gangloff van Pelt en The Black Twig Pickers tegen het lijf liep, ging er een wereld voor hem open. Vanaf dat moment staat zijn muzikale interesse in het teken van folk, drones, improvisatie en tradities uit de Appalachen. Dat de banjospeler, percussionist en leraar zelf ook in de bergen van zuidwest Virginia woont, helpt natuurlijk wel een handje mee. De belangrijkste carrièremove maakte Nathan Bowles echter dit jaar, toen hij zich ging toeleggen op solo performances. Na een aantal optredens en een geweldig nummer op de dubbele 7” [...]
As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosphere hopes to pull back the curtain on a wealth of sights and sound from luminaries such as Ulaan Markhor . The last time , we caught up with Steven R. Smith; he warded off the loneliness of isolation through his own hand-built guitar. [...]
You don't need to twist the arm of Chris Berry, founder and head honcho of local label Soft Abuse, to hang out and try some cocktails. Such was the case earlier this week when Gimme Noise met him for
(Soft Abuse, 2012) 1) Pum-ice [ puhm -is] noun, verb, -iced, -ic-ing. noun also called pumice stone ; a porous or spongy form of volcanic glass, used as an abrasive. also called Stefan Neville ; native New Zealander with a penchant for volcanic, glassy, often abrasive pop, amongst other sounds. Distinguished by idiosyncratic charm and weirdness, languorously arranged wonderment, and a distinctive sonic palate happily hampered by a casual variety of miscued and failing audio equipment. [...]
If you look past the swirling colors, this Camilla Padgitt-Coles -directed video for NYC folk-rock outfit Pigeons reveals a dancer pirouetting in slow motion. The song, the latest single from the band's recent They Sweetheartstammers LP on Soft Abuse , feels kind of like an extended pirouette, too. A long, buzzing drone lays the foundation for a cyclical vocal mantra from founding member Wednesday Knudson, as haunting and deceptively aimless as Nico's notorious cover of the "End" (a personal favorite). Put this one on when you won't have to go anywhere for a while. [...]
This smouldering piece of guitar work comes courtesy of Stephen R Smith, aka Ulaan Khol. It’s called Pariah Dogs and is taken from the La Catacomb album, which is out through Soft Abuse on November 15. Have a listen to it below.
![[Interview] Pigeons](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3797691_lg.jpg)
Bronx, NY folk-rock unit Pigeons concoct dark, kaleidoscopic soundscapes populated by loose pop structures and abstract dissonance, shades of wintry stillness, and a hauntological layer of dust. Recently, they expanded their line-up to include acoustic noodlers from the No-Neck Blues Band and Black Twig Pickers , and got to work on their third full-length. They Sweetheartstammers , out next week on Soft Abuse , is packed with hypnotic psychedelia, Francophilia, cobweb-laden sonic spaces, and shadowy retrofuturism, balancing moods of wonder and foreboding with an artisan's acumen. The founding power duo of partners Clark Griffin and Wednesday Knudsen took some time via email to [...]
Julian Lynch's music often sounds like it's the score to some long lost film we're not seeing, so it's fitting that he's scoring a film: It's called How Mata Hari Lost Her Head And Found Her Body, an experimental animated film about a Dutch exotic dancer and accused World War 1 spy. Soft Abuse is releasing the score in October, and you can hear a new cut from it below. It's called "Temple Dance" and its all low clarinet, hazy atmospherics, and tapped bells. It's just like Lynch's studio material, but this time it has a film to [...]
Julian Lynch first teamed up with filmmaker Amy Ruhl on Lynch's video for "Seed". For Ruhl's first film, How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body, an animated, allegorical biography of the courtesan, ... read more
Julian Lynch is to release a 5 track EP , ' Music for How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body ', on October 4 via Soft Abuse. It is the soundtrack for the first film by Amy Ruhl (who was responsible for Lynch's 'Seed' video) which is an animated, allegorical biography of the courtesan, dancer & spy Mata Har. Here's a track from the release:
Bronx band Pigeons are set to release a new album in the coming months. ‘They Sweetheartstammers’ is out on November 8 through Soft Abuse and you can listen to their densely hazy track ‘Dead Echo’ below.
New York duo Pigeons (aka Wednesday Knudsen and Clark Griffin) serve up rough/delicate (how'd they do that?) experimental pop in their song "Dead Echo", the first taste we get from... [go to the website to read the rest of the article, download mp3s and more]
Don't let the photo fool you, Pigeons never intended to pack the sun or the sand in their weathered steamer trunk of '60s psych flavors. Rather, Pigeons evoke the sounds of the still night long after the Flower Children had fallen into the arms of Morpheus. Their forthcoming They Sweetheartstammers exudes the same resonating sense of mystery, sedation, and austere melodic sensibility as last year's Liasons , but with an added sonic density this turn and expanded lineup (roping in members of No Neck Blues Band and Black Twig Pickers ). [...]
If there's one thing that we've learnt about Bronx duo Pigeons over the past few years, it's that they're enormously gifted at taking a relatively classic melody and twisting it into something haunting, melancholic and beautiful. Take their cover of Serge Gainsbourg's 'Laisse Tomber Les Filles' , for example, a French 602s pop classic which the duo transformed into a reverb-laden, spooky charm of a song. Following the release of their third album, Liasons last year, the prolific duo return with 'Dead Echo', a suitably off-kilter, austere, creeping track, [...]
Just like the black and white stripes that cover the wall in the picture below, this album jumps from one color to the next, with its mixture of meditative instrumental tracks combined with more textured post-punk darkwave melodies; those, in particular, are what grabbed me most out of this album—mainly because of the strong character that Bunker Wolf brings to them. I'd like to think that his voice is represented as the pictures seen on the wall below—they're embodied and framed by these stripes of variation but they also add that bold red accent that crosses the line. [...]
![Pigeons [Race, Soft Abuse]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3038107_lg.jpg)
"Race" is the second track from Bronx duo Pigeons' third studio album and second LP released this year (Si Faustine was released earlier this year on OESP ). Liasons finds the band in the midst of an enormous creative leap; the psychedelic chanson moves of previous releases now cohabit with spacious westcoast art-blues & wistful cosmic folk tunes, casually invoking Catherine Ribeiro, Brigitte Fontaine, Grim and Opal. Pigeons’ singular approach to structure, arrangements & production techniques - mirrored by the disruptive spelling of Liasons – culminate with Wednesday Knudsen and Clark Griffin lacing their songs with [...]
KEXP Blog
PopMatters
the WILD honey pie
City Pages - Gimme Noise
MrBungle
Forest Gospel
Visitation Rites
Bowlegs Music Review
The Decibel Tolls
Prefixmag.com
The FADER
Pasta Primavera
The Line Of Best Fit
Relentless Noisemaker
SEE THE LEAVES
MS MR- “Hurricane (CHVRCHES Remix)”
Lana Del Rey is the “Queen of Disaster” on New ‘Born To Die’ Leak
