Graveyard Shift Like a bleary, AM radio Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls or Male Bonding, Night Manager crawls through the dark bearing discordant pop with West Coast-style melodies. Swathed in static with a layer of affected weariness floating on top, their generally upbeat songs are full of ghostly oohs and almost angry stabs at their instruments – try 'Air Jordan"s weird slanty meandering. They retain their easy charm and total singability regardless of which direction their tunes take. 'Pizza Pasta' is the [...]
Night Swimming I haven't heard any good Panda Bear inspired jams in a while, but Bone Quida Ida is clearly channelling the messiah of modern neo-psychedelia. Dustin Illingworth uploaded these two tracks on to his Soundcloud a few weeks ago, and their sexy, swirling melodies are perfect pieces of bubble-gum psychedelia. 'Quixote' is cut straight from Noah Lennox's Tomboy (early-2011), with multiple vocal layers and breathy synths colliding to form a writhing pop symphony. [...]
Life & Debt Back in June our friend Matthew Scheurich was shot with a bow and arrow while living in the Papua New Guinean jungle. The attack made international news headlines . He's now back living in Auckland, New Zealand, recovering from his traumatic experience. In an email today he said, "chest pains flare up from time to time", but that his "lung capacity feels much better now." Since his near-death experience Matt has been working on a new musical project, to help [...]
Grounded We've already featured Cool Cult on EMJ several times this year - back in March when they released their debut album Try Crunch, and then in June as the featured artist for the global Music Alliance Pact . Now with the help of talented Auckland film crew A Soft Caress , the band has released their first video for 'Tomorrow', one of many standout tracks off Try Crunch. The video sees the band sitting in a lobby... perhaps [...]
Gothic///\\\Waltz Rich Moreno began performing as Frank Alpine in 1996, but it's only now that an LP of his recently vocalised recordings is being made available via New York's Wierd Records. The Los Angeles composer is a true underground phenomenon; one of LA's finest synth-punk weirdos that's avoided being courted by the overexcited indie music press. He takes Gothic electro to its extreme, mixing stark ghost-waltz-type rhythms with dark menopausal beats. Much of his music sounds decrepit and from a [...]
Psychic Grunge Our favourite psych-grunge trio from New York have been busy polishing their sound in anticipation of the release of their long-awaited debut album. To celebrate Thrashin' being released on September 26 by Marshall Teller Records / Sixteen Tambourines , Tucker, Emily and Ross have generously given us the premier of their amazing video for 'Thyme Travelling High School Dropout' and shared two new recordings with us! Collated from amazing vintage VHS [...]
Cat Food Never Decays Remember American college rock from the '90s? Superchunk, Sebadoh and Pavement appear to be huge influences on Auckland band Meese and their press release confirms it, also name-checking Modest Mouse and Built To Spill. This video for their single 'Waiting For A Holiday' is built upon a retro '90s vibe, in the spirit of reckless DIY grunge videos and VCR-style technology. The three band members (Alex Angrignon, Sophie van der Linden and Sam Harper) build up an image of a psychedelic wonderland, playing in [...]
An Artist's Impression Of Music 'Buildings', the first single off Fuyuko's Fables' debut EP, is an absolute delight. Driven by a wonderfully archaic sounding drum beat with a dash of reverb encasing the vocals, the song sounds like the younger sibling to Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago . There's something very special about this group - their sound is crisp, gentle and sincere, achieving the perfect balance between reflection and observation. Their songs build upon winding vocal melodies, tensile guitar rhythms and [...]
Walking Invisibly Kurt Vile keeps on getting better. Having released what many critics believe to be one of the best albums of 2011, with Smoke Ring For My Halo, he's now giving fans even more to cherish, with a new 6-track EP due out in November titled So Outta Reach. Five new songs, all originally recorded for Smoke Ring... and a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Downtown Train' appear on the new EP. The first single from the EP, [...]
Coastal Bloodfest On September 20, Portland trio Nurses will release their highly anticipated sophomore album Dracula. We asked band member John Bowers to undress the album and explain how retreating to an isolated coastal cabin in the middle of winter resulted in such an energetic sound. We also asked him if he remembers touring with The Brunettes. (EMJ) Your new album Dracula is out on September 20, tell me a [...]
St Rupertsberg Mount Pleasant and Urbantramper Saturday, September 3, 2011 San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington Photos by Rachel Brandon More photos of St [...]
Relentless Pining Bubblegum bedroom pop never sounded so fresh and joyous! Californian Zach Yudin's solo bedroom project-turned-full-band-ensem ble, Oregon Bike Trails, will be the newest release from pop purveyors Father/Daughter Records . With pitch-perfect choral harmonies and tinkling piano, this really is impeccable pop. Single 'High School Lover' hits its stride instantly with rousing, atmospheric vocals and gently rolling percussion. There's almost an R&B element to the perfect chorus with its effortless sing-ability. Creeping along with a steady pace and a lively [...]
Removable Wisdom Today I'm getting my wisdom teeth out. So I thought what better way to celebrate than by allowing you to remove some Teeth from EMJ? It just so happens that UK band Teeth released an incredible, killer banger the other day that I've been itching to share with you. We've been fans of the band for a few years now , and they just keep getting better. More dynamic and edgy, they push the boundaries of thrash punk and electro, using [...]
Spiral Staircase Nobody does dream pop like the Scandinavians. Denmark's Treefight for Sunlight continues the country's unchallenged reign of infectious melodies melding '60s sensibilities and sing-along lyrics the likes of the Zombies with a sense of urgency that brings to mind Arcade Fire. 'What Became of You and I' is a choral pop ode that merges an insanely catchy chorus with honky tonk-style piano and gleaming guitars. Combining California's sun-soaked charm with '60s euphoria and the occasional slight prog rock bent, the [...]
Transcendent Meditation Keep Shelly in Athens has been all over my favourite music blog, Gorilla vs Bear , recently, but only now have I finally got around to devoting myself to the band's dreamy pop music. Part lounge-disco, part '80s nostalgia, Keep Shelly in Athens is completely jammed with hypnotic highway beats. From Athens, Greece, the duo - a couple named Sarah P and RPR - have been described by The Guardian Music Blog as "melancholy disco", but their music tends to invoke [...]
Times New Viking with Terror of the Deep and Sheitgeist Sunday, August 21, 2011 San Francisco Bathhouse, Wellington Photos by Rachel Brandon More photos of Times New Viking with Terror of the Deep and [...]
Wild Flames Former Christchurch - now Auckland - shoegazers O'Lovely have just released their debut album after months of reworking, refining and securing the approval of all three band members. Vocalist/keyboardist Laura-Lee Watson has no shame in describing herself as a 'perfectionist', and for those able to compare this album with the band's previous , somewhat rare EP (20o92s Lost Luck) , the smoothing and polishing off of several two-year-old songs is easily noticeable. Titled Constellations, the album [...]
Hildur Guðnadóttir with Seth Frightening Saturday, August 20, 2011 Adam Art Gallery, Wellington Photos by Rachel Brandon More photos of Hildur Guðnadottir and Seth Frightening
Transformation Heavy emotional weight drives Pizza!'s monotone pop ode about a boy yearning to grow up. Though the footage is grissly and not entirely something I'd promote (bludgeoning a deer), Blaine Ludy 's video is beautifully shot. In it, pressure mounts on a drooling, daydreaming kid (played by Chase Whitted) to the point where he transforms himself into a quasi-army dude and embarks on a self-exploratory rampage. It's fun to watch but at the same time quite dark. Blaine says of the video, [...]
Einstein Music Journal
Princesse - Tell Me | MP3
Prince – Controversy (Mighty Mouse Re-Edit)
Beck - 'I Just Started Hating Some People Today' [Listen]
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Azealia Banks – ’1991′ & ‘Van Vouge’
