Contact High

So after four years of being that band that everybody was like "what the fuck happened to them?", Architecture in Helsinki are back with a followup to 2007's Places Like This. Moment Bends is set for release on May third. Apparently the album took like, two years to record but who cares. Anyway, they've been nice enough to release their first single Contact High as a free download.


Contact High

Julian and The Boys take on Round 4.


Yes, that's damn right. It's a new Strokes single. I really don't know what to think of this whole idea. I haven't even given it a listen yet, so, I guess I'll have to get feedback from you kids on this one.
Alls I know is they have a godamn lot to prove. If it's anything as crap as the last Interpol release then I'm not sure I want to even bother. Rumours that surfaced recently put Weezer's Rivers Cuomo pictured in a studio with Julian - a little while after the new Album's date was released - have not helped things either. Rivers' last attempts at making music have smelt like a putrid pile of dogshit; and his colab's with com-pop peeps have done little to assuage the strange feelings of guilt that might be welling up inside him. See this godamn awful video at your peril.
Everyone seemed to have some disastrous ideas about the third Strokes album, however, it doesn't irk me that a band changes their sound, in fact, it's quite necessary. If it's not a good album, it isn't. And it wasn't. Let's hope they cauterise that wound and move on.

Chill Out, Dude!

 

Rob Cass (aka The Real MC) threw this at my face the other day//It's not often i get totally surprised by a chill artist anymore, because, like the whole beach/surf-rock upsurgence, there has been a lot of saturation. A saturation of shit. But that happens to every new trend, doesn't it? And it's always two or three years later. Noticed how much Electro is influencing pop music these days? As much as it must irk most of you, grab a listen to some radio-vibes sometime or flip onto MTV. You can literally hear the electro seeping through the miasma of awfulness.
Some people say that Chill has reached it's heydey and that the Golden Age is over; but it's every so often something just springs out at you - such as MillionYoung - that completely throws you off that vibe and renergises your batteries. Ducktails' new album did the same for me as far as psych/drone/beach-vibes go.

So, in essence, I'm saying there is a large bunch of shit in every new genre. But every now and then something pokes up outta the band-wagonism and says hi.

Craig Cruiser is defs for shore one of these.
From the first track - beautiful flowing watersounds and float-y synths over a lovely little picked guitar - I know this shit is going to make me feel pretty effin' sweet.
The second track is a cover of New Theory by Washed Out (one of the purported grandaddies - in blog years - of the Chillvibes) which is bladdy awesome. It's a cover (Hooray! Not a remix!).
It is nicely ambient, pushing the already downtempo big-beat vibes of the original down-BPM and losing the crunchiness of the originals pushy synths. Then Chill Out, Dude hits and my oh my it is an awfully fantastic song. The bassline gives me serious krills. Then the vocals give me double krills.
I think you know, if you like Chillwavves, what to expect from the rest of this record. Like said above, it is nicely ambient, and if that kinda thing is your cup of tea...

Earlier Risers


Made this 2-disc mix for a super early drive through to the Drakensberg on New Years Eve. Luckily it was drizzling. It isn't mixed very well as it was done very quickly the night before & there are some obvious mix-tape faux pas. Please forgive me and enjoy, if you can. Disc 2 [Early Risers] to follow. Please copy the above picture and paste it as the album art, thank you.

001 - Atlas Sound//Christmas Synths
002 - Jonquil//Lily
003 - Jonquil//Sudden Sun
004 - Julian Lynch//Just Enough   
005 - Yo La Tengo//Green Arrow    
006 - Memory Tapes//Swimming Field
007 - Altar Eagles//You Lost Your Neon Haze
008 - Blackbird Blackbird//Float On
009 - Small Black//Sun Was High (So Was I) [Best Coast Cover]
010 - Casiotone For The Painfully Alone//Streets Of Phildadelphia (W/ Concern)
011 - Casiotone For The Painfully Alone//Nashville Parthenon (Redux)
012 - Ra Cailum//Waterfalls
013 - HEARTSREVOLUTION//Digital Suicide Lullaby
014 - Beach House//Saltwater    
015 - CocoRosie//By Your Side   
016 - XXL (Xiu Xiu & Larsen)//Sunday
017 - Lotus Plaza//Whiteout

Teen Daze do the New Toro!


Teen Daze have this very driving kinda sound at the moment, punctuated by brief moments of shimmer - then back into those driving synths and steady four-to-the-floor beats. They did the same on their EP, Four More Years, but it was much more calmed down. Then on their next EP, Beach Dreams, They went kinda rocken roll. And then (and this is still all in 2010) they pumped out a nice full-length where they upped the tempo and got almost game-like in their cutesy synths - reminding one of a joyous balearic (ibiza, happy-clappy-ravey-vibe).

This Remix of Toro Y Moi's new single, Still Sound, discards the bass-heavy old-school hip-hop sound and gives it alot more drive, with the occasional drop. And, yes, I'm sure you can drive 120 on the highway with all your windows open to it. In fact, I recommend it when listening to ANY Teen Daze.

TAKE IT.

Ctr-X; Ctr-C. Know what that means?!!1 New Kutt Kopz!



In Ghost Colours is probs one of my favourite albums of the past two years or so. It's still good. I'm listening to it now. It's so I'm-gonna-fist-pump-now-but-I-wont-because-that's-lame-y. And everyone knows when you wanna pump that fist it's serious feel-good awesome-ness. It was eighties recapitulated//made more awesome. Anyone who hasn't heard it needs to. It is awesome.

This post, however, is about their new one. It is different. It draws more from Talking Heads territory at times instead of shimmery synth-poppy goodness. Hence, it is darker, more plateau-ey. It feels like sometimes it flat-lines. But it's a different eighties feel; more Eau d'Bedroom Dancing - socks on carpet vibes, sipping wine from a pap-sak before we go out than the tracks off In Ghost Colours that are Dance-Floor Winners.



New Single! Memory Tapes! Today Is Our Life!



Bouncy, upbeat, fun, guitar-heavy new song by previous smooth-beat-sailing and 80s-ghostbuster-sampling Mr. Tapes. Previously it was all about the languid leading to the epic, but this is pretty much riding a tsunami the whole way. I think. Listen to it: Today Is Our Life

Metronomy- She Wants (video)










Toro y Moi- Still Sound video

Do It Again

I don't think this song needs a write up. It's Holy Ghost! You should love it.

Do It Again 

Dom- Bowl Cut Feat. Cults

I flippin' love Dom so much. Sun Bronzed Greek Gods was perhaps my favourite EP of last year. So much so that when I caught wind of this new single I got a bit worried. The blogosphere is awash with poor sophomore attempts by bands who started out so strongly. Thanks to old J.C and G-money up above for exempting Dom from this.

BTW, it's almost the ma' fuckin weekend!

Dom - Bowl Cut (Feat CULTS) by 1FTP

I Will Let You Down: Summers of Lost Love

Say what??!

An indie pop cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt"?


Nah. It's just The Go Find back with Morr:


♪ Just A Common Love ♫
 
Chilled.

As always...

♥

Pandy feats. on Ducktails song...

 

AZ: Can you tell me about Panda Bear’s appearance on the record?
Matt Mondanile:
Real Estate was touring Europe this summer, and I did a Ducktails tour afterwards. I flew to Lisbon, Portugal and had a couple of days off. I found out Atlas Sound was playing, and [Bradford Cox] had asked Real Estate to tour a few days before. I went to his soundcheck, and he was like, you should come out to dinner with us. So I came out to dinner, and Noah Lennox came, and Bradford introduced us. Noah and I hung at the show, and he walked me back to where I was staying; Noah Lennox is the sweetest guy ever. Then I wrote this track in Lisbon while I was there. I emailed him and was like, “it was nice to meet you. It would be cool if you sang on this, I really like your voice.” It was an email collaboration.
_____________________________________________________
SB: Besides the above being a really cool thing to just sorta happen, Matt Mondanile is about to start his own little label. His first release will be a little 12" featuring 2 different versions of a track off his latest LP.
Ducktails – Killin’ The Vibe 12″:
A1. Killin the Vibe [ft. Panda Bear]
A2. Couch Surfer
B1. Sit Around With Ya
B2. Killin the Vibe [ft. Spectrals]
For now you can totes have the Panda Bear version which i found rummaging around the blogosphere.
Enjoy:
TAKE THIS 

Besty Coasty & Wavvy Gravvy think Summer is FOREVER.


I know a lot of people are super into the Besty Coasty vibes; and some peeps are only getting into Wavvesy because of his latest release, King of The Beach but I, sorry to say, am completely sickened by half of it:
It's too nice, too easy, too romantic, too fey-sloppy; I just don't dig it. All this singing blatantly about girls and boys and summer: It makes me queasy. Summer forever? Ew. I think it's because I prefer Spring & Autumn, the in-between more temperate seasons. It's just all a bit too much for me. I'm getting sunburned. I have sunstroke. I'm gonna vom.

It's not that it's crap, because it isn't. It just doesn't gel with me. And that's ok, right? Right.

HOWEVER, there is this new EP featuring two songs from Besty' and Wavvy's last LPs and two COMPLETELY NEW songs where Besty and Wavvy do some duet feating with eachother (vom).
The EP also features a track from dreamsludgy No Joy off their 2010 release Ghost Blonde.


Enjoy, if you can.

P.S. My tongue is mostly in my cheek.

Ducktails... Woo-Hoo!


I find it hard to write about Ducktails. Matt Mondanile, however, is one of my heroes. He is the one man responsible for this engagingly awesome record whose album artwork you see above.

Matt is one part of the Jersey Shore triumvirate bringing us warm summery suburban vibes, hammock swinging survival tactics and aimless stoner car classics (even if they kindle memories of the beach). This triumvirate consists of the superb Real Estate (which Matt plays guitar for), the not as great Alex Bleeker and The Freaks and the absolutely amazing Ducktails.

I first heard Ducktails slightly out of context in one of their more arresting moments via an amazing compilation i received from my guitarist. Dancing With The One You Love is one of the greatest love songs i've heard in my life - such pain and anguish and fear and love spoke-screeched out of a lo-fi corner filled with slow strummed chords and bass tracked over some jittery sampled drums. Holy god. I just listened to it again. Much Love.

Anyhoo, as i said, arresting - as the rest of that album's (Ducktails - self-titled [2009]) songs are wafty, hazy, distorted, drone-y half-remembered sunshine gems recalling saturday morning cartoons - if i recall, all recorded in a basement or a shed somewhere in New Jersey - jittering from drone to hook every now and then; very background - and nonetheless more awesome because of that.

With this new record (III), Matt Mondanile stretches his legs and goes for a little bit of a walk taking the sound from less basement-seclusion to shower some sunlight on it - creating a more open, accessible sound.
Plus those fireworks on the last track (Porch Projector) are godamn amazing.


P.S. Matt, i also like to drive around in my car aimlessly, listening to records.
        I'm sure some of our patrons get it too.
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