Twee As Fuck

The Pastels

Since i spoke earlier on in December (Like three days ago!) about Pains of Being bla bla bla and mentioned Twee (very briefly), i thought i'd give you this:

The C86 Tape

It's a bit... didactic... but hey, whatevs.

I'd been looking for this tape ever since I started listening to Belle & Sebastien, researching Indie Pop, it's origins and, well, basically whatever the hell Twee was all about. It's [indie-pop's] meaning kindof changed hands over the years, but they [it and Twee] used to be one and the same thing: Jangly, amateurish, silly, childish, rainy-day vibes, simultaneously disregarded and self-disregarded: Just a bunch of normal average white kids making normal average pop songs, less angry and punk about stuff then sorta sad.
My kinda stuff. Feels like home.

Anyhoo, i hope you find some nice tracks in there. I did.

ADD:  Oh, hey, whilst looking for pictures to grace the top of this dingus i found an article by one of my favourite writers, Nitsuh Asebe: Twee as Fuck. It's a long read but infinitely worth it.

ALSO: Check out this guy's blog. He's definitely Twee As Fuck: SMAC in the face!

And 1000 blog years late we have...

WITCH HOUSE.

Not being uber-up on all the p4k/gorilla's&Bears/cokemachineglow or more mainline-blogosphere-trends due to lack of interweb conneckies earlier this year has meant that I've HEARD all ABOUT this whole witchy-housey thing but not actually HEARD IT.

From what I've gathered it sounds like a prepostorous amalgamation of hype and barely linked together bands/groups/people from around Ahmeeerica that have been lumped together to create some effing sweet blog-buzz; which it did and has.
This makes me wary.

However, i grabbed a listen to it and, without the hyperbole, it's actually quite simple really. It sounds like something Alice Glass might've been doing if they weren't so interested in making people dance. IF you like any of the more darkly tinged Crystal Castles moments, or have heard of and like Cold Cave (Here's a 12") or have considered you might like darkwave in any way (or, to a lesser extent, could have been a Goth-bro or LIKE wearing black cos it makes you feel COOL) then you'll definitely like this a whole bunch.

This Split 7" of White Ring & oOoOO is pretty rad; the White Ring song speaks more to me in terms of the Glass-y vibes, all shouty and what not.

This song, King, off White Rings' Vinyl-only (so hip) EP, Black Earth That Made Me, is more of the downtempo, DRAG-y nature; SOO Gothic:

So ANGRY about SOMETHING

ADD: Totes going to be wearing ALL-BLACK this new year. It seems... easier. At least i'll look all witchy.

Driving Gundam Wing Fighter-Class Battleships

Look at that image. Just look at it. Doesn't it look awesome?


Ra Cailum is a dude from Saint Louis, Chicago, and, apparently, he likes driving.

I like driving too, Cailum-bro, and I was driving to your music the other day and it made me pretty effing happy. It's like a more down-tempo shoe-gaze linked up/ambient linked up Chillwave - if Chillwave could get anymore down-tempo it'd be terminal (only some might get this reference - if you don't, Czech out Neon Indian's Psychic Chasms and DL that sonuvabitch cos it's hella good).

Cailum-bro looks like a bit of a nerd, so there's some sci-fi and, oddly enough, house-y elements going on in here too.

Anyhoo, checkout these songs:

Waterfalls has a delightful Ducktails sounding surfy beat and riff, almost Cure-ish, until some lovely arching melodies coming rushing in at a staid pace and the trademark chillwave background reverb-drenched vocals spill in.

Here's the pretty pretty-pastoral-sounding, For Justin And Will.

These are both off the debut, Walkabout. I suggest you get it. It's good.

If you want to know more about Ra Cailum, go HERE.

Kisses- Other Planets EP

Kisses recently released an EP entitled Other Planets. The EP consists of four instrumental tracks named after space shuttles. The songs kinda sound like the back round music of old National Geographic videos from the 60's and 70's.

Kisses- Apollo 

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Covers

Alrighty I have have two covers to share with you guys today.

The first of which is a cover that GOBBLE GOBBLE did of some rap crew called The Dreams.

NIkki(The Dreams Cover)-GOBBLE GOBBLE).mp3

The next is a cover that The Golden Filter did of some 80's band called Psychic TV.

White Nigts(Psychic TV Cover)-The Golden Filter.mp3 

New Pains of Being Twee at Heart 7"

A cursory listen to this EP leaves me with a tingly sense of joy, of easiness, of coyness - kinda like a Stars record. I just want to smile, vaguely, and bop my head from side-to-side. Maybe skip a little. Twee as fuck.

When me and me guitarist were first listening to Pains' for the first time, he exclaimed: "I can't beleive how much they're ripping off My Bloody Valentine."
I think that's because I only had one track, namely: Come Saturday; BUT it grabbed me... eventually, with it's more Twee-ish injection of glee and lightness, mostly as on A Teenager In Love off their debut.

A good combo, really. This EP has lost a little of that jangly C86 vibe, it's a bit more slick but NOT any less silly and fun for it: like Belle and Sebastien or, especially, Camera Obscura can be at the best of times. Enjoy.

 Heart In Your Heartbreak 7"

It's like looking in your toilet bowl and being profoundly surprised by what you find there...

I have a super strong feeling that because of something or other many of you might've missed on a fabulously horrid genre initially mis-dubbed as 'Weird Punk', then punningly and horrifyingly christened shitgaze.


I suppose i'd prefer to call it Lo-Fi Noise Pop/Rock, or even Lo-Fi Garage if I had to, but, all gentrification aside, it is simply amazing - a wall of horridly recorded guitars, drums and keys blaring out at you as if from a broken car speaker, hurting your ears in the most delightful ways.
The most amazing thing about this for me is that hidden under all the miasma and viscera of broken guitars and vocals, they collide beautifully, creating tones that simply could not have been there without the 'help' of bad recording processes.

Anyhoo, if i haven't chased you away, then stick around enough to click on some of the stuff below.

Eat Skull are probably one of my favouritest of all the shitty-gazey bands, here's one of their complete winners. It's probably one of the most rocken roll songs I've ever heard. Ever.
Turn it up loud and wait for 1:21

Eat Skull - Heaven's Stranger off their 2k9 album, Wild and Inside.

This is one of the sweetest love songs with city destruction in i've ever heard:
"If I burn this city down, you'll just build another one - better than it was//And i'd go to Jail... make you a license plate that says: 'You're Great!' "

Eat Skull - No Intelligence [off the Dead Families EP]

Other band worthy of major mention:
Times New Viking [hot bitch in the band playing keys, FTW].
Checkitout ---> TNV - Move To California (Rockenroll)
Keys ---> TNV - City On Drugs

Mac and Cheese... Sounds Great

Hi All and Sundry.

This isn't all that new, considering it's from way earlier this year.
HOWEVER, it effing rules and is, undoubtedly, going to be top of my list for 2k10.
One of my favourite things is it's inherent messiness; there's a whole bunch of crazy going on in here. From shattering blasts of one-note Glockenspiel smashing to barely hearable Mac and Cheese boxes being used as shakers.

I'm going against tradition on this one, because this album really is THAT great.

Pill Wonder - Jungle/Surf [Underwater Peoples - 2010]

He sounds a bit like Noah...

The first track on this San Fran group's EP, Canopy, totes reminds me of Noah Lennox.

But that's besides the point. It's lovely. And, like EVERYTHING over the past year or two it has some bladdy kak to do with the beach (other examples Beach House, Wavves, Best Coast, Beach Fossils, etc. etc.).
And, whilst a burgeoning interest in beachy vibes does not bring me down in the slightest and, actually, fills me with rapturous joy, it probs can get a bit much.

However, wait till the last 30 odd seconds of this first track, All Of Us, and tell me whether the beach does not sound effing awesome - with that strangely smoother, playful, sounding Lennoxy voice (not better, Nazis, i didn't say better, okay!).

And, then, grab a listen to this vibey, blissed-out, bass-groovey song - exactly what you'd expect from a band called Painted Palms: Great White.

They just sound... so... so... ... Chill.

Silk Flowers- Band Of Color

Silk Flowers are a band from Brooklyn. Don't really know that much about them. "Band Of Color" is a short, sweet, uptempo synth ballad filled with Ian Curtis-esque monotone vocals. The song is off their upcoming album Ltd. Form which should be out sometime next year.

Silk Fowers- Band Of Color.mp3 

Twin Shadow by Com Truise

For me, Com Truise for Chillwave is sorta like Bush for Grunge; They were sort of there, people knew about them, they garnered a following but when people mention grunge, they don't say Bush. It will always be Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Sound Garden. I feel like Com Truise, as good as they are, will always live in the shadow of Neon Indian, Washed Out, Toro y Moi and Small Black. Pity. Anyways, Com Truise have been making some pretty remixes recently. Have a listen:

Twin Shadow- Castles In The Snow( Com Truise Remix).mp3 

Neon Indian- Sleep Paralysist(Com Truise Eyelid Remix).mp3 

Com Truise-Sundriped.mp3 

Com Truise Facebook 

Com Truise Myspace 

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Laters.

Joe And Will Ask

I had heard some blogs raving about Joe And Will Ask a while back. Didn't really give them a proper listen up until a few days ago( You know how it is. There's like three million new bands putting out mp3s every single day). They kept popping up on the triple W so I gave them a listen and now I know what the fuss is about. I'm not a huge fan of House. Never have been. Said I never would be. But these fuckers have changed my mind. I guess their music has a decent amount of techno churned in there so I don't feel too bad.

Joe And Will Ask- Clive Onion.mp3

Joe And Will Ask- Man The Cannons.mp3

New Atlas Sound- Bedroom Databank

Atlas Sound have released two records this week. Bedroom Databank volumes 1 and 2. As the name sort of suggests, they are home demos. Here are some mp3s from both of them:

Atlas Sound- Green Glass Bottles.mp3

Atlas Sound- Strange Parade.mp3

Atlas Sound- Autumn Cascading Into University Courtyard.mp3

Teen Daze by Gobble Gobble

So SBD favourites, GOBBLE GOBBLE have done a remix of another SBD favourite, Teen Daze. Checkkit:

Teen Daze-Shine On You Crazy White Cap(GOBBLE GOBBLE's Dive Off A Beach Pier Into A Lake Of Clotted Blood Remix) 

For those of you who don't know either of these bands, here's an mp3 from each of them:

GOBBLE GOBBLE-Lawn Knives 

Teen Daze- Shine On You Crazy White Cap