Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dntel - Early Works for Me If It Works for You II


CD 1 (Something Allways Goes Wrong)
1. In Which Our Hero Begins His Long and Arduous Quest
2. In Which Our Hero Finds a Faithful Sidekick
3. In Which Our Hero Is Put Under a Spell
4. In Which Our Hero Dodges Bullets and Swords
5. In Which Our Hero Frees the Damsel in Distress
6. In Which Our Hero Is Decapitated by the Evil King
7. In Which Our Hero Begins His Long and Arduous Ques [Seq Remix]
8. In Which Our Hero Was Taken by Surprise [Languis Remix]
9. S.O.S.
10. Machine and a Memory Keep You Alive


CD 2 (Early Works For Me If It Works For You)
1. Loneliness Is Having No One to Miss
2. High Horses Theme
3. Pliesex Sielking
4. Termites in the Bathtub
5. Fort Instructions
6. Curtains
7. Tybalt 60
8. Danny Loves Experimental Electronics
9. Sky Pointing
10. Casuals
11. Winds Let Me Down Again
12. Jewel States, "The Door Borders"


CD 3 (Early Works For Me If It Works For You II)
1. New Name
2. Incomplete 1
3. Paul Guitar
4. Don't Try
5. Serious
6. Darker Earlier
7. Smile Break
8. Incomplete 4
9. Moody
10. Slowdance
11. Fancy Ian
12. Jittery
13. Incomplete 2
14. Bluegrass (Short)
15. Mini
16. Laughs
17. First Day After the Worst
18. Ender


Before the Postal Service grew from a charming side project into an omnipresent harbinger of indie-rock's growing commercial profile, there was a kid playing bass for a band called Strictly Ballroom while recording techno in his dorm room under the name Dntel. Jimmy Tamborello's solo electronic project wouldn't make much noise until his third record, Life Is Full of Possibilities, released in 2001 when hiring indie singers to vocalize over electronic compositions was a novel idea. Still, it wasn't just the vocal tracks that held Tamborello's breakthrough album together. Early Works For Me If It Works For You II compiles his first two albums on the Phthalo label with some heretofore unreleased material from around the time of his third. Much of the setstands in the long shadow cast by Warp Records' 90s roster, and Tamborello isn't shy about admitting that. But it also contains early experiments with the chilly but affecting instrumentals that filled in the cracks between Tamborello's more infamous collaborations, and it holds up better than you might think.

The material goes all the way back to 1994 and up through the early 00s, covering a fertile time for amateur electronic composers. Recorded in 1994, but released by Phthalo in 2001, Something Always Goes Wrong finds Tamborello just beginnging to flex his limbs. The distorted, non-repeating drum work throughout showed a love for Aphex Twin and u-ziq, but is never quite as intricate or sophisticated as either of those producer's work. "In Which Our Hero Finds a Faithful Sidekick" rides its breakbeats and yawning bass towards a vague and familiar spy-movie feeling, and while the 8-bit-sounding effects are a lot more conspicuous here than on Dntel's later records, the stretch from "In Which Our Hero Is Put Under a Spell" to "...Frees the Damsel in Distress" develops the slow and swooning vibe Tamborello explored much more fully in the near future. In contrast to his heroes, Tamborello's style was more cautious and uncluttered, making the most from his nascent ability.

While Something was Dntel's earliest material, Early Works For Me If It Works For You was his first release. From the first track on, Early Works... displayed bolder, faster, and more intricate drum patterns. Tamborello was getting better at emulating his influences, but something else was happening, too-- he often dips his toes into textures he'd later grow more comfortable with, like a hurdy-gurdy-like tone that sounds more like live instrumentation and a brief vocal sample on "Fort Instructions". You can also hear much of the melancholy keys and surging, almost soothing white noise that made his breakthrough, Life Is Full of Possibilities, so distinct. "Casuals" blends all these elements together equally: A vocal sample is even almost audible over an insistent, repetitious drum pattern and a melancholy melody, but all of it is washed-out and obscured by crackling distortion. It felt a little more slippery in terms of genre, but it also tapped a desolate, yet romantic emotional core.

Passion Pit - Manners


1. Make Light
2. Little Secrets
3. Moths Wings
4. The Reeling
5. Eyes As Candles
6. Swimming In The Flood
7. Folds In Your Hands
8. To Kingdom Come
9. Sleepyhead
10. Let Your Love Grow Tall
11. Seaweed Song


Starry-eyed Massachusetts D.I.Y. poppers Passion Pit have one foot in the skronky, shambling lo-fi underground and one in the flashing-lights big-room dance-pop overground. So it follows that the band would have two labels. In the U.S., they're on Frenchkiss, the small NYC indie run by Les Savy Fav bassist Syd Butler. And in the UK, they're on Columbia, an honest-to-God major label. Complicated!

In May, the band will follow up their much-buzzed-about Chunk of Change EP with Manners , the first Passion Pit full-length. Columbia will release it in the UK on May 18, and Frenchkiss will drop it in North America Frenchkiss will drop it in North America eight days later, also on May 18 on May 26. That's the surprisingly monochromatic cover above.

Before the album comes out, though, the band will play a ton of shows on both sides of the Atlantic, which is the sort of thing you have to do when everyone suddenly decides your band is the Next Big Thing. I can say with some authority that they'll probably be the first Next Big Thing to ever play Syracuse's Westcott Theatre.

Sylvain Chauveau - The Black Book Of Capitalism


01. Et Peu A Peu Les Flots Respiraient Comme On Pleure
02. JLG
03. Hurlements En Faveur De Serge T.
04. Le Marin Rejete Par La Mer
05. Derniere Etape Avant Le Silence
06. Dialogues Avec Le Vent
07. Ses Mains Tremblent Encore
08. Ma Contribution A L'industrie Phonographique
09. Geographie Intime
10. Je Suis Vivant Et Vous Etes Morts
11. Mon Royaume
12. Potlatch (1971-1999)
13. Un Souffle Remua La Nuit


Sylvain Chauveau is one of those artists we hear mentioned a great deal, yet he has proven strangely elusive when it comes to tracking down his work. Best known (and easiest to get hold of) is his seminal Fat Cat album 'Un Autre Decembre' which set him up as one of the world's premier exponents of the electronic/classical sound, but Sylvain had already been releasing records long before that album hit the shelves. 'The Black Book of Capitalism' originally appeared in 2000 on the French DSA imprint and sadly never hit UK shores, but Type (Sylvain's new base of operations) have managed to put together a gloriously remastered and repackaged version for the wider world to hear at last. Those of you who have been enamoured with the artist's stark, minimal sound might be shocked at first to hear the variety on offer; 'The Black Book of Capitalism' is far from a mere classical record, and shows a breadth of sound never again seen
in Sylvain's catalogue to date. From the mournful, delicate piano-work of 'Et Peu a Peu les Flots...' we musical expertise, with the doomy almost Bohren-esque jazz of 'Hurlements en Favour de Serge T.' and through a chiming fairytale with 'Derniere Etape avant le Silence'.

There are almost traces of Angelo Badalamenti's work lost in the grooves here, with the
gauzy world of European cinema seeping from every crack and punctuating Sylvain's compositions with both confidence and a deft humour. It might be over eight years old now but nothing of the album has been lost with time, it has matured with age, showing new depths and character with every year that has gone by. With 'The Black Book of Capitalism' Sylvain delivered his most widescreen work so far and it's an absolute pleasure to be able to hear it again in all its glory.

Like Bells - Like Bells


01. Atlas
02. Yeti
03. Can I Say Something To You?
04. The Streets Themselves
05. Nothing Collapses
06. Where Is The White?
07. Fragments
08. Searching Now
09. Boiling Springs
10. Certain Types Of Conversation


Like Bells is what happens when you mix a violinist, a jazz drummer, a laptop, and a guitarist with an aptitude for unique tunings. Formed in 2006 while all three members were students at Oberlin College/Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Like Bells have taken advantage of their ivory tower fortifications to develop a personal and honest musical style. Like Bells draws on a wide swath of musical influences, from instrumental acts like Do Make Say Think, Sigur Ros, and Mogwai, to electronic wizards Aphex Twin and Matmos, to widely regarded pop artists like Bjork, Frank Zappa, and Radiohead. Like Bells have built up a strong following in the Cleveland area, and have brought their act on the road, playing in clubs from Knoxville, TN to Columbia, SC. They will be on tour during the spring and summer in 2009. This tour will coincide with the release of their self-titled LP, which was engineered, mixed, and produced by the band. It will be released by Cleveland-based indie label Exit Stencil Records. Like Bells writes songs that challenge listeners without alienating them. Their live shows are characterized by their attention to detail--a result of countless hours spent writing and rehearsing material--and by the boundless energy and excitement that can only come from a band of wide-eyed 20-somethings touring around the country, happy for the chance.

Hexlove - Pija z Bogiem


CD 1:
1. Rock Yourself Out Chah Body
2. Verse Coarse
3. New Quote Lyar
4. Herb
5. Hickory
6. Gamork
7. Relax, Live
8. Voomers
9. Scared Of Hate
10. Web Circle Spiral Dust
11. The Lake Dies Twice
12. Your Ning And Pressing Play
13. Boss Quiet


CD 2:
1. She Heals Blister
2. I Have Flight
3. Tropical Boom 3
4. Mocking Bird Totem
5. Mahd
6. Tropical Boom 5
7. Grandpa Okonski’s Perpetual Motion Magnet Generator


Beefheart or Eno? Magnetic Fields or Tricky? - Zac Nelson (see his releases on Holy Mountain and Temporary Residence…) comes from Illinois and his way to create music is pretty unique. Divived between impressive instrumental sections, gorgeous almost-feminine vocal parts, explosive drum skills and beautiful melodic inventions, Nelson shows the widest musical range and the best inspiration we ever tasted recently in the underground/indie scene. This is the second CD release from him - a wonderful collection of songs, drum-obsessed jams and crazy pop sketches. Here is an absolutely brilliant manifesto of his art.

Cof Cof - Safari


1. Cell Phone
2. Arrested
3. Suffering Safari
4. Third
5. T-Shirt


Cof Cof are Alex Cuadrado and Ana Analogica from Valencia, Spain. Their songs are pretty minimalist without being just vocal tracks; stacked blips and lo-fi 8-bit instruments bounce around catchy lines. There are bits of Yelle here, bits of Bonde do Role there, without any rap or outright danceability and with a distinct aesthetic and silly nature as fitting for reverence and snobbery as it is for unadulterated Nintendo tinged revelry.

Their lead single, Playmy HDD is broken has a clear sense of humor, with it’s vague analogies and forthright, tongue in cheek theme, but is still as viable as any lyricism from The Teenagers or CSS.

Silicone Soul - Silicone Soul


01. Koko's Song
02. Dust Ballad II
03. Language of the Soul
04. Call of the Dub
05. David Vincent's Blues
06. Hurt People Hurt People
07. The Pulse
08. Midnite Man
09. Seasons of Weird
10. Dogs of Les Ihes


The duo of Craig Morrison and Graeme Reedie have become one of the flagship acts on Slam's Soma label, releasing their first material on the imprint all the way back in 1998. This June sees the duo continue their smooth tech-house stylings with the release of Silicone Soul, marrying wistful melodies and live instrumentation with crisp electronic beats. Fans of the current wave of streamlined minimal house should take easily to tracks like "Midnite Man" and album closer "Dogs Of Les Ihes," but there are also quite a few concessions to a more sedate home listening style. "David Vincent's Blues" sees a bluesy slide guitar sit on top of loping disco-influenced beat, while the guitar also sits at the forefront of "Koko's Song," which is a tribute to a recently deceased fan from the Bulgarian coastal city of Varna...www.residentadvisor.net

City Rain - This I Will Remember


1. Cyclothymic For You
2. Wow That Was Boring
3. Try To Understand
4. Bird Dance
5. Have Them Come Wait
6. Buon Giorno Sleepasaur
7. This I Will Remember Pt. 1
8. This I Will Remember Pt. 2
9. Can't Sleep
10. Just Got Off The Phone With You
11. Skyscraper


A young and seasoned veteran to IDM and minimal music, and the Philadelphia indie-electronic music scene, City Rain releases his best and varied album to date. From the brilliant mind of Ben Runyan comes 11 new tracks with both electronic and acoustic elements. Perfect live guitar lines compliment the programming of hard hitting kicks and bass grooves, snares, and claps that make this music a great blend that will appeal to those that like their electronic music full of melody and feeling just as much as those whose feet are lifted off the dance floor moments before the high pass filter drops the bass that punches them square between the ears.

Housemeister - Beff Jerky


01. who is that boys
02. rambo
03. beef jerky
04. vakuum
05. gehacktes


After his 2nd album, remixes for Modeselektor, Cassius and Zombie Nation, HOUSEMEISTER is back on BNR with his new ep “Beef Jerky”. 100% analog produced techno and breakcore - and as usual outside of any trend. “Who is that boys”, a pure HOUSEMEISTER style banger with a crazy beat programming, is garantied to rock the club.

“Beef jerkey” is a dirty breakbeat-core trak and like Pedro winter said if it was labelled as CHEMICAL BROTHERS people would take it as great track back to the roots.
“Rambo” is a tropical beat mix of baltimore, dubstep and techno, “Vakuum” gives you the deeper Rephlex techno vibe and last but not least there is “Gehacktes”, a cool beat tool for the anti rave night.
This record proves that the magic and excitement of electronic music is based on the good old fashioned analog production...www.boysnoize.com

The Legends - Over And Over (with bonus track)


1. You Won
2. Seconds Away
3. Always The Same
4. Monday To Saturday
5. Heartbeats
6. Dancefloor
7. Turn Away
8. Recife
9. Over And Over
10. Jump
11. Something Strange Will Happen
12. Touch
13. Over And Over (Remix By Pallers) (Japan Bonus)


The man behind Stockholm-based The Legends, Johan Angergård, (Club 8, Pallers, Acid House Kings) has been known to take his audience for quite a ride. With jarring shifts in musical direction since 2003, The Legends are notorious for being resilient to change, unwilling to compromise their sound while relentlessly confusing and annoying his audience along the way.

The Legends’ forthcoming album "Over and Over,” recorded in a decrepit basement in South-Central Stockholm, marks yet a new creative turn for the band, mixing hypnotic washes of distorted synths with sweet, bouncy melodies that echo off walls of feedback and loud, shimmering guitars. Pulling influences from his own angst-driven life, the album mirrors Johan’s own personal changes and growth during the time in which it was written, starting dark and stormy and finishing with a brighter end. Combining a modern mix of white noise and vibrant melodies, “Over and Over” pulls influences ranging from the Beach Boys to 60’s girl-pop, with indie, ambient and krautrock sounds that resonate throughout the record...www.musicremedy.com

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Harbour Boat Trips 01: Copenhagen By Trentemøller


01. Grouper - Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping
02. Gravenhurst - I Turn My Face To The Forest Floor
03. Emiliana Torrini - Lifesaver
04. I Got You On Tape - Somersault
05. Beach House - Gila
06. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Anenome
07. The Raveonettes - Aly, Walk With Me (Nic Endo Remix)
08. The Hypothetical Prophets (Proroky) - Back To The Burner
09. Suicide - Cheree
10. Muscleheads - Phosphorescence
11. David Garcet - Confidence (New Wave Mix)
12. Rennie Foster - Devil’s Water
13. Caribou - Melody Day (Four Tet Remix)
14. The Raveonettes/Trentemoller - She’s Lost Control
15. A Place To Bury Strangers - I Know I’ll See You
16. Suicide - Ghost Rider
17. Khan - Fantomes
18. Trentemoller - Vamp (Live Edit)
19. Two Lone Swordsmen - Kamanda’s Response
20. Copenhagen Collective/Soft Cell - Copenhagen (Trentemoller Edit Mix)/Tainted Love


Following in the vein of his 2006 Essential Mix, Anders Trentemoller has composed a 21 track blend of the producer's time honoured favourites, spanning four decades of music. Made up from a healthy slab of artists native to Copenhagen, the mix also manages to field appearances from Emiliana Torrini, The Raveonettes, Beach House and Alan Vega. A floor-facing DJ set this ain't. The album will be the first in the Harbour Boat Trips series for the nascent HFN label who have decided upon a decidedly watery theme for their mixes: A selection of "outstanding artists" will be invited to commit to disc their musical interpretations of a particular harbour and its surroundings with the hope of capturing something altogether more poignant than your standard DJ mix.

My Toys Like Me - Where We Are


01. Superpowers
02. Sick Couple
03. Sweetheart
04. Barnaby
05. All Over My Face
06. Grin & Wriggle
07. Making Fire
08. Skylights
09. Quiet Please
10. Bats
11. Young Lovers


Re-imagining the beats and hooks of dance music's myriad genres, with an obsessive eccentricity and a childlike abandon, my toys like me release their debut album 'where we are' on dumb angel. with one of dance music's unique new voices in frances noon, my toys like me have fathomed their own distinctive brand of acidic disco-dub. from the house keys, to the sub-bass rolls of trip-hop and dub, to crunching synths and primitive drum 'n' bass, through to the blissed out brass and organ of their downtime ballads, principal protagonists lazlo legezer and frances noon have concocted a heady post-dance brew. the urgent club sounds crop up on album opener and lead single superpowers, a two-fingers-to-authority romp through 'my toys' twisted house; 'barnaby', the bands underground touchstone; the rave-funk of 'quiet please' and the wonky bassline of 'skylights'. and while lazlo delights in the re-invention of his dance music archives, noon provides an endearingly bratish delivery to lyrics that veer from the confoundingly abstract, to the astonishingly blunt. it is amidst the albums more
ambient, organic moments that the true versatility of my toys like me is revealed. the sinister dub and mariachi brass of 'all over my face', the fascinating storytelling of 'sick couple' and 'making fire', and the adroit arrangement of production and organic sound on 'bats' and their van morrison cover 'young lovers'. my toys like me's debut album is a genre colliding construction of new era poptronica.

Various Production feat. Gerry Mitchell - The Invisible Lodger


01 This Invisible Blood
02 Semi-Important Parasites
03 The Pure Sun
04 Coffin Fogbound
05 English Estate
06 The Invisible Lodger pt 1
07 The Unwritten Book
08 A Hole In Your Memory
09 All Fall Down
10 Clerks
11 The Invisible Lodger pt 2
12 Robot Dialogue
13 Spindleworld
14 Idiotbox
15 The Wrong Idol
16 The Invisible Lodger pt 3
17 Laughably Urbane


"The Invisible Lodger" is a unique collaboration with South London wordsmith Gerry Mitchell. From the folk-dubstep success of their first LP comes a shockingly new experiment of spoken word electronica. The result is somewhat like a less-rigid Massive Attack fronted by a Mark E Smith gifted at imagery and not just word-play. Dreamy/nightmare machine-waltzes paint sonic scenes for a narrator deconstructing the city walls around him, with collective delusions disturbing his consciousness. Scattered drones, electronic-dub, found samples and waltz-folk music envelope and elaborate the internal dialogue, a modern "Notes from Underground", of a Scottish Dostoevsky.

Various Production are the mysterious duo carving out new genres with every release and remix. After surviving a bidding war (Warp, Leaf, Domino..) they released their debut folk-dubstep LP “The World Is Gone” on XL/Beggars ("this tops them all. 8.5/10" PITCHFORK). The album's fresh scattered beats with dark soundscapes were balanced out by forgiving female vocals. An astoundingly productive team, they have recently remixed Ian Brown, Thom Yorke, Cat Power & Dirty Three amongst others.

With elements of 1984 paranoia, the collaborators weave a massive range of sounds modern and old (middle eastern, folk bar song ("Cut me!") with Gerry's urban isolation and unflinching view of himself and his surroundings; an industrial, hypnotic, spoken-word electronica. His images are unique and from a heightened sensitivity to his powerlessness; he is invisible, out of the scheme, standing still watching the consumer legions, urban fashionistas and faux-mo sapiens of the capital chase the neon colours and recycled "creations" projected on cold metal and concrete. The album's bleakness is also a pure clean wind, equally soothing and unnerving.

Gerry's persona isn’t a cheery one, and not for the faint-hearted. When delicate, like on All Fall Down (exploring the "granite list" of "the glorious war dead"), it is dream-like. Most release of his tension is in the meticulous and shimmering production by Various; a squinting sunset futurism that opens up his pensive nihilism, stretching it into waltzing and pulsing thought-scapes, "the future leaking into the present". He wanders a dirty south London restlessly, confused by pervasive automatism ("perhaps they have no need of conversation?"), and the machines, mentioned and heard often (almost breathing) on the album, controlling the environment, isolating and dehumanising. Emotionless violence bewilders him ("someone dead in the street, and no god's wrath"), and materialism and nihilism empty the soul, leaving him aching like the dog at the end of the street.

You want hope? It pops its head a few times, the nurturing, stand-out ‘Pure Sun’ and the moon that saunters through my dreams, but it is never far beneath the surface that these are amoral forces. The Invisible Lodger is an original and uncompromising modern soundtrack to Mr Mitchell's talented verse and strong imagery.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Audio Phreaks Presents Bar9 In Da Mix


IN DA MIX:
1. Bisweed and Siprut – Ruined Town
2. Quantum Soul – Waiting On Dub
3. Scuba remix of Pull of Guilt (Org. Zen Militia)
4. F-One – Swagger
5. Kromestar – Budwise
6. Cluekid remix of Murda Sound (Org. BAR9)
7. Wivek – Natural Mystic
8. TRG – Killed It Dead
9. L-OW – Reflector
10. Hektagon – Strange Voices
11. Synkro – Wasting Time
12. Spherix remix of Moment Of Truth (Org. L-OW)
13. Rob Sparx – Bloodbath
14. Kromestar – Late
15. Nero – Something Else
16. BAR9 remix of Bad Trip (Org. Nero)
17. Reso remix of 2 Faced Rasta (Org. Rob Sparx)
18. BAR9 – Pussyhole V.I.P Mix
19. BAR9 – Midnight
20. BAR9 – Murda Sound V.I.P Mix
21. Nero – This Way
22. BAR9 remix of Music Makers (Org. Synkro)
23. Rusko remix of When Science Fails (Org. Mike Lennon)
24. BAR9 – Malicious Tactics
25. BAR9 – Smokestack
26. Nero – End Of The World


BAR9 BONUS CD:
1. Shaolin Style
2. Distant Roots
3. Untitiled Sumphony
4. Pussyhole
5. Pulse
6. Extort
7. Midnight
8. Shut Ya Mouth
9. Malicious Tactics
10. One
11. Murda Sound
12. Submerged
13. Bakin Bread
14. Rapture


Dubstep ravers rejoice! Your prayers have been answered in the form of Bar9's first Audio Phreaks mix CD collating the very best of that underground and niche subdivision of Dubstep forged by himself and a motley gaggle of like minded producers. Forcing 26 tracks into 1 hour of relentless drops, brukkouts, wriggles and stomps, Bar9 has truly outdone himself this time. For your hard earned you'll get tracks from Kromestar, Vivek, TRG, Cluekid, Rob Sparx, Nero, Reso, Rusko, L-ow, Synkro, F-One, Scuba and Spherix besides enough Bar9 tracks to scare an elephant into submission. Not for the faint hearted or part-time dubstep head, dis is real dubstep rave!.

Blackbud - Blackbud


01. Left Your Arms Empty
02. You Can Run
03. Wandering Song
04. Love Comes So Easy
05. So It Seems
06. Golden Girl
07. Road To Nowhere
08. Came Down Easy
09. Outside Looking In
10. Ill Be Here
11. Darkness


BLACKBUD, the critically lauded West Country 3 piece, are finally set to release their much anticipated new, self-titled, Mike Crossey produced (Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight) album Blackbud on June 8th through Independiente. The album is a follow up to 2006s From the Sky, described at the time by David Sinclair from The Times as a Truly an epic band in the making, the band and album went on to receive praise and plaudits from the likes of Zane Lowe, MTV2, Uncut Magazine, Classic Rock and The Guardian.

Datarock - Red


01. The Blog
02. Give It Up
03. True Stories
04. Dance!
05. Molly
06. Do It Your Way
07. In The Red
08. Fear Of Death
09. Amarillion
10. The Pretender
11. Back In The Seventies
12. Not Me
13. New Days Dawn


In the latest example of 2009 just pwning when it comes to electromusic - did I really just use the word 'pwning'? - the Norwegian duo better known as Datarock for its much anticipated sophomore effort. Entitled Red and set release for September 1st, the 13 track effort will be a long time coming for Fredrik Saroea and Ketil Mosnes, it will mark the duo's first full-length release since 2005's Datarock Datarock. But if you think the album's title is any indication of a politically heavy album, think again says Saroea:

"We wear red tracksuits, that's all. But it was tempting to put in the ambiguity of referring to the army of Datarockers as not the red army. We are not political; we are more like cultural researchers I think, with a shared fascination for events and phenomena that have changed popular culture and music."

However, this doesn't mean Datarock didn't have any inspirations when it came to the creation of Red. According to a press release, the album is based on the idea of 'artistic theft,' which sees the group reflecting - the data about the rock of the late seventies & early eighties: the art, the music, the films, the subversive & popular culture, the new theory, the new technology and all that new equipment.'

Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose


CD 1
01 always like this
02 dust on the ground
03 lamplight
04 magnet
05 morning after
06 evening morning
07 you already know
08 the hill
09 sixteen
10 open house


CD 2
11 cancel on me
12 how are we
13 ghost
14 maybe more
15 pedestal
16 autumn
17 if i could
18 what if
19 slow song (will you, won't you?)
20 always like this (james rutledge remix)


Bombay Bicycle Club's debut album was recorded between late October 2008 and late November 2008 at Konk Studios in London - the album was produced by Jim Abbiss. According to the band's MySpace the debut album is set to be released in June 2009. The band also played the Levi's Ones To Watch tour at the end of October, which included dates in: Brighton, London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow.

At the end of 2008 Bombay Bicycle Club signed a deal with Island Records to release future singles and albums with the record label. All releases will be published through the Mmm...Records/Island Records offprint, the first release being the single Always Like This. The single will be released on April 13 and the band will tour throughout April in support of the release."

Covox - Delete the Elite



01. Densha
02. Summer Fruit Dance Party
03. Your Love Is My Leash
04. Leave Everything, Move On
05. Final Mission
06. Lacking The Necessary Pose
07. Do The Droid (feat. Lo-Beat)
08. Someone Told Me It Was Love
09. Dubslide


High-energy low-tech pop — Covox brings the hard-edged electronic love for pop intense. In 2003 he debuted with a 7” vinyl EP on Swedish label Rebel Pet Set and has since played in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, etc, with tours in Japan, Holland, United States and Germany.
In June 2005 the debut album ‘Delete The Elite’ was released on Swedish label Socom, which was followed by a special Chinese version released by Beijing-based Shanshui Records. In October 2006 a Japanese edition of Delete The Elite was released by Fantabulous Music.
November 2007 sees ‘Infiltrator EP’ being released on Japanese label Intikrec, with five tracks of rough pop low-tech...www.last.fm

Georgias Horse - The Mammoth Sessions


1. Shepherd
2. Bloom
3. As It Stops Raining
4. Summer’s Ending Evenings
5. Snake & Sparrow
6. Mammoth
7. Alakazam!
8. Erzulie Dantor
9. Exit Earth
10. Baron Samedi
11. The Man
12. TZSOTVOFASB
13. Bugg Super Love song


Texas is a graveyard and The Lone Star State is full of ghosts. Out on the road to Old El Paso lies the Rattlesnake Bomber Base near a town called Peyote. Once the home of fleets of B29 bombers and the plane called Enola Gay as well as many thousands of military personnel, it now stands empty. The only tenants are lizards and snakes. Even the rusted and rotted hulks of planes have been carted off by junk men and souvenir hunters. The roar of the war effort has been replaced by the whisper of the wind. A gentle absence of action. This is just one of several thousand abandoned settlements or ghost towns in the West Texan desert but the haunted Americana of georgia’s Horse sounds like it could have come from any of them.

Their debut album ‘The Mammoth Sessions’ is redolent of sun-baked vacant lots, cracked runways, drifting tumble weed and dull orange rust. This collection of songs all sound like the aftermath of some emotionally violent event that has just left stillness and melancholia in its place. There are echoes of the (ex pat) Americana of The New Pornographers, a light dusting of the folk psychedelia of Smog and the torrid and threatening country death songs of PJ Harvey’s ‘To Bring You My Love’.

These 13 songs are anchored round the skewed and magnetic vision of singer/songwriter Teresa Maldonado and their brittle and skeletal songs are fleshed out by multi-instrumentalist Tiziano Hernandez (bass/guitars), Brad Thomason (drums) and Melly Rose (cello). But that’s not to say that this recording sounds like it was handled by some kind of your mother’s your brother, lives in a barn hillman. One of many stand out tracks, ‘Snake & Sparrow’, creaks and echoes as if recorded in a haunted house, on haunted equipment. And the title track briefly effloresces violently as if the ghost of the Enola Gay were bringing its terrible cargo home, before returning to gentleness once more. From the most basic of set ups, a deeply affecting and subtle beauty is achieved...www.firerecords.com

Monday, April 27, 2009

Présidentchirac - Yes Future


01. Lady's Outfit
02. Japanese Food
03. My Broken 205
04. Le Plaisir Pour Le Plaisir
05. Mercy
06. Swimming Lessons and Other Wet Activities
07. The Candy Date
08. Yes Future
09. En 1996
10. Wild Garden Animals
11. Wollen Sie Wollen
12. Willer

Three years after "Surfing The Volcano", the presidential duet signs its second album studio with the label of Bordeaux Platinum. The new disc of Présidentchirac have for title " Yes Future" and was completely recorded in their studio of campaign.

These two optimistic punks let settle down guitars, drums and pianos with their old synths and rythm machines, of which to organize a merry mess in the arrangements. This new album is 12 tracks and 45 minutes of slightly acid and hopping electro-pop.

There is at first "Yes Future", eponymic piece which makes rush about a Jimmy Somerville terrified on a wild horse at full gallop, but also the U.S
pop accents of one "My Broken 205" who has it under the hood, rhythmic brilliant of "Mercy" which ends in highlight in a western spaghetti.

Présidentchirac puts you the hand in the panties with "Le Plaisir Pour Le Plaisir", happy invitationin the pleasures of the body to body sex fight. We are allowed intoxicate by "The Candy Date" in the trail of Beach Boys and Zombies and we make the
buttocks waltz on the lively pop of "Japanese Food". "Willer" cuts up the wok not woll in quite small ends and feeds the folk and electric "Wild Garden Animal" but definitively west coast.

Return "En 1996" with this melancholic ballad to be listened in car, "Wollen Zie Wollen" a torpedo electro abrasive and overexcited which flirts with the pond of the Ruhr, "Swimming Lessons And Other Wet Activities" or how to make of the rock on a
skank reggae.

Remute - Grand Glam


01. Does Time Really Exist, If the Past Has Already Happened, The Present Instantly Becomes the Past and the Future Did Not Happen Yet?
02. Sling It!
03. Grand Glam
04. Shiveroid
05. Ouahahaha (Edit)
06. Slime Fast
07. Medea Glub
08. Zuendli
09. Condensated (Edit)
10. Tefko
11. Joking About Death
12. Mess Hypnosis (Edit)
13. Lampuca for Everyone
14. Needful Dive Course

With the forlorn thud of deep house continuing to inform the work of most discerning dance producers, the cheap thrills of Remute's Grand Glam offer a breath of fresh—or rather deliberately pungent—air. For his sophomore LP the part-time Areal, Einmaleins and Trapez artist serves up 14 tracks of no-nonsense bangers, the overall statement of which seems to be a gurning plea to "shut up and dance!"

Denis Karimani's Remute project has always delivered tough techno, but Grand Glam is more concerned than ever with dance music's hedonistically seductive qualities. Perhaps that's what his Remute label is for: Remute03's "Condensated" (an abridged version of which appears here) was his most gargantuan track to date, giddy arpeggios and bulbous rhythms pulling all the obvious stops and delivering the goods. Grand Glam is all about big gestures, draped in sparkles. If these decorations occasionally appear tacky, they're also easy: You know you're getting lucky. Trouble is, getting lucky with a cheap whore 14 times in an hour can be exhausting.

Fortunately Karimani is an experienced producer and these heavy-hitters—from sizzling French house ("Mass Hypnosis"), to throbbing neo-trance ("Tefko") —are expertly produced; think a glitzier version of Eulberg and Ananda. Hissing crowd noise and squawking seagulls introduce opener—deep breath—"Does Time Really Exist If the Past Has Already Happened, The Present Instantly Becomes the Past and the Future Did Not Happen Yet?", a strange title for a straightforward tech-house number, one pitched in the same warm tones and warm-up pace as his excellent Areal single "Expired." "Sling It" and "Oahahaha" take on the luminosity of fellow glitterball peddlers Kompakt, the former the disco-sleaze of Justus Köhncke, the latter Axel Willner's blinding surge, while the title track hits hard and wet like Daft Punk.

This punchy, functional course informs the rest of the album, where even the kookier, less-bombastic fillers ("Shiveroid," "Slime Fast") seem constructed with the floor in mind. Indeed, aside from beatless closer "Needful Dive Course," itself a great slice of dub-ambient worthy of ~scape circa 2000, Grand Glam is an unremitting assault. Hardly the most coherent home-listening album perhaps, but a fine excuse to stay in and take drugs...www.residentadvisor.net

Gemmy - Supligen


01. Supligen
02. BT Tower

Bristol can't help itself right now, pouring out a steady stream of neon-glowing and crunk-juiced dubstep from Gemmy, Joker, Guido, Jakes and the rest in unstoppable fashion. Gemmy follows up his 'Bk 2 The Future' plate for Peverelist's Punch Drunk label with 'Supligen'/'BT Tower Mast' for planet Mu, squeezing his synths until they bleed skwee style. 'Supligen' features a haunting organ refrain/synthline squeeze sounding like the Specials jamming with Dr Dre, while 'BT Tower Mast' is a tense half stepper with subliminal subbass and a squiggly mid range bite. Heavily funked and severly crunked gear that's already got support from Plastician, Joker, Rusko and RSD...www.boomkat.com

The Others - Bazooka / Monster Mash


1. Bazooka
2. Monster Mash

After Casko and Ruspa, The Others have to be our favourite party-rave dubstep fellas. They're the type of guys that roll up to the party with a canister of nitrous, 20 tins of special brew and a bin-bag of weed, or so we'd imagine. The effect of this latest plate on Dub Police is something akin to ingesting that list of party ingredients in one go, starting with the noxious 'Monster Mash' plying comedy horror samples over a leaden 4/4 dubstep with bong-eyed synth slashes and a rave-dumb attitude. Unsurprisingly, 'Bazooka' on the flip repeats the trick with another 4/4 driven stomper sweating pure rave energy with corrugated metallic riffage and rumpled subs. Massive with N-Type and the party crew...www.boomkat.com

Narkotiki - Planet Love


01. Puma
02. Give it to me
03. Menty fun
04. Bumbastik
05. Falls in love
06. Joseph Kobzon
07. I drink the blood of
08. Free
09. La-la-la
10. Pistol
11. Clog
12. Have fun
13. Punk (less)

Narkotiki (Russian - Наркотики - drugs, narcotics) is a band of two young men from Moscow, who play disco tunes with hip-hop singing, that is filled with extreme levels of joy and humour...www.last.fm

The Dead Sea - The Dead Sea


1. Slow Jet
2. Okono
3. The Devils Bends
4. III
5. Zabriskie Point
6. Nulla Desiderata
7. Little Lights
8. Departure Gates
9. Banquet
10. Bandicotts

Sydney three-piece The Dead Sea is composed of vocalist, guitarist and video artist Tim Bruniges, bassist David Trumpmanis, and drummer Nick Kennedy - the latter two musicians involved with other Sydney-based projects such as Big Heavy Stuff, Bluebottle Kiss, The Cops and Sarah Blasko. While I will apologise for the preceding emboldened list of deceivingly namedropped artists that may have stuck out as you skimmed this paragraph, it is interesting and worth considering how such an indie-centric endowment of musical capacity could result in this project, The Dead Sea, that could not be further removed stylistically from any of the aforementioned artists.

The Dead Sea’s motivation seems to stem from the same place as latter-day Mogwai, who after years of defining the parameters of the (now tattered) post-rock genre, have decided, like Tarantino and Natural Born Killers, to disown its bastardised and debased remnants for greener, boundless experimental pastures. The difference here is that The Dead Sea have skipped the formalities of confining style establishment and gone straight to their calling, which is to veer a little to the left of post-rock’s beckoning. Listening to the opener, “Slow Jet”, gives off this impression - the grumbling howls of synth and tribal drumming are key symptoms of a band shaking off the post-rock infection.

The thick, Hammock-like howling atmospherics of the first EP suggested that their full-length would be anything but what they’ve concocted on their debut. It is by no means an epic recording, running on ten tracks that clock in at a conservative 40 minutes. It doesn’t constantly erupt in climax-oriented sonic enormity, instead opting to leave the reverb to a relatively sparing presence. Even the style, composition and technical execution of the album, when isolated, in no way signal groundbreaking, novel gestures by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, the album draws its fortitude from the forward momentum of its piece-to-piece fluidity. The Dead Sea have mastered the ability to identify, fuse and arrange their far-reaching breadth in a way that allows each number to say its piece concisely without ever overstaying its welcome. The efficiency under which The Dead Sea dictate and convert their alternating styles, that would otherwise so easily be the cause for disconcerting and disruptive listen, instead becomes the agent of a wondrous aural treat.

Of the ten tracks, I would say only four are solid, determined, structurally integral pieces, with the rest floating around the two-minute mark serving as ambient filler. That is not to suggest that these tracks are superfluous, quite the opposite; these interludes give the record the wiggle room it needs to segue seamlessly, and they do this without ever hampering or undermining their own aesthetic sensations or the aesthetic sensibility of the album's entirety. It never devours precious minutes with extended introductions, self-indulgent brackets of feedback or repetitive phrases, and it's this efficiency that makes the experience compelling. The bigger pieces do well to accommodate themselves and their ranging styles, from the hypnotic indie rock of “The Devil Bends”, to the dangerously close flirtation with dynamic post-rock on “Zabriskie Points”, to the the closing cinematic ambience of “Bandicoots”. On top of this, “Departure Gates”, a piece that certainly made an impression on the reviewer of the EP, Lee Whitefield, who said “its infectious little tune burrows its way into my subconscious in a way which very few artists of this ilk are able to do so”, (a sentiment I will happily steal) finds a slightly polished version of itself a home on the LP.

The Dead Sea have certainly had their share of attention since 2007. On their myspace, they’ve humbly publicised the fact that “Respire”, from the old EP, was used in an episode of CSI: Miami. Now, if it doesn’t already go without saying that any association with a badass like David Caruso ought to help their credibility skyrocket, then perhaps this unveiling of a thoroughly seductive, tightly packaged self-titled LP, that exceeded all expectations after the scope offered on the stylistic snippets of the EP, should convince you that The Dead Sea are not an outfit going away any time soon.

Hot Gossip - You Look Faster When You Are Young


01.Everybody Else
02.And Again
03.At Night
04.Fast In The Rain
05.Call The Rangers
06.You Better Know
07.You Name It
08.What We Are
09.Little Secrets
10.Cops With Telephones
11.Days Of The Week
12.Father

To music fans of a certain age, the name Hot Gossip conjures images of cavorting women in leotards or hot pants and ‘I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper’, however I suspect ‘You Look Faster When You Are Young’ has not come from that same stable.

This Hot Gossip have emerged from the back streets of Milan and play a kind of muscular Indie music with a hint of something funky and a definite chunk of pop catchiness. They certainly sound as if they could have emerged from the UK Indie scene, if you’d have told me they were fresh out of Hoxton I would easily have believed you.

This record is the follow up to 2006’s ‘Angles’ and shows how the band have honed their sound over two years of relentless touring around Europe, the songwriting is more ambitious and mature, the sound is fuller and more adventurous.

The opener, ‘Everybody Else’, sets the tone (other than the fact it fades in and out rather strangely) for the album. A lolloping bass and slightly angular guitar riff drive this one along, think Ordinary Boys meets Franz Ferdinand, and a catchy chorus tops it off. ‘And Again’ follows up with a similar template, driving bassline, jerky guitars and the singers slightly nasal voice picking the lyrics over the top in a very passable impersonation of a London accent...www.echoesanddust.com

Fredrik - Na Na Ni


01. Black Fur
02. Alina's Place
03. Hei Hei
04. 1986
05. Evil and I
06. Ninkon Loops
07. Angora Sleepwalking
08. Na Na Ni
09. 11 Years
10. Morr

Fredrik is a new remarkable pop outfit, casually capturing the spirit of classic storybook drama through a highly personal, foresty brand of experimental pop. Despite the name, Fredrik is actually a small orchestra of six, sporting input from some of the very finest of the swedish pop and experimental underground (Band in Box, Scraps of Tape, Vit Pals, The LK). Drawing on traditional european folk influences like The Fairport Convention or Bo Hansson, crooning songwriters as well as a host of eclectic references like Moondog, Steve Reich, Jim O'Rourke, Maja Ratke or Barbara Morgenstern, Fredrik forges a sound that is both eclectic and homecomingly soothing.

Some of the peaks of the debut album "Na Na Ni" evoke a very primal feeling of being ten years old again, lost in a dark, threatening forest with only a faint, humming voice leading you to safety. But apart from the sheer escapism the music carries a considerable emotional heft. Themes of light versus darkness, good versus evil as well as coming-of-age and seasonal changes are painted in rough but colourful strokes, leaving just enough room for us to fill in the blanks. The lyrics and vocal expression, although sketchy and subdued, also manage to punctuate the episodes of the record with remarkable clarity. This is apparent in the low key narration of Evil and I: "we could analyze what has caused me so much pain, i didn't mean it" or the slammer "noble blood will nobly die" from the album opener "Black Fur".

Son Volt - American Central Dust


1. Dynamite
2. Down To The Wire
3. Roll On
4. Cocaine And Ashes
5. Dust Of Daylight
6. When The Wheels Don’t Move
7. No Turning Back
8. Pushed Too Far
9. Exiles
10. Sultana
11. Strength And Doubt
12. Jukebox of Steel

After touring in support of their 1993 masterpiece Anodyne, the seminal alternative country band Uncle Tupelo split up over long-simmering creative differences between co-leaders Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy. Tweedy recruited much of the band to form Wilco, while Farrar teamed up with original Tupelo drummer Mike Heidorn to form Son Volt, the more tradition-minded of the two Tupelo offshoots.

Son Volt returns with ‘American Central Dust,’ out July 7 on Rounder Records, a plaintive 12-song collection that recalls the melodic succinctness of the band’s debut album ‘Trace.’ After the musical experimentation of 2007’s ‘The Search, ’ ‘American Central Dust,’ the band’s first album on Rounder, refines the band’s robust sound. Fiddle, pedal steel, lap steel and sparkling piano add an atmospheric nuance to Son Volt’s Americana inspired rock, surrounding band leader Jay Farrar’s stream of consciousness lyrical imagery.

Japandroids - Post-Nothing


1 The Boys Are Leaving Town
2 Young Hearts Spark Fire
3 Wet Hair
4 Rockers East Vancouver
5 Heart Sweats
6 Crazy/Forever
7 Sovereignty
8 I Quit Girls

April has already been a pretty stellar month in terms of quality Canadian releases, but one I’ve been waiting anxiously for is the full length from Vancouver’s Japandroids. It seems like I’ve been waiting for this record for years. It was supposed to be self-released sometime last year and even with two EPs, seeing them play countless times in Vancouver before moving, some serious love from the powers that be, and of course the fact Quinn over at From Blown Speakers has long since tried to get people excited about the duo, it still feels like the Vancouver band was constantly lost in the myre.

Well, as of April 28th you can grab Post-Nothing on vinyl or digital download, and I highly suggest you pick it up.

The band is a simple combination of huge drums, guitar and the sing/shouts of Brian King and David Prowse, but the end result is much, much more. The nine song album delivers anthem after anthem, with distorted guitar and crashing cymbals personify the rage of youth, but the melodies the guys deliver really show the emotion and reality we all face when it's time to grow up.

Vancouver's a tough fucking city; hidden underneath the beautiful mountains and Oceanside parks is poverty, one of the most astronomical costs of living in Canada and musically, a scene that constantly shifts to accommodate the venues that get bought up for more condos, and a weird sense of exclusion and pride when it comes to specific sounds and bands. I'm not trying to claim that Japandroids could be the glue that holds it all together (even if they do rep the scene well on Rockers East Vancouver) - if anything, I'd say that it would probably be harder for them to fit into the heavy noise scene or the more straight ahead rock pockets scattered around town - but they might just be the noise outfit that gets out and gets noticed.

"We used to dream, now we worry about dying."

It would be so easy to dismiss the thoughts Dan and Brian offer up, if they weren't so real and already running around most of our minds. In the same way Joel Plaskett documented the confusion and loneliness of leaving, this Vancouver duo makes us think about what happens when the simple things we all took for granted start to disappear and we get stuck when everyone else seems to leave. We all grow up, grow apart and most importantly we all change, but everyone goes through that change at different times. Post-Nothing seems like the bible for those years where we are wondering whether to hold on as tight as possible or let go and accept the inevitable fall.

The huge drum fill and crunching guitar they give us on Wet Hair pushes along a simple adolescent fantasy - "we can french kiss some French girls" - and you remember that not too long ago, nights when hooking up and making out with a stranger you meet at a party or in a crowded bar were all you thought about. For me those days for me happened in the 90's and that's where this sound would have fit perfectly, but the great thing about Japandroids is they realize that youth fades and that simple, biting fact makes these songs more that a nostalgic look back at days that probably weren't all that good to begin with. More importantly, that reality is what makes this record so damn good...www.herohill.com

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Louderbach - Autumn (with bonus Shine remixes)


01. Autumn
02. Seems Like Static
03. One Hundred Reasons
04. Notes
05. Nothing More Than A White Poison
06. She
07. So This Is Control
08. Sunspots
09. Shine


Louderbach - Shine

01. Shine (Original Mix)
02. Shine (Radio Edit)
03. Shine (Thrill Cosbys Broken Door Mix Vox Dilo)
04. Shine (Berg Nixon Remix)
05. Shine (JPLS Club Remix)
06. Shine (JPLS Hard Remix)
07. Shine (Bruno Pronsato Remix)
08. Shine (Alexi Delano Remix) :
09. Shine (Mike Bryant Room 237 Remix)
10. Shine (Mike Bryant Eerie Von Remix)
11. Shine (Swayzak 99p Mix)


Troy Pierce and Gibby Miller's Louderbach project will unleash its second album for the Minus imprint next month.

The duo teamed up in 2004 on the Underline label, taking Miller's vocals and marrying them to Pierce's minimal techno productions. Their love of early industrial and post-punk such as Bauhaus, Coil and Joy Division was readily apparent and that's reportedly no different on Autumn, which will hit stores in April. Minus says that "distant intimacy is a naturally occurring theme throughout the album, manifesting itself as dark, twilight tales of melancholy romance, burning obsession and the slow, disintegration of desire."

Eager to see what "the slow, disintegration of desire" looks like on film? M_nus is as well, which is why they've set up a contest for aspiring filmmakers. They're looking for three-minute submissions that could conceivably serve as the video to "Shine," the first single from the album...www.residentadvisor.net

Skream - Skreamizm Vol. 5


A. Filth
B. If You Know
C. Simple City
D. One For The Heads Who Remember
E. Fick
F. Rimz

My personal fave..


Hold tight the dubstep crew, new Skreamizm has landed! The latest installment of the indomitable series comes bursting at the seams with anthems you'll have heard loaded, and reloaded at countless Skream sets over the last nine months or so and bears a few treats as promised from his recent Rinse mix CD. 'Filth' flies out the gates first and needs no introduction, you all know this one, it's a rinser. 'If you know' smackes it up a notch with some natty rolling Soca drums and mean dancefloor vibes, 'Fick' is an underwhelming midrange trotter, but 'One for the heads who remember' takes it back to the old school with some deep 2-step, 'Rimz' comes good again with a beastly f*ck-up smasher, and 'Simple City' gives it the vinegar strokes with some uplifting trancey feelings to leave you with that warm Skreamy afterglow. You know you need this...www.boomkat.com

At Last An Atlas & Paul O'Reilly - Ships Leaving


01.at last an atlas - at a loss
02.at last an atlas - eimear hush
03.at last an atlas - paper crown
04.at last an atlas - in time
05.at last an atlas - count your blessings
06.paul o'reilly - on a hill in the rain
07.paul o'reilly - buttons
08.paul o'reilly - last days in a city
09.paul o'reilly - now we are six
10.paul o'reilly - bird for a heart


Ships Leaving is a split record by Greg O'Brien(At last an Atlas) and Paul O'Reilly. The album is released on Dublin based independent label Slow Loris. It is an album of two halves.

The first half of the record is by At last an atlas. At last an atlas is the music of Greg O'Brien, who is also one half of Dublin band "The Hollows". He uses organs, live electronics, samplers, nylon string guitar, vocals, noises and field recordings to
create warm, dreamy sounding electronic songs.

The second half of the record is by Paul O'Reilly. Paul O'Reilly released his first album 'First Thing in the Morning' in Ireland on Volta Sounds in September 2001 and in the UK/Europe on LooseMusic in Apr 2002 to much critical acclaim.

At the end of 2002 O'Reilly released a limited run of a handmade EPs. In 2006 he released a split 7 inch single with now defunct Dublin band (retards). Paul has continued writing and recording over the years, it is at this point, however, that O'Reilly is most satisfied with music he is producing. Ships Leaving marks a full return to music, for O'Reilly, which has been eagerly anticipated since
2001's debut album.

The album comes in beautifully designed packaging by Stumptown printers, with illustration by Greg O?Brien. Stumptown Printers is a worker owned cooperative print shop based in Portland, Oregon.

At Last An Atlas & Paul O'Reilly will play a number of launch shows for ships leaving through out Ireland.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Young Love - One of us


01. Unafraid
02. One To Ten
03. Get Me Up
04. Black Boots
05. The Picture
06. Down On Me
07. Turn It Up
08. Don't Fight It
09. Can You Hear Me
10. Love For Us


Something happened in the intervening years since you last heard Young Love. Sure, Dan Keyes is still masterminding music that sets dancefloors ablaze, but since the release of 2007s excellent Too Young To Fight It, theres been a shift, a subtle but assured transmogrification in Keyes that manifests itself in each carefully chosen chord, each deliberately delivered lyric.
Its different, Keyes says. Its older. As a songwriter Ive matured. I have a more focused, clear idea of what I want to do musically and lyrically. From the sound of One of Us, what Keyes wanted musically and lyrically was a record that is at once energetic and contemplative, moving audiences seamlessly from a dancefloor packed with strangers to a room filled with friends.

The Maccabees - Wall Of Arms


01. Love You Better
02. One Hand Holding
03. Can You Give It
04. Young Lions
05. Wall Of Arms
06. No Kind Words
07. Dinosaurs
08. Kiss And Resolve
09. William Powers
10. Seventeen Hands
11. Bag Of Bones


The Maccabees return next month with 'Wall Of Arms' and it's an expansive, epic-sounding follow-up to their debut, 'Colour It In'. Over its eleven tracks, 'Wall Of Arms' is a thrilling fusion of indie anthems, gentle lullabies and dark, stormy swirls, the quintet are not afraid to sound vulnerable, forceful and plain loveable at the flick of a guitar string.

Friday, April 24, 2009

October - My Left Tool EP


01. My Left Tool
02. My Left Tool (tobias. Remix)


October’s ‘Say Again’ was one of Ewan Pearson’s favourite tracks from last year, and October’s follow up on Ripperton’s Perspectiv Records is quickly gaining similar reactions.

The Bristol-based producer has seemingly developed a knack for haunting and twisted minimal techno that goes well beyond just using simple elements to reach the point of minimalism.

By arranging and then rearranging sounds, the track moves through various stages of chaos and brings the perfect amount of trippiness to the dancefloor. At points the track falls apart and seems a tad unhinged, however it always manages to find its feet, stumbling blindly into lasers.

Tobias Freund’s remix is a little more straight-forward and turns the track into a glittering techno throbber with an understated arpeggiated lead line that you yearn to go big...www.beatportal.com

Osborne - Hovercrafting EP


1. Wait a Minute (Extended)
2. Wait a Minute (Arto Mwambe remix)
3. Fire
4. The Count
5. Wait a Minute (Instrumental) [Digital Only]


Just as Ghostly International/[Adult Swim]’s 2008 Ghostly Swim compilation hits its smoldering peak, Osborne’s “Wait a Minute” glides in, sprays stardust all over the proceedings, and sends the comp toward its cool-down conclusion. Osborne’s ode to the joys of the talkbox was one of Ghostly Swim’s clear standouts; now, “Wait a Minute” is back by popular demand, resurrected as the opening track of Osborne’s Hovercrafting EP, the followup to his critically adored self-titled 2008 debut.

It’s not often mentioned, but Todd Osborn is building a hovercraft. “I just enjoy the process of making it,” he says, “how it evolves from nothing.” That sense of discovery infuses the Hovercrafting EP’s four tracks, beginning with the extended mix of “Wait a Minute,” whose irresistible Rhodes-based hook and ubiquitous talkbox noodles segue into Frankfurt producer Arto Mwambe’s remix, which squishes “Wait a Minute”’s exuberance into a understated slice of handclap-house. On “Fire,” Osborne spins scratchy lite-funk guitars and violins into an elegantly arranged disco number.

“The Count” closes things out on a high note, with fat ‘n dirty techno tones that are decidedly of-the-moment, even as its title references an icon of Todd Osborn’s childhood: an eccentric cast member of Detroit-area American Bandstand homage The New Dance Show, who dressed as a vampire. On “The Count” – in all of his tracks, really – Osborne’s choice of stylistic costume is never an end unto itself, but a means for the multi-faceted producer to express his pure love of dance music...www.ghostly.com