Sascha Dive - Jam Session 1

01. The Jam (Alix Alvarez Remix)
02. Drums Of The Jungle (Franck Roger Remix)
03. Jus Groove (Dub Version)

Here are the long awaited remixes of Sascha Dive’s “Restless Nights” album. “Jam Sessions #1″ is the first out of two 12″s that will be released on Deep Vibes. On A1 french Deep House Grandeur Frank Roger comes up with a supreme dark but warm remix of “Drums Of The Jungle". A2 features a remix by NYC’s Sole Channel Boss Alix Alvarez. His Remix of “The Jam” is sexy as hell and works perfectly on the dance floor. On B1 Sascha Dive gave his 2010 ueber-hit “Jus Groove” a treatment. The new “Dub Version” is just as catchy as the original and works with full effect...www.phonicarecords.com

The Coathangers - Larceny & Old Lace

01. Hurricane
02. Trailer Park Boneyard
03. Go Away
04. Sicker
05. Call To Nothing
06. Jaybird
07. Johnny
08. My Baby
09. Chicken:30
10. Well Alright
11. Tabbacco Rd.

When the Coathangers formed five years ago, as something of a party joke, the band's four members had little musical education to speak of. But they're no joke now, having since released a pair of riotous albums, plus about a half-dozen trashy, cheeky, shrieking 7" singles. They're also grizzled road warriors, headlining bars from Fargo, N.D., to Allston, Mass., in between supporting gigs with the likes of the Thermals, Mika Miko, and These Arms Are Snakes.

Somewhere in all that, the Coathangers must've learned how to play. Larceny & Old Lace, the quartet's third album and second for Seattle-based Suicide Squeeze, carries over the chaotically hooky vitality of their previous records. But here, they've added more varied songwriting, (relatively) tighter instrumentation, and-- for the first time-- a real studio, the Living Room in Atlanta, where the band reunited with producer Ed Rawls (Deerhunter, Black Lips, Zoroaster). Named after a Mickey Rooney-guesting "Golden Girls" episode that was itself named after playwright Joseph Kesselring's screwball comedy Arsenic and Old Lace, the Coathangers' latest finds a notorious must-see live band finally capturing some of the energy of its shows on record.

Just because the Coathangers are taking their game more seriously doesn't mean it isn't still a game. With all four members trading off idiosyncratic vocals-- ranging from guitarist Julia Kugel's Victoria Jackson chirp to drummer Stephanie Luke's full-throated roar-- there's still plenty of jagged, playful aggression, whether that involves damning the titular jerk of "Johnny" over gloomy post-punk or tearing off faces between stabbing guitar and whirligig keyboard on "Chicken: 30". But the Coathangers now pay more attention to detail, starting with first single "Hurricane", which veers from raspy shouts and brittle guitar riffs to zombie-apocalypse cheerleader chants and ominous whispers shaded by clacking drumsticks. They also try on more styles: Where "Call to Nothing" pledges ill-fated devotion through scratchy guitar and heavy bass recalling the Slits, "Well Alright" rides a demented roadhouse blues and "My Baby" slows down to a loping love groove-- for stalkers. These might not be the furthest-out ideas, but they're new for the Coathangers, and they're executed with badass charisma.

Still, from the band behind such shrill yawps as "Don't Touch My Shit" and "Gettin' Mad and Pumpin' Iron", there's no bigger left turn than a soft, sentimental ballad. "Tabbacco Rd." sees the Coathangers making the shift with surprising ease, poignantly following a relationship from its first Tom Collins to the wedding chapel, and finally to the last goodbye. Speaking of goodbyes, the kitschy-scary keyboard and cathartic howls of "Jaybird" make it a fine memorial even if you don't recognize the lyrical reference to the Coathangers' former tourmate, the late Jay Reatard. Most impressive of all, though, and a should-be single, is "Go Away", a perfectly structured midtempo rocker that turns the tables on every dude who ever sang a whiny song about wanting to be more than just friends. It may have started as a simple gag-- "Hey, I like you/ Go away"-- but it's as serious as you want it to be...www.pitchfork.com

Pallers - The Sea Of Memories

01. Another Heaven
02. Humdrum
03. Come Rain, Come Shine
04. Tropical Fishbowl
05. Years Go, Days Pass
06. The Kiss
07. Sound Of Silence
08. Wired
09. Wicked
10. Nights

With the aim of a three-dimensional sound Pallers have created the monumental ”The Sea of Memories”. Ten tracks where every influence finds it’s place in an ever shimmering mosaic. The wealth of details, the ever growing melodies and epic soundscapes transforms the listening experience into a space voyage of emotional discoveries.

After three years spent in apartments, basements, villas and cabins in Pallers, La mar, Stockholm, Miami and Cape Town the duo has completed their debut album ”The Sea of Memories” (out Sept. 27). The massive single ”Come Rain, Come Sunshine” was released on July 26th, and achieved Top 2 on The Hype Machine and rave reviews from Nylon, AOL Spinner, and NME among others.

“The pair continue to display a preternatural gift for electronic pop, and while they may prefer to remain ensconced in the studio and avoid the limelight, the expansive ‘Come Rain, Come Sunshine’ stands as a sky-scrapingly grand gesture.” NME

“Leeds producer Youandewan has turned Pallers’ blog hit (#2 on Hypem) “Come Rain, Come Sunshine” into a hazy, dub trip with clacking 2-step percussion.

“Youandewan transform Pallers’ synth-pop sunshine into a Burial-esque lament.” XLR8R...www.mvremix.com

Fruit Bats - Tripper

1. Tony the Tripper
2. So Long
3. Tangie and Ray
4. Shivering Fawn
5. You're Too Weird
6. Heart Like an Orange
7. Dolly
8. The Banishment Song
9. The Fen
10. Wild Honey
11. Picture of a Bird

For a minute there, Fruit Bats rocked. On 2009's The Ruminant Band, the quartet, lead by seasoned indie sideman Eric D. Johnson (Califone, Vetiver, the Shins), eked up the tempo-- sidelining folksier impulses in favor of gently driving guitar pop that channeled Rumors-era Fleetwood Mac. Two years later, they're back to being mellow.

With Tripper, the group's fifth album, Johnson dials Fruit Bats' pulse back down, favoring spacious and spacey songwriting that sets the lyrics front and center. It's a record full of stories, with Johnson centering most of the tunes around simple narratives and offbeat characters. On the record's opening track, "Tony the Tripper", Johnson dreams up a Kerouac-style road trip with a companion who comes across as one part railroad lifer and one part Burning Man refugee. There are troubles along the way-- schizoid episodes and punker crash pads-- but by the chorus, Johnson and his imagined companion usually have things sorted out: "We was all under the date palm tree/ They left the rolling of one up to me/ Knowing the world might end tomorrow anyway."

The only problem is that Johnson's tales aren't all that hooky. At least, not enough to buoy Tripper's soft and moody music. Conflict, resolution, and character development often slip by unnoticed, eased in their passage by the woozy synths and atmospherics that function as the album's rough-spot-smoothing sonic hand lotion. On the reverb-soaked "Wild Honey", Johnson's lyrics are placed prominently in the mix-- "Each empire who inherits the sea, rises and retreats into foam/ In the ash there stirs a seed, empty between what's unseen and unknown"-- but get lost in the woozy ambience. The imagery is rich but abstract, and there's not enough muscle in Johnson's plinking guitar to prop it up.

Johnson fares better when he takes a more casual tone, as on "Tangie and Ray", which follows a pair of hippies as they flee society for nature and, by the sound of it, certain doom. "Now they're one with the dirt, and the mouldering bones and litter leaves," he yelps. It's one of Tripper's more upbeat tunes, benefiting from the full band accompaniment and a driving drum beat. But while the rhythm section makes a difference, it helps that Johnson is keeping a straightforward narrative. He's better with rogues and riffs than heady prose...www.pitchfork.com