Seattle Subsonic - Videos
Com Truise
I pretty much love this, too. Com Truise is definitely my favorite producer “right now” and has been for several months. Sci-fi noir is SO in.
Com Truise – “Brokendate” from stereogum on Vimeo.
Cut Copy Apes It
So, I pretty much love this.
Cut Copy – Blink And You’ll Miss A Revolution from Cut Copy on Vimeo.
One of Zonoscope‘s best tracks.
Orca Team And Kissing Cousins
So you’re out for a drink with your scenester pals in some hip locale with classically unfamiliar tunes playing overhead. And given the nasal male vox buoyed by a surf-y, smart-Alec (Firefox made me capitalize that) bass line and a snappy, clean, well-plucked guitar, perhaps you thought the Intelligence—beloved and zany Seattle glo-fi outfit—had recently released some new tunes. Or, at the very least, had some tunes you hadn’t heard before. Well, you’d be forgiven for that mistake (though if someone offers to flog you, accept!), since their tunes are generally awesome and ringleader Lars Finberg has recently been coined a STRANGER and a GENIUS, but, well, you’d be wrong. Yes, I’m in your head and the band you heard was the GGNZLA-approved Seattle via Portland Orca Team.
If this little bit of crazy sounds like something up your alley, Kissing Cousins is an album you should look into. Orca Team is a bit more committed to melody and song structure than that other band’s bizarro world, and the “Mod”-inspired sparse quirky pop with distant, tape hiss recordings just might make you wanna bust the Twist, the Swim, the Watusi or EVEN THE MASHED POTATO GUYS. Also, you might need a beach blanket. Leif Anders slaps the bass and sings, Jessica Baldauf runs the guitar section and Dwayne Cullen holds down the snare-heavy skins. The music is real good-like, but I think they could really hit it out of the park with some more polished recordings (gasp!). Blasphemy, I know.
Get the cassette or mp3′s over at GGNZLA’s bandcamp or check out a few highlights below:
Orca Team – You’ve Got Everything Made
Note: the band released another limited edition cassette through High Fives and Handshakes, which included—you guessed it—a cover of the Intelligence’s “The World Is Not A Drag”. Both came out in July.
Alan Palomo, aka Neon Indian, Is Sci-Fi Insightful; New Album "Era Extraña" Extra Excellent
If you’ve at all followed the surge, praise, backlash, and evolution of the genre that became known as “chillwave”, the name Neon Indian is likely not foreign to you. In mid 2009, a then-21-year old Alan Palomo released Psychic Chasms and ushered in the era of 80s-indebted slacker lo-fi blurry electronica for all to either cherish (like me) or gulp the hater-ade. National artists like Toro Y Moi, Memory Tapes and Washed Out released better-than-outstanding debut albums, while local guys such as USF, Big Spider’s Back, and Beat Connection all stood tall within the flexible confines of a rather ignominious “movement” where laptops ruled and guitars drooled. In short, a metric shit-ton of great records have been made in this malleable mold. I know because I’ve heard many of them (you can read my 2010 roundup here).
Some have tried to buck the trend with their follow ups (Toro Y Moi), while others have stood pat (Washed Out). Palomo decided to do neither with his latest Era Extraña, which is both a marked improvement on Psychic Chasms, but also holds true to the sound that got him recognition in the first place. Was this due to his move from Texas to Brooklyn? The fact that he recorded it in isolation in Helsinki in the dead of winter? Or that his dad was a Mexican pop star? I think it’s prolly that last one, guys.
Anyway, all this is to say that the album is currently streaming over at Spinner and comes highly recommended by “this guy”. I’ve already spun it, like, five times in the last two days. I’m hooked! And because I’m way into the fictitious representation of science and spend a large portion of my day on the internet, I really enjoyed this interview with a surprisingly insightful, humble, and interesting Palomo. His thoughts on recording music in today’s non-stop cannibalistic cycle are of particular intrigue. In recording Era Extraña, he was influenced by J&MC’s Psychocandy, re-watching “Blade Runner” on painkillers and the future-now of trippy technology. Kind of a no-brainer, right?
Neon Indian plays the Crocodile with Com Truise (FUCK YES) Wednesday, Oct 5. Washed Out plays the Neptune the following night. Weird!
p.s. this one’s for you, Tyler J. Botts!
Blouse Is A Band Name
I’ve kinda been digging on this band Blouse from Portland. They’ve, predictably, got the wistful and gloomy early 80′s emo-smear-pop thing going on. I’ve highlighted their labelmates, Soft Metals, a few times, and while the two don’t really sound that much alike, much can be gathered from those different than you. We should be more open-minded!
Below you’ll find a video for their single, “Videotapes”, which uses a bunch of Minolta stock advert footage from decades past. I also added a few mp3′s I found on some of those bigger, more successful music blogs. The self titled album will be out on Captured Tracks November 1st.
Blouse – “Videotapes” (Music Video) from Charles Griffin Gibson on Vimeo.
Cool Handsome Furs Video Interview
Yeah yeah, I know. Always posting about the Handsome Furs. What can I do, they’re handsome! And furry!
Also, great verbal evidence that these two excellent knuckleheads are indeed Canadian. Aboooooooooot!
Video For Voices
Another video from Dumb Eyes (who’ll also be providing visual stimulation at that Cairo Vibrations thingy I mentioned yesterday) for Soft Metals‘ “Voices”. My earlier blurb about the band here. I’m pretty hooked on this album right now, FYIIIIIIIII.
SOFT METALS – VOICES from Dumb Eyes on Vimeo.
I Dunno 'Bout You Guys, But I'm Kinda Stoked For The Mister Heavenly Record
“Super group” trepidations and celebrity bassist appearances aside, I’m pretty enthusiastic about the forthcoming Out of Love, out August 16th on Sub Pop. Amazingly, I have a copy, but have yet to spin it! Mister Heavenly is Nick Thorburn (Islands, The Unicorns), Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse—only the not-very-good We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank; nobody mentions that) and Ryan Kattner aka Honus Honus (Man Man).
More info here. Recorded live to tape at Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, WA!
Hey Everyone, Jesse "The Duke" Lortz Is BACK!
After some time wallowing in his own mire, the creative genius behind defunct stone-folkers The Dutchess and The Duke is at it again. That’s right, Jesse “The Duke” Lortz is back in our empty lives and he’s got a new wine-swillin’, livin’ room lady singin’ guitar project he wants us to REVEL in! Case Studies is the name (how nerdly!), and it sounds NOTHING like a person writing in all CAPS and with several exclamation points would lead you to believe! In FACT, it’s rather melancholy. Deception!
Case Studies: Daggers from Case Studies on Vimeo.
New album, The World Is Just a Shape to Fill the Night, is out August 16th on Sacred Bones Records. Stream the whole thing over at Paste Magazine. It was (mostly) recorded at a secluded cabin in Sequim. How idyllic!
Flexions 'Golden Fjord' Out Today, Here's A Video And Other Stuff
Prior info on the new record here. East Mercer micro-venue/vintage boutique/workshop/mixtape purveyor Cairo is now in the record label business. Check out their new online store for Golden Fjord, as well as other great local albums such as Lunar from Secret Colors, USF’s Jamaica Plain EP, Flexions’ Leisure Time LP, and Stephanie’s self-titled EP for GGNZLA.
“Her War” is a bouncy, giddy-up tune and the strikingly goofy visuals presented here are a nice match. I’m not really sure why you wouldn’t like this.
Flexions – Her War from Cairo Records on Vimeo.
MP3′s:
Flexions – Magnetically encoded
Flexions West Coast Tour Dates:
Friday, August 5th – CD Release Party at Chop Suey, 8 PM^*
Saturday, August 13th – Family in Los Angeles
Sunday, August 14th – The Smell, Los Angeles, 8 PM †
Friday, August 19th – K Records Helsing Junction Sleepover
Saturday, August 20th – Cairo presents VIBRATIONS Outdoor Music Festival^
Friday, August 26th – Neumos, Seattle w/ Sleepy Eyes of Death, 8 PM
^with Metal Chocolates
*with Seven Colors
†with Dunes
