As if I need another Swedish musician to follow, out pops Molly Nilsson. Her songs are equally simple and beautiful, creating some dreamy synth-pop tunes that are sure to put you into orbit. All of the tracks below are from her new LP, History, but you can check out some of her earlier stuff from her label Dark Skies Association (founded by Nilsson herself).
Been super pumped for a Coasting follow-up every since the Brooklyn duo of Fiona Campbell and Madison Farmer dropped one of my favorite 7”s of last year. When Fiona blazed through Salt Lake City earlier this year, playing drums for Vivian Girls, she seemed just as excited as me about talking about the new stuff — and, after listening to the garage rock tunes of their LP Never Going Back, I kind of get why she couldn’t wait for the album to drop. “Portland” was the first “single” released from the record and earlier this week it got the video treatment, which you can check out below. You can cop the vinyl from M’Ladys here and be prepared to see it on a certain someone’s year-end list…
Hands down, Real Estate is my favorite band of the past five years (and I seem to not be the only one). Ever since their first EP, Atlantic City Expressway, graced my ears I’ve become an insta-fan. Their new record, entitled Days, which has garnered quite the attention as of late, features the track “It’s Real” which is probably my favorite Real Estate track they have ever recorded. The band first performed this song live in Japan about a year ago, and since then I’ve compiled quite the collection of mp3s/videos of this track performed live. You can check out my favorites below:
Real Estate // It’s Real (Album Version)
Real Estate // It’s Real (Live in Shibuya)
Real Estate // It’s Real (Live in NYC) (via: NYCTaper)
I have deliberately not bought the LP yet because I knew the band was going to swing by Salt Lake City in early November (today, in fact) and I wanted to make sure that they got the maximum percentage from my buying the album. Also, I haven’t listened to any other songs that have been released from Days because, frankly, I don’t want to be disappointed. When you record something as great as “It’s Real,” I can only see it going down hill from there — but who knows, hopefully I’m wrong!
It seems that when I moved from Portland, I completely dropped out of following up-and-coming PDX bands. It’s a shame because groups like the retro-pop Orca Team deserve better…
The trio’s latest release is a fun-filled eight track cassette whose title, Kissing Cousins, can only be described as Arrested Development-esque. Got to say, there are few bands out there that I like AND would feel comfortable letting my grandfather listen to. I’m sure he would tell me that the 50s-inspired sound of Orca Team reminds him of the spontaneous dance numbers that always seemed to crop up at the local soda fountain station. You can download my favorite track “You’ve Got Everything Made” below as well as stream the whole album via the label’s bandcamp page:
Wow, can’t believe I missed this one! My favorite Norwegian band, Casiokids, is releasing a follow-up LP a year after their stellar debut Topp stemning på lokal bar hit the shelves stateside. Consequence of Sound is streaming the whole album, verbosely (and Norwegian-ly) entitled Aabenbaringen over aaskammen, right here. Go ahead and download the darker, synth heavy single “Det haster!” below:
For those who’ve read my site for a while, it comes as no surprise that I love Acephale Records. I give them full credit for turning me on to everything Korallreven that I don’t even know where to begin to thank them.
Well their latest post-Korallreven release is an LP by Minneapolis duo Elite Gymnastics. Occupying the rare unclassifiable space between genres (or maybe the inner crossings of some higher order Venn diagram of genres), Elite Gymnastics’ tracks are better explained audibly rather than text-ually. Below, check out a track from the A-side, “Omamori,” as well as a cover of “Here, In Heaven” by PT-Music favorite How to Dress Well that’s part of a future remix record — also courtesy of Acephale — and be sure to cop the record(s) here.
How to Dress Well // Here, In Heaven (Elite Gymnastics Cover)
As longtime readers of the site will know, I hardly ever shine the spotlight on local bands from wherever I am living at the moment. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the chief one is I don’t like to give preferential treatment to groups just because I know them and hang-out with them. I guess my philosophy is, if the music is great it’ll speak for itself regardless of where it was made – and I’ve maintained that attitude with the site since its inception.
With that in mind, Salt Lake City’s Albino Father has added their name to the relatively small list of relative local bands that deserve wider attention, and the group’s debut LP Age is just the release to help them do that. Clocking in at just under forty minutes, the twelve track album is a psych/garage/blues rock swirling orb of sound that you can’t help but be caught up in. If you’re a fan of messy guitars, heavy pedal effects, and guitar solos that you hope don’t end, then you are sure to find something you like with each track. I’ve gone through the album four times in total, and each time I can’t help but to press replay afterwards.
It’s tough to pick stand outs on this records as each song has its own personality and personal (or personable) sound. Do I go with the slow-paced guitar-centric ballad “Dirty Mirror” that’s suited perfectly for the smoke-filled, cramp venues of Anywhere USA? Or how about the surf-rock jam appropriately titled “Deth Jam” that bands like The Allah Las (PT-Music’s Cali favorite) would be chomping at the bit to play? Or maybe the blazing sub-two minute “Little Girls” that leaves you in a trail of dust wandering what just happened by the end?
If I had to choose, I would say I dig “Dirty Window” the most because what you finish with is so radically different than where you started. The track opens with the smoothest of smooth guitar line that’s straight out of the classic rock playbook and continues that way for the first two minutes. Before your high from “Ghost Dad,” the previous track, has completely mellowed out, in comes the raucous drums and kick-ass, fist-pumping rips that boost your energy more than a six-pack of Red Bull. Talk about a roller coaster ride of a song!
You can stream the whole album from Albino Father’s bandcamp page (and buy it via a “Name Your Price” scheme) and head over to their facebook to “like” them because I’m pretty sure you will after listening to this album.
Some might call it blasphemy, but I really like Modeselektor (and all their incarnations) better than Thom Yorke & Company. They certainly did a number on this “Good Morning Mrs. Magpie” remix:
Stream Speculator’s upcoming Underwater People’s LP (via Altered Zones) below. Love it. Then pre-order the album from UP’s store and love it even more.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF this is going to be so good! Out on August 29th via Tri-Angle Records. Damn, even these waveforms look good:
Balam Acab – Motion by TriAngleRecords
