Rolling waves of white noise, feedback, and even mic noise wash over the clarion singing and drone-based ambience of Caldera Lakes (Eva Aguila and Brittany Gould) on their “arranged” cassette (out now on Ecstatic Peace). In the midst of this deliberately lo-fi and noise distressed ambience lies a primeval aesthetic that contrasts clangorous stabs, bleary utterances, and muscular cries with delicate arpeggios and strummed guitars.
While getting ahold of these limited run artifacts is great fun – a scavenger hunt for adventurous music listeners (I found mine on a recent visit to one of my favorite haunts Downtown in NYC: Other Music) – it’s a pity that this release hasn’t gained wider currency – as yet! The band, like so many others, is going to SXSWthis year. One hopes that they bring a bunch of their tapes, CDRs, and other releases along (may they need runs >100!), and that the resultant buzz yields anything but lo-fi results for their careers.
One of our favorite out indie songstresses, Julianna Barwick, guests on An Album By Korallreven, (out now on Acéphale), the debut LP of Swedish electronica duo Korallreven. Marcus Joons and Daniel Tjäder (of The Radio Dept) incorporate Barwick’s soaring layered vocals alongside droning guitars, synth brass stabs, and chanting refrains, all mixed over a bed of warm keyboard pads and acidic drum beats. Hear the single below as an embed via Soundcloud. The band is promoting the CD with their first US tour dates (below).
You can also hear Julianna’s new song “Never Change” via Soundcloud (courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty).
Korallreven Live in Concert
3/4 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
3/5 – Washington DC – Black Cat
3/6 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
3/7 – San Francisco, CA – Independent*
3/8 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex*
Brooklyn-based imprint Group Tightener recently released “Dark Matter,” the latest recording from chill wavers Expensive Looks. Yesterday Pitchfork didn’t much like the cut of Alec Feld’s jib, but I think they undersell this slice of moody, skittering electronica. Check out the appropriately shaky and diffusely ordered video for “Nothing More” below.
In the first evidence of what will purportedly be an ongoing collaboration in 2012, David Lynch has remixed the Zola Jesus track “In Your Nature” (Soundcloud stream below). The song first appeared on ZJ’s 2011 LP Conatus.
Feb 16 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall [w/ Talk Normal]
Feb 17 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer [w/ Talk Normal]
Feb 18 New York City, NY – Webster Hall [w/Liturgy, Talk Normal]
Feb 20 Cincinatti, OH- Contemporary Arts Center
Feb 21 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall [w/Chris Connelly, Talk Normal]
Feb 22 Grinnell, IA – Grinnell College [w/ Talk Normal]
Feb 23 St. Louis, MO – Luminary Arts [w/ Talk Normal]
Feb 24 Lawrence, KS – Granada [w/ Talk Normal]
Feb 25 Denver, CO - Larmier Lounge [w/ Talk Normal]
Feb 27 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge [w/ Talk Normal]
Mar 01 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall [w/Wymond Miles, Talk Normal]
Mar 02 Los Angeles, CA – Natural History Museum [w/EMA]
Mar 03 San Diego, CA – Casbah [w/ Talk Normal]
NoiseTrade is a terrific site to search for new music. They offer thousands of free downloads by emerging artists and indie labels.
Today, they announced a label sampler by Nettwerk, which features pop and electronica acts such as Submarines, Ivy, Ladytron, and Sarah Mclachlan. Sound eclectic? Sure, but Nettwerk’s byline is “releasing music we love,” not “releasing music according to a tightly wound marketing strategy.” Got to respect that.
Here’s another Nettwerk artist you’ll likely love: Morgan Page, in a new video with a passel of guest artists.
Sepalcure appears on Surreal Estate, a new Frite Nite electronica compilation. They contribute “Deep City Insects,” a track suffused with neo-psych deep bass that creates a hazily distressed ambience.
Grab a free download of the track over at Pitchfork.
New Jersey’s own Seth Haley records electronica under the moniker Com Truise. With a name that tropes on an eighties icon, it’s not too surprising that his source material reference dystopian sci-fi soundtracks, early synth pop, and a splash of trippy dark wave for good measure. Now, I know that, at this point, some readers might be warily edging their mitts towards the mouse. After all, this referential material is potent stuff to overuse: weaponized in the hands of the wrong creator. Fear not.
Thankfully, Haley keeps the various reference points in balance on Galactic Melt, his latest full length for the Ghostly imprint. Unlike the film actor whose name just might be morphed into Haley’s audio incarnation, Galactic Melt doesn’t seem overexposed. Haley provides enough thoughtfully mediated distance between the source material and its current day handling that the music (happily) never lapses into nostalgia nor stoops to broad parody. Recommended.
Check out a stream of the new single “Ether Drift” on the File Under ?Tumblr page.
Plus, courtesy of our friends at RCRDLBL, grab a download of album track “Brokendate” below.
Questlove’s controversial musical intro for Michele Bachmann on Jimmy Fallon’s show may have stolen the headlines – the band played Fishbone’s “Lyin’ Ass B—-”. But there was something else musical going on during the Monday broadcast that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
M83′s new CD, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, is out now via Mute. This electronica-rock hybrid is already storming up the charts. Eighties ambience, anthemic hooks, and arena-sized sonics combine in a memorable melange. But don’t call M83 retro: they stand out distinctly from the pack of eighties nostalgists. On Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, they’ve amalgamated and transmuted synth signatures past into an ebullient music for the present.
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