Sic Alps - "She's On Top" Video

Sic Alps debut the first of three videos corresponding to each track on their excellent new 12" She's On Top. As scuzzy and ravaged as some of their previous videos, it acts as a nice compliment to the EP's title track. Highly recommended that you pick this one up.

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The Focus Group

Julian House's first outing since The Focus Group's collaboration with Broadcast continues the trip further down the Radiophonic rabbit hole. A mash of library music, dust-licked crackles and pops and disembodied dialog, The Elektrik Karousel is full to brimming with whimsy on the edge of unease. Its like being sucked into a children's storybook and turned upside down with an outside force flipping the pages back and forth at random, lost to the control of the reader and narrator. Its a Sid and Marty Croft hallucinogenic head wobble that begs the listener to let go and allow the blinking lights on the control panel to soothe them into a stupor of twinkles and winks. House enlists the help of Broadcast to weave his batch of Burroughs-ian cutups and lysergic, fractured jazz poems into a sort of working order, forever disconnected and forever engrossing. As usual it’s packed in a Ghost Box sleeve of the highest order, nothing less for the director himself here. Kicking myself for not picking this up on a recent trip abroad but imports can be had below.

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Roomrunner

Yeah Roomrunner are doomed to the Nirvana comparisons to come... and they will (and have) come, but if the explosive grunge crunch tempered by a perfectly candied pop center fits, then what the hell. Sometimes you gotta just embrace it. Fondness for the Sub Pop and Matador back catalogs aside, the Baltimore gang have more than just the past in their veins here, they're fully embracing the scrappy energy of their hometown scene and funneling it through a sixty ton wall of rock pummel. Twitchy and rambunctious, Ideal Cities runs to the back of the bus, carves its initials in the seat leather and jumps out the emergency door winking all the way. The record feels cathartic and ear shaking in the way that records sounded at fifteen, when a handful of songs and a Walkman could change your life, even if no one else knew it. The thing is, Roomrunner seem to know it; they're right there with you shaking the shackles and squeaking the strings. Damn well they should be pros, Denny Bowen's been roughing up the edges for years in Double Dagger and his former band’s enigmatic spirit lives on with him here. Roomrunner aren't rewriting the book on grunge but they're adding a decent new chapter in the tome that feels like it always belonged.

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Colleen

It’s been quite a few years since Colleen (aka Cécile Schott) has released a record of fragile, angelic compositions. Its been six years in fact, the last record was 2007's Les Ondes Silencieuses for Leaf and in those intervening years she's certainly been missed. She picks up her orchestral folk blend easily though, and The Weighing of the Heart expands Schott's catalog nicely. Sweeping and delicately soundtrack-like in its scope, the album has a sense of whimsy and sadness that echoes through its entirety. Amid the plucks, bowed strings and gentle woodwinds, Schott's voice floats as heavy and as thick as fog, but just as ethereal and elusive too. The songs some of her best and with that in mind they're well worth the wait it took to get them here. The album presumably takes its name from the Egyptian ceremony of weighing the heart to enter the afterlife - if you're heart was light from a lifetime of doing good deeds you entered the afterlife, if not, Ammit would gobble you up. The songs on the album seem to be so sad and, admittedly weighed with some force, so its left to wonder what Schott has to be sorrowful about. If she has indeed done things to make her heart heavy, surely music this lovely is tribute enough to allow her a happy eternity. Its certainly made my week lighter. The album also sees Schott team up with her longtime design collaborator Iker Spozio for a gorgeous cover work that's expanded to detailed books in both the CD and LP editions.

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Mikal Cronin - "Change" Video

Caught Cronin over in Brighton for The Great Escape last week and the live show is every bit as great as that new album and sounded pretty perfect on stage. In prep for the ensuing tour, the man and the band release a lonesome video that ends in friendship for an outsider fan. One of my favorites off of the LP as well. Pick it up if you haven't already.

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	John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - They Live OST So far I've resisted covering the Death Waltz catalog, but this one will have to act as a gateway to their lavish series of horror soundtrack reissues. The label has lovingly repackaged soundtracks
from a bevy of cult films in sleeves that convey their 70's glory. The label was founded by Spencer Hickman, manager of Rough Trade East and fittingly one of the major forces behind record store day in the UK. For this entry the label tackles Carpenter and Alan Howarth's score to the ridiculously classic and classically ridiculous They Live. Howarth and Carpenter teamed up several times, many of which appear in the Death Waltz catalog, and this is one of their best. Its still a piece of classic electronic wonder but done in a sort of Morricone grit-Western blues that seems to fit the pace and plot of the film nicely. The reissue really ups the ante on artwork, with a reimagined cover by Gary Pullin (seriously the art on this thing is incredible), a pull out poster and a remastering job and liner notes by Alan Howarth himself. Its probably not the kind of record that's going to nab play weekly, but when the rain is just right and there's a humid sense of dread in the air, nothing hits like a Howarth / Carpenter soundtrack. Plus, its just good reason to go back and re-watch Roddy Piper fight endlessly over sunglasses. Listen: [MP3] John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - All Out of Bubblegum Support the artist, buy it HERE

The Living Eyes - "Eat It Up" Video

RSTB faves The Living Eyes unleash a video for their new track "Eat It Up" which will arrive on 7" later this summer via italian label Goodbye Boozy. Their full length from earlier this year sits pretty high in the constant rotation here and its well worth nabbing a copy of if you're inclined towards energetic Aussie garage of the Eddy Current variety. This one wasn't recorded by Mikey Owens but gains boardwork form another South Hemi luminary, via Straight Arrows’ Owen Penglis at the controls.

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Free Time

Dangling toes in Melbourne and New York, Free Time's Dion Nania has worked in and around some RSTB faves like the Twerps (handling bass on their last tour) and Scott and Charlene's Wedding (lending some lead guitar to their NY incarnation) but now he's struck out with his own voice leading the charge on Free Time. With a South Hemi hangover of gentle jangles and a reigned in touch of bittersweet swooning pop, the eponymous album is certainly a good first foot forward for the band. Landing in the same arms as the Twerps, Free Time has found a home at Underwater Peoples and it’s a pretty spot on fit for their ever shambling and pop-glazed catalog. Nania's got a lackadaisical sway in his vocals and his partly cloudy delivery lends the songs a shadowed quality that feels kinda perfect for the millennial-pocked streets of Brooklyn. Its isolated, inner gazing and just a tad downbeat, in other words, a perfect fit for spring skies and jacket weather romps through unknown streets fulla strangers.

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	Winter Bear - Jump In The Fire 7" A new blast of sunshine and fuzz out on HoZac; Winter Bear is the latest noises from Erin Dorbin formerly of Cave Weddings, now tearing through a solid wall of amplified strums, clatter-thunked drums and enough shake n' shimmy for ten late night
dance parties. Both sides of this single frizzle fry with the kind of fun in the sun that's perfect for summer's impending swelter (despite the polar references in their moniker) and now that its on its way, you're forewarned to get this platter on the turntable for all your summer gatherings. The band are playing Blackout Fest in Chicago this weekend, which, if you are not planning to attend, you damn well should get a change of mind. My heart breaks thinking about being too far away from the heart of the Midwest for this thing. Chrome? Dwight Twilley? Seriously they pulled the stops on this one. Get there sucka! Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE

Chuck Johnson

Another strong voice steps into the spotlight in the arena of American fingerpicked guitar. Though this is far from Johnson's first foray its one of his strongest statements in a long line of works ranging across the acoustic landscape from labels like American Primitive, Tompkins Square, Strange Attractors Audio House and Amish Records. Taking strides from Fahey and Kotke, Chuck Johnson's works on Crows in the Basilica have a rambling fluidity to them and also that sweet hint of ennui that creeps in the corners of both those artists best works. In a way his songs also bring to mind the more homespun likes of Sir Richard Bishop in that Johnson's proficiency is clear but he adds a wide swath of raw emotion that gives the skill a human touch. Sometimes those with the tenacious ability to pick those steel strings in a furious haze have a tendency to leave the subtle shades and colors out of their work. Not so for Johnson though, he has a tender touch and a canny ability to straddle street busker showmanship and conservatory class with the dreamlike qualities of unfettered home improvising. Basilica is a joyful celebration of melancholy, simplicity and the tactile feel of fingers on an instrument.

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Unwed Teenage Mothers - "Foever Until You Are Bones" Video

Former Bass Drum of Death-er Colin Sneed takes the piss out of cult imagery in indie videos with the new video for his band Unwed Teenage Mothers. Nothing pairs with sacrificial beer pong like scuzzed and fuzzed garage jams from Oxford, Miss. The song appears on the band's recently released "Forever Until You Are Bones" single on Hiss Lab, limited to 250.

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Sic Alps

On the heels of one of their finest albums, Sic Alps nail the follow up with a trio of songs that lean towards their poppiest and still hardest hitting sides. The title track, "She's On Top" is all detached swagger and low slung licks, pounding out a hard-knuckled bit of guitar crunch. They slow for a second to cool it off on "Carrie Jean" and then run full steam into closer "Biz Bag" with that same gristled blast of psych-pop fury. Considering the heft and heart of the last record, these are certainly no leftovers, so be they one-off treat or a taste of what's to come - who cares? They're a sweet offering from one of the strong front-runners of rock's gritty underbelly. Sic Alps have always been generous in their short form offerings and this one slots itself in nicely with that Slumberland single from a few years back and their "Battery Townsley" 7" from last year. Recognize that all Alps material is released on a need to have basis.

Listen:
[Stream] Sic Alps - Biz Bag

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The Gooch Palms - "Houston We Have A Problem" Video

The Aussie hits keep a comin' with this video for the standout track "Houston We Have a Problem" from The Gooch Palms' R U 4 Sirius? EP out last year on Anti-Fade. Simple concept, funny execution and a great song. Can't go wrong with that. The Palms have a record on the way, Novo recorded in one day with Nobunny / Elvis Christ guitarist Jason Testasecca. Definitely keep an eye out for that one. Damn fine records coming from the other side of the world these days.

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John Roberts

Three years after the formidable Glass Eights John Roberts returns with another stunner for Dial, this time utilizing his travel mag day job to wrangle a wealth of field recordings from locales far and wide while still making a record that seems like a tiny universe of its own. Though built on bubbling synths, plucking strings and the stuttering of beats perched on stilts, the album also snips subtle and organic bits of Roberts' travelogue; recordings of waves on a beach in Cannes, a parade in Tokyo, synthesizers in Berlin, tourists in Versailles and a cedar soaking tub overflowing in Kyoto are among the pieces that make up the puzzle on Fences. The results are a little less overtly dreamlike than the preceding album, a touch less antiseptic and certainly less inclined towards the dancefloor. Not to imply that there aren't plenty of beats here, but the record skews even heavier into Roberts' composer territory. They feel like soundtracks evoking a more real and tangible space even when the inorganic elements are at their heaviest. The tracks are fraught with tension, emotion and a sense of pacing that sweeps them along in such a way that they wouldn't be out of place behind flickering images on screen. Fences proves that Roberts still has the meticulously crafted magic in his sway that brought him to our attention and he means to keep it that way.

Listen:
[Stream] John Roberts - Shoes

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Tony Molina

Tony Molina, of the oft overlooked themselves band Ovens, cranks out pop nuggets with perfectly formed hooks tossed away like diary scribbles. The whole album's over in fourteen minutes, but in that time there are at least a dozen songs swimming through your skull, and the frustrating part is they're so good you want them to go on for a three minute journey. Maybe bash out a repeat verse or two? Nope, Molina gets in, out and onto the next one before you can even realize how much you loved the sugar coated gem before it. Definitely doing donuts through the parking lot of early Weezer here but popping into Teenage Fanclub and even a little Matthew Sweet territory as well, all worked out with the short attention span pop n' drop of Guided by Voices' more compact moments. Fittingly a cover of Sir Pollard's Men sits in the ranks on this record, and it fits so nice and blows by just as quick as Molina's pop Skittles that its easy to forget its not his own. Plenty of love is sure to come Molina's way, especially if he keeps up this kind of pop rampage in the coming months. You can pick up the LP below; just make sure you don't leave the room too soon after the needle drops.

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Shannon and the Clams

There's just something in the tone of Shannon Shaw's voice that brings the tingles of the first time the soul-crimped shimmy of rock n' roll hit your young ears. Like truck full of Ronnettes 45's careening into a cartload of Buddy Holly, Beatles and Dave Clark Five singles, there's a genuine joy and dangerous sense of rule breaking and world shaking flirting just under the surface of The Clams' output. Its a hair-hoppin' down and dirty sound that feels like it would perfectly soundtrack the best John Waters movies and yet still get the heads nodding on the most stoic prep school letter set. If you've yet to encounter Shaw in her live element, whether with Hunx or holding court as the Clams' guiding light, then you're more than encouraged to see her belt out these gems under the sweltering lights, owning the stage like the reigning queen of garage. Hardly Art make a good move to rope Shannon and The Clams into their ever growing stable. Dreams in the Rat House is a welcome addition of swooning malt shop double straw gazers and dance floor shaking hip twisters. There are plenty revving and reviving the tenets of rock's past glory these days but few are doing it with this much style, this much soul and the kind of commanding spirit that Shaw represents.

Listen:
[MP3] Shannon and the Clams - Rip Van Winkle

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	Merrell Fankhauser & H.M.S. Bounty - Things Following the demise of the short-lived Fapardokly, Merrell Fankhauser and Bill Dodd went on to form HMS Bounty and their second outing shares more than a few similarities with their previous
band, woes and all. Still rooted in Fankhauser's lush melodies and breezy strums, the album is a prime example of West Coast psych of from the period, relying heavily on the 12-string folk-psych perfected by the Byrds and delving further into bluesy territory like the myriad British Invasion counterparts that inspired the band's name. They were noticed by a few more of their peers on the West Coast than Fapardokly had been, opening for Canned Heat and The Paul Butterfield Blues band; and after a run as the house band at The Cove in Pismo beach they were able to wrangle a contract with UNI. The label changed the credit on the record to Merell Fankhauser and HMS Bounty without the band's permission, seeming to want to develop Fankhauser as a solo artist. They also shaved off more than a few of the psychedelic touches and excess from the band's recordings. Both instances raised the ire of the band and pushed tensions that had already existed to the surface. Though, in all honesty some of the reigning in of the psychedelic touches may have led to this album weathering better than some of their more dated sounding contemporaries. The band broke up not too long after the album's release with tensions between Merell and the band at a head and with the band finding they'd lost most of the advance they'd been promised to the producers of Things, a far too common tale in those days. Merrell would go on to form MU with ex-Beefheart guitarist Antenae Jimmy Semmems in the wake of the breakup. Subsequent reissues have got this gem back into the hands of collectors and psych-o-files alike and it’s a pretty great listen even after all these years. Listen: [MP3] H.M.S. Bounty - Things (Goin' Round In My Mind) Support the artist, buy it HERE

Cool Ghouls - "Natural Life" Video

Cool Ghouls' eponymous album hit all the right buttons for spring around here, laying wide open and loose with the kind of breezy pop gems that feel good year after year. The band hits the coast and frolics in the woods with a bear-suited companion, a sojurn that ends in drunken shenanigans and plenty of wide California skies that make me question why the hell I settled on the East Coast. Its a perfect accompaniment to "Natural Life's" low-swung twang and sunshine harmonies. If you haven't picked up this gem of album yet, I'd highly recommend a trip to Empty Cellar for a springtime turntable tuneup.

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Joane Skyler

Joane Skyler's debut tape Orz is a hefty bit of float and buzz that throws her quickly into contention with Cupp Cave and Paco Sala for some of our favorite bits of electronic flotsam on the horizon. Bringing to mind Stellar Om Source and bits of Demdike Stare and Boards of Canada in various flickers of haunted synth and faded collage electronics respectively, the album follows the lead of those that cut paths before her but its skill lies in stitching those paths together into a tapestry that skews several directions without ever sounding scattered. The release eases in with gentle float before seeping down dark gratings to subterranean breaks laced with nightmare echoes, faded vocal transmissions and the buzzing grind of vengeful acidic keys. Beats shift and contort over the course from hard and driving to fractured and glitchy, winding their way between the crackle and hum of drones and crumpled electrics. Endlessly immersive, the album ends far too soon and so its a fine candidate for the repeat button, looping endlessly through tunnels of glycerin sheen that sparkle best through headphones to transform Skyler's world into your own.

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Bloods - "Back To You" Video

Aussie three-piece Bloods come in strong with another great single, this time cleaning up the production a bit and hitting some real Dum Dum Girls vibes. Looks like this is an indication of some more substantial material on the way. I'm damn interested to hear what these kids cook up for a full length but I'll settle for an EP. The video's a simple, straight on piece that doesn't distract from the greatness of the song, but gives some fun cracks and crackles to the proceedings. Keep an eye on these three and en eye out for their upcoming Golden Fang EP.

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