The Great Pop Supplement serves up a perfect split between Wooden Wand and Hush Arbors. As usual, fine entries from all involved.

	Wooden Wand/ Hush Arbors - Swappin' 7" The tongue in cheek title of "Swappin" is accentuated by the cover images of James and Keith each posing for a picture with each other's better halvesand the quality
in concept leaves no lacking in content. Both songs showcase the performers at their collective best. Toth tosses up an outtake from the "Second Attention" sessions and it bears every mark of the sound of that album. Wood, on the flip gives a tender bit of Hush Arbors that doesn't always make it through the haze of his recordings. A very lucid yet interesting nugget of a track. Download: [MP3] Hush Arbors -Light Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Fantastic Magic

Once again I sadly reside on the wrong coast to soak up enough of the wooded communal vibes that are coming out of the West. But thanks to great pop up labels like Abandon Ship I can experience the gleeful oddities second hand. Fantastic Magic capture the intimacy of a twilight campfire sing-a-long dubbed down to cassette on their frightfully scant offering Witch Choir. The group swing from soaring folk harmonies to wild buzzing noise raids but both forms keep the tone celebratory. Picking up bits and pieces of the forefront of folk (dashes of Banhart's warble/ flashes of Animal Collective's group harmonies) these pigeon holes are ultimately too easy and too lazy to really assert the free flow that Fantastic Magic have laid down here. Though there are distinct songs the sides flow like murky dream sequences in which you recognize the faces but your tongue is too thick to begin to form the names. This cassette is frayed just the way should be, blissfully ramshackle and coolly disheveled. I can't wait to hear what the band could do with a little more room to breathe.

Download:
[MP3] Fantastic Magic - Flowerbeds
[MP3] Fantastic Magic - I've Covered the Halls, With Glitter and Awe

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Psychedelic Horseshit

Siltbreeze trumps itself releasing yet another crusted nugget of trash bin garage core psych punk. The label's latest offering, in the form of the beautiful mess that is Psychedelic Horseshit's Magic Flowers Droned neither brings to mind flowers nor drones but its magic indeed. Ramshackle pop that tumbles down the stairs in the morning and kicks out the door into the unforgiving light of day. Much in the same vein as fellow (or rather former) Siltbreezers Times New Viking, the band devours the pop canon and then spits it back at you in bursts of noise, punk and small windows of melody. But don't go thinking that this is going to blossom into any pretty, catchy moments. What melody survives can only be caught in the instant before you slam head first into a wall of no-fi chaos; surfing the tin can percussion and pocket disco that lies around every corner.

Download:
[MP3] Psychedelic Horseshit - Portals
[MP3] Psychedelic Horseshit - Mouth Disciples

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Back to a harder side of psych this week but with a wonderful variation. Both albums feature some of the most powerful and bewitching female vocals that Europe had to offer at the time. Putting any male counterparts in their place these two albums are a testament to the female force in the music of the late '60s

	Shocking Blue - Shocking Blue I've posted one of these tracks before but it got such a great response that I'm going to feature it again. Shocking Blue were a powerful Dutch band whose fame is mostly remembered for the single "Venus". The band issued a number of singles
prior to their first official album and this LP collected many of them in one place. Though she was not the original singer of the band, Mariska Veres' vocals remaining the most striking aspect of Shocking Blue and her addition was definitely a turning point in the band's sound and impact. The band's albums lost some impact over time but the first couple are well worth a slot in your collection. Download: [MP3] Shocking Blue - Long and Lonesome Road [MP3] Shocking Blue - Send Me A Postcard Support the artist. Buy it HERE (might have to try Ebay for this one.)
	Sarolta Zalatnay - Sarolta Zalatnay Sarolta was one of the top Hungarian performers during the 60's and 70's but her music hasn't crossed the seas until just recently with this great reissue. With a voice that rivals Janis Joplin's and a team of musicians that fuse the tail of
psychecelia with the oncoming storm of hard rock, many of these songs simply have to be heard to be understood. At once hard, exuberant and expressive its not hard to see why she was so well loved in her home country. This is another artist whose quality of music seems to erode the language barrier; though few songs are in English it doesn't distract a bit from the feeling of the songs. You'll even find yourself singing along by the 3rd or 4th listen. This is an absolute necessity. Download: [MP3] Sarolta Zalatnay - Itt A Nyár [MP3] Sarolta Zalatnay - Sracok Oh Sracok Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Barn Owl

Another great record seeps its way out of San Francisco. Barn Owl fuse the folk traditions of the bay area with desolate touches of high plains lonesome night blues that moan to the clouds. Bridge to the Clouds shares much in common with the natural tremor that envelops Brightblack Morning Light; though Barn Owl forgo any organ romps, instead trading in haunted vocal incantations and spidery six strings above a storm of howl and the ghosts of spaghetti westerns set in forgotten cities. Barn Owl have definitely followed a different shaman on this one, deep into the burnt crust of desert wasteland only to bring the spirit of the coast with them. Dark nights and beautiful mornings that culminate more in awareness than bitterness. This record traverses both sides of the soul; exposing the ink black center and then wrapping it back up in a film of tender humanity.

Download:
[MP3] Barn Owl - Absent Afternoon
[MP3] Barn Owl - She Swims in the Clouds

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

(VxPxC)

Another great release from Tim Hurley's Leaf Trail records. This is rapidly becoming one of the most intriguing outlets around. Sporting large artwork doctored by Hurley himself and featuring L.A.'s (VxPxC). Hurley gathered together a few older tracks by the band, reprocessed them through the "tape machine of death" The band's own Tim Goodwillie collected together some older tracks, reworked and reprocessed them and the result is a vibrating cloud of drone foam that darkens the horizon. The billowy forms on this one are so warm they'll suck you down like a quicksand hot tub, but the less you fight the pull the better this one gets. This is by far the headphone record of the year, rendering your brain molten in it's path. Alternating between the low earth rumble of electronic manipulations and calm doomy guitar, and the trio's work is aptly displayed in this context. The last track is a bit of a departure though and adds some interesting bounce on the way out. Suppose it can't be dark all the time. "Love Falls" acts as a bit of an eerily cheery credit roll to the smoldering volcano footage that the rest of the album brings to mind.

Download:
[MP3] (VxPxC) - Later Than You Think

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Daniel Higgs

Higgs returns to Holy Mountain in what seems to be a very prolific year for him. As a follow up to both his previous HM album and his contribution to Thrill Jockey's book series, Metempsychotic Melodies proves that Higgs has plenty more frayed gems to shell out on the world. The album is still packed full of Higgs' ragged charm and though it's less frantic than Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot its sparse loneliness and mixture of raga aethstetic with back country delivery makes this no less entrancing. Once Higgs' vocals kick in you are without hesitation drawn to listen. He has psychotic urgency that compels as much as it unnerves; endears as much as it frightens. I'm quickly becoming a great fan of Higgs' post Lungfish career as lunatic minstrel. The world could use quite a few more.

Download:
[MP3] Daniel Higgs - All Cherished Things

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Black Vatican

Fidelity is of no concern to Black Vatican. Fuzz is a weapon, tape heads have been ground down to dust and tinny drums pound in the background. All of this, however not only gives Zed Omega its charm it makes it totally unique. The Dubuque duo create some post-apocalyptic scrapyard pop that sounds more like a wild commune stumbled upon the wreckage of bedroom recording studio than any Mad Max desert brawler action. Playing in rudimentary fashion but knowingly messing with the ideas of pop, the album screams with a youthful reaction to boredom and small town isolation. Rolling soul vocals, scrambled punk and distorted Krautrock through the meat grinder and down onto a limited cassette for your enjoyment. Without a doubt the best blown speaker scuzz nugget outta Iowa this year.

Download:
[MP3] Black Vatican - Born To Live Life
[MP3] Black Vatican - Touch Teacher

Support the artist. Buy it HERE (in the Distro section)

The Jukebox is back with another shuffle from the lost generation. A bit of folk, a smattering of psych and even delving into some hard rock classics.

[MP3] Dragonfly - Blue Monday
A hard slab from Dragonfly with a pummeling bass and some classic fuzz, topped off with the classic bravado of hard rock vocals. Drives like a two ton truck straight into your speakers and there's no shame in that.

[MP3] Dr. Strangely Strange - When Adam Delved
A pastoral respite of psych-folk that's steeped in the wooded countryside. A traveler's flute and sweet tinged minstrel guitar make this instrumental more wistful than saccharine, but with a touch of sadness around the edges.

[MP3] Spirits and Worm - All I Need Is a Little You
Full bodied late 60's pscyh rock that goes from big to bigger. Powerful female leads over some bouncy guitar work that gives way into a huge wave of brass and some formidable guitar work. This one steers just short of over the top and hangs on for dear life. Classic.

[MP3] Hurdy Gurdy - The Giant
Opening with some phased drum action before splitting into an early prog-psych workout. Not so prog as to be indulgent but this definitely has that harder 70's edge to it. Nice effects and a strident vocal round out this great nugget from before prog went sour.

[MP3] Pussy - Everybody's Song
Name your band Pussy and somebody is going to listen, right? Well the whole album may not land in classic territory but this creeper of a fuzz psych track makes that curiosity well worth it. Its not overly showy but has the right balance of smoky organ riffs and crunchy guitar.

Olafur Arnalds

For someone who's only 20 years old, Olafur Arnalds is able to imbue his music with an emotional depth that would befit a lifetime of sadness and loss. As another testament to the fact that Iceland's greatest export is beautifully emotive music, Arnalds' Eulogy for Evolution stands in equal measure along side many of the country's most heralded artists. Aside from the title the album offers little context for the depth of grief and harrowing sadness that Arnalds' music evokes. The track names appear to be random sequences of numbers and the artwork is just a patchwork of colors and a natural images. Though in light of the title Arnalds plays as if he is eulogizing; as if each stroke of the keys will sum up a portion of life lost. Delicate in countenance but strong under the surface; Eulogy shows grief with the restraint of a single tear. This is the stone-faced search into the clouds for resolution, for reason, for peace of mind. The surface breaks down into outcry only briefly in the final track before recapturing its composure and receding into the light. If this is just the start of what Arnalds has to offer then I am quite eager to see what paths he leads us down.

Download:
[MP3] Olafur Arnalds - 0040
[MP3] Olafur Arnalds - 0952

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

The first release from NJ fuzz-popsters Titus Andronicus out on Shake Appeal really captures the band's live performance. Next up a move to Troubleman and hope for a full length.

	Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus 7" Titus' delivery shows their age, most of the band members are barely in college but wearing their cathartic youth on their collective sleeves is exactly what works about them. Anyone who's ever seen the band
play knows that shows are the definition of release. Things are broken; fists pump like you were 16 and even by NY standards people move. This 7" is fuzzy and they could stand to find some fidelity on record but in essence this is who the band is; imperfect, rambunctious and spot on catchy as hell. Watch for their latest 7" as well, just out on their new home, Troubleman. Download: [MP3] Titus Andronicus -Titus Andronicus Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Almaden

A few releases from Almaden have graced the RSTB mailbox and each with its own personality. Michael Hilde aka Almaden plays very much in the hermit folk style that Kyle Field and Phil Elverum have claimed as their personal sanctuary. Songs range from the expansive and meditative "Buffalo and Daughter" from an album whose name could very well devour the rest of this review so we'll call it The Dream Continues(267 Lattajjaa); to the upbeat scuzz folk romps that grace Come On, Do The Monster Mash. The latter album, which seems to be an early working out of styles swings enthusiastically between influences, following noise with ambience and folk with pop, even squeezing in an ode to the aforementioned Fields. The Dream Continues refines Hilde's style, still wafting between folk and ambience but with a steady assurance and soft cohesiveness that is strung together by the themes of Life, Meditation and Death. Almaden is a corrosive mixture eating at the conceptions of pop and folk and lighting the bedroom anthem on fire with dissonance.

Download:
[MP3] Almaden - Poets Grow Your Fingernails (From Come On, Do The Monster Mash
[MP3] Almaden - Buffalo Forever (From The Dream Continues)

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Loren Connors

Family Vineyard has issued a complete collection of Connors' "Airs", short pieces inspired by O'Carolan's and other Irish airs. The two disc set, As Roses Bow includes recordings from 1992-2002, many of which originally appeared on albums that are long out of print. Most pieces range from around 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes and still capture Connors' signature sparse ethereal blues even when projected through a specified form such as this. The project in its entirety can be a bit overwhelming, spanning a full 43 tracks, but each piece has its own spatial beauty and delicate sadness that make this really an indispensable picture of Connors as a musician. Connors imbues every song, no matter how short with an emotional depth that some musicians wait a lifetime to express in just one song. The entire collection has been remastered expertly by Jim O'Rourke and has been packaged quite handsomely by Family Vineyard.

Download:
[MP3] Loren Connors - St. Brigid's Air
[MP3] Loren Connors - O'Connor's Last Air
[MP3] Loren Connors - Airs No. 11
[MP3] Loren Connors - Airs No. 18

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Julianna Barwick

Brooklyn's Julianna Barwick has produced a wondrous, ethereal album that should certainly be getting more attention than it has. I was introduced to her by Sergio from the great Portugese radio show Má Fama. Sergio has a session up with the enchanted songstress over at his site and its well worth checking out. His prompting led to me listening to her album Sanguine which by most conventional methods has little grounds for comparison. Barwick utilizes her voice as the main instrument but with some very atmospheric touches surrounding it in a gauze of fog and a soft halo of ambient light. Processing her voice, almost entirely wordlessly through an effects pedal, her music moves in circular paths that shimmer as often as they pulse, chant as often as they float. Her music isn't necessarily folk but its certainly personal, its not necessarily choral but its certainly trained. It floats in hypnotic warmth in a kind of transcendental foma cloud that could brighten the darkest moment. This is spiritual music for those who don't over think simple beauty. The album is short and mostly comprised of a series of untitled pieces but I hope that this small offering is just an introduction to what Barwick can accomplish.

Download:
[MP3] Julianna Barwick - Untitled 3
[MP3] Julianna Barwick - Dancing With Friends

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Sure pop-sike can land just this side of cheesy but when it was done right it left just as many great tracks as any other side of psychedelia. Of course just because it was more palatable doesn't mean that people were immediately receptive at the time. These bands often suffered just the same fate as other tragedies of the nuggets generation. So here's some great pop-sike, perfect for Sunday Mornings.

	Piccadilly Line - The Huge World of Emily Small Piccadilly Line falls right around the same territory as The Free Design, but without the soaring sibling harmonies. The psych qualities are subtle and the album can run just this side of twee but it's breezy
melodies and lush instrumentation make it a particularly enjoyable bit of pop-sike. Relying on a fair share of classical instruments that add a touch of somber tones to the edges of these tunes, Piccadilly Line like so many never really soared up the charts. However now in a complete reissue this is a great album to lay about and pass the morning away with. Download: [MP3] Piccadilly Line - Gone Gone Gone [MP3] Piccadilly Line - Emily Small Support the artist. Buy it HERE
	Wendy and Bonnie - Genesis This album is truly a lost classic resurrected. The album, written by sisters Wendy and Bonnie Flower when they were 17 and 13 respectively is comparable to some of the best of the softer side of psych from the era. The sisters had
worked previously with a harder group called Crystal Fountain which put them to the attention of Skye records. Genesis is a sparse and often melancholy bit of jazzy paisley pop that takes full advantage of the way siblings vocals intertwine. Backed by some superb session musicians who support but never overplay the girls sour-sweet vocals, Genesis was doomed from the time that its label Skye folded soon after its completion. Thankfully Sundazed has rescued this one from obscurity. Download: [MP3] Wendy and Bonnie - It's What's Really Happening [MP3] Wendy and Bonnie - Let Yourself Go Another Time Support the artist. Buy it HERE

The Valerie Project

The Valerie Project is an ambitious undertaking by the cream of Philly's folk scene. The collective, which includes Greg Weeks (Espers, Grass), Margie Wienk (Fern Knight) and Brooke Sietinsons (Espers, Grass), with harpist Mary Lattimore, cellist Helena Espvall (Espers), Vocalist Tara Burke (Fursaxa), bassist/percussionist Jesse Sparhawk (Fern Knight, Timesbold), flautist/keyboardist Jessica Weeks (Woodwose, Grass), electronicist Charles Cohen and percussionist Jim Ayre (Fern Knight, Rake) sought to re-envision the soundtrack to the Czech New Wave film, "Valerie and her Week of Wonders." The film, is a dark allegory to a woman's coming of age presented in a very surreal manner. The collective has rerecorded Lubos Fiser's original score and are currently touring and playing along with a screening of the film. The music is lush and dark, a dizzying array of cinematic breadth and wooded folk mixing into a hypnotic landscape. Over the course of the 30 tracks, the emotive and surreal qualities of the film pour out through the score; giving just as much of a journey as an actual screening. The tour so far is short but if the collective do wander through your area, don't miss a chance to see the full project in action. A schedule can be found HERE.


Download:
[MP3] The Valerie Project - Elsa
[MP3] The Valerie Project - Death and Rebirth

Support the artist. Buy it HERE (Soon: The album will be out Nov. 20th)

I gotta hand it to The Social Registry, their Social Club 7" series just keeps pumping out the great releases. Another limited slice of fun and frolic tumbles onto your platter courtesy of I.U.D.

	I.U.D. - FF'ing b/w Goat Pussy 7" Until further notice I.U.D. wins the prize for best combination of nonsensical artwork with bizarre song titles. Any band that releases a track called "Goat Pussy" automatically gets at least one spin, right? I.U.D. isn't all shock and awe
though, the band is comprised of Gang Gang Dance's Lizzie Bougatsos and longtime friend Sadie Laska. Bougatsos tries her hand in the drummer's seat on this project and the combination of pounding rhythms with an array of samples that befit a GGD connection works just right. So check this one out because even without the quality music it contains this is a release you need on your shelf for aesthetics alone. Hell get one for mom, the holidays are coming up. Download: [MP3] I.U.D. -Goat Pussy Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Quetzolcoatl

Tim Hurley, the elusive Irishman behind Quetzolcoatl has crafted a somber ghost moan in the form of Living on Leaf Trail. Living plays like forgotten memories of piano melodies projected against a grainy screen. Just as the gentle plunk of keys begins to take shape a dusty jolt of deterioration wipes it away; A dream of a dream that never seems to get any sharper. With each passing minute the lack of familiarity becomes more disconcerting until the point that the fuzzy ambience and shiftless ambiguity envelop you; comforting you until you're left floating in a vibrating mass of tones and soft light. In reality, just as they sound, the tapes making up Living are a sort of twisted memory. The original recordings were channeled through damaged speakers and mixed with Hurley's voice and other odd trimmings to create the end result. The Irish label Leaf Trail, though a bit new already has quite an impressive catalog growing under its belt. Looking forward to what things may stumble out of that camp in the future.

Download:
[MP3] Quetzolcoatl - 7 - [Untitled]
[MP3] Quetzolcoatl - 10 - [Untitled]

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Shooting Spires

The side project of Parts and Labor's BJ Warsaw, Shooting Spires shares much common ground with Warsaw's past. Noisy pop clamor abounds on Shooting Spires but where P&L root there sound in a cross between blistering spazz punk and noise, this feels more rooted in the early days of noise-pop. This is a true bedroom fuzz bucket of an album. Slower and more telling than his past outputs, but in keeping true to his nature Warsaw doesn't let the cliché of the singer songwriter solo project creep into view. Instead Warsaw does what he does best, lays the distortion on thick, sounding like he's permanently duct taped a busted megaphone to his face and his Casio may have come without all the required resistors. Warsaw has cited Here Come The Warm Jets as a huge influence on the album and its not a far mark as a touchstone. His skewed pop and love of knob twiddling fall on pretty common ground with Eno at the time. This is another in a line of pop bands brandishing noise as a production tool and melding it with overtly melodic pop; a trend that I encourage heartily. Out now on Carboard records home to great albums by Pterodactyl and Gowns.

Download:
[MP3] Shooting Spires - Right
[MP3] Shooting Spires - Silent Alarms

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Christine 23 Onna

Led by Japanese synth master Maso Yamazaki of Masonna, et al. and aided by Fusao Toda of Angel in Heavy Syrup, this album is a monster Acid Fueled lounge party. Picture Austin Powers as directed by Terry Gilliam with a soundtrack of Sergio Mendes zonked on a hearty dose of Owsley bred Acid and you're coming close. Heavy on the bop and fuzzed out beyond belief, then wrung through a giant phaser and shaded violet. Maso's skewed version of the swinging 60's on Acid Eater is far beyond anything that could be called retro or even campy. This is a rift in time, Maso's gone back and showed the LSD set how to really blow speakers and minds. Once again the Japanese remain the reigning kings of the psychedelic set and this along with any other Maso Yamazaki release is full testament to that claim. Crank this one up, the fuzz needs room to breathe.

Download:
[MP3] Christine 23 Onna - Acid Eater
[MP3] Christine 23 Onna - Top Of Spot

As the 60's drew to an end and psychedelia gave way to the birth of hard rock, there remains an interesting period of adjustment and a shift in sound. This period produced bands that straddled these two worlds often mixing the charm of psychedelia with a much harder sound for outstanding results.

	Majic Ship - Majic Ship Prior to their debut full length Majic Ship's sound was rooted in pop covers but as they headed to the studio a hard edge drifted into their music and mixed with a sense of breezy psych for quite a wonderful album. When the band slows down
the tones grow moody, with flourishes of acoustic guitar that would echo shades of Zeppelin and Small Faces. As the volume increased the band's harder tracks aren't as over the top and hedonistic as 70's hard rock would become but it still packs a tougher punch than some of their contemporaries of the same period. The band never had any real strong label support and as usual this led to their demise but the album and some early singles compilations from the era are definitely worth a listen. Download: [MP3] Majic Ship - Sioux City Blues [MP3] Majic Ship - Free Support the artist. Buy it HERE
	The Open Mind - The Open Mind The transition from pychedelia into hard rock produced similar results in the UK as with the heavier sounds that came out in the Small Faces later work, The Open Mind was rooted in a freakbeat sound that turned heavy. Its really the vocal
style that echoes the mod and freakbeat sounds of earlier UK rock on this album but melding these with the more progressive guitar sounds and a bit of eastern psych produces interesting and in some cases spectacular results. The band's successful combination of these elements reaches its peak on the standout "Magic Potion" which foreshadows a bit of space rock later day psychedelic styles to come. A great classic from the crossover period. Download: [MP3] The Open Mind - Magic Potion [MP3] The Open Mind - Try Another Day Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

An uneven but nonetheless charming collection of miscellaneous tape recordings from the king of the sequined gutter himself. Sacred Famous was amassed from bits of tapes made around the same time as House Arrest and while, some of the scraps may well have remained hidden there are certainly enough gems in this to make it worth checking out. Pink, ever the master of using the lack of studio as an instrument (kind of the Anti-Eno as it were) wields tape hiss in deadly fashion and obscures pop trappings in debris thick enough to make you think these tracks were dubbed 7 times over on mix-tapes before they saw this collection. The sheer deterioration can be a bit much to handle start to finish, but squeeze a few of these into a mix for a friend and its an instant classic that begs a question of origin.

Download:
[MP3] Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Talking All The Time
[MP3] Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Politely Declined

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

In an unexpected move, Sub Pop ponies up for a Wooden Shjips 7". Ok well maybe its not that unexpected, they did include them in one of their SXSW showcases so there must be some fans in that stone-faced compound somewhere. Result: some great album art, a bit of the tried and true WS and a newer song that somewhat veers from the driving wall of fuzz and echo.

	Wooden Shjips - Loose Lips b/w Start To Dreaming 7" Side 1 is pure Wooden Shjips in their fuzz-echo cave of sound and repetition. Stomping out the thunder like it pumped in their blood, which from the looks of what I saw live the other night, it does. Side 2 is a bit
of a departure. The Shjips have strayed into ambient headspace before but this almost approaches a more traditional song structure. However the Shjips even at their most traditional could still pack a whollop that would put most bands on their ass, and this still isn't hitting that verse | chorus | verse type of scene. This is just a taste of what I hope to hear from these guys in the future. Excellent as always. Download: [MP3] Wooden Shjips -Start To Dreaming Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Pocahaunted/ Robedoor

The sky over L.A. just got a bit more menacing as two of the city's finest black holes of doom laden drone birthed this near perfect split/ collaboration. Robedoor have been in bed with so many acts lately they should be blushing or at least getting tested, notable releases with Haunted Castle, Hive Mind, Yellow Swans and Hauntings are already garnering praise this year. Pocahaunted are no slouches either, their collab with Mythical Beast won RSTB over in their favor already this year but it's this release that seems the perfect pinnacle this year for both parties. Members of both bands are married and run the label Not Not Fun, share a practice space and generally ride the same dark, haunted vibration. Robedoor's tracks here are furious blood odes to the cracked earth. Dark doesn't even begin to cover the black hole feeling of air rushing out of your lungs that each pummeling track sets off. Though it should be noted that "Ancestress Moon," is an odd exception, but somehow the lightness seems even more sinister coming from them. Pocahaunted don't sever your spine quite as harshly, but their doomed siren songs crush more than their fair share of sailors on the rocks. Amanda and Bethany's tortured wails are equaled only by the scream of electronics that they flay and squeeze down hollow canyon walls to a microphone. Finally the album culminates in the collaboration that shares the album's namesake, "Hunted Gathering" and the two worlds collide like a slow death. The drones turn dark and heat up the fury of the howled vocals; the track spirals slowly and mournfully into a creep towards agony and then dissipates leaving you wanting more even after the 16 minute mark.

Download:
[MP3] Pocahaunted - Warmest Knives
[MP3] Robedoor - Razed Terrain

Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Clipd Beaks

All right LPU you're 2 for 2 and I'm definitely listening. Another jolt of molten spazz catapults outta that camp in the form of Clipd Beaks. Hoarse Lords tumbles, gurgles and sweats then passes out on your floor until 2 the next afternoon. The driving themes are dark and borderline apocalyptic but all this just comes off as a frustrated catharsis in times when decisions produce less than spectacular results. Clipd Beaks is the sound of youth regurgitated on the bathroom rug. Voices howl in circles while dense, driving bass propels the danse psychosis until it breaks in a fistful of spun keyboards and tortured drums. With all the thick gutter/glitter sludge like this coming outta L.A., it just gives me one more reason to keep my eye on California.

Download:
[MP3] Clipd Beaks - Wrathscapes
[MP3] Clipd Beaks - Black Glass

Support the artist. Buy it HERE