Bitchin Bajas

Cave's Cooper Crane strikes out on his own for an homage to Krautrock jams that's so frighteningly close to the original masters its hard not to check the calendar. Over the course of Tones and Zones, Crane builds walls of synth burble that bump against the edges of motirik rhythm, though often they simply bask in the blissful valleys of tonal tranquility. T&Z is the kind of record that's almost impossible not to get lost in. The percolating tones draw the mind out of focus and slowly into abstract planes of shifting thought from the moment the first zone rises on the horizon. From there it’s just a matter of letting the resistance go and floating on Crane's ever evolving Komische cloudforms until the needle bumps the runout and you have to face reality again.

Download:
[MP3] Bitchin Bajas - Zone 4

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

SHDWPLY have been a recent go-to for the murkier waters of pop music and their recent single from melted midnight crooners Florida is no exception. A welcome discovery.

Florida – Haunted House 7" The title track from this single establishes the time as somewhere after 2 am in a suburban VFW converted to an after hours lounge where no one's a regular but no one's a stranger. It feels like sobering up only to dive right back into the

desperate throes of late night drinking once again. The duo create a weary roll call for the dregs of last call and then burn it through with acidic guitar. On the flip, the band swings the tempo up a tick warbling between positivity and lost horizon blues. On gold vinyl and in the end of its printing but well worth picking up. Download: [MP3] Florida - Haunted House Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Quest for Fire

Chief among this decade's crop of primal burn psych metal prowlers that have struck a chord with RSTB are the epic structures of Naam and Ancestors, the brutal live incantations of Earthless and now; after their second LP lands, the smoke-ringed crawl of Quest for Fire. Maybe its because the band spawned out of garage roots (members formerly played in The Deadly Snakes), maybe its because they've gleaned a few lessons from Stephen McBean's psych prowess (two members played in a live version of Pink Mountaintops) or maybe its because the band have a way of injecting the malleable headspace of forefathers like Floyd and Hawkwind into a deafening thud of riffs and catharsis. Yeah its probably that last one. Lights from Paradise is a much more powerful and cohesive record than their debut, but it deftly builds on the strengths that made its predecessor an interesting find upon its release and even ads a melodic softness and *gasp* an acoustic element that brings it closer to classic rock territory than most of the rest of Tee Pee's stable. I've yet to experience the Quest live but from the sounds of this record and the band's admitted penchant for extending material it had great potential to be a formidable experience.

Download:
[MP3] Quest for Fire - Set Out Alone
[MP3] Quest for Fire - Strange Vacation

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Altar Eagle

Somehow I'd missed the first couple of Altar Eagle releases, so in expecting something in the vein of Brad Rose's usual array of drones or noisescapes, nothing could come as more of a surprise than a sweet blast of synthpop. Rose's previous pairing with his life partner Eden Hemming came in the form of the folk-centric Corsican Paintbrush, miles away from where they've currently landed. Pulsating on a bed of glycerin beats and wrapped in the gauzy pink shimmer of dream pop's best, the project's also not without its dark side; filtering in a few cold-wave shadows to balance out the ethereal splendor floating on the surface. Mechanical Gardens is out now on the always reliable Type Records.

Download:
[MP3] Altar Eagle - Honey
[MP3] Altar Eagle - Monsters

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Radio People

It seems after spending much of their time locked in earnest soundscape solitude, Emeralds and its surrounding circle have wound up leading the forefront of an unlikely current wave of Komische disciples from the analog synth church. I for one couldn't think of a better wave of influences to take hold of a populace right now. In addition to his collaborations with Emeralds' members Mark M and John (Free Time and Mist respectively), Sam Goldberg's been running the show on Pizza Night tapes and helming his own arpeggiated bliss sequence dubbed Radio People. With the help of Digitalis he makes the jump from spools to wax and it’s an analog immersion from start to finish. Goldberg unveils an unlikely affinity for shorter tracks (much as the Emeralds themselves have done of late) but in the place of sidelong epics he weaves tracks together into a multilayered tapestry of languid hum and skittering pulse. Copies are unfortunately beginning to get scarce but definitely worth possessing.

Also, check out a great interview with Sam HERE

Download:
[MP3] Radio People - Now Where
[MP3] Radio People - The Leap Home

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

	Esquerita – Vintage Voola Dipping into a bit of Norton's new stable a couple weeks back got me slinking back to a few old favorites like Hasil Adkins and of course Equerita, the man pseudo/sorta/unfoundedly credited with influencing Little Richard. Now the
yelp's in place so its not a hard sell but there always remains the fact that Reeder didn't get his songs down on tape until after Richard hit the airwaves. Folklore notwithstanding, Esquerita has a much rawer and untethered style. Its early rock n' roll with a huge wild streak and a savage slice of personality. Fidelity takes a back seat and if you've stuck around RSTB long enough you'll know that matters very little around here. Instead its the beat and heat on the songs that come through. Much of the material on Vintage Voola, recorded in '58, sounds like it's blaring through tin can speakers in a ramshackle dance club and honestly no amount of revamping would do it more justice than that. Not the most "essential" recording you're ever going to stumble across but it's certainly a welcome addition to any collection of old standbys. Download: [MP3] Esquerita - Sarah Lee [MP3] Esquerita - Rockin' The Joint Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Kemialliset Ystävät

Can it really have been three years since Kemialliset Ystävät last released an album? Indeed it has been that long but that only means its time for another journey into the abyss with Jan Anderzén's Finnish collective. If you've taken the trip before then the sights might seem a bit familiar if not always a bit jarring, and if this is your first ride on Kemialliset Ystävät's coattails then its probably about to get pretty bumpy. The group's mixture of sample heavy electronics and free folk still apply, dizzying as stained glass viewed through a kaleidoscope. Ideas seem to sprout simultaneously, then get stamped out by a flash of noise or dissolve into a competing idea just as quickly as they've appeared. Normal laws of physics never seem to apply in Anderzén's world, let alone the rules of songcraft, but there are always brilliant bits that peek out of the fog. The trick is trying to hold onto them before the acid bath of creativity washes them away.

Download:
[MP3] Kemialliset Ystävät - Kivikasan Rauhassa
[MP3] Kemialliset Ystävät - Maksaruohoja

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

New HoZac batches always fill us with delight around here and the latest is no exception with great albums and singles from Super Wild Horses, Outer Minds and The Flips! The first and the last of those have been pulling our attention lately and making our feet move in oh so erratic directions!

The Flips – I Just Don't Know Where I Stand 7" Chock full of handclaps, garage twang and heart-melting harmonies, The Flips deliver a dynamite punch of a single. Knocking things off with a shiny plastic ball of girl-group fun in the form of the title track, The

Flips establish a high standard that the rest of the platter has no trouble rising to meet. The two following numbers mellow their pace but its those syrupy sweet vocals that make us fall in love every time. With just a touch of the weathered edge that The Detroit Cobras' Rachel Nagy delivers in her vocals the songs have a way of eliciting a sympathetic barstool ear. But unlike Nagy, there's less winking and more cooing involved here; a less bare knuckle belter for sure. Solid garage pop that's begging for a proper album. Download: [MP3] The Flips - I Just Don't Know Where I Stand Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Super Wild Horses

A much more focused and crushing concoction than the Horses' 7" that wafted this way at the beginning of the year; Fifteen adds just the right amount of sparse punk crunch and post-punk sneer to make this one stick. Something about the Aussie sun must be burning brighter because it has a way of producing a new wave of punk upstarts that check all the right boxes on the influence chart without sounding like straight photo copies. The Melbourne duo kick at the walls of their predecessors with gleeful and maybe even spiteful abandon. There's definitely a caustic drip in the delivery of their songs but they shake it off in a flurry of teeth, hair and drumsticks without sticking around long enough to survey the consequences or analyze the impetus. I give the pair full credit, they definitely seem to know what they're doing, but its that habit of not being showy about it that makes them feel so effortlessly fun.

Download:
[MP3] Super Wild Horses - Mess Around
[MP3] Super Wild Horses - Golden Town

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Arp

Alex Georgopoulos returns as Arp, though he's been plenty busy in the interim between In Light and the release of The Soft Wave, recording as a member of The Alps as well as Tussle along the way. Arp's latest billowy bit of pastoral psych follows much the same pallet that Georgopoulos has drawn from before, paying homage to Krautrock and Komische heroes like Cluster and Harmonia while chiseling out his own stake in the ambient hierarchy. This time though, ARP's range expands beyond the bounds of the synth focus that anchored In Light, adding orchestral touches, guitars, piano and flute to the honeyed melodies and ambient escapes that are Arp's driving force. With so many pieces of the synth landscape falling into place this year, it may finally be Georgopoulos' time to shine as a seasoned veteran in the right place at the right time.

Download:
[MP3] Arp - White Light
[MP3] Arp - Summer Girl

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Automelodi

Like getting sucked backwards through time to an alternate past where coldwave ruled in androgynous glory, Automelodi have knocked the needle of the current synthpop revival beyond homage and into artful recasting. They prune the genre's minimalism to its throbbing core and then rebuild with a glaze of pop savvy and a barely detectable flash of teeth. The Montreal group feel like they should be at the center of a subterranean fashion show hued in silver foil and black, somehow both gritty and glamorous. There's a gauzy dream sequence quality to their songs, filtered through memories of 80's teen films and rearranged by a language barrier. Wierd Records has become a forerunner of the new synth nation and at this point, Automelodi are running pretty high in their aristocracy.

Download:
[MP3] Automelodi - Rose A.D.
[MP3] Automelodi - Schéma Corporel

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Dead Luke - Digital Single

RSTB fave Dead Luke has put together a single of two great covers, to be released right here at Raven Presents. The single features Luke's meltdown take on the Suicide classic "Ghost Rider" backed with a cover of "Summertime Blues" that recalls Marc Bolan's cocaine blues more than it plays up the Cochran classic. As with all RSTB Presents releases the single is free to download and comes with artwork zipped along with the tracks. Check out a stream of "Ghost Rider" below and go HERE to download the single.

Dead Luke - Ghost Rider

The Girls at Dawn

Following up a stellar single and an EP on HoZac and Captured Tracks respectively, this un-tethered trio bounce to the garage haven of Norton Records for a full length entitled Call The Doctor. Full of the same jubilant energy that's made their past releases so infectiously fun, the album pairs the sugar crunch of girl group harmonies with the strange air of spooky sparseness that's always held sway over their songs. Still, though the band's songs are packed full of hooks, it always seems as if they've written things purely to make themselves smile. As if the three were always banging out these hip-swayers and we just happened to stumble on the secret club house hide-away that's home to an order dubbed The Girls at Dawn. Thankfully the no boys allowed sign's been lowered long enough for us to peek in and dance a little to these delightful gems.

Download:
[MP3] The Girls at Dawn - Evil One
[MP3] The Girls at Dawn - A Secret

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The darker side of Captured Tracks returns! Amongst a sea of indie pop and homespun projects, The Soft Moon reaches into the infinite darkness of 80's post-punk and synth throb to craft yet another superb single.

The Soft Moon – Parallels 7" The first single that came our way from Luis Vasquez' Soft Moon hit all the right buttons on our 80's touchstone pallet, sounding like it may have felt more at home on Sacred Bones' gothic shores than at CT. This time around Vasquez

eschews any vocals for a pure dystopian punk soundtrack throb. Leaning heavy on the bass with a fluid movement that's both dancibly dark and throttled with paranoia. Glad to see that he's still sticking with the stark color and design aesthetic here and the sucker's on white vinyl so all the more reason to nab one of these right quick. Download: [MP3] The Soft Moon - Parallels Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Big Blood

Big Blood finally make the jump from CD-r ranks to the vinyl treatment they so rightfully deserve. Colleen Kinsella and Caleb Mulkerin have long used the Big Blood moniker as respite from their more fleshed out work in Cerberus Shoal and Fire on Fire amongst other collectives, and it’s always been here that their most heartfelt pieces eked out. Kinsella's voice is as strong and strident as ever, unfolding folk tales with unbridled joy and enduring sadness. It’s that divide that drives the album, following highs with crushing lows like a cycle of life encapsulated to fifty minutes. Styles float from burnt-time psych-folk with electric edges sawed ragged, to neatly packed folk that seems too precious to sit alongside such fray. But again, it’s the diversity that's always made Big Blood truly a personal journey for the duo and unlocked their greatest songwriting strengths. Time-lag has wrapped Dead Songs in a gorgeous gatefold in an edition of 700, so it’s not likely to last long.

Download:
[MP3] Big Blood - Lay Your Head on the Rails II
[MP3] Big Blood - New Eyes

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

Keith Fullerton Whitman

If you're at all familiar with KFW's work then you'll know that he's a pretty sharp guy and consummate composer of the electronic realm. However, as has become glaringly apparent to anyone who's worked with the elements of electronic music, it can occasionally become a pretty sterile environment. Hours of repetition and meticulousness yield great results but can sometimes come off as practiced once the elements of human error are cut back. This is why Whitman's Generator injects a sense of human erosion into the mix. He's sought to investigate "the unpredictable entropies & slight signal degradation inherent to Analog instrument design". This involves a process of sending multiple signals simultaneously to his instruments and a series of manual patching. The results are a rippling Komische universe that unfolds like a binary birdsong. Unfortunately the release was restricted to a 200 run cassette that's become rather scarce but it looks like you can pick up some live versions of his generator series below.

Download:
[MP3] Keith Fullerton Whitman - Generator 1
[MP3] Keith Fullerton Whitman - Generator 6

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Tandoori Knights

Bloodshot Bill and King Khan team up on the world for a bit of garage jangle with a vindaloo soul. With nods squarely in check to Norton's back catalog of buskers, rock-a-billies and skiffled stringers the duo scrap and scuff through some unhinged rockers and snake charmer soul rave-ups. In truth this is Bloodshot's second pairing with a member of the KK & BBQ Show but this one's just a touch wilder and a hair weirder than its counterpart The Ding Dongs. You can feel the swagger pulse right out of the speakers throughout the whole of Curry Up It's the Tandoori Knights. It burns like chilies and makes the feet move, but its the mix of sincere rockers with tongue-in-cheek lounge humor that makes the album such a joy. If this were all bravado and strum it might wear thin, but the boys have a way of wrapping up their gimmick in a classic kitsch that seems like John Waters is just about to pull back the curtain and invite you in for some vintage porn and lemonade. Tart if we say so ourselves, this one's as fun as a record is likely to get this year and to echo a sentiment from the LP, "Fuck Dick Clark, he don't let Tandoori play the bandstand!" So start your own riot with the home version right here.

Download:
[MP3] The Tandoori Knights - Bandstand
[MP3] The Tandoori Knights - Brown Trash

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Spur – Of the Moments Excellent bit of unearthing by Drag City, who've already proven their Midwestern crate digging prowess with the reinstatement of Death's album last year. Far from similar territory to that release, Spur occupy the psych/country axis that
held the Byrds and Quicksilver Messenger Service and Moby Grape in such high esteem. The quality and consistency of Spur's work for this period leaves wonder at why they made as little impact as they did, but perhaps their Midwestern roots clashed with their West Coast style and in turn sunk them from sight. Here Drag City has augmented the original album, simply titled Spur of the Moment rather than moments, with a collection of demos and outtakes from the period that are far from rough. What holds this apart from some of the more commercial counterparts of the period is the jazz-inflected 14-minute midsection of a jam that pushes them rather nicely into psych territory that the Byrds themselves would come to occupy as well. Definitely the one essential piece of the Spur puzzle (unless you'd like to look into some heavy eBay prices), and well worth adding to your collection of 60's gems. Download: [MP3] Spur - Mind Odyssey [MP3] Spur - Time is Now Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

One of our favorite, yet sorely slept on, Not Not Fun projects returns with a new single and bleak blast of cold air to calm down this scorched summer.

Topaz Rags – Crown Center 7" After falling in love with Topaz Rags full length last year we thought it impossible that the band could crawl futher into their subterranean recesses of L.A. post, post, post nightlife. However, it would seem, we are decidedly wrong. The band

flickers into view with a howling, caged maelstrom of bass and ice vapor vocals that seem to take no mercy. Whereas the album felt like a comedown after a hard night's prowl, the single seems to have slunk out of the city entirely and taken refuge in a stripped shack just outside of town. The ensuing waves of paranoia and desperation seem to mirror the ecstasy of what must have come long before it. Punishment never felt so entrancing. Download: [MP3] Topaz Rags - You Go On Support the artist. Buy it HERE

The Bitters EP

Aerin Fogel and Ben Cook follow up their well-received album on Mexican Summer with an entry into Sacred Bones' color-coded EP series. Have a Nap Hotel feels more concise than the album, proving that the band may be best over the course of an EP than they fare on the long player. Fogel's still got the perfect yowl to tie together their garage buffed post-punk into a taught, urgent mess of wires and ticks. Flailing as if attacked by invisible enemies and then doused with a cool sense of detachment, the band play both sides of the card with equal aplomb. The key here is that they've made the transitions seem less sudden, sliding back and forth between fight and flight on casters. As we've mentioned countless times in the past, regardless of what treasures lie on the insides of Sacred Bones releases, its the consistency of packaging that always make these essential purchases.

Download:
[MP3] The Bitters - Dark Wide Holes

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Kemialliset Ystävät: Kivikasan rauhassa Video

Kemialliset Ystävät return with a new album on Fonal in just a few weeks (August 17th). Its been three years since Jan Anderzén and crew last sent an album our way and from the sounds of things they're as engaging as ever. A perfectly shimmering/spooky video accompanies the first bit of audio to find its way out from the album peaking our excitement for the full release.

Pre order Ullakkopalo HERE

Kinit Her

On first listen Kinit Her sound like field recordings of ritualistic ceremonies performed on mist-heavy, moonless nights. An overt sense of the occult flows through their compositions, dripping like fresh blood from the altar; drones conjured via animal horn seem to bump against the exorcised screams of the sacrifice and then the clouds rescind and there's a delicate sense of pagan folk that rises out of these harsh surroundings. The band succeeds in being neither totally immersed in their psych-folk leanings nor their naturalist drone impulses. Instead they play both elements against each other over the course of the tape, painting a scene with an auditory brush. The band may have lost a member recently, but the core strength remains in the duo's dark wanderings. An excellent release from the newly minted Brave Mysteries label whose upcoming schedule looks to unveil many more great treasures in tape form.

Download:
[MP3] Kinit Her - Walled

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Demdike Stare

Liberation Through Hearing acts as the centerpiece to a trilogy of vinyl releases set for 2010 by haunted duo Demdike Stare. Forest of Evil opened the door, and with this release the pair commune openly amongst the ruins of the afterlife. The title comes from a concept in the Tibetan Book of the Dead and alludes to the path to rebirth once struck into the murky waters of said afterlife. With Demdike's position on the darkest end of the dubstep spectrum, tottering just between beat and hauntology's most twilight passages, it seems a fair choice for soundtrack to fumbling through the mists of transitory life. Strengthening the impact of this already solid release is the mastering job handled by leftfield's premier house, Berlin's Dubplates and Mastering. With this release feeling much more expansive than its predecessor, curiosity is high for what the final installment holds in wait. Whatever sonic ruminations are to unfold though, chances are with Canty and Whittaker at the helm it'll be interesting.

Download:
[MP3] Demdike Stare - Caged in Stammheim

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Amon Düül – Paradieswärts Düül Though they were the original group to adopt the name Amon Düül are often lesser known than Amon Düül II, which would come to form in the wake of the original group's demise. Whereas the latter focused more on the German progressive sound
the former stayed true to their commune beginnings with psych-folk centered freakouts that bespoke a deep connection with psychedelics. Their first two albums spawned from a jam session that was marked by erratic percussion and little musical structure so it’s a notable departure on their third album that, despite delving into experimental midsections, the songs here tend to have discernable forms. Still the band tends to use repetition (that would later show up in its Krautrock form in Amon Düül II) to weave a hypnotic blanket of sound that was fitting of their outlook and direction, not to mention their deep connection to drugs as a driving force. The latest reissue of this lost classic also adds on the band's only recorded 7". Not that they ever seemed like a "singles" band but these added tracks showcase the group's most compact ideas to date, both centering on a bubbling calm that was hinted at on Paradieswärts Düül Download: [MP3] Amon Düül - Snow Your Thirst And Sun Your Open Mouth [MP3] Amon Düül - Paramechanical World Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Holy Strays

First release out for Holy Strays and its a hell of a tape on the always reliable Not Not Fun label, plus just one more reason that the French underground is becoming necessary to watch. Android drumbeats nestle under a humid cloud of synth pop squeezed with the rapid heart of 80's soundtrack funk. Then, just as the pulse quickens the release seems to melt into a dystopian murk of beleaguered action sequence fallout; the kind that show the inner workings of a protagonist in exposition of their discomfortingly sad home life as a stark contrast to the rest of the film's hedonistic wrath. It would seem that Holy Strays use the Paul Verhoven action catalog as their template or at the very least their divining force, before dousing it in the flames of a post-millennial synth syrup. A well conceived first effort that begs what the band might delve into next.

Download:
[MP3] Holy Strays - Kaduna (Part 1)
[MP3] Holy Strays - Faint Beams Ceremony

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE