Common Eider, King Eider

Rob Fisk has always been a master of bleak landscapes, certainly with his ensemble 7 Year Rabbit Cycle, but more recently so with Common Eider, King Eider. Following up one beautifully crafted Root Strata release with another, this time he's fleshed the band out to a four piece and it couldn't sound more disarmingly beautiful. The pieces hum and crackle like the final throes of frostbite creeping across the tundra. Add in contributions from Grouper's Liz Harris and Charalambides' Tom Carter and this begins to shape up into one very well chiseled piece of subtle doom.

Download:
[MP3] Common Eider, King Eider - They Want To Dig For Gold But All They Will Find Is Blood (Cell Phone Mix)

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Afrirampo

Though the sad news is that RSTB fave Afrirampo have decided to call it quits as of this past July, the bittersweet consolation is that the group has released a final album on Mogwai's Rock Action imprint. The two disc set sees the duo add some strum to their furious ball of explosive noise but its in no way a tempering of the band's sonic punch. Still flailing towards the edges of noise and clawing back through instantly catchy barbs We Are Uchu No Ko sums up the band's eight year career in a single statement. The softer moments hit harder because under all that fury it was always apparent that there beat a tender heart that was simply in love with music and performance. In many ways this album feels like a goodbye, albeit a very fond one. Maybe its just a see you later. I'm sure that both musicians will find a way to pop up somewhere in the near future and I'll be eager to see what they produce.

Download:
[MP3] Afrirampo - Miracle Lucky Girls
[MP3] Afrirampo - Yah Yah Yeah

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Limiñanas

French duo The Limiñanas elegantly mine the past with their Gainsbourg-inflected garage pop that feels stuck timelessly between decades. Draped in a disaffected cool that's often hard to come by without looking too stylized; the band weaves between backdrop fuzz pop with spoken word toppings to jangled and gelled dark French pop that hits all the right notes. Nothing here quite touches the hip-check cool of their single "I'm Dead" but a few come mighty close and make for that great kind of album that stops first time listeners in their tracks to inquire its source. Its hard to make an album that reeks of black leather and incense seem vital in 2010 but The Limiñanas open up doors like a lost gem found amongst the crates; full of hooks, fuzz and surprises.

Download:
[MP3] The Limiñanas - Funeral Baby
[MP3] The Limiñanas - Je suis une go-go girl

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE (out soon)

The Demon's Claws

Montreal's Demon's Claws have a way of injecting a certain rural clear cut twang to the usual gritty hovel of garage rock territory. The band has been an In the Red mainstay for a few years now, churning out a wild and ragged brand of rock that sweats minimum wage frustration. Their latest LP for the venerable In The Red institution, originally titled The Defrosting of Walt Disney but shortened for apparent legal reasons, is yet another furious patch of garage-punk with a wide Stones-ian reverence for the roots of rock. Ramshackle and ready to burst, bust or break at a moments notice, the band are yet another reason Candada's got a hold on frazzled punk these days. The boys temper the more frenetic bits with subtle touches of psych shimmer and some gazing into the smoother reaches of their roots digging tendencies; solidifying the countrified heart of rock n' roll. This one's guaranteed to melt the head of Disney or any other iceburg'd conglomerates.

Download:
[MP3] The Demon's Claws - Last Time at the Pool
[MP3] The Demon's Claws - Fed From Her Hand

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

VHS Head

Released on UK imprint Skam Records, home to such genre defying artists as Boards of Canada and Gescom, VHS remains a bit of a mystery. With no name or likeness on the books and a cut n' grind style that culls heavily from a collection of "pre-cert" vhs tapes, many have been eager to find out if the Head is a new talent shrouded in Burial-like mystery or perhaps one of Skam's stable using an alias. Whichever truth chooses to be true the project is a dizzying mix of beat-infusion and ADD technocracy. Its a bit like stepping into Max Headroom's subconscious for an afternoon viewing of the John Ritter-tatstic Stay Tuned. Its hard to get a footing in VHS Head's world but once you let go of the handrails the ride turns out to be pretty manically fantastic. Not recommended for epileptics or the easily overwhelmed but definitely a talent to watch out for.

Download:
[MP3] VHS Head - Sunset Everett
[MP3] VHS Head - The Violent Breed

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Cheap Time

There's a telltale sentence circulating with press materials attached to Cheap Time's second LP: "Fantastic Explanations (and Similar Situations) will surely surprise, divide and leave fans scratching their heads as to where Cheap Time will go next!" Presumably it'll be the divide part of this statement that will be the most often invoked. Cheap Time's first LP seemed to come out of nowhere, having only released one prior single that couldn't predict its explosive arrival by a long shot. The album was raw and glam, bubblegum and snotty and irreverent. It felt like the best of its influences without retreading them to death. The follow-up to their debut lacks a bit of its chaotic charisma, which may certainly work to its disadvantage. Its a much more well-crafted album, for sure. The songs themselves are layered with a benevolent reverence to power pop forefathers and the mixing was even done by Earle Mankey who spent time as a guitarist in Sparks and recorded albums by The Quick and Concrete Blonde. Mankey is certainly the right choice for the band's transition into a more mature sound, but I'm sure that many who loved Cheap Time's debut may not be ready for any transition, mature or not.

Sophomore albums always pose a catch-22; retread the first and they'll say you haven't got any new ideas, change and they say you've lost touch with what they loved in the first place. Fantastic Explanations (and Similar Situations) is a logical, if less immediately satisfying step for the band and the garage-punk following is fickle. Some will be quick to dismiss it, but once the kernel is cracked the album reveals a richness that's laudable. However even I have a feeling that I will keep returning to the debut more often than its spawn, despite these admirable qualities.

Download:
[MP3] Cheap Time - June Child
[MP3] Cheap Time - Down the Tube

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Ozzie – The Parabolic Rock Ozzie share much in common with RSTB underground favorite The Twinkeyz. The band, also a West Coast creation, is hard to pin down musically; ranging in influence from Beefheatian insanity to Sparks pop weirdness with glam, power pop
and punk morsels stuck in between. The band's 1977 single "Android Love" was even produced by Twinkeyz/Public Nuisance member David Houston, further cementing the connection. Unfortunately, also cementing the connection is the fact that both bands received little press and distribution in their initial lifespan, and only cult followings upon reissue. S.S. Records approached Ozzie songwriter William Fuller about reissuing the "Android Love" single, embarking on a 10 year process that has lead to a double LP of the band's entire output and history. Its a daunting package for the uninitiated, probably even for those with some cursory knowledge of the band, but its one of those catalogs that's so diverse and full of quality recordings that it boggles the mind how something like this could have been overlooked for so long. Just as with the first time the Twinkeyz Anthology hit my speakers, the Ozzie catalog unfolds into a wealth of new favorites destined to populate mixtapes and playlists for years to come. The term lost gem gets tossed about quite often in the world of reissues but it’s rarely so well deserved. Download: [MP3] Ozzie - Android Love [MP3] Ozzie - Wall Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Outer Space

John Elliot has built up a reputation as a steady member of Emeralds but as with all members of the band he's got more than one thing going on the side. John makes up Mist with Sam Goldberg (of Radio People, etc) and has for quite some time built up a solo catalog as Outer Space. Arbor picks up the latest Outer Space full length and brings it to life on glorious, limited clear marble vinyl. On this album, three years in the making, Elliot eschews modern synths to work with pure electric signal; nodding to the 20th Century compositions of Nik Pascal and Laurie Spiegel. The results are an extensive plunge into analog sculpture, building labyrinthine worlds of modulated sound without the aid of digital shortcuts. Elliots love of the medium comes through on all levels making his S/T record a hypnotic vortex of sound that wrings life from cold, dead machines. As an added bonus Keith Fullerton Whitman has lent his ear on mastering duties, so no detail has been overlooked on this synth odyssey.

Download:
[MP3] Outer Space - Scanlon

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Fan Death has been coming through with some solid releases lately and they continue the trend with single from RSTB favorites Broken Water. A perfect display of both their female and male fronted sides.

	Broken Water – Nothing Never Happened 7" the A-side picks up right where their recent album left off; taught bass, spiraling guitar and the hushed croon sweeping over the top. Then the whole thing explodes in a tumble of fuzz and fury to close the song out. On the flip, things push
further into their Sonic Youth territory with the male vocals taking the lead and a bid more constrained growl seeping in from the edges. Packed up in a letterpressed sleeve making this one totally essential. Download: [MP3] Broken Water - Nothing Never Happened Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Flight

Mississippi's resident fuzz machine returns with a new 12" on the Crocodiles/Dum Dum Girls run Zoo Music and the excitement to have this one in hand couldn't be more palpable. Six tunes that represent the strongest incarnation of the Flight aesthetic yet. Balanced between gritty, queasy and catharticlly twitchy; the EP is underbelly incarnate just as we'd expect from the one man feedback bomb. Rounding out five spot on originals is a perfectly buzzsawed rendition of "Goodbye Horses", you know, the song playing in the background of the lipstick application scene in Silence of the Lambs. Couldn't think of a more perfect band to cover it! Limited as usual so make sure you get your hands on one as soon as they're available on 9/28.

Download:
[MP3] Flight - Turns To Blood

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Myelin Sheaths

Lethbridge, Alberta's Myelin Sheaths first caught my ear with a single on HoZac that perked interest but didn't leave prickled expectations at the time. The single was rough and bratty enough but lacked a spark that kept my rapt attention. I missed out on a similarly timed single on Australian Austrian imprint Bachelor Records and thought nothing of it. However I've been decidedly remiss as the band's upcoming full length has pole vaulted over those initial expectations to ignite like a garage pop cherry bomb on the turntable. Its still got rough edges and bratty motions but they're steeped in catchy harmonies and redlined back and forth vocals that feel untethered and fun as hell. Definitely seems like one to catch live and a repeat listen on the home system for sure.

Download:
[MP3] Myelin Sheaths - Gloves/Mutations
[MP3] Myelin Sheaths - Everything is Contagious

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Fresh & Onlys

On the heels of several singles, EPs and solo albums; and with two stellar full lengths (+ a tape) out in 2009, it doesn't seem like Cohen and the boys could have much left in them. It seems, however, that their inspiration matches their never-ending drive and with Play It Strange the band finally enters a proper studio to lay their potent jangle-ridden garage to tape. Tim Green lends the band a bit of sheen without distracting from the raw energy that made them great. As with their recent Woodsist single, they've repurposed a few songs from the easily missed Bomb Wombs cassette and reworked them into tightly wound studio creations and mixed them in amongst the new offerings. As nomadic as ever, Cohen and co. bounce to In The Red for this album, which seems like as perfect a fit as any of the past labels they've tried on.

Download:
[MP3] The Fresh & Onlys - Waterfall
[MP3] The Fresh & Onlys - Be My Hooker

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Loren Connors – Hell's Kitchen Park The first in a planned series of reissues of Connors' guitar suites, this LP on Dutch imprint Enabling Works captures the man in the throes of his contemplative shorter works. The sound on HKP is much
cleaner than Connors would trend towards in the future but still imbued with his uncanny ability to capture the heart of loneliness in electrified string. The album may be broken up into twelve tracks but they seethe and swim and shuffle like bedraggled occupants of the park that gave the album its name. Connors has always had a way with melancholy, conjuring grey skies in a matter of a few notes better than most could within the space of an entire song. The vinyl reissue is adorned with a striking photograph of the park and pressed to 180g. No clear word on what other works from this period are slated for repress but no doubt they'll sound just as good. Fingers crossed for 9th Ave and Moonyean to make the cut. Download: [MP3] Loren Connors - Mother & Son [MP3] Loren Connors - Sorrow In The House Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

ANBB (Alva Noto & Blixa Bargeld)

Over the course of the last few years Raster Norton wunderkind Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) and Einstürzende Neubauten vocalist Blixa Bargeld have teamed up for live performances but until recently they haven't committed the collaboration to tape. Now those who haven't been able to witness the burnt chromosome electricity of their performances will get a chance to hear this epic meeting of the minds. The Ret Marut Handshake EP makes introductions quickly and sets the stage for an album to be released next month (Mimikry). The EP wanders into Bargeld's former German industrial territory but slices through any trace of nostalgia with Nicolai's keen sense of uneasy deconstruction. The results aren't at all what I would have expected based on prior familiarity with Alva Noto but definitely a pleasant surprise nonetheless. Plus there's an absolutely haunting rendition of Nilsson's "One" that feels like emotions falling apart or at the very least soaked in alcohol and slowly burnt clean.

Download:
[MP3] ANBB - One

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Well the wares of The Fresh and Onlys are no new occurrence around these parts but that doesn't mean we don't get a bit excited every time one of Tim Cohen and co.'s singles meets the turntable. This UK import is no exception, definitely a must for collectors.

	The Fresh & Onlys – Impending Doom 7" The A-side is a wide-screened, moody rock affair by many of the band's standards but at heart its pure Fresh and Onlys. Taking a bit of a moment to click in, the track opens up into a sea of reverbed vocals and driving rhythms. On the flip the band
summons up some of that slow paced twang and charm for one of their most endearing songs yet. This is definitely one to track down if you can swing it and a good primer for yet another album on the way from the band via In The Red. Download: [MP3] The Fresh & Onlys - Troubling Vision Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Hans Chew

Hans has kept himself in good company these past couple years playing with D. Charles Speer (who just tore down the Music Hall's 3rd anniversary) and spending time on record and the road with the late, great Jack Rose. However, before that all began Tennessee was born out of late night hotel room sessions and barroom residencies. And with that in mind, I'd make a fairly reasonable wager that no album has felt more like it was borne out of last call lamentations and 3 a.m. transient flop house origins than this one in a very long time. There's a huge divide between contemporary folk (add the psych qualifier or don't); and contemporary country and somewhere in a back alley between lies a grit and grumble of Honky Tonk that seems to have all but died out. Occasionally, though, an old soul comes along that understands the loose catharsis of barroom piano and weatherbeaten groove that's required for plausible Tonk songwriting. Now there's Hans Chew and he possesses all those things, should you choose to admire them. I've a feeling that most won't and while that's unfortunate, I've also a feeling that Chew won't care who listens; and perhaps that's why its so good to begin with.

Download:
[MP3] Hans Chew - New Cypress Grove Boogie
[MP3] Hans Chew - I Would There Was a Train (Tennessee Part Three)

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Crocodiles // Hearts of Love

So this will serve as a bit of an addendum to the Crocodiles post from a few days ago. This is the absolute jam off the album. Probably the most infectious chorus of the year, at least around these parts. It explodes like pop rocks and Jolt in your ears and for some reason I can't stop playing it over and over.

Pre-Order the LP HERE

Cloudland Canyon

Kip Ulhorn's Cloudland Canyon wanders further into the shrouded cloud of shoegaze pop than ever before and with none but amiable results. Fin Eaves sees the formerly Kranky band team up with Holy Mountain, but instead of switching from Krautrock burble to heavier territory as that shift might suggest, the band ensconce themselves in shimmery pop foam and radiant noise. Overall it definitely feels like a trip to the floor oggling 90's but never in such a direct way that the album feels retread; instead it seems to scoop from the best of that particular set and add Ulhorn's natural pop inclinations to the foray. In the best of possible ways Fin Eaves is an album that you can lay back into, billowy but without ever feeling like cotton candy.

Download:
[MP3] Cloudland Canyon - Mothlight Pt. 2
[MP3] Cloudland Canyon - Sister

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Brother Raven

This LP stands as a nice contemporary companion piece to the recently reissued J.D. Emmanuel album from yesterday. Exploring Komische with the same sense of wonder and experimentation, the duo of Jamie Potter and Jason E Anderson construct analog space epics that foam with programmed rhythms and atmospheric sweeps. The duo have crafted small form epics for Gift Tapes and Taped Sounds who've released works by Oneohtrix Point Never, Uton, and James Ferraro and they slip in nicely amongst both those ranks and that of Digitalis' new synth stable. The album is limited to a mere 300 and sure to go fast but definitely running high in the echelon of analog essentials for 2010.

Download:
[MP3] Brother Raven - Cartoon Life
[MP3] Brother Raven - Space

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	J.D.Emmanuel – Wizards Originally a private pressing owned by few and until recently, insurmountably hard to track down. The album has since popped up in two pressings, first on the Belgian imprint Dreamtime Tape Sounds and now again on Important Records.
Though the Komische masters are receiving a welcomed second round of fanfare, its nice to see the fringe get its due as well: and this synth masterwork from Emmanuel is definitely a long lost gem if there ever was one. The album has very mystical overtones (hence the title) and it uses the Sequential Circuit Pro-1 Synthesizers and Crumar Organ to great effect. Bubbling with the curiosity of a basement studio wizard, the the LP fuses languid tone based works with a gently boiling Krautrock rhythm. The LP is limited to 500 so pick one up quick. Download: [MP3] J.D. Emmanuel - Part IV: Expanding Into The Universe Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

The Young

There's definitely something that's enticing about The Young's debut full length, Voyagers of Legend, yet it's not the kind of album that grabs you on first listen. It’s not even the kind of album that hooks you on the second go 'round, which may be too much work for these times, since attention spans seem to have shrunk regarding music consumption. However about the third time you give the album a listen it starts to seep in. There's something visceral and familiar about it. Something that rekindles the deep Midwest angst and caustic Northwest tension of the early 90's and stokes them with a slowly building fury. There haven't been many records of late that have hit terse catharsis on the head so squarely and that's much to The Young's credit. The album is swathed in faded t-shirts and tattered jeans and a penchant for cheap beer. After showing up briefly with a few singles and a track on the Casual Victim Pile comp, its nice to see that they've worked a long player into something of a monolithic punch to the sternum.

Download:
[MP3] The Young - Bird in the Bush
[MP3] The Young - Phoebis Cluster

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

After a lengthy sabbatical, the Bored Fortress singles club returns and with a lineup that feels as solid as ever within Not Not Fun's corner of the noise/psych/experimental universe. The full lineup featured entries from Wet Hair, Sex Worker, Gnod, Ducktails, Infinite Body, Taterbug, Psychic Reality, No Age, High Wolf, Robedoor, Peaking Lights and Rangers.

	Wet Hair / Peaking Lights – Bored Fortress 7" An inspired pairing if we do say so ourselves; Peaking Lights and Shawn Reed's Wet Hair perfectly balance their use of space and rhythm on this first offering from the Bored Fortress. Peaking Lights occupy
space on a dub plateau deep in interstellar waters. The track echoes in a vacuum of forgotten tranquility and a deep valley of syrupy psych. On the flip Wet Hair turn in one of their best yet, full of burbling keys and a gently pulsating rhythm; the track is the culmination of styles that have orbited the Wet Hair universe for years. Setting the standards high for the entries to follow, this single is proof of exactly why the series exists. Download: [MP3] Wet Hair - Blessed
	Gnod / Robedoor – Bored Fortress 7" Not Not Fun tap the steadily incredibly British psych unit Gnod for a 7" that curtails their expansive tendencies into a gauzy knot of space rock that's as welcomed as anything in their cannon. On the flip
Robedoor, also ones to usually burn up an entire side of a 12", are reigned in by format restrictions to welcome results. Where they often get too wrapped up in the brutality of their own compositions, here they get in and out in perfect form. It's the short form psych burner that they've long need to make. Again, this round of the series has set the bar extremely high, so I'm definitely on edge to see what the next round holds in store. Download: [MP3] Robedoor - Solid State Support the artist. Buy it HERE (still subscriptions left!)

Crocodiles

Ok so honestly I've been looking for a reason to post on this one for a while now, since it’s been occupying the highest levels of my consistent rotation; and a free bonus EP (I'll get to it in a minute) seems like just the trick. Sleep Forever is such a natural progression from Crocodiles post-Velvets debut that it’s practically a reflex. From the stripped back recesses of Summer of Hate, the band has emerged into a lush, saturated territory that mines the best impulses of Spacemen 3 and Primal Scream. Sure if you want to be honest it plays off the template several bands have touched upon, but before you go crying that its all been done before, ask yourself how astutely any other miners of influence have pulled it off. Ask yourself how seamlessly a band has translated the marriage of noise and melody that those two beacons of yore were able to. Well guess what non-believer Crocodiles have and its pretty fucking beautiful, that's what it its. The album's structured in a way that as soon as its short, yet arguably perfect duration culminates in the last throws of decay, you immediately wish it began again.

So now the band has added a few free bonus tracks that were inspired by the same sessions. These, mind you, are not of the same quality as the albm; but I have a hard time ignoring songs that come with a disclaimer of hobo hash pipe related strep throat and toilet hallucinogen suggested prerequisites. So when the proper album drops in all its vinyl glory in a few weeks, grab it. And for now, enjoy the J. Spacemen-esque drips of the title track and some psychedelic excess in the form of the EP.

Download:
[MP3] Crocodiles - Sleep Forever (from the album)
[MP3] Crocodiles - Kill Joe Arpaio (from the EP)

Download the whole Fires of Comparison EP HERE

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Barn Owl

After a few solo excursions working out their own demons, Caminiti and Porras return to the beast they've forged together as Barn Owl. Larger in scope than The Conjurer, Ancestral Star, their latest siphon from the infinite abyss; is a blackened earth opus to a dead land. In an age when most artists conjure fleeting whims they carve epics out of ash. The band writes albums meant to be digested, pored over, infused from and the months spent honing this album in the studio seem to have paid off well; vaulting it alongside forerunners like Earth's Hex or Stephen R. Smith's work as Ulaan Khol. In addition to the album the band have created a video with Paul Clipson that perfectly encapsulates the fever dream desolation of the track "Light From the Mesa". Check out both the video and the track below.



Download:
[MP3] Barn Owl - Light From the Mesa

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Nobunny

Can it be? Is it really true? Has Nobunny tempered? Has the rabbit matured? Well the answer is yes and no. If you're off to see the bunny live then, no. He's as raucous as ever. Rude, semi naked and full of as much fun as you're likely to have in a live show... ever! On record, though, he may have taken a few liberties with production, influence and recording quality. There are Velvets touches to songs like "Blow Dumb". There are acoustic guitars on songs like "I was on the Bozo Show". Then again there are songs like "(Do the) Fuck Yourself" so, yeah it’s not like its a monumental display of adulthood. In fact it’s a perfect balance of infectious garage melodies and road honed songcraft. It’s Nobunny, a force, a dynamic inferno of garage pop that cannot and will not be stopped. Some will probably cry foul. These people are shortsighted. They're looking for a redux of Nobunny Loves You, but that album's been written and those shows have been sweated into the very fiber of venues all across the country. Now its time to sweat a new, and apparently First Blood into the curtains and couches of America's scuzziest live music underbellies; and these are the songs that will be bled. Learn the words now, Mousekateers.

Download:
[MP3] Nobunny - Blow Dumb
[MP3] Nobunny - (Do the) Fuck Yourself

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE