Cheveu

Cheveu seem to constantly mutate, and even though this is technically only their second full length, it feels like they've burnt clean impulses, reinvented themselves and strengthened their best moves on 1000. Add to their already twisted post-punk core a heavier reliance on crackled Casio beats and an odd affinity for strings and the band's gritty sound is blown open in disordered technicolor, like hurling paint cans at a wall. It seems that the French have had a way with knocking down a few of punk's wall lately and Cheveu seem to be one of the few leading the charge; besides its not all bands that can fry your childhood with a robot-industrial cover of "Ice Ice Baby". Definitely an album that's going to come up against polarizing opinions; few will love it and many may hate it, but its worth the time to let it snake under your skin.



Download:
[MP3] Cheveu - No Birds
[MP3] Cheveu - My First Song

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Omma Cobba / Craft Singles Records

A few months ago we did a write up on a great little Canadian band called Omon Ra II and despite harnessing a gritty guitar fury the likes of which we hadn't heard in a while, the band decided to go their separate ways. Just a few weeks ago we highlighted Lantern, the project that guitarist Zachary Fairbrother, and now the remaining half of Omon Ra II has regrouped as Omma Cobba. Knocking out scruffy pop nuggets that bring to mind Sic Alps at times and sounding like they're definitely getting the hang of things in their new shoes, the band's new tape comes as the first installment in Craft Singles' new cassette/vinyl series.

Every two weeks the label will release a cassette single and then every three months they'll round up the past five singles onto a lathe-cut 12". Besides the debut from Omma Cobba they'll also feature singles from Lantern, The Ether, Friendly Dimension and Kill Squares in the first batch. Check out the video for the a-side of Omma Cobba's tape, "Policeman" and grab the track below. Plus definitely keep an eye on Craft Singles for more great stuff!



Download:
[MP3] Omma Cobba - Policeman

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Ignatz

Belgian psych-blues provocateur Bram Devens has released several albums under the Ignatz moniker but for some reason this is the first to appear on RSTB. It seems I always get around to his hushed, twilight-scraping albums too long after they're out of print to really sway people towards picking them up. However, after spending some time with his latest, I Hate This City, I can wholeheartedly say grab this one before its gone. Devens channels a moonburnt concoction of space blues, then drags the idiom through a back-alley lo-fi filter that makes it feel like you've just stumbled on some twisted bluesman playing to an audience of one in a scattered clearing. Copies of this are getting scarce but its well worth a pickup if you see it.

Download:
[MP3] Ignatz - The Quiet Woman
[MP3] Ignatz- "I Hate This City" Boogie

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

COH

Ostensibly a sequel to Ivan Pavlov's 2000's record Iron, IIron is the minimal artists "metal" record, slicing up bits of guitar recorded recently at York University's Music Research Centre and by himself during his years in Soviet Russia. Between the first Iron and this Pavlov has focused his efforts on stark, minimalist techno that plays with elements of glitch, themes that show up here but are augmented with a barrage of metal riffs and an overt sense of doom. The combination makes for something that's both a serious effort to utilize the tension of metal and an over the top way to take a bit of the piss out of it. In between the dark corners Pavlov mixes in incongruous flirtations with Krautrock pulse and acoustic strings that while seemingly out of place, only add to the abstract painting that is IIron. In the end COH's latest comes off as something that would appeal to both the metal and minimalist-glitch camps and perhaps quite a few others who lie between those poles.

Download:
[MP3] COH - Red Square

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Woven Bones :: Sister Ray (Instrumental)

Woven Bones just sent over this oilslicked gem of a cover of VU's "Sister Ray". The trio laid it down for a live session at Minnesota's Radio K last year and it boils the classic jam down to a three minute scorcher that chugs and screams in a way that's perfectly representative of the Bones' live show. Forgoing the vocals, the band instead focuses on the guitar fury that lies at the heart of this song. Makes us eager to hear what new gems are in store from them, but for now turn this one up loud and set it to repeat.

Download:
[MP3] Woven Bones - Sister Ray (instrumental) Live on Radio K

	Sarofeen and Smoke - Sarofeen and Smoke Though most may know this group through the Folk is Not a Four Letter Word compilation released a few years ago, the bulk of their work falls into a more bluesy rock vein. Vocalist Anne Sarofeen acts as
the centerpiece to a driving rock record interspersed with horn stabs and the occasional foray into smoldering folk-rock impulses. Sarofeen's powerful style falls in with other great female performers like Ellen McIllwaine (Fear Itself), Mariska Veres (Shocking Blue) or Sarolta Zalatnay that have found more praise in the reissue market than they did in their heyday. This one has unfortunately become rarer in recent years but it seems primed for a reissue soon; definitely an essential pickup for fans of the aforementioned artists, NY-area nuggets or bluesy 60's rock. Download: [MP3] Sarofeen and Smoke - Swamp Man [MP3] Sarofeen and Smoke - It's Love Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Red Electric Rainbow

Daniel D. Smith has an extensive catalog that spans dozens of cassettes, CD-rs and digital releases and now Aguirre Records is on the verge of releasing his vinyl debut. Recorded using mostly a Nord Lead 2, the album bubbles with textures that lend themselves easily to fans of Oneohtrix, Mist, Outer Space and the current crop of cosmic travelers traversing the analog plain. Tipped with a bit of loneliness, Dark Days slips into a bittersweet euphoria that seems both blissful and yet paralyzingly solitary. Daniel is also a fixture in the Chicago/Midwest experimental set, organizing last year's Neon Marshmallow Festival along with Matt Kimmel of the Acid Marshmallow Blog. As with the Sean McCann LP this one will be available soon from Aguirre themselves and Stateside shortly from Tomentosa, Aquarius and Mimaroglu.

Download:
[MP3] Red Electric Rainbow - Ferris Wheel

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	The Girls at Dawn - Back to You 7" The Girls at Dawn return for a quick double shot on Tic Tac Totally. Just as syrupy sweet and sonically sparse as their last couple of gems and head swayingly catchy as ever. The A-Side is all drum pops and girl group harmonies over the distant jangle of guitar while
the flip is a wackier side of The Girls, with a twisted relationship plotline and a few death-ray effects, but its wrapped up in the band's usual soft barrage of saccharine coos so it makes the story easy to swallow. Download: [MP3] The Girls at Dawn - Back To You Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Peaking Lights

Peaking Lights have been a staple around the RSTB speakers since their '09 debut caught our ears with its sketches of noise pop and bubble of lo-fi dub. Now after a few 7" outings Indra and Aaron return with a new album that fully embraces those dub impulses that flirted under the surface of their prior recordings. 936 is a humid, swampy record that dredges bass from every crevice of Peaking Lights' cavernous sound. Easily the best recordings the duo have produced yet, the record springs off neon-night dance impulses and slows them to a molten core, shelving this release neatly alongside 4 a.m. dawn chasers from their labelmates Sun Araw, Topaz Rags and even the less beat heavy work of L.A. Vampires. One of the most fun records to hit the table so far this year and an essential pick-up.

Download:
[MP3] Peaking Lights - Tiger Eyes (Laid Back)

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Fabio Orsi

Italian drone-wizard Fabio Orsi steps out of the haunted shadows and delves into a rhythmic streak on this release for Australian label Preservation. Stand Up Before Me, Oh My Soul! marries Orsi's slow cooking sounds to a new interest in shorter song forms, Krautrock insistence and post-rock grandeur. Build largely on repetitive drum loops, each track on the album is funneled through Orsi's field recording ear, adding nuance and texture to the loops along with a layer of decay that seems to bubble up from the depths of his previous works. Preservation has issued these, along with the rest of its new Circa. 300 series in (you guessed it) a run of 300 CDs. Shame it hasn't seen vinyl release yet as Orsi's sounds would lend themselves amiably to the medium, but the series' geometric themed artwork by Mark Gowing adds an extra incentive to pick this one up before its gone.

Download:
[MP3] Fabio Orsi - Papa, Show Me Your Blues LPs

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

	Shinki Chen - Shinki Chen Shinki Chen is often cited as one of the forefathers of the Japanese psychedelic movement. After some time in Food Brain, he went on to form the short lived but often name-checked Speed, Glue and Shinki. Around the same time that
their album Eve was recorded, Chen made this album, also referred to as Shinki Chen and Friends. The album showcases Shinki's Hendrix-indebted style, though run through a much murkier and fuzz laden process than anything his idols would have recorded. Over the course of this album its apparent that Shinki is never a man in a hurry; his lumbering rock moves at a glacial pace, latching onto a heavy blues rumble, augmented by a wail of organ and the distant thud of drums. Notably the album features George Yanagi from Flied Egg and RSTB fave Strawberry Path on bass and vocals. Shortly after this was recorded, Shinki's time in Speed, Glue and Shinki ended and so too did his desire to record. He spent the rest of his time as a live player, bolstered by a reputation that enabled such a move. This though is a great touchstone for collectors of Japan's psychedelic renaissance. Download: [MP3] Shinki Chen - Freedom Of A Mad Paper Lantern Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Super Wild Horses:: Fifteen Video

Super Wild Horses debut LP Fifteen has spent a fair amount of time hanging out on our turntable around here. Check out their video for the title track, a gritty back alley set that's a perfect fit for their sound.

If you haven't already (and you really should have) pick up Fifteen: HERE

Sean McCann

Sean McCann's second vinyl release comes courtesy of Belgian label Aguirre Records and its every bit as beautiful as anything he's put out. Swirling with fragile synths, delicate field recordings and a layered process that seems like ten rather than one person is making sounds throughout the album's entirety. The Capitol solidifies Sean's hold on both the ethereal world of drone and the ever deepening world of analog synthesizers. The album has the ability to sound harrowing and sublime, often within the space of a single track, and its McCann's craftsmanship that weaves worlds of noise and shimmer together to feel like worlds made of glass and wire. Those of you in the EU can get your hands on the album in the next week or so. Those of us Stateside can pick it up next month from Tomentosa, Aquarius and Mimaroglu. Though to be sure, this is one that's well worth waiting for.

Check out the video for "Aerial Aapphire Show" (excerpt) and grab a track from the LP below.



Download:
[MP3] Sean McCann - Star Charge

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Paperhead

Tell me that a band has taken their name from long lost 60's band July and I'm intrigued. Tell me that band is a scruffy bunch of 18 year olds out of Nashville and I'm astounded, but still intrigued. That's a testament to the internet's ability to provide a wealth of influences that used to befit the most ardent collector to anyone with the time and high speed connection. The Paperhead seem to have stumbled on a few other of our favorite Nuggets-era pop-psych drifters as well; floating through bits of Tomorrow, Kaleidoscope, The Pretty Things and a whole lot of Piper-centered Pink Floyd before this record ends. I've got to admit though, they do seem to have a knack for it; influences wiped cleanly on their sleeves, they meld together each nugget into a swirling trip of a record that sounds like much more than the sum of its parts.

Download:
[MP3] The Paperhead - Let Me Know
[MP3] The Paperhead - Back to Those Days

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Mantles :: Cascades Video

The Mantles put out one of RSTB's favorite EPs from last year (Pink Information) and now they've gone and made a great video for the opening track, "Cascades". Its a perfect accompaniment to the band's sunny, fuzzy pop. If you don't already have this one in your collection pick it up on Mexican Summer

The Skull Defekts

Daniel Higgs has been a fixture around these parts for a while, but rarely has he hit the vicious notes he once touched upon in Lungfish. Lately his music has taken a more spiritual and sonically diverse turn, fleeting between noise exorcisms and snake handler poetry. Enter The Skull Defekts, another band who’s shown up around the Raven from time to time, to who credit is due in full for coaxing the beast out of the man once again and creating an album that burns with discomforting heat. This skraggy bunch of Swedes feeds on rhythm, turning it into pure cathartic sweat that Higgs rides like a storm across the length of this record. There could be not better fitting cover for a record of this magnitude of ferocity than the Oruborus; the beast eating itself to survive; and that's exactly the sound of Peer Amid.

Download:
[MP3] The Skull Defekts - Fragrant Nimbus

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Slug Guts

Looks like Sacred Bones picked up a souvenir or two on their recent trip to the Outback to shoot the forthcoming Naked on the Vague film. Somewhere on the way back they snagged the sophomore album and U.S. debut from Slug Guts whose swamp-dragged rock reflects the underbelly of their homeland; as brutal as the sweltering desert sun and as ravaged as the hurricane hurtled coast. The boys seem to dig the grit up from more urban sources though, with songs that bring to mind basement clubs and pre-dawn comedowns. This time around the Guts bring a few friends as well with guest turns from Angela Bermuda of Circle Pit and Sarah Spencer of Blank Realm, both of whom fit the band's classic Aussie clatter perfectly. Wrapped up in an unmistakable Sacred Bones sleeve and just as essential as any piece of the catalog.

Download:
[MP3] Slug Guts - Hangin' in the Pisser

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Finchley Boys - Finchley Boys Southern Illinois rockers the Finchley Boys were known for their live show but never made a proper record while they were still together. Released privately after the band broke up, Everlasting Tributes bound together some of their
catalog, proving that the band could have handled the studio setting if only they'd kept it together. Most of the tracks that appear here were recorded in the late 60's and thus move along the spectrum from folk-tinged ballads to a large chunk of blues-y rockers. The original press would see release in '72 and go on to be heralded by collectors and those who saw them live around the Illinois area. There are some standout covers here along with plenty of originals that stand quite nicely on their own. Definitely a good addition to any 60's lost sounds collection. Download: [MP3] Finchley Boys - Outcast [MP3] Finchley Boys - I'm Not Like Everybody Else Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Deaf Center

Its been quite a few years since Pale Ravine first darkened the Raven doorstep and ushered in an era of Norwegian doom that we've never quite recovered from; but now the duo have reconnected and let slink into the night another piece of their tattered souls. In the interim Skodvin, the cellist half of the duo, has spent more time eking out his place amongst music's darker recesses with his night terror inducing works as Svarte Greiner. Now that sense of dread combines with Totland's fragile, bittersweet piano for the full cinematic sense of tension and release. Just as with any great Svarte record, foreboding cello underpins a landscape of graying rain and buzzing unease but now a few streaks of light let themselves penetrate the endless night that seems to envelop Skodvin's solo work. Owl Splinters is a welcome return from a duo whose works come around far too seldom.

Download:
[MP3] Deaf Center - New Beginning (Tidal Darkness)

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

UV Race

Originally released by the band as a cassette, Homo has found a place on In The Red's upcoming calendar for proper release and its definitely one of the most solid turns from the band yet. Jumping off where their last LP dropped the 70's proto/post punk blueprint, this time they careen through similar territory but add in a touch of Fun House-era Stooges squall and a few blasts of post-punk sax for good measure. They balance the gritted punk with a greater presence of female vocals on a couple of tracks and the combination is nothing short of sweet. The album races by before you know it but so far I've found myself going right back to the beginning for another go 'round each time. Their last record (self-titled on Aarght! Records) was a bit of a sleeper favorite around here; hard to track down in the U.S. but well worth the find when it popped up. The move to In The Red should clear that problem up nicely, so pick this up when the vinyl arrives at the end of March.

Download:
[MP3] UV Race - Inner North
[MP3] UV Race - Low

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Video / Track Premiere: Eternal Tapestry

The members that make up Eternal Tapestry have always played like a who's who of the psychedelic underground, with current and former members of Jackie-O Motherfucker, Heavy Winged, Edibles, Gärden Sound and quite a few others. Now the band has swelled to a five-piece and their scorched, cosmic psych has never sounded more complete. The entirety of the album was recorded live to tape and whittled down to a core forty five minutes of snaking, fevered guitar anchored by the metronomic war cry of Jed Bindeman's drums. "Galactic Derelect" is the first taste from the album and its sinister creep is only buoyed by the accompanying video that lies somewhere in the fabulous cultural wastelands between Robert Wise and Ed Wood. Check it out above and keep a lookout for the album on Thrill Jockey.

Download:
[MP3] Eternal Tapestry - Galactic Derelict

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Various Artists – Thai? Dai! - The Heavier Side of the Luk Thung Underground Finders Keepers continues to mine the encapsulated musical movements that spread in the wake of the West's movement into heavier musical grounds; though
the relative "heaviness" of the Thai tunes on display here is fairly subdued relative to a worldwide scale. Not quite as chock full of heavy fuzz as their excellent Well Hung and The BYG Deal comps, but still a satisfying mix of indigenous song and Western amplifier bleed to be sure. The level of unhingedness may well stem from a point that Finder's makes in the liner notes to Thai? Dai!, this music wasn't necessarily imbued with a sense of rebellion and protest that fueled much of the U.S., U.K. and certainly their African counterparts. Here the bands bend their urban and folk sounds with electric instrumentation and an imitation of sounds heard on American import records. The result brings some surprising combinations, such as on the opening track which kicks heavily into a riff that sounds like it might be an "Iron Man" cover before taking a decidedly folksy turn that in no way resembles the sounds they're clearly emulating. Elsewhere funk stabs and 60's pop marimbas bounce against an urban Thai swing for a concoction that feels as strangely timeless as a Madlib record. Overall, another excellent addition to Finder's Keepers' roster. Download: [MP3] Sroeng Santi - Kuen Kuen Lueng Lueng [MP3] Plearn Promdan - Ruk Kum Samong Support the artist. Buy it: HERE