33. UNLIKE ...

33.

Unlike the majority of photographs this one had 

an extraordinary feeling of life and reality.

{Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock}

32. SIC ALPS "DO YOU WANT TO GIVE $$?"

here is a great psyched out track Do You Want to Give $$? from San Francisco lo-fi noise-pop duo {now a trio} Sic Alps {Mike Donovan, John Harlow et new-comer Noel Harmonson} from their just released album "Napa Asylum" (2010).

Do You Want to Give $$? is a beatlesque bluesy, psychedelic, slacker garage pop 'recession' anthem. ecstatically distorted, gritty, jangly guitar riffs, fat, sluggish, thumping, crashing, headache inducing drums, booming, twanging, room vibrating monster bassline, Donovan's off-kilter, spaced-out vocals evoke Alexander "Skip" Spence {Little Hands from "OAR"}, he even finds the time to sardonically whistle the chorus amid the distorted, shambling chaos. out of the dusty rubble, the faint sound of whistling rings in your ears, you start compulsively chanting: "Do you want to give / Money!" for the rest of the day.

this is one highly unpredictable, raucous track, evoking a psychedelic benefit concert in an insane asylum for suicidal, straight-jacketed Wall Street brokers.


MP3: Do You Want to Give $$?

check out the fantastic new music video for Do You Want to Give $$?, directed by Mike Donovan et John Harlow {Sic Alps}. the look et style reminds me of Jem Cohen et Jonas Mekas, but it has a definite late 70s No Wave cinema feel to it.

you can buy the "Napa Asylum" album online from itunes or from the Drag City site.

you can check out the Sic Alps here: [SicAlps] | lastfm

32. DO ...

32.

'Do you understand,' said the other, 'that this is a tragedy?'

{G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday}

31. TORO Y MOI "STILL SOUND"

here is another funky track from South Carolina electro-pop artist Toro Y Moi {Chaz Bundick} called Still Sound, it's the first single from his new album "Underneath the Pine" (2011).

Still Sound is a fantastic psychedelic nu-disco track, featuring a stunning funked out bassline hook, dreamy, fuzzed out vintage electric organ, 'live' drums et gentle rattle of a maraca all keep the track upbeat et groovy. there is a soulfulness to Bundick's voice, his lyrics are tinged with melancholy, which is contrasted with the upbeat disco-funk layered instrumentation. his stuttered, dizzying echo-effect vocal delivery on the choruses effectively add to his sense of longing et alienation.

"It's hard where you're living / 

Any way to make it balance / 

Saying it could be too much."

a watery, rippling jazzy electric organ solo leads us into the blissed out psychedelic bridge section, which acts as a kind of dream sequence, this is pure Toro Y Moi. Bundick's soulful, moaning harmonies echo around us, reminiscent of the Floyd, his vocals almost drowning in the oceanic reverb.

this is one catchy, funky, soulful track, with a keen sense of rhythm et repetition, Still Sound really captures the 70s disco-funk sound, but Bundick firmly stamps his unique ambient, psyched-out signature sound on it.


MP3: Still Sound

check out the brilliant new music video for Still Sound shot on super 8 et directed by Steven Daniels. this is an amazing clip with a tricksy, playful tone, cool vintage 70s styling, that is totally appropriate for the song! this is one of my favourite clips in a long time!

Toro Y Moi "Still Sound" {Official Video}

the "Underneath the Pine" is out now through Carpark Records et itunes.

31. MY ...

31.

My sensations had, by this time become distinct, 

and my mind received every day additional ideas.

{Mary Shelley, Frankenstein}

30. BOY FRIEND "LAZY HUNTER"

 
next up is a great new track Lazy Hunter, from Austin dream pop duo Boy Friend {Christa Palazzolo & Sarah Brown former Sleep∞Over members}, from their new self-titled "Boy Friend" EP (2011).

Boy Friend are cloud-mongers, they create pure unadulterated ambient dream pop akin to the Cocteau Twins. Lazy Hunter is a blissed out, weightless journey through the clouds. a warm Eno-esque ambient synth-scape envelopes us like a thick fog, while a drum machine gently pounds out a muted kick drum, snare beat, Palazzolo’s ethereal vocals drift out of the clouds, caressing our ears.

halfway into our flight a bell synth drenched in reverb rings out a hallucinatory melody which spirals around us dizzily, the kick drum/snare beat crescendos, breaking free into an epic fist pumping breakdown, Palazzolo’s vocals grow stronger, more impassioned et urgent, the dream is coming to an end, the song quickly fades out et we fall rapidly back to earth, we have just experienced a fleeting glimpse of a blissful existence amid the clouds. alone in a darkened room, surrounded by deathly silence, all we long for is to be floating amongst the clouds again. 

Lazy Hunter is the perfect soundtrack for the cinematic climax/montage sequence of an epic Miami Vice double episode.


MP3: Lazy Hunter

the "Boy Friend" EP is available online from bandcamp here.

you can find the Boy Friend band camp page here / et their rather random tumblr site is here.
 

30. THERE ...

30.

There are those who need to write, those who need to dream,

those who need to talk .... it's all one.

{André Malraux, Man's Estate}

29. RAINBOW ARABIA "WITHOUT YOU"

i'll continue my rainbow theme with the great new lead single Without You from LA synth-pop duo Rainbow Arabia {Danny et Tiffany Preston} off their upcoming debut album "Boys and Diamonds" (2011).

Without You deftly mixes up voguish tribal percussion with pounding drum machine beats et euphoric waves of polyphonic synth sounds. starting things off with a barrage of congo drumbeats while a low pulsing drone surges underneath, a saccharine melody blissfully chimes away on a bell synth which segues into an epically euphoric 80s new wave club anthem. Tiffany's forlorn vocals are filled with torment et passion, she has an almost sneering punk delivery, like a kid trying to act brave, evoking the raw spunk of Siousxie Siousx as she belts out lines like: "They'll be what they are / and I'll be / so lonely / without you".

filled to the brim with cascading layers of constantly evolving rich synth melodies et hooks, fat pounding snare drum hits ricochet, echoing around us, keeping things upbeat, dropping out et kicking back in to epic effect, the dancing congo drums return in a ripply processed form, drenched in reverb. meanwhile Tiffany maintains her unrequited devotion, declaring "I'll wait for you", repeating it over et over, wanting desperately to believe s/he will return, a residual melancholy lingers as her voice dies out et the music fades.

Without You is a tantalizing insight of what's to come from Rainbow Arabia's forthcoming debut album, the release date is set for around March, the 7" for Without You is coming out Feb 22nd.


MP3: Without You

you should watch the awesome music video for Without You, this is an absolutely stunning clip, Tiffany Preston gives such an incredible performance here, mesmerising stuff! directed by Milica Jovchic and Aleksandra Milenkovic.



check out Rainbow Arabia here: myspace | bandcamp | wordpress

29. IF ...

29.

If only she could put them together, 
she felt, write them out in some sentence,
then she would have got at the truth of things.

{Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse}

28. READING RAINBOW "EUPHORIA"

this is a great lo-fi track i found recently called Euphoria from Philly indie garage-pop duo Reading Rainbow {Sarah Everton vocals/drums et Robbie Garcia vocals/guitar} off the recently released "Reading Rainbow/Coasting" split EP (2010).

Euphoria appropriately starts with a kick-ass ecstatic surging guitar wailing away, then big fat stomping, spacious garage drums kick in, followed by hazy droning female/male unison vocals that fight to break through the leaden wall of noise. this is a thundering, scrappy lo-fi garage pop track with canyons of reverb et warm harmonies. the song ends with the declaration: "Euphoria / is over", which they chant repeatedly, like a dystopian mantra. euphoria is overrated anyways!

MP3: Euphoria

check out the awesome lo-fi hi-8 music video for Euphoria, directed by Aaron DeBruin, it's sooo great! totally reminds me of 80s Flying Nun videos.



you can buy the "Reading Rainbow/Coasting" split EP 7"from the French label Atelier Ciseaux.

if you like what you hear then i recommend you definitely get your mitts on Reading Rainbow's "Prism Eyes" (2010) album which is available online at itunes.

you can find Reading Rainbow here: myspace | lastfm | bandcamp
 

28. EVERYTHING ...

28.

Everything is gestation and then bringing forth.

{Rainer Maria Rilke, Letter to a Young Poet }

27. LADY LAZARUS "THE EYE IN THE EYE OF THE STORM"

here is a stunning dreamy lo-fi pop track The Eye In The Eye Of The Storm, from ambient folk artist Lady Lazarus {Melissa Ann Sweat} off her new album "Mantic" (2011). this is an older track, but i really wanted to put up here for those not familiar with Sweat's music, et also to highlight the fact that she has just released her brilliant debut album.

"In the eye of the storm / it's so quiet / so unbearably quiet"

Sweat is a self-taught musician which strongly characterises the raw, tentative, naturalistic style she has, her music possesses a simplistic, artless quality that makes it all the more endearing et heartfelt. The Eye in the Eye of the Storm has an intimate, lo-fi quality, full of room tone et hiss, it is a bare-bones track, very prudent in its rendering, the simplicity is what makes it such a devastating song.

the sole instrumentation is a haunting, murky, cavernous sounding piano, the luminous ringing notes reverberate while a thudding sustained note resounds somberly. this contrast creates an endless conflict between the ringing/light notes et thudding/dark note, a rising et falling, only to be repeated again, producing a sense of inner torment et forlornness. the minimalist looping piano melody creates a whirling, disorienting sensation, as if we are caught inside a tornado, but it also evokes the agitated mind of the artist, preoccupied with the same depressing thought which is going round et round in her head. it is all the more engaging that the piano loop is not perfect, it is delightfully human, slightly wonky et off-kilter, it falters, each repetition not quite the same as the last, adding to the unsettling emotional tone of the song.

The Eye in the Eye of the Storm is a stark confessional song, you really feel the weight et isolation of each word, each drawn out syllable has tremendous emotional resonance. this strong feeling of solitude is intensified by the simple looping piano melody. Sweat’s bare, dispirited vocals drift forward out of the dizzying melody, her voice seems to get more leaden et sluggish as the song progresses, the burden weighing down on her becoming almost unbearable, yet she manages to gain enough strength in the end when she resolves "I will not retire".

"Who's gonna sing it / but me /
and who's gonna live it / but me."

these lyrics really encapsulate for me Sweat's attitude as a solo artist/poet/musician, you can tell right away that making music is something she is compelled to do, this is not just for fun or to live out some Joni Mitchell fantasy, she actually has something very personal to say, there is a strong need to express/confess her own intimate thoughts et feelings about herself et the world, et like all good music, it is the simple emotional truths that always resonate the loudest.

Sweat procured her rather apt musical pseudonym from the Sylvia Plath poem, Lady Lazarus.


MP3: The Eye In The Eye Of The Storm

check out the mesmerizing et haunting new music video for The Eye In The Eye Of The Storm directed by Austrian visual artist Katharina Lackner.



if you like what you hear you should definitely check out "Mantic", available online from the Lady Lazarus bandcamp page along with her "Home Recordings" EP (2009).

you can find Lady Lazarus here: myspace | lastfm | facebook

27. SUDDENLY ...

27.

Suddenly, and without warning, the pictures disappear, or they're chased 

away by some interference - someone or something that irretrievably 

cuts off the fragile desire to capture an observation, an insight.

{Tove Jansson, Fair Play}

NOBODY EVER HAS ...

here is a devastating lyric that always resonates for me from Warpaint's epic Undertow track, off their sublime debut "The Fool" (2010).

Nobody ever has to find out
what's in my mind tonight.