Category Archives: Bandcamp

2014, albums, Bandcamp, music, Portland, reviews

The Binary Marketing Show – “Anticipation of Something Else”

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It’s not too often that a release catches me off guard. Usually by about halfway through the first track I know exactly what to expect, for better or for worse.  Not so much with this latest tape from Portland’s The Binary Marketing Show. As the first track unfolded I was expecting an albums worth of slowly unfolding synth ambiance and atmospherics, but every expectation set up by one song was dashed as the next entered.

I’m not saying that every single track is a hard left-turn into unexpected territory, but the soundworld in which they are operating lends itself to so many different approaches, and infers much more than any one track could ever hope to capture. Sure the opening track is pretty atmospheric, but as “Picnic On Makemake” begins we can hear some guitar peeking out through the synths, and most jolting of all when compared to the first track, “I Could Live Without a Hand,” is the intense bass rumble and dual vocals. The thick low end that enters, and the way that it combines with the vocal is very reminiscent of Baths’ “Cerulean” album. Definitely a good album to be reminded of.

Midway through the album “Lost After Nightfall” takes us into yet another direction with something that starts out sounding like  Boards of Canada though eventually that fades to the background as a warped  undercurrent takes over. “Weather Balloon” immediately pulls in a different direction with buzzing synths, a bit of rhythmic crunch and a more standard song structure. “Out of the Void” brings things toward Starfucker territory, with a guitar more or less front and center at the outset, though it eventually fades back into the texture.

This is probably one of the most interesting tapes that I’ve heard in a long time. Every track is brimming with different ideas, unexpected twists, sometimes some catchy hooks, and a lot of experimentation. What more could one ask for?

Find them around the internet at the links below. They also have a show coming up on May 1st if you are near Portland, check their site for details. And check out some of their other releases as well.

Web//Buy “Anticipation of Something Else”//Facebook//Twitter//Soundcloud//Bandcamp//

2014, Bandcamp, music

Stream: The Microdance – “Moopy Moop b/w Skulduggery”

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I can’t tell you why I’ve been sitting on this one for so long. I think that either my mind is slowly (or quickly) decaying or I’m just really disorganized, or maybe it’s a little from column A and a little from column B.

The Microdance is a band based out of London that is creating some really great, textured rock. Shoegaze elements play an important part, to be sure, and are combined with a heavy new wave influence. Think The Cure and MBV getting together to create an album. Really, it isn’t quite as simple as that, there is more to it, of course.

There are a few things that stick out to me in “Moopy Moop.” The first of these is the way that to vocal goes from gently pleading in breathy gasps, to a straight up blood-curdling scream that makes my own throat hurt in sympathy. The other thing is that there is one particular chord change that reminds me of something off of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Machina II” album. The Microdance captures that really bombastic and expansive guitar drenched sound in a similar fashion to Corgan and Co., but as I mentioned before they tend a little more toward the shoegaze side of things. It only makes sense, though, one listen to Gish and you’ll hear some of the same new wave/shoegaze interminglings going on. It wasn’t until Siamese Dream that the wall of aggressive, distorted, metal-ish guitars came into play.

“Skulduggery,” has a bit more of a shape to it than it’s flip-side. Dynamics play a more important role, and the vocal delivery maintains its breathiness throughout.  The latter third of the track, before returning to the chorus, shows the band willing to play a little bit within formal song structure, stretching out the loud-soft-loud template.

This double-A side single is currently available for download from The Microdance’s bandcamp site. You can also find out more about them on Facebook and their soundcloud page.

2014, albums, Bandcamp, Chicago, music, reviews

Stream: Ne-hi – “Ne-hi”

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As we’ve seen before, there is currently no shortage of great music coming out of Chicago. After Twin Peaks released my favorite album of 2013 I’ve continued searching out what else the city has to offer and as such I just happened upon this newest release by Ne-hi.

In a nutshell their sound is pretty close to that of Beach Fossils’ first EP with hints of surf-rock, a shading of reverb soaked guitars, and a touch of lower-fi production. Ne-hi’s songs tend toward the more hook-laden end of the spectrum, pushing pretty close to anthem status with some of their more exuberant songs like “Turncoat.” The vibe of a live performance is captured particularly well on that track, brought out by the production.

Every song is filled with the kind of sunny melodies that make a good summertime mix-tape. And with that sunny, reverb-soaked-ness comes the suggestion of the West Coast sound of the early 60s with their carefree vocal harmonies and jangling guitars. Some moments seem to come straight out of the San Francisco pop song writing guide, while others are more related to the experimental East Coast scene. Strains of Real Estate make their appearance throughout some of Ne-hi’s more downtempo material.

Closing song, “Sun Bleed,” takes a beautifully unexpected turn at the end, leaning way back into the groove and tacking onto it a coda of soaring vocals awash in crash cymbals and high harmonies.

The album is available as a 12″ LP from Manic Static right now, as well as through Bandcamp as a download. After listening to the entire thing above (highly recommended) you can check out the video for album opener “Since I’ve Been Thinking,” also above.

 

2014, Bandcamp, EP, music, songs

Stream: Sacred Product – “Wastex”

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First up is a track off the new 2×7″ from Sacred Product. “Ride Back,” with its demented minor-mode descending guitar line and a background of noise that sharply cuts in and out resembles in a lot of ways the sound of Sebadoh. The lackadaisical vocals, tossed of nonchalantly and similar in style to Thurston Moore in some of the earlier Sonic Youth releases. The one-part structure upon which it is built makes use of extensive repeated motives, but spaces them out to create shifting layers of musical material throughout. Basically, the track manages to sound slightly evil due to the disjunct motion of the harmonies, while holding to reliable repeated gestures that smooth over the entire track.

You can stream another track below that comes from an earlier EP, released through Albert’s Basement as a cassette release limited to 100 copies. This track is “Iron Coffin” and comes from a similar approach with a thicker layer of sludge laid over top. A significantly Lowered tuning adds to the distortion and sludge as the song plods through 7+ minutes of single-part structure.

And finally “Tram and Train” can be heard below, also displaying an affinity for the krautrock/garage-rock aesthetic.

“Wastex” is available as a double 7″ and the EP is probably not available anymore, but you can head to Albert’s Basement facebook page to find some other cool stuff.

2014, albums, Bandcamp, music, reviews

Stream: Herbert Powell – “Here in my Scheme, Here it Ends”

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Back with more (mostly) instrumental experiments is Herbert Powell. I’ve spent a little more time with this recording than I did with the last one, mainly because there is just more here. But I also naturally feel the need to compare everything, to create some narrative of a trajectory, because really one can’t think of songs or albums as separate units, but rather just an update on the development of an artist’s own sound.

This album is more contemplative in tone than their last. The contrapuntal busyness of “Hell and Sebastian” is replaced with a bit more formal structure and conversational elements between the members of the ensemble. Ideas become more developed and less haphazard.

Take for example “Hell Farm.” The song starts out with a simple idea introduced by the guitar and the remainder of the song seeks to expand on it little by little. Things drift away and then come back; the band allows themselves to wander a bit, to explore, but never loses sight of the path.

“My Glass Teeth” (sarcastic Steely Dan reference?) is a bit more complex in it’s intertwining melodic lines, and continuously developing structure. Perhaps that really is a Steely Dan reference then.

Overall the album feels like a conversation that we’re walking into as listeners. The opening track starts in the middle, already in progress, and throughout the 8 tracks we are allowed to have a peek inside Herbert Powell’s process. It’s a fun little journey filled with all sorts of odd and interesting timbres, changes and turns of phrase, and even a few moments of strange haunting beauty (ie the ending of “I Love My Fleeto”).

I’m already looking forward to the next psychedelic experimental jam that these dudes put out.

 

 

2013, 2014, albums, Bandcamp, music, reviews

Stream: Video Daughters – “Whiteness Where the Water Was”

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I’ve already written about my love for all things that come out on Already Dead Tapes, so now it only seems appropriate to continue reviewing everything that I’ve heard from them. Maybe my mission is to keep listening to their output until I find something that I don’t like. We’ll have to wait and see when that happens.

Today we’ve got Video Daughters, out of NYC. Their latest, “Whiteness Where the Water Was” from this past October, is a blurry amalgam of no-wave sensibilities that find a way to combine noisier elements of avant-garde performance with psychedelic pop songs. Take, for example, their track “Winter Skies Smell Like June” with its weighty bass line slogging through the intro while guitars explode in every direction, barely harnessed. “January Sun” continues, with a persistent warped looped effect underneath a denser layer of guitars that slide in and out of key without making room for the vocals. Everything is sliding around by half-step, creating a really unsettling backdrop. There are instances where the anarchy breaks down between sections where the song hints at an obscured hook that never quite materializes.

Video Daughters is Mike Green and Scott Townsend covering all the instruments, and samples with vocals that cover a lot of ground from atonal screams to singing reminiscent of Tim Kinsella in the track “No Hot Coals.”

The tape is currently available on Already Dead Tapes limited to 50 copies, as well as from the band’s own Bandcamp as a download or a CD-R with handmade packaging. If you head over to the bandcamp page you can find some earlier releases from the band as well.

Video Daughters can also be found on Facebook.

2014, Bandcamp, EP, music, reviews

Stream: Housewives s/t debut on Faux Discx

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The noisier the better, in my opinion. And things don’t get much noisier than this.

Right out of the gate Housewives are throwing around dissonant strains of fragmented guitar lines, severed rhythms, distorted crunchy stabs standing in for harmony and a voice that is swallowed up by the whole beautiful mess.

The early 80’s no-wave scene most certainly plays an incredibly important role in Housewives’ songwriting approach, though with a consideration for a bit more clarity and complexity. Take, for example, “Almost Anything” with its drastic tempo shift that is perfectly, perhaps mathematically, executed. A subtle prog-ish sensibility starts to peek out from behind all the art-rock boundary destruction.

Prog rhythms don’t end with “Almost Anything,” but instead continue to carry the palindromic titled EP closer “62426.” I don’t want to focus too much on these elements though, because the most exciting parts are the blasts of screeching feedback and angular guitar noise that will rip through your speakers without warning.  Additionally, elements of minimalism are thrown into the mix with hypnotic cycles of rhythmic and melodic fragments.

While the guitars hold down the atmospheric swirling clusters of noise and chaos, the bass remains grounded in its thick, round tone that pulsates steadily underneath it all.

Housewives’ darkness tinged sound brings to mind Women, This Heat,  and DNA.  You can hear the release in its entirety at the Faux Discx bandcamp where you can also grab a physical copy on cassette, or simply as a download.

You can also check out the video for “Almost Anything” below.

2014, albums, Bandcamp, music, reviews

Stream: Plastic Flowers – “Evergreen”

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Another new one from Inner Ear Records out of Athens, Greece, this time we have the debut album from a band named Plastic Flowers. Sounding a bit like Washed Out, though maybe even more laid back, if you could imagine that. They consider themselves a “dream pop” band, which is fairly accurate despite the lo-fi production standards, cheap guitars, echo laden vocals, analog synths and rigid drum machines.

As a result what would be a perhaps too bright sheen on the songs is dulled a bit. The expansive nature of the songs still comes through, but stops short of being bombastic and exaggerated. The same can’t necessarily be said for Washed Out. I’m pretty sure that they are aware of the Washed Out influence, nearly quoting the opening song on “Paracosm” on the 47 second interlude “Open Space Part 1.” It works well here, though.

I’m having a difficult time narrowing down one or two standout tracks as the more that I listen to it the more every song just has a way or grabbing hold instantly. If I had to choose though I would say that you should start with “Fog Song,” “Your Eyes,” and both “Open Space Part 1” and “Open Space Part 2” in all their Washed Out glory.

The synths take up a lot of the ambient space across the album, and on songs like album closer “Anthems” they take center stage, showing a slightly jazz tinged instrumental side of the band. And while you’re listening to the tracks make sure to check out “Fog Song,” which is a little more on the Real Estate side of things with its hazy atmosphere and gently ringing guitars, and the addition of swirling synths is a nice touch.

You can pre-order the vinyl from Inner Ear, due out March 15th, and if you’re a fan of cassettes then you’re in luck because Crash Symbols is doing a limited run of “Evergreen” which can be found here. The album can be streamed from their bandcamp, and some tracks are also up on soundcloud.

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2014, albums, Bandcamp, music

Stream: Criminal Code – “No Device”

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I happened upon the Deranged Records bandcamp a while back and made it a point to bookmark it so that I would know to come back to it later. This album, “No Device,” comes to us from a band called Criminal Code. I think that the best way to describe their sound, not that you couldn’t just listen to it above, but if you are wary of clicking it for some reason I would describe it as a little bit harder edged and darker Hüsker Dü. The guitarist definitely has a tone that would make Bob Mould proud, with the chorus effect turned way up high. And, add to that the face that “Defective Parts” sounds a little bit like “8 Miles High” at the beginning.

Every song has that washy, swirling, ringing chorus effect, while the rest of the band fills out the sound with direct and immediate punk rock vitriol. The singer’s vocal yelps are powerful enough to cut through the din, but only just barely. It’s as if the vocals are adrift on the sea, just barely holding its head above water, especially in some of the more abrasive moments, such as the song “Corrosive.”

Standout tracks “Flagstone” and “Mocking Shadows” wander closer to a pop sensibility with honest hooks and catchy guitar melodies, sounding like Joy Division one second (in the case of “Mocking Shadows”) and A Place To Bury Strangers the next. It’s the component of the dark tone that each of these bands shares, keeping Criminal Mind an arms reach away from poppier tendencies, shrouding them in near complete shadow.

The entire album is available on their bandcamp page, and can be heard above. Check it out.

Criminal Code – “No Device”//Deranged Records Bandcamp//

2014, Bandcamp, EP, music

Stream: Chat Logs – “Am I Right, or Am I Right?”

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I know that I have mentioned before of my recent conversion over to the cult of the cassette tape. This has lead to some great discoveries, of course forcing me to ask the question, “What have I been keeping myself from for the past couple of years?”

It was through another tape purchase that I discovered the band Chat Logs. Maybe part of my love for this batch of songs is partly because of the element of surprise. I wasn’t planning on buying this album, didn’t even know that it existed, and now I have it here with me

What I got was an aggressive bass assault with grinding guitars and menacing vocals. The perpetual, circular bass-line of “Eat Your Heart Out” is intermittently interrupted by a heavily echoed, distorted and pitch shifted guitar that’s doing it’s best interpretation of a blues break, but is run through a experimental noise-rock filter. And many of the songs take on a similar structure, with persistent bass holding everything together while the guitars and vocals buzz, screech and echo all around it.

“Am I Right, Or Am I Right?” clocks in at just over 19 minutes with its 4 tracks, the perfect EP length. Personal favorite “Mooks” is mostly instrumental (or at least has a lengthy instrumental break in the middle) with a great winding lead guitar line that sounds like a more unrestrained Constantines track.

The album is available now through Already Dead Records and Tapes, a limited run, specialty press label run out of Chicago that is absolutely worth checking out for fans of sometimes obscure, experimental, electronic, hard-edged garage and all other genres in between.