Category Archives: New York

[pre-order] Jantar – “Panisperna”


Moving into calmer waters from yesterday, New York-based group Jantar’s “Panispera” is a mostly contemplative affair focusing on lush harmonies, extended instrumental breaks and at times hypnotizing stretches of stasis.

“Saint Margaret of Antioch” features some of the aforementioned lushness  in the form of three-part vocal harmonies in the opening minutes. The remainder of the nine-plus minute epic is an expansive instrumental break that is akin to meditative psych-rock.

All but two of the album’s six tracks stretch beyond the nine-minute mark, with the exceptions being opener “Born Without Bones” and the understated “Udolpho” clocking in at fifty seconds and ninety-five seconds, respectively. “New Fête Galante Blues,” which closes the album, is the longest of the album’s offerings, at eleven and a half minutes.

I wouldn’t normally focus on track timings, but I think that it becomes an important element with a group like Jantar, or an album like “Panisperna.” The songs here benefit from not being crammed into diminutive forms. Slower harmonic rhythms allow solos to search for their footing and extend ideas over the course of repeated musical phrases.

Take for example the sax solo on “Oracle Repetition and Departure.” Naturally it exudes a little bit of a “Dark Side of the Moon” vibe, but it never approaches the stratosphere, or aspires to virtuosity. Instead we’re treated to a spacious, continually expanding melody that never separates itself entirely from the underlying material.

That, I think, is the key here. To throw in some sort of wild, instrumental acrobatics would be completely unfitting anywhere on “Panisperna,” though I’m sure at times it would be tempting to do exactly that. Across the album’s longest tracks listener’s are given well constructed songs up front in more or less traditional structures, with thoughtful extrapolations of those songs then following.
Pre-order Jantar’s “Panisperna” from MIE Records
The vinyl version is only being released in an edition of 400 with a download code. “Panisperna” will, of course, also be available digitally. The album will be available on the same day my country officially falls into the hands of an egotistical misogynist, with a short-temper, tiny orange hands, and no grasp on the U.S.’s founding principles, January 20th. You can get that vinyl or digital version here.

You can find everything else that MIE has to offer on their site, or follow them on the internet’s cesspit, ie. Twitter.

[pre-order] PC Worship – “Buried Wish”


Off-kilter genre-hopping, or maybe it’s more genre-meshing, is what PC Worship does best on their latest “Buried Wish.” The album is available for pre-order right now through Northern Spy Records, and set for a February 24 release.

It’s hard to even know where to start, or where to dig in with an album so varied. Starting with the instrumental prelude “Lifeless Rain on an Empty Moon,” heard in the video above, and moving through the noise of “Blank Touch” we’ve already covered a lot of territory. By the time we get to the title track everything is torn down and built back up again from nothing.

The track “Buried Wish” lays down a nice landscape of feedback over which a pervasive drum beat creates a minimalist loop. Following that we move directly into “Flowers & Hunting,” which takes off into a completely different direction previously unexplored. The gritty folk sound calls to mind earlier Beck, or maybe Sonic Youth’s “Winner’s Blues.” A shoddily tuned guitar rattles along under a dazed delivery of trippy lyrics that wander off into oblivion.

“Torched,” to me, is one of the highlights. Opening with pastoral, echoed guitars, blinking over roaring drums, we’re in Akon/Family territory now. A slack-stringed, beautifully de-tuned guitar treks through an extended melody as gentle background plucking floats off in the distance.

Album closer “Tranquil Pain” takes the same guitars as “Torched,” but adds Thurston Moore-type vocal delivery, and a droning violin, and its Velvet Underground overtones, to the mix. This is a whole other world from where we began with one-part experiments. Rather, on “Tranquil Pain” we approach more traditional song structures, and even a memorable, damn near catchy vocal melody.

Anyway, I’m not allowed to upload any of the songs, apparently, so you’ll just have to take my word for it, and deal with just hearing the low-quality sound of the garbage video above. They premiered the album on a much bigger blog, so you can find it there, if you want.
Pre-order PC Worship’s “Buried Wish” from Northern Spy records
Here are all the relevant links you may need to purchase (highly recommended) “Buried Wish” by PC Worship:

Order direct from Northern Spy, or from PC Worships Bandcamp page.

You can also catch PC Worship out on tour in the coming months. Their dates are shown below:
2/03 Oberlin, OH @ Oberlin College%
2/09 Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong*
2/10 Norfolk, VA @ Charlies American Cafe*
2/11 Raleigh, NC @ Pinhook*
2/12 Secret Georgia*
2/13 Gainesville, FL @ The Atlantic*
2/14 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl*
2/15 Nashville, TN @ The Cobra*
2/16 Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle*
2/17 Detroit, MI @ UFO Factory*
2/18 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups*
2/19 Harrisonburg, VA @ The Golden Pony*
2/20 Philadelphia, PA @ Baird Mansion Atrium*
2/21 Brooklyn, NY @ The Park Church Co-Op*

% with Tonstarrtbandht
* with Naomi Punk