Category Archives: music

2014, Bandcamp, Chicago, music, reviews

Stream: Me Jane – “ISON”

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Further evidence that Chicago is the place to be when it comes to interesting new bands sprouting up constantly. Me Jane is a quartet that met in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood and has since released a demo and a single, and now their debut full-length entitled “ISON.”

The production is stripped down and transparent, making the overall sound of the songs reminiscent of Wire’s “Pink Flag,” or early Cure, but the songs here have a tendency to be somewhat more ebullient at times, alternating with inquisitive melancholy – or at least nostalgia. Me Jane walks a tightrope, balancing the stark production with touches of dream-pop and deeply affecting guitar leads.

Take the track “Ghost” for example. As the guitars fade in and the synth emerges from the background a multi-layered song structure is beginning to take shape. More instrumental than lyrical, I think the band’s ensemble work and craftsmanship really shines on “Ghost.” I can’t help but feel that, on the track that immediately follows, “Racket,” the singer is channeling a bit of Wild Flag era Carrie Brownstein. The sharp crescendos that punctuate each vocal phrase, and just the delivery in general – with the backing vocals also owing to the Wild Flag sound – borrows elements from a style, without coming off at all like a cheap imitation.

It’s the moments where the guitar breaks free a little bit, with a kind of reverbed surf-rock tone, that really define Me Jane’s sound. They seem to be testing out a bunch of different approaches across the album, but their distinctive and original voice is most certainly coming through loud and clear.

“ISON” came out this past May and can be purchased either digitally from their bandcamp page, or on limited edition white vinyl directly from the Me Jane site. They also have a few shows coming up in September in Chicago if you happen to be in the area. Dates and other things can be found at their awesomely named website: mejaneyoulisten.com

2014, albums, music, Soundcloud

Stream: Seatraffic – “Man on the Coast”

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There’s something about a really thick square-wave synth tone that hooks me in. Seatraffic had me with “Man on the Coast” straight out of the gate based on timbre alone. The more I listened to the track the deeper my connection with the track.

To me the sound created on this track is evocative of traveling, landscape unfolding outside a train window taking you to some new place where there’s a whole new and exciting set of expectations. Something new seems to be on the horizon, and sure all of these feelings that have nothing to do with the music but everything to do with the sound are what hooked me in, but there are lot of more universally understood machinations at work.

Music bloggers, present company included I’m sure, use words like “expansive” a great deal without ever nailing down exactly what it means. Well, specific to this track at least, the manner in which the track opens with the lowest point and gradually elevates the tessitura with the addition of a synth chorus (maybe mixed with some synth strings?) and follows that with the vocals and another bit of staccato synth sounding a bit like a palm-muted guitar that bounces from channel to channel.

One can also consider the rhythmic layers that are at work as well. The slow buzzing square wave that opens the track with the soaring legato vocal, with an underpinning of the staccato synth sounds to me like two different time streams simultaneously. It’s as if the piece is partly moving in slow motion. It’s that tension, and the timbres within this track that really pull me in.

Seatraffic’s forthcoming album “Beauty in the Night” is set for a September 9th release. You can pre-order the album on white vinyl from Seatraffic’s Bandcamp page, and check out another album track, “Precious Stones.” You can also find a lot of information regarding upcoming shows (none as of right now, but I’m sure there will be some coming as the release date approaches) and other merch on Seatraffic’s webiste.

2014, Bandcamp, music, reviews

Stream: La Hell Gang – “Thru Me Again”

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Chilean group La Hell Gang brings a batch of songs that are beautifully hypnotic, slowed down, super stoney bits of otherworldly psych rock. Released on July 22nd, “Thru Me Again” hits a few bluesy notes early on in the album opener “Inside My Fall” that brings to my mind the sometimes equally hypnotic Spiritualized. But by the time we get to “Sweet Dear” things have opened up a bit to include some truly lush explorations of sound completely awash in echo and haunting slide work. In some ways the elements of stoner-psych here are reminiscent of shoegaze.

Hypnotic explorations take center stage at the mid-point of the album on “The Beginning Remains the End,” clocking in at exactly 8 minutes. The instrumental focuses on the swirls of sound created over top of near static harmony. The blueprint followed here, and elsewhere on the record, includes an omnipresent near-clean-tone guitar that slowly arpeggiates the progression is contrasted by the sound of a distorted and delayed guitar off in the distance. That dynamic helps to create some perspective, and some additional depth to the texture. Every once in a while the clean guitar will pick up some overdrive and hit a more classic-rock influenced riff before falling back into its role as harmonic underpinning.

“Last Hit” picks up the pace a little bit, while “What You Want You Got It,” another epically long jam, really dials up the psych-shoegaze. Really, by this point I don’t even know if I am sure what the difference between shoegaze and psych are anymore, and I’m not sure that it really matters how one would classify this. If anything the album artwork explains things a bit better with its alien landscape. The music on “Thru Me Again” is in some ways otherworldly, transporting the listener to uncharted domains via hypnotic explorations of sound.

The album can be downloaded from their bandcamp page or ordered on vinyl here.

2014, albums, Bandcamp, music, reviews, songs, Soundcloud

Stream: Nicholas Nicholas – “Cave”

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Today we’ve got here a mellow, shoegazey two parter from Nicholas Nicholas’ upcoming sophomore album, “Wrong,” which is set for an August 19th release.

At the very opening of the track we hear a bellowing low note from which the music will soon blossom. We’re given all the instruments at once after only about a second, but the way that they grow out of that initial low note is so organic that it feels more like a warmth washing over you than it does anything drastic or jarring. A guitar enters, its echoes bouncing off every available surface and ringing across the the track. Backed by a wash of synth patches that leave trails in the distance and a steady drumbeat, the song isn’t treading on unknown territory. “Cave” traces a path through shoe gaze and chillwave, something that makes complete sense, but I don’t think has been much explored before. It’s as if the wall of sound was stripped away from a My Bloody Valentine song, leaving only the vocal technique and the idea of creating a sound that encourages some sort of contemplation.

The vocals are maybe the most interesting element of the song. Drawled out from a register well below any of the other instruments it sounds to be slowed down significantly, in essence really drawing out that effect of stretching time and laying so far back in the beat that the rest of the track seems almost resistant to the pulse. The music seems to pull the voice through the track, despite its desire to stay behind.

The piece more or less does away with a traditional verse/chorus/verse structure, instead choosing to sidestep via an extended coda. In some ways it sounds as though we have two different songs going on back to back here, the way the first dies out completely before the coda comes in. There is just enough contrast between the first and last half of the track to consider them as contrasts, but not so much contrast that they don’t go together.

“Wrong” is available as a cassette for pre-order right now through the Miscreant Records bandcamp for $5.

2014, albums, Bandcamp, Chicago, music, reviews

Stream: The Swan King – “Last So Long”

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For some reason or another the band Pelican popped into my mind just yesterday. I was mentioning some metal bands to someone, and all of a sudden the memory of that band sprang to mind, even though I wouldn’t be able to name a single song of theirs if I tried. I do remember listening to them a while back and I can feel their sound in remembering them. So I thought that it would be fitting to post about The Swan King today, seeing as how Pelican’s guitarist is playing with them; that and both bands seem to conjure the same sound-images in my mind.

Heavy, palm-muted chunks of distortion, but not the kind of uncontrolled distortion like what I posted about yesterday. This is the precise and sharp cut of thrash metal. Think Pantera without all the mid-rangeyness of Dimebag’s guitar. I guess while I’m comparing things, I could draw a line from Mastodon to The Swan King, though the latter is significantly more straightforward in their approach. The guitar work is equally dexterous, and the riffs arguably just as powerful, if a little slower. Slow usually translates to heavier though, and add to that that it sounds as if the guitar here is at least a minor 3rd down from standard tuning. It’s got a nice, almost warbling crunch to it, most noticeable on “Closer to the Source.”

The pulsating chug of “Built to Break” has about as close to a hook as a metal song can have. It’s on that track the band really shows that they aren’t relying solely upon punishing riffs, but can also think a little more melodically, with clear, open voiced chords fitting right in with a crunchy low string barrage in the bridge section. The fact that there’s a nice modulation right before the vocals comes in is also a nice touch. Along the same lines, the title track is equally as affective at creating catchy hooks out of thrash metal material. There are sections of “Last So Long” that are pretty close to what could easily be described as “anthemic.” The band also displays a penchant for extended instrumental sections between verses that aren’t necessarily filled with busy fretwork. Instead, it’s in these sections that the band tends to ruminate on some extraneous ideas that fit nicely within the song’s context. They will, however, not wait too long to remind you that they are here to shred, as evidenced by the opening of “As It Is” with it’s sweep-picked runs and persistent double kick drum action.

“Last So Long” was officially released this past Tuesday, June 3rd. It was recorded in their hometown of Chicago at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio. You can check out the entire album above.

2014, albums, Bandcamp, music, reviews

Stream: Nate Henricks – “Neon For No One”

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It just sort of floats out there, gradually taking shape and coming into existence before your very eyes. When it’s off in the distance it doesn’t sound like much, or maybe it sounds a little bit curious, or unorthodox. Or maybe that is just you. You are the one that stands in place while the music comes to you and by the time that it becomes fully formed, about 2 and 3/4 minutes through “Dead Fox Waltz,” the whole thing changes gears completely. Vanishing into the distance and leaving you there with something that doesn’t even closely resemble what you had first encountered.

Off-key, off-kilter weirdness strung together with bits of sound collage, and then delicate strings and lush horn arrangements (though paradoxically pushed way to the back), vocals that break through from time to time either drenched in reverb or in a full chorus; all of these ideas and more just start developing out of nothing as a sort of continuously engaging and shape-shifting event. And, no, it isn’t just about juxtaposing all of these ideas, smashing them together haphazardly, it is in the way that these threads are woven into the fabric so that the seams don’t show.

The experimental, post-modern spirit of the Elephant 6 collective is alive and well, at least in sound. Maybe we could dub it psychedelic sound collage. There are bits and pieces of catchy melodies, alternating the sweet, vocal harmonies of San Francisco circa 1969 with something that rocks a little bit harder, maybe from a garage a decade later. Everything is strung together in a suite, and like any good suite, by the time you reach the end you have definitely been taken on a journey.

The 10+ minute long “Dead Fox Waltz” that opens the tape isn’t the only song able to carry through with this kind of journey either. The follow up, “Deicide in Texas,” manages to do very much the same in just under 5 minutes. The way that the lyrics, the pop-song sounding part, is sandwiched in between two fragmented ideas, makes the whole thing sound like it was just a dream and by the time that you realize you might have missed it, and you try to remember, it’s already begun passing from your memory.

I could go on and on about all the great stuff here. Every minute or so I’m just finding myself hearing something else that really grabs me, and then something else, and then something else. Listen, you’ll see.

The tape is currently available from Crash Symbols and is limited to 99 or less. Check out the rest that they have to offer here.  You can also find them on Facebook.

2014, albums, Bandcamp, music, songs

Stream: Balue – “Quiet Dreamer”

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It’s June already, and that means more summertime tunes. Here’s another one coming at us from Fleeting Youth records. This time they’re giving up some tunes that fit somewhere in the chillwave genre, but more it’s really more guitar driven than synth driven. Imagine Washed Out mixed with a bit of Mac Demarco. The harmonies are lush and benefitting from the tape recording, while the vocals are clear, and sung by a highly unique voice.

“Still don’t wanna grow up. That’s never gonna change. Still don’t wanna grow up. That’s never gonna change.”

Those lyrics ring out as the focal point of “Grow Up.” It seems appropriate that those words are delivered in a laid back (way back) manner, over soft hand percussion and a guitar line that’s gently plucked out and pushed ever so subtly back. The song paints a picture of someone staring up at the clouds, daydreaming. And it seems that this one-man band from New Mexico –Balue, aka Eli Thomas– is trying to get across more than anything a very specific mood. The inside cover of the limited edition (only 50 copies) cassette reads “Grab some headphones, dim the lights & relax. Close your eyes; walk down the stairs to the basement of your mind. Take a deep breath, press play & enter my dreams. Music is the best drug of all.”

Meanwhile “Charming Flow” drives a little bit harder, with punchy guitars and comparatively aggressive vocal delivery. Less daydreamy, but not any less moving. The change-up in sound is pretty refreshing to hear. Thomas’ pop sensibilities are strong as is his ability to pen a catchy hook. The song is really good, even if it does hint at a contradiction in that he’s “got more charm than a hundred bill, hundred dollar bill rolled up in your nose.”

You can pre-order the tape from Fleeting Youth right now. And you can also download these two tracks for the price of name-your-own-price right now from their bandcamp page. Eleven tracks of dreamy pop await you.

2014, albums, music, songs, video

Stream: Swans – “A Little God in my Hands”

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Swans’ latest offering “To Be Kind,” their thirteenth album, just hit stores a few weeks ago, and “A Little God in my Hands” is a little glimpse into that world. Though, it is only one track off a 3xLP, and those don’t happen very often. But I guess you need a lot of space to contain some of these ideas.

This track is pretty much a through-composed, one-parter, save for the blast of noise that enters only a minute and a half in. And that blast of noise makes its return about six minutes in to the seven minute track. It begins in a much different place, however. The seemingly gentile harmonies that open the track start off well-intentioned, but are then turned through incessant repetition and the addition of steady downbeat accenting from the bass. Things are made to sound all the more heavy thanks to a sneering, restrained vocal that presents short fragments of a shallow vocal range. The more things repeat the more unsettling it all feels. It seems like I spend most of the time listening to this track waiting for something exciting to happen, but the trick is that that waiting for something exciting to happen is the exciting thing that is happening. The fact that Swans are able to hold the listener in suspense for almost seven minutes with very little harmonic or melodic interest is actually quite a feat.

Of course, like I mentioned, the payoff comes toward the end when the noise doesn’t so much erupt as it does descend down upon the track that has grown stronger through its persistence.

This one is coming off of Swans’ latest, “To Be Kind,” which is out now. You can find it here on vinyl and as a double CD (with or without bonus DVD) or as a download from iTunes and you can find tour dates below as the band is currently touring Europe and the U.S. Check out the non-video for “A Little God in my Hands” below and try not to stare at the album art for very long. It’s kind of creepy.

Swans on tour:

May 31 – Birmingham UK @ Supersonic Festival – Custard Factory *
June 01 – Leeds UK @ Cockpit
June 02 – Brighton UK @ Concorde 2

June 17 – Quebec City, Quebec @ Le Cercle #
June 18 – Montreal, Quebec @ Theatre National #
June 20 – Toronto, Ontario @ MNW Festival (Yonge-Dundas Square) #
June 21 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall #
June 22 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
June 24 – St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room #
June 26 – Dallas, TX @ Trees #
June 27 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk #
June 28 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s Upstairs #
June 30 – Nashville, TN @ Exit / In #
July 01 – Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre #
July 02 – Louisville, KY @ The New Vintage #
July 03 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater #
July 05 – Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall #
July 06 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place #

Sept 02 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
Sept 04 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
Sept 05 – Vancouver, BA @ The Venue
Sept 06 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
Sept 08 – San Francisco, CA @ Independent
Sept 11 – Hollywood, CA @ The Roxy Theatre

  • = w/ Jenny Hval
  • = w/ Xiu Xiu
2014, albums, music, Soundcloud

Stream: Sharon Van Etten – “Are We There”

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I know that nine chances out of ten I’m trying to keep this blog full of music by artists that probably aren’t getting too much attention around the internet, but I couldn’t help taking a day to talk about the new Sharon Van Etten LP.

Not exactly obscure by any stretch of the imagination, I think that it is pretty fair to say that the secret is out about Van Etten. Her renown grows with each release, and after 2012’s “Tramp” it seemed that she’s reached a new peak, but that only means that the stakes were that much higher for her next album.

I think that it was because of that expectation that I had a hard time coming around to listening to “Are We There” for as long as I did. I’ve had several opportunities to listen, as whomever is behind her marketing is doing a pretty great job. No matter where I turn to on the internet there are ads, on Tumblr, on Facebook; and then there are all the blogs that are talking about it. Not that I have read any reviews. I wanted to experience it on my own for the first time. I knew that I would get around to it eventually, but I was tentative. The same thing happens whenever of Montreal releases a new album. I’m such a huge fan that I get nervous that I’m not going to like their latest and I’m going to have to move on from them.

Anyway, it only took a few seconds to realize that “Are We There” was not going to be a disappointing listening experience. Her voice is as confident as ever, maybe even more so. Production-wise, “Are We There” covers similar ground to that of “Tramp” but a little bit of the polish is stripped away. Van Etten’s powerful, emotive, voice is front and center. With her distinctive voice, melodies and lyric material it’s clear that Sharon is constantly pushing herself, and the results on this album are quite striking. The hook that is sticking with me right now is the haunting chorus of “Taking Chances,” perfectly orchestrated to outline Sharon’s upper register, while the verse remains mainly concerned with her breathier alto.

Songs are expertly arranged, and I think that this is most evident on “Your Love Is Killing Me.” It’s on that track that we really hear something being built from the ground up. Beginning with an echoed and distant drum track, an organ eventually makes its entrance, followed soon thereafter by Van Etten’s voice, the guitar slips in almost unnoticed and then the chorus. The way that the entire verse is designed to really launch into that first chorus is pretty powerful, and creates enough tension to propel through to the end of the song. Sharon’s voice grows continually stronger throughout, and by the end one is left struck by how powerful it can be.

I’m sure you’ve probably been hearing a lot about this release already, but (unlike an Arcade Fire album) this one is worth whatever hype can be thrown at it. It’s out now from Jagjaguwar, and Sharon is currently on an extensive tour, just in time for the Summer festival season! If you recall, her last show before taking time away from touring to record this album was in (near) Portland at the Pickathon, and I posted a few tracks here if you are curious.

Pick up “Are We There” anywhere, and catch her on tour everywhere.

Find Sharon on Facebook//Twitter//Instagram//Web//

Fri. May 30 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Sun. June 1 – Koln, DE @ Studio 672
Mon. June 2 – Berlin, DE @ Privatclub
Tue. June 3 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Thu. June 5 – London, UK @ KOKO
Wed. June 11 – Boston, MA @ Sinclair
Thu. June 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall at Williamsburg (Northside Festival)
Fri. June 13 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Sat. June 14 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Tue. June 17 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Wed. June 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Thu. June 19 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s
Fri. June 20 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Sat. June 21 – Nashville, TN @ Exit In
Tue. June 24 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
Wed. June 25 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Sat. June 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
Sun. June 29 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Mon. June 30 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Wed. July 2 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
Thu. July 3 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
Sat. July 5 – George, WA @ Sasquatch Festival
Sun. July 6 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
Tue. July 8 – Calgary, AB @ Republik
Wed. July 9 – Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room
Mon. July 14 – Fargo, ND @ Aquarium
Wed. July 16 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Thu. July 17 – Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin
Fri. July 18 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sat. July 19-Sun. July 20 – Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
Thu. Aug. 7 – Sun. Aug. 9 – Goteborg, SE @ Way Out West
Sat. Aug. 9 – Olso, NO @ Øyafestivalen
Tue. Aug. 12 – Bezirk-Landstrasse, AU @ Arena Wien Open Air
Fri. Aug. 15 – Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
Sat. Aug. 16 – Crickhowell, UK @ Glanusk Park – Green Man Festival

2014, albums, music, Soundcloud, video

Video: Haunted Hearts – “Johnny Jupiter”

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Haunted Hearts is Dee Dee Penny from Dum Dum Girls and Brandon Welchez from Crocodiles. With “Johnny Jupiter” they are giving us a sample of what will be found on their debut “Initiation,” out now.

Elements of shoegaze mingle with krautrock to create a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere on “Johnny Jupiter.” There is a general MBV-ness to the track, but I’m also picking up glimpses of Deerhunter thanks to those kraut-rock elements. The double vocal deliver from Penny and Welchez creates breathy melodies that drift in and out of layers of guitar. This collaboration can definitely find a lot of ways to make use of only a few chords, tracing extended melodic lines across compact harmonic motion.

It’s not completely shoegaze, there are other elements at work, and I think that Haunted Hearts works to subdue the guitars to a certain extent. There isn’t anything that is distorted and noisy to the point of incoherence. Rather, blurred guitars for the most part form a solid foundation upon which melodies delicately float upon. The bass, meanwhile, locks in to a dependable groove that subtly punctuates the drums.

The aptly titled debut album, “Initiation,” was officially released yesterday and is available for immediate download on iTunes, or as FLAC or MP3 from Midheaven. “Initiation” has also been released on vinyl and CD, which can also be ordered through Midheaven.