Tag Archives: air

2015, albums, Bandcamp, music, reviews

The Holydrug Couple – “Moonlust”

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Getting back to at least moderately rock related music with The Holydrug Couple. Their album, “Moonlust,” places itself somewhere within the realm of chillwave on songs like “Dreamy,” or album opener “Atlantic Postcard,” while many other tracks take detours into a lot more psychedelic territory. The album is by an large an instrumental affair, and even when there are lyrics present they often aren’t the star of the show.

A track like “French Movie Theme,” appropriately, captures the spirit of Air with prominent bass guitar and ethereal guitar line backed by floating synth patches. A song like this is actually, in my opinion, more effective without vocals because it allows the guitars to really branch out into some interesting territory. It is like having a song with only a middle section, the part that continually builds until there is an exciting climax at the end.

By the time we get to “Submarine Gold” things have really taken a step further toward a more psychedelic sound with a bit more of an improvisatory feel; free form, more or less, with an extended guitar solo.

Off in the other direction we have “Concorde,” firmly planted in the chillwave category with the requisite hazy synths. While the synth is front and center for this one the bass is still just as present as it was in “French Movie Theme,” but the guitar is relocated to backing material, creating sparse echoes off in the distance out of the way of the bass and synth.

“Moonlust” is out this month on Sacred Bones records. The Holydrug Couple is also currently on tour, they are in Portland tonight at the Doug Fir and will be covering the rest of the West Coast and all through the country in the weeks to follow. They even have a show in Toronto and one in the UK, so keep an eye out.

The album is currently available from The Holydrug Couple bandcamp page here. On their bandcamp page you can also check out the video for their song “Dreamy.” The rest of their tour dates are below.

May 20
Doug Fir Lounge
Portland, OR

May 22
The Knockout
San Francisco, CA
May 23
Secret Location La
Los Angeles, CA
May 25
51 West
Tempe, AZ

Jun 02
Stone Fox
Nashville, TN

Jun 04
The Pinhook
Durham, NC

Jun 05
Strange Matter
Richmond, VA

Jun 07
Kung Fu Necktie
Philadelphia, PA

Jun 09
Great Scott
Allston, MA

Jun 12
Alphaville
Brooklyn, NY

Jun 13
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY

Jun 19
Lee’s Palace
Toronto, ON

Sep 25
Blade Factory at Camp & Furnace
Liverpool, UK

2013, albums, music

New Release: Julie’s Haircut – “Ashram Equinox”

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Julie's Haircut - "Ashram Equinox"
Julie’s Haircut – “Ashram Equinox”

Julie’s Haircut is an Italian pysch band, though I’m really trying to think of a point of reference to clue you into the essence of their sound. There are elements of Stereolab in the synth work, but those are criss-crossed with more complex atmospherics, akin to Air’s output.

And that might be a good jumping off point. Julie’s Haircut is creating atmospheric, meditative psych-prog with songs that would fit nicely onto “Moon Safari” or some of the more kraut-rock inspired, motoric Stereolab tracks. I don’t think that those two things need to be mutually exclusive, and the pieces on “Ashram Equinox” explore the sound possibilities of mixing these two worlds to varying degrees. Where “Johin” is more of a driving force, with a persistent rhythmic backbone and droning harmony, “Taarna” is more melody driven, with buzzing and echoed synths casting long lines over top, finishing out with textless vocals, adding a rich complexity to the texture as the piece draws to a close.

I hear the album not only as an exploration of the atmospheric and the motoric, but also as an overall arch form where middle track, fittingly named “Equinox,” is nothing but mood, color and drones. But added to that mix is an unmistakable Eastern influence, imitating tabla and the tense sounds of an Oud, managing to evoke an entire landscape with only a few plucked notes.

The latter half of the album continues the trajectory of the first, the balancing act, with more moody instrumentals and driving rhythms. “Taotie” is the most active track on the album, perhaps calling to mind Kraftwerk’s “Tour De France,” while album closer “Han” uses silence effectively to create more space in the texture with a beautiful simplicity that seems to me to the best way to close an album. The relative silence and calm of “Han” focuses on one short repeated keyboard phrase, cycling around in minimalist contemplation.

“Ashram Equinox” was released on Crash Symbols on October 11th, and as such is currently available from their bandcamp page. The cassette is limited to 100 and are still available. Personally, the artwork goes so well with the album it is definitely worth the few dollars to get a physical copy of the album. In my opinion, it’s always nice to have something tangible anyway. Check out the album above and visit Julie’s Haircut’s site for more info and downloads. And be sure to check out the videos below that work as companion pieces to the album.

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