Monday, April 22, 2013

Coyotes in the Room - Violence (2013)


I love this band, not because they faithfully let me know of their new releases but because they each release is unbelievably enjoyable especially considering their prolific production of music. Almost seems like they've been able to make music faster than I've been able to post as of late, which is my bad; shit's been horrid in Detroit (who'd have guess, right?) but I'm gonna try to post more. This release is fine reminder why I ever started doing this blog to being with. Mildly washed out, folksy and harmonic it is a great example of modern psychedelic sound. I've been trending towards music that isn't overwhelming lately (the occasional listen to King Blood on a hungover morning excluded), and this is the sort of finely done songs I can really get down with listening to during work, reading or most any other mundane task required to occupy my time and bring it, even if every so slightly, to a more sublimely peaceful experience.


To be had here:
Coyotes in the Room - Violence

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Werewolf Police - The Moderation Blues (2013)



I lived in Connecticut for some time back in 2005. I worked around New Britain, which is just a stone’s throw from the town of Berlin. A beautiful place with lots of lovely buildings, and a dreadfully humid summer buttressed by an icy winter. It’s the state that has houses between larger, more important communities to the north and the south, and has had to live with that reputation for as long as it has existed. 

Thankfully, some good acts do come out of the state. I heard plenty at house shows 8 years ago, and I get a slow (but constant) stream of submissions from Connecticut. The newest of which is one featured at SpaceRock previously: a band called Werewolf Police. Sharp hooks and reverb soaked vocals combined with a healthy love from the 90s lo-fi culture have resulted in their superb The Moderation Blues.  The record has the same aesthetic of their previous releases, but this set pushes their songwriting techniques and recording strategies to new levels. Undesired Raincloud captures my personal feelings about my time in Connecticut precisely, while Difficult Liquids so perfectly mimics the sound of the region that it could be taught at Wesleyan University. 

This is great stuff, and since it is free to download, there should be no reason you don’t check it out.

Get it here:

Fatal Jamz - Vol. 1 (2013)



GNAR Tapes has been putting out an impressive number of out-there pop records over the last few years. They had a SXSW showcase this year, and have released splits with the always awesome Burger Records. Fatal Jamz is just one of those releases.

This tape is the work of Marion Belle of Bowery Beasts and Dan Horne of Beachwood Sparks, so you know the pop pedigree here is top-notch. Take out the Beach Boys inspired surf-rock used in some 50s summer flick and throw Fatal Jamz in its place, and you will have a workable soundtrack with just a tad more psychedelia. It’s polished, laid back, and I dare say timeless in its execution. 

Download it it here:

Buy the tape:

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Ttotals – Spectrums of Light (2013)

Nashville’s country music scene is world renowned, and takes up most of the ink used when discussing the city’s soundscape. Yet, this southern jewel has had a simmering southern psychedelic scene bubbling just underneath the city’s denim and leather exterior. If you happen to take the wrong right on your way to the Grand Ole Opry, you may just end up in a dank basement bar with a pummeling wall of acid drenched riffs ripping out any Carter Family lyrics attached to your tongue.

Ttotals play to this subversive mold. You hear a love for classic Southern Rock in this band’s work, but they won’t be playing any state fairs with this sound. This two piece puts together a solid resonance for a two piece that isn’t worried to slip into destructive hallucinations when the time requires. They happen to be on tour, and can be found playing a slew of shows in the south during April, including the always awesome Austin Psych Fest.

Get the stuff here:
Ttotals – Spectrums of Light (2013)

Sunday, April 7, 2013

T.E.A.M.S - Sierra City Center (2013)

Sense of beat: troubled
An Epic distant reverb 
To build peace and bliss

Get it here:
T.E.A.M.S - Sierra City Center (2013)

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Pool Holograph - ST (2013)

I have always been intrigued by the DC music scene. I find the city to be the epicenter of national bullshit, and yet the community finds a way to overcome the shoulder-high levels of sleaze brought in from across the country by some politician’s war chest.

Pool Holography make nice pop gems for cloudy days. DC has plenty of those, so this thing would be on constant rotation if you lived there. It needs little in the way of introduction: this 4 track cassette jumps right into the deep end, but quickly surfaces to breath in deep. Incognito is my favorite track, with its hushed, melancholy lyrics slowly chased by a well constructed guitar line that flies just above it all. The band's vocal delivery is rooted in the depressing city that is a politician's play-land, but the instrumentation takes the listener above the fray.

Get it here:
Pool Holograph - ST (2013)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Coyote Indigo - Horning (2013)

I watched DiG! again the other day, and was reminded why I loved the documentary so much. The Dandy Warhols have faded into obscurity and the Brian Jonestown Massacre have cooled their fiery personal personas, but the film does leave a lingering in mind: what if the whole garage rock/psychedelia revival of the early 2000s had happened 5 years earlier under BJM’s leadership? Things would have been a lot more “out there” than it was with the White Stripes and the Strokes.

Coyote Indigo may have even found a fanbase outside the confines of Bandcamp. This Brazilian band reaches deep into the psychedelic lexicon and pulls out some of the genre's most enduring themes: Existential lyrics and guitar licks and a disregard for all that is safe. Not sure what state of mind this guy was in when he put these songs to tape, but it wasn’t with two feet firmly on the ground. Bust out the Absinthe and play “Bloom and Blow” while your stomach and mind slowly churn.

Get it here:
Coyote Indigo - Horning (2013)