Jorge Bernstein & The Pioupioufuckers - Meet The Real Bernstein (2007)

Often times when sifting through the mountainous amounts of music on bandcamp, there comes a release that really clicks for me. It takes a lot of time and a lot of sifting.... it makes me wonder: is this all because I've been adrift in an ocean of shit that I find this small dinky island, with one lousy jackfruit tree, that I think this is the most amazing piece of land to ever exist?

Maybe. But that feeling of discovery is invigorating enough to keep returning to the shitty sea, in hopes of finding more land, and to claim it for the nation of Spacerockmountain. However, with Jorge Bernstein and the PiouPioufuckers, I can't help but believe this music is truly fucking good, and that any reader with an ounce of the grey stuff between their ears is going to enjoy this.

"Let me introduce to you the best drummer in the world. First member of the Bernstein Corporation. President of the United States of rock'n'roll. Look at his yellow shirt!" So the band is a corporation headed by a mysterious Jorge Bernstein, who I guess is their drummer... whether or not that is his real name or a fictional character that he plays, we'll never know. Originally released in 2007, "Meet The Real Bernstein" may have been a smidgen ahead of the most recent garage revival. But this record could easily be released on Burger records tomorrow... because it's full of awesome, high energy garage punk with a bit of an old rock'n'roll feel to it... dare I say rockabilly? This may be more to do with the singers Elvis-meets-Jello Biafra sound.

Well worth a listen, and well worth checking out their other releases.

14 songs, pay what you want.

Jorge Bernstein & The Pioupioufuckers - Meet The Real Bernstein

SHAKY SHRINES - SHAKY AT BEST (2015)

A couple of years back I posted an EP from a Pittsburgh outfit making a droning psychedelic rock. I thought it was pretty great and I still do, so I am happy to say SHAKY SHRINES still at it, in fact they've never let up, I just missed all the releases since then until now. My bad, folks, but one can't hear it all no matter what one wishes. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have hear this new album, SHAKY AT BEST. The surprise for me was how different the band sounded to me. I recall a lo-fi garagey psych band, and this album has an immediately identifiable polish indie rock style. But hey hey hey, don't turn it off, just keep listening. It might be more pop and shine than what I came in expecting, but it is done well. A good tune is a good tune, and why should a band stick to one genre anyhow? I missed what might have been evolutionary steps towards this in the last two years, but I like what I got anyhow.

All this isn't to say they shed all of the garage rock elements of the songwriting. Several are still quite catchy, lo-fi fuzz-fests. The vocals are clearer and more forward however, and the structure of the songs are more cohesive overall. A good album, totally worth checking out by eager indie rock fans. Highlight tracks for me were "Yr House Isn't Haunted" and "Tomato Tomato."

To be had here:
SHAKY SHRINES - SHAKY AT BEST

Swet Jafari Meck Mett - Error de continuidad (2015)

Gonna really make an effort to knock out some submitted albums. Finding I am in the mood for the tunes and holy fuck do I ever have a backlog of them. Sorta gonna randomly cherry-pick the submissions as there is more than I have time to handle. I suppose it is time to find some help again....

Here is what I stumbled on for tonight, a Chilean musician now residing in Palma De Mallorca, Spain. Living the dream of moving to a Mediterranean island and making noisy bedroom post-punk, like that is totally something I could only imagine. The music is damn fine as well. Very experimental, taking cues from all sorts of post-punk influences like Half Japanese, Sonic Youth and many others this guy likely knows that I haven't even heard of, it has a 80s vibe with a repetitive beats, guitars freaking out and highly distorted singing. Yet at times he steers more Nico & the Velvet Underground-esque with droney sounds and those elongated vocals Nico excelled at delivering. The album is broken up with gentle instrumental interludes, or "instancia" as he calls them. These make the cacophonous sounds of the rest of Error de continuidad really burst forth more powerfully. Finally, I'd be lying if I didn't say that was some of my favorite album art I've seen in months. Good packaging is always a plus.

To be had here:

Swet Jafari Meck Mett - Error de continuidad

Robot Speaker - Error Pop (2015)

An experimental album from a Japanese electronic music called Takuma Ebisaw, a.k.a. Robot Speaker. It isn't easy to describe what he's made in this large collection of songs he's titled Error Pop. The tracks are all over the place, but that is completely the purpose of them. It is like running through a menagerie of audio landscapes at an increasingly rapid pace. It incorporates elements of j-pop and psychedelia with electronic genres like glitch and breakcore. Leads to a schizophrenic level of dissonance of the surface, but if you give it time to sink it there is a method to the madness that comes out the unlikely and short outbursts of sounds.

Also interesting to note is that this album is being issued by the Detroit label, Placenta Recordings. Looks like have a good deal of releases, as this is the #316, but it is the first I have heard of them. I should really like to find out what else they've been up to.

To be had here:
Robot Speaker - Error Pop

Fancy Man - Fancy Man (2015)

A new project involving that Korea-bound American singer-songwriter, Tim Cushing. You might recall his solo album from a couple years ago or perhaps the collaborative effort known as the Red Rogue. If you do then you might have an idea of what to expect from Cushing's particular approach to folk music which indeed carries over into this new band, Fancy Man.

A trans-Pacific undertaking, recorded in both South Korea and Los Angles, Fancy Man shows off what can be done by pulling in more instrumentalists to work with Cushing's quirky, whimsical lyrics and unique vocal delivery. As far as musical genre the tracks fall into an experimental ground between folk, lo-fi indie pop and even honky tonk country. It all feels intensely familiar from the very first listen. Perhaps it is just in the space created in the competency of musicianship and the lighthearted approach to the songwriting throughout the album. Whatever is the case it is hard to not desire hearing it again and again.

To be had here:
Fancy Man - Fancy Man

EP Grab Bag vol. 104

I have been working on this post for a long, long minute. Sorry it took so long but I can't keep up with this shit very well anymore. It is like have bills to pay or some shit. Anyhow, this were some cool fucking EPs. I hope you like.

To be had here:

Hierofante Púrpura - Boas Bestas EP (2015)

Pilgrims, I love this band. I get they're strange, at bit hard to dig straightaway because they're conforming to much popular music conventions. It is a bit like they're scaring us away at first but if you listen further its like something of a Jad Fair and Lou Reed fusion in Portuguese. Experimental psychedelia at it's goddamned best. Also, this isn't the first time I'm posting this outfit from Mogi Das Cruzes, Brazil. Their album from last year, Sutil Arte de Esculhambar Música Alheia, is great and did not get nearly enough attention.

Exploding Clouds - Exploding Clouds EP (2015)

An incredibly well-made electronic project from a fellow based in Greenville, South Carolina. It doesn't fit a genre cleanly, like many of my favorite electronic releases. Rather is combines snyth-pop, ambient and shoegaze together in various combinations to form something unique and markedly engaging. Manages to be both retro and futuristic, like watching a sci-fi film from the 80s. Truly worth checking out by everyone, even those disinclined to listen to snyth-heavy songs, this could be the one to sway you otherwise.

Baswoon - Baswoon EP (2015)

A rather stripped down post-rock release from an Portuguese musician. Baswoon's songs are surprisingly cinematic and evocative without requiring constant shimmering guitars and methodical drums. Get me straight, I don't feel post-rock is mostly these things, but they can be over done, and yet Baswoon has an incredibly understated approach. The final track, "Embrace me, float with me" is perhaps my favorite and the most outstanding example of this understated style.

Copneconic - Never Knows Best (2014)

A new EP from the Copneconic, who hail from the "Fenton area" of Michigan. I like how they called it that, I always have to say the "Port Huron area" when I refer to where I raised (as few know where Marysville is). Anyhow, I posted a prior EP called Bein Sweet, and it sounds like they have advanced markedly in their composition and technique since. All this will having recorded the EP for a mere $100 is very impressive. Fuzzy Midwestern garage pop that's charming as fuck.

Unqualified Nurse/Azzurro Peaks - Split Single: Whatever Happened to Syd? / Dickheads Anonymous

A bit of a rare thing on this site, a split single. Two British bands, one I one for a goddamned fact I post and the other I feel like I recall listening to but I can't find evidence of posted. The first track is from the latter, an electronic rock outfit called Azzurro Peaks that is very catchy. The song bears repeated enjoyable listenings. The former made the second track, a band that specializes in being especially low-fidelity, Unqualified Nurse. Naturally I am a fan though the songs hasn't too much to it, but who said a song need much? Also hear his other stuff while your at it.

The Fizz Pops - The Fizz Pops (2015)

While I always look forward to hearing more music from bands I post on Spacerockmountain and wish I had vast amounts of time free to listen to it all, there are some artists I will go outta my way to hear. I just know they're gonna be a real treat, something worth pausing all the busy, dumb shit I gotta do. These lads from Capetown, South Africa are a perfect example.

The Fizz Pops is the latest in a series of bands to emerge from Capetown features several of the same members. Singer/guitarist Johnny Tex and drummer Warren Fisher were in the Future Primitives, a band those split also lead to another South African Favorite of mine, the Gumbo Ya-Ya's. I feel like I re-explain this each time any of these guys puts something out, but guys it is important. This shit is all golden and should be sought after with vigor.

The name of the band could not be more straightforward. They're making fizzy sounding garage pop that as catchy and lovable as sugary soda. And here's the thing, they've got a cover of Thee Milkshakes' "Can't Seem To Love That Girl" on this album, a song that is a personal favorite. This isn't where the connection to Billy Childish ends as far as I am concerned, as the sound of their songs bear a heavily influence from the British garage rocker. Johnny Tex has a noticeably more British affectation to vocals than in the Future Primitives albums and the guitar playing shares Thee Milkshakes' mixture of quick, flashy pop and touches of surfy reverb. I get it, that music was fucking amazing and making anything akin to it is laudable. That said, these songs sound incredibly fresh and current, like it is exactly what I was looking forward to. Not a single dud in the tracklist, yet certain highlights include "Alright," "Tell You Something," and "Feel It In Time." Furthermore, I really gotta give huge kudos to the drumming and bass playing on this album, they carried me through each song like a tidal wave. Really neat stuff, folks.

To be had here:
The Fizz Pops - The Fizz Pops

Lê Almeida - Paraleloplasmos (2015)

More Brazilian music, just can't get enough it if lately. This is another one I was turned onto by my Brazilian friend, Barbara. She knows all the good tunes and in many cases the musicians themselves. So here we are all lucky enough to benefit by getting hear this most amazing guitar rock from Rio de Janeiro.

The album is relatively minimalistic, though there's use of effects especially in the vocals and the introductory seconds of tracks that'll make it appear otherwise. Mainly, it is guitar and drums though, focusing heavily of the talented experimentations in the guitar playing. Lo-fi and fuzzy these songs very quickly won me over. They're hazy, quick, fairly simple without being dull (in fact they're rather riveting overall). The guitar playing is a combination of psychedelic, prog and surf. Flashy and impressive while not being rushed, able build a movement up, and very full of reverb. There are some absolutely outstanding tracks to be heard on Paraleloplasmos such as epic "Câncer dos Trópicos" and catchy "Ester" that it would be a shame for any pilgrim to miss.

Lê Almeida is both a music and the operator of a music label, as he runs Transfusão Records. If you've been following the blog you'll certainly recognize that name as I've posted Chapa Mamba who are on this label. Moreover, I plan to sprinkle more in, especially into upcoming Grab Bags.

To be had here:
Lê Almeida - Paraleloplasmos

Supercordas - Terceira Terra (2015)

As always the posts are infrequent and sporadic, I am accepting that this isn't gonna change despite my best intentions. However, there's nothing like the release of an album from one of my favorite bands to spur me into action. Terceira Terra is the first full-length album since 2012's A Mágica Deriva Dos Elefantes from Supercordas, the Brazil's paramount wonders of psychedelic rock.

There's no possible way I would not enjoy another new from Supercordas, so take that as the absolute preface to everything that follows. I've listening to them for the better part of a decade and I jump on each new release, and for that matter anything from the lead singer, Bonifrate. They've never failed to be uniquely mesmerizing and memorable. Terceira Terra is a mild shift in tone from their prior albums, being a bit darker and denser.

As I don't know Portuguese myself I've relied on my friend in Brazil to explain a bit more about the album. It's something of a concept album, being about a parallel world that's a utopia free of corruption, which as you can imagine isn't all that perfect after all. I'm sure there's great many meaningful references in the lyrics that I'll never known until I learn the language, and I was only able to pick on a single reference in the title of the track "Espectralismo ou Barbárie?" to the spectral technique of composition and the French socialist journal Socialisme ou Barbarie. However, I've never understood the singing before, and it won't stop me from loving this album either. By the third listen through it felt like something I'd been intimately familiar with for a long time, that it was only natural to find myself anticipating each moment of the album. Not to be missed out on by any music lover.

To be had here:
Supercordas - Terceira Terra