Music For Your Weekend

 

Nüshu - Sexe Étranger

Some of my favorite music over the past 10 years has come from the Montreal. It's to the point that, if I'm browsing music websites and I see a band from Montreal, I will drop everything to listen to them. 

I mean literally. My dinner will burn. My dog won't get walked. My son will go hungry. So of course, when I saw Nüshu's Sexe Étranger some through the pipeline, my family ate charred pizza that night. 

This release is wonderfully produced, the songs are unconventional rock in the best way, and I listened to the whole thing from start to finish several times this week. Maybe they will cast a similar spell on you.

Kendra Morris - Nine Lives I'm equally a sucker for modern soul. Kendra Morris is from New York City by way of Florida, but she sounds like she's from 1960's Detroit. 

Soulful, funky jams lay the foundation over Kendra's smooth and sultry vocals. It brings to mind other soul revivalists of recent such as Adrian Younge, Nicole Willis, and Daptone label artists. 

Ms. Morris is not a new-comer by any means, with an impressive list of collaborators including DJ Premier, MF Doom, and Ghostface Killah, she is both a seasoned musician and filmmaker to boot. She does great music videos, check out the awesome animation she did for this MF Doom/Czarface video.

Datach'i - Bones

One of the things I want to accomplish with these "music dumps", as the kids call them, is to explore other genres perhaps less familiar to typical Spacerockmountain fare. 

While rock music is my love, I've flirted heavily with electronic music in my day. Love me some Plaid, Venetian Snares, and Aphex Twin. Those are basically the only electronic groups I know. 

Luckily for me, this release by LA-based electronic artist Datach'i brings all those three references to mind. There's something truly beautiful about this record... melodically it's pretty obvious... but I also enjoyed reading about how it's a tribute of sorts to his recently departed father. Immediately engaging. 

Shitty Life - Limits To Growth

There are certain things that will grab my attention when looking through the vast ocean of music that is Bandcamp. One thing that will always catch my attention is album artwork that's clearly the insert for a cassette tape release. Music therein will be worth my time, nearly 75% of the time. The other is profanity. 

I cannot help it. Arrested development is not just a funny TV show, it's something that happened to me in my youth. Poop jokes never have fallen out of fashion for me, unfortunately for my wife. 

This is just a great Italian punk band that I have no notes for. The music is catchy and hard without the trappings of that pop punk schlock. 10/10.

HUSHPUPPY - Singles Club (Remastered) (2021)

Ok here we go. Sorry for the silence folks. Something something baby, yada yada grad school...

I am also sorry for forgetting how to format these damn Blogger posts. I pray subsequent posts will look more normal.

Phew! With all that awkwardness out of the way, let's talk music.

This release by NYC musician Zoë Brecher is essential listening for anyone keen on the output of 90's K Records or lo-fi indie bedroom pop in general. Her songs are beautiful for their simplicity of melody and humility of voice; overall familiar but fresh. Upon first listen, you may notice what appears to be Ms. Brecher's novice musicianship (she plays all instruments herself) but it's a deception. A five minute browsing of her Instagram page shows that she is an extremely accomplished drummer, playing for several bands such as Kalbells, Oberhoffer, Sad13, and most recently with NYC band Bachelor. 

Why, then, is this HUSHPUPPY release full of drum machine songs, you ask? Because she's crafting an aesthetic and doing it remarkably well. These songs, most of which don't break the 2 minute mark, will be stuck in your damn head until you breakdown and buy the cassette tape. At least, that's what happened to me. 

**UPDATE: limited vinyl now available through Bandcamp link below!

12 songs.

Link: HUSHPUPPY - Singles Club (Remastered)

The Hiya Tunes - Hiya Tunes (2014)

Did you know they were going to make a Beetlejuice sequel? Fuck yea son! It was going to be called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, and my god, it would have been great. So great in fact, I am personally going to make it my life's goal to get the film made. Since I have a close relationship with Satan, it should be no problem. You see, he is the best agent available, and the reason most of the hacks you see on the screen get ahead in the biz. He drives a hard bargain, but as long as you don't mind being sodomized by ghouls in hell for a couple centuries, it's worth the trade-offs.

Mind you, These New Yorkers are no hacks. They might not even need to sell their souls to craft the soundtrack to the new Beetlejuice film; the songs are strong enough without Satan's power. I can see the scene now: Beetlejuice has entered a surfing contest, and the Hiya Tunes are providing the twisted soundtrack. They play to a bunch of Go-Go dancers (some alive, some dead), while Beetlejuice battles demon sharks!

What a film.

Get it here:
The Hiya Tunes - Hiya Tunes (2014)

The Sin Veldt - S/T (2014)

It's been a good while since my last post, and I'll venture to guess subsequent posts will start with the same opening sentence.

Autumn has consistently been my favorite of seasons since childhood, but less and less so since working for online retail. The holidays always equal a shit-tsunami of pain-in-the-ass work conditions where the microcosm of that small warehouse turn quickly into a "too many cooks in the kitchen" scenario: where the bosses are literally telling you how to best do your job, and the slightest of personality quirks(best dealt with from across the warehouse) lay ground for a social minefield where one has to either spend a month and a half in complete misery or swallow their pride and politely laugh and bullshit their way through to January.

Add going to school part-time to the mix, and it's almost enough to make a person mad (as in both irritable and mentally compromised).

It's during these times that I routinely look for music like that of The Sin Veldt. That lo-fi garage. That psych and surf. That vocal delivery. Enough to make me say "fuck what's happening outside of my headphones." Enough to dose myself with a much-needed pill: common side-effects may include temporary swagger and apathy. Enough to make me want to return to Spacerockmountain to try and spread the word.

I'm going to throw some words out that may or not mean anything to you: The Stooges, The Seeds, Brian Jonestown Massacre. This garage is more about revivalism than new wave Jay Reatard torch bearing or Black Lips drunk-stoner good times... albeit this advertisement was written under the influence of champagne, pot, and pizza. The Sin Veldt's self-titled record is more like the I'm-saving-up-for-a-motorcycle-but-I'm-in-a-band-so-it's-going-to-take-awhile garage rock.

"Throw Your Baby Down" is a highlight to a consistently good listen. Bookmark this one for next summer, or download now for help getting through the oncoming holiday which may, perhaps, include micromanaging family members.

7 songs. Free from the band.

The Sin Veldt - S/T

TOO MANY ZOOZ - F NOTE (2014)

TOO MANY ZOOZ are a trio of musicians who've been playing together in the subways of New York City for a couple years. The group features a trumpet player, a baritone(or bass?) saxophonist, and a percussionist who plays what looks like a handmade, stripped down, bass drum/woodblock set up.

They play some crazy new genre I haven't heard before. It's got an EDM vibe to it but it's all acoustic instruments, so ADM? Their Facebook page calls their style "brass house", which is pretty apt. The brass in the band gives the group a overarching jazz sound. But, like New York City itself, TOO MANY ZOOZ is a melting pot of jazz styles, going from New Orleans to Afro-Cuban to Ethiopian in the span of 5 minutes. The unique percussion gives the music a strong, drum machine-like backbeat, providing the EDM-ish vibe. But the sax player also does this crazy skronk noise that's more of a Skrillex-type of noise than a Coltrane-type of noise. 

The sound is simultaneously fresh, unique, and familiar, a good combo for mass appeal. It probably also helps having a bunch of youtube videos of their subterranean performances, and a sax player who knows how to ham it up for New York's subway commuters. 

If you live in the PNW, be sure to check them out this week:

Monday, October 13th Portland @ Mississippi Studios

Tuesday, October 14th Seattle @ The Nectar Lounge

Friday, October 17th Vancouver, BC @ The Future Sound Club

TOO MANY ZOOZ - F NOTE

Brother Earth - Positive Haywires (2014)

Misty mornings are all the rage here in the Bay Area, as California's sunny visage is draped in cloud cover until just about noon. Seeing that I have extensive traffic to drive through on my way to work, playing tunes that match up with this reality is a necessity. Moody jazz and minimal classical are often employed, but the mystic psych-folk of Brother Earth is a fine addition to my AM collection. Released by Hidden Shoal Records, this American duo is made up of two gentleman who have quite the indie pedigree (one of them was the Guided by Voices producer). The lush, highly refined sound they capture on this single demonstrates that these guys are not playing around; these songs are for the ages.

It's a free download so get it now.

Grab it here:
Brother Earth - Positive Haywires (2014)

Liquid, Liquid - Self-Titled LP (1981)

Liquid, Liquid is a post-punk band from New York that blends funk, dub, and the DIY ethics of punk together to make records that have been sampled and played in clubs since the bands formation in the early eighties. Releasing only a little more than 3 EPs in their time together as a band, Liquid, Liquid managed to redirect the energy of New York and spit it back out as something equally amazing.

Fourteen tracks, 14 minutes long.
Liquid, Liquid - Self-Titled LP (1981)58MB