Music for 4/20

420 is a dumb tradition in the United States that has to do with smoking marijuana. Every April 20th hundreds of thousands of college kids are making both dumb jokes and excuses to get blasted today. 

I used to be one of them, so I use the word "dumb" lovingly. 

Weed is a lot more accepted in the US today than it ever has been with stores selling it legally in several states. They are strange places, almost more like banks than, say, liquor stores. One does not browse at a weed store. The transaction is very business-like... almost cold. You wait in a line (or in some instances a waiting room) until it is your turn to order. You speak to a stoner (sometimes called a "budtender") who helps you find what you are looking for (weed, you are looking for weed). You get your wares and you GTFO. 

Anyway. Those days are behind me but no judgement if you took the day off to smoke a ton of weed and do whatever. May these records guide be your soundtrack.

Holy - All These Worlds Are Yours

Holy is from Stockholm, Sweden and they remind me of Tame Impala's Innerspeaker and Lonerism days. Swirling phased out drum fills and Beatles-esque vocals make this well-produced record one that I've returned to several times over the past several years.

Holy is solid, psychedelic indie rock. Also - a limited amount of vinyl remaining on this one.

2019 release on Punk Slime.

Dead Finks - The Death and Resurrection of Johnathan Cowboy 

Sometimes I gather so much music that I forget to listen to it. Popped this one on the jukebox the other night and boy howdy, a gripping rock record from a Berlin duo. Just straightforward punk that's more slightly more rock than punk to my ears but your experience may differ.

The chord changes are just slightly askew and I like how they double (triple? quadruple?) the vocal tracks. Will probably get this on vinyl.

For stoners who like IPAs with their bong hits.

Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen

Here's some gorgeous soul/jazz/r'n'b out of Los Angeles. I think it was during the initial phase of the pandemic that I went on a bit of a music buying spree and Kadhja Bonet was one that I bought several things from.

Chill music in case your mellow gets harshed. Track 4, Delphine, is at least worth 6 minutes of your day. Here's a great live performance of a song on a different release. 

Jogging House - Face

Another contribution from Germany. Here we have Jogging House from Frankfurt, which is the ambient project of one Boris Potschubay. Since getting into ambient music 3 years ago I've consistently enjoyed the music of Mr. Potschubay. The tones are warm and nostalgia inducing with touches of 8-bit grit. 

This is his most recent release under the Jogging House name. Good for zoning the eff out while doodling or whatever stoners do these days. I listen to it while doing chores on rainy Sunday mornings because like I've said before... I'm old now.

Music For Sleep - Music From A Sinking World (2021)

If I had to choose a theme for the current state of things it would certainly be "uncertainty". Covid-19 continues to mutate and spread, posing difficult realities for everyone from vaccinated adults to unvaccinated children. (PSA - please get vaccinated or we won't be able to get off this shit-rollercoaster.) On top of that, a massive report just released by the UN paints a dire and quickly drying picture of our current trajectory with regard to climate change. 

Threats of another insurrection loom while justice continues to be so blind it can't ever quite spot the people/person in need of punitive action.

Sheesh! The mind is pulled from one terrible loop of thought to the other several times per day. It's fucking exhausting.

Thankfully, there's Music For Sleep: the ambient-meets-analog instrumental music of Italy's Andrea Porcu. Now, I will be the first to admit that I've avoided anything tagged "ambient" with much success throughout my life. But after hearing Andrea's Music From A Sinking World -- I FINALLY get the appeal. Ambient music is a different beast from rock, but it offers something very similar to it's listeners: escape. But whereas rock music gives you lyrics to relate and identify with, defined rhythms, and anticipatable verse-chorus patterns.... ambient music (at least that of Music For Sleep) is more amorphous in shape and completely void of human voice. Without these tangible elements, the listening mind turns inward for things to grab onto.

The music here is distant, almost as if heard through a neighbors open window halfway down the block. The reverb on opening track "A Quiet Storm" conjures feelings of dreaming while walking through an empty mall. Nostalgia is easily evoked in these songs... I found myself thinking of things and people I hadn't in many years. 

Not to overstate things, but this release by Music For Sleep was transformative for me. That said, I've spent months exploring other ambient music and have really yet to find another artist that "does" it for me. So, maybe it's a fluke... a right place at the right moment thing that I stumbled upon  Music From A Sinking World. Then again, even flukes can impart lasting change.

7 songs.

Music For Sleep - Music From A Sinking World 

Go Run Donkey Hot! - Summerth (2016)

Despite my best intentions it is still taking me forever to get posts written up. Here is a submission I got a couple months ago, and should have been on top of far more promptly. There's just so many distractions lately, but maybe we'll get lucky and I'll write a few of these.

A lovely and calming album from Našice, Croatia. Not sure where they got such a creative name for this band, but its eccentric nature doesn't suggest the restrained post-rock/ambient style of music they make. The songs are long, building affairs that feature a fine variety of instrumentation, including the work of a most excellent horn player. In fact, while there isn't a instrument in these compositions that lacks charm, the horn really steals the show. The songs rise to a high point full of post-rock guitar and  clashes of cymbals, then pops in this alluring brass to guide it all around and back into the ambient bed of that underpins the tracks. Beautiful stuff, really nice.

To be had here:
Go Run Donkey Hot! - Summerth

Todd Tobias - Tristes Tropiques (2015)

Had this album laying on the hard drive for a stretch and would have the worse of luck trying to sit down and hear it. My life seems much busier and I feel like I spend much more it waiting in lines and behind bad drivers than ever before. But seeing as it is unbearably hot the night I'm writing this and I cannot even pretend to try to sleep in my un-air-conditioned apartment I finally found myself with little recourse than to slip into the ambient with Todd Tobias.

Todd Tobias isn't new to SRM, I have very fond memories of listening to his Calvino-inspired album, Impossible Cities. Therefore, I entered listening to this album with some rather high expectations, which I am glad to report were not dashed in the slightest. The long, winding songs are all sublimely amorphous soundscapes. It is astounding how much weight is packed into every one of them despite their relatively sparse composition. It causes a transformative affect to occur in the diligent listener, altering mundane happenings into something absolutely poetic. For my second listen I sat on my balcony on a cloudy morning, watching birds peck around for food. With the help of Tobias's music, it was pretty damn epic.

Tristes Tropiques was released by Tiny Room Records and Hidden Shoal. Each labels worth worrying about to say the least. 

To be had here:
Todd Tobias - Tristes Tropiques

Scenes of a City, Vol. 11: Montevideo, Uruguay

Once again I found myself curious about the music by way of literature. I've been enjoying the short stories of Felisberto Hernández, who was not only a writer but an accomplished and self-taught pianist. Some of his songs can be heard online, and this experimental sort of literature prefigured many notable authors including the illustrious Italo Calvino, who I've mentioned several times before.

As for Montevideo as a city, it seems the sort of place I'd like to live. There's no secret that Detroit kinda sucks, even its most ardent boosters know it does even if they won't say it. Montevideo is most beautiful, has a higher level of development and cultural activity. It's way nicer, but whenever I bring it up here, people don't even know where it is. To see Montevideo in person in a wish of mine, but until I make better wages it's gonna be a dream I can only grasp in the form of ephemeral songs, the written words of dead authors and photographs taken by others. But there's no shortage of those, in fact there's so much music I found coming out of this city I'll have to spill some of it over into Grab Bags and consider an second part of this post at some point.

Also, I'd like to note that I have been compiling together releases for Scenes of a City posts and EP Grab Bags for years, done dozens and dozen of them, but this batch has the fucking best designed album art over all. Way to go Uruguayan graphic designers.

To be had here:

Oso Polar - Arktur (2015)

This is the first of the albums I listened to from Montevideo to strike a chord with me. Must have listened to it a dozen times the day I found it. A relatively minimal album for the most part, being folk-pop containing slow guitar and lovely Spanish singing. However, in the middle Arktur gets bolder, adding some indie pop flare with keyboards and vocal effects. While it bears [unintentional pun] a more subdued tone, I would liken it to my favorite Brazilian musician, Bonifrate. This is meant as high praise, pilgrims.

Franny Glass - Planes (2014)

Not straying too far from the folk-pop of the last album, here we have another indie pop release, though one that is decidedly more highly produced pop music. Another singer-songwriter I found absolutely delightful and quite cheerful in addition. Planes is packed full of earworms you'll find yourself humming along to without even needing to understand a word of it. Catchy tunes are catchy tunes across culture and language boundaries as well all know, and this dude really knows how to craft them. I sincerely recommend "En Libertad y Obligado" as a simple introduction.

The Blueberries - The West (2012)

I knew if I poked around I would find garage rock in Montevideo. I didn't know what sort of garage rock I might find though. The Blueberries are a very well put together, polished sounding outfit. Now, I know I really go off about distorted, loose sounding lo-fi garage rock, but I also have a great fondness for a finely produced guitar-driven rock band. And while most of the tracks are sung in English, I truly believe the few in Spanish really demonstrate the abilities of this band excellently, thinking of "Newby" in particular here.

Los Prolijos - Pasto Azul (2014)

This album is something I was amazed to find. It is a series of covers of popular Uruguayan songs reimagined as bluegrass and country music. A brilliant plan, right? Yes. The songs are light and upbeat, very good summertime jaunts. The musicians sound impeccable, showing off twangy guitar and banjo-picking skills Moreover, the album art on this is so incredibly cool I have already suggested it as a possible new tattoo from my friend, so don't crib his style.

Ataque Chino - Archivo 1 (2014)

An experimental ambient album in which poetry is recited. He doesn't sing his poems, definitely recites it, but much decent poetry will seem lyrical even with a language barrier. Beautiful to my ears, though I haven't the foggiest notion what he's on about. The music itself is astoundingly interesting, making use of a great multitude of instruments, effects and ambient sounds in a way I found to be quite novel. In someways it reminds of Felisberto Hernández's music, but I might be imagining that in a desire to connect some dots in my mind.

Pez Electrico - Gaza (2015)

An album that roughly could be called experimental psychedelia, yet that doesn't explain at the scope it undertakes. The tone and tempo of the songs range widely throughout, being slow and somber at moments and then launching into swirling guitar parts with abundant percussion. The album is chaotic but beautiful. I can see why they'd chose to associate it with the Palestinian city of Gaza, where chaos, resilience and beauty often intermingle.

Scenes of a City, Vol. 10: Zagreb, Croatia

Often I find myself hyper-focused on a particular place. Not one I have ever been to nor will get to any time soon judging by my near constant lack of funds. However, this doesn't hold me back from taking as much of the culture of that locale I can manage from here. Croatia has been this place as of late, particularly their capital and largest city, Zagreb. Suppose it started as these usually do with for me when I began reading a novel written by a Croatian writer, Miroslav Krleža's On The Edge of Reason. Not that the book is especially Croatian in outlook so much as my mind works geographically thus leaving me reading steadily of the history of the Balkan country. Building this my momentum, I went out and bought bottles of dry white wine made of welschriesling grapes grown in Croatia. Finally, if one is reading Croatian literature and drinking Croatian wine, perhaps it is a good time to dig deeper into Croatian music as well.

I do have a tiny bit of familiarity with Croatia's musical output just from submissions to the blog, including some absolutely stellar albums from East-Ra, Pridjevi, Lizards Exist and from the great Zagreb-based indie label, Doomtown Records, the punk outfit Modern Delusions. None of these should be ignored and what I'm aiming for with this look at Zagreb is to inflate that list with even more notable Croatian musicians and bands.

To be had here:

Peak XV - La Première Ascension (2015)

Peak XV is a kindred soul describing who's himself as an "armchair explorer," which if that's not what I'm doing here what am I doing at all? La Première Ascension is an electronic ambient album, done in a sort of modern classical style. Nearly completely instrumental, it is a fantastic album to hear repeatedly while multitasking, allowing it to fade in and out of your senses, always being pleasantly surprised by whole beautiful is whenever you take a moment to pay attention. That said, my first listen was without distraction and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

Denis Katanec Okanagan LTD - Sve moje Laurie (2014)

Americana music sung in Croatian? Sold, immediately to yours truly. Denis Katanec Okanagan LTD plays alt folk, like we often hear coming from North America and does it exceedingly well, but unlike many European artists that make their way onto this blog he singing in his native tongue. No judgment, seriously, good tunes be good tunes in any language. That said, I did find hearing the Croatian compelling, especially in how he quickly spits it out at the being of "Listopad." The main point is that this is a throughly enjoyable EP regardless what you feel, or lack in feeling, about Croatian singing or Croatia overall.

Jastreb - Mother Europe (2013)

Naturally in the globalized world we now all get to inhabit there's little meaning to geographic styles of music, at least in cosmopolitan cities of which I'd include Zagreb. In the light a krautrock band with clear Eastern influence woven in putting out an album in Croatia's capital with a photo of a Alpine mountain as the album art makes sense, at least a bit of sense. Mother Europe makes a nod to all the internationalism that is inherent in being European and did not stop at its borders when it came to informing the style of the album. Pretty goddamn cool shit.

Beat Gates - Elements EP (2014)

A short EP of beats music, as if the name of the outfit didn't give that away straight off. Unrelated to Croatia per se, I have been getting increasingly into beats music, so I am quite pleased to find a good beats artist that crossed sectioned with the country I'd been obsessing about. The songs are a little loopy and ethereal a nicely aloof way and have science fiction spoken word bits laid within. All in all makes for a pretty trippy and interesting few minutes of listening.

Bebè Na Volè - Time of Great Depression (2015)

Here's something I really didn't expect to find looking into Zagreb, music that sounds like early Black Keys and delightfully a touch more gloomy than the Black Keys ever were. Yet there's more to Bebè Na Volè, for it doesn't retain bluesy tone for long, delving into stripped down folk by the fourth track, "Wait For You." At this point becoming similar to Denis Katanec Okanagan LTD but sung in English and weirder by several degrees. The songs become more acoustic yet what is maintained is the frequently nihilistic lyrics. Then it's back towards the electrified blues upon the eleventh track. Like a nice folk sandwich with bluesy bread. A motherfucking fantastic album all around.

The Gateless Gate - Landslag Norður Íslands (The Landscape of North Iceland) (2015)

So I don't all that too far north, but north enough that winter has always been part of my life. Something that is stark, cold and strips the landscape of color. It gets colder though, there are the barren, frozen landscapes of closer to the Arctic such as that of Iceland that this album involves. As uncomfortable as the cold can be, it can be a beautiful and serene experience to inhabit such places. I have vivid memories of trips to Michigan's upper peninsula as a child and standing over a mile out the frozen surface of Lake Superior curiously staring into the white ice and blue sky that spread before me. If only I could've had an mp3 player playing the songs of the Gateless Gate then.

The Gateless Gate are actually from closer to me, just a four hour drive to the Ontario capital of Toronto. No strangers to winter, but it seems these northern climes have been made a study of by this duo. Landslag Norður Íslands is their third album with the others sharing the influence of cold northern terrain, and there are EPs of which one I've written before. In all their output they make wonderful use of ambient sounds, harmonic keys and ethereal effects to create a vast soundscape out of the few elements present, much like the landscapes referenced. The results have a remarkably psychedelic quality, as all great ambient music does, a sort of removal of space and time. It isn't bleak nor lifeless, even the sounds of little waves and fate chirping of birds heard in the compositions remind one of how existence in endlessly altering even in the coolest of places or the most ambient of songs.

To be had here:
The Gateless Gate -  Landslag Norður Íslands (The Landscape of North Iceland) 

Tropic of Coldness - Demography of Data (2014)

I've meant to get to this album for a while now, something I am painfully aware of saying too often. Tropic of Coldness is a Brussels-based duo that makes ambient music in which field recordings and drone techniques feature significantly. The songs are rather far into a passive experimental realm than most of what I've been writing up. It is very ambient is what I mean, with overt instrumentation being limited to some gentle and occasional strumming of a guitar. Otherwise it is looping, swirling sounds that've been altered and effected by the musicians. It is incredibly ethereal and disembodied, and I found it all profoundly relaxing.

Tropic of Coldness's Demography of Data is their third LP and it issued by the Hamburg label Organic Industries, who look like they've got a slew of other offering to consider listening to as well on bandcamp.

To be had here:
Tropic of Coldness - Demography of Data

tyler etters & the northern information movement - the phantoms of our lost cause (2015)

Spotted this release in my inbox recently and it seemed oddly familiar yet I hadn't posted the group before. That's because I prolly fucked up and missed in all the stuff that comes our way, not to mention it somehow isn't going to the right email (spacerockmountain@gmail.com). Anyhow, we've got oversights and I can't bemoan mine too long when there's new music on the line. Tyler Etters & the Northern Information Movement have got a full-length album out now and I'm gonna give you a few thoughts on it.

It is interesting how the music submissions that comes our ways will have trends among them. It isn't uncommon to go months with little post-rock, garage, psychedelic or what-have-you only to find oneself up to the gills in it suddenly. Lately, it is certainly been high tide for post-rock and ambient, perhaps it is the wintry days. Yet some of it comes from the southern hemisphere where it's summer. However, being from Chicago this music isn't from too far flung from my base of operations in Detroit, and it certainly must be chilly there as it is here. These compositions are rather chilly as well. At times it's downright sparse and bleak as a tundra. Then there's the eerie electronic parts that are haunting 8-bit-tingled themes that swirl around with all manner of subtle noise and rhythms. It isn't easy to describe this sort of post-rock/ambient project and in all the years I have attempted to write them up I always seem to confuse myself a little. Nevertheless I keep writing them up because they can be quite good. Tyler Etters & the Northern Information Movement is exactly that, it has a gloomy theme and sticks too it well. Creates an environment for the listener to inhabit, even if it's a very surreal one.

To be had here:
tyler etters & the northern information movement - the phantoms of our lost cause

EP Grab Bag vol. 87

So, after a prolonged period of of LPs there, it is finally time for me to come back to these EPs that have been burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket. I haven't much to say as a preliminary except that I am so happy that these tunes keep pouring and are so fucking good.

To be had here:

LOVEBYRD - LOVEBYRD (2015)

Ongakubaka Records, the blog turned indie label, has another EP out that is, of course, impeccable. LOVEBYRD is a German band that makes psychedelic music. It's hard to tell whether the near-hallucinogenic instrumentation or the amazing vocalist are more mesmerizing. She can really sing, the guitars are damned trippy and it all comes together for five otherwordly tracks. Fits in a fine middle ground of modern psych, incorporating enough retro and eastern sound but not so much as to be a rehash. It's a wonderful EP, and I told you before that Ongakubaka knows what the fuck is up. If they were printing money instead of issuing records it'd be as good as gold.

H. Grimace - Material EP (2015)

These songs mingle somewhere between garage rock and dream pop, sort of a space usually occupied by shoegaze in my mind, but I wouldn't necessarily categorize H. Grimace as such. It isn't about tags, as much as I like to throw them around. What matter is that the songs are good, and this is definitely the case on their Material EP. This is EP is put out by the United Kingdom's Soft Power Records, a label I should like to provide more attention to in the days to come. Looks like they've got a good catalog to pick over.

The Clearwings - The Outskirts EP (2014)

The Denver-based folk duo the Clearwings make some fine duets. That's right, they sing together and it is quite impressive how well the female and male voices meld and play off one another in these short songs. The call themselves alt-folk, but who knows what that means, what I can say is that they do mix in some blues and pop elements in, depending on which track you pick. Being quite partial to the blues myself, I found the songs "Long Way Down" and "Armies" to be my favorites on the EP. However, there isn't a dud among them, and it is a highly enjoyable release.

Dhruva Krishna - The Great Skedaddle (2013)

More folk, of a far more stripped down variety. Just a man playing his guitar, or sometimes tapping on a piano, and making you think about shit. Upbeat and bluegrass-infused folk makes up most of the songs, yet in the middle of it "Crazy" is a bare-bones piano piece that really resonated with me. Only the last track, a cover of the Beatles classic "Yesterday," has any vocals at all.  If the quality of the folk coming in keeps up with Clearwings and what Mr. Krishna have sent in, I welcome much more.

Sväva - We Have Just The Life We Want (2014)

Another Dutch band from the city of Leeuwarden. Sväva makes melodic, ethereal music with strong female vocals. The songs aren't very complex, but they needed be as Sväva seems to be aiming for a more emotional reaction to their music. I spent quite a bit of time listening to this EP as I tried to plow my way into a novel I decided to begin the other day. I kept putting down the book, not because I didn't like it, but because I kept check which track I was hearing. Turns out I am really digging the final song of this release, "Blue Moon." It's totally worth a whirl.

Travancore - Travancore (2014)

Electronic music can get pretty wild, and while I am not the sort of person who'd ever like to be a club or even a bar that would blast electronic music in the midst of flashing lights and crowds of people, I do listen to it. Perhaps it's the wrong way, but I usually consume my crazy beats over a cup of coffee in the morning, sometimes reading the news or a short story from some long dead Italian motherfucker. The more experimental the better, I want it to make sounds that make me pause, lean back and think, "Now that was neat."

Tranvancore is an outfit that has been capable of provoking this desired effect. They've tagged the album "space music" and those two words might best get at the atmosphere of the tracks (if that isn't too oxymoronic to say). I felt like I was in one of those NASA capsules floating to God-only-knows while some friendly aliens thought to beam me a radio signal. The trio that makes up this band seems to know how to bend sound, or at least create the illusion of it through a stunning array of soundscapes, effects and utilizing stereophonic recording for all its worth. To be honest, it is only for several interludes that the album reaches a pitch that is like club music. Most of it having a more artful, ambient-like but it's never truly of the sort of slow, building sort. Too much is going on for that. It bounces, pings, shimmers and even has bursts of static that are like a robot with a broken vocalizer reciting a poem (check out "Starfield South" for that). Finally, this self-titled release is being issued by Hidden Waves, a label run by one of the band members. 

To be had here:
Travancore - Travancore

Jura - Jura (2014)

I heard about Jura from a member of Jura. He is actually a coworker of mine at my new job, in fact he's the man whose position I assuming upon his upcoming departure. Just so happens he plays in a post-rock outfit based in metro Detroit, so I couldn't help be find myself rather curious about what they sound like especially as I have been listening to a bit more post-rock and shoegaze music, recalling my fondness for those etheral songs from Montreal's numerous Silver Mt. Zion connected bands.

As listeners for the more experimental genres, especially the often subtle post-rock and ambient tunes available, will recognize the key to a good album is sustaining a heady, intangible mood throughout. It's very easy to approach such music passively, in fact that is the first instinct. To soak in the sound. However, lately I have found it incredibly rewarding to set other tasks aside, to merely listen and imagine with the music with nothing more than a single can of beer or a hot cup of coffee in my system. This is how taking in Jura's self-titled album went from me pretending to read a novel while listening to sitting, eyes shut in a wooden chair, and not worrying about a thing. The album is indeed subtle, with few flourishes and those that appear aren't long or loud, instead the songs are markedly sparse at times, floating along with echoey lyrics and shimmering cymbals. The tracks entitled "Kalamazoo," "Lullabye," and "As a fool, I will follow you" all held me in complete captivation, even more so with some of their extended playtimes. Now, I cannot promise everyone will get this tranquility for hearing Jura, but as with much competently done post-rock, ambient or what have you it has the potential for a dispositioned person to thoroughly enjoy it in a calmness unparalleled in other modern music.

To be had here:
Jura - Jura

Lucas Brode & Bubba Crumrine - 'doggone' // Shedding Those 11ft Wings (2014)

A spilt LP by two fellas hailing from the state of New York. Both can easily be considered experimental, though of differing varieties. Lucas Brode makes use of a guitar as his certain instrument, indeed at times the only instrument to be heard, with gesticulating, angular playing to which the best comparison I can summon is Ecstatic Sunshine, but toned down and with one guitar. Doesn't need accompaniment, he does just fine at producing remarkably stark, subtle and evocative tunes all on his own with his "mostly tapped guitar lines." I don't know tapped guitar lines are because I'm a fool, but he said it and I liked it.

Bubba Crumrine seems to a man to know in Ithaca, NY and is in the mathy post-rock band Mouth to Mouth to Mouth. His solo work beings rather towards ambient but quickly jumps headlong into noisy avant-garde experimentation.  Even delves into creepy, effected spoken word over strange instrumentation on the track, "Iridescent & Gold," to move to intense noise during "Acme" just thereafter. Both of the musicians are out of a limb in the way I really appricate, totally worth hearing if you're in the mood for something unusual, gloomy and loud.

To be had here:
Lucas Brode & Bubba Crumrine -  'doggone' // Shedding Those 11ft Wings

EP Grab Bag vol. 78

This October has featured a heavy degree of returning artists and labels. I imagine it's those that have put me in their internet rolodex. I am happy see that people are responding well to the posts and that the musicians and persons running labels have felt it worthwhile to keep me in the loop with all their ongoing projects. If you haven't heard from me I am likely getting to it, but you can repeatedly email me. Some of you already do and I don't mind. Anyhow, here's the EPs I got in, some of them artists we've featured before, some even rather recently, to add the the train of Nate Henricks, Citradels, Sioux Trails and so on that've been so kind to share their music with us all to frequently.

To be had here:

NAYSA - Losing Weight EP (2014)

As promised this is a returning band to SRM, as I posted their wonderful EP, Troubled Heart, back in Grab Bag 62. Not to dis that prior EP, but this one is a incredible leap in execution. It among the most immediately likable EPs I've gotten all year. In the email alerting me to Losing Weight there's a mention to it being number one on a college radio station in their native Winnipeg. It does sound like college rock, meant in the very best possible way you might envision, the sort with a lot of indie pop influence. Only $4 Canadian, so that is like only some other amount in another currency (still cheap).

Ry Smith - They Don't Understand (2014)

What's this, Ry Smith so soon again? Yeah, pilgrims, his got an EP hot on the hells of his full-length, Rexroth, that I posted about just last month. So I downloaded this album without looking at a word about it, which isn't unusual for me, but that I recognized the first track as something I familiar with was abnormal. It took several moments for my dumb brain to realize that this was a Strokes song, and what is this? The whole EP is covers of Strokes songs? Yes, this excellent news is in fact what Ry Smith has gifted to us and it is awesome.

Lost Trail - Rural Entropy EP (2014)

A short experimental-ambient soundscape release. I mean it is brief, like five minutes, but it is priced accordingly as it goes for only a scant $1.25. It is a fine sample that could be a sign of a fine full-length to come. Additionally, I thought this might be something wholly new to the Grab Bag, but turns out I have posted the label that released this, two years ago, so thanks for coming back Silber Records, and sorry I posted stuff you worked on without mentioning you, but I am sloppy and very sleepy most of the time.

Slight - Spirit School / Tasting (2014)

Another Canadian band, yet this time from Montreal. Just two tracks, but more than enough to enlighten a listener to how they're making excellent hi-fi art pop. Yes, I can enjoy hi-fi music as well as my beloved lo-fi. Just so happens I'm multifaceted, like a gemstone, pilgrims. I found this pair of songs to be lovely in their blending of harmonic and chaotic elements, and quite soothing overall. Liked well enough that I even went back and heard their three song EP from last year called Melodion, which I'll also recommend. And this band is new to SRM.

Angel Kaplan - Broken Toys b​/​w Thank You (2010)

So those of you that found pleasure in hearing the full-length album, Pictures from the Past, from Angel Kaplan that I posted up early in the month will be happy to know that there is a 7" that predates it but is mighty fine to hear as well. Moreover it is purchasable in a physical format from Get Hip Records for a few dollars. These two songs are fucking great, the first is like the sweet psych-pop precursor of the later LP and the second an alt-country infused cover of the 1960s group, the Remains.

Misled Navigator - False Dreams (2014)

I cannot imagine I am the only one that wakes up energized and feels ashamed that the previous night of feeling worn out and sleepy. There were so many things I could have done, I missed several shows I wanted to see, my friend was supposed to come over but I forgot to call him, I could have finally made friends with a neighbor. Yet I didn't do much of anything, I just sat there, tired and hungry and thought I best eat and sleep. Sure, sounds reasonable to eat and sleep, but the kicker is when I get up, rest and still full from the meal and think "why didn't you go out and do something?" that's irrational yet hard to shake.

While I can't exist in some otherworldly state, where I can avoid the necessities of sleeping, eating and bathing and forgo petty desires to focus on more unifying theme, I can let some music lure me into that escapist fantasy. The aptly named False Dreams has been providing that very service for the disappointed ego I bear in the morning hours. Misled Navigator has composed a collection of instrumental ambient-drone tracks that provide me with the non-corporal sensation which I imagine a ghost floating about and watching the world might be down with. Unlike much psychedelic drone that I've shared in the past, this doesn't have much of a place for the guitar and isn't a looping of guitar riffs, rather it is made to sound like it is filled with ethereal organs and the mysterious theremin. Not party music, it is like the soundtrack of very old horror film (The Man Who Laughs, perhaps) or a something where a skinny weird guy plays an alien (think David Bowie in the Man Who Fell to Earth, working on a theme here...) though it would have made either of those eerier yet. The parts of the songs are subtle but take on significance by the repetition that drone is known for, and it has marvelous effects on the theremin-like sounds mingling with a few other sparse elements. I found I could really escape myself in these haunting tracks, become that imaginary ghost, not worried about time nor matter. That seems the mightiest power of ambient and drone and Mislead Navigator achieves it astutely.

False Dreams was put out by the small independent Brooklyn label, Outward Records. One of there things seems to have very limited editions of the cassettes, as of publishing this write-up there are only 3 out of the 5 made for sale, so I guess you best act fast if you want one of those babies. Finally, Elvis did include some of Mislead Navigators music in some EP Grab Bags from last year, if you wanna dig into more releases.

To be had here:
Misled Navigator - False Dreams

Scenes Of A City, Vol 3: Porto, Portugal

Another addition of the Scenes Of A City series that Amazing Larry has pioneered. It seemed like such a great idea and so much fun to do I was extremely envious that I wasn't doing that shit. So Larry being the nice guy that he is let me in on the action and I hope I his project justice with my first installment. Now, if you haven't heard of Porto before, which I am willing to wager many North Americans haven't, it is Portugal's second city after Lisbon. By that I mean Porto has the second largest population, the second most economical significant city, et cetera. The region that contains Porto is known for its wine, called Port simply enough, and perhaps you've had a wicked hangover or two from that wonderful stuff like yours truly. Moreover, from what I have read the city is known for its music, having furnished Portugal with many of its most popular acts. But we don't do popular here very often, instead you will find us digging around in the nooks and crannies. Found some real gems this time, so enjoy some of the recent releases of Porto.

To be had here:

Cervo - Cervo (2013)

Ambient drone. That really should be enough to sell this. It was for me. Cervo is spares, I am talking stark here. Yet it is some really epic shit, taking its time and slowly seeping into your mind and making you a convert to its gloomy cult. Drone and ambient play a therapeutic role in my life. It is what I prefer to listen to if I am trying to get my shit together when scattered for whatever reason; over indulging, lack of sleep, allergy fueled headaches, and whatnot. Cervo has certainly done that for me today and I'm willing to bet shall again in the future.

Homem Bigode - Homem Bigode EP (2014)

This EP made me smile. I don't know what the fuck is he saying, as it is in Portuguese, but I love how the he is saying it. The delivery reminds me of something I desperately wish I could place. On top of all that the instrumentation side is outrageous. Keys are going goddamn wild on these tracks and the guitar playing is fantastic. It really isn't easy to place this band in a genre, is simply sounds like lo-fi rock and roll, but certainly by musicians who recall then 80s and 90s fondly.

Gonçalo -  Quim EP (2014)

Dreamy psychedelic ambient/electronic music. I'm not trying to go too heavy no the ambient, but I felt there was enough difference in this album from Cervo and it had such merit that I ought to share both. Gonçalo is along the likes of the glo-fi I so often praise with its vague tropical-ness and mixture of sampling, generated sounds and guitar playing. This EP was put out by a Porto-based label, Lovers & Lollipops. They've seem to be doing a fucking excellent job and have much more music that is worth listening to, so I bet you'll see more of them in on
SRM in days to come.

Wild Apes - Wild Δpes EP (2014)

If this wasn't in a post about Portugal one could be forgiven for not releasing this is a Portuguese band, as they sound like a British indie rock outfit. Yes, sung in English, this band makes that popular version of indie rock that borrows enough from garage rock to make it "edgy." I am not trying to be harsh, as I am a supporter of this, and not everything can be the Mummies (as fucking trippy a world as that would make for) and I like popular stylings of lo-fi rock very often. These cats have the makings for radio hit makers... while the would have in 2001. Still solid listening and the last track gets unexpectedly psychedelic.

Sr Eduardo Urso - Histórias Tristes Ao Pequeno​-​Almoço (2012)

A lovely, cheerful twee-folk EP. It has been too long since I put up anything that could be called twee on this damned blog. While not only does that get fixed here, it is fixed with ukulele. Three little tracks done with that happy tiny guitar and some adorable Portuguese singing. This EP was released by Gentle Records, a label that seems to be putting out an awful lot of strange and good releases and they're all completely free to download. Could be worthwhile to poke around on their site.

Luna Moth - Celestial Shades (2014)

Found this in the inbox the other day, sadly overlooked for a few months. My bad on that, guys, but you'll have to trust that a little late is not a huge deal for us on the receiving end as this digital replayable songs still sound fine. I do feel bad I didn't jump right on Celestial Shades when it came out in March however as the music is deserving of some good old fashion praise from a stranger on the internet, which I'm sadly late in bringing. Nonetheless, we'll see what is salvageable for both the band and my reputation as a music blogger. Shouldn't my parents be proud?

Luna Moth is a psychedelic band from Norman, Oklahoma that brings it on heavy with the distortion, wall-of-sound and general noisiness. They've done a superb job at incorporating influences from 60s psychedelia to the shoegaze of 90s into a shimmering and ethereal sound. Then you get to hear that sonic bliss strip apart into droning noise, something that I always find to be a welcome development in a track. They put it better on the little descriptor blurb on their bandcamp page, "Entheogenic love mantras/surfing into dissonance." Not sure what the anthropological theory of ethnogensis has to do with it, and the term does bring back some haunting memories of papers I wrote in college on the subject, but a poetic and otherwise accurate way to explain what Luna Moth seems to be all about. It sounding fucking great is a shorter way to say it. With any luck they'll sit keep SRM in mind for the next release they may put out and I can truly redeem myself then.

To be had here:
Luna Moth - Celestial Shades

The Glories - Put the Beast Out of Mind (2014)

A post-rock outfit from Birmingham, Alabama. That's a thing, don't you know? I can't say I know much about Birmingham but I can say that I know a thing or two about the listening habits of the members of this band. The wear it right on their sleeves in fact, in the form of their tags on their bandcamp page. "Mogwai" "Caspian" "This Will Destroy You" and "Explosions in the Sky" are in there with the genre tags like "post-rock" and "ambient" creating an unambiguous message of the style of music they're attempting to create. This could be a double-edged sword when listening as it does give one the right expectations but does set a very high standard to live up to. Not everyone gets to be as good as This Will Destroy You after all. The risk they took in largely mitigated as they are quite competent musicians that make some emotionally provoking sonic landscapes.

At some point I'll have to explore exactly what it is about post-rock that I like so much, as it really isn't akin to most of the other genres I commonly tout. Nonetheless I am not gonna give up on listening to it any time soon for whenever a new, epically produced album like Put the Best out of Mind shows up I find myself happily hearing it. Even getting happily bummed out at the somber parts, all without even the utterance of a word. So what I'm saying is, if you're a listener of post-rock, particularly the groups mentioned in this post already, I'd recommend this group of long-haired Southerners.

To be had here:
The Glories - Put the Beast Out of Mind

EP Grab Bag vol. 68

I always feel very productive after I finish an EP Grab Bag, but I guess that is just imaginary it really just means I sat around and listened to a bunch of music. Does make me feel more worldly when I can get a large geographic span covered in the EPs, so that's something. Oh, and the music, the music is fucking good, that's why I do it, right?

To be had here:
Druggy Pizza - Chili Cheese Crust (2014)

This is the solo moniker of Cédric of most righteous French garage rock band Dusty Mush. I must imagine any diligent follower of SRM would be sold just by that, but in case you're head is in the sand I'll tell you more. Chili Cheese Crust are six short and loud tracks of very fuzzed out garage rock with lyrics that cannot be understood and moaning keyboard playing. Basically, the exact kind of squalid rock and roll that I thrive on. In particular give a listen to the amazing song, "I'm Cramped" for its simple effectiveness. Mind you this is his third EP as Druggy Pizza, so there's more to eat up.

Nick Oleksiak - Carrie (2014)

This is an EP I found when looking around on bandcamp. Carrie is five songs by a young man from Detroit that is studying music in Cincinnati (I guess they know shit down there). It is rather hard to describe the music generically, he even goes to the length to tag it "whatever i feel like" but it is certainly electronic pop music of some sort. Has a new wave-ish feeling. Perhaps one could call it  an updated 80s/post-disco thing. Whatever the fuck it is I caught my attention, the first and final songs of the EP in particular.

Boards - Care & Handling (2014)

A Norwich-based musical project with very stripped down instrumentation. Blends acoustic guitar and a few accompanying instruments with light electronic tones and beats. So in a reversal of my usual stance on vocals, it is really the singing that carries this EP from being a competent yet humble ambient release into something more beautiful. The overall effect of the songs is a mesmerizing calm, like a mediative piece, so when a spoken word story appears in the midst of the eponymous track I was very willing to hear it. Excellently done.


Garrett Linck and JESSIE'S BREATH - /Split/ (2014)

Garrett Linck, who you might recall from his solo work and in babydog, is back with a track on the two song split with another musician that goes by Jessie's Breath. Linck's track is a folksy indie rock tune that is very catchy as has become expected from that dude. Jessie's Breath matches it with his own lo-fi folk tune that's every inch as charming. Good combination for a split and looking forward to hearing more from each of these songwriters.

El General Villamil - Archipiélago 32' (2014)

This is basically an addendum to Amazing Larry's post of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. He found four really great acts from that city, and I was downloading them the other day and trying to see if I wanted to make an episode of the podcast out of the bands and I saw these guys pop up. More fucking garage rock that was so good I could not help myself but add it here. Old of my favorite parts is how on the bandcamp page they have an explaination of their name in Spanish even I can decipher: "El General Villamil fue el conquistador y primer gobernador del Archipiélago Galápagos en 1832"

Ricky Eat Acid - Three Love Songs (2014)

Rick Eat Acid is a band on the Orchid Tapes label who put of wonderful lo-fi electronic music. I have often praised the label and the artists put out on it, and this review will have some of that same praise, but I think it'll be interesting to dwell on what is so allure about this sort of music for me and others. So time for me to muse on lo-fi electronic/chillwave/glo-fi/sound art or whatever the fuck we'll end up calling it.

The sort of music I am talking about ranges from the sample-based looping of Monster Rally to the dream pop and shoegaze tinged Wizard Oz, Home Alone and Tearjerker to the sparsely done, sometimes spoken-word infused tracks of Foxes in Fiction and Ricky Eat Acid. This is a considerable amount of ground to cover, but I feel the artistic implications of all these musicians is similar in their striving for a mixture of introspection and nostalgic in a melancholic but all too necessary angst of being. Not that this isn't punctuated by intense fits of joy and pleasure, but that those are highlights that gain significance all the greater from the feeling of the rest of the compositions. Now, this could be said of shoegaze, post-rock and slowcore, however I feel what makes this stand out as not only a genre but something I've come to greatly appreciate is the very sparseness of the songs. There are few lyrics often opting for a spoken word sample instead, few instruments beyond the computer and none of the complex polyrhythms and epic building toward crescendo of post-rock or longer psychedelic tracks. Overall, this music seems to share numerous qualities of ambient and sound collage but with a more concise vision as far as I've interpreted it. Perhaps these artists I've cited won't even be considered generically unified in the future, but I have found their emergence not a mere coincidence.

As for Ricky Eat Acid in particular, it is a wonderful album that shows the degree of emotional impact this sort of music can hold. The tracks go from soft, ambient wanders to the techno-inspired sort of oddity that is "In my dreams we're almost touching." I've been putting this album on nearly everyday after work for two weeks and I still feel like it s showing me new parts and ways that it is subtly inching it's lo-fi message of love and longing into my head. Put recalling my young days as a church-goer before my folks just abandoned that idea altogether and every now and then being pulled to a church by a friend was brought back starkly by "In rural virginia; watching glowing lights crawl from the dark corners of the room." Yes, they all have wonderfully long titles like that. I'll end with this, check it out and see how it makes you feel, or you can wait for another loud garage rock album, because I too am looking forward to that.

To be had here:
Ricky Eat Acid - Three Love Songs