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)

EP Grab Bag vol. 110

I actually wrote this about months ago and left it 90% finished and forgot to post it. So here are some belated EPs.

To be had here:

Shortbus 1999 - Motorcycle Boy Reigns EP (2016)

A new EP from the Russia lo-fi dream/garage pop band Shortbus 1999, who've had a couple of previous EPs featured on Spacerockmountain. Being acquainted with their earlier songs, I was excited to hear this fresh batch. These five high-energy tracks did not disappoint and brought all the fuzzy, fast rock that I recall fondly from the earlier work. The thing I noticed that changed the most are the more prominent vocals, with two different singers appearing and both singing loudly in Russian, which is pretty dope.

Lloyd Braun - New Age Hooey (2016)

A band from the westside of my home state, more exactly they reside in our second largest city, Grand Rapids. They play grungy garage rock that clearly betrays their roots as growing up in the Midwest in the 90s. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, just that especially in the vocals you may notice the emotional delivery that has been so popular here for ever so long. Reminds me of many of the better concerts I've attended around the state, though notably better musicianship than much of them. I can easily get behind what these guys are up to.

Unholy Sights - Esoteric Domine (2016)

Fuzzy, lo-fi garage rock with a healthy touch of horror punk vibes thrown in. The Unholy Sights are from Annapolis, Maryland and are a new band, not even a year into it yet. They seems very much like some dudes I would get along with a chat about Gories and Mummies tunes with. Their songs dip a bit more heavy than those artists though, but never for very long, as the fuzzy guitars and bashing cymbals are still the nice garagey core of this EP.

Pulco - Solid Geometry EP (2016)

A new EP from a colorful home recording artist from Bangor, Wales. This must be the fourth time I've written up a release from Pulco, and they never strike me as being terribly similar except in being unusual creations of experimentation exacted upon pop music. However, this EP might be the eeriest of them to date, as it has a dark, futuristic and surreal mood. They lyrics get creepy, but in a fascinating way opposed to unsettling. He keeps surprising me, but I guess I should expect that by now.

Moon Loves Honey - Apart (2016)

So long as we're considering dreamy music, let's look at a Danish band who has made so beautifully fleshed out dream pop songs. The songs are very well structured and incorporate a range of instrumentation and stylized vocals to create softy emotional songs. Spacey, dreamy but still shocking quick and upbeat. A very interesting and engaging EP of pop tunes.

The Pathetic and Elegant - Slow Motives (2016)

Been checked out for a minute. Was in New York City drinking wines and came back to a broken down caprice classic that poisoned me with a serious exhaust leak. Left me feeling really fucking awful for the better part of a week. However, nothing like coming back to a slew of submissions from artists I've written up before and I am excited to hear new music from. Not least among these is The Pathetic and Elegant who've released a new album just last month.

The Pathetic and Elegant is a moniker for Baltimore bedroom pop artist, Luke Fisher. Hopefully you've gotten a chance to hear 2014's I Am In Love, as it still holds up as an outstanding feat of lo-fi pop music. This new release, Slow Motives, has not strayed very far from the basic sound that made the earlier album so delightful. Warmly effected vocals and computer-generated beats make up the core of the songs. Of course the charming lyrics add much to the songs, being about love and losing oneself in the city. The songs are lovely and incredibly pleasant to hear,  and in fact as it is a short album it lends itself well to repeated plays. Excellent stuff, and like the first album this has been released by those Maryland-based label and podcasting concern Spellabee Space.

To be had here:
The Pathetic and Elegant - Slow Motives

Eddie Golden III - Elevator (2015)

There's nothing better than getting around to hearing a new album just when the mood strikes you for the particular sort of tunes it's supplying. I've been a half-awake zombie in a hungover daze all day and of all the remedies I'd resorted to nothing is working as well as Eddie Golden III's psychedelic pop stylings.

You might have already heard Eddie Golden III before, when we was a member of the band called the Guru, whose album I wrote up a while back. Here he's ventured off into solo work, and seems to have gotten himself good and lost in the hazy world of psych-pop. It is like he blended a fantastic array of influences from Beach Boys vocals and whimsical lyrics to the oddities of 90s E6 to reverberated and warped 80s dance. Basically bedroom pop at its best: mildly confusing, engagingly non-linear and incredibly adorable. I can't really explain it too well, but every part of this albums seems familiar, yet none of it seems to fit into a pattern I recognize. Sorta like seeing a flag with all the colors you know but none of the correct shapes. A completely refreshing shuffling of pop cliches and catchy melodies.

To be had here:
Eddie Golden III -  Elevator

EP Grab Bag vol. 107

So the new computer is doing as well as I'd hoped it might. I already have to take it in for maintenance. This has made writing the blog harder, as well as just listening to music more difficult. Trying my damnest at it though. So the super full in inbox yielded these, and if your band isn't in there don't worry, I got enough for five Grab Bags. I will dole it out as I can.

To be had here:

This Heel - This Heel III (2015)

As then title of this EP indicates this is the third in a series of EPs from the Swedish outfit called This Heel, headed by one Martin M Sjöstrand. The tone of each of these EPs have varied, with the first having a garagey lo-fi feel, the second loungey pop, and finally we've arrived at psych-pop. Upbeat and quick, the third This Heel is the one that will seem the most immediately familiar to the listen of 90s indie pop. There's some truly awesome use of lyrics and building psychedelic progression, especially in songs like "Problem on Earth" and "Dragon Hiss."

indoor/indoor - one of these days (2015)

A Virginian band that makes bedroom-style indie pop. Lo-fi and not overly complex, yet markedly evocative in its upbeat expression of melancholy. They pull of that pleasant and meaningful juxtaposition of happy songs with sad meanings. The title track, "One of these Days," does stand out to me as the most exceptional of the three songs on this EP. That said, the there's not a moment I wasn't enjoying while listening to it. I hope they do make the full-length they hint on the the bandcamp page.

Engine Summer - BUZZ DRAINED (2015)

From Chicago, a band making psychedelic punk, or something they've tagged as 'groovegaze.' I gotta give them points for being the first time I've seen that genre tag used. To my hears it is somewhere between new wave, 90s noise rock, psych-pop and a touch of post-rock. I find that a compelling combination, but even if you don't just imagine a more irreverent Gang of Four. Who doesn't want to check that out? The songs are well-structured and very entertaining. These guys may be worth paying attention to.

Incesto Andar -Deusverno (2015)

A Brazilian band from the city of Sorocaba in the state of São Paulo. Not a very long affair, with only a couple of tracks. They do patch a punch however, being intense lo-fi grunge-hardcore rock, yet somehow devoid of the screaming lyrics that I would expect of a North American band playing such music. Not that they haven't got lyrics, it is just that they sing they notably well and calmer than I imagined. Both songs are stellar, worth the 10 minutes for sure. The EP was put out by the Rio de Janeiro label, Bichano Records.

Lìo Dominguez - Cine Bar Club (2014)

I'm convinced that time of day, temperature, and precipitation all play a role in what we want to listen to. Take today, for example: in Portland it is a typically cold and sopping wet December day, just like weeks worth of days before and days worth of weeks to follow...  and this release by Lìo Dominguez, a singer-songwriter from Haedo, a city about 40 minutes driving distance outside of Buenos Aires proper, is providing the perfect soundtrack to an unabashedly lazy afternoon.

The band has got a severely cool melancholia going on, like a Spanish Velvet Underground. Simple two chord progressions drift effortlessly back and forth, like a pendulum made of feathers and cotton. The vocals give off a similar affectation, but it's simultaneously a honest and natural delivery.  This isn't a sleepy-time listen by any means, but sort of a laze around on the couch drinking coffee because it's shitty outside kind of listen. If Olympia, Washington's K Records had existed in Argentina, Lìo Dominguez would have fit nicely into that seen... somewhere between Beat Happening and Some Velvet Sidewalk.

10 songs, name your price.

Lìo Dominguez - Cine Bar Club

Joplin Rice - Hurricane Alaska (2015)

The new album by Lexington, Kentucky songwriter Joplin Rice. Some of you might remember his prior release, Low Hum, of which I've been especially fond (go back in listen to "Perfect Coils" if you haven't). Both releases share the Elliott Smith-esque indie singer-songwriter core, yet with Hurricane Alaska Rice has gotten more bold, moving from the rather folksy sound of Low Hum. Retaining the sweet lyrics and softly fuzzed out tone, there's more loud electric guitar and an overall quicker pace to be felt in these new songs. Tracks like "No New U (stop chasing)" and more psychedelic song "Rocket" demonstrate this louder style well. All of it still lies within the realm of bedroom pop, though some of the most finely recorded I've heard in a long time. The real genius behind what Joplin Rice has done with this new album is carry on his sound but continuing to progress simultaneously. It wasn't hard for a moment for me to imagine any of these tunes as his, but they are quite distinctive from Low Hum. Rice's ability to recreate a mood and carry it throughout an album, here is the lightly fuzzed out guitars and drums gently tapping along. I know there are several songs that'll become favorites  of mine for the coming months, and only many enjoyable repeated listenings will solidify them. I'm looking forward to it.

To be had here:
Joplin Rice - Hurricane Alaska

EP Grab Bag vol. 102

So I actually wrote this post a while ago and in a series of events causing me to leave town and find myself incredibly drunk and immobilized while floating down a river in a small raft I forgot to publish it. Moral is I am an awful friend to bring on a trip involving alcohol but very good at not drowning after off a raft while fucked up. I recall liking these songs too...

To be had here:

Pulco - Rodeo EP (2015)

A new EP from the Welsh musician called Pulco. Maybe you've gotten a chance hear his Innovation In The Trade full-length which I still strongly recommend. Either way, this new release has continued the fuzzy bedroom recording spirit of the prior album, including a liberal use of spoken word samples, but added more upbeat and catchy pop elements.

Turning Torso - Baal EP (2015)

I was listening to music from older posts, spurred by hearing the lo-fi electronic songs of Novampb. This lead me back to Mexico's Turning Torso, who I last wrote up in 2011. Despite my lack of mentioning it, it seems the project has been active ever since, releasing singles and EPs. Here is the latest of those, a two song EP of experimental electronica. Heavy on percussive beats and eerie organ-like effects. Reminds me why I got into this band to begin with.

My Cruel Goro - My Cruel Goro EP (2015)

A fast, messy set of lo-fi rock songs from an outfit based in Iceland. Heavily bent toward a grungey version of post-punk the songs. They make good use of a snyth in the tracks and that plays off the very clearly sung lyrics, making it sound very much like the product of the 90s in a way that's hard to put words to exactly. Good stuff in any event, a good introduction to what these dudes are capable of.

Hallowed Bells - Violet Hands (2015)

This band from Philadelphia makes an unusual sort music. Broadly speaking they're electronic/ambient experimentations employing the many interesting effects of a synthesizer. The songs are eerie and serpentine sounding. While they're not chiptune or 8-bit, they evoked the same feeling as the videogame themes the play any time Mario enters a castle. They put it better themselves, "Songs-without-words and aural colorscapes." I can't pretend to have a better summation, and I highly recommend hearing it.

Soft Cure - SAD (2015)

The man behind Soft Cure, the Albertan called Seth Cardinal, is known to me to way of his no wave project preformed with his younger, female family members, the Basement Demons. His songs under the moniker of Soft Cure did show up in a Grab Bag that Elvis wrote, but this is really my first exposure to it. Nonetheless it sound markedly familiar. Perhaps this is a byproduct of listening to so much quirky lo-fi pop music over the years, or rather, as I prefer to think, it is because the songs themselves are conveying a cozy, homespun and purposefully nostalgic feeling.

The artist didn't tell me why he named this album SAD, but I already have my own theories as to why. Nostalgia is an innately sad concept, a vague and ephemeral emotion. It seems like it should be a product of longing over the past, but it doesn't need to be. The songs Soft Cure has made here are good evidence of that, for despite having never heard them before they still invoked a powerfully retrospective stance to form in my mind. Technically the songs are quite simple instrumental tunes. They're fuzzy, echoey and even charmingly upbeat most of the time, but the secret to the appeal is the very bedroom pop nature of a young man holed up with a set of instruments and a computer to make something tingly and cute to share with us all. I truly enjoyed every moment of SAD.

To be had here:
Soft Cure - SAD

Blood Stone - Friend Group (2015)

So tonight I am suppose to see a live show here by Jura, the post-rock wizards of metro Detroit. Here in my own adopted hometown, Hamtramck, where I have previously missed many a quality live show, not least among which was the record release by band known as Blood Stone.

Now it is no accident I heard of Blood Stone, the drummer is a lady I know back from my days of slinging caffeine in the Guardian Building in downtown Detroit. She told me of and kindly shared her band's tunes with me and then as it usually goes I sat on it for over a month and finally got around to hearing. Also as usual I feel great shame in not listening to it early as it's a fucking awesome series of songs I beheld once I finally acknowledged Friend Group.

Blood Stone makes what my friend called 'living room pop.' A related notion to more frequently mentioned notion of bedroom pop, but implicitly involves a gathering of people. Thus conforming to the practical realities of an indie band without a proper recording space and that it is also where such music would be written, rehearsed and sometimes preformed for a small audience. This isn't any reason to underestimate Blood Stone at all. In fact it sounds among the more well-executed lo-fi pop albums I've heard in years. Furthermore, the combination of female vocals, warmly fuzzy instruments, and a jaunty pop sound make me think of several fairly recently posted bands like the Pretty Greens, Daddy Issues, and Leggy. If that doesn't sell it I imagine you're a heartless monster or someone that doesn't read this blog often (a.k.a. a heartless monster).

To be had here:
Blood Stone - Friend Group

EP Grab Bag vol. 97

This might've been the longest hiatus the blog has taken all year. However, I have been sick for well over a week and trying my damnest to keep up with the work from my paying job. Sadly this meant the enjoyable, unpaid duty of writing up music had take a backseat. However, I seem to be on the mend now, even though chunks of nasty lung butter are still flying out in coughing fits. Needless to say there is a metric fuck ton of submissions I've yet to get to, but this is what I was able to chip off so far.

To be had here:

Nicholas Fair - Small Songs (2015)

Three tracks released as an EP, really serving as a demo for this musician from Corpus Christi, TX. These tracks fall very much in with the folksy, lo-fi bedroom sort of music I've been spouting off about for the last few weeks. They're piano-heavy, which is all too uncommon and done quite beautifully by Mr. Fair. Musically it's all rather airy, but his singing is deeply resonating. Creates a wonderful contrast to hear. He's got a whole series of releases all the way back to 2002 on his bandcamp if these interest you enough to check out more.

The Pretty Greens - Lonely Hearts Club "No Jerks Allowed" (2015)

A garage pop outfit outta Philadelphia. This all-female three-piece that makes use of the girl group pop sound of the 60s, but rely upon it. Musically the Pretty Greens are akin to Peach Kelli Pop, Bruiser Queen and Silkies. However, they don't lack in individual flare, especially in the song "Once Before" where I dude throws in some fast Sir Mix-A-Lot style singing the middle. Can only hope they don't dally too long in producing an LP. However, this EP is being put out by Negative Fun Records, an indie label with a fine looking roster even beyond this ladies from Philly.

Timberwolf - Flux (2015)

An extremely well-produced folk project of the Adelaide-based musician known as Timberwolf. The songs are full with accompanying musicians on strings and drums along with a range of background singers. At times has a ghostly feeling, but it really blows up into a much larger sound quickly. It's impressive how good this all sounds in fact. I wouldn't be surprised to see this guy spreading around into ambient music selections of trendier business's like Seawolf. Wait... Seawolf, Timberwolf... connecting dots.

Piglet Outlet - Paradise in Progress (2015)

Now this is a far more decidedly unconventional sounding EP. The band hails from Malmö, Sweden and has members that've belonged to notable regional acts prior. They make experimental indie pop, with many strange instrumentation choices, quirky singing and lyrics and frequently changing rhythms. Fucking great stuff if your a fan of the Unicorns, most E6 or any number of strange indie pop bands. Finally, this has been released via Shallow Shit Records, a new label started by Martin M Sjöstrand (aka This Heel).

Malka - The Constant State (2015)

The album art of this EP really explains a lot. The rising sun in a bucolic forest. Doesn't matter where the band is from, and this time it is from New York City, album art like that symbolizes an effort to make something epic. I wasn't disappointed to hear some long, meandering and well-composed shoegazey post-rock. The songs are excellently put together and I found myself rather entranced even on the first listen. Also, my neighbor is doing work on his house and I can hear the drills going with my windows open but its too hot to close them, so I got to hear an industrial remix the second time I heard the EP.

Oh K - Yes, Naked Empire (2015)

Long have I been a fan of bedroom pop, weird folk and other manner of eccentric songwriters. They send in music from all over the place, all different and strange in their own ways. It can't help but have a personal imprint, not requiring more than an inspired individual with a guitar, computer and whatever other instruments one has around to begin recording.

Yet nothing exists in a void and the human mind is programmed to seek patterns. Other than the clear debt to prior singer-songwriters and the internet being able to spread music that would likely have been limited to homemade cassettes passed out to friends, there's a changing aesthetic all this access to technology and music sharing has created.  The ease of adding effects and layering techniques has made psychedelic and spacey sounds near ubiquitous. However, it's not deployed with universal skill, but luckily the selections I'm sent tend to show exceptional well.

Enter Oh K, a Perth resident whose own description of his music is "Screwed up folk laptop tape machine lo-fi acoustic-y echo-y bottle top buzzsaw magpie dreams." I couldn't improve upon that if I wanted to. Yes, Naked Empire is a short album but Oh K manages to fit a lot in without overcomplicating the songs. At there core the tracks are acoustic guitar and soft singing, going to show the additional life a bedroom engineer is capable breathing into songs. The briefness of the album is something of an asset, it makes re-listening easy and prevents any of the many small lovely things tucked into the songs from being overlooked.

To be had here:
Oh K - Yes, Naked Empire

EP Grab Bag vol. 96

A truly varied assortment of low fidelity in this batch. Geographically ranging from the Western and Central United States to Northeastern Brazil, Sweden and the far off islands of Indonesia.

To be had here:
Napolleon - Napolleon EP (2015)

The Hong Kong indie label, Metal Postcard, has a new EP out by an Indonesian psych-rock outfit. Full of lo-fi, echoey rock this is the debut EP of the group Napolleon. The songs are trippy, fuzzy and quite simply pretty awesome. Warms my heart to know their are folks all the way around to the other side of the world in Indonesia making great lo-fi tunes. Helps me cope with the McDonald's and Tim Horton's that are all over the fucking place. Hopefully they'll produce more music and perhaps we'll get to hear more out of southeast Asia over all.

Amandinho - Coisas Novas São Assim (2015)

A new EP released via the Brazilian label Transtorninho Records. Hailing from Maceió, Alagoas the band Amandinho seemed remarkably familiar singing to my ear, and I had a suspicion that it's the same fella as 151515, another great lo-fi release from the same record label. I was confirmed by my sources in Brazil that this is indeed the case, and that this a band he's a member of. Wonderful lo-fi rock and roll, not very complex but no less lovely to behold.

San Kazakgascar - First Nation Spy 7" (2015)

From Sacramento, California comes the Mid-Eastern influenced San Kazakgascar. These two songs make use of the interesting and complex rhythmic patterns common in other parts of the world, and do a brilliant job at showing how Western bands can successfully incorporate styles into their songwriting. There mostly instrumental, and the clarinet steals the show, which is maybe the first time I've ever written that but I sure hope it won't be the last. Do recall to check out their prior work I've written up like Swimming in Begnal.


This Heel - This Heel II (2015)

The second EP from Malmö, Sweden's Martin Månsson Sjöstrand. A fine accomplishment of lo-fi indie pop. The songs are short, cheeky and lovely. He knows how to craft a nice pop tune without a doubt, even if they are strange and nonsensical at moments. Never heard to be strange in pop music though. He's also a member of the band Dog, Paper, Submarine and I've already featured his first self-tiled EP.

Husbands - GETTY // PHOENIX & GOAT // SOME SURF (2015)

A band from Oklahoma City that is putting out a series of singles and double-singles of dreamy bedroom pop tunes. They're primarily incredibly catchy pop songs, with board sound filling them up, lending some degree of shoegaze sort of wall-of-sound. Between these two double-singles was the solo track "Smoke" and if you look into all their releases on bandcamp you'll find that they're very prolific in producing songs but only release them in small batches, at most an five track EP. Maybe they'll cobble together an LP, seems they've the material and talent.

Max Gowan - Big People (2015)

There's a great many of submitted albums incoming to me lately. This is normally the case yet it never ceases to amaze me. Moreover, the timing of it all. How do they all know to send it in the same week? Enter my life as a Sisyphean completist. Yet this guy gets a pass on this particular issue as he's new to SRM, though no less worthy of mentioning.

Max Gowan is a singer-songwriter from Raleigh, North Carolina with a charming album. His music doesn't fall neatly into an category, as is the case for many good singer-songwriters. It rides close to folk-pop most often, though at other times the production levels pick up, especially in the vocals, creating a morose pop feeling not unlike Elliott Smith. The man knows how to make an emotional appeal without being overly sappy, something that is all too uncommon for songwriters. He plays around with the guitar as well, showing off his skills, even in a few instrumental bits that I am fully enthused by (listen to "The Stumble"). But he really shows his shit off in tunes like "Here, (Part 1)," "Snow" and "Open Letter to Heaven ." Naturally this is all subjective and in the moment, yet the album should considered as a whole. Undoubtedly, Gowan is very capable and these songs are incredibly enjoyable to hear. I do believe he's the possibility to produce something really epic and I want to be the first to hear it. 

To be had here:
Max Gowan - Big People

Leon Patriz - Overcome (2015)

So the Leon Partiz character is back and it is still goddamned weird. Maybe you recall the EP that was put out last year, Better Luck Next Fall? It was hard to describe and strangely disunited in style, yet compelling to hear nonetheless. Perhaps this lack of cohesion in sound is the formula, not the craziest thing I'd have heard nor the most foolish of notions. I mean I do own Cornish In A Turtleneck's album called A Collection Of 20 Songs About Booties, which isn't just a funny name but a wholly accurate depiction of the album's contents. To be fair, Overcome isn't that strange, however the Leon Patriz does share some musical qualities with Cornish In A Turtleneck. That is experimental pop music done with remarkable talent that is mostly undermined purposefully and beautifully weirdly.

I have often experessed my admiration for this sort of bizarre outsider pop, and some of my good friends here in Detroit have entertained me many an evening with just such music. Therefore, it will always be something I'm all about and Leon Patriz isn't just one of them but one of the better ones I've heard on the blog in the last few years.

To be had here:

Leon Patriz - Overcome

Nate Henricks - Quest for the Obsolete Egg (2015)

As I'm sure you may imagine I get large amount of musical material sent in for write-ups. This is something I encourage, but it doesn't seem to be fully randomly how the come in, at least from my point of view. I'll get a bunch of emails from folks I've never heard of, then one after another it will be returning musicians in an absolute shower of happy reoccurrence. This is my way of saying we have a series of previously featured musicians upcoming, starting with the notable Nate Henricks. This dude has been often praised by me for reasons that'll be clear to anyone that listens to any of his albums, not least of all the newest among them, Quest for the Obsolete Egg.

If is possible to comprehend I do believe our dear Mr. Henricks got even a bit farther out with this album. It bears similarities to the tracks "Your Arcade Prize (Live from Times Square)" and "Vegetarian Dog (Live in Tokyo)" from the prior album, Apple Juice, insomuch that it has an effected lo-fi quality to the vocals and an echoey facet that serves for choir-style backing. Obviously he does many weird things throughout like a spoken word list joke and some most erratic instrumentation. Naturally, these aren't gimmicks but the strange brilliance of Nate Henricks style of recording psychedelic bedroom pop.

Also, if you're not aware this is only one of many albums put out by this prolific man currently dwelling is Lawrence, Kansas. Do take the time to check out others. They never disappoint.

To be had here:
Nate Henricks - Quest for the Obsolete Egg

EP Grab Bag vol. 93

I've got a glut of EPs incoming lately. This is good news but also much time to be spent listening. Being the compulsive music fiend as usual I plowed through a bliss couple of evenings getting to know these six EPs and I don't think there's a single one to be scoffed at in the slightest way. In fact some of them are rather exceptionally brilliant. Mostly American with just a bit of Germany and the Down Under thrown in.

To be had here:
Caterwaulrus - Songs That Go Nowhere (2015)

It's been the better part of the year since Caterwaulrus appeared on the SRM, and now Austin-based musician has got a new EP out. In full disclosure, Larry wrote up his previous release, which I gave an all too cursory listen to but judging by the stunning quality of this new batch of tunes. No joke, these are stellar bedroom pop songs, quirky, psychedelic and charming as all get out. I am confindent enough to say fans of Nate Henricks, Tim Cohen, Slight Birching, Pill Wonder and so on will adore what Caterwaulrus is playing on Songs That Go Nowhere. I've already been texting the link to this album to my coworkers, which I'm sure they're jazzed about. But seriously, motherfucking listen to this EP.

Paar - Pure/She Brings the Rain (2015)

Paar is a band started by a member of German post-punk band, The Amount of Light We Give Off, that was featured exactly 30 Grab Bags ago. I'd say he kept with the post-punk that was so well displayed in that EP for these two new songs, adding more new wave as well. However they sound quite unique from the prior work as these are full of pumping, hypnotic bass and a most seductive singer. "Pure" is a striped down tune, as far as wall-of-sound songs go, and I really, truly fell in love with this band upon hearing the bleak yet sultry "She Brings the Rain." I gotta hear more of that sort of thing.

Little Star - The Romantic World of Little Star (2015)

A new band from a frequently mentioned city, it's Little Star of Portland, Oregon. Now, this band is called Little Star (they don't capitalize it but that shit drives me crazy to see while typing this out) and they've got a tag on their bandcamp for "Big Star." Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where they're inspiration came from. Nonetheless, I approached this EP openly and found myself incredibly endeared to the sweet, often acoustic, power pop tunes. Without a doubt these are well composed and delightful tunes that lack that annoyance factor much pop music creates for me. Like Big Star, who'd have guessed that?

Evasive Backflip - Pussy Up (2015)

Noisy, experimental, mathy jazz punk? Chicago? Naturally. Evasive Backflip put out this new EP on the superb indie label, Grandpa Bay Recordings, whose releases are regular occurrences on SRM at this point. Usually their releases are of an experimental sort, something that Pussy Up continues valiantly. The songs sound improvisational, a bit chaotic at moments but held together the excellent jazzy horn playing and angular guitar swirling around. "Disentanglement Puzzle" is an interesting, unique and very engaging introduction to this band's sound.

Feng Shui Police - Thank You (2015)

As I listened to this EP I very soon felt I was hearing a college kids, yet as I kept on it seems that might be an artful feint. So while I cannot be sure that Providence, RI's Feng Shui Police has anyone in college among its members, it was "Recorded in Dash's basement, powered by coffee and Thai food." Basically that sentence summarizes all I can remember about college anyway. What they've done here is make an acoustic garage rock album, if your mind can handle that concept. But it totally is, the drums are lower to make the guitars audible, the singing is lyric-centered like a young man liberated by use of language ought to embrace. Clever, in an cool, funny way.

White Lodge - Split 7" [w/ The Gorlons] (2015)

I'm not sure how this split came to be, but I know I have written up both these most excellent garage rock outfits, one from the Australian state of Queensland and other from American state of Missouri. These two songs are just from Brisbane's White Lodge made the fuzzy and fast psychedelic garage tune "Backwater Rumble" and another tune called "Ancient Tides," which is perhaps the more theatrically grungy of the two songs but they're very equally matched in overall lo-fi quality. The Gorlons have yet to release their half, but I look froward to it eagerly. God bless electronic communication allowing such far-flung artists to combine for a joint release, especially two I like so much.

Joplin Rice - Low Hum (2015)

Practice Records, the label started up by our blogging collogue over at the Modern Folk, has a new release. The first cassette issuing, as a mater of fact. It is an album I would unabashedly hype regardless of its affiliation with another blogger I respect. What he have here is a wonderful lo-fi folk/rock musician out of Lexington, KY called Joplin Rice.

There is something immediately familiar about Low Hum. Especially upon getting to the third track, "know it's not," with the acoustic guitars matched against the piano and organ playing. The songs bear wonderful song structure, brilliant lyrics and sweetly soft vocals throughout, with some being lo-fi rock nearly approaching psych-pop. Switches between the more folksy numbers and the faster and more amplified rock tunes, making for an overall album that's somewhere between Elliott Smith and a band like the High Water Marks. It isn't short of charms and I wish I could do a better job at conveying that in this post. You'd imagine I'd have gotten better at this over the years but it always seems like I'm groping for the right words. So you'll just have to trust me and the Modern Folk.

To be had here:
Joplin Rice - Low Hum

Samuel Boat - Tasting Like A Broken Fence (2014)

This is the second album that Samuel Boat has released this year. Some of you might recall Soda Pop Rock that was put out back in May and written up my yours truly as well as covered on the podcast. Stylistically, this new album hasn't strayed too far from the prior, however it does seem to have a bit more melancholy mood. You know that sweet bedroom pop melancholy were sadness is mixed up with cheerful instruments and it makes for a contradictory feeling that hard to express in words alone yet music excels at. Tasting Like A Broken Fence has several fine examples of this capacity with tracks like "walkin'" and forlorn love song "rain day."

The album is short, with a playtime of only 20 minutes, hardly longer than many EPs we share. The brevity is an asset as soon as you get to listening the final track, "from the best," you'll find yourself wanting to right back to the beginning and hear it all over again. The songs are among the best earworms I've heard come from the submissions to the blog. Basically, I am gushing because I can't get these damn tunes out of my head, with the catchy keys and soft guitar and what-have-you. Also check out the two tracks that he put out back in November, Thanksgiving Sampler.

To be had here:
Samuel Boat - Tasting Like A Broken Fence 

Nate Henricks - Apple Juice (2014)

The return of the much lauded Lawrence, Kansas-based experimental musician Nate Henricks. Followers of Spacerockmountain should recall the several previous posts on releases from Mr. Henricks and the interview with him on an earlier episode of our podcast. So I don't think it'll be a stretch to imagine my excitement at seeing that he's gone a released another album, I believe this to be his fifthteenth. Apple Juice carries on and simultaneously deviates from the themes of the recently preceding albums like NEON FOR NO ONE and HORSERADISH, that is as much as a theme can be applied to experimental pop. 

Overall, the songs are still very much in the camp of bedroom psych-pop that I've used to describe Henricks' music before, but the songs that begin the album have a harsher and cheerful tone, with more dissonance and erratic features that caused be some jostling upon the first listen, yet no means did I dislike it. In fact, the listener shall notice he circles back to this style with the track, "Tazareth," where some post-hardcore seems to have seemed in. Now, there are songs that'll fit the E6 sort of fuzzy psych that Henricks is a master at if he so chooses, and the two 'live' tracks "Vegetarian Dog" and "Your Arcade Prize" are instant earworms in this vein. I found myself humming each of these at work all week long. However, what makes Apple Juice as an album a truly awesome listen in the variation in throughout the short batch of songs. Being only 21 minutes it begs repeated listenings, and has I did so I found myself looking forward to all the weird, noisy and uncharacteristic parts as much as anything that could be considered a single out these tracks. The chiptune boops and beeps he throws in, the howling singing for a minute, the dark guitar riff and sound effects all add up into a wild display, which is more coherent than sound collage for sure but bears some relationship. The final number, "What is Not the Answer," is even a country tune, and a beautifully done one at that.

To be had here:
Nate Henricks - Apple Juice