Nate Hendricks - SLEETMUTE (C​-​Sides from Neon for No One) (2014)

A brand new release by Nate Hendricks who has been really pumping out releases all the fucking time but my dim-witted ass can't keep up. I think it was sadly enough 2 years ago that I posted this dude, like last was NTH MERIDIAN, and that's a travesty as his music is really the bee's knees. This doesn't mean I haven't given him a listen in the intervening time, in fact I have found he is evolving as a songwriter and when I sat down this morning to really give him a solid listen I was blow away at just how much he has progressed. This album is all over the place in tone and style and I can't resist it, although I am all too aware I do it too often, comparing it to an Elephant 6 album. There is a most elegant mixture of genres and absurdity that left me most utterly charmed upon hearing this album. Perhaps my favorite addition I noticed straight away was the use of strings, it makes several of the tracks such as "Charmed Life" and "Black Lodge Waltz" assume a most delightful folky theme. Moreover, he incorporates a gospel elements in songs like "Stranger Things" if you can excuse the belch at the beginning. Finally, that album even has comedic parts with the track "10 Missing Dogs" being basically an audio sketch not unlike something from Superego. In a nutshell, I liked to a great deal and bet y'all might too.

To be had here:
Nate Hendricks - SLEETMUTE (C​-​Sides from Neon for No One) (2014)

EP Grab Bag vol. 50

I've returned to swoop the glory of the fiftieth Grab Bag out from under my most esteemed colleague, Elvis, mostly to maintain my internet persona of a roguish dick with good tastes that covers for a offline personality of dick with old pants and unkempt hair. Anyhow, sorry about not being on top of the blog and I know there is always a million musicians looking for whatever exposure they can get but I have spent the last months deep in a rabbit hole of John Fahey, cheap beer and used books to really be in the space for listening to all the material sent. To be honest I am most likely still burnt out but I have been giving it the old college try tonight and here is what I found in a very brief looking over of the submissions.

To be had here:

Snake Chime Zen - 702 & Bad Trip Tape (2013)

702 is a demo tape really done in one continue track, running for 23 minutes. However, this guy got to me at the right level of alertness/drunkness and I was inclined to hear all of it and was pleased. Both the releases on his bandcamp are worth hearing for the lo-fi fan. He explains it better than I would in his submission email: "Hi, ummm this stuff is really lo-fi and some of the first music I've ever made. The following is a few minutes of a tape I made tripping on acid in my bedroom while I was supposed to be baby sitting my dying grandmother. Recorded in one take on a handheld battery operated tape recorder.  It's cool if you don't like it, I don't think it's that great either, it was a spontaneous thing that couldn't be stopped."

Mao Tzu - Stripped Down and Out in the Cold (2013)

This is a dude whose work I have been a fan for years already. I had a good idea going in that I would be pleased by this latest effort and I can happily claim I am not disappointed. It is the strange electronically-enhanced psychedelia I have become familiar with from guy's music. It is done just as well as anything else I have heard from him and I recommend to to all of you that have downloaded him in the past and those that have not to go back into his older releases.

Nostalgique - Awake the Light in the Night of All Creatures (2013)

This is off the track from what I have been listening to lately but it's always good to force oneself out a rut. This is some rather low-tempo, atmospheric music with a gloomy mood. I enjoy how echoey the piano playing is. Makes the tracks seem hazy and more ethereal like the album art invokes so well. Recommended for those seeking something mildly depressing but emotionally evocative.

Отстой - Тупым (EP)

I have no idea what those words are or mean as I don't know Russian at all, but according to the submission email is a one-man garage rock act from St. Petersburg. It is loud, fast and pretty heavy which as you can most likely guess leads me to greatly enjoy it. However, I've a bone to pick in that even for a lo-fi release this recording is sloppily done, with bumping and scratching sounds that sounds like a microphone is getting hit are audible throughout. I am earnestly interested in hearing more and better recordings by this fella, therefore I have posted it so someone can sent him a message in Russian to clean up his act and get this ship shape next go around.

Kramies - The Wooden Heart (2014)

This record has three things going for it:

1. It is being released by Hidden Shoal, one of the best labels around putting out dreamy pop music.

2. Folks involved with Guided by Voices and Grandaddy have helped with the production.

3. The recording quality is immaculate without sounding processed.

The layers of lush sound found on the EP's title track may not cure cancer, but it almost surely can cure canker sores. Did I ever mention that I studied medicine during the French Revolution? And by "study medicine", I mean I killed a lot of people and ate them. This EP is much more relaxing than that time period in my life, and any fan of the aforementioned bands who isn't taking this one out for a spin should be a patient at my lobotomy school.

Download it here:
Kramies - The Wooden Heart (2014)

Or buy the physical.

Passion Pusher - Your A Loser (2013)

Many folks have sat down, drank a liter of scotch, and rocked out lo-fi masterpieces over the ages. Some of my favorite recordings were made on an old shitty boombox that had a built in microphone. I would record over little skits I had taped as a wee demon. Passion Pusher is like a throwback to that era. These proper Edinburgh lads are likely less sauced than the average individual walking the city's streets, but they put their drunken state to good use and laid to tape some fuzzy goodness. Keep drinking my friends.



Get it here:

Passion Pusher - Your A Loser (2013)

Plastic Pinks/ Las Tias (2014)

Every poppy garage jam can use a few reverb drenched "oooohs" and "ahhhhs" over the chorus, and if you have ever heard any of my tunes, you would know that I have an ample supply in my arsenal of sound. Cheap Miami Records must be kindred souls, as they released this awesome split tape between Plastic Pinks and Las Tias. No filler here, just 5 great fuzzy pop jams. "Yo La Vi" is a snotty anthem to those days you find yourself stuck on a frozen highway in Atlanta. It's helping warm my ass as this stupid city gets its ass in gear. When Las Tias' "Vision" kicks in, I feel like getting on a plane and jetting to a Detroit roller-ring, where at least they know how to deal with snow fall. But I guess I'll just have to let these crunchy jams warm me while I sit here and wait.

Get it here:

Plastic Pinks/ Las Tias (2014)

Yorkshire Fields - Dummo (2013)

The 80s are back you say? Then why don't I see lines of coke at every club? I can't stand the stuff personally, but it did provide ample opportunity to taste the fairer sex.

Yorkshire Fields from Louisiana owe a lot to the synth/electro culture of the 1980s, but this is not a project built entirely out of retro-resurrection. After the funky pop of "Light Leaks," the band charts a path closer to the fuzzed out electronic indie rock than anything resembling Culture Club. My favorite track, "Did We Get Old" rests just off the coastline of my imagination with its buzzing guitar licks, calling me to swim at night even when I know sharks are out there waiting to take a bite. I saw Kisses play at the Soda Bar in San Diego last night, and these kids would have fit well on that bill.

No physical release (yet), but it is a free digitally, so grab it before they run out of free-downloads.

Get it here:
Yorkshire Fields - Dummo (2013)

EP Grab Bag vol. 49

Chelsea Wolfe - Pain is Beauty (2013)

When you are a dark lord like myself, you often require minions to carry out nefarious plans. Yet, minions provide little in the way of conversation and companionship, and thus a black queen is required. Chelsea Wolfe would be an ideal ruler of my evil domain in hell, and her 2013 is one of the best "pop" records I have heard in some time. "We Hit a Wall" showcases her haunting vocals as a cold beat lurches the track towards its ominous end. Even if she were to reject my advances, a shrine will be built to her visage in Hell.

Yosa Buson and Travel by Train - Izarra (2013)

My label-mates have crafted another fine set of drone and dark-synth inspired jams that were played while I tortured a few pirates from the 18th century.  Pirates from that era have a real aversion to experimental music, and my master on high wanted to send a message to all the miscreants on the open sea.

Atu - Pictures on Silence (2013)

Hip Hop is a new thing in your world, so we have only started to recruit members of the community into Hell's fold. Little do most humans know, but simply owning a Rap record is enough to get you a meeting with a dark lord once you have bitten the dust. I think we will make an exception for Atu. This is clean, bouncy Hip-Hop that is just odd enough to make it out of place at a high school dance party. Beautiful and enchanting beats that show what a producer can do when not confined to the whims and ego of a popstar.

Best of SpaceRockMountain 2013

2013 was a great year for independent music. I was exposed to a great number of acts while writing for this website, and these are just a few that continued to spin on my digital turntable well after they were posted.

Ubu Roi – Nice Dude EP (2013)

BlackBoxRed – Stripper (2013)

So Stressed – Attracted to Open Mouths (2013)

Thee Dang Dangs - For the People (2013)

The Future Primitives - Into The Primitive (2013)

The Sufis – Inventions (2013)

The Balcony Stars – She’s Going Down (2013)

Liam Singer – Arc Iris (2013)

Crown Larks - Catalytic Conversion (2013)

Shape Breaker - Eyes Wide (2013) 

White Poppy - White Poppy (2013)

Not Not Fun is one of the best record labels in California putting out psychedelic dance music, improvised jams, and off-kilter tunes. It was a stellar year for the label and more than a few of my favorite records from this year were released under their banner. White Poppy may be the strongest new release, and you have probably seen this release pop up on countless yearend Best Of lists.

White Poppy sounds like countless groups recording in their bedrooms on their IMac but with a sense of polish and perfection that is harder to come by. As this project is the brainchild of Crystal Dorval, it is amazing to see how much traction she gets out of the swirling melodies she laces with ethereal vocal stylings. Distant yet fun, and you know that is always worth a listen.

Get it here:
White Poppy - White Poppy (2013)

EP Grab Bag vol. 48

More goodness from the month of December that are just now getting the respect they deserve.

Soft Cure – Candy (2013)

Instrumental indie-surf tunes by a kid who is making the best of the DIY esthetic and has put together two pleasing songs you can use to dream about when covered in ice and death.

 

 

 

Land Lines (PDX) – Loserly EP (2013)

Fuzzed out garage pop from rainy Portland. I have a slew of 7 inch singles from the 90s that sound just like this. Still good in my estimation.

 

 

 

Beast & Flood – Forever Homes/Name Split EP

Sydney has more than kangaroos and guys who look like just fought a gang of crocs, it also has great post-punk like Beast and Flood. At the start of Forever Homes, I got a distinct Pavement feel that quickly faded behind the graceful and prodding baseline and howling vocals. Highly recommended.

 

 

Misled Navigator – Sense, Déjà vu (2013)

If you are going to experiment, it always helps to have some tunes that even the most jaded hipster could dance to. These Brooklyn kids picked up on this lesson, and put together what could best be described as alternative dance punk used to fuck to.

 

 

 

Bike Weak – Idle (2013)

This is some odd shit. Smooth R&B jams sung by a guy who is either completely high and/or drunk and taking a piss on the style, or so committed to his craft that he doesn’t care if he comes off crazy and psychopathic. Being a psychopath myself, I can usually smell one of my kind. More of this type of insanity please.

 

 

Svarta Stugan – A Mutation and a Madness (2013)

Because I am in a fucked up mood thanks to Bike Weak, I am not sure if I crave blood or love at the moment. Thankfully, this Swedish band gives me both, and delivers a dark set of songs that look bleak even under a cloudy Gothenburg sky.