Episode 94

Crystal Stilts "Invisible City" In Love With Oblivion LP (Slumberland) 2011

MV+EE "Foxy One" Country Stash LP (Three Lobed) 2011
Mantles "Roman Hat" Raspberry Thighs 7" (SDZ) 2011
Fungi Girls "Velvet Days" Some Easy Magic LP (Hozac) 2011
Andy Human "Center Of Gravity" Toy Magic 7" (Tic Tac Totally) 2011
Wet Hair "Echo Lady" In Vogue Spirit LP (De Stijl) 2011
Broken Water "Kansas" Peripheral Star 12" (Perennial) 2011
Naked On The Vague "Clock Of 12s" Twelve Dark Noons 12" (Sacred Bones) 2011
The Shrapnelles "Desert Furs" Asscalibur 7" (Hozac) 2011
B-Lines "Houseplants" s/t 12" (Nominal/Deranged) 2011
Keep Tidy "Plate Glass" Basement Mold EP CS (self released) 2011
Hills "Rise Again" Master Sleeps LP (Intergalactic Tactics) 2011
Moon Duo "Run Around (Organ Desert Remix by Cave)" Mazes Remixed CD (Sacred Bones) 2011
The People's Temple "Never Really (Saw Me Comin' Round)" Sons Of Stone LP (Hozac) 2011
Apache Dropout "God Bless You Johan Kugelberg" s/t LP (Family Vineyard) 2011
Sun Araw "December" Houston Abstros 7" (Monofonus Press) 2011
Radio People "Avalon" Avalon CS (Centre) 2011
KWJAZ "Once In Babylon (excerpt)" s/t CS (Brunch Groupe) 2011

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Episode 93

Terrorbird "Dumb Sick" Human Culture LP (Night People) 2011
EMA "Butterfly Knife" Past Life Martyred Saints LP (Souterrain Transmissions) 2011
Gun Outfit "Ring A Bell" High Places 12" (Make A Mess) 2011
Broken Water "Peripheral Star" Peripheral Star 12" (Perennial) 2011
Graeme Jefferies "I Just Want To Take You Higher" Kangaroos In The Paddock LP (Violet Times) 2011
Primitive Motion "A Straight Line" Certain Materials 7" (Soft Abuse) 2011
Twerps "Self Assured" s/t 7" (Underwater Peoples) 2011
Chris Forsyth "New Pharmacist Boogie (For Jack)" Paranoid Cat LP (Family Vineyard) 2011
Ty Segall "Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart" Ty Rex 12" (Goner) 2011
Nu Sensae "Tea Swamp Park" Bloodstains Across BC 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Role Mach "Sun Yat Sen" Bloodstains Across BC 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
White Lung "Deadbeat Sun" Bloodstains Across BC 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Shearing Pinx "Golden Spruce" Bloodstains Across BC 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
AHNA "Old Ones" Bloodstains Across BC 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Shipyards "Kool Treat, Cool Treet" Bloodstains Across BC 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Needles//Pins "My Politics" Bloodstains Across BC 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Moon Duo "In The Sun (Purling Hiss Remix)" Mazes Remixed CD (Sacred Bones) 2011
Hunters Palace "KRT" s/t 10" (self released) 2011
Grouper "Soul Eraser" A I A: Dream Loss LP (self released) 2011
Grouper "She Loves Me That Way (Second Heart Tone)" A I A: Alien Observer LP (self released) 2011
Annapurna Illusion "Blood Dive" split w/High Wolf 12" (Group Tightener) 2011

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Episode 92

Jaw dropping new cassette by San Francisco's Peter Berends as KWJAZ, just issued as the first release on Brunch Groupe, run by Joe Knight from Rangers. Two side-long tracks that ooze from one piece to the next, morphing from cosmic lounge music to slowed down cool jazz loops to warbled alien-like bossa nova excursions, all of it stitched together seamlessly across the cassette's forty-five minute run time. Initial batch of just over 100 copies sold out pretty fast, though Not Not Fun will be stepping up and putting it to wax sometime in the summer.

Daily Life "My Time" s/t 7" square flexi-lathe (Glass Coffin) 2011

Student Teacher "Faulty Stance" s/t CS (Geographing) 2011
Real Numbers "Tear It In Two" s/t 7" (Florida's Dying) 2011
Pheromoans "Newsagent Hop" My Mind Is On The Anti-Climb Paint 12" (Onec) 2011
The Feeling Of Love "We Are Out Of Tune" Dissolve Me LP (Born Bad)2011
Lenguas Largas "I Feel" s/t LP (Tic Tac Totally) 2011
Apache Dropout "Run Peacock Run" s/t LP (Family Vineyard) 2011
TV Ghost "The Inheritors" Mass Dream LP (In The Red) 2011
Holy Cobras "Night Fighter Part 1" Forever LP (Telephone Explosion) 2011
Predator "You" s/t LP (Douchemaster) 2011
B-Lines "In The Red" s/t 12" (Nominal/Deranged) 2011
Magic Jake & The Power Crystals "Brains Of Rats" s/t CS (Burger) 2011
Brain Flannel "So Dim" s/t 7" (Grave Mistake) 2011
Women In Prison "Births Of Rot" s/t 7" (Hozac) 2011
Iceage "Never Return" New Brigade LP (Dais) 2011
Homostupids "R Companion" Strawberry Orange Peach Banana 12" (Fashionable Idiots) 2011
Puffy Areolas "My Hell" split w/Purling Hiss 12" (Permanent) 2011
Providien "Followed By A Wraith" Followed By A Wraith LP (Amethyst Sunset) 2011
Ken Seeno "Driving Into Light Blustery Day" Invisible Surfers On Invisible Waves CS (NNA) 2011
Radio People "Sanctuary" Avalon CS (Centre) 2011
KWJAZ "Frighteous Wane (excerpt)" s/t CS (Brunch Groupe) 2011

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Episode 91

Mandlebrot & Skyy "TT Races" OD-Axis LP (Digitalis) 2011

Rene Hell "Lighthouse Marvel" The Terminal Symphony LP (Type) 2011

Ken Seeno "Figs" Open Window CS (Watercolor) 2010

Dylan Ettinger "Endeavor" Botany Bay CS (NNA) 2011

Wet Hair "Fade Til Morning" In Vogue Spirit LP (De Stijl) 2011 *due May 7 2011

Zomes "Spiraling" Earth Grid LP (Thrill Jockey) 2011

Bitchin Bajas "Water 4" Water Wrickets CS (self released) 2011

Three Legged Race "Raining Order" Raining Order CS (NNA) 2011

Motion Sickness Of Time Travel "Telepathy" Seeping Through The Veil Of The Unconscious LP (Digitalis) 2011

Grouper "Alien Observer" AIA: Alien Observer LP (Yellow Electric) 2011

Niggas With Guitars "Milky White" Ethnic Frenzy LP (Digitalis) 2011

Neon Sea "Compressing Light" split w/Krister Bergman CS (Michelle Remembers) 2010
Nervous Operator "Antiverse" split w/Mongst CS (Isolated Now Waves) 2010

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Episode 90

Ooooh boy, received a doozy of a surprise this week with the self released ten inch by London/Brussels shadow dwellers, Hunter's Palace. A few weeks had gone by after the band had solicited a promo of their debut, so unwrapping the record last week was met with head scratching after trying to read the words on the front of it. Out slipped the promo sheet with a write up that muddied things even further. Apparently the band's name was translated to Maltese for the cover, then the sheet went on to inform me of strange laws in Malta. No description of the band, well, outside of "formed in 2003, disbanded in 2014". Well, proof's in the puddin', so they say. Side A,"Tal-Metall", begins with a disorienting guitar line that reminded me of later period Don Caballero, before the song eventually erupts into well-timed guitar howls and smoked out riffs. Meanwhile, the vocalist is singing in a language I cannot place. Maltese? Eventually it all settles down, though some great tension is created by some whirling electronics and eerie guitars. Soon the riffs are back and the vocals grow urgent this time, yet still indiscernible. The song fades out and soon it's over. What just happened there? No easy reference points here so I bring the needle back to the beginning. Again. And again. I guess it sounds a bit like a thuggish offshoot of one of the many bands from Metz, France (think of a more monlothic Anals or A.H. Kraken...maybe). That's the best I got. The flip is a lot more chaotic but very controlled and calculated. More yelping in Maltese coupled with a beefy wall of feedbacking guitars, droning keyboards and cavernous guitars. Intense listening to say the least. Easily one of my favorite releases so far this year, and it blindsided me, as so many great records do. I highly recommend you grab this one direct from the source because it doesn't seem like too many shops or distros will be picking up on this anytime soon.

Also just watched this video for Tal-Metall, which hasn't really cleared much up.
*note: not for the squeamish




The Sandwitches "Over The Moon" Mrs. Jones Cookies LP (Empty Cellar) 2011
Terrorbird "We Were Monsters" Human Culture LP (Night People) 2011
Circuit Des Yeux "Barrel Down" s/t 7" (De Stijl) 2011
The Fresh & Onlys "Keep Telling Everyone Lies" Secret Walls 12" (Sacred Bones) *due April 26
Girls Names "Lawrence" Dead To Me LP (Captured Tracks) 2011
Vacant Lots "Cadillac" s/t 7" (Mexican Summer) 2011
True Widow "Skull Eyes" As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth LP (Kemado) 2011
Broken Water "Heartstrings" Peripheral Star 12" (Perennial) 2011
Jerusalem & The Starbaskets "Brighter The Light" DOST LP (De Stijl) 2011 *due May 7
Jeans Wilder "Don't Want To Live Forever" Nice Trash LP (Atelier Ciseaux/La Station Radar) 2011
Dirty Beaches "A Hundred Highways" Badlands LP (Zoo Music) 2011
Krang "Spirit Animal" s/t 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Hunter's Palace "Tal-Metall" Il Palazz-Tal Kaccatur 10" (self released) 2011
Norman Neubauer "Background" unreleased mp3, 2011
Hobo Cubes "There Are No Corners In This Dimension" Perceptive Pulses CS (Orange Milk) 2011
Giant Claw "Big Heat" Midnight Murder CS (Orange Milk) 2011

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Episode 89

After creating some of the harshest noise assaults under his Burning Star Core moniker, CS Yeh steps out from behind his violin and processed electronics for a shot at pop. The A side, "In The Blink Of An Eye", starts out with an early 00's bass thump (think early DFA singles) and is followed by some obtuse and muted guitar work. Then his voice (noise fans will have heard this only in the form of Yoko Ono-like vocal workouts) jumps in. Doubled up, we first hear a flat and almost unemotional voice, a bit reminiscent of Jim O'Rourke's, and is coupled with a backup that awkwardly tries to hit the higher notes. May not sound that appealing on paper but it balances out quite well alongside the upbeat music, all of which grows in sonic density as the song progresses. It's all pretty head scratching at first but much like his more experimental work, it grows on you. The flip is a piano-led ballad that is a bit more stark and haunting than the A. Both songs are expertly produced and reveal a side of the musician that I'm sure most would never have even thought possible. Hopefully this is just a taste of things to come from. Great packaging on this too; silkscreened covers on nice textured paper. Sure to be out of print soon. Snatch it here.

CS Yeh "In The Blink Of An Eye" s/t 7" (De Stijl) 2011
Koban "Turn Him On" s/t 7" (Broadway To Boundary) 2011
Sharp Ends "Vacant City" s/t 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Dan Melchior "The Grassy Knoll" The King Of Sheep CS (Scotch Tapes) 2011
Dan Melchior "Atomizer" Assemblage Blues LP (Siltbreeze) 2011
Slug Guts "Town Tied" Howlin' Gang LP (Sacred Bones) 2011
K-Holes "Native Tongues" s/t LP (Hozac) 2011
Primitive Motion "Circle Of Light" Certain Materials 7" (Soft Abuse) 2011
Tyvek "Outer Limits" Third Man Live LP (Third Man) 2011
Strange Attractor "Just Lookin'" Strange Attractor CS (Scotch Tapes) 2011
Lenguas Largas "Endless Sands" s/t LP (Tic Tac Totally) 2011
Women In Prison "Births Of Rot" Strange Waves 7" (Hozac) 2011
Cosmonauts "Dorothy" s/t LP (Permanent) 2011
Purling Hiss "Walking Down The Street" split w/Puffy Areolas 12" (Permanent) 2011 *due April 16
Psychic Paramount "DDB" II LP (No Quarter) 2011
Total Control "Pyre Island" Pyre Island 7" (Hustle Muscle) 2011
Black Zone Myth Chant "Sleeping With The TV On" Straight CS (Winged Sun) 2011
High Wolf "Dream Is Good" Etoile 3030 CS (Not Not Fun) 2011

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*episode MIA, should be up later this week

Episode 88

Topless Mongoes "Rowena" s/t 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Sharp Ends "Broadview Pressure Test" s/t 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
B-Lines "It Rains" Bloodstains Across B.C. 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Manic Attracts "Dead City" Bloodstains Across B.C. 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Indian Wars "Get To The Point" Bloodstains Across B.C. 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Yung Mums "BC Budz" Bloodstains Across B.C. 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Timecopz "Laptop DJs" Bloodstains Across B.C. 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Student Teacher "Eco-Babes" Bloodstains Across B.C. 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
UV Race "Low" Homo LP (In The Red) 2011
Vivian Girls "Lake House" Share The Joy LP (Polyvinyl) 2011 *due April 12
Crystal Stilts "Precarious Stair" In Love With Oblivion LP (Slumberland) 2011 *due April 12
Crystal Swells "Waco, Wasilla, Waikiki" Goethe Head Soup CS (self released) 2011
The Vacant Lots "Confusion" s/t 7" (Mexican Summer) 2011
onYou "Sight/Seen" White Waste one-sided 12" (Captcha) 2010
Krang "Speed Of Tent" Speed Of Tent 7" (Mammoth Cave Recording Co.) 2011
Circuit Des Yeux "Self Satisfaction" Ode To Fidelity 7" (De Stijl) 2011
Motion Sickness Of Time Travel "Auto Suggestion" Seeping Through The Veil Of The Unconscious LP (Digitalis) 2011
Belong "Come See" Common Era LP (Kranky) 2011
Higuma "Pacific Temple" Pacific Fog Dream LP (Root Strata) 2011
Mandlebrott and Skyy "System R" OD-Axis LP (Digitalis) 2011

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Episode 87

Fungi Girls "Glare #2" s/t 7" (Group Tightener) 2011
Bitch Prefect "Holiday In America" s/t 7" (RIP Society) 2011
Dan Melchior "Stairway To Croydon" Assemblage Blues LP (Siltbreeze) 2011
K-Holes "Gutter" s/t LP (Hozac) 2011
Crystal Swells "Patent Trolls" Goethe Head Soup CS (self released) 2011
Iceage "Never Return" New Brigade LP (Dais) 2011
Psychic Paramount "N6" II LP (No Quarter) 2011
Lumerians "Burning Mirrors" Transmalinnia LP (Knitting Factory) 2011
Follakzoid "Now" s/t 12" (Sacred Bones) 2011
Holydrug Couple "Arabic Hash" Ancient Lands 12" (Sacred Bones) 2011
Gypsy Treasures "Strawdogs Of Wroclaw" Buried Goods CS (Not Not Fun) 2011
High Wolf "Flowers Of Congo" Etoile 3030 CS (Not Not Fun) 2011
Peaking Lights "Hey Sparrow" 936 LP (Not Not Fun) 2011
Hype Williams "William, Shotgun Sprayer" One Nation 12" (Hippos In Tanks) 2011
Tonetta "Big Rig" Vol. 2 LP (Black Tent Press) 2011

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Pop Dr(((O)))nes: Episode 86

Hozac has hooked up a couple great LPs so far this year, with the most addictive being the new K-Holes full length (album cover above). Made up of a few members of Golden Triangle-- amongst a numerous other bands I can't gather much info on--the band combine thunderous, tribal drumming more than one drummer?), some voodoo sax wails and a bent take on surf rock. Moments of Golden Triangle's high energy pop up here and there, but this is certainly not the party music that their day job have become known for. Dirge-y, ritualistic and swampy blues that bring to mind The Birthday Party, Scratch Acid or, more recently, Australia's Slug Guts. Highly recommended stuff. Also make sure you check out the hammering thug-punk of France's Subtle Turnhips on their third album and first for Hozac.


Spotlight this week on the Not Not Fun affiliated 100% Silk label. It seems as if there is more than enough mutant disco, haunted R&B and chopped and screwed midnight soul for there to be an entire label dedicated to these hazy, late night dancefloor riddims. You can get these from most decent suppliers on the cheap (they're all 45rpm 12 inches that are housed in the exact same sleeve) and come highly recommended if you like what Amanda Brown, the head honcho of the label, does under her LA Vampires guise.

Fungi Girls "Owsley Knows" s/t 7" (Group Tightener) 2011
Kurt Vile "Jesus Fever" Smoke Ring For My Halo LP (Matador) 2011
Bitch Prefect "Marilyn Monroe" s/t 7" (RIP Society) 2011
Koban "Turn Him On" s/t 7" (Broadway To Boundary) 2011
K-Holes "Short Zippers" s/t LP (Hozac) 2011
Dizzy Eyes "Ay" Let's Break Up The Band 7" (Hardly Art) 2011
The Sticks "Under Pressure" Scrapes EP 7" (M'Ladys) 2011
Davilla 666 "Obsesiano" Tan Bajo LP (In The Red) 2011
Duchess Of Saigon "Zero Song" s/t LP (S-S) 2011
Los Llamarada "A Current" Restless Night 7" (S-S) 2011
Subtle Turnhips "Two Two" Terd Album LP (Hozac) 2011
Folded Shirt "Always Born That Way" F/S LP (Fashionable Idiots) 2011
Unholy Two "Sick Fuck" $kum Of The Earth (Columbus Discount) 2010
Metal Mountains "Orange Yellow" Golden Trees LP (Amish) 2011
Psychic Reality "Expla" Vibrant New Age LP (Not Not Fun) 2011
Samantha Glass "Sky Tricks" Celestial Night Queen CS (Not Not Fun) 2011
Tonetta "Get It Going" s/t 7" (Black Tent Press) 2011
Ital "Queens" s/t 12" (100% Silk) 2011
Cuticle "Towel" s/t 12" (100% Silk) 2011
Maria Minerva "Hagasuxzzavol" s/t 12" (100% Silk) 2011
The Deeep "Muddy Tracks" s/t 12" (100% Silk) 2011

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Pop Dr(((O)))nes: Episode 85

Plenty of great local action to report on this week. First up is the long awaited (at least around these parts) seven inch by the two-piece Koban. The duo combine Joy Division-esque guitar lines of misery with thumping bass and super simple drum machine beats. Sam's vocals are at the right level of buried and distorted, just enough to mask them but clear enough to hear the lyrics. He usually sounds like he's singing from the back of the room, while Brittany's vocals are up front, very clear and act as an excellent counterpoint. The band have really come into their own as a live act since forming in 2008 as Manta Ray Gun and are surprisingly entertaining to watch live, which is kinda rare for a duo with their minimalist tendencies. You can catch them live twice this weekend--Friday will see them at the Lion's Den for their seven inch release party and they'll be opening up for NYC's Silk Flowers at the Anza Club on Saturday.




Vancouver's Dizzy Eyes also have a new seven inch out this week, released on the new-ish Sub Pop subsidiary Hardly Art. Three breezy tracks of urgent pop garage that verges on the anthemic and brings to my mind late era Pixies. Absolutely addictive stuff. Two of the three songs here have been cleaned up from their original and long sold out appearance on a split cassette with Mode Moderne. An LP is apparently in the works for Hardly Art later this year, though, outside of an appearance at SXSW later this month, the band will be on hiatus for a good chunk of 2011. Snatch that limited single up here or grab it from yr local grocer.



Dizzy Eyes "Let's Break Up The Band" Let's Break Up The Band 7" (Hardly Art) 2011
Beach Fossils "Out In The Way (Feat. Jack Tatum)" What A Pleasure 12" (Captured Tracks) 2011
Tim Cohen "New House In Heaven" Magic Trick LP (Captured Tracks) 2011
The Sandwitches "In The Garden" Mrs. Jones Cookies LP (Empty Cellar) 2011
Julian Lynch "Canopy" Terra LP (Underwater Peoples) 2011
Trophy Wife "Light Socket" s/t 7" (Private Leisure Industries) 2011
Peaking Lights "Amazing And Wonderful" 936 LP (Not Not Fun) 2011
Sonny Smith "Broke Artist At The Turn Of The Century" 100 Records Vol. 2 5x7" (Turn Up) 2011
Dirty Beaches "Horses" Badlands LP (Zoo Music) 2011
Koban "Solid Gold" Solid Gold 7" (Broadway To Boundary) 2011
Julianna Barwick "Prizewinning" The Magic Place LP (Asthmatic Kitty) 2011
Factums "Slow Run" Gilding The Lilies CS (Night People) 2010
Bad Indians "Come Down" Don't Hang That (On Me) CS (On The Make Music) 2010
Pheromoans "Trusthouse Blues" It Still Rankles LP (Convulsive) 2011
Cheveu "Charlie Sheen" 1000 LP (Kill Shaman) 2011
Folded Shirt "Hello Telephone Pole" s/t LP (Fashionable Idiots) 2011
Los Llamarada "Restless Light (Was Made Flesh In Me)" Restless Light 7" (S-S) 2011
Pas Chic Chic "Premier Souffle" s/t 12" (Semprini) 2010

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