2010-12-01
Important news.
Just in case you've missed the big news, No Fear Of Pop has moved. From now on, you will find your favorite Berlin/Oslo music blog exclusively here: http://nofearofpop.net. Thank you so much for your loyalty.
2010-11-18
How to disappear completely
The music of Leon Sommer is a small stream, continuously flowing with cold, crystal clear water, slightly lit up by the unnaturally big moon hanging on the night sky above us. It is also the music project of Dave Robins, which is all the information I've found so far, making quirky indie pop slash lo-fi while gazing down at his shoes and listening to The Antlers on a cheap stereo on his spare time. A wild guess, that is. Maybe.
Grab a little collection of some recently and not-so-recently recorded tracks off his bandcamp, entitled How To Disappear Completely. You may even call it a little "precursor" to his upcoming album.
2010-11-16
Mutual Feelings (of Respect and Admiration).
Somehow, I'm not capable of listening to Sean Nicholas Savage's brand new record Mutual Feelings (of Respect and Admiration) without experiencing a faint sentiment of shame and embarrassment. At the same time, however, I am equally not able to listen to this without developing a strange urge to stand up and start dancing in purest joy and happiness. After all, despite all his overwhelming tendency to cheesiness, Savage basically deserves to be admired for his warm-hearted and honest take on disco-leaning pop that is drenched in stripped romanticism. With Silly Kissers' David Carriere handling the production efforts, one of the most prolific artists of Canada's left field music scene has come up with an overall terrific piece of music. Mutual Feelings (of Respect and Admiration) is out now on Arbutus Records.
Sean Nicholas Savage - Oo La La
Sean Nicholas Savage - Disco Dancing
Don't lose connection.
Completely fell for this fuzzed out prettiness by San Francisco's latest pop sensation Melted Toys, amazingly well crafted songs that despite the rusted layers of lo-fi embracing noise actually care for melody and construction, features that show some real talent here coming out of the brains and hands of Brian Wakefield, Daniel Rosado, and Steven Harkins, resulting in some tunes that beneficially set this trio apart from so many mediocre projects surfacing this year. Fortunately, this fact has already been recognized by folks more relevant than myself, among them our crazily adored friends over at Underwater Peoples who are going to drop Melted Toys' debut EP sometime in early 2011.
Thanks to Rose Quartz for the heads up.
Melted Toys - Saturday Night Kids
Melted Toys - Lost Connection
2010-11-15
Driving along.
Byron Ferrari from Columbus, Ohio ain't someone who feels the urge to talk about his music too much. In fact, he doesn't even bother to set up a myspace or to provide his newer tunes on his bandcamp with any kind of cover art. So, I guess he intends to let the music speak for itself. And why not? Frytos solo project Young Heat is devoted to some seriously stripped down, honestly lo-fi stuff that is hazy and dreamy as hell and, oh yes, truly hypnagogic in its approach. With a guitar work that indeed resembles that of a certain Matthew Mondanile III, Young Heat's music is made for lazy afternoons in the sunshine and in general all about impressions and blurred recollections, not about songs whatsoever. So really, what should there be talked about?
Young Heat - Soda Cans
Young Heat - Kihyui
Giraffe's Kiss.
Robert Robinson's blissful recording project Sore Eros returns with a sweet little gem of finest pop haziness. Giraffe's Kiss will be on the band's forthcoming Know Touching, due November 23 on Norfolk, Virginia's Shdwply Records. Folky, lovely, a little amount of distortion and hints of noise to underline a lo-fi production approach, before we could even start deeming this a little too blatant and almost cheap we were already singing along. Sorry, we just can't help it. And oh, oh!, this video.
Sore Eros - Giraffe's Kiss
Alpha Romeo.
A wonderfully deranged late night jam by London beat wizard Bobby Jewel aka Love Distance. Alpha Romeo is dark and twisted and actually owes quite a lot to naughties Berlin minimal, straight mesmerizing beat works that chase reduced sounds which keep on flickering around over the track's course, creating unsteadiness in steadiness which has always been the key feature in sophisticated minimal music.
Love Distance - Alpha Romeo
2010-11-14
Vert Bleu Noir.
These pure, straightforward, true to the letter new wave bangers by Roanne, France cousins Maudoux Laurent and Jeremy Monteiro aka Accident (now based out of Marseille) have blown my mind since I first stumbled across their bandcamp a few weeks back. The duo's songs are truly amazing, dark and instantly captivating pop perfection that evokes images of sociocritical movies from the 80s dealing with young, leather vested beatniks who waste their days straying through the banlieues of Paris.
Head over to Accident's bandcamp to cop their Vert Bleu Noir EP for free.
Accident - Vert Bleu Noir
Accident - Marjoram
Flower Walk.
Beautiful, gently psyched-out folk by Eugene, Oregon musician David Kanaga who has had a pretty constant output of quite a variety of little pop gems in the last couple of months. His latest Flower Walk EP, available for free via his bandcamp (note this wonderful cover art which is a detail of Hieronymus Busch's masterpiece The Garden of Earthly Delights), is in my eyes and ears his best collection of songs to date, splendid melodies and a lot of ethereal and fairy-tale resembling sounds coming from here and there, cheerful and happy like a spring walk through flourishing fields.
David Kanaga - Flower Walk
Their Only Dreams.
Not the usual kind of psych-infused lo-fi tunes coming to you from Los Angeles, California by the amazing pop wizard David Lyudmirsky under his recording moniker Their Only Dreams. His songs may draw quite heavily on decades of psychedelic music, but still Lyudmirsky remains truly original by not simply mimicking all things that have worked for others in the past. Having recorded all instruments by himself after trying with two bands hadn't worked out right, Lyudmirsky was able to put his very own perception of experimental music's heritage into the songs, blending contemporary California-flavored lo-fi with hints of world music and 60s to 70s psychedelia.
Their Only Dreams' beautiful debut effort Singles - B•Sides & Rarities Volume 1 is now available for free via his bandcamp.
Their Only Dreams - Darling in Dream Dimension
Their Only Dreams - PostAGE Paid
Their Only Dreams - Days of Awe
2010-11-13
White Russia
The two-piece White Russia from South London creates dark and melancholic electronica with influences from names such as Björk and The Knife, while I myself can't help drawing parallels to the Norwegian dark pop/electronic duo Thelma & Clyde (whom, by the way, just released their debut album). Take a listen to a couple of tracks due to their upcoming release below, featuring Marina's beautiful and pure vocals meeting drowsy, slightly darkwave-inspired beats. Don't forget to check out their music video for Charmless State (directed by Lee Mangan) — which was recently selected for the London Independent Film Festival 2010, music video category.
2010-11-12
Mixtape: August In My Mind.
They say it's gonna be stormy today. At least for Berlin, this would be the first real storm this fall. And it's gonna be a long and cold winter again, at least so I've heard. I can't even remember how the summer was. So, this little compilation. Really nothing special (except for this outstanding cover art, but this is the one part I had nothing to do with), just a collection of garage pop/surf/whatever tunes I've been digging since the end of spring, though I can't recall when that was. It starts with August In my Mind and ends with Choirs of Winter, so you might call it my transitional mixtape I guess. Really hope you enjoy.
Cover photograph by Florian Reischauer / Pieces of Berlin.
Artwork by Tonje Thilesen.
Thank you.
Download the whole mixtape here.
Side A:
1. The Fresh & Onlys - August in My Mind
2. Pageants - Crushin' Diamonds With Her Teeth
3. Ancient Crux - Stage Fright
4. Big Troubles - Freudian Slips
5. You And Your Pointy Ears - Can't Stand the Love
6. Flight - Turns To Blood
7. Katrina Stonehart - Japaneseloveshow
8. Cloud Nothings - Water Turns Back
9. Triptides - Reel
Side B:
1. Real Estate - Out of Tune
2. Spook Houses - Family Plot
3. Borrowed Beams of Light - Julie (What's that Spell?)
4. Range Rover - Soda
5. Fanzine - Tough
6. Young Prisms - These Daze
7. Summer Twins - The More I Think of You
8. Shimmering Stars - Let It Be Me
9. Tamaryn - Choirs of Winter
2010-11-11
Mariah Carey.
I still don't know what to really make of this, but oh yes, the mysterious and rather weird New Jersey (?) dude Popular Culture Shaman indeed did a remix, or rather, sick reconfiguration of Mariah Carey's, well, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (wtf) introductory tune Betcha Gon' Know, and though I can't decide if this is awesome in a rather twisted and sick way or after all just sick, Shaman's take on it is strangely intriguing with its slowly protracted beat and Shaman's echo-laden, sweet yet frightening vocals. Witch and blues I guess.
(bandcamp)
Shaman/Mariah Carey - Betcha Gon' Know (Shaman's Bun-in-the-Oven Remix)
Meh EP.
Our guy Ryan Gabel aka Arc Light returns with a brand new EP after last month's splendid Westinghousing full length, with three tunes that he presented last night are supposed to be his "cleaner" stuff according to the artist himself. And indeed, VHS is Dead sounds less rough and overtly lo-fi than the album's tracks, in particular the vocals are clearer now, but in any case Gabel has not given up to deliver pretty psyched-out, 80s infused synth pop gems that let my inner self walk around like Detective Sonny Crockett, and this is not something you'd wanna miss, right? Cop the whole EP for free over here.
Arc Light - VHS is Dead
Mainstreamed.
"If I had any prices to give, I would give with pleasure if any of yous could guess what the original remix was of (fairly famous band&song)" -- seriously, I have absolutely no idea, but that doesn't matter cause I'm pretty psyched by AyGeeTee's rework of whatever tune, dubbed S-VHS, a slowly developing ambient jam that completely absorbed me over its extensive ten minute course. Moreover, take a listen to Mainstreamed, one of the enigmatic beatsmith's latest original tracks, a similarly toned yet more drum machine driven piece.
AyGeeTee - Mainstreamed
2010-11-10
The Report V.II: Paper's hypnagogia // Premiere: Airbird - Surfer Girl.
Journals and magazines are a thing of the past. At least, this is what a lot of people want us to believe in these times of flat rate internet connections and fancy gadgets like the Kindle or the iPad. And indeed, why shouldn't these forest-consuming dust catchers disappear sooner or later, just as music on individual physical data carriers more or less did since the end of the nineties? On the other hand, while you can still kinda impress your party guests with a tasteful and rad iTunes playlist, have you ever even tried to seduce an intellectually challenging girl or boy by leaving thewire.co.uk open on your laptop screen? Right. Does anyone have interesting blog posts (somehow feels like an oxymoron) lying around on their coffee table (if yes: nerd!)? Exactly. Even more than compact discs or cassette tapes or vinyl, I'd argue, hard copied periodica satisfy our need for physicality in the virtual age. More than any website could ever do, collected letters on paper, be it in books or magazines, reassure us of the things we know, want to know or should know, and thus, essentially of what we believe in.
It is this context that makes a thing like The Report such an important and thrilling effort within the blogosphere's mere virtuality. Founded, curated and created by Chocolate Bobka's magnificent mastermind Michael McGregor, The Report is a bi-annual roundup of relevant artistic developments, musically and visually, of the past months. It uniquely blends different representations of contemporary art into a multimedia package, arriving on paper, DVD and cassette tape. While the latter compiles new music from today's creatively most amazing artists around, and the DVD aspires the same as regards video works, the journal itself is a report in the truest sense, aiming at analyzing and contextualizing recent trends of pop culture. In its own visual approach, the journal actually appears to be the essential complement to the emergence and subsequent surge of backward-looking movements in music as of late, most importantly hypnagogic pop, most striking considering the first edition's collage art section (see on the left) that so much reminds of a lot of hypnagogic pop artists' own way of creating art for their album covers (e.g. most prominently James Ferraro). Moreover, also the articles' layout adopted the aesthetics of late eighties/nineties fanzine culture with its xeroxed look and feel.
This week, McGregor sent out the message that he has finally put the finishing touches on The Report's second installment. Featuring contributions by Oneohtrix Point Never/Games' Daniel Lopatin, Sun Araw's Cameron Stallones, Emilie Friedlander of Visitation Rites, Christelle Gualdi (of Stellar OM Source), and Camilla Padgitt-Coles (of Future Shuttle), among others, The Report V.II promises to be another terrific and enlightening experience, outstanding on every level.
The cassette tape compiles artists such as Ducktails, Velvet Davenport, Laurel Halo, Young Prisms, Big Troubles, and others. Head over here for the full list of contributions, as well as to support the project by making a donation (which will include buying the package). You can also order here.
Below, watch the brilliant video by Christian "Megazord" Oldham for Ke Ala Ke Kua Part 2 by Dolphins Into The Future. Also, listen to two of the compilation's songs, Dent Sweat's I Don't Mind and Surfer Girl by Airbird. Dent Sweat is the new alter ego of Taylor, Mississippi's Dent May, delivering a terrific sweaty R&B dance floor filler, while Airbird's tropical summer jam Surfer Girl - kindly sent over by McGregor and premiering here - indeed is a cover version of this, equally compelling, only involving slightly more synths. The track will also appear on the upcoming Airbird/Megafortress split, available soon via McGregor's very own Curatorial Club.
Airbird - Surfer Girl (Premiere)
Dent Sweat - I Don't Mind
2010-11-09
NIVA is back.
Christian Niva, the Stockholm-based genius behind the Blackbird Blackbird - Hawaii (Niva Remix) and Ghost In My Head (which we covered back in July) is finally back with a brand new, stunning remix of The Concretes, after what seems like a little break from music making/remixing. Hopefully we don't have to wait just as long for his next (almost guaranteed to be successful) work or remake to pop up. Stay tuned for some hot, swedish tunes over at his Soundcloud page.
From the other side of the looking glass
It's an unfortunate truth that remix albums often tend to end up being dull or inconsistent, but once in a while we are lucky enough to stumble upon soundscapes that works extremely well together, such as :papercutz' Do Outro Lado Do Espelho ("From the other side of the looking glass"). Together with his live band, musician and producer Bruno Miguel from Portugal explores the ambient space through binoculars, leaving us feeling incredibly small, but at the same time curious about what lies beneath these dreamy ambient and experimental pop tunes.
While his second album Lylac is a perfect piece in its own way, Do Outro Lado Do Espelho (Lylac ambient reworks) takes the sound to the next level, perhaps a more cinematic one, bringing the genius Helios as well as other, less known musicians to be a part of this big picture, creating tunes that slowly varies from the underwater-sounding ambient, to trip-hop or at times even the more melancholic electronica. Don't forget to check out the incredibly beautiful video of the Helios remix below.
2010-11-08
Trailblazer.
Pretty much blown away by the mesmerizing fuzziness of Lexington, Kentucky's Coleman Guyon aka Trailblazer. Gut Reaction and Mallard are instantly captivating with their blend of primitive yet impulsive drum patterns, some indistinguishable wash of several guitar layers and indistinct electronic devices, and Guyan's raspy and distorted voice somewhere behind the wall.
Trailblazer's 7 inch containing the two tracks is out now on Moniker Records. Order one of the 300 copies here.
Trailblazer - Gut Reaction
Trailblazer - Mallard
Warmy Girls.
Moon Glyph's Steve Rosborough recently sent over Velvet Davenport's upcoming LP Warmy Girls, which will be released November 16. The record is going to be the band's third offering via our favorite Minneapolis, Minnesota imprint, and it's another step ahead for their beautifully jangly psych pop that is so pleasantly reminiscent of The Kink's best offerings. Minneapolitan Parker Sprout and the five other musicians he has gathered around him manage to deliver an incredibly warm and harmony-dripping album, every tune is stuffed with catchy guitar and organ hooks. Of course, not only the band's abstract influences, but their sound itself goes way back, which on the one hand leads to a palatable coherence among the single songs. On the other hand, this very coherence is probably also the record's only downside, as you might occasionally find yourself glancing at your player's display, double-checking if a new song has already started. Which will mostly be the case actually, only two tracks extend the three minute mark, the classic sound barrier of popular music. But all in all, Warmy Girls is nothing less than a strong and convincing effort: Velvet Davenport sure know how to play their game, and a fine game it is.
Pre-order the LP here. It is limited to 500 copies and comes on beautiful white vinyl.
Velvet Davenport - Mystery Michael
Velvet Davenport - Warmy Personal Routine
The Black Tambourines.
The Black Tambourines are a surf-infused garage outfit from the very southwest of the United Kingdom, and though apparently they haven't got the time or waves to improve the cliché activity to be carried out to this kind of music (though Tommy even closes with the soothing sounds of the tide coming in), their tunes wouldn't be out of place in California. The band indulges in pretty Spector-ish walls of guitar washes and an overall summery feel in their songs, which is actually quite helpful at this time of the year.
The Black Tambourines are about to release a split 7 inch with Exeter's New Years Evil, due November 29 on Art Is Hard Records, a very promising new DIY label from Plymouth/Portsmouth/Weymouth, UK, that is aiming to put the obviously thriving southwest indie scene on display. Order the single right here.
The Black Tambourines - Tommy
The Black Tambourines - I Can't Surf
2010-11-07
Mount St Helens.
Optimist Park's Jeremy Mullins recently lifted the veil off the first single of his forthcoming debut album Mount St Helens, due Christmas Eve. The Batholith is another dream pop landscape full of shoegazey guitar washes and a splendidly elaborated melody, a piece that has captivated me on first listen, simple and beautiful and ethereal. Before the record is out, listen to the single's two wonderful b-sides on Mullin's bandcamp.
Optimist Park - The Batholith
2010-11-06
Kaleidoscope Days.
Courtship is the bedroom-recorded project of Patric Fallon, whom released his debut EP Kaleidoscope Days for free download via Bandcamp last month. He originally sent me a link to his newly recorded track Ride, which was recently premiered on Transparent — but after listening to the utterly beautiful pop tunes of his five-track EP, I simply couldn't help but to hum along to Fallon's honest, slightly melancholic but not exactly perfect vocals (which I myself find rather charming) mixed with underwater-like guitar playing which could remind you of the post-rock genius Lowercase Noises, for instance.
2010-11-05
Solar Bears
No vocals needed.
I've been in that kind of mood lately. Give me anything dark, electronic, ambient or atmospheric, and my ears are all yours. The Irish electronic/ambient duo Solar Bears is my most recent ear crush; they've already been featured on NME and Fact magazine, both giving them splendid critics of their debut album She Was Coloured In released back in September.
As I listen through the record, flickering images appear on the insides of my eyelids as I close them. It's like watching a good movie; you haven't got the slightest idea how it will end, but when it finally does, you're stuck with the feeling that it just seems right. Kind of like solving an equation, I guess. That, my friends, is Solar Bears' strength and entirety. Close your eyes and listen carefully.
Get it here.
I'm still trying to figure it out.
After a comparatively long hiatus for this incredibly prolific artist, our favorite down under guy Lavurn Lee aka Guerre is back with another breathtaking slow burner, a stunning tune that is his most intimate and fragile to date. Forgiveness is minimal soul in its truest form, five minutes reduced to vocals and beats that leave us dazed and confused and alone.
Guerre - Forgiveness
Watch Over Me.
This year's most adored Vancouver chillwave phenomenon Teen Daze finished a new track last night and kindly shared it with the world right away. Watch Over Me is another pure bliss that instantly made me forget about all that rain and storm and bare trees outside my window and took me too a warmer, friendlier place. Though overall rather melancholically toned, the tune still evokes memories of sunshine, and isn't that exactly why we love this dude so much?
Teen Daze - Watch Over Me
Prepare to get your hands dirty
The dead, industrial city is moving, pulsating, evolving — and we're standing in the middle of it watching it all happen. In other words: dark, dirty and gloomy are the key words for the CDR/tape label Tundra Dubs' newest release, where San Francisco producer Ben Versluis aka Ghoul meets up with Chicago based Christophe G. aka FluiD, creating a stunning, four-track EP where deep and grimy hip-hop beats are blending in with elements of dubstep.
The Ghoul + Fluid EP is limited to 50 hand assembled CDR copies to be ordered here, or digitally via Bandcamp for a mere $1 — or you can simply download a couple of tracks from the EP exclusively below.
I Want the Knife.
Fresh out of the Brooklyn ovens comes a glooming new Night Manager tune, slightly slower and considerably darker like your favorite post Halloween nightmare. I Want the Knife once again exposes the quartet's striking approach towards hazy and fuzzed out pop music, inheriting the most rewarding features of all decades to come up with something new.
Check here and here for more Night Manager tunes.
Night Manager - I Want the Knife
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