mass gothic | nice night

mass gothic  |  nice night
 

mass gothic | nice night

 
Noel Heroux formerly of the New York rockfit Hooray For Earth, has broken type and reinvented himself, musically and otherwise, as Mass Gothic. The new music is rich, raw and with a low sail it plows the rough seas of the human heart beautifully. His self-titled Sub-Pop release marks a new unencumbered journey and sonically I am all in and loving it. The track Nice Night has a way of both lifting and dampening my spirits and maybe that’s the point. The album Mass Gothic is out now courtesy of Sub Pop Records. Peace. Continue reading “mass gothic | nice night”

shabazz palaces | they come in gold | lese majesty lp


 
“Sanity, a visage of my wealth
Lost but always found before the idols that I’ve knelt
Strategy, the only way to cry
Keep it do or die and always think in terms of I
Reverie, some legend futures past
Revelry, instead for it renders hella fast
Capitol, a sound that’s on the rise
It’s slaking unrealized until essence has been razed
Sepulcher, a stage enlived by ghosts
Floating off with bags of the blood encrusted dough.”

– “They Come In Gold” (from “The Phasing Shift” suite) Continue reading “shabazz palaces | they come in gold | lese majesty lp”

lyla foy | mirrors the sky


 
Lyla Foy gives listeners a glimpse into her forthcoming debut album, Mirrors the Sky with the track Feather Tongue and it drops like molten lead from a shot tower. Kerplunk! This is sweetness dousing your heart with pure evanescence.
 
In an recent interview with her label (Sub Pop) the 25-year old artist said, “When I first started writing for the project, I wanted everything to be really focused on the melodies, but also really simple and minimal,” says Foy. “Just using a lot of bass, and simple drum patterns. So it was completely different to anything I was doing at the time. I wanted to try something new, and that one song happened and I felt like it was the beginning of something.”

Mirrors the Sky is out now, but you can check out the tracks, Feather Tongue and Easy after the jump. Peace. Continue reading “lyla foy | mirrors the sky”

the head and the heart // let’s be still lp


 
The Head And The Heart‘s latest album Let’s Be Still is so many good things, and all of them good. Rarely will you find a more infectious band, with as much down home likeability and seemingly boundless talent. It is easy to think of each song as a kind and familiar face with a such lovely disposition. Check out a live performance shot back in August. And naturally, get your mitts on their latest album, Let’s Be Still out now via Sub Pop Records. Peace. Continue reading “the head and the heart // let’s be still lp”

baptist generals // jackleg devotional to the heart

One of the best folk-rock albums you’ll ever raise a glass to.

 

baptist generals  //  jackleg devotional to the heart

 
Baptist Generals begin their latest album Jackleg Devotional to the Heart with a star bursting cacophony of sound, imagine an aorta rupturing and your close. Machine En Prolepsis is not only a harbinger for the ensuing eleven songs, it is also a green light and it signals the lurching locomotive that this album is, forward and forever on upon rusted, misaligned tracks. The music is smart and painfully honest twangly-soul-folk and it sounds even better with the non-sobriety of late night musings.

The Denton, Texas-based Baptist Generals make the kind of music you want when you graduate from the top 40 folk acts and you’re ready to sink your teeth (and ears) into the raw meat of a damaged, limping, yet hopeful heart. This is pulsing bass lines and a palpitating drum kit, and lopsided ambient spirit noise threading through Chris Flemmons’ spit-grimed and soul fractured voice.

Singer/Songwriter Chris Flemmons describes this release as his “love album”, yet it rings of the unrequited variety rather than the reciprocal arrangement we all seek. Embedded throughout are sporadic rants and woeful sidesteps, instances of what sound like an avalanche of colliding instruments, perhaps a chipped scalpel and bent forceps commingling restlessly with twisted guitar strings choking and gurgling inside a semi-drunken voice-box. 

This is an album of blue painted hurt, it is desperately beautiful. But finally the Jackleg Devotional to the Heart is a shrouded opportunity, it is the mask you wear when you don’t want to pretend that everything is alright. So, buy the ticket for the train is coming round the bend. Peace.
 

 
Continue reading “baptist generals // jackleg devotional to the heart”

still corners // strange pleasures

Pop this candy-wrapped sound sweet into your ear and enjoy. Check out the just released sophomore  12-song follow-up LP Strange Pleasures from London-based dream pop practitioners Still Corners. Tessa Murray and Greg Hughes delivered mightily with their 2010 Creatures of an Hour and not surprisingly stand in the place where obviously lightning strikes twice yet again. And for a limited time you can stream the entire enchilada via Sub Pop Records and Soundcloud. Continue reading “still corners // strange pleasures”

metz // headache

when a guitar driven band with a four piece drum dreams of a serious go at rock stardom they play pretty much whenever and wherever they can: dimly lit basements, skate shops and a whole lot of gritty bars and clubs are standard issue. and the end result may turn into what the canadian three-piece rockers metz have going on right now. metz marks a return to rock served up with heaping loads of distortion splattered all over walls, ceilings and eardrums wherever rock junkies gather to get their beer fueled party on. check out the song, “headache” complete with everything a rock track should be. peace. the band’s self-titled album dropped this month via sub pop records. peace. Continue reading “metz // headache”

the helio sequence // october

The Helio Sequence are a mainstay in the Portland, Oregon music scene and for good reason, Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel make good music. With the duos fifth studio release Negotiations you’ll hear imaginative songwriting and a much more expansive and warmer, albeit vintage sound. The Helio Sequence have come into their own with this release and you’re heart and ears will be thoroughly pleased. Peace. Continue reading “the helio sequence // october”