Vestals :: Forever Falling Toward the Sky :: Root Strata

The solo debut from Vestals--one half of Higuma, the other half being Evan Caminiti from Barn Owl--has emerged from the seriously well-executed label, Root Strata. Forever Falling Toward the Sky emits steady low-level radiation with its slowed down psych guitar work. The atmo's not as amniotic as the recent Higuma transmission, but it's easily as warm and washed out. This will be making best-of lists at year's end without a doubt.

Here's the word from Root Strata:

'Forever Falling Toward the Sky' is the first ever release by Bay Area based Vestals, AKA Lisa McGee. A taught set of haunting electric ballads, these six tracks weave together a number of layered guitars and vocals into a smokey tapestry of blown electricity. Rather than the ephemeral drones McGee has been involved with recently, most notably the group-mind ensemble Portraits & the duo Higuma, Vestals retains the clarity of song, with these hypnotic gems having been slowly carved out over a year of recording & mixing. Filled out with drum machine & bass, 'Forever Falling Toward the Sky' really does have the feeling of a group completely jelled, hammering out feedback in a California basement, high on guitar worship & sunsets. Edition of 300.

The vinyl edition is being distributed by Thrill Jockey and it's limited to 300 copies. You can be damn sure I ordered mine.

Vestals :: Forever Falling

Review :: Tunnels :: The Blackout

Okay, so I know I'm not setting off any metal detectors here with this review, considering this tape's been floating out there for a few months now, but...

The fact that this is a solo project is what really gets me excited. Beyond feeding my delusion that I could put something together like this given enough time in a closet with no food, the Tunnels project points to another spoke on the creative wheel surrounding the members of Eternal Tapestry, a phenomenal psych band with multiple recordings this year that are all quickly reaching our year end top ten list. Nick Bindeman's the dude's name behind Tunnels. Remember it. From the Thrill Jockey page:

In the spring of 2008, Bindeman began playing live sets singing over a four track recorder. His initial output, like a dirtier, playful Suicide, with backing tracks acting as vehicles for live exploration. Bindeman would often go into a frenzied state, mumbling and slurring through slapdash songs. These performances gradually evolved into more cohesive and clean music and recording became the focus of the project, writing material through the recording process and eventually falling victim to the lure of pop.

Tunnels sounds like some kraut-y version of flightsuitwave, a brand new subgenre I just made up so that I can feel better about the fact that my collar's flipped up while I write this. And The Blackout could have been the soundtrack to some East Berlin bootleg version of Top Gun if the cold war had been fought purely over cultural differences like it should have been--wait a sec, that's right, I found a German dub of Top Gun on Youtube, for you, and then I slathered Berlin's video on top. Now you can't possibly claim I don't love you. Shh. I said, shhh, now. Let me just brush back your bangs.

Back to the Blackout: there's plenty of bedroom tape aesthetic smeared across this release, but the production's got a poppier, hookier, and less abrasive sound than that might lead you to believe. Even if Bindeman's purpose hadn't been to set a bunch of assholes loose in the clubs windmilling with a stiff posture and a gold-rimmed pair of aviator's on,  that's exactly what Tunnels has done for us (Urban dictionary def: 2. I was at the club the other day and this one guy totally showed me up when he started windmilling. He got like, nine chicks). It's mechanical music, but it's not macho. There's a dancefloor backbone to it that makes this the right shit to kick at parties, and I dare you to resist pumping the keg with a more perfect efficiency.

You can listen to the entire damn thing on Soundcloud, or you can do what I did and get suckered in by the prospect of engaging with some sweet, sweet 20th century tech by buying the tape from Thrill Jockey (originally available on Troubleman Unlimited).

I'd call my band Chunnels, by the way. Anglophile-style. Fuck, it's past noon on Saturday. Time to starch some turtlenecks.

  Tunnels - The Blackout CS by sweatingtapes

Review :: Barn Owl :: Lost in the Glare

Barn Owl :: Turiya

Where the fuck did everybody go? Alright, alright, this one's on me. Been brooding in caves for some time now, slurping on the black blood of the earth, cause there's not much else to sustain you down there. Came up with a good find, though. Kinda wish I hadn't been hiding out, avoiding tall buildings and noisy girls who carry on about their wedding plans and their much loved dachshunds with more personality than them. "What prep school did you go to? Oh, you didn't go? I guess you must be poor." Shit yeah, I'm poor.

This San-Fran drone band takes me back to my school cafeteria days. Pass your tray down and let me slop some psych on it for you. What, you don't like black blood of the earth? Guess you'll just have to starve then.  

Lost in the Glare plays like the soundtrack to a Jodorowsky movie, the heavy, slow riffs are full of one-armed bleeding men wandering the desert with their palms smacked flat against their brow, stuck in the moment of realization that they had to do a whole lot of fucking up to find themselves in their current situation. Lead-off track, "Pale Star," is a grower with solar flare moments of noise and "The Darkest Night Since 1683" has about five solid minutes of burn in it. So, yeah, make sure you pack a lot of water for this trip.

Barn Owl played Dirty City's Sonic Circuits this past Sunday and made it down to Hopscotch before that. The new full-length's out now on Thrill Jockey. Find it and buy it.


Barn Owl - Turiya from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

News :: Our Machine Watches Your Machine :: Bmore Musically Informed

Well, shit holler. Last month Baltimore music blog, Bmore, posted a double-sided mixtape of up-and-comer Baltimore bands. We're ripping the stump up by the roots here when with this post. Gotta give credit where credit's due, so head over to Bmore Musically Informed, cruise around, see what the north has got to offer. I like to check it pretty regular. See what's what. Been awhile. Then about a month ago, up pops this sweet set of sounds.

I've still got to give this one a few more listens, but already the stand outs for me include Zomes, Ecstatic Sunshine, Dope Body, and Winks (for delivering the best song title in the pack). I'd like to personally vouch for Weekends for delivering a solid, noisy set at a Friends Records event hosted by Subterranean A. Adventure, to his credit, put in one of the more surprising live contributions this year when Benny Boeldt's voice turned out to be as strong as his gaming thumbs at the Toro y Moi show at Rock and Roll Hotel. His newest record out on Carpark has some of the best melancholy synth work I've heard  in a while, swelling into a new style I like to call Ninja Gaiden-Goth.

Oh yeah, and add Dope Body's July 5 DC9 show to your summer viewing list.

Side One
[Side A] Baltimore: Spring 2011 // a bmoremusic.net mixtape by Bmore Musically Informed
1. Zomes - "Openings"
2. Weekends - "Home Alone (acoustic)"
3. Ken Seeno - "Cedilla in My Monogram"
4. Lands & Peoples - "Sexting"
5. White Life - "Real Things"
6. Eachothers - "Wild Yonder"
7. Microkingdom - "Aire Metal (Chopped and Screwed)"
8. Ponytail - "Honey Touches"
9. Adventure - "Feels Like Heaven"
10. Daytime - "Life / Afterlife (edit)"
11. Ecstatic Sunshine - "Hello Money"

Side Two
[Side B] Baltimore: Spring 2011 // a bmoremusic.net mixtape by Bmore Musically Informed
1. Celebration - "Only The Wicked (acoustic)"
2. Zu Shapes - "Olivia"
3. Moss of Aura - "Charter"
4. Winks - "Slap Me Choke Me Cum On You"
5. Dope Body - "The Shape of Grunge To Come"
6. Inflatable Mattress - "Green Tea Girlfriend"
7. Thank You - "Pathetic Magic (Dan Deacon remix)"
8. Avocado Happy Hour - "Daytime Television"
9. Gem Vision - "Untitled 1"

Video :: Remote Viewing :: Future Islands

"Tin Man"

Future Islands

In Evening Air

Off of this year's release from the Baltimore band, here's the gorgeous video for "Tin Man." Dig the steel drum synths and singer Samuel Herring's subdued growl.  I have to say these guys make me feel a lot better about living way the hell out in the Middle East (Coast). You can catch them this weekend at the Blackcat backstage where they've drawn a solid dance crowd in the past. I could even feel the temptation rising in me. Don't resist it. Give in. Submit yourself to Wham.