.NEW.MUSIC.FRIDAY speeding toward you
with a list of unanimously fantastic releases that everyone should (fingers crossed) enjoy.
THE SAME - Plastic Western [LP](Lauren Records)
Southwestern Pennsylvania is anything but like any other band. They swing from twangy silliness to serious Post-Rock ("Como Esta le Serenidad?") Even at lower beat rates, The Same knows how to "swing" what would normally be classified as "Dreampop" on "Cherry Pull N'Peel." At most, this is a new age of "Slacker" Pavement-ish guitar twinkle and cascading melodies. Their best feature is the use of space, "Plastic Western" is as expansive as its title implies. "Bluish" is blustery, chiming Nineties alt.rock that harkens back to later Sebadoh and the criminally underrated Rodeo Boy (look it up!) with a hint of the wistfulness of Nik Kershaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good." Elsewhere, songs (the Hovvdy-esque "Make It So") can have tags or false endings, but The Same knows they have a single in the driving "Shoot It" - a track so rigidly simple, you will lay down the handclaps on the chorus. Everywhere you turn The Same are establishing their own sound (familiar, yes) while always figuring out a new direction to take it. Very promising.
DREAMTIGERS - Ellapsis [LP](Skeletal Lightning)
Dreamtigers write songs that carry the same fist-pumping anticipation of one of those Cores. However, at the moment where it has built up momentum (the drumming-heavy "I See The Future") - they pull it all down. "Ellapsis" is a bit like that last Manchester Orchestra where the band continues to find such the progression or hint of melody to rope you in - but Dreamtigers is always leading you up their mountain. The pastoral "Stolen Moments" starts out almost Pinegrove-ish before finding its anthemic gallop. "Six Rivers" is the real surprise. It opens with a thunderous boom of bass and cymbals all washing around you like Godspeed! You Black Emperor. However, its clarion call style guitar hook is almost Americana, as is its loping chord changes. Add to that a sweltering solo and the vocal drift, in the end, you are left with the idea Dreamtigers could dominate the big stage and still pick up acoustics and wow in a more intimate setting.
FIENDSH - Hayashi Reborn [LP](Cold Busted)
From the great understated Hip-Hop label Cold Busted (Saib, Emapea and Sim Nagai make great pallet cleansers on your playlist,) Fiendsh arrives with a low-key, beat-heavy instrumental Hip-Hop that uses its samples to dizzying effects at times. Like a more spartan DJ Shadow, Fiendish thinks in layers. Always finding that booming beats, and spinning the samples in like a spider builds a web (the horn part on the New Jack "Champagne Promises.") "Hayashi Reborn" is not just another Hip-Hop album to study to -- it is one to study. With so many samples often being tossed in and out, Fiendsh is about maintaining the mood. The beat sets the tone ("Lucid S Dreamin" is just as advertised,") the bass sounds elastic, and the vocal hooks are always hazy (those Marvin Gaye-ish licks on "Life".) On Fiendsh's best cuts, you are really just traveling from cloud to cloud.
SHYBITS - Body Lotion [LP/CD](Duchess Box GER/Redeye)
Berlin's Shybits may be another of those angular bands with lots of fast low-tom driven drums, but they consistently push the limits of each individual song (most of which are short.) "Neighbours" opens with a jangle-guitar and doubled vocals, before the melodic bass part takes control. Wherever that bass goes, Shybits turn basic chords and 80's Athens-esque harmonies into a swooping ride through conventional songwriting turned upside down. The two minutes of "Be Sarcastic" are strangely sincere. The Robert Quine-ish trebly guitar fills stand out and the chorus starting over a minor chord is an interesting way to break the habit of that most identifiable part of the song not rising but falling. "Body Lotion" most closely compares to Rats on Rafts, but their abandonment of structure really bodes well for their future.
THE ORANGE PEELS - Celebrate The Moments of Your Life [LP/CD](Minty Fresh/Redeye)
Allen Clapp and The Orange Peels have years behind them of glossy, sunshine-bright Sixties Power Pop. While making their latest record (starting in 2019,) the world changed dramatically (a fact well-covered on the heartening "Birds Are Louder.") So, The Orange Peels erected this dreamworld in the studio and came up with this two-record set of tracks. All of the music is so elegantly recorded, it is easy to forget that they are tracking it all themselves. The mix of synths, guitars, drums (both natural and effect-driven) allow Clapp, bassist Jill Pries, and drummer/programmer Gabriel Coan to have a field day with every song. Clapp's emotive voice on the best cuts ("Give My Regards To Rufus" with strings!) is a reminder of the heyday of Paisley Underground, C86, and the pre-Modern Rock movement. In their quiet moments, "Two Shores" they let the songs spin up giving you the feeling of mixing it along with them. "Celebrate" is one to celebrate no matter the season.
AUSECUMA BEATS [LP](Music In Exile AU/Light In The Attic)
ETRAN DE L'AIR - Agadez [LP](Sahel Sounds)
Ausecuma Beats is a nonet with musicians ready to combine the music of Africa, Cuba, and Australia. Their rhythms are terse but only what is necessary. Listen to the band switch from a Zappa-esque horn/balafon to the driving conclusion where they all skip the same beat on "Yerra" and you can best understand how these players are blending and complementing. Yusupha Ngum has a great, hearty voice that is warm and inviting, but ready to call you to the floor when ready (the fast funk of "One More Time.") If anything, a lot of Ausecuma's beats are conventional. However, that gives the chance to hear Panga roll those congas beautifully. "Ausecuma Beats" is off to a great start.
Etran De L'Air is one of the longest existing groups around Agadez. While there have been so many other Touareg musicians emerging from this region in the last few years, Etran De L'Air may be the only one without the long, blinding guitar solos (their two leads tangle together) or some slight Westernization of their music. The guitars are more rhythmic on "Tchingolene" and all the cuts crackle with the energy of the first live taping. The snare rings a little loose, the organ bleats, and the guitars fall in line with each other at times pushing the limits of how three guitars can play with the power of one. More traditional than most, "Agadez" is true to its name.
Well, another week, another list of several different styles and pursuits in music for you. Enjoy. Listen again. Share as you wish.
NEW RELEASES lovingly compiled for you from this very week!
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