Four Gardens

Los Angeles-based composer/multi-instrumentalist Julia Holter blurs the boundaries between indie music, modern composition, and electronic music in her own work as well as her collaborations, which include work with Nite Jewel's Ramona Gonzalez and underground folk icon Linda Perhacs. Holter grew up in a musically inclined family -- her father is a guitarist who once played with Pete Seeger -- and studied electronic music at CalArts. After graduation, she began releasing music at a prolific rate: in 2008, she contributed tracks to Monika's 4 Women No Cry, Vol. 3 as well as a Human Ear compilation and released the CD-R album Cookbook on Sleepy Mammal Sound. The following year, Holter began working with the Dublab collective, appearing on a volume of their In the Loop series of vinyl compilations and performing with the Linda Perhacs Band.

This album is haunting and full of reverberations and the ghostly quality of her voices harkens Kate Bush but updated. She makes me think of Phillip Glass' compositions but less harsh and with a feminine touch. I didn't expect to like this, but with these sparse soundscapes Ekstasis (greek for out of the body, or ecstasy) makes for great background music or else, to be enjoyed on headphones. She is unique and if you give this album a chance and let it go a little bit world music/new age but yet very 2012, you will be rewarded. It also makes a great companion piece for those who enjoyed last year's Tim Hecker output, Ravedeath, 1972. Ekstasis has similar mood, with more upbeat segments yet an album that would be labeled as conceptual.

Listen to Four Gardens here:



Buy your copy of Ekstasis here.

Prey

It's About time we got this in!?!?!?!

The third proper full-length by the London DJ collective is very different from its predecessors, as one might hope after a dozen years. The change-a-minute beats-and-pieces approach taken on their early work, which competed with their Ninja Tune peers Coldcut for complexity and willingness to throw just about anything over a beat, has been largely abandoned in favor of actual songs and a relative degree of conceptual unity. As its Heavy Metal-ish (the magazine) cover art might indicate, this is a somewhat sci-fi album, with a movie trailer announcer's voice muttering stuff about falling stars and space on the interstitial tracks, like a sampladelic take on Robert Calvert's poetry from Hawkwind's Space Ritual. Guest vocalists like The The's Matt Johnson and J.G. Thirlwell sing about fear and alienation ("How could anyone know me when I don't even know myself," asks Johnson) over backing tracks that combine futuristic momentum with an almost retro-Manchester feel (the keyboards on "Giant" may put some listeners in mind of Charlatans UK) and thick beds of polyrhythmic percussion. "The Illectrik Hoax" is even built around a '60s-ish garage guitar riff. Surprising as it may be, coming from masters of the quick-cut DJ collage, The Search Engine is a journey worth taking from beginning to end, uninterrupted.

Kev's blog is way awesome and worth checking out:
He is spinning on Record Store Day in England!

Now, Listen to this song with J.G. Thirwell:



Buy your copy of The Search Engine here!

Dressed For Space

When we first received the TRST CD for our listening stations I thought, who is this hot mess tranny? Did Twiggy from Marilyn Manson get bloated and start a solo project? No and No! This no-frills cover photo is very telling: they're not messing around! Hailing from Toronto, Trust is the electro-goth duo of Robert Alfons and Austra's Maya Postepski. Not very much is known about them other than they formed in 2009, released their first singles, "Candy Walls" and "Bulbform" in 2011 before signing with Arts & Crafts for the 2012 release of their debut full length, TRST.

Frankly, I love it. I didn't know what to expect, all I heard was that it was electronic. Immediately it grabbed me with its deep synth hooks, with similar qualities to Crystal Castles, only without the shouting. It's very catchy, if you can stand the vocals which are somewhere between David Gray and Paul Banks. You can clearly imagine this as fist-pounding music played at a goth club, but there is far more to it than playing into a genre or nostalgia or anything cheezy. The songs feel like sordid tales into a dark mind and we are present for the diagesis, boxing through the thoughts to make it outside. Recommended if you like early synthy Ministry, Front 242, Crystal Castles, or John Maus.

Listen to Dressed For Space here



Buy your copy of Trust--TRST here.

It's not often that a talent like Andrew Bird comes along and sweeps me off my feet. Now, I don't normally go for the singer-songwriter thing because I'm typically more inclined towards instrumental music or genres where the lyrics aren't that important. For me, the best songwriters can be summed up by Bob, Tom, Johnny, Leonard, Bruce, and Vic (Dylan, Waits, Cash, Cohen, Springsteen, and Chesnutt). Perhaps I'm a bit reductionist, but I haven't heard much in the ways of newer writers that tops the old vanguard. Enter Andrew Bird: a Chicago songwriter/violinist that blends jazz, Gypsy, folk, and rock elements into his distinctive style. Believe it or not, he's been at it since 1996 and Break It Yourself is his twelth album!

Recorded mostly live at his studio barn in Western Illinois, Bird, drummer/percussionist Martin Dosh, and guitarist Jeremy Ylvisaker have crafted a sunny, unpredictable set of tunes that reflects the pastoral Mississippi river valley that birthed them. Meandering and soulful, the album relies on the usual pizzicato loops, orchestral flourishes, and oddball subject matter that's preoccupied Bird since 2003's Weather Systems, but for the first time since his Bowl of Fire days, it feels less like a one-man band. This album really struck me with its sense of honesty, urgency, and the sensation that I was listening to someone playing for me in their living room. I tend to be cynical of overly lyrical songwriters, but in the case of Bird I am beaten by his integrity--his panache cannot be feigned.

Listen to Lazy Projector, with it's lush strings, here:



Watch a performance from 2009 here:



Buy your copy of Break It Yourself here.

Lafaye

My favorite current Dream-Pop is baaaaack with their third release,Ghostory. School Of Seven Bells formed in 2006 as a trio (including Claudia Deheza) and released their debut full-length, Alpinisms, on Ghostly International in 2008. The group’s appeal grew exponentially, with their signature sounds stemming from pieces of electronic subgenres and shoegaze bands before them. By 2010, the group released the critically acclaimed Disconnect From Desire on Ghostly International and Vagrant. Ghostory is truly their defining work, beautifully crafted and haunting, with the story of Lafaye permeating the psyche long after the music stops.

Recorded in-between tours, Ghostory exemplifies a fervent progression of SVIIB’s growth as artists, preserving the common themes found on their last two releases but exposing them in different fashions. The familiar ethereal and enigmatic tones are omnipresent, surrounded by layers of influences from ’80s pop, shoegaze and ambient electronic sounds. However, Ghostory comes with a story in mind; the tale of a young girl named Lafaye and the ghosts that surround her life.

“Everyone has ghosts”, says Alejandra Deheza; “They’re every love you’ve ever had, every hurt, every betrayal, every heartbreak. They follow you, stay with you.” This detailed storytelling is evident from start to finish on the record, weaving a tale that moves between a fervent synthesized adventure and spacious lyrical euphoria. Tracks like “Love Play” and “Show Me Love” create a hauntingly indelible atmosphere that grab attention with the ambitious wordplay in the center of it all. Surrounding tracks like “Lafaye” and “Scavenger” entice the vibe of previous School of Seven Bells releases with their steadily dance-centric tempo and uplifting melodic progressions. Ghostory flows seamlessly and effortlessly, a result of the shared songwriting process.


Take a listen and watch the video for "Lafaye":



Buy your copy of Ghostory here.