Inc. - "The Place"

Inc. used to be called Teen Inc. (if you know me, then you've most likely heard this cut of theirs from '10). The dudes are in their 20s as a group now, I guess, growing into more of a polished R&B tip on "The Place." Stick around for the smooth jazz guitar that'll stick it's soft tongue right in your ear toward the end.



Song just premiered over at 4AD headquarters and is off an LP to be released by that label sometime next year.

.L.W.H. - CIA TV

Really digging a couple items in particular off of Green Ova fixture .L.W.H.'s new CIA TV LP: the below video for "Figurehead," which is a preview of "CIA TV: THE MOTION PICTURE," apparently (we'll see what that's all about, but the first video is promising), and his also charming track with Green Ova figureheads (not to confuse you) Main Attrakionz, titled "Draco Jr," maybe the most unabashedly melodramatic production on a hip hop track I've ever heard. Squadda and Mondre get that swaggy-drunk slowflow on it and make the shit just melt, though.

The whole LP is good. Pay whatever for it aqui.

Thin Gaze - "Geisty"

Not much info on this dude, Thin Gaze, 'cept he's from Vancouver and tags his bandcamp as "r&b/soul croongaze lounge noir & b." Sounds about right. Comparisons to Leonard Cohen at his most jilted are unavoidable on "Geisty," as he moans, "To the women in my life/I'll have you know I'm changin' it all up/'Till I've got no conscience to bear," like some moping sexual bogeyman. The B-side, "Black Collar," brings more of the noir&b he's referring too. Allllllmost danceable, but the dancing would be too eerie for me.

This stuff is only available on cassette right now through Student Loan Records. Excited to hear more.

Matt Carlson - All Moments

NNA has made available a stream of new LP, All Moments, by Portland's Matt Carlson (one half of the duo, Golden Retriever). Flowy synth textures recorded, surprisingly, all analog. I'd recommend listening to this while browsing the paintings and sketches of cover artist, Jason Traeger. His painting on the cover of All Moments is titled "Book Worm."

Imperial Topaz - "Moonlit Mind"

Kewl new track here from Brooklyn's Imperial Topaz. I blurbed about their SO killer Imperial EP back in June (if you haven't picked that up yet, do). These guys remind me of High Places if High Places lived up to their potential. To be fair, it seems IT have a little bit of a bigger bag of tricks than HP, but come on...

AXIS:SOVA - "Caustic Plume"

If only Daniel had dropped "Caustic Plume" by Chitown's AXIS:SOVA on that little boombox and gotten the beachpsych going before Johnny and his Cobra Kai sandcycle sidekicks showed up, things would've turned out much less bloody. Well, maybe just as bloody, but more in the sense of a mutually agreeable and sacrificial bloodletting to precede the naked fire dance and beach orgy. You fucked up, Daniel. Johnny would've shared Ali with a little coaxing and the musical promise of inner growth and spiritual expansion, and the night would've ended very, very differently.

AXIS:SOVA is the solo project of Brett Sova. His debut LP, Weight of a Color, is out now on Kill Shaman. Don't get beat up.

Loathes - Loathes EP

Cleveland/Louisville duo, Loathes, make cloudy, haunted, sample-heavy ambient experiments. Their new self-titled EP reminds me in the best way of Leyland Kirdy's (also haunted) Caretaker project. Especially digging those first two tracks, but give the whole thing a spin, and also you should download it because it's free.

Pacific Pride - "The Fruit, Whole"

Funny thematic stream of consciousness in this found footage collage by Denver's Pacific Pride. Impromptu footwork leads to trombones leads to fruit leads to bugs. The images assist the guitar hook of "The Fruit, Whole" in making the experience juuuuuust unsettling enough that you'll watch it a second time.

"The Fruit, Whole" is gonna be released on cassette by Firetalk in November. Below is another great song by the same band! From April. More fruit stuff in this one too, so heads up.

King Krule - "Rock Bottom"

Ginger Brit phenom King Krule has done it again, releasing another pissed, teen-angst riddled lounge piece. No LP yet, but he's got enough music out there that you could just throw together your own, you lazy bum. And if you don't quite get the weirdo appeal of this kid yet, this should help.



"Rock Bottom" is a 7" to be released Sep. 24th, by Rinse.

Melody's Echo Chamber/Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Endless Shore"

Great song, great cover. Produced by Tame Impala's Kevin Parker. Read more about France's Melody's Echo Chamber here. Read more about Portland-via-New Zealand's Unknown Mortal Orchestra here.

Ladies Auxiliary - "Don't Cry"

Got this little nugget in my inbox the other morning from Philly's Ladies Auxiliary:

Good morning! Here's a special treat for anyone who ever bought or downloaded anything from our band, Ladies Auxiliary, on Bandcamp. Although we're slowly working on our next album, our summer project was recording a cover for the Guns N' Roses song "Don't Cry" (Alt. Lyrics), from their 1991 album, "Use Your Illusion II." We also made a video for our cover! We're pretty excited about em, and you guys are the first we're telling.

Eh, heh heh. So this is the video:



And this is a good live vid of them performing "Darryl," from their On the Shadow LP which I think I reported on in the spring (yeah, I did):

Flying Lotus - "See Thru To U feat. Erykah Badu"

This might be one of my favorite Fly Lo tracks yet. And who'd've thought, Erykah Badu would be the one to make it so? Her vocals over that rolling beat just turn my belly in such a good way.

Look out for Until the Quiet Comes Oct. 1st on the one and only Warp Records.

The Soft Moon - "Die Life"

Egad, does this new Soft Moon track make me wanna shake my thang! Trent Reznor eat your heart out!



"Die Life" is the first single off their coming album, Zeros, due Oct. 30th (perfect timing, reckon) from Brooklyn's Captured Tracks. Dig it, please.

Youthfall - "From Fallen Eyes"

London's Youthfall have a smooth new track on their Soundcloud, "From Fallen Eyes." Once fall starts comin around, this will be the perfect leaf-crunching song, so stick it in your back pocket. I'm actually really enjoying the three songs these guys put out last winter, as well. Check them all out below, and download them all for free.



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Mediafired - The Pathway Through Whatever

Above is a Pepsi commercial from 1997, featuring Tyra Banks, Cindy Crawford, Bridget Hall, and a CGI'd baby. The original commercial is unsettling enough, but that doesn't mean it can't lend itself to the overall nightmare creeptease that is Mediafired's loopified rehashing--to their tune, "Pixies" (below). These ladies might look pretty at first, but those stares and smiles and fingers prove haunting when appropriately chopped and paired with the meat of a relentless vocal sample. And give me some of that fucking Pepsi!



Oh yes, almost forgot! Here is a stream of the new Mediafired album, The Pathway Through Whatever (from Beer On The Rug), which--taking a cue from one Daniel Lopatin--strains the sticky chaff of the last thirty years' heap of forgotten media detritus and molds it into a cosmic delicacy, to be appreciated only by the suavest of future-spacekings and retro-conglomerati.

Cold Showers - "BC"

Great new ditty from LA's Cold Showers, via Dais Records. Dais describes their new LP, Love and Regret, as "fusing the brash power of the shoegazers with the smoky compulsions of the no-wavers," and in lead single, "BC," the former is immediately obvious, while the latter isn't revealed until the second half of the song, when the solemn refrain "Oh / Woe is me" is punched deeper by a scratched out guitar solo, or two. Sounds more 90s grunge than 80s no wave to me, but we can meet in the middle on that.



Love and Regret will be dropping October 9th on vinyl, cassette, and compact disc from Dais.

OLD GOODY: Smog - "Nineteen"

I'm surprised I haven't put any old Smog goodies on here yet. "Nineteen" is off of 2000's Dongs of Sevotion, and, as with all the great songs by Bill Callahan, there's just the right amount of ambiguity, a puzzle, red herrings, and a huge twist. We arrive late on the scene, but get to stick around long enough to witness major things unfold.

This song is such a masterful example of Bill's ability to pull the appropriate feeling out of you before  you realize what he's suggesting or why. The clash of a playful piano hook with the overall somber tone and tempo of the song evoke the scattered and unbridled emotions that come with teen intimacy (or adult intimacy for that matter): longing, fear, ecstasy, regret, guilt, and--over all--the eventual, fond nostalgia that emerges out of clear-headed hindsight.

The Statement LP [Clan Destine Records]

Here is a sample of a sampler from the best offerings of Clan Destine Records. The Statement LP is for sure a statement, split between some of the best veteran splitters of recent memory: messy odester, Slim Twig; modern, sample-slinging Nicoesque songstress, Ela Orleans; noise-a-billy surf star, Dirty Beaches; and (my personal favorite) the aloof, and brash/beautiful U.S. Girls, AKA Meg Remy, who also designed the cover and art and so forth for this thing. This is an amazing collection of Canadian goodness, you guys. Not to be missed. Below are samples of each contributer, but much more is to be heard.

Golden Retriever - "Serene Velocity"

This new cut from Portland's Golden Retriever took me a few listens over the course of a few weeks, but I'm finally coming around on it, in a big way. Great for fans of Growing or Burning Star Core: pulsing, swirling, noisy, patient polyrhythms. I think it was the band name that kept me coming back. Makes me wonder how much great music I haven't given enough of a chance because I think what it's called is crappy. Anyway, bear with this one, and it's probably not the best idea to watch this video while you're driving.

"Serene Velocity" is from their LP, Occupied With the Unspoken, out now on Thrill Jockey.

TEEN - "Electric"

Keep an eye out for this new Brooklyn band, TEEN, fronted by ex-Here We Go Magic member, Katherine Lieberson. The video for "Electric" (above) kills it and ills it. The one below is older and features Kevin Bacon in Quicksilver.



"Electric" is from TEEN's forthcoming record, In Limbo, out Aug. 28th via Carpark.

Deerhoof - "The Trouble With Candyhands"

So...Deerhoof make "Cuban-flavored party-noise-energy music" now. Ahem...mmm. Had to share "The Trouble With Candyhands" for the fun of it. I mean, the cover alone is worth sharing. Their new album is called Breakup Song, and will be out on Polyvinyl Sep. 4. Noise jingles for parties!



And sample the album on their Jingletron. Only costs one token! Cute.

Future Shuttle - "Astro Curio"

Ah. I love Future Shuttle! And this is their new song, "Astro Curio." If you haven't listened to these gals you should check out last year's super Water's Edge LP and 2010's super West & Green tape--if you can find it. If you can't find those don't worry about it. If you can find them but don't like them you should wake up to them in the mountain jungles of Costa Rica and then you will, and also that would maybe help to enjoy this new jam. Or just listen to this one and love it.



"Astro Curio" is from Future Shuttle's new LP, In To It, which will be coming out on New Images Ltd. in..............the future (September)!

Montag - "There Is A Voice (Phase 6)"

Montag's Antoine Bedard is in the middle of a creative and ambitious concept album of sorts. Phases is a year-long songwriting/video-making/collaboration extravaganza for the Montrealian: starting in January he has released one single (or "Phase") a month, each fully accompanied by a B-side and video. I thought I'd share his latest, "There Is A Voice" or "Phase 6," with y'all, by means of the amazing video by stop-motion collagist Sam Gurry. The video acts as a modern take on Terry Gilliam-style animation, and makes you ask why all music videos don't have watches and keys shooting around in a forest at some point.



Check out the other Phases and read up on what this crap is all about--as well as the documentary that is apparently being made about it--on Montag's w-w-w-website.

VIDEO: Antwon - "Living Every Dream"

Oh yes. Bay Area rapper, Antwon, is making me feel like it's nine-deuce all over again, waking up early at the slumber party to get a head start on the MTV.

PHONE PHOTOS: Lower Dens

Brains without names. This kid loved loved loved Lower Dens. Sorry for the break in format, but this had to be big. Don't be afraid.

Blanche Blanche Blanche - "The Game"

Blanche Blanche Blanche are so hard to get a hold of. Just when you've sunk your teeth into an album they release another, or three. Same goes with their songs; you get used to one hook right before they spit another one in your face. BBB are Sarah Smith and Zach Phillips and they record all analog: no computers, just live instrus and balls out, crazy songwriting and technique straight to the tape.



"The Game" is off of Papas Proof--just put out by La Station Radar--and might be my favorite song by them so far. Watch the video four times. This comes right on the heels of the album I've finally gotten a solid jugular on, Wink With Both Eyes (out earlier this year on Night People). I'm gonna say this, get everything by these two. Below is a stream of the brilliant Wink With Both Eyes. Listen to it every morning while you make breakfast. That's what I did and I love it.


[Stream via ad hoc]

OLD GOODY: Carol - "So Low"

My buddy Scott showed this to me last night. Magical and warm minimal wave synths from Snowy Red's Mickey Mike with the golden voice of this Belgian lady (maybe her name is Carol) poured on top make for an almost eerie premonition of Portishead, Beach House, or Julia Holter. 1981. Blade Runner came out in 1982 for those keeping score at home, so "So Low" could have been Pris' theme if they'd been privy to it. Then again, maybe this just sounded like a lot of garbage back then...but I doubt it.



"So Low" is the B side of Carol's only release, a 7" titled Breakdown. You can find similar lost treasures over at Minimal Wave Records, if you're willing to dig through what they've dug up for you.

VIDEO: Dick Diver - "Head Back"

New video from Melbourne's Dick Diver. If you never got their album, New Start Again, last fall you freaking really should. "Head Back" closes it out with some fun sing-talky banter and jangle, and that awesome VU-y kinda precision-buried-in-a-careless-stupor that is so rarely executed well.

Below is last year's video for their (should be) smash hit "Through the D." Such a promising debut record these guys and gal pulled off. Grab it from Chapter Music, or you can listen to the whole thing on their Soundcloud.  



P.S. This album was released when it was summer in Australia, so it's only fair that we in the NorHem get to reacquaint with it in the appropriate season.

King Cyst - "Master of Nudity"

Man alive! Sorry for the hiatus eager standbys or casual stumblers or petty vagrants or whomever ye'll be. Shan't happen again. But please put on your shammy gloves and flash them to this new hit from King Cyst, "Master of Nudity," via Underwater Peoples. King Cyst were previously an instrumental Doors cover band, according to UP, before hooking up with Big Troubles' (Jared Leto's favorite band of 2010, btw) Luka Usmiani to write some shit with them and sing some shit with them. Make no mistake though, gentle readers, this is your uncle's 60s wildman Canterbury prog-psychadelia. Just look at the cover. (And stick with this one 'cause it pays off after the dip in the sound graphic down there).



Also the title of their album is Real Pussy, so throw that in the sex pile. It'll be on shelves from Underwater Peoples on 9/11.

Flav Rock - "Too Much Congregation"

This is so weird and good! My only question is: how do you blog when you got a blog...and your blog got a blog...and your blog blog got a blog?

Flav Rock lives in Orlando and he has plenty of other messages for you, if only you'd listen! You could save a life.

Ages - "Lisa"

It's my friend Lucas' first birthday, so I thought I'd post a video that makes me feel like a happy one-year-old. Little ones live in a world of unbound emotion wrapped in confusing and abstract detail, after all. Happy 1, L Train!

Ages is out of SoCal and his album, Bryan, is out now on Alpha Pup.

TREE - "Nino"/"Prolly"/"Chuch"

I'm pretty picky about rap. As Andrew Noz over at Tumblin' Erb would say, "I wish I could convince people to value good rapping the way they value ugly jeans with wings on them or whatever." That said, this young dude, TREE, outta Chicago, is really bringing some serious chops to both sides of the glass. Check out a few videos, please. He's the one with the birthmark, and the knobs in the studio:







@mctreeg, in case you didn't gather that from the "Chuch" video.

P.S. These three songs are all in the same key, so you can watch them all at once if you want, and I'd recommend it.

Aria Rostami - Peter EP

Aria Rostami, you had me at "My Bobby Valentine." Debut album inspired by (1) the memory of his late best friend, Shawn, and (2) videogames he played when he was a kid.



Peter is out now fer fr-fr-free!

Landing - S/T

Great new cuts from Connecticut's Landing. Would like to say more but no time. Listen!






Grab their new self-titled LP from Geographic North.

Girlseeker - "Time Spending Lady"

Hahaha! Yep. Copenhagen's Girlseeker just shot straight to the top of the list of bands I want to see live. Say what you will about the hypocritical or fleeting nature of outsider art speculation (see also: Complete - "Hoogie Boogie Land"), but then just rock out to the totally raw and brilliantly unrefined pop-punk splendor of "Time Spending Lady." You've got keyboard cat in there--I think; a rippin' guitar solo; awkward, yet commanding vocal presence; and, what's really just a great story of a girl that wastes all of your damn time. Woo-oo!

Here's another little nugget:



Pick up Girlseeker's new(ish) LP, 1-800-GREED, from Underwater Peoples.

Fabulous Diamonds - "Lothario"

Fabulous Diamonds' first two LPs were titled Fabulous Diamonds and Fabulous Diamonds II, and the tracks for those two albums were all untitled. That is a great way to avoid leaking any notion of concept--beyond their striking album covers, especially when you sport unintelligible lyrics, and up to this point I assumed that sort of was the concept in and of itself. But a new dawn has shone its bright and penetrating sun on the inner minds of this Melbourne duo. They have a new song, with the title "Lothario," and a new LP--also with a title, Commercial Music. I feel like I know them so well now. I completely know what their deal is.

"Lothario" brings a new full sound to the FD canon, yet doesn't stray from the classic drum 'n vocals groove. More synths, more sounds, same throbbing psychedelia. This is desert music, also, so I hope you have one of those, be it the Outback, or the Sahara, the Gobi, the Kalahari, the Mojave, the Atacama, or my favorite, the Great Basin.



Commercial Music is out August 3rd on Chapter Music.

HERE ARE MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF THE HALF-YEAR!

In alphabetical order:

Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland - Black Is Beautiful

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Diiv - Oshin

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Dråpe - Dråpe EP

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Imperial Topaz - Imperial EP

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Indian Wells - Night Drops

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Julia Holter - Ekstasis

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Laurel Halo - Quarantine

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Liars - WIXIW

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Lower Dens - Nootropics

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Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras & The Congos - Icon Give Thank

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Wet Hair - Spill Into Atmosphere

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White Birds - When Women Played Drums

Eola - "Market"

Eola is Edwin White, one half of the brothers duo Tonstartssbandht, with his brobro Andy, and his new video for "Market" seems to be about that brotherly bond. You see, Andy has gone missing, and Ed can only wander around, tooting to himself like a crazed bum in search. Really only searching his memories, it seems. Claymation, aliens, and very Black Dice-y vibes accompany Edwin on his journey, and a delicious confection eventually acts as Andy's smelling salt once found. Good Stuff. As the info under the YouTube video says, "Turn it up and scooch your chair back."



"Market" kicks off Deo Gracias, Eola's new long player on Arbutus imprint, Movie Star. Look into getting it here. Tape sold out; digi $5.

Mind Enterprises - "Sister"

Just heard about this dude from No Fear Of Pop. Only info is he hails from London via Italy, and...that's it. I have a sneaking suspicion that this Bandcamp has something to do with him, though. You be the judge. RIP Matlock.

OLD GOODY: Stereolab - "Blue Milk" Live in Rio de Janeiro

This. Is. My kinda jam! The kettle is getting hot and no one is home to take it off the burner. Uberdeliberate, slow-cooked, swelling French hypnosis in this '00 set in Rio. I remember blasting Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night in high school on my parents' stereo and my mom turning it off "because the CD was skipping." No, Mom! That's "Blue Milk!"

Stereolab have such an attitude and a swagger in this video. Andy Ramsay goes bananas on the drums; the late Mary Hansen is recruited to keep time (harder than it looks) with half-note guitar plucks; and Laetitia Sadier has a little of her usual (and great) live reserved tension, but kills it late with a one-note solo--playing off the Hansen note--on an upside down guitar, and basically turns into a fish at about 6:10. On top of it all, whoever shot and edited this video needs a medal and maybe a trophy for that zoom action.

Studio version

Such a good song. Pre-post-post-rock post-rock.

Indian Wells - "Wimbledon 1980"

Here is a gorgeous demonstration of the fact that all you need is the sound of John McEnroe getting the strings on the felt and you've got the guts of a great tune.




Indian Wells' debut LP Night Drops dropped on Bad Panda recently. Get it at his Bandcamp for free! Or for money, if you want! Happy Wimbledoning out there!

Jakob Skøtt - "Longevity Suite"

I get pretty Scandinavian in the summer, as well as most other seasons, I guess, but those tow-heads just keep delivering the goods. The video for the beautiful song (movement?) "Longevity Suite," by Dane Jakob Skøtt, tiptoes along inside the dream of a little girl, before diving headfirst into full blown sexual Rorschach psychedelia. Take the title to heart, this is a journey. Also, fullscreen and headphones are recommended.



Skøtt's new album Doppler is out July 23rd on El Paraiso Records.

Coming Soon from Tame Impala

Teases! Teasing me! Fucking teaser vid. I can't not watch this. Lonerism is the sophmore LP from Perth's Tame Impala and will be out this fall sometime on Modular.

Dråpe - "By Heart"

Powerful, exciting stuff from Norwegian gazers, Dråpe. They are channeling some serious '90s Sunny Day Real Estate/Dinosaur Jr./Yo La Tengo jams with "By Heart." Gotta love those drums! This stuff just makes you want to play hooky and drive around in the mountains in your Toyota Tercel smoking weed out of a beer can, and getting a sunburn on one arm.



"By Heart" is off Dråpe's self titled EP, which was released in Norway last year, and is about to get reprinted on Danish label Pad & Pen Records. Look for it August 27th or so.

Oneohtrix Point Never - "Meet Your Creator"/Quadrotor performance

Darn, this is very rad. I'm guessing due to the emerging popularity of doing weird things with remote control helicopters, Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) hired a troupe of quadrotor (I think that means "four rotors") robots to dance--and I think manipulate or react to sound somehow--to his new number, "Meet Your Creator." The whole thing really gets off the ground, so to speak, around the 2 minute mark. This performance should go down in history. Stream the song below, in case you just want to listen while doing dishes.



In other OPN news, Lopatin is currently in the studio with the ambiosoundscape game-changer--and SL favorite--Tim Hecker, recording the kick-off to a new series on Lopatin's Software label, titled SSTUDIOS, which emphasizes breaking new ground in the comboing of free jazz and electronic music, and also heavily involves sax drone maestro--and SL favorite--C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core). Neato!

Internet Club - Dreams 3D

Internet Club engage that present-and-past-internet-culture-as-neoretro-kitsch phenomenon head on: he/they(?) have an Angelfire website (see above link), fully embrace Twitteristic and Facebookian relations of the high-schooliest kinds, and are called Internet Club, for cryin' out loud. 

Check out "WWW CRUISE" and "DREAMS 3D" below. These songs bring back an important memory in my life, of when I was in high school, or right after, on mushrooms at a party in some mansion, and stumbled into this weird sunroom, with tons of plants and a little radio, lightly playing some amazing slow-disco jams, like a little waiting room to who-knows-where, and I grinned and danced. Thanks, Internet Club, for resurrecting this for me. 

Both of these cuts are from Internet Club's new LP, Dreams 3D, which is out now, for free, on their bandcamp. Check it and who knows what crazy memories will emerge from your drug-filled past!

OLD GOODY: Brian Wilson - "Surf's Up"

Since I've poked fun at Brian Wilson previously--in two separate posts so far, it's only fair that I give him his due as a birthday celebration. A friend turned me on to this clip from the 1967 doc, Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution, hosted by an emphatic Leonard Bernstein. "Surf's Up"--especially in this bare, voyeuristic piano recording--is a great look into the heartbreaking psychomeanderings of a chaotic, yet brilliant, musical mind. Bernstein was a little right and a little wrong; Wilson was blazing trails, but at the same time, he was--and remains--a total island of pop genius, rarely to see an equal. So much can be pulled from this song: the collapse of the Beach Boys as a band, Holocaust stuff, "Frere Jacque," general '60s cultural anxiety, the descent of Wilson himself, etc.

Below is the remastered, and famously unreleased version of the original '67 recording. Below that is the 2004 recording from the final cut of SMiLE. And below that is a YouTube comment from one of those videos.





If only Brian Wilson hadn't done a shitload of drugs and suffered a nervous breakdown in 1967, we'd have had SMiLE come out in 1967 to challenge Pepper and who knows how many more classic BB albums in the 68-72 period would have been?

VIDEO: Twin Shadow - "Five Seconds"

"Five Seconds" has been out for a minute and a half, but the new video really sheds some light on the concept of Twin Shadow's upcoming album, Confess, as does George Lewis Jr. himself (via 4AD):

"One winter I crashed my motorcycle, with a friend on the back. I shouldn't have been riding that day, but I was young and fearless of the black roads, fast and easy in my ways. As the bike slipped from under us my head filled with words. The slow motion moments of calm just after surprise and just before regret are bliss. I remember in that moment I wanted to say everything to him. How could I say everything in a split second? How could I bury my words in his heart?" "I got a new bike and went to LA to record what is now called Confess. I took the bike out at 6AM one morning after not having done much riding in the couple years between Forget and Confess. I noticed my head clearing as I came slowly down a hill where the road around a reservoir began. I pulled back slowly on the throttle with my right hand, and felt the bike start to come to life. My head was still crystal clear...nothing. As I kicked the bike into 3rd, I pulled almost all the way back and jumped forward leaning in towards the gas tank, fighting the wind. I got up to 75 and saw that no one was out but the runners and their four legged friends, the sidewalks became a blur of barking dogs and heads all turning. My mind was empty. I put the bike in 4th and hit 90. The engine jackhammered under my legs. My mind was clear. I inched toward 100 on the speedometer and punch the last five. TON UP! My mind is filled with words. My heart is full of love. This is where i want to be. I want to stay here, and I want to tell you everything."

 So there's that stuff. Confess is out July 9th on 4AD.

Halasan Bazar - "Tin Foiled"

Halasan Bazar are a Danish band, really reacting to those long summer days with some jangly, proclamatory, pop psychadelia. "Tin Foiled" is in your face, telling you how it is, and maybe even knows something about you that you don't know. You can d-load the track here, but I would watch the brilliantly animated, Brakhage-inspired (?) video first, if I were you.



"Tin Foiled" is the first taste of Halasan Bazar's upcoming LP, How To Be Ever Happy, out this fall on Moon Glyph.

Jeans Wilder - "Spanish Tile"

Lovely little new tune here from SD's (not South Dakota, but that would be neat) Jeans Wilder, from his new Totally LP. "Spanish Tile" is what I would call an "anytime" song: bleary-eyed morning egg-scrambling, midday cat-petting, evening lawn-watering, post-shower midnight toenail-clipping, plug it right in there.



Totally's coming out next Tuesday on Everloving.

VIDEO: Rudi Zygadlo - "Melpomene"

Very excellent music video by Brit, Nick Rutter. More videos like this, please. Very exceptional. The song helps too. Slightly NSFW, but SFW for the most part.

Ela Orleans - "Elegy"

Jeez Louise. How did I just hear about this amazing lady? Polish/British songstress, Ela Orleans, is some heavenly cross between Nico and Ann Steel, but she's making music! Now! And making music videos! Now! I'm gonna go bananas on this stuff once I get the time.



"Elegy" is off of Ela's new tape, High Moon Low Sun, which has just been re-released on Clan Destine Records.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti feat. Dam Funk - "Baby"

Ariel Pink and his Haunted Graffitis have NOT broken up, as rumored by the Pink himself on his Facebook. They HAVE collab'd with fellow LA outsider, Dam-Funk, on a cover of Donnie & Joe Emerson's "Baby", which is to be the first single from APHG's upcoming LP, Mature Themes. Ariel on the new album: "Sonically, it's comparable (to Before Today)...There are definitely not any links to my lo-fi origins. It's so diverse but so different from anything I've done before. In a sense, it's really the record I wanted to make back when I made Before Today, but couldn't due to pressures and different factors. We had time to let our hair down and try new things." (Literally, he and Dam are ready for Locks of Love, and I wanna see the little girls that get to reap the benefits.)




As if that weren't enough, these two will be touring together this fall. Check 4AD for dates. Salt Lakers can catch them at Urban Lounge on Sep. 25th with none other than the great James Ferraro. This will be a must see, so be sure to get all your homework done the night before. Mature Themes is out Aug. 21st on 4AD.