Dear interwebbers, I may not have done a whole lot of scribing of late, but I have been listening and listening some more. Here’s a round-up of sonic nuggets and new discoveries that I’ve been wrapping my ears around recently:
Western Affairs – 1999
Washington DC 3-piece Western Affairs deliver perfectly crisp soundscapes. Swooping guitar effects and dream pop vocals fill their sound with nods to synthier pop bands. ‘1999’ is the missing link between Beach House and Grandaddy, if you can imagine such a thing.
Sample it for yourself here:
Quadrilles – 農曆新年 – Gong Hey Fat Choi
As their name may suggest, London four piece Quadrilles do a nice line in Math rock. However, it’s a Math-rock equation that subtracts the chinstroking and balances it with melody, layers of sweet harmonies and chugging riffs: that’s sound Maths, kids (ok, it isn’t but I’m a sucker for a tenuous analogy). There are lo-fi elements too elsewhere in their sound, which remind me of what I loved about bands like Seafood and Billie Mahonie back when I Kid Vinyl was a paper Zine called The Ballroom Dalek.
農曆新年 – Gong Hey Fat Choi is taken from 4-track self released EP http://soundcloud.com/quadrilles/sets/up-coming-e/s-VXS15
The Greenland Choir – Here we are, wandering around like ghosts- EP
Free the Muswell Hill two, they’ve been away such a long time! Ok, So Adrian Hill and Davey Edwards weren’t locked up, but it’s been three years since their ‘we shall indeed turn dizzy record’. This latest batch of sweet tunes is fried gold. A little less acoustic pop/ folky than previous offerings; it’s a more dreamy, slightly bigger sounding TGC now. It’s a twinkling musical journey through glaciers, winding trails and mountain ranges. Go and explore!
Here we are, wandering around like ghosts:
Digitally available from Itunes and Amazon, and limited to 200 CD copies available via PayPal here:
https://www.paypal.com/
Listen here on soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/
Johnny 5th Wheel & The Cowards – Nancy / In the Laboratory (double A side)
The rather charmingly-written missive that introduced this band to me mentioned video animation featuring puppets and monsters. Curiosity piqued, I decided to give it a them whirl.
Based up north, Johnny 5th Wheel & The Cowards make confessional, storytelling folk, a bit like Tom Williams & the boat. ‘Nancy’ is dark and unsettling while ‘In The Laboratory’ is more 60s-pysche infused, like a slightly evil take on The Coral. Both songs are indicative of a dark sense of humour, ‘stick-in-your-head’ choruses and deft musicianship and love of strange sounds. It’s odd pop, and well worth checking out.
Nancy / In the Laboratory is out Sotones Records on Monday 25th June