In August of last year, I commented on ‘Only In Dreams’ by the Dum Dum Girls. This year they will be touring with Novella a girl (and one guy!) band. About a month ago the band posted a song by the Drop Nineteens on their Tumblr and they appear to be fans of Mudhoney! Listen to a few of their songs, below.

Wrap Records, 2012

Beneath the crackling beats the melodies are mellow and the vocals tired. The record’s title suggests political and social angst though there is a sense of wisdom and purification carved from a  troublesome past, Valentine singing, “I’m not the perfect man/ and I never claim to be/ I’ve done some things in my time/even I’m ashamed of me.” MU.ZZ.LE resembles the spasming and glitching electronic style of Flying Lotus, the fragmented sounds and sluggish beats reflecting the recollection of memories past. There is a huge sense of anguish in Gonjasufi, Sufi (Sufism) suggesting repentance, though the husky, inaudible vocals leave it primarily to the listener to interpret this trance in his or her own way.

Grizzly Records, 2011.

Ever since I first heard “Floating Hands” it has been on regular rotation. There is something comforting and nostalgic about it, a throw back to 60s rock and roll where beautifully crafted pop melodies would roam through a haze of buzz and grainy feedback. “Veins Lined with Rust” exhibits Simon and Garfunkel-esque vocals, the recording possessing a crude aesthetic, creating a beautiful soulful sound with a live aura. The central melodies are surrounded by  crackling  reverberations and the lyrics are unidentifiable, altogether creating a murky yet delicate sound. You can listen to the rest of White Birds, here.

Taken on its own terms this piece composed by Harry Escott sounds like the score for a jarring and poignant war epic, but in the explicit Shame it is a reflection of the film’s intensity and underscores the sense that Brandon’s world is collapsing around him as his addiction gnaws away at his sanity. Both ‘Unravelling’ (above) and the rendition of ‘New York, New York’, sung by his sister, Sissy, play an integral part in the film. As she sings of making it in the big city, of pulling herself out from the turmoil, she fixes her eyes upon her brother but he cannot face her, for he knows as she does that their dreams of non-dysfunctional relationships and peace from their torments are nothing but dreams. This is a film in which what you do is more important than what you say and ultimately for Brandon and Sissy there seems no escape. You can view the trailer for Shame here.

Grass Widow formed three years ago out of San Fransisco and have one record under their belt (Past Time, 2010) and a new 7″ titled Milo Minute, which includes a cover of Wire’s excellent, “Mannequin”. The lead song, “Milo Minute”, shares those jangly, string tight post punk riffs with Wire and the overlapping vocal melodies recall the work of over girl bands such as Sleater-Kinney and contemporaries, Wild Flag. The rolling rifts and snaking vocals are a formula for an addictive song that is energized and mesmerizing, similar to post punk and also 50s bands such as the Kinks, who possess a very raw and stripped down sound. You can purchase Grass Widow here.

Last year’s ATP, The Nightmare Before Christmas, was filled with highlights, from the initial awkwardness when someone wanted to swap a blank disc titled “the Queen is a cunt” with my labored and beautifully presented Thai funk mix tape to an intense toilet experience in Pizza Hut to the tune of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. On the stage, Swedish duo, Peder Mannerfelt (who has worked with Fever Ray) and Malcolm Pardon, better known as Roll the Dice, provided one of the best live performances of the festival.

Blanketed by a giant screen (key component of the “installation” as Peder explained in an interview at Sonic Router: “Our friend Ruben…he’ll be taking inputs from the instruments we’re playing, the synths and the Fender Rhodes and that will affect the picture”), and casting long, lurking shadows in the backdrop, Roll the Dice enveloped the room with heavily textured ambient drone. Composed in analog, their sound is harsh and industrial, intense and unnerving and combined with the booming volume the sound resonated like the noise of a factory floor than a stage.

Mannerfelt and Pardon worked opposite each other, composing long and intense hums, pools of static and reverberating beats. The songs evolve, often exhibiting very subtle changes in tone, as the duo attempted to tame the machines in front of them not knowing at the beginning of the song which path and direction they would follow to reach the end. In light of the length of the songs it is this sense of unknowing of what will fill the void that excites. An unwavering intensity and uncomfortable aura pierced the room throughout the set as the duo drew the audience in with both the visuals and the sound, developing a raw ambiance. On a weekend of eclectic bands and artists it was this momentum contained within the sound and the visuals which entrapped the listener and created a momentous experience.

Kavinsky – Nightcall (feat. Lovefoxxx). Set to the sparse and alienating, tinted blue cityscape of nighttime LA “Nightcall” is the first introduction to our lone hero (who turns out to be an erratic psychopath). The two voices in the song; the manipulated, devilish vocals of the man on the one hand and the ethereal female vocals on the other perfectly represent the two protagonists of the film; the alluring driver who inadvertently pulls everyone around him down into chaos and the intrigued female love interest who is the angel he can never attain.

Sleep ∞ Over – Romantic Streams The title of this song is perfectly chosen, for the music gently washes over the thudding baseline and dreamy vocals. It jars the perceptions as nothing quite sticks and everything floats half conscious, it really is a perfect sound that reflects the dreamy lyrical content of the song: “a romantic stream that flows out of you and inside of me/romantic dreams, flowing out of you and inside of me.”  Whilst certainly abstract it is probably Stefanie Franciotti’s least alienating pop song released to date, for which it shows enormous potential.

Azari & III - Reckless With Your Love is actually from a few years back but the import came out this year in the UK so that’s why it features here. This song could be on repeat for hours and never sound tired, it’s a really dopey house song with echos of the 90s and is exactly the type of sound that got me so engrossed in other like minded contemporaries like Hercules and Love Affair.

Wild Beasts – Albatross. This is probably the most beautiful song I heard all year and markedly different from the other songs on this list. Nothing needs to be said, simply listen.

Com Truise- VHS SEX – The sultry line “VHS Sex”, a dirty vocal wink, teases the smooth, retro-fried beats that typify Com Truise’s sound. Like a lovechild of an Atari 2000 and Amstrad CPC 464 shot into outer space “VHS Sex” is drenched in deadened beats, pulsating blips and mesmerizing synth sounds (also see the wonderful “Cathode Girls“). I always thought of Com Truise as a funky, mellower cousin of Tabacco, poaching from 80s TV serials and bad action romps. It is the recycle bin of sound that Com Truise uses which makes his music so incredible, simultaneously sounding dated and futuristic.

John Maus – Quantum Leap. It was really hard to pick a favorite out of “We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves” and I’m not even sure if this is it. Everything about Maus is enigmatic, from his muffled, baritone vocals to his rambling, transcendental interviews. The deep, propelling baseline on “Quantum Leap” punctures the surface of  the song, everything else just drifts around it, floating in utter chaos.

Ford & Lopatin – Joey Rogers. This songs is an explosion of color and vibrancy, a cross between funky Price era pop and Gary Neuman circa the 1980s. I include it here because the record, Channel Pressure, has been pretty understated this year (“Emergency Room” is also a really funky tune).

The Black Lips – Modern Love. On Arabia Mountain the Black Lips marginally refined their sound away from the scuzzy, spit bucket haze of garage noise and inarticulate vocals. The pinnacle of that slight, subtle transformation is Modern Love. With its bouncing chorus line and electric pace it is energetic and frenzied, the opening line epitomizing the bands greatness:

“K-hole at the Dalí
Seeing the unknown
Well it might have been a molly
‘Cause my mind’s being blown…”

Tim Hecker – Piano Drop. 2011 will be the year that peaked my interest in ambient drone, first with Tim Hecker and then with Roll the Dice. The title “Piano Drop” was inspired by MIT students pushing a piano off the roof of a campus building in 1972, an act which became a ritual tradition. This is the concept of the record Ravedeath, 1972, a record which Hecker defines beautifully as “digital garbage.” “Piano Drop” is jarring and claustrophobic, the unnerving static is almost suffocating and I think it really exemplifies the potential shape shifting experience and immensity of this type of music in a live setting.

grizzlyrecords.com

The song “Prescription Vision” begins with the lament, “woman’s prison, that’s where my baby lives,” as the beat bobbles along in the hot San Diego sun, the wailing chorus of, “woo oh ohh” swaying between heart break and sun drenched detachment. The San Diego foursome’s blend of scuzzy basement punk and neat, catchy surfer pop is complemented by a sense of whimsical youthfulness, exhibited here in the form of burning romance (and earlier in the addictive “There is No God” in the form of unerring confidence). The second song featured, titled “I know What Girls Like”, is a sort of oddball waltz in which the bully wins out. As bleak as it all sounds, it sure is fun. You can purchase Prescription Vision 7″ over at Grizzly Records.