domingo, 16 de setembro de 2012

Le Corbeau

Le Corbeau was born at 2006, by the hands of Øysten (I had to search for the key combination of this character Ø) Sandsdalen, who is also in charg of the guitars in the Serena Maneesh ensemble. Although it's easy to identify many similarities with them and their norwich mates, Maribel, it's also easy to idenfity that his crow follows other directions. Of course you'll hear a lot of screaming distorted guitars and taste a hazy atmosphere, but Mr. Sandsdalen includes many elements you won't find in these bands, if ever in any Shoegaze band. Sax, piano, jazzy percussion and a film-noir soundtrack's inspiration bring his works to a whole new dimension, feeling somewhat like a My Bloody Valentine or a Sonic Youth work trapped into a '50-fashioned Jazz pub and trying to play like this.  

Although it may not appeal to the most purist ones, he did a hell of a great work in his two albums, the self-titled from 2008 and Evening Chill/Montreal of the Mind, 2009, that's why both are featured in this little space and deserveful of have its name spread out. ;)





















enjoy! (new link)





enjoy! (new link)

sexta-feira, 14 de setembro de 2012

Asalto Al Parque Zoológico

Asalto Al Parque Zoológico, or simply AAPZOO, as it's more convenient, comes from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and dedicates themselves to a mix of Shoegaze and Noise Pop with a strong My Bloody Valentine-Isn't Anything era flavour, which means you'll find swerving guitars, sexy vocals and sweet-whisperable melodies buried in hallucynogic sonic sheets. Of course, MBV is probably not their only influence, as it's quite easy to recognize twisted echoes from Lush (Spooky era), early Ride and I'm pretty sure these guys must enjoy Swirlies a lot. If you're in doubt, just listen to the song "Le Dernier Jour", its main riff reminds me a lot of the song "Sunn" from the same Swirlies, and it makes me smile when it made me realize (sic). 

They accomplish to craft such catchy and enjoyable songs in a way I still wonder how didn't they become big and aren't touring around the world yet. So, I thought to myself, why not start to spread their name worldwidely? That's why you have their EPs, the self-titled from 2009 and the 2010 split Noise Sweet Noise, a two-songs effort with their noisemates Sugar Candy Noise right below. ;)

























enjoy!







enjoy!


segunda-feira, 10 de setembro de 2012

Lightfoils



Lightfoils is a 4-piece ensamble from the city of Chicago, USA, making music since 2010 or around it. Signed with the nice Saint Marie Records, a label dedicated to Shoegaze, Dream Pop, Lo-fi and all that stuff we all know and love, they released their first effort at about 6 months ago, a self-titled 4-song EP. What you can listen and taste in its 17 minutes of duration is a 1st class mix of Shoegaze, Dream Pop and Alternative Rock, making the names of Lush, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine with some hints of Ride/Slowdive come to our mind. As a more modern reference, think about Soren Well. They share a similar vibe, although they don't sound exactly the same (and that's what matters, huh?). Their songs are gentle and soft but effervescent and cathartic at the core. 

At overall, a delicious EP that will make you thirsty for at least four more songs. Lightfoils are a newborn talent that gives a fresh flavour to an already scintillating (and growing) scenario of good Shoegazer bands. So, I give you the bandcamp link, where you can free-stream all the four songs and get it from a really friendly price. 







Enjoy! (bandcamp)

quinta-feira, 6 de setembro de 2012

Mixtape #6 - Dreams gone dark


Yep, there's a new mixtape here, the sixth of ours the second today! This time, I decided to put more Post-punk, Gothic Rock and Darkwave in the blender. But, of course, there is still place for Dream Pop and our beloved shoes! (at least the darkest of them). As usual, new bands are featured (Blouse,  A Place to Bury Strangers, Fever Ray) along with classical acts (Cocteau Twins, JAMC, and the french coldwavers Asylum Party). At the end, we have about an hour (a bit more, to be more precise) full of dark treasures that will make yer dreams go hazy and lush.

Well... nothing left to say, guys, just hope you'll enjoy it as much as the previous ones! :)






Mixtape #6 Tracklist:


(((S))) - Mesmerized
The Jesus and Mary Chain - In A Hole
My Bloody Valentine - Lovelee Sweet Darlene
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - According To Plan
Skywave - Knife
Cocteau Twins - Cico Buff
Blouse - Into Black
Singapore Sling - Last Man On Earth
The KVB - Hands
Fever Ray - Keep The Streets Empty For Me
Asylum Party - Sabbath
The Soft Moon - Total Decay
Cranes - Starblood
A Place To Bury Strangers - Keep Slipping Away
Zola Jesus - Lick The Palm Of The Burning Handshake
Lycia - Cold



enjoy! (new link)

Mixtape #5 - Brazilian Shoes

Nearly half a month after the mixtape #4, we decided to bring us a new one. This time I chose national (brazilian) bands, ranging from brand new, fresh upcoming people (Loomer, Flowed, This Lonely Crowd, Lê Almeida, Sobre a Máquina, just to name a few) to oldschool underground acts, for example Second Come, Killing Chainsaw and The Pin Ups.


That's my humble sample of the blooming scene of "Brasil", not only the current but the classical ones, at times when things were even harder and there was no such web resources like this one to help spreading good, obscure music around. I drop the link right below the tracklist, together with a nice picture of a typical brazilian shoe (actually a flip-flop...).






Tracklist:
Old Magic Pallas - Stargazer
Flowed - Everything's Blowing
Team.Radio - French Doll
Badhoneys - B Sad
The Sorry Shop - Gone Again
Loomer - Nightmare Daydream
The Pin Ups - Pure
Killing Chainsaw - Chicken Legs
Hanging Freud - Swamp
Inverness - Bats
Starfire Connective Sound - Acid Morning Drive
Lê Almeida - Micropontes
Firefriend - Airport Scene
Wry - Sisters
Second Come - 704
This Lonely Crowd - Love Blender
Pale Sunday - Mary
Lautmusik - Afraid to Fly
Top Surprise - Home
Sobre A Máquina - Língua Negra


enjoy! (new link)

terça-feira, 4 de setembro de 2012

Vinyl Williams

Vinyl Williams, whose mastermind is named Lionel Williams (grandson of John Williams, author of extremly obscure movies such as Star Wars and Clouse Encounters Of The Third Kind), is one of the most interesting bands coming up at the last couple of years or a bit more. Ok, everyone says that in every post they make, but if you just give a simple listen to VW, you will see what I'm talking about. All his songs are bathed in shimmering tones of aural transcendence, not very focused on the standard musical structure we usually see, broken in bridge, chorus and versus. The music is allowed to flow for itself, crafting its own path through the listener's mind and, therefore, creating its own shape and face. The results: a handful of songs which connect the best from the cosmic psychedelia directly drawn from early Kraut acts, Neu!, Can and the likes, to give you a simple example, with the best from the Shoegaze universe, mainly Cocteau Twins @ Victorialand era or Slowdive @ Pygmalion. Still, his music isn't anything totally ear-ripping or amorphous. It's very sticky and easy-listening, making it simple to any listener to drown into his bottomless sea of bliss and sonic radiance.

Ah, Lionel Williams also works as an artist and a philospher. The guy has a great mind, huh? And was born in 1990, so he's still very young and a has much more to accomplish yet. I'll drop below his first two works, Naked Sanctuary and Leminscate, plus some previously unreleased songs in each album. I hope you take good care of 'em!

















enjoy! (new link from Mega)
















get it! (new link from Mega)

domingo, 2 de setembro de 2012

Maribel



Maribel (whose song Deflower is featured in this mixtape), hailing from the icy Norway, is one of the various surprises of the so-called Nugaze, or the second generation Shoegaze bands, or whatever-you-wanna-name-it. Like their like-minded Serena Maneesh (which also comes from Norway and one of its member procuded the Maribel album I'm gonna post, Aesthetics), their work is evolving, incandescent, and very diversified. Unlike their fellows of SM, the first band that comes to our minds when listening to them is the so-beloved Loveless (sic) album, although there are many echoes and patterns directly drawn from The Telescopes, Swervedriver and Spacemen 3 here and there. Besides, we can still find some Curve-ish tons at their electronic passages, or even their contemporary A Place to Bury Strangers at their moment of noisy rage, but that's the point, they have their influences and inspiration but work very hard to craft their own identity and accomplish it very nicely and naturally. Flaws? Well, the songs run too short, 3 minutes at average. But who cares, huh?!

Sumary: Maribel is a fresh and pleasant ensemble that I'm eager we can have more and more from them. Perfect for chilling out from a hard day or listening at a (good) night club, and I really think you'll all love it to the bones! 








enjoy! (new link)




enjoy!

The Vandelles


Hailing from Brooklyn, NYC, The Vandelles is around for about 5 years or a bit more dedicating themselves to an awesome mix of early Shoegaze, with emphasis on the fuzzy tornado of Jesus And Mary Chain @ Psychocandy's era with Surf Rock and Velvet Underground-esque tones, flavors and patterns. The final product is a bursting star of noisy and groovy melodies very much in the vein of the new flaming generation bands such as Raveonettes, Gliss and their Brooklyn mates Vivian Girls (although the Vivian's sounds more "beachy" and "clearer", if you know what I mean...). 

With a great full-lengths under their sleeve, called Del Black Aloha, and an EP (Summer Sling), they've just come back with Strange Girls Don't Cry, released a few days ago. This time they made a more diverse work, washing away their noise anger a little bit and focusing more on the groove and laid back/sunset-esque atmospheres. Therefore, that's a great album for a walk on the park or on a beach's sidewalk at late afternoon. After all, The Vandelles are one of many remarkable examples of all the power this new generation of gazers have, and there you have a link for their brand new work right below, which is free-streamable at their bandcamp and can be purchased at a low price. ;) 





enjoy! (bandcamp)

sábado, 1 de setembro de 2012

Once Dreamt

It's very hard to find information about this band, Once Dreamt, except for the part two of the members are (or better, were) Windy Weber and Carl Hultgren from the Windy & Carl ensemble, dedicated to Drone and Ambient soundscapes. Another member, Randall Nieman, is part of Füxa. Brenda Markovich, the remaining member, didn't create or become part of any band or musical project as far as the google says.

About Once Dreamt, they were the starting point for the Ambient Michigan's scene, and released only this work, titled Drifting, at 1995. As they had little to no impact at all at the already deceased Shoegaze-and-so-forth scene (and due to the fact this album was released only in vinyl format), they remain largley unknown even with the facilities of the www. Their sound isn't anything (sic) that wasn't made before, but there are only a few CDs in the world that brings such peace of mind as this album. I came across it at about 2009 but only at these days I "found" it rotting on my HD and decided to give a listen, and was mesmerized. How could I forget them for SO long?! that's what I kept repeating to myself with an angry voice and stuff.

About the music itself, it's a transcendental and foggy mix of Shoegaze and Ambient, multi-textured, soothing and stellar. It's easy to recall Slowdive seminal Soulvaki Space Station when listening to this, or even some works by Harold Budd (mainly that work he made with the Cocteau people), however Once Dreamt has a more experimental approach, as they seem to jams instead of making songs in its, say, orthodox sense.

At overall, a magnific album (or an EP, hard to classify it, but I stick with the definition of album as it's 40-minute length) that will appeal a lot for anyone into hazy sheets of white noise or interestellar travels.








get it! (new link)

Bethany Curve

Born by the hands of Richard Millang, Ray Lake and Chris Preston and David Mac Wha in California at about 1994, Bethany Curve raised when most of the first-generation Shoegaze-and-related bands started to fade out in the cosmic dust. They released a great stream of albums from 1996 to 2003, being Skies a Crossed Sky, the one right below, the first of them (and the best of them, imo). You will find here a first-class Shoegaze with a heavy Ambient-Drone accent, which relates them almost immediatly with acts such as Flying Saucer Attack at the most spacey and stellar moments, Slowdive at their most dreamy and foggy apex and, somewhat surprisingly, with Joy Division or Jesus And Mary Chain when they start to make gloomy-drenched melodies (and they do it very very well, kids!). Their later work steps away a bit from the Ambient noisy paranoia and gets more psychedelic, not seldom invoking memories from early Pink Floyd, Spacemen 3, Loop and the likes (actually, you can hear their inspirations already in the SACS work, but still shy and not fully developed).  

Unfortunately they disappeared from the middle of the '00 but rumors (those bitches!), say they're recording and preparing a new album to be released soon. They're true only 10% of the time, and I really hope that's the case. Bethany Curve is a sadly overlooked band that deserved (and still do!) much much attention and recognition, for the bravery of making such albums at a moment when most of their noisemates were disappearing from the event horizon  and for the sake of the lush, cosmic beauty of their albums itself. It may be a bit too late to give good credits to them, but better late than never, huh?



Enjoy! (new link)