Hella Comet

Hella Comet (HC) is a very nice act hailing from Graz, Austria, dedicated to guitar exploring, dense walls of feedback and noise and sonic trips into the space-time continuum. They only released two albums so far, a 10'' EP on Abril 2011 and the EP Celebrate Your Loss, released on early 2010, in which they combine Sonic Youth-esque Noise Rock with Post Rock, Shoegaze, Space Rock and even Electronic experimentation. The fact they're still a deeply obscure name into everyone's subconsciousness remains a mystery for me, as they have all the necessary qualities to praise every fan of weird forms of Alt. Rock.

Well, underrated or not, here I provide a link for both works, all available at name-your-price method. I hope you enjoy it!


//Resurfacing this post to talk about new Hella Comet full-length, Wild Honey. As expected, they brought his already stellar mix of Noise Rock, Shoegaze, Space Rock and so forth to a whole new level, delivering us probably one of the best 2013 albums so far. As if it isn't good enough, this piece is availabie for download @ their bandcamp in the name-your-price method. Well, this time I won't even wish you to enjoy it as I'm sure you will. :P

bandcamp

get it!

get it!

Bailter Space

Bailter space may be largley unknown here in the occidental world, but they are kind of underground heroes at their homeland, Christchurch, New Zealand. It's not hard to see why. They were formed in the already dusty 1987 and released a stream of gems until the mid-'90, being acclaimed by the press and gaining a cult following from those hungry for noisy and fuzzy sonicscapes, yet possessing a great sense of melody in all their work. Unfortunately, they disbanded and disappeared from the radar at '98 (like 98% of the first generation Shoegaze-and-related bands did), despite some solo concerts from one of the members (Alister Parker, more exactly) and a retrospective album released in 2004. They reformed at about 2008, played some gigs, had fun and, by 2012, released their first brand new material in almost one and a half decade. Named Strabosphere, it shows a mature band in a very good shape, making droning, abrasive yet hooky songs that will appeal a lot for those affictionated by the likes of Sonic Youth, Pixies (you can see echoes from Francis Black specially in the vocal lines), Jesus and Mary Chain and, obviously, their earlier work. 

It's always great to see many and many classical old school bands coming back and propagating their name (and increasing their legacy) for those who couldn't catch them at those sweet old times. Together with the new school incandescent bands that we're seeing lately, we can see a golden time about to come (if it's not here, already!).

//update: new album, Trinine, available for download right below. Enjoy!








get it!

get it! (new link from Mega)

Mixtape #22

Hello, ladies and gentlemen! Here we are with the 22th edition of loverswhoareseekers mixtape, to make a good start of the last trimester (yeah, time's passing by way too fast, I know) of this turbulent year of 2013. 

This time, we collected 13 songs ranging from the usual Shoegaze and Noise Pop we all love so much to the lo-fi, Electronica, Neo-psychedelia and even Coldwave spheres, featuring classic oldschool artists such as Seefeel, which opens the mixtape with the track Plainsong (taken from the classic '93 Quique), Lush (with the song Downer, taken from the Gaia compilation), Kitchens of Distinction (Drive That Fast), Sweet Jesus (criminally underrated first-generation gazers, here featured by the song Honey Loving Honey), Smashing Orange (a perfect combination of Grunge and Gaze, with the song Cherry Rider), besides another sadly under-appreciated old times act, Revolver, whose chosen song is Molasses, taken from their great '92 compilation of early singles called Baby's Angry. Also usual, there's also space for brand new tunes and newsomcers, as Flying Low, one of the songs by the brand, shining latest Mazzy Star album, as well as lo-fi-esque noise poppers of Gauntlet Hair, the melting psychedelia of Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, the "tropical goth" gloominess of White Hex, the relaxing chillwave of Washed Out, and, finally, the Sonic Youth's apprentices' Grooms, here featured with Prom. 

That's probably the most diversified mixtape I've made so far. As usual, I hope you enjoy it and have a great October! ;)






 




tracklist  /  listen

Amusement

Amusement is probably the most obscure outfit featured here in this page until this moment. Little information I've foudn about it, only that it was an one-man project headed by irish James Eadie who released only one album, the 1996 And After Optmism, featuring plain blue cover with the name "Amusement" written in golden letters at the left top corner of it. This extremly modest description and package, however, isn't consisting at all with the greatness of its sonic quality. This work is an explosive mix of Shoegaze with Noise Rock and lo-fi which brings memories of Bailter Space, Sonic Youth, Drop Nineteens, Swirlies, Pavement, etc. All 14 tracks are deliciously fuzzy, oozy and swirly as f*ck, and I'm sure you'll all wonder how did a single person did such amazing music by himself and still not get a single credit for it? I'm aware the musical (and life as a whole) scenario isn't fair at all, but this case of under-appreciation and obscurity is almost criminal. So, let's change this dark scenario by plugging the headphones and admiring this noisy bliss the way it deserves, I'm sure you'll all enjoy it with a smile over your eardrums (sic). ;)

ps: A big thanks to William Kidd for showing me this stellar rarity. ;)

get it!

Fuzzass

Coming from the land of the rising sun, Fuzzass is a great musical project composed by Yuko, Takeshi, Atsushi and Hiroshi, where the first three dedicates themselves to the guitar strings and the last one leads the drumsticks. Yep, it wasn't a typo, they are a triple-guitar formation. So, you can imagine what is about to come: a massive attack of feedback and microphony, something the japaneses have expertise in doing during the last two or three decades (if you don't know what I'm talking about, just check out names like Boris, Merzbow, Melt Banana, Mono...). More specifically, they share great similiarities with Sonic Youth, mainly, but also share many echoes, textures and scents directly inspired from Pixies, The Breeders, Blonde Redhead, Deerhunter and so forth. 

Sadly, it seems they only have a single maiden EP released about 2011, called Larva. It has five explosive and incandescent songs (one of them is part of mixtape #04) that make us hungry for more, however it's still an awesome demonstration of the sonic power coming from these guys, which I hope very very much they won't be ever forgotten.

get it! (new link from Mega)

Ty Segall Band

San Francisco, California, Ty Segall. After playing with undergrounds act in his local area, he started doing his own stuff at about 2008 and, nearly 4 years since then, the suffix "band" was incorporated to his own name, and then we have Slaughterhouse, his latest effort. About his sound, some people call it Neo-psych Garage, but, heck, who needs labels? It's just (fuckin') damn good wild, bear and sweat-fueled Rock 'n' Roll. Of course this guy owes much to the late '60-early '70 people, but he's able to forge his own identity and put 21st century face to it without any trouble. Despite of the massive wall of fuzz (or better, behind it), there are catchy n' hooky melodies, which therefore makes this album perfect not only for headbanging or ragdoll-dancing, but also for whistling when you're taking the bus, doing housework or saving the world. 

To summarize it, that's one of the nicest surprises I had this year. Not exactly a Shoegaze-related stuff, but I'm sure it's going to open a sweet smile as this album runs from your phones. ;)

get it! (new link from Mega)