cosmicdust

The band we feature today, cosmicdust, is probably one of the most enigmatic Shoegaze project out there., if it's not the one. It consists of a sole member, who calls himself Y.A.F., coming from Japan, and that's all we know about it. Projects like this are usually based on a extremly lo-fi sound recorded at its mentor's bathroom, based on the most extreme realms of underground music, such as Black Metal. But Y.A.F. does not use corpse paint (at least I don't think so) or burn religious temples (as far as I'm concerned), instead, he focuses his energy and creativity on making sonic maelstroms fueled by surreal attacks of feedback that drive simple and sweet melodies. The vocals? deeply buried, of course! Does it sound familiar? 

Yep, his works share a great similiarity with My Bloody Valentine @ Loveless era (not otherwise, at the last couple of 2012 days, people said a new MBV song leaked but, actually, it was a song from... cosmicdust!). If it wasn't for the total absence of female vocals, one could easily say it's one of those unreleased MBV albums. However, it's not about cloning Loveless (at least not only), as it's possible to see cosmicdust carving its own identity as they push all his fuzz worshipping into a more extreme level than Kevin Shields usually do (as far as we know), much in a Astrobrite vein. Besides, it's possible to catch the Slowdive-esque breezes (sic) spiralling here and there and some Dark Ambient/Drone interludes that aren't very usual in the Shoegaze realms despite a few exceptions (USA bands, for example), giving a more dreamy and softer scent to all the noise madness.

Therefore, you can taste his two works released so far, the full-length Snow Noise Assemblage, from 2006, and the EP Enjoy Everything (2008), in the links right below. That's it, I hope you enjoy it!

enjoy!  (new link from Mega)








enjoy! 

Mixtape #13

Hello, fellas! After almost one month without mixtaping, there we have our 13th edition (nothing better to start 2013 with a 13th mixtape, huh? But this pattern will be broken, as we won't have the 14th on 2014...). Instead of focusing on the Shoegaze and Dream Pop we all love so much, this time I shifted to the (even more) lysergic side of the force. Mixtape #13 consists in a collection of 11 sonic pulsars featuring the best of nowadays psychedelic masters, as the likes of texans The Black Angels (I had the chance to see them live at late 2011, pure awesomeness), the stellar The Cosmic Dead, the kinda-occultism lysergy of Dead Skeletons, the Lovecraftian fuzz of Dead Meadow (yeah, these guys love to put "Dead" on their band names), the Desert Rock veterans of Yawning Man, the Joy Division (on a tank of acid) meeting Velvet Underground's Blue Angel Lounge and, of course, the already-classic BJM, besides other extremly talented guys.

Therefore, we have over an hour of brain-melting surrealism, cosmic exploration of otherwordly dimensions and a dinner with chimaeric creatures. Just buckle up and enjoy the (bad?) trip. :)

Tracklist:

Asteroid #4 - My Love
The Black Angels - Entrance Song
The Cosmic Dead - Spice Melange Spectrum
Tweak Bird - Sky Ride
The Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound - D Brown
Dead Skeletons - Om Mani Peme Hung
My Sleeping Karma - Shiva
The Blue Angel Lounge - LSD And The Search For God
BJM - Just Like Kicking Jesus
Yawning Man - Blue Foam
Dead Meadow - Beyond The Fields We Know




enjoy!  

Astral

Born in the last year of the previous millenium in San Francisco, Astral was dedicated to a lush mixture between the melancholic gloominess of Post-punk and the stellar surrealism of Dream Pop, which wasn't quite the kind of music that was in evidence by those years (actually, they were swimming against the tide, specially if you consider they're from USA, in aeons totally dominated by Nu Metal and Poppy Punk...). 

Well, let's forget the musical scenario of those dark ages and talk about what matters, their music. While they weren't exactly innovative, they crafted a great collection of moody and dreamlike songs  for their debut, the 2003's Orchids, that will certainly remind you of Cocteau Twins (Blue Bell Knoll era), My Bloody Valentine's (1988-1989's EPs era) and specially The Cure (Disintegration era). Even the vocals (aside from Shoegaze tradition, Astral did the vocal lines comprehensible for most human ears) display a great influence of Mr. Smith in all its characteristic romanticism and vulnerability. However, they don't get stuck in copying their musical references as many people did (and still do!) around there, but assemble their identity by choosing the classical references they most enjoy, making these The Cure and MBV inspiration sound healthy and just plain natural.

Although their later work has great quality too, I stick to their debut and decided to drop it right  below for you. It's a sadly overlooked gem, refreshig in its own way, sounding perfect for windy autumnal afternoons/evenings. I hope it tastes good for you all! ;)

get it! (new link from Mega)

Jessica Bailiff

Although the name of Jessica Bailiff wasn't familiar to my ears until late 2012, she's out there on the road since 1998, at least, the year she released her debut album. After some research, I found out she has already released a handful of albums, each one following a musical direction, but mainly centered in the Shoegaze, Slowcore, Folk spheres, sprinkled with tiny drops of Post-Rock. Her latest release,  At the Down-turned Jagged Rim of the Sky, is an amalgamation of the dreamlike world of Slowdive-esque Shoegaze, the cosmic droning of Flying Saucer Attack (with who she collaborated in the past), the slowtempo introspection of Low, and even the eerie, haunting atmospheres which brings Chelsea Wolfe current works up to our minds. Each song has its own subtitles (like Hail to the Thief from Radiohead), going from utterly swamped bleakness in some moments to angelic fuzzed bliss in others although she never loses that feeling (oops!) and make easy-listening and easy-enjoyable songs in each pole.

For sure, it was one of the greatest albums of 2012, although I (unfortunately) listened to it only in 2013. Otherwise, you would see her in the mixtape #12 for sure. But better late than never, as one should say. So, I hope those still unfamiliar to her enjoy it as well! ;)

enjoy!

Toy

Rising from the ashes of Joe Lan & The Jing Jang Jong, we have Toy. Quite a simple name, and the same goes for their debut album, self-titled, which will make many think this british five-piece lack imagination and make boring and bureacratic music. But as soon as one listens to the first notes of this album,  he or she will realize how wrong they were, since Toy is nothing but a factory of crativity and sonic candy. They venture at the cosmic channels of Psychedelic Rock and the enigmatic fog of Shoegaze spheres, however, their songs have a Pop dress that makes their songs not only ear-friendly, but capable of creating a highly pleasant experience for the listener in a very easy way. If you wish some comparision, I can say you'll notice a lot of influences coming from the ol' good masters of lysergia (early Floyd, Syd Barrett solo, Neu!, and Spacemen 3, to name a few), the noise lords of Jesus and Mary Chain, the neo-psychedelic BJM and the dark-than-deepest-sea The Horrors (not coincidently, Toy supported them at 2011 during an UK tour and are highly regarded by those guys. Take a listen to the song #8, "Strange", and you'll notice their direct influence at their art conception too). 

To sum it up, Toy is a rough gem that is already delivering some amazing music out there, then imagine what they're capable in a few years, if they keep on the evolutive curve they seem to be tracking right now. Mandatory for everyone into the lysergic side of the force and suffer no sickness in space travels. ;)

get it! (new link from Mega)

Mixtape #12 - Best of 2012

Hello, everyone! 

Yeah, you aren't with any sight problem or stuff like that. That's the second post of today, the second about mixtapes. This time, we prepared something quite different. Instead of focusing on a theme, a musical genre or something in this vein, we compiled some of the 2012 songs we, Carlos and Paloma, enjoyed the most, on anything related to Shoegaze, Noise Pop, Dream Pop, Alternative Rock and etc. 

That wasn't an easy selection, since there were tons of good stuff going on in this interval of (almost) 366 days, but we condensed it to about 38 tracks, divided into two albums. The first one contains really fine music such as The Soft Moon, Teen, Tamaryn, Hypomanie and the brazucas from Sobre A Máquina and This Lonely Crowd (all of them featured in this blog, just to mention it...), featured along BJM, Wild Nothing and A Place To Bury Strangers, whereas the second part of this mxt has equally awesome music, e.g. Alcest, Diiv, The Bilinda Butchers, Les Discrets, Broken Water, Efterklang, and the list goes on... 

Therefore, a complete tracklist of these collections (besides the links for them, of course...) can be found right below. The loverswhoareseekers staff, Carlos and Paloma, wish you all a happy 2013 with myriads of awesome music, gigs, festivals, etc. to come! ;)

part 1 tracklist:

01 - Sonic Jesus - Underground
02 - The Soft Moon - Machines
03 - Tamaryn - Heavenly Bodies
04 - Everything Is Falling Apart - This Is Lies, We Are Liars
05 - Sobre A Máquina - Oito
06 - BJM - Viholliseeni Maala
07 - Wild Nothing - Nocturne
08 - Alligator Indian - Our Love Was A Crime
09 - Hypomanie - 19 Stars And The Sweet Scent Of Cinnamon
10 - A Place To Bury Strangers - Onwards To The Wall
11 - This Lonely Crowd - Oneironauts
12 - Spiritualized - Mary
13 - The KVB - Until I'm Cold
14 - Teen - Electric
15 - Ringo Deathstarr - Girls We Know
16 - The Sorry Shop - Walk Away (And Don't Come Back)
17 - Lotus Plaza - Monolith
18 - Teen Daze - Treten



enjoy! (CD 1)



part 2 tracklist:

01 - Alcest - Autre Temps
02 - DIIV - Human
03 - Bailter Space - Strabosphere
04 - Lower Dens - Nova Anthem
05 - The Bilinda Butchers - Teen Dream
06 - Astrobrite - The Void Inside
07 - The Raveonettes - Hit Me (When I'm Down)
08 - Sleep Party People - Chin
09 - Black Market Karma - Cocoon
10 - Beach House - New Year
11 - Les Discrets - La Traversée
12 - Twin Shadow - When The Movie's Over
13 - Stagnant Pools - Dead Sailor
14 - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Up To Infinity
15 - Broken Water - Drown
16 - Young Prisms - Gone
17 - Ceremony - Bleed
18 - Efterklang - The Ghost


enjoy! (CD 2)

Mixtape #11 - Blackgaze

Yellow!

This is our mixtape #11, and it is all about Blackgaze, kinda modern idea, which I presume you already know... Basically, it consists on a blend between the grim world of Black Metal in its best shape with the dreamy and etherial atmospheres of Shoegaze and Post-Rock. 

We have compiled the main bands which some of them are widely known for this mix of sounds - heavy and shrieked vocals, blast beat drumming plus that marvellous shoegazer guitars we are familiar with. The themes are the same old yadda yadda whining about depression, desolation, suicide, nostalgy, exaltation of nature, etc. However, we have focused on the most shoegazing songs, after all, that's what we like, huh. 

So, our tracklist ranges from the already-classics of the genre, namely Les Discrets, Alcest and Amesoeurs, to newcoming talented people like the latvian Sun Devoured Earth, the dutch Hypomanie (already featured in this blog here), the yankee Airs and the aussie Lunaire. At the end, we have 12 songs which totalize 70 minutes of pure musical bliss. Finally, I drop the link to download it right below, hoping you enjoy it!

Cheers,

Paloma and Carlos


enjoy!

Mixtape #10 - Girls and Synths

Sup, mates!

Our mixtape #10 is a bit different from what we've been bringing so far. It's much more electronic, but we're not trying to make you shake your booty on the dancefloor,mind you,it's a chilling kind of electronic which I cannot discern or label accurately (I suck big time at that). The songs I selected fit well whatever the occasion is, nice huh? There you go, first track you got Au Palais, and their track Because The Night, and this one is really exciting, it might make you even dance, if you allow yourself. But the following tracks are smoother, like Changelings, by Gazelle Twin, that is something like Fever Ray with Liz Fraser on vocals. We also have Fever Ray, with Coconut, Alligator Indian, a kinda new and DOPE lo-fi post-whatever duet,but you guys might already know cause we've put them in some previous mixtape. Then it's time to some Grimes, a more psychedelic and experimental electronic artist, her track Devon is so dreamy, a sort of electronic Cocteau Twins. I also put Lower Dens and their track Lamb, they came with a more electronic approach in their last album, and as captivating as usual, just like everything they do! The last two tracks are Lick The Palm Of The Burning Handshake, by Zola Jesus, I bet you already know her cause she's quite popular among the hipstas :P and The Heavens Turn By Themselves by Sleep ∞ Over, a very etherial track that make a perfect closure for this mixtape. And that's it, by the time you finish listening to it, you'll be relaxed, asking to marilize legajuana. Sorry for that, the heat of Rio is melting my brains already. 

 Cheers!
 Paloma.

 

get it!

Sonic Jesus

""It's Velvet Underground, raped by Spacemen 3, dressed in neo-psychedelia, folk imprinted and shoegaze nuances. Their powerful wall of sound created by hypnotic melody and wild saturation of dark pulsating noise will take you on an unforgetable musical journey. "

That's a piece taken directly from the Sonic Jesus bandcamp, describing the band's sound. It couldn't be more accurate, to say the least, and I really mean it. It's a hard mission to find some (if any) information about the italian five-piece background, but why should one care? They made some of the most hypnotic and trance-like fuzz-embedded songs I listened at this year of 2012! If you are hungry or just thinking I went definitely crazy, just check their song "Underground" at youtube and you'll see what I'm talking about. Although there are many highly-talented bands carving the same path that SJ, from the very first notes you can notice they're making something special and has a still-unexplored potential that will be able to elevate them to celestial dimensions easily, and very soon. Their art is majestic, acid, ritualist, a delirium-fueled mantra that a few could accomplish specially if you consider it is just their debut material. 

For the psychedelic new generation dementia, like Dead Rabbit, The Cosmic Dead, Black Market Karma, The Warlocks, and eternal classics such as BJM and the aforementioned bands, you just can't live without plugging their self-titled EP into your rotten ears, whose bandcamp link can be found right below. 

enjoy!

Sobre a Máquina

Hailing under the blazing sun of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sobre a Máquina was initially born as a three-piece Cadu Tenório (the head of the project), Emygdio and Ricardo Gameiro at around 2009, and since late 2011 has the presence of a tenor saxophonist Alex Z. However, one will not find any trace of the warm tropical music and landscapes that characterizes so strongly this city and made it famous worldwidely. In the early SAM phase, their music was basically focused in the Dark Ambient, Drone and Industrial spheres, whose major influenced included Nine Inch Nails, Einstürzende Neubauten, Throbbing Gistle, Swans and the list goes on. To put in another words, a perfect soundtrack for the urban bleak landscapes, rusty machines, smoke, concrete, carbon dioxide, subways, etc

That was already highly innovactive in terms of Brazil, but they wanted to go further. The following records featured a wider range of textures, colors and tastes in their musical universe, exploring New Jazz while still deepening in the Early Electronic realms. But that was not the limit for them. At their brand new work, self-titled, SAM reaches a whole new horizon in their state-of-art. Each one of the eight tracks that compose this album was carefully crafted in order to create an even deeper immersion into the grey-ish cosmos of solitude and tacit nihilism we all drown in the day-after-day urban life, using every resource possible in order to accomplish it: tapes collage, tape loops, field recordings, overdub, special microphones, and even more "unusual" instruments such as records of pieces of TV programs, fans, or even bicycle's wheels, bottles, sounds coming from the floor, etc. 

If that's not the best brazilian record of 2012, at least it's one of the most creative, I'm very sure of it. I'll leave a free download link, directly from the label (Sinewave) page. There you can find the former SAM works too. Besides, if you wanna refresh your damaged memory, you can get a taste of their work in mixtape #5, which is closed by the song "Língua Negra"  from the same artist.



































enjoy!