DOWNLOAD: Holy Sons - I'm Healed + Things You Do While Waiting For The Apocalypse
Holy Sons (aka Emil Amos of Om and Grails fame) mess around in the same sandbox as collage masters El Guincho and Atlas Sound, but instead of bending and sampling scratchy tapes for tropicalia raving (like The Guincho) or bedroom toking (like Mr. Cox) Holy Sons make meditational anthems for the darkness of your basement. Banjos, sitars, Roland 909s, flutes, acoustic guitars, and Amos’ sedate whine all swirl around into one gaseous cloud, expunging the bad vibes from your dome and lulling you out of consciousness. If my Comparative Religions teacher in high school had played this when he tried to teach us meditation, I totally wouldn’t have failed that class. “Things You Do While Waiting For The Apocalypse” and “I’m Healed” are from Amos’ soon-to-be-re-released Decline Of The West, which hits shelves on September 23 through Partisan. Whet your brain with the songs below and then go cop the album when you’ve finally awoken.
Sounds like: Atlas Sound, Flying Lotus, The Album Leaf
Download: Holy Sons - I'm Healed
Download: Holy Sons - Things You Do While Waiting For The Apocalypse
DOWNLOAD: Silje Nes - Giant Disguise
Norwary’s Silje Nes plays folk songs, but you have to dig for them. Under down jackets of softly-samped toms and snares you’ll find her solitary strumming and luring whisper, faint traces of song wrapped in programmed outerwear. There are only a few chords, but they get clouded among the cascading loops and arctic noise in the background until you've all but forgotten about them. This is the sound of roasting salmon in a large igloo near a lake or making snow angels alone at twilight. “Giant Disguise” is from Nes’ incredible debut album Ames Room, which came out earlier this year through Fat Cat. The singer just played the Oya Festival last week, finally graduating from loop pedal accompaniment to a fleshed out full band. I know it’s summer, but grab the tune below and think of wool and icicles and toboggans and marshmallows and then go buy the record. Winter always seems more pleasant when you're not actually in its grasp.
Sounds like: Animal Collective, Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear
VIDEO THRWBCK: Boris - A Bao A Qu
With SunnO))) playing Oslo, Norway's Oya Festival, we thought this would be a perfect excuse to throw up a video from their Southenlord label-mates (and a personal fave at the RCRD LBL offices), Boris. "A Bao A Qu"—based on the extended version from The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked rather than the Soundtrack from Film "Mabuta no Ura" version—undeniably resides on the mellower side of this Japanese band's spectrum and provides a fitting drone/ambient Yin to SunnO)))'s sludgecore Yang.
DOWNLOAD: Beat Pharmacy - Drifter
After leaving his native South Africa and his punk band behind for New York City, Brendon Moeller immersed himself in electronic music. Many mind-expanding sessions spent with albums by The Orb later, Moeller hit upon something which would stay with him forever: the laconic and reverb-heavy sounds of dub techno. His style has grown immeasurably since the 90's, taking on reggae and soul as Beat Pharmacy, dance floor-oriented dub techno as Echologist, and a gritty, experimental mix of both under his own name.
"Drifter," his latest single as Beat Pharmacy (on Deep Space Media, a sub-label of Wave Music), glides between the lazy river ambient burbles and jazzy house, replete with taffy-stretched horns, heady organ vamps and a dribbling guitar riff. This one cries out for an easy chair and dimmed lights, but don't be surprised if you start wiggling in your seat as you explore the insides of your eyelids. The complete single includes three additional versions for the DJs in the house.
Sounds Like: The Orb, Global Communication, St. Germain
VIDEO THRWBCK: M83 - America (2003)
We're pretty stoked to see unbeatable French electro juggernaut M83 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight. We haven't seen M83 (aka Anthony Gonzales) since he toured his 2005 record Before the Dawn Heals Us, and we can't wait to see how the songs from his new, brilliant album Saturdays=Youth sound like live. We're sure we'll tell you all about it, but in the meantime check out the video for "America" off of M83's second album Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts.
DOWNLOAD: Para One - Finale
Para One rose to fame as one of the main producers of Parisian rap outfit TTC, but that’s not his only claim to notoriety. He was also a founding member of now-defunct improvisational electro group Fuck-A-Loop, and has remixed artists as varied as Ellen Allien and wildly popular Japanese popstar Ayumi Hamasaki. His newest project is totally wild—he produced the soundtrack to the critically acclaimed coming-of-age movie Water Lilies (Naissance des Pieuvres), which was in the official selection at Cannes last year and was just released in America. It’s funny to think of film festival audiences sitting back and listening to music produced by a member of one of the most notorious French rap groups in history, but we guess dude has range. Check out the decidedly ambient track over at the Institubes RCRD LBL blog.
Sounds like: Brian Eno, Vincent Clarke & Martyn Ware
Para One at the Institubes RCRD LBL blog Download: Para One - Finale
DOWNLOD: Fenin feat. Gorbi - A Try
More ambient dance pop from the SEEN RCRD LBL blog, this time from Berlin based electro mastermind Fenin. Fenin uses ambient, dub, IDM and soul to suck you into his blissed-out world of electronic down-tempos: like Moby and Massive Attack holding hands at the end of the biggest Ibiza comedown of all time. It definitely helps that Been Through, Fenin’s latest LP, comes straight form the roster of German techno heavyweights Shitkatapult Records. Head over to the SEEN blog to check out the video for Fenin's new single “A Try” and a hot download…
Sounds like: Moby, Massive Attack
TOUR: Efterklang announce their first US tour
Danish electro folksters Efterklang have finally announced their first-ever American tour, and we couldn’t be more excited. We’ve been hot on the heels of this collective ever since they remixed “Campfire” on Grizzly Bear’s Horn of Plenty: The Remixes album a few years ago. Since then, we’ve rapaciously devoured every Efterklang song we can get our hands on. Their Múm-like droning instrumentation makes their music perfect for that awesome time of day right before you’re about to fall asleep from utter exhaustion but you still have to send a couple of emails or whatever, and you desperately need a piece of music to carry you through the next hour of your life. We posted the tour dates after the jump, and here are some streams of a couple of songs of the band’s 2007 album, Parades.
Stream: Efterklang - Him Poe Poe
DOWNLOAD: Carmen Rizzo - Shadows Ramin Sakurai (SBL Remix)
We’ve never really come upon an ambient world record before, but as the man once said, there’s a first time for everything. Carmen Rizzo is all encompassing: songwriter, musician, producer, member of influential electronic world music trio Niyaz. Today we’re releasing the SBL remix of his solo track “Shadows Ramin Sakurai”, which is a soothing mix of light percussion, echoing samples and lush-yet-fragile female vocals reminiscent of Stina Nordenstam (remember her?). All things considered, not a bad way to start your week.
VIDEO THRWBCK: Air - Sexy Boy (1998)
This weekend, we're severely wrestling with that fact that Air's seminal ambient pop record Moon Safari was released ten years ago. Way to feel old, right? We remember bringing "Sexy Boy" to school to play on our Discman and everyone freaking out because it was so awesome. To ease the psychological neurosis that will inevitably transpire from this anniversary, Astralwerks are reissuing the LP with loads of bonus tracks and such in a few weeks, so keep an eye out for that jam. In the meantime, savor the "Sexy Boy" video above.
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