DOWNLOAD: Little Barrie - Twisted Little Blades
U.K. rockers Little Barrie released their first two albums in 2005 and 2007, but had largely fallen out of the spotlight until recently, when the band emerged with a new third album King Of The Waves. Produced by the band and Edwyn Collins, the songs retain Little Barrie’s signature post-punk stomp, showcasing raucous, funk-tinged tracks that just feel very British (in a good way). “Twisted Little Blades” is one of these tracks – a jumping, catchy number that gives a sense of the band’s rowdy live shows.
DOWNLOAD: Lower Dens - Brains
Baltimore band Lower Dens nails a distinct atmospheric darkness, so obviously I've been anticipating the follow-up to the group's 2010 breakthrough Twin-Hand Movement. Well, it's finally here in the hypnotic "Brains." Driven with a puttering motorik beat and cold black waves of guitar, the song plays on tension until it finally explodes into an anthemic Kraut-pop monster. An awesome preview of coming attractions.
Download/Stream: Lower Dens - Brains
DOWNLOAD: Cold Showers - So I Can Grow (Alternate Take)
Cold Showers play bleary pop with a rawness that fits their name. Take this alternate take of "So I Can Grow," which appears on an upcoming 7-inch via Art Fag. There's an insistent chug of bass, the watery pulse of long guitar tones and bleary synthesizers, and it all leads to a general sobering mood. Like the lead line says, "We live in twisted times." Probably best to be alert.
PREMIERE: Tom Vek - Someone Loves You (Teen Dream Remix)
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"Someone Loves You," a cut off Tom Vek's recent Leisure Seizure album, is one that showcases his vocal sneer, springboard beats and hollowpoint guitar leads. It also serves as the blueprint for a new batch of remixes. This version, revamped by a mysterious outfit called Teen Dream, zeroes in on that guitar, so isolated and cutting, as well as swelling synthesizer echoes and hodgepodge drums that veer close to IDM territory as the track nears completion. Revisit the LP via Island/Downtown.
DOWNLOAD: Water Borders - What Wiwant
The sound of San Francisco's Water Borders is basically ghoulish chaos. Turning the ecstatic tribal tendencies of a group like Gang Gang Dance towards darkness, the duo overpowers "What Wiwant" with subterranean bass, despondent baritone vocals and a deep thump to drive the rhythm. It's as if you've stumbled upon a club in the middle of a foggy forest, but instead of go-go dancers there are people being murdered. In a good way. Water Borders' debut, Harbored Mantras, is out now on Tri Angle.
DOWNLOAD: Bronze - Wits
(Photo: Yuko Inatsuki)
"Wits" by Bronze is how I prefer psychedelic music. Rather than noodly guitar solos, there's cold electronics and an odd linear logic that stacks on itself in furry waves of driving sound. The monotone vocals add a crisp post-punk accent, and the lack of dynamics makes the song something you can fall into and just chill inside for awhile. Find more on Copper, which is out now on RVNG.
DOWNLOAD: S.C.U.M. - Whitechapel (Light Asylum Remix)
(Photo: Matthew Stone)
S.C.U.M. is finally ready to release Again Into Eyes, its debut LP, October 4 on Mute. Here, album track "Whitechapel" gets remixed at the hands of underground NYC fixtures Light Asylum -- a duo that has gained a cult following for live shows filled with brash beats, dark synth campiness and penetrating vocals. Doing what they do best, Light Asylum replaces the original's post-punk with the sort of disco playing at the loft in your dreams.
PREMIERE: Mr. Dream - Moneybags
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I'm sick of affectations. Sometimes music needs to be mainlined with grime, fuzz and punkish energy rather than beards or computer software. Mr. Dream does the trick on its new track "Moneybags." The song hits that same anything-could-happen sweet spot as Hex Enduction Hour-era jams by The Fall. Somehow, it's aggressive music that's also hypnotic and poppy, and we hope for more on a new LP the band is prepping with the amazing tentative title Montreal Sex Machine.
