Comprised of Sinosa Micik (vocals), Bobby Tamkin (drummer, production and songwriting), Devin Johnson (guitar), Lisa Fendelander (keyboards), Kyle Hines (bass), and Derek Muro (synths) Mar Vista, CA-based sextet Xu Xu Fang have developed a local and national […]
Tag: 4AD Records
Comprised of Stephanie Chan (vocals, guitar), a former member of Finally Punk and The Carrots; Kate Hall (drums), formerly of Mika Miko; Mark Greshowak (guitar, synths), formerly of Talbot Tagora; and Dave Reichardt (guitar, bass, synths), Los Angeles, CA-based post-punk quartet Dunes features members of some of Southern California’s most renowned, defunct punk bands.
The Los Angeles, CA-based quartet’s forthcoming sophomore effort Bitter Charm is slated for a March 12 release and the album, which was produced by Alex DeGroot, best known for his work with Zola Jesus has the band expanding upon their sound while being deeply informed by personal experiences — including Greshowak’s near fatal bike accident, which occurred the same day that they were slated to play with No Age at the Eagle Rock Center for Performing Arts. As Greshowak explains in press notes, the album in some way represents “the process of coming to terms with all transitions in life, voluntarily or involuntarily.”
The album’s latest single “Runner” pairs shimmering guitars played through gentle amount of reverb, a driving and propulsive rhythm with ethereal vocals to craft a melancholy and wistful song that sounds as though it could have been released during 4AD Records heyday.
New Video: The Towering and Cinematic Sounds of Denver-based Shoegaze Quartet, A Shoreline Dream
Comprised of Ryan Policky, Erik Jeffries, Adam Edwards, Kevin Keim, the Denver, CO-based quartet A Shoreline Dream are pioneers of a subgenre described as melodipsych, which pairs lush sampled textures, layered vocals and a […]
Comprised of John Gill (vocals, bass, guitar and synth), Greg Tebbano (lead guitar, lead synth and backing vocals), David Octal (bass), and Ben Patten (drums), the Saratoga Springs, NY-based post punk quartet The Black Ships derive their name from the Western vessels that sailed to Japan during the 16th to 19th centuries. And with the forthcoming release of their latest effort, Dead Empires, slated for a December 4 release, the Upstate New York-based quartet hope to prove that Saratoga Springs is the home of a burgeoning wave music scene — in particular, a burgeoning shoegaze/dark wave/chill wave scene — as the town is best known as the home of blogosphere darlings Phantogram.
Dead Empires‘ latest single album title track “Dead Empires” sounds as though it owes a major sonic debt to Joy Division, The Cure and 4AD Records — while also channeling contemporaries like The Harrow, Dead Leaf Echo and others, as the song is comprised of atmospheric synths, slashing, angular bass and shimmering guitar chords and four-on-the-floor drumming paired ethereal vocals. If you’re a child of the 80s as I am, the Saratoga Springs-based quartet’s sound will be familiar — it’s a darkly seductive and danceable sound. But interestingly enough, what will set the band apart from their contemporaries is the fact that the band’s frontman John Gill is a self-proclaimed avid history buff, and Dead Empires lyrics concern themselves with how history’s course and flow affects and influences everything. And as Gill explains in press notes “Looking back on historical events of the past adds a romantic tinge to things and a certain yearning for past times and traditions.” In some way, it gives the material a swooning Romanticism that belies its brooding nature.
Comprised of Bobby Moynahan (vocals), Esli Sugich (bass), and Scott Eton (keyboards and guitar), the trio of Ballerina Black, have received praise across the blogosphere for a sound that my colleagues have described as “a collage of mope rock and grave wave;” in fact, their sound on their earliest releases reminded me quite a bit of Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and 4AD Records as it struck me as being a slickly produced, anxious goth-based electro rock.
Adding to a growing national profile, the band has opened for the likes of Interpol and Silversun Pickups, have seen some of their singles receive airplay on radio stations across the globe and have played a number of sold out shows in their hometown of Los Angeles. And to continue the growing buzz around the band, they’re planning to embark on a tour to close out 2015; however, in the meantime, the band has released their latest single “Chiffon,” which is a decided change in sonic direction as it’s arguably one of the sunniest and breeziest songs they’ve released to date. Not only is the song much more upbeat with much of the gloom and doom being lifted from the proceedings, the song sounds as though it subtly leans towards shoegaze as the song consists of lush, shimmering guitar chords, propulsive drumming and Moynahan’s plaintive and ethereal vocals. And although swooning and seemingly channelling 120 Minutes-era alternative rock, there’s something under the surface that’s tense and menacing.
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years, you will likely be pretty familiar with the Brooklyn-based music and art collective Dead Leaf Echo. The band has a growing national and international profile as they’ve made appearances at SXSW, CMJ, NXNE, Northside Festival and the Beautiful Noise Festival, toured with and/or played one off shows with The Wedding Present, A Place to Bury Strangers, . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Psychedelic Furs, Chapterhouse, Ulrich Schnauss, Weekend, Lorelei, The Ocean Blue, The Warlocks, Beach Fossils, and The Telescopes. They’ve had a number of singles top CMJ’s Top 20 Indie charts and have appeared on renowned indie station KEXP‘s John in the Morning twice, and on Nic Harcourt’s KCSN show.
Their 4AD Records-inspired full-length debut Thought and Language, a concept album that followed a child from his conception, through birth until he grasps thought and language was released to critical praise across the blogosphere. The follow-up to their debut full-length, true.deep.sleeper was produced by Monte Vallier, who’s best known for his work with Weekend and Wax Idols was released last year.
Currently, the members of Dead Leaf Echo are in the studio working on their sophomore full-length effort, with Vallier taking up production duties. But in the meantime, the band released a 7 inch single last month and made an appearance at the Desert Stars Festival on a bill that included Swervedriver and The Lemonheads. “Lemonheart” is the first single from the 7 inch and the song reveals a subtle change in their songwriting arppaoch as the gorgeously shimmering guitar chords jangle so subtly and are paired with forceful percussion and ethereal vocals floating just above the mix, while still remaining faithful to the shoegaze sound that has captured the attention of the blogosphere.
Initially known as a producer, who has worked with countless artists, the Welsh guitarist Marc Joy began to turn his attention towards his own creative endeavors and started his own musical project, a dream pop/shoegaze […]
I’ve mentioned this earlier but, one of the great things about the proliferation of independent labels is their ability to reintroduce sadly forgotten yet influential artists or sadly forgotten artists that maybe we all should have […]
A Q&A with The Harrow
Comprised of Vanessa Irena (vocals, synths and programming), Frank Deserto (bass, synth and electronics), Barrett Hiatt (synth, programming), and Greg Fasolino (guitar), the Brooklyn-based quartet of The Harrow can trace their beginnings to 2008 when the project […]
Yesterday the members of the National participated in a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) in which members of the band answered questions from Reddit users and fans. After the question and answer session, the band […]
I had reviewed the National’s last album, High Violet for the Whiskey Dregs Magazine, and as I noted at the time, it was an album that resonated very deeply with me – it spoke of adult concerns, […]
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n34639 Deerhunter was recently on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to perform “Monomania,” the album title track off their forthcoming album, Monomamia, which will see a May 7th release through 4AD Records. It’s a pretty fucking incredible performance […]
4AD Records will be releasing Deerhunter’s fifth and long-awaited full-length album, Monomania on May 7th. Album title track, “Monomania” is the first single from the Atlanta, GA-based quintet’s new effort, and it’s a grungy, sketchy, and down […]
Album Reviews
Before I get to the year in review, there are a few more albums that I received last year – it still seems strange to say that – that I wanted to discuss before going […]