Tag: shoegaze

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Knife Knights on KEXP

If you’ve been frequenting this site throughout the course of this site you’ve been made familiar with Ishmael Butler, the founder of the critically applauded and groundbreaking hip-hop acts Digable Planets and Shabazz Palaces. A decade ago Butler was preparing to emerge from several years of near-complete silence. In the summer of 2009, Butler unveiled Shabazz Palaces through a pair of self-released EPs that quickly established the project’s unique sound — complex and hyper literate verses paired with psychedelic sonic textures and refracted rhythms. And from the start confidentiality was essential: Butler wanted Shabazz Palaces to stand on its own strength, and not on his established reputation, so he adopted a pseudonym for himself.

As the project’s profile and network expanded, Butler recognized that he needed new monikers for his creative pursuits and collaborations; in fact, Knife Knights, was the name that he devised for his work with the then-Seattle based engineer, producer, songwriter and film composer Erik Blood, who’s also a vital and important collaborator in Butler’s Shabazz Palaces. Interestingly, Blood and Butler’s collaboration and friendship can trace its origins to when the duo were introduced at a Spiritualized show in 2003 through a mutual friend, whom Butler was about to record with. As the story goes, Blood was a diehard and obsessive fan of Digital Planets, and naturally he passed along a bootleg copy Blowout Comb for the mutual friend to have signed — and Butler dutifully provided.

Over the course of the next few years, they’d run into one another by chance and sometimes they’d make small talk about possibly working together. When Butler finally sent Blood a few sons to mix, their creative chemistry was obvious and immediate. Interestingly, Butler, who grew up a student of hip-hop began absorbing shoegaze and ambient soundscapes while Blood, an ardent hip-hop fan had always been an inclusive and obsessive music listener; in fact, on every Shabazz Palaces album, Butler and Blood have specifically focused on and delighted at that artistic intersection, constantly indoctrinating hip-hop in new sonic territories. “He [Blood] takes my ideas and clarifies and pronounces them, helps me realize them,” explains Butler in press notes. “He helps me get to the essence.”

After a decade of collaboration together and the development of a very rich and dear friendships, Butler and Blood have written and recorded a proper full-length together as Knife Knights — 1 Time Mirage, an album that finds the duo and a cast of collaborators and friends creating and weaving a unique sound that meshes soul, shoegaze, hip-hop, bass, noise and chaos wth the album representing a free space for unfettered and radical exploration. Interestingly, the album’s material was recorded in the three sessions, interrupted by Shabazz Palaces and Digable Planets tour schedules and Blood’s recording projects.

Butler, Blood, and a cast of collaborators and friends were invited into Seattle’s KEXP for their live debut, where they performed material off their forthcoming album, slated for a September 14, 2018 release through Sub Pop Records. And while bearing a subtle similarity to their work together in Shabazz Palaces, Blood and Butler’s Knife Knights work manages to feel like a refinement of it while being altogether separate. Yes, they employ samplers and synths but there’s an organic and muscular heft through the use of bass and guitar. And as you’ll hear from the songs they performed during this live session are a bit of a subtle refinement of the duo’s acclaimed work with Shabazz Palaces  but while leaning closer to shoegaze — it’s lysergic but with a swaggering hip-hop vibe that can only be possible through this unique and thrillingly weird collaboration. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: United Ghosts’ Trippy Visuals for Their Shimmering 4AD Records-Inspired New Single

The Los Angeles-based dream pop duo United Ghosts, comprised of Sha Sabi, who came to Southern California after stints in New York and San Francisco; and German-born Axel Ray, who spent a 12 year stint in London before relocating to the States — although on some level, it’s a bit of a misnomer, as they’ve received attention for a classic 4AD Records-like sound centered around boy-girl harmonizing and draws from dream pop, psych rock, shoegaze and krautrock.

The duo’s 2013 full-length, self-titled debut and its follow up, Dear Electric Sun EP received airplay from BBC’s Steve Lamacq and Lauren Laverne, KCSN’s Nic Harcourt, KLOS’ Mark Sovel and XFM’s John Kennedy and a number of others. And after three successful UK and European Union tours, a number of Stateside dates that included CMJ and SXSW, followed by an L.A. residency, the duo of Ray and Sabi returned to the studio to work on their Mark Rains and Axel Ray co-produced sophomore album, Saturn Days, an album that thematically and lyrically explores modern life, love and disconnect in a world that’s equally dystopian and beautiful, in which hope is laced with paranoia and where dreaming your way out might be the only chance to survive.

Saturn Days’ latest single “Waves,” will further cement the duo’s reputation for crafting material 4AD Records-era dream pop, the prerequisite shimmering guitar chords, motorik grooves, enormous power chord-based soloing and dreamy boy-girl harmonies — but with a subtly modern touch,.

The recently released video for “Saturn Days” is comprised of performance footage of the members of United Ghosts with their live band shot by Arian Soheili with superimposed drone footage by Steve Payne, underwater footage by Alex V. and images of Saturn courtesy of NASA and the Saturn Cassini mission.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays The Vryll Society Release Trippy Yet Meditative Visuals for Album Single “Andrei Rublev”

Over the past handful of years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Liverpool-based shoegaze quintet and JOVM mainstays The Vryll Society, and as you may recall, the band, which is comprised of Michael Ellis, Ryan Ellis, Lewis McGuinness, Lloyd Shearer, and Benjamin Robinson have received attention from both this site and across the blogosphere with a series of singles that revealed a sound and songwriting approach that draws from a diverse array of influences, including Funkadelic, Aphrodite’s Child, krautrock and classic shoegaze.

The Liverpool-based shoegazers latest single “Andrei Rublev” is the first official single from the band’s long-awaited full-length debut, Course of the Satellite slated for an August 10, 2018 release, and interestingly enough, the song is inspired by Andre Tarkovsky’s 1996 arthouse film Andrei Rublev, a historical period piece and biographical film on the life of the 15th century Russian icon painter, during one of several incredibly turbulent periods of Russian history, which lead to the creation of the Tsardom of Russia. Thematically, the film concerned itself with several themes — artistic freedom, religion, political ambiguity and uncertainty, autodidacticism, and the creation of art under a cruel and repressive regime. And while the film’s characters lived over 400 years ago, there’s so much that should resonate with modern viewers. In any case, the understandably slow-burning and meditative song manages to nod at shoegaze and 70s AM rock in a way that brings another JOVM mainstay to mind, Chicago’s Secret Colours, but while hinting at an urgent ache for something far bigger and permanent than oneself. 

The recently released video features an alien like orb that floats in the distance that reflects and refracts the images so that they’re given a fish-eye effect, as the band walks through the British woods in a brooding fashion; throughout the song, the band’s individual members are shown with the very setting they’re walking superimposed behind them but upside down, which creates a meditative yet trippy effect. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you had been frequenting this website over the past few years, you may have come across a couple of posts featuring the Brooklyn-based indie rock act Lazyeyes, and as some of you may recall, the band, which initially began as a trio and now currently consists of Jason Abrishami (guitar, vocals), Sam Maynard (guitar, vocals), Jeremy Sampson (drums) and Jermey Rose (bass, vocals) received quite a bit of attention after the release of their 2013 self-titled EP: The Deli Magazine named the band the “Best Psych Rock/Shoegaze band,” Purple Sneakers praised the EP as a “moody and anthemic record, equal parts shoegaze and dream pop,” Stereogum described their sound as a “a muscular, riff-happy brand of guitar based dream-pop” and they were a featured artist in the November 2014 issue of NME — and adding to a growing profile, tracks from the EP received airplay from BBC Radio, XM Radio and a number of FM stations across the globe.

2015’s self-released, sophomore EP New Year was eventually picked up and reissued by Burger Records‘ cassette imprint Weiner Records, and “Adaptation,” the EP’s first single received quite a bit of attention across the blogosphere, including this site. Some time has passed since I’ve last written about them — but their long awaited full-length debut Echoes is slated for a summer release through Egghunt Records and 2670 Records. Interestingly, Echoes first single, album title track “Echoes” is a brooding and seamless synthesis of 80s British post-punk and shoegaze as you’ll hear angular and propulsive bass chords, four-on-the-floor drumming and towering, pedal effected guitar pyrotechnics paired with rousingly anthemic hooks — and while the song may initially strike you as drawing influence from Heaven Up Here-era Echo and the Bunnymen, it reveals a band confidently expanding upon the sound that first captured attention.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past handful of years, I’ve written quite a bit about the Liverpool-based shoegaze quintet and JOVM mainstays The Vryll Society, and as you may recall, the band, which is comprised of Michael Ellis, Ryan Ellis, Lewis McGuinness, Lloyd Shearer, and Benjamin Robinson have received attention from both this site and across the blogosphere with a series of singles that revealed a sound and songwriting approach that draws from a diverse array of influences, including Funkadelic, Aphrodite’s Child, krautrock and classic shoegaze.

The Liverpool-based shoegazers latest single “Andrei Rublev” is the first official single from the band’s long-awaited full-length debut, slated for release sometime this summer, and interestingly enough, the song is inspired by Andre Tarkovsky’s 1996 arthouse film Andrei Rublev — and as a result, the deeply meditative song which is centered around boom bap-like drums, a sinuous bass line and some gorgeous guitar manages to nod at both classic shoegaze and 70s AM rock  — all while hinting at an urgent ache for something far bigger than oneself.

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Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Modern Time Machines Send Up Classic TV Shows in Video for Album Single “Freefall (Can’t Stop)”

Over the past couple of years of this site’s history, I’ve written quite a bit about the Los Angeles, CA-based shoegazer act Modern Time Machines, and as you may recall with the release of singles like Dweeb,” the band comprised of Ben Golomb, Justin Bond, Nadia Franks and Neil Johnson have received attention for a pairing dreamy boy/girl harmonizing with a sound that has drawn comparisons to  M83, Medicine, Sonic Youth and others. Adding to a growing profile, the band has received airplay on  KROQ 106.7FM, have appeared on Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show and will have some of their music featured in director Ashley York’s upcoming film So Help You God. 
The up-and-coming, Los Angeles-based shoegazers’ Josiah Mazzaschi-produced, sophomore effort MTM is slated for release next week, and the album features guest spots from Nightmare Air‘s Dave Dupuis, Bell Gardens’ Kenneth James Gibson, that dog.’s Kaitlin Wolfberg and a remix from electronic music production and artist duo De Lux. Earlier this year, I’ve written about the A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve “High Noon” and the  Dinosaur, Jr-like “Failsafe,” off the album — both of which further cemented their reputation for crafting 120 Minutes-era MTV-like indie rock. And much like its predecessors, MTM’s latest single “Freefall (Can’t Stop) continues in a similar vein as the band has a penchant for soaring hooks, feedback drenched guitars and dreamy boy/girl harmonizing, centered around earnest and plaintive lyrics. 

Directed by the band’s Ben Golomb and featuring a lengthy cast, the recently released video is a hilarious and ridiculous send up on a number of classic TV shows including Mary Tyler Moore, Small Wonder, Gilligan’s Island and others.  

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Nostalgist is a Seattle, WA-based post-punk/shoegaze act led by founding member and primary songwriter Asa Eisenhardt (vocals, guitar)  — and with the release of 2013’s Monochromatic EP and 2015’s Of Love and Days Ago, the Seattle-based project received attention for a heavy and moody sound that’s been influenced by Lowlife, Slowdive, Lycia, The Comsat Angels, The Chameleons, Killing Joke, Fields of the Nephilim, Hum and Red House Painters among others.

Recorded and mixed throughout 2016 and 2017, Disaffection, the long-awaited follow up to Of Love and Days Ago features guest spots from renowned drummer Aesop Dekker, who’s been a member of Khorada, Worm Ouroboros, Extremity and a former member of ex-Agalloch; Alex Entrekin (drums), who joined on as the project’s new drummer; and Monte McCleery (bass) who’s also a member of Seattle-based doom act Un. Interestingly, the effort features five originals and a cover of Catherine Wheel’s “Texture.” Disaffection‘s second and latest single “Smoldering Amber” finds the band drawing from post-punk, shoegaze and grunge, as the song is centered around a familiar structure — quiet, loud, quiet, with the quieter verses featuring towering and shimmering guitar chords over which Eisenhardt’s mournful vocals ethereally float over, and the blistering power chord-based chorus, held together with a propulsive rhythm section and arpeggiated synths. Without a doubt, the song will immediately bring 120 Minutes-era MTV to mind with a cinematic quality; but underneath the surface is a plaintive and aching yearning that gives the song a Romantic quality.

As Nostalgist’s Asa Eisenhardt says in press notes, “This is the most lyrically intimate thing I’ve written to date. As with many of my songs, it chronicles the beginning, middle and end of some manner of relationship, but here the words are especially dramatic (even for me, ha) and visceral. Infatuation is the most central theme. The instrumental arrangement emphasizes a dub rhythm in the verses, and I expect that influence to become even more prominent in future material. Dub was an enormous influence on ’80s post-punk, so following the throughline from bands I hold near and dear as influences (Comsat Angels, The Chameleons and Killing Joke to name but a few) and investigating that sound continues to be a natural progression for me.”

“At the same time, I do my best to really blend things up when I write, and both the mix and contrast of the heavy and the ethereal in ‘Smoldering Amber’ is easily the most pronounced of the songs on Disaffection. The verse section is minimal and grooving, but the chorus is huge and lumbering. The bridge is fragile and deliberate, the outro is hard-charging, uptempo and intertwined with synth melody. Dynamics are another dimension of musical color one can explore and manipulate, really. All in all, I think this track is especially exemplary of our elemental makeup”.
Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from Leos Carax’s hallucinatory 2012 film Holy Motors the Tallinn, Estonia-based quintet, Holy Motors, have cloaked much of their operation and backstory in mystery — but from what has been made publicly available, the band which features Ellian Tulve (vocals), Lauri Raus and Kaspar Kiinvald, formed in 2013 and soon after their formation began playing shows, including that year’s Tallinn Music Week Festival. And as the story goes, Merchandise’s Carson Cox saw the band and then introduced them to Florida-based label Hidden Eye, which along with renowned indie label Wharf Cat Records released the band’s debut single “Heavenly Creatures”/”Running Water” in 2015.

“Sleepydr,” the Estonian band’s breakthrough 7 inch was released to critical praise early last year from Stereogum, who described it as “psychedelic rock that hits like a dream despite undoubtedly seeking to soundtrack nightmares.” Building upon their growing international profile, the Tallinn-based quintet’s full-length debut effort Slow Sundown is slated for release this week, and from the album’s latest single “Signs,” is a slow-burning and moody bit of cinematic shoegaze that evokes long, late night drives: white lines, blacktop, highway signs, taillights and headlights, music blaring and your distracted thoughts. Interestingly, the album thematically speaking centers around motion — the celestial motions of satellites orbiting a planet, the motion of passengers in a car and so on, as it relates to larger, universal scale, while pointing out the existential isolation within all moving bodies, particularly people.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Up-and-Coming Los Angeles-based Shoegazers Modern Time Release PT Anderson-Inspired Visuals for Wistful New Single “High Noon”

With the release of their debut single “Dweeb,” which received airplay on KROQ 106.7FM and several other singles, the Los Angeles, CA-based shoegazer act Modern Time Machines, comprised of Ben Golomb, Justin Bond, Nadia Franks and Neil Johnson, have received attention for pairing dreamy boy/girl harmonies with feedback and distortion pedal effected guitars — while drawing comparisons to M83, Medicine, Sonic Youth and others. Adding to a growing profile, the Los Angeles-based shoegazers appeared on Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show and will have some of their music featured in director Ashley York’s upcoming film So Help You God.

Modern Time Machines’ Josiah Mazzaschi-produced, sophomore effort MTM is slated for an April 6, 2018 release and will feature guest spots from Nightmare Air’s Dave Dupuis, Bell Gardens’ Kenneth James Gibson, that dog.’s Kaitlin Wolfberg and a remix from electronic music production and artist duo De Lux. “High Noon,” MTM’s latest single will further cement their growing reputation for pairing wistful, boy/girl harmonizing with layers of feedback drenched guitar chords, soaring hooks and four-on-the-floor drumming — and in some way, the track to my ear is reminiscent of A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve.

Directed and edited by the band’s Ben Golomb, the recently released music video begins with the members of the band driving around Los Angeles on a gloriously sunny day, stopping to pick up instruments and band members before shifting to the band in their rehearsal room performing the  song. Throughout the video, there are reportedly over a dozen mischievously hidden Paul Thomas Anderson-related visual gags.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy and Sounds Visuals for Mint Field’s Expansive New Single “Quiero Otoño de Nuevo”

With the release of their debut EP Primeras Salidas, the Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico-based duo Mint Field, comprised of 21 year-olds Estrella Sanchez and Amor Amezcua, quickly received international attention that included sets at some of North America’s […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from a skateboard trick from an 80s skateboarder film, the Los Angeles, CA-based shoegazer act Nightmare Air are comprised of a trio of grizzled vets — Dave Dupuis was once a member of Los Angeles-based act Film School; Swaan Miller developed a reputation as a singer/songwriter with the release of a stark, attention-grabbing acoustic album that was released through Important Records; and Jimmy Lucido, who was once a member of The Strays. And through their various projects, the members of Nightmare Air, at one point or another, have opened for the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and The Jesus and Mary Chain among others.

2017 was a big year for the members of Nightmare Air as they headlined clubs and played the major festival circuit, which included appearances at SXSW and Starry Night Festival — and adding to a growing profile, they shared stages with The Kills, The Dandy Warhols and Cat Power. Building upon the growing buzz surrounds them, Nightmare Air’s newest album Fade Out is slated for a March release through Nevado Records — and the album’s latest single “Who’s Your Lover” will further cement the act’s reputation for crafting rousingly anthemic tracks that effortlessly mesh angular post-punk with textured shoegaze in a way that reminds me a bit of Hierarchy-era Lightfoils and others, but with a soaring synth line, wrapped around Miller’s seductive cooing.

Nightmare Air will be opening for the legendary and amazing Gary Numan throughout the European leg of his tour to support Savage (Songs from a Broken World). Check out tour dates below.

Tour Dates

Mar 2. Stokholm. Kagelbanan

Mar 3. Malmo. Kulturbolaget

Mar 4. Olso. Parkteatret

Mar 5. Copenhagen. Pumpehuset

Mar 7. Utrecht. Tivoli

Mar 8. Antwerp. Trix

Mar 9. Luxembourg

Mar 10. Oberhausen, Germany

Mar 12. Portsmouth. Pyramids Centre

Mar 13. Warwick. Arts Centre

Mar 14. Leicester. O2 Academy

Mar 16. Edinburgh. Assembly Rooms

Mar 17. Middlesbrough. Empire

Mar 19. Preston. Guild Hall

Mar 20. Hull. City Hall

Mar 21. Sheffield. The Foundry

Mar 23. Isle Of Man. Villa Marina

Mar 24. Liverpool. O2 Academy

Mar 25. Northampton. Roadmenders

Mar 28. Belfast. The Limelight

Mar 29. Dublin. Olympia Theatres

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Introducing the Hypnotic and Cinematic Sounds of Nova Flares

Jason Wagers is a Berea, KY-born, Louisville, KY-based multi-instrumentalist and producer whose solo bedroom recording project Nova Flares is influenced by shoegaze and psych rock acts including Black Market Karma, Mystic Braves, Holy Wave, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, My Bloody Valentine and others — although interestingly enough, Wagers’ current project can actually trace its origins back to when he turned 18 and the Berea, KY-born multi-instrumentalist relocated to Louisville, KY with his previous band, The Corridors. And while in Louisville, the members of the band developed a reputation for crafting eclectic rock before releasing their full-length debut. Unfortunately, after the release of their debut effort, the members of The Corridors received a cease and desist letter from a British record label claiming to represent a band with the same name. 

Perhaps as a result of the crushing legal issues he had faced paired with a desire to start a project that was in a completely different direction, Wagers started his solo project — with a specific atmosphere and sound that he’s dubbed “surfgaze.” As Wagers explains in press notes, “The songs I create through Nova Flares are supposed to be very cinematic and capture memories and feelings from situations I’d experienced in my childhood and adult life, but these songs are also meant to be left open ended so that the listener could have their own personal sensory experience as well.”

Wagers goes on to say that the project is a next step up musically, as he sees the project as a way to further develop his skills as a multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter. His Nova Flares debut Gut Splinter is slated for a March 9, 2018 release, and the album’s first single sonically meshes jangling, guitar rock and shimmering, hypnotic shoegaze, complete with a sweeping, cinematic quality. In fact, the recently released music video further emphasizes the song’s hypnotic vibes as it features Wagers playing several different instruments superimposed over footage of birds flying and clouds in different color negative treatments and so on.