THE PORTAL 3/31

from the 7" "Vicious Romance" b/w "Delco Runts" (12XU 088-7), out January 15, 2016.   order at 12XU.bigcartel.com

https://www.facebook.com/DARKBLUESKINS
12XU.net


Dark Blue - Delco Runts

Pre-order the 7" EP: http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/309
Pre-order digital from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/cttitunes

In the interest of brevity, Tony Molina speaks a plain truth rarely considered by modern musicians. He's not going to waste your time pontificating on sentimentality when he knows the very sentiments that power his music will stay with you long after the songs end. The West Bay guitarist's background in hardcore, metal, and punk lends itself to this concept -- imagine if Crossed Out or No Le$$ were on some Lennon-McCartney or George Harrison or early Bee Gees shit, inventing a mode of sincere, world-beating pop expression and concentrating it into a span of seconds. That's what's happening here -- a resourcefulness that is typically at odds with the kind of guitar mastery you'll hear within. 

You could fit the contents of Tony's previous releases on Slumberland and Matador onto one side of a 90-minute cassette and still have room left over for the eight offerings on Confront the Truth, but would you want it any other way? When Tony sings about "trying to move on but I just don't know how," no extension of the time it takes for him to bring that feeling across is going to solve the problem at hand. You're immediately thrust into the orbit of these songs; you know how he feels, and now you can relate. Transference is complete. You've got plenty of time left over to dwell upon them.

The eight offerings on Confront the Truth notch a significant advancement in his style and approach. Almost completely absent from these new songs are the overloaded guitar crunch of Dissed and Dismissed, or his earlier work with Ovens; it's replaced by gentle acoustic balladry, tasteful Mellotron and piano backing, the kind of musicianship that often takes a lifetime to master. The sadness of this music has precedents in pop's past; Tony's revelatory turn into specific traditions of pop music speak directly to the reasons why we love music in general, and what keeps our finest players driven to create. The repertoire from which he draws may be narrow, but in these songs, you hear exactly what Tony found in those influences that shaped his experience; years upon years of focus and isolation in developing his guitar skills to speak to these truths. The main difference here is that where Tony's previous works felt casual and easy to digest, here we feel the full weight of his emotional needs pressed against the gentlest and most careful music of his career.

I'll paraphrase myself here, from something I wrote about Tony's old band, Ovens, which applies here as well: the music is at once what I believe to be the quintessential encapsulation of the turmoil of West Coast youth. Hang out by the ocean on a beautiful day, land that trick you’ve been practicing on your skateboard for months, but you’re still bummed; the struggle to achieve balance without means in a place where you’re told you’re lucky to be informs every second of these songs. That the pain turns inwards -- lamentations on relationships that are over for good -- proves to be as much a condition of the environment as it is the mindset with which it aligns. The record's coda, a highlight reel of Thin Lizzy's "Banshee," indicates that the Tony you knew is still in there, but the game has changed, and the rules are entirely his own. Tony Molina is in complete control of his own destiny, and we should all care about where he's going.

Doug Mosurock, a fan first and a friend forever
August 2016


Confront The Truth

Buy 7"

Tony Molina - See Me Fall

Spencer Radcliffe & Everyone Else - Wrong Turn

Emperor X "Oversleepers International" out Spring 2017 on Tiny Engines

Oversleepers International

Emperor X - Schopenhauer in Berlin

Taken from the 'Ghosthouse' 12" out now. Limited to 1000.

Bandcamp: https://unifuckingform.bandcamp.com/album/ghosthouse
Buy the 12": http://bit.ly/2fbcDJl

WEBSITE: http://unifuckingform.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/uniformnewyork/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/uniform_nyc
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/uniform_nyc/

Uniform - Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath Cover)

This is a track I originally got asked to create for the Ghost In The Shell remake trailer that was released recently -- unfortunately the producers opted to go with the Enjoy The Silence cover instead, so here it is

Most likely I will rework this into a longer song (it was made for trailer length purposes at first) and take out some of the more cinematic elements and such to fit into my next album, or another album down the line

Speak To Me (Originally made for Ghost In The Shell trailer)

'Europe By Night' is out — http://possiblemotive.com

Europe By Night

Metro Riders — Trauma

Two Inch Astronaut's "Can You Please Not Help" will be out June 2nd via Exploding In Sound Records. pre-order: http://www.explodinginsoundrecords.com/products/589941-two-inch-astronaut-can-you-please-not-help

Can You Please Not Help

Two Inch Astronaut - Snitch Jacket

http://thechainworld.com
http://curranreynolds.com

Illustrations - "War Have Mercy"

Fluctuation Pt 1

Artist: Houses of Heaven 
Track: Black Waves
EP Title: Remnant 
Label: felte
EP Release Date: May 19, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/houses.of.heaven 
https://www.facebook.com/housesofheaven 
https://twitter.com/housesofheaven

Remant 

Remnant

Houses of Heaven - Black Waves

"Freedom Ring" is taken from the upcoming album "Wounded Healer", released 2nd June 2017 via Bella Union. Order now:

Digital: http://smarturl.it/CelebrationWH
CD/Vinyl: https://bellaunion.greedbag.com/buy/wounded-healer-0/

Celebration - Freedom Ring

From the album I Can Feel The Night Around Me out May 5, 2017 on Western Vinyl

PRE-ORDER
Bandcamp: https://nightlands.bandcamp.com/
iTunes: http://hyperurl.co/4472hz
Amazon: http://a.co/amgg5Cl
WV: http://westernvinyl.com/shop/wv158

NIGHTLANDS
Twitter https://twitter.com/nightlands
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nightlands/?hl=en
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nightlands/

TOUR DATES
Tue. May 9 – Seattle, WA @ The Sunset 
Wed. May 10 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir 
Fri. May 12 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill 
Sat. May 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo 
Fri. May 19 – Washington, DC @ DC9 
Sat. May 20 – New York, NY @ Rough Trade 
Mon. May 22 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott 
Wed. May 24 – Toronto, ON @ Garrison 
Thu. May 25 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas 
Fri. May 26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spring Sound Series @ The Warhol 
Sat. May 27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas 

Nightlands, the project of Philadelphia-based Dave Hartley (best known as a core member and longtime bassist of The War On Drugs), will release his third album, I Can Feel the Night Around Me, on May 5th via Western Vinyl. I Can Feel the Night Around Me showcases Hartley's ability to layer his voice and conjure some of the most beautiful virtual choirs in modern music. Throughout, he uses meticulous choral arrangements and wistful major-seventh chords to evoke a longing for a future that once lay ahead, but has drifted out of reach. Today, Nightlands presents selections from the forthcoming release: “Fear of Flying,” “Only You Know,” and “Depending On You.” These follow lead single, “Lost Moon.”

“Fear of Flying,” one of the album’s most immediate songs, was composed with minimalist synth virtuoso Frank LoCrasto. Soft tangles of voice wash up on the shore of the song's warbling synth backbone, nudging the album briefly into the sunlight without sacrificing its melancholy, late-night vibe.

Hartley covers a number off Dion's Phil Spector-produced Born to Be With You with “Only You Know.” "I recorded it for fun, as break from the seriousness that can infect record-making," Hartley says. "Interpreting other people's songs allows you to wear a new hat and take chances that don't naturally occur to you. I wanted to croon a little bit, which I don't normally do." The recording pushes his voice to new heights and blends remarkably well with the rest of the album's shades of psyched-out doo wop, also heard on the adoring “Depending On You.”
 
Nightlands will tour North America following the album’s release. The Nightlands live band is Dave Hartley on vocals and guitar, Anthony LaMarca (The War On Drugs, Dean & Britta) on drums, Eliza Hardy Jones (Strand of Oaks, Grace Potter an the Nocturnals) on keys and vocals, Jesse Hale Moore on keys and vocals and Scott Churchman (Chubby Checker) on bass.

THE PORTAL 3/31

CLAIRVOYANT