2014 (II)

Tycho "Awake" LP on Ghostly International
Release date: MARCH 18, 2014

Purchase "Awake": shop.iso50.com/collections/awake

formats:
CD/LP/DIGITAL

artwork by:
ISO50

For nearly a decade, Tycho has been known as the musical alias of Scott Hansen, but with the release of Awake – his second LP for Ghostly International – the solo project has evolved into a three-piece band. Relating closer to post-rock than ambient soundscapes, the record is situated in the present, sounding more like Hansen than drawing from his influences. “This is, in many ways, the first true Tycho record.”

Following 2011’s Dive LP, the San Francisco-based designer toured extensively, and with a full band on stage, his sound coalesced into a percussive, organic whole. Zac Brown (guitars, bass) rejoined Scott on the road for this tour, but it was the particular addition of Rory O’Connor’s live drumming that ultimately sent Hansen back to the studio with a more precise vision. “After the tour, I decided that I wanted to capture the more energetic, driven sound of the live show on the next album,” Hansen recalls. Bringing musicians into Tycho’s creative process was a step towards expanding his own songwriting and advancing the project beyond its current sound.

In a cabin near Tahoe last winter, Zac and Scott began fleshing out the structure of the new record, but it wasn’t until they set up shop in the hills of Santa Cruz with Rory that it all fell into place. “It crystallized the vision of how the drums would come to the forefront on this record,” says Hansen. The sound was much more stripped-down and concise with more organic instruments in the fold. Songs like “Montana” and “Awake” are a departure from Tycho’s previous material – unique to the group effort poured into the songs on the new record – while “See” and “Dye” echo ideas from previous works, bridging a middle ground between the old and new. Working with Count Eldridge, who also engineered Dive, the team could fixate on the pulses that Tycho might previously layer under synthesizers and exhume them with distinct bass and guitar patterns.

Also known for his design work as ISO50, Hansen’s visual and sonic efforts have dovetailed throughout the course of his career. “This is the first time in my life I've dropped everything to focus on one artistic pursuit,” notes Hansen. Previous Tycho releases came to fruition when an amalgam of songs were nearing completion, but Awake is where music becomes the focus and true expression becomes the result.

WEB - www.tychomusic.com 
TWITTER - www.twitter.com/iso50 
FB - www.facebook.com/tychomusic 
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/user/iso50 
INSTAGRAM - @iso50

Awake

Alvvays

Adult Diversion

Tweens' self-titled debut album out April 7 (UK) / 8 (US)

Preorder: http://georiot.co/tweens

https://tweensband.com
http://tweens.bandcamp.com/
https://facebook.com/tweencity
https://twitter.com/tweensband
http://tweensband.tumblr.com/
https://instagram.com/tweensband

Tweens - Be Mean

ScHoolboy Q - "Man Of THe Year"
Produced By Nez & Rio
MixedByAli

OXYMORON Coming Soon

ScHoolboy Q - Man Of THe Year

Artist: Inventions
Title: Peaceable Child
Album: Inventions
Buy CD/LP Here: http://shop.temporaryresidence.com/trr231
Buy iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/inventions/id829805085

Buy on iTunes

Inventions - Peaceable Child

Taken from 'Live Versions' - limited edition vinyl will be available on Record Store Day, Saturday April 19th, at participating record stores across the world.

Live Versions

Be Above It (Live)

Flesh War

Expensive Dog

Pre-order from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/tpo-wh-itunes

Slumberland Records is pleased to announce the signing of London-based neo-psychedelic pop group The Proper Ornaments. Mining the rich territories of The Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys, their debut album proper "Wooden Head" features fourteen thrillingly taut and melodic pop songs with a deep, dark undercurrent. Comprised of Argentinian Max Claps and James Hoare (also of Veronica Falls) – who both sing and write the songs – and joined by Daniel Nellis (bass) and Robert Syme (drums), the band have already shared stages with the likes of Real Estate, Woods, Crystal Stilts, Toy and Metronomy.

Maximo Claps arrived in London in 2008 on a one-way ticket from Buenos Aires, aided by former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Oldham had produced a record by Claps' Argentinian band of the time but the group had fallen apart in a mess of drugs and acrimony and Claps' family were attempting to intervene by sending him to a mental hospital. The only option seemed to be to flee the country. As Claps recalls, "The day before flying to the UK I got run over by a car and had to escape hospital in order to make it so I arrived with bandages and my head all stitched up."

A few weeks later Max walked into the vintage clothes shop where James Hoare sat behind the counter reading a book on The Velvet Underground, and attempted to cause a diversion while his kleptomaniac girlfriend stole a pair of boots. “She didn't steal them in the end,” says Max. “They weren't her size”. However, the shop assistant and the would-be accomplice bonded over a mutual love of the Velvets, Love, Felt and West Coast pop and began writing together, taking their name from a song by the pioneering soft psych band The Free Design. In 2010 they released their first single, "Recalling", following it up with a five-song EP for London label No Pain in Pop. In 2013 Lo Recordings released all their output to date on a collection titled "Waiting for the Summer", followed by the single “First Step Out” in February 2014.

Their new album was recorded at a studio in Hackney, as well as at home in their old flat in Whitechapel on a broken 8-track reel-to-reel bought off eBay from an angry guy who threatened to shoot them and chop off their balls when they attempted to return it - a terrifying experience for a pair of skinny indie boys. Taking inspiration from Berlin-era Lou Reed, Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Darklands”, The Television Personalities and West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, the songs are breezy and easy on the ear, with sublime harmonies and chiming Byrdsian guitar, but with a darker twist and a pervasive air of melancholy. Stand-out tracks include the beautiful but sad “Summer’s Gone” (about mental illness), “Magazine” (an upbeat number written from the perspective of a bullet in the barrel of a gun) and “You’ll See” (about how when you die you’ll see everyone you know, all there lined up in a row).

With "Wooden Head", The Proper Ornaments prove that it is still possible to create an album of pure pop perfection. Max's girlfriend may not have stolen the boots, but The Proper Ornaments are about to steal your heart.

“The joint project of James and Max, through romantic drama that borders on that of The Libertines. And when you hear The Proper Ornaments you’ll see why it’s all worth it. It’s like they’re meant for each other, like Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts” - Loud & Quiet


The Proper Ornaments - Summer's Gone

Geronimo! - Spitting In The Ocean

Swollen is the debut LP from no wave noisemakers Stickers, out August 12, 2014 on End of Time. www.endoftimerecords.com

Stickers - Outlet

Stickers - Sacajawea

Disrupt yr DNA

Sleeping Bag sounds different, you guys. On their third LP, "Deep Sleep", Dave Segedy (the group's drummer, songwriter and primary vocalist) has taken the band into heavier, more epic territory. The sunny jangling guitars and fun whistle choruses are gone; obliterated in a full on fuzz-guitar assault.  Dave sings, "I want to free the dog that I am." and he means it.

Segedy's signature pop songwriting style is still in full effect, now brought to life by guitarist Tyler Smith and bassist Glenn Meyers. Tracks like "Hush" and "Wrestle" exemplify Sleeping Bag's honest, bedroom-pop approach and Malkmus-deadpan vocal delivery, but compared to the sunny disposition of the previous records "Deep Sleep" sounds downright tuff. Drenched in distortion & reverb, the album culminates with the nine-minute closer, "The Portal" - an epic shred-fest, equal parts My Bloody Valentine & Weezer "Only In Dreams". It's quite an affair. 

Sleeping Bag - Wrestle

"Bigger Party" by Speedy Ortiz

Download this track for FREE at adultswim.com/singles beginning July 14.

Speedy Ortiz - Bigger Party

The legendary band's first album in 13 years, available on Joyful Noise Recordings.

Pre-order now on ITunes    http://bit.ly/1suFFjj
or from Joyful Noise   http://bit.ly/1mx0SrG

One of the most influential bands in rock history, Half Japanese was founded in the bedroom of brothers Jad and David Fair in 1974. Ignoring musical conventions like chords, rhythms, melody, and song structure, the brothers pioneered DIY and Lo-Fi punk aesthetics simply by being themselves. Passionate, fearless, and relentlessly unique, they self-recorded and self-released by mailing out cassettes with handmade packaging, pressing their own vinyl, and brazenly marketing their music with bizarre magazine ads. This unbridled enthusiasm for the act of creating rock music led them to record dozens of amazing records (including the classic albums "1/2 Gentleman/Not Beasts" and "Charmed Life"), and to inevitably influence countless artists such as Sonic Youth, Neutral Milk Hotel, Daniel Johnston, Kurt Cobain, and many many more.

Their first album in 13 years, "Overjoyed", shows the band's aggressiveness as well as its friendly charisma. Produced by John Dieterich of Deerhoof, the 12 songs on "Overjoyed" are unlike anything in the bands catalog, each unapologetically positive and surprisingly accessible. "Overjoyed" contains a deep purity, exceptionally rare amongst "reunion albums". They neither attempt to recreate their old sound, nor are they aware of current musical trends and conventions.  As a result they sidestep common pitfalls and create something new, interesting, and needed.

The first single and opening track is "In Its Pull". The song struts with confidence and exemplifies the magical in-the-moment glee that Half Japanese exudes. It pumps out a straightforward yet enticingly erratic rock pulse that paves the way for the rest of the album.   


 Buy Direct

Half Japanese - In Its Pull

Artist: Spray Paint
Title:  Cussin’

Label: Upset The Rhythm
Catalogue Number: UTR067
Formats: 7” (45rpm) / DIGITAL

Pre-order: http://upsettherhythm.bigcartel.com/

Running Time:  6 mins 41 secs
Release Date: August 11th 

Track listing:

SIDE A
01. Cussin’

SIDE B
02. Three Thumbs Up
03. Ask My Old Roomate, Man

SPRAY PAINT are a no wave punk outfit from Austin, Texas made up of Chris Stephenson (drums/vocals), Cory Plump (guitar/vocals) and George Dishner (guitar/vocals). Some of you may already know these guys from other projects such as When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, Expensive Shit and Dikes of Holland. Spray Paint’s buzz-sawing guitars run headlong through labyrinthine tunnels of reverb, chased down by some wildly brain-bashing drums. All three members of Spray Paint sing too, helping create an uncontrollable sense of fervour as they jostle for the words.

Since forming in 2012, Spray Paint have released two LPs and 7”s through SS-Records as well as readying an upcoming LP for Monofonus Press. They’ve wasted no time with hitting the road either, touring the US four times, most recently with their friends Protomartyr. They’ve also played at Fun Fun Fun Fest, Chaos in Tejas, Gonerfest, Cropped Out, SXSW and a live on-air performance on WFMU. This October sees Spray Paint head over to Europe for the first time, in support of their fierce new 7” EP through Upset The Rhythm, entitled ‘Cussin’. 

Side A’s twitchy opener ‘Cussin’ plays out with some decidedly, derailed guitars, working up a tone of paranoia amid the thumping rhythms. ‘Cussin’ is almost emblematic of Spray Paint themselves, matching the propulsion against the restraint, locking into a motoric groove that’s impossible to escape from. Flipping over ‘Three Thumbs Up’ is a disorientating number with the band’s trio of vocals calling out the lyrics like a repetitive mantra. The overall effect proves less like a list of instructions and more like the unquiet thoughts of a restless head. “I think he’s time traveling, he’s got no windows, are you sure he’s from Houston?” they volunteer in ‘Ask My Old Roomate, Man’, wrapping up Side B. The track makes room for path-leaping sprees of guitar, offset with stormy blasts of distortion - finishing the 7” as it started; damaged, daring and utterly dogged. Qualities that not only define Spray Paint’s sound but are also central to the appeal of this solid slab of repeato-rock rapture.



2014 (II)

Dave Gs