After years of writing and performing, Ava Luna has refined their doo-wop soul meets punk-as-fuck aesthetic into something bold and glaringly defiant in today's indie music landscape. Following the release of their critically lauded first proper full-length Ice Level, the band spent an intense 2-week period writing and recording in upstate New York. Unlike previous efforts that were meticulously mapped out, the songs that would become Electric Balloon were "…a family effort." according to frontman Carlos Hernandez. For the new album, former Columbia composition student Hernandez relinquished the reins a bit, opting for a more organic approach to writing the material for what would become Electric Balloon. As Hernandez explains, it was a "…birth of confidence. I grew closer to my bandmates, began to see the roles of a family playing out. Ethan cooks dinner for all of us, we make lewd jokes, and then 'after-dinner storytelling' takes the form of playing music."

In the wake of Ice Level, Ava Luna's sharp edges have melted away just enough, making it easier to connect with their no-wave grooves and soaring harmonies. Distilling everything from James Chance and ESG to contemporaries like Dirty Projectors and Of Montreal, Ava Luna have landed on an aggressively unique sound that still manages to be accessible. Hernandez goes on to explain "…the stories and moments here are clearer, as in a conversation. The moment appears, you grab it with your hands, screw the lid on the mason jar. There was no tweaking, no second-guessing. Julian's mantra for the process: 'First thought best thought.'….And for my part, I sing my best about encounters, friendships, some moments beautiful and others painful. A bike shop manager in New Orleans, a derelict porch on Brighton Beach, a yellow sweater in a kitchen in the Catskills, a water duct in the New Mexico desert…"

Ava Luna – "Sears Roebuck M&Ms"

Linn drums, synthetic percussion / restless architecture / upbeat and haunted / part-hallucination, part-party for one in a bunker / put a record on, conjure presences. 

BUY HERE:
Bleep – http://smarturl.it/hinterland-bleep
iTunes – http://smarturl.it/hinterland-itunes 
Amazon – http://smarturl.it/hinterland-amazon
Google Play – http://smarturl.it/hinterland-play

Hinterland

BUY HERE

Bunkerpop

Golden Prize

Camping Goods

EXTRACT FROM COMET EP, PUBLISHED BY LA TEMPESTA DISCHI

C O M E T EP

GAME OVER

12" vinyl @ Cascine: bit.ly/1kOYvOb
Buy @ Itunes: bit.ly/1kOYVUI
___

World Tour @ FB: on.fb.me/1SoIbo7
Cascine @ FB: on.fb.me/1dUlX81

World Tour - Believe

Prinzhorn Dance School - I Want You

Das Lebenslied

Trust - Dressed For Space (Baron von Luxxury Remix)

"Ghost Carnival" is the new album of Hypnolove, produced by Ed Banger's Mickey Moonlight

Follow Hypnolove :
http://facebook.com/hypnolove
CD, vinyl, digital : http://hypnolove.bandcamp.com


With spring just round the corner, Record Makers – the label that brought you Sebastien Tellier and Kavinsky (amongst others) – proudly present the sophomore album from Hypnolove, the Toulouse-based trio that have just created the soundtrack to this year’s sunshine. Welcome to the Ghost Carnival…

Featuring the musical talent of Thierry (vocals/keys), Henning (vocals/chords/drums) and Nicolas (guitar/bass), Hypnolove is a group formed between friends that share a common dream, and above all, a passion for discovering and creating music that defies easy categorization. In the purest sense, ‘Ghost Carnival’ delivers a delightful moment of modern pop, although delve deeper and their more obscure influences shine bright – something that the producer, Ed Banger’s UK ambassador Mickey Moonlight, should also take great credit for.

Nicolas explains, “We needed to find a guideline for this album and although disco and pop built the frame that we worked from, our listening is much wider than that. Artists such as the Walker Brothers, Lucio Battisti, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Prince, Strafe, ZZ Top, Talking Heads… the list goes on, all of them deserve a salute!” Thierry continues, “We are always looking for new music to listen to and we are all LP lovers, so it was very important for us to make a cohesive album that worked from back to front. Working with Mike was fantastic, he knew all our reference points and was able to change our sound for the better without betraying the spirit of our songs”

There’s no doubt that the combination of Hypnolove’s song-writing with Mike’s production style has elevated the band’s sound and there’s a clear progression in ideas and song structures from their 2006 debut ‘Eurolove’. That album featured the cult hit ‘Mademoiselle’ and, like ‘Ghost Carnival’, was the embodiment of several years of work and that can only be put down to the group performing for pleasure before anything else. Like when they were teenagers, injected with electro-pop, New Order and the Pet Shop Boys, or years later, uncovering obscure bands and stranger more-cryptic oddities, their sound and musical connection is a natural evolution of experience and knowledge.

Lasting just over 30mins, ‘Ghost Carnival’ is as short as it is sweet, but it makes sure that not a moment is spared, with the warm feeling of a summer’s day shining down from the outset. The already released ‘Holiday Reverie’ follows the French-horned, Arthur Russell inspired intro ‘Simple Classic Beautiful’ that provides just enough skip to start your step. The glistening electro-pop of ‘Midnight Cruising’ and band-favourite ‘Come To My Empire’ fall neatly either side of ‘Winter In The Sun’ that features the brilliant vocal talent of British singer Findlay Brown. Two more friends then join the party, with Puro Instinct leader Piper Kaplan and the 9 years-old Freya Parry providing the female touch on both ‘Beyond Paradise’ and ‘Ghost Carnival’ to brilliant effect. There’s one last blast of Italo strings with the dance floor driven ‘Sleepwalker’, before ‘Goodnight Kiss’ provides the perfect, and memorable, goodbye the album so deserves.

It will have you clicking repeat, over and over. As Thierry invites us all to : “close your eyes and come to my empire”

Hypnolove - Midnight Cruising

LoneLady is Julie Campbell >> songwriter, musician, singer, producer from Manchester, UK
colour workouts, cement beats >> machine groove, funk economy >> cassette magic, wilderness energy >>