Today's Hotness: Ski Saigon, Urusei Yatsura, Mincer Ray

>> One of the more mysterious and evocative projects we've followed here at Clicky Clicky in recent years has been Mooncreatures. Although the music and premise of its final long-player was exciting, we were disappointed when the London band and the LP's fictive narrative intersected in reality, and Mooncreatures announced (sort of?) it was no more. Anyway, band mastermind Rhys Griffiths has returned with the even higher-concept project Ski Saigon, whose debut release Brings The Storm Cloud is due toward the end of the summer. The six-song set is inspired by '60s Cambodian pop music and concerns a fictional historical (wait, what?) narrative about French soldiers tiring of the tropical climate of Cambodia in the mid-20th century and setting about creating indoor snow skiing facilities in Saigon and Phnom Penh. Really, you just read that. Brings The Storm Cloud opens with a short, shimmering audio approximation of those blurry scene transitions in film and TV that suggests the commencement of a flashback. As soon as listeners have oriented themselves to the tune, "Wintergarden," it vanishes, and then the EP begins in earnest with the ensuing, fully realized "Sweet Dreams In The Botanics." The mid-tempo swayer rides a steady canned beat, above which sustained synth and simple guitar chords and a pleasantly lazy lead guitar obscure hushed lyrics. The tune's escapist fantasia is amplified by a 45-second coda wherein the aforementioned synth chords give way to an insectoid drone and -- curiously -- the sound of water (although we expect it is easier to present the sound of water than snow). Art Is Hard Records issues Brings The Storm Cloud Aug. 26 in a limited edition of 100 32-page book/CD bundles, as well as a digital download. Pre-order the book here, and click through the embed below to acquire the digital files. The demise of Mooncreatures felt very premature, and we're quite excited by the possibilities presented by Ski Saigon, either as an ongoing project or at least as a sign that Mr. Griffiths has no intention of quitting music any time. Stream the aforementioned "Wintergarden" and "Sweet Dreams In The Botanics" via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> We've been holding out hope for a good six years that the mighty Glaswegian indie rock combo Projekt A-Ko would return to us. Imagine our surprise when we received word in our inbox earlier this spring that not Projeckt A-Ko, but the trio's notable, '90s-spawned (and we suppose better-known) precursor Urusei Yatsura, would beat the three to the new release bin in September. Well, technically, it's old music, but it is nonetheless exciting. On Sept. 2, the choicest cuts from Urusei Yatsura's highly regarded BBC recordings (which included, among others, five sessions for John Peel and three for Steve Lamacq) will be released as an LP via London's Rocketgirl. The press materials accompanying the announcement speak, with the benefit of distance and hindsight, of Urusei Yatsura's music shining particularly bright when recorded under the constraints radio sessions necessarily present. And it is hard to argue with the results. Fans can hear a particularly fizzing iteration of the rocking 1996 A-side "Phasers On Stun" below. Rocketgirl will release You Are My Urusei Yatsura on 12" vinyl, CD and as a digital download Sept. 2. The LPs are pressed to snappy neon pink media and available in a very limited edition of 300 pieces, so you had better get to pre-ordering if you want this. To be fair to Urusei Yatsura/Projekt A-ko's Fergus Lawrie, he has produced new music over the last seven years, including some engaging "haloed guitar" guitar noise pieces with his project Angel of Everyone Murder. But given the blinding excellence of Projekt A-Ko's sole LP, 2009's Yoyodyne [hypertext!], we remain hopeful that that...erm... project will also be resuscitated. In the meantime, we've the Urusei Yatsura collection to look forward to: stream the aforementioned "Phasers On Stun," recorded for the BBC Evening Session May 8, 1996, via the Soundcloud embed below. Speaking of, fans should pay VERY close attention to the UY Soundcloud, as it features a trove of material, including some cuts found too late to be considered for inclusion on You Are My Urusei Yatsura, like this magical acoustic take on "Burriko Girl."



>> The charm of lo-fi, and particularly '90s lo-fi, is that it characteristically sounds thrown together, but still sometimes fumbles its way to transcendence. Sometimes that's just the sound (the example we think of it this Perfect Pussy interview that describes recording clean basic tracks and then layering noise), and sometimes things are actually, you know, thrown together (see every live thing Crazy Horse did with Neil Young). Although we've previously deemed the act mid-fi, Mincer Ray's delightful, be-flanneled recent digital EP Early Morning Am Moritz firmly falls within the latter category. A brief note at the Berlin-based act's Soundcloud reports the short stack of songs was "[c]onceived & recorded to cassette in 3 hours & 47 minutes (more or less)." The collection commences strongly with the yearning, mid-tempo, and alt.-countrified strummer "Everything Is Green," a should-be hit whose straightforward presentation can't hold down the sweeping melody of the big, lovelorn verse. With almost no warning the verse become its chorus, which points to an anthemic, ripping guitar solo that aspires towards David Pajo's amazing face-melter from Palace Brothers' epic "Horses." The balance of Early Morning Am Moritz isn't quite as memorable, although the concise basher "Ned Norris" is bracing to the point of infectious and the loose and gritty "Dine" wouldn't feel entirely out of place on Viva Last Blues. Mincer Ray's EP hit the Internerds in late June, and you can stream the entire thing via the Soundcloud embed below (click through to download all five numbers as .wav files). The set is also now available on cassette via the Chicago and Berlin-based Shaky Tooth Tapes. We last wrote about Mincer Ray right here in 2014.

Today's Hotness: Nosferatu D2, Mooncreatures, Myrrias

>> We've got mixed feelings about the latest Audio Antihero release, as the collection -- an EP titled Older, Sadder, Wiser featuring the final uncollected rarities from the legendary and short-lived Croydon, England duo Nosferatu D2 -- seems too fitting a bookend to the-little-label-that-could's six-year run, and we'd prefer that this not be the end. Not that it has announced it is closing up shop, but proprietor Jamie Volcano recently quipped in a promo email that he doesn't know how many more birthdays Audio Antihero has left, and we know that he's got a lot happening in his non-label life. No matter what it may or may not portend, Nosferatu D2's Older, Sadder, Wiser is a treat. The short set contains six non-album cuts -- numbers that appeared on comps, a demo version of the terrifically affecting "Springsteen" and the previously unreleased and never-performed "Don't Try To Wake Me" -- and is surely a must for completists as well as Parker-ophiles (and honestly, anyone who counts herself a Parker-ophile is almost certainly a completist, yeah?).

The collection opens with the blistering salvo that heralds "The Kids From 'Fame'," a tune that jarringly downshifts, Adam Parker's explosive drumming adopting a martial cadence to underpin brother and fronter Ben Parker's incisive ruminations on the early '80s. The ND2 catalog is packed with Clicky Clicky favorites, but perhaps our favorite rarity, "A Man At War With Himself," is also included here. In a 2008 interview with Clicky Clicky, Ben discounted the idea that certain of his songs are autobiographical, but given the powerful angst that characterizes his music, listeners can be excused for thinking the song is particularly personal. "A Man At War With Himself" also features one of the duo's most melodic choruses -- or is it a bridge? a coda? -- and concerns itself with listening to Prince's Purple Rain ("...tonight he's got Purple Rain on the stereo again, this is how it sounds when doves cry..."). It's golden. The EP ends where our love affair with the outfit began, with the sublime, poignant rocker "A Footnote." The paean to obsessive music fandom is an all-time favorite, and having the demo version of the track be what is likely the final word from the band wraps up Nosferatu D2's career in a classic, almost literary way. Audio Antihero released Older, Sadder, Wiser as digital download Oct. 16, and you can stream or download the entire thing via the Bandcamp embed below. The label also reissued last week on aesthetically pleasing tangerine cassette tape Nosferatu D2's sole, legendary and posthumous LP We're Gonna Walk Around This Town With Headphones On To Block Out The Noise [buy!], which of course we originally reviewed right here way back in 2009. Finally, Audio Antihero has also brought to the Interzizzles in association with these releases a quality video artifact, a rarely-if-ever and likely never-before-seen-by-you-in-the-passive-voice video of Nosferatu D2 performing a heroic live set at something called MalcFest in Croydon circa 2006 or 2007. While the entire video is crucial, this link will take you to the beginning of the aforementioned, incendiary "Springsteen," which we think you will find quite bracing.



>> The great Kurt Heasley, something of a spirit guide for Clicky Clicky, said in an interview with us last year that "you get into the game of expectations, then you get into the game of disappointment." Even so, it *can* be quite enjoyable when our expectations get bonked on the nose just a bit. Take the recently issued first long-player from London "reverb-pop" concern Mooncreatures. We've tracked the act here in our electronic pages since June 2012, and over the intervening span Mooncreatures has worked within the gauzy, moody realm of atmospheric dream-pop. However, with its latest release Night Guides the act injects garage-rock and gentle '60s psych sounds into its aesthetic. Mixing in these recognizable tropes dilutes somewhat the aura of mystery the act established on three earlier EPs, but it's possible these elements are meant to serve the record's understated but nifty thematic concept, which concerns a doomed 20th century expedition ("...the band perished that winter under circumstances that are unclear"). Whether or not that's the case, the cool '60s vibe of the rock-steady nodder "Guilt Chills" works well, and the song is a winner, with one gently rippling reverb shrouding the even vocal while another magnifies clear, clean and linear guitar leads. Other styles also crop up across the record: "Disaster" elevates Mooncreatures' historically more sedate sound nearer to the realm of an aggressive shoegaze strummer, while nodding toward the "classic" Mooncreatures sound by incorporating apparent field recordings. The set closes with the upbeat "Circumstances Are Unclear," a 92-second anthem that layers electric and acoustic guitars but eschews rhythm tracks; the tune would sit nicely under a closing montage as the credits start to scroll up the screen, and, again, given the album's concept, that may be its aural intent. Beko Disques released Night Guides in a limited edition of 200 CDs and as a digital download Oct. 15. Purchase and stream the entire collection via the Bandcamp embed below. According to a brief -- and hopefully entirely fictional -- narrative at the foot of the Bandcamp page, this is the band's final album. We expect that's just part of the artificial myth of the album, as now is certainly not the time for Mooncreatures to call it quits. Night Guides is the band's -- now expanded to a five-piece -- most ambitious and accomplished work to date.



>> It's been a year-and-a-half since we last wrote about Philadelphia's standout darkwave quartet Myrrias, an act featuring former members of notable combos Arc In Round and Break It Up, among others. This isn't to say we've completely fallen down on the job of covering them. Indeed, the foursome would seem to favor quality when it comes to the age-old quality vs. quantity binary; only recently did Myrrias issue a second digital single, which contains three tunes, "All Alone," the Nico cover "60/40" and "On Your Own." The ominous lead track -- marked by bumping bass playing and angelic vocal harmonies -- is a new version of the final cut from Myrrias' first digital offering, Endless Winter Session, which we wrote about here in the spring of 2014. The most stirring track on the new single may in fact be the icy, pensive closing instrumental "On Your Own," a reverie of synths that echoes faintly the New Order classic "Elegia," but delivers with richer, denser tones while teetering between tense and placid moods. Myrrias self-released the "All Alone" single via Bandcamp Sept. 29, and the set was recorded and co-produced by scenemaker and go-to guy Jeff Zeigler (who still hasn't found time to finish that solo record...). Sadly the short set may be the last featuring the band's original lineup, as drummer Casey Bell has relocated out of state and indeed basically all the way across the country (according to this solid piece), leaving the remaining trio to soldier on backed by a drum machine, at least for the time being. Stream and purchase the three songs via the Bandcamp embed below. Two of the tunes from the single, "All Alone" and "60/40," were recently performed as part of a radio session for WXPN's The Key, and that session was released to the wilds of the Internerds here earlier this week and is also recommended listening. Myrrias completed a short strand of tour dates with Clicky Clicky faves White Laces earlier this fall; its next live date is in Philadelphia tomorro afternoon as part of Dilworth Park's OctoberFest.

Today's Hotness: Literature, Lattimore/Zeigler, Mooncreatures

>> We make every effort to stay abreast of the Philadelphia music scene, even as we lack the time to cover every single development from the fertile scene. We were surprised, then, to learn recently of Philly indie-pop unit Literature, whose sophomore album Chorus will be released later this month via Slumberland. The group is following up 2012's wonderful Arab Spring, which dropped shortly after Literature moved to Pennsylvania from Austin (which, we suppose, explains why these cats weren't on our radar). Literature has also appeared on various notable compilations in the intervening years and played events such as the NYC Popfest, and supported such Clicky Clicky-approved acts as Brown Recluse,Sic Alps and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. And so, unsurprisingly, the new set sounds right at home in the Slumberland catalog. On lead single "The English Softhearts," Literature distinguishes itself with effective keyboard playing (which switches warm synth tones mid-song) and dances with the bright Smiths- and Orange Juice-styled guitar work. If there's a member of the band playing both that and an electric guitar throughout the tune live, props to them. Also notable is lead singer Kevin Attics' voice, one among a fine procession of anglophile Yankee singers that aims for an accent but ends up with something ultimately more exotic and in-between (Nota Bene: this isn't meant as a slight, but rather is intended to illuminate a phenomenon that this reviewer famously enjoys). Mr. Attics succeeds at this more than most, sounding legitimately British (or at least an expat?) and much like a recharged and exuberant Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele. While "The English Softhearts" trades in all manner of classic dynamic tics, the best part of the song is the four-bar bridge toward the end, where pillowy synth-strings and a deep bass line seal the deal on the implied elegance to which the band earnestly aspires. The second preview tune, the elegant dreamer "New Jacket," is no less excellent, pairing nervy guitar jangle and wiry leads with a glistening, icy ambience that feels urgent but timeless. Chorus is set to arrive on CD and vinyl via the legendary Slumberland Aug.19; pre-order the set right here, and consider taking advantage of the label's limited time offer of a bundle of Chorus and Arab Spring. Has the label ever steered you wrong before? -- Edward Charlton



>> In-demand Philly studio guy Jeff Zeigler, the busy engineer behind Clicky Clicky-approved records by artists like A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Kurt Vile, Nothing and Purling Hiss (as well as the frontman for the visionary Arc In Round), this past winter teamed with harpist Mary Lattimore to craft a pleasantly meandering set called Slant Of Light, which will be released by the esteemed Thrill Jockey label Sept. 22. As this blog can't foresee anything not to love about Zeigler's work (we eagerly, eagerly await his long-anticipated solo record), this collaboration seems certain to deliver compelling ambient/post-rock optimal for autumnal daydreaming. Although the four-song tracklisting has been announced (and a version of the lead track "Welsh Corgis In The Snow" previously graced Zeigler's Soundcloud at one point, but is understandably now absent), at press time no preview single from the record has been released. The press materials announcing Slant Of Light, however, point to a compelling live video of the pair performing an untitled piece last summer that indicates what fans can expect from the duo's debut. Lattimore's harp makes unbelievably beautiful and avant garde sounds strained through a Line 6 delay while Zeigler manipulates the mix in real time and lays in smooth, pulsing bass synth chords. The twinkling and ethereal work demonstrates a masterful patience and exciting sense of play that makes us especially eager to catch the duo live. It does plan to make appearances to support the set, which can be pre-ordered right here. The record is being sold on CD and vinyl, with the latter available in a limited edition of 500 pressed to white media. Interface with the video below. -- Edward Charlton



>> Perhaps, as this reviewer would like to think, London-based "reverb-pop" outfit Mooncreatures took seriously our executive editor's March lament regarding a two-year release gap, as it is already queueing up the release of a second title in 2014, a cassette called Sand Maps. While the noteworthy and cinematic prior release Gaslamps was reason enough for celebration, Sand Maps presents still more of the band's impressionistic ambience augmented with fresh dynamic elements that point to the project's continued evolution. The mysterious duo -- which we now know includes Rhys Griffiths and Martyn Dunn -- proffers windblown, dreamy new age/wave within a specific and fragile analogue/electronic context that is singularly their own. This time out, however, on songs such as "The Shallows," the act somewhat surprisingly arrives at something resembling a noisy, traditional rock song, complete with full-blown guitar solos and palm muting -- not what one would generally associate with the typically steady-yet-soft project. Opener "(sea cure)" ratchets a short-delay loop pedal after the first 39 seconds and doesn't let up. "Salt Sea," "Pacific Theme (Solar Effect)," and "Tender Stems, Desert Winds" all tread in territory similar to their previous releases, but retain much of the the delightful affectations -- vocal sibilance, rich synths, and heaps of delay. "Landgrab" perhaps best pulls at the heartstrings, its yearning melody and subdued beat attaining an admirable floating effect while tasteful reverse-delay threatens to derail the tune, just like the harsh gales of the English moors where these two creative minds at least telepathically reside. Sand Maps was released July 18 by the new London-based and Beko Disques-affiliated label Balloon Festival in a limited edition of 40 pea-green cassettes. Buy it here. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: French Leisure, Dark Blue, Fury Things

>> Following great bands pays dividends in a number of ways, and one of these is getting turned on, by association, to excellent record labels or other bands. Case in point is the French label Beko, which we first encountered sometime in the past year because of its releases by Mooncreatures and The Bilinda Butchers [zing! pow!]. Indeed, the label has been mining some serious quality recently, and thanks to the almighty push notifications of the indispensable Bandcamp we know that one of its latest releases is among its most thrilling to date. We speak of the single #2 from French indie rock trio French Leisure. Band principals Laurent, Elsa and Gaël previously played in the long-running and influential Parisian indie rock concern Acetate Zero, which split in 2011. The trio rotate instruments on the regular, apparently, and hail from various cities -- or have together moved around quite a bit -- as their brief bio notes the act is from "Paris, Nice, Brest, Montpellier, wherever... whatever." The A-side of #2 is the mid-tempo, crisp guitar-driven ballad "Curtains," which calls to mind the patient and melodic indie rock masterpieces of Bettie Serveert or Karl Hendricks Trio. The flip side is the peppy, seemingly Versus-inspired rocker "Inner Shark." It's no stretch to surmise that French Leisure derives a fair amount of influence from classic American indie rock: in a recent interview, the trio reports that its favorite albums include Pedro The Lion's Control, Bedhead's Transaction De Novo and the epochal What's Up Matador? comp from 1997. It is little surprise that French Leisure's first single was titled #1, but what is more surprising is that it was released by Beko only a month ago. Although the band bemoaned in the interview linked supra the slow pace at which they are able to complete material (or at least we think they do -- our command of the French language is abominable), it would seem they are working pretty rapidly to bring the rock music to the people. Beko released #2 May 28; both of its singles for French Leisure are download-only and are available for free, meaning there is really no reason for them to not be in your life. Don't be a dumbass.



>> There's a side of Philly that's never been kinder and gentler, that prides itself on never having been kinder and gentler. And although it is important to note that it is not its only side, perhaps nothing embodied that in the music scene of the City of Brotherly Love in the last decade more than provocative punks Clockcleaner. Confrontational, loved and loathed equally, the band -- which Wikipedia claims was named after a nasty batch of heroin -- nevertheless blazed a wide path over the course of a relatively prolific, six-year career that ended with mercurial fronter John Sharkey reportedly splitting for Australia unexpectedly in 2008. All of that feels long ago and far away, even more so now that Mr. Sharkey has returned with a thrilling new trio called Dark Blue, which appears to have sprung from the ashes of another project called Puerto Rico Flowers. Dark Blue is set to release via Jade Tree July 15 a terrific, sophomore single that is surprisingly reverent to certain postpunk sounds. The waste-of-breath shorthand we've seen on the band so far focuses on Sharkey's baritone and lazily compares it to that of Ian Curtis. But if we're going to make lazy comparisons, folks, let's at least come correct: Dark Blue sounds a hell of a lot like a tougher version of the excellent, Morrissey-approved but sadly defunct UK guitar pop combo The Boyfriends (ploing!), which released its only full-length in 2006. Dark Blue's Jade Tree single features the anthemic, midtempo basher "Just Another Night With The Boys" on the A-side, and a riveting cover of John Cale's "Hungry For Love" on the flip. Both tunes were recorded by Philadelphia's Jeff Zeigler, who seems to have touched every excellent sound recording that has come out of the city for the last few years; a full-length Dark Blue LP is planned, and we're hopeful that Mr. Zeigler's name will appear on the back of that one as well. You can stream both cuts from the single below; we highly recommend that you do. Pre-order "Just Another Night With The Boys" b/w "Hungry For Love" from Jade Tree as a 7" vinyl single or digital download right here. Dark Blue's debut single was issued by the Brooklyn-based label Katorga Works and it can be downloaded gratis right here.



>> Minneapolis-based fuzz-pop dynamos Fury Things have a gift for crafting big, glossy melodies (and also, apparently, covering Hole songs). On its new, three-song release simply titled 7", Fury Things make a dense and gloriously glossy racket. Shoegazy guitars on opener "Leave Winter Behind" shimmer and bend along the crest of a sturdy, tambourine-studded beat. The tune is equal parts sugar and crunch, and it gentle vocal harmonies -- which recall the cracking melodicism of Scottish indie heroes Teenage Fanclub -- work to accent the former. The tempo and energy level steadily increase across Fury Things' three tracks, such that closer "Follow" feels almost out of control, given its peppy pace. Despite the short set's title, we can find no information about a pending vinyl release of the three songs, which are all new. With hooks this sharp, a vinyl issue would certainly seem to be a solid idea, but presently the music is on offer only as a digital download. The aforementioned 7" is not Fury Things' first release: the threesome issued a demo EP in late 2012, and followed it up quickly with a second, self-recorded short stack several months later simply titled EP 2. We'll keep our eyes open for additional information about 7", but don't let the question of its availability keep you from its glorious bash 'n' dazzle: stream the entire deal via the Bandcamp embed below. Fury Things play St. Paul's Amsterdam Bar and Hall June 15 before heading across the border to Calgary for a few dates surrounding the 2014 Sled Island music festival.

Today's Hotness: Mooncreatures, Tungs, Tapes & Tubes

>> Well, it didn't come as soon as we had hoped when we wrote about the band's first EP here two years ago, but Mooncreatures are indeed back, with another cinematic and evocative collection of heavily vibing ambient dreampop. The London-based duo's new, hermetic EP Gaslamps feels even more of a piece than its remarkable debut, as its six gentle songs steadily swell and breathe into one another. Band founder Rhys Griffiths describes the set as "a northern European night time record," but we'd put a finer point on it: the proceedings would seem to be aural travelogue of sorts, or so the song titles suggest. Opener "Cityscape, Hauptbahnhof" is all gauzy shimmer, as much an array of slowly shifting thoughts as it is cycle of pretty, waivering chords. The reverie is briefly suspended by a stretching tone that suggests a far off police siren, and the listener is suddenly transported to the second composition, the more intently structured dreamer "Tram To Brockenheim." The second half of the EP contains the sort of haunting half-dreams that hang in your consciousness for mere moments upon waking; these come in the form of the 44 second sketch "View From" and its two-minute successor "Expedition To." Gaslamps was released as a digital download March 14 via French label Beko, a concern that has also released music by the previously Hotnessed The Bilinda Butchers, Drug Rug and others. Stream the entire set via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to purchase the full EP.



>> Earlier in 2014 we deemed Heavy Midgets' superlative LP Super Kings the first excellent surprise of the year, and now the label responsible for it, Richmond's Bad Grrrl Records, extends its streak of hot releases from the area's best DIY guitar bands with a new long player from reliable scene mainstays Tungs. Tungs' weirdly wonderful Not For Grandma finds the trio further pushing sonic boundaries and contorting its influences, as it has since debuting in 2010 with a set called Sleeping. More so than any of its prior collections, Not For Grandma catalogs the band's whims like a mixtape. Surprises abound -- we recommend going straight to the deep cut "Eggsack" and sticking around for the completely demented saxophone that abducts the song in its final 90 seconds -- as each song seems to almost inhabit a separate universe. Single "Roses" is an aggressive, minute-long punker in the vein of early '80s Black Flag, with plenty of palm muting, echoey vocals and a slick delay-time spin in the final seconds as the tune collapses. The threesome shifts gears hard for the following track "Geebus," whose clean guitar chops and falsetto vocals mark it as an R&B-tinged guitar-pop jam until thick distortion overtakes the tune in the chorus. Most impressive is the four-song stretch from "Bone Dry" to the doomy (but strangely gleeful) "Flesh Light," which posits an alternate reality in which punky, Bleach-era Nirvana and the darker, bent string, drop-D-tuned Pac. Northwest grunge were never watered down following Cobain & Co.'s rise to superstardom. All four of the songs revel in the classic fuzz of alternative America's '80s heyday, and the serrated and slack nature (check the goofy closer "Me Fucking You") of it all is as cathartic as it is oddly comforting. Not For Grandma is available from Bad Grrrl now on CD, tape and vinyl via this Bandcamp page. Stream all of the long-player via the embed below.



>> Tapes & Tubes' music is meditative and sturdily constructed, and it has a timeless quality that has a lot to do with great songcraft and probably a bit to do with the manner in which it is recorded, too. The act is the project of Olympia, Wash.-'s Austin Potter, a home recording and analog sound enthusiast whose love for the dreamier and more sedate side of Yo La Tengo (or, by extension, greatly underrated Brits It Hugs Back) is readily ascertained by listening to the recent collection Ebb Tide. Throughout the contemplative, 10-song set boxy, minimal drumming, organ and Mr. Potter's quiet vocals routinely work in tandem to create vividly murky moods and a sense of broad possibility. The collection offers affirmative nods in the direction of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan, in the form of covers of "I Remember You" and "God Knows," respectively. The former is a relatively deep cut from Reed's 1986 set Mistrial, which is widely considered to be, well, the album before the one that had everyone proclaiming (rightfully) that Lou Reed was "back" (that would be the 1989 opus New York). The original has its charms, but Potter's reinvention of "I Remember You" succeeds via its understated restraint: Reed's bouncy guitar is kept, but the awful canned rhythm tracks scrapped. The new interpretation gives a sense of the reasoned smarts Potter brings to a song, and those smarts are evidenced throughout Ebb Tide. "Beginning" echoes to a certain extent Yo La Tengo's masterful "On Our Way To Fall," but Potter's whispered vocals, almost impossibly, feel even more intimate than those of Ira Kaplan. The whirling drone of organ on Tapes & Tubes' "Haunted House" may be a little too perfect, but it goes far toward establishing a sheets-of-rain-down-the-windshield vibe as well as the tune's steady groove. Grooves aren't always a necessity, however: the shimmering ambient guitar exploration "Solo Guitar Two" is pretty and enchanting, and indicates that the music of Tapes & Tubes may be increasingly potent the more minimal its approach. Ebb Tide was self-released last month and is available as a digital download via Bandcamp; plans are in place for a limited-edition cassette release as well. An even newer short collection titled Amplifer is already on offer right here.

Today's Hotness: Nothing, Seeds Of Doubt, Ancient Babes

>> The Whirr/Nothing/Soccer Mom show we saw last summer was the most extraordinarily loud thing we've ever witnessed, and we've been lots of loud places. We suppose there are different qualities to loudness, but what we'll always remember about this show was that at one point the extreme volume actually made our brain vibrate inside our skull, which was a completely insane feeling. Philly-based shoegaze titans Nothing return to Boston this week at long last, ahead of the release of a hotly anticipated debut full-length titled Guilty Of Everything. The mind-blowing second preview track from the collection, the sinisterly titled "Bent Nail," is a blistering number with remarkable sonic depth. It's interesting to observe here how the band aims to translate the visceral loudness of its music to the controlled parameters of a sound recording. Bands like Dinosaur Jr. and My Bloody Valentine, two acts renowned for their aural assault, at least these days make very clean and contained recordings, ones that respect the limits of the media that hold them. This in contrast to the grinding, paint-peeling sounds of something like, oh, you know, Dinosaur's "Don't" or the so-called "holocaust section" MBV famously inserts into its live performances of the song "You Made Me Realize." On its new track "Bent Nail," Nothing submerges its massive wall of guitars, bet-everything drumming and subdued vocals neck-deep in a consistent and even reverb, the effect of which approximates well how Nothing's sound cocoons fans in a small rock club. It also emphasizes the softer, dreamy quality that lurks just below the danger and noise inherent in Nothing's music, a yin/yang relationship that echoes the tension between the beauty and the turmoil in the band's songwriting. The Jeff Zeigler-produced Guilty Of Everything will be released by Relapse March 4 on LP, CD and as a digital download. Pre-order the set right here, and then hit the embed of "Bent Nail" below to dream away your evening. Nothing, whose previous release was the 2012 EP Downward Years To Come, reunite with Boston's mighty Soccer Mom tomorrow when they anchor an epic bill at Great Scott toplined by dreampop luminaries Weekend.



>> Despite the clean lead guitar lines and upbeat tempos, it is apparently the skateboard and not the surfboard that occupies the hive mind of rising London quartet Seeds Of Doubt. Or at least the band's music has been used to score skate videos published by an international athletic shoe brand; for all we know Seeds Of Doubt hates skating. But we can be sure that what it does like is strong, hooky indie pop, which is what the band delivers on "There You Go," a compact and uptempo strummer with a sing-alongable chorus and neat little guitar leads dug into a watery, lo-fi mix. The tune features on the just-issued DCP EP, a five-song cassette available now from the always-quality Italian Beach Babes label. DCP is the first recording to feature the new four-headed iteration of Seeds Of Doubt; a previously released 12-song cassette was issued by founding member Matt as a solo endeavor. We don't know what the weather is like in London right now, but the light, summery sound of "There You Go" is a potent (if temporary, as all pop must be) antidote to the deep freeze currently gripping Boston and the surrounding environs. Somewhat surprisingly, we didn't write about Italian Beach Babes in all of 2013. That is just as likely an oversight on our part as it is any indication of what the label accomplished last year; they certainly seemed to come on strong in 2012 with splendid releases from Mooncreatures and Cold Pumas. Anyhoo, stream the breezey rocker "There You Go" via the Soundcloud embed below, and hit this link to purchase the tape from IBB. £5 plus shipping gets you the cassette and a download code.



>> When we last checked in on Vancouver-based electronic producer Ancient Babes last summer, it had just posted the '80s-echoing chillwave delight "Malcolm X In The Middle" to Soundcloud. The tune sounded like the lost track to a John Hughes teen dramedy, and in the ensuing months the man behind Ancient Babes, Sam King, continued quietly dropping tracks over at Soundcloud. Last week the best of these were bundled up into Futuristic Demon, a debut EP featuring three previously posted tracks and the compelling new cut "Occult Commando." The new tune closes the four-song taster in grand fashion, big wet snare cracks punching holes in a dreamy cycle of synth tones and small smears of guitar as Mr. King murmurs what could be the sweetest nothings or the dreamiest death threats into the middle of the mix. Sonically and compositionally "Occult Commando" is a strong step forward for Ancient Babes; the only miscalculation might be the tune didn't get the first slot on the EP, which you can stream via the embed below. Click through to download Futuristic Demon in exchange for as much or as little money as you can spare.