Review: Winter | Supreme Blue Dream

Samira Winter and Nolan Eley's rich musical partnership tomorrow returns at long last, and as promised, with the release of the pair's wholly charming first dream-pop long-player, Supreme Blue Dream. While the set is being released under the Winter b(r)and name, Ms. Winter relentlessly gigs with a fresh cohort of players now that she has relocated from Boston to Los Angeles, and even Mr. Eley no longer calls Boston home (although he remains on the east coast). None of that change, however, and none of the 2,800 miles that now separates the erstwhile bandmates, has disrupted the duo's facility for casting classic pop hooks in inventive dream-pop settings.

Ms. Winter's seemingly effortless and pleasantly pure songwriting is not new to Clicky Clicky readers, no matter the alias. And she doesn't dramatically change up her game on Supreme Blue Dream. Here she is consistently arresting as a vocalist, particularly on the album highlight "Some Kind Of Surprise." She lifts the boundlessly romantic ballad up and up with a committed performance, elongating her vowels as if she knows each breath makes the song more and more buoyant. Her final line "I'm just sitting lonely looking into nowhere waiting for some kind of surprise" hangs in the air as the accompaniment drops away, equal parts vulnerable and ready to take a risk.

The songwriter/producer dynamic is considered a commercial-radio pop phenomenon, and is less prevalent (or at least less visible) in indie pop. But given the perfectly synthesized results in evidence here and stretching back to the debut Winter EP, we're game to hear more of it. While this may change now that she has assembled a band on the left coast, Ms. Winter typically works with producers; her sparkling solo set Tudo Azul from last summer was produced by Rodrigo Lemos in Brazil, for example.

Eley, who Clicky Clicky readers know primarily from his work fronting Brooklyn's devastating shoegaze unit Infinity Girl, performed, recorded and mixed all of the music for Supreme Blue Dream's 10 songs. He chases solid, song-serving instincts that surprise without shocking, and excels in applying varied and thoughtful textures to -- and amplifying moments and moods in -- Ms. Winter's compositions. Supreme Blue Dream is introduced with a burbling, melodic jumble of synth tones that precipitously slips beneath swaying synth and guitar chords that are foundation of the solid opener "Someone Like You," and a similar electronic fantasia is presented in the deep-album cut "Don't Stay Away." "Crazy" bobs along on top of heavily distorted guitar chords and ringing feedback that echo the joyful cacaphony of The Magnetic Fields' delightful Distortion album. A perky, canned beat provides a particularly delicious foil for the sampled alto saxophone on "Strange Emotions," which is also appointed with curious voices lurking in the channels in its final moments. Similarly spectral sounds haunt the stereo field of the hypnotic, bilingual incantation "Like I Do." While their manifestations are relatively subtle given their even weighting in the mixes, Mr. Eley is similarly creative in his treatment of Ms. Winter's vocals, which were sung on the West Coast and sent through the Intertubes for Mr. Eley to integrate into the tracks.

Ms. Winter and Eley probably had no idea how much many of us would be needing this record right now (given the snowpocalypse) when they were making it. There is a sunshiney, estival ease to Supreme Blue Dream, a coolness that unsurprisingly persists throughout the Winter catalog. It is emphasized, perhaps, by the repetition of the word blue on Ms. Winter's two most recent outings (recall her aforementioned June 2014 EP is titled Tudo Azul). Supreme Blue Blue Dream will be released tomorrow by L.A.-based indie label Lolipop Records on vinyl, CD and cassette and as a digital download. Pre-orders were not offered and there is presently no way to buy the set on the Lolipop web site as far as we can tell, so we suggest checking back later in the week. While you wait, stream the swaying lead single "Someone Like You" via the Soundcloud embed below. The current band incarnation of Winter includes guitarist Matt Hogan, bassist Edward Breckenridge and drummer Christina Gaillard, and it embarks Wednesday on a tour down to and back from the annual South By Southwest corporate branding exercise. Full tour dates are listed below.

Winter: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instapants | Soundcloud



03.11 -- Santa Ana, CA -- Wayfarer
03.12 -- Phoenix, AZ -- Time Out
03.13 -- El Paso, TX -- Monarch
03.15 -- Marfa, TX -- Padres
03.16 -- San Antonio, TX -- 502
03.17 -- Austin, TX -- Hotel Vegas
03.18 -- Austin, TX -- Hotel Vegas
03.19 -- Austin, TX -- Whip-In
03.20 -- Austin, TX -- Reverb Records
03.22 -- Houstin, TX -- Walters
03.23 -- Dallas, TX -- Pariah Arts
03.24 -- Albequerque, NM -- Sisters
03.25 -- Flagstaff, AZ -- Firecreek Coffee
03.26 -- Las Vegas, NV -- Bunkhouse

Prior Winter Coverage:
Today's Hotness: Samira Winter
Today's Hotness: Samira Winter
Clicky Clicky's Choice: Our Abridged Version Of Samira Winter's Song A Day... Did You Know That's A Thing?
Today's Hotness: Winter
Today's Hotness: Winter
Premiere: Winter's Dreamy, Innocent "Bedroom Philosophies"
Today's Hotness: Winter

Today's Hotness: Weed, Samira Winter, Diet Cig

>> Lefse Records has unveiled a real blinder from Vancouver three-piece Weed in the form of "Thousand Pounds," the first single taken from the band's forthcoming sophomore set Running Back. "Thousand Pounds" bursts open with a two-chord curtain composed of distorted guitar and white-out cymbal crashes, which enshrouds a relatively serene, slap-backed vocal from fronter Will Anderson that ultimately leads the song to an uneasy, clanging denouement. The flipside, a tune called "Turret," is a "super old b-side" taken from the band's first-ever studio session. For context, Weed issued its debut long-player Deserve in September 2013 on Couple Skate, and also has an EP and another single under its collective belt. Lefse will release "Thousand Pounds" b/w "Turret" as a vinyl 7" and digital download Feb. 24, and pre-orders are being taken right here. Running Back is a 10-song set slated for release April 7, with a limited run of vinyl being pressed to bright pink media. These LPs will come packaged with a lyric sheet and large newsprint poster, and -- magically -- they, too, are also available for pre-order. Stream "Thousand Pounds" via the Soundcloud embed below. Weed embark on a brief West Coast tour Feb. 5 -- its first since 2013 -- and all the dates are listed at the act's Bandcamp right here.



>> The original inspiration for Clicky Clicky's sorta neglected Regolith songwriting challenge feature, Samira Winter, is back at it, hammering away at a song-a-week project that is producing terrific results. Ms. Winter's latest entry, the eleventh in the present series, is the hazy dream-pop gem "She Said No." The tune is a collaboration with a producer/engineer named Scott Barber, and its power is in its simplicity: while it is of average length, the entire thing feels like one long, affecting chorus. The actual chorus is a knockout, pairing a rich, descending guitar melody with Winter's arresting voice -- backed, presumably, by Mr. Barber's -- insistently repeating "all because she said no." Ms. Winter recently soft-announced the sophomore set from her full-band project Winter -- the first recorded with her more recent left-coast lineup -- which will be called Supreme Blue Dream. The set will be issued by LA's Lolipop Records, according to this article in LA Weekly, but there is no official word yet on formats or a release date (although our recollection is Lolipop favors cassette releases). We've heard the record and expect fans will be very pleased to hear what is coming. The band Winter has been gigging very regularly since relocating to California about a year ago; it is on a hot bill next week supporting Dead Meadow at the Continental Room in Fullerton. We previously wrote about Samira Winter's first song-a-day thing right here in September 2013, and have a written a bunch of other stuff, like this piece about Winter's "Alligator" single here, and we premiered the video for "Bedroom Philosophies" right here. Considering how strikingly strong the material from the current songwriting challenge is, we would be very surprised if some of it didn't end up on a forthcoming Winter record, especially as -- although we don't want to give too much away -- certain tunes from her first songwriting challenge will appear on Supreme Blue Dream. All of that, of course, remains to be seen. But we highly recommend "She Said No," which you can stream and download via the embed below, to your attention.

>> From the same fertile scene that brought the indie rock world What Moon Things comes the fresh new indie punk duo Diet Cig. Fronter Alex Luciano and drummer Noah Bowman ably conjure the sort of scruffy charm that made Tiger Trap records so listenable, oh, a 100 years ago. Which, if you don't know from Tiger Trap, means strong pop fundamentals, substantial vim and appealing rough edges, with occasional inbursts of classic girl group reverie ("Scene Sick"). It's a sound that places Diet Cig in the good company of contemporary acts like Swearin' and Radiator Hospital. Diet Cig are debuting with an almost absurdly strong five-song EP called Over Easy, which will be released by Father/Daughter on cassette and as a digital download Feb. 24. The short set is already drawing raves, and it is easy to hear why: we've listened to the thing on repeat for hours at a time and Over Easy has yet to feel stale. Stream the scathing rocker "Harvard," with its defiant chorus "fuck your Ivy League sweater," and the aforementioned, concise and more introspective (but similarly fuck-filled, radio programmers be warned) ballad "Scene Sick" via the embeds below. Pre-order Over Easy from Father/Daughter right here, it's the right thing to do and the tasty way to do it.

Today's Hotness: Samira Winter, The Bilinda Butchers, Kittyhawk

>> We noted here in our electronic pages last fall the departure from Boston to the west coast of dream-pop luminary Samira Winter. In the intervening months she has kept busy, putting together a new band, germinating new demos and executing fairly regular gigs in and around Los Angeles and, more recently, up the coast. A trip early this year went south to Ms. Winter's native South America, where she played a handful of shows and, somehow, managed to find enough time in Curitaba, Brazil, to record a superlative, short set of sparkling music, which will soon be released on cassette by LA's Lollipop Records. The collection, Ms. Winter's first solo release, is titled Tudo Azul, which (the Internet tells us) literally translates to "all blue," but figuratively means something more like "everything's cool" to Brazilians. The title certainly jibes with the EP's sunshiney, carefree vibe, which is readily accessed despite the fact that three of the four songs on Tudo Azul are sung in Portuguese. The title track leads with a descending melody that hints at the first tune on Ms. Winter's band Winter's debut EP Daydreaming, which we wrote about here in January 2013. "Tudo Azul" soon reveals itself via a lightly syncopated rhythm and hand percussion, embedded keyboard tones and organ, and tidy vocal arrangements. And, of course, pretty guitars. Every song is a winner, but opener "Eu E Eu" brings the most sizzle, with its snappier tempo, crashing cymbals and overdriven guitar in the verse. The sessions for the EP were produced by a fellow named Rodrigo Lemos and engineered by Lucas Pereira, who we mention by name here because, really, these are presently the only two names we know in Brazilian indie rock. Tudo Azul is available in a bundle that includes a limited edition CD, t-shirt, and "surprise goody." If you hate waiting and/or surprises, the EP is also presently available as a free download via Bandcamp, at least ahead of the cassette release on Lollipop. The label issued a cassette version of the aforementioned Daydreaming EP late last year; it is now sold out. Ms. Winter's music is a delight and with each successive release her rise seems all the more inexorable. So why not like now the thing that everyone else will be liking two years from now?



>> Mere days ago we made a sidelong reference to San Francisco dream-pop act The Bilinda Butchers, and now, as if on cue, we've got new music from the trio. It's spirited new tune "Edo Method" is anchored by fuzz bass and sharp rhythm tracks, which serve as a sturdy foundation for a percolating guitar melody and yearning vocals. The song is our first taste of the act's forthcoming debut full-length Heaven, which will be issued by Orchid Tapes July 15. Despite the name of the label, Heaven will be available domestically as an LP pressed to white vinyl in a limited edition of 250 pieces; every 50th order (so, you know, 50, 100, etc.) will received a bonus in the form of a test pressing of the collection. Fastcut Records will release a CD version of Heaven as well as a 7" in Japan. Heaven is a concept record concerning the diary documenting the tragic life of a woman living in late-Edo period Japan. It's unclear whether the conceit of the album is fictional, and you can read more about it here, but it sounds like everyone dies in the end, and it doesn't get much more real than that, eh? BOOM. Blew your mind, didn't we? Despite that downer, "Edo Method" is a tremendous, emotionally affecting and feedback-spangled jam, and one that abides by the adventurous pop aesthetic of the band of The Bilinda Butchers' namesake, which if you don't know, is My Bloody Valentine. We previously wrote about The Bilinda Butchers and their excellent single "The Lover's Suicide!" (whose B-side featured a cover of Rocketship's "Love So Estranged"( right here in April 2013. Pre-order Heaven from Orchid Tapes right here, and stream "Edo Method" via the Soundcloud embed below. The Bilinda Butchers have two dates booked around the release of the LP, July 17 at The Chapel in San Franciso and July 20 at The Echo in Los Angeles, and we're going to go ahead and assume that these are release shows, so plan accordingly.



>> Can we make an entire Hotness blurb based on the flimsy premise that one band is not a different band? Well, let's see. If there is a moral to the story, we suppose it is that if you cover the hits of Thompson Twins you are probably going to get our attention. Such was the case with a band called Kitty Hawk, who not only take their name from a place at which we vacationed in the late '70s, but who also covered Thompson Twins' "If You Were Here" for the 2005 American Laundromat Records compilation High School Reunion: A Tribute To Those Great '80s Films. The comp notably features former Blake Babies/Lemonheads guy John P. Strohm, Matthew Sweet and Frank Black, among others. But that's not the point of this blog post. The point of this blog post is we were very surprised to see last week that emo powerhouse Count Your Luck Stars Records had signed a band called Kittyhawk. And we thought to ourselves, "nah, couldn't be..." And it turns out we were right. The two-words-and-a-space Kitty Hawk eventually changed their name to Kitty Karlyle and we will now let them gracefully slink away from this blog post. The one-word-no-space Kittyhawk, it turns out, is actually something of a supergroup based in Chicago fronted by sometime Into It. Over It. collaborator Kate Grube; the quartet also features members of leading hitmakers of the day Dowsing, Joie De Vivre and Pet Symmetry. More importantly, Kittyhawk is fucking awesome. Its songs from a four-way split with Droughts, Frameworks and Prawn released in late 2013 tout big guitars and ample application of glorious feedback and guitar chords that just hang there in silence and lead lines that spiral around the terrifically poignant narratives put by Ms. Gruber. Count Your Luck Stars will release Kittyhawk's full-length debut Hello, Again Oct. 14th, which seems like a terribly long time to wait. That said, there is a whole lot of back catalog in the form of split singles and an EP to tide you over, all of which you can listen to at the foursomes Bandcamp dojo right here. Better still, for local folks anyway, is that you -- YES YOU -- can see Kittyhawk this coming Wednesday night at Roggie's. That's called serendipity, FOOL! Stream the amazing tunes "The Daily Dodger" and "Food Fight" below, and then get thee to Roggie's midweek to be rocked most steadfastly.

Introducing... Regolith

Regolith: [reg·o·lith] noun \ˈre-gə-ˌlith\, unconsolidated residual or transported material that overlies the solid rock on the Earth, Moon, or planet.

Geology, as Ellis Boyd Redding taught us, is the study of time and pressure. If that is enough to shape one kind of rock, Clicky Clicky wondered, would it work on another? To find out, we are embarking on a new project, a serial feature that asks songwriters to commit themselves to 30 days (or, one lunar cycle) of writing and recording music to see what shapes, textures, patterns, and sounds such an endeavor might yield. The parameters are simple: write, record, and mix original material, without any outside help. Do not use previously existing song fragments or ideas. And in 30 days time, send us the results.

The objectives: to contribute to a deeper understanding of what goes into writing and recording a song, and, from the artist-end, to provide a new creative context that might allow for a reevaluation of the artistic process. We want to see what, if anything, is changed in trying to produce music in a fixed amount of time, and how artists mix and match quality and quantity.

For the Clicky Clicky reader, the process will be revealed in three parts: an introductory piece on our featured artist, a glimpse into their home or practice space studio and into their recording equipment and techniques, and lastly, the unveiling of the music, and an opportunity for the artist to talk about the results. Your guide through this entire exercise is the intrepid and longtime Clicky Clicky confidant L. Tiburon Pacifico, who will reveal in the next few days our first featured artist, who as we speak is already toiling away in the midst of his allotted 30 days. Clicky Clicky is grateful to Mr. Pacifico for his stewardship of this project, and we are excited to hear what comes of it.

Finally, we must acknowledge our specific inspiration for Rigoleth, which was Samira Winter's Song-A-Day project undertaken last summer. Sure, songwriters working under self-imposed constraints is nothing new -- we immediately think of Into It. Over It's 52 Weeks project, or Clicky Clicky faves The Weaks' initial song-a-week gambit. But something about Ms. Winter's effort, which we wrote about here, fired our imaginations. And out of this comes Regolith. We look forward to sharing it with you.

Here are four (easy) hints as to the identity of the first songwriter. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Clicky Clicky's Choice: Our Abridged Version Of Samira Winter's Song A Day, And Hey Did You Know That's A Thing?

It's understandable if you had presumed you'd heard the last of Winter fronter Samira Winter for a while, in the wake of our post about the recent "Alligator" single, which included the news that Ms. Winter was relocating to the West Coast. Well, there is one loose end, something that no one else is telling you, something quite important. Ms. Winter launched an effort over the summer to write a song every day for 30 days running. Clicky Clicky usually takes announcements about such efforts with a grain of salt. Well, no, we usually ignore them. That's because the commitment such an effort requires is huge, and even if the songwriting streak is maintained and the goal is somehow reached, the results more often than not can be largely forgettable/regrettable. But here's the thing: Samira did it, and she did it surprisingly well. Not only are there a lot of really good, dreamy guitar pop songs, but you will find yourself returning to them again and again. The thing actually has an arc, it accelerates, and by the end of the 30 days Ms. Winter was routinely turning out very good songs every 24 hours or so; it's entrancing music, not dissimilar to the output of the band that bears her name, to be sure. But here there's the added excitement of hearing Ms. Winter working things out in sort of real time.

As good as it is, the proposition of listening to 30 songs is likely a bit more than the casual punter will want to commit to, though, right? That's where Clicky Clicky comes in. As we did in June with the voluminous Audio Antihero comp Regal vs. Steamboat, we've abridged Samira's Song A Day down to a Clicky Clicky's Choice of nine, chronologically ordered tracks listed below, a sort of faux album. We've placed the embeds for those songs below, as well. If you like what you hear, and we think you will, click this link and grab the entire 30-song collection. Don't even have the patience for nine songs? Just click on "Pretender" below -- that might be the best jam of the lot. Or maybe it's "Flower Tattoo." What will become of these songs? It's hard to say. Ms. Winter told Vanyaland she intends to continue collaborating with her bandmate Nolan Eley on new music, and there is some sort of planned 2014 release, so we're hopeful that these songs don't get thrown on a shelf and forgotten. Time will tell.

1. My Adoration


2. Parara


3. Like I Do


4. You're My Sound


5. Some Kind Of Surprise


6. Pretender


7. Flower Tattoo


8. Favorite Pretender


9. In My Head

Today's Hotness: Winter, The Snowy Owls, Krill

>> We've been looking forward to the opportunity to put this blog post together because of the obvious parallels between the first two items. So here we have it: two Clicky Clicky faves, bearing wintry names, heading into transitions, while putting out killer summer jams for the discerning indie rock aficionado. Let's start local with the new digital single from Boston dream-pop lumnaries Winter. "Alligator" was unveiled last week and the bittersweet ballad may very well be the charming quartet's strongest to date. It comes, however, in the wake of fronter and namesake Samira Winter's disclosure that she will soon relocate to the west coast. The band -- which includes Infinity Girl's Nolan Eley and Kyle Oppenheimer as well as 28 Degrees Taurus's Ana Karina DaCosta -- played its final Boston shows (for now, anyway) this past week. The good news is Ms. Winter and Mr. Eley intend to continue their collaboration despite the long distance, and based partcularly on the strength of the "Alligator" single (although the rest of their catalog is quite good, as well), we're relieved: theirs is a fertile musical partnership that we'd hate to see scrapped. Interestingly, while the song bears Mr. Eley's increasingly cognizable, atmospheric production, the composition is actually co-written with Cloud's Tyler Taormina and a fellow named David Broyles (with whom we are not familiar), and the song addresses Ms. Winter's feelings about the move west. Attentive readers will recall that Cloud and Winter are both part of the Practice Room Records collective, and Ms. Winter and Mr. Taormina attended university together in Boston. "Alligator" is a lush, melodic ballad featuring Ms. Winter's most confident vocal, and, between the song's pulsing bass line and her voice, we're reminded of Joan Jett's 1981 cover of "Crimson And Clover." It's not a perfect comparison, by any stretch: where Ms. Jett brought her tough edge to the Tommy James and The Shondells classic, it is hard for us to imagine the laid-back Ms. Winter being interested in being any tougher than, say, Oz's Glinda The Good Witch of the South. Anyway, with "Alligator"'s cascading vocal hook in the chorus, easy girl-group bounce and a frenetic guitar solo from Mr. Oppenheimer, the song is one that won't be quick to leave your head. It is the group's second digital single of the summer; we wrote about "The View" right here in early July. Stream "Alligator" via the Bandcamp embed below, and see the band (in trio formation) perform the song during the recent Boston Fuzzstival here. Tangentially, let us also note Cloud's coup this week of having the "Mother Sea" single reviewed in Pantsfork; we wrote about the song here in early July as well.



>> Our second summer offering from a wintry act is The Snowy Owls' terrific new Summer EP. The Richmond shoegaze foursome's short collection was released to the wilds of the Interpants Aug. 13 and features the songs "Feels Like Summer," "What Summer Is for," "All Summer Long," and "Next Summer." We're confident you'll identify the theme here. The music is languidly paced and relatively loose compared to the darker, more formalized and restrained compositions found on the band's 2012 Within Your Reach EP, which we reviewed here. The lazy, estival vibe of Summer does not, however, result in more spare and less urgent music. In fact, the surprise here is that -- despite the sense we get that the new EP came together quickly due to the recent departure of drummer Brandon Martin (formerly of another Clicky Clicky fave, Lubec) -- Summer is bigger, denser, prettier and more anthemic. It gives us the sense that The Snowy Owls are just at the cusp of something very exciting indeed. While all of the EP is delightful and makes us think at times that it is not unlike a Jesus And Mary Chain record slowed down, Summer goes supernova at the close of the second minute of "Next Summer." There the song begins to endlessly reach out in every direction into a reverb that becomes increasingly saturated with technicolor guitar feedback and ringing cymbals. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and certainly the high point to date of The Snowy Owls' repertoire. With the EP completed and released, the act is now focused on finishing a full-length record, according to this Facebook status update. In the meantime, the quartet -- now featuring James O'Neill behind the drum kit -- will play Richmond's Fall Line Festival Sept. 6 and then make an appearance the following day at the annual Hopscotch music festival in Raleigh, NC. Listen to Summer via the Bandcamp embed below; you'll be glad you did.



>> While Mr. Riley touched on it briefly in his review of the Bent Shapes album release show, we wanted to expand upon what is up with Jamaica Plain-based bugcore champions Krill. The trio disclosed earlier this month that 1) it recorded a number of new songs at Silent Barn in Brooklyn and 2) founding drummer/gourmet Luke Pyenson is leaving the band to study in London for a year. Mr. Pyenson is playing two final gigs with Krill, the first at Great Scott Friday with Diarrhea Planet and So So Glos, and the second a beach-stravaganza with Speedy Ortiz at The Beachcomber in Wellfleet, Mass. the following night. While Pyenson's departure is no small change for the tight-knit trio, Krill will not be sidelined for even a moment. The band hits the road for an extensive tour throughout September with new drummer Ian Becker, an old friend of Krill guitarist Aaron Ratoff and bassist Jonah Furman who grew up with those gentlemen in the same Chicago suburb; Mssrs. Ratoff and Becker have played together in a band previously. The first date of the vaguely square-shaped Krill tour is Sept. 4 in Philadelphia, and the itinerary includes stops down the east coast, a westerly wandering across the south, determined meandering northward up the midwest, and some spry maneuvering back east. As for the new songs, they are said to be inspired by characters in certain songs of Boston indie rockers Pile (who will play on an awesome bill with Obits this fall). There is a new Krill video you should attend to with your eyes and ears; it features the song "Theme From Krill" from the band's recent tour de force Lucky Leaves and can be experienced by clicking this hypertextual "link." We reviewed Lucky Leaves right here in June.

Today's Hotness: Cloud, Polvo

>> The catalog of imaginatively inept London-based indie label Audio Antihero has held many wonders over the years, but never before has it included an American act, let alone one with significant Boston roots. That all changed with the label's recent signing of the now-LA-based noise-pop act Cloud. We first stumbled upon Cloud about a year ago due to his contributions to a lo-fi release from Boston slowcore concern Marblemouth. Both Cloud and Marblemouth are satellites orbiting the Practice Room Records collective, a nebulous entity that also counts among its number Clicky Clicky faves Winter; indeed, Winter's namesake Samira Winter contributes vocals to two tunes on Cloud's new record and also appeared on Cloud's 2011 set, Rocket. Right, Cloud's new record, that's what we were talking about... the project is the brainchild of Tyler Taormina, and Audio Antihero will re-issue on Aug. 5 Comfort Songs, Cloud's third release originally issued in Sept. 2012 as a download. The 11-track collection is available from Audio Antihero in a limited edition of 140 compact discs as well as, of course, digital download, and the lead single for the Audio Antihero edition is the stormy and densely layered strummer "Mother Sea." There's something of Conor Oberst's general agitation and gift for description in Taormina's delivery and songwriting respectively, but Mr. Oberst has to our knowledge never arranged as noisy a bed to lie in as the churning instrumental to "Mother Sea." A conventional rhythm guitar track is buried amid rich reverb, spiraling and droning piano chords, slowly arcing feedback, and sundry unidentified aural embellishments, all of which conspire in the song's final two-and-a-half minutes to create a hypnotic ebb and flow, not unlike the cycling of crashing waves. Which, given the title of the song, either makes Mr. Taormina brilliant or extremely lucky. Readers who took a closer look at the recent Audio Antihero charity compilation Regal Vs. Steamboat that we wrote about last month likely saw that there is also a song from Cloud among the comp's 31 tracks, the tune "A Song Of What Stays" (originally released on Cloud's Elephant Era full-length from 2010) which you can stream right here. Stream "Mother Sea" via the Bandcamp embed below, and then click through to pre-order all of Comfort Songs from Audio Antihero. It's something you'll be glad you did.



>> Maybe our social networks were just skewed weirdly today, or maybe the lack of any preview music didn't elicit the typical Pavlovian "!OMG Firsties!" response from the blogosphere, but whatever the reason, we were surprised by the lack of widespread enthusiasm at today's news that post-rock legends Polvo will release their sixth LP Oct. 1. The set is called Siberia and it will be released by the highly esteemed Merge label, who among other things also did the honors for Polvo's 2009 comeback record In Prism and the 2011 single "Heavy Detour," which, curiously, was described as being "taken from Polvo's upcoming album." We say curious because the eight-song track list for Siberia does not contain a song called "Heavy Detour." Was the title changed for the record, or did the band have a change of heart? We suppose we'll find out Oct. 1 when Siberia hits the new release bins (or, we suppose, a week ahead of time when the record is inevitably streaming at Pantsfork Advance or NPR First Listen or whatever is The Thing two months from now). We're not sure how well this opinion will be received, but despite releasing some very great music in the intervening years, we still don't know that any new Polvo record will ever hold our affections as strongly as the band's epic double 10" from 1996, Exploded Drawing. The album has too many highlights to mention, but do yourself a favor and click the YouTube embed below to listen to the 11-minute-plus masterwork "When Will You Die For The Last Time In My Dreams," the song that closed out Exploded Drawing. Siberia can be pre-ordered now from Merge on CD and LP right here, and those who pre-order will also receive a poster along with their order, which will arrive on or around the Oct. 1 release date, Merge promises. For a related and somewhat weirder thrill, check out this video we just stumbled upon of an ice skater named Emily Hughes performing her routine to "When Will You Die For The Last Time In My Dreams," intercut with footage of a Roomba vacuum cleaner doing it's thing. INTERNET FUCK YEAH!

Today's Hotness: Speedy Ortiz, Winter, New Dog



>> Vanyaland Friday afternoon posted our review of this summer's "it" record, Speedy Ortiz's terrific debut long-player Major Arcana. In the piece we bemoaned the lack of critical engagement with Speedy's music, and specifically the crush of lazy writing that reduced discussion of the Western Mass.-based quartet's many talents to formulaic comparisons to classic '90s bands. Are those comparisons valid, or useful? Sure, sometimes they are. But we felt that they were the only story being told, and that writers -- we're guessing the young ones that weren't a witness to the amazing sounds of the early '90s in the first place -- were spending more time coming up with purported referents than they were actually describing what Speedy Ortiz does when it picks up its instruments. One angle we ultimately cut from the piece was -- and this is pure conjecture -- how such reductive thinking about the Northampton quartet was potentially a big disappointment to Speedy fronter Sadie Dupuis. It's no secret that she spends a good portion of her non-rock band time in a creative writing MFA program, and our undergraduate experience allows us to assume with a high degree of confidence that Ms. Dupuis therefore probably spends a lot of her academic time analyzing and interpreting creative works. In that context, we'd expect it'd be a pretty big bummer to have something to which one devotes a large amount of creative energy given what appears to be minimal mental consideration. We dunno, maybe Dupuis' attitude is it's only rock 'n' roll, yadda yadda. We'll ask her about it sometime. In the meantime, head over to Vanyaland to read our review of Major Arcana. It's a tremendous indie rock record, and one that is going to stick with people for a very long time. Major Arcana has been streaming at NPR's First Listen for the past week, but that stream will go dark in the next few days, so instead check out the three singles from the record via the Soundcloud embeds below.







>> We made a brief reference to this at our Facebook page Tuesday, but we want to circle back around to the terrific digital single issued this week by upstart Boston dream-pop foursome Winter. The act, fronted by Samira Winter and featuring also Nolan Eley and Kyle Oppenheimer from local shoegaze heroes Infinity Girl and Ana Karina DaCosta from power-pop leading lights Slowdim, haven't released new music since its late 2012 entry, the Daydreaming EP, which we wrote about here in January. There is an immediately perceptible difference to the new Winter single, which is titled "The View." Namely, it sounds as if the lead vocal -- while it is obscured under the band's characteristic sonic gauze -- is largely being handled by Mr. Eley. Ms. Winter is also credited, and listeners can find her voice tucked into one of the many layers of sound within Eley's production. "The View" is held aloft by a clean, twinkling lead guitar melody, which serves as clothespins to fix in place billowing layers of processed guitar, cello and violin and Mr. Oppenheimer's bass work. Somewhere in all of the silky proceedings you will hear the suggestion -- just the faintest suggestion -- of the "James Bond" theme, making the soft-focus jam just slightly mysterious. It's a grand single, and we're hopeful the band is already writing for another larger set of songs (at the same time, we're also hoping Infinity Girl is looking toward the return of drummer Sebastian Modek, who has been out of the country since the beginning of the year). Winter released its first video, for Daydreaming's "Bedroom Philosophies," in May, and at that time expected to be making a return to local stages sometime this month. According to the band's tumblr, its next local gig is actually not until early Autumn, when it will perform at the Allston Street Fair. However, we'll keep an eye out for additional dates. In the meantime, stream "The View" via the embed below, and click through for the download.



>> We were sorry to hear about the dissolution of local slow-core luminaries Travels, who we've followed pretty closely here at the blog. In the wake of the break we've enjoyed the few tunes we've heard from Mona Elliot, and we see now that they have been gathered together along with a fourth and packaged as the River Song EP, which we highly recommend to your attention. However, it wasn't until early this week that we had heard anything new from the other principal member of Travels, Anar Badalov. Mr. Badalov -- who our most devoted readers will recall first came across our radar in 2006 when he was performing as part of the Baltimore duo Metal Hearts -- now has a solo project called New Dog. New Dog is preparing to release a full-length later this year tentatively titled Lost Weekend, and there are already a few demos available to stream on the Internerds. "Smoking In The Living Room" weaves finger-picked guitar, a simple metronomic beat and tinkling piano into a soft tapestry of sounds that dissipates as quickly as it takes shape. "Slow Drifting" bounces around a pokey rhythm with a playing style more attuned to acoustic blues before coalescing around some big melodic chords in the song's final minute. The three tunes together evidence that Badalov still possesses great facility in building music centered around an entrancing, meditative core, and we look forward to hearing Lost Weekend in its entirety. Stream the demos via the Bandcamp embed below.

Premiere: Winter's Dreamy, Innocent "Bedroom Philosophies"

It seems like it was just 120 days ago, give or take, that we were writing about the excellent debut EP from upstart Boston dream pop outfit Winter. Since the formation of the band late last year, it has expanded from simply a duo comprised of fronter Samira Winter and guitarist/producer Nolan Eley to a quartet that now counts among its number Mr. Eley's Infinity Girl bandmate Kyle Oppenheimer on bass and Slowdim's Ana Karina DaCosta behind the kit. And so it has come to pass that the foursome has created an alluring pastels-and-shadows video for "Bedroom Philosophies," a key track from Winter's late 2012 entry, the Daydreaming EP (which you can still download right here). The truth is we jumped at the opportunity to premiere the clip because the stills we'd seen within our social networks were so pretty and arresting. We are not familiar with contemporary video directors in the least (well, save for our dog Jeff Stern), but the production marshaled here by director Joseph Holcomb is very impressive, as the soft lighting and loose vibe of the talent on-screen jibes perfectly with Winter's sugary amalgamation of '60s girl group and modern dream-pop sounds. Like the duality inherent in the fabled McDonald's McDLT sandwich, a strong part of Winter's allure is the juxtaposition of fun and cool, the former being very strongly visually represented in the video by Ms. Winter and Ms. DaCosta, while Mssrs. Eley and Oppenheimer and their quiet, focused performances bring to bear the latter. We suppose the video clip for "Bedroom Philosophies" is all the more impressive because Mr. Holcomb is still a student, presumably at Emerson College, where the clip was filmed on the sound stage in recent weeks. So what's next for the quartet? Ms. Winter tells Clicky Clicky that the band is preparing to release a single of the song "The View," and that the band will be back playing shows starting at the end of the July with dates planned throughout the end of the summer. We can't wait to hear new music from the act and to finally see them perform live, but in the meantime, settle in to a dreamy Wednesday afternoon with the video embedded above.

Winter: http://daydreamingwinter.com/ | Bandcamp | Twitter

Today's Hotness: Brenda, Lubec, Johnny Foreigner

>> While its counterpart in Oregon continues to be a hotbed of indie rock (more on that below), Portland, Maine has also been producing a steady stream of quality acts and recordings. In just the past year that city's Coke Weed and Endless Jags have released a tremendous record and EP respectively, and this Tuesday veteran indie quartet Brenda returns with a long-awaited sophomore record titled Fix Your Eyes. The 10-song collection echoes somewhat the aforementioned Endless Jags EP, as the two bands share some members and, likely as a result, distinctive Farfisa organ playing. But whereas the relatively new Jags' material is largely driven by guitarists Oscar Romero and Tyler Jackson, DJ Moore and Josh Loring write the bulk of Brenda's tunes. So there is a bright line distinguishing Brenda's music from that of Endless Jags, as the former band takes inspiration from vintage rock 'n' roll such as Buddy Holly as well as contemporaries The Walkmen (one only need hear the title track to Fix Your Eyes to appreciate the latter influence), while the latter band touts a more emotional immediacy reminiscent of Broken Social Scene. Brenda's approach can be more temperate, but Fix Your Eyes doesn't skimp on rockers: the best evidence for this is the undeniable, galloping hip-shaker "Hard Pleaser," which touts caffeinated strumming, spiraling Farfisa melodies and fizzing tambourine that together drive the song inevitably toward dance-floor nirvana. The similarly uptempo hand-clapper "Not My Friends" takes a more soulful approach but incorporates more finely articulated guitar leads that wind around the dizzying Farfisa like coiling snakes. As the image above somewhat attests, Brenda plays a free show at Zuzu in Cambridge, MA tomorrow night, at which it will no doubt delight with some of the tunes mentioned above on a bill that also features upstart dreamers Winter, who we wrote about here in January, as well as Australia's Olde Growth Cola. And then of course, Fix Your Eyes is released the following day with Teenarena Records out of Rochester, NH doing the honors. Pre-orders for the set are already being take right here; the LP is available on red vinyl, and a limited number of fans who pre-order will receive a t-shirt as well as a pin and patch. Brenda's debut full-length Silver Tower, which caught the ear of some guy named Jeff Tweedy and resulted in the band playing the Solid Sound Festival, was released in June 2010 and is available via Bandcamp right here. Stream "Fix Your Eyes" from the new collection via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> And now back to the other Portland. Earlier this week Oregon-based guitar pop heroes Lubec unveiled a new song from its planned sophomore LP, which now has a title: The Thrall. The new tune, "Local Celebrity," boasts some huge moments, such as when it hits a crushing bridge in the third minute and then winds itself up into a hotly paced closing section touting a burly guitar solo soaring above a neatly ascending keyboard line. The paired vocals of guitarist Eddie Charlton and keyboard player Caroline Jackson soar in the song's huge choruses. "Local Celebrity" was engineered and produced by Robert Comitz at The Frawg Pound and mastered at Stereophonic, all in Portland. The Thrall is expected to be released before the end of the year, or at least we expect it will be, because we want it that way. In January, Lubec shared for a limited time two demos of other songs that will likely feature on The Thrall, namely "Adam" and "Many Worlds." Lubec's full-length debut Wilderness Days was released at the beginning of the year and compiled a dozen early tracks from the band's oeuvre; we reviewed it here. Stream "Local Celebrity" via the Soundcloud embed below.



>> Birmingham, England-based noise-pop titans Johnny Foreigner let slide a tantalizing tidbit earlier today when it disclosed that six recipients of its recent limited-edition photo sets were going to receive among their spoils "weblinks to some exclusive new art and lyrics from our next record." The sets, photographs from the quartet's epic tour of North America last fall augmented with exclusive art created by guitarist and notable artist Lewes Herriot, were released (so to speak) in March alongside digital-only offering Manhattan Projects and sold out almost immediately, such that Clicky Clicky HQ missed its chance merely in the space of time it took our Executive Editor to shovel a jar of baby food into Clicky Clicky Baby Unit 2. We wrote about all of this here and here. People who know say that Johnny Foreigner aim to release two more things this year, one a single in early summer and presumably the other will be the full length mentioned between the quotation marks supra. Because its triumphant last album Johnny Foreigner Vs. Everything [review] was released twice (the second go-round being a wonderful 2x12" reissue), it is easy to forget that it came out in 2011, and given the band's usual break-neck pace at creating music, it is almost surprising it has been that long. We are, needless to say, stoked for the new one, and will keep you apprised of all the minute details regarding same. While we wait, how about taking a listen to that practice room recording of the band covering American Football's beautiful and tragic "Never Meant" via the embed below?

Today's Hotness: William Tyler, Life Model, 28 Degrees Taurus

>> More music taste-makers should look past the gloss and acknowledge the spiritual connections between all types of music; they're never as different as radio programmers and the guys who magic marker shelf dividers at the record store would have you believe. This idea is reinforced by Merge's recent release of William Tyler's Impossible Truth, a tasteful and gripping collection of solo guitar compositions. The double LP, released March 19 in the U.S. and April 29 abroad, avoids the pitfalls of virtuoso showcase; instead, the pieces are restrained, structured and brim with thoughtful layering and emotive chord sequences. Indeed, Mr. Tyler can say anything with only the basest metallic vibrations, and his tune "Cadillac Desert" serves as a fantastic introduction. Opening with an orchestrated two chord chug, the song recalls the majesty of Joy Division's "Atmosphere," albeit as filtered through the drop tuning carnival and clang-drone of classic Cale-era Velvet Underground. The song drifts gradually into mid-'70s Laurel Canyon folk serenity via delicate picking and distant slide guitar. Still, "Cadillac Desert" never completely sheds the sense of power that defines its opening moments, although it re-focuses eventually into a questioning introspection. Tyler is as much a skilled arranger and producer as he is a guitarist, managing to sound forward-thinking despite a relatively traditional approach. And so Impossible Truth is a record for spring afternoons, preferably with a book and wine and the scent of freshly mown grass. It is also already one of 2013's most beautiful albums. Stream "Cadillac Desert" via the Soundcloud embed below, and buy the record from your friends at Merge right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> Now that the hype surrounding My Bloody Valentine's shocking return has abated, shoegaze devotees can return their attention to listening to and appreciating music being created by newer bands working with the sound in singular and revealing ways. Glaswegian noise-pop upstarts Life Model released April 1 its eponymously titled EP, and the opening number "Glazed" quickly caught our ear. Driven by a baggy Madchester-rhythm, Life Model further appoint the song with a Kim Deal-evoking, root-note bass line and gratifying amounts of fuzz. Underneath it all is storming, clean drumming that seems taken from the mixing boards of Marc Waterman and his god-like production of Ride's towering Nowhere. Floating above is fronter Sophie Evans' voice, and hers is a commanding performance that is dreamy yet full of presence. Taken in sum the sound hearkens back to the more neon, liquid, colorful, and outwardly sexy generation of noise-pop bands working at the turn of the '90s, groups that brought an otherworldly element to the quiet-loud pop formula propounded by the Pixies. And so Life Model show that there’s still a lot of life within an area of danceable dream-pop that references the work of previous heroes. "Glazed" certainly suggests that the quintet's splattered, sensual take on things will make a long-player a record worth partying to. For now, Life Model is certainly about 18 minutes well-spent. The EP, issued by the U.K.-based Viscerality label, is available on a limited edition purple cassette and as a digital download via Viscerality's Bandcamp page right here. Stream the EP via the embed below and then click through to order. Life Model plays a hometown show May 21 with the hotly-tipped Bleached. -- Edward Charlton



>> While its Facebook fans can readily recognize the band is at an inflection point, it'd be unfortunate if that completely overshadowed that veteran Boston psych-rock outfit and DIY stalwarts 28 Degrees Taurus issued late last month a pretty, foreboding new digital single "Vast Majestic." The release, which also includes the tunes "Playing With Fire" and "Out Of The Ashes," is a harbinger of a full-length expected to be released later this year. "Vast Majestic" aspires to its title, as Ana Karina DaCosta's chiming vocals -- which will sound very familiar to Slowdim fans, as she also plays bass in that band -- skate across steady waves of ethereal guitar and reverb and into crashing choruses. "Playing With Fire" ups the tempo and the intensity with guitarist Jinsen Liu's vocals shadowing the syncopated drum beat. The brief rocker "Out Of The Ashes" opens with a skittering, hi-hat-pocked drum pattern that recalls The Cure's "Plastic Passion," although 28 Degrees Taurus' characteristic wet and spacey production markedly contrasts with the uncharacteristically dry sound of that early tune by the legendary British act. The Boston trio had intended to make a short tour out to the midwest last week, but a personal matter led to the band having to scotch the jaunt. The band's next local appearance will be April 20 at the rejuvenated and now-thriving Boston-area psych-pop festival Deep Heaven Now. The festival again takes over Somerville's PA's Lounge and Precinct nightclubs and feature numerous Boston noise-pop heavy hitters including Infinity Girl, Night Fruit, Winter and Boom Said Thunder. 28 Degrees Taurus play the midnight slot at Precinct, and it may be one of the last times fans can see the band for the foreseeable future, so definitely put the set on your list. In the meantime, the new single is streaming in full via the Bandcamp embed below; click through to grab the three songs as a pay-what-you-want download.

Today's Hotness: Winter, Spectral Park, Panda Riot

>> One marvel of the modern age is the speed at which technology continually reinvents ways for artists to conceive, collaborate and record music together. Case in point: Boston's new dream-pop concern, Winter. The band's terrific new EP Daydreaming is a collaboration between Infinity Girl fronter Nolan Eley and singer and songwriter Samira Winter. "She would write the songs, and send me demos she recorded on her iPhone. Then, I would arrange and produce them, record all the instruments and have her come [in and] sing," Mr. Eley told us late last month. The result is a deft synthesis of shoegaze atmospheres and vintage girl-group vocals. What makes the pair's artistic partnership remarkable is how fully-formed and well-realized the songs are: at no point do the four songs comprising Daydreaming sound like anything other than a group that has tested the mettle of the compositions to the point of comfort and ease on stage. Throughout the EP, glassy guitars brush gently against cloudy vocals that sway with a sunny disorientation. Highlight and closer "Nothing" adds bouncy, slinky keyboard textures and buzzing, treble-kicking fuzz before the song breaches a sleepy but catchy chorus. The tune comes undone in a coda that affords Eley the opportunity to stare in the distance with some Loveless-styled reverse guitar washes. Hopefully, Daydreaming is but the first instance of collaboration between a pair that really do work together so naturally. Grab it for any price via Bandcamp right here. Winter makes what very well may be its live debut Jan. 28 at Great Scott in Boston. Dig the Facebook event page right here. Stream the EP via the embed below, and also check out the video for the title track. -- Edward Charlton



>> Southampton, England's Spectral Park raised our eyebrow with news of its upcoming self-titled full-length due next week. Little is known of the zany band's history, beyond a two-song demo on Bandcamp, but the bio on label Mexican Summer's website indicates Spectral Park is actually the product of a lone man, Luke Donovan. Leveraging loops and samples scraped from 45s Donovan liberated from the trash, the result is a masterful fusion of unhinged garage rock and bizarre sound effects. In lead single "L'appel du Vide" (translation: call of the void), a heavily reverbed click erupts into a manic verse and a short, Jefferson Airplane- echoing chorus. The tune then cycles between the two with abandon. Perhaps the label summarized what's going on here best at its web site, calling Spectral Park's music "clear-eyed flower child reveries of pop chaos." Indeed, Mr. Donovan's music would seem to offer a glimpse into a time (in the '60s) when musicians were still astounded and perplexed by analog electronic wizardry (The Electric Prunes, anyone?). The result is Spectral Park at times sounds like MGMT covering lost Syd Barrett cuts. Clicky Clicky applauds the stylish, higher-profile Mexican Summer for taking a gamble on something like this. After all, with the cheesy organs and buried drum beat, "L'appel du Vide" (stream embedded below) may not be very "of-the-moment" for a youth culture that coexists with dubstep -- but perhaps it should be. Mexican Summer releases Spectral Park Jan. 29; buy the vinyl here. -- Edward Charlton



>> >> Rising, Chicago-based dream-pop powers Panda Riot will release Feb. 19 the full-length Northern Automatic Music. Doing the honors will be Saint Marie Records, the outfit that previously issued Panda Riot's exemplary single "Serious Radical Girls," which we wrote about here last summer. A lush and deliriously beautiful preview single from the forthcoming collection titled "Black Pyramids" indicates the band persists in purveying an alluring mixture of electronic drums, shoegaze textures and palpable distortion. The rhythm tracks here are augmented by new addition to the group, drummer Jose Rodriguez. Digital, endless "ahhhs" serve as a returning riff in "Black Pyramid," then explode in the outro. Indeed, the upbeat build to that all-too-brief climax is a highlight of the number, with Rebecca Scott's sweet lilt providing a nice counterpoint to the group's stormy instrumentation. Also, the brief sing-along breakdown evidences atypical aural elements that Panda Riot occasionally incorporates –- always with one eye on the positive ecstasy that the rhythms bear repeating. Pre-order Northern Automatic Music from Saint Marie here, and stream "Black Pyramids" via the embed below. -- Edward Charlton