My embarrassing admission is that I don’t know quite as much about either James & Evander or Shortcircles as I would like. What I’ve gathered is that both are independent electronic acts, that they all share an Oakland flat, and that the hipster interwebz has a little bit of a thing for them. I always try to do my research before declaring why I like the sounds I like, but I think the smooth, sultry tone of this collaboration called Hoodcats says it for me.
While I’m used to hearing more muted Stumbleine-type vibes coming from both James & Evander and Shortcircles, in “One Pacifico Swing”, Hoodcats mash up some of those phat underground hip-hop styles into the futuristic mix. Featuring those experimental R&B techniques popularized by the likes of Holy Other, Krusht, and Sun Glitters, Hoodcats’ three-track Mapzzz EP17 features a couple more odes to that sample-based, pitch-shifting pop formula. For a free download, do tha right thing and visit Hoodcats’ Bandcamp page.
1990 is a little known downtempo and IDM artist from San José, California that utilizes quite a few of the tropes of glitch-hop, 8-bit, and chillwave music, but he does so to such unique effect that there isn’t the slightest trace of cliché to be found in his work. Alive and well on Bandcamp, and occasionally promoted via various monthly best-of-hipster-music blogs, He is yet unsigned, I believe, and his work has yet to exist in physical form. Alas, electronic music such as his is rich and evocative.
His debut album The Discovery 1 Beat Tapeis definitely headphones music, the luminescent lasers of sound glittering so briefly and spontaneously that it takes an adept ear to appreciate the depth of each seemingly simple track. The aesthetic of 1990’s The Discovery 1 Beat Tape, amidst all the Gangpol und Mit-esque instrumentation, is that of very austere fantasy/sci-fi music. “Falcon Sword” was included on a TSQ mix several months ago, and the vibe of that track does permeate the album: one of the organic among the industrial, of wonder despite mundanity. 1990 may very well be a denizen of our planet, but his work conjures up images of 16-bit forests, of legendary swords bequeathed to youthful heroes, to the inevitable warping of time and space when the world is so close to death that the hero tastes defeat but nonetheless does the unthinkable and makes it out alive. The Discovery 1 Beat Tape is available totally free via 1990’s Bandcamp page right now. Fans of Com Truise, Krusht, Starfawn, and other independent retro downtempo artists, do tha right thing and jump on it! By the way, the above embedded video is the best I could do for standout “GRB990123”. I apologize that is just a clip, but the album is free, so you have to love me!
In the arena of independent electronic artists, one such that is a must-hear in my book is Norway’s Kingt0m. Though Tom Jumo (Kingt0m) has yet to release anything physically, he has a set of tracks available called 130 for free download via his Soundcloud. Though his work is purely electronic, it takes different forms. Occasionally, he draws from the recent R&B explosion, often crafting together a track that is equal parts dubstep and downtempo. The lion’s share of the tracks on his Soundcloud are tagged “electro house”, but I just don’t detect any Justice or Skrillex influence there (thank god). Either way, Kingt0m’s jams are like potato chips: you can’t have just one. After being introduced to “Vakk” by IAM TOM SAW YER on his first Cordless Telephone mix, I kept coming back for more real chill downtempo. If you enjoy the genre-blurring perpetrated by electronic artists like Galapagos, Holy Other, or Mount Kimbie, let Kingt0m be your next musical bag of chips. Right now, all of his work on his Soundcloud (including 130) is free, so do tha right thing and give it a listen. I still haven’t taken all of it in yet, and I need to get after it. Don’t miss “I Have No Idea Why I Made This Song”, for sure, by the way. He never disappoints.
Beginning with the opening strains of this refreshing record, it’s clear that Rimar (or RIM4R, as I guess he prefers to be called) knows how to jam. The Higher Ground 12” is modern-day funk at its apex, dripping with romance and shining with inner light.
Standout opener and title track “Higher Ground” was all abuzz among the hipster blogosphere a couple of months ago when the 12” was released, and it kicked so much cracker ass that I’m a little ashamed that it took me this long to hop on the hip bandwagon. Rimar is an electronic jack of all trades, it seems. He uses all of the tools of the trade to effect a super-slick, energizing product. Several of the first few songs on the 12” showcase much loved lo-fi editing techniques (à la 18 Carat Affair, Onra) along with the twangy Balearic guitar that you might recognize from bass-heavy artists like Toro y Moi and Star Slinger. The artist then rounds out the picture with the conservative application of samples of chill androgynous vocals (think Southern Shores with Chad Bundick as the vocalist). Rimar is synth-funk with some serious tropicalia influences, and the Higher Ground 12” is seriously not to be missed.
“On Higher Ground Rimar has created a monument to ancient R&B (though not quite as ancient as the 60s variety), the slick, smooth, sumptuous electro-funk that preceded New Jack Swing. He takes the beats and the basslines from original, long-forgotten hits from that era, then coats them in memory goo. You’ve perhaps read about chillrave (and we believe we used the term first here); this is chillfunk.
The above embedded track, “R U Happy?” is built with samples from 80’s group Surface’s “Happy”, and was probably re-sampled for the opening portion of Small Black’s recent Moon Killer Mixtape, which is really cool because Rimar is also from Brooklyn. That alone should speak volumes. Do tha right thing, kids, and get your copy for only $5-$10 via Rimar’s Bandcamp. You get a free digital download, so you can jam it at stressful intersections, and a vinyl copy, so you can make love to ya bitch wit style!
Via XLR8R the other day, I discovered this free glimpse of CFCF’s upcoming concept EP Exercises. Michael Silver (CFCF)’s always technical studies on often retro themes never fail to captivate me. Building layer upon layer of all manner of digitized analog instrumentation into a symphony of emotion, this electronic solo artist executes electronic post-rock in much better fashion, in my opinion, than, say, Eluvium, Fridge, or other similar artists.
Blending the organic with the electric has always been one of my favorite techniques to behold, and its profundity is not lost within the multitude of artists that are finally beginning to pick up on its power. This particular track, “Building (Exercise #3)”, begins with simple piano and adds in increasingly desperate electronic basstones along with mournful high synth tones until the moment that you are certain that the percussion will just burst into fiery chorus, and then the entire exercise swiftly fades back out of existence. He is truly no beginner when it comes to evocative instrumental work, as it seems he has the power to create and destroy sonic worlds within the space of sheer minutes.
“For his new EP Exercises, out in April on Paper Bag Records, Montreal’s CFCF shows a different side of his pallette with a series of subdued piano and synth based pieces. Pulling from influences like Philip Glass, Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Borden, among others, and using institutional architecture and 70s Canadiana as a framework, the EP has a distinctly 20th century feel…Standout “3 (Building)“‘s rolling piano melodies build to a cathartic crescendo…This is a change of pace for CFCF to be sure, but no less cinematic and evocative than his 2009 debut Continent, though where that record evoked long stretches of neon road and epic rainforests, Exercises is all snowy walkways and long corridors, endless escalators ascending to desolate concrete plateaus. Each track feels like an exploration of lost memories, studies in nostalgia, exercises in spatial remembrance.”
Do tha right thing, nab this track, and plan your life around the Exercises EP’s April 24th release via Paper Bag.
This video has been circulating for quite some time now, and it is high time to repost. Mux Mool’s Planet High School is due out in less than a week, and this short video was cut in celebration and anticipation. Featuring bits of the song “Raw Gore”, from said upcoming release, and giving the nod to several classic arcade and console games (including, but not limited to Contra, Mortal Kombat, and various games by Rare), this brief taste of Brian Lindgren (Mux Mool)’s soon-to-be-released sophomore full-length is electric, nostalgic, and straight up badass.
Recognize that anti-human underground hip-hop sound? It was featured in thisAdult Swim bump. Keep an eye out for Mux’s bass-centric Planet High School, due out via Ghostly International on February 7th, 2012.
I must have just heard all the wrong Gauntlet Hair songs the first time around. After discovering “Top Bunk” via Post-Chillwave Srfr’s “Hipster’s iPod” series and subsequently featuring it on a TSQ mix, I figured the time had come to see if that find was just a flash in the pan for me or the general rule for this band.
”Keep Time”, from the same self-titled album, likewise reeks of reverb-imbued shoegaze guitar, brave chillwave vocals, and plenty of melodrama. The official video above, the lion’s share of which was shot in Portland, is haunting as well. As the duo has apparently recently signed to Dead Oceans, the time will soon come that I will need to acquire the album that features these two jaunty hits. FOR FANS OF: psychedelic chillwave and shoegaze-infused indie rock.
Before the inception of Com Truise, Seth Haley had other projects. Evidently, he has tried on numerous different sounds of all shapes and sizes before settling on his current retro tone. Along with older projects like Sarin Sunday and SYSTM, Airliner is surprisingly underpublished and yet still readily available. The sole release under this pseudonym is the short, but sweet None LP, wherein a variety of different sounds manifest themselves, but mostly of the trademark woozy Boards of Canada-esque ilk. One particular track on the mini-album of sorts, “Dawnsio”, stands out particularly to me, a Seth Haley über-fan. Laying down a smoothly processed vocal sample and weaving in a series of soft, smeared synth tones, the melody ambles along whilst punctuated regularly by crisp, stabbing beats for three-and-a-half minutes. While the rest of this pre-Com Truise offering is definitely a feather in Haley’s cap, I personally found the rest of None LP to be a little unengaging. That said, you can rest assured that it is certainly worth the meager $6 he asks for this taste of what is, in effect, pre-Com TruiseCom Truise. Do tha right thing, and grab it at his Bandcamp, and keep your ears peeled as I consume and review more of Seth Haley’s underground work in the near future.
Boys and girls, Bear in Heaven has a new one coming out on April 3rd via Hometapes/Dead Oceans, and a single from said upcoming album was recently released too! “The Reflection of You” bursts in with an ecstatic noise not unlike the beginning of Fuck Buttons’ “Olympians”, and quickly takes form with their trademark cymbal-heavy drumming, echo-laden vocals, and Kraut-influenced synthesizing.
Based on what I’ve heard from this delightful (not slowed down 400,000%) snippet from the upcoming I Love You, It’s Cool, the vocalist it seems has gotten over his David Bazan phase and is now opting for a more tenor approach, gaining a new power with this upcoming album. Single “The Reflection of You” is high tech, high speed, and constantly buffets its listeners, holding us up on high with psychedelic neon wings of darkness, but never once letting us down. Just get a load of that gaudy vintage cover art, and keep your ears peeled for the chillwave chopped and screwed effect there right before the bombastic instrumental conclusion. Let’s hope that this brief glimpse of Bear in Heaven’s newest effort reflects the true form of the album rather than just being a fleeting one hit wonder. I, for one, assume that even better things are to come.
