tiananmen square dance //

EAGLES FOR HANDS - “GLITTERALL”

Wow. Well, you can just call us fashionably late. Brighton’s Eagles for Hands appeared overnight and released a couple of jams back in October of last year, one of which was this gem that we are just now stumbling across. Like, we’re still dusting off our knees. “Glitterall” is the epitome of fantasy glo-fi, whereupon the known techniques like pitch-shifted vocals, ambient synth tracks, and prominent beats are utilized by Laurie James Ross (Eagles for Hands) to such an end that can only be described in cosmic, otherworldly terminology. A foreboding, yet syrupy sweet synth lead paints the jam with very fairy tale-esque strokes. In addition, impassioned vocal snippets are cut and pasted together like a Tapes tune, giving it a desperate feel that makes you wish so badly that you could just sing and cry along with. The beat is used more as backing for the main melody, which weaves in and out, taking on a very strong, bewildering aura after the lead bit is re-energized about halfway through the track’s four-and-a-half minute duration. Bleary, smeary atmospheric synth tracks fade out in fog and echo, as the whole haunting winds down and wisps away into the darkness. Take the creepy, witchy sound of Summer of Haze and mash that shit up with Stumbleine’s warm, sad shoegaze melodrama, and you have “Glitterall”, by Eagles for Hands. Do tha right thing, and grab a free MP3 download of the song, courtesy of XLR8R’s back catalog. Check out the rest of the stuff Eagles for Hands has created afterwards so you can get to the good stuff before we do. We will definitely be checking into his EP ASAP.

MP3 Download of “Glitterall”, by Eagles for Hands

We were introduced to LLLL solely by word-of-mouth, and after finally following that lead, we’re convinced that they need a lot more exposure. Beginning in mid-2012, this Tokyo electronic music outfit quietly, stealthily came on scene to a subdued applause at best, in the form of a name drop or feature buried in a staggeringly long list of monthly outings. “Drowned Fish”, the unofficial single of LLLL’s debut self-titled mini-album certainly turned our heads, as it was featured on one of our monthly mixes some time back. As is the norm, the predominant tone of this short, but forceful release is melodramatic, in-your-face desperation. Taking a solid cue from the over-the-top heart-on-the-sleeve technique at use in every other single in the 80’s, LLLL cranks that emotional facet of retro music up to eleven with whispered female vocals, glistening synth hooks, and heartstopping digital beats. There’s almost a wall-of-sound approach at play, reminiscent of the work of some of our favorite electronic shoegaze artists like Asobi Seksu, Bon Accord, and M83. Each of the four tracks packs so many glittering synth sounds and explosive refrains into it that it’s incredibly to choose our favorite, but we’re going to have to go with “Falling Alone”, if we must. Despite only fitting into a handful of micro-niche genres (dream pop, synthwave, new wave), the music of LLLL is picturesque and elaborate, as if each track has a 140-page screenplay behind it that we’ll never know about or be able to read. Do tha right thing, and make room for a free MP3 download of our top pick from LLLL’s self-titled debut release, and then please purchase the album for yourself, if you like “Falling Alone”. It is worth far more than $7. We promise.

MP3 Download of “Falling Alone”, by LLLL (from LLLL)

Arizona’s Nu Mäs has a very unique and distinctive approach to today’s modern strain of retro electronic music. His particular formula combines muted synth leads with atmospheric electronic ambiance and the occasional inclusion of soft vocals. Like a much gentler Auburn Lull or Bon Accord, 17 year old Isaac García (Nu Mäs) aims to change lives with music, despite his self-professed mental instability. He plies his musical trade in an almost dream pop fashion, the entirety of October’s Distorted Love Songs EP blanketed in twilight fog and euphonious ether. “I Miss You” has seen its share of play time and is arguably the short entry’s standout track, but we have a special place in our heart for “Warm Arms”, its follow up. The Stumbleine-esque digital euphoria is broken only by a steady drum machine stream and unobtrusive sheets of poignant synth. The androgynous vocals, as heavily edited as they are, work more as an instrument that furthers the tiredly determined vibe of the entry. Nu Mäs’ Distorted Love Songs EP truly should be counted among the tenderest of shoegaze-influenced downtempo releases. Do tha right thing, and grab a free copy of the artist’s EP at his Bandcamp page, or at least download our top pick, “Warm Arms”, above. Afterwards, check out his Summer release, VHS, also available for free to eager enthusiasts.

Brooklyn’s Liquid Days popped up on our radar several months ago when we stumbled across his shoegaze-influenced downtempo jam “Ex-Icicles” on a Beko digital singles compilation. Since hearing such a frigidly endearing mashup of guitar reverb and synth leads, we felt that the time had come to explore what more Michael Chau (Liquid Days) had to offer. After dredging up his Bandcamp page, we opted to test-drive another single, “Down the Line”. At first blush, what promises to be an ethereal dream pop experience (along the lines of Auburn Lull’s output) is shattered lovingly by spidery hi-hats and soft snowy electronic beats. Akin to an M83 classic or a Sight Below movement, “Down the Line” meshes the electric with the analog so tenderly and thoroughly that the end result is completely inextricable. The listener just wouldn’t have it any other way, as the yearning synth leads complement the choral arrangement of shoegaze guitar to a stirringly perfected point. The wordless chorus of Liquid Days’ “Down the Line” is nothing short of a twilight drive under an aurora borealis of stardust and frozen dreams. Please grab a free MP3 download of this gossamer single by Liquid Days above, and spur this fellow on to create some more cerebral babymaking material down the line. See what I did there? LOLS

BON ACCORD’S UNKNOWING EP

Bon Accord’s most recent release came in the form of a digital EP back in January of this year. Flying low under the internet’s collective radar, Hackney’s Michael Wright (Bon Accord) stands out to us as one of the world’s premium purveyors of shoegaze-influenced synthpop music. His jams are fraught with the androgynous vocals, the wall-of-sound technique, and the self-deprecating lyrical style reminiscent of shoegaze and dream pop greats like Slowdive, while modeling the synth-based instrumentation into a starry, whimsical flurry that brings to mind artists like Keith Canisius or M83. Bon Accord’s Unknowing EP, while a fitting evolution in style and a solid feather in the artist’s cap, is no exception to this unique formula. “Human Heat”, the five-track outing’s opener, blows the doors wide with a space age dance beat and synth noise sample that whirl about. Wright’s whispered vocal pleas are at their most forceful since June of 2011’s True Delusion EP, a strong favorite of ours. A concerted effort is made throughout the short duration of the mini-album to accentuate the stillness of soft synth notes, scaling back the typically notable beat to a simple underlying time-keeping measure. When the emotion prominently prevalent in Bon Accord’s tunes come to a head, though, it really pours. The soft, neon-tinged clouds on the cover artwork are fittingly shaken by the geometric radiation of the power of the artist’s work. Tunes like “Softer Than Ever” and “Eyes” perfectly exemplify Bon Accord’s memorable motif of shattering the syrupy sweetness of thick, warm synth chords with pixellated bursts of lightning, erupting from the darkness and fading right back into it thereafter. This is music for late night lucid dreamers, frozen in a moment of tender time, unable to stray from the comfort of their poorly lit suburban back porches for fear of missing out on a once-in-a-millenium display of the celestial bodies dancing their eternal waltz. Do tha right thing, and do not pass up the opportunity to visit Bon Accord’s Bandcamp and name your price for his Unknowing EP today. Then, buy his entire discography. Just trust us.

MP3 Download of “Human Heat”, by Bon Accord

MP3 Download of “Eyes”, by Bon Accord

ASTRONAUTS, ETC. - “YOU CAN YELL”

It’s regrettably been some time since we’ve gotten really into a brand new shoegaze or dream pop act. As easy as it is for that style of music to really hit hard emotionally, it seems that too many of the newer players in the wall-of-sound game are just out there to kick the fuzz box or create psychedelic jam sessions that last far too long. Enter Astronauts, Etc., a classically trained pianist out of Berkeley, California, along with his fully analog shoegaze jam “You Can Yell”. Not since the days of debut albums by Amusement Parks on Fire, God Is an Astronaut, and Rumskib have we been so taken with the soaringly sad sound of shoagaze guitar noise. The unofficial single from a loose collection entitled Supermelodic Pulp, the echo effect on Anthony Ferraro’s lead guitar in “You Can Yell” goes a long way in creating that epically triumphant vibe, and the harmonization of the rhythm guitar really lays the sentimentalism on thick. The bass guitar and deep piano percussion during the verses gets stepped all over by weeping vocals, which then give way to plaintive ooh’s and aah’s during the climactic interludes. Do tha right thing, and grab the MP3 download of “You Can Yell”, an emotional shoegaze tune by Astronauts, Etc. Afterwards, spend sometime checking out Supermelodic Pulp. It’s only $5 at his Bandcamp, and the artwork was reportedly done by Chaz Bundick (Toro y Moi).

MP3 Download of “You Can Yell”, by Astronauts, Etc.

LETTING UP DESPITE GREAT FAULTS - “VISIONS”

BIRP! put out its September playlist recently, replete with every remotely hipsteriffic jam that came out in the last month at all ever. We love those guys. They are consummate curators of legit new beats, but the problem is that we’re picky, and we usually end up torrenting, like, ten tunes out of the whole batch. This track by Austin, Texas’ Letting Up Despite Great Faults piqued our collective interest right off the bat, and we found ourselves even further taken with the song after the first listen. They’ve always comfortably ridden the fence between shoegaze and indietronic music, and they’ve had that sweet, sentimental wall-of-sound approach cornered ever since the release of 2006’s Movement EP. “Visions”, the above jam, retains the androgynous vocalization, the atypical song structure, and the corner arcade bloops and bleeps that make Letting Up Despite Great Faults quasi-famous. With this new iteration of their sound, however, concentrated effort seems to be made to effect that classic early 90’s 4AD Records sound, achieved by piping in some Swervedriver-esque guitar fuzz and mixing the vocals a little higher. “Visions” honestly sounds like what The Naked and Famous’ next album might resemble if someone gaslit them with The Radio Dept.’s portfolio on an endless loop. Heady and nostalgic, do tha right thing, and give Letting Up Despite Great Faults’ latest indie-chillgaze single a spin, and be on the lookout for their next album, Untogether, due to be self-released on October 9th.

MP3 Download of “Visions”, by Letting Up Despite Great Faults

05. BON ACCORD’S TRUE DELUSION EP

Clocking in at only four tracks long, Bon Accord’s third release, the True Delusion EP, released just over one year ago, packs one hell of a wallop. Seemingly composed as a soundtrack to urban planning beneath a cloudless sky, it fills the wide open spaces with daydreaming colors, endless energies, and strong sentiments. Diving right into the thick of it, the EP starts off with the sugary sweet “Glazed”, a bouncy, bubbly electronic jam featuring distinctive shoegazey vocals, corny synth leads, and Pictureplane-esque electric piano. Onward, the tune “Take Comfort” takes a sharp turn downward into a loud, overly emotional nosedive, though never once forsaking the melodramatic synth leads or the self-deprecating vocalization. Tracks like this prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hackney’s Michael Wright (Bon Accord) is truly a shoegaze artist in an electronic disguise, akin to Jatun or M83.

The fireworks really happen with the title track, though, which is featured above. Upon the first listen, the audience is fooled by the ambient intro and the gentle vocal sample, only to get whiplashed back into attention by chillwave’s version of the eponymous “wall of sound”. Saccharine as the electronics may sound, “True Delusion” is an emo masterpiece, the bass hitting hard, and the harmonizing vocals mixed perfectly. A twang or two of guitar chimes in just over halfway through before the chillgaze waves crash back into themselves all over again. A lengthy outro track, “Late”, then closes the book just as quickly as it was opened. A flashy showing of sentimental synths, prominent basslines, and ghostly vocals bring Bon Accord’s True Delusion EP to a slow-coming close. Beneath the surface of the whiz-bang-pow effect of this tragically short release is an aching heart that thankfully still has enough adrenaline to get up and make music. The best part of this brilliant collection of electronic music? It’s entirely free. Do tha right thing, and grab your free copy of Bon Accord’s True Delusion EP, my fifth favorite release this past year, at his Bandcamp page. See if its digital strains don’t inspire some heavy hearts and lumpy throats within your social circle.

MP3 Download of “True Delusion”, by Bon Accord

MP3 Download of “Take Comfort”, by Bon Accord

PURO INSTINCT - “STILYAGI”

I’m really grooving on this hipsteriffic track from last March by Puro Instinct. Featuring chillwave godfather Ariel Pink, the overtly minor-sounding guitar picking, vocals, and piano plinking of “Stilyagi” is matched only by the synth bubbling, the subtle shoegaze influence, and the vintage percussion claps during the triumphant chorus. Check out the video for plenty of shots of those dreamy Kaplan sisters (Piper and Skylar), some androgynous Miami Vice fashion victims, and some “2001: A Space Odyssey“-esque graphics. While “Stilyagi”, by Puro Instinct (formerly Pearl Harbor) may not exactly define your life, it’s a more than suitable addition to the growing collection of woozy chillwave jams. Do tha right thing, and grab a free MP3 of this unofficial single from side A of full-length Headbangers in Ecstasy here, along with a legit Datahowler rework of Ariel Pink’s “Round and Round” below the bump.

MP3 Download of “Stilyagi”, by Puro Instinct (from Headbangers in Ecstasy)

MP3 Download of “Round and Round (Datahowler edit), by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (from Melt!)