It's been a rainy couple of days and when that's the case you usually go running to your old favorites. Here are the 2 Japanese bonus tracks for Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest. I know we keep posting outtakes for that album, but we really are excited for BC's new Atlas Sound album. This is just how we get through the pain of not having a copy of it yet. One day, in 2012, we'll all look back on this post and laugh at it, but not today. Enjoy.
Four years later, the Boris/Merzbow collaboration originally known as "Mellow Peak" has been released. Two new songs, a Jane cover and two versions of tracks from Akuma No Uta, the track here is the title from that. Heavy.
Boris has two albums coming out on April 26th, and today we get a peek from the one we were less excited about: "Attention Please" is the record that isn't heavy and also is an entire album with Wata on vocals. Thankfully, "Hope" isn't terrible (it's actually pretty fucking good!), and I now find myself just as excited for this LP's release. In the end, we all trust Boris to slay and they found a way on "Hope".
So yeah, I'm jamming it, but mostly I can't wait for "Heavy Rocks"!
Another Polyvinyl release here, another Japanese musician. Polyvinyl can keep this up as long as Kevin Barnes isn't involved to drag anything down into mediocrity. Although Port Entropy was released last Spring in Japan, it's good to see a vinyl pressing at an affordable price for those of us in North America. And the sound, you ask? Top-notch indie pop, as expected from Shugo Tokumaru, which was one of the best records of the genre to be released in 2010. Here are two jambs to tap your toes too and warm your winter ventricles.
Lullatone's 2006 effort "Plays Pajama Pop Pour Vous" was a list making record that didn't make mine for the sad fact that I didn't catch up until early '07, but made up for it by listening (and falling asleep) to it as much as I could throughout the year. This trend continues into the year current, and luckily I will be able to give it a new partner: the duo release "The Bedtime Beat" in March on Australia's Someone Good record label.
They describe the effort as "our strangest and most pop CD yet, featuring the sounds of bathtubs, underwater humming, snoring cut up into drum beats, Yoshimi's human beatbox and much much more." Count me in. You can sample some of the splashing on "The Bathtime Beat", the album's opener, showcasing their usual brilliance and unique creativity, with the expected/adored focus of singer Yoshimi's hushed vocals on full display behind Shawn's understated production choices.
Fuck yeah.
Tracklicious!
1. The Bathtime Beat 2. Your Snore 3. The Bedtime Beatbox 4. Make Believe Melody 5. Maboroshi Ondo 6. Marching to Sleep 7. Tiny Cinema 8. Goodnight Train 9. Make Believe Melody #2 10. Oyasumi
It's a great record written to sleep and relax to. I'll tell you, it works like gangbusters I swear it!
I know most blogs have been posting "Bedroom Bossa Band" (and with great reason, it's one of the best songs on the lp) and I have to, but I also wanted to give you another song to give you a feel for it. All "bass drum" sounds were made by a pillow. Insane. Buy the record, it's out now on Audio Dregs.
Here is the video the band made for "Bedroom Bossa Band". It's what first made me fall in love with them. Enjoy:
On a side note, I apologize for my absence, I know I moved all the posts over from one blog to this one and posted nothing. Sorry, I was just getting adjusted with a new home, a new life and a new computer. Everything should be more consistent now!
My friend Dave hooked me up with the newest Cat Power record last month when I was home for Christmas. I'm not the biggest fan (always have been close to jumping on) but I heard the opener, the title track, and I was hooked. It's sad and upbeat and her voice really shines on this record.
Plus the artwork is great, I mean c'mon, what else could an album called "The Greatest" look like?
Today's mp3 comes from the Japanese version of the record, a cover of the song "All I Have to Do Is Dream". Enjoy!
