tUnE-yArDs (album review)

For her second album, 'w h o k i l l', Merril Garbus has opted for a more refined approach to the recording process than the single handheld digital recorder used for 'BiRd-BrAiNs', with a band utilised during live recording studio sessions. However this doesn't mean her music has lost any of its avante-gard appeal; w h o k i l l is still brilliantly messy, mashing together a vast array of instruments and stylistic approaches, from the folksy ukelele intro of 'Powa' to the crunching beats of 'Gangsta' and the wailing, saxophone fuelled raucousness of 'Riotriot'. The songs frequently develop from more hushed melodies into genuinely mental, jarring noisiness, with her vocals fluttering over the base layer of wierdness, at times both flippant and authorative; there's a really endearing sense of adaptability and development to Garbus' musical approach.

The lead single 'Bizness' is an obvious highlight, sandwiched neatly into the middle of the running order; clicking percussion and fluttering melodies are led by defiant vocals, with the track gradually gathering instrumental layers and momentum. 'Doorstop' sees Garbus' sickly sweet vocals balanced against bombastic, punchy percussion and subtle bass; 'My Country' uses a similar formula but injects synth and saxophone. 'Es-so' has a suprising, oldschool hip hop feel to it's jazzy, off kilter rhythms and 'Killa' ends the album on a sassy, empowered note. The album succeeds because as well as generally being really diverse, each individual song develops so much in its own right; Merril Garbus constantly adapts, warps and transforms her sound and it's that which makes the record so compelling.

The Album's out April 18th on 4AD.

tUnE-yArDs - Es-so

tUnE-yArDs - Bizness

Purity Ring

Purity Ring is a new project of Corin Roddick from Gobble Gobble; the debut single is out April 18th on Transparent Records.'Ungirthed' melds trickling electronics and wobbling sub-bass with playful, sultry, ghostly vocals laid over pitched-down overdubbing; the B side, 'Lofticries' is a more spacious, atmospheric jam, with a slower, more soulful feel.

Purity Ring - Ungirthed

Purity Ring - Lofticries

Spacemonster

Spacemonster is Kenny Hamilton; you can download his EP 'Gills' for a dollar over at his bandcamp. He makes really lo-fi music on cassettes, comprised of the essential lo-fi production trio of guitar, drum machine and inaudible, hazy vocals. It's good though; the hiss and crackle of his production technique (or lack thereof) adds a really emotive quality to his minimalistic, sketchy guitars. His vocals weave around, occasionally overdubbed but always hushed and tentative. Unfortunately the EP is yet to hit youtube but I've put up another track of his, 'All The Things', which is really similar and has a really enthralling video haha.

Spacemonster - All The Things

Cults

A lot of bands seem to be releasing limited edition material for Record Store Day this saturday; Cults are releasing a 7" of another track from their debut album ('Cults', out June 7th), 'Abducted'. The song is pretty good; short and sweet, it explodes from a muted intro into racing percussion, shimmery synths and jangly guitars.

Cults - Abducted

Shabazz Palaces

Sub Pop, the label that Shabazz Palaces are on, is releasing a free sampler on Record Store Day this saturday; amongst other tracks it features 'Lost Foundling' by SP, which apparently won't make an appearance on the group's soon to be released LP, 'Black Up'. It's awesome, wallowing around in a fairly disjointed way before consolidating into typically spacey, shadowy melodies and echoing vocals.

Shabazz Palaces - Lost Foundling

Dirty Gold

Dirty Gold is made up of brothers Lincoln and John Ballif, and Grant Nassif, all from San Diego; their debut EP, 'Roar', is out on Auto Tone Records on April 12th. Two tracks have been released off the EP; 'California Sunrise' wobbles along, led by tribal, worldly percussion rhythms, noodly guitars and strained, crooning vocals, and is utterly beautiful; 'Overboard' is a similarly emotive, twinkling, surfy soundscape. The two tracks are really promising, definitely excited about the EP dropping.

Dirty Gold - California Sunrise

Dirty Gold - Overboard

Beat Connection (EP review)

Beat Connection's (previously blogged about here) EP, 'Surf Noir' was out last year as a free download; it's being released physically on the 11th April, through Tender Age (an offshoot of Moshi Moshi). It's a mostly instrumental affair, with washes of surfy guitars and beachy background noises sketched in over trippy synth layers and occasional vocals; the EP is basically a really good example of bedroom produced, lo-fi electro, with a fair few distinguishing tinges of innovation spread throughout. 'Sunburn' features some really jungle-y, rattling snares, and 'Theme From Yours Truly' sees eery synths filter in over jazzy chords and tambourines, eventully developing into really dancey, echoing melodies with synthbass wobbles underpinning. It also has a vocal sample, 'damn', which sounds really similar to the one in Blake's CMYK.

'In The Water' was the track from the EP that gathered the most popularity first time round; it's really summery, with gleeful falsetto layered over plentiful handclaps. The really clear highlight of the EP though is 'Silver Screen'; its hypnotic, dreamy synth layers and punchy snares are in themself pretty awesome, but the vocals from Tom Eddy are what really make it stand out. Sounding more than a little Sting-y, Eddy adds a bit of extra emotive depth to the track.

It's definitely a really sweet EP; although a lot of it isn't exactly revolutionary it is undeniably groovy in that sort of beachy, Neon Indian-y style, and there are a few moments (notably the tracks with vocal elements) where Surf Noir is awesome in a more unique, easily appreciable way.

Beat Connection - Silver Screen

Beat Connection - Theme From Yours Truly