Saturday, November 30, 2013

[[EIC Mixtape: № 19 - December '13]]

[[EIC Mixtape: № 19 - December '13]] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
1. Female - Be Right
FIND IT HERE.
2. Bois - Melbourne
FIND IT HERE.
3. Milwaukee Banks - Pluto Bounce
FIND IT HERE.
4. Languid - Rep
FIND IT HERE.
5. Dylan Ettinger - Life Power Church (Fourth Dimension)
FIND IT HERE.
6. Yöri - Aethyr
FIND IT HERE.
7. Signor Benedick The Moor - Whomp! A Tale By Charlse Dodgson
FIND IT HERE.
8. IllClinton - New Alexandria
FIND IT HERE.
9. RYV - Yaspring
FIND IT HERE.
10. Oxytocin Dreams - Jane Eyre Smoking A Vapor Shark
FIND IT HERE.
11. Friendzone - Retailxtal
FIND IT HERE.
12. Hot Sugar - Blessed (Feat. Big Baby Gandhi)
FIND IT HERE.
13. Schwarz Dont Crack - Charade (Fjaak Remix)
FIND IT HERE.
14. Ocoeur - Astral Projection
FIND IT HERE.
15. Noah Feat. Siddiq - NxS
FIND IT HERE.
16. Ivory Weeds - Keep To The Soft (Rivka Remix)
FIND IT HERE.
17. Fog Lake - Snow Burial
FIND IT HERE.
18. Kigo - Cold (Now Closer)
FIND IT HERE.
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Thanx for listenin';]

Cool Video Funtime #412 - Mecha (+ Bonus Video)



+ Bonus Video;) ..because I look forward to this upcoming H3X3N release (+ I really love this remix)..

Friday, November 29, 2013

Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 1


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~njoy.

Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 2


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Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 3


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~njoy.

Monday, November 25, 2013

REVIEW: The Stargazer Lillies - We Are The Dreamers

7.75 out of 10
Find it here. 

Remember Soundpool? The Stargazer Lillies are essentially a rebirth of that project. Featuring prominent members from aforementioned band, The Stargazer Lillies continue to grace our headphones with relatively familiar dazzling sonic bliss on their debut LP, the only difference being a slighlty more stripped down approach.

On 'We Are The Dreamers', John & Kim dive deep into a kaleidoscopic pool of reverb, fuzz, heavenly drones, downer bass lines, and endearing vocals. 'We Are The Dreamers' is in every sense a classic Shoegaze/Dream Pop release that should have mass appeal written all over it once it falls between the right pair of headphones. For me I find it harder to walk away from sounds like these during winter's grey monarchy. Also (personally) I like drowning in a pool of kaleidoscopic noise, don't you?

'We Are The Dreamers' is not only a great release for a laid back day with grey undertones and melancholy dispositions it's also one of the most promising peaks into what (has always been) should be a fruitful career for an up and coming Shoegaze band. I'm (always) interested to hear where John & Kim take their music in the future. RECOMM "Shoegazers are already obsessing over these guys, why aren't you?" ENDED.

Standout Tracks: All are pretty ethereal, but if I had to be picky; How We Lost, Light Of Day, Sad Colored Tears

EIC's 10Q's w/ The Stargazer Lillies

"..dive deep into a kaleidoscopic pool of reverb, fuzz, heavenly drones, downer bass lines, and endearing vocals..."


The Stargazer Lillies
Celestial Savants

The Stargazer Lillies Bio:
The Stargazer Lilies slow motion bathing through space music is like sun glistening on the water in sound, ambient rock for daydreamers to bob their heads to. The Northeastern Pennsylvania based trio of guitarist/bassist/drummer/producer, John Cep, singer/bassist, Kim Field, and live drummers EJ DeCoske and Johnny Lancia, bring back the raw rock primal gaze, no bullshit sunshine haze. The gazey dance floor where Soundpool, John & Kim’s previous band, dwelled lies behind them, while The Stargazer Lilies cosmic ambient arena lies ahead. Soundpool released three full-lengths in the last half decade, two on Aloft & Quince, and one on Killer Pimp. They shared the stage and in some cases toured with the likes of: Chapterhouse, Ulrich Schnauss, A Place to Bury Strangers, Asobi Seksu, School of Seven Bells, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tobacco and Robin Guthrie to name a few. The Stargazer Lilies streamline and minimize Soundpool down to just the bare essentials, ridding themselves of the superfluous & getting down to the essence of what The Stargazer Lilies are: ~butterfly wings, slowly beating guitars enveloping the listener, ethereal breathy female vocals floating on a melody , rocked out bossa nova beats and bad ass bass throwing down the rhythm.​ This new direction, like minimalism, gains strength by taking away and paring the instrumentation down to create vast vistas of sound. Their debut album 'We Are The Dreamers' on Graveface Records was released Oct 22nd, 2013 with Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow curating the release.​


Hello, how are you?
Kim: We just woke up… Having some coffee… Feeling pretty good this morning.
John: Fine… thanks for asking, Ray! Have to say thanks for being a long time supporter of Kim and I!
EIC: Thank YOU for sharing your talent with my ears;]

What are you currently listening to?
Kim: At this moment we're listening to the sound of silence. Lately we've had side 4 of Stars Of The Lid's 'The Ballasted Orchestra' on our turntable on repeat. It was literally on repeat for like 3 days/nights solid after coming off of a string of gigs. Maybe we were too lazy… but it was just suiting our decompression.
John: What Kim said.

What or whom inspired you the most to begin this project?
Kim: A string of unfortunate and sad events led us to start writing a series of songs. Those songs inspired the project. We started The Stargazer Lilies because of the songs we were writing.
John: Soundpool (our previous band) had become too big of a production for the level of success we had achieved… so I think we were looking for a way to strip it down. As I recall the original plan was to have Mark (Soundpool's synth player) on bass and James (Soundpool's drummer) on drums for the new direction. But I think those guys were a hint burnt out on the whole "being in a band" thing… so we forged ahead with the two of us. Kim picked up the bass and we recruited Lauren Andino to play drums live. We currently have two different drummers we play out with, Ej DeCoske and Johnny Lancia

Care to shed some light on your debut LP; theme, favorite track(s), etc?
Kim: It's hard to have a favorite track of your own. They're all like your children. Maybe people have favorite children. But you love them all. Even if they make you insecure, sad, angry etc. Right now my relationship with the songs is more from playing them live. I have more fun playing some than others simply because my stage of playing them is more mature. The first song I learned on bass was "Endless Days" it's still one of my most challenging to play live…. but I sort of love it for that.
John: I think it's a very melancholy album… much more so than the uptempo sort of Shoegaze we were doing in Soundpool. We really poured or hearts and souls into this album more than any other we've ever done. There was a lot going on in our personal lives and I think the challenges we were facing are reflected in the material on this album.

Will you be touring extensively for said release?
Kim: We have a lot of touring planned for this Winter/Spring. We'll be going out on a Graveface Records month long U.S. & Cananda tour in February with The Casket Girls, Dreamend and other Graveface bands. We're touring extensively with Tobacco in the Spring throughout the U.S. as well. Still working on Europe/Asia.

Got any other projects we should know about?
Soundpool is our former project. We're on hiatus now but still writing for that project for some future possible release.

Whom in your opinion is currently the most underrated Shoegaze project right now?
Kim: Oh, boy. There are so many Shoegaze bands. I don't even know all of them there are so many. When we first started Soundpool there were just a couple of hand fulls of new Shoegaze bands world wide. That was back in the days of MySpace and a community started really quickly. We all sort of knew each other via online. We had the chance to go to the U.K. and play a festival in Bristol where a pretty good amount of the original "NUgazers" were playing and were able meet a bunch of the bands in person. Presents For Sally, The Fauns, 93 Million Miles From The Sun, Orange Yellow Red, also Damon And Naomi played that festival… others I'm forgetting since it was a long time ago… That same tour we played with Asobi Seksu and Ulrich Schnauss in London. We'd actually met Ulrich previously since John and I used to throw loft parties in NYC and Ulrich actually flew all the way over from the U.K. to come to one of them since he was so excited about the band line up which was Soudpool, Auburn Lull, Elika and Arms And Sleepers.
Now there are so many bands in this genre I can't keep up with them. There's a lot of talent.  I think it's too hard to pick out one band I think is underrated.
John: If we're talking about underrated bands in Shoegaze… I think we have to mention the band Medicine who along with MBV released a new album this year for the first time in decades. It's a killer album but it didn't receive the hype the new MBV album got. Shoegaze music in general is underrated though… from the very beginning it was overshadowed by Grunge and then Britpop. So yeah… I'd say the genre as a whole is underrated.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?
John: The song "How We Lost" actually goes perfectly with the climactic shoot-out scene in "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" for some weird reason.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
Kim:  Probably Stars of the Lid's 'The Ballasted Orchestra'. It sort of makes you feel like you're floating in space. I don't have a "favorite" album, though. I have a lot of favorites.
John: That would be a good way to make you sick of listening to your favorite album!

Are you living your dream?
Kim:  Once we don't have all the stress in our lives that we have in order to just survive and once I don't feel like even with all that stress that we're always teetering right on the edge... I think I'll feel like we're living our dream. We're squeezing dream time in as much as possible in the meantime.
John: There are moments of living the dream… like when we're on the road etc. but overall… we are not yet living the dream. When touring becomes lucrative enough so we don't have to do anything else for income… then I think we'll be living the dream.

Thanx Kim & John ..and Michelle too!

The Stargazer Lillies recently their debut LP, I STONGLY recommend you give that a spin...

Sunday, November 24, 2013

EICV7" No. 56 - Textbeak


"Language is a virus from outer space." ~William S. Burroughs

Next release comes out December 8th
 

Saturday, November 23, 2013

EIC's 10Q's w/ Textbeak

"..a pleasing amalgam of Micro-Clubesque Electronics, Witch House-Industrial, & other bizarre/quirky dark atmospheres.. .."


Textbeak
Sinister Synaesthesia

Textbeak Bio:
Mike Textbeak has a long history in electronic music with his releases on labels such as Tundra Dubs (San Francisco), Lasergun (Berlin), Post_Religion, Bleak (Vienna), Pale Noir (Madison, WI), Vaatican Records (France), Xynthetic (Canada), 21/22 Corp, Swishcotheque (UK), Colin Johnco (France), and many more. He co-owns the Philtre Com imprint with co-conspirator Claus Muzak aka Lucas Kuzma of The Strange Agency (musical instrument iPhone iPad app company). He was commissioned for mixing the Precarious mix for Disaro Records, a mix for Ritual Chicago, Tamara Sky's L1L DE4TH in LA, Hip Hop Break It Radio out of Houston, the official Grim Harvest Halloween 2012 Mixtape for Мишка with actor Omar Doom (Inglorious Basterds), XLVR for the clothing company NVR MND, the massive 5 hour 3 part COVENFVCK mix, mixes for Pulse Radio (UK), PBS (Australia), Clan Destine Records (UK), and AMDISCS label in the Czech Republic among many others.  His band Bath was featured on the “Why Be Blake When You Can Be Bleak?” compilation on the Bleak label with industrial legends Coil, Attrition, Sleepchamber, Nocturnal Emissions, and Portion Control. He has just finished a major 2 month tour and has opened for artists like Larry Tee, Designer Drugs, ∆AIMON, Nitzer Ebb, Light Asylum, Test Department, Skintown (Nick Turko of Zola Jesus), Meat Beat Manifesto, David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets), Daniel Myer (Haujobb), and the Legendary Pink Dots.  From the early ‘90s Columbus, Ohio electronic music scene, when Mike was a member of Body Release with Titonton Duvante (Residual Records), Todd Sines (Frankie, Planet E, Peacefrog, YORE, Seventh City), and Charles Noel (aka ARCHETYPE, ARCH_TYP…21/22 Corp, Bag Pak), through the mid ’90s early 2000’s with his band Bath, to his current endeavors, he has always pushed the envelope with his compositions, visual artwork, text collages, and genre-blasting DJ sets.


Hello, how are you?
Mr. Textbeak forgot to answer this one, we'll assume he's doing swell;]

What are you currently listening to?

What's with the name, is there a story behind it?
Back in the early '90s I drew a picture of a bird and a crayon and wrote "TEXTBEAK" on it. I put it on the wall next to my bed. I guess I sort of bonded with that image and name. Started using it officially around 2000 after I did a 12" as TXT.

Which do you prefer; writing music or DJing?
Tough call. I really like writing because I like the process of constructing. I see music as a multidimensional object and therefore making songs as process of constructing an audio sculpture that moves through a set point in time. I like DJing because I love the energy and the flying by the seat of your pants feeling. I also love doing mixtapes because I love to construct a giant flow of tracks and how they interact.

Care to shed some light on your EICV7"; theme, favorite track(s), etc?
The 3 tracks "Location Detect," "Interceptor" and "Conquered" represent an alien invasion. It's a reference to Stephen Hawking's statement on trying to contact alien life; "I think it would be a disaster. The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us. The history of advanced races meeting more primitive people on this planet is not very happy, and they were the same species. I think we should keep our heads low."  "Location Detect" focuses on growth and movement towards a specific goal and, upon recognizing that goal, closing in on it. "Interceptor" represents conflict and thus the conflicting sonic themes. "Conquered" is a lazy grinding distorted dirge to represent the lack of necessity of haste in the completion of a task. It symbolizes the requiem of a struggle. The three remixes represent three very different takes on these sounds of oppression. H3X3N (LIL DEATH) takes "Interceptor" and jumps the tempo double-time into a sort of tech-step thrash. Apollyon's Visage takes "Conquered" in a whole new direction by rewriting the song in a slow witchy dancefloor format with a great talking sample. WMX from Bestial Mouths did the final remix of "Interceptor" and it's bass heavy with nutty overlayed edits creating a sort of mesh of sound. H3X3N's mastering perfectly pulled it all together. The artwork is a collage by Calla Donafrio of gavials, gharials, and river dophins which is a reference to a strange dream I had being on a wooden raft that breaks apart and falling into muddy river water surrounded by strange beaked creatures.

Will you be performing these tracks live?
I actually have performed these tracks in their infant stages at the last couple Bath performances. Working on a new stripped down and polished performance of them.

Got any other projects we should know about?
Working on an album for Bath for release on Bleak.at out of Vienna and an EP for ZOA ZOA with Paul from Zex Model. Also just finished a remix for "Earth" from Bestial Mouths' new release on ClanDestine Records. In the process of remixing a song from Daniel Myer of Haujobb's new 'Architect' release, and a remix for the beast known as 3 TEETH. My TXTBK's CHVяCH XV BяXK3N 7ANGvAG weekly mixtape series is nearing its 3rd year anniversary in January and I was asked to curate the new NVR MND NVR MIX mixtape series which is off to a great start. Mixes so far by BlackBlackGold, SINS, BLVCK CEILING, and Alex Wolf of Post-Religion. The next mix in the series is by Light Asylum.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to your music?
For this release, 2001: A Space Odyssey

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

Are you living your dream?
I am working on it. I feel close to it and am very happy with many things in my life at this moment. I try to have high aspirations for my art, but not needing much materialistically to be content. I have some neat things in the works.

Thanx Mike!

Textbeak & EIC have something very special for you tomorrow right HERE..;]

Cool Video Funtime #411 - Trees At Night (+ Bonus Video)



+ Bonus Video;) ..because have you heard Zex Model yet?

Friday, November 22, 2013

Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 1


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Good (FREE) music laying around the interwebs.. Pt. 2


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~njoy.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

EIC Premiere: Fil OK - The Cosmos

Get Fil OK's third LP HERE.

Electric macrocosms for my headphones are what gets me through the day..
Thanks for sharing Fil!

Monday, November 18, 2013

REVIEW: Trouble Books - Love At Dusk

8.5 out of 10

Last year Trouble Books released my 18th favorite album. This year it looks like they'll make the cut again.

'Love At Dusk' is a lush landscape (much likes it's predecessor 'Concatenating Fields') gushing with Tropical/Vaporwave-esque sounds, anti-achromic Dream Pop ecstasy, and Spacey enchantment. Synthesizer bleeps intertwine and bounce between soft keyboard jabs, minimal piano riffs, hypnotizing bass lines w/ minimal guitar plucks, and vocals that will most likely make you want to nap. From what I understand this album was written during the couples pregnancy days. A "transition" in life and how that effected them. It sounds like things are going well based on the outcome of this release;] Some of the songs are a little more upbeat than others, but mostly this album is chill, as well as perfect for enjoying Fall's glorious colors and absorbing it's beautiful air. To Trouble Books: I hope all is well with your new child, and I can't wait to hear what new sounds will be inspired from your next adventures. Your music inspires & entertains me to an infinite degree.

One of this year's best "Dream Pop" releases, it'd be a shame if you missed it.

Standout Tracks: Profile Of Women In Silk Hood, Fake Fern Shadows, The Very End Again, Chiaroscuro, All Flowers

EIC's 10Q's w/ Trouble Books

"..gushing with Tropical/Vaporwave-esque sounds, anti-achromic Dream Pop ecstasy, and Spacey enchantment.."


Trouble Books
Felicity Cosmos Sponsors

Trouble Books Bio:
Knitting together found sounds, quirky synthesizers, and twinkly organic instrumentation, Trouble Books combine eclecticism (something along the lines of the Microphones and the Books) with Dreamy Indie Pop sensibilities (bringing to mind acts like Lullatone and Tenniscoats). Keith Freund and Linda Lejsovka, who are married, formed Trouble Books in Ohio in the early 2000s; they recruited the help of their friends in recording Trouble Books' first albums, with Mike Tolan (talons') often filling in as a third member of the band. Trouble Books' debut album, 'The United Colors of Trouble Books', recorded in late 2007, was released on Bark & Hiss Records in 2008, and an EP, 'Endless Pool', was released the following year. The group's sophomore full-length, 'Gathered Tones', was released on Bark & Hiss and Own Records in the spring of 2010. The duo recently released 'Love At Dusk' in 2013.


Hello, how are you?
Tired, but OK

What are you currently listening to?
At the moment, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s “Music for Nine Post Cards”. Some of our favorite albums from this year though have been by Sean McCann, CFCF, and My Bloody Valentine.

Is there a story behind the band name?
It’s a term the old ladies at the library I used to work at used. I just thought it was funny to borrow for a project that I didn’t expect to be doing for so long. Otherwise, I probably would’ve thought it out more. Maybe not, that’s kind of dumb too.

Care to shed some light on your upcoming LP 'Love At Dusk'; theme, favorite track(s), etc?
 Well it was recorded in the few months just before and just after the birth of our daughter, but it’s not about that at all really. At least not consciously. I think the fatigue and panic and joy and terror and sleeplessness definitely come through on the tone of it though. We’re really proud of it and excited to share.

Will you be touring extensively for said release?
No, playing live was never really our thing, and having a baby is a good excuse to not bother with that anymore.

If you could pick any 3 artists (dead or alive) to remix your work whom would you pick?
Oh I don’t know, we’re not really into remixes all that much. (Remixes) Always feels gimmicky and unnecessary.

Got any other projects we should know about?
Yeah we’ve got some other projects, though you shouldn’t feel any pressure to know about them, haha. I’ve been recording some very abstract rhythmic stuff as “Rolling Acres” with my friend Mike Tolan. And Linda and I have started working on new material that feels too different to be called “Trouble Books” probly so we might end up with a different name for that.

What movie would work best on mute while listening to you music?
Hm not sure. I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but we try to put a lot of detail into our music so that giving it full attention is rewarding. And I subscribe to the idea that pop singing in movie soundtracks is mostly distracting. Maybe I’m just bad at multi-tasking.  I love and identify artistically with Gus Van Sant’s 'Gerry' though probably more than any other movie.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?
 Ugh that’d be torture. I guess I’d say our own album, but it’d be as more of a photo/keepsake thing than something to listen to. I mean, I’d rather listen to nothing than the same thing over and over.

Are you living your dream?
No way, that’s impossible. Can anyone answer yes to that? My dreams involve far too many talking walls, valuable baseball cards, and endless pits to ever answer yes.

Thanx TB!

Trouble Books recently released 'Love At Dusk', I recommend you give it a go...

Sunday, November 17, 2013

EICV7" No. 56 - Textbeak ..coming soon!

EverythingIsChemical Virtual 7" No. 56 - Textbeak comes out November 24th!
  
"Smash the control images. Smash the control machine." ~William S. Burroughs

(hopefully you checked out the last v7"?)