February 16, 2010

Zola Jesus

Stridulum (EP)
 

01 Night
02 Trust Me
03 I Can't Stand
04 Stridulum
05 Run Me Out
06 Manifest Destiny

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

February 11, 2010

A Weather



Everyday Balloons




1. Third Of Life
2. Winded
3. Ducks In A Row
4. Seven Blankets
5. Midday Moon
6. Newfallen
7. No Big Hope
8. Fond 4
9. Happiness
10. Giant Stairs
11. Lay Me Down


Everyday Balloons is an intimate and delicate record. Aaron Gerber (vocals, guitar) and Sarah Winchester (vocals, drums) combine breathy, often intertwined vocals with gauzy, lush melodies to create a sense of melancholy-tinged comfort over the course of the disc. With the subtle nature of the vocals and instrumentation, lyrical narratives of comfort, fear, vulnerability and spiritual exhaustion rise to the forefront of the consciousness.





MySpace





February 8, 2010

White Hinterland

Kairos




 01. Icarus
02. Moon Jam
03. No Logic
04. Begin Again
05. Bow & Arrow
06. Amsterdam
07. Thunderbird
08. Cataract
09. Huron
10. Magnolias




HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

MySpace ~ Official

February 6, 2010

The Delta Mirror

Machines That Listen 

1. It Was Dark And I Welcome The Calm
2. And The Radio Played On
3. Going To Town
4. He Was Worse Than The Needle He Gave You
5. A Room For Waiting
6. Hold Me Down Just Don't Let Me Go
7. Malpractice
8. We Got It All
9. A Song About The End

 Pitchfork review 
A certain strain of recent indie rock seems to be taking an unusual interest in illness and death. You could blame Arcade Fire, the sad loss of whose family members only happened to lead to one of the most universally acclaimed independent releases of the past decade. Last year, the Antlers' Hospice focused an entire album on the subject of a man with terminal bone cancer. Now L.A. trio the Delta Mirror's upcoming Lefse debut, Machines That Listen, sets each of its nine songs in a different room of the hospital.

This slow, layered ballad "He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You" stands out not for its pathos-ridden subject matter-- I'm still not sure I know exactly what it's about-- but rather its restrained emotional gutpunch, which it achieves with a simple but catchy tune and dramatically expansive production. Imagine the Big Pink's electro-shoegaze explosions sounding vulnerable. "I've got too much time on my hands," goes a gothy male vocal, and before long we find out the reason why-- and the guy responsible won't fucking be held responsible. The next time the Delta Mirror sing those words, at the end of the song, their meaning has changed. Damage done.


"Interpol has steadily gone more mainstream since putting out Turn On The Bright Lights, but I think if they had decided to follow up that LP with a shoe-gaze-oriented effort then it probably would have sounded something like this (i.e. incredible). Be warned: I've yet to listen to this and not get completely lost in it, so try not to check it out while doing anything that you might need to actually pay attention to." - Side One Track One