PVT: Nightfall single (Warp, 10/16/12)
With a photo-negative aesthetic by way of a Commodore 64 and Tron, the video for PVT’s “Nightfall” has an industrial-tinged beat with a backing thread that sounds like it was composed on a vintage Korg MS-10.
Lincoln Eddy
Relive your trippy science-class films with Lymbyc Systym’s “Prairie School” video
Lymbyc Systym: Symbolyst (Western Vinyl, 9/18/12)
What but a video inspired by 1970s and ’80s science specials would you expect from a band named after part of our nervous system? The first single from Lymbyc Systym’s Symbolyst, “Prairie School,” has a driving beat, bright synths, and a feeling of gradual movement upward, forward and inward.
“Mad about youth” in Wild Belle’s “Keep You”
Wild Belle: s/t EP (Columbia, 9/18/12)
Siblings Natalie and Elliot Bergman (also of Nomo) are the duo behind Wild Belle, whose sultry, funky dub pop picked up buzz after the band’s stint at this year’s SXSW. Now, after a deal with Columbia, the Chicago-based group is preparing its major-label debut, Isles, to be delivered early in 2013.
Fund This: Lost in Concert, Volume One
Since 2010, Lost in Concert has been in the cataloging business. A group of writers and photographers who share a love for live music, the site has made it its mission to attend shows and bring the concert experience back to those who couldn’t be there. Its vivid photography and clear, enthusiastic words give readers the feeling that they were, sharing that special “had to see it” feeling that only a live show can give.
Origami gone wild in The Octopus Project’s stop-motion vid
The Octopus Project: Whitby digital EP (Peek-A-Boo, 11/6/12)
The Octopus Project’s new album, untitled at this time, has been described by guitarist Josh Lambert as “equally the poppiest and the weirdest thing we’ve ever done.” The video for the first single, “Whitby,” does its best to live up to this assertion.
Watch Sole’s blistering “Assad is Dead” and download “Ruthless”
Sole: A Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing (Black Canyon Music, 11/13/12)
DIY rapper and occupier Sole will be releasing his seventh studio album, A Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing, next week. Titled from a letter by Marx and written as a member of Occupy Denver, the album is a call to arms, with new anthems for grassroots uprisings.
Video: Om’s “State of Non-Return”
Om: Advaitic Songs (Drag City, 7/24/12)
Advaitic Songs, the fifth album from drone-doom duo Om, “pushed the [band’s] material to even greater heights.” Again combining Eastern mysticism with those elements of drone and sludge, the band this time emphasized softer moments and added more string accents. The chemistry between bassist/singer Al Cisneros and drummer Emil Amos (also of Grails), on their second album together, was apparent.
MP3 Premiere: Bush Tetras’ “Heart Attack”
Bush Tetras: Happy (ROIR, 11/13/12)
“Heart Attack”
Nearly 15 years after it was recorded, Bush Tetras’ 1998 album Happy is finally getting a release. The band, an under-famous staple of the New York post-punk scene, formed in 1979, breaking up and reuniting several times, most recently getting together in 2007. The record, produced by Don Fleming (Sonic Youth, The Screaming Trees), fell into release-and-copyright hell when original distributor Mercury was sold.
Review: The Man with the Iron Fists soundtrack
V/A: The Man with the Iron Fists soundtrack (Soul Temple, 10/23/12)
Assembled by rapper/director RZA, the soundtrack for The Man with the Iron Fists aurally delivers on the eyeball-punching promises of his over-the top grindhouse martial-arts movie.
From blues-driven opener “The Baddest Man Alive,” which sees RZA reunite with collaborators The Black Keys, this collection of largely new tracks works as a cohesive album while being eclectic enough to function as accompaniment for a film.
MP3 Premiere: Wires Under Tension’s “Landscape Architecture”
With a title and album cover evocative of Ridley Scott’s 1982 dystopian classic Blade Runner, Wires Under Tension’s second album, Replicant, wears its neon-soaked aesthetic proudly.