The one and only Amon Tobin brought his otherworldly ISAM tour back to Chicago last weekend, pairing his peculiar homemade samples and IDM beats with an orgiastic visual display.
Though Australian electro-rock trio PVT (formerly Pivot) is keeping details about its forthcoming LP under wraps, the band has graciously given a taste of what’s to come with its new video for “Shiver,” the album’s opening track.
The video below, minimal and graceful, is a fitting accompaniment for the track, which features hushed vocals lingering between warbling pop synths and sparse bass pulsations.
P.O.S: We Don’t Even Live Here (Rhymesayers, 10/23/12)
Doomtree emcee P.O.S (born Stefon Alexander) has announced the fall release of his first LP since 2009, and he’s enlisted a slew of artists to back him up. We Don’t Even Live Here boasts, among others, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ryan Olson (Gayngs), Boys Noize, and fellow Doomtree talents.
October’s far away. Whet your whistle with this new video for the album’s first single, “Fuck Your Stuff,” which features P.O.S & Co. creating totally un-sponsored havoc (note Mike Mictlan’s blurred-out GWAR tee) in the streets to an insanely danceable beat.
Solos: Beast of Both Worlds (Joyful Noise, 9/11/12)
“Carpe Diem”
It may seem strange that the members of Hella have gotten poppier and poppier since the height of their impenetrability from 2005 to 2007. Long-time fans, though, will recognize a penchant for melody amid complexity that dates back to its full-length debut in 2002.
Solos is a new project from Hella guitarist and cofounder Spencer Seim and avant-folk artist / temporary Hella singer Aaron Ross. Following the overt melodies of Seim’s synth-core project sBACH, Solos is a jaunt into slightly more avant-pop territory, combining Led Zeppelin-ish acoustic rock with psych-pop and Seim’s pounding, distinctive beats.
Minus the Bear: Infinity Overhead (Dangerbird, 8/28/12)
“Lonely Gun”
Minus the Bear was one of those indie-rock bands that experienced “synth creep” as 1980s-style music came back into fashion over the past decade; its last two albums, Planet of Ice and Omni, increasingly utilized synthesizers at the expense of the mathy guitar rock for which the band was known. Its newest, Infinity Overload, is a step back towards its roots, with moments of quirkiness and energy that were largely missing from Ice and Omni.
Cloudeater: Sun and Sidearm reissue (9/11/12)
“This Place”
First released last September, Cloudeater’s Sun and Sidearm was a moody, melodic debut LP that blended rock, pop, and electronics to spacy and sexy results. The highly textured seven-song release called upon many timbres, but it leaned on worming bass lines and cooing vocals to set the tone.
Converge: All We Love We Leave Behind (Epitaph, 10/9/12)
Did you catch this last week? That’s right — it’s the first track and video from Converge’s All We Love We Leave Behind, a brand-new dose of hardcore pyrotechnics due out in a scant five weeks.
Syncing with the blazing tempo, director Max Moore’s cinematography offers ultra-low-attention-span cuts with a dark, blue-grey palette. Try to count the many quick tie-ins to vocalist Jacob Bannon’s cover art.
Remember when “indie rock” bands used to play…*ahem*…rock music? If you’re under the age of 20, you might not — but either way, get acquainted with the recently reactivated Casket Lottery.