Magic Mountain 'Mae'

Lay back, guys. Here's an epic, sprawling house cut from the super-talented Harry Bornstein. In 'Mae', he's created an instant IDM classic, straddling everyone from Olio-era The Rapture to Gold Panda and Walls. He recently dropped the 'k' from his Magick Mountain moniker to become simply Magic Mountain, and has since signed to The Pop Manifesto label, who are set to announce the release of a new EP in the coming weeks.

Cave Chorus Records

This evening sees the unveiling of Cave Chorus Records, an innovative new label and collective. Its formation is currently a bit shrouded in mystique, but I can tell you now that its official launch will come at 6pm GMT, when their website, some visuals and a mix will web-surface. Their awesome roster so far comprises the following:

ABE



COMODO



NEWMAN WOLF



SLEEPY LESBOS, THE SOFT and CAMERA PHONE.

For now, you can check out Cave Chorus Records on facebook here.

UPDATE: Check out the official website here.

Chad Valley 'Equatorial Ultravox'

Being 1/6 of Jonquil, and also the finest solo purveyor of psychedelic post-chillwave the world has ever heard, Chad Valley's glorious new'un is both anthemic and ethereal, as you might have expected. Said tune is also the hazily resplendent title track from his forthcoming 'Equitorial Ultravox' EP, which is released on June 20th via Loose Lips.

Those Dancing Days review

Daydreams & Nighmares was released ages ago, but there we go.

'...They still retain a wincey smidgen of daintiness, but now sound a bit like Miley Cyrus if she’d been given the chance to front Be Your Own Pet...'

Read my review in full @ RockFeedback

Week #17: Kezokichi / EXETER / Cellar Door

I'm having pronunciation troubles with this guy. Kezzokeeshee? Or Keyzokitchee? Who knows. But who the hell cares when this Tokyo-sent, London-based outlander creates such nifty tunes? In 'Pignic', he overwhelms the scene with winning lightsabres of screaming 22nd century house music. Manipulated voices resonate as if splurged out of a volcano at lightning-speed. Throttling basslines pound your brain cells 'til there's nothing there. Siren-y synths meander incessantly. The fact this music is at once so silly ('Pignic'— stupidly genius), visceral and otherworldly warrants it a gargantuan gold star. Check out his soundcloud for a back catalogue of remixes and originals so diverse even Odd Future might be a little envious.

Next up is a deft beatmaker who resides under the guise of EXETER, but isn't actually from the Devonshire city. In reality, this man's a Torontonian (that's an inhabitant of Toronto to you and I) named Evan Doyle. His sounds flit between the choppy and the melodious, the freaky and the.... well, it's always a bit freaky. Joltily employing and embedding heaps of samples, be they scripts from horror films or 80s synth-pop jangles, he always manages to get you on your feet, dancing maniacally like a zombie off Dead Snow. Download his fantastic new tune 'TO BE WITH YOU EVERYWHERE' for free below. Follow him on twitter here.




The final member of this week's electronic threesome is the wonderful Cellar Door (it's actually entirely coincidental that all three of this week's acts conjure up bewildering, twisted electronica, and are all males who make dance music alone). But 'Headdress', CD's latest jam, is IDM gone bananas! What we have is an intricately composed instrumental led by thumping keyboard beats and twinkling keys, and it makes me happy. This is first class middle-of-night-last-minute-revision music. It's motivational. Download it for free:

How To Dress Well 'Ready For The World (Star Slinger Remix)'

This tune is to me what cake is to a fat kid. I love it. In my own little dreamworld, this rework would besiege the number one embankment and topple Adele from her lofty throne. In reality though, I don't think it's even getting an official release.

John Talabot 'Families (Ft Glasser)'

 
'Families', the latest jam from Spaniard John Talabot, exudes a hazy, synth-laden fervour. It's lush. Lifted from his forthcoming Families EP, out on May 16th via Young Turks, the song also features Cameron Mesirow (aka Glasser) on vocals.

Alexander review

'....The most striking thing about this record is the fact that every resonance and every word it has to offer was sung/blown/twanged/recorded by Alexander solo. Somehow everything is incorporated immaculately. This DIY aesthetic is clearly not quite as momentous as his 10-strong group’s capability to bludgeon, but this album has all the earmarks of a full band at work. By some method, he, and he alone, elicits a jubilant, collective atmosphere....

...For any lovers of obscurity, this is a puzzling yet mirthful collection of songs which intensifies and then settles abruptly; almost schizophrenically. Changes of moods, paces and inspirations rarely happen so joltily on a record, but it's this nonplussing joy which makes it so fantastic. Alexander's spirit should make him endeared to everyone not only as the frontman of the Magnetic Zeros, but as a remarkable and unpredictable solo artist.'

Read my review in full @ RockFeedback.

Planningtorock 'Doorway (Creep Remix)'

Fantastic rework from Creep here. Here's what I said about the original when I first heard it:

'Planningtorock, aka Berlin-based experimentalist Jane Rostron, one time accomplice of the Knife and long time underground solo artist, has an awe-inspiring new album entitled W. Interweaving the blissful, the emotional and the minimalist, she envelops a whole load of genres as the album progresses and spits them out with passionate aplomb. 'Doorway', an upbeat, YACHT-meets-Fever Ray ditty, is the first single taken from the LP, and is the epitome of her transcendent, unworldly dreamscapes.'

You can download the new remix for free below.

Interview w/ Glisk

Glisk create such utterly beguiling soundscapes. In fact, I've decided to invent a new term — they are now the original purveyors of 'chime-tronica'. You heard it here first. This is my chat with Mike Radz from the band.

Mike, how are things? 
Pretty good, thanks. From the reactions we're getting to our debut EP, it looks like I'll be getting my first G6 in about June. So that's quite pleasing.

How would you describe your music to those uninformed readers of Mane Shakin' Folk?

Besides some useful locators like the Radio Dept. and your Sally Shapiros (and some things that aren't from sweden, like Black Box), I'd like to think it was a mindbending amalgam of electronic and organic sounds, welded into one overwhelming, coruscating pop juggernaut. But I also wanted to use the words 'amalgam', 'coruscating' and 'juggernaut' in the same sentence, so maybe just go back to the Radio Dept. and Sally Shapiro?
 

Who is behind Glisk?

At the moment it's a two piece (Mike Radz & Anny Duff) but we have some friends who have helped us out and will be helping us out in the future. Confidence with only using electronic music equipment is slowly building, but it's nice to have a support network too.
 

Tell us about how you guys met and why you decided to make music together.

We met like so many bands do, after previous ones failed. We share a bunch of the same friends and it seemed logical to mesh my flamboyant production stylings with Anny's nordic chill/voice. We were also at the pub when this happened.
 

What was the songwriting process like behind your new EP?

Long. I just finished an extended course of study so the main elements of the EP have been kicking around for about a year, but it was only finished and finally pieced together in the last two months. I'm cursed with monomania and have a lot of trouble multitasking. I'll probably only do the band for the rest of my life because my concentration beam is such a funnel. But it was enjoyable nonetheless, and through this process we've kind of got more of an idea of what we might like to do. Lots of woodshedding, I believe it's called.
 

I hear tinges of all kinds of disparate sounds in your songs. From where do you actually draw your influences?

I'd like to say everywhere but let's be honest, we listen to the same 3 bands everyone else does. Kraftwerk, Metallica and Cyndi Lauper. But besides the main trio, loads of stuff. As is du jour these days, 90s hip hop is popular, along with lots of 80s italo disco. I'm mostly into 'fun' music at the moment. I went through a long stage of listening to The Red House Painters, then Labradford, then The Red House Painters, then Labradford, and I do still love those bands but my palette has 'widened a bit' in the last few years, you could say.
 

What's in Glisk's 2011 diary? Can we expect any more releases? 

There's another EP of fairly different sounding stuff that will hopefully be out quite soon, with more instrumental/noisy kind of sounds. I'm too polite to say it'll be 'abrasive' but some of it will be a bit different to the 'smooth warm tones' of 'Servants Heart'. No one's described it like that, by the way, it's just how I would envisage a review. Hopefully.
   

Finally, are there any particular records/artists/labels/etc you especially love at the moment?
I've been getting some vinyl from the glory days of Zyx Records at the moment, so you could say I'm in my 'house phase'. Keep Shelly In Athens have been getting a good playing recently, but so has Jadakiss. So blogosphere to top 40, but that's probably how one should approach one's listening.

You can check Glisk out on facebook and bandcamp. Their new EP, 'Servants Heart', was released on April 14th. Download it for free here:

Week #16: AlunaGeorge / Jesse Ruins

You know how Katy B's currently revolutionising modern popular music with her sleek and alluring dubstep-pop? Well, it turns out she's got some serious competition. AlunaGeorge have arrived. Sonically, this London-based IDM duo are massive. They take Mount Kimbie's off-kilter clicks and layer them over with intricate, r'n'b-infused harmonies. Jittery beats and soulful, catchy-as-hell melodies combine to get me g-rooooo-ving. They recently released the fantastc double A-side single 'We Are Chosen / Analyser'. Listen to 'Analyser' and more below.

Also thrusting him/her/itself onto the scene this week is Jesse Ruins from Tokyo. I was tipped onto the stunning 'Dream Analysis' earlier today via the fantastic NO MODEST BEAR blog and to put it simply, I was blown away. The lyrics are near impossible to decipher, but the music grabs you like a lassoo. Led by charging, thumping synths and with a sound that's electronic yet shoegazing, vaguely akin to M83, it all leaves you feeling a lil bit hazy. Not much is known about who's actually behind JR, but I'm informed a vinyl release is coming soon on Japanese label Cuz Me Pain. Download 'Dream Analysis' below:

Grimes 'Vanessa'

Montreal's Grimes has created one of my albums of 2011 so far in the sublime Halfaxa. She's also concocted my favourite video of the year (above). Check out a mini-interview I did with her earlier this year.

Warm Brains 'Old Volcanoes'

This is the new video for Warm Brains' cacophonous, Ride-recalling 'Old Volcanoes'. Warm Brains is the latest project of Rory Atwell (Test Icicles, KASMs...) You can stream some other songs from their debut LP here.

Lykke Li 'Sadness Is A Blessing (Gold Panda Remix)'

This is what happens when the world's gloomiest Asiatic-tinged lo-fi synth maestro remixes Scandinavia's darkest pop starlet. Complete and utter transcendence.

The Cads review

'....the synth-laden, bass-charged, Chilis-via-Phoenix amalgam that is ‘Skins’ gets us wiggling. And in ‘Selah’, the disparate finale, tribalistic, Caribbean-infused vibes are exhaled in an idiosyncratic instrumental that leads my tiny little brain to conjure up the peculiar (and brilliant) hypothetical scenario that West Indian chillwave might actually exist.

They’ve entranced me. Only God would know how to sum up this band’s celestial offering as a whole. All I can say is I loved all 18.5 minutes of it, and that I am pleased that I’ve made it through writing this whole review without mentioning the ‘eschewing being stereotypically INDIE thing’.'

Read the review in full @ Sucking Lemons.

Week #15: When Saints Go Machine / Sensual Harassment / Youth Lagoon

'Add Ends' is the new single from Copenhagen four-piece When Saints Go Machine. I got sent its surreal video last week and was left rapt, enthralled and blown away.... Not only were the visuals so atypical that they made La Sera and Hot Chip's recent vids look normal, but the tune was really, really good. It was harmonious and soulful; Kings of Convenience-aping vocals were layered over a deftly-arranged section of pulsating strings and electronics. How could anyone think something like this up? I now advise you to listen, watch and gape. A full-length LP entitled Konkylie is due in June.

Hailing from Brooklyn, Sensual Harassment most probably have The Rapture and Cut Copy to thank for their funk-via-punk-via-synth-pop sensibility, but the group certainly present their own unique twist on the sound. Some tunes are New Order-lite psych-pop ('Boss'), others ramshackle, visceral, FX-laden slices of garage-rock ('NYC Beast'). One even descends into a shuddering, maniacal post-rock-esque instrumental ('The Journey Has Merely Begun'). All songs are heavily modulated, filtered and reverb-stricken. Latest album 'Alpha Draconis' was produced by Jesse Cannon (The Cure, Animal Collective) and you can download it for free below.

I've not got much to say about this one. I've been scribing away from a library in rural mid-Wales and I only have 8 minutes before my petty allocation of time runs out. I found out about this guy a couple of weeks ago and I've been hooked ever since. He comes from Boise, Idaho and creates downtempo lo-fi jams a little reminiscent of Yu(c)k. Tackling affecting matters such as heartarche and angst, an LP entitled The Year Of Hibernation is released this summer on Juno Beach Records. Listen to 'Cannons' and 'July' below. You can download the latter for free.

MS'F is on holiday — new videos from Ghostpoet, Jhameel, Taragana Pyjarama, Kurt Vile and Becoming Real.

I'm off for a week to one of the few places on earth where you can't access the internet. In musical terms, I'm on 'hiatus'. In the mean time I'll leave you with a few hot videos which I'm loving on this stifling April afternoon. They should keep you busy for a short while at least.


'Survive It' is the second single from Ghostpoet's Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam LP, which you can still stream over at The Guardian. Read more about him here.


I featured Jhameel way back in week #6 of 2011. I still adore his camp and excessive, jolly-Sufjan-Stevens-esque aesthetic. Download his new album for free here.


Spellbinding house-meets-chillwave from Denmark's Taragana Pyjarama.


Smoke Ring For My Halo by Kurt Vile is without a doubt one of the best records of 2011 (so far). Key track 'Jesus Fever' has been circling the blogs for quite a while now, but Kurt's just uploaded fab new video for it. Find out more here.


Finally, some chilling 'ghost-step' from LDN's Becoming Real. Check him out on myspace.

P.S. I might be able to upload an interview, or something cool sometime within the next week, but I don't know for sure.

Tom Williams & The Boat 'Concentrate'

In 'Concentrate', Tom Williams and his boat have affirmed that there's still a fire burning bright in the London nu-folk camp. Its celestial sounds and topical subject-matter (the thoughts and motivations of a suicide bomber) contrast starkly, but from the outset this is a resplendent little folk ditty. It's lifted from the unsigned band's debut LP, 'Too Slow', and you can get your hands on it from May 9th.

Trio ELF '746 (Kelpe Remix)'

Trio ELF's original was released way back in 2008, but here's a new rework from their forthcoming mix EP. Kelpe has done his mighty wonk-jazz-house thing once again in this superb cut. Other remixers enlisted for the 19industries release include Falty DL and Bustla.

RECORD STORE DAY 2011: Ten essential purchases

1. Husker Du / Green Day - 'I Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely' split 7" on Warner Bros. The original and the cover released together for the first time. Ltd to 3290.

2. Flying Lotus - 'Cosmogramma Alt Takes' LP on Warp. Alternative versions of cuts from Fly-Lo's superfine 2010 album 'Cosmogramma' are compiled and released. Ltd to 750.



3. Twin Sister / The Luyas - 'Meet The Frownies' / 'When I Am A Woman' 7" vinyl on Dead Oceans. Two of the most melodious and 'twee' groups around team up for a split release. Twin Sister contribute 'Meet The Frownies', one of my favourite songs of 2010. Ltd to 1500.


4. Midlake / Will Self - 'Am I Going Insane' / 'The Happy Self' 12" on Late Night Tales. Midlake's superb Sabbath cover for the Late Night Tales series is complemented by an excellent mini-story written by Will Self on the flipside.



5. Raphael Saadiq - 'Radio' / 'Can't Jig Anymore' 7" vinyl on Columbia. Nu-motown hero Saadiq is a sensation across the pond at the moment. 'Radio' is one reason why. Ltd to 2500.



6. Superchunk / Coliseum - 'Horror Business' / 'Bullet' split 7" vinyl on Temporary Residence. For all fans of The Misfits. Legendary occultists Superchunk have covered 'Horror Business' (original below), whilst Colisum have covered their song 'Bullet'.



7. The Doors - 'Riders On The Storm' 7" on Rhino. The Doors at their most jazz. A succulent, downbeat jam reissued on vinyl for the first time. A stone cold classic. Ltd to 2500.



8. Fela Kuti And The Africa '70 - 'Monday Morning In lagos Parts 1 & 2' 7" on Knitting Factory/MRI. Epic Afro-prog ditties from Kuti and his band are reissued. Limited to 2000.



9. Lower Dens - 'Deer Knives' / 'Tangiers' 7" on SPP. Jana Hunter's Lower Dens release an exclusive single for RSD. The usual swathes of feedback, reverb and androgynous vocals make for a delightful new release. Ltd to 1000.



10. Peter Tosh - 'Legalize It' / 'Equal Rights' 7" on Legacy. Peter Tosh, Marley's right hand man and a legendary reggae musician in his own right, is reissued and remastered on this unique single.

Week #14: Cymbals / Balkans / Tom Trago

The Drums. Check. Styx. Check. Cymbals. Check. Your drum kit is complete. I now advise you to listen to 'Single Printed Name' by these certain rollicking upstarts and go berserk. It's really good. It straddles every avant-garde so and so, like, ever, from Talking Heads to Islet. Atonal guitar clanks, squalling vocals, fizzy crackling and a half-concealed synth funk thing dramatically build up to a rambunctious breakdown akin to The Rapture at their most vital. Tempered by the likes of James Yuill, D/R/U/G/S and Rory Bratwell on production duties, 'Unlearn', their debut LP, is sure to be a killer. It's released on 9th May. Expect big things. You can download 'Single Printed Name' here:

'Brooding' is one of those adjectives which seem to be bandied around almost incessantly nowadays, applied to any despondent-sounding band who claim to count The Doors among their influences. But Balkans (the up-coming behemoths from Atlanta, GA, not to be muddled with the 80s Hard-rock group from Serbia of the same name) definitely warrant the label. Their sounds are at once dismal, disorientating and awkward: brooding in its darkest form. Recent single 'Edita V' leans towards The Rakes and The Walkmen in parts: an odd fusion, granted, but one with an extraordinary outcome.

This is Tom Trago, a DJ from Amsterdam. Originally a hip hop producer, his music has since developed and morphed to envelop a whole load of genres, be they soul, disco, funky, Chicago house, dub or off-kilter techno. He's just released a blissful new LP entitled 'Iris', which definitely deserves your attention. You can stream the whole album at Dutch website 3VOOR12, or listen to 'Use Me Again' below.

Connan Mockasin 'Forever Dolphin Love (Erol Alkan rework)'

  

Legendary beatmaker Erol Alkan reworks and funks the much-lauded 'Forever Dolphin Love' by newbie Connan Mockasin. I've been a bit slow on this one, so it's already available on vinyl @ Rough Trade.

Breathe Out review

Breathe Out’s eponymous debut EP charges and swerves like a raging bull with a schizoid personality, both angry and content at being labelled a grunge revivalist. At one juncture the London four-piece are melancholic; at another, primal and frenzied...

Read in full @ This Is Fake DIY