One of my favorite elements of shoegaze is its tendency to combine monumental, spacey guitar riffs with dreamy, oft wispy vocals. Conduits excel at this pairing on their new track “Top of the Hill”. Likewise, the typical shoegaze darkness persists, all encompassing but not entirely overwhelming. There’s energy here, but it’s not the torment so often found in post-rock.

“Serpents” is a complete departure from Sharon Van Etten‘s early work. Admittedly, I missed her sophomore release, Epic from 2010, but was fully entranced by her debut, 2009′s Because I Was In Love. Here, she shatters the quietude of the stripped-down acoustic guitar of that earliest album with a folk-rock piece that is utterly haunting. Musically, “Serpent” may fit the title of her sophomore release, but it’s off her new album, Tramp, which was released yesterday via Jagjaguwar.

Black Marble is Ty Kube and Chris Stewart, who produce somewhat minimalist synth music. With a synth drum beat, a synth melody, and deep, dark vocals, “Pretender” is a song that is one part Joy Division, one part Craft Spells, and one part its own thing.
The song can be found on the band’s new EP via Hardly Art. It’s called Weight Against The Door and it’s out digitally now and on vinyl Valentine’s Day.
Download: “Pretender” by Black Marble.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Portland’s Y La Bamba returns Februar 28 with a new record called Court The Storm on Tender Loving Empire. The band has just released “Squawk”, the album’s opening track, and we hear a similar South American-influenced art folk we received on their debut full-length Lupon from 2010. “Squawk” features harmony vocals, hand claps, and wild melodies. Check out the song below and keep an eye out for the new record!
Download: “Squawk” by Y La Bamba
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Guy Capecelatro III’s last name may be hard to pronounce, but the list of people he’s opened for are anything but. This list includes the venerable Elliott Smith, Bill Callahan’s SMOG, and the late Vic Chesnutt. Furthermore, he’s a frequent collaborator in a current favorite: Brown Bird. Excited yet? I am.

Isidore, if you’re unaware, is Jeffrey Cain (formerly of Remy Zero) and Steve Kilbey (The Church), with the former on instrumentals and the latter lending vocal expertise. The collaboration came as a surprise, after Cain passed along an instrumental album to Kilbey only to receive it back later with vocals added in. The duo is now poised to release Life Somewhere Else on Valentine’s Day.

I always get excited when something new by Eux Autres comes across my desk. The ex-Portland, now San Francisco brother-sister duo plus third member Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set, Still Flyin’) will release a new EP called Sun Is Sunk via Bons Mots Records on February 28. Recorded by Jason Quever (Papercuts), expect Sun Is Sunk to push the boundaries of what you know about Eux Autres.
The Larimer siblings (Heather and Nicholas) have always created highly infectious, French-influenced garage pop, and that continues in “Right Again”. …

Mexican Summer is the type of label that when it puts out an album, you give it your full attention. Unfortunately, I’ve been vacant of late. This is tragic, though the good news is that Mike Wexler has brought me back into the Mexican Summer light. A dreamy psychedelic pop sound, filled with chill ambient sounds, borderline haunting with Wexler’s vocal rasp. It makes songs like “Pariah” very cool.

Brutal honesty: I’m stuck on Helvetia’s 2011 album The Lam right now. In particular the first track (“Saucer of Dread”) and track 3 (“On the Lam”). Helvetia has returned with a new track called “A Mirror” and it embodies precisely why I dig this band: epic soundscapes, driving shoegaze riffs, hazy melodies, downtrodden vocals.

In a way, I kind of miss the days when Of Montreal gave us songs like “Disconnect the Dots” and “The Party’s Crashing Us” and even “The Past Is A Grotesque Animal”. Paralytic Stalks seems a different beast entirely, filled with further psychedelic pop experimentation than we’re used to from Kevin Barnes and company. The more I listen to it, the more I get it. This album is not supposed to be an easy listen.