The latest news about these two wonderful sisters is that they are working on a new album with Death in Vegas. I must say the combination sounds quite odd to me, as Death in Vegas has a more electronic/bigbeat sound, and are not anyway related to CocoRosie’s neo-folk. However, the rumor has it that the sound will be more like CocoRosie’s then Death in Vegas. Whatever it will be, any work coming from Bianca and Sierra is bound to be exciting. Combining this with Death in Vegas could really result in something beautiful. Although I was never a big Death in Vegas, I can’t wait for this release. Meanwhile I can only recommend you to open your Soulseek and search for a live bootleg of the sisters of a gig they did at a place La Guinguette Pirate in Paris (I think). It is a great performance, that enhances a lot of their tracks. No doubt, this duo is made for live audience. The quality of this gig is amazing, so go and download it, until a new release comes from these two.
Sometimes when you drive home at night all you need is the most basic. Tonight that is all I needed. I have listened to the Early Day Miners a few times before, but only today at this basic mood, they caught up with me. The deliver the most basic sounds of Americana. It’s not acoustic, but still with simplistic approach it is the most basic of music. A real solid music. And it played on the car stereo and made the stars seem to be taking over the sky.
There is not much to say about their music. It’s not highly sophisticated or innovative – all I can come up with is that it’s basic. Some people can take the most basic stuff and re-introduce it in the most surprising way without changing a thing. This takes talent, plenty of talent. And EDM have plenty of that talent. The only comparison that comes to my mind is Wilco and Lambchop. Yes, the music is quite different, but the approach is the same. And as with Wilco and Lambchop, EDM are also a great band that delivers a great experience. Listen, and let your self fall in love.
You can download some tracks (including some rarities) from their site. And you can also find a few more pre-album tracks on their Epitonic page.
The first time I came to know Zegunder was at the end of the career. It appears to be that they were living in my back yard (Israel is not very big, to say the least), and I didn’t notice them. Discovering them was like discovering your twenty years neighbour to be the perfect chick, and just on the day that she is leaving the country to live the rest of her life in Iceland. I am listening now to their goodbye special on 106FM (see link in the new links section), and it feels sad.
A bit of background. Zegunder are two Israeli guys from where they claim to be is the Iceland of Israel. The sound of their music and their style suggests that this is really the case. They do this sweet and kitchy electronic music. It’s indie, it’s warm and it makes you feel so good. They had an album a few years ago on an Israeli label called Audiocollage, and released a second LP on the British label Neo Ouija, which they are quite pissed at (let the music outlive these tiny squabbles). It’s an amazing album. And then they decided that enough is enough. Yes, they promise that this is not the end, and I sure hope it’s not. I will make sure to stay tuned to see what comes next of the two of them.
Meanwhile they posted their entire album (including the beautiful cover and tiny booklet) to download for free – so and get this treat (if you are not from Israel, they insist you download it and not buy it). Also take a look at the site that hosts them, it’s the site of the singer. A tiny minimalist piece of work, and quite nice. And one last treat is the video to their track Papercats, also a beautiful piece of work.
I think I already mentioned my fetish for long names, and surprise surprise here is another one. And again it is a minimalistic eletronic project. This one is a project of Xela and Logreybeam (of which I talked about a few days ago). Actually, from hearing Logreybeam work I came to hear about Yasume. Yasume is exactly what the identity of its participants hint – a combination between Logreybeam ultra minimal clean sound and Xela’s minimal instrumentalisim. It might sound similar but it totally different. And from this difference comes the greatness of this project. Unlike Logreybeam which is a textural journey and Xela’s instrumental odyssey, this is a journey of different taste – a journey of instrumental mechanics, and it is a beautiful one. It’s a great gift to us listeners when two highly talented artist join forces and manager to tunnel their separate talents into such a great piece. Listening to it thrills me and at the same time introduces a universal serenity that the listener becomes a part of. This is a great look at our world, and through the lens of this record our world seems like a beautiful place – which it really is, but sometimes we forget it. Listen to it, and gain back your admiration to everything around you, both artificial and natural. It was published on City Center Offices records on 2003 (top quality vintage).
Oh, and I also highly recommend to check out the mix these two did for Metamatics’ Dentosen which appears on Rewird In My Manor. An excellent remix.
This is not a new record from the glorious BSS, it’s just a compilation of past material. This fact aside – this is a great album. It is a direct continuation from their You Forgot in the People album. The same feel of a post-indie rock is spread all over it.
BSS is three albums old now and changed a bit from the time they started. They began as a duo, and expanded to a about 11 people (last time I counted). Their initial design totally instrumental, and showcased on their debut the magnificent talents of the Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. To both of them this is not the first musical venture. To the second album BSS turned into collective, joining in even vocalists (one of them is Feist, which released an album of her own a short while ago). You Forgot It in the People presented both instrumental tracks and vocal once. But still the BSS kept their instrumental ideology, and it’s with the same ideology they created this album. It seems like they implement aesthetics from the electronic world into the Indie Rock world, and they do it great.
Here lies another great album from this wonderful collective, that will take us through until they release new material. I can’t wait.
There is something new is in the air for a while now: free music (what I like to call OpenMusic). Through this method of distribution many bizzare things came in my way, Her Highness is certainly one of the best of those. She ‘records’ at a net label called Birdsong, and through there you can download her stuff and read more about her. Her studio is her home and compromises of her computer, and whatever she can play on (and that includes everything). During the last few years Neo is the word of choice when describing new genres with the rising Neo Folk and the few years older Neo Psychedelia. Her Highness does another kind of Neo – Neo Infantilism. Her music is like a candy seen throught the eyes of a 5 years old kid. Wonderful experience and deserves a thorough listen. Give it a few tries until you get used to it and discover its quality). But mistake her not, her music has much more into it, from Glitch to Experimental Hip Hop, it is all there in one ways or another. A brilliant album meant for these who seek a smile or a ponder. Download and enjoy. It’s a world of psychedelic candies out there.
