Even though I’m not too much familiar with the 2014 Polish music scene, I still bet (or hope) that the first full length album of Wild books will make it to most end-of-the-year lists there and without any over-argumentation this is simply because their self-titled LP is insanely good!

Ever experienced listening to an album and saying to yourself ‘oh these guys clearly have their own musical influences, let’s see which bands …’ ? And suddenly finding yourself in a dead end as soon as you realize that you are listening to something great and there’s no need to compare it to anything else. And hey, music freaks, I bet you also recognize when you are listening to music made by another music freak… I think you all see my point by now: Wild books knows how to write good songs and they also have their own prescription for sound. I hate to be snobbish but I appreciate this approach most of all – even though the band consists of only two guys, the music is not lacking anything and they do not sound minimalistic at all (if you want to read more about the recording process and their previous bands, read this bilingual interview here).

If you are not scared away by genre labels like garage, surf and noise pop (I might even say grunge, sorry) then give it a listen and feel the inexplicable waves of nostalgia rushing all over your body, get a nice ear massage from the crispy fuzz, press replay at the end of the album and consider a name-your-price donation for Wild books.

You might already be familiar with Barcelona’s punk side but if you ever wondered what the independent pop music scene is like in sunny Barcelona, here’s your chance to listen to a brand new compilation of emerging bands from various genres brought to you by LaFonoteca Barcelona and ShookDown webzine.

From softer psychedelic tracks and eccentric pop tunes to the noisy garage pop sound this is a wide range of selection inspired by the devotion to quality pop music. Thumbs up!

Stream the compilation at Rockdelux.com and order your vinyl here.

After becoming one of the flagship bands of Hungarian independent music with their 2013 LP, derTANZ is now back with a new self-released album.

It’s been almost a year since the release of ‘Kaktusz’ and the band seems to be ready for action and as you can guess, it is  once again a ruthless, loud and twisted attack on human senses.

VATTA is no principal shift from the older songs – especially if we ignore the fact that the minimalist ‘free punk’ music of derTANZ is not at all based on songs (in a traditional 4/4 sense, of course).  This album is more like a post-apocalyptic audio book  for the last handful of  survivors (?) on Earth. The 30 minute-flow is basically one indivisible musical piece recorded in their countryside rehearsal space with the help of András Weil.

I wanted to paint a bee but it became a fly

The trio claims that they only had a couple of songs but no plans or directions in advance, they have just spread out an imaginary butterfly net to see what they can catch – and as Gábor puts it ‘we have caught bats, bees and flies as well‘.

Those who are already familiar with the music of derTANZ  will probably be least surprised (but most satisfied instead) that the new album is again attempting to evoke the atmosphere of their insane live performances (just like on Kaktusz) with a loose combination of free flowing sequences, lots of tense feedback noise and maniac loop sounds.

And how about some words of advice from the band before listening?

‘Listen to it as loud as possible’– Gábor says.

 So, here it is – RNR666 proudly presents

VATTA

Listen, enjoy, name-your-price-download, share and join  the album release party to see derTANZ (supporting acts: King Pepper, Bartha Márk) at MÜSZI on the 7th March!

Отстой is from Saint Petersburg, Russia and as far as it seems it’s only one guy doing druggy psych music in a garage, or a bedroom…or on the bathroom floor, it’s quite hard to tell. He definitely gains inspiration from the average noisy US-influenced garage revival bands but he adds his own under-the-influence Eastern vision and as a result you get the kind of music Kevin Failure would lick all his fingernails from tip to toe (thanks to DrugPunk blog for introducing Отстой to me, by the way).

I had the strange feeling while listening to Отстой’s EP that the first track even has some influences from hispanic RNR, then we go on with a bit of neo-psychedelia but the spirit of Russian punk god (and the father of  shitty-fuzzy guitar sound) Yegor Letov is constantly with us – crazy, isn’t it!? The Russian punk scene seems to have a fucking great time with bands like Sonic death, Wavepool Abortion who take Western music and just spit it against the wall – if you lack the originality in American music, Russian punks are your way too!

„In the years since the debut, front-man Jason Boyer has been busy travelling, touring, moving from Virginia to Florida, and writing an impressive amount of songs. The best of these were selected and recorded in late 2012 with a full band at Memphis’ Electraphonic Recording.”

Farewell to bedroom recordings, hello to a studio recording from a band called Nerve City!

To be honest, I couldn’t really imagine until today how Jason Boyer’s songs would sound without the otherwordly death-invocating sound and the vocals coming from the deepest depths of the sea…or from behind the mirror. And as you can guess, the new songs on Asleep on the tracks indeed sound less fucked-up and less sinister then those from the early EPs, still the band managed to preserve a lot from the easily recognizable style that Jason had developed alone at his home. One of his songwriting strengths is for example balancing between bright and dark harmonies as if he’d put you on a rollercoaster; the other thing he had really mastered throughout the years is writing catchy songs… take the opening track, Rifle of peace or the overtly sixties-influenced track, Fall away and you could see why Nerve City is so fucking great.

It’s not easy to write a review about a band that has been a huge influence on me but I know how much a fan-written post could suck… so to conclude all the enthusiasm I haven’t  fully unfolded in this article, here’s a highly recommended album to get and if you dig it, order a vinyl from the Canadian label Sweet Rot Records!

First of all, Fuseism is not something you would call bad-ass music – the Budapest 5-piece is the musical equivalent of a shy and smart good-willing guy from the neighbourhood. Still, Fuseism has a lot to give not only to this kind of people – their music is basically for anybody who’s into indie, punk, shoegaze and catchy melodies. Yeah, the nerdy music fans, you might say but hey, what’s wrong with that..?! Nerdy people have a lot of soul, intellect and they are not afraid to say they care…

Fuseism has released a Demo tape and four short EPs so far (if you haven’t got it yet, save each of them on your hard disk – Downloading is freedom, you know) with their trademark guitar sound, thick bass licks and the unique chanting vocals about despair, pathfinding and self-reflection.

By the way, have you ever heard their semi-ironic song about video games being better than drugs?? I tell you it is worth checking whatever these guys release – and luckily enough they finally released a longer 6-track (with the two instrumental Ultrablast snippets it’s in fact 4 songs) EP yesterday titled Search and seek more.

To do a spoiler, the new songs bring no novelty in terms of style but this style is absolutely theirs and it’s impossible to mistake these guys for something else. 90s and surf punk influenced noisy/dreamy shoegaze sound, energy, hints of dissonance but overall melodic harmony. And one day at a point of mediating with your own self,  you will find yourself mumbling these lines along with the vocalist Rádi who’s the guy responsible for the verbal delivery. Hey, you could do that at any of their shows, I bet you wouldn’t regret it as they are one of Hungary’s best live bands.

For me, the most amazing track on the EP is Comfort and conquer – it is like an early 90s noise rock piece fuelled with more intensity and more melody. It clearly has one of the best guitar tunes ever, it’s gonna give you the chills for sure.

Support the band by going to their shows or spreading the word about them, it’s time to be a believer of Fuseism!

Here is an amazing discovery from the Hungarian music scene!

Médeia fiai is hailing from Szeged and they play a very unique mixture of  psychedelia, blues and dark folk.Their latest release Dear Chaos is a compilation of different live recordings and if you dig late autumn evening walks and some haunting thoughts are troubling your soul, here’s something you can deeply dig yourself into.

ISMÉT HALÁL REÁNK!!! / DEATH UPON US AGAIN!!!

NEW RELEASE: GOVERNMENT PLATES BY DEATH GRIPS

DOWNLOAD! 

+ 11 NEW VIDEOS!!! > > >

Tovább / Read more »

„I’m a fucking furniture removalist from Adelaide. I write down-and-out pop songs. I write songs about every job that I do.” Songs about blue collar’s weekdays by Scott & Charlene’s Wedding:

Lesbian Wife + Fakin’ NYC + Gammy Leg from Any Port In A Storm LP by Fire Records

The SACW is the solo project of the Australian musician, Craig Dermody. I have been following with attention to his works since his Para Vista Social Club LP (2011).  Not long ago he moved to New York.

Beside the fantastic LP here is a Lantern 7″ too

You get it; put it and some moments hence you get the bang! Such is a perfect start for a rock and roll record. And the Rock’n’Roll Rorschach starts exactly in this way. But in this case there are the recognition and the surprise too in the bang of first track. Hey! Where did I hear this rhythm? Where? Where? Got it! The Evil Eye rhymes with Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life and not only with its title. And Iggy and The Stooges stay with us throughout. Moreover they whip out a saxophone too. But the Lantern has got mood to the sax from the Rolling Stones’ Exile in Main Street album. They listened to it around the recording time luckily for us. Their music is hard rhythm’n’blues & raw rock’n’roll, sometimes such like a little slow-motion Cramps. Yes, the Philly trio has made such a great album that their every ideal could proud of it.

By the way
„Any dream bands you’d love to tour with in the future?
Zach: ZZ Top!
Emily: Tom Petty.”

I have heard of him already, but didn’t know about him too many things until this album that he has made with Takako Minekawa. I have caught sight of her name and pounce on the record immediately so I had to know him:

Dustin Wong is a Hawaiian born half Chinese/half American guitarist. He grew up in Japan and went to college to the US. There he founded an experimental guitar duo with Matthew Papich (nowadays: Co La), the Ecstatic Sunshine (2004-07) and the Deerhoofesque art rock band, Ponytail (2005-11). After the break-up he has begun solo career and made experimental guitar albums. He lives in Japan again.

Takako Minekawa is a Japanese musician. She was active in the 90’s as the most interesting shibuya-kei artist. The term comes from Tokyo’s Shibuya ward. The district is the centre of the Japanese fashion and pop culture. Shibuya-kei (literally: Shibuya system) is described as a mix of jazz, pop and synthpop. Takako Minekawa’s music is experimental shibuya-kei. She loves cats, clouds, Kraftwerk, French pop and vintage instruments.

They have met in Tokyo in 2011 after a Dustin Wong gig and become working together. The outcome of their labour is the recently born Toropical Circle album. It’s Takako Minekawa’s first work for 13 years. Her weird synth sounds and dreamy singing voice meets his strange guitar sounds

The record is rather experimental with ambient, gamelan and oriental moods than pop, but there are some shibuya-kei moments too. It’s a really nice, pleasant album.

Released by Plancha Records, Vinyl from Thrill Jockey

Some useful links

Free Music Archive Dustin Wong   Ponytail

Live at Shea Stadium Dustin Wong   Ecstatic Sunshine

The Kids

are a Belgian punk band. Founded 1976, disbanded 1985, reunited 1996.
They released a single in Italy under the name „The Bastards” in 1977.

Soda Fraise was a French punk band.
It existed only for 1 year and made only 1 single in 1980.

THE BASTARDS – ‘Funky Bastard’ b/w ‘Job In Town’ 7″ &
SODA FRAISE – ‘Ca Baigne Dans L’Huile’ b/w ‘Rock N’ Roll’s’ 7″ by Sing Sing Records