Album Review: Total Folklore - Dan Friel

Total Folklore is the aural equivalent of licking wasp flavoured candyfloss and swigging it back with a broken glass blueberry slushy. Dan's basically playing it cutesy whilst also sticking a pen knife in your ear.

I summarised the way Friel's music made me feel back when he first put 'Valedictorian' out for your streaming pleasure last year. None of the intensity has dulled on this long-player. The resulting chaos is a cacophonous musical George's Marvellous Medicine of sounds pulled together to send you doolally.

Total Folklore - Dan Friel

Friel's vision is an album inspired by urban life, triggered by long walks through the Brooklyn and the world of the commute. Tracks are punctuated with sounds Friel recorded on walks through the city, brief moments representing the pauses in city journeys - moments inside a pachinko parlor or watching kids play basketball.

Friel clearly associates the city with chaos and noise - his effects pedals and noisemakers make that clear. Total Folklore is like a psychedelic-love-letter to a city, and it's shaped by abrasive punk and written like saccharin chip tune. Starting with 'Ulysses' Total Folklore slowly grinds it's gears and rises up, constantly unfurling additional scale when you always think it can't go on. At almost 13-minutes long, scale is one thing 'Ulysses' can't be accused of lacking.

That opening track makes up almost a third of the album's length, so the album's structure itself feels like an additional attempt at confrontation. Dan Friel rushes to get through the rest of the material - only two of the remaining 11 tracks extend beyond three-minutes. It feels a little bit like the boy who has unwrapped one  Christmas present and just can't wait to tear them all open, too excited to slow down.

The ideas also loop back on themselves. 'Scavengers' is another take at the core melody of 'Valedictorian' but with more bass, for example. There are a series of rapid moments on this album - the grit and bubblegum of 'Thumper' and rising crescendo of 'Badlands' - but each feels like a the result of some heavily distorted Chinese-whisper of the last.

If there is one thing besides noise that Total Folklore communicates it is rapid and uncontrollable excitement, overstimulated and over-amplified. In today's world of cynicism and reservation that's a little bit refreshing. It might give you a nosebleed but one thing Total Folklore doesn't do is leave you without an impression.

Total Folklore is out on 18 February through Thrill Jockey, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD and LP [affiliate links]. Stream and download the track 'Thumper' below:

Stream: White Blush - White Blush

2013 seems to be off to a promising start as I've already received several interesting débuts from unsigned artists. This self-titled release comes from LA-based dream pop artist White Blush, AKA Carol Rhyu. She cites influences across a range of media, included Japanese horror, Manga and Julie Cruise. And you can certainly hear these aspects come through in the floating melodies and 80s-influenced production.

Both 'Mirror' and 'Jolene' are particularly strong - dreamlike, spooky and full of layered, melodic vocals. It's another pay-what-you-want EP via White Blush, so download it if you like it.

Stream / Download: The Vigil EP - Paris XY

Paris XY are vocalist Alice Smith and musician James Orvis and their music comes across a little like Trentemøller meets Chromatics. That's perhaps unsurprising as James lists his influences as including a number of live electronic acts, of which Trentemøller is one, alongside The Knife and Simian Mobile Disco.

The combination of electronic atmospherics together with live instruments lend their début EP, entitled The Vigil, a chilling sound. There's a darkness running through that feels like diving into warm black water at midnight. They also include a cover version of Little Dragon's 'Twice', which really rides a deep, moody bass line to create something sinister yet sensual. It says a lot that the two other track on the EP hold their weight against it.

The Vigil EP is out now via Bandcamp alongside more traditional channels - you can download it for free or pay what you think it is worth.

Download: Strange Beast - Lower Plenty

This track from Melbourne four-piece Lower Plenty is pretty special. A dark, bluesy and claustrophobic tale of loneliness, this feels like a strangely urban take on country music and I love it.

Though the members have worked on other projects in the past, last year saw the release of Lower Plenty's debut album Hard Rubbish in Australia, and it's set for release globally in April through Fire records.

Album Review: Centralia - Mountains

I've followed Mountains since their first release through Thrill Jockey - Choral, their third album overall - and whilst their sound doesn't ever change massively every album feels like a treat to listen to.

Mountains are Koen Holtkamp and Brendon Anderegg and they specialise in making slow-cooked ambient soundscapes. I've probably said this before: ambient music makes me hate my ears a little bit. But when it is done well it can be truly special, and Mountains can generally be relied upon to get it right.

Centralia - Mountains

To make this album Holtkamp and Anderegg focused on separating their acoustic and electronic instruments out, with each recorded separately. What this means is that their is no electronically manipulated sound based on acoustic sources. The result adds a little more of a human element to the Mountains sound, as the acoustic elements - the guitars, cello, organs and piano - all feel a little more exposed.

In places this combination is Mountains at their best. The desert-mirage soundscape of the closing minutes of 'Sand' - the cello rhythmically circling back into the music. The dreamy piano keys hidden behind the layers of electronic hum and gentle guitar on 'Indentical Ship'. The descent into nature's ambient noise on 'Tilt' and the contrasting electronic equivalent on 'Propeller'.

The pure electronic moments don't always work, a little clinical and with less perceptible change, but the album is tied together like a constantly changing iceberg, flipping as sounds are created and other melt away. Mountains remain a transcendent act within the ambient genre.

Centralia is released through Thrill Jockey on 21 January, available for pre-order on CD or LP from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate links]. Listen to and download 'Living Lens' via Soundcloud below:

Download: Agoria ft Scalde vs Dixon (Fred Everything Edit)

Agoria just won French magazine Trax's DJ of the year and so to celebrate he's giving away the below track as a free download... This mix gives Agoria's sound a deeper twist than we usually hear from him, the vocals aggressive but the production boasting a spectral warmth. For a free download it's pretty massive - have a listen and download it if you dig it as much as I am:

Album Review: Stand Up Against Heart Crime - Stand Up Against Heart Crime

Stand Up Against Heart Crime are a new five piece now based in Barcelona and this new self-titled album is their debut. Stand Up Against Heart Crime truly is a stinker of a band name but thankfully this album makes up for such shortcomings elsewhere.

The sound of the band comes from a combination of several genres including post-punk, krautrock and new wave - something the band themselves have termed 'krautwave'. As a combination it's a relatively obvious one - these genres already relate to each other fairly directly - but layered together it is hard to deny it works. The album has a grey feel, flecked with sadness but some big catchy pop choruses coming from that new wave influence.

Stand Up Against Heart Crime - Stand Up Against Heart Crime

The albums kicks off with the instrumental opener 'Birth', which really plays up the krautrock angle with rhythms built of rapid, snappy percussion, bass and guitar. It sets the tone and pace for the album. This is directly mirrored in the closing instrumental 'Pulsar', a similarly rhythmic but less steady and more frantic conclusion.

This is a relatively varied release and at 41-minutes it doesn't stick around enough to grow tired. 'Standing Outside' is a heavy, distorted track full of confusion and angst, the cacophonous, over-dubbed vocals creating the sense of a man at odds with himself. In stark contrast 'Welcome Party Sharks' is angular, applying spiky guitars to a building crescendo to make a wailing pop record.

The production and mixing suits the band's style, with each track playing with different elements of their sound. On 'Children' Josep Xortó's vocals are obscured and seem to come from the next room, increasing the sense of alienation the band are portraying. 'Am I Safe', featured below and available as a free download, is Stand Up Against Heart Crime's strongest pop moment, a soft, haunted song built around a big hook for the chorus.

Overall Stand Up Against Heart Crime have delivered an assured debut.

Stand Up Against Heart Crime is out now on Tape Music, available from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link]. Preview and download the tracks 'I Need No Sun' and 'Am I Safe?' below:

EP Review / Download: Shell - Ursa Minor (Little Bear)

Shell - Ursa Minor (Bear)

Ursa Minor's new EP opens with the warm and featherlight title track 'Shell'. It's a dreamlike pop record with a slight Eastern influence and a rave sensibility. Vocalist Little Bear's vocals are slightly Björk like - similar to the worldly operatic vocals wrapped in lush electronics that made much of Début so good. It feels all too brief at a little over five-minutes but it is immediately worth this EP's ticket price.

Much of what remains is in juxtaposition to that opening song. 'Ha!' features thick, chunky bass and short, sharp drum beats. The vocals remain extravagent but the wobbly bass, 'Blue Monday'-esque drums and acid patterns are from an entirely different place.

'WTF Is Love' is similarly heavy and thick with acid whilst 'Wild Flowers' is closer to the EP's opening; whilst it is less dark it lacks the lightness and rave influences of 'Shell'. Ular Gray's Bearhouse Dub of 'Shell' rounds the EP out with a reduced, minimal take - deep basslines and cut up vocals transform the track into something nearing IDM. It retains the tracks core appeal but lacks the same immediacy.

Check out the dark Ular Gray mix of 'Shell' below via the Soundcloud stream - there is the option to download it too if you like what you here:

Shell is released on 1 October, you can pre-order it from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 here [affiliate link].

Download: You'll Never Surf Again - Raymond Byron & The White Freighter

It's baking hot outside and I've just been enjoying this Raymond Byron and The White Freighter cover of Dan Reeder's 'You'll Never Surf Again'. It's a laid back but smokey folk record, the atmosphere thick with resignation. It's not too dissimilar from the original (check that out on Spotify here if you are a member) but it has just a little more sparkle in the treble and the sixties-inspired production.

This is taken from the album Little Death Shaker, out next month on Asthmatic Kitty, and the press release describes the sound pretty well:

Stripped of all noise influences and focusing on straight-up songs, Little Death Shaker is a record evocative of late nights and dusty parking lots, long drives and boozy hookups. This is the work of a dude who’s spent his youth and young manhood on tour and it comes through in both the music and the lyrics.

Check out 'You'll Never Surf Again' above in the Soundcloud player and if you like it be sure to grab the free download.

Stream / Download: My My Hey Hey (Cousin Cole's Into The Black Mix) - Neil Young

After hearing it on the radio the other day I just couldn't resist sharing this remix by Cousin Cole... Recently I've been making the most of the fact that my radio in the bedroom can stream stations from the internet to do a bit of exploring. The result is that I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that Ibiza Sonica Live and Ibiza Global Radio sound almost just as good even when you aren't on the White Isle. The music played on both stations during the day has lots of big, warm, white space and it is just to my taste.

The remix above of Neil Young's 'My My Hey Hey' is a perfect example. It sounds a little bit like a mashup as admittedly at times the joins creak a little bit between the electronic elements and Young's original but I couldn't help but fall head over heels in love with this record. This remix actually looks to be about a year old but coming off of the back of Chromatics' recent cover on Kill For Love this feels like the perfect soundtrack for the season.

Enjoy.