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.

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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.

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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: