Wild Highways: "Full Metal Jacket"

I can't figure out what the fuck the stilted, pseudo-rap singing on "Full Metal Jacket" reminds me of, but this song is all about that filthy ass beat. I could use another drop or two like the one around the 2:30 mark, though. In fact, this shit is just way too short, the type of hypnotic drone-funk that should theoretically just be getting started around seven minutes in, and instead we get an unceremonious (rather awkward, really) edit just after the 3:00 mark. Fuck you, Wild Highways, almost didn't post your ass.

Dreamcrusher: "Vulpeculae Freeze"

Back in the 90's I used to dig me some gabber. Well, I dug a lot of things about it. What I actually really fucking hated about it was that every song had the exact same build - with only minor variation in BPMs - and the only thing that distinguished one track from the next was the rudimentary texture of abrasion layered over top. Ho hum and shit.

Dreamcrusher toy around with that abrasive overlay but don't bother with the unyielding, metronomic beats. "Vulpeculae Freeze" sounds like old Godflesh updated with modern production software, particularly in the overdrive dept... and considering Godflesh were my favorite band for a pretty good chunk of the 90's I guess that earns this track a blog entry, eh?

Cindytalk: "My Drift Is a Ghost"

"My Drift Is a Ghost" snarts in your general direction. Cindytalk (a.k.a. Gordon Sharp) has shockingly been around since 1982, but you can bet those post-Merzbow sheet metal noise washes are of a more recent vintage.

Sharp is probably best known for fronting The Freeze, a not-so-prolific new wave group that only released two 7" singles in their five year existence, but were much prized by the late John Peel (the two Peel Sessions that the band recorded actually sported more songs than both singles combined... that's a fucking mañana-based group if I ever saw one).

Dan Deacon: "Guilford Avenue Bridge"

Another 2012 holder just recently getting a video, "Guilford Avenue Bridge" is probably the most abrasive song off of Dan Deacon's superb-if-inconsistent America, an album which - as a whole - saw the Baltimore-repping producer greatly expand upon (if not largely abandon) the hokey 8-bit aesthetic that made  his 2007 breakthrough Spiderman of the Rings so compelling. It is, however, a logical extension of 2009's Bromst, a record that was intended to be his "real" breakthrough but that arguably fewer people heard than Spiderman.

96wrld: "Pirmas Rudeninis"

"Pirmas Rudeninis" comes to us via the Renegades of Bump imprint's Ritmo Kovos vol. III comp. Bump is about as good a word as any for what 96wrld is getting himself up, gurgling bass splashes on a roller coaster ride with acid stabs as their conductor. Check out dude's Soundcloud page if you like his m.o.... he's been keeping busy.
(via XLR8R):

Kriget: "Holy Mountain"

Ever since Richard D. James retreated underground, there's been a dearth of experimental acts that are just so innovative that no one else seems to be able to successfully cop their steez. "Holy Mountain" is the first thing I've heard from Swedes Kriget, so I'm not ready to anoint them yet, but check out the way this track jumps unapologetically off the rails at the 2:00 mark, rattling about as if it's trying to find its mark again, but then settling on an entirely different path altogether. With only highly processed bass, drums and sax to their credit, they're not quite no wave, definitely not new wave... call it neu wave if you must. Definitely some krautrock in there.

You can get the 7" digitally here, with physical copies coming February 5 via The Control Group.

Mouse on Mars: "They Know Your Name"

Mouse on Mars sound here like they were attempting to flirt with dubstep but are just too fucking weird to properly pull it off. They even throw in some uncharacteristically poppy half-rapped, half-sung lyrics. Wrrrd.

Anna Meredith: "Nautilus"

Anna Meredith: check out the bio at her Soundcloud profile and tell me ol' girl isn't trying to make Laurie Anderson look like a slouch by comparison. Usually when I hear of someone mixing oh, say, classical with something incongruous like electronic music I think "gimmick", but "Nautilus" shows a commendable understanding of the repeat / build ethos that makes trance and drone so compelling. The devil is in the edit.

Arca: "Self Defense"

This one percolates malevolently, coiled and ready to spring but never quite breaking the tension. It's about eight minutes too short by my standards, but I'm a notoriously hard sell. This is supposedly coming out on UNO NYC but their website doesn't list Arca in anything other than a tour date capacity. Check out his Soundcloud page in the meantime.

Videoing: "Crimson Wave"

One of the saddest days recently in the Austin music scene was when Single Frame broke up. It often seems like local faves either break up or move to NY/Portland before they hit their peak, leaving a lot of people to wonder aloud if the self-professed "Live Music Capital of the World" isn't wildly overrated.

FAY: "Shadows I"

One trend that I wholeheartedly loathe is the prevalence of "snippet" tracks on Soundcloud. This is where an artists - usually in the electronic/DJ purview - doesn't feel like giving up a whole song, even streaming only, so he or she will either stitch together a single Soundcloud upload containing snippets of several new songs, or else they will just upload a minute or two of a longer track as a single file, and it's up to you to read the fine print to see if that was the whole song or if there's more to be had.

It's aggravating, like I say.

Black Pus: "Devolver" / "Police Song 2"

It never gets heavy enough for me, especially when it comes to shit with beats. I can do only do grind and noise for so long, but give me a beat and a groove and I can put that shit on blast all day long. I'd never heard of Black Pus before, but I should have: it's Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt fame, and both projects are on the way-too-pimpin' Load Records. Suffice to say, he's got my attention from this day forth. It's worth mentioning his blog Black Pus Won is both a hoot and a holler, a combination you don't often find outside of old school country & western.

So basically the first eight minutes of this clip is an unreleased song recorded back in January called "Devolver", at which point it fades out and kicks into an alternate mix of "Police Song" from last year's Primordial Pus LP.
(via Tiny Mix Tapes):

The Atlas Moth: "Your Calm Waters"

For whatever reason Scion A/V has been getting into the financing of a lot of metal-related studio recordings and music videos of late - the Melvins' The Bulls and the Bees EP being one of the most high profile - and it's to their largess that we're gifted with this new video from The Atlas Moth's An Ache for the Distance album. The Moth themselves are fortunate enough to be Profound Lore, whose every release seems to garner at least an 8.5 from Pitchfork, so we'll assume here that you're already an expert on the band and just want to peep some visuals:

Evy Jane: "Sayso"

First Jay Z big ups indie rock, then upstarts like The Weeknd and Frank Ocean start to put an alt spin on modern R&B. Continuing in the latter direction, Vancouver duo Evy Jane claim to be inspired by "UK bass, gospel and noise". Their first single, "Sayso", is a little more straightforward than that; it could almost be a Weeknd remix of a mainstream R&B track. Certainly Evelyn Mason's ethereal vocals combine dream pop with the immediacy of tradition-bound neo-soul. It's Jeremiah Klein's murky analogue beats that draw a line in the sand and evoke the "experimental" tag.

Evy Jane the EP will be released on vinyl February 20 by King Deluxe, with a digital version to follow. The vinyl can be pre-ordered here.


EVY JANE - Sayso from Evy Jane on Vimeo.

Vas Deferens Organization: "Defenestration at the Gravy Pit"

I usually think of Dallas as home to bullshit, corporate acts like the Simpson sisters, Ryan Cabrera and Bowling for Soup, but every now and then the most superficial, yuppie ass city in Texas produces something real like Erykah Badu or Freddie King.  I'm just now hearing about Vas Deferens Organization but apparently they have a wide and varied discography.  First taste is on me.