Alex Cobb – The Body Is The Mirror (Low Point)

 
Alex Cobb (aka Taiga Remains, aka Students Of Decay head) and Aquarelle (aka Ryan Potts, aka Rest & Noise dude, aka creator of the magnificent Sung In Broken Symmetry) have teamed up for a tragically overlooked split from last year. It’s a bit on the short side but every moment is sheer beauty, with slow tones and resonant drones, smooth Stars Of The Lid stylings, delicate clicks & plucks of electronics & guitars, and devastatingly gorgeous golden glimmering static. It starts out with two of Cobb’s tracks, one a short hushed minimal piece, the second more aligned with Aquarelle and sounds like it could even be a collaboration between the two, with Cobb’s processed guitar blending into a quiet pink noise. Pay attention because this is how real splits are made. Aquarelle’s side long piece is much like the work on his last record, incredibly euphoric and overwhelmingly dynamic. Like an evening at the beach watching the sun set as the surf & salty air take turns dazzling your senses. It seems like he’s got a little formula worked out for his sound, with walls of bliss exploding when you least expect it, but it’s like the golden ratio, it’s perfect, don’t fuck with it. Just enjoy it while it lasts.

From The Mouth Of The Sun – Color Loss (Experimedia)

 
Aaron Martin & Dag Rosenqvist (Jasper, TX) joining forces as From The Mouth Of The Sun, creating a refined beauty, not sounding like the radiant beast above us, but rather some further introverted giant. Unbelievably amazing, Martin & Rosenqvist an absolute perfect pair, masters of both acoustic & electronic, making strings & pianos melt, altogether clean, untouched, manipulated, processed, seamlessly perfect. Songs as tender as can be, with a serene sullenness in the Jasper crackle and Martin’s neo-layering. Not glowing or massive but still emotionally dense and overwhelming in its splendor, balancing the light of hope and the dark nightmares of reality. Woven Tide is so tragically good, it would almost be offensive if either of these guys decided to collaborate with anyone else. A true gem.

Bunny’s A Swine – Song Ten (TinyRadars)

 
A trio from western Mass that, because of how shitty I am at writing about “regular” music, pretty much did my job for me. Self described “awk-pop slops-rock.” I kinda can’t believe they summed up their whole sound with just those two hyphened phrases. So why am I still writing about a band I’m not even going to bother trying to describe? Because they’re just that awesome. You know this genre is outside of my blinders, so the fact that I’m making an effort to make sure you know about them should tell you something. These guys are the shit. They nail the garage pop/alt country thing down to a T without the whole order cialis online reviews lo-fi scuzz people rely on nowadays. They’ve got killer hooks and momentary explosions of frenzy, but the heart of the beast is in their boy/girl vocals. The dude is a madman, squawking and moaning like he’s being tortured, flopping all over the place, and the girl is sweet as can be, beautiful and smooth. Instead of creating deluxe seamless harmonies, they’re balancing out both ends of the spectrum. It’s all about contrast and it works fucking perfectly. They sound incredible together. You’d be doing yourself a great disservice by skipping over them. Also, part disclaimer/part brag, my pal Justin Durand is the one that did the artwork up there. Seriously one of the most talented guys I know.

Nova Scotian Arms – Gathering/Composition (Digitalis)

 
Grant Evan’s (aka half of Quiet Evenings and esteemed Hooker Vision pusher) full length vinyl debut is proving right off the bat that 2012 ain’t nothing to fuck with, Cult Spectrum is a harrowing and ethereal record. A swath of drones, all beautifully haunted with fully resonating smothered pianos, slowly leaking tires, chirps & moans of diving apparitions, elegiac bliss echoing from distant battlefields, drugged factories chugging along without human intervention, sounds warped just enough to make you question your sanity. Long stretches of soft pink static, all wrapped in a spectral harmony, a stunner for sure. 100% awesomeness that, if there’s any truth in this world, will be remembered when the year end lists start popping up mid year.

Tate Eskew – Lost Connection (Functional Equivalent)

 
Not having heard Tate Eskew before, this short EP seems like the perfect intro to him. Each of the songs are way different from each other, making me think this is almost a sampler of all forms of Eskew drones. The first is a little raga snippet, then there’s a psych style guitar feedback mini epic with distant hard hitting mechanical drums, “Lost Connection” stretches out the opening of an ambient techno track into a 4 minute sprawler, there’s an unsettling dissonant cosmic-scape, and the final song is a quiet starlit walk on the beach. All sorts of sounds, some more fleshed out than others, but each of them exceedingly well done and highly enjoyable. Eskew already has a new full length out since Modality was released called Semiotics, so I’d definitely recommend checking that out as well.

Crystal Crypt – Side A (The Beyond / II / Worlds Apart / Damaged) (Native Parts)

 
This is a side project of Johannes Brander, the dude behind Native Parts Recordings and the band Skogar. Pretty much consistently awesome in everything he does. This tape is a little bit of a sidestep from Skogar, venturing into the sounds of horror soundtracks and evil realms. Part Goblin synth snippets, part crumbling fuckery, lots of weirdness, and all manner of dark & dank. Like a cult of savages from the deep, who care not for fidelity nor beauty, but have occasional moments of tenderness, the sheets of guitar feedback seamlessly making way for light drones and vocals. Very cool shit right here, definitely hoping these 20 minutes are only a taste of more to come.

Fiends In Human Shape – Death Won’t Hide You (Tigerelectron)

 
A new synth/drums duo from Boston tearing it up with a sweet blend of genres from all recent decades. They’ve got ’80s dark pop and ’90s post rock, the ’00s ambient pop (or whatever the hell The Postal Service got tagged as) and the as-yet-defined je ne sais quoi of the twenty-teens. They’re kinda all over the place, but it works, sounding like the soundtrack to a more macabre Tron along with some low key R&B ballads mixed in. As a debut EP, this definitely has enough goodness on it to keep them on your radar until a full length drops.

Ous Mal – Metsien Hämy (Full Of Nothing)

 

Finland’s now defunct Ous Mal makes one of his last outings on a split with Russia’s Bedroom Bear. Ous Mal’s side is absolutely killer, a cracked bliss that will surely be missed. Some songs have a way about them similar to the recent surge of instrumental hip hop jams except the beats here hit as soft as your grandma’s punches. The rest are a warped & blurry bedroom pop, droned in the best way with zero sense of urgency, moth eaten and full of holes like it’s been tucked away in the attic for half a century.

Bedroom Bear cheap online pharmacy us takes a slightly more dramatic approach to the bedroom pop, permeated with a low-key psych sound, waves of the bizarre melting into dream-like drifts of noise, all while still being chill as fuck and totally blissful. One track is like a nap on the beach with waves lapping at the shore and the creatures of the coast singing about how awesome life is. Doesn’t get much better than that.

A truly great split, limited as expected, and on the increasingly awesome Russian label Full Of Nothing. Wholly worth your while.

Zurvan – Sonitus Vitualamen (Rubber City Noise)

 
Two dudes from Akron, OH making some seriously minimal dark drone. Just vocals & guitar meditations, way deep, way zen. Long form glacial drifts, blackened nothing amplified into ritualistic mantras, the sound of air moving while monks question existence. Hum & thrum, buy cialis 5 mg uk bleak & empty, eye opening in the most dangerous sense. The loneliness of forever embodied in two side long pieces. One of the best overlooked albums of last year. Only five goddamn dollars and only 50 made. This is way too good to miss.