“In moonlight”
By Mount Eerie
From the EP Black Wooden Ceiling Opening
Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum is known for throwing himself head first into an emotional abyss. Elverum’s lyrics are
self-reflective, his vocals are a mixture of speaking, screaming and singing and his guitars bring it all together, either by adding a quiet melody to the background or by taking over to drown out the world. At the half-way point of “In Moonlight,” the delicate guitar plucking breaks through with a howl of feedback as drone-y vocals chant their sadness. It’s vintage Elverum and harkens back to the 2004 album Live in Japan, which was recorded by his earlier project, The Microphones. The material was raw, but the emotion was more so.
“You have to dance”
By Nôze
From the album Songs on the Rocks
There is something for everyone to dance to in Paris duo Nôze’s new ditty. “You Have to Dance” starts out with a regular old techno beat, throws in a touch of beat-boxing and, just as I was about to say, “next!” the boys slapped me in the face with a polka cream pie. Pseudo German via French-accented English words instruct listeners to dance, drink and remember that they’re alive. It’s not the kind of song that is going on anyone’s favorites list, but a DJ tossing this one on out of nowhere in the middle of the club is sure to get a few dancers on the floor.
“Mission district”
By The Black Angels
From the album Directions to See a Ghost
The Black Angels don’t sound like a modern band from Austin, Texas. It sounds like a San Francisco summer-of-love band. The repetitive drum beats, trippy guitars and tambourine bring the epic, protesting anger of The Doors’ “The End” into the 21st century. So grow out a beard, hit the bong and take to the streets. It may not be ’Nam but there’s still a war to protest and The Black Angels take us back to a time and place when people actually gave a shit about such things.
By Mount Eerie
From the EP Black Wooden Ceiling Opening
Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum is known for throwing himself head first into an emotional abyss. Elverum’s lyrics are
self-reflective, his vocals are a mixture of speaking, screaming and singing and his guitars bring it all together, either by adding a quiet melody to the background or by taking over to drown out the world. At the half-way point of “In Moonlight,” the delicate guitar plucking breaks through with a howl of feedback as drone-y vocals chant their sadness. It’s vintage Elverum and harkens back to the 2004 album Live in Japan, which was recorded by his earlier project, The Microphones. The material was raw, but the emotion was more so.
“You have to dance”
By Nôze
From the album Songs on the Rocks
There is something for everyone to dance to in Paris duo Nôze’s new ditty. “You Have to Dance” starts out with a regular old techno beat, throws in a touch of beat-boxing and, just as I was about to say, “next!” the boys slapped me in the face with a polka cream pie. Pseudo German via French-accented English words instruct listeners to dance, drink and remember that they’re alive. It’s not the kind of song that is going on anyone’s favorites list, but a DJ tossing this one on out of nowhere in the middle of the club is sure to get a few dancers on the floor.
“Mission district”
By The Black Angels
From the album Directions to See a Ghost
The Black Angels don’t sound like a modern band from Austin, Texas. It sounds like a San Francisco summer-of-love band. The repetitive drum beats, trippy guitars and tambourine bring the epic, protesting anger of The Doors’ “The End” into the 21st century. So grow out a beard, hit the bong and take to the streets. It may not be ’Nam but there’s still a war to protest and The Black Angels take us back to a time and place when people actually gave a shit about such things.
