Childhood, by NOAH KWID

Magnificently expressive artistic indie rock from the mind of Californian NOAH KWID.

Childhood is a little tape with big dreams and beautiful ideas housed in a quaint collection of 4 songs. Soaked in a soft and intimate essence – as if sitting in your friends garage with the door open during a light rainstorm, listening to a band practice in the corner as you roll your spliff.

The songs are tasteful construction of sparse yet clever vocals, hearty guitar and intriguing horns. The use of woodwinds and flutes is a welcome addition to the sonic palette, adding a unique depth to the tracks. The unique artistic expressiveness would make David Byrne proud – ultimately boiling down to a very wholesome and honest experience.

The tape is only 4 tracks long, however that becomes deceptive once you press play. Each track lives in it’s own world – bedroom microcosms of emotions and human energy, expressed in pure electro-acoustic waves. For all the pretentious flourishes I am using in this article it’s quite a down-to-earth listen.

The project is available on cassette as well as digital edition via the artists bandcamp page!

Prince of Hearts, by Dirty Princes

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Mash and dash! Throw on those joggers and storm out the door! Don’t have a destination? No problem! We rockin and rollin!

Prince of Hearts is a new 5-track tape from Toronto outfit Dirty Princes. Lots of pure energy packed in this one, makes you want to jump up and party in your room! It almost feels like a live album, the combination of raw sounds and powerful vocals put me right in the VFW hall front and center for the sweaty performance!

Ended up really digging this one after repeat listens, nuances really rubbing me the right way, reminding me of early 2000’s punk rock discoveries, Hopeless Records and the like. Give In and Go is such a jam, definitely my favorite track, followed closely by Love is Cynical. The 5 tracks zoom past pretty quickly, but that means it’s time to take it from the top!

You can snag the physical from Under the Counter Tapes or support the artist direct via their own bandcamp page.

Alienation, by The Electric Nature

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Georgia’s own “The Electric Nature”, conceived and fronted by Michael Potter, have weaved together this psychedelic masterwork over the course of 2 years! Both dense and free, Alienation is a unique listen for sure. The band has a full roster for this album with lots of folks helping out, providing guitars, horns and synths. The result is an impressively bold collection of experimental jams that I can only assume would be even more fulfilling to hear in a live situation. Highly recommended listen, and purchase the album one way or another!!! ( The digital download includes a bonus 20 minute track, and Illuminated Paths records are offering a limited edition Cassette tape of this release!)

Favorite Track: 6. Alienation II/Outro

Recorded in various places and on various devices in Athens and Carrollton, GA between 2013 and 2015, except track 3 – half of which was recorded in 2003.

Purchase the limited edition cassette from Illuminated Paths:

illuminatedpaths.bandcamp.com/album/alienation

Included with the download is the Broken Machine Films produced video for the track “Alienation I” utilizing Tachyons+ analog video synthesizers, which can be viewed on the web here:

vimeo.com/134213551

Digital downloads also include a live, 20-minute bonus track, originally released as one side of a split cassette with Corner Coronah on Stronj Flow Records. There may be one or two copies still floating around out there…

released 01 September 2015

Michael Potter – Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Synthesizers, Electronic Drum Pad, Vocals, Noises, Field Recordings, Arrangements, Recording, Editing, Mixing, Production

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Josh Lamar – Drums (track 4), Chimes (track 1)
Patrick Lowe – Bass (tracks 4, 5)
Michael Pierce – MicroBrute (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
Thom Strickland – Electric Guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
John Fernandes – Clarinet (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6), Violin (track 6)
Sean Dunlap – Juno 60 (track 3)
Nick Stinson – Electric Guitar (track 3)
John Spiegel – Electric Guitar (track 6)
Zack Hann – Electric Guitar (track 4)
Jake Merrick – Alto and Soprano Saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6)
Paul Warren – Drums (track 3)
Thomas Valadez – Electric Guitar (track 6)

Artwork by Jeremy Kiran Fernandes

Many thanks to everyone who played on and contributed to the album – Josh and Wes at Illuminated Paths – Chris White and Mission Trips – Cult of Riggonia – Future Ape Tapes – Easily Suede – Wet Garden – Jade Poppyfield – Frank Hurricayne – Narrator – Corner Coronah – Louie Larceny – Alec Livaditis – Scott Vinosky and Ailanthus Recordings – Fresh Produce Records – Tom and the Go Bar – Scott Crossman the Genetic Outcast – Brandon Locher – Sean Hartman and Joshua Tabbia at Already Dead Records – and Mercer West and the Secret Squirrel

Diamond Series 006

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As I am sure many of you know by now, I am a big fan of Ghost Diamonds “Diamond Series”, a collection of mini-releases, each consisting of two tracks by different artists. This formula is quick, refreshing, and they always manage to bring some interesting sounds to the table. This round is no different! Diamond Series 006 is soaked in retro nostalgia, with the second track diving head first into a 50’s Righteous Brothers cover. This was a pleasure to listen to quite a few times, I encourage you to give it a run and check out the rest of the Diamond Series while you’re at it!

released 30 June 2015

Daihyō Okkar je Naša Musiilkpolís, by Mzda Otrok

Here is some really far-out psychedelic noise, scrambled fuzz mixed with churning drones make this one hell of a textured project.

Roam, by The Neffs

Feeling good this morning, got a strong cup of coffee and some jams pumped up! Currently enjoying a full length experimental garage record from Pittsburgh trio The Neffs titled Roam.

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D E E P S P A A C E, by Stefan Christov

 

So I have been enjoying this album for the past couple weeks, it has become a G0-To listen in the car for long mellow drives as well as kicking around the crib if I want something groovy yet unobtrusive! D E E P S P A C E by Stefan Christov is a psychedelic beat tape with a variety of influences, swirling together to create a lengthy and lovely album.

D E E P S P A C E is a beefy tape, 15 tracks full of ideas! Each one peppered in their own way with delicate melodies squeezed from synthesizers and keys guided along by lazy 808’s. Some songs sport more energy than others, anthemic trap beats soaring above the clouds, whereas other tracks leave us with nothing but ambient stargazing (always a good thing)! Its great to hear producers tackle both, its all to easy to hide behind beats, or simply create soundscapes, but to create both and twine them together is a great task indeed! Stefan Christov proves his abilities with this release, each track maintaining a sense of surreal beauty no matter what the rhythmic backing.

Theres also some lovely sampling on here and some interesting takes on beats, twisting trap and boom-bap around to a steady pulse. Though it is abstract and experimental, it is all easy on the ears! All this makes D E E P S P A C E the perfect summer road-trip album for those late nights coming home or early mornings chasing the sun. It’s got great spacey vibes and you can grab it via bandcamp now and name your own price! Upon writing this I have also discovered Stefan has released another album in the meantime, so I will be listening to that soon! Until then, enjoy D E E P S P A C E…..

UGLY ZOO, by Ugly Zoo

Happy Monday Morning one and all! I am sitting here sipping some coffee, having some sound waves wash over me currently! Bouncing back between some suggested releases and digging for new goodies, I find myself listening to this self titled EP by the New York punk outfit UGLY ZOO.

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