Walking Invisibly

Kurt Vile keeps on getting better. Having released what many critics believe to be one of the best albums of 2011, with Smoke Ring For My Halo, he’s now giving fans even more to cherish, with a new 6-track EP due out in November titled So Outta Reach. Five new songs, all originally recorded for Smoke Ring… and a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Downtown Train’ appear on the new EP. The first single from the EP, ‘The Creature’, has just hit the web, and like Vile’s past it reveals another fine piece of garage folk, soaked in an oily working-class rag. ‘The Creature’ has a secretive, shy romanticism – an almost angelic decadence that somehow makes it a moody, sad song. It’s a reminder that Vile hasn’t written a bad song all year. Matador Records is releasing So Outta Reach on November 8 – available on either 12″ vinyl or as part of a new deluxe 2-CD version of Smoke Ring For My Halo, decorated with a new colour cover.

Kurt Vile – The Ceature: MP3

Place your pre-order over at Matador Records

Posted by Nick Fulton under Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, U.S.A
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Intergalaktisk

The good folks at Indiecater Records recently introduced me to Golden Ages, a spatial electronic pop project performed by Philadelphia’s Francis Tseng. Tseng adopted the name just over a year ago, after ditching his previous obsession with dance music and digital remixing to concentrate on what he describes as a “more organic and less plastic” style of music.

Tradition, Golden Ages’ debut album was released ten days ago and it introduces listeners to a glistening imaginary world.  It was recorded and produced entirely in Tseng’s college dorm and if you listen to it closely you can hear the music echoing around his room. The album draws obvious comparisons to Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, via its layered electronic samples and whimsical dreamy tangents, but it also creates its own worldly pattern, coated in crackly lo-fi synths and convoluted electronics. It has a very smooth, dreamy vibe despite a smattering of dance beats, and utilises subtle shifts in time and tempo to give it movement and buoyancy. While it’s not perfectly accessible pop music, it’s blunt edges give it a certain soothing quality making it easy to distinguish and embrace, offering a minimalist alternative to Merriweather Post Pavilion. 

You can purchase Tradition from Indiecater Records’ online shop, but if you want to hear the album before you buy it, you can stream the entire album for free.

Golden Ages- Right Season: MP3

Golden Ages- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, U.S.A
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If Mr. Whippy Had Wings

Imagine eating an ice-cream in the middle of winter and getting a horrendously chilling head rush, now listen to King King Ding Dong. Thanks to 20 Jazz Funk Greats for the heads up on this one, your blog rules.

From Philadelphia, King Kong Ding Dong is a psychedelic band making pasteurised jams from coloured paint and rabid cartoon stencils, blending Health, Ponytail, High Places and Pocahaunted through a chipper and firing out hieroglyphic noise. Their music is smooth and ferocious, layered and curious like a wandering dog and is at times a mangled mess of degenerate electronic sounds. It’s progressive and forward thinking and is an exciting addition to the world of psychedelic indie music.

King Kong Ding Dong has just released their first full-length album and it deserves your attention. Titled Youth Culture Index, it can be downloaded for free from the band’s website or you can buy a hard copy of the album with a hand silkscreened cover for just $7US. They also released an EP in 2006 titled KKDD which can similarly be downloaded for free. Also on the website are links to download some rare Hearthrob and A Sunny Day In Glasgow tracks. Ben Daniels (ASDIG) and Leroy Corduroy (KKDD) used to play as Hearthrob before forming their current bands and Daniels was originally (and still occasionally is) a member of King Kong Ding Dong.

King Kong Ding Dong- Crisis Cycle: MP3

King Kong Ding Dong- A Violent Light: MP3

King Kong Ding Dong- Myspace

Posted by Nick Fulton under Philadelphia, U.S.A
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