Helio Sequence Embark On Negotiations

Ya know, the band Helio Sequence always reminds me of DNA. I'm not sure exactly why but I suspect it has something to with it's proximity to sounding like it's part of the double Helix that makes up DNA. Anyway, scientific explanations aside, this atmospheric and dreamy band has returned after a four year absence with their new album Negotiations. After spending some time with this record its easy to say that this release is a woozy doozy spellbinding trip beyond reality.

At times sounding like Echo and the Bunnymen if they were placed on Lithium, Helio Sequence are an ethereal bunch that coax their inner dream popper into something far more grandiose and spectacular. Songs are massive in scale and scope and they seem to spread out over the course of the record filling in every possible gap. The record is gauzy, hazy, dreamy and utterly fantastic. This is a record that conquers your ears with slow, translucent passages that barely raise a ruckus but still find a way to attach themselves to your consciousness. Helio Sequence tune their guitars to shimmer and the vocals to sigh and then just coast heavenward through all of Negotiations.

If ever a record was sleepy in the best possible way this would be it. It seems as though Negotiations was recorded under hypnosis and Helio Sequence were simply too mesmerized by the process to emerge from it. This is a record that is seemingly intimate but in reality rather epic. It's songs are gargantuan and gorgeous and it's effect is calming and peaceful. If there's beautiful guitar music to be had in this day and age, Helio Sequence are making it and no Negotiations are necessary.

Jeremy Panda's Amazing Mystery

Jeremy Panda is an interesting artist that I know next to nothing about. His album just kind of showed up at my door unexpected encased just in a brown envelope w/no bio or information attached. Through clever deduction here's what I've learned...he's Canadian, he's from Toronto and he can play at an exceptionally high level. His album Son Ame Feliz is a heady mix of indie rock, jam rock, fusion, and mighty fine musicianship that combines into a mind numbing concoction.

With riffs flying everywhere and a level of energy that would suggest some sort of post-nuclear thing, Jeremy Panda and his band set out on a course to out play themselves. They just about succeed as this is one band that's spent a fair amount of time in a practice shed for ages. Hopping between more adult oriented alternative and youthful inspired tunes the band tend to be at their best when they have it floored and their chops are on display. Thankfully, Son Ame Feliz gives the band plenty of opportunities to show all this off. From drumming to synths, to guitars and everything in between Jeremy Panda and his cohorts let it all hang out here. Musically, it's an impressive listen that only occasionally stumbles with rather slow paced songs and kinda middle of the road vocals. But for the most part when these guys play they're on fire.

I'm not sure what to call or what genre Jeremy Panda is. That's a good thing because he's all over the place on most of Son Ame Feliz and as a result my interest never faded. From dark and dim passages to jazz fusion-like workouts it all finds a place on Son Ame Feliz and it only adds to the mystery of who the heck this guy and his band are. My advice to you is don't cop out and Google the band but rather pick up the record and become part of the mystery...it's far more fun.

The Philstines Are Therewolves

To hear the tale of how the Philistines came to be is to understand the phrase (and James song) Born of Frustration. Colin Daly, founder of the band, was literally left at the musical altar as this record was coming to fruition. Abandoned and upset the project was in doubt. Thankfully, his twin brother offered to take a shot at writing leads of the skeletal versions of what would become Therewolves! Through the magic of technology and family sticking together Philistines rose above it all with Therewolves! in hand.

Philistines modus operandi is to take pop music and strip it down to the core and then duct tape it all back together without much precision. The result of this is a shambolic effort to sound something like Radiohead, when they're weren't musos, and smashing al that into some sort of post grunge power pop monster like The Kooks. Therewolves! As a result is noisy, messy, and gnarled in all the right places. Guitars seem to have strings being pulled out of them mid-song while the vocals are gritty and slightly angsty and yet, somehow, the whole thing has this pop sensibility about it that makes you wonder if being left at the musical altar wasn't the best thing that could have happened to Philistines.

Therewolves! is a great little record; it's filled with cool hooks, noisy pedal driven guitars, enough ooh's and ahh's to last you a lifetime, and so much angsty pop you'll think it's 1993 all over again. This is the sort of record that reminds me of so many classic alternative/indie rock albums from my college radio days it scares me. I enjoyed Philistines accidental classicism and their ability to construct a gem out of a potential disaster. Therewolves! is impressive and if you like noisy pop music then howl at the moon w/Philistines.

One Line Reviews Volume 1

As the year closed out we simply weren't able to get to everything sitting on our desk. We get so much music and we want to listen to it all...but between holidays to the UK, Thanksgiving, Christmas and everything in between it just wasn't possible to listen to everything and write a detailed review. So, we present our happy compromise: One Line Reviews. What are they? Well they're short reviews that attempt to nail our thoughts down in as few words as possible...hence the name. It's simply a quantity vs. quality sort of thing here, unfortunately. Our apologies to everyone but we did manage to listen to all of these records at least once and you can tell very quickly if we dug them or not.

So here we go...

Royal Trux: Accelerator (Drag City)
Noisy, raw but some how cleaned up re-issue that sounds like the Trux had a few to many.

Tony Caro & John: Blue Clouds (Drag City)
1972 re-issue that sounds like garage outtakes from the Beatles and VU jamming together. Simplistic and cool.

Mad Music Inc: s/t (Drag City)
Another re-issue, this time from the dark, dank recesses of ambient fairy folk music from Rivendell. Mellow stuff to align your chakra's to.

Analog Players Society: Hurricane Season In Brooklyn (Studio Brooklyn)
Seems kind of ironic that this came out before Sandy...but here it is...chilled globally groovy jazz tunes for a bright sunny day...or reconstruction.

SSION: Bent (Dovecote)
Synth pop grooves that's covered in 80's funk and hipster over effort, but are cool tunes none-the-less. Break out the Carrera's and Members Only...This is 1986 all over again.

Various Artists: Kitsune Maison 14 (Kitsune)
The coolest electro label in the universe releases yet another essential record. Seventeen songs of perfection that you need in your life.

Brainstorm: Heat Waves (Tender Loving Empire)
Northwest indie on an Athens tip via Brooklyn that winds up sounding something like the lovechild of Arcade Fire and Of Montreal addicted to acid. Cool indie pop.

The Chevin: Borderland (So Recordings)
Huge sweeping indie that sounds like it's come straight from the class of 2011 British Pop school. The tunes are huge and almost out U2, U2 at times. Honestly, stadium anthems aren't supposed to be this cool.

Steve Bug: Noir (Poker Flat)
Minimalistic dark building tech-house that at times feels like a Faithless record. It's an impressive and mature album from someone who has released five such things; that's kind of unheard of nowdays...especially from dance music.

Woo: It's Cosy Inside (Drag City)
You know you're old when they start reissuing records you already have the first time around. This is strange mesmerizing stuff that's half ambient and half bizarre.

Stars: The North (ATO)
Can they do no wrong? I don't think they can. Top 25 for the year.

Mozella: The Brian Holland Sessions (Beverly Martel)
As the whole Soul Siren revival pushes on, it's getting harder and harder to make yourself stand out. Enter Mozella who sounds like she just walked in from 1967 and with Brian Holland of Holland, Dozier, and Dozier fame (over 25 #1 records w/Motown) on her arm how could this be anything but spectacular? Awesome stuff.

Sera Cahoone: Deer Creek Canyon (Sub Pop)
Oh my gosh...an actual Sub Pop record I don't like. Folky, singer songwritery stuff that's just ok.

Jon Samuel: First Transmission (Hidden Pony Records)
More singer songwriter stuff. A little less folk and a bit more oomph but still it's just a guy and his guitar.

Maybeshewill: I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone (Function)
Massive post-emo post rock that takes the best bits of both genre's and runs then through enough effects, riffage, and soaring melodies to leave you dizzy. Brilliant stuff.

3:33: In The Middle of Infinity (Parallel Thought)
I have no idea what these guys are trying to achieve but it's so out there and so well done that it's awesome. It's essentially ambient abstract hip hop that would make DJ Shadow just give up.

Black Pistol Fire: Big Beat 59 (Rife Bird)
Sometimes you can judge a book by it's cover...or it's name. These guys are garage rock that's more traditional than the tradition itself. Rockin countrified blues rock that might just bring Elvis back from the dead.

Shed: The Killer (Monkeytown Records)
Minimalistic glitch ambientronica that's so weird it almost gave me a head ache. I think the military might use this album as part of psychological warfare.

Modeselektor: Modeselektion Volume 2 (Monkeytown Records)
Abstract, haunting stuff that uses beats sparingly and weirdness like it was going out of style. Not sure if this is really dance music but it's electronic mayhem nonetheless. It's like an old Orb record on even more hallucinogens.

Otto Von Schirach: Supermeng (Monkeytown Records)
This record is worth the tune, "Salpica (Miami)" alone. The rest is music the Daleks created to entertain themselves while they conquered the earth.

And there you have it...Volume 1 of One Line Reviews. Hang tight because there's more to come!

Mystic Underground Share Dreamers And Lovers

Remember when the first She Wants Revenge album came out? Remember how perfectly it blended it's inner goth with it's inner electroclash scenester and totally decimated the dance floor? If you don't you should because you're hip and cool right? And well if you don't The Mystic Underground is here to help you remember just how monumental the mixing of goth and electro can be. Their latest ep Dreamers and Lovers is a clove smoking, trench coat wearing, rope pulling excursion into darkness.

Dreamers and Lovers in a word is awesome. This is a darkly delicious record whose synths pulsate in the shadows while brooding beats kick and stomp across every song in steel toed boots. It's a lush, opulent record that just happens to be shrouded in mystery and the beauty of love. Dreamers and Lovers is a gorgeous record that soaks you in synthetic sensuality and seductive danceable beats. At a disturbingly short five tracks, Dreamers and Lovers only begins to hint at what The Mystic Underground have in-store for us. However, if this is any indication, any sort of full length album would be a momentously murky but brilliant affair. One can only hope that they can set aside the Dreamers and Lovers in their lives and make haste with recording a full length album.

The Demos Aren't Primitive

Holy confusing covers Batman...Talk about a graphic design fail, I couldn't sort out if TheDemosPrimitive album was a record called Primitive or if the band was named Primitive and this were TheDemos of the said band. Totally confused I consulted their handy dandy bio (which they were nice enough to enclose) and realized that it was indeed The Demos and their single Primitive. Ok...so now that is sorted out...the record is over. Ugh.

Having restarted from the beginning I can now tell you that Primitive the single is a short two song blast of west-coast inspired pop music that's light on it's feet, jolly in it's intentions and catchy as the flu. Armed with six members (up from just two) the band takes the stuff that made folks like The Tyde, Teenage Fanclub, and of course The Beach Boys famous and puts a modern slant on it all and then proceed to knock it out of the park. The result being tunes that are simple and melodically masterful; Just listen to, "Neon," and you'll see what I'm talking about. This is a great little single that's syrupy sweet and melodically muscular and if it's any hint of what their next album is going to sound like then this band should probably change their name from TheDemos to TheMasters...because they're way better than a grotty rough sounding demo.

The Lumineers Illuminate

In world where Mumford and Sons are bigger than sliced bread it was only a matter of time before similar bands began to appear with similar sounds and records. Among the more acceptable groups are the Lumineers. This group out of Denver takes folk rock, a smattering of Arcade Fire's artfulness, and a bit of The Decemberists' tweeness and pieces together a creative blend of folk and indie that's not dull. Their self titled album is a good listen that swerves right and left from being just another folk pop record and managed to hold my interest until the very end.

The Lumineers create songs that seemingly yearn to be listened to. They shout, holler, whoop, and call out to get your attention and through the use of this technique as well as fascinating musical arrangements they grab it. This is far from a boring record, it's arty and homey and sounds warm and inviting. This is the perfect record for a miserable day when grey skies make you ponder everything around you and your place in it. It's thoughtful stuff that tugs at your emotions throughout and that alone makes it better than 95% of most other records labeled as folk or folk pop.

Sure there are strummy guitars and intimate moments but there are bombastic drums, those shouts and moments which will make you jump. The Lumineers do not lull you to sleep but constantly keep your brain and ears moving (if that's possible). These guys are different, sound different, and have songs that just feel different. While I normally don't like the quieter end of things, The Lumineers managed to keep my attention throughout their record and that in and of itself is an accomplishment. Cheers, boys!