quinta-feira, 27 de setembro de 2018

Harps, "ORDERINCHAOS" - Track by Track


Os parisienses do Harps retornam as páginas do TBTCI depois de um grande hiato, na realidade, desde 2014 os caras não soltavam suas pedradas, mas a demora foi enfim suprida e estridentemente suprida.

No início do mês, mas precisamente em 7 de Setembro, o primeiro álbum dos caras conheceu o mundo. "ORDERINCHAOS" é o nome da criança, que já nasce esperneando por entre toneladas de barulho.

Junte o padrão de qualidade, de selos como Touch and Go, SST e Blast First e você tera a dimensão das bigornadas que o Harps criou.

Como tem sido praxe por aqui, para discos como "ORDERINCHAOS", se faz necessário desvendar os segredos e mistérios, e os caras a convite do TBTCI foram a fundo na tarefa.


É post hardcore, é post metal, é post rock, é post grunge, é post tudo, mas que uma coisa fique clara, o barulho agressivo e angustiante permanece sendo a temática do caos do Harps.


***** Harps, "ORDERINCHAOS" - Track by Track *****


Murmurs of Earth
Where it all begins, where the album, the concept behind it takes birth.
The first atom containing everything that is to come.
We wanted this tune to be heavy and thick, after an intro referencing some of our inspiration and layering various elements of composition, we try to paint this sort of cosmic landscape or at least our perception of it.

Who better than Sagan to greet you into that journey?

Murmurs of Earth is directly referencing the Voyager program and the famous Golden record that compiled an excerpt of some of mankind’s finest creations carried out in space, but what it really is is inviting us to an inward exploration and to question our place in this vast universe.

Spitting Acid
It’s a caustic piece with a punky tempo and aggressive playing
With this one we wanted to give the loud and slow pace of Murmurs a sort of exact opposite that would play in contrast and make the audience return to a cold, grounded reality.
It’s vaguely about a story on how the mafia treat people of their own family after they have break the omerta and at the same time it serves as a parallel with the environmental issues we are currently facing on Earth and the hypocrisy surrounding the expected solutions, hence the last chorus repeating : corrosive seas will submerge the last parcel of truth in this world, eventually.

End Feelings
Contrasts and various shades are a main focus in our writing, so again with this one we were looking for this effect, but this time within the same track length.

A two section track, and the most shoegazy we can get within the first part, with the use of clean vocals and reverb overall.

It’s kind an introspective song, about what is driving us as human beings, throughout the course of history; what really builds us as a society and what will ultimately lead us to meet our fate, both as individuals and as a species.

Hubris, jealousy, and rage, as screamed at the transition with the second instrumental part, are among our main traits, luring us into trying to achieve « great » things and therefore, should we not learn how to deal with those inclinations, we’ll be held responsible for ending all future and all hopes. And when there’s no hope left, false prophets will guide you towards a path of death, manipulating you with lies and deceptive promises. (The excerpt you hear at the end is from Heaven's Gate guru Marshall Applewhite)

Mammoth-1
We felt the album needed a break with convoluted tracks here, we wanted something more straightforward and also kind of elevated in its content, far from all form of self awareness or psyche exploration: so this track is just an hommage to a space entity that scientists have determined to be amongst the most massive and powerful in the whole universe, but with no explanation on what is fueling it.

We just hope this track reflects such an amazing power.

People
I suppose we must associate punk and noise genre with society subjects and political standpoints because this one is only doing that: observing that on this earth and in that day and age, some people and their governments are choosing to let other people die rather than offer them shelter and assistance.

As often we are more inclined to raise walls and barriers than to learn and share from other’s differences. Ther’s no judgement here, merely a sad observation.

Gaza Gazers
This one has been around for a long time.
Just like the conflict that inspired its writing has. That’s my personal favorite: it’s mean, it’s groovy and it’s loud, and all that in its own chaotic terms and structure.

This is war and it perfectly follows up the end of People and unfortunately still echoes the current status on site.

Infinity Must Have Started Somewhere
We felt the need for something epic and went for it!

We could play that one an infinite number of times and still not really grasp all its subtleties or master the various shifts it’s embedding. Just like the visible sky and what we perceives of it, this studio version is only a snap of what this piece was at the precise moment of the recording.

We can’t play it twice the same, it’s ever evolving just as our universe does.We wanted it as an ending because it comes last in the track listing but mostly as an opening to many things: the cosmos, of our inner and outter spaces, an invitation to wander in thoughts and dreams, and also an invitation to another listening of ORDERINCHAOS. An exploration of our deeper soul.
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Thanks

http://www.harps-official.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HARPSband/
https://harps-official.bandcamp.com

quarta-feira, 26 de setembro de 2018

Melancholy Daze with Sunbather - An Interview


A história de um projeto focado em um certo dreampop psicodélico, nascida da cabeça de um baterista de bandas de metal e hardcore que resolveu explorar novos sons, novas batidas e novas pulsações.

E a partir daí surgiu o projeto de Joseph Picataggio, o Sunbather.

O novo trabalho do cara, "Melancholy Daze" se sintoniza com propostas sonoras mais modernas, algo como um híbrido de Tame Impala e DIIV.

Experimentações a serviço de sonhos levemente borrados, sem necessidade de extremismos, o que o Sunbather propõe que a viagem seja leve mais espacialmente sedutora.

Aperte o play e boa trip.


***** Interview with Sunbather *****



Q. When did Sunbather begin? Tell us about the history...
Well before Sunbather started, I'd been playing drums in local metal and hardcore bands for the last 10 years, and drums in general for the last 15 or so. Being a drummer first and foremost, I started Sunbather as a way to teach myself how to play other instruments, as an outlet to explore other genres I love, and to express and push myself in more ways than just smacking the drums around to power chords in my basement. And aside from one or two classes, I'd also slowly been teaching myself to produce, so I use Sunbather as an outlet to experiment and grow in recording as well. I started writing Intrapersonal in 2015, but I officially started Sunbather in November 2017 in Kingston, Pennsylvania, USA, and then relocated to Durham, North Carolina only a few months later. I spent the latter half of 2017 and the first half of 2018 working on new material for a full length, and in August released Melancholy Daze. Now I'm just pushing it and getting it to as many ears as I can.

Q: Who are your influences?
I'm obsessed with Tycho. I'd say he's a big influence in more ways than just music. His attention to his visuals, details in his jams, and apparent DIY ethic attract me and act as a guide for the independence and work ethic I'd like to strive for. He's the king right now. Dive is a perfect record. Additionally, I have a lot of influences in varying genres, but the ones who influence the Sunbather sound the most are bands like The Smiths, Blur, and newer bands like Tame Impala, Washed Out, Diiv, The Contortionist, etc.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
In no particular order...
1) blink-182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
2) Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
3) Slayer - Reign in Blood
4) Fair to Midland - Fables from a Mayfly
5) Turnover - Peripheral Vision

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I love it. I've been playing shows in terrible bands with my best friends since I was 17 years old. My bands never gained a following, but just loading up and traveling around with my friends, playing to like 20 people in the back of book shops, basements, churches, clubs, backyards, art spaces, etc., then hanging out and eating pizza and drinking beer after were the best. We unfortunately haven't done that in awhile, but maybe this could get us back together someday.

Q. How do you describe Sunbather´s sounds?
Dreamy Whatever overall genre that word takes shape in, whether it be pop to shoegaze to hardcore, as long as I can make it fit that aesthetic, I'm open to write in virtually any style for Sunbather. For instance on Intrapersonal, I wrote it at a time when I was inspired by progressive metal and post-rock bands like The Contortionist and Karnivool. So some of those sounds are on the heavier, more aggressive side, but blend with a very relaxed and spacey atmosphere. The new record, Melancholy Daze, is a more straightforward shoegaze/pop-rock sound, which is different enough from Intrapersonal, but has that overall dreamy vibe so I think it still makes sense sitting next to it.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Since I'm just one guy, Sunbather is a studio based band. I'll grab my guitar, plug it into my interface, load up an amp-sim, and just noodle away until something sounds even remotely cool. I'll record that little noodle quick, then start building things on top of it step-by-step; drums, second guitar, synths, keys, bass, more guitar, more guitar, more guitar... Then I'll sit down, write lyrics, and (try to) sing on it. Then after all that, if it doesn't' work or I'm not 100% down with it, I'll scrap it all and try again. After I get a collection of demos I'm happy with, I'll go in and re-record them at a higher rates then add some polish and spice to make them sound nice, listen to them to what feels like 1000 different times, then mix, then master.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Go check out Saint Slumber (I think they're from New Jersey?) My old bands' played a couple of shows with those kids back when they were called The Soviet. Really talented indie rock/pop stuff. Their new record comes out in a few weeks. I'm really hype on them right now. And I wouldn't call these other bands new, but I've been spinning them a lot right now... * Wild Nothing * Title Fight * Beach Vacation * Shallou * FM-84

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
I'm actually in the middle of doing a cover of a Tycho song, but I've also been thinking about doing covers of a Beastie Boys or a Smiths song. For me, covers are cool to experiment with sounds and learn, but I don't think I'll do anything official with them. We'll see.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Keep writing music. Keep pushing forward. Maybe shows as a full band, or maybe I’ll find a way to just jam by myself at some point, but who knows.

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks again to TBTCI for asking me to do this. Please listen to 'Melancholy Daze' on Bandcamp, Spotify, Google Play, etc and follow me everywhere and tell all of your friends. Let's grow this thing together
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/sunbatherjams/
https://sunbatherjams.bandcamp.com

Trip To Saturn with Keep Care - An Interview


Doces cintilantes suspiros sonoros aterrizam diretamente de Montreal, Canadá nas páginas do TBTCI.

O duo, Keep Care e seu EP homônimo de estreia servem como sedativo para os percalços caóticos do cotidiano. Por entre paisagens tranquilas e serenas, as melodias sempre introspectivas deles acalentam e acalmam a mente.

Perfeito para um anoitecer em boa companhia.

***** Interview with Keep Care *****


Q. When did Keep Care begin? Tell us about the history
The two of us met years ago through the internet, and we became such good friends that we ended up moving to Montreal together. We decided to start Keep Care in September of 2017, and have been slowly making songs together ever since.

Q. Who are your influences
Our biggest influence would definitely be Beach House, we’re really inspired by the way they have made such grand sounds with just two people. With us just being a duo as well, this is something we aspire to do as we continue to make music. Other big influencers for us are Feist, Cat Power and Sufjan Stevens

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time...
1.Beach House – Teen Dream
2.Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
3. Judee Sill- Heartfood
4. Feist – The Reminder
5. Cocteau Twins – Treasure

Q. How do you feel about playing live.
We haven’t actually played in front of an audience yet but we are eager to! The butterflies are flappin!

Q. How do you describe Keep Care’s sound?
I think we would describe our sound as lo-fi, since we have limited equipment (guitar, piano, microphone) and drawing inspiration from artists like Beach House and Feist, we’re going for a dreamy/folksy sound. But in the end, we just sit down together and play things that we like the sound of.

Q. Tell us about the recording process.
Everything is recorded in our apartment. We usually record the guitar and piano first and then add vocals at the end.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend
Devon Welsh (from Majical Cloudz) recently released a solo album which we have been listening to religiously. Also Haley Heynderickx and Suno Deko.

Q. Which band would you love to made a cover of?
We’ve talked about covering either a Cranberries or Judee Sill song!

Q. What are your plans for the future?
Currently we’re just preparing for playing live, and working on new songs for our next album!

Q.Any parting words?
Don’t take any wooden nickels!
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Thanks

https://keepcare.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/keepcareband/

terça-feira, 25 de setembro de 2018

Dissimulation with Emmaline Twist - An Interview


Tudo começou após um show tributo New Order para os estadunidenses do Emmaline Twist, isso tudo em 2016.

Fincado-se sob o espectro dark oitentista e a onde gaze que invadiu o submundo dos bons sons no início dos 90´s, o quinteto lançou em 2017 seu primeiro EP Dissimulation povias digitais, como a grande maioria das bandas independentes atuais. Após certa atenção local "Dissimulation" ganhou versão estendida em versão vinílica, com faixas extras e assim, o Emmaline Twist vem ganhando mais e mais notoriedade.

A grandiosa e eloquente base sonora serve de guia para a voz, simplesmente maravilhosa, de Meredith McGrade e é exatamente este um dos grandes diferenciais do Emmaline Twist.

Sofisticação e elegância em tons cinzentos fazem de "Dissimulation" um elixir para os ouvidos.


***** Interview with Emmaline Twist *****



Q. When did Emmaline Twist begin? Tell us about the history...
Emmaline Twist began in 2016 after a failed attempt by Meredith and Krysztof to work up a New Order tribute band. We basically just decided we'd rather create our own music together, but in that vein of "dark 80's" music, with the heavier groove and denser guitars of the 90's shoegaze sound. Kristin and Jon were the perfect rhythm section for such a musical idea, and the "laid-back urgency" sound of the band was formed. Just recently, we added Alex on keys to make out live sound even bigger, which our latest album reflects.

Q: Who are your influences?
Probably our biggest direct influence from the Shoegaze side of things would be Slowdive, and from the Dark-80's would be The Cure. From there it's just a "family tree" of similar kinds of bands!

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
These may seem obvious, but, some of our favorites are :

"Disintegration" - The Cure
"Slowdive" - Slowdive
"Power, Corruption, and Lies" - New Order
"Strange Times" - The Chameleons
"Mezzanine" - Massive Attack

Q. How do you feel playing live?
We love playing live, actually. We work very hard on the presentation of our songs and our sound, and love each other as friends, so something truly magic happens when we get on stage and support each other and these songs.


Q. How do you describe Emmaline Twist´s sounds?
I'll use this phrase "laid-back urgency" to describe our brand of Shoegaze / Dreampop, again. We have been very fortunate to find each other as musicians, and somehow know how to build these big, driving, textural soundscapes in a laid-back and introspective manner. While some darkwave or post-punk bands strive for a colder sonic palette, we attempt a richer, warmer feel with our songs.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We demo all the songs out, first, and get to know them as a band in rehearsal and onstage long before recording them. We want them to become as fully realized as they can between us so that when we go into the studio, we're just trying to capture that magic rather than using the studio to figure them out. It's more exciting for us to do it that way, and makes it much more focused and collaborative a process since we all know precisely what we're trying to capture. The only goal we have in the studio, really, is to make sure we capture the "bigness" of the sound.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Here are some great bands we're listening to : Tamaryn, Ariel, Vaadat Charigim, Still Corners, Death & Vanilla, The Life & Times.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
We've been toying with a cover of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" just because it would be fun to task something so different from our sound and to turn it into one of ours.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We'd love to do more regional festival dates, and more touring, in general.

Q: Any parting words?
We're grateful for the attention, and look forward to bringing everyone more of what we do!
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Thanks

http://www.emmalinetwist.com/
https://emmalinetwist.bandcamp.com/album/dissimulation
https://www.facebook.com/EmmalineTwistKC/

segunda-feira, 24 de setembro de 2018

Winter with Sacred Blue - An Interview


Atmosférica(mente) envolvente.

O termo acima talvez seja o que melhor se aplicará ao ser que envolver-se com os australianos do Sacred Blue.

Um certo relaxamento mental vai tomando conta lentamente, conforme "Inside The Snow", faixa extraída do primeiro single deles, vai fluindo. Conexões com Galaxie 500, Damon & Naomi, Mazzy Star e Opal são basicamente inevitáveis, mas todos estes citados servem como norte para o Sacred Blue.

A outra canção do single "Winter", é "Seasonal Variatons", com uma pegada que lembra e muito o já citado Opal e a Pasley Underground.

Um single gigante, e absolutamente viciante, simples assim. Que venham rapidamente os próximos passos do Sacred Blue.


***** Interview with Sacred Blue *****


Q. When did Sacred Blue begin? Tell us about the history…
We officially came together in June of 2017, however, the history of the band dates back to 2015 when Annie (guitar + vox) and Vincent (drums) met on Tinder and started jamming on and off. After a while we decided to pursue a band, and hit up long-time pal Joel (bass). One thing led to another and we came together from there!

Q: Who are your influences?
Annie: John Frusciante, Galaxie 500, John Maus, anything Flying Nun Records

Vincent: Stevie Wonder

Joel: late 90s post-rock i.e explosions in the sky, godspeed you! Black emperor.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
1. On Fire by Galaxie 500
2. Disintegration by The Cure
3. Floating Into the Night by Julie Cruise
4. Closer by Joy Division
5. The Will to Death by John Frusciante

Q. How do you feel playing live?
It’s great when we play to a crowd, especially one that really vibes off our music. It’s a lot of fun, and Brisbane is home to a very wholesome audience.

Q. How do you describe Sacred Blue´s sound?
90s shoegaze/alt rock influenced, stripped down, chill. I feel like our recordings and releases are faithful to our live sound.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We recorded our single at Bedlam Studios in Brisbane. We all play off each other, and part of our sound comes from the live recording aspect. Then we layered vocals. We knew how we wanted it to sound, so we decided to mix it ourselves. None of us had any mixing experience so it was a learning curve, but something we will most likely continue doing.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Brisbane has a great little music scene, we’ve played with Lying Down (Bris) and they have a fantastic EP out, Local Authority (Bris) just put out his first song, Death Bells (Sydney) and the other artists on Burning Rose (record label), Treehouse (Hobart).

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
Sugarhill Gang, or some other 90s rap group.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Keep writing music, release a Spring single by mid-October (and finish off the seasonal theme), wait for someone to tell us to come to Brazil (then subsequently tour South America).

Q: Any parting words?
Rock on! \m/d(^_^)b\m/

Love from Annie, Joel and Vincent
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Thanks

https://sacred-blue.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/verysacredblue/

sexta-feira, 21 de setembro de 2018

Warn the Dark with Heavydive - An Interview


Da longínqua, Calgary, província canadense de Alberta vem o trio Heavydive.

Como muitas bandas atuais, os caras unificam elementos do shoegaze clássico, no caso aqui, o Nowhere do Ride dá a conexão com as guitarras, alem do pós punk melancólico de Cure e Joy Division, adicione a raiva sonora do SY, e você terá a equação dos caras.

"Warm The Dark" é o debute do Heavydive, e soa exatamente como o descrito acima. Sua audição vai ganhando tonalidades épicas conforme as guitarras vão subindo. Por vezes me lembram Doves, em outras Model Morning, muitas conexões são sentidas, depende muito de sua referência.

O fato é que o Heavydive faz de sua estreia, um belo sopro melancolicamente barulhento.


***** Interview with Heavydive *****


Q. When did Heavydive begin? Tell us about the history...
Although Heavydive is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, we are not all from here. Our guitarist, Juan Ortiz, and drummer, Santiago Ortiz, are Colombian born brothers who were raised in Canada, while Randall Squires (vocals and bass) was born and raised in Calgary. The three of us got together through a mutual friend and realized that we had the same drive to make music. We started our first band together in May of 2014, however, Heavydive did not really begin until June of 2016. Heavydive was potentially our final attempt to make music together after forming two consecutive bands that failed to leave our rehearsal space. During the years prior to Heavydive we wrote and threw out a little over 10 songs before we wrote the first official Heavydive song, Room 213.

Q: Who are your influences?
All three of us have quite different influences.

Randall: The Smiths, Radiohead, Pixies, the Killers, Interpol, Pasteboard, and Savages.

Santiago: Nothing, Title Fight, Turnover, Death of Lovers, DIIV, Citizen, and Joy Division.

Juan: A Place to Bury Strangers, The Mars Volta, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dinosaur Jr, and At the Drive-In.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
In no particular order, our top 5 albums are:
- Relationship of Command by At the Drive-In
- Rare by Hundredth
- Sam’s Town by The Killers
- Souvlaki by Slowdive
- Viet Cong by Preoccupations

Q. How do you feel playing live?
It’s one of the few moments in our lives where we can feel truly in the moment. While performing you are putting yourself out there emotionally and technically. It’s the only time we can truly feel free.

Q. How do you describe Heavydive´s sound?
Thick reverberated guitar, delicate yet detached vocals, and heart-racing rhythms.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
Warn the Dark is our first album recorded in a professional studio. Everything prior was recorded live off the floor in our rehearsal space, but once we were in the studio we no longer felt the restrictions of being a three-piece band. The ability to orchestrate many guitars, layer several digital and analog effects, and add depth through stereo mixing allowed us to form a richer atmosphere in each song.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Melted Mirror, Palm Haze, Paradise (Calgary, AB), Nêhiyawak, Dead Soft, and Did You Die.

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
When You Sleep by My Bloody Valentine

Q: What are your plans for the future?
At the moment we are planning to record a full length album and tour Europe within the next two to three years.

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks for interviewing us, Renato, and for introducing us to your audience! Let’s keep shoegaze alive!
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Thanks

https://heavydive.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Heavydive/

Memoir with Optloquat - An Interview


É sabido que os japoneses tem verdadeira adoração pelo Loveless, não há novidade alguma nesta afirmação.

E novamente por esta máxima, uma nova, e novata banda surge por lá endossando esta máxima. O quarteto Optloquat, de Tókio, declara paixão total pela obra icônica de Mr. Shields, além do fato dos seus integrantes terem nascido, todos, no ano em que Loveless nasceu.

Mas, apesar de toda a rasgação de seda pelo disco, o Optloquat sonoramente, não tem absolutamente nada a ver com MBV, pelo contrário, os japoneses estão muito mais próximas do Asobi Seksu e do Ride, traçando assim seus devaneios sonoros de forma mais sútil.

Pegue o debute dos novatos, "Memoir" e deixe fluir, relaxadamente, não há contra indicação, apesar de que a sensação de que já ouvimos isso antes é evidente.


***** Interview with Optloquat *****


Q. When did Optloquat begin? Tell us about the history...
We formed Optloquat in April 2018. Three of us (Gt/Vo: Ryo, Gt: Uiru, Dr: Toshiaki) went to same university in Yokohama and belonged to the same music society. However, we did nothing special together at the time because all of us had totally different preference of music(eg; I was stuck on kind of technical, like HM/HR). After 3 years later, we somehow found ourselves together and decided to start a postrock / shoegazer band. We spent about half an year making songs without the bassist, so our first gig was called ‘too trebly’. In April 2018, we finally found our bassist Nomeko, who was Toshiaki’s friend and from another shoegazer band called‘cattle’. Each of our music preference still differs, but we believe that's what contributes uniqueness to our music. We all were born in the same year when My Bloody Valentine released ‘Loveless’, by the way.

Q: Who are your influences?
@Ryo My biggest influencers are probably ‘MUSE’ from UK and ‘The Yellow Monkey’ from Japan and many so called guitar heroes.

@Uiru As a guitarist I look up to Shinichi Ito from ‘Sparta locals’ and Hisashi Yoshino from ‘Eastern Youth’. Focus on the sound making, we refer to the shoegazer sound/ 90's emo. In addition, we are also influenced by mathrock like american football and TTNG.

@Toshiaki ‘Stephen Bruner’(from Thundercat)!!

@Nomeko Too many to list up…

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
@Ryo
MUSE-Black Holes & Revelations
THE YELLOW MONKEY-8
Kyte-Kyte
Yanakoto Sotte Mute- Mirrors
Steve Vai- Real Illusions

@Uiru
RIDE- nowhere
Yanakoto Sotte Mute- bubble
mineral- the power of falling
Bloc party- A Weekend in the City
american football- american football

Q. How do you feel playing live?
It’s difficult to find the right words… Somehow, we feel that we are warmly surrounded / hugged by our sounds. We always not only feel excited but feel great appreciation for our audience listening to us.

Q. How do you describe Optloquat´s sounds?
Basically our elements are from shoegazer and post rock. We try to create an imagery through our music, focus of being ‘lyrical’, and create sounds that are ‘indescribably comfortable’, something like that. Please let us know how you feel towards our music and help us define ourselves in a few words in English!

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Firstly, Ryo, Uiru or Toshiaki makes a blueprint and we do a kind of test. If the song passes it, we start to build on it. Our debut mini album ’Memoir’ was completely home recorded by using a Logic Pro X.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
@Ryo Yanakoto Sotte Mute, hygia, umph, Kyte

@Uiru superorganism, snail mail, toe, climb the mind, CSTVT, pinegrove, caspian, Letting up despite great faults

@Toshiaki Flying Lotus

@Nomeko Hector Saves the Night

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
@Ryo Slowdive, Kyte

@Uiru chapterhouse

@Toshiaki A$AP Rocky

@Nomeko Maroon 5

Q: What are your plans for the future?
・To show up on shoegazer/postrock music scene.
・To perform at a famous music festival/gig.
・To perform abroad.

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks a lot for digging/listening to us!!

You can find us as @optloquat on Twitter and Instagram, please follow us.
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Thanks

https://optloquat.bandcamp.com/releases

quarta-feira, 19 de setembro de 2018

Maybe Sometime Soon with Trillion - An Interview

 
Sidney, Austrália, 1993, o shoegaze por lá naquela época simplesmente inexistia, a não ser para o quarteto Trillion, que passeava às margens do apogeu do grunge e do hard rock, gêneros que ditavam as normas na Austrália nos 90´s, mas os caras tentaram, lançaram um EP, mas sucumbiram-se em 1998, perante a situação não confortável a eles.

Mas a história dá voltas, depois de vinte anos, os caras voltaram, e o responsável direto por isso é o Slowdive, por conta de um show deles no início deste ano.

E parece que o tempo de hibernação fez bem ao Trillion, a sede em colocar guitarras altas veio em alta voltagem, é só preparar os tímpanos para o poderoso, "Maybe Sometime Soon", enfim o primeiro discos dos caras.

Uma paulada estridentemente melódica, tendo como alicerces sonoros, conexões óbvias com Swervedriver, principalmente, aquelas guitarras em um clima road trip dão o acento do álbum.

Perfeito para ouvir alto e, claro, on the road.


***** Interview with Trillion *****


Q. When did Trillion begin? Tell us about the history...
Trillion as it is at the moment is
Steve Hartley/ guitars, vocals
Darren Barnes/ bass, vocals, drum machine.

Trillion began in Sydney, Australia way back in the early days of 1993. We played a lot of shows and released a debut EP called Satellite. Shoegaze never really took off in Australia the first time around. It was all grunge and hard rock at the time and we ended up putting the band on indefinite hold in 1998. Me and Steve, who were the driving force behind the band, stayed good friends. After a Slowdive concert earlier this year we decided it was time to start jamming again. Three months later we realised we’d written about 12 new songs and were really enjoying ourselves again.

Q: Who are your influences?
I feel like this is going to be a pretty obvious answer.....but here goes anyway! My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver and Sonic Youth are and have always been very large influences for us. We also listen to a whole bunch of other music, and have been influenced by genres like trip hop and artists like slackwax.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
This is a really hard one and Darren and I could debate this endlessly! We're going to do something a bit different than the obvious ones (loveless, raise, etc) - and given there two of us we've up this to a top 7 list!
The Pixies - Come On Pilgrim
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
The Clash - London Calling
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Sonic Youth - Goo
The Reindeer Section - Son of evil reindeer

Q. How do you feel playing live?
It’s a great feeling when you’ve played a show and played well and have been appreciated. The adrenaline rush can be euphoric at times. On the flip side it can also get very frustrating, technical difficulties with so many pedals can be very harsh.

Q. How do you describe Trillion´s sounds?
We aim to write songs that have a strong groove to then. That sounds strange for a shoegaze band, but we both really like music that draws you in. Layering guitars so that the parts start to blend and merge in different ways, but also so that there's space. That sounds contradictory but when it's done well, your brain starts to hear melodies and interplay between the different parts that may or may not actually be there. And a strong bass line to keep the song driving along is always important.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Since we live about 2hours drive from each other we’ve been writing and recording over the internet. We haven’t had any time in the same room yet! The EP was recorded/mixed completely on iPad GarageBand and mastered using an app. There’s no way we could have done this first time around, technology has really changed the game! Vocals were sang into an iPhone, crazy! Not a cent spent, total D.I.Y ethos.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
I think Blankenberge are the best of the new breed of shoegaze bands. They blew me away the first time I heard them. Trauma Ray sound very good also.

There’s a few Australian bands really standing out at the moment like Holy Forrest and Blush Response, but Deafcult are terrific, I think they are the big cheeses in the Aussie scene. Big shoutout to my buddy Dave from Lost Echoes in Portland, Oregon too!

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
We’ve never really done any covers before, but I’ve always wanted to do a big version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’....so nobody steal my idea ok!

Q: What are your plans for the future?
We’ve recently expanded from a 2 piece into a 5 piece band and are about to start rehearsing. Our aim is to record something in a studio this time and get out and play some shows again. After that who knows where we’ll go or what will happen, as long as it’s fun and not too serious.

Q: Any parting words?
Blogs like this one are what is making the scene worldwide so keep up the great work you are doing Renato! And thanks for the opportunity to get ourselves out there a little bit more. We’ve had so much support from all around the world so thank you to everyone that’s taken the time to at least listen or download our music.
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Thanks

https://trillion1.bandcamp.com
https://mobile.twitter.com/trillionshoega1

terça-feira, 18 de setembro de 2018

Payday Flowers with Sugarplum Fairies - Interview and Video Premiere


Desde de 1999, Silvia Ryder conduz com sofisticação sua fornada a frente do Sugarplum Fairies.

Nativa de Vienna, Austria, Silvia originalmente formou o Sugarplum Fairies ao lado de seu marido Ben Bohm, e ambos construíram em conjunto a trajetória da banda até que em 2014 o casal se separou e Silvia iniciou uma nova fase do Sugarplum Fairies com um time de músicos se revezando nas gravações.

O mais recente trabalho é "Payday Flowers", lançado em Julho deste ano, e segue de forma lógica a trajetória do Sugarplum Fairies, um certo neofolk ensolarado e melancólico, evocando por vezes Mazzy Star, Cowboy Junkies sem deixar de lado o mestre Lee Hazlewood. Arranjos em formas de orquestrações cinematográficas são a tônica das criações do Silvia.

Eloquentemente grandioso, o Sugarplum Fairies é daqueles raros prazeres que infelizmente possuem pouco reconhecimento, infelizmente, mas não aqui no TBTCI, pelo contrário, o Sugarplum Fairies é objeto de admiração.

Ah sim, fora a entrevista, de quebra Silvia brindou o TBTCI com a premiere de seu mais nova vídeo, contemplando a bela "Boudoir Poet".

Escolha seu lado e bom retiro.

***** Interview and Video Premiere with Sugarplum Fairies *****


Q. When did Sugarplum Fairies begin? Tell us about the history...
Sugarplum Fairies originally started in 1999 as a duo with me then husband Ben Bohm as co-writer/guitarist. We had both moved from Vienna/Austria in 1991 (where we were born). Back there I used to work as a journalist for a print magazine and dabbled in writing lyrics for other bands while Ben was signed to a major label since his early 20’s.

Ben and me parted ways personally and musically in 2014 which culminated in me assembling a rotating line-up of co-writers and guest musicians.

Q. Who are your influences?
There are many genres and personalities that influence my music conceptually, rather than sonically: French movies from the 60s, Anna Karina, Jean-Luc Godard, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Nico, Jean-Pierre Melville, the movie Girl On The Bridge, Anton Corbijn, Chet Baker.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
Lee Hazlewood: The LHI Years: Singles, Nudes & Backsides 1968-1971
Johnny Cash: American III: Solitary Man
Tori Amos: Under The Pink
John Lennon: Double Fantasy
The Velvet Underground & Nico: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Q. How do you feel playing live?
I do not play out live anymore, I never enjoyed it. I prefer to create in solitude, kind of like Harry Nilsson.


Q. How do you describe Sugarplum Fairies´ sounds?
The sound of SPF tries to bridge the transatlantic gap with an amalgamation of European pop sensibilities and waltzing Americana folk rock.

On the latest album, ‘Payday Flowers’, SPF veers from sleepy shoegaze to eclectic Vaudeville, featuring Lee Hazlewood reminiscent horn arrangements alongside languid soundscapes.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
Since I am purely a lyricist and singer I collaborate with other songwriters/musicians which are part of “The Fairies Family”. They send me melodies and I create stories around them, which is a very solidary process. I always record/produce my own vocal tracks in my home studio, which is in an early 1920’s townhouse with great acoustics. Then I bring in various musicians to layer the tracks.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Gold Star, Son of the Velvet Rat, Dylan Luster, Lael Neale, Korey Dane.

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
I usually include at least one cover song on all of my albums; on the current release it’s “Life’s A Gas” by T.Rex. Not sure yet what it’s gonna be for the next one.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Start working on a new album this fall and expanding on the visual aspects that come with being a recording artist. I have always created the artwork for SPF, but I just recently started producing and directing my own videos.

Q: Any parting words?
"If you're afraid of the dark, remember the night rainbow. If there is no happy ending, make one out of cookie dough." - Cooper Edens
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Thanks

https://sugarplumfairies.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Sugarplum.Fairies/
http://www.sugarplumfairies.com/

segunda-feira, 17 de setembro de 2018

Rainbow Haze with Hipsum - An Interview


Antioquia, Colômbia, mas poderia ser Londres, Los Angeles, Berlin, Tóquio, São Paulo, ou qualquer outra cidade do planeta, a música que o quarteto Hipsum emana de seu primeiro disco, "Rainbow Haze" é universal.

Um dreampop com os pés nos 80´s. Ecos de The Wake, Cure, e, conectando-se com Beach Fossils, DIIV e Hibou, os caras esbanjam aquele ar inocente e doce por entre cintilantes e melancólicas melodias.

Nada de novo, é verdade, mas o que é novo realmente, o ponto é que o Hipsum acertou em cheio, e isso basta.


***** Interview with Hipsum *****


Q. When did Hipsum begin? Tell us about the history...
1. We met at school, we had a particular love for music, I met Esteban (guitar) playing in a school project in 2016, and with Felipe (bass guitar) we had known each other for several years; the day of our graduation we were playing some covers, and then we disconnected.
I started recording a few covers in my home studio and I composed a song, an old friend suggested that we could start a project, so I started to write and record more songs, it was just him and me, so I recruited Esteban; Then we had a small discussion, and Esteban and I were left, then Felipe entered, and finally Miguel (drums), who was Felipe's friend, is now our friend :)

Q: Who are your influences?
2. Some of our influences are Beach Fossils, DIIV, Hibou, Soda Stereo, The Cure, some punk and rock of the 80s, beer, and being with friends.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
3. It's too difficult, there are more than five, even complete discographies, such as Soda Stereo, Beach Fossils or DIIV; in this list there is no order of favorites.
-A flourish and a spoil (The Districts)
-Sun structures (Temples)
-Revolver (Beatles)
-Dunes (Hibou)
-Boys don't cry (The Cure)
Many were missing :(

Q. How do you feel playing live?
4. At first, we feel a little nervous and uncoordinated, but as we see the good reaction of the people, we start to feel like we're in a simple rehearsal, we even let out a few jokes.
Lately nor at the beginning we feel nervous, because we know that people are there because they like it, it's very nice.



Q. How do you describe Hipsum´s sounds?
5. A kind of sweet and somber sounds, with a bit of mystery and haze. A very philosophical description. But technically it is a combination of several genres, such as dreampop, post-punk, shoegaze, etc ...

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
6. There is no definite process, but most of the time I have a melody or an idea and I capture it at that moment in the "recording studio", then I compose the lyrics.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
7. In our city (Medellin) and surrounding areas, several bands have emerged with which we have been growing: Margarita siempre viva, Wait, Llueve en la montaña, Lobo estepario, Encarta 98, even others that are not so new, but that belong to this new wave, they are Arboles Vertebrados.
And internationally Launder.
I really don't know who else to mention, there are too many emerging artists who are doing their job very well.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
8. Well, from Beach Fossils we have two covers, which are Lessons and Sleep Apnea, and from The Cure is Fire in Cairo, but we are not very interested in continuing to make covers, we want to continue showing our own content.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
9. For this year we want to continue playing in our country and launch a new album in Spanish, and in later years show us abroad, but it really is not something that has us worried, we just like to live in the present even if we ask ourselves what will happen tomorrow, and it's better that way, just leting things happen, because having everything planned just loose the magic.

Q: Any parting words?
10. We are very grateful that you have met us and we have done this interview, it is a project too new and we didn't expect everything to happen so quickly.
We want to thank people like you, who make small projects spread and make more people come to stay and support the dream of young people.
Thank you very much and greetings.
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/HipsumBand/
https://hipsum.bandcamp.com/album

sexta-feira, 14 de setembro de 2018

Foxxxy Mulder, "Everything in Bloom" - Video Premiere


O duo Foxxxy Mulder, já conhecido dos frequentadores das páginas do TBTCI e dos iniciados às novas sonoridades do submundo dos bons sons, em breve, muito em breve, mais precisamente no dia 21 de Setembro, brindará ao mundo seu mais novo trabalho, "Heretic", mas sobre o álbum, falaremos mais também em breve, por hora, David Kumler e Kori Hensell dão mais um aperitivo do que é "Heretic".

O segundo single do álbum é "Everything in Bloom", uma peça soturna, densa e sombria, que ganha sua premiere, um vídeo que sintetiza e serve como pano de fundo perfeito para a atmosfera angustiantemente claustrofóbica da canção.

David, a pedido do TBTCI, explica abaixo, detalhadamente todo o conceito, todos os segredos e inspirações da peça.

"Everything in Bloom" e "Ghost", single anterior, são perfeitas demonstrações do que é "Heretic".

Que o dia 21 chega logo, porque "Heretic" precisa ser apreciado imediatamente, mas como eu disse acima, sobre o disco, falaremos muito em breve.



***** Foxxxy Mulder, "Everything in Bloom" ***** 


"This video is quite different from our past videos. With most of our videos, we’ve used public domain footage—usually from old horror films—and attempted to stitch it all together as something of a collage. The first video we made was “Heaven Waits for You,” where I layered together clips from Nosferatu with some night driving footage that Kori shot. Our most recent video, “Ghost,” similarly uses the collage aesthetic, but specifically by juxtaposing 1960s and 1970s stock footage with witch trial footage from a couple different horror films.

With “Everything in Bloom,” we decided we wanted to shoot something on our own. We didn’t really have a concept when we started other than “hey, let’s go shoot some interesting footage and we’ll find a way to collage it together.” The song itself is very imagistic, so we figured it would lend itself well to the collage aesthetic, but since we’d be shooting the footage rather than lifting it from elsewhere, it would be something new and interesting, fus anyway.

So Kori went to a graveyard in North Carolina to capture some footage, and I went to this really big park in Seattle that has a lot of forests, fields, beaches, and whatnot. I brought along the cloak that you see Death wearing in the video thinking perhaps it would be useful. Anyway, on the way to the park, I stopped by an art store to pick up some supplies for another project, and ended up buying this fake skull. As we were shooting, we started playing around with the skull, including it in some of the shots, and so forth, and suddenly it came to me—this is a story about Death falling in love with a disembodied skull. I texted Kori and she loved the idea, so we went with it.

Usually when we make a video, we have a really clear concept from the very beginning, but this time it evolved as we made the video. And in the end, I think it works. To be honest, I’m not sure what the story in the video is, not exactly, largely because you could interpret it in a number of ways. Maybe Death has lost someone—someone who has returned to life or left for some other kind of afterlife, and all Death has to remember them by is their skull. Or maybe this is about someone who has lost of a loved one, and they’re imagining that death is not all bleak and dreary, that it’s full of beauty and dancing. Certainly there’s an aspect of humor to the whole thing as well—I mean, Death dancing with the skull, that’s supposed to be at least a little bit funny. In the end, though, the video—like the song—is a meditation on death, loss, and melancholy, and I hope that everyone who watches it experiences something unique."  - 
David Kumler and Kori Hensell
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Thanks

https://foxxxymulder.bandcamp.com/track/everything-in-bloom
https://foxxxymulder.bandcamp.com/album/heretic
https://www.facebook.com/fmnoise

quinta-feira, 13 de setembro de 2018

BCX with Sleeping Witch & Saturn - An Interview


O revival, se bem que não gosto muito deste termo, eu talvez prefira a revitalização do pós punk, continua mais vibrante do que nunca. Bandas de alta qualidade despontam nos quatro cantos do mundo, expurgando angústia, raiva, melancolia, sombras, anarquia e todas as possibilidades da época mais efervescente da música, no que diz respeito ao rompimento com amarras sonoras.

E neste levante, de Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, vem o Sleeping Witch & Saturn, debutando com o EP, homônimo. Três exercícios que englobam todos os adjetivos que o pós punk sugere.

Mas tudo com dosagens sem exageros, é denso, é melódico, é melancólico, é apaixonante e paira sobre sombras, sem extremismos.

Uma bela estreia do Sleeping Witch & Saturn. Aguardamos os próximos passos.


***** Interview with Sleeping Witch & Saturn *****


Q. When did Sleeping Witch and Saturn begin? Tell us about the history...
A: SW&S began in the winter of 2015 as a solo effort. I spent several years recording demos and conceptualizing the project. In 2017 it became a full band with the help of some friends, andwe’ve been playing shows and writing new material since then.

Q: Who are your influences?
A: I think we draw from a bit of everything that we listen to, but for the most part we take influence from the more raw and eccentric acts of the past. Joy Division, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Velvet Underground, Bauhaus, Slint…

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
A: I can’t choose a top 5 of all time. There are too many masterpieces. Here are 5 albums that I really like, in no particular order…
1. Lungfish – Artificial Horizon
2. Slint – Spiderland
3. DIIV - Oshin
4. Kraftwerk – The Man Machine
5. The Smiths – s/t

Q. How do you feel playing live?
A: Personally, I get really nervous before almost every show, even after playing live music for a decade now. Being on stage is weird and I almost never look at the crowd, but it’s still a cathartic experience that I’m also able to have fun with when I let myself. I think we all worry about whether or not we played well after a set, but there’s something freeing about our music that doesn’t necessarily constrain us to feeling like we have to be perfect.

Q. How do you describe Sleeping Witch and Saturn´s sounds?
A: We consider ourselves a Post-Punk band, and I think that that is a proper catch-all for our various directions. You might call us Art Punk.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
A: We recorded our EP with our guitarist, Rowdy Kanarek. We practice in his studio, and it just made the most sense to do everything with him. It’s more personal and low-stress, and he is good at what he does. We will probably continue to do all of our releases that way.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
True Body, Resistance Wire

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
A: We have covered both Joy Division and New Order live, so we’ve already lived out that fantasy. In the future I would love to cover The Velvet Underground.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: We’re currently writing an LP, and will probably start recording within a few months. Until then, we’re planning on releasing a single, and doing some short tours.

Q: Any parting words?
A: Thank you, TBTCI! Don’t do bad drugs.
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Thanks

https://sleepingwitchandsaturn.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/sleepingwitchandsaturn/

quarta-feira, 12 de setembro de 2018

Eden with Four Quarters - An Interview


Maio, Hong Kong, China, e vinha ao mundo o mais novo EP do Four Quarters.

Diferentemente do que usualmente acontece com a maciça maioria das bandas orientais, o Four Quarters não trafega por praias gazers, ou sonhadoras, pelo contrário, o mundo dos caras é cinzento e claustrofóbico.

Um certo pós punk doentio, que conecta-se com expoentes de alta grandeza, como Soft Moon e The KVB, os caras, expurgam a melancolia através do caos.

Angustiante por vezes, frenéticos em outras, "Eden", o novo EP, endosso o coro das possíveis trilhas sonoras para os dias do juízo final.

Indispensável.


***** Interview with Four Quarters *****


Q. When did Four Quarters begin? Tell us about the history...
Four Quarters started back in 2014 with 3 of my friends from secondary school. Honestly, we just wanted to make music. We had always played in terrible little bands that practiced at lunch but never really did anything with it. A couple of us had gigged out a bit but the original lineup was really just 3 of my friends. They were kind enough to play songs I had written so I could hear them performed out loud in a small room. I’ve always written everything myself and really I don’t consider FourQuarters a band. It’s my project but I’ve had the pleasure of meeting amazing people along the way that have shaped the way I make music.

Q: Who are your influences?
Influences are weird, man. Obviously my music sounds like those bands a lot aesthetically, but I really do love so many bits and pieces that I hear everywhere. Really, Four Quarters is just me taking elements that I find appealing in other people’s music and letting that seep into my sound.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time
In no particular order:
‘The Ziggurat’ (The Construction Corporation),
‘The Downward Spiral’ (Nine Inch Nails),
‘The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me’ (Brand New),
‘Reverie Lagoon: Music For Escapism Only’ (Seahaven),
'Rooms Of The House (La Dispute).

Q. How do you feel playing live?
You know, it’s been a while since I’ve played a live show and I think it’s been a break I needed. It got to the point where I wasn’t having fun and basically just needed to get fucked up to play shows. I’m definitely aiming to gigging again though. While the last EP (Eden) was very much a studio release, the next EP is going to be high energy. I’m arranging things with live shows in mind…

Q. How do you describe Four Quarters´ sounds?
Melancholy, Noise, Reverb. I like to think it’s somewhat driving music but I do enjoy getting spacey and I’ve always like maintaining a balance between dense blocky music and more sparse atmospheric pieces.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
My recording process has really changed on each release. I will say I’ve progressively been enjoying the writing/tracking process a lot more every time I go into to the studio/officially start recording final tracks. Basically, every Four Quarters song (or at least the catchy ones) starts off as a chord progression and a vocal melody. I generally don’t sit down and write lyrics that much, I usually sing along and fill in the lines I'm missing. From there it’s just about fleshing out the parts and assigning roles in the composition to different instruments. I’m definitely not the first person to say this but the key to a good song is it’s chord progression and general flow. You could give the most amazing musicians in the world a shitty song and it’ll still have that little void there where it just doesn’t satisfy you. You can try and beef it up and keep things exciting and do whatever you want, but if the melody and chord progression don’t keep you going on their own, you’re stuck.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Check out: Atlas At Last, The KVB, MilkMouth, The Soft Moon, Tropic Of Cancer, Brainbombs, this awesome Russian band ‘Motorama’ (though I like their side-project Utro (spelled ‘Утро' in Cyrillic).

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
I’ve always wanted to play Heartbreak Hotel live but with a lot of fuzz. (Funnily enough that’s the first proper song I ever learned to play on guitar)

Q: What are your plans for the future?
I’m currently in the middle of writing/jamming/figuring out exactly what the next songs are going to sound like. I’ve been working with my friend Bennet Goergen, from the amazingly talented trio Lady Creation, a lot. He’s really influenced the way I’ve approached writing the coming EP. In many ways he’s reignited my passion for playing live in a small room through loud amps. I don’t have a release date or any other details, but I can tell you the goal is to put together a live band again and start playing the new songs.

Q: Any parting words?
Thank you so much for taking the time to share my words with the world. I genuinely appreciate it so much and I can’t wait to share my future work with you and your lovely readers <3 br="">*
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Thanks

terça-feira, 11 de setembro de 2018

Sleeper with Declan Beare - An Interview


O irlandês Declan Beare faz música, principalmente para ele mesmo, sem se preocupar com rotulações e coisas do gênero.

Em seu novo trabalho, "Sleeper", a abertura estridentemente barulhenta com "Dreamer", pode sugerir que o que teremos pela frente é uma máquina de assassinar tímpanos, mas já em "Abandoner", um clima atmosférico que abraça os tímpanos eu seu modo espacialmente sonhador. E o disco vai apresentando novas e inusitadas facetas, desde folk psicodélico, colagens e outras maluquices.

Não há limites para Declan e sua música, o que pode muitas vezes espantar os puristas, mas por outras, atrair freaks sedentos por alucinações.

Aprecie sem pré-conceitos.


***** Interview with Declan Beare ******


Q. When did Declan Beare begin? Tell us about the history...
1.So ive been making solo music for almost 8 years. Almsot all of it at first was awful just noisy and arguably not music. But in the past 3 years ive been writing music with my main band called "The hounds". And since forming that band ive gotten a lot better at song writing. But my band band its mostly like hard rock and blues but i always wanted to do more stuff than just that was more experimental so i decided to get back into making music under just my own name while also writing for the band.

Q: Who are your influences?
2.Well while im overall inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Cliff Burton,Tame Impala, Toska , Brian Eno and David Bowie, the sleeper album has very little of that sound. Its quite obviousy that sound was inspired by My Bloody Valentine. The album as a whole was less of me copying mbv and loveless and more a response in my personal style and version of what should shoegaze sounds like in my head.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
3.This is In no particular order cause otherwise that question would be too hard.
Rumours-Fleetwood Mac
Songs for the deaf-Queens of the Stone Age
Loveles-My Bloody Valentine
In rainbows(or Kid A)-Radiohead (I just cant choise between them)
Graceland - Pual Simon

Q. How do you feel playing live?
4.Well in my other band i can useually get into the "Frontman of a rock show" persona and run up an down the stage, headbanging and everything. And its funny cause in that band i have the huge big pedal board and sampler and everthing. But for the declan beare solo material if i ever play its to a small crowd and its acoustic so im a bit more still and awkward but i still try to interact with the audience...as long as i dont have to look them in the eye.

Q. How do you describe Declan Beare´s sounds?
5.The sound i was going for on this new album was dreamy but with moments of pure adrenaline, wash but also clear, Intimate yet distant and drowned out. Theres always one thing thats important to the song despite the fact that its burried deep in the mix. Its not a sound to sleep to, more so a sound for when your body is telling you to sleep but you dont want to and your trying to say away.


Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
6. I'll not to get too tecnical and carried away cause id be perfectly happy to do a 6 page essay song by song rundown of what i did. Instead i'll just go through the general idea. Most of the sounds started by laying down the drum beat. If i had a drum kit and could play acoustic drums i would but instead i used MCP samplers, analog drum machines and inbuilt drum patterns on old keyboard workstations. They were all compressed down, fed through huge reverbs or delay then compress that again to make the reverberation be heard in the mix clearly.

The bass was useually a clean direct sound with a slight chorus effect though i often put a mic up to the bass amp like in the song dust to get a more vintage sound. It was often layered with extremely distorted and fuzzy reverberant bass guitar or a analog monophonic synth just for texture.

After the drums and bass are down i move onto the guitar which range from 2 per track to 37 but the most prominant is the washy dreamy sounds. Yes some The bassic idea is the guitar goea through a fuzz pedal, then an overdrive then its squashed and compress by a phaser that aslo give some spin to the sound, then into a chorus or flanger and then delay and reverb. I dont do a lot of the kevin shields "reverse reverb into fuzz with trem bar vibtato" cause its his sound not mine. For the song sleeper the trick i used was sending a clean guitar through 6 delay pedals then a compressor so hear the initical strum but then the trails delay and self oscialte so it just hold out a consistant drone.

Another thing a did was layer up guitars with volume swells and wah and phaser and everything 4 times all different notes so they layed up to be a chord. Something this sound was also layered up with a analog polysynth or the same mono synth i used for bass for up a few octaves and treated the same way i treat guitars. One trick to getting a looper pedal and layer up chords and single notes and record it onto one track of a 4 track tape recorder and keep doing that till each track had a chord and i just fade them chords in and out to the music .

The vocals for the most part were pretty minimal just singing softly into the mic and do that 5 - 20 times and layer it up. The execption to this was the song "Sungazer" where it was two track for the chorus and one for the verse. I had a vocal mic that was slipt into the audio interface and also into my pedal board and into my guitar amp with spring reverb. I also had the mixing monitors on so everything was bleeding into each other and it was always on the verge of feedback.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
7. "Bitch Falcon" from Dublin are on the rise and they are maybe 5 years away from being the hotest underground thing. The band "The New 52" are doing some reason cool things and definitly worth checking out if you like really good songwriting. I saw dreaming of jupiter once and theyre make some amazing soundscapes.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
8. I really want to do a cover of kate bush

Q: What are your plans for the future?
9. I have two ideas for the next album. One idea is a more pyschedelic sound, almost minimilast shoegaze meets Tame Impala. Another idea is this multistage consept album where the first few songs are harsh and digital and stiff and look at the disconect and isolation of the modern world and desire to step back. Then it falls to an acoustic folk album thats actually recorded outside to look at the joy in stepping out and finding peace but then the slow realisation that you might be missing out opertunitys. In the final few songs its psychedelic and looks to embrace the possitives of mordern life and the possitives of stepping away.

Q: Any parting words?
10. I know a lot of people who said they were gonna make an album or seem to be making it for a year or something. This album was made in a little over two months but admitedly could have gone faster. I set a dedline and i comitted to it. It can be hard to stop trying to perfect but its better to have a near perfect product than a perfect idea.
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Lake Ruth & Listening Center, "To Recife" - Premiere


Não é de hoje que o Lake Ruth tornou-se daquelas preciosidades cultuadas aqui pelo TBTCI, não somente pelo eloquente lirismo poético, a sonoridade que flutua por entre uma sofisticação além do usual, pairando no mundo dos sonhos de forma sutil e cintilante.

Mas, agora, talvez o Lake Ruth em sua nova aventura com o Listening Center tenha superado todas as expectativas.

Seu mais novo single, lançado no último Sete de Setembro, diz muito ao Brasil, e aos brasileiros.

"To Recife" é uma peça totalmente voltada para uma das maiores escritas brasileiras de todos os tempos, que não somente destaca-se em território nacional, mas também, fora dos limites geográficos brasileiros. Nada mais nada menos do que Clarice Lispector.

A homenagem e a homenageada são puro delírio. Hipnoticamente envolvente a canção desliza suavemente pelos poros e apaixona.

Uma das criadoras da canção, a vocalista Allison Brice, explicou ao TBTCI, minuciosamente o que é, e, o que representa "To Recife".

Entenda, ouça, apaixone-se e vá ler as obras da eterna Clarice.



*****Lake Ruth & Listening Center, "To Recife"  *****


To Recife was one of our very early songs. It was written in 2015, during a particularly horrific point in the Syrian refugee crisis. The tragic death of Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi, one of thousands who drowned in the Mediterranean that year, coincided with my reading of the first English-language biography of Clarice Lispector – Why This World by Benjamin Moser. Though I’d been an obsessive fan of Clarice’s revolutionary and visionary writing for many years, I never knew the full extent of her family’s background, nor the degree to which they suffered. All I knew was that she was a Jewish writer of Ukrainian descent who had come to Brazil as a baby. Reading her family’s story – their flight from genocide, their long and arduous journey from Ukraine to Romania to Brazil, deeply moved me.

The song lyrics were inspired by the courage and fortitude of Clarice’s parents: her mother, Mania (Marieta) and father, Pinkhas (Pedro). They endured unimaginable hardships for the sake of their children. Though they both died young their three daughters, Clarice, Elisa and Tania, were able to grow and thrive in their adopted country. Their story is the story of all refugees, and one of triumph – for unlike so many, the family survived their journey and safely reached Brazil.

This summer, as another humanitarian crisis played out on the US / Mexico border, I had the fortuitous opportunity to discuss Clarice’s life and work with Brazilians in Miami. Afterwards, I felt compelled to revisit this song. We had experimented with a series of arrangements over the years, but none had felt quite right. We substantially pared it back and invited David Mason of Listening Center to contribute. We’re all big fans of David’s music and we often collaborate on recordings – he plays in our live group as well. He really breathed fresh life into the song with a new arrangement and some great synths - and brought it exactly where it needed to be.

In their flight from brutal violence and human cruelty, the Lispectors were, at the very least, never separated as a family. Nor were they detained and imprisoned as so many asylum seekers on the US / Mexico border presently are. We find this situation appalling and unforgivable. For the month of September, all our proceeds from sales of this song will benefit The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES). RAICES is nonprofit organization that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to under-served immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas. RAICES is at the very frontline of the current crisis and working tirelessly to end family separation and detention, and to bring those responsible for these abuses of human rights to accountability. Currently, hundreds of children are still separated from their parents, and hundreds of reunified families remain imprisoned in family detention, which is no place for a child.

We thank all of our listeners for your support, and ask that you please share widely to maximize our donation for RAICES and the critically needed work they do for vulnerable people.
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https://lakeruth.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/lakeruthmusic

quinta-feira, 6 de setembro de 2018

VisualizationTechnique with Icebeing - An Interview


Pegue algumas obras psicodélicas fundamentais, "White Album", "Pet Sounds", "Soft Bulletin", e unifique-as à eletrônica moderna com veias psych, exemplo, "Merriweather Post Pavilion", e você terá a dimensão sonora do projeto inglês, Icebeing.

O Icebeing é Luke Phillips, um produtor excêntrico que resolveu expurgar suas freakines e demais devaneios através de música.

Música apenas, talvez não seja bem o conceito por aqui, o mundo do Icebeing, é quase que cinematográfico. Pegue o mais recente trabalho, "Visualization Technique" e perceba que o que Luke criou é como se fosse uma trilha sonora de algum delírio das películas, mas a quase anti música de Luke, no final, soa como música pop, sem cair em suas ciladas.

O Icebeing não é para todo ouvido, mas os iniciados certamente aplaudirão.

***** Interview with Icebeing *****


Q. When did Icebeing begin? Tell us about the history...
The Icebeing project started about 4 years ago. I’d been recording music under the name Ersatz Window, which is more dreamy and ambient, and I wanted to do something a bit heavier and brighter with a stronger psychedelic influence and a larger focus on pop melodies. It’s still the same setup today, just me in my room playing around and trying to come up with cool sounds to build a song on.

Q: Who are your influences?
Loads. Musically, artists like the Flaming Lips, Caribou, MGMT, of Montreal, definitely the early Elephant 6 stuff like Apples in Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control… I’ll often come up with songs and ideas off the back of getting into certain albums and artists - some of the colder, more abrasive stuff on the first album ‘Portals’ was influenced by me discovering This Heat, for example. Getting into Raymond Scott’s early electronic stuff was a big one too around that time. I could list a ton of artists - there’s so much music I really love, a lot of it inspires me. In terms of recording and producing, Atlas Sound and Oneohtrix Point Never are probably the two artists that have had the biggest influence on how I want to approach things.

Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
I could never pick just 5. I guess these would be up there at the moment - Gorillaz debut (first proper album I got, played it to death and it still sounds great), Oneohtrix R Plus Seven, Beatles White Album, Avalanches Wildflower, M.I.A Kala, Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca, Eno Here Come the Warm Jets, Beach Boys Pet Sounds of course… the list goes on. I tried to make one of these ‘Top 10’ lists just in my iTunes not too long ago ended up with about 80 albums - there’s too much good stuff out there.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
There is yet to be an Icebeing live gig, definitely something on the to-do list. Ideally, it’d be a big group of people playing together and doing cool stuff, with some lovely visuals of course. I’ve played live as a drummer in a couple of rock bands and I like the energy. I get like a primal buzz from it, very different to slaving away on a track in front of my computer. Last year, a friend and I played as Polar Twin at a festival in Copenhagen called ‘Lost Lands’, which was a whole different ball game. Loading and triggering samples on the fly and live-looping etc. - took a lot of preparation and a lot of potential for fuck-ups, was a fun challenge! Icebeing live would be a mix of the two.

Q. How do you describe Icebeing’s sounds?
Hopefully a blend of futuristic and nostalgic. And colourful.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
It changes from song to song. More often than not, I’ll start with the drums and end with the vocals, with everything else at some point in between. Sometimes I’ll have a full track with the chords and lyrics and everything in my head mapped out, other times I’ll be making it up as I go along. Most of the songs I work on now will be done in a day, like there’ll be a burst of a few hours where I’ll shut myself in my room and just record things, mixing as I go. Pretty much all the tracks on ‘Visualization Technique’ were done like this - mastering it probably took longer than recording all of it.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
I really like the Superorganism album that came out a few months ago, and the Lemon Twigs album from a couple of years ago is a stunner. Tropical Fuck Storm album is awesome too. Yves Tumor, who made one of my favourites from last year, just got signed to Warp so looking forward to his major label debut. And my good friends making music - empty3D, Holly Henderson, Rare Devices. Also Inevitable Daydream and Penelope Isles, two local-ish bands who are great.

Q: Which band would you love to make a cover version of?
I’ve never recorded covers, though sometimes I get ideas for them. I probably wouldn’t touch stuff by my favourite artists, just certain songs I love. ‘Lethal Enforcer’ by We Are Scientists is one of those hidden gems I’ve loved since I was young, such a great melody and sound, I’ve thought it’d be cool to make a spacier version of it. Scott McKenzie’s ’San Francisco’ is another one, awesome song.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Take a little break from recording and focus on other stuff - get a live band together and play some shows! And try and make a good music video.

Q: Any parting words?
Thanks for having me
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Thanks

https://www.facebook.com/Icebeing/
https://icebeing.bandcamp.com/