A laid back new Wu Tang Clan tune dropped overnight with production coming from DJ Mathematics and an R&B vocal from Nathaniel. ‘Keep Watch’ is the first jam to be taken from their 20th anniversary album ‘A Better Tomorrow’ that is being prepped right now. Get on this.
Fucked Up
“Paper The House”
Matador Records
The news that these Canadian punks are back with a new album is very well received in these parts. The fact that this new track is a beautiful transition from last album ‘David Comes to Life’ is the cherry on the cake.
“The way I make a living is driving me insane!” screams Damien. Do you reckon that since having a kid in 2009, ‘Paper The House’ is a screaming anthem about growing up? Whatever it’s about, it’s one of their most melodic tracks to date and a perfect intro ahead of their new album Glass Boys that is cheduled for release on June 2nd via Matador Records. Pre-order it here.
‘Freaks’
Rasputin’s Secret Police
Fleeting Youth Records
Rasputin’s Secret Police are a two piece band from Philadelphia. Even though you may not have heard their two-man-made musings until now, they are in fact seasoned professionals in the art of noise making.
Having been in the business of crafting filthy grunge music together for over 13 years -almost exclusively for those in the know in Drexel Hill, Philadelphia- Brandon Ayres (guitar & vocals) and Josh Phillips (Drums) are now stepping out to a wider audience with their upcoming Fleeting Youth Records cassette release Comfortable.
The filthy grunge this band churn out comes in the most raw and primitive form. Let ‘Freaks’ be the perfect example. This track oozes a gloomy and twisted discordance, a verse of huge, wall of sound sustain and traipsing drums support a vocal that juxtaposes the honeyed tones of Billy Corgan with the wailing’s of Ozzy Osbourne. All this meanders into a chorus of what’s probably the loosest and lo-fi drum fills you’ll ever hear.
This eruptive stoner rock duo can jump from total sedation to the most electrifying noise in an instant, if you dig early Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr then their upcoming album Comfortable is just the ear-bashing you need. If you’re savvy, waste no time in heading to their bandcamp for hours of lo-fi grunge listening.
(Or Head to this months Buzzbombs feature to hear another mean track from RSP!)
Comfortable is available from March 25th via Fleeting Youth Records.
Dave Palmer
DJ Snake & Lil Jon
‘Turn Down For What’
Shut your trap and get this bonkers new video in your life from DJ Snake & Lil Jon whose music makes you lose your shit! Best video in ages.
White Lung
Drown With The Monster
Domino
Vancouver rock ‘n’ rollers White Lung have signed to Domino Records. To celebrate this magnificent pairing they’ve dropped the video for what is an absolute behemoth of a new single.
‘Drown With The Monster’ is a 2 minute aggression advocate. This track sounds like Kathleen Hanna joined Trash Talk, fueled by face melting guitar and bass riffs that drive front woman Mish Way’s vocal howl straight home.
In her own words – “This song is about kicking habits and running away with a new distraction. It’s a song about my two biggest vices, but I’d rather drown with the monster than blow dry my wounds.”
Now joined by Wax Idols front woman Hether Fortune on bass duties, the new White Lung sound unstoppable. Hit play below and embrace this razor sharp hardcore, guaranteed to blow your head clean off.
‘Drown With The Monster’ is released April 29th via Domino Records. Get your 7″ pre-ordered here and catch them live at The Great Escape in May.
Dave Palmer
King Khan & The Shrines
‘Road Tape’
Merge Records
King Khan & The Shrines’ psychedelic road show is coming to the UK this April so the man himself has prepared a banger of a mixtape ahead of his journey that he is calling his ‘Road Tape’. It’s a must-listen mix that takes you from Detroit to heaven with a plethora of genres, flavours and landscapes that all work peacefully together.
UK tour dates:
04/17 UK, BRIGHTON – THE HAUNT
04/18 UK, LEEDS – BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB
04/19 IE, DUBLIN – WHELANS
04/20 IE, BELFAST – THE BLACK BOX
04/21 UK, GLASGOW – BROADCAST
04/22 UK, MANCHESTER – THE ROADHOUSE
04/23 UK, LIVERPOOL – KOROVA
04/24 UK, LONDON – SCALA
Playlist:
Chain & The Gang – Detroit Music
Black Rock – Yeah Yeah
The Antibalas Afro Beat Orchestra – Battle Of The Species
Mosby Family Singers – The Lord Is My Shepherd
Cosmic Rays – Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lies
Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National – Okwukwe Na Nchekwube
Connan Mockasin – Megumi The Milkway Above
Magnetix – Time After Time
Iron Knowledge – Showstopper
Kealan Phil Cohran & Legacy – White Nile
Ennio Morricone – Navajo Joe
Shabazz Palaces – Are you…Can You…Were You? (Felt)
Big Daddy Kane – Ain´t No Half Steppin’
Red Mass – Saturn
Shannon & The Clams – Rip Van Winkle
Robert Ward – Forgive me Darling
The Mighty Hannibal – We´re Gonna Make It
Link Wray – Girl From The North Country
Penny & The Quarters – You & Me
Tense Men
Where Dull Care Is Forgotten
Faux Discx
Comprising of members from Sauna Youth, Cold Pumas and Omi Palone, namely Rich, Ollie and Liam, together, these three enigmas are Tense Men.
Aside from an unnamed cassette release on Cazenove Tapes a couple of years ago, -back when Tense Men operated as a two piece- little has been heard of this minimalistic trio until now. Tense Men have finally arrived with a mini LP, Where Dull Care Is Forgotten.
‘Stages of Boredom’ sets the tone here. Creeping in with a walking bass and tight, linear guitar riffing. A formula which is applied to most of the six tracks featured on this LP.
The concentrated repetition of ‘RNRFON’ is almost enough to induce a psychiatric episode. The drums and bass lock together so tightly here it’s comparable to having your head stuck in a vice. This is arguably the highest point of the LP and is to be played at no less than full volume to ensure you feel some serious pressure around your skull.
Title track ‘Where Dull Care Is Forgotten’ is almost reminiscent of King Krule and his vocal musings, with steady held notes building in volume to create an accommodating blank canvas for singer/guitarist Ollie Fisher’s haunting drawl.
Closing number ‘Opiate Glow’ finally unleashes the grit that Tense Men have pent up over the past five tracks. Just when you think they’ve ironed out every crease with their tight, close knit chords-a-scratching structures, they step on the distortion and screw it all back up again.
Where Dull Care Is Forgotten is a claustrophobic collection of experimental punk that lives up to the band’s name. Clocking out at just over 20 minutes, these boldly minimalistic jams confirm Tense Men’s sound as raw, stripped back and increasingly intense. Each track boasts a stiff and rigid attitude with repetition at its core, sure to leave you firmly on edge and anxious for more of Tense Men’s mysterious melody.
Where Dull Care Is Forgotten is due for release March 10th 2014 via Faux Discx.
Dave Palmer
‘Slowdaze’ Mixtape
Slowdive
As if the news of My Bloody Valentine reforming to release a new album and take it on tour to every major city in the world wasn’t enough to instigate a wet patch on every shoegaze fan’s crotch. This year, the younger sibling of shoegaze has done the very same. Slowdive have announced their return from silence with a performance at Primavera Sound on May 30th 2014. Allegedly intended as a one off gig marking 20 years past since their final performance in May of 1994, Slowdive have followed up this massive announcement with a London show at Village Underground, one week before they jet off to Spain. Naturally, tickets sold out in a matter of minutes.
To keep us all interested during the build up to these huge come-back gigs, Slowdive have made an exclusive ‘Slowdaze’ mix for Dazed. There’s more than an hours worth of melancholic and moody shoegaze-tinged tracks that span the decades and genres, jumping from Boards Of Canada to The Drums, then back to Mogwai via Sigur Ros.
Following an official statement from the band on their website, there’s not a great deal of members that have continued to ‘gaze since they all parted ways in the mid 90’s. Having to quite literally re-learn how to play their instruments the way they used to will surely make for an unmissable live show.
With Slowdive’s retrospective step back into the world of shoegaze, is a Pygmalion follow-up album on the horizon for 2014? Let’s hope so.
(via)
Dave Palmer
The Notorious B.I.G vs Beethoven
Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 90/2 – Suicidal Thoughts
Free Download
From beyond the grave, Biggie Smalls is still slamming some words, this week to the tunes of Beethoven of all people. This new mashup of Biggie’s ‘Suicidal Thoughts’ is laid over Beethoven’s ‘Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90: II’ by Dan Kreiger who plays Beethoven’s work on this.
Free download from this Soundcloud link.
Vertical Scratchers
‘Daughter Of Everything’
(Merge Records)
Facebook
This is the debut album by Vertical Scratchers and it’s utterly brilliant. I shouldn’t really be surprised by this. Vertical Scratchers, you see, feature a certain John Schmersal – a part of the talent behind magnificent 90s Dayton Ohio Touch And Go Records shronk-rockers Brainiac (whose wonderful burst of creativity and incredible music was cruelly cut short with the sudden death of frontman Tim Taylor in a car accident), he then went on to form Enon, continuing to make eclectic and challenging, yet always melodic and pleasurable music.
Vertical Scratchers very much continues down the path that Schmersal has travelled since the beginning. ‘Daughter Of Everything’ is quirky, jarring and sometimes disconcerting yet from beginning to end and top to bottom it is gloriously melodic. Every song crackles with addictive melodies and sublime harmonies, split between John and his partner in the band – ex-Triclops!/Anywhere man Christian Beaulieu. They met at a Thanksgiving party, started hanging out and writing songs and very quickly, and very naturally a great musical partnership began to flourish and the songs began to flow.
The highlights are many. ‘You Dug Us All’ is pure Shins, Pinback, Heavy Vegetable style quirky harmonies and prime-rump American indie rock, whilst opening track ‘Wait No Longer’ kicks into life with some high-octane drumming from Beaulieu. ‘Pretend You Are Free’ and ‘Rainbows’, on the other hand, shimmer with Beach Boys/Beatles inspired harmonies that are both sublime and beautiful.
Vertical Scratchers have delivered a classic American indie rock album that sounds effortless, fresh and exciting. Not that we should be surprised by this, it’s nothing that John Schmersal hasn’t achieved before.
Pick this up from Merge immediately.
James Sherry