True Widow and Uptown Bums, United by Geography and Friends
- story Sam Hockley-Smith
Leave it to the dudes at Transparent to extend their reach from the UK all the way to Denton, Texas, where Fergus & Geronimo and a revolving cast of bands have been cranking out punchy pop music faster than we can keep track. In addition to their own music, as well as the extremely young Fungi Girls‘ way better than we expected new EP, the duo has put Transparent, and by proxy us, onto The Uptown Bums‘ power punky “First Time Caller,” as well as Dallas’ True Widow, who grabbed those lackadaisical grunge breakdowns we didn’t even realize we missed, and drew them out in an epic swell of apathy and stoned whateverness (see also: this). Basically, both bands couldn’t be more different, but did you know that Texas is pretty big? There’s probably a lot going on there.
Download: True Widow, “Duelist”
Download: Uptown Bums, “First Time Caller”
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posted on Oct 27, 2009 in MP3 / STREAMS
Transparent Sneaks Jams Into Our Inbox
- story Sam Hockley-Smith
The internet tells us that kids don’t like to buy albums anymore—no attention span, everything’s free. While this is kind of a bummer, it has also opened the floodgates to bands crowding our already packed hard drives with dashed off (or carefully constructed) singles. Transparent, a UK-based label that specializes in insanely well-curated singles that they then post for free on their blog, has created a sort of mini compilation for Turnstile Music. You have to sign up for Turnstile’s emails to get the folder, but last time we grabbed one, we got White Ring’s snarling “Suffocation,”, just about the best non-holiday related present we can think of (except money). This new mix forgoes much of the lo-fi scuzz that Transparent has been throwing our way in favor of spaced-out ’80s-leaning synth pop. If nothing else, sign up for Wild Nothing’s “Confirmation,” which sounds like The Cure fronted by Kate Bush and makes us feel bad for ever being happy.
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posted on Sep 30, 2009 in MP3 / STREAMS
Video: Ivansxtc, “Yesterday”
- story Sam Hockley-Smith
About a week ago we posted a super raw song by Seattle’s Perfume Genus. A week before that, we posted “Yesterday” by the mysterious Jesus & Mary Chain influenced Ivansxstc. For some reason—most likely because the appeal of a song that is willing to go right for unabashedly heartbreaking melancholy is undeniable—Perfume Genius has created one of those often dubious (but usually entertaining) homemade videos for “Yesterday,” featuring a woman doing incredibly solemn and somewhat nightmarish interpretive dance while staring directly at the camera. (via Transparent)
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posted on Sep 10, 2009 in MUSIC VIDEO
