Eluvium’s Matthew Cooper and Explosions In The Sky’s Mark T. Smith form Inventions, announce debut album

25 January 2014

Inventions - Trailer #1

Last year, Matthew Cooper of Eluvium invited longtime friend Mark T. Smith of Explosions In The Sky to collaborate on ‘Envenom Mettle’, a song from Eluvium’s double-album Nightmare Ending. That was the start of their creative alliance. The two formed Inventions and have recently announced the release of their self-titled debut album. Inventions arrives on April 1st via Temporary Residence and pre-orders will be available in mid-February.
To entice us ahead of the album release, Inventions have shared a teaser trailer . Watch it now.

The Octopus Project’s ‘MMKIT’ soundtracks 48-hour animated video project

24 January 2014

Austin Anijam 2014 - The Octopus Project "Mmkit"

The world of The Octopus Project is one where colour and fun always abound and the last project they got involved with, a 48-hour animation collaboration, resulted in a tremendous kaleidoscopic feast. Launched by the Austin Motion Artists Group, the project put together 14 teams of Austin based animation studios and freelancers to make an animated video for the Octopus Project song ‘MMKIT’, off last year’s excellent album Fever Forms.
Last Friday, and as the video release explains, “each team received a specific start keyframe, an end keyframe, an 11 second 4 bar phrase of a song from the latest The Octopus Project album and a guiding theme “The Ecstatic Energy of Geometry”. 48 hours later, they pieced the animations together to make one seamless 3-minute music video. Watch it now.

Fever Forms is out now via Peek-A-Boo Records.

Listen to Rare Monk’s debut single ‘Splice’

24 January 2014

Rare Monk

Portland, Oregon experimental pop rockers Rare Monk, comprising Dorian Aites, Isaac Thelin, Jacob Martin, Forest Gallien and Rick Buhr, are set to release a limited edition double a-side single, ‘Splice’ / ‘Sleep Attack’. Due out on 18th Feb via B3SCI Records, the effort was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Wally Gagel (Best Coast, Muse). Teasing the upcoming release, Rare Monk have shared ‘Splice’, a spacey and intoxicating track. Listen to it below.

Duo de Twang unveil cover of Alice In Chains’ ‘Man in the Box’

23 January 2014
Duo de Twang

Photo by Jeremy Scott

As we had previously mentioned, Les Claypool invited guitarist Bryan Kehoe to form a new project called Duo de Twang and the pair are releasing a full-length album in less than two weeks. Due out on February 4th via ATO Records, Four Foot Shack features ‘twang-ified’ covers of tracks from Les own solo material and Primus, Bee Gees, Jerry Reed, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Johnny Horton and The Chantaysand.

Their first single, a cover of Primus’s ‘Jerry Was a Race Car Driver’, got us all salivating and they are following it with another excellent single, this time a cover of Alice in Chains’ ‘Man In The Box’. Listen to it now.

s / s / s become Sisyphus and announce debut album

22 January 2014

Sisyphus - Sisyphus

Nearly two years ago, experimental singer/ songwriter Sufjan Stevens, rapper Serengeti and producer/ composer Son Lux teamed up for a new collaborative project under the moniker s / s / s. Following the release of their Beak & Claw EP last year, the trio renamed themselves as Sisyphus and are set to release their eponymous debut full-length album. Stevens explained the name change:

“s/s/s started to sound like the Nazi Schutzstaffel with a lisp so we had to change it. We wanted a word with three S’s and Sisyphus felt like a capable anti-hero—endless struggle, the human plague, the existential condition.”

The forthcoming album, which was initially meant to be and EP, is partly inspired by the art of visual artist Jim Hodges, and was commissioned by the Walker Art Center and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music series in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Sisyphus will see the light of day on March 18th via Asthmatic Kitty and Joyful Noise Recordings.

‘Calm It Down’ is the first single taken from the album and it comes with a lyric video if you feel like rapping along. Enjoy.


Waterstrider give away cover of Little Dragon’s ‘Twice’

22 January 2014

Waterstrider - Twice

Nate Salman, Drew Brown, Scott Brown, Brijean Murphy and Walker Johnson make up Oakland based outfit Waterstrider. Our first taste of their music comes in the shape of an incredible cover of ‘Twice’, the very excellent and sensual track by Little Dragon. Waterstrider used two field recordings from a farm in Ithaca, New York to mark an astounding change halfway through the song, as if the night turned into day. “As the sun comes up, and with it the diurnal fauna, we chant a mantra that affirms our individuality on this planet”, explained the band. “We are in control of our own fate, defined only by our own dreams and intentions.”.

Allured by this cover, I directed my ears to Waterstrider’s bandcamp. Their two EP’s released to date, Wind​-​Fed Fire and Constellation, amalgamate an array of genres and influences from all over the place into a distinctly original and infectious sound. Waterstrider are gearing up to release their debut full-length album later this year and we’ll keep our ears peeled for more updates.
Now listen to their cover of ‘Twice’ and straight after listen to a couple of cuts we’ve picked from both EP’s, ‘Edge of the Light (Live)’ and ‘Constellation’.