Likely for its brevity, or perhaps because it is merely obsolete, or, for the magic in the snap and pulse of Swedish collage-pop that “Stinging Nettles” is on track repeat. Despite his latest buzz track “Berlin”, John Eriksson, aka Hortlax Cobra,  reeled us back to his early days with “Stinging Nettles,” a weighted compilation of mastered drum beats and sophisticated key claps for a rare quickie in the dancehall. Unleashed and unreal, Hortlax Cobra is back in the house with some raw goods.

(...) Read More about Hortlax Cobra: Stinging Nettles (167 words)

MUSIC | Permalink | No comment |

BUY HERE

BUY HERE

Emerging from the sidelines after a pinwheel of projects in 2011, the noise-pop Portland four piece Starfucker (STRFKR) are about to release new material (knuckle taps ensue). After their debut album in 2008, Starfucker (Badman Recording), the talents cemented a place among neo-pop crowds with dance beats and introverted melodies. From there, the halo of ambient voices and metallic electronics bypassed a standstill and churned out a lineup of singles, a tribute to Japan in March 2011, a mega album tour with a ghostly Reptilians (producer Jacob Portrait + released on Polyvinyl), a pairing with Champagne Champagne for a split 7″, and a psychedelic mix remastered as Jupiter. Before Reptilians was over, the band was already chalking up sounds for their latest demo (Heaven’s Youth), with hints of The Naked And Famous (The Sun), some MGMT and work with Skeletron for a complete medley of swaggering revamped audio to surface late Spring.

Now, laced up for another cliffhanger music adventure, drum ninja Keil Corcoran together with literati Josh Hodges and key champs Shawn Glassford and Patrick Morris, hydrate the Northwest with yankee stories over perennial pop in a forthcoming third album currently being recorded (Polyvinyl). Having swapped mic and material with seasoned beasts Sexton Blake, Bjornstad, Dylan Magierek, Mark Gajadhar and Jacob Portrait to name a few, this playhouse calls for an asterisk as they rev up new work on schedule in coming weeks. Stay tuned!

BUY HERE

MUSIC | Permalink | One comment |

BUY HERE

With a caustic beauty in narrative, oriental soundscapes and vocal force kicking listeners to the edge, SoSo (Sophia Somajo) drops her debut album That Time I Dug So Deep I Ended Up In China (self-produced, Do It Yourself Bitch Productions) as the dominatrix in her mise en scène. Drenched in emotion, the Swedish bombshell collages an industrial sound with nostalgia, dreams and the elusive spirit of a dark empress generating a natural exoticism with each track. She particularly pins ears to the wall with “Who’s Gonna Love Me”.(...) Read More about SoSo: Who’s Gonna Love Me (165 words)

MUSIC | Permalink | One comment |

BUY HERE

In less than three and a half minutes, Stepdad wraps you in a cape and lofts you out a window with “Must Land Running”. The quintet will keep you soaring with their electropop energy as they unleash their debut LP “Wildlife Pop” (Black Bell Records) out June 12.

A melting pot of creatives, Stepdad has been fermenting their beat since early 2009 with their electropop/rock inception near Chicago (currently Grand Rapids), followed by their debut EP Ordinaire. Their melodies call forth an innocence of video games and lullabies with a pronounced rebellion of 80s and Swede-pop. This hybrid of material, paired with lyrical preservation and big live presence, has pounced the indie scene with a clean twist on experimentation.

“Since Mark and I have never really been in any serious bands before Stepdad we had to figure out how to put on a good show. We’ve had such a great response from our live shows which makes us feel really great.”- Ryan McCarthy

In late 2011, with the efforts of NYC buzz and the work of producer Chris Zane (Asobi Seksu, Ruby Frost, Les Savy Fav), the five-piece talent (Ryan McCarthy, Nathan Klages, Jeremy Malvin, Alex Fives, Ultramark) fearlessly continued layering modern pop as the onset of their latest work. Fit for smart ears, Stepdad extends the latitude of creativity to maintain a curious musical dexterity.

“The goal with this new album was to create a collection of really big pop songs that fit within the boundaries of the term ‘Wildlife Pop’… It’s our most complete musical vision so far and it came out exactly as we had hoped and we couldn’t be more proud of it…We have an amazing team of people behind us… All the right elements are in place for this album to really get out there in a big way. In the words of Tommy Wiseau, ‘That’s the idea!’”

MUSIC | Permalink | No comment |

BUY HERE

At the altitude of beat brilliance and lo-fi pop-tronica, Stockholm-based Wild At Heart (WAH) launches an unfulfilled love story in their latest single, “Darling.” The track, produced by The Sound of Arrows, carries underlying tones of MGMT, noting their cover of “Electric Feel” in 2008 (Ministry of Sound), which brought about widespread(...) Read More about Wild At Heart: Darling (114 words)

MUSIC | Permalink | No comment |

Listen to “Home is Where The Heart is” here

BUY HERE

For a split second the room fills with a tinge of Karen O. Then Minus The Tiger strikes you with their synth-pop single, “Home Is Where The Heart Is,” and you are pleasantly surprised. Then Anne Broekman and the family – Maarten Besseling (husband), Jesse Broekman (Anne’s sibling), Arthur Adam and Jos Terlingen – go jungle happy on piercing lyrics and swinging melodies. Suddenly you’re on a music bender which harkens Portishead (...) Read More about Minus The Tiger: Home Is Where The Heart Is (95 words)

MUSIC | Permalink | No comment |

Listen to “Finding Reasons” here

BUY HERE

The muscles of electro-rock are contracting under the epithet New Build. The anatomy: LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip. Al Doyle, Felix Martin and Tom Hopkins have rolled out their debut 12-track album, Yesterday Was Lived And Lost this month (mastered by New Build and Club Ralph). They further extend their musical hamstring with a five-star (...) Read More about New Build: Finding Reasons (136 words)

MUSIC | Permalink | One comment |

Listen to “Flutes” here

BUY HERE

Hot Chip‘s last album release, One Life Stand felt more like a one night stand. We loved them and we never heard from them again. It has been two slightly painful years without the indietronica touch of Hot Chip’s deft rhythms, but Joe Goddard,(...) Read More about Hot Chip: Flutes (93 words)

MUSIC | Permalink | No comment |

Listen to “I’ll Be the Light” Here

In a coltish compilation of keys and chords, Randa Smith and Brian Vincent take Portland on a magic carpet ride that state has never seen before, with I’ll Be The Light. But it doesn’t stop there. Shadows On Stars take electro-dream-punk to cloud nine with their debut full album release, coming March 26 (stay tuned on twitter). And as their energy italicizes all things euphonious, (...) Read More about Shadows On Stars: I’ll Be the Light (408 words)

MUSIC | Permalink | 2 comments |