Apse Prep New EP, Album, and Tour Europe

Avante-garde post-rock outfit Apse are gearing up for a busy 2008. The last time we checked in with the Cape Cod, MA six-piece was in 2006 on the heels of their elegant LP Spirit. Originally released on Spanish imprint Acuarela Discos, the record will be re-released in May this year (according to the band “60 days from March 5th”) via ATP Recordings.

In addition to the re-release of Spirit, the band will also be dropping a 45-minute EP titled Eras initially in a beautifully packaged vinyl-only format in April and eventually in CD/digital format by mid-summer. The extended EP “will feature new material, covering a range of different kinds of songwriting and experimentation. It has musical ties to Spirit, but is the most progressive, experimental and exploratory record the band as made to date.”

Following the EP, the sextet plans to unleash a brand new full-length in the autumn which is currently in the works with over 30 new tracks. Apse won’t just be busy in the studio though, they have lined up an aggressive European tour that kicks off on April 24th and continues well into May, including a stop at All Tomorrow’s Parties. Here’s to hoping for some U.S. dates (outside of New England would be nice).

The tracklisting for the EP along with some mp3′s to tie you over are below, including the grinding “Up In The Eaves” from the Eras EP.

[MP3]: Apse  ”Keep”
Apse, Acuarela Discos; 2005
[MP3]: Apse  ”Shade of the Moor”
Spirit, Acuarela Discos; 2006
[MP3]: Apse  ”Up in the Eaves”
Eras EP, Equation Records/Acuarela Discos/ATP; 2008

Eras Tracklisting:
Side A
01. “Cyd”
02. “Ark”
03. “Up In The Eaves”
04. “Gloom”
05. “The Letter”

Side B
01. “Deathless”
02. “Wishlist”
03. “The Tipping”
04. “Black Stars”
05. “Salt Of The Earth”

Shoegaze in 2008 | Five Acts not to be Missed

Shoegaze will always remain one of my favorite genres of music, even if I get away from it from time to time, it’s something that I always come back to. Granted, shoegaze and dreampop saw their heyday in the early nineties, but today many acts continue to reinvent and push the envelope with the genre. I was reading an interview with Soundpool (one of the bands featured in this post) about the relation among shoegaze, electronica, and indie-pop becoming more familiar in Japan. One of the group’s members stated that there has been “a significant change in the global shoegaze scene with bands from many different cultures and backgrounds are collaborating and inspiring each other and exploring the possibilities of this creative genre which has brought so many different types of musicians together.”

This post aims to focus on some of my favorite new shoegaze acts that define the previous statement and for the most part features bands putting out material in 2008.

RESPLANDOR
Pleamar, AE; 2008
[MP3]: “Downfall”
Members of Mahogany initially tipped me off to the Peruvian trio, Resplandor, and since I’ve been a big fan of the group’s output. Their early recordings initially reminded me of Raphael Toral, but tracks from their forthcoming full-length Pleamar sound more akin to Just for a Day era Slowdive. Two words: sonic morphine.

AUBURN LULL
Begin Civil Twilight, Darla; 2008
[MP3]: “Coasts”
Michigan/Pennsylvania five-piece Auburn Lull craft dreamy, haunting, and ethereal dream pop. “Imagine The Moody Blues produced by Eno, if Slowdive originally wrote and recorded Surrealistic Pillow, or perhaps Seefeel on a good sedative/hypnotic [Darla].” Ulrich Schnauss mixed a track on added some treatment to two others. Begin Civil Twilight hits the street on April 8th.

FLEETING JOYS
Secret Garden Vol.1, Invada; 2008
[MP3]: “Good Kind Of Tomorrow”
Sacramento’s Fleeting Joys craft shoegaze in the vein of Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine with an aural assault of shivering dissonant guitars, low-end baselines, atmospheric keyboards, layers of squalls, heavy drums, and buried androdynous vocals. Lush melancholia for the shoegazer soul.

SOUNDPOOL
Dichotomies & Dreamland, Aloft; 2008
[MP3]: “The Divides of March”
I’ve had New York’s Soundpool (pictured) on my radar for some time now and was stoked about the release of their second record, Dichotomies & Dreamland earlier this month – an album I’ve been playing pretty heavily recently. Danceable Joy Division/New Order-inspired basslines and guitars lie beneath saturated swaths noise and synth arrangements that are fronted with sugary female vocals. Soundpool plays Pianos in New York on March 22nd and a day later in Philadelphia at The Khyber. Dichotomies & Dreamland is out now on Aloft.

PORTS OF CALL
Like Thieves…, Self-Released; 2008
[MP3]: “Washout”
I couldn’t write this post without giving Philadelphia some love, so enter Ports of Call as another shoegaze act that you should get familiar with this year. The Philly quintet blends psychedelic with atmospheric in the most beautiful of ways, painting haunting soundscapes which are highlighted by the interplay of innocent boy/girl vocals that are almost drowned out by the noise. Ports of Call play Club Midway in New York on April 23rd and Johnny Brenda’s in Philly on April 30th. Like Thieves is out now and can be ordered from the band.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow | Johnny Brenda’s 2.14.08

While the other contributors to this site were busy celebrating lovers day by romantically going to see Band Of Horses together (HA!), I took a different route and checked out Philly favorites A Sunny Day In Glasgow at Johnny Brenda’s.

It’s been an very long time since I’ve seen A Sunny Day In Glasgow live and I was curious to see how their live show had progressed over the last year or so. Now a four piece after vocalist Lauren Daniels moved out west, brother Ben shared vocal duties with Lauren’s twin Robin. The band played songs from Scribble Mural Comic Journal and their Tout New Age EP, which I was hearing for the first time live. It’s always difficult transitioning to a live show when a band has such a complex sound as ASDIG, but Ben Daniels and crew pulled it off quite nicely last night. Live, the band retains some of the complexity of the record, but overall it’s a sparser, louder affair. Sister Robin’s vocals are given a little more breathing room, while Brother Ben paints the room with a swirling effect laden reverby guitar all while maintaining a pop essence to their sound.

The band has certainly come a long way since their maiden voyage into live performance two years ago at Cake Shop. Head over to the band’s website to read about the CRAZY shit that happened after the show. ASDIG plays Cake Shop on February 22nd, which will likely be their last East Coast date for awhile.

[MP3]: A Sunny Day In Glasgow  ”Summerlong Silences”
Tout New Age EP, Notenuf; 2007

New Name, Same Site | Introducing FRICTION NYC

FRICTION
NYC

Props to Nghia for pulling an all-nighter over weekend to get the “new” site up and running, while retaining the old posts from Crackers United. We decided over the summer that we basically wanted to streamline everything to give the FRICTION shows their own webpage instead of just using MySpace. In addition, the site was originally set up as a way to share various information between 10 or so friends, sort of like a centralized place where we could all share thoughts, ideas, etc. The site was never intended to be a music blog although that’s what it eventually grew into over the past three years.

As you can see, things aren’t quite finished yet. There’s still some work that needs to be done, including the new logo and cleaning up the main page and adding flyers and stuff. It’s going to take us a little time, so please bear with our rather dull appearance. The most important thing is that the site is up and functioning just as Crackers United did and all of our posts back to March 2005 are still there. The URL “crackersunited.com” will still bring you to this page and it would be greatly appreciated if fellow bloggers (and sites) could update their URL to “frictionnyc.com/blog” and blogroll to read “FRICTION NYC.”

To “christen” the new name (and make sure the downloads work) we’re posting none other than some My Bloody Valentine. Snag “No Place To Go” from the hard to find Geek! EP below featuring Dave Conway on lead vocals. And please let us know if there are any issues with the site!

[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”No Place To Go”
Geek! EP, Fever; 1985

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Panda Riot | She Dares All Things

Chalk this up to an album (and band) that I completely overlooked last year. Originally based out of Philadelphia with concentrated live plays in New York and Philly, I missed the (now Chicago-based) “swirl-pop” outfit, Panda Riot, along with their debut album She Dares All Things. With a sound right up my alley and consistently playing in the two cities where I see the most live music (esp Philly), I’m not sure how this band slipped through the cracks for so long.

On She Dares All Things the trio of Rebecca Scott, Brian Cook, and Justin Cheng maintain a sound that combines creative shoegaze and indie pop. Throughout the album, charming, hooky melodies and pop twists are blended with raucous walls of noise. Rebecca Scott’s delicate breathy vocals add further sweetness to the slabs of noise, making for a solid collection of fuzzed out shoegaze tracks. The only issue that one may find with the record (as a friend pointed out) is the lack of live drums (Panda Riot employs a drum machine to kick out their beats), which at times can be weak. It doesn’t take anything away from the band’s sound, but live percussion could be a solid addition on future work.

Fans of Swirlies, Curve, and swirling dreamy shoegaze will find She Dares nine tracks more than satisfying. Certainly an overlooked gem of 2007. The self-released record is out now and available digitally from iTunes and Amazon. If it’s a physical copy of the album you’re looking for, order it over at the band’s website. Check out “Marker” and “Art School Girls of Doom” along with a video for the album’s title track below. Love the drone-y guitars. More songs on MySpace.

[MP3]: Panda Riot  ”Marker”
[MP3]: Panda Riot  ”Art School Girls of Doom”
She Dares All Things, Self-Released; 2007

My Bloody Valentine ? | Explosive (Demo)

When I had some down time over the holidays I was dorking-out on the My Bloody Valentine forum because I hadn’t been to the site since the summer. I found one particular post pretty interesting. A “demo” version of a song by My Bloody Valentine called “Explosive” had been posted, apparently from a rarities disc post-Loveless. There was some discussion on whether or not “Explosive” is in fact a genuine MBV track, some say yes, some no. I can’t decide if it’s bogus or not, either way it’s a solid track, whoever it is.

[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”Explosive (Demo)”
Rarities

Ravens and Vultures | Keep Your Kill

Over the weekend, Philadelphia’s Ravens and Vultures celebrated the release of their new (and debut) EP, Keep Your Kill (which sports a fierce looking penguin as its cover art) at Johnny Brenda’s supported by locals Ape School and NYC faves Dragons of Zynth. The EPs four tracks combine elements from shoegaze and dream-pop to rāga to dance-punk to electronica to straight up indie pop. Just listen to the EPs title track “Keep Your Kill” and you’ll hear a unique mix of these influences – melodic and soaring guitar lines blend with laptop generated beats while rāga melodies are layered over a Gang of Four/Rapture bassline and cowbell. I’ve had the track on repeat since first listening to it – highly recommended.

The trio consisting of former DJs (and identical twins) Chetana and Darshana Borah and Andrew Ryan (ada Illoin) will be digitally releasing the EP tomorrow (January 15th) along with a “special” bit-torrent edition that is already available online. The band has set up a donation page for those choosing to download the four tracks via torrent.

Check out the mesmerizing and ethereal “Willow Tree” set to be included on the band’s debut long-player, Last Love slated for release later this year. Head over to MySpace for further listening and Philebrity has “Keep Your Kill” streaming on their site. Order the EP directly from the band and within 24 hours you’ll receive a download link.

[MP3]: Ravens and Vultures  ”Willow Tree”
Last Love, TBA; TBA