Last week Eugene, OR producer Karmelloz released his new album Source Localization via Vancouver imprint 1080p, following up on 2013′s Bud Air for Interscape and now nearly a year after being featured alongside collaborator a i r s p o r t s (who released a new EP on Amdiscs last month) in underground…
The French label Le Turc Mecanique has exported some of the most compelling shoegaze, punk, and synth-based rock I’ve heard in the past year. Their first release for 2014 comes from Strasbourg, whose Sexe et Violence 12″ unleashes 4 dirty, compressed, and snarling coldwave tunes. Opener…
Blank Slate emerged early last year as a potent outlet for deep, druggy house sounds, launching with a modest but striking white label 12-inch with dark, propulsive tracks by the likes of North Lake, Arnaldo, Mirko, and Qy. Now a full year and five 12-inches later, the label returns with its second…
Our twelfth installment of the Week in Review, the closest thing I’ve ever had to a regular journal… I still incline toward beginning with things we missed from the prior week; though we don’t want anyone to think our eyes aren’t on the real prize, yessir, next week, nothing…
“Music For Everyone:” the sticker on the cover of Earth Dog’s latest album, Music for Paranoid Cartoons, is inviting, contrasting the gray and black bird striking for prey. Earth Dog’s beats are unrelenting throughout the album, but their delivery is often interrupted or enhanced…
With only a year and a half of operation under their belts, London-based label Emotional Response have already published material from important artists like Thimothy J. Fariplay, Luke Wyatt and Alan Hurst; undoubtedly, they have made an interesting bet with their roster, creating an audio pallet worthy…
Released earlier this month, The (UN)Expected marks Sheffield, UK’s Trans/Human‘s first outing on wax. The 3 track LP showcases the noise duo’s willingness to experiment with disparate collections of instruments with a view to creating something that sounds familiar, as demonstrated…
Long Distance Poison and Moss Archive occupy a similar space in my head; both are beautiful projects, the Brooklyn trio producing elaborate, mote in God’s eye synth compositions, while for its part, the imprint sports beautiful packaging design and boasts an integral catalog. From a distance,…
Minneapolis-based duo Some Pulp (Graham Barton and Dane Hoppe) have honed a distinct brand of garage rock that combines bubblegum doowop and surf-inspired riffs with a touch of 70s glam. The first single off their self-titled debut, “Oh Oh (Who’s Cryin’ Now)” brings to mind the…
Ugliness is by no means a new aesthetic in the sprawling world of dance music. Everyone from Throbbing Gristle (or Chris + Cosey, moreover) and Cabaret Voltaire to Factory Floor and Pete Swanson(‘s recent obliterating, rhythmic scourges) championed atonal and asynchronous throbs as much as -…
The proliferation of recording software allows the artist a palette of musical canvases with which to create ever more versatile works, making it easier to jump between genres and styles. Edmonton’s Dylan Khotin-Foote is known for making lo-fi, electronic-tinged bedroom pop under a handful of…
Across his many musical monikers, Jimmy Billingham has presented a collection of unforgettable compositions that oscillate between the different sonic atmospheres of experimental electronica and droned-out ambient landscapes, in addition to ably curating his own cassette imprint Sunk Series. Last…
Working from a series of interconnected photos, diagrams, and charts, On Organization is an audio-visual piece inspired by Montreal photographer Madison Dinelle and set to music by fellow locals, Jesse Osborne-Lanthier of Femminielli Noir and Francesco De Gallo of Hobo Cubes, recording together as…
Another week that effectively began the moment the last one ended, this time on the 16th with New York Times culture and media columnist David Carr commenting briefly on his experience at SXSW in an essay titled “A New Model for Music: Big Bands, Big Brands,” in which he points out that…
Milwaukee power pop/grunge trio Dogs in Ecstasy are a band that pride themselves on making fun party music. If you look at the pedigree of the three musicians it’s easy to see why: guitarist/vocalist Willy Dintenfass and drummer Tony Dixon have respectively logged time in numerous Milwaukee groups,…
Erik Luebs of Magical Mistakes first rode into our and Decoder’s life in a van on the crest of a wave of goodwill. Liz and I received forewarning thanks to Jordan Lee of Mutual Benefit, who’d been crafting that good sentiment and positivity on his own before joining up with producer/percussionist…
Scott Ryan Davis (formerly of Images and Psychic Ills) recently debuted a new solo project, Virginia Trance, with a self-released 7″ single, “Your Guru”. The record’s eponymous track is a loose-jointed, rambling expedition through mercurial guitar and lilting, Neil Young-esque…
The name Digitalis is no stranger to the Decoder community, as the Foxy Digitalis blog is where I and a handful of other Decoder writers cut our teeth before we settled into our new home here at Decoder. With connections to Brad and Eden I have been given the chance to dive deep into the Digitalis catalog…
Alabama-based labels Happenin Records and Noumenal Loom have teamed up to release garage rocker Plains‘ latest album, Stone Cloud, on cassette. The third full-length release (and second physical release) from Travis Swinford, Stone Cloud is an eleven-track long excursion through varying degrees…
Wielding only his finger, a patch cord, and an array of effects pedals, Christian Filardo essentially sculpts the sound of his own body’s electromagnetic nature. Live human tissue has both electrical resistance and capacitance, and Filardo – who runs the Holy Page imprint and records shockingly…
