Zomes Was The Time (Thrill Jockey Update #5)

I can't say I'm a long term observer of the evolution of Lungfish - in fact I haven't really followed them at all. But before you hang me up and burn me life an effigy, I have, however, kept tabs their members. The solo work that Daniel Higgs has done as well as working with The Skull Defekts (which I spoke about here); and on Baltimore's Zomes AKA ex-Lungfishian Asa Osborne. But it's clear on Time Was (another excellent Thrill Jockey issue) that there has been a sizable shift in sonic manipulation, fidelity, scope and vision. There is no tape hiss - these tracks are clean as a whistle. The addition of Hanna Olivegren on vocals (a collaboration allegedly pushed into play by a member of The Skull Defekts) lends a pastoral, almost elemental root to Osborne's minimalist organ flourishes that grounds it, allows a focus and slipstream for his ideas to course more naturally. Olivegren's improvisational beginnings with Zomes have had time to ferment also, and the combination is something to behold - at times ethereal, at times tribal, yet remaining true to a stylistic mantra that Osborne set as a template on 2011's Earth Grid. In fact, Time Was is something of a palimpsest - Osborne's previous incantations and meanderings washed off the page and a new composition takes its place, even though remnants of yore appear like ghostly sign-posts from then to now. So whilst continual plays on repetition and melody rear their head, the amount of improvisation has been pared back, or at least intensely magnified to the point that such a performance is more second-nature than a true exploration of whim. And most importantly, its a beautiful record, with so many gems hidden within that repeated listens are mandatory, and instantly rewarded. Time Was is a pleasant surprise.

Grab Time Was here.

Zomes - Loveful Heights
Zomes - Cave Mountain Stream

Dispelling Beach House Myth

I never thought I would be posting about Beach House again. I saw them at last year's Laneway festival in Brisbane - and it was a little...meh. The Baltimore duo smashed everything with their debut Teen Dream, yet there is only so much dream pop that I could take. Since then I haven't paid them much mind...until last week, when they dropped new single 'Myth' from their upcoming album Bloom. Sure, it's been out a while, but it's taken this long for it to really sink in. It's pretty damn good. Bloom is out through Sub Pop mid-May - enough time to start caring for these kids again...

Beach House - Myth

Swim Naked, Get Dreamy, Lose Your Head

Ah dreampop. Our love/hate, passionate/destructive carnal/spiritual relationship continues. Lucky for Florida's Saskatchewan, there's a fair bit of sexual healing in the air when I listen to their Skinny Dipping 7". The connection everyone makes is that of Beach House, and I can see that. Yet I'm not that much of a BH fan, and I really dig this. Their dream gazing vocals, organ like keyboards, and a reverberating guitar riff is intoxicating.


You can get this and their other 7" Nice Daze (the word daze - of course!) here.

Saskatchewan - Skinny Dipping

Saskatchewan - Cabin Fever

These Paper Cuts Don't Fade Away

Sometimes it takes a "right place-right time" type situation before someone can get their sound (or shit) together. The National had to wait til their brilliant fourth album Alligator before the plaudits trickled in, and its was another two before they climbed onto mainstream festival stages.
For Jason Quever, the San Fransiscan that calls himself Papercuts, four could be the lucky number also - his latest album, Falling Parades (his first on Sub Pop), is a lyrical, windswept gem of dreamy, spangly guitar pop.

Whilst his music has garnered praise in the past, and he has had an impressive support slot tally - playing with the likes of Grizzly Bear, Camera Obscura and Beach House - two things seem to have fallen in place here. Its the production values that really ramp up the warmth inherent in these tunes (thanks Sub Pop), and the wavering beauty that the melodies create are brought together more succinctly, if still somewhat hazy (thanks close friends Beach House). These things have allowed Quaver to expand on his dream pop meanderings, whilst also crafting songs that are concise and more complete than in past offerings. 'Marie Says You've Changed' has an, almost marching band like coda at its end; 'Winter Daze' takes a colder hue to its dreamlike canvas, the brushed drums and minimalist piano offering heartbreak between the spaces as well as swelling within the sounds. And above all, Quever soars, his lyrics as elegiac and melancholic as you could expect - but there is something refreshing in his search for the subtleties that lie inherent in what makes a pop song tick. These songs wont bludgeon into sugary submission; rather they will caress you, lull you away from you preconceptions and lure you into the hazy night, never to return...

Falling Parades is out on March 1st.

Papercuts - Do You Really Wanna Know
Papercuts - Winter Daze