Video Vacuum - Low, True Widow, Headless Horseman, Swear Jar

I hope that if you have this Monday off you are making the most of it! If not, just think - "What would Tony Danza do?" And the answer would be to sit back and delight in some audio-visual delights - and probably try to mount his stepdaughter Alyssa Milano. Just don't mention any reference to that Elton John song...

First we have those Minnesotans Low, and the video to first single 'Try To Sleep' off current LP C'Mon. Its cool for a few reasons - not least of which we see what is likely to be the proper resurgence of the acting career of one John Stamos! Admittedly his nihilistic ping-pong crazy version of himself on Entourage was invigorating, but this - he's a self-confessed Low tragic (rising the Stamos stocks tenfold there...) and you can tell he is putting his all into it. Well, he hasn't topped this since the heady years of Full House I reckon...(Yes, and the less said about his "star turn" in 'Kokomo' the better...)



Going from Low to the 'heavier Low', Seattle's True Widow have pulled off a truly evocative, moody affair for the video of single 'Skull Eyes' off their incredibly wordy upcoming LP As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth. Three and three-quarter minutes of pensive tension without release, but a hell a lot of class and groove.



Long time between drinks, Fareed! The guy behind Headless Horseman brought out a great little EP last year that spoke about here - and finally he has a video for 'Wvlngth'! Its decidedly quirky and fun, just like the song - lets hope we hear more from him soon!

Headless Horseman // Wavlngth from Wooden Lens on Vimeo.

And finally, those varmints that make up Swear Jar has sent over a live version of 'Bury My Dead' that they did on Friday Night Fu that has me wishing they would somehow, in some way, play over here in Australia. Until that happens - IF that ever happens - Im content to revel in this...



Normally Id yell at you to get back to work, but today there is only one thing to do - tell me...

WHO'S THE BOSS???

Headless Horseman

Headless Horseman played their debut gig a few weeks ago over in the US. A debut show for a band is nerve-wracking and hugely exhilarating under any circumstances. Headless Horseman's was a little different, seeing as their first show involved supporting Crocodiles and Animal Collective's Avery Tare...

But these guys are anything but hipster upstarts that were in the right place at the right time. The duo have known each other since high school, and after Fareed went to university they decided to devote all their time to creating a weird pop project, which Headless Horseman is the end product. The recording process has been a bizarre evolutionary process, whereby the songs are created with big sounds, all folky Americana minor stadium stuff, then are edited to within an inch of their lives to subvert the sounds.

Speaking to Fareed, he says of the process, "We would reverse vocals, cut up sounds until they are just blips and beeps. EQ the drums all weird, and use weird drums, like pots and pans, broken cymbals. So yeah, the songs started to become more like the electronic music we listened to, like Xui Xui and the Knife and Javelin, rather than the place where we started which was more Sigur Ros/Grizzly Bear influenced."

However, in doing so, the end tracks sound organic in and of themselves, a minor feat. I noted the slight similarities to some tracks to Animal Collective, and Fareed laughed.

"I love Animal Collective, especially the Sung Tongs era, but Connor is not really an AnCo fan at all, surprisingly enough!"

So their final product? Sounds like a lot of jittery fun - 'Wavlngth' sounds like Broken Social Scene mashed up with shoegaze, whilst minimalist 'SH8KR' has a slithery jazzy beat lurking underneath, with slight RnB influences conveying more than one genre at play here.

Headless Horseman is priming up for more dates and their first release, and are ably managed by a member of the blog-heavy group Das Racist. Expect to hear more from these guys in the very near future - we here at Sonic Masala aim to keep all of you abreast of their travails.

Headless Horseman - Wavlnght

Headless Horseman - SH8KR