VIDEO VACUUM - Low, That Fucking Tank, Magnets, Hibou

Monday can be a lonely kind of day. Regardless of what kind of a weekend you may have had, you end up trudging off back to work, as much as you may love it, and realise that you have five long days before you can do what you want once more. It's a strange way of living, but we are conditioned to it. Still, we all need to get through it. And here are four excellent videos that will surely help, at least for fifteen minutes...

One of the best cuts from Low's last record The Invisible Way, 'Clarence White', has received a video as part of Pitchfork.tv's City of Music. Its a great track in that it showcases how brutally powerful the trio can be in their incredibly studied performances, and reinforces why they are one of my favourite bands.



I've always been a fan of Leeds/Bradford noisy spazzoids That Fucking Tank, so it isn't a surprise that I'm a fan of their latest track 'Making A Meal For Beethoven.' It's on their incumbent live LP A Document of the Last Set, due in September on Gringo Records as a gift, a "document" of their ten years' service to stupid noise. The video is a play on people pulling surreally distorted faces, something that fits the band as guitarist Andy Abbott constantly pulls lurid O faces as he kills it night after night. The duo are playing RECON Festival with Black Pus (Lightning Bolts' Brian Chippendale) in Leeds September 22nd - a fitting tribute, I'm sure you'll agree.

Staying in the UK (just a hop/skip/jump to deepest, darkest Kent) we encounter Magnets, a band whose influences (motorik pummelling, and references from This Will Destroy You and Sigur Ros to Sonic Youth and Slowdive) seem tailor-made for Sonic Masala. The four-piece are releasing their second EP on Something, Something Records, and if lead-in track 'Scatter' is anything to go by it should be something special. A complete bottoming out of a distorted track, the accompanying visuals plucked from the most intrinsic tropes of the psychedelic formula, 'Scatter' surprises in its hidden hooks, seemingly swallowed by the shoegaze wash before suddenly coming forth and burying deep within the ear. Can't wait to hear the rest.

Hibou caught my attention with his Dunes EP, and now follows up with this washed-out VHS vid for EP track 'Above Us'. It's 80s baiting beach montage set-up suits both the time (if in summer, let's get to the beach; if in winter, let's get warm) and the aesthetic Hibou is trying to create, a more introspective take on the beach-pop medium that actually sounds suited to the bedroom, staring out at the sun and the surf, wondering if now is the time to venture out into the world. The answer is yes.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Fuck The Red Wing

And now for something completely different...

Hibou got me through the post-alcohol shakes, but now I need to ramp up so I don't go to sleep. And with Fuck Buttons, it'll never happen - not just because the noise the duo create is ear-splitting, but the only dreams the band conveys are that of the seventh level of industrial hell. The abrasive excellence of Fuck Buttons is poised to return with new LP Slow Focus out through ATP Recordings in July, something I cannot wait for. Their alien, confrontational soundscapes are often jawdroppingly incredible, awe-inspiring and just plain unfathomable - how can a noise assault this uncompromising, electronic and aggressive be this enthralling, hypnotic and seductive? Stockholm Syndrome perhaps? Whatever the secret is, I have always been held in thrall by Benjamin John Power and John Hung, and the abuse is set to continue on unabated, may my eardrums rest in peace.

You can pre-order Slow Focus in gold vinyl form here.

Off With Hibou In The Dunes

I'm a little seedy this morning, for a number of reasons. I missed out on a job opportunity that, whilst not the end of the world, is always a little gutting. Nevertheless, last night's Sonic Masala show (featuring No Anchor, O and Vassals) was a massive success, selling out and allowing me to pay the bands top dollar (with a little extra to help NA on their tour down the coast). I met up with Jon from Gazar Strips who is playing my next Sonic Masala show tonight (also featuring Dreamtime and Multiple Man), and we shot the shit about possible future collaborations (but mostly about shit). I got home at 2am, then up at 6am to get ready for work, which is where we meet now.

So I need something that will get me out of this messy headspace, and Hibou (I believe pronounced ee-boo, but that could be my addled brain at work) is doing the trick. The one time drummer for Craft Spells has been doing his reverb-heavy guitar pop for a little while now, and finally his Dunes EP is about to brighten up our lives. The beach theme fits well, as Hibou isn't far removed from Dustin Payseur AKA Beach Fossils. Silky gossamer guitars, disembodied vocals, and the crisp air of nostalgic, grainy Super 8 Puberty Blues.

Here is the first track of Dunes (which will be out June 13), 'Sunder', which you can grab now as a free download!



And because I feel like it, here are a couple other tracks Hibou has floating around - keep the good times rolling.