DB @ The Coral Casino

Here is a supergroup worth losing your shit over.  Fearless guitarist John Dieterich (of Deerhoof) and drumming octopi Jeremy Barnes (of Neutral Milk Hotel and A Hawk And A Hacksaw - which he is reviving, by the way!) have joined diabolical forces to release The Coral Casino - an artistic attempt to discover each other's workings and aesthetics through stripping all but rhythm away. Basically - an experiment in finding ways to interpret the other without paying attention to what was happening with the other person - an exercise in intuition, injected with pop nous and kinetic trepidation. What is it like? Try 'Out And About', devoted to Philae, the first satellite to connect itself to a comet - a rhythmic cataclysm, exploding in the Hadron Collider of metronomes, glockenspiels and organ hiccups. If this doesn't get you ready to face the day, nothing will.

Rebirth Of A Dead Meadow

I'm a massive fan of psychedelic rock music of all kinds, but especially the heavier, dirgier kind. I think the genesis of this may have come with discovering Led Zeppelin with my dad (who, whilst not a musical aficionado, did also introduce me to Johnny Cash, Australian Crawl, The Boss and 'Brothers In Arms' era Dire Straits, which I still have a soft spot for). The first album I can recall truly grabbing me in this mould though was The Warlocks' Rise & Fall, which was playing at the old Rockinghorse Records store PA back in 2002 (and a record very close to my heart). I've been a hapless acolyte ever since...

I haven't had the pleasure of bathing in the cavernous dirge of Jason Simon and his Dead Meadow brethren as yet - but again I have a sort of origin story for these guys too. Before wholesale piracy was passe, I remember being stuck out in the middle of nowhere in 2003 (Roma, Queensland to be exact) on my first stationed education position with nothing to do, so I delved into Amazon's then music website, CDNow. I discovered some pretty amazing things that year through that thing (Neutral Milk Hotel, Explosions In The Sky, Mono, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead), one of them also being Dead Meadow's third LP Shivering Kings & Others. From there it was The Black Angels, Black Mountain - further down the spiral I would go.

As the years have gone by I have drifted somewhat from the "lightening" of Dead Meadow's aesthetic - despite the excellence of Feathers (2005), 2008's Old Growth didn't grab me at all, whilst I only gave 2010's Three Kings a cursory once-over. I have to say though that new album Warble Womb is a true return to form (some people will strenuously argue that the form never dissipated - whatever). Certainly more sonorous and less kosmiche than compatriots Wooden Shjips, Dead Meadow does have the same propensity for creating a cyclical, familiar groove that permeates their records - Warble Womb is no exception. But when you have the lackadaisical, off-kilter wooze of a track like 'Mr Chesty' or a roiling magma purge like 'This Song Is Over', you can't deny the trio's inimitable power. And this might be a bit of cribbing (who doesn't in this genre?), but 'I'm Cured' sounds like the sun-blasted paisley malaise of The Warlocks - full circle.

They aren't mellowing out so much as becoming one with their mystical powers, and Warble Womb may be the moment that I fuse with them. They are still masters of the domain, after all...

Warble Womb is out through their Xemu Records label - I have no idea where to get it. Hassle them I guess? But never fear. Stream the entire record here.

Friday's Cover Up - Super Chunky Misfits In Heat

It's a week late for Halloween specials, but The Simpsons air their Treehouse of Horrors whenever the hell they want, so why can't I?  Especially when it's as good as this Superchunk cover of the Misfits' 'Children In Heat'. Its thrashy, trashy and so goddamn sweet. Listening to the Misfits in a dingy Goth bar in Collingwood is one thing; hearing Chapel Hill's finest belt it out is something else again - but on a par. Superchunk are playing The Tivoli next Tuesday alongside the inimitable Neutral Milk Hotel - colour me all kinds of excited.

Have a great weekend everyone!

It's A Shame About (Mincer) Ray

It's not often that I get a request for beer. Well, that's actually not true - I'm always being hit up for a beer, to buy a beer, to scull a beer, to shout a beer. But it's rare that such a request comes from Germany - yes, the land of the stein. That's what I received today from social reprobates Mincer Ray.

At first I couldn't work it out - the trio (two American, one Brazilian) are in Berlin! You can buy beer 24/7 from your local corner store for one euro (or something similar I'm sure, I havent been there since 2010). Beer in Australia comes at the cost of a kidney and your first born.

But then I played their new EP A Magnate's Reach, and goddamn if I wasn't reaching for the rusty scissors and an ice pack, just to help some brothers out. These five tracks are the right colour of demented guitar pop that sways between Guided By Voices (their moniker is a dead giveaway there) by way of a Jeff Magnum-led Black Lips, or Lee Ranaldo trying to go straight as the new frontman of Pavement. Such disparate swings are achieved by each member singing their own tunes, instruments being flung around restlessly with wanton abandon, all emotions present and accounted for before being discarded hastily like a sweaty condom wrapper, and you are left heaving, somewhat placated and riding the waves of ecstasy whilst still wishing it had all lasted for far longer. And to be fair, after such an effort, a beer probably is in order. The shout's on me, Rays.

Grab A Magnate's Reach here.

Dreaming The Seeds Of An Extra Life

I had no expectations with this record - and the track ' Righteous Seed' floored me. The album - Dream Seeds. The band - Extra Life, a Brooklyn collective with connections to Yukon, Zs and Dirty Projectors. That said, nothing is easy here, and I can't say this will stay with me forever, or even for long. There are elements of Xiu Xiu, Neutral Milk Hotel, VAST, Animal Collective and indeed Dirty Projectors in this acrobatic, verbose, bombastic melange, and some of it comes off as pompous and flowery as it does eloquent and haunting. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the audaciousness of Charlie Looker's quite unique vocal stylings and the religiosity of some of the compositions. Above all, it isn't an easy ride, with many twists and turns, and for that I am grateful for the experience.

Buy Dream Seeds here or here.

Seth Is Frightening - B.Hoo!

You might remember some time ago I introduced you to Seth Frightening (AKA Sean Kelly), a Sonorous Circle acolyte whose album The Prince and His Madness was one messed up anti-folk delight. Well he has a couple new releases under his belt, both of which came to light in the waning hours of 2011. B.Hoo and High School follow in the SF tradition, i.e. more than a little weird (and free! Grab em both here), yet it's the hooks that are buried deep within these tracks that truly delivers. Listen to 'Wake Up' from B.Hoo below and tell me that there isn't a cracked genius at work here. sure, it's mildly disturbing, like the elongated dream-state moments in a Lynch film before the hobo or the backwards-talking dwarf makes an entrance, and you can be assured that rather head down that terrain, we may just enter an aeroplane over the sea and land in a land where up is down and black is white, yet it all seems more than OK. I so want Seth Frightening to bring out a Jeff Mangum opus; here's hoping it's just around the corner.



Seth Frightening - Wake Up

No Shouts, No Calls From Within An Aeroplane Over A Field Day

Three bits of amazing news in the space of one day for lovers of music everywhere!

The first was the announcement that Brighton band Electrelane were calling an end to their hiatus and announcing some shows, one of which is Field Day. This is amazing news. I fell in love with them when I randomly bought 2005's Axes based on a written review, then fell in love with guitarist Mia Clarke when she rocked it in a Ramones T-shirt on a sweaty night in Brisbane the following year (and did a kick-ass guitar collaboration with Andy Moor of The Ex - she is my dream girl!). The all-girl four-piece have crafted an intricate middle ground of atmospheric instrumental rock and quirky indie pop (guided by Verity Susman's distinct vocals), one which has been devoid of any real quality since their departure.

So this news threaded immediately with the second tidbit - the first Field Day lineup announcement of 2011. Coming down on Victoria Park in August, the lineup features the aforementioned and celebrated Electrelane return, but also includes some doozies - Tortoise, Ariel Pink (possibly without Haunted Graffiti?), Actress, Oneohtrix Point Never, Twin Shadow, Omar Souleyman, John Cale, Hype Williams, Mark Kozelek, Gruff Rhys, Factory Floor...and that's just the beginning. Looks like one to put into the diary - or better yet, get your early bird tickets now for 35 clams! Do it!

Which leads me to the final piece of gooey goodness. Renowned recluse Jeff Mangum has been crawling out from under whatever nondescript rock he's been under to play some shows of recent times, including pieces from his seminal album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea under his non de plume Neutral Milk Hotel. If you havent heard this album, shame - it is one of the best albums ever made, without a question of a doubt. So the massive surprises continue as All Tomorrow's Parties announces that their next festival curator, for the end of the year at Butlins, Minehead, will be none other than Mr Mangum! With that confirmed, plus acts such as Superchunk and The Raincoats, with the latter confirming that they will play their self titled debut album in its entirety. Tickets for this bad boy go up on Friday at 9am (UK time) - get cracking on it!

Electrelane -Bells

Neutral Milk Hotel -Oh Comely