Erased By Fire

Great US label Fire Talk are really stepping up over the next few months. With the imminent release of Media Jeweler's album $99 R/T Hawaii (you can read my thoughts on it here) and an incoming releases from Future Museums and Dreamcrusher (more on these soon), you think they had their bases well and truly covered. Well add to the list Stem Together, the debut release from Australian mantra psychs Erasers. Hailing from Perth, the duo produce a steady swirling rhythm on an ethereal drone dream that isn't far removed from the the more ruminative moments of Pocahaunted (ah I miss those gals!) - it's the vocals of Rebecca Orchard and the lethargic yet insistent, ritualistic motorik rhythms underpinning the organ that really sinks its transcendental teeth in. It unfurls like mystic smoke, intangible yet incorruptible.

Grab Stem Together here.


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Four Score Ebb And Thrall Of An Alpine Decline

I was sent one of those anonymous Bandcamp emails yesterday, telling me that Shaun over at Tenzenmen Records was releasing yet another album. I still haven't paid lip service to some of the killers that have come through this year (sorry Birdstriking, apologies White+), yet some are frontrunner favourite albums of 2013 (hello Yes I'm Leaving; hi there Bone) so I thought I'd head over and look. It was Disappearance, the third album from Beijing-based band Alpine Decline. But as I scrolled down the side, I saw that there were a glut of albums that Tenzenmen had put out, or were about to put out - and all were from Alpine Decline. Investigation, both aural and journalistic (well as journalistic as I get), was necessary.



Seems that the band released their self-titled debut in 2010 (which comes across like Built To Spill in a near murderous sonic sense of brutality) in LA, where they had formed, then travelled to China and into the Himalayas, before coming back and recording Visualisations later in the same year. It follows a similar pattern to Alpine Decline, yet with a wider expansive of crackle and drone - it was like the trek had started opening a hitherto unknown propensity for languidly and porous drone, albeit still kept in check by an innate drive for melody and conciseness.



Yet something had been awakened, and the band could not sate this creative hunger. In 2011 the duo returned to the studio where they recorded Vizualisations (again helmed by M Geddes - who had helmed productions of Robedoor and Pocahaunted records in the past), and the resultant works, collated into third album Disappearance (the album that brought me on this mystic journey) is decidedly more insular yet kinetic; more warped and yet more focused than their predecessors. The third eye was well and truly alive within these two. A deliberate exercise in hypnosis and concerted, controlled elongation (yet with the inherent melody and groove a cell-level mainstay), the twelve tracks on offer still remained succinct, yet each appeared to contain their own alien technology, their own enveloping worlds. Such strong and clear evolution in such a short timeframe is frightening.



Then the duo disappeared, back to the outskirts of Beijing, for a year. Finally they returned with a fourth album tucked firmly under their grimy arms, and Night of the Long Knives was another transmogrification of Alpine Decline - this time more contemplative, more glazed, more ethereal. There was more of a thousand yard stare here - like returning from self-imposed exile to find the world you left behind rent asunder, nothing left behind, nothing recognisable. There are songs that still echo the very best, maudlin BtS (see 'Sleeping Gas' for example) yet with a gauzy, dystopian hue.


These four albums are still sinking in - yet I think I may have stumbled across a band that is creating albums that I will fall in love with for different reasons; that will seep into my very being; that are, in other words, quintessentially essential listening. And the more that these albums are listened to, and embraced, and revered, the stronger Alpine Decline's id grows - the albums will continue to tumble forth, fully formed and magnificent - and the world will evolve along with them.

Grab all four albums here. Seriously, for the betterment of mankind.

Interview - Amanda Brown (Not Not Fun Records/LA Vampires)

LA Vampires is the name of the solo venture by Amanda Brown, formerly one half of Pocahaunted along with Bethany Cosentino, who left to concentrate on her own project, Best Coast. With LAV Brown has moved beyond the dark drones and goth-tinged psych-rock of her former base duo towards a more "pop" sound - yet you can take the girl out of Pocahaunted... Brown is also responsible for stellar label Not Not Fun, that she runs with husband Britt Brown (AKA Robedoor). She is currently in Australia, and I spoke with her recently about...well, everything.

SONIC MASALA - Before talking about your current band, I wanted to talk about Not Not Fun. How have you ensured that the label has been able to grow into such a venerable label without losing any of the initial aesthetics that set it apart from its contemporaries when you started it?

AMANDA BROWN (LA VAMPIRES) - That's just the constant struggle. Honestly, Britt and I never claimed the label had a genre-bend, or that it would stay the same, cater to the same audience over the years. We've only ever promised it would remain true to our personal aesthetics, and that means the label goes through the same changes that we do as humans. Finding yrself out of love with long-form drone isn't such a bad thing, if the next musical love goes as deep and feels as intense. It's been quite a turn off for some people, but for us there's no other way to do it. And obviously for the fans who respect that we cut a line straight through trendiness, that we don't get whipped around by what's in favor, that we just release the music we connect with - they're elated that we move and grow and try and strive.

SM - There have been some amazing artists on the label , many of which have emblazoned our blog – Daughters Of The Sun, Ensemble Economique, The Deeep, Robedoor, Zola Jesus – this barely scratches the surface! What do you think attracts them to you?

BROWN - I'd like to think it's our straight-forwardness and our sweat. If you send us a master and we love it, the process begins immediately. We don't sit on great records and wait for the "perfect" time to release them. I think bands love that, they love to move fast and to have their music available to hear and buy. We're also huge fans of the musicians on ourlabel: exploring with them, believing in them, supporting them (often times monetarily, sometimes just by setting up shows or hook-ups with other bands/tours/venues). Britt and I want their records to sell better than our own. I don't think you can find that kind of intensity and dedication in many vanity/underground labels. I wanted Maria (Minerva) on this Aus tour with me, so that I could see HER play!

SM - How do you find running the label?

BROWN - (laughing) It's not easy, man!

SM - Is the cassette form actually a good musical medium, or just a fad?

BROWN - The internet's a fad. Digital music is a fad. The cassette is warm and homey and compact and tangible and aesthetically quite pleasing to touch and listen to. I feel sorry for CDs sometimes, they never stood a chance.

SM - Id be remiss of not mentioning Pocahaunted, the ace band you originally started with Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast) and had Cameron Stallones of Sun Araw and of course your husband (Robedoor) involved. Firstly, these are all disparate directions – how do you think these musical outlets have been influenced by the Pocahaunted days? And is Pocahaunted reached its definitive end point?

BROWN - Pocahaunted is absolutely over. I mean, you said it yrself, everyone wanted to make different music, everyone was evolving into different directions - with side projects, solo projects, or even just hazy dreams of a distinctly different musical future. Bethany wanted to do her spin on 60s pop, Cameron wah-wah psych, Britt Skinny Puppy dark-keyboard stuff.I wanted to do this. I'd like to think we all took something bizarre and cool and transcendent from Pocahaunted, but maybe not. Sadly, with ever-morphing bands, changing their sound and their roster, most members fantasize about a liberating moment when they can "do their own thing." Wait, I don't know if that's sad, that's just the way it is. I definitely wanted more from my music journey by the end.

SM - What about the industry in general – are there labels you feel a kinship towards? Labels that aren’t doing the right thing by its roster?

BROWN - The industry is nuts. I'm lucky I almost never have to think about what the rest of the musical landscape looks like - I don't have to judge it or feel oppressed by it. As a teenager I dutifully loved K, Kill Rock Stars, Matador, and Thrill Jockey. What ghetto-ized their vibe was the time they really shined in. When it's not the 90s anymore, it's hard to stop being so... 90s. Not every label can be hit after hit, just like we can't ...but I do like random output from DFA, Future Times, R & S, Hyperdub, Kosmisk Vag, Brunch Groupe, Stones Throw. Night People is run by Shawn Reed, and I love his art/aesthetic. When Jeremy Earl did Fuckit Tapes, I thought the awesomeness would never stop.

SM - Labels like Shawn Reed’s Nothing People and also Sacred Bones are infiltrating Australia, as is your own label, but there has been a concerning trend of independent record stores closing down over here. What’s the alternative, especially for a far-flung nation like Australia?

BROWN - You have to fight to keep your record stores open! There is no alternative!You guys are SOOO far away from America, and who cares - I mean, it's not like America is the center of the world - but if your interested in hearing what's going on in this country, you have to make sure to promote and support little stores trying to stock our stuff. Don't go immediately to the internet and download. I suppose it also doesn't hurt to throw a lot of money and a few plane tickets at artists to get them to your beautiful country...

SM - We'll try, haha! OK, LA Vampires – I hate to say it (well actually I don't haha!), but…”witch house” or something else?

BROWN - Witch House is a punchline. It's pretty funny, but besides Salem, I don't think there's an artist or a group who would ever claim it. I'm not that witchy. I'm certainly not goth.. You do one record with Zola Jesus... (laughs)

SM - How have your experiences both personally and musically influenced LA Vampires?

BROWN - That's so broad! I mean we're one in the same! LA VAMPIRES is me, it's all my musical and personal experience in a performance/sonic art. Definitely after years of running a label, playing in bands, touring, being elevated by other musicians/label owners/venue owners/bookers/etc, I've become this new thing entirely. Now I follow my own inspiration. If I want to do dub, I do it. If I want to do Skrewed, or Baggy, or Hyphy or anything, I just do it. It's about not having the fear, not having to answer to other bandmates, not worrying about yr old fans or new fans or future fans. Just trying to be soulful, honest, and constantly inspired. When I start to feel bitter or crushed by shows or tours or releases or anything else, I remember to be human. I eat a good meal, I watch a brilliant movie, I sleep, or read Martin Amis, and then I come back refreshed and ready for VAMPIRES.

SM - What can be said about the recording process opposed to the LA Vampires live show experience? Ive found that acts like yours that I saw in London last year were various shades of shit (not slagging you at all, I think I just had a rough run haha!)

BROWN - I have no doubt that you've seen some shit shows. In fact, right before I said yes to this tour I was chewing my nails bloody trying to imagine what the set would look and sound like. My friend Aurora from Innergaze was like, "Yr not gonna just do karaoke-style are you? That sucks!" And she's right. Aren't we all getting sick of just seeing laptops? Or just watching someone press play on an iPod? What a dark time for live music if that's all we have to look forward to! So for this live set, I've put together great beats/tracks and have Nick playing live keys, Britt doing live mixing, and myself on vocals. I dance, I emote, and hopefully the audience will too.

SM - Frankly! is a festival that is very boutique in nature, and is indicative of the change in music-going trends here. Yet these types of shows are commonplace in the US and Europe. What do you think a festival like Frankly! brings to a place like Australia?

BROWN - I wish I knew more about Australian culture so I could answer that properly. To be honest, you all seem very cool to me - like you have your eyes and ears to the serious cultural ground. I love Australian fashion, and I love Australian actors (Cate Blanchett is a goddess!) and so I assume your art and music scene must also be thriving. From just knowing Blank Realm, Angel Eyes, Canyons, and Rites Wild I can tell something incredibly vivid is already happening right on your Aussie doorstep. But festivals are wonderful ways to get the world together on one vibe, and it's bringing me to you, so I'm endlessly thankful for that.

SM - What bands are you into at the moment? Any that particularly should be followed fanatically by Sonic Masala/NNF acolytes?

BROWN - I love so much of what's on 100% SILK (of course):SFV ACIDOCTO, OCTAMAGIC, TOUCH, INNERGAZE, PHARAOHS, STRATEGY and Miracles Club, Maria Minerva, Rangers, Zola Jesus, Sapphire Slows, Mi Ami...I saw you're a big fan, Daniel's great...and then there's the old stuff I always listen to: Sylvester, Bjork, Deee-Lite, Digital Underground.

SM - Have you ever been to Australia before/are there any parts of the country you're excited to be visiting?

BROWN - I've never been! I'm crazy excited, I can't wait! I hear amazing things about Melbourne and Sydney, but Nick keeps telling me about the coral reef in Cairns. He wants us to go on a glass bottom boat and check out the sea-life. Not really my bag, but how can I resist?

SM - Finally – what is sonic masala?

BROWN - It's putting silk in your ears.

LA Vampires plays the Frankly! It's A Pop Festival at Brisbane's Powerhouse tomorrow, alongside Wet Hair, The Twerps, Blank Realm, Angel Eyes and loads more. Get tix here.

Paul Masala's Top Ten LPs of 2010

God this is hard. This being the first year of Sonic Masala this is the first time we've had to compile the end of year lists, yeah sure we've done them before, just for the chat down the pub, but committing them to the blog is so much more final, so much more nailed down. So like Brendan mention we sat down with beers in hand last weekend and nailed down our Sonic Masala top ten, we could of done a top 20 or even 40 long players, but we didn't have a week to sit in the pub debating them, much to our annoyance, it took three hour just to get ten! So like Brendan here are my top ten that didn't make that final SM list, plus a few other honourable mentions...

1. Ensemble Econmique - Psychical

I'm sure all end of year lists seem to have a LPs that sneak in at in the last few months and Ensemble Econmique fills that role in mine. A dark slab of future fucked utopia. When I first posted about Psychical I compared it a dark, more twisted, Vangelis inspired ,soundtrack for Blade Runner 2. Its moved on a bit from that lazy comparison to reach new dense haunted depths. Doom drone I've lapped up in the final few months of a fucked up year.

2. Ma Ami - Steal Your Face

Mi Ami's previous long playing outing Water Sports was massive favourite of mine last year so I came to Steal Your Face with big expections, and the Californian trio delivered in a riot of fast passed snaring fury, funk and tribal rhythms. Delicate and savage at the same an album that can shock and humble in equal measure, and I finally got to see Mi Ami live this year too, winner.

3. Cloudland Canyon - Fin Eaves

Falling for for this playful wash of noise was inevitable. I've been a keen follower of Cloudland Canyon ever since Silver Tongue Sisyphus, but with this years LP the band showed a lightness of touch to their drone and noise asthetic, shimmering depth and weight that seems to float just like a cloud. I'm sure it's been massively over looked for the touch bliss it really is.

4. People Of The North - Deep Tissue

People Of The North is the side project of Oneida members KidMillions, Fat Bobby and Showtime. I've always had thing for Oneida and their relentless throbbing rhythms, sure Deep Tissue isn't as expansive and conceptually bold as Oneida's releases (what is?) but the similarities are there. Deep Tissue covers familiar ground, its a step into indulgent unfinished business, an personal experiment shown to the world in all its raw, untouched beauty, same themes but left naked and stark.

5. Sun Araw - On Patrol

I really couldn't make my mind up between Sun Araw's On Patrol and Magic Lantens Platoon but On Patrol had to take it. Where else can you hear this level of stoned-out face melting tribal noise slur. A unique record that consumes you rather than just grow on you. 

6. Thee Oh Sees - Warm Slime

You got to love the Thee Oh Sees, well ok you don't but spend 30 seconds in the company of John Dwyer and friends cranking it out live and you will. Some LPs sick because the impact the band makes live. I might be guilty of that with Warm Slime but I think its the closest Thee Oh Sees have come to capturing their live energy on wax, and for that its a near perfect slice of garage punk swagger and bravado.

7. Caribou - Swim

If one album has popped up a lot on end of year lists then it's Caribou's Swim, a record I believe was on the cards ever since the track Brahminy Kite from The Milk of Human Kindness, a track that seemed, to me at least, to shape Andorra and naturally evolve to the pop perfection that is Swim. And that's what Daniel Snaith has created in Swim, a perfect pop album that will surly catapult Caribou into the mainstream. For me its the tracks like Leave House and Found Out that show the true quality of this album that and the fact that Carbiou still present a formidable and mesmerising live unit. I just hope it says that way.

8. Pocahaunted - Make It Real 

This might of been the west coast psych-dub outfits last LP outing, it might of even been a touch less edgy than previous efforts but it was one of Pocahaunted's best, more straight punk-funk & psych garage inspired than before, the duo went out with a swagger to their ghostly tribalisms, a parting voodoo party.

9. Grass Widow - Past Time

Of all the girl fronted, doo-wop influence, vocal harmony soaked, all girl groups that graced us with LP this year Grass Widow's debut was the best. Better wonky harmonising, better cheeky time changes all left refreshingly garage fuzz free.

10. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

When I first heard the rumours of Titus Andronicus' plans for their new LP, an album written from the perspective of union solider in the American civil war I was worried, it sounded like it could be a terrible idea, but no this album has more venom and spite than most rock bands managed in a life time, the world is fucked and they're not happy.

Other honourable mentions...

Tame Impala - Inner Speaker

Magic Lantern - Platoon

Tyvek - Nothing Fits

Sex Worker - Waving Goodbye

Autolux - Transit Transit

...I could go on forever but I have to draw the line somewhere. Next up the final all conquering Sonic Masala top ten albums of 2010...

Not Not Fun - Crown Center stage

A few weeks back (ok it must be over a month now) I posted about the parting gifts of Pocahaunted. This prompted me to check over the recent output of one of my favourite labels and Pocahaunted's former home from home Not Not Fun, and how have I been missing out. So with so much awesome releases dropping from the Not Not Fun stable recently I thought a label based serious of posts, much like Brendan's recent Bad Panda Records based posts, was in order, picking out some of my favourite recent and not so recent drops.

So to kick us off, a bit late, a taste of that 'ghost of Pocahaunted' I mentioned, Topaz Rags. California trio Topaz Rags consists of Amanda of Not Not Fun and Pocahaunted fame, Britt, Amanda's other half and Not Not Fun label co-founder, and Ash.

Now the self titled West Coast ghost squad has been a bit quiet this year. I'm just guessing here, but with Pocahaunted's Make It Real LP dropping this year, a tour, the LA Vampires adventures and the Not Not Fun day job maybe Amanda has been a touch busy. But Topaz Rags haven't been completely silent. Way back in early September the West Coast trio dropped 7" The Crown Center, their first new material since last years Capricorn Born Again LP, and its dark prowl down Topaz Rags' sinister new territory. Apparently recorded in "heart of winter in a room with one blue light bulb," chanting witch vocals stretch over an ever falling doom laden rhythm - its dark, its grim, its ace. And what can say of the B Side? The band use the term "psych-psycho psyche" and I can't argue with that. This is a 7" very much worth your time and hopefully a taste of the next Topaz Rags long player. Buy here, taste...

Topaz Rags - The Crown Center

...and more Not Not Fun goodness to follow soon.

Pocahaunted keep on haunting

Grief can be a debilitating affliction especially when it comes to getting posts up in a timely manner. I'm of course talking about the passing of my favorite Los Angeles, psych, trance, drone, dub mistresses Pocahaunted. The fact that it has taken me til now to comment on their winding up back in August shows how gutted I was to hear the news - the fact its taken til now to mention Pocahaunted's parting gifts, live L.P Live From The New Age and 7" single Threshold, that dropped either end of September respectfully, is just plain rubbish. But anyway both of Pocahaunted's last outings of the duo's four year history are out now on Not Not Fun, although the label has sold out of the 7". I'm sure we'll be seeing reincarnations soon though, be it in the guise of LA Vampires, Vibes, or the future releases of Not Not Fun - I'm sure Amanda, Bethany and Pocahaunted will live on somehow. Taste and vid for 'All Of Is Of', taken from this year's L.P Make It Real, below...

Pocahaunted - Threshold


Pocahaunted - All Of Is Of from Not Not Fun on Vimeo.

Actual witchcraft, Fact!

"Fuck me this is dark! Holy shit this is good!" The most articulate opinion I've ever held of a record but I defy you to not agree after you listen to the LA Vampires & Zola Jesus E.P.

The side project of Nika Rosa Danilova aka Zola Jesus and Pocahaunted's Amanda Brown, it is gothic, psych witchcraft incarnate and the collaboration between Wisconsin gothic vibe and LA's tropical drone psychedelia is truly spellbinding. Brooding drone drenched beats, echoing rich vocals, its got it all. Think a trapped Sister Ray grinding you in dub-heavy voodoo hell and you've just started to get close.

Last night I was thinking that Not Not Fun have been quiet lately, oh how wrong I was 'cos they may have just put out the best E.P of the year. The LA Vampires & Zola Jesus EP is out on Not Not Fun as a 12 inch, limited to 600. I know I use the words 'depth' and 'dark' a lot but this slice of black wax has redefined the meaning of those words. You need this!

LA Vampires & Zola Jesus -Bone Is Bloodstone

Make it haunted

I received exciting news from your friends and mine Not Not Fun records at the weekend. Pocahaunted have a new LP out, Make It Real.

"LA case-crackers return to the recorded realm for the first time since 08. new styles, new hopes, new dreams. Raw-rhythmed body music for solar sound systems. Wild warped LA utopia art by champ colorist Spencer Longo."

Amen to that I say. Have a taste below and buy it here.

Pocahaunted - Save Yrself (It's Nice)