Little Dreamers #4 - Nitzam, Fierce & the Dead, Sleeping In The Aviary, TV Buddhas

Here are some belated releases by bands I've featured in the past that I thought warranted a quick mention...


First up, Brighton psych folk rock hybrid Nitzam put out a self-titled EP last year that I quite liked, and since have pumped out two more - called Nitzam 2 and Nitzam 3. They also opened The Great Escape festival this English summer (not sure if that's even a term anymore...) All three releases are free and can be got here. Get got, good.

Nitzam - High Tide (from Nitzam 2)
Nitzam - Answer Phone (from Nitzam 3)


Another UK band, London-based instrumental quartet The Fierce And The Dead impressed with their long-and-amusing-titled debut If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe. They followed this up earlier this year with EP On VHS (which you can grab here), which they also recorded videos for the four tracks onto VHS tapes for special purchase - nice. The EP has some great moments, and with titles like '666...6', still haven't lost the sense of humour.

The Fierce & The Dead - 666...6


Now across to the US, Minneapolis to be exact, to check in on Sleeping In The Aviary. The five-piece put out a fun LP last year called You And Me, Ghost and last month re-issued their sophomore album Expensive Vomit In A Cheap Motel on vinyl. More lo-fi, steeped in tragedy but run through with hope, the album is a ragged rush at the sun - no lollipops here, just soldiering on with a glint in the eye. Good stuff. You can grab it (and their other stuff) through Sound of Science here.

Sleeping In The Aviary - Write On


Finally we are trekking way over to Tel Aviv via Berlin for post punk gurus TV Buddhas. The latest EP Band In The Modern World (out through Austrian label TROST Records, produced by Steve Fisk) sounds anything BUT modern, like its a lost tape from the 70s London era. I'm really tired, so all Ill say is this is a great release - GREAT release - that you should get right now. RIGHT. NOW. Here. Do it.

TV Buddhas - Don't Tell Me It's Gonna Be OK
TV Buddhas - In The Shadow Of A Wave

Here's the whole thing...

A Crippled Back, A Fierce Relic

Matt Stevens released his third album Relic on the 26th September. If that name is slightly familiar, it may be because I posted about his other band, post-rock outfit Fierce and the Dead. Relic is predominantly guitar oriented instrumentals with additional drums, bass, strings, glockenspiel and Mellotron, and also includes Chrissie Caulfield on violin (she of Crippled Black Pheonix fame - I loved their album of last year). Many of the songs were written during a period when Matt seriously injured his back and was confined to the floor of his home. It evokes that guitar aesthetic that guitar loop specialists like Mark McGuire or Grails inhabits, and although it doesnt reach those heady heights, it is a delectable treat nonetheless. Stevens is a real talent.

Furthermore, Stevens insists on DIY, word of mouth gear, constantly encouraging torrenting of his stuff, playing online shows - this guy is embracing global communication in the best way possible. Help him out by grabbing Relic here.

Matt Stevens - Nightbus
Matt Stevens - Relic

Fierce And The Dead

Here is another band that has taken me forever and a day to get around to talking about - so long in fact that they are prepping a new release before Ive talked about the last one! We bonded over a love of Explosions In The Sky and Fucked Up, so it was a no-brainer - yet for whatever reason it kept getting pushed back in the line. That just wasn't cool, so hopefully this makes amends.


The guys in question go by the name of The Fierce & The Dead. Now before you get all antsy, this has no relation to the "awesome" Sam Raimi Western of a similar name, when Leo was still a squinty douche, Sharon Stone was some semblance of attractive, Gene Hackman still made films (and was yet to meet Ray Romano - that would kill anyone's love of acting), and Russell Crowe played a priest (!) - although that would have been kinda cool... No, these guys, hailing from London, are all about creating their own world, something pure and distilled (they even released the debut LP, If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe on their own label, Spencer Park Music) - and in the main they succeed. It takes true mastery to takle the instrumental rock genre and make something unique and exciting. The UK though are full of bands that do it well - That Fucking Tank!, These Monsters, And So I Watch You From Afar - and you can firmly place The Fierce And The Dead in that higher echelon. Its the diversity and chameleonic nature of the quartet that helps them to continually evolve - a bit like Tortoise, really. Now that's gotta be a good thing...

Grab If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe here.