hubris.: White Shores

Swiss instrumental post-rockers hubris. used immortality as personified by Tolkien's elves as the starting point for their new album White Shores. Living forever is no picknick, according to these mythical creatures who refer to death as "the gift of men". That outlook on life (no pun intended) offered some solace for the band's songwriter Jonathan Hohl, who was quite shaken by his grandfather’s passing. The album goes through six seamless movements>.They are lined up as a continuation: Death. Is. Just. Another. Path (the latter in two parts).

Going through the various stages of grief, Hohl leads the band through the fond memories and the stories his grandfather told him, keeping him alive within his mind's eye, using tinkling ambient textures, shards of metal and gentle electronic elements. The music does all the talking, because sometimes words fail, but carefully constructed sounds will take over to get the message across.

Go Public: Craps Tempo

Atlanta mutant disco quartet Go Public wrote a track about the grippling anxiety of a gambler. Craps Tempo is pushed forward by simple but highly effective drum beat, before the guitar, bass and sax join in for a punk-flavoured floor filler. Sean Rawls, Adrian Finch, Sam Gunn and Jay Domingo have been part of the underground scene for decades, before getting together to play a spicy mix of leftfield indie.

Lemongrab: Another Kind Of Freedom

photo: Ingrid Sofia Hedenström

Garage post-punkers Lemongrab have a not so secret weapon on their new Another Kind Of Freedom u EP: the shared vocals of Gaëlle Cordeau and Léonie Dishaw. They can do really fucking fast (Pay To Play) and detached without a care in the world as well (Necessary Condition). It makes the four tracks on their new EP unpredictable in a good way.

It is fuzzy, decidedly lo-fi music, wherein separation and careful balancing of the instruments is laughed at. Lead single Yoko serves as a well-deserved reappraisal for an artist who has been dragged through the mud for decades. The unrelenting Jaki Liebezeit-inspired backbeat of the final track No Receipt brings a bit of Krautrock to a band who obviously were inspired by X-ray Spex and the Au Pairs.

Things We Built: Daddy's Gone Disco

Melbourne-based Things We Built make a plea for leaving the grind and boredom of a day time job and hit the dance floor instead on their Daddy's Gone Disco single. O, and he is not going back ever.

It starts out plain and simple enough, but once they have reached the middle-eight they chose wisely and kept it going for quite some time for a prolonged adventurous break, before circling back to the safety of the basics to bring the track to a close. What the fuck just happened? Better play it again.

Steven Wilson: "Requiem for a Village" teaser ft. David Tennant

Steven Wilson has posted a short video for his ninth studio album Requiem for a Village. It feaures spoken word by actor David Tennant, with a link to an old school website for the imginary village. It includes this announcement:

The parish clerk reminds residents that the September observance in The Village falls on Friday 11th September this year, as it has on the same date in every year for which the parish holds a record. The Village Hall is booked for the entire day for an unnamed musical act. The event is not listed on the spring fête calendar and is not organised by the parish council. No public programme has been issued. Enquiries to the clerk's office regarding times, locations, or participation have been declined in previous years and will be declined again. Residents who have attended in the past are asked to observe the usual custom. Traffic on Chapel Slope may be heavier than usual after dusk. No further notice will be posted.

The album will be released on November 6th (2LP, CD). Further details TBA.

» stevenwilsonhq.com
» requiemforavillage.com