Splito is available on lathe cut 7″ from PseudoArcana

Written by Luke Carrell

There’s a contradiction in The Garment District’s music, it’s the fact that although it has been produced in discreet lo fi key and it does have a certain retro feeling, Jennifer does not spare in resources to create something distinctly professional and unique and totally apart from the mediocre minimalism of many underground producers out there.

Bird or Bat is a piece of polyhedral pop full of layers of delicate synths and keyboard patterns interwoven into a beautiful mix of double vocals. Endless effects and arrangements have been placed with millimeter precision and artful patience rounding up a deceitful simple song.

You just have to look at the number of people credited in this track and its accompanied video to know that this is something serious flowing out of the mind of this tasteful producer.

The Garment District lives out of its own time (or maybe in its own time) and happily does not follow any trend or conventional logic.  Sui generis.

Grab The Melody Elder from Garment District on Bandcamp

Written by Julio Lorea

for Pau Torres is available on Bandcamp

Written by Jeff Daily

You can hear more from Heatherwood on Soundcloud below

Written by Nathan Reese

“Yubiwa” is the Japanese DIY-recording scene’s equivalent of The Avengers, a long-awaited meeting of some of the most popular bedroom-based projects in the country today. This song brings together the shadowy Jesse Ruins (signed to Captured Tracks), swirling-pop maker Sapphire Slows (Not Not Fun) and the hazy rock of Hotel Mexico (Double Denim).  Despite having connections with Western labels, “Yubiwa”arrives as a limited-run cassette and digital download, with all profits going towards victims of last year’s Tohoku earthquake. Each contributing artist manages to standout sonically over “Yubiwa’s” nearly six-minute playtime, but no single one dominates the song, with all three styles striking a captivating balance. Hotel Mexico’s guitars, drums and singing drive the song forward, while Sapphire Slows fills the remaining space with clouds of synth and vocals. Jesse Ruins, meanwhile, adds electronic touches that give “Yubiwa” the same other-worldly sound and just-before-sleep feel as the project’s individual work. It’s a great showing for all three artists involved, but an even better triumph for Japan’s ambitious DIY music scene.

YUBIWA
Hotel Mexico + Jesse Ruins + Sapphire Slows

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Only 100 copies of the cassette are available, though folks outside of Japan can buy the track digitally on Bandcamp

Written by Patrick St. Michel

Propelled along with a beat that wouldn’t be out of place on some Brainfeeder jams and cloaked in decaying synth patterns, “614″ does that thing that truly great electronic music does – it moves the listener into an alternate head space, a space with more possibilities. A visual accompaniment in the form of Piotr Kamler‘s Chronopolis is suggested above.

“614″ features on the PAN release Dance Classics Vol. 1. Matsunaga also released a sold out split with SND on the same label

Written by Michael Kasparis

Emerging from London’s ever-changing punk scene a couple of years back and, naturally, comprised of members who play in umpteen other great bands (Satellites of Love, The Shitty Limits, Sceptres, and the list goes on) No are formidable. Live they can veer from bass-heavy cacophony with enough low-end murk to disembowel, or they can be razor-sharp hardcore bullets, nailing each song in just over a minute with passion and breathlessness. Their self-titled debut 12″ on Static Shock combines it all. “Big Black Wings” is a swift, gritty thing which manages to sound brutal and desperate in the same minute and a half. Without getting into the nitty gritty of a man’s emotions, these guys sound angry at something. The changes and wall-of-guitar production also suggest what an Electric Wizard (oh wait, this was recorded by the guy who recorded the first EW albums) record would sound like at the wrong speed.

No: “Big Black Wings”

No’s s/t debut is now available from Static Shock

Written by Michael Kasparis

Brother Sun, Sister Moon’s self-titled release is available on cassette tape as a co-release from Merz’s own Cooper Cult Records and BLWBCK and is up for CD, vinyl, and digital pre-order from denovali

Written by Luke Carrell

The word “mammoth” doesn’t usually figure into many album reviews, but we can’t think of a better word for the 6 CD set, Missing Nothing. This various artists compilation, put together by the Southampton, UK music collective/online community known as Bang the Bore, gathers tracks ranging stylistically from experimental composition to improvisation to noise. The scope of this set is nothing short of amazing and it this album is a fundraiser, kids! The folks at Bang the Bore will use the money made to fund shows in the Southampton area by purchasing a PA at first and maybe more if the set sells well. In a statement on the group’s site concerning the collection they wrote, “We wanted to release something beautiful that people would want to keep; something that represents the musicians who have played for us during our first three years of events; and something that helps introduce some lesser known bands from our hometown of Southampton, UK.” Well, mission more than accomplished because this set is beautiful. It features artists such as: John Butcher, After the Rain, The A Band, Ashtray Navigations, Seth Cooke, and many more. If these names are foreign to ya, never fear because we’ll let you in on a secret: they’re all good.

The 6 CDs are arranged thematically, with the first disc containing shorter tracks, though on this set “short” is a relative term because most cuts clock in at double digits. The second disc holds ecstatic noise and electronics. Disc three is more DIY style noise, but doesn’t get too freaky. The fourth disc is dedicated to improvisation. Disc number five is on the trippy side, what some might call “psychedelia.” And finally, the sixth disc is made up of tracks recorded either live or in unique locations away from a studio/room set up (listen to Seth Cooke’s “The Tower” recorded in a “derelict cooling tower” below). So how does a listener navigate such a monster of a set? Try starting at the beginning. As much music as there is on this comp, it could take your next road trip, series of long ass bus rides, weeks of traffic jammed work day commutes, or repeated sweaty exercise sessions to listen to all of Missing Nothing. The music reveals itself slowly and since there’s so damn much of it, it makes it easy to answer the question of, “What the hell am I going to listen to today?”

The Missing Nothing compilation is now available from Bang the Bore

Written by Jeff Daily

The White Mofo Drug Smuggla Tape is out now in an edition of 20 and available at the band’s live shows. It may also be downloaded for free on Soundcloud

Written by Henning Lahmann