Middle Eastern West Indies?

An Italian [Luca Gatti], a Frenchman [Stephane Rene] and an Arab [Baheeg Ramzy Mikail] walk into a recording studio...

Seems like it could be the beginning of an off-colour joke, but it's actually the genesis of Diaspora and their new album A Jamaican In Cairo. As the title suggests, AJIC blends the seemingly disparate musics of Jamaica (dub and reggae) and the Middle East and North Africa(the Maqam, i.e. the Arabic scale system and Tunisian fundi rhythms) into an engaging and enjoyable album. No surprise that Gatti has in the past collaborated with Asian Dub Foundation, an act that successfully fused disparate sounds into something new.

I'm not entirely sure if Amina Annabi is an official member of the group or simply a guest vocalist (as she's credited on "Nile," one of the standout tracks), but Bob Andy [who has worked with Jackie Mittoo] and Raiz [who has worked with Bill Laswell and Massive Attack] most definitely are.

This 'project' is as good as the mental picture you get when you combine dub basslines with sitar, which to my mind is pretty darn good. For proof, visit Green Queen Music's Soundcloud page.

Be sure to visit the Diaspora Myspace page and their label page.

Get this now.

Seriously, don't sleep on this opportunity. Pete Samples, formerly of Vinyl Republik, is offering up his latest and last record, Bekonscot, for free on his website.

The very same Mike B of Planet Shhh that I mentioned in my Seapony post will be playing Bekonscot front-to-back on Cross/Pollination in about 10 minutes [1pm CST, Wed. Nov 24] so you can sample the merchandise before you download if you don't trust my advice to just GET this record - like a lot of 'electro-pop' artists, Samples appears to be leaving the electro part behind and burrowing deeper and deeper into pop's peculiar crevices.

Donations are encouraged, enjoyment is guaranteed.

I'll leave you with "Awkward Goodbye," which is NOT from the new record:


Thanks for reading, now start listening...

Mare de mer...

Kudos to Mike B over at Planet Shhh on this one. A few weeks ago he played Seapony on his show at UMFM, Cross/Pollination and brought this great Seattle trio to my attention. I tracked down their self-title EP and have been playing the hell out of it since then. They come across like the love child of Lush and Ride which takes me back to the last years of high school and the first years of University, which knowing the ages of bands I've been listening to lately means Seapony weren't alive yet.

I'll just console myself by listening to "Dreaming" for the umpteenth time.

The band is on Double Denim Records, whose Blackbird Blackbird is definitely another act to check out.

Check them out on Myspace and Facebook, and be sure to hit their Bandcamp page to download the EP.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...

Like the kids do...

Not sure if it's a trend or not, but the young 'uns these days appear to be making the most blissful pop music going. The man behind Baths, Will Wiesenfeld is only 21 years old and while the shroud of mystery surrounding Teen Daze means he might not actually be a teen, I'm pretty certain he's part of the youth movement.

Joining the fray (though NOT, as Drowned In Sound has it; "a little too late") is 22 year old Texan Spencer Stephenson and his debut on Western Vinyl (a great label that keeps surprising me), Feeling Today. Pieced together in part by incorporating found and recycled sounds (a la Bibio on Vignetting The Compost) into a soundscape that is well worth sinking into - this isn't the Texas vista you imagine when you watch Friday Night Lights, and it's more likely to be the soundtrack to The Farm than Riggin's acreage.



Take a listen to "Waterparker" courtesy of Western Vinyl and be sure to visit Botany's Myspace page and the bookmark the WV page as well since Feeling Today is only an appetizer for a main course promised for early 2011.

I'm going to try writing shorter entries more often for the next little while so we'll see how that goes.
Thanks for reading, now start listening...

Will Owls replace other birds in rock?

Once indie bands run through the Encyclopedia of Animals plumbing for monikers, I'm guessing that they'll be perusing copies of Gray's Anatomy and the Physician's Desk Reference before long. For now though, we're in what seems to be a heavy animal phase - so many bears, wolves, fish and fowl...

But as long as these zoological specimens continue to craft music worth listening to, who am I to determine what they name their band?

Enter Michigan band Breathe Owl Breathe with their fourth album - and first for Hometapes - Magic Central. My hackles may go up at their name, but it's a reflex like my beagle C.J. when she meets another dog on our walks. As soon as she gets a sniff, they go down - likewise, listening to opener "Own Stunts" my trepidation is instantly abated; I'm hard-pressed to think of a better opener on an album this year. Seriously, check out the video for it right now. I'll wait...


Friggin' awesome, right? From solo guitar to thundering toms and chorus of 'whu huh huh whoas' and then to Micah Middaugh's rough-hewn voice all by itself, there's such a wonderful push/pull/push dynamic going on in this song. And how great is the line "moustache covers my lower lip / no one can tell that I'm trembling"? How about the 'ooo-wah's' and cello(!) climax at the four-minute mark? I know I'm getting all rhetorical here, but I just can't imagine fans of folks like Evening Hymns or Ohbijou not taking immense pleasure in Breathe Owl Breathe's music.
"Dogwalkers Of The New Age" brings Andréa Moreno-Beals' cello even more to the fore, and further reinforces my theory that there needs to be more cello in indie-rock in general. It's such a resonant and haunting instrument, while still capable of nimble moments - it's a five-tool four-string.


The band is involved in a pretty interesting project, the result of which will be a hardbound book and 7-inch record. It's "listener supported" like an indie-PBS.

Here's a beautiful live recording (made more beautiful by the lovely setting in which it was recorded):


Be sure to check out Breathe Owl Breathe's website and Myspace page.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...

Not Quite What I Was Expecting

Two years on from The Express and three since their blazing debut, Turntable Soul Music, UK trio Belleruche have released 270 Stories (on the always-on-point Tru Thoughts). I had to go back and listen to the first two records after hearing 270 Stories for the first time because I wasn't quite sure it was the same band. Sonically, the trio have shifted a bit from a sound that their debut's title nailed on the head (with its warm soul vocals, turntablism and in-the-background guitar work) to something a little harder. Belleruche have run a piece of sandpaper across their smoothly polished sound leaving some gritty, rough patches. "3 Amp Fuse" and "Fuzz Face" (video below) are a far cry from Turntable Soul Music's "Minor Swing" or even The Express' "Anything You Want - Not That."
There are still traces of the band they used to be ("Ginger Wine" and "Gold Rush" in particular) but the changes aren't so much a jarring transition as they are a measured progression for Belleruche. And while vocalist Kathrin deBoer has been the center of attention for the group, the new record finds guitarist Ricky Fabulous taking a larger share of the spotlight as so much of the album lives or dies by his work ("Cat In A Dog Suit" where he's all alone at the 2 minute mark, for one).
It may take a couple listens, and a lessening of the attachment to their first two records, but Belleruche have recorded one of the best records I've heard this fall and I strongly encourage you to check it out.

For now, check out the sweet new video for "Fuzz Face," made from over 4000 photocopies. Seriously.


And here's a little something to satiate your ear appetite - an Asthmatic Astronaut remix of "You're Listening To The Worlds" from The Liberty EP, released prior to 270 Stories. And the link to a mix by DJ Modest for good measure.

Don't forget to check out Belleruche's Myspace page and website.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...

Gauzy and gorgeous.

It's been seven years since they last released a full-length album as a duo, but Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink are back as Azure Ray and on Drawing Down The Moon they pick up where they left off without missing a beat. While they've left Warm Records behind for a new home with Saddle Creek the melancholic beauty of Burn and Shiver has made the journey with them.

Both Taylor and Fink have been busy in the interim with their solo careers - Taylor has three solo albums to her name while Fink has been burning the candle at both ends recording solo records and playing in both O+S and Art In Manila. How the pair found the time to work as Azure Ray again is a mystery but one I'm happy to accept without question. Eric Bachmann is back as producer and the same astute touch he applied on Burn and Shiver is evident on Drawing Down The Moon.

Songs like "Larraine" and "Silver Sorrow" are dressed up with strings, ambient percussion and other embellishments but they never overwhelm nor overshadow the vocals that are Azure Ray's lifeblood. There's enough dissimilarity in Taylor and Fink's voices to make them identifiable, but they share a breathy, delicate quality that makes them perfectly suited for each other - and for the material they write. No one can sing about heartache and heartbreak like these two; Azure Ray almost make it sound like a state worth visiting.

I find it interesting that some of the tunes have a trance-like quality considering the origins of the album title.

Stereogum has the premiere of the duo's video for "Dont Leave My Mind" here. But if you just want to listen, you can download it here:

Be sure to visit Azure Ray's website and Myspace page.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...