School of Seven Bells Alpinisms

Named after a mythological Andean pickpocket academy, this Brooklyn trio has uncovered a rich nexus between humming shoegaze guitar, floaty and ethereal 4AD pop, and the wistful exuberance of ’90s Manchester. The Bells ooze as much Cocteau Twins as My Bloody Valentine (“Half Asleep”), but unlike their shoegaze influences, there’s little world-weariness here; just an optimistic yearning for something more (the bright, earnest cadences on “My Cabal” assure us that melancholy is a tired business, indulged by those who can’t cut it as dreamers). These warm soundscapes might be purely fanciful–where feelings sound elastic and still unbroken–but they’re so cozy that we don’t mind lingering for a while. Dream pop, indeed: We’ll take a unicorn to go, please.

Martyn: Beyond London Dubstep

Martijn Deykers has a hit in a genre that, up until this year, he knew little about. “Broken” melded a hammered dub rhythm–a sound like railroad tracks crackling beneath passing subway trains–with iridescent synth chords; it was heralded by many in the dance scene as dubstep’s single of the year. “[It was] kind of strange to me, because I didn’t really know that much about dubstep at that time at all,” recalls Deykers, who is spiritual kin to cerebral bass artists Burial and Kode9. “Now all of a sudden I’m a dubstep artist,” he says, chuckling.

The man the dubstep scene has come to know simply as Martyn has been a drum & bass DJ in his native Holland for more than a decade (he even recently collaborated with Mancunian D&B king Marcus Intalex). Deykers grew up in Eindhoven, but eventually settled in Rotterdam (his record label, 3024, is named after his old zip code there), and his fingerprints are all over the Red Zone D&B club nights that were held throughout the country.

Martyn’s recent slew of 12-inch singles take dubstep into the wilderness far outside London, often crossing over with the likes of Flying Lotus, who gave his “Natural Selection” an icy cool-down mix, and taking on more danceable, ethereal qualities (rather than dubstep’s typically dark and foreboding sensibilities) on “Twenty Four” and “Vancouver.” “All I Have Is Memories” features haunting piano chords drifting in and out of a groove of pulsating two-step beat and layers of disembodied vocals, while “Velvet” spaces out with ringing, over-processed jazz-organ chords and snare hits that keep the blood flowing.

Dividing his time between DJ gigs in Europe and producing music at home in the DC suburbs (he recently made the move to the U.S. and is awaiting citizenship papers after marrying his American wife), Martyn frequently maintains a blog, a forum for news on his releases and his strong opinions, such as his dismay over Burial revealing his identity. He’s consistently outspoken about the idea of dubstep spreading beyond its South London roots, and is pleased to see artists outside of the U.K. taking the genre into their own hands.

“That’s only good for the sound because everyone just brings their own influences to the table as well,” he states. “That makes the music even more exciting than it already was.” To that effect, he’s doing what he can to make dubstep his own by blending in plenty of hip-hop and four-to-the-floor sounds on his upcoming album. “It’s going to be a mixture of sounds and we’ll see where it ends up,” Deykers says. “I’m not sure myself.”

Fucked Up The Chemistry of Common Life

Since forming as a hardcore punk band in 2001, Toronto’s Fucked Up has erupted into one of the most forward-thinking and obsessively fascinating bands in modern independent music. The Chemistry of Common Life, their second full-length (and near 50th release), sees them expand their Germs-inspired mayhem even more, now including flutes, operatic vocals, and shoegazey walls of guitar (at times, the album features 70 guitar tracks). And while there are a lot of gimmicks, there’s also a ton of heart. From the air-raid guitars and addictive chorus of opener “Son the Father” through the melodic anthem “Black Albino Bones,” Fucked Up has burnt the notions of genre altogether, and made one of the best albums of 2008.

Moritz Von Oswald Suffers Stroke?

Buzz around the internet concerns a rumor that dub-techno pioneer Moritz von Oswald has suffered a stroke this past weekend. He was scheduled to play Dublin’s DEAF festival this past Sunday, but numerous forums and websites are reporting that he had to cancel the gig due to the stroke.

Von Oswald, a member of Rhythm and Sound with Mark Ernestus, is considered one of the most influential people in techno, having co-founded Basic Channel Records and produced for high-profile artists like Carl Craig. He has also been behind many records at Berlin’s Dubplates & Mastering, as an engineer.

Von Oswald is said to be recovering in hospital.

Photo by Matt Cohen.

Belleruche “Anything You Want (Not That)”

Belleruche members Kathrin deBoer, Ricky Fabulous, and DJ Modest describe their sound as “Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Christian and Cut Chemist stuck in a dusty, second-hand record store with rum and a sampler.” The band recently released a highly-anticipated sophomore album, The Express. On the first single, “Anything You Want (Not That),” buzzy bass cushions a catchy soul melody that percolates down through the Motown beat and funky piano line. This arrangement saunters alongside deBoer’s grainy, coquettish vocals and only a bluesy solo from Fabulous on his 40-year-old acoustic guitar cuts through DJ Modest’s turntabled groove. Lulu McAllister

Anything You Want (Not That)

RIP Terrin Durfey of Pinback

Pinback’s Terrin Durfey has passed away after a longtime battle with cancer.

The multi-instrumentalist was kept from touring with the band on its fall tour dates due to a relapse in his condition. A fundraiser was set up to offset his medical costs. Contributions can still be made at terrindurfeyfundraiser.org and myspace.com/terrindurfeyfoundation.

Ohmega Watts

Ohmega Watts causes some ruckus in an elementary school on his latest video, for “Eyes and Ears“, off his new album, Watts Happening. The Portland-based MC, producer, and longtime member of the Ubiquity roster disrupts the studious endeavors of many an elementary-school kid, and led by three dudes with cardboard eyes and ears, proceeds to usher everyone into a talent show. His chorus “You can do it, you can do it” is weirdly reminiscent of those inspirational posters that used to hang on the walls of your third-grade classroom. Too bad we didn’t have anything as cool as multi-talented hip-hop artists dropping by to teach us b-boy moves back then.

Asobi Seksu Announces Album, Tours

Remember a couple of years ago, when it seemed like every time you opened a web browser there was an announcement that Asobi Seksu had added more dates to its never-ending tour? The atmospheric rockers don’t have quite an extensive road trip this time around (yet), but the band has announced both a new album and a handful of show dates.

Early 2009 will see the release of a yet-to-be-named album dropping on One Little Indian and Polyvinyl, respectively. Prior to that, on November 17 in Europe and November 18 in the U.S., the band will release the first single off the album, “Me & Mary,” as a 7″, with a little gem called “Breathe Into Glass” on the flipside. Then they’ll be hitting the road with some U.S. tour dates. Chances are, if you don’t catch them on these dates, they’ll be returning to your city very soon.

Dates
10/17 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – Bard College – Smog
10/18 Boston, MA – T.T. the Bear’s
10/19 Montreal, QC – tba
10/20 Toronto, ON – Horseshoe
10/21 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
10/22 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
10/24 Denver, CO – Hi Dive
10/25 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
10/27 Seattle, WA – Nectar
10/28 Vancouver, BC – Media Club
10/29 Portland, OR – Holocene
10/30 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
10/31 Los Angeles, CA – TBA

The Whip “Trash”

News of The Whip‘s album getting a U.S. release date a couple weeks ago thrilled those of us who’ve been playing tracks like “Divebomb” and “Trash” for the last couple years, hoping to see a full album eventually come Stateside. That day will arrive in early 2009, with X Marks Destination, and the aforementioned “Trash” is the lead track on the album. In this writer’s opinion, the Mancunian quartet puts most of the rave-rockers currently crowding up the blogosphere to shame. Check out the spooky video too.

The Whip – Trash

Monareta “Me Voy Pa’l Mar”

Combining electro with more traditional cumbia and champeta sounds from their native Colombia, Brooklyn-by-way-of-Bogota duo Monareta is part of the growing wave of artists pushing the boundaries of exactly what constitutes “Latin” music. Taken from their latest album, Picotero, “Me Voy Pa’l Mar” features a pulsing beat, crunchy electronic flourishes, and a sultry female vocal (en Español, of course). What results is a song that could easily get hips swinging on both sides of the equator.

Me Voy Pa’l Mar

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