Shoegaze

The music of Slow Down Molasses reflects the aesthetic, environment and paradoxes of life in Saskatchewan. Summers on the Canadian prairies are glorious and bright. In June the sunsets linger for hours – as late as 11pm one can still see a patch of blue sky to the northwest, as if the land is clinging to the last vestiges of a glorious day, stubbornly reluctant to let the summer end. And when total darkness hits, it’s only four hours until the sun peers over the eastern horizon once again. The prairies make for an environment of extremes: winters are as unforgiving and dark as summers are optimistic and bright, and that bipolar nature heavily informs the band’s new album. The irony of its title, 100% Sunshine, quickly becomes apparent as the Saskatoon five-piece tackles the idealisation of success, what society deems a “normal” life, and the spectre of depression lurking underneath a quixotic façade. Is the pursuit of a dream amidst growing responsibility at home worth it in the end? In past years Slow Down Molasses felt more like a loose collective than a band, with various friends and peers chipping in to help bring singer/guitarist Tyson McShane’s musical vision to life. That has changed with 100% Sunshine, as the musicians who toured behind 2015’s Burnt Black Cars also play on the new record (McShane is joined by drummer Jordan Kurtz, bassist Chris Morin, guitarist/keyboardist Aaron Scholz, guitarist Levi Soulodre and keyboardist/singer Jeanette Stewart). With the chemistry that comes from extensive touring, Slow Down Molasses are a tighter unit than ever, which in turn lends a sense of urgency to the new music. It’s as if the contrast in the band’s sonic portrait has been tweaked: the whites are brighter, the blacks denser. Produced by Chad Munson and mixed in Glasgow by Tony Doogan (best known for his work with Mogwai and Belle & Sebastian), 100% Sunshine channels the bleaker side of indie rock, evoking shoegaze, dream-pop, psychedelic rock and darkwave at once. “Moon Queen” is a superblast of searing noise in true early-1990s form, contagious four-on-the- floor rock’n’roll underscored by waves of drone and feedback. Underneath the seeming effervescence is crippling melancholy, as McShane drawls, “I do not believe that we share the same dream / As you’re flying high and I’m sitting here, just burning out.” The rampaging “New Release” weaves heavy rock, shoegaze and gothic elements skilfully, coming across as a mix of the Cure’s “A Forest” and Swervedriver’s “Last Train to Satansville”, the two sides creating a dynamic give-and- take hinting at inner conflict. “Levitation Sickness” hearkens back to the glory days of 1990s indie rock, its massive layers of guitars reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr., Sugar and Sebadoh. The Slint-esque “No Riots” and the post-punk flavoured “Ghosts & Vodka” date back nearly two decades, a constant presence in McShane’s songwriting arsenal yet only now finding the arrangements – and musicians – to make the tracks work on record. As the Rachel Goswell to McShane’s Neil Halstead, Stewart helps bring the album to a sublime denouement on the fittingly Slowdive-esque “You Made Me a Ghost”, her gentle, heavily reverbed, barely comprehensible singing giving the song an air of mystery and ethereality. 100% Sunshine reflects the sense of fatalism, lurking under the friendly smiles, that is such a strong part of prairie life. Have fun at the family get-together, but stack that buffet plate because you never know when you’ll eat this well again. Enjoy the hell out of the football team’s win, because you know they’re going to lose badly next week. Savour the sunshine, but you’d better hope it doesn’t last, because you don’t want a drought. Slow Down Molasses deal with that paradox to beautiful effect as they navigate the bumpy road between the restlessness of youth and the threat of middle-age complacency. No, everything is not fine, and we are not all okay. But that’s what music is for: to provide escapism, introspection, reflection and ultimately liberation. I’m giving up on youth As taken for granted, that I won’t ever be Torn from the times that would always bring me back taken out again, as we’ve always been Adrien Begrand Record Label: Dancan Music Style: Alternative

Gore — восьмой студийный альбом американской альтернативной метал-группы Deftones, выпущенный 8 апреля 2016 года на лейбле Reprise Records. Альбом был тепло встречен критиками и дебютировал на первом месте в Новой Зеландии и главных хит-парадах Австралии, а также занял второе место в Billboard 200.

Новый студийный альбом американских инди-рокерш, при участии продюсера Radiohead, участника Atoms For Peace - Найджела Годрича 5 интересных фактов о группе Warpaint (согласно журналу TIME OUT Москва) 1. Warpaint - это четыре молодые девушки с гитарами и барабанами — беспроигрышное сочетание, что-то подобное вы могли увидеть на летнем выступлении англичанок Savages. Только там был исступленный британский постпанк, а здесь прокуренный калифорнийский псих-рок. 2. Раньше группа выглядела еще более выигрышно, поскольку за ударной установкой сидела актриса Шэннин Соссамон, которая покинула Warpaint в 2008-м. Warpaint - не новая и не молодая группа, хотя и записан всего один альбом (и тот не так давно), но девушки играют рок без малого десяток лет. 3. Warpaint и знаменитости – солистка группы Эмили Кокал встречалась с гитаристом Red Hot Chili Peppers Джоном Фрушанте, который сводил их дебютный EP. 4. О группе постоянно пишут «калифорнийская», при этом никто из ее участниц не родился в Калифорнии. Творчество Warpaint вообще не вяжется с открыточными представлениями о штате солнца и серфинга. «Мы — мрачная правда о Калифорнии, — говорят участницы группы. — Мы — это Лос-Анджелес в четыре часа утра, когда бары уже закрылись, и осталось отчаяние». 5. Единственный альбом группы «Fool» вышел в 2010-м и был заслуженно принят «на ура!», он до сих пор составляет основную часть концертной программы Warpaint. Но 20 января выходит новый альбом «Warpaint», к которому чуть приложил руку продюсер Radiohead, участник Atoms for Peace Найджел Годрич. http://www.timeout.ru

Artist: M83 Label: Republic of Music

Artist: Place to Bury Strangers; Artist: Telescopes Label: Fuzz Club Records

Artist: Ingenting Label: Labrador Sweden

That's the most intense fear and feeling-when you go to a show and you're actually scared," says frontman Oliver Ackermann, guitarist and frontman of Brooklyn trio A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS. "Or you can palpably feel the danger in the music," adds bassit Lunadon, "Like it's going to fall apart at any moment and the players doing it are so in the moment they don't give a shit about anything else. They're just going for it. It's a gutter kinda vibe; everything about it is icky and evil and dangerous." The same could be said for A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS' fourth album, "Transfixiation". Rather than fixate on precious recording techniques and minute details like they may have done in the past, the group, rounded out by drummer Robi Gonzalez, trust their instincts and try to keep things as pure as possible. Music is much more exhilarating when it's unpredictable even on repeat plays. Gonzalez makes his recording debut with the band here, and it's obvious that he's helped pushed the band's recordings closer to the level of their infamous live shows. From the tortured straight-to-tape transmission of "I Will Die" and molten funk melodies of "Straight" to the violent guitar spasms, cannon-like drums and not-so-idle threats of "Deeper," this is very much an unpredictable record. "The one thing we have in common is this fire when we're playing," says Gonzalez. "I don't know; it's real intense." "It's not rocket science," says Lunadon, "but rock 'n' roll shouldn't be. When you start to do bluesy scales or try to be too fancy, it doesn't work for us. You gotta keep it simple and rock it fucking hard." Record Label: Dead Oceans Style: Independent

Artist: A Place To Bury Strangers Label: DEAD OCEANS

Artist: A Sunny Day in Glasgow Label: Lefse Records

Artist: A Sunny Day in Glasgow Label: Lefse Records

CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered

CD, Album

CD, Album

Kveikur is the upcoming seventh studio album from Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. It will be the first album to be fully released through XL after the band departed EMI and Parlophone during the label's acquisition by Universal Music Group in 2012. It Record Label: XL/Beggars Group Style: Independent, Rock

Record Label: Mexican Summer Style: Independent

CD, Album