Deerhunter, Crystal Stilts, Jason Lytle, Yppah, Bizarre & more

Warning: the latest SD2 mix has absolutely nothing to do with Sun Ra’s classic 1974 song and movie.

Why call it Space Is the Place? Well, the tracks feel like they could soundtrack any number of amazing films involving space.

And yes, I did see the new Star Trek last weekend.

Check out Soundtrack2 Audiocast13 here.

 

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1.   Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning – Hit the Wall

Only discovered this track recently and it hits like a rush of hypnotic sugar.

2.   Deerhunter – Disappearing Ink

New-ish track off the Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP propels us through the atmosphere.

3.   Constantines – Hard Feelings

Been sitting on this one for a bit, but it fits nicely here. A new one of their Kensington Heights record. Nice weird countermelody.

4.   Gospel Gossip – Revolutions In Physics

A bit post-punky but dig the dreamy hopefulness.

5.   800Beloved – The Skeleton Collection

The love song? 80s-style moody pop goodness. MySpace photo definitely not who I pictured.

6.   Family Cat – Pass Away

Actual 80s/90s band delivers a great slice of indie garage pop.

7.   Crystal Stilts – Love Is A Wave

Two minutes and one second couldn’t be better.

8.   Computer Perfection – The Fool Is Hurt

Brilliant, brilliant track that only would make perfect sense in another galaxy. Thank you, Chromewaves.

9.   Yppah - Cannot See Straight

Just cruisin’.

10.  Lansing-Dreiden – An Effect Of The Night

Curious band out of NYC gives a skewed take on a spaced-out melody.

11.  Nova Saints – Sugar Coated

Ride-influenced shoegaze outfit brings us back down to Earth a bit.

12.  Jason Lytle – Yours Truly, The Commuter

Grandaddy, where have you been? Props to Kevin for pointing out Jason’s awesome solo track.

13.  Enright House – Darkwave = MC Squared

Dream pop from beyond the pale. It’s available for free download from their site. I got it from the mighty SXSW torrent.

14.  Magnetic Morning – Cold War Kids

Surveying the lunar landscape? BTW I’m ashamed it took us 13 epidodes to finally play music by the singer/guitarist from Swervedriver and drummer from Interpol.

15.  Fight Bite - Swissex Lover

The spacewalk? Pensive ballad from Texas band.

16.  Bizarre – Pearshell Fairy

Killer epic 90s shoegaze from a band I’ve just gotten into recently. More please!

17.  Satin Gum - No We Are Not Naming Our Kids After Ikea Products

Pittsburgh crew brings some spaced-out yet poppy rock  & roll. Hard to pin down but really, really good. Sat on this for a bit, but thanks MML.

18.  Dosh – If You Want To, You Have To

The action sequence. A fantastic instrumental with a lot going on. Props to Stereogum.

19.  Experimental Aircraft – Seasick

Epilogue. Moody mid-tempo number from Austin crew.

Dinosaur Jr., Secret Machines, Junior Boys, Boy in Static, Rollerskate Skinny & more

If the latest podcast sounds a bit heavy on the synthesizers and beats, that’s because of all the great new tracks out recently. But don’t worry – we included the latest Dinosaur Jr. track to restore the R&R balance.

So then…cancel meetings, hold your calls and dig in.

Check out Soundtrack2 Audiocast12 here.

 

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1.   SPC ECO – Shine On Down

Awesome bit of psychedelic haze from the new 3D album, currently available by “pay what you like.” One of my favourite new bands.

2.   Daedelus – LA Nocturn

Mellow groover with acoustic guitar loops over popping MIDI beats. I just discovered Daedelus recently through this Friends of Friends EP and was surprised to see all his other albums!

3.   Secret Machines – Underneath The Concrete

Off their latest self-title record, this track’s pounding drum/keys groove brings to mind an intergalactic Van Halen.

4.   Telefon Tel Aviv – The Birds

Electronic shoegaze goodness from this year’s Immolate Yourself album.

5.   Dykehouse – Hope She Hears This Sound

Hazy track from one very creative guy from of Ann Arbor.

Junior Boys

Love this uptempo dreamlike rocker from the new Inside Your Guitar record.

7.   Junior Boys - Work

When this song played over the PA in the Soundscapes shop, I knew I had to drop it into an upcoming audiocast. Off their new – and nice, but not amazing - Begone Dullcare.

8.   Readymade – Sam

Classic Slowdive-influenced dream pop from a few years back.

9.   Rollerskate Skinny – Shallow Thunder

This band is great because their music usually defies categorization. Perfect bridge to the next Barlow/Mascis track too.

10.  Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You To Know

Free download from upcoming new (!) album by legendary American Indie band. The chorus is amazing, the guitar is as dense as ever and J. Mascis’ more mature voice sounds great. I actually hear a Eddie Vedder in his voice now. Anyways, looking forward to the June 23 release date.

11.  Blind Mr. Jones – Hey

Wave 2 (or is it 1?) shoegaze act delivers droney rock and roll goodness.

12.  Boy In Static – Kissed Under The Sun

From the Newborn album. Researching this I found out the dropped a new album called Candy Cigarette last month. More homework to do!

13.  Mice Parade – Sneaky Red

MySpace page lists their music style as indie/shoegaze/flamenco..not a bad description for “Sneaky Red.” This would have fit nicely on one of Sloan’s last two albums.

14.  Stevenson Ranch Davidians – Nature Boy

Bluesy psych rockers keep fire burning with this one. Cool site too.

15.  The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea

Didn’t dig their first album, but this epic track off Primary Colours is the real deal. Beware the prog in the last half; but I think it works.

A few weeks back, Drowned In Sound did a full week of posts on a type of music we like a lot. Yep, shoegaze.

Digesting it all hasn’t been easy. Particularly since it inspired us to discover tons of new stuff. We’ve recapped a lot of what they discussed and encourage you to click on the links to find out more.

DiS starts with an overview of the genre, then dives into interviews with pioneer Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave3) and current leading light Ulrich Schnauss. Like virtually everyone, they don’t like pigeonholed into representing — or playing — just one type of music.

Ulrich sums it up: “I still feel like I’ve only just started and am still in the process of developing the basics of my ‘musical language’…slowly, over the years I feel like I’m getting closer to a sound that is not so heavily dependent on taking ingredients from the music I grew up with.”

If interviews are your thing, be sure to check out the one with Mark Gardener of Ride (unofficial site) and Adam Franklin of Swervedriver, two of Soundtrack2’s all-time favourite bands.

The new psychedelia

I was struck by something Northern Star Records boss Scott Causer said -  that shoegaze acts are an extension of psychedelia. It’s no revelation, but when people think of psych bands, many that spring to mind are the ones that imitate the late 60s/early 70s sound.

I feel shoegaze of the late 80s and 90s continued to evolve psychedelic music, and today’s best bands are evolving it further. If you’d like to go even deeper into the discuss of what is and what isn’t shoegaze, go for the interview with Andy Oliver of the Third Wave Collective.

Goodies galore

See here for some drool-worthy takeaways:

• Free Northern Star sampler including brilliant Nova Saints track
  
• Unconventional list of 5 shoegaze albums everyone should own – including Canada’s own Southpacific!
• 50 essential shoegaze albums on Spotify
• Shoegaze mixtape of best 40 tracks

Of course I don’t agree with a lot of the selections, but if you read the comments, neither does anyone else!

To me, that’s a sign of great music – it inspires people to talk about it into the wee hours.

Cheers DiS!