[mp3] Introducing // Pinemarten

Tag Archive: England

[mp3] Introducing // Pinemarten

Written on January 23, 2012 by Rich in Music

2283319355 1 [mp3] Introducing // Pinemarten
“Lush” would be an appropriate adjective to describe the synthisized dream-pop sound of Pinemarten from Derbyshire, England. What appears to be a solo act – from what I can gather reading the Pinemarten blog – takes thick keyboard melodies and lays them over bass grooves and down-tempo rhythms.

On the new Here It Is EP, Pinemarten has mixed dream inducing instrumental tracks with vocal cadences that have the ability to slow down the world around you. The two tracks with vocals, “I’m Trying” and “Only You” have a distinct aerial vibe to them, as if you’ve been given a bird’s eye view of the world. The opener and title track is a solid set up to these two numbers. After delicate keyboard melodies and light taps on the drum rims, Pinemarten opens up the doors to his world as the synthesizes sweep over and dominate each measure. It’s a nicely balanced introduction to an EP that is heavy on the electronics, but is careful to never over do it by having too much happening at once. It’s not quite as minimalistic as drone or ambiance, but there are hints of those influences, and it’s a positive addition to these songs.

Pinemarten had a busy 2011. Releasing three EPs and one full-length album last year, 2012 has already been set up to continue the strong work ethic with the releases of Here It Is. The EP has run out of free downloads on its Bandcamp page, but head over to the Soundcloud page where you can still have it for free, as well as stream his other releases.

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Pinemarten // I’m Trying [mp3] from Here It Is EP

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[video] WU LYF // L Y F

Written on December 7, 2011 by Will in Music

OK, I will admit it. I am a pretty shitty videographer. But it is pretty gosh darn hard to keep a video camera steady when an entire audience is swaying and the floor is shifting. (OK, maybe the floor wasn’t shifting, but the audience surely was.) As seen in my earlier video, I probably should invest in a better video camera, but the one I have now is small and compact. It also does a pretty solid job in picking up sound. I must also admit that I might have been the only one dancing at this point. Regardless, WU LYF live is pretty fucking incredible. It amazes me that the young quartet from Manchester, England (not yet legal to drink in the United States), possess such a unique aesthetic and singular focus/drive.

This is a video I shot at their November show at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern. The first video posted featured the band’s sterling encore. This one presents the opening song “L Y F.” The song opens with the simple organ chords and then it begins to groove.

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[video] WU LYF // Wicked Games and We Bros

Written on December 5, 2011 by Will in Live, Music, Video

I caught the WU LYF fever earlier this year. And if you have read any of my earlier posts, you will know that my Australian friend Alex (who maintains a fantastic blog at: http://neo-noir.tumblr.com/) recommended the Manchester, England, quartet to me. When I first heard some of the early demos, I was completely floored. It felt like I had just been punched in the gut. WU LYF, led by the inimitable growling snarl of Ellery Roberts, really moved me on an emotionally basic level.

I knew I had to experience these guys live. Almost instantly, I bought tickets to see them in July at Manhattan’s Mercury Lounge. I was beyond excited to see them at one of their first American dates. But at the last minute, travel plans fell through and I was heartbroken. I was even more heartbroken when a friend who was at the sold-out show told me how fantastic it was. Luckily, WU LYF announced a full-fledged North American tour shortly thereafter. I would finally get to experience them live.

With that, I present my WU LYF experience. This is a video I shot at their concert last month at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern. The video is both shaky and grainy, because the entire room was bouncing around and yelling with Roberts. He literally moved the entire audience. So you will have to forgive the grainy quality of the video. Regardless, I think it really demonstrates the live power of WU LYF. [editor's note: Will is correct, this is awesome]

This is a video of the group’s encore, featuring an awesome rendition of Chris Isaak’s classic “Wicked Games” and then WU LYF’s own “We Bros.”

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[mp3/video] Introducing // Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Written on November 2, 2011 by Will in Music

At a recent concert featuring Denver’s Gauntlet Hair and Portland/New Zealand’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra, I was left wondering the following things:

1. What’s in a band name?

2. Where did all the band names go?

3. What’s the worst band out there?

4. Is there power in a bad band name?

When considering Gauntlet Hair and UMO, it’s hard to say which band name is worse. Both of them are splendidly awful and awesome all at once. But then I was introduced to Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and I knew I had reached the pinnacle of band name awfulness. A friend of mine offered up the following synopsis of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs: “Quite a silly name but the music is great!” Hard to argue with that infallible logic. The music is indeed quite catchy and danceable.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is the work of Oxford, England’s Orlando Higginbottom, a man who is known for his distinct sound and unique live stage presence. TEEDinosaurs offers up glitchy, synth-heavy, 80′s-inspired, electro-pop goodness.With three EPs to his name and a number of remixes done for other artists, there is no shortage of work from Mr. Higginbottom. (On a completely unrelated note: How awesome is the name “Orlando Higginbottom”?)

“Now you’ve got me messed up. Please believe me,” Higginbottom sings on “Trouble,” one of his strongest songs to date. As a recommendation from my Australian friend (the only who also introduced me to WU LYF and Zoo Kid), I gave TEEDinosaurs a shot. Once I was able to get past the terrible project name, I discovered catchy electro-pop. Conceived and delivered by one man, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is well worth your time.

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Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs // ~~Trouble~~ [mp3]

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[stream] New from Polarsets // Morning

Written on August 8, 2011 by Andy in Music

This past weekend was kind of a big one for this little blog. Friday marked the physical release of our single with Joywave, and we celebrated it at the Bug Jar with the band. In fact, I think they have a bunch of our stickers because I forgot to get them back. In addition to that, I was on the radio last night for the show Rochester Sessions on WITR – the station of local college RIT. We talked about the single, my view of what it means to be independent, how the blog started, etc. It was an interesting experience, and one that I’m grateful to have been given. Maybe they’ll even let me come back some time.

This has actually very little to do with Polarsets’ new single – other than the fact that the single is being put out by Neon Gold Records. If you’re unaware of Neon Gold’s story, the proprietor of the label used to run a music blog that was one of the first that I came across, and one that I genuinely enjoyed – Good Weather For Airstrikes. And then, just about three years ago, GWFA was closed and Neon Gold was born in its place. Their first release was Passion Pit’s ‘Sleepyhead’ – and they haven’t looked back. Their work – whether in blog form and label form – has always been a good model for us, and so some thanks is owed to them for their paving the way for us to try our hand at both as well. We can only hope to be as successful as they have been.

That said, Polarsets are fast becoming a can’t miss proposition – although some may say they already are. Everything I’ve heard from the Newcastle band is shimmering pop genius, perfect for the rest of this summer, and all the rest of your summers. The A-side here is called ‘Morning’ and it’s brimming with the endless possibilities that its title suggests. You can stream it below, and head over to Neon Gold to pick it up on wax.

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Morning by Polarsets

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