Soundpool - Dichotomies & Dreamland

Back in 2006 NYC’s Soundpool completely came out of nowhere with their excellent debut On High, which was some sort of masterfully executed danceable shoegaze…at least that’s what I suppose it could be called. Wasting hardly any time the band have returned here in ’08 with their follow up Dichotomies & Dreamland released this past March through Aloft Records here in the US and through Quince in Japan.

While it’s hard to determine whether Dichotomies & Dreamland will change the minds of anyone that disliked the first record, I can say that fans of it will notice a few favorable changes here. The songs have been scaled back a bit from the full bore bouncy pop rhythms that were fluent throughout On High. Instead here we receive a much more ambient and mood driven version of Soundpool, loaded with textures, guitar effects, and a number of songs that are dictated by slow burning crumbles of feedback. Jumping between variations of the two easily works in their favor. The electronic side of the band has also taken on a greater importance, giving them a sound that resembles at times a sped up Bowery Electric or a fuzzier Boards of Canada or Broadcast.

Fans may not fully embrace Dichotomies & Dreamland at first, as it’s not as instantly catchy as their previous effort. However, it’s definitely a further advanced and accomplished album in that it doesn’t lean too heavily on one aspect of the groups sound. With multiple listens it easily proves to be the clear winner between the two in the end.

Soundpool – Do What You Love [MP3]
Soundpool – Lush (What Becomes You) [MP3]

For those looking to pick up Dichotomies & Dreamland then head on over to Tonevendor and pick up this fine addition to the expanding list of fine 2008 releases. Soundpool are one of the bright spots amongst the rapidly growing shoegaze resurgence.

Sweet Tooth - Soft White Underbelly

Sweet Tooth was a short lived band that featured members Dave Cochrane (bass, vocals), Justin Broadrick (guitar), and Scott Kiehl (drums). They were more in the area of one of Cochrane’s and Broadrick’s other outfits, Head of David, in that they were more of a noisy guitar driven band. Eventually the members found themselves consumed with other projects and Sweet Tooth ended sometime around 1993. While together they released one mini LP called Soft White Underbelly on Earache Records in 1990 and followed that up with a live album in 1993 titled Crash Live. They also made a couple appearances on compilations.

I don’t typically do a request type of thing, but since Soft White Underbelly is long out of print from the looks of it and it being released only on vinyl, I’ve provided a link to the full thing. That and it goes right along with the outline of the blog, so why not? Also, I don’t think it’s really that scarce, as I’ve seen it on eBay from time to time, so definitely snatch it up if anyone ever comes across it.

Sweet Tooth – Soft White Underbelly

Enjoy, I’m out until tomorrow.

Keith Canisius - Ferris Wheel Makeout

Some might remember back to 2007’s year end list for the blog and one of the records ranked somewhat highly on the list was an album by the Danish shoegaze/dream-pop group Rumskib. It was very nearly my favorite shoegaze related record of the year, only being barely beaten out by Airiel’s excellent full-length. Well one of the main creative forces behind Rumskib, Keith Canisius, has emerged early this year with his debut solo album. The record, which is titled Ferris Wheel Makeout, was just released this past February on the Japanese label Quince and has since been released digitally through Darla Records in March making it their very first digital release.

Unsurprisingly Ferris Wheel Makeout shares a bit in common with Rumskib. However, there is a notable added element of electronic drum programming here that loosens up the songs a bit and allowing Canisius to not have to completely rely on pushing the melodies to the absolute limit like on the Rumskib album. Although I quite enjoyed it, I think that was one of the main criticisms of that record from other listeners, which was understandable. The added electronics do a nice job of giving this album a slightly different feel and probably a satisfying outlet for Canisius. Helping him out somewhat on the album with some of the programming was Jonas Munk (Manual), which for the most part Ferris Wheel Makeout falls comfortably within that Manual and Ulrich Schnauss mold. In the end Canisius’ solo debut comes off as a solid midway between the hazy/ambient qualities of the aforementioned artists and Rumskib’s heavily Cocteau Twins synth influenced dream-pop. It’s definitely worth checking out for anyone that is already fans of any artists/bands mentioned in the post or just this style of music in general.

Keith Canisius – Far From [MP3]

For anyone looking to pick up the CD version of Ferris Wheel Makeout, then head on over to the excellent Tonevendor or Darla to do so. Anyone that would prefer the digital version can get it from the usual suspects of Emusic and Amazon.

Ritual Device...

Before I barrage everyone with a bunch of new/upcoming releases to check out for the rest of this week, I figured I would squeeze in a post for something older and maybe new to some peoples ears out there. I always take great pleasure in posting about some of the great bands that were in or around this area at one time. One of those bands was Omaha, Nebraska’s Ritual Device who were around for a small period of time in the mid-nineties. Their sound was largely based around the crop of Chicago noise-rock bands at the time, which often landed them comparisons to that of The Jesus Lizard and Tar. That’s pretty good company to be in really.

Consisting of members Tim Moss (vocals), Mike Saklar (guitar), Randy Cotton (bass) and Eric Ebers (drums), the band released their full-length album Henge in 1993, which in turn led to their -ismist single “Rabe” and their 1994 10’’ split with the mighty Killdozer. Before their live album Trademark of Quality Years could hit shelves in 1995, the band had already decided to pack it in. What they left behind though was a fairly solid album and in my opinion an even further excellent single, which has been kindly posted below. Do check these guys out if you’ve never given them a listen before.

Henge:
Ritual Device – Hatesong #3 [MP3]
Ritual Device – Pretty Things [MP3]

Rabe 7’’:
Ritual Device – Pork Fist [MP3]
Ritual Device – Young at Heart [MP3]

Despite “breaking up” and losing singer Tim Moss the other 3/4th’s of the band forged on as a three piece and changed their named to Ravine, whom will most likely be a post on the blog at a later date. Moss ended up in Men of Porn and has since released a few albums with that group. Most of the members of Ritual Device/Ravine these days can be found in various bands lurking around Omaha. Anyone looking to pick up their album Henge can still do so through Amazon, there are an absurd amount of cheap used copies on there so I suggest snatching them up. Enjoy!

Monthly Mix: April 2008

So as some may have noticed, there haven’t been very many updates over the past few days. I apologize for that. I’ve been busier with work. The sad truth of the matter is that sleep outweighs updating when I get home at night. But anyway, enough excuses. I don’t expect the updates to be as infrequent over the next few days, so that’s good. I am kicking off this week with the already past due monthly mix for April. As always with the mixes, the artist names are linked to a place of purchase where applicable. So if there is anything that peaks your interest, then definitely pick up an album or two. Enjoy.

01 – God Bullies – Fear and Pain
02 – Dimenticarmi Non! – Blossom
03 – Bailter Space – Splat
04 – Silkworm – Drag the River
05 – Billy Bao – Factory of Repression
06 – Abilene – Fitch
07 – Sweet Tooth – Ultimate Muscle Bible
08 – Charmparticles – Stand Up for Leaving
09 – Liquor Bike – 24 Kt.
10 – Mazey Fade – Anastesia
11 – Ted Bundy’s Volkswagon – Product Placement
12 – Jacob’s Mouse – Twist
13 – Adorable – Vendetta
14 – godheadSilo – You Must Pay
15 – Monsterland – Rid of You
16 – Dactyl – Dry Snitch
17 – Three Second Kiss – I’m a Wind
18 – Duh – Wiley Coyote
19 – Miracle Room – These Are My Friends

Download (.zip file)

Secret Shine - All of the Stars

It’s been roughly 15 years since Secret Shine have released an album. Their last was in 1993 on the notorious Sarah Records titled Untouched. A fine album and occasionally overlooked gem of the first wave of shoegaze. The band would play together up until a show in Oxford in 1996, which after that they went on a hiatus of sorts. They would return in 2004 with the release After Years, which compiled a majority of their back catalog including the aforementioned Untouched. This all resulted in two more EP’s in 2006 leading up to their recently released new album All of the Stars, which is being handled by the excellent Clairecords. It’s been a long time coming, however I think the reception will be most favorable.

The amount of time between full-lengths here is obviously a large one for any band. While the EP’s were a nice dose of new recordings, I was still intrigued as to how a new full-length would turn out and sit alongside in comparison to Untouched. The band holed up for practically all of 2007 to record All of the Stars. At first listen to it I was completely surprised by the sheer volume of the sound. Their earlier output had mostly found its home in the more ethereal area of something like Slowdive, etc. However here on the new album the guitars have a noticeably larger and even rawer sound and feel to them. Songs like “Know” and “Café Crash” just topple over the listener like an enormous wave. Member Jamie Gingell produced the album and has done a marvelous job at capturing Secret Shine operating at a whole new level of power. Everything that made the band such an enjoyable listen during their initial run together can be found within All of the Stars and it’s quite obvious that time hasn’t slowed down these shoegaze vets one bit.

Secret Shine – Café Crash [MP3]

For those looking to pick up All of the Stars, then head on over to Tonevendor. Definitely recommended.

Scrid - The Island of Misfit Toys

The lovely album cover pictured there to left on screen is from the Iowa City based band Scrid. Originally formed in 1993 in Fort Madison, Iowa they quickly made the move to Iowa City thereafter. The album, titled The Island of Misfit Toys, was released in 1997 through the Lincoln, Nebraska based –ismist recordings after multiple years touring the country. The album would be the bands only full-length that I know of. They did later release a split 7 inch with the band Sludgeplow in 1999, again released on –ismist. There isn’t anything stating that they ever split up, but I am pretty sure that they are no longer around.

The bands sound wasn’t an uncommon one, however for fans of mega distorted bass and guitar with a dish of slower sludgier sounding noise-rock then this is an album that people may want to look into. They often got compared to the likes of Killdozer, partly because of the whole backwoods persona that they carried and probably also due to the less than serious subject matter of the material. Regardless though, it’s hard to really understand what Craig Owsley is saying/barking anyway so it’s almost irrelevant. To me they sound more like a mix of earlier Clutch around the Transnational Speedway League release and maybe the Cows. Either way, it’s some abrasive rock for sure. The Island of Misfit Toys caps off the album with a fifteen minute piece of nothing but samples of various explicit subjects, not really something I want to hear for fifteen minutes but the nine songs that precede it are absolutely fine by me.

Scrid – Oralfice [MP3]
Scrid – Hedgehog [MP3]

There are still copies available of The Island of Misfit Toys on Amazon, both used and new. If you dig the tunes above then definitely pick it up. Enjoy!