Katie Gately

I have no idea how to even describe this new song from Katie Gately, featured on her recent split 12" with Tlaotlon on Fat Cat.  "Pivot" sounds completely alien, like some kind of warped transmission we've just picked up from space that we're only slowly piecing together.  It's trippy, and creepy, and a great track for Halloween.  Listen below.

October Friday Horror Trailer: The Lost Boys

So this was one of my favorite movies growing up, Joel Schumacher's "The Lost Boys."  I"ll admit that it's a little cheesy, and it did spawn the "Coreys" phenomenon, but whatever.  I still love it.  I'm also dressed like Corey Feldman's Edgar Frog character today, so this trailer seems right.  Watch it below and happy Halloween!

VHS Glitch

With Halloween a mere few hours away, it's only natural to visit one of the numerous horror synth score worshipers out there making kickass music to plot murder to.  We've mentioned the hopping horror-disco of VHS Glitch before, and he's got a new EP out just in time for the holiday.  "Night on the Dark Hill" plays out like a fun score to a werewolf movie too awesome to actually exist.  Get it here, and listen to the title track below.

Mourn

As the kids continue to discover the music i grew up with in the 90's and spin and weave it into their own music verse, i can't help but feel excited about this new wave of bands.  I also feel old.  Mourn hail from Spain, are all 18 years old or younger, and play their fuzzed out guitars til the amps bleed, pounding the drums with reckless abandon.  It's awesome.  Listen to "Silver Gold" below and be on the lookout for their debut, self-titled album out in February on Captured Tracks.

Dirty Beaches

Alex Zhang Hungtai's Dirty Beaches project has a new instrumental album on the horizon.  "Stateless" continues the artist's direction into barren and devastating soundscapes and will be out sometime next month on Zoo Music.  Sadly, it is to be the last Dirty Beaches album, as Hungtai has announced the project's end...and that's a real bummer.  I saw Dirty Beaches a couple of times in 2011, and for a one-man-band, he was mesmerizing.  Listen to "Displaced" below and be sure to pick up the album.

Vesuvio Solo

Here's a quirky and smokey little synth number from Canadian act Vesuvio Solo, featuring TOPS' Thom Gillies.  The "Favors" cassette is available on Banko Gotiti, but you can watch the video for "Avion" below right now.

The Jesus Lizard Book

Had a family outing at the Texas State Capital today for the annual Texas Book Festival...and aside from the kid books we picked up for Ash, i also scored a copy of "The Jesus Lizard Book," signed by the man David Yow himself.  He also has a book of cat drawings.  Awesome.  So, while i'm perusing the pages, here's the video for "Nub" off of 1991's "Goat" LP.

Scott Walker and Sunn O))) - Brando video

One of the more surprising (and amazing) collaborations to come out in recent years, the new album "Soused" from legendary experimental artist and crooner Scott Walker and drone metal band Sunn O))), is as huge, and dark, and intense as you'd ever imagine.  It's going to take several listens to really grasp the whole thing.  But while we're all doing that, watch the hauntingly beautiful video for album opener "Brando" below...and then go get the album from 4AD.

Cult of Youth

Brooklyn goth-punk band Cult of Youth have a new album, "Final Days," out next month on Sacred Bones.  "Roses" is dark a beautiful, an immense and powerful song built on acoustic guitars and strings that grows and grows to a crashing finale.  It's awesome.  Listen below.

October Friday Horror Trailer: Poltergeist

"Poltergeist" scared the shit out of me when i was a little kid.  It's only rated PG, but i'm pretty sure it left me with more nightmares and long, uneasy nights than any slasher or monster film combined.  There's something about it that works so perfectly...the tone, the creeping suburban dread, whatever you want to call it.  As a Spielberg production, it hits all the marks in a way that makes you feel like it could be your neighborhood, your house, your family.  I'll leave it up to you as to whether or not Spielberg or Tobe Hooper actually directed the film, but whomever it was that reined it in did a superb job, cursed rumors not withstanding.  Watch the trailer below.


As a bonus, i highly recommend that you read Devin Faraci's essay about the film.  It's very good.  Read part one here and part two here.

Panda Bear

Panda Bear's new album, "Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper," will be out in January on Domino.  Watch the video for the record's first single, "Mr. Noah," below.  You can pre-order here.

The Budos Band

The Budos Band have been making incredible Afrofunk instrumental jams over the course of three albums now  The group's fourth, "Burnt Offerings," pairs those funky rhythms with a dark gloss of doom and stoner metal.  Just glance at the album cover above to get where they're going here.  The music is still horn-heavy funk and soul, but there is an added fuzz to the guitar and bass, and an early 70's psych-rock vibe throughout.  Deep grooves abound.  Listen to "The Sticks" below and grab the album from Daptone Records.

LUH.

So the band name LUH., which apparently meas "Lost Under Heaven," is a little obnoxious, but the music therein is ready built to blast you out of the back of an arena somewhere.  Former WU LYF frontman Ellery James Roberts is back with his signature gasping howl, and he sounds like a hungover Springsteen swinging for the fences on "Unites."  The guy just excels at epic wailing tracks (see last year's "Kerou's Lament"), and this one burrows its way right into your cranial folds.  Listen below.

Death Blues

Death Blues is the project of percussionist/multi-instrumentalist Jon Mueller, and "Ensemble" is his newest opus, a worldly and pagan ritual, a drum and cymbal led excursion into death exploration as perceived by orchestral sounds and sways and gorgeous choral chanting.  It's a pretty impressive and intoxicating album, and it just sounds enormous.  Take a listen to "Loss" below and get the album/accompanying book here from Rhythmplex.

Hauntvox

Here's a ghostly dream-psych jam from LA's Hauntvox.  Drowning in lo-fi noise and feedback, "HNTVX02" at times feels like some kind of industrial witch-house fair, a haunting and trippy fall in the darkness.  Listen below, and grab the 7" here courtesy of Psychpop Records.

Dorsie Fyffe

It's feeling like a folksy, Americana, alt-country kind of morning.  So here's "Western Sky," the A-side from the upcoming single by Austin by way of Dayton, Ohio artist Dorsie Fyffe.  The tune's got a driving, country-fried rock vibe to it, and carries a touch of melancholy within, as any decent country song should.  Listen below, download the track here, and be on the lookout for the 7" on the Day of the Dead.

Leon Bridges

Here's some awesome throwback soul music for a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Leon Bridges hails from Fort Worth and sounds like a man out of time...and he's pretty damn amazing.  Take a listen to and download "Coming Home" below, produced by Austin Jenkins and Josh Block from White Denim.  So looking forward to more music from this guy in the future.

Viet Cong

From the remnants of gone, but not forgotten Calgary band Women comes Viet Cong.  After their promising "Cassette" EP on Mexican Summer earlier this year, my interest was piqued.  And if the first taste, "Continental Shelf," from their upcoming debut on Jagjaguwar, out early next year is any indication, we are in for a treat.  The song is noisy post-punk at its finest, but with a lo-fi undercurrent to keep things fuzzy.  There's also an unease and tension withing the whole thing that builds and builds, creating a sound that's all at once discordant and gorgeous.  Listen below.

Lust for Youth

And now here's one from just Lust for Youth.  Apparently it's that kind of morning.  "Armida" comes from the band's "International" LP that came out earlier this year on Sacred Bones.  It's a dark, but bouncy synth pop jam that demands to get stuck in heads for days.  Listen below.

Lust for Youth and Croatian Amor

When searching for moody and icy synth music, look no further than Denmark.  Experimental cold wave acts Lust for Youth and Croatian Amor have teamed for a 7" of subdued and sexy electronic explorations for the chilliest of nights.  Take a listen to "Sister" below and grab the record from Posh Isolation.

October Friday Horror Trailer: The Return of the Living Dead

"The Return of the Living Dead," great zombie movie, or greatest zombie movie?  This 1985 classic was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon (screenwriter of "Alien"), and has been popping up all over my social media feeds of late, as my friends are finding time to revisit the film just in time for Halloween.  I'm pretty sure this was the first zombie movie to have our walking dead seek out human brains to devour, and the 80's punk aesthetic of the cast is just great.  Oh, and it's hilarious.  Watch the trailer below.

Silent Servant

LA's Silent Servant has a new split 12" out with UK band Broken English Club, "Violence and Divinity," on Cititrax Records.  "Speed and Violence" finds the electronic artist basking in the undercurrent of beeps and thuds bubbling in a darkwave stew.  It sounds like it could easily score a chase scene through the grimiest of cities.  Listen below and grab the record on Minimal Wave Records.

Run the Jewels and Zack de la Rocha

Run the Jewels team up with former Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha for new jam "Close your Eyes (and Count to Fuck)" from the upcoming "Run the Jewels 2."  That's right.  Killer Mike, El-P, and Zack de la Rocha are all on a track together.  And it kills.  Take a listen below and get the album later this month from Mass Appeal.

Spray Paint - Cussin

Noisy Austin post-punk act Spray Paint have a new 7" available from Upset the Rhythm.  "Cussin" finds the boys channeling their inner old school Sonic Youth to achieve glorious heights.  It's the kind of jam a bunch of drunken art school brats would churn out in a dilapidated warehouse somewhere.  It kicks ass.  Take a listen below and get it here.

Bruce Langhorne

Way back in 1969, country and folk artist Bruce Langhorne scored Peter Fonda's directorial debut "The Hired Hands," and the result was a beautiful and desolate sounding piece of Americana.  Country music has always carried with it an air of sadness, but Langhorne's score takes it to its lonesome, desperate, and anguished conclusion.  The fine folks at Scissor Tail Records are reissuing the album, which you can pre-order here, and God bless them for it.  Listen to "Opening" below.

Aubergine MACHINE - Sundown

Let’s just go ahead and file this one under things I would never expect myself to dig, but somehow, inexplicably so, find myself enjoying the heck out of. South Florida’s Aubergine MACHINE, the electronic duo of producer Ian Carey and vocalist Shanti Ellis, craft danceable, hummable electro-pop numbers to groove and move to. Their latest single is “Sundown,” a seemingly endless summer jam, a cure for the everlasting heat and sweat endured in the southern Florida region (and here in central Texas too). The song is warm and flowing, but there’s also an airy dreaminess to it, that paired with the high-pitched vocal effects gives the tune a kind of alternate reality dance floor transcendence. It’s never just straightforward techno-pop.

Shot by the duo in the woods and swamps of Florida, the video for “Sundown” adds a visual layer to the song, a nature meets technology vibe that feels glossy and organic at the same time. Fittingly enough, the bonfire at video’s end would be the perfect location to jam this track, a party and celebration as the smoke floats away and the burning embers light up the night sky. Watch it below.



“Sundown” is the duo’s third single released so far this year. Take a listen to their earlier efforts below, the synthy slow burn of “ASMR” and the smooth space disco of “Hostage.”





You can keep up with the goings on of Aubergine MACHINE at their Soundcloud page.

Amatus remixed by Jneiro Jarel

Ah, the remix, the loving testament of re-imagining or reinterpreting a piece of audio art and putting one’s own sonic stamp on it. They’re fun to listen to, and it’s always a joy to discover one that equals, if not improves upon, the original jam…which brings us to producer Jneiro Jarel’s spacey and ethereal take on Brooklyn R&B synth-pop artist Amatus and her song “Messin’.”

Amatus grew up with an almost textbook bohemian back story, the daughter of a Muslim sharecropper living in a mosque on the south side of Chicago, later moving to Philadelphia, where as a teenager she would sit in on recording sessions with The Roots, Erykah Badu, and more, finally ending up in Brooklyn and working as a clothing designer before settling in as a musician, producer, and artist. Losing family and friends along the way to tragedy and gun violence lends an almost Dickensian air to her life and her particular brand of dreamy, synthy R&B-infused pop. “Messin’” comes from her debut EP “Broken Compass,” which she released herself earlier this year.

Jneiro Jarel also hails from New York, an experimental producer who has worked with everyone from Goodie Mob to DOOM to Damon Albarn of Blur. His interesting and eclectic style can elevate almost anything he gets his hands on. Jarel’s take on “Messin’” turns a driving, drum-heavy synth jam into a trippy journey, an exploration of the nether regions of the mind. He adds a slinkiness to the song that brings out the sultry nature of Amatus’ voice, like a string of smooth and sexy pagan love chants. It makes me just want to sink into the sheets. Take a listen below.



And here’s the original for comparison.



Both are worthy of your ear buds, as is the “Broken Compass” EP which you can (and should) acquire here. And here’s a bonus jam from the album, the floating “Punk.”

David Bowie - Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)

Always, always happy to post about new material from David Bowie, and new jam "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" from the upcoming career-spanning retrospective "Nothing Has Changed," is grand news indeed.  The song takes on an almost noirish jazz vibe, and Bowie's aging vocals fill in the spaces lovingly.  The album comes out in November on Parlophone, and there will be a limited 10" release of the new single just in time for Black Friday.  Listen below.

Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath

I'm not sure how i managed to miss writing about Latin funk band Brownout and their rendition of classic Black Sabbath songs called Brown Sabbath.  Seriously.  These guys are even from Austin.  What was i doing that i missed this.  Bad music blogger!  Bad!

Anyway, the band reworks Sabbath into some kind of psych-funk/soul explosion, and the end result is just amazing.  They manage to keep the integrity of the songs intact while making them fun as hell in the process.  Go grab the album here from Ubiquity Records and listen to "Iron Man" below.

Joel Ford (featuring Ejecta)

Here's a new one from electronic artist Joel Ford from his upcoming "Fugitive" album out next year.  "Breathe" features regular Ford collaborator Ejecta (Leanne Macomber) and contains snips and samples from various 80's and 90's action movies.  It's a driving, pulsing video game opus, a direct to video score to gnash your teeth to.  Listen below and be on the lookout for the record on Driftless Recordings.

Matthew Akers

Washington by way of Detroit musician and composer Matthew Akers offers up analog synthesizer worship and ambient soundscapes on new album "Bayern."  It sounds like descending into a dark and cold tunnel, an endless abyss.  Listen to "Side A" below and grab the cassette here.

The Hunt

Here's an excellent new horror disco jam from Parisian duo The Hunt.  "Brain Test" comes from the group's debut EP, "Revengers of the Darkness," on Antoni Maiovvi Giallo Disco Records.  The song (and album) play out like some bloody robot revenge thriller.  It's nice.  Get it here and listen below.

S. Maharba

Here's a haunting and sweeping new song from British producer S. Maharba.  The "Memorial" EP feels ethereal and dreamlike, like floating weightless in a vast ocean watching the light play tricks off of the water particles.  Listen to the title track below, and download it here from Cleaning Tapes on October 13th.  Unfortunately the cassette is already sold out.

RIP Jan Hooks

RIP Jan Hooks, comedian, actress, and one of my all time favorite SNL cast members.

October Friday Horror Trailer: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Tobe Hooper's 1974 film just may be my favorite horror movie ever.  It never lets up.  The movie was never as gory as people want to remember it, but 40 years on, it's still scary, unrelenting, and filled to the brim with dread.  Death is always there...and it's meaningless and certain.  I was recently lucky enough to catch a theatrical presentation of the film's new 4K transfer, supervised by Mr. Hooper himself.  It looks amazing.  The grime and filth still permeate, but the movie has never looked or sounded so good.  Watch the trailer for the new remastered version below.

Yumi Zouma - Alena

Here's a new gem from New Zealand soft-synth nostalgia-pop act Yumi Zouma.  "Alena" plays out like some kind of late-night/early-morning Balearic disco jam soothing the dancers at some outerworld neon club.  It's a dreamy way to start a Thursday.  Get the single from Cascine and listen below.

Crystal Castles splitting up

Well, this is certainly a bummer, but it appears that Crystal Castles are splitting up, or at the very least, Alice Glass is departing the band.  I have loved these guys over their three consecutive self-titled albums, and it's a damn shame to see them go.  Listen to the duo's "Child I Will Hurt You" below.  Hurt me indeed.

Sun Kil Moon - War on Drugs: Suck my Cock

I've been a fan of Mark Kozelek for a number of years, in whatever guise he happens to be making music in, be it Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon, or solo, but some of his shenanigans of late have been wearing a little thin, from his verbal abuse of his "fucking hillbilly" audience, to this latest seemingly one-sided feud with Philly band War on Drugs.  And here's the latest shot, Sun Kil Moon's newest jam, "War on Drugs: Suck my Cock."  Part of me thinks this is all some big Kaufmanesque jest, but who really knows?  Mark "sourpuss" Kozelek has a long and painful history of talking shit and hating on his fans...and everyone else.  The song is still kind of pretty though, despite its ugly content.  Listen below.

On a side note, i saw Kozelek perform a couple of years ago in a small and intimate venue, and he is an amazing presence...but we were drunk, and we were rowdy, and we really should not have been at a Mark Kozelek show in the state that we were in.  So we got the fuck out of there before he could berate us.

Twin Peaks to return in 2016

All the teases were true.  Laura Palmer wasn't bullshitting us when she said she'd see us again in 25 years.  David Lynch and company are bringing back beloved cult TV show "Twin Peaks" back in 2016, 25 years after the finale, to Showtime for nine episodes.  A million fanboys' heads just exploded.  Watch the teaser below.

Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar

The extremely talented and awesome Flying Lotus has a new album out next week called "You're Dead."  One of the album highlights is "Never Catch Me" featuring frenetic rapping from one Kendrick Lamar.  Watch the video below and look for the album on Warp.

NehruvianDOOM

I have long been a fan of one MF DOOM, hip-hop producer extraordinaire, whether it be the stoned flow and ebb of his beats and soul and jazz samples, or the also stoned and fuzzy rhyme delivery.  Honestly, it just makes me want to sit back on a comfy sofa and space.  So, any new project the man gets involved with, i check out with glee.  NehruvianDOOM pairs DOOM with up and coming NYC rapper Bishop Nehru, and the result is akin to much of DOOM's repertoire in the past.  That's not a bad thing.  The whole affair sounds like it was recorded in a cloud of smoke, a throwback stoner rap record that makes me squint my eyes and smile like a fool.  Get the album from Lex Records and listen to "OM" below.

October Friday Horror Trailer: The Thing

It's October and Halloween is on the way, so i figured that over the next five Fridays i would stream trailers from some of my very favorite horror movies.  First up is John Carpenter's 1982 remake of "The Thing," quite possibly my favorite of Carpenter's entire director's catalog.  Everything with this movie is just perfect, from the acting by the killer cast, to the score from the legendary Ennio Morricone, to the special effects from Rob Bottin and Stan Winston, to the all around cold and dread that permeates every scene.  Carpenter was at his creative peak during much of the 80's, and "The Thing" is testament to that.  This movie freaked me out when i was a little kid, and i've been pretty much obsessed with it ever since.  It's scary.  It's tense.  It's gory.  It's perfect.  Watch the trailer below, and if for some strange reason you've never seen this film before, remedy that as soon as is humanly (or unhumanly) possible.


Check back next Friday for another trailer.

Sungod

Austin psych freak-out band Sungod have a new album of ear-piercing, mind-expanding, wormhole-opening noise-scapes to prepare yourselves for a trip through the outer reaches of the cosmos to.  The self-titled LP comes out next month via Holodeck Records, and based on one track alone, it's going to be an interstellar trip.  Listen to "Shiftless en Nkawkaw" below.

Cool Ghouls

San Francisco garage psych outfit Cool Ghouls have a new record coming out in November on Empty Cellar Records.  "A Swirling Fire Burning Through the Rye" is full of wonderful crunchy nuggets, a call back to the dusty old records found in aging Austin hippies' garages.  It's just the right amount of sunburned and bleary eyed.  Listen to "The Mile" below.