Lustmord - Dark Matter

"The Universe we inhabit is a vast expanse far larger than we are able to comprehend. As we attempt to understand its underlying structure and as we gain new insight into the nature of matter, new questions arise and further gaps in our understanding are revealed.

Behind the world that we experience lies a veil of darkness and much is hidden between, beyond and unseen.

We are limited by our inability to truly grasp the infinite breadth of the Universe, the time scales involved in its measure and our insignificant position within.

Some things will always be unknowable, and existence does not begin or end with man's conception.

Everything that has ever been observed by man, even with our most sophisticated instruments, amounts to less than five percent of the Universe.

Approximately sixty-eight percent of the Universe is unseen dark energy and approximately twenty-seven percent is unseen dark matter. We have yet to discover what dark matter is, and only know the things it is not. Although it has not been directly observed, its existence and properties are inferred from its effects on visible matter, its influence on the Universe's large-scale structure, and its effects in the cosmic microwave background.

The universe began of darkness, not of light.

While space is a virtual vacuum, it does not mean there is no sound in space. It exists in space as naturally occurring electromagnetic vibrations, many well within the range of human hearing while others exist at different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and these can be adjusted with software to bring them within our audio range.

The recordings of these interactions in space come from several different environments including radio, ultra violet, microwave and X-ray data and within these spectra a wide range of sources including interstellar plasma and molecules, radio galaxies, pulsars masers and quasars, charged particle interactions and emissions, radiation, exotic astrophysical objects, cosmic jets and flares from magnetars."

I figured the artist's description of his inspiration would be leaps and bounds above my own.  And i was right.  Experimental ambient artist Lustmord's latest opus, "Dark Matter," was created using an array of space sounds recorded between 1993 and 2003.  It's an ambitious and sprawling piece of dark ambient drone.  Listen to "Subspace" below and get the album here.

Fucked Up - This Mother Forever

Hey everybody, new music from Fucked Up!  Part gentle ambience, part brutal hardcore jam, "The Mother Forever" has something for everyone.  Listen below and cop it here.

Federale

Portland based Federale make awesome, Spaghetti Western inspired music, wholly indebted to the works of Ennio Morricone, but adding their own psychedelic flair to the proceedings to keep things real.  On their new album "All the Colours of the Dark," the band adds some dusty Lee Hazlewood like vocals into the mix giving the this cinematic homage some extra oomph.  Listen to the title track below and get the advance vinyl edition of the record from Mondo/Death Waltz.

The Wytches

I heard The Wytches for the first time earlier this year with some crusty, lo-fi recordings the band had made at home...and they were fucking great.  The noisy punk trio now has a new proper full-length out on Heavenly called "All Your Happy Life," and the first taste is scuzzy wonder.  Listen to "Crest of Death" below.

Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler already released a pretty stellar album earlier this year with "Strangers," but apparently that's just not enough, as the dark folk artist has just released an album of home recordings made around the same time called "Bury Your Name."  The album feels stripped down, lo-fi, and eerie and beautiful.  Listen to "The Best You Ever Had" below and get the album here.

Temples - Certainty

Here's a new song from British psych rock band Temples from their as of yet untitled sophomore album due sometime in the near future.  "Certainty" finds the band adding some bouncy and playful synths into the mix, creating some poppy, bubblegummy goodness.  Listen below.

The Caretaker

Leyland Kirby has been making fascinating, haunting, and beautiful experimental, ambient, and drone music for a number of years now, and his latest project as The Caretaker may just be his most ambitious and depressing.  It turns out that the artist has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, a subject he has explored with his music before, and he now plans to record six albums detailing the course of his disease and the deterioration of his own mind.  "Everywhere at the end of time" is part one, looping old 78's with distortion effects to create a dreamy and disheartening sound world.  This is going to be heavy.  Stream the album below and get it here.

Nevermind is 25...I am old...

Nirvana's "Nevermind" turned 25 years old yesterday, and aside from making me feel like a cranky old man, i've been feeling the kind of affinity for the band that i haven't felt since i was a teenager.  Seemingly endless articles and retrospectives have been done on the significance of "Nevermind" in regards to music and culture, but it seems a lot of the time we forget that above all else, it's really just a great rock record.  Sure, it changed the world or whatever, but when i first heard it in junior high, it changed me too.  And while i'll always be more of an "In Utero" kind of guy, "Nevermind" was the catalyst for everything that followed.

25 years later, it still sounds absolutely massive.  You should give it a listen before the weekend's over.  You should also check out this footage of a Halloween show at the Paramount in Seattle in 1991.

Xander Harris

Austin's Justin Sweatt, otherwise known as dark, disco-synth purveyor Xander Harris has a new album out today on Rock Action.  "California Chrome" pulses and oozes, a kind of sweaty, bleeding disco or techno music for dance halls surrounded by barbed wire.  Listen to "Buckle Bunny" below.

Micachu

Mica Levi's claim to fame is probably her amazing and haunting score for Jonathan Glazer's film "Under the Skin," but she's also been making fractured art-pop under the name Micachu for years.  Her most recent effort, "Clothes Wear Me," comes courtesy of Adult Swim.  Give it a listen below.

Ashtray Navigations

Playing like some kind of alternate soundtrack to an 80's Michael Mann movie, Ashtray Navigations' "To Make a Fool Ask, and You Are the First" LP is synthy symphonic bliss, a Tangerine Dream indebted nightmare score bathed in trashy neon lights.  It's dark, sweeping, pulsing, and majestic, the kind of music just begging to provide proper atmosphere for the right night.  Get the record from Blackest Ever Black in November and listen to the epic album closer "Spray Two" below.

True Widow

Dallas's True Widow make music that draws from both shoegaze and stoner metal, almost a kind of neo-grunge hybrid...or something.  Anyway, it sounds like something i would have lost my shit over 20 years ago, but still sounds excellent now.  Grab their new album, "AVVOLGERE," from Relapse this Friday and watch the video for "Theurgist" below.

Wojciech Golczewski - Tonight She Comes

Fresh off of his amazing "Reality Check" LP, Polish film score composer and synthesizer enthusiast Wojciech Golczewski has a new 7" out called "Tonight She Comes."  Listen below, dig on the amazing cover art above, and get the record here from Data Airlines.

Danny Brown with Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt

Danny Brown's stuff has a tendency to disorient me, like some kind of sonic methamphetamine straight to the noggin, or spinning in a circle until the world blurs.  New album "Atrocity Exhibition" is stacking up to be quite an incredible release, and this new jam, "Really Doe," featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt is a total cherry on the whole thing.  Listen below and get the new record from Warp on September 30th.

Still Corners - Down with Heaven and Hell

Here's another lush and dreamy jam from synth pop band Still Corners' new album "Dead Blue" and an accompanying video.  Watch and listen to "Down with Heaven and Hell" below and get the record from Wrecking Light.

Forma

Brooklyn three-piece Forma sound like they're from another time and place, one inhabited by old, trippy prog rock album covers.  Analog synths and motorik beats swirling with free-form jazz all under an old school kosmische vibe, the sounds of the band's latest record, "Physicalist," plays like a fever dream...but it feels so right.  Listen to the title track below and get the record from Kranky.

Thom Yorke - Coloured Candy

Thom Yorke has supplied clothing company Rag & Bone some music for an upcoming fashion show called "Coloured Candy."  The 10-minute track is a sprawling work of electronics and warbled vocals, and paired with the trippy visuals from animator Ishu Patel in the video below, it's not a bad way to start a Friday.

Dwight Yoakam covers Prince

Dwight Yoakam is a badass, and i will fight to the death anyone who claims otherwise.  The "too-country-for-rock-radio, too-rock-for-country-radio" troubadour has been meshing old school country music, rockabilly, bluegrass, folk, and rock n' roll together for decades, penning and covering classics along the way.  On his upcoming "Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars..." LP, the legend covers another legend, turning Prince's "Purple Rain"  into a folky ballad...and it works!  Listen below and get the album from Sugar Hill Records.

Jenny Hval - Period Piece

Here's the best song about menstruation that you'll hear all day.  Art pop experimenter Jenny Hval has a new album, "Blood Bitch," out in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime has released the song "Period Piece" via Adult Swim.  It's an ethereal, kind of disorienting track about a visit to the OB/GYN.  Listen below.

Tangerine Dream covers Stranger Things

It's been a few minutes since i last posted about "Stranger Things," so it was only inevitable that that would change.  Turns out the classic synth band Tangerine Dream is soldiering on despite the loss of Edgar Froese last year, and they've released their own version of the cultural phenomenon that is the "Stranger Things" theme.  Being that Michael Stein's and Kyle Dixon's original version is surely indebted to the legends, it looks like we've come full circle.  Listen below.

Merchandise - Lonesome Sound

Florida band Merchandise find themselves really tapping into the archives of alt-rock on their latest album, "A Corpse Wired for Sound," putting together jangly guitar tones and stark, pulsing melodies reminding me of the early days of "120 Minutes."  Watch the video for "Lonesome Sound" below and get the record later this month from 4AD.

Lower Dens - Real Thing

Here's a video for a brand new song from Lower Dens called "Real Thing."  Both the song and video have a hazy, dreamy quality about them, probably just the perfect kind of sounds and visuals for a groggy morning.  Watch and listen below.

Kim Gordon - Murdered Out

Still lamenting the end of Sonic Youth all these years later, but today we get a new solo single from Kim Gordon to make us feel better for a fleeting moment.  "Murdered Out" features production from Justin Raisen who has worked with Sky Ferreira and Charli XCX in the past, and has Warpaint's Stella Mozgawa on the drums.  It's also an awesome, crunchy and anxious little noise nugget.  Listen below and download it from Matador.

William Basinski - Disintegration Loop 1.1

Fifteen years on, and the events of September 11th, 2001 still weigh heavy over this country, and inevitably the world, the twin towers crumbling and creating a definitive and visceral momentary division line between what was and what is.  Like everyone else, i remember the events of that day, both consequential and inconsequential, national and personal, with an almost uncanny vividness, a kind of generational loss of innocence not seen in this nation since the JFK assassination or the Vietnam War.  It's easy to draw a line from that morning to the current events and atmosphere in the US and around the world, a jagged stone rolling down a hillside, building speed and mass until it ultimately smashes into the valley below.  And it makes me sad.  And it makes me feel old.  And it makes me pine for some kind of "good old days," a return to innocence.

But of course that's not going to happen.  So instead, i'm just going to love my family, and love my friends, and salute anyone and everyone who tries to make things better, even if it's hard, or it pisses people off, or it seems like it's not going to make any kind of difference anyway.  And i'm going to try and just see the good in everyone.  It's there.

In August of 2001, classical and experimental composer William Basinski recorded "Disintegration Loop 1.1," one of many decaying pastoral tape loops he was experimenting with at the time.  On September 11th, he filmed the billowing smoke coming from lower Manhattan from the roof of his home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn during the last hour of daylight, and then paired the loop with the images he captured.  It's touching, and haunting, and strangely calming in its own way.

Watch below, and find someone to hug today, even if it's just yourself.

Pye Corner Audio

How did i not realize there was a new Pye Corner Audio album out?!  Moody, synth horror homages are my jam, and Martin Jenkins has been doing it wonderfully for a long while now.  Guess i've got a new purchase for the weekend.  Listen to the creeping "Ganzfeld Effect" below and get the album from Ghost Box.

Vesuvio Solo

Sometimes it's hard to not get swept away by the dreamy, silky sounds of throwback pop.  Montreal artist Vesuvio Solo provides just that, the kind of jams perfect for mellow, neon-lit nights after the club shuts down, or lounging on a boat as the sun sets ahead of you.  "Don't Leave Me in the Dark" is out later this month on Banko Gotiti, but you can watch and listen to the video for the title track below.

Zack de la Rocha - Digging for Windows

There's been talk of a Zack de la Rocha solo album for years now, the former Rage Against the Machine front man recording tracks in sessions with everyone from DJ Shadow to Trent Reznor.  And now it looks like we may actually get one, this one recorded with El-P.  I loved de la Rocha's contribution to Run the Jewels' sophomore effort a couple of years ago, so this is welcome news.  And the track that's out today sounds pretty awesome.  Listen to "Digging for Windows" below, and be on the lookout for an album sometime in 2017.

Preoccupations - Memory

Viet Cong's self-titled album was hands down my favorite record last year, and my anticipation for the band's (now called Preoccupations) follow, the now also self-titled album, is growing to a fever pitch.  With every new released track, they just keep sounding better and better.  And so we have "Memory," the third track released from the record and featuring Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner on guest vocals.  The song is sprawling and multi-layered, and feels like a complete sonic trip, with different sections or suites moving and shifting all over the place.  It does not disappoint.  Listen below and grab the record next week from Jagjaguwar.

Mannequin Pussy

So, to be completely honest with myself and you all, i only checked out Philadelphia punk rock four-piece band Mannequin Pussy...because they named themselves Mannequin Pussy.  But, i'm glad i did, because the title track from the group's upcoming "Romantic" LP has all the best qualities you could dream of combining noisy shit-punk with some Riot Grrl vitriol.  Listen below and pre-order the record, coming in October, from Tiny Engines.

Carly Rae Jepsen - Higher

Okay, so it's very embarrassing that i'm posting about Carly Rae Jepsen.  Pop princesses (even talented ones) are not something i'm usually inclined to listen to, much less get hyped about, but goddamnit, i heard the song "Higher" the other day by chance on the radio, a single from Jepsen's "Emotion: Side B" EP, and it's been stuck in my cranium ever since...like, on repeat.  And it won't go away.  And now, i'm not sure i even want it to.  I want to dance.  Don't judge me.

Molly Burch

I've had a rare Saturday and Sunday off from work this weekend, spent a lot of time with my boys, drank some good beer, and watched as much football as i could fit into my eyeballs.  I'm kind of sad to get back to the grind tomorrow morning, so here's a melancholy little slice of dreamy Americana from Molly Burch.  "Downhearted" is the A-side from the upcoming 7" available on Captured Tracks.  It's a wistful and hazy way to close the summer out to.  Watch the video below.

The Nots

Memphis punk band The Nots are releasing their sophomore album "Cosmetic" next week on Goner, and this time around the girls are expanding on their short bursts of snarly punk rock and adding shreds of noise and experimental grooves and textures.  And man, does it work.  Listen to "Entertain Me" below, a blend of garage rock, post punk, and arty noise.

HEALTH - Crusher

LA noise makers HEALTH are generally at their absolute best when they combine their noisy, chaotic art rock sensibilities with their all out raver techno tendencies.  Something about the mix of the two just works wonderfully, some modern industrial mayhem.  Anyway, the band have a new single out, "Crusher," available for free via Adult Swim.  Listen below.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Jesus Alone

Just in case you were thinking that "Skeleton Tree," the upcoming new album from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and the accompanying film "One More Time with Feeling," both out next Friday, were not going to be heavy, devastating affairs, here's our first taste of visuals and music, a live recording of the album track "Jesus Alone."  The song is haunting and somber, and the darkly lit, black and white images from the studio session adds a kind of aching despair to the whole thing.  And it should do just that, the first new art from a man who suffered an unbearable tragedy last year.  Watch and listen below.