Bill Baird

Hoping to get a little bit done today, but also to rest and relax...read a book...drink a cocktail...etc...etc.  In the meantime, here's Texas artist Bill Baird with some Motorik instrumental psych pop.  Listen to the sprawling new tune "The Ocean Is Sleeping" below and download it here.

Heavy Meddo

I feel it's only right to post about the other side of that split 7" with Queen Serene, so here's Heavy Meddo.  The Bill Baird (Sound Team) fronted project makes grooving, motorik, krautrock-tinged psych magic on "La Mer."  Check it out below and get that record here.

Tv Dust

Playing like some mutant hybrid of smoky lounge jazz, motorik krautrock, and no wave skronk, the latest from Italian weirdo trio Tv Dust feels like the kind of thing you'd boil down and inject straight into your veins.  Shake and groove to new tune "Last Call" below, an almost Eastern-flavored dirge that's seconds away from going completely off the rails.  And pre-order the upcoming new album "Transition" here from Maple Death Records.

Trans Upper Egypt

It's time to take a funky, motorik psychedelic trip with the experimental trio Trans Upper Egypt.  Tight beats, fuzzed out organs, and a cinematic post-punk aesthetic make new album "No Dub" an intoxicating listening experience.  Listen to album opener "33" below and snag the LP here from Maple Death Records.

Three Quarter Skies

Here's some cool new music from UK artist Three Quarter Skies.  "On Fire" has a motorik krautrock vibe going for it, paired with some space rock sounds that feels like watching as the universe fly past you.  Check it out below and download the upcoming "Universal Flames" album here from Sonic Cathedral (the cassette is already sold out).

PNEM

If my kids were just a little bit older, i would probably still be out in the thick of it for SXSW, but things being what they are, i'll be content to sit at home for the rest of the day, drinking beer, watching NCAA basketball, and digging for music online.  Music like the motorik krautrock stylings of Dutch band PNEM.  Nod along to the grooving "Mikro Elektro" below and get the band's "FM" cassette here.

The Sound of Science

UK outfit The Sound of Science make motorik synth pop and psych folk to move about your day to...working...learning...living.  It's kind of hypnotic.  Check out "Photosynthesis (Love the Green Machines)" below and get the self-titled album here from Castles in Space.

MELTS

So it's looking like SXSW is kinda sorta coming back this year after last year's virtual festival, and the cancellation from the year prior.  I don't think i'm feeling brave enough to do it yet.  In general, i'd come away from each festival with some kind of cold or flu, the result of Austin becoming one giant petri dish of 1000's of folks from all over the world.  So, i'll be working.  But maybe...just maybe...i'll venture out to an outdoor party or venue and catch some music.  If that happens, i imagine i'll check out Dublin's MELTS and their particular brand of motorik, krautrock-tinged, psychedelic space rock.  New album "Maelstrom" drops in May.  Pre-order it here and listen to the title track below.

Earth Girl Helen Brown Center for Planetary Intelligence Band

San Francisco trio The Sandwitches were a mainstay around these parts during their tenure.  And while they may have called it quits, we still get music from its members here and there, in particular from Heidi Alexander and her Earth Girl Helen Brown project.  That project has grown and is currently releasing music inspired by the solar system as Earth Girl Helen Brown Center for Planetary Intelligence Band.  That may be a mouthful, but the jams are tight.  Check out the weird psychedelia and motorik beat of "Earth" below and pre-order the upcoming "Earth" cassette here from Empty Cellar Records.

Daily Jam - Europe Endless

It feels like a Kraftwerk kind of day.  Listen to "Europe Endless" below, our Daily Jam.

Black Marble

Black Marble's latest, "Bigger Than Life," is heading our way in October via Sacred Bones.  Check out the Motorik cold wave synth pop of "One Eye Open" below and pre-order the record here.

Daily Jam - Xam

My love of synthesizers and modulators etc. knows no bounds.  So here's Subway's 2009 song "Xam," our Daily Jam.

Stephen Malkmus - Viktor Borgia

So, Stephen Malkmus has an electronic album coming out in March, a prospect i would swear was some kind of joke until hearing first single "Viktor Borgia."  The upcoming "Groove Denied" is not so much a boom-chigga-boom kind of thing as it is an homage to the early electronic music coming out of Germany in the 1970s.  Analog synthesizers, drum machines, and modulators make for a veritable motorik krautrock affair, and weirdly, it suits Malkmus, mixing that sound with his penchant for quirky hooks and sardonic wit.  Watch the video for "Viktor Borgia" below and get the LP from Matador in March.

Writhing Squares

If you work in retail like i do, these last couple of days have been pretty shitty, early mornings, late evenings and crowds of insufferable consumers consuming, consuming, consuming...  But, here's a little brain melter from Philly psych rock act Writhing Squares to even you out a little, or maybe to just blast the remnants of your body, mind, and soul into the outer cosmos.  At any rate, let's get away for awhile.  The upcoming "Out of the Ether" LP is headed our way from Trouble In Mind in January, but the music and brain melting gods have been so giving as to let us have the 20-minute fryer "A Whole New Jupiter" ahead of time, with plenty of krautrock, prog, jazz, and sax to massage all of those brain wrinkles.  Listen below and pre-order here.

Unusual Sounds

If anybody's looking to get me an early Christmas present, i've got an idea for you.  Mexican Summer's Anthology Recordings offshoot just released "Unusual Sounds," a collection of obscure library music trading in all kinds of sounds, from rock to jazz to avant garde and beyond.  A companion record to the David Hollander curated book of the same name, this album hits all the notes that make my inner record collector giddy with glee.  Listen to low tempo, motorik krautrock of Klaus Weiss's "Survivor" below and get the album here.

Kosmischer Läufer Volume Four

I am continuously a sucker for the mystery band.  The more far out and exotic the back story, the more entranced i am.  And so we get the tale of German electronic composer Martin Zeichnete and his long lost recordings of motorik krautrock recorded between 1972 and 1983 as music for the East German Olympic program to train to.  And now these lost gems are being compiled by Unknown Capability Recordings, the latest of which, "Kosmischer Läufer Volume Four" is out later this month.

Of course, this whole back story is bullshit, but that doesn't make it any less fun.  And so far, no one's fessing up, though it's more than likely the work of the record label's founders.  Anyway, it's good stuff.  Listen to "Zeit zum Laufen 150" below, get it here, and then maybe take a run or something.

Minami Deutsch

Japanese krautrock...far out.  Psychedelic fuzz, bursts of stormy noise, and a motorik beat to tie it all together, the sophomore record from Minami Deutsch is equal parts brain melting and meditation.  Listen to "I've Seen a U.F.O." below and get the "With Dim Light" LP here via Guruguru Brain.

Failure - Dark Speed

We got new Failure yesterday!  I had heard a rumor that there were some possible EPs in the works for 2018, and the first (of four) is out now.  Watch the video for "Dark Speed" below.  The song's got a real motorik krautrock kind of thing going for it, and it works.  The "In the Future" EP is available for download from the band here, where you can also pre-order the other EPs as well as an LP that will compile the music later in the year.  Hooray!

Cavern of Anti-Matter

Stereolab's Tim Gane also makes music under the moniker Cavern of Anti-Matter, crafting quirky, motorik, kosmische pop with an array of modular synthesizers and drum machines.  It's good fun.  Listen to "Make Out Fade Out" below and pre-order the upcoming "Hormone Lemonade" LP due in March here from the band's own Duophonic label.