RE-UP: Black Sand - How Does It Feel? (New Zealand 2009)

BLACK SAND - How Does It Feel? 
(New Zealand 2009)

(mp3 zip, 3 tracks, 13 min, front cover incl.)

1. how does it feel?

2. falling down

3. catch the sun

Get it here or here or here!

From Auckland, New Zealand, comes the one man music project BLACK SAND. 

"I record under the name BLACK SAND. I've been recording my songs for a few years now using a Fostex 8 track and Cool Edit Pro. I'm influenced by a lot of English bands - Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Stone Roses etc. - and a lot of sixties bands, The Creation, The Who, Small Faces etc. - Catch the Sun is the oldest song here, written 3 years ago, while How Does it Feeland Falling Down were written in the last couple of months. - I'm a big music fan and I've always written and recorded for the love of it. My songs are what they are, they're born out of a love of listening to music that moves you and makes you feel alive."(Anthony Evans, B. S.)

60ies inspired psychedelic pop/rock that has everything fans of that genre will love: dreamy melodies, backward guitars, and a quite relaxed over all atmosphere...To my mind come indeed some songs by PRIMAL SCREEN. Recommended! I'd love to hear more from that guy!

Enjoy!

Wonder Wheel - IMHO/Deep in the Bottle (digital 7") (USA 2011)

"This is Paul A. Rosales and here is a quick sample of the Wonder Wheel band's first full-length album, Total Bundy.

The only recordings with the band have been a few live bootlegs and the Wonder Wheel and the Warriors Demonstration EP of July 2010. Raul, Danny and I have been working hard over the past few months to compile and refine these tracks.

A cassette release with Burger Records will be available Spring 2011 and we are looking through other outlets for CD + LP. (...)

For more info please visit the Wonder Wheel blog:

http://mywonderwheel.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!"

(Paul A. Rosales)

I haven't heard the complete album yet, but those two tracks here are among the best songs that I have heard so far from WONDER WHEEL.

Check 'em out!

WONDER WHEEL: IMHO/Deep in the Bottle

(USA 2011)

(mp3-zip, 2 tracks, 7.18 min, 17,9 MB, artwork incl.)

Get it here or here or here!

Lunar Testing Lab - Unauthorized Frequencies EP (USA 2010)

LUNAR TESTING LAB is Eric Watson from Beaver Falls, PA.

Another excellent "space lounge music" release by LUNAR TESTING LAB, who is also featured with one track on the recent HLFP 05-Sampler SPACE IS STILL THE PLACE.

Find Eric's older release Seashore Blvd here!

"The idea behind it (= Unauthorized Frequencies) was to make an EP using a bunch of samples from 45rpm records. Then I made limited edition cdr's (13 copies which came in 7 inch sleeves) and each one came with one of the 45's that I sampled. So whoever ordered one got a piece of the source material. The cdr had 10 tracks, so they also got 3 bonus songs."

(Eric Watson via email)

http://www.myspace.com/lunartestinglaboratory

http://www.secretstationrecords.com/index.php

http://www.i-absentee.com/artist-lunartestinglab.html

LUNAR TESTING LAB: Unauthorized Frequencies EP

(USA 2010)

(mp3-zip, 7 tracks, 21 min, 48,2 MB)

Get it here or here!

Oreaganomics - Atlas Drugged (USA 2009)

OREAGANOMICS are from Chicago, Illinois.

Anyway, I don't have that much info on this project.

Their music is a weird mixture of different sounds – kind of experimental minimal lo-fi (lots of great, cheap keyboard sounds) and (sometimes) surrealistic noisy music, but always with a pop sensibility. Which is quite a good thing: You even do get some melodies and also some lyrics...

Somehow reminds me of a band that probably hardly anyone will know: Amsterdam-based SOLEX. But OREAGANOMICS are even more radical.

There's a lot to discover, so check this one out!

http://www.myspace.com/oreaganomics

http://oreaganomics.muxtape.com/

Favourite track: Create something to love, Ladders From Earth

OREAGANOMICS - Atlas Drugged

(mp3-zip, 10 tracks, 35 min, 19 MB, art incl.)

Get it here or here or here!

Alex Northrup - The Navigator (USA 2010)

From Brooklyn, New York, comes ALEX NORTHRUP.

Former bands included BAD KIDS, THE FROGBOTS, TIN SPHINX and some more – as listed on his Myspace site.

The Navigator was recorded on a 4-track "over the past months or so". Indeed some of the songs (a minority!) sound rather lo-fi (e.g. The Harbor/Pandering Box). Obviously all the instruments, mainly guitar, piano, organ, and the vocals are by the man himself, excerpt for a little help by Jim Hill (bs, mandol.,perc.) on one track and Ben Schwabe (tamb.) on another one – as listed on the back cover.

Otherwise I don't have much info on this release or the artist.

Check out his Myspace site for more.

The music is a mix of rock/pop music and some a little bit more experimental tracks in singer/song writer mood. The playing is well done and the arrangements are good aswell, though you won't find any real big surprises (some backwards guitars here and there, some distorted piano playing, a theremin...). The music gets a little bit more adventurous with the last three songs, in fact my favourite ones.

All things considered The Navigator is a solid album that makes for good listening. I guess the overall relaxed and somewhat slightly, well, ... strange, mellow atmosphere is caught very well in the cover art work.

Favourite tracks: 30N and Ticker Tape Parade/Radiocity

http://www.myspace.com/alexnorthrup1768

ALEX NORTHRUP: The Navigator (2010)

(mp3-zip, 9 tracks, 35 min, 32,4 MB, artwork incl.)

Get it here or here or here!

Lunar Testing Lab - Seashore Blvd (USA 2009)

LUNAR TESTING LAB is Eric Watson from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

His "Space Program" album, officially released on "i, absentee", was picked as # 5 cd of 2008 by Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow.

The EP "Seashore Blvd" was recorded in May 2009, and was strongly recommended for posting on HLFP by Will Treffry of PANEYE, who is a big fan of it ("You will not regret listening to this. It is without question some of the best music i've heard in quite a while..." - I totally agree!)

Eric is into electronic music since 1991 or so; he began the LUNAR TESTING LAB project in 2004; influences he mentions are Boards of Canada, BMSR, funk, and 1970's moog music, and he uses a lot of samples and "a few synth sounds" to make his music.

The result is a unique mixture of jazz, funk, electronic and lounge; guess I'll call that "space lounge music" – a truely great record, strongly recommended to fans of AIR and psychedelic electronic music.

Favourite track: hmmm, difficult. Probably the opener: "Black Sands" and "Topaze Bay". The whole EP is great. Recommended especially for Sunday morning listening.

http://www.myspace.com/lunartestinglaboratory

http://www.secretstationrecords.com/index.htm

http://www.i-absentee.com/artists.html

LUNAR TESTING LAB - Seashore Blvd (USA 2009)

(mp3 zip, 8 tracks, 27 min, 43,1 MB, front cover incl.)

Get it here!

Black Sand - How Does It Feel? (New Zealand 2009)

Black Sand - How Does It Feel? (New Zealand 2009)

(mp3 zip, 3 tracks, 13 min, front cover incl.)

1. how does it feel?

2. falling down

3. catch the sun

Get it here or here or here! 

(New links October 2012)

From Auckland, New Zealand, comes the one man music project BLACK SAND. 

"I record under the name BLACK SAND. I've been recording my songs for a few years now using a Fostex 8 track and Cool Edit Pro. I'm influenced by a lot of English bands - Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Stone Roses etc. - and a lot of sixties bands, The Creation, The Who, Small Faces etc. - Catch the Sun is the oldest song here, written 3 years ago, while How Does it Feel and Falling Down were written in the last couple of months. - I'm a big music fan and I've always written and recorded for the love of it. My songs are what they are, they're born out of a love of listening to music that moves you and makes you feel alive." (Anthony Evans, B. S.)

60ies inspired psychedelic pop/rock that has everything fans of that genre will love: dreamy melodies, backward guitars, and a quite relaxed over all atmosphere...To my mind come indeed some songs by PRIMAL SCREEN. Recommended! I'd love to hear more from that guy!

Enjoy!

Wonder Wheel - Hello Picture! (USA 2008)

'Hello Picture!' is already the 17th WONDER WHEEL album, and Paul A. Rosales' 30th solo release since June 2003, Recorded October - December 2008 in his home studio in Orange, California, USA. Paul says that "this album is also the first true work of the 21st century".

Paul's work has some similarities with RANGERS' homemade cassette collages (posted earlier), so if you like those, you may also like WONDER WHEEL, though the WONDER WHEEL tracks are probably a little more focused, more in a pop structure with vocals - and also they are much shorter pieces. But just like RANGERS Paul creates in WONDER WHEEL a complete musical cosmos that you will, when you have listened to some of his music before, always recognize in a moment, - for its originality and uniqueness in sound. And that is pretty cool, I think...
Enjoy!
My favourite tracks: Future Home and Reputation

"Future Music is the result of imagination and the anticipated creation within composed works. Highlighted points of musical perpetuation include the atonal development of Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), the compiled sounds of “Poéme Électronique” by Edgard Varèse (1883-1965), the Sonic Signatures and Electronic Pop productions of Joe Meek (1929-1967), and the variation of tape and melody on “Discreet Music” by Brian Eno (1948-Present). (...)

To combine the Future World with the Future Music, the tools and machines used in the documenting process acknowledge both worlds of digital and analog technology.
1. Recorded onto tape machines of the 1980’s and 1990’s
2. Performing with a digital interface of analog equipment
3. Manipulated by tape speed and/or pitch of plug-in
4. Transferred to computers of the mid 2000’s
These primary directives are used to establish unique Sonic Signatures and conclude the composition." (P. R. - Read The Anticipation Proclamation-pdf (included in the zip file) for more information.)

Myspace
Youtube
number5music.org

WONDER WHEEL - HELLO PICTURE! (2008)
(mp3 zip, 9 tracks, 46 min, 53,2 MB)
Get it here or here!

The Delta of Venus - Sinatrasaurus Vs. Caveman (Dance, Ape 'O!) (USA 2008)

"I truly love psychedelic music, and though i consider myself psychedelic, though probably more reserved than most of the artists on your page. I make recordings in my bedroom on a tascam 8 track..."

"The writing/recording was done between May 2008 and December 2008 with percussion on the tracks "How The Wind Was Beating Hard" and "Lower Than Low" being improvised by my friend Mike Baltzer on his Korg Electribe. I'm a 20 yr. old manish songwriter living in Minneapolis and I've been trying to be in a band since i could play, but up until now my recordings have been my main commitment. Mike is a songwriter from Pittsburgh who moved here last year and we've been trying to work together, so there might be a band in the future. Otherwise it's all me in the recordings. I use bongos, tables, tambourine and microphone taps for percussion. I use an epiphone dot and a danelectro 56 u3 and a little wee radioshack concertmate for the little keyboard sounds you hear. the less thrilling keyboard sounds probably come from my alesis micron which i recently got, but admittedly do not know how to really use it. I am profoundly influenced by Donovan, The Velvet Underground, The Beach Boys, Hoagy Carmichael, The Beatles, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Gilberto Gil, Serge Gainsbourg, Lee Hazlewood, Burt Bacharach, Of Montreal, The Kinks, Bob Dylan etc. I do have a page on myspace.com/loyaltyinspace, and I've written lots of new songs so i hope to get some recording done in the future. I really do consider my music psychedelic even though my influences are a bit outside of psychedelia, thankfully psychedelia is one of those sounds that easily digests different ones." (T. D. O. V.)

Most of THE DELTA OF VENUS' songs are rather short, rather sketches of songs, though there is a great indie-pop sensibility to them, and there are many impressive melodies to be found - some thing in common with GUIDED BY VOICES' earlier works (though musically a little more polished and much less aggressive). Truely uplifting, dreamy refreshing music. Eager to hear more!

Enjoy! 

THE DELTA OF VENUS - Sinatrasaurus Vs. Caveman (Dance, Ape 'O!)

(mp3 zip, 13 tracks, 30 min)

Get it here or here! 

Broderick Young - Florescent Light Fortina (USA 2007-8)

"Florecent Light Fortina" is BRODERICK YOUNG's first solo album, recorded mainly during 2007. He was a member of STYLISH HEADPHONES, MILADY, based in Texas, but when that band broke up Broderick found that he had some songs left over and he also wrote new ones.

"The whole idea initial was that it was a concept album, the concept being insanity from different angles. I recorded this at Chris' house (Chris (Daily) was one of the other members of the band mentioned previously. His stuff can be found here: http://barnyardmusic.blogspot.com) mostly. He has a nice mixer. Some of the songs were done on a four track, than overdubbed on the fancy mixer (...). Some of the Interludes were done at home with a microphone and audacity (a nice FREE audio mixing program), maybe a cheap live mixer. (...) When listening, I try to look for the freaks. I like what's now being called outsider music. I also like THE BEACH BOYS, PHIL SPECTOR, Punk (HALF JAPANESE and THE RAMONES especially), THE BEATLES, Jazz (SUN RA and MINGUS), DEERHOF, THE FLAMING LIPS, Brazilian music (OS MUTANTES and MF DOOM). (...)

I think my favorite BEATLE is GEORGE HARRISON, that might say something. (...)

I'm working on my new album in my college dorm room. It is exclusively keyboards and vocals. (...)For the one after that I might try full band. Also I'm interested in circut bending, so some of that might work its way in there." (B. Y.)

A very talented songwriter (though I probably wouldn't have used that VH sample...)! What strikes me most is Broderick's voice, reminding me of a young, charming LOU REED (especially VELVET UNDERGROUND time and early solo stuff; e.g. Limited Edition Sasquatch Bin and Perfect Monday). Recommended!

Favourite tracks: Ave Godzilla and Perfect Monday

Listen to more of BRODERICK YOUNG's music here.

Read more.

BRODERICK YOUNG - Florescent Light Fortina

(mp3 zip, 14 tracks, 37 min, 50,1 MB, artwork incl.)

Get it HERE. Re-up 05/2024.

Wolf Burn - Nature Sounds (USA 2008)

From Southern California comes WOLF BURN, a one man project offering "experimental pop music" for your listening pleasure. All songs were written and recorded by the man himself in his bedroom.

"WOLF BURN is a compilation of experimental pop songs that attempt to convey a feeling, an emotion, a story. Not everything comes neatly packaged and sugar-coated. There is a large DIY approach to WOLF BURN, and though it is simply pop music, it has lo-fi and psychedelic aspects to it. The equipment used for this project ranges, and there is often experimentation with different instruments, sounds, and noises..." (W. B.)

Great work! And I disagree: This is (for the most part) not just simply pop music. Reminds me of different electronic/psychedelic pop bands like A. R. KANE (especially the voice), MINA, TO ROCOCO ROT etc.

All the songs are very well written and performed (though the guitar sounds sometimes slightly out of tune to these ears, but that could be just the effect pedals...).

I love the over all homemade DIY feeling, and I'd surely like to hear more of this.

http://www.myspace.com/wolfsoundsburn

Personal favourite tracks: the title track "Nature Sounds" and "AUDIO/VIDEO/DISCO".

Enjoy!

WOLF BURN - Nature Sounds

(mp3 zip, 6 tracks, 24 min, 51,4 MB)

Get it HERE! new Link 05/2024.