Ghost FM

Active Child - “High Priestess” It’s past...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:42:00 +0100

It’s past midnight. And I’m going to bed to a mediocre good day. Flu, fever and sore throat all vanishing slowly, relatively at ease and partially optimistic. It’s a pleasant feeling. I’m streaming Active Child’s debut You Are All I See. I’m embracing the nocturnal angels and chilling with Pat Grossi’s ethereal voice. I hope you’re not mistaken the way many of us were when we first heard Jónsi’s voice in Sigur Rós.

If you enjoy this head over to AC’s official webpage where you can get a free download of “Hanging On”. Links above as always. Sleep tight!

Photo: ocelott

Lambchop - “Gone Tomorrow” Taking music...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:10:10 +0100

Lambchop - “Gone Tomorrow”

Taking music recommendations these days is quite risky for me. I’ve become very picky and selfish. Especially when it comes from people I know. I may inadvertently do something silly. Last time, it was someone dropping a comment on my last.fm telling me I have to listen to Hugh Laurie all caps, I was about to come back at the poor guy to meltdown with “Boy! What the f were you thinking?” But then I decided not to blame him. The only thing the guy had ever listened to was Guns ‘N Roses and anything related to them. But that’s the most pretentious thing I could write about. You probably hate me for admitting this. With apologies, I’m not really a humble person when to comes to suggestions anymore. You have to be measured properly. But I happen to read a lot from the blogosphere and I don’t always regret it. This subtle review by the brilliant WLFY was the one I was destined to read and now I feel enlightened. In this review Zach Hart calls the album an instant classic and then elaborates expertly on the characteristics of such albums comparing it to Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle and Nick Drake’s discography.

Lambchop’s new album Mr. M is probably my this year’s Sandro Perri. I relate to it the same way. In an arena plagued with extensive abundant remixes of who the hell and who collaborated with who and Skrillex, “Rolling In the Deep” taking the world and blah blah blah, Kurt Wagner’s soothing but sophisticated arrangements puts you into a safe place and slows the time down for you. His laconic presence behind the mic reminds you of a more bluesy and jazzy Bill Callahan. It sits you down and welcomes reflection into your leisure moments the way that rendition of Al Green from Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” did. This is an album to cling onto. Thanks for the mention.

This precious mood thermostat was released yesterday via Merge Records. Watch the official video to “Gone Tomorrow”.

A tad unexpected but this just in: Received a Carey Mercer...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:10:00 +0100

A tad unexpected but this just in: Received a Carey Mercer announcement via his Twitter that he’s out with a new Blackout Beach LP. This happens when I really expected a new Frog Eyes record. I was too excited to post this that I’m finishing it while I’m still yet to give it a full listen. But wait…uhm. OK! This is utterly instrumental. No trace of Mercer’s cryptic poetry. No trace of all those historical references. Below you’re streaming the just out of the oven BB record 11 Pink Helicopters in the Coral Sky. Not to mention it’s beautiful.

<a href=”http://blackoutbeach.bandcamp.com/album/11-pink-helicopters-in-the-coral-sky” _mce_href=”http://blackoutbeach.bandcamp.com/album/11-pink-helicopters-in-the-coral-sky”>11 Pink Helicopters in the Coral Sky by blackoutbeach</a>

The musical family tree Photo: will95will’s last.fm

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:05:09 +0100

The musical family tree

Photo: will95will’s last.fm

“Rough Diamond” is the debut single from promising...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:08:00 +0100

“Rough Diamond” is the debut single from promising new indie rock act The Craven Braves. And yes you’re allowed to kick your shoes off and dance to this. A good blend of The Clash outfits, the confidence of Arcitc Monkeys and the groove potential similar to one-hit-wonders Caesars “Jerk It Out”. Let’s hope most tracks on the band’s upcoming album be as catchy as this. Meanwhile, viddy above! The humble presence of the band reminds me of Dead 60s, too.

The guys are signed into ex-Libertines drummer Gary Powell’s label. Stream some other demos here.

The Underground Man - “Knows Me Better” If...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:20:19 +0100

The Underground Man - “Knows Me Better”

If you’ve started your Saturday out with a sip on a life-injecting coffee with toast and butter and honey, this Underground Man song can complement your delightful breakfast. Don’t be fooled by the title, this sounds nothing like Wu Tang or a Sonic Youth cover band.

He claims the fruit of his 60s pop is “resulted from a long period of obsession with Cliff Richard’s early tunes and Jim Thompson’s pulp crime novels.” And to be frank, I didn’t find a better disclaimer for this short pleasant quick-charm. He’s from Brooklyn, but who is this guy anyway?

[♫] Warning Light - “Nightfall In The Border...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:39:03 +0100

[♫] Warning Light - “Nightfall In The Border Country”

[♫] Warning Light - “High Watershed”

Warning Light’s latest album Wild Silver was released last September via Stickfigure Records. This is the follow up to Drew Haddon’s 2010 full length Further On.

You can watch the video to this reflective ambient drone.

Photo: Cerebral Lust - A fantastic (and almost illegible) tumblr of collage art by a nice guy called Kevin

Gruff Rhys - “Honey All Over” Shout out to the front...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:22:00 +0100

Gruff Rhys - “Honey All Over”

Shout out to the front man of our beloved hairy mammals. This favorite was left out from last year’s hunt. I always wanted to post it somewhere but I was just stupid not to do that. Now, want to know what I love about it? Please scroll down then. Thanks!

From Hotel Shampoo, Gruff Rhys’ 3rd solo album, “Honey All Over” is a tasty representative. The album is Rhys at his most convenient and orchestrated. The jolly sweet soft pop of the song attracts more charm when you hear three different drum sequences jammed carefully into the come and go of verse and chorus. However, they bizarrely don’t disarrange the elements and make the single miraculously remain a pop song to whistle to.

The album title and the single’s artwork are inspired by Gruff’s habit of keeping shampoo bottles from hotels he resides at over the years. Delicious! And I’m still yet to decipher the puzzle of my weakness in bands from Cardiff. I have never been to Wales. No clue. Maybe it’s Ryan Giggs.

Hear Hums are still the closest thing you can hear these days to...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:19:34 +0100

Hear Hums are still the closest thing you can hear these days to early days of Animal Collective. On their new album Opens, the electronics perish; more tribal, more jungle sounds and eagerly wilder. The duo’s venture takes you into a marvel colorful reverie, abound with immaculate psychedelica and vibrant fantasies. Let’s not just waste everything on words and full-stream the work down here.

<a href=”http://hearhums.bandcamp.com/album/opens” _mce_href=”http://hearhums.bandcamp.com/album/opens”>Opens by Hear Hums</a>

Photo: Quenched Consciousness - A blog exploring the work of Jean Giraud, aka Gir, aka Moebius.

Klaus Schulze - “Bayreuth Return” Last time I did...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:21:43 +0100

Klaus Schulze - “Bayreuth Return”

Last time I did this, it was a William Basinski song and I enjoyed it a lot. Let’s have another aural challenge then! And by challenge I mean 31 minutes of tranquility to one of ambient’s most original and standout works. I hope you take your time and discharge your brain out of every daily-chore-related malfunction and quick misery. Cause ostensibly we’re profoundly involved in diminutive pushes and shoves that are blocking us from a tangible world outside our rooms, outside our laptops or beyond our 3-quid iPhone apps.

This is not a dubstep mixtape of the kind you get recommended by virtual wires thrice every weekday. Not that they’re bad. But have no rush on this one! Slow life. If it’s food it will cost you. This well of soundcapes though damages you no dime.

Originally recorded on a two-track in 1975 in one take, this is the first half of a voyage to an Indian raga. And musically belongs to beautiful days of ambient, before Depeche Mode and New Order turn electronic music to extremes. Before Eno and David Byrne decide to change the game their way. Klaus Schulze’s Timewind is aesthetically exceptional in that sense. And no, you’re wrong. I’m for a dozen of facts an admirer of all the bands I’ve mentioned above.

Photo: Dream Scene Portals: Bryan Olson / Cur3es - 1st collab via Glass Planet a new beautiful collage art tumblr I’ve recently come across

The Twilight Sad - “Sick” A current favorite of...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:28:51 +0100

The Twilight Sad - “Sick”

A current favorite of ours, “Sick” conveys James Graham’s depicted innocent worries once again. The Twilight Sad narrates from our inner child’s subliminal and fetches the noise out of the bruised nostalgia that has lingered on our cerebral conceptions. The melody brings us back to Radiohead’s “2+2=5”, yet another beautiful song about resorting to a wavering but convenient shelter.

And I guess you have already heard the penultimate tune to Scottish band’s latest album No One Can Ever Know.

[♫] The Twilight Sad - “Another Bed”

It was out February 8th. You have the purchase links on the top of the post as forever.

Grateful Dead - “Unbroken Chain” 2.5 years back,...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:24:27 +0100

Grateful Dead - “Unbroken Chain”

2.5 years back, Animal Collective released Fall Be Kind EP, the blissful follow-up to Merriweather Post Pavilion. I was so excited about the almost flawless second track that I couldn’t refrain from loving the Grateful Dead sample they enchanted it with. The following fetch of the archive is the jolly me getting emotional about it. Excuse me once again for my absurdly superficial writing. That’s how I normally am. [sighs in despair]

Well I just don’t know when Animal Collective is going to bore me. They blatantly dare to be the weirdest musical phenomenon. Experimental music is all around us these days, I know. But who can experiment this slyly and intrepidly? I’m not here to review the EP. Though the first two tracks are ruthlessly stunning. I’m mostly here for “What Would I Want? Sky”. This is the first AC song that features a licensed borrowed sample and it comes from “Unbroken Chain” by Grateful Dead.

The original legendary GD song is derived from their 1974 album From the Mars Hotel and is sung by their bassist Phil Lesh and is massively catchy and beautiful. It’s exciting to know the line “What Would I Want?” that is the fundamental vocal background of the AC song does not even exist in Grateful Dead’s version. AC has wisely fabricated new words and has constructed a funny aural misunderstanding out of it. What Lesh sings is actually “[Willow] sky, whoa [I walk and wonder why.]” Boy! There are no such words as “What Would I Want?” What were we thinking?

“What Would I Want? Sky” patiently builds itself up with a 2 minute intro that features a hypnotizing sentence that tentatively could be “You Dream” or feel free to hear it what you desire and then Panda Bear steps in. It’s not that Avey Tare is not great, but I really find Panda’s voice more comfy and dreamy. The lyrics do not discuss daily chores the way they did on Merriweather. It’s one of the deepest AC songs I’ve heard and they step a little further away, too. I think they unveil glimpses off over-thinking and how we get dissolved in ourselves sometimes that we lose track of our physical life. “And the sky got filled up too fast and the taxi man’s saying:You better give him your money; stop daydreaming, dude!”

It was all in all a fruitless day. I wasn’t planning to do...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:41:06 +0100

It was all in all a fruitless day. I wasn’t planning to do anything. Watch a classic Eastwood flick and let adult cold drive me drowsy for a morning hurry I’d rather not wake up early to. Well, I don’t think I’m going to change that plan. But at least tonight is coming to a joyful fate. Because I’m lending ears to a crazy freak-folk band from Copenhagen. Daring as Akron/Family and unsettling and restless as a Devendra Banhart whose modern rock’s lousy repetitive obnoxiousness has driven him mad. A revenge scheme is here!

Hanuman 5 is led by singer/composer/guitarist Kristian Haarløv. When I read the tagline of their band in my mail that described them as “all involved in many aspects of the Copenhagen music scene” I misinterpreted the line as bragging. But this all luckily turned out wrong. This is an odd combination of folk that does not hide its zest for sketching their songs to 8 or 10 minutes. And believe me, this roller coaster ride of genre galore sounds adventurous and exciting. If you found them joyous, mad and hard to categorize but fun-lovin’, why not share this soothing insanity?

The album is called Ethereo and will be released as of March 1st via Safety First Records. Hmm. No, They don’t mind if you play the whole thing down here. Also if you check their Facebook out, they have a unique collective of influence that has infected their chaotic shifts from afro to pop, from Yim Yames to acid jazz and from Scandinavia to Simon & Garfunkel. And man! This is too much music on one LP to begin with.

Photo: Tony Katai

There’s always an enormous gap of hard-settling void we...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:57:57 +0100

There’s always an enormous gap of hard-settling void we have to deal with when departing ourselves from a relationship. You don’t see it in our faces. We keep smiling and partying with you. But we’re neighbors to an emotional black hole in our subliminal. But isn’t it where the music begins? The difference in our own wavelengths and that pile of nothing inhabiting somewhere very near. Keep living with it. It’s only a matter of time that makes avoiding this delta easier. But until then, let’s write songs for the broken-hearted and lost. Hence, The following record is inspired by “an existential crisis that comes with the prospect of leaving a long-term relationship”.

[♫] Our Orthodox - “We’re Not the Only Ones”

Our Orthodox, the indie-folk project of Neil Harris has a new album We Are Not the Only Ones out. Harris keeps his songwriting to a safe corner, like Okkervil River songs without that dose of defiance. This makes the better part of his music easy listening and appealing. And…well it’s all recorded in a kitchen. Kudos!

Stream the whole album via bandcamp.

Photo: Florence Thomassin in Oral Fix from Katerina Jebb’s Simulacrum and Hyperbole, Gloria Maria Gallery, 2010 - via umanesimo

This is the quick opener to Fire Island Pines’ upcoming...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:58:39 +0100

This is the quick opener to Fire Island Pines’ upcoming second EP called Ricky Lee Jones. What I found interesting about it is how patiently every song structure settles down and finds its path despite the short run. A catchy Dire Straits-resembling intro, followed by verses that bring a swooning Jarvis Cocker to mind, backed by a delicate harmony, a vibrant trumpet and even a bridge.

Fire Island Pines are an indie pop act from Cornwall UK. The EP will be released as of February 28th. You can stream the remaining three tunes on their bandcamp.

Photo: Fire Island Pines’ tumblr - October tour poster

No, I know. Your daily routines have injected the ADD in your...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:59:22 +0100

No, I know. Your daily routines have injected the ADD in your veins. So taking some time off would bring back your focus. Cause procrastination is what we’re currently best at. So don’t even mention remembering what happened on this blog a while back. Never mind, a while back we posted “Inn Keaping”, a 10-minute slowburner by The Sea and Cake and I told you how it reminded me of Wilco’s “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”. Here on “Debut” I get the same impression, except that it builds itself up a bit faster, a few pleasant harmless lines and then you’re out on your own, the way you were left halfway on your own on The War on Drugs’ “Best Night”. This dangling wander may not last long but I can resort to that immune indie rock for tonight. I’d sooner not defy my limits for now.

[♫] Adios Amigo - “Debut”

[♫] Adios Amigo - “Easy To Hide”

The breezy San Fransisco act, Adios Amigo are on the loose with their self-titled debut EP that can be directly obtained through their bandcamp.

Photo: Part-time Job by davidfromdallas

Kisses - “Johnny and Mary” The naked simplicity of...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:58 +0100

Kisses - “Johnny and Mary”

The naked simplicity of Kisses’ latest free offer makes it an easy morning starter. The LA-based indie pop duo of Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson write songs from their comfort zones. “Johnny and Mary” tells the story of a path to settling down between a couple each having their own different solutions and trying to find a common ground. It shares its lively vibe with Arthur Russel, the steadiness of Stars and the playfulness of Peter, Bjorn & John’s Writer’s Block era.

We don’t know a lot about Black Polygons. They are...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:13:13 +0100

We don’t know a lot about Black Polygons. They are tentatively from Paris! But their starting free EP was enamoring enough for me to wait for more and the wait was utterly worthwhile. Here you can stream their self-titled minimal ambient noise-psych machine LP and have the first song “Symmetry” for free.

[♫] Black Polygons - “Symmetry”

The album consists of 13 profoundly atmospheric experimental electronic soundscapes that despite the short duration do not serve as Prefuse 73-like short circuits. To my opinion each track gives birth to its own observatory probe while - just like the act’s withdrawn identity - does not divulge and elaborate on its offspring. This keeps us longing for more. But the work is kaleidoscopic enough to be gone through again. I’ll keep you posted if they let us know who they are.

&lt;a href=”http://blackpolygons.bandcamp.com/album/black-polygons” _mce_href=”http://blackpolygons.bandcamp.com/album/black-polygons”&gt;Black Polygons by Black Polygons&lt;/a&gt;

Soon a year after their self-titled debut, Cardinal disbanded in...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:57:40 +0100

Soon a year after their self-titled debut, Cardinal disbanded in 1995. It remained the sole collaboration of Richard Davies and Eric Matthews. They both pursued solo careers. Hymns is their new unlikely album after sixteen years and it is released today. Below you can download the first single:

[♫] Cardinal - “Carbolic Smoke Ball”

Not to be mixed with Ryan Adams backing band, the duo is best described as 60s-infused chamber orchestra pop or as they like to call it “following the Beatles and Bee Gees and before Belle & Sebastian”. It may also remind some folks of Sebadoh and Dandy Warholes at points. The song is about the first essay in law Davies ever read.

For a full stream head over AOL Spinner before it’s late and if you find it soothing, buy the album from Fire Records.

Photo: Dave Cooper via Illustration Inspiration

Air France - “It Feels Good To Be Around...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:48:58 +0100

Air France - “It Feels Good To Be Around You”

Another long anticipation. All I ever have from this Swedish act is their ethereal EP No Way Down. But it’s surprising how one EP could define your unique sound: the breezy vibes that resemble long hot summer vacations, families in swimsuits longing for tipping toes in water and you watching this dynamic come and go from a distance.

“It Feels Good To Be Around You” was released last August. I’m sure AF’s manager is not quite happy with them as they already describe themselves as restless and therefore inefficient in this rare interview on their tumblr. But the outcome is always life-injecting and vital. Even though they’ll forever remain an EP and singles band.