Ghost FM

The Secret Love Parade - “The Victorians Are...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:58:43 +0200

The Secret Love Parade - “The Victorians Are Here”

This is the jaunty chillwave indie pop of The Secret Love Parade. It’s Janna Coomans from Amsterdam joining forces with Aino Vehmasto from Utrecht. Turn it up and it blows your sucks off. “The Victorians Are Here” is the second single from the band’s new album Mary Looking Ready. They are signed to the Dutch indie label Snowstar Records. Stream the album here or viddy what they do down under.

Andrew Bird - “Give It Away” Where’s the line...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:04:38 +0200

Andrew Bird - “Give It Away”

Where’s the line between an innate musician or a professional chemist for Andrew Bird? That I’m yet to decipher. His new album Break It Yourself is probably what The Antlers’ Burst Apart was to Hospice. I cannot find the accessibility of Noble Beast and Playfulness of Mysterious Production of Eggs in it. But somehow it was destined to sound like this. “Give It Away” though is one of its more surfaced humble works and is therefore my pick from the album.

You dig this because it’s subtle and there’s reggae...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:04:34 +0200

You dig this because it’s subtle and there’s reggae and dub and there are animals. You dig this right? Well, you have to. Click below for free download instructions. It takes a tweet or FB whistle. Nothing more.

Levon Helm - “Kingfish” This sad news just in. Levin...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:36:16 +0200

Levon Helm - “Kingfish”

This sad news just in. Levin Helm, The Band’s drummer, left us today at the age of 71 due to throat cancer. He had the countirest of voices. It carried the scent of haystack and the tipsiness of a fine bottle of bourbon in Marvell, Arkansas. This is a fabulous cover of Randy Newman’s “Kingfish” from his 2009 full-length Electric Dirt. Rest in peace indeed.

Hospitality - “Betty Wang” I don’t know who...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:07:07 +0200

Hospitality - “Betty Wang”

I don’t know who Betty Wang is. But the 60s-infused pop tenderness of this song so much brings me back to another character Camera Obscura referred to i.e. the American poet Dory Previn who died only two months ago at 86. I have some glittering memories from that song that has to do with an unforgettable trip to Thailand. Out of its vintage quality shell, it also shares some precious moments with the likes of Rilo Kiley.

This eponymous effort is the first thing you hear since the band’s hiding since their 2008 EP.

The new video by Paris/Tel-Aviv duo Charlotte & Magon is in...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:48:39 +0200

The new video by Paris/Tel-Aviv duo Charlotte & Magon is in fact an 8 minute short film taking place in an oneiric desert and directed by David Lombroso. It includes some serious screaming by Charlotte Cegarra. You may remember them from the song “Modern Times” posted before.

Would be a tad unlikely to impress both freak-folk fans and...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:58:37 +0200

Would be a tad unlikely to impress both freak-folk fans and folks who still haven’t watched films better than Citizen Kane and 12 Angry Men all in a fleeting span of two minutes. With a little help from the most emotionless troll people figures, Pevin Kinel has done his best to get you there. But the story makes much more sense when you hear it from the horse’s mouth.

When a couple of months ago, Orson Welles called me from beyond the grave at 4 am, I knew straight away that I was in for a crazy ride. He was raving about my latest song “Fake ppl” and constantly repeating he wanted to get involved with the music video. “It’s hot stuff!” I remember him saying.

The next morning, Orson got on the phone and started networking. By the end of the day, we’d gathered the best directors who ever lived. But somehow, I still felt something was missing. The next day, as we were starting post-production, it hit me. The footage had no connection whatsoever with the song. I was shattered. Orson tried to cheer me up by pointing out that the majority of music videos suffered the same problem. But I wouldn’t hear any of it. Using the latest CGI tools, I painstakingly and digitally retouched the actors performances. The trickery, whilst barely noticeable, congeals the drama, or as they like to say in Hollywood, ties things up nicely.

The song will be on his upcoming album Syntactic Sugars, out 5th June.

Photo

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:40:27 +0200

Turtle Giant - “Germany I & II” Yet another...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:39:00 +0200

Turtle Giant - “Germany I & II”

Yet another needle in the hay I discovered somewhere in China. Last time if you remember it was The Offset: Spectacles. I’m inadvertently caught under the spell again. Though these guys started out in São Paulo, Brazil and are currently residing in the country that apparently enjoys an analog rebellion neath the city asphalt. And by city I mean Macau. Never mind! This alt-rock charmer drags you from the emotionalism of Grizzly Bear’s “While You Wait For the Others” to the reverb summit of Dinosaur Jr. in a seven minute run.

Turtle Giant will release their sophomore EP called All Hidden Places as of May 5th. You can stream it in its entirety here and believe me when I tell you “Germany I & II” is not the only good song on it. Click here for a short promo.

Black Dice - “Pig” Very hard for me to avoid this....

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:38:11 +0200

Black Dice - “Pig”

Very hard for me to avoid this. But I have my own reasons. Justified. Animal Collective called these insane avant-garde noise rockers the best band in the world. You don’t believe me? Here. They’re inevitable. And in my complete denial of their existence I delved deep into their psyched up difficult math.

Reason two: Remember LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge”? Well, there’s this list James Murphy shares with us, right? And guess who’s there mentioned amongst Modern Lovers, Sexual Harassment, The Human League and The Sonics?

“Pig” is the only thing I’ve heard so far from the new upcoming BD album Mr. Impossible due any day from now. If you’re not having a great day, say, your best friend turning her back on you, girlfriend seen with someone else, ketchup bursting on your new Levi’s rushing you for an emergency laundry service, don’t try this! It only adds up to your wilderness. Otherwise, here’s my latest old discovery. A bit embarrassed I am to be honest not to have heard of them before. Now I’ve got the whole discovery right here in my windbreaker pocket.

Update: This is what happens when you queue posts. See? See? This just in. Stream Mr. Impossible in it’s entirety via PlayGroundMag.

Perfume Genius - “Hood” In less than twenty years...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:38:07 +0200

Perfume Genius - “Hood”

In less than twenty years from now, we’re going to look back at the video to this wonderful piano-driven heartfelt gay ballad and go “Oh! Gimme a break! What was so controversial about this back then?” People are still reacting weirdly to this. I don’t think most people are just “there” yet. Perfume Genius’ Learning was among Ghost FM’s 2010 favorites and I still haven’t regretted a thing. Here on Put Your Back N 2 It (and how it brings a hip-hop album title rather than anything else to mind), the restlessness is replaced by the span of affection and Mike Hadreas songwriting reaches a content level. Frankly, I’d rather go with Learning. But the maturity resembles Antony & the Johnsons migration from I Am A Bird Now to The Crying Light. “Hood” is by a significant distance my pick from the album. But it deliberately commits suicide at the summit of its beauty. The song reaches the end of the road the moment you familiarize yourself with it. It’s the short anecdote of dysfunctional love and fear for a fragile courtship. So I cannot foresee a happy ending to that. Gorgeous sad love song nevertheless.

Ghost Loft - “Slowdowntime” On March 26th, Joel...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:38:02 +0200

Ghost Loft - “Slowdowntime”

On March 26th, Joel Karlsson and Henrik Markstedt of the Swedish electronic duo Air France decided to end their short Euphoria in this post. I think they’ll be missed. I personally wanted more of that tropical aimless beach walking. But the aura of those vibes leaves a ghost to rise from Los Angeles. I’m not doing analogies here, but if you could set your worries on hibernation with Air France or if you’re an afloat chillwaver in your calm ocean enjoying the likes of Washed Out, Danny Choi is bringing you the very effortless ecstasy. So put your feet up, avoid any sort of challenge and swim this well of innocence.

////G.R. Zømbie/// - “That’s Not Jesus” There!...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:38:00 +0200

////G.R. Zømbie/// - “That’s Not Jesus”

There! I thought I lost track of this relentless post-witch-house nightmare somewhere in the bottom of my inbox. I’m glad it finally surfaced when I got a chance to go through all the latest review requests and looking at the number of posts you see here on the blog tonight, it’s safe to say most of them turned out to be…dope, or swag or whatever school kids re-define as cool and worthwhile these days, I don’t care. This idiosyncratic amalgam of coldwave okkvit goth is the work of a living entity called M▲vϟ✡l€vm ϟh∆w†y from Pittsburgh/NYC.

As for an avid masochistic sonic wrestler like me who also got a kick out of Gatekeeper’s Giza EP last year, this heavy dose of sci-fi death rave is quite essential. It keeps you remote from any sort of deity that entangle you in exhausting rituals for it’s a church of its own. A cathedral with holiness sucked out and a murdered God. No offense. But that would at least put a smile on Marilyn Manson face, innit?

Bondax - “All Inside” A liquid intermission. Easily...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:38:00 +0200

Bondax - “All Inside”

A liquid intermission. Easily digestible. There’s nothing about Bondax’s “All Inside” that disrupts, interrupts or puzzles your ears. It’s a long inhale of red roses scent through an oxygen mask. It sets your focus on autopilot. These soaped up and then rinsed cathartic sonic textures come from a Lancaster county duo of teenager producer/DJs. This is already hyped on blogosphere here and there. So, I’m not here to add up junk scribble to that. So hear me out! Hear me out! It comes with today’s lengthy 10-post prescription. Lord, I haven’t ever posted this much stuff in a day. Somebody stop me! Not you! Sit down! Keep pushing those triangles! Good.

Possimiste - “Clockworkbird” From Tallinn, the...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:37:58 +0200

Possimiste - “Clockworkbird”

From Tallinn, the capital and the largest city of Estonia, the 19-year-old uber-experimentalist girl behind this dreamy fairy parade likes to hide behind her moniker. As of now I think it’s wise. And hearing the shady Disney murmurs on her latest video single proves the buzz for she being one of the mysterious new faces in Estonian underground music. Influenced by Björk and Cocteau Twins, “Clockworkbird” is a theater play. You’ll be someone like Alice being dragged into an otherworldly bliss. And somebody’s showing you around.

But no talk required as there’s a video to this that elaborates everything.

The Breakups - “Sentimentalities” Here’s your...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:37:54 +0200

The Breakups - “Sentimentalities”

Here’s your Easter egg! They call it Påsk in Sweden and it has already started. And I’m coming back to this delightful pop song because I tweeted about it a while ago but I don’t think it was enough.

“Sentimentalities” comes from this LA band’s debut full-length called Running Jumping Falling Shouting. It blends a handful of factors that each tempts me alone. So, sorry but I cannot resist. Jake Gideon’s voice as tender as Figure 8 era Elliott Smith, riffs as melodic as Aimee Mann’s slick touches on Lost In Space, a permanent American Beauty/Eternal Sunshine state of mind throughout the progress and an enchanted noisy guitar solo that brings the likes of Silverchair’s “Ana’s Song” even though a bit less darker and more optimistic. All in all, playful and catchy.

The Chaplins - “Black Nights Amber...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:37:50 +0200

The Chaplins - “Black Nights Amber Lights”

I’ve seen Control. I’ve watched all Joy Division videos. I’ve been reflecting upon those epileptic moves. I even listen to New Order regularly if that helps. But I want to know when exactly during the 24-hour spin of clock hands did Ian Curtis start writing those nocturnal soul-shakers? Because I’m becoming obsessed with that lightweight indifference of midnight. That’s how I started this blog: with a Burial song. But whatever went on Curtis’ head back at those (presumably) nights, gave birth to a torrent of wavelengths.

This song by these newcomers from North East England is nothing exceptional, but it conveys the very emotionless feeling of a nightly memory. Except that it’s backed up with so much rhythm and groove. So it won’t stand in the same queue as JD for there’s also a yearning for Morrissey in its mindless post-punk swagger.

Radials - “Ships In the Night” Looking for a London...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:37:46 +0200

Radials - “Ships In the Night”

Looking for a London band with a girl called Sara Tanat-Jones behind the drums and doing the vox? Apart from that, Radials’ debut EP comes with 4 separate precious artworks for each of its songs and “Ships In the Night” is their tune up, switch on and kick off.

On 2:17, there’s a beautiful moment. The kids fulfilling...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:37:41 +0200

On 2:17, there’s a beautiful moment. The kids fulfilling the fantasy seem to be so serious about the chase-and-run gunfight while the dad is grilling looking at them. He seems to be having a great day. He’s a bit old to realize the ambition, the cartoonish blood that is painting the kids’ perfect day.

Drowned in a childish nostalgia, the beyond-comparison insanity in our heads, I wish, even though for a minute we could see the smoke, the explosion and the joyful bloodshed when I was at that age. I used to play gunfighting and kidnapping with a few friends. I wanted to be The Terminator: Judgment Day’s T1000 rebirthing out of melted mercury and running faster than a police car.

Entrepreneurs - “I Am 3!” This was my last...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:38:32 +0200

Entrepreneurs - “I Am 3!”

This was my last week’s jam in this minimal web sensation This Is My Jam. I created a profile there and I guess it means nothing but fun. I embrace these small ideas. I wish I could come up with one as well. But this uncanny room shaker comes off Entrepreneurs new EP called The Florida Root Canal. No further comments on this one as this paragraph on The Burning Ear has beautifully put it already. Free download link, too.

And oh great, the guy has just shut down his MySpace and Bandcamp. But no regrets for there’s always Soundcloud and Facebook. No more info available on him yet except that he has a tumblr and he tweets…and he’s from London. It’s in UK.