Shoegaze / Dreampop / Psychedelic / Indie Tips #23
PICKS OF THE WEEK:
- Vancouver, Canada based vaporwave/trip-hop/shoegaze duo of vocalist and bassist Anna Wagner and guitarist and producer Lucas Inacio (aka Fløver), PALM HAZE “Walk Away” (originally written by David Bernstein)
Vancouver experimental duo revisits, with exquisite subtle charm, Canadian composer David Bernstein’s 80’s-era ballad, shaped into somber, uncanny and cold soundscapes infused with abrasively distorted desolate guitar washes, while bleak, glowing synth chords dimly enlight lost narcotic female vocals ghosted in distant faded male memories, dreamily frozen by regret.
- Toronto, Ontario sludge/dream pop/shoegaze/noise rock 4-piece Saucer Eyes “Down/Around” from the debut 4-track EP “2020”
Canadian quartet debuted with an absolutely intriguing ’90s tinged guitar-fueled four-tracker that weaves crooked infectious melodies through turbulent thick sludgy guitar distortion with a surly heap of fuzz and layers of reverb, stiffened by punchy drums, into dynamic yet dystopic sad tales cloaked in an endless cycle of depression, distrust, and isolation fed by half-hearted, anxious yet soaringly catchy and clean vocal harmonies.
- Japanese indie/shoegaze 5-piece STOMP TALK MODSTONE “Timeline” from 2-track single “Timeline/Lucky”
Japanese quintet repeats the enticing brilliance of last month’s double a-side single, with the dreamlike, reflective yet energetic “Lucky”, paired with the equally melodious “Timeline” that holds a distinctive agitated and claustrophobic lingering mood, lit by bright shimmering guitar melodies, bleeding into deep throbbing bassline pulse and relentless jaunty drums, awash in dreamy sad nostalgic soaring vocal harmonies, daunted in a detached plea of paralyzed fear.
- Glasgow, UK experimental/folk project of Martin John Henry (De Rosa, Henry and Fleetwood, and solo) and Robert Dallas Gray (Life without buildings), aka WHIN “Charley” from the new EP “Questing”
- New Zealand based ambient/drone/ethereal/electronic artist Alicia Merz, aka Birds of Passage “We Fell for the Devil to Rise” from V/A “From Our Corners” compilation on East Cape Calling
- Glasgow, Scotland singer and songwriter KATHRIN JOSEPH “Whole” on Rock Action
- New York indie/psych/ethereal/dream pop outfit, Lightning Bug “The Great Divide” charity split single with The Big Net on Fat Possum
- Manila, Philippines bedroom/indie-pop project of Mika Manikan and friends, .wendil “Better (live)”
- Portland, Oregon psychedelic/dream pop all-female trio (formerly Is/Is), Candace “A Different Kind of Buzz” from the new album “Ideal Corners”
- New UK atmospheric/acoustic/drone/dream pop/electronic/indie band featuring former Singing Adams and The Leaf Library’s Matt Ashton and Melinda Bronstein (Absentee, Wet Paint, and Scow) with Firestations‘ Mike Cranny, SEA GLASS “Splicing Shadows” from the upcoming debut album “Shifts” via Where It’s At Is Where You Are [wiaiwya]
- Washington, D.C. bedroom pop/electronic/psych-pop husband/wife duo of Ian Dandridge and Kristina Westernik-Dandridge, The Infinite Daisy Chains “Wake Up” debut 2-track single “Wake Up / Melting into You”
- Buenos Aires, Argentina shoegaze/dream pop band fronted by Nicolás Castello, NAX “Alejados” from the new EP “Congelado (Lados-B)” B-sides from last March’s LP “Congelado”
- Tangerang, Indonesia ambient pop duo Pale Skies ‘Larung Memori’ new single
- Zagreb, Croatia dream folk/psychedelic rock band, Klinika Denisa Kataneca “Završni pad V.S.” off the new album “Jada Jada”
- Portland, OR indie rock/dream pop duo FOUND SPACE “Don’t Let It Go” new single
- L.A. based dream pop/indie rock solo project YOUTH “Too Close (feat. Max Dosage)” from “Glue” EP
- London, UK indie/noise pop duo Happy Accidents “Secrets” from the new album “Sprawling”
- UK indie-rock solo project of former Standard Fare and currently frontwoman of Mammoth Penguins, and The Hayman Kupa Band (alongside Darren Hayman), EMMA KUPA “Nothing At All” from her upcoming first full-length solo album “It Will Come Easier” on Fika Recordings and Palo Alto
- Chicago indie/synthpop/dream pop solo project COOL HEAT “High Diving” new single
- Hamburg-based German synth-pop/post-punk/sophisti-pop/dream pop trio unhappybirthday “Biloxi” from the new EP “Vallee”
- Xi’an, China post-rock/shoegaze/dream pop band ENDLESS WHITE “Hoe’s Dream” from the EP “Day Off – Bái rìguò jǐn” on Off – record label
- Los Angeles space/psych/celestial pop artist Vinyl Williams ‘Zum’ from the new LP ‘Azure’
- East London indie/psych-pop band J C Flowers – “Edges” from V/A “Using Lockdown To Make Music To Play Lockdown To” compilation of Artists For Flashback
- Wiltshire, UK one-man psych-pop project of Simon Berry, aka BEAULIEU PORCH “Three Cheers For The Meridien Mare” from the new album “Vivit Sumus” on Carmelite Records
- Darkgaze/psychnoise quartet from Brazil, TRAVELLING WAVE “Winterfall (feat Eddie Shumway)” new single
- Portland, OR indie/dream-pop 4-piece SUPEROCEAN “Julia I’m Alive” new single
- Sweden shoegaze/darkwave/electro project out of Gothenburg, D4RKSTAR “Wires” off new 2-track single “Wires/No Friends But The Mountains”
- Long Beach, Ca grunge/shoegaze outfit THE HUMAN TRAP “Clean” (recorded in 2014)
- Paris, France indie rock/cold pop/new wave 5-piece DEMOLITION PARTY “Raining day” from the debut EP “Cell Island”
- Rotterdam-based Peruvian shoegaze/dream pop/noise-pop band RESPLANDOR “Bocanada (Faraway Whispers From The Sea)” (originally recorded by Robin Guthrie)
- Swedish indie /dreampop four-piece from Malmö, HATER “Sift” new single on Fire Records
- Swedish indie pop rock duo of Erik Bergqvist and Christian Gustafsson, Victorian Tin “Chagall” (originally written in 1998, partly re-recorded)
- Tokyo, Japan indie-pop band THE CARAWAY “Apple of My Eyes” from “the select of the caraway” 12″ vinyl album on blue-very label
- Toronto based C86/dream pop/indie-pop quintet (active between 2004-2008), The Airfields “Home Is Always An Imaginary Place” title track from the new EP “Home Is Always An Imaginary Place”
- U.K./Canadian shoegaze/psychedelic band based in London, GHOST PATTERNS “Infinite” from the new EP “Oracle”
- Brooklyn, NY based, Auckland NZ-born garage-punk rocker (formerly of A Place to Bury Strangers/The D4), Dion Lunadon feat. Kate Clover “When Will I Hold You Again” Covid-19 fundraising single
- Rotterdam, The Netherlands guitar rock 4-piece LEWSBERG “Through the Garden (single edit)” 7″ single
- East Bay, CA lo-fi/jangle/indie pop new project of Ryan Marquez (Carnival Park, The Haircuts, Apple Orchard, Golden Teardrops), The Umbrella Puzzles “Do What You Can” new 2-track single on Boring Spaghetti Records
- Spanish lo-fi/synthpop/indie pop duo Torres Satélite “El Político (Todo Pagado)” from debut album “La Ventana Indiscreta” on DiscosdeKirlian
- Valencia indie pop/shoegaze/dream pop band, Ghost Transmission “Get me high (make me lose my will)” new single on El Genio Equivocado.
- Austin, TX Madchester/drug pop/noise-pop solo project DAIISTAR “Parallel” new single
- RA, France kraut/garage/psychedelic trio KORTO “Tempor” off 4-track vinyl 12″ EP on Six Tonnes De Chair Records
- Glasgow, Scotland indie/shoegaze DIY outfit THE AFFECTIONATE PUNCH “Not Everything Is About You” from the new EP “Those Fanzine Days”
- Australian psych/post-punk/dream pop musical project from Brisbane by Kelly Hanlon (Terra Pines/DEAFCULT) playing multiple instruments and Chris Preindl (Leavings, Vestiges & Apparitions) on drums, aka ANCIENT CHANNELS “Carpe Noctem” second single
- Danish lo-fi/shoegaze/psych pop project of Jacob Faurholt based in Aahrus, Crystal Shipsss “Sun” from the new album “Scorched” on Raw Onion Records
- Hobart, Australian singer-songwriter project of former Sidney’s power-pop legends The Nature Strip, John Encarnacao, aka WARMER “Fire Engine” from the 4th album “Wooden Box With Strings” on Half A Cow Records
- Edinburgh, Scotland indie-folk project of Evan Hamilton, You Are Lost Be Careful “Out Loud (ft. Ailsa McEwan aka Ailsa And The Seahorses)” from “Communion” EP
