Planning For Burial / Lonesummer - Split (Music Ruins Lives, 2010)

Planning For Burial - Sleeping In Separate Rooms


DUDES. Fuckin split of the year right here. Gloom & doom bliss from Planning For Burial and unbridled hatred courtesy of Lonesummer on the same motherfucking record. This is the real shit, guys. The best of the best.

PFB's 3 tracks are a bit different than what he put out on Leaving. A little more vocal oriented, maybe a bit poppier & shoegazier, but in the saddest way possible. This is the beautiful Icelandic epic shit you love thrown to the bottom of a well where it turned into a warped depressed beast of buzz, static, & drone. Plodding drums, mournful organs, blackened rumbled, all with a decidedly catchy twist. This dude knows how to mix the gorgeous celestial washes of euphoria with the basement hiding grim neurosis so perfectly. Unbelievably awesome. You will want to listen to this for fucking ever.

Strip all of PFB's happiness and you're left with Lonesummer's neverending brutality. His black noise metal is as harsh as it gets, with no hope for redemption. It's loud as FUCK, reigning blistering chaos. A wall of black metal so dense it becomes noise. The drums & cymbals blast into a homogeneous cacophony, the guitars shred, wail, & buzz, and the vocals are a tortured screeching, totally obscured in pain. But then there are songs like "I Wish I Could Delete Last Night" that are like a slow (black metal) pop song with a legit guitar solo that just might get caught in loop in your head. This guy is totally fucking into it. Bleak, depressing as shit, noisy, hateful, evil, and still utterly fucking beautiful. Anti-black metal that stands high above most other bedroom BM freaks.

There is no way you should let this slip under your radar. If you haven't heard of either of these guys yet (wtf is wrong with you?), they are making what is hands down some of the most amazing masochistic bliss out there. This split is cheap as hell ($6 preorder) and only 100 copies will be made. So get over to the newly minted Music Ruins Lives and grab yourself a copy before it's sold out and you have to go cry to your momma about how your trigger finger is getting sloppy.

MP3: Young Adults - Wasting Time

Young Adults - Wasting Time


Boston's gloomy post punkgazers Young Adults are back with a legit debut release, the limited Black Hole 12" on AMDISCS, and it's fucking GRAND. All the tracks from the demo earlier this year find their way onto Black Hole but they're way more lush, full force high quality tunes that sound 10x better now. "Wasting Time" is killer, a lethargy fueled anthem made for blasting your way through Contra.

No DL link by request, sorry chums.

Haiku Review: Iroha & Fragment. - Bittersweet EP (Denovali, 2010)

Iroha & Fragment. - Turning Around (Fragment.)


Iroha & Fragment.
Bittersweet EP (download)
/half jesu, half... drone?/
/nevermind, it's all jesu/
/sad stars shine bright gray/

Planning For Burial - Leaving (Enemies List, 2010)

Planning For Burial - Oh Pennsylvania Your Black Clouds Hang Low


Planning For Burial's Leaving was available as a free download for quite a while, since sometime last year actually. Despite its shear fucking awesomeness and the dozens of times I've listened to it, Leaving never managed to get any time on AGB. That is absolutely despicable.

Now that it has a supremely packaged physical release on one of the newest/coolest labels, Enemies List (home to Have A Nice Life), I can't ignore the power of Planning For Burial any longer.

It made the rounds a bit on the blogs and stuff so I'm hoping most of you already known what this shit is all about. Hence this review is more for the physical release than the actual music but for those that haven't yet imbibed, let me fill you in. Leaving is quite possibly the most amazing record ever to mix shoegaze, metal, doom, drone, and everything beautifully badass. Seriously epic songs that fill your heart with joy and make your ears fucking bleed. Crank this motherfucker up and let the bliss wash over you while you bang your head. Honestly, just listen to that track up there and tell me that you've ever heard a better song.

Now it's time for everyone to praise Enemies List for bringing the ethereal to this mortal world in the most fantastic way possible. For $10, you get one from an edition of 200 hand numbered copies in an oversized black envelope. Inside there's 3 large black & white cards with images of rooftops & houses & the like which all line up to read "TIMEISNTALWAYSGOOD" (I think) on one side and liner notes on the other. And then there's the CD-R itself, housed in a glossy cardboard sleeve with the art seen above and tracklisting, and the same cherry blossom art is printed on the actual disc. This couldn't be any more fucking perfect.

Alcest, Have A Nice Life at Cafe Nine (New Haven, CT)

Have A Nice Life is worth a trip or two to see live. Especially if Alcest is playing right after them. Their set in New Haven was much more tight and polished than it was at their live debut in New York. Cafe Nine was a decent place to see them, although the stage was way off in the corner and it was awkward finding a place to stand (lots of poles and stools and stuff).

The best part about seeing HANL in a bar as opposed to The Stone was there were no fucking seats. Yes, I could stand up and rock the fuck out as much as I want. And trust me, that is the only thing you want to do when HANL is fucking melting amps 2 feet in front of you.

Their "mini-tour" is done and most likely won't be playing any shows for a while. But when they do, you should take a note from Katherine who flew out from Colorado just to see them play in Connecticut. I thought taking a 5 hour bus to NY to see them play and immediately catching the 1 am bus back to Boston was crazy? No way dude, nothing compared to Katherine. That girl is fucking hardcore. Applause!

Out of the 750+ photos I shot, I narrowed it down to less than 20. That means they're all awesome. There's a few here and the rest are on Flickr where you can see 'em bigger & better.

Oh yeah, Alcest was cool too.


Have A Nice Life






Alcest

MP3: Nikoo - Marquee

Nikoo - Marquee


5 dudes from the Netherlands call themselves Nikoo and made a free 6 song EP of '60s psych pop/rock, shoegaze, punk, and whatever else. Most of the stuff is really fuckin good but OMG "Marquee" is like the catchiest song ever. Kinda blissful, gets in a solid groove, climaxes, and all in just over 2 minutes. Plus, I work at a sweet movie theater so I'm always having more fun at the marquee.

I've been listening to Nikoo pretty much non-stop for the past week. It's getting harder and harder for me to pull myself away from it and listen to something else. If you need more convincing, check the track "You've Got A Strange Effect On You" on their Myspace and then fuckin download the EP already.

Have A Nice Life at The Stone (NYC)

Pictures first, then the review. BAM!






See 'em bigger on Flickr.


Connecticut's devastatingly amazing metal/shoegaze/whatever duo Have A Nice Life played their first show ever at The Stone in New York on Sunday night. Living 5 hours away and being in the middle of the Salem Film Fest at work wasn't going to stop me from going. The only thing that could have stopped me was the fact that The Stone is fuckin ridiculously small and you can only buy tickets at the door, so hypothetically I could have gotten all the way there and still not have gotten in. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

I got in line around 8:00, there were maybe 15-20 people already ahead of me, and HANL was scheduled for 10. And they were the only band playing, too. No openers. No headliners. Just the best fucking band ever playing in a tiny room packed with about 100 die hards (sitting in folding chairs, wtf) and stacks upon stacks of amps.

HANL added a couple more people to the live lineup to make things go smoothly. In addition to Dan and Tim (on vocals and bass respectively), there was Dan's brother Will (of Afterlives) playing keyboards and Cody Kestigian (of America Addio) playing guitar. I was really hoping there would be live electronic drums or something, but they ended up just having the drum track pre-recorded, for mostly obvious reasons I guess.

So much power, emotion, and fucking volume. They rocked so hard. Everybody fucking loved it, although I think there were plenty of people (myself included) who wanted to toss the goddamn folding chairs out the non-existent windows and just rock the fuck out. When you're watching Dan turn into a screaming madman singing songs about his deceased father, the last thing you want to be doing is chilling out in your little wooden chair.

Here's the set list, complete with 2 new songs:
Collins
Deep, Deep
Bloodhail
Waiting For Black Metal Records To Come In The Mail
I'm Dr. House
Hunter
Earthmover

I swear to God when they played "Earthmover" I was going to fucking die. That shit was unbelievably epic.

Once they finished playing, they had a tape called Time Of Land with 4 new songs that they were selling exclusively at that show. Can't get it elsewhere. And it was 1 tape per person, too, so I doubt you'll be seeing any copies for sale on eBay or whatever. Although you'll likely find it for downloading pretty soon (maybe even here?).

BUT, good news for everyone, more Have A Nice Life shows are already planned. They're scheduled to open for Alcest at Cafe Nine in New Haven, CT, and I'm pretty certain they'll be doing to same at Unit 11 in Allston, although that has yet to be confirmed. But seriously dudes, do whatever the fuck it takes to make it out and see HANL. Totally won't regret it.

Technoir MA - 2/B (self released, 2010)

Technoir MA - Return


You remember Technoir MA, right? The two dudes from Boston making some of the best '80s inspired punk gaze kraut pop? Well, they followed up their debut self titled EP with another one called 2/B and it's awesome.

2/B has everything Technoir MA had except 10 times better. The guitars are catchier, the drums are poundier, and the echoes are echoier. Plus they went totally crazy and wrote a 9 minute song that blows every other 9 minute song out of the water with its shoegaze cannons.

And just like the debut, 2/B is a Creative Commons release so fucking remix the shit out of it. Put some "Pants On The Ground" lyrics to their killer riffs. Or something. I don't know how remixes work.

Pyramids With Nadja - Pyramids With Nadja (Hydra Head, 2009)

Pyramids With Nadja - An Angel Was Heard To Cry Over The City Of Rome


You know Pyramids. You know Nadja. You know I'm a freak for both of them. I had stupidly high expectations for this collaboration. And this is the first time ever, EVER, that my expectations for a supposed-to-be-awesome collab have been met. IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME.

This is an album of epic beauty, a majestic world crumbling, a dark forest with floods rushing through, an avalanche charging down the mountainside. Crushingly magnificent ambient metal gaze noise.

Truthfully, this review was just an excuse to post the last song on Pyramids With Nadja, "An Angel Was Heard..." That song is fucking stunning. I can't believe how gorgeous it is. Listen to it and be convinced that the people who made this record are gods.

MFMB - MFMB (La Bulle Sonore, 2009)

MFMB - The Tune On


You know what I love about Sweden's MFMB? Their name. I'm normally against the letters-for-a-name thing (The XX is the stupidest name ever) but for these guys I'm making an exception. Notably because it starts out with MF, which everyone knows stands for motherfucker/motherfuckin. And since I'm pretty sure MFMB haven't come out and said what their name stands for, I get to make up all sorts of crazy shit and make their name as awesome as I want. So far, Motherfuckin Moon Boots is making rank.

You know what else I love about Motherfuckin Magical Beasts? Their music! It's the best. It's like a perfect hybrid of disco shoegaze punk. Or something. It's epic and dancey and rockin in all the right ways. And their self titled EP is full of the kind of tunes that I could play in the presence of both my younger and older sisters and all 3 of us would like it. They'd all be like, "Oooh, it's dark and moody" and I'd be like, "Whatever. I'm gonna dance." So if both my sisters and I can get into it, my guess is you can too.

Video: To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie - The Needle

Ambient psych folk gaze rockers To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie have a video for the single "The Needle" off of their newest record on Kranky, Marlone. They take the road of old school German Expressionist films like The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari and make a (mostly) black and white video with lots of layers, shadows, and tons of shit that doesn't make any sense. Floating letters + skulls + sledgehammers + horseback riders = SUCCESS!

Technoir MA - Technoir MA EP (self released, 2009)

Technoir MA - Roundabout


Technoir MA, occasionally known without the MA, are a couple of dudes from Somerville that know how to put smiles on faces. They do the catchy indie electro popgaze really really well.

Their new EP is 20 minutes worth of truly wonderful tunes that are 100% danceable while avoiding the "dance" label, similar to A Faulty Chromosome or Radio Dept. They got the dreamy guitars, echoey electronic drum beats, and a singer who has no business in the 21st century. I have a feeling Kevin Shields will be throwing some Technoir on the next Sophia Coppola movie.

The first song, "Roundabout," starts out and I always think I accidentally put on White Williams' "New Violence." It quickly turns into something entirely different, though, and just as cool. "Lovers To Lepers" has a great fucking riff that for some reason reminds me of recess in elementary school. Yeah, I don't know either. The last one is a slower song with a tropical rhythm section and perhaps a slightly-too-obvious title: "Islands."

All in all, way too fucking short. It's an EP, I know. But I want more. Sue me. So would somebody sign these guys already? I want a full length.

P.S. This is under the Creative Commons License so feel free to chop that shit up and make your own kickass remix. They won't mind.

Haiku Review: Meridian Signals - Escape Route (self released, 2009)

Meridian Signals - Consumer Confidence In Christ


Meridian Signals
Escape Route (download)
/transmissions from space/
/shimmering guitar drone bliss/
/gorgeous thick echoes/

Video: All The Saints - Sheffield

My friend turned me on to All The Saints, one of Touch & Go's last great exports. It's hard to believe these guys have received hardly any attention, especially when everyone was talking about how T&G is essentially kaput. They're fucking awesome. Like some sort of wicked psychstonergaze. "Sheffield" is a totally badass song and the video, directed by Woody Stockridge, is all sorts of fuzzy, choppy, and violent. It might be a bit too literal with the fingers aflame but hey. I'm not one to argue.

Haiku Review: Hit Factory - Party Animal EP (self released, 2009)

Hit Factory - Delicate Army


Hit Factory
Party Animal EP (free download)
/chipper indiegaze/
/turn volume up, windows down/
/sunny weekend time/

Haiku Review: A Sunny Day In Glasgow - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever Vol. 1 (Geographic North, 2009)

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - (Cult of) The Cemetery Flowers (Mandolins version)


A Sunny Day In Glasgow
You Can't Hide Your Love Forever Vol 1
/lightest weight shoegaze/
/wtf is she saying?/
/i just wanna dance/

Haiku Review: The London Apartments - Signals & Cities Are Forever (self released, 2009)

The London Apartments - Fair Is Fair


I came up with a new idea for something on AGB and I wanna know if you h8 or <3 it. I thought that since no one blogs on the weekends (and therefor no one reads blogs on the weekends) that I shouldn't spend a lot of time writing a post that no one will care about. So to make things slightly interesting but still giving myself some restrictions, I thought I could do reviews in haiku form on the weekends. They'll be short and sweet and everyone loves haikus so there's really no going wrong here. Let me know what you think.

Update: Apparently, I don't know how to fucking count. Removed "like" from second line so there's actually 7 syllables.

The London Apartments
Signals & Cities Are Forever (free & legal download)
/above par shoegaze/
/drifting through electro clouds/
/dreamy gorgeousness/

Millipede - Sand & Surf (Install, 2009)

Millipede - Sea


Millipede is no stranger to AGB and after putting out a few physical releases (Death Mountain and a split tape with Brian Grainger), he's released an internet freebie titled Sand & Surf. If you're even slightly familiar with Millipede, you probably remember that he usually makes Zelda noise (aka music inspired by The Legend Of Zelda). Sand & Surf is his first to contain music completely unrelated to the Zelda series and it gives everyone a chance to see if they still like Millipede's music regardless of the video game relevance.

Sand & Surf is short (4 songs, 10 minutes) and while it's not the best stuff I've heard from Millipede, it's still nothing short of fantastic. Thick, noisey, scary, beautiful guitar drone that is clearly still awesome even when the original influence is forgone. The songs are titled "Sun," "Sand," "Surf," and "Sea" so it looks like this time he's more focused on beachy elements, which seems to work just as well.

Download this now from the Milieu website.

Video: The Depreciation Guild - Nautilus

I was really excited to see 8 bit shoegazers The Depreciation Guild tonight when they play with super-hyped, big-thing-for-next-2-months The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart at The Middle East tonight. But you know what? I am too goddamn tired to go to that show. 2 shitty nights sleep, waking up early, and two long days of work make me have almost zero desire to go out tonight. So instead, I present to you the at least year old creepy ass video for The Depreciation Guild's "Nautilus" which can be found on both their free Nautilus EP (download here) and their free full length, In Her Gentle Jaws (download on their website).

Video: Dead Leaf Echo - Tears

Add the word "gaze" onto any genre and chances are I'll like it. Dead Leaf Echo are part of the 21st century shoegaze Renaissance, making sure we don't have a lack of good "nu-gaze" (grossest name for a genre ever) to enjoy. The video for "Tears" seems to be a mix of the videos for The Jesus & Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey" and Asobi Seksu's "Me & Mary" with everyone wearing black and white and just kinda standing in a big white room playing their stuff with weird projections. I think it was Michel Gondry that said something about no one is ever original and it only matters what you do with it or some bullshit like that. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Anyway, "Tears" is from Dead Leaf Echo's new album Pale Fire which is out now and is fantastic. You should get it.