No Fear Of Pop

Watch: Violetness “The Mighty Moss” (exclusive)

2013-05-18T12:00:50+00:00

Vanessa Upson aka Violetness' long-anticipated 12" Last Night in My Dreams, I Was Talking to You has finally arrived, and the all-too brief yet utterly wonderful work has just received another accompanying video, this time for sweeping, defiant and exalted outré pop anthem "The Mighty Moss". The video, directed by Rodrigo Melendez with a stunning performance by Silvia Kaehler, is as unsettling as it is bold and apposite, and we're happy to premiere it here today.

Last Night In My Dreams, I Was Talking To You is out on LebensStrasse Records.

Kwaidan “Gateless Gate”

2013-05-17T13:30:30+00:00

There are different kinds of drone music. Some sound warm and pleasant, others nostalgic and deeply melancholic. Chicago-based trio Kwaidan again plays drone music that will make you feel uncomfortable and paranoid. Their Sunn O)))-inspired and noise driven sound would be perfect to soundtrack any The X-Files episode or horror movie. Those amongst you having a weak stomach probably shouldn't listen to this, especially not when you walk home all alone in the dark. Everybody else though may enjoy technically well-produced drone with a deep and dense atmosphere. Big respect to Zelienople's Mike Weis, who is doing a great job behind the drums. In particular his way of using cymbals contributes a lot to the dark and heavy vibe of the music.

Kwaidan's debut Make All The Hell Of Dark Metal Bright will drop on ambient expert label Bathetic Records on June 4. If you don't want to wait till then, you may already download the "Gateless Gate" right here.

Preview: Interpretations on F.C. Judd

2013-05-17T10:54:54+00:00

Early on it became obvious that the folks who founded London imprint Public Information in 2011 had not come to run yet another underground label to exploit the latest fad that the Empire's capital's seemingly inexhaustible electronic music well has happened to spit out of late. Instead, the express mission statement is to dig a little deeper than others, with 'deeper' meaning both with more focus on leftfield's edges and further into the forgotten shades of their Island's musical past. Early last year, the latter operation brought to light the work of Frederick Charles Judd, an underappreciated electronic music pioneer, whose wide-ranging oeuvre of library-leaning synth explorations was distilled into the superb 35-track retrospective Electronics Without Tears.

This year, the whole project has been taken one step further, and the result is Public Information's boldest and most compelling statement yet. Interpretations on F.C. Judd gathers twelve electronic music luminaries from both sides of the Atlantic who share a vision of fierce and intrepid experimentalism. The LP is not a compilation of remixes in the strict sense. Rather, all artists were given the permission to delve deep into Judd's sonic library. The outcome is a collection of mostly surprisingly faithful and deferential reinterpretations that nonetheless manage to exhibit the individual musicians' styles and approaches. This highly adventurous and wholly intriguing piece of music is without doubt one of this year's highlights so far, and surely a release you shouldn't dare to miss. Listen to snippets of all contributions below.

Interpretations on F.C. Judd is out now. Get it on vinyl via Boomkat.

Tracklist:

(1) Ian Helliwell "Solid States"
(2) Perc "Woodford"
(3) Chris Carter "Flip-Flop"
(4) Holly Herndon "Control Sample"
(5) Mordant Music "Hoarded House (reMMix Fredit)"
(6) The Boats "Space Judder"
(7) Pye Corner Audio "Splice Block"
(8) Leyland Kirby "Slim Jim Wimshurst Mechanicals"
(9) Karen Gwyer "Judd Drums"
(10) Peter Rehberg "FJUDDmix 032013"
(11) Bandshell "Concrete Teeth"
(12) Ekoplekz "Fredwrek"

You may also stream Chris Carter's contribution in full:

Glass Eyes “Guidance”

2013-05-17T10:05:28+00:00

With his spaced-out, disillusional beats, Dutch producer Glass Eyes is back on the timeline of the fine imprint Zoology Records, more maliciously sounding than previously noted, but with a clear influence of Tangerine Dream intact. In similarity to The-Drum, Glass Eyes plays with tingeling aesthics in a dissolving, grimy landscape, allowing small details so shine through the otherwise shattered ambience. Below is the first outtake from his new EP due to next month on Zoology Records.

Watch: Datalog “Sumingashi II”

2013-05-14T13:00:15+00:00

Datalog is the solo project of Brooklyn resident Conor Heffernan, who full-on turned his hand to the machines in 2010 after five years in the indie rock business as a keyboardist. Though we have no clue of how his former ventures sounded like, listening to his forthcoming Haarp EP, we assume it's safe to say that it was the right decision. Landing somewhere between techno-leaning dance beats, more explorative, abstract electronic soundscapes, and even a little dash of forward-looking jazz elements here and there, the EP's seven tracks make for a compelling listen. The subdued, acidic "Sumingashi II" - rather fittingly, each track is named after Japanese paper crafting - is a clear standout, evoking impressions of opaque, watery sceneries somewhere far east. The accompanying video, premiered below, perfectly translates this imagination into restrained images of a night ride's disconnected, surreal city lights. Watch it below.

The Haarp EP is out May 28.

While you're at it, also check out this previously unpublished footwork remix of "Sumingashi II" by Brooklyn-based producer KRTS:

NFOP Recommends: Weird Terrain with MADTEO, RKSS + more

2013-05-13T11:55:43+00:00

Our favourite Berlin expat Weird Magic is finally back with his excellent, handpicked club night Weird Terrain, bringing New York's MADTEO into the 'spotlight' at Chesters on May 17th, following DJ sets by Berlin-via-London techno darling RKSS, The Irradiance Cache and Erez himself. May 17th also just happens to be Norway's Independence Day, so you'll find me there at least, along with lots of brown cheese.

More details via Facebook.

Mayerling “Cut Up”

2013-05-13T09:00:10+00:00

With their debut full-length Cut Up, Besançon, France-based Mayerling have produced a dark and eerie debut album with minimalistic vocals and shadowy instrumentals that make for a soothing and mellowed listening experience.

Softly uttered French words surface from the intro to "Pure as Gold," a dark and atmospheric lo-fi track imbued with interspersed lighter tones. These contrasts in the band's music encapsulates the different genres that influence their album, the instrumental leading up to the climactic finish being reminiscent of dream-pop giants, The XX. "Pure as Gold" seems befitting for an indie movie score, with its beautiful crescendos and delicately layered vocals; the tones of the track iridescent and acoustically buoyant.

"La Mort N’en Saura Rien" ('Death will not Know') also delves into the deep and far reaches of the subconscious, using submerged organ sounds, promising to take us on some mysterious journey. Vocalist Sylvain Bombled’s reverb punctuates the solid synths, while the varying instruments permeate the lyrics. What Mayerling have proven to do so well with Cut Up is to produce music that is gradual and unrushed, yet always sustaining intrigue.

The music from these two singles generates a cinematic grandeur, nuanced effortlessly by the subterranean sounds through the fusion of patiently prolonged uses of synths, violoncello, guitars and keyboard. The band have made an album that goes beyond words and seeps through the darkest parts of the mind. Progressive and rhythmically immersive, this makes for a thought-provoking soundscape, where one can drift off into the unknown.

Cut Up is out tomorrow, May 14, via Hands in the Dark.

NFOP Recommends: Polymorphism #5 & #6

2013-05-13T08:00:22+00:00

After our recent, jointly presented night with Sun Araw and Deep Magic at West Germany, the folks of CTM Festival are back at Berghain to continue with their much acclaimed Polymorphism concert series, having not one but two nights at our favourite location scheduled for this week. On Wednesday, we'll witness the live performance of one of this year's most staggering and convincing albums, Excavation by British sound wizard Bobby Krlic aka The Haxan Cloak, who'll be accompanied by a true legend, NYC artist William Basinski. The following night is dedicated to two acid house pioneers, Indian native Charanjit Singh and none other than A Guy Called Gerald. As usual bold, adventurous and truly open-minded, with such lineups the CTM people seem once again eager to re-define the boundaries of contemporary Berlin electronic music events, a mission we cannot be grateful enough for. Surely another two nights not to be missed.

Go here and here for more info on each concert.

Stream: Drug Train “S/T”

2013-05-10T18:49:52+00:00

Montreal's Drug Train first came across our radar with the release of a (sadly now unavailable) Electric Voice split album. It has been quite some time since we heard anything from them, but clearly they were biding the time to release their excellent debut album. Now, after being picked up by esteemed French netlabel Beko (home of faves Chevalier Avant Garde), Drug Train have astounded us with a brand of lo-fi, drone infused electro-pop. Each song on the self-titled album has a unique and distinct character; the Suicide thrash of opener ''Bipolar'', or the subtly danceable breeze of ''No One Cares.'' The one through-line is the saxophone, and the way Drug Train showcases that wonderful instrument places it squarely with such luminaries as Colin Stetson or Bowie's Berlin Era with its beautiful bleat. This will turn any nonbeliever into a devout follower, absolutely.

The album is available now, directly from Beko.

<a data-cke-saved-href="http://beko.bandcamp.com/album/beko-210" href="http://beko.bandcamp.com/album/beko-210">beko_210 by drug train</a>

Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk “Saturday”

2013-05-10T13:00:21+00:00

I think the resurgence of the cassette tape has blurred the lines of the 'album'. To say that the new Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk record, Think Tone, is the band’s third full-length album, is to underrate the band’s stack of limited edition tapes from small cassette labels which has piled up over the past five or six years. Each of those releases between the full-length releases has played an integral part in the band’s wall of noise metamorphosis.

What began as subtle ringing and distant acoustic strums on the band’s first album, Eek Shriek Beak, moved through layers of effect experimentation, to the towering noise of Skeletor & Me. If you are lucky enough to have picked up any of those limited edition tapes between these major releases, you can hear the progression for yourself. If not, the band’s newest full-length, Think Tone, is already sounding like it may provide the perfect middle ground between the differing sounds of the band’s two previous albums.

The new album's first single "Saturday" is a drifting, calm progression of the same soft acoustics that defined Eek Shriek Beak, while still climbing to the towering, distorted heights of Skeletor & Me. It’s the kind of single a band can only come to through years of figuring out how to transfer recorded material to a live set. Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk have put in the time, and they have the immense catalog of releases to prove it. With "Saturday", the new album is shaping up to be another big step for a band that has already made so many.

Think Tone is out on Brooklyn's Fire Talk on July 9, although they've already begun taking preorders and only 200 of the vinyl is being pressed, so you may want to get on top of ordering it.

Natasha Kmeto “Take Out”

2013-05-10T12:00:23+00:00

This one has been around for a bit and had almost managed to escape my curious ears' attention, but Natasha Kmeto's forthcoming sophomore full-length Crisis is definitely one to check out. In my opinion, first single "Take Out" is not the album's strongest track, putting a bit too much emphasis on a slightly trite mélange of stereotyped R&B tropes and ruptured rhythm patterns. The track's final part though sets a different tone, hinting at the album's much more compellng aspect, an audacious turn towards techno-induced electronic territory. Here, enticing allusions to mid-noughties minimal nicely encapsulate Kmeto's skilful vocal deliveries, all in all resulting in something more original and off the beaten track, as most convincingly shown on tracks like "Deeply" or "Morning Sex". For the time being however, get a first idea of the producer's work with "Take Out" below.

Crisis is out June 18 via Portland's Dropping Gems.

Watch: Pretty Lightning “Mantra De Morte” (exclusive)

2013-05-10T09:28:09+00:00

As part of the celebrations of the ten-year anniversary of both the Datashock collective and its associated Meudiademorte label, the Saarlouis-based group is releasing a wooden box containing 10 one-sided 7" singles by members of the artistic family, including Datashock themselves, NFOP alumni Pretty Lightning, and others – go here to check out the whole list. On top of that, all ten songs will be accompanied by a series of videos directed by Datashock and Meudiademorte mastermind Pascal Hector, unveiled one after the other over the course of the next few months, eventually adding up to a movie named "Mirage" and thus ultimately meant to be watched as a single piece of audiovisual exaltation. Today, we're proud to premiere the first part, the video for "Mantra De Morte", the contribution of heavy psych duo Pretty Lightning aka Christian Berghoff and Sebastian Haas. Check it out below, and watch out for the rest of "Mirage" to follow.

Pre-order the 7" box now over here.

Hyetal “Northwest Passage (Vessel’s Cassion Edit)”

2013-05-10T07:46:17+00:00

When it comes to deep, dark and spheric soundscapes, of course Bristol's Seb Gainsborough aka Vessel is still the chap to turn to. His 2012 debut Order of Noise on zeitgeist-y underground institution Tri Angle Records was a dense and atmospheric trip, combining ambient, dub, disco and house in a very smart way. And it's exactly this breathtaking shadowy aesthetic that Vessel applies on Hyetal's "Northwest Passage", a track off the fellow Bristolian producer's forthcoming full-length Modern Worship. For his reinterpretation, Vessel pitched down beat and vocals and added layers of noise, a driving synth bass line and a scatty breakbeat. By doing so, he's giving the track both a tremendous epicness and a nerve-racking tension which continues to rise towards the end. Close the eyes and let yourself be carried away by this terrific work from one of the most exciting sound explorers of our days.

Vessel's remix is part of the Northwest Passage 12" alongside the original and another rework by Factory Floor's Gabe Gurnsey, out now on True Panther.

SHAMS “She Wanted to Watch”

2013-05-09T16:30:11+00:00

The new track by Jonathan Coward aka SHAMS, suggestively titled "She Wanted to Watch", is part of his Piano Cloud EP which gets to you all May 21 on crazy, sexy, cool 100% Silk. There are wisely chosen moments of piano chords that act as a classy lady supervising and cultivating the producer as he lets the track reverberate with puffing, clasping cymbals and flitty blinging. It’s all in the nudge, SHAMS’ nudge. Check out the super cool trip-up-the-spiral-staircase EP preview video below. Also, make sure to check out his Vine profile. Consider this your new brunch soundtrack, since apparently that's what SHAMS regards his music, '...a flow that fits somewhere between 3 AM and brunch'. Well then.

Photo by Ryan Slack

Tone of Arc “Chalk Hill”

2013-05-09T11:52:25+00:00

San Francisco-based duo Tone of Arc aka multi-instrumentalist and producer Derrick Boyd and Zoe Presnick are conquering Boiler Room London tonight in anticipation of their debut full-length The Time Was Right, and we're happy to premiere album track "Chalk Hill" today, in anticipation of the anticipation if you will. The tune is maddeningly funky, showing off more than a few knowing nods to classic, golden-age disco, complete with motorik, irresistible rhythms and a hilariously infectious bassline. A throwback like those are supposed to be.

The Time Was Right is out Monday, May 13 via Toronto-based No.19 Music.

Below, also check out the video for another track from the album, "Goodbye Horses", which sets an entirely different tone while still remaining subtly funky:

Stellar OM Source “Elite Excel”

2013-05-09T11:04:51+00:00

Whoever had seen Christelle Gualdi aka Stellar OM Source perform live in recent months will have been aware that the producer's days of splendid psych ambience in the vein of Dolphins Into the Future et al., as exemplified on her 2010 OESB-released masterpiece Trilogy Select, are long gone. Gualdi's highly anticipated new LP, titled Joy One Mile, is due next month via NYC powerhouse RVNG Intl., a very fitting publishing choice indeed, considering a rster that includes more contemporary dance luminaries such as Maxmillion Dunbar or Blondes. As on last year's outstanding 12" Image Over Image, Joy One Mile is distinctly one for the 'floors, with heavily acidified bass lines, extolling synth phrases and convouted rhythms arranged and mixed by broken house hero Kassem Mosse, an artistic combination so reasonable and meaningful it made us clap our hands in excitement. Listen to first single "Elite Excel" below.

Joy One Mile is out June 10.

Update:

"Elite Excile" will be released as a 12" on Monday, May 13, with a Kassem Mosse remix on the flip. Check out a 70-second snippet below (the second of the two samples):

Police Des Moeurs “Tu As Honte Parfois” (exclusive)

2013-05-09T11:00:45+00:00

If you put Montréal’s Police des Moeurs’ name through Google Translate, the software suggests 'vice squad' or 'morals/moral police'. "Tu as honte parfois" ('You have guilt sometimes'), from the project's new EP Les Mécanismes de la culpabilité – 'the mechanisms of guilt' – is a dainty song with everything tapping, pittering, and pattering like it should with a Phantom of the Opera/Frankenstein organ built in the middle. See it as a song for darting around to. Police des Moeurs give the francophone perspective on what Black Marble, Lust For Youth, and Cold Showers did in English last year, as well as fitting in with the output of Lescop. This is music we don’t hear coming out of those who speak French very often. But hey, we all have guilt to grapple with, right? It sounds like it should be on the soundtrack to Montréal film director Xavier Dolan's next work, soundtracking a montage depicting an escape.

Les Mécanismes de la culpabilité is out May 20 via Atelier Ciseaux, and, given the title, appropriately arriving on white vinyl. Pre-order here.

Photo Diary: Hundred Waters US Tour

2013-05-08T11:19:18+00:00

At the beginning of March, I hit the road for two weeks with Florida locals Hundred Waters, as they toured their way through North America with UK's Alt-J, kicking it off in Boston with two sold out shows. From there, the road continued to Washington, Carrboro, Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, Houston and finally Austin for SXSW, where my travels with the five-piece ended. Below is a selection from the beginning of their tour, minus select photos from New Orleans and Birmingham, as the tour van got busted in a restaurant mall in Houston's Chinatown just before heading over to SXSW, and a few digital memories got lost.

Hundred Waters are currently on tour in the UK once again with Alt-J, and will support The XX in the US starting May 22nd.

Check out the Facebook album for bigger photos.

Video: M O N E Y “Bluebell Fields”

2013-05-08T10:39:33+00:00

One of Manchester's absolute finest (and a defining NFOP favourite throughout 2012), M O N E Y, have been keeping 'quiet' since we proudly premiered the "SOLONG (GODISDEAD)" video, of course if we look past the amazing live material taken in consideration, including a session with Daytrotter, or more recently the heart-aching session with Amazing Radio. With their brand new single "Bluebells", Bella Union mark their first release with the band (rumors that were obviously on everyone's lips last year), and proves to be a truly ravishing jam driven in a more noctural direction than previously. Now, the contact with the outer world seems to be nearly completely erased from their secretive approach, which at the end of the day only strenghtens their sound to the fullest.

Airbird & Napolian “In the Zone”

2013-05-08T08:16:31+00:00

Airbird (Joel Ford from Ford & Lopatin) & Napolian’s (Ian Evans) first song together, “In the Zone” is abounding, with every sound given the maximum expansion and exposure time possible. “In the Zone” is both wafting and bounding, and features guest vocals from Erika Spring of Au Revoir Simone. From the always excellent Cascine, the Airbird & Napolian full-length is scheduled to release this winter — watch out.