Posted by Erik Barns

Listen: Tearjerker – Hiding EP


Tearjerker recently released their new EP, Hiding. This Toronto based dream-pop/indie-rock band is full of dreamy guitars, soft vocals and easy listening lo-fi vibes. This past summer I fell in love with their older LP Rare, which carries the same, smooth flow as Hiding. I wish it was longer only because it has such an easy feel to it and he tracks flow so nicely in all of their albums. It’s one of my favorite releases of the year and I’m loving the band more and more.

The EP is currently available for free on their Bandcamp, or can be streamed below. There are also limited copies of the EP available in cassette form on their Bandcamp.

Back to School Mix

It’s a new school year for me and that normally means a lot of new music. I like to try and switch it up every year, always exploring different stuff. While there are some favorites, like Coma Cinema, that I’ll probably never stop listening to, there are other bands that I have grown out and thus they must be replaced.

I’m quite awful at stringing a bunch of songs together that flow well, or that even correlate with genre. In my mind it’s all about being open minded and just experiencing different music, the flow of the mix shouldn’t really matter.

Tracklist:
01. “Something Soon” – Car Seat Headrest
02. “Twenty Seven” – Why?
03. “Strangers” – Car Seat Headrest
04. “Frequency II” – Unouomedude
05. “Sometime” – Diiv
06. “How To Cook Everything” – Those Lavender Whales
07. “White Trash VHS” – Coma Cinema
08. “Grim Reaper” – Teen Suicide
09. “Sidewalk” – Tearjerker
10. “Rare” – Tearjerker

Goblin Problems from fanfare909 on 8tracks Radio.

 

Stream: Why? – Sod In The Seed

Why? recently released their new EP Sod In The Seed, which will be the first release since Eskimo Snow (2010) for this four-man indie/hip-hop/new-wave band out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Naturally, I’m excited for this EP since I have always been quite a big fan of Yoni Wolf and his extensive list of bands and collaborations including Clouddead, 13 & God, and Hymie’s Basement. The EP gives a different sound than their last LP Alopecia and the songs don’t carry as much of a dark feeling to them. I wasn’t digging it at first listen and the change took a bit to get used to, but eventually the songs really start to groove.

Why? will be preforming their new EP on their 2012 tour. You can stream the entire release below. Tour dates can be found further down the page.

Sod in the Seed EP Tracklist:
01. Sod in the Seed
02. For Someone
03. The Plan
04. Probably Cause
05. Twenty Seven
06. Shag Carpet

WHY? 2012 Tour Dates:
08/24 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note
08/25 – Norman, OK @ Opolis
08/26 – Santa Fe, NM @ SOL @ Santa Fe Brewing
08/27 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
08/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
08/30 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
08/31 – Arcata, CA @ Arcata Playhouse
09/01 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
09/02 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival
09/03 – Boise, ID @ Reef
09/04 – Salt Lake City, UT @ In the Venue
09/05 – Englewood, CO @ The Gothic
09/06 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
09/07 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
09/08 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
09/09 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
09/10 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
09/11 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
09/12 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
09/13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
09/14 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
09/15 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
09/16 – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
09/17 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
09/18 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
10/05 – Düsseldorf, DE @ New Fall Festival
10/06 – Evreux, FR @ L’Abordage
10/07 – Paris, FR @ Maroquinerie
10/08 – Brighton, UK @ Old Market
10/09 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
10/10 – Manchester, UK @ Central Methodist Church
10/11 – Bristol, UK @ Fleece
10/12 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3
10/13 – Oxford, UK @ The Bullingdon
10/15 – Berlin, DE @ Volksbühne

Listen: Professor O’blivion – Demo 2012

Professor O’blivion is an experimental project featuring John Deguide on bass guitar and Patrick Piper on drums, two hip boys rising from the depths of Barrington, Illinois. I’m big on supporting local and self produced music — “Think locally, fuck globally.”  When I found out long ago that they had almost finished their first demo, I hassled John about it for months. I was extremely pumped to finally hear some local music that didn’t reiterate the stereotype of Barrington. Alas due to some problems they ran into, I was forced to be a patient crow and waited for my moment to strike.

This demo is exactly what I had hoped it would be: it’s creative and very experimental. The intro to the demo has the same kind of vibe as Old Gray‘s track “Instrumental”, even though the music overall doesn’t have the same Old Gray pop/emo feel. Professor O’blivion has a very heavy sound that is really raw, but in no way is it trashy noise-rock. They use a very deep bass, which in my opinion really rounds out and enhances the flow of the songs. The drums are sick and Patrick is a pretty hardcore drummer. Together, they equally create this hip underground sound that is Professor O’blivion.

The new demo is currently available for free on the band’s Bandcamp or you can stream it below. Be sure to also check out Patrick’s side project BlackWindom.

Demo 2012 Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. Curmudgeon
3. John Haley
4. That Would Be The Closet

Soapbox: Wild Nothing – Nocturne

Now I’ve never been one to jump on new albums the second they come out. That’s mostly because I’m fairly lazy and don’t keep track of when certain things are actually being released. Wild Nothing somewhat recently released their second album Nocturne under Captured Tracks. I wasn’t too excited to jump right on this album because I can still groove to their first album Gemini released in 2010. So often, new albums ruin the band for me and I can just never dig the new music as much because the sound has always shifted. Yet at the same time I get frustrated when I see bands that don’t know how to change their sound one bit and basically reproduce the same song over and over. Clearly the way I look at music is logical. Yet either way, I was positive that Wild Nothing would bring some chill nostalgic vibes just like they did in songs like “Summer Holiday” and “Chinatown” from their first LP.

Gemini had some great stand out songs but as all together it lacked the beautiful flow that these guys have now brought into Nocturne. After several listens to the new album, no song specifically stands out as being better than the rest; every song is solid. The songs are still incredibly catchy beats that are perfect for summer days.  And the album isn’t one hit surrounded by a bunch of filler trash either — it’s an experience of hip synth vibes and again, a really strong beat with the drums. That’s one thing that I notice the most in Wild Nothing: the presence in the drums becomes quite dominant, all of the beats are put together beautifully; they give the song it’s originality. You have to greatly appreciate the instrumental structure to their songs. Incredibly impressive are the variations of sound in songs like “The Blue Dress”, which feel so much heavier but never out of place on their album.

These guys have been recently touring with Diiv, who also recently released a new album that is worth checking out.

Check out the song “The Blue Dress” below, from their new album.

Nocturne Tracklist:
01) Shadow
02) Midnight Song
03) Nocturne
04) Through The Grass
05) Only Heather
06) This Chain Won’t Break
07) Disappear Always
08) Paradise
09) Counting Days
10) The Blue Dress
11) Rheya