julia brown
Review: elvis depressedly – “holo pleasures”
elvis depressedly – holo pleasures
Released: 16th April 2013
Label: Birdtapes | Orchid Tapes
Purchase: Vinyl | Casette [Sold Out] | Digital
holo pleasures is the sixth release by lo-fi pop project, elvis depressedly and marks the first time under this moniker that there has been a full band effort. The trio that contributed to the record includes Mat Cothran on vocals, drums, and guitar, Eric Jones on guitar and bass, and Delaney Mills playing all the keyboard parts. Like most of Cothran’s work, there is the familiar lo-fi analog comfort layered on top of warbling vocals to create unparalleled mellowness and melancholy.
The first track, okay, a pop number, encompasses Cothran’s simple yet poignant lyrical style including the lyrics, “I remember becoming winter, haunted by light, true love turned to sickness in my body, stayed up all night.” The album has the some of the same vibes as Coma Cinema, Cothran’s other outfit, however what sets them apart is the difference in the coherent aesthetic of the albums. The harmonies and hooks of this release contain a medley of droned keyboard, blown out guitar strumming, and muted percussion followed by refrains such as “If there’s a cool spot in heaven, I know you’ll get in” in weird honey and “Always real, always right, always alright” in pepsi/coke suicide. The six songs that run a total of twelve minutes are meant to be listened as one in order to gain the full experience of the record.
Mat Cothran and his band members are always constantly progressing and a new release is never far away, or from any of the groups in the scene such as Julia Brown, R.L. Kelly, and Pussy Wizard. The casette form of this release is currently sold out, but you can still pick up the 7″ vinyl in either blood red or swamp green from Birdtapes, or give it a listen over at the Bandcamp page.
Standout Tracks: “okay”, “weird honey”, “pepsi/coke suicide”
8.5
“never quit, there’s always a reason to try.”
Tracklisting:
1. okay
2. pepsi/coke suicide
3. inside you
4. teeth
5. weird honey
6. thinning out
Donate: Starry Cat – “Self-Titled”
All the money donated goes into Caroline’s Paypal account to help pay for the surgeries. If you have ever downloaded music from the aforementioned bands, you’ll have noticed they never ask for money, so please this time help Caroline out, thank you.
“if you can’t afford anything you can still download it but it’d be rad if you shared it i guess so maybe other people will see it.” – Sam Ray
[Edit: Cameron Boucher of Old Gray has also released a solo album for the same cause, which you can buy on his Bandcamp page.]
Listen: Julia Brown – “to be close to you”
To support the band, you can buy the album on their Bandcamp page on a “Name Your Price” basis or you can buy the tape version from Birdtapes. The download of the album comes with a fifteen page lyric zine, which is common with Ricky Eat Acid releases and the tape version comes with a sticker by a friend of the band Brad “brohloff”. From the band about the album, “any money paid for this music/donated to us goes towards funding the studio time we have booked between february and april, as well as helping us get the touring setup we need for the summer. please don’t feel obligated to pay, and feel free to grab it for free, but know that if you do donate, the money is helping us make more music.” You can stream the album below and more information about the band can be found on their Tumblr, and Facebook pages.
Topshelf Records’ V-Day Charity Four-Way Split
Cam Boucher, of Old Gray’s words about this release. “With all of our respective bands currently working to promote records of our own, we thought it would be nice to come together and try to use any attention that we’ve recieved as bands to help give back to the community.”
The split is available to purchase now on Topshelf Record’s Bandcamp page with downloads being sent out at 4pm EST on Valentine’s Day. I recommend buying this release as the proceeds go to a good cause, and of course you get new tracks from amazing bands.
Listen: Julia Brown – “library”
You can download one of the songs off the upcoming release called library. It was released through a friend of the band, Mat Cothran’s (Coma Cinema/Elvis Depressedly) blog. Compared to Teen Suicide this track has a much more pop aesthetic with both male and female vocals creating a completely different sound and an all together beautiful track. Fans of any of the bands affiliated with the Unlimited Free Milkshakes Label or part of the 420 Love Songs compilation should definitely check this band out. You can listen to a Julia Brown B-side song titled dizzy below.
Track Listing:
1. ‘im falling in love’
2. library
3. how i spent my summer
4. i will do this for the rest of my life
5. 5/21/11
6. i was my own favorite tv show the summer my tv broke
7. virginia
8. to be close to you
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