High Highs, Reissues and No Ceremony

After a period of posting silence, lets ease ourselves back in with the stupendously lovely new EP from Brooklyns High Highs.

High Highs by rocketmusic

Also recently on our radar is the re-issue of Should's 1995 album 'A Folding Sieve' which is on the ever excellent Captured Tracks label

SHOULD - A Folding Sieve by Words On Music

More low key loveliness to round off for now from No Ceremony.

NO CEREMONY/// DELIVERUS by CPR Agency

Races

Wide in scope and brooding in nature but perfectly formed nonetheless. Los Angeles' Races will be releasing an album in 2012.

Big Broom by Races

Acrobatic Society

Marvellous modern day minstrelsy from Newcastle's Acrobatic Society.

 Specimen by Acrobatic Society

 Veils by Acrobatic Society

Like a Stuntman

Gloriously scattershot germanic propulsion on the new album from this genre defying troop, think Working for a Nuclear Free City, The Notwist, Everything Everything, Why?...

 Like A Stuntman - Yesterday Euphoria by Bureau B

Field Music

Yikes, new Field Music has just jolted us from a temporary hibernation. Always a cause for celebration when they release something new.

 (I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing by Field Music

Different Sleep

Music to ruminate to, this beautiful and soothing track comes courtesy of Rafa Alvarez aka Different Sleep.

Drive Me Crazy feat. Soleman by Different Sleep

Good Sport

Described as Drowsy Pop by the band themselves and who are we to disagree.
A wonderful narcotic confection of loping beats, and foggy atmospherics.

Good Sport - Pushover by garbagedays

Gap Dream

Strangled psych par excellence from Cleveland Ohio's Gap Dream.

Gap Dream - My Other Man by BurgerRecords

Kilimanjaro

Pitched somewhere close to the yearning post dubstep of Vondelpark with a portion of Mount Kimbie thrown in for good measure, this is the first release from Danish Duo Kilimanjaro.

Bajkal EP by Kilimanjaro

Relgious Girls

Wondrous dissonance from Oaklands Religious Girls on their new release 'Midnight Realms'. There's beauty in the discord.


MIDNIGHT REALMS 12" OMFG~ by Religious Girls

French Films

Finlands French Films produce a brand of post punk tinged indie pop which deserves a wider audience as showcased on this track from their debut album 'Imaginary Future'.

The Great Wave Of Light by French Films

Coves

Skew-whiff pop in the vein of junkshop eclecticists The Shortwave Set. A very promising debut ep is available on bandcamp and this is the lead track from it.

NO LADDER by COVES

Holy Esque

Following in an excellent recent tradition of Scottish musical intensity come Holy Esque, sprawling instrumentation and tremulous vocal delivery ensue to wonderful effect.

ROSE by HOLY ESQUE

Deaf Club

The word 'Gothic' can have ugly connotations when used as a descriptive term for a band but Deaf Club carry a gothic edge which adds just the right accent of darkness to their songs rather than any unintended comedy.

Deaf Club - Lull by GilesThomas

Slow Magic

Another conjuring themed moniker from this mysterious act apparently based on a 'minor outlying' U.S Island. For a friday afternoon it is appropriately euphoric in an understated way.

Corvette Cassette by Slow Magic

Young Magic

The scale is huge and the sound is luscious on this New York based bands second release for Carpark Records. The album will be along in early 2012.

Night In The Ocean by Carpark Records

Wild Beasts

New Beasts is always a cause for celebration, 'Thankless Thing' is a non album track taken from the 12 inch of 'Reach a Bit Further'.

Wild Beasts - Thankless Thing by DominoRecordCo

Swim Deep

More Midlands denizens but this time with a nice line in dulcet wistfulness. They stand somewhere between Wild Nothing and long forgotten mid noughties mopers Levy.

Santa Maria (Demo) by SWIM DEEP

Twin Shadow

His first release since last years fantastic album 'Forget'. This is a cover but it fits right in with his expert recreation of eighties synth pop though its a little housier than past work. Roll on album number 2.

Twin Shadow - Changes by acid stag

A Cold Night For

Ideas, and particularly good ones, are at a premium in music and this young Birmingham band have them in abundance. They veer between Foalsesque math pop on 'Garrison' and new Motorik on 'Pinnacle' but each way they do things with an inventiveness which is too often lacking.

Garrison by A Cold Night For...

Pinnacle by A Cold Night For...

Gem Club

Beauty through fragility is Gem Club's stock in trade and 'Twins' and the title track of their debut album proper 'Breakers' are a masterful showcase of what they do so well.

Breakers by Gem Club

Evenings

Cripes, you go away for a few weeks and end up way behind the eight ball. It looks like Evenings aka Nathan Broaddus, has been hard at work releasing and re-releasing a cornucopia of hazy delights on to Bandcamp.
'Lo Velo' first surfaced in August, whereas 'Friend' has been around for a year or so.

Evenings, "Lo-Vélo" by The FADER

Evenings-Friend by Evenings

Loved Ones

Alongside the obvious pure pop heritage of Merseyside, there has always been a healthy leftfield scene bubbling under, spawning the likes of criminally underrated masks wearers Wave Machines and the surgical gear sporting Clinic. I'm not sure whether these lads ever wear any obfuscatory headwear but their warm electro folk is certainly supremely promising. Apparently album recordings are well advanced.


Loved Ones album sampler II by LovedOnes

Tiger Choir

Psych poppers from Tasmania, Tiger Choir have an album up on Bandcamp now, and this track from it is an excellent example of their pleasingly louche output.


Tiger Choir: Ghosties by -gaga

Guest Mix #1 - I Wanted To Talk About How We Had Nothing To Talk About

Courtesy of electric sound of joy associate Dave Von Coda comes the first in an occasional series of Guest mixes.

I Wanted To Talk About How We Had Nothing To Talk About by Electricsoundofjoy on Mixcloud

Tracklisting
King Krule - Alicia
Koreless – MTI
Emiliana Torrini – Jungle Drum (Jai Paul remix)
Chilly Gonzales – Never Stop (Chilly Gonzales Rap)
Drake – Over
Prodigy of Mobb Deep – Keep It Thoro
No Kids – Bluster In The Air
Capitol K – Pillow
Grandaddy – Go Progress Chrome
Primal Scream – I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have
JJ Cale – Don’t Go To Strangers
Buffalo Springfield – Expecting To Fly
Aaron Neville – Tell It Like It Is
Patsy Cline – Sweet Dreams (Of You)

Other Lives

Sounding like haunted house dwelling siblings of Grizzly Bear, Other Lives are rightly attracting much attention at present. Their new album 'Tamer Animals' is due for release in the UK at the end of the month

Tamer Animals by Other Lives

Shoreline Is

Tip top Dream Pop from Dortmund, the industrial heartland of Germany. Still the Cocteau Twins hailed from, by all accounts,the hellish environs of Grangemouth and they were capable of conjuring stupendous beauty.

Living Things by Shoreline Is

Grandpa Was A Lion

Drawing on the lineage of alt troubadours from Mark Linkous to Justin Vernon but enveloping his strummming in a sweet fuzz, Justin D'Onofrio aka Grandpa Was A Lion has recently released his 'Archaic' EP of which this is this the opening track.

Social Pipe

Mysterious electronica from Paris. It is almost cheesy, but then so are Phoenix and some of the best work Daft Punk have produced so maybe the french do it best with a touch of fromage.

Dice by Social Pipe

Botany

Botany is the project of Texan, Spencer Stephanson. His wonderful remix of Mauves by Tropics has just got an airing and is more propulsive than this own recent EP but equally blissful. Feeling Today, taken from said EP, sounds like early Caribou (minus the two drummers) when Dan Snaith still went under the name Manitoba. For those in doubt, this is a very good thing.

TROPICS - Mouves (Botany Remix) by Botany

Feeling Today by Botany

The Dying Seconds

Sounding like much missed morose Yorkshire glitchers Hood, this upcoming single is a stark and beautiful introduction to the band.

Imandra Lake

Estonian shoegaze of the pastoral variety, this track from their recently released EP casts them as a Baltic version of Fields. More of the same is available on last years album Seesamseesam.

Imandra Lake Arkamis aeg by electricsoundofjoy

Discopolis

The hazy electronic emoting of M83 coupled with the basslines of Cut Copy equal a recipe for electric sound of joy approval. These relative newcomers from Edinburgh have a cache of superb tunes up on soundcloud and myspace, Zenithobia being the latest.

Discopolis - Zenithobia by discopolismusic

Gardens & Villa

Like Low on a sunshine break, Gardens & Villa have have taken slowcore on a much deserved holiday. Full of the reverence which is a trademark of the best of the genre, but shot through with the sunshine of their native Santa Barbara.

Gardens and Villa - Chemtrails by electricsoundofjoy

Chet Faker

Superbly monikered, ultra prolific Australian beatsmith Chet Faker, keeps up his stellar output with this recent addition to his canon. In a word, languid.

House Atriedes by Chet Faker

Puro Instinct

Superb jangle pop circa 93 from Lush soundalikes Puro Instinct. This taken from the album 'Heabangers in Ecstacy' which is belatedly released in the UK in September.


Luv Goon by electricsoundofjoy

The Deer Tracks

An epic cut from The Deer Tracks new album slated for release in August. Oddball glitchtronica gives way to widescreen scale as it builds. Stunning stuff.


Deer Tracks - Dark Passenger by CMJ Network

Cuckoo Chaos

Cuckoo Chaos sound very unchaotic. Smooth, super melodic, afrobeat influenced rhythms. Closest brethren of recent years are probably Vampire Weekend and Local Natives, not a bad lineage to continue.
An Album is upcoming in September in the UK.

Hotel Mexico

Beach side jangle pop from Kyoto, even conceptually it is enticing. But musically this doesn't disappoint, shimmering harmonies, falsetto and brilliant 60s style police procedural instrumentation. Strong work.

Hotel Mexico - Dear Les Friends by Hypetrak

Antwerp

Fighting out of the Make Mine stable, home to Gold Panda amongst others, comes Antwerp. Not a million miles away from Gold Panda in sound either, but certainly exhibiting some of the more delightful primitive futurism of the likes of 808 State. Definitely one to watch.

Antwerp - Equinox by make-mine

Still Corners

Following up from last years superb Remember Peppper EP, Still Corners release their first single for Sub Pop next month. Its more breathy, sepia tinged dream pop of the highest quality. A live version of Cuckoo can be heard here.

Still corners - Cuckoo (live in Bloomington) by neatlittlerows

Palpitation

Palpitation, who we first featured in February, released a new album earlier this month in their native Sweden. This first single from it could have come straight off a Shout Out Louds record, which in my book makes it worthy of attention.

Palpitation - ‘We Don't Need To, We Don't Have To' by The 405

Elephant

Pontefract isn't famous for much other than a 'cake' which isn't actually a cake and a few low grade race meetings. The unheralded town should rejoice at the birth of Elephant (one half of which hail from Pontefract) who release their second single via Memphis Industries in July. There's just a hint of Beach House here,which is always a good sign.

Elephant - Allured by elephanttheband

Vondelpark

Another sublime release from Vondelpark is upcoming, following on from the superb Sauna ep. More sun kissed wist-step, frankly it is irresistible.

Helado Negro

A while back we featured Forest, a superb Willow the Wisp electronic act from Sweden who produce otherworldly songs which really evoke the deserted forests of the north. Helado Negro is the latino answer to Forest as evidenced on this beautiful closing track from his new album for Sufjan Stevens' label Astmatic Kitty. Its the type of music which could only be made by a man who bathes with owls.

Family

Familys strung out greco-tropical acoustica is pretty powerful stuff. The best track of the three here is Ava but each packs its own ramshackle punch. Listening is almost like intruding on someones private grief, possibly in a taverna somewhere on the outskirts of Salonika.

Arrange

Anyone remember Khonnor, the teenage prodigy who made a superbly desolate album called Handwriting a long while ago? Well if Arrange has been listening to 'Handwriting' then he really ought to. Either way this is excellent update of that sound.

Arrange - Plantation - 02 Tiny Little Boy by electricsoundofjoy

Young Dreams

Channelling Beach Boys production through a youthful scandinavian prism, these Bergen scamps have struck gold on an oft trodden but still glorious path. More of the same please, pronto.

Flight 376 final mix and master by Young Dreams

Monster Rally

Whimsical tropical psych loungesters Monster Rally have an new ep upcoming on Gold Robot records and with us being on the cusp of summer I'm likely to be annoying my neighbours by donning a string vest, decamping to the garden and putting this on repeat.

Monster Rally - Siberian Girls by goldrobotrecords

Miracle Fortress

From the new album, four years in the making comes this sprawling gem. Yearning electronica at its best. Sounds like The Antlers at a Disco, a description which may fill some people with dread but they'd be wrong.

Miracle Fortress - Raw Spectacle by SecretCityRecords

I Break Horses

Already snapped up by the venerable Bellla Union label, more luscious shoegaze revivalism from Sweden. On the strength of the tracks we've heard the album whenever it arrives should be a thing of beauty.

I Break Horses - Wired (Demo) by I Break Horses