Davye Hawke, aka, Memory Tapes, tops this week's thin slate of new releases with 'Grace/Confusion'
As 2012 winds down, so does the number of new album releases – this week being one of the thinnest of the year, if not the thinnest. But, there are still some great singles from this week’s fresh drops to share with you. Plus, to make up for the gap, we’re including new releases from DIY artists over the past couple of weeks that we only recently received directly from the artists.
The wistful electro-pop of Davye Hawke, better known as Memory Tapes, is one of our favorite ‘one-man bands’ of the past few years. In 2009, Hawke, a New Jersey resident, combined two previous projects, the atmospheric, vocal compositions of Memory Cassette and the dance-inspired instrumentals as Weird Tapes – to launch Memory Tapes.
What emerged from this new direction was the single, “Bicycle,” which basically lighted up the music blogs, and before long he was signed to two labels, playing big festivals, being hailed by the media and music lovers, making TV appearances and touring around the country and Canada. Hawke has continually been changing up his sound, and does so once again on Grace/Confusion, embracing the chillwave craze by bridging “prog rock and atmospheric synth pop to carve out a unique niche for himself in the genre,” as Heather Phares recently wrote for AllMusic.com.
“Sheila” – Memory Tapes from Grace/Confusion on Carpark Records
Multi-Instrumentalist Jesse Cafiero Drops Solo EP; Mogwai’s Remix Album Out
Split Screens is the new DIY project of multi-instrumentalist and collaborator Jesse Cafiero, who has played bass, and other instruments, for a variety of artists like John Vanderslice, Thao Nguyen of the Get Down Stay Down, Magik Magik Orchestra, and Sean Hayes. On Tuesday, Cafiero officially released Split Screens’ self-titled, debut EP, which includes the fantastically dreamy folk love song, “Born.” Cafiero is a busy guy – he also plays lap steel guitar (as he does so magically on “Born”) and stand-up bass for the popular band project, DRMS. Follow Split Screens, check out the Justin K. Broadrick remix of “George Square Thatcher Death Party” from Mogwai‘s critically acclaimed album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Other remixes feature Zombi, The Soft Moon and Tim Hecker, among others, on Mogwai’s new remix album, A Wrenched Virile Lore.
“Born” – Split Screens from Split Screens EP (self-released)
“George Square Thatcher Death Party (Justin K Broadrick Reshape)” – Mogwai from A Wrenched Virile Lore on Sub Pop
Team Ghost was Founded by M83 co-founder Nicholas Fromageau
Team Ghost Preps 2013 Debut LP with New EP
The Paris electronic/shoegaze outfit, Team Ghost, is a collaborative project of former M83 co-founder Nicolas Fromageau and multi-instrumentalist/composer Christophe Guerin, among other band members, as well as producer Jean-Philippe Talaga. Fromageau left M83 in 2004, resurfacing five years later for a performance at 2009’s Midi Festival on the French Riviera, under the moniker Team Ghost. The band’s debut EP, You Never Did Anything Wrong to Me, dropped in April of 2010 via Kiss Me First Records, and led to a NME endorsement that included the respected, long-time U.K. music mag dubbing the band’s style and sound ‘cold-gaze’ (a contraction of coldwave and shoegaze). As of that moment, cold-gaze became one of the newest sub-genres to add to an ever-growing list, which in the past decade, almost always includes a combination of two or more core genres. Team Ghost has toured with Crystal Castles, twice, released two EPs, and this past week, dropped their third EP, Death Film Star. It’s not a stretch to expect a debut full-length for 2013.
“Dead Film Star (Tepr Recopy)” – Team Ghost
from Dead Film Star EP on Wsphere
Cover for Dream Boat's 'Eclipsing.' Another example of terrible, unimaginative album cover art, a trend that we can only hope will change for the better
Athens’ Trio, Dream Boat, Release Debut and Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart
The relatively under-the-radar ‘folk dream pop’ duo from Athens, Georgia, Dream Boat, dropped their debut album, Eclipsing, earlier this week. Formed in November of 2011, the band consists of Billy Pogany (lead vocals, guitarist), Trevor Adams (drums) and David Goe (bass), and count among their top musical influences The Beatles, The Kinks and Neil Young. Also, listen to the title track from Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart‘s fresh release, Road To Palios.
“Sea to Sky” – Dream Boat from Eclipsing on Cloud Recordings
“Road To Palios” – Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart from Road To Palios on Bella Union / Cooperative Music
High Tyde are a teenage indie rock quartet from Brighton, England
Teenage U.K. Rockers High Tyde
High Tyde, a teenage DIY band from Brighton, England that formed earlier this year, are making a name for themselves throughout the U.K. With a recent opening gig supporting The Milk, a new EP of note, Teal, and growing blog, radio and press coverage, High Tyde is a U.K. band to watch in 2013. The band wrote in their submission: “This is just the start of something special. Their in-your-face aptness towards their music is a fresh cynosure in the pop-dominated industry. With a unique, fresh sound that grabs your attention, this isnt the last you will hear from them
“Waiting” – High Tyde from Teal EP
Listen to the title track of the band’s first EP, Spill The Beans, via Soundcloud
Leeds Bro-Duo, Formes, Drop Official Debut Single
In March of 2012, brothers Jordan McNamara and Steve McNamara from Leeds, England, formed the DIY psychedelic rock duo Formes. The duo became a fairly popular band in the local music scene, and increasingly, throughout the U.K. Formes got a big boost when their home recorded demos were featured on the BBC and Absolute Radio. Their official studio debut single, “Absence of the Noise” dropped earlier this week. The single was mixed by Grant Henderson at Loom Studios and mastered by Steve Whitfield (Shed Seven, The Cure, Terrorvision).
In their submission, the brothers listed Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Talk Talk, and the Verve as the duo’s top musical influences. Tomorrow, Dec. 10th, the band officially drops Red Room, a two-track live EP, which follows the September release of 360, a five-track EP of live tracks and demos, that add krautrock and ambient to their growing list of genre infusions. A full-length debut album is expected in 2013.
“Absence of the Noise” – Formes, single
Portugal-via-U.K. Artist Mimimic
Portugal and U.K. band Mimimic, a Corvo Records artist, creates lo-fi, beat and synth-driven psychedelic ambient music in the vein of Boards of Canada,Black Moth Super Rainbow – and to an extent, ambient trailblazers, Air – “adulterated with whatever elements happened to fall into the vat: samples of Brazilian funk MCs ripped from YouTube, home recordings of bacon frying, a barking dog ‘solo,’ and borrowed instruments,” the band wrote, in addition to “sounds with digital processing” and “low quality samples.”
“Vuja De” – Mimimic from Blender
Get Blender on Mimimic’s Bandcamp Page
As far as DIY and other under-the radar-releases of 2012, we’re working on a whole series of posts – featuring dozens of solid artists and bands, mostly DIY, that you’ve probably never heard before – for popular playlist series like In Dee Mail, 7 Bands You Gotta Hear, Recent Releases We Almost Missed, the upcoming DIY and Signed Artists/Bands to Watch in 2013, and of course, various ‘best of 2012’ playlists highlighting the best albums, songs and new bands of 2012. There’s a great deal on our plates and in the pipeline right now, and big updates and improvements to the site slated for 2013.
