Watch: "Music From A Dry Cleaner"

Via This Is Colossal, "sound designer and composer" Diego Stocco creates music from everyday objects, found sounds, and a heft dose of imagination. His latest concoction? A rhythmic workout featuring machines and objects found at his local dry cleaner.

Diego Stocco - Music From A Dry Cleaner from Diego Stocco on Vimeo.

Be sure to check out his Vimeo page for more videos that chronicle is unique muse.

Bleached // You Take Time

I featured "Think of You" by Bleached on a recent podcast, but it's that single's B-side that's really caught my ear. Bleached is the new project for sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin, formerly of LA skuzz-punks Mika Miko. And whereas "Think of You" is keeping with their former band's brand of straight-ahead ferocity, "You Take Time" is a golden, muscular pop-rock jam that's equal parts Ramones and Big Star. Grab it below, and check out the video for "Think of You" as well.

Download:
Bleached // You Take Time



You can also snag a physical copy of the 7" at Art Fag Records.

Watch: "Turiya"

Right on cue, a video for Barn Owl's standout track, "Turiya," taken from their exceptional new album Lost In The Glare. Directed by John Davis.

Barn Owl - Turiya from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

[via thrill jockey records]

Barn Owl // Lost In The Glare

“Our music is kind of visual to me,” admits Evan Caminiti, one-half of San Francisco psych-rockers Barn Owl. It’s a bit of an understatement, especially considering the largeness of the music the band makes. That’s due in part to the visual associations wrapped up in Barn Owl’s instrumental epics—desolate deserts, extreme isolation, and “the powerful feeling of fog creeping along the horizon,” as fellow Barn Owl Jon Porras describes the effect the Bay Area climes have on their sounds. Since meeting in college in 2006, Caminiti and Porras have found kindred spirits in one another, uniting their love of John Fahey’s American primitivism with doom metal and minimal classical. Lost In The Glare marks the first time the two guitarists have worked with drummer Jacob Felix Heule, resulting in a heady mixture of head-in-the-clouds radiance and the more earthly power of a good solid groove.

Last year, Barn Owl invited Heule on a lengthy tour where most of the record’s compositions were tried out. As a result, Lost In The Glare feels both live and lived-in. Though it’s obvious most of the songs are largely improvised, the structures seem deliberate and carefully considered. “Turiya” shows the immediate positive effect of having a drummer like Heule in the group. He keeps a glacial pace plodding along while Caminiti and Porras turn their crunchy drone inside-out. Too many like-minded acts will chase that drone to the point of tedium. Barn Owl use it as a jumping off point before weaving in more concrete ideas.

Musically, there’s no shortage of blues and Indian riffs, but Caminiti and Porras are less interested in ripping off gnarly guitar solos than conjuring an atmosphere with dark waves of feedback. Album-closer (and emotional highpoint) “Devotion II” boasts skillful interlocking guitar lines before exploding in the coda on the back of huge chords and Heule’s pounding drums. This enormity is well-deserved: they pace the album masterfully, contrasting the harder cuts with acoustic explorations like “Temple of the Winds” and “Light Echoes.” The differing moods add up to something that’s experiential and focused. Records like this are often heralded as “sounding like a soundtrack,” but that’s a disservice here. Through their careful sonic work, Barn Owl create their own stories and mythology that can easily stand on their own.

While working on Lost In The Glare, the duo experienced the lunar eclipse that accompanied the winter solstice last December. It was a once-in-a-generation event, captured on the record as “The Darkest Night Since 1683.” The song’s crushing blackness is certainly fitting, but it’s also a testament to Barn Owl’s source of inspiration. Nature runs through the band’s very being, from their own moniker to song titles and album art. It’s also at the heart of their music—wrangling the fleeting messiness of improvisation into something cohesive and constructive. Those are some immense issues to tackle, but they’re attempting to bring this bigness down to a human level. There’s real beauty in that.

[via prefix]

Download:
Barn Owl // Pale Star
Barn Owl // Turiya

Watch: "Born Alone"

Wilco is back. Early hints prove The Whole Love is a return to form for the Chicago outfit after several years of unfocused work. Today Wilco released a video for the album's bittersweet second single "Born Alone," featuring a treasure trove of photography flickering to the accompanying folk rock workout. And for those music nerds out there, be sure to read lead singer Jeff Tweedy's interview for The Atlantic, wherein he dives deep into the music theory and lyrical structure behind the song.



The Whole Love is out September 27 via Wilco's own dBpm Records.