you resource for all things shoegaze & dream pop.

26 April 2017

TONIGHT! When The Sun Hits on DKFM. Stream live 10pm EST.

TONIGHT! 
When The Sun Hits airs on DKFM

Stream it live
10pm EST | 9pm CST | 7pm PST

Tune in one hour later (12am EST/11pm CST) to catch 
the debut of the Somewherecold Radio Hour

24 April 2017

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: Keith Canisius | Milky Way.

Beyond excited to exclusively premiere a new video from the Danish dream pop artist Keith Canisius. We’ve been fans of his for over a decade, starting with his mid-aughts dream pop project Rumskib. He started recording under his own name a few years later, and our love for his output only intensified. His most recent LP, 2016’s We Are The Dreamers, is an aural joy to behold. “Milky Way” is taken from the aforementioned LP, and his new video for the song merges visual bliss with sonic bliss, resulting in an all-out blissfest that we recommend everyone immerse themselves in immediately.



Directed by Dariy Karyakin
Starring Endžija Pabērza & Tomass Tulinskis

INTERVIEW: Lubec.

Photo by Claire Gunville

Portland-based noise pop trio Lubec delivers a sound that is both blissful and chaotic. Their ability to create a visceral pop song through angular guitar lines, showers of fuzz and crashing drums is nothing short of impressive. They ensnared our hearts with their debut LP, The Thrall, in 2014. The equally exciting follow up, Cosmic Debt, was one of our favorite albums of 2016. We couldn’t be happier to share with you the following interview with Eddie Charlton, guitarist and vocalist of the endlessly delightful project Lubec.

Can you tell us what the band has been working on and what you've got forthcoming in the near future (new releases, tour, etc.)?
Eddie: We’re going to be playing up in Vancouver, B.C. and Seattle in April and then the East Coast in July. We’ve toured the East Coast before and it was spectacular and this time I’d really love to work a bit with our label, Disposable America – they’re positive and active in the DIY scene in the Northeast. It will be really fun.

Also, we’re recording a set of songs for a new EP that will hopefully be out in time for that tour. We’re going to be working with our buddy Dylan Wall again. He produced our last album and I’m excited to hear what comes of that.

23 April 2017

New Video: Taffy | Murkiii.

 
Tokyo quartet Taffy have created a thoroughly buoyant, utterly effervescent album with their latest full-length, Nyctophilia—a name which refers to love of night, a passion we and, we suspect, many of our readers can identify with. Here’s the new video for “Murkiii”, the record’s penultimate track. Plot summary: boy abducts girl in strange environs. Girl kills boy. Girl and boy kiss lots and lots while having big fun in Vegas, with occasional stabs of the erstwhile murder weapon. Extreme cuteness with bondage subtext.


Nyctophilia is available digitally from Amazon US and on vinyl from the UK’s Club AC30 label. Upcoming Japan and UK tour dates below.

18 April 2017

ALBUM REVIEW: Wozniak | Courage Reels. By Elizabeth Klisiewicz.

Scottish band Wozniak is not cut from the same cloth as other bands deemed shoegaze. Their music escapes the constraints of traditional gaze and expands upon the form in a good way. Past recordings made me think they were an instrumental group, but that is not strictly true. Thundering walls of feedback and beautiful noise surround their work, but vocals are employed simply, placed where they best make sense. This is the band’s debut album, recorded with Craig Ross at the Depot Studios in Edinburgh throughout 2016. It eclipses their previous work (all of it good) in multiple ways. I hear different elements in their sound, ranging from sweeping post rock to noise pop (think Sonic Youth circa Daydream Nation) to Krautrock. They are not afraid to experiment, and that produces a sonic tapestry that is truly unique. A darkness pervades this recording, but there is enough light to offset the sorrow.


“Shader” ushers listeners in and holds us in thrall. It is a glistening but deeply dark four minutes of roaring guitar and thrumming bass. It is on this track that I imagine a bit of Sonic Youth creeping in, but that may be explained away by the ferocious instrumental attack. “Ghosting” is watery dream pop, delicate tendrils of sound encasing you as it unwinds. It is slightly tentative and more hopeful, but do not err in thinking it will stay this way. For about 90 seconds, it is all peaceful and laid back, then the energy ramps up and swallows you whole. At times, it retreats and allows in glimmers of light. “Super Panther” has the cadence of majestic post rock, and then it erupts and showers psychedelic bliss on our heads. The bass is mesmerizing, and the guitars shimmer like a mirage. “Perihelion” is the first single, and it is blistering space rock that stretches out its arms to past the seven minute mark. Vocals are supplied by guitarist Sarah Cuthbert-Kerr and float through sweetly.


“Scottish Dancer” is another epic tune, both in scope and in length. It starts off like Flying Saucer Attack has joined in, but it morphs into widescreen psychedelia. Sarah’s ethereal, barely there vocals lend an air of mystery to this excellent tune, with a great, strong main melody anchoring it to terra firma. I love the way the bass meanders along with the singer, taking its time to build to incendiary levels. “Natsuko” sounds instantly familiar and immediately accessible, and clocks in at just under four minutes. Its dreamy layers ripple with beauty and it ends all too soon. “Erebus” has a wicked cool bass line and dark guitar shadings. Some of the instruments I cannot identify, so I am not sure if guitar is being repurposed to sound like something else. In any event, it’s an interesting listen. “Crush” has another welcome vocal turn from Sarah, and she should step up to the mic more often, because it ornaments the music nicely. “Death Suit” is the final tune in this suite, and it’s an eight minute barn burner. It has that otherworldly, exotic feel I used to get whenever I heard Black Sun Ensemble years ago. In summary, I enjoyed listening to this record, which offers up something unique in an already crowded field.

Courage Reels is available as a download and limited edition CD on Morningside Youngteam Records as of April 21st. Go out and feast your ears on this one!