🐣 CLAESONS — ACOUSTIC PUNK

With a title like 'Acoustic Punk' you might imagine something like a cross between gentle acoustic music and the noise of punk. If that is what you imagined whilst reading that sentence then, well, it's correct. This track by Swedish music unit Claesons is a combo of these two ideals, a bright blend of acoustic—no, almost chamber music, classical-style, new and experimental; of this, and of something closer to the quirky DIY of garage indie than punk. It's a mix of rough and smooth, beauty and energy.

The plucked guitar that begins the track teeters on mournful and in the same cyclical style as that guitar piece Romance, you know the one, cello solemn beneath, but soon leads into a thumping beat punctuated by the occasional crash of a cymbal, the main vocal floats in slurring and soaring, other voices haunt chorally above, all in all a sound like a cold gale, something internal externalised. The outro appears, long and languorous, a pinging guitar melody, soft piano, yet struck like distant lightning with peals of distorted guitar, disappearing into the vapour.

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• 🔔 This is from Claesons album V.V.V.V.V., due for release on 28th April via Swedish label Lamour.

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☟ Claesons Internet Presence ☟
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FÁBIO CARAMURU – CIGARRA

The releases of Tokyo-based flau records span the distance from Japanese music like the constructivist electronica of CRYSTAL and the constant dreamworlds of cuushe, to the music of artists from all over the world, like Taiwanese cello-guitar-violin ensemble Cicada, with many genres represented in between—and never do they disappoint. It's ever the same with a beautiful new piece called 'Cigarra'.

A mix of natural found-sounds and fluid waxing-and-waning piano-playing, 'Cigarra' is the work of Brazilian pianist and composer Fábio Caramuru. Taken from an upcoming collection of pieces in which Caramuru "speaks" to the fauna of his home country, this particular track is a conversation with the ostensibly whining and screeching of cigarra – meaning cicada in Portuguese. Its violent buzzing, though, feels like a lament here, the piano reflecting brightly and empathising with grave and tumbling tones the constant call of this long-living insect.

Like the the cicada, the piano too seems to be calling out, mimicking its song with a rapid refrain, soaring into flighty introspection at times, and falling to its refrain again by the coda, repeating endlessly with a certain sadness alongside the cicada, into the air, where the music goes to whose ears that will hear it.

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• That collection of pieces is an album called EcoMúsica - conversas de um piano com a fauna brasileira - ("conversations between a piano and the fauna of Brazil") and it will be out on flau on 7th September 2016. Alongside the album opener 'Cigarra', other tracks/animals included are 'Uirapuru' (musician wren), 'Anu-branco' (guira cuckoo), and 'Tuim' (a type of forpus parrot). And you may pre-order it from flau here if you like the sound of that.

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☟ Fábio Caramuru's Social Media Presence ☟
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AMACCHI – A MATTER OF TIME

Stumbling across something nice and new and unexpected is the point YES/NO. Yeah I write about music I like regardless of how un-new or un-undiscovered it might, but the original point was to find new stuff and write about it, hopefully introduce some people to something fresh to listen to.

And with that word – FRESH – in mind, this is 'a matter of time' by amacchi. Who or what is amacchi? Apart from a somebody that makes music, I can't tell you much else. But with freshness being the keyword now, let's leave history and backstory and every other story and focus on the song – this fresh, fresh song.

From its delicious and raw acoustic guitar sounds rippling throughout this instrumental track, sounding as if a guitar were being plucked and played right in the room with you – complete with outdoor sounds of maybe children playing or something... so maybe its better to say that instead of being in the room with you, you're outside, wherever these sounds were lifted from, chilling and enjoying the time passing by in such gentle ways.

☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟

So yeah, from that, to the wonky synth decorations, breathy and urgent vocal samples whispering in your ear, to the plink-plonking beeps that gradually grow fizzier and fizzier, leading us into a final section of the track dominated by the slow undulating rumble of sub-bass, all of its ornamentations – and that's not even mentioning the luscious beat with its hi-hat skifflings and grittily crunching clap-snare-thing.

FRESH was the word and is the word and it is closely followed by beautiful and moving in a small, everyday way – not to say that the song is everyday, but rather that what it seems to be celebrating... joy, well not joy (note the slightly end-of-the-day feeling) ... the contented awareness of everything around you: simply BEING. It takes cuteness and mixes it with that vague sense of the limits of being alive, mixes lightness with deeply embedded seriousness. That's what I'm taking from it anyway. A matter of time indeed.

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• Seems amacchi is part of the Fan Service Collective, so you should probably check em out if you liked this.

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☟ Social Media Presence ☟
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WOOLFY – CITY LIGHTS EP

Waking up waking up is difficult especially on a Monday morning soooo why not go on a disco odyssey for 8 minutes 11 seconds? And this ain't no sweaty throwback New York dopamine-enhanced disco club disco, this is like the slow jam of disco, slo-disco, and as such it's perfect for a brain that doesn't want anything faster right now. Perfect for a brain that like, wants to wake up, but not suddenly, and definitely not anytime soon; this kind of quasi-sleep in the early morning is quite nice its own horrible little way.

And what track pray tell am I chatting about? Well, it's come aaall the way from LA and it's by a guy named Woolfy (real name Simon James) and the track is called '17' which is one of those Great Ages – others being 18, 19, 21, 23, 27 or something (this is what happens when you write early in the morning, you make shit up) – that everyone loves so much. Anyway, like I said earlier this is like slo-disco, slo-house, chilled kinda sound, and it reminded me of the sort of sounds I heard once on one of German (Munich) label Permanent Vacation's If This Is House I Want My Money Back compilations – there've only been two so far so it's one of those – which is funny cause this other track at least ostensibly has something to do with Perm Vac. After some reading, I've found that he first released music under his alter-alias Woolfy vs Projections (his The Astral Projections of Starlight album) on Permanent Vacation, so there you go.

Anyway, it comes from his newly released (14th April) City Lights EP which features two original tracks and two remixes. Here you go it's right below uh so you can listen to it.

At the beginning and at the heart of '17' the main riff is provided quite unusually by a ukelele or mandolin or something, a little toy-esque riff that gives the track a cutesy earthiness, grounding it something entirely different from what the funkily popping slightly slap-bassline and rich piano chords will have you believe. Combine this with misty swooshing tides of synth, scattered tumblings of lead blips and ever-so-often saw-wave chord stutterings, you have quite the soundscape – a mix of Del Mar flavours, coastal indie pop and late-night lounge music. Glassy organ solos enhance the atmosphere, draping it in classy inebriation; and that's not to mention the singing, which talks of some kind of romance and being 17 years old ("And when you grow up grow up to be the woman that you are / you're gonna appreciate the fact that I / kept myself away / cause you were seventeen"). Ghostly, synth-punk vocals reverbing into space with the slacker refrain that mentions sex, cigarettes, Ford Cortinas (¿¿¿ or am I deaf ???): "Couldn't care less."

It comes as the late-late-night sequel song to the first track of the EP, the eponymous 'City Lights'. It's a nicely bouncy track, a slapdash acoustic guitar riff being the foundation of the track, packed with organic percussion like shakers and gently muffled kicks and this one fluid sound that sounds like a cross between a delayed sample of water simultaneously dripping into and draining out of a sink, and tasty woodblock cloppings. This roots-indie flavour is strengthened by two additional things: a xylophone that gives the track a airily cute appeal, and of course the vocals which appear endearingly unpolished and campfiery. In fact, campfire is very much the vibe here. A beach campfire. WHICH is strange considering the song's title and its lyrics: it's about city lights. Being in the city. So in some ways, instead of making "the city" out to be this archetypal hazy, scary, hard-edged, blocky place, the magnitude of its impact is brought down a peg or two thanks to Woolfy's treatment of it – it becomes pretty and quaint, essentially having been observed from a different angle. The finishing refrain, "We live to love you…" – a perfect sing-along – tops it off as a lovesong, the so-often-done love-letter to a city, but with a refreshingly down-to-earth difference.

But wait there's more! Two remixes of '17' grace this EP, too. One by fellow LA-ppl Split Secs is a slow-builder into a synth odyssey, sawtooth boops bouncing along with retro intent in place of the more organic bassline of the original. The vocals, reverbing and dreamy before, are now much trippier, blasting off into the void with heavy delay and reverb like a weird cloud passing above. Synth lead roars into life and explodes with the same trajectory as a cosmic boiling kettle amidst the warm chords and popping clusters of melody. Francis Inferno Orchestra, from Melbourne, makes it a more intense ride, however, with clearer synths playing cosmically over the hard pulse of kicks, waves of phased-out sound blanketing it all. The second half of the track is pockmarked with laser-like synths and a mash of sounds from crashing disco hi-hats and cymbals to booming toms and thickening chords. Both remixes do different things, one is low-key and the other is imbued with much more of a sense of head-spinnery than the other, but both are excellent treatments of the original.

Soooo yeah that was Woolfy. And it will maybe (maybe) surprise you to learn that this has graced your ears today courtesy of Australian label Future Classic, who've been putting out great stuff for ages, wonderfully diverse all the way from the surgical synth of Charles Murdoch to the Drive-inspired sounds of Touch Sensitive, and this most recent release with Woolfy (his debut with the label) continues a much-loved series of sounds with dance/electronic-leanings that ooze originality as much as they do quality and loveable quirks.

• Grab this if u like it from iTunes now or just stream it forever on SoundCloud
• Or hang on if you like vinyls it exists in 10" form too

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NOLA WREN – SOUL SUCKER

Ha ha! Well. This just flew into my inbox from far across the ocean – the Atlantic ocean btw. It instantly jumped into my ear and started doing cartwheels, carrying out a spot of light raving, and sending basically some really nice soothing sounds. Why did it do that? It did that because it IS really nice, and nice things tend to act upon you instantaneously – it's physiological yo.

I will hark back to a moment I was told about once; a friend told me about a random commenter who said that it was probably "a bad sign" that they liked a piece of music straight away. What sort of garbled tripe-shit nonsense is that? I instantly liked Ace of Base's 'All That She Wants' when I heard it as a child, and when I hear it now, I still like it. I didn't WORK to like it. Anyway. Don't believe the hype: like what you like however you please.

Sorry. What was I saying? YES these are the sounds of New York City resident, musicmaker and self-confessed "nocturnal creature", Nola Wren (real name Kara Francavillo). In her most recent track, 'Soul Sucker', she evinces a certain pop nostalgia in a cradle of comforting sounds, a mix of organic and electronic stuffed full of vocal hooks and a driving beat.

Founded on a clattering acoustic guitar (which minutely reminded me of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, in a good way ofc) with glistenings of electronic scatter-beeps decorating like glitter, the song shoots along with emotive intent, totally encased in pop trimmings, Nola Wren's supersweet voice crooning out the melody amidst light synth chords and harshening for the rapid-fire "Soul sucker, soul sucker, you'll n-n-n-n-n-n-never get my…" in each freshly reverbing chorus as distortion juts upward against the thumping beat.

All in all, it's a treat for the ears, an unabashed pop song that holds no pretence, injecting at the same time a particular marginal attitude – an essence, at least, of punk (perhaps) – into the music at the same time; no mean feat. Honestly I think this is a very good song, how can I stress that any further? And it's only a demo!! But it sounds great!

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YES/NO GUEST MIX 006 :: N-QIA

I first came across dynamic duo from Tokyo, N-qia, in the second part of last year. And it wasn't just their music; they'd teemed up with Russian music-maker Neeva on his Even If… EP for the song 'One Day'… then came their clatteringly beautiful songs for their latest album Fringe Popcical. They've, since then, intrigued me with their haunting style – Nozomi's vocals floating free and faraway; the electronic yet organic acoustics of Takma's (also known as Serph/Reliq) soundscapes. They were first inspired to create music together by "Sci-Fi films" and "X zone experience" – whether the latter refers to a super-scope game for the SNES called X-Zone, I don't know.

Now... a while ago they were kind enough to create a handmade mix for YES/NO, consisting entirely of handpicked parts of the N-qia back-catalogue in a whirlwind of experimental noise, electronic apparitions and beautiful melodies. So at the same time as saying THANK YOU to this super-cool duo, I'd also like to introduce you – whoever's reading this – to half-an-hour of hauntingly pretty stuff, mixed especially for your ears this fine day.

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TRACKLIST

1. 'Fearless' from Audio Illustrations (Bunkai-kei Records)
2. 'One Day (ft. N-qia)' from Even If… by Neeva (Ritmo Sportivo)
3. 'Ivory (Alter mix)' from Audiokult Winter Compilation 2013 (Audiokult)
4. 'Sands' from Daybreak (elementperspective)
5. 'Lafunk' from Fringe Popcical (Virgin Babylon Records)
6. 'Earth' from Audio Illustrations (Bunkai-kei records)
7. 'Sunshine-Mix' from Fringe Popcical (Virgin Babylon Records)
8. 'Vinci' from Fringe Popcical (Virgin Babylon Records)
9. 'Sailor' from Fringe Popcical (Virgin Babylon Records)
10. 'Microfolk' Fringe Popcical (Virgin Babylon Records)
11. 'Kaleidoscope' from Kaleidoscope (KUGK Musique)
12. 'Lost' (Go-qualia In The Beginning Mix) from Audio Illustrations (Bunkai-kei records)
13. 'Chooseone' from Fringe Popcical (Virgin Babylon Records)

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THERE IS A FOX SLEEP WELL

It is sometimes quite amazing to find out what kind of music is just waiting to be uncovered out there in the wilderness of the internet. It is also easy for people in general to think that good music can only come from respectable sources, record labels, TV, magazines - these are the places you hear a band or music artist playing for the first time, right? Well, the internet is a still pretty-much-untapped vein of talent, with so much uncovered not just daily but semidaily, and hourly sometimes, so it's here that I like to zip around having a look to see if I can hear some nice stuff.

And I did hear some nice stuff just now. So whilst it might not be in keeping with the traditional Friday evening prelude-to-a-big-night kind of party tune that you usually hear at this time of day, I am going to shirk these cultural leanings that I'm so used to and write about this song. It's not a party banger. It's not really energetic. It is, however, very, very pretty - beautiful, even. It's by a track-maker from Long Beach, California, called Hiro Makino who makes music under the alias There Is A Fox. Most of his songs, he confesses, are about "sleeping and staying inside the house" - and that's just fine. Here's 'Sleep Well'.

Priddy. Dont'cha think? I think so. It's really nice. A tension-relieving weave of floating gentle synth and light acoustic guitar arpeggios lead into a swaying breeze of lovely sounds that range from waves of synth to glockenspiel glittering, from subtle synth gleamings to brief electronic bleeps. And the vocals, sleep-inducing, soft, begin the song with the touching line, "I don't know your name, but sleep well tonight" - they're like this throughout. Sentiment is wonderful.

The sounds build up, so by about four minutes in you're treated to varying layers of guitar melodies and other noises - a lovely mix: the musical equivalent of a waterfall hitting the plunge pool - that all calm down perfectly towards the end. All becoming a lot quieter. The vertebrae of bass being all that's left as you hear the microphone switching off. This is an admirable and subtly brilliant mix of ambient guitar and a kind of Lullatone-esque toytronic sound - cutesy, pastel-coloured, sleepy, dreamy. All those things. I really hope he makes some more music.

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HEAVENLY BEAT HONEST

What a catchy song. It's really nice. Great groove. Great everything. What's wrong with that? Nothing. It's anti-wrong: it's right. It's good. It comes from ex-Beach Fossils bassist, John Peña (I love an "n" with diacritical tilde), in actual fact known for his solo music as Heavenly Beat. And I'd say that he's chosen a suitable name for his project, at least going by 'Honest' anyway: heavenly beat, heavenly groove, heavenly yes.

It comes from his upcoming second album, Prominence (the first being his debut of last year, Talent), scheduled for release 14th October dis yeer on Brooklyn-based label Captured Tracks. Apparently it's a song that expounds on the admission of guilt after infidelity. Can't hear any lyrics that discuss it but that's all I know. Sorry. On the other hand, it sounds great musically.

Beginning with some frantic nylon-string guitar sounds - something that becomes the theme of the song, a skipping heartbeat that goes with a guilty conscience I suppose - it soon descends into a lush journey of sounds. The beat is fresh and understated, aided quite substantially by the constant shuffle of shakers and with the groove of a melodic bassline. Peña's vocals are breathy and faraway, soaked in reverb, nearly whispered.

There are some lovely little melodies in this. Sometimes they come from simple three-note ditties on guitars, palm-muted snippets of funk, and synth horns, other times they are plaintive tunes on a harmonica or drips of a steel drum. At like 2:11 there's a really nice acoustic solo that's all slide and string buzz, a small touch of wild-west folk in the midst of an indie-pop gallop. Lusciously flowing, it is as danceable and groovesome as it is nice to chill to - but it doesn't overpower you. It's understated throughout, strangely innocent in its resignation to guilt - 'Honest' is a good word for it.

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TIM BURGESS THE ECONOMY

This is just the kind of music that you need on a sunny Wednesday evening, chilled and gentle, like the gradual drooping of the sun as it glints upon the world from sideways. Long shadows and longer cocktails. Trimmed lawns and trees waving in languid rhythms. Clouds lightly dusting the sky. Yeah, just like these things.

It's just the kind of scene that this song - 'The Economy' by Tim Burgess - serves as a rather nice soundtrack. I have to admit, when I first heard it I was like "...what" - BUT! I was soon won over by the peaceful grooves of the song, smoothed and lulled into a state of chill. Verily.

What begins as something that you could find playing in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants - y'know, cause of the particularly beach-bum, lapping-waves feel of the subtle slide guitar in the background and the general happy feel of the skiffly acoustic guitar - turns quickly into a multi-layered well-textured almost, well - probably actually, psychedelic song.

Nice eh? Really nice. You can see what I mean though, right? It does start with this Hawaiian feel, but into this really nicely built monumental psychedelic soft rock/pop rock song. The falsetto vocals throughout peek just above everything else, always remaining audible and strangely soothing, keeping to a catchy melodic pattern. But it doesn't take centre stage, and actually - nothing in this song does take centre stage. Everything works as one, each element allowing the others their own breathing space and own little chances to shine.

A 60s-hippie type vibe bemists the song when a flute begins playing, cool and reedy, weaving a breathy melody around the staple strumming pattern of the guitar. But the real surprise is a guitar solo, a really overdriven electric guitar, playing understatedly but with force and passion, taking us soaring up into the clouds towards the end of the song, where all the sounds are culminating - support vocals enriching it with their harmonies, the thickening effects of distorted guitars joining the acoustic rhythm, a breezy synth filling in the gaps.

Full-flavoured yet gently chilled (like I said, it's perfect summer evening music), it comes from his second album Oh No I Love You, released last year. I had no idea but Tim Burgess is lead singer of The Charlatans, boy am I stupid.

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WASHED OUT IT ALL FEELS RIGHT

Well well well well, it is some more music as usual. Except this time it's not as "as usual" as you'd think because it involves a quite drastic style change of the person I am writing about. Yes, that's right: it's Washed Out (aka Ernest Greene). I first encountered this guy, not actually in real life but musically, like two years ago when I wrote about his song 'Eyes Be Closed' which came from his debut album Within Without. That stuff is very different from what I have discovered today. Yes. It seems as though Mr Greene has eschewed (what a horrible word, I hate it) the majorly reverb soaked Balearic slowdown of his older material in favour of something a whole lot more acoustic. It's still down-tempo and it's still chilled out but it's different yo it's just different - mind you, I'm judging this all from one song: 'It All Feels Right'.

Yeah. And I suppose since lyric videos mostly always end up getting made, why not make a lyric video to begin with?

In the general sound of this track there is a whole lot more that lends itself to trippy psychedelic rock than to what is known as "chillwave" as such. The drums sound a lot more 'live' for a start, and there are other tangible sounds like a rambling acoustic guitar in there somewhere, as well as woody strings that provide a triumphant kinda vibe. However when it comes to the musical change after the refrain "It all feels right..." everything turns a whole lot more trippy, blissful sounds rain down, and everything could just as well be playing underwater or in space with that kind of atmosphere change. A little bit Animal Collective y'know.

It is a stark change. A direction that I neither expected nor desired but one that, now that it's happened, ain't 'alf bad. Only joking, it is really nice. Smooth and liquidy. Positive and all-encompassing. A sound that definitely reflects the fact that it all feels right, so don't worry. And still there are those vocals which don't seem to come from anywhere, all adrift in a very wide sea of sound.

Whew. And and and: it comes from his NEW ALBUM which is coming out 12th August and is called Paracosm.

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MAY.E あなた [YOU]

Does it really truly matter if you can't understand the words of a song? Is it crucial to your understanding of the song? Surely if the music reflects the lyrics, or if the general mood that song gives you is in line with the intended mood, lyrics included, then an understanding of the lyrics is just a bonus. Right?

I mean there are even some songs in English where you can find it difficult to figure out what the vocals are saying and that's like the only language I really understand - I'm sure that other people would say, "yes this is true". Anyway, my point is, even if you enjoy music from your own language, do you know the lyrics instantly? No. And look at 'Gangnam Style' - not many British people know Korean yet there it was, Number 1.

So with that pre-emptive strike (boom), I present some very very pretty music from may.e. The last song I wrote about of hers was a cutesy-electro rap, but the following is more her style - dreamy and acoustic. It's called 'あなた', which means 'You'.

With effective chord changes and a percussive strumming pattern, the song is entirely acoustic with a gentle guitar melody pinged over the top, with the only other decoration being may.e's drawn out vocals, almost ghostly with their reverberating echoes above the raw guitar. There are some harmonies in the vocals, giving an extra brightness to the sound of her voice, something like slats of light shining in through window shutters that illuminate slow currents of dust. The sound is at once heartfelt yet delicate.

And you can pretty much assume this is a love song. How? Well, "love" is one of the tags on the SoundCloud version of this song. That, and the general tone of the song evokes a kind of longing, something that isn't complete or happy, but not wholly sad either, a kind of void almost - the gap between being alone and being yourself filled by the one you love - in this case: the nameless "you". Is that too deep? Meh whatever, it's a very nice song.

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NOAMIKO COUCH SURFER

It's quite astounding sometimes how a song can turn from the most simple melody imaginable into something positively brimming with texture and a rising tide of sounds.

Well, this is exactly what Tel Aviv-based NoamiKo has done in his song 'Couch Surfer' - beginning with a simple acoustic guitar tune, just four notes, you can kind of tell the direction in which the song will go when the notes begin to vibrate glitchily. It's a masterclass in building up a castle of a track from a simple hillock of a tune. There are some lovely noises that go towards helping the song grow: electronic effects dousing the glitched-out acoustic guitar to go perfectly with the slow-heartbeat of the drums, a harpsichord-or-glockenspiel sound, the backwards chill beat vibe in general.

Lovely stuff - listen fo yo self.

See what I mean? It's a builder. And what's good is that it comes around full circle, too - a complete song with edges and everything, just like a shape, gradually moving from what it was to what it will be via what it is. Yep. From its glitch-folk beginnings, the song goes into an electro-ised Wild West theme, the vocals beginn to harmonise and multiply with plenty of echo over an epic-sounding thumping-and-rattling beat.

Very very nice, a rustic-future vibe here. It's just a shame that there aren't that many further uploads after 'Couch Surfer', which is about a year old as it is. So treasure this track!

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ALMA ELSTE JULIAN

Simplicity is sometimes best. It is best when it works well. And do you know where it works well exactly? In some songs, yes - but also and particularly in this specific song called 'Julian' by the as-yet-unsigned Alma Elste.

It's a really beautiful song by a girl from Paris in her early twenties - but it doesn't seem to matter about age because her sound is so refined and mature that age becomes a really kind of pointless thing. In fact, I'm sorry for even mentioning it. But in all seriousness, there is a tragic frankness in her voice, lyrics and even the music itself that lends a unique sadness to the ambient chill of the song. That said, the lyrics are quite interesting in their simplistic yet cryptic matter-of-factness:

the house
is empty
the chess game
is underneath the bed
i fell
you ordered me to make mistakes

Put these kinds of words to any kind of music and it will create instant pathos, almost guaranteed. The meaning of the lyrics on a specific level may be lost on us, but the words certainly evoke a kind of lonely helplessness that's for sure. So when the music is just as heartfelt as the lyrics, it's quite a combination indeed. Listen for yourself.

It begins rather unexpectedly with a huge long low rumbling sub-bass note that puts you on edge before you even hear the haunting song itself. And then the guitar. That guitar is really something, I think. The chords in the 'chorus' parts (as there is no real chorus) are surprising, and jump out at you, jarring and off-key and perfectly fitting therefore with the "I fell..." lyric, turned to wordless "oooo"s at the end, illustrating with music whatever unsavoury or unpleasant situation inspired this song. One can make guesses from the title, 'Julian', I suppose.

Yet it's not actually that sad of a song. Ironically, I do think that is the reason why it sounds so heartbreaking - it's just honest, that's all: whatever's being felt, or whatever was felt, was made into a song. Simple as that. But for more music from Alma, you can wait till September for a new EP, or you can check her bandcamp, where you can find her interesting blend of instrumental, incidental and plaintive chill in the form of her earlier Savour Kindness EP that she put out last July. Definitely looking forward to hearing more though.

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STRFKR BEACH MONSTER

This lovely ditty comes from STRFKR or Starfucker, if you like, and it's called 'Beach Monster'. Now that we have the obvious out of the way: what is Starfucker? can we ever know the true nature of Starfucker?

It's a band. From Oregon (USA, duh). And no, we cannot know the true nature of STRFKR. But why not? Well, like all good 'electronica' bands, they instantly have a varied and suits-all kind of sound. Like, your sister will love to sing along to them but you will rave to them. As interchangeable as their own shock-factor name and the capitalised, vowelless version of it (and their brief moniker of PYRAMID). And it's a distinct luxury only at the disposal of indie/pop/electro bands who surfaced in the later days of the 2000s - take MGMT for instance and compare Oracular Spectacular and Congratulations: WELL different.

Anyway that's all theory and conjecture and whatever. Better than me just writing omg heres strfkr with a new song copypastepressrelease. Well, maybe it isn't. Who knows? Let's just listen to the song, shall we?

It's from their 3rd album, out now, called Miracle Mile. I like it, in all its psychedelia-tinged pop loveliness. The whole Buddy Holly thing that's going on the video never gets old for me (I adore Weezer's 'Buddy Holly', what a great video) but as for the song itself, it's fab. The yearning faraway lo-fi vocals and that sitting-on-a-beach acoustic guitar lend themselves to a summery aesthetic that I'm either imagining (due to lack of sun in England) or that is inherent in this song. Probably the latter because it is called 'Beach Monster' after all.

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Like STRFKR on Facebook
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Hear more STRFKR on Myspace
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Learn about STRFKR on Wikipedia

ALT-J ∆ AN AWESOME WAVE

Finally. Finally. Finally.

Finally, I have drummed up enough energy to write about this amazing album. It truly is. From distorted sub-bass to folk guitar and literary references, this album has it all and delivers it in such a stylishly effortless way, allowing you to sit back and soak it all up like some kind of joyous land sponge with an addictive personality.

I saw that it'd been extensively covered online, yet the word of mouth is only just starting. So please start now, and please share these wonderful sounds to all of your friends. This can be enjoyed in any country, at any time of day, with any people, in any mood, by people of any age, any class, any musical preferences, any backgrounds. I think the word is 'universal'.

So anyway, this is alt-J, or ∆ if you like. The name is how to make that little triangle on Mac keyboards. As mentioned by bassist in the band, Gwil, "in mathematical equations it’s used to show change" and it couldn't have been more apt. The music on this fantastic album An Awesome Wave marks some kind of change: it's very different to a lot of what I've heard before.

Kindly enough the band put the whole album on SoundCloud. That's a tick next to their name. Not only this but they were also kind enough to provide notes to each song. It helps explain the album, which fortunately or unfortunately (depends how you look at it), needs a bit of explaining at some points. 'Intro' for example is described as having been originally called 'Nod to Canon' and in fact acts a tribute to "everything that we have unconsciously borrowed/stolen which has unwittingly contributed to our body of work to date."

That 'canon' encompasses Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are in 'Breezeblocks', Luc Besson's Leon in 'Matilda', Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. and Robert Capa and Gerda Taro (two war photographers) in 'Taro'. In addition to fictional/well-known influences, there's the death of a matador referenced in 'Something Good', a childhood memory in 'Dissolve Me', and a violent experience in 'Bloodflood'. It's packed full to the brim of these influences and is perhaps what makes An Awesome Wave such an enjoyable listen.



For example, I didn't know anything about those war photographers. I looked them up when I first listened to the song. Now I know about them. Things that make new connections in the brain are quite exceptional. But really, alt-J have just used the simplest and most effective formula existing to create music: as Steve Jobs said, "Creativity is just connecting things."

I've already written too much, I'm so sorry. Musically, this album is just as good as it is conceptually. Some stand-out parts, then. There are the altered, guttural vocals on 'Intro' - highlighting the strength and unique nature of the vocals in general. Similarly, the refrained, subsequently layered and sung in a round style 'Please don't go, I love you so' in 'Breezeblocks' is sheer pleasure to listen to (same in 'Matilda' - you forget the power of repetition). The shivering, lusty vocal style in 'Tesselate' is something great too, sounding like whispers from the heart of the world. The refrain in 'Something Good' is beautifully catchy, too.

That song also includes a great drop into its more folksy part at around a quarter of the way into the track, blissfully sending you out in a row boat onto a lake bubbling with new and old sounds that come up to greet you like cartoon fish. The childish, happy rhythms of 'Dissolve Me' support the conceptual childhood memory that runs through the song lyrically and there's this beautiful nostalgia that is ingrained into all parts of that song just popping out of it like fireworks.

Juxtaposition of acoustic guitars (the first interlude, for example), vocal harmonies (splendorous in 'Ms' and the stunning hidden track 'Hand-Made') and real drum sounds with meaty and nearly disfiguring extended bass notes, wildly distorted and spine-straighteningly strong, is refreshing to hear. Strongest in 'Intro', 'Dissolve Me' and especially 'Fitzpleasure' (whose now-and-again guitar riff is hollow, hard and heavy), it's an example of the 'folk-step' sound they seemed to have created.

Just as brilliant creating energy and making you feel crazy as they are being prettily minimalistic and chilled (as in parts of 'Bloodflood' and 'Taro'), these diverse musicians seem set for great things. Could write even more. Says it all. Sorry for wasting your time. Buy this album.

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• alt-J on SoundCloud
• Here's their official site
• And their Tumblr page
• Here they are on Facebook
• This is their YouTube channel
• Follow alt-J on Twitter
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