After being discovered straight out of his garage in Austin by Neon Indian to cover one of their songs, the young Austin artist Jesse Woods has had kind of a wild summer. “I finished up a couple new recordings (his song “Sparks” and the cover of Neon Indian’s “Mind, Drips”), and then went on a grass roots tour up the west coast (Jesse was brought along as support on an 11-date West Coast tour with the Austin band Sunset, the new project of Bill Baird, former Sound Team frontman), and when I came back home, the record was finished. They used an old painting of mine for the cover. I like crayons better.”

Not a bad turn around for the admittingly spacey, 6′4″ crayon artist born in rural Texas. The small boutique Venice Beach label Guns in the Sun pressed 300 vinyls for Jesse, featuring his recently recorded dusty desert crawler “Sparks”, his 2-year old baroque pop gem “Ugly Dress”, his haunting and heralded cover of “Mind, Drips”, and a special B-side track reminiscing his experience living in a hostel in Venice Beach called “Neon Rose”. The dusty, dreamy, outlaw sound of this EP has already drawn comparisons to the work of AA Bondy, Rocky Votolato, Bon Iver, and Townes Van Zandt. Jesse is headed in the studio this fall with Bill Baird producing his debut full length.

Order the vinyl from
http://www.gunsinthesun.com/main/releases/

Pick it up on iTunes at
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/moon-rocks/id387741539

Check out Jesse on
http://jessewoods.bandcamp.com/

Moon Rocks tracklist

1. Sparks
2. Ugly Dress
3. Mind, Drips (Neon Indian Cover)
4. Neon Rose
5. Neon Rose (Drum Mix)

This 3 song EP is the first solo release by Ned Oldham (of The Anomoanon fame and brother of Will Oldham aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy). Recorded in Baltimore at the Blue Third Floor and released as a limited edition (small run of 500) 7″ record on colored vinyl, these are the first recordings since 2004’s Joji by The Anomoanon. The EP, titled Let’s Go Out Tonight, carries a lot of weight in the 3 songs; though steeped in Americana and folk traditions, the tracks showcase Ned’s penchant for bitter/bright lyrics and beautiful compositions.

The 7″ EP is available now via Gold Robot Records.

“The One Light”

Thicker Milk, the sprawling twenty-one song opus from Norfolk, Virginia’s The Super Vacations, finds the band expanding in every possible way. Since the release of their self-titled debut in 2008, the band has expanded its ranks to a formidable five-piece, giving the band’s psych-surf nuggets a bigger, more aggressive, and occasionally darker sound.

Recorded over the past two years by the band in various locations, Thicker Milk is a record that dips its toes in psych, surf, pop, and points in-between without ever sounding nostalgic or dated. Over the course of thirty-five minutes, the band whittle their precision riffs and ethereal harmonies down to perfect pockets of sound. Easily one of the definitive pop records of the year.

Thicker Milk will be available September 14th, 2010 via SHDWPLY Records.

The Super Vacations on MySpace

Thicker Milk Tracklist

1. Moss
2. Be Glad
3. Ten Second Freak Out
4. Beehive
5. Yllw Hss
6. Moon
7. Glowing
8. Eternal House
9. Safe at Home
10. Into the Void
11. Proton
12. White Lodge
13. Bikini
14. Ask a Comb
15. Celebration
16. ???
17. Guacamole
18. 1000 Mirrors
19. Psychic Friends
20. Free Tree
21. Thank You

With the release of Ice Cream Bones, an EP, in May of 2009, A Lull was a band that was confident, but was somewhat still searching for its sound. After countless more hours in practice spaces, basements and bedrooms, A Lull kept at it, and after over seventy-five songs and partial song ideas, something began to take shape. In May of 2010, A Lull released Weapons For War/Spread It All Around, a vinyl and digital single from its upcoming full-length record, Confetti.

Using a mixture of conventional and non-traditional recording techniques, A Lull employs anything and everything available to create beats, melodies, textures and layers of sound. The music is experimental in the ways that it takes form, but is accessible and captivating.

While writing and recording Confetti, A Lull has played extensively in its hometown of Chicago as well as around the Midwest and the rest of the country with a focus on the East Coast and most recently Austin, Texas for SXSW 2010.

A Lull plans to release Confetti later in 2010 and the band will continue to tour extensively in support of it. This is truly a band that needs to be seen live in order to fully appreciate their talent; as a six-piece with all members playing drums together at times, the energy is top notch and by no means a lull.

A Lull on MySpace

The Polyamorous Affair is a nomadic-by-way-of-Los Angeles duo who weave a rich fantasy world into their own mischievous brand of electronic pop. The duo which formed in Denmark in 2007 is comprised of Eddie Chacon and Sissy Sainte-Marie who currently divide their time between Copenhagen and Berlin. Today (August 16th) they release their 3rd album, Strange Bedfellows. Widely acclaimed across the board from NME to Dazed Digital to bedroom bloggers, The Polyamorous Affair have become known for their strategic simplicity, chilly beats and warm vibes, all set in some bizarre frame of opulence. Their latest album finds the two conjuring up a strangely seductive electronic hybrid laced with haunting guitars and live percussion that pull you in, spellbound. Their live show is a multi-media experience featuring pioneering Visualist Mr. Cocoon.

Strange Bedfellows, the third release from The Polyamorous Affair finds the duo offering surprisingly few duets, instead each branching into two distinct styles. The album breathes and pulsates with vibrancy and balance. Eddie reconnects with his soul roots and traditional songwriting while Sissy taps into dreams and trails off on mystical disco byways. The alluringly distant front woman is at times angelic (Softer and Softer, The Avenues) and at times possessed by the Harlot of Babylon (Fantasy, Hypnotized), entities she seems to exorcise on the album’s grande finale, Rebel. Eddie floats with mercilessly beauty in flawless falsetto over big swinging beats (Strange, Shadows) and surprises us with some masterful guitar skills he has humbly hidden up his sleeve (Shadows, Swan Song, Rebel). – Winter Palace Records, 2010

The Polyamorous Affair on MySpace

Strange Bedfellows Tracklist:

1. Hypnotized
2. Strange
3. Softer and Softer
4. Fantasy
5. Shadows
6. The Avenues
7. Bright One
8. Swan Song
9. Witch
10. Rebel

As premiered on Stereogum today, Roman Ruins, solo project of Beach House and Papercuts’ touring drummer concocted this woozy remix of Beach House’s “Lover of Mine”. The remix comes in promotion of his newest PASTOR/AL 7″ available now via Gold Robot Records.

Roman Ruins is Graham Hill’s solo project exploring the mystical link between song and architecture. Like a building, the music is an assembly of components. The pieces are built around a rhythmic skeleton that informs the skin and flesh sounds that surround it. When not crafting songs, Graham plays drums for Beach House and Papercuts.

Roman Ruins on Myspace

PASTOR/AL 7″ Tracklist

1. Roman Ruins – Why Party?
2. Roman Ruins – The Comedown

Beach House “Lover of Mine (Roman Ruins Remix)”

My House
As announced today, Sacramento’s Ganglians were added to the support slot for Jenny and Johnny (aka Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice) for two California shows. See below for full tour dates.

Falling somewhere between the noise-pop of bands like Wavves and Woods and the blissed-out psychedelia of the Beach Boys, Sacramento, CA’s Ganglians features Ryan Grubbs, Kyle Hoover, Alex Sowles, and Adrian Comenzind. Grubbs met Sowles when he moved from Portland, OR to Sacramento, and met Comenzind, who introduced him to Hoover. They began trading tracks they had recorded at home, and when Grubbs was asked to play a show, Hoover, Comenzind, and Sowles became his backing band. The band’s name came from a cross of the words “gang” and “aliens,” not the term referring to an external bundle of nerves. The band spent much of 2008 recording, and their debut single, a limited-edition split 7″ with Eat Skull, appeared in January 2009 on Dulc-i-Tone Records. The band’s tours and releases came quickly after that, with an appearance at that year’s South by Southwest festival that March and a self-titled EP and a full-length album, Monster Head Room, arriving within weeks of each in May on the hip lo-fi label Woodsist. Where Ganglians was abrasive and self-recorded, Monster Head Room found the band working with an engineer friend who helped them get a cleaner sound that was innocent and trippy at the same time. The band spent the summer playing shows, including a set at the Smmr Bmmr festival in Portland, and closed out the year with a 7″ on Captured Tracks in October. – Heather Phares

Ganglians on Myspace

Jenny and Johnny Tour Dates (Ganglians Dates in Bold)

09/01 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theater $
09/02 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
09/03 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall $
09/05 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
09/06 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot
09/08 – Salt Lake City, NV @ The State Room
09/11 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
09/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
09/13 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
09/14 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
09/16 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
09/18 – Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena *
09/19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Waterfront *
09/21 – Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwells
09/22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
09/23 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
09/24 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
09/25 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
10/03 – Hollywood, CA @ Hollywood Palladium #

$ = w/ Ganglians
* = w/ Pavement
# = w/ Belle & Sebastian

Elephant and Castle is a kaleidoscope of sound; twisting and grooving to create music all it’s own. Based out of Oakland, California, it is the project of musician/sound engineer David Reep. Starting with a love of old vinyl and the endless digging through old thrift stores, Elephant and Castle was formed with the idea of making modern music out of mostly vintage material. Similar to new bands such as Flying Lotus, The Samps, Free the Robots and drawing from the legends such as Madlib, Juan Atkins, and Derrick May, Elephant and Castle attempts to bridge the gap between cheese and soul.

During time spent living overseas as a youth in London, England, David absorbed the early 90′s electronic scene as well as the explosion of Britpop. There he became obsessed with learning the guitar, eventually leading to him picking up bass, keys and drums. Upon returning to Houston, Texas for high school he was primed for the booming rave scene, seeing many of his heros spin vinyl in forgotten warehouses. After moving to California for college, he started the record label Third Culture Records and continues to dedicate his time and effort to support new artists.

Elephant and Castle’s debut release, Analogue EP will be available August 31st via Third Culture Records.

Elephant and Castle on BandCamp

Analogue EP Tracklist

1. The Look
2. Anatari
3. All 303’s Go To Heaven
4. LA Gear
5. The Grey Area

Fielded is the solo project of Lindsay Powell, vocalist of Ga’an and one half of sister songstresses Festival. By mainly using vocals and minimal instrumentation, Powell explores the many moods that can be created through experimentation with voice as leader rather than follower of the amplified instrument. She straddles dark and light, her lyrics reaching into depths; her voice reaching toward the sky. Her set hovers, fluid and with feeling – a church chorus, cacophonous chants, a post-apocalyptic pop paradise but always of the throat and of the heart.

Fielded is set to release vinyl-only Terrageist September 7th via Catholic Tapes. She is currently on the road touring with Psychic Steel (tour dates below).

Fielded on MySpace

Terrageist Tracklist

1. The Watcher
2. Demon Seed
3. Red Queen
4. All the Best
5. Another Time
6. Come the Day
7. Reason
8. Fire Rock Walls
9. Cowershells

Fielded Tour Dates

8/10 Kansas City @ The Blarney Stone (38th & Broadway) with All Blood
8/11 Norman, OK with Universe City @ Bill & Dee’s (311 East Main St.)
8/12 Denton TX with Orange Coax @ Majestic Dwelling of Doom
8/13 Austin TX with Expensive Shit & Soft Healer @ Cheer Up Charlie’s
8/14 Houston TX @ Notsuoh
8/15 New Orleans @ Joey’s House! Join us for a special late lunch show!!
8/16 Atlanta GA @ 529 FREE!!!!
8/17 Columbia SC @ Jefferson Mayday Mayday’s
8/18 Greensboro MAYA GALLERY
8/19 Richmond VA & MY BIRTHDAY
8/20 Baltimore MD TBA
8/21 Philly @ Tire Island
8/22 NYC @ Death by Audio with Lichens and Driphouse
8/23 NYC @ Bruar Falls with Kevin Hufnagel (of Dysrhythmia) and Religious to Damn
8/24 Providence, RI @ Operateque
8/25 Allston, MA @ Problem House (11 Islington St.) with Water & Skimask
8/26 Northampton @ Media Mansion (George’s House)
8/27 Buffalo, NY @ TBA with Shapes of States
8/28 Cleveland, OH @ The Front Room Gallery (3615 Superior Avenue) with Mark McGuire & Pimlo
8/29 Columbus @ SKYLAB
8/30 Louisville
8/31 Lexington
9/1 St. Louis
9/2 Columbia
9/3 Iowa City @ White Lightning Warehouse

Nice Purse’s debut record Black Medal is due out August 10th via SoTM

Nice Purse began as the brainchild of singer/songwriter France Camp. France was looking for better methods towards spare change, and started “busking” around the Minneapolis Uptown area. After an extensive bout with covers, France eventually grew bored and started writing his own songs. France emailed a few of his tracks to his childhood friend Ian “Indian” Davis who was instantly charmed by the passionate sounds France was creating. The duo soon signed up good friends Dylan and Elise to join them on their debut album “Black Medal”. Nice Purse is a blend of Violent Femmes and Bright Eyes, with a tiny bit of The Modern Lovers tossed in. Their songs are celebrations, often with their roots in tragedy.

Nice Purse’s songs seem to be wrought with equal amounts of insecurity and confidence. It is this mixture that makes France’s insights so poignant. Even if you’ve never loved and lost, France will pull at your heartstrings and pull you into his lush musical world. Their new studio recordings (to be released on the Minneapolis label, SoTM) show a surprisingly mature side to the sounds of Nice Purse. There are more than brief moments of greatness on their debut album Black Medal.

Nice Purse on MySpace

Black Medal Tracklist:
1. Heart Medley
2. Bloody Tamourines
3. Blacker Water
4. Ice Cream Graveyards
5. That’s the Tude
6. The Loon
7. Hold My Gun
8. Kathalaugh
9. Moonlit Hugs
10. Pharmacy
11. Travel
12. Panther Like Me