In ancient Greek, “Hecatomb” is the word for “large-scale sacrifice or slaughter”; in Audion ’s universe, it’s a live audio/visual experience like no other. Visually, Hecatomb is a dazzling, gorgeous assault of light that spins and twists into the ether. Musically, it’s the new live Audion—a relentless percussive onslaught that will leave you breathless. A whirlwind of light and sound, Hecatomb was created by longtime Audion art director Will Calcutt and renowned artist Eno Henze.
Audion spent the summer bringing Hecatomb to a series of European clubs and festivals—now, he’s finally transporting his spectacle to North America, making nine exclusive appearances in the US and Canada this month. The dates:
11.06 San Francisco, CA @ Mighty
11.07 Los Angeles, CA @ Avalon Hollywood
11.12 Montreal, QC @ Karma
11.14 Vancouver, BC @ Lotus Sound Lounge
11.16 Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
11.19 Washington, DC @ Muse
11.20 Chicago, IL @ Smart Bar
11.21 Toronto, ON @ Footwork
11.28 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
Here's a stream of the new Audion track "That's That":
Ylajali is the debut full-length from Syntaks, the Danish duo of Jakob Skott and Anna Cecilia.
In Ylajali’s beautifully scorched sonic landscape, acres of drones run beneath Cecilia’s wordless sighs; Skott’s beats crunch like autumn leaves while synthesizers swell, flourish, and disappear. Songs either tramp through hazy forests until they fade into the dark (the Boards of Canada-esque “Love Camp 23”), or stack tone upon tone like translucent building blocks, building to forceful, near-operatic crescendos (the epic “She Moves in Colors”). Syntaks’ luminous Ylajali crackles with emotion and imagination, giving form to its creators’ vibrant inner lives.
Syntaks’ Jakob Skott created the above video for the song “Twentytwohundred” (from his group’s full-length Ylajali), in which the parallels between the Danish artist’s visual and aural sensibilities are on full display. Warm, saturated colors and dreamy, abstract imagery fill the clip with a sense of nostalgic wonder, echoing the music’s romantic commingling of the real and unreal. Download "Twentytwohundred" below.
The Murmur EP, the follow-up to The Sight Below ’s 2008 full-length Glider, is a bracing step forward for the reclusive Seattle-based artist, comprising two new songs and two remixes, several of which were recorded as collaborations with Slowdive’s Simon Scott.
Whereas Glider was the picture of consistency—a seamless suite of dreamy, gaseous guitar tones and subtle four-on-the-floor techno beats—The Sight Below uses the Murmur EP as an opportunity for expansion, turning up the contrast on his silky tones to expose an even more deeply textured sound with a powerful emotional effect.
With our compliments, enjoy this free MP3 of "At First Touch (Simon Scott Remix)," one of The Sight Below's many collaborations with the erstwhile Slowdiver.
Ghostly affiliate Moodgadget Records releases music by exclusively up-and-coming artists; with the Nocturnal Suite, Moodgadget not only “exposes the diversity in electronic music” (the label’s mission statement), it unites dazzlingly talented, like-minded artists working in wildly divergent stylistic fields into a grand, unified whole. Like its predecessors, the Moodgadget-curated Rorschach Suite and Synchronicity Suite, the Nocturnal Suite plays like a lovingly assembled mixtape, compiling brief, catchy, electronic-minded pop songs built for obsessive repeat listening.
School of Seven Bells’ debut is an electronically enhanced pop record of dizzying highs and claustrophobic lows, whose painstaking conception shows in its detail-laden crevices. On Alpinisms ’ best tracks, Benjamin Curtis constructs layers of shoegazing, moire-patterned guitars, while sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza intertwine their near-identical voices like the fingers of praying hands. Throughout, the whole heavenly affair is tethered to the ground with a glitchy, tribal thwomp.
Due to popular demand and the record’s near-universal acclaim, we’re re-releasing Alpinisms in collaboration with Vagrant Records. The digital-only Alpinisms (Deluxe Version) features nine bonus tracks including demo versions, alternate takes, and new mixes of songs from the album.
Here's a free stream of "Wired for Light (Live Drums Version)":
Lee Curtiss and Spectral Sound have been running in the same pack for years—finally, after sufficiently circling each other and sniffing each others’ business, Spectral and Lee have joined forces to release the Detroit producer’s Black Door EP, and it’s a doozy. Curtiss traffics in airtight, undeniable dance tracks with a trickster’s sense of experimentation—The Black Door EP is all that and more, a beguiling 12” whose charms multiply with each listen.
In this video introduction to Spectral Sound artist Bodycode, filmmaker Shai Levy follows Alan Abrahams (aka Bodycode) as he prepares for a live set in Berlin. As the camera looks on, Abrahams gathers his gear and drives through the colorful streets of Berlin; all the while, the producer ruminates on his love of his native sounds and the changing nature of electronic music. Look closely and you’ll see labelmates Matthew Dear and Ryan Elliott.
Syntaks’ Mistral Moon EP is a free taste of the Danish duo’s upcoming full-length Ylajali, comprising two tracks of densely layered ambient pop. Syntaks’ songs are textural epics in miniature, meticulously detailed shoegaze symphonies built from Anna Cecilia’s wordless vocalizations and Jakob Skott’s breathtaking production.
Loscil’s ambient compositions, on the other hand, exist between worlds. Both electronic and naturalistic, drone-based and melodic, rhythmic and adrift, the Vancouver producer’s three-track Strathcona Variations is both placid and filled with dread, a suite of gentle, barely-there compositions whose odd, surreal beauty can’t be underestimated.
The title of Deastro’s “Tone Adventure #3” may evoke a “working title”-like looseness (why name a song when you can number it?) but the track itself is one of Moondagger’s tightest. ‘Tone Adventure #3’ is an archetypal Deastro song, as Randolph Chabot sprints through catchy, melodic passages with maniacal conviction, howling about his feet being strapped to cannon balls from behind a wall of electronically conjured atmosphere. In keeping with its title, “Tone Adventure #3” is Moondagger’s brush with psychedelia, warping its instruments into unrecognizable, mutant sound-entities. Glockenspiels, spy-movie guitars, orchestral stabs, and alien ray guns all make appearances—as they should in any good adventure.
Having floated a string of successful support tours (with M83, Fujiya & Miyagi, and Bat for Lashes, among others) and one full-length album (last year’s Alpinisms recently re-released on Vagrant Records), our little School of Seven Bells is all grown up. Tomorrow, the Brooklyn dream-trio embarks on a monthlong jaunt around North America, hitting dates on the east and west coasts and at the Austin City Limits and CMJ festivals. Be there, or be miserable that you missed yet another opportunity to see one great live act. The schedule is as follows:
* 09.25 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas
* 09.26 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
* 09.27 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
* 09.28 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
* 09.29 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
* 10.01 Austin, TX @ Emo's (Alternative Lounge)
* 10.02 Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
* 10.04 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
* 10.05 Los Angeles, CA, @ Troubadour
* 10.06 San Francisco, CA, @ Slim's
* 10.08 Portland, OR, @ Doug Fir Lounge
* 10.09 Vancouver, BC, @ Biltmore Cabaret
* 10.10 Seattle, WA, @ Neumos
* 10.13 Minneapolis, MN, @ 7th Street Entry
* 10.14 Chicago, IL, @ Empty Bottle
* 10.15 Toronto, ON, @ Lee's Palace
* 10.16 Northampton, MA, @ Pearl Street Nightclub
* 10.17 Boston, MA, @ Paradise
* 10.23 New York, NY, @ CMJ Music Marathon (Webster Hall)
.jpg)
