Listen: Tiny Ruins & Hamish Kilgour - "Hurtling Through"

photo by Georgie Craw

Right around the time New Zealand singer/songwriter Hollie Fullbrook aka Tiny Ruins played her first CMJ show in 2013 she connected with Hamish Kilgour of The Clean. Originally sitting in with her for a couple of shows that week, it's a relationship that ultimately ended up being more fruitful than just guest appearances at Fullbrook's NYC shows. Late last they released Hurtling Through, an EP recorded over the better part of a year in between tours.

In terms of Tiny Ruins' previous output, "Hurtling Through" probably most resembles what listeners heard during Fullbrook and Kilgour's initial CMJ pairing in style alone since the two hadn't even worked on the EP's tracks together then. Kilgour's touch is minimal and unobtrusive but hardly frivolous: his percussive embellishments setting Tiny Ruins normal folksy ruminations slightly askew in a way that's certainly refreshing. Also Kilgour's addition of windchimes, tambourine, and jaw harp give the song a delightful amount of color. Fullbrook continues to be impressive form - craft a tale of love and support that's intimate and interesting in its gentle tug of war. Fullbrook has long shown an understanding and appreciation for human nature and how people actually behave that's helped to imbue her songs with a sense of naturalism and that's on display here as Fullbrook explores the very real reaction of when support is offered and not necessarily wanted. In "Hurtling Through" the support given isn't easily accepted and there's a bit of emotional spillover between the would-be helper and the person they feel obliged to help.



Fullbrook's lyrics always seem to be at their peak when she takes a small ephemeral moment or universal truth and expounds upon it (like Brightly Painted One standout "Me At The Museum, You At The Wintergardens"), and that's certainly true of "Hurtling Through". The EP is a wonderful follow up to her previous effort, her sophomore full length Brightly Painted One and "Hurtling Through" is a worthwhile introduction to Fullbrook's collaboration with Hamish Kilgour. A set of 7 strong songs, it certainly bodes well for the next Tiny Ruins full length so here's hoping that's not too far away.

The collaborative Tiny Ruins & Hamish Kilgour Hurtling Through EP is out now and available for purchase via Fullbrook's Bandcamp and available in physical versions via Bella Union in Europe, Spunk! Records in Australia, or Flying Nun in Fullbrook's native New Zealand.

Listen: Conveyor - "What a Low Heart"

Brooklyn based experimental pop quartet Conveyor are a lot of things. They're the aforementioned set of descriptors; they're a band that pushes themselves in everything that they do to make music that interests them and as a result are interesting to the listener. They're the rare band able to find and incorporate the humor in the very process of being a band. Conveyor are the kind of band you miss immediately after the record stops or they leave the stage. Thankfully, the foursome are back to release a new batch off tunes they've been playing for the better part of about three years, even while supporting their previous release Prime, an experimental film score to George Lucas' THX 1138.

"What a Low Heart", the first single from their forthcoming album Ready Not Ready, essentially finds the band picking up where they left off on their self-titled full length debut. The band's at home in their kaleidoscopic bursts of technicolor, and yet, it's not quite the same. On their new record the band set out to create a record that they could play with their usual set up of 2 guitars, bass, and drums, and that might very well be the most impressive thing about "What a Low Heart": that the band can pull the sounds they do out of just these four instruments. They've numerous years of playing together and yet that familiarity has bred experimentation even as the band strives to simplify.




Conveyor's new album Ready Not Ready is out July 22nd on Gold Robot Records. You can pre-order the record now.

Listen/Watch: Sur Back - "Trophy Daughter"

After a fair bit of teasing with previous singles "Jane Eyre" and "Occam's Razor", Jupiter, Florida based one-woman outfit Sur Back has a brand new single out in the form of "Trophy Daughter". And with it, some equally exciting news that her debut record Kitsch, an album she's been promising for at least the past two years, will finally see the light of day next month.

Falling in love with Caroline San's music since she released her debut single "Jane Eyre" back in mid 2014, and even more so after being asked to co-premiere its thrilling music video, "Trophy Daughter" shows that Sans is a highly capable artist capable of beguiling versatility. Unlike "Jane Eyre" with it's complex time signatures, brass samples, and stuttering production, "Trophy Daughter" is all flowing melodies and sighing vocals. Sans has drawn comparisons to her musical idol St. Vincent on pretty much all of her output thus far and it's not hard to see why with her emotive coo, deft guitar work, and art-pop polish but Sans has displayed impressive originality since her debut single and "Trophy Daughter" is no different. Where the "Jane Eyre" video presented a clear, albeit fractured narrative, Sans aims more for striking visuals in her "Trophy Daughter" video; taking a much more passive, cerebral approach than the action-packed viscera of "Jane Eyre".

Sans may have taken different approaches with "Jane Eyre" and "Trophy Daughter" but they're no devoid of similarities: namely in the form of Sans' unconventional narratives, and masterful less-is-more" style of song production/composition. Sans may stack intricately crafted layers on top of each other but never lets her song sound cluttered: they're presented with considerably clarity that highlights instead of obscures the work Sans has put into each song's creation.





Sur Back's much awaited debut EP Kitsch will be out July 1st.

Watch: Matthew Thomas Ross & Kyle Morton - Book of Matches

While Portland folk pop collective Typhoon have more or less been on a hiatus since wrapping up their final White Lighter support tour in 2014. Of course, while the band takes the time to live their life and sow their wild oats, there's been the odd happening here and there: namely Typhoon's 10th Anniversary show, and frontman Kyle Morton playing the occasional show or embarking on various projects like teaming up with for a night of music accompaniment for poet Zachary Schomburg and flying to Iceland for Iceland Airwaves and playing a special set for Sofar Sounds. One such project saw Morton and Matthew Thomas Ross of Neighborhood Films collaborating on a short film called Book of Matches that the duo unveiled back in November of. Originally conceived as a sort of back and forth with Matthew Thomas Ross filming short minute long videos and sending them to Morton to soundtrack, these videos grew into a short film - a series of vignette linked by the beginning concept: "Upon my deathbed the spirit presents me with ten matchsticks. Each match, I am told, will recall a single moment of my life. Watch carefully, she tells me, and strikes the first".

For fans of Typhoon, such a concept isn't too far removed from Morton's usual songwriting subjects: the celebration of life lived and the acceptance of one's mortality but it's also new ground for Typhoon whose life-affirming brand of poignant pop music has largely been used to soundtrack things already made; not quite as collaborative as Morton's work with Matthew Thomas Ross here. The result is a work of beauty both in the presented visuals and in Morton's emotive offerings.



While the work was premiered back in November, the release of the project on one-side 12" limited edition vinyl with a digital download of the short film via Bughunt is as wonderful reason as ever to revisit the work, especially as the band is still in the nascent stages of songwriting for the next record.

You can order Book of Matches now.

Listen: DM Stith - "War Machine"

I'll be honest, I primarily know Brooklyn based composer and singer/songwriter DM Stith through his work with other people. Like his frequent appearances on Son Lux's albums over the years. His voice is almost as familiar as Ryan Lott's own despite not being an official member of Son Lux. But "War Machine", the first single from Stith's upcoming album Pigeonheart, has certainly inspired me to go back and deep dive into the man's catalog.

"War Machine" pretty much wastes no time getting started - after several long notes, Stith sets everything in motion with a brisk percussive entrance that builds brick by brick, loop by loop. And yet despite the swiftness of its forward press, there's certain enough room for everything to breath and settle and Stith's vocals are delivered with a sort of conversational casualness. "Don't ask questions to which you know the answers/Am I in trouble? Am I in trouble?" Stith begins and that sort of beguiling command breaking to acquiescence sets up the dichotomy Stith plays with for much of the track. Stith reveals little, sure you know more than he does as he asks question after question and then seemingly answers them. Stith also shifts guilt to and fro with every verse. What little he reveals about the other's transgressions he absolves them. "War Machine" is an interesting blend of electronic and acoustic - synths paired with piano, percussion samples and pizzicato strings, and that ability to seamless it's various moving parts takes place on a narrative level as well as Stith rises to indignation and stoic calm and shifts perspectives and through thoughts effortless. And yet for as little as Stith reveals, he leaves enough clues for you to piece it together like a repeated Russian phrase at a rare moment of slowing down. Without the mystery and universal applicable nature of the narrative (a trait Stith shares with Son Lux), "War Machine" is a track that improves with each subsequent listen. An impressive feat considering it's already a pretty excellent piece of music even on first listen. On "War Machine", Stith is simultaneously compositionally dense and sparse; there's a multitude of layers but they're arranged with an easy listenable neatness. Stith is verbose and brief; revealing only what he wants you to know occasionally in a hurried flurry of words.  

"War Machine" is many things but most importantly it is a wonderful introduction to a musician I knew more by name than experience. Considering he's cut from the same eclectic cloth as Gabriel Kahane, My Brighest Diamond's Shara Worden, and Son Lux, Pigeonheart is sure to be a rich, complex album.



DM Stith's third full length Pigeonheart is out July 29th. You can pre-order the album via Bandcamp or iTunes. It'll also be able on vinyl with pre-order info to come later.

Listen: Bloody Beach - "Mezcal Letters"

While I was introduced to Norwegian singer/songwriter/guitarist/everyman Chris Holm primarily through his work as a member of Norwegian orchestral pop outfit Young Dreams, it wasn't long before I discovered the man has his hands in many different pots. His solo effort Kilos melding Young Dreams balmy tropical-infused lushness with sample-laden electronic pop and old school indie rock. And then there's Bloody Beach, in which Holm plays bass, which takes that same sunny musical escapism and pairs it with psych rock.

"Mezcal Letters" is the first single from their five piece's upcoming sophomore record, the follow up to their Nabovarsel debut Bloody Beach Pirate Radio Presents, and pretty much continues in the group's self described tropidelica (both a portmanteau and catch all for all of the groups' combined musical interests in surf and psych rock, dub and afrobeat). "Mezcal Letters", produced by Holm's Young Dreams' bandmate Matias Tellez, curbs much of Bloody Beach's initial punkiness (established in first single "Quembo Que?") in favor of a much more fluid take on tropical pop. While the band has been known to skip around around in terms of sound and tone, there's no denying there's a certain appeal in "Mezcal Letters" consistency. It's smooth, featuring vocal hand-offs from Arne Håkon Tjelle and Chris Holm, and a bit less chaotic than the dance rock of their debut full length but none of that energy is lost. "Mezcal Letters" for its veritable pleasantness, is still very much a jam. That energy just seems to be more concentrated into some tight-knit grooves and some exciting instrumental flourishes. Considering the quintet's history of experimentation, there's no telling where the group will end up going on their sophomore record but if there's more like "Mezcal Letters" on it, you can certainly sign me up.

Listen: Andy Shauf - "The Worst In You"

photo by Colin Medley

As Saskatchewan singer/songwriter Andy Shauf gets closer to the release of his new album The Party, we're thankfully getting more and more glimpses of the finished product. While first single "The Magician" introduced us more to the sound of the record - namely Shauf's sort of Bacharach arrangement, "The Worst In You" actually places us at The Party in question where we're introduced to some of its guest.

"The Magician" may not have taken place at the party itself (or if it does, it's not as implicitly stated as "The Worst In You"), but turns out it sets the tone for the record. "The Worst In You" is a lightly arranged slice of folky chamber pop that can't quite shake its air of melancholy. Our first glimpse into the party's guests isn't much of a pleasant one - after arriving at the party, the narrator finds himself assuming the worst after separating from his date at a party. Shauf excels at rooting his songs is a sort of naturalistic candor that keeps his songs from spinning into drama. "The Worst In You" pits a normal human response against introspection. Or rather they function hand and hand, the narrator jumps to conclusions but never acts upon them externally. And it's to Shauf's credit that he's able to make an almost entirely internalized narrative so engaging.



Andy Shauf's sophomore album The Party is out May 20th on Anti- and Arts & Crafts in Canada.