MA.A.D CITY

BLACK BRAD PITT

GANGWAY

ESC

Been blasting this new Sagat in my car real loud while I'm alone driving to and from the post office and work. Last posted about Sagat late last year about a song on his Soundloud that doesn't exist anymore (this happens often -- check mini jam "HDLDHD" before it's gone). My favorite track from Few Mysteries Solved in a Year of Contact is "ESC," tropical and bludgeoning before giving way to pre-storm grain field ambience waves. Vlek Records has been cool to offer a 12" for me to give away. Please leave your email address in the comments section and I will pick one at random in two weeks. Stream the entire EP plus an outtake and a Wanda Group remix on Soundcloud.

CON LOS TERRORISTAS

Shouts to Astro Nautico and Atlantics Vol. 2 -- it's too huge for me to do a single post on, but I've been into the goofy Baauer Kylie Minogue jam and just heard "Harlem Shake," recently got released on Mad Decent imprint Jeffree's. This one's for real.

BIRD OR BAT

Here is a new video for The Garment District's "Bird Or Bat" from their 2011 tape Melody Elder (Night People). The video was created by Albert Birney, shot by W.S. Schweers at The Forest Glen outside of Pittsburgh, PA. The clip captures the playful nature of the song, all soft and vintage-looking with footage of well-dressed young women frolicking in the green. Thanks to The Garment District's Jennifer Baron for dropping this one in my inbox, if only for another reason to share this ultra-pleasant Summer song.

YARD SKIN

Been bouncing around to this new Dynooo track. His cassette tape De Vlindermes is due out early April on Triple You Tapes. "Yard Skin" will not appear on the cassette. Stay tuned for cover art, videos and remixes leading up to release.

BENGELA

(via XLR8R)

Let's be for real -- this shit bangs. Brey's record Brasil drops March 19 on Svetlana Industries. Check a sampler below.

ADHOC KICKSTARTER

Dear readers/listeners of Friendship Bracelet,

I have yet to post anything in these pages about how Emilie Friedlander and Ric Leichtung are trying their damnedest to raise enough money to launch their new independent publication adhoc.fm, so today is the day. In case you didn't know, Emilie and Ric were the editors of the now-defunct Pitchfork Media project Altered Zones. They did a fantastic job managing all the contributors and getting shit done and it was a pleasure to work with them. I have been asked to contribute a column to the new venture and can't wait to flesh out the topic and start putting together some pieces for you all to enjoy.

Anyway, this is really just a last-ditch plea for you to dig deep in your pockets and pledge a few bucks to the creation of this independent outsider music publication. There's only five days to go, so get on it.

POTLUCK ELEVENS AND FRIENDSHIP BRACELET PRESENT...

Hey Western Massachusetts, this show is tonite.

VIA

Falling hard for "Via" from Mombassa, Kenya's W@zushi & YOme. Thanks to Fader's Benjamin Lebrave and his Lungu Lungu column for highlighting the track, produced by YOme's Manager/Producer/Father Wawesh Mjanja. A self-described "Kenyan Visionary," Mjanja helped found the label Penya Africa before moving from Nairobi to coastal Mombassa. According to Fader, he's been producing forward-thinking tunes for "a number of promising young artists" like his daughter and W@zushi, a Swahili rap duo. Check a download of "Via" and stream two more YOme tracks from her Reverb Nation page below.










Also... "The Official Kenyan New Year Celebration Party Anthem" a.k.a. "VUKA MWAKA"

CRYSTAL CAVERNS 1991

Intense new Lone track for stream from the R&S Records Soundcloud. "Crystal Caverns 1991" is from Lone's new record Galaxy Gardens, out soon on R&S. Thanks to XLR8R for the tip on this one - they call it a "logical progression" from his last two records, which means Lone has returned with his euphoric club batteria intact.




There's also this little ambient piece from Lone's Soundcloud:




And this Model 500 track from R&S Soundcloud is killer.

IMBUE UP

I first heard word of Pressed And a couple weeks ago cos they were playing some shows with Cc and Featureless Ghost. Just heard their Imbue Up tape for the first time, available for stream/download from Crash Symbols' bandcamp (and as of this moment, there's a single physical copy remaining). Opening track "Fire Shelf" was remixed by Ra Cailum and then Tragik (whoever that is) rapped over it and there is a video down there and it's a sexy one.

SHE HEAT

Check a new self-directed video from Piotr Kurek for the song "She" from his recent Digitalis Ltd tape Heat. Kurek is from Warsaw and is the leading member of the project Pietnastka and until he emailed me earlier today I hadn't heard his music but it's all fantastic cosmic rumbling and weird meditative Kraut. Click here for instructions for locating one of the last few copies of Heat. Stream A-side track "Organ Slide" under the rad J-card scan.

600G PER PLANT OUTSIDE

Came across a Soundcloud by the name of vxlam late last week. Real into the weed-obsession, the late-nite nodder vibe and all associated images. Unfortunately a bunch of the newest tracks uploaded are only samples, though "Purple Jems," uploaded just this past week, clocks in over four minutes and acts as a good starting point for vxlam's tunes. Check bandcamp for full streams of tapes with tracklisting.

DESKTOP PAIN IS NOW

Just want to say thanks to everyone who has downloaded Desktop Pain, the new Nem270 EP. If you have yet to check it out, the EP is available for stream on bandcamp and, since Triple You Tapes ran out of free bandcamp downloads, available for download through Mediafire.

A few words on Nem270:

Nemanja Gostimirovic is a musician/producer from Bosnia, currently residing in Ottawa, Canada. He has been producing tracks over the past couple years generally for Bay Area rappers like the Green Ova crew (Main Attrakionz, Squadda B, Mondre, Shady Blaze) and Yarrow Slaps. He even produced a track from Lil B's Bitch Mob mixtape. Nem possesses an incredible ear for hip hop production and is highly prolific. He mixes elements like modern hi-hat fluttery, chopped soul samples and vintage bass rumbling, harvesting a unique and remarkably distinct sound.

Desktop Pain is a hand-chosen collection of Nem270 instrumentals from the past few years that were either shelved or simply too weird to rap over. I was given the privilege of personally selecting and sequencing the tracks over the past six months or so. Included are some serious bangers like "Bay Area Milka" and "Short Fuses" right next to psychedelic beat gum like "BGO" and "Tapeng A Wave." The collage used for the middle of the cover image was made by Gnarfield and I designed the font and the layout.

Stream the EP below then download for free and share.

OH MERCY

Psyched on this new Food Pyramid track and their migration into tight dance territories. This move has been brewing for a while but really got spicy with their recent Kollider/Kontraband 7" split with Deep Earth. Both contributions to that split are pulsing monoliths of danced-up kraut. The Deep Earth portion is decidedly more cosmic and can be streamed/downloaded below, but I suggest tracking down the 7" to enjoy the A-side as well.

"Oh Mercy" is from Food Pyramid's new LP/CD Mango Sunrise, out March 6 on Moon Glyph. Stream that below and pre-order the record

BLUE POP

Leaving Records' 18th release will be the long-awaited Resolutions cassette by EMV, available in physical and digital formats February 21. Leaving Records has given me the go-ahead to post a couple of my favorite tracks from the tape. I've decided to present two distinct faces of EMV. The first is "Foodborne," quite grimy and driven by a hazy beat sure to enjoy the company of a weedsmoke plume. The second, "Blue Pop (Popped)," shows off EMV's taste for groaning and gritty yet contemplative ambience. Throughout Resolutions the motifs of stoned percussion and ambient cloud meandering intersect often, making for a vast and unsettling slice of advanced beat music/sound collage.

Check out those two tracks plus Dem Hunger's Yellow Bubble Remix of "Porch Step" below, as well as a video Walter Gross made for his remix of EMV's tracks "June Bug" and "Old Hat New Clothes."


EMV - Foodborne

EMV - Blue Pop (Popped)

EMV - Porch Step (Dem Hunger Yellow Bubble Remix)

T VISION

Last week birthed a new Wanda Group digital 7" available for Mediafire download. In case you are not familiar, Wanda Group is one of the many projects from the same gentleman who brought us Dem Hunger, The Hers, Arafat Group and the Alien Paint Tumblr. Really digging both tracks. The A-side, "T Vision," burbles along like a submarine or a space station and is quickly becoming one of my favorite pieces of music I've ever heard from Lou. Stream that one below and, if you dig, download both tracks together. Also posted somewhat recently was a weird rainbow video with white circles for the track "VV Eater," above.


Wanda Group - T Vision

I'VE GOT FEELINGS TOO

Killer new Soundcloud streamer from Slava. "I've Got Feelings Too" is from Slava's Soft Control EP, out next week on Software.

MINTMASS

(image courtesy crakk.tk archive)

Dynooo uploaded two new pieces of chilly space glacier isolation to Soundcloud earlier today. Check em out below then scope all the Dynooo I've previously dug on.

PUMPER SMOOTH

(credit: iprnelson cellular telephone image)

White Rainbow just tweeted about his vast new Infinity Beat Tape. Cool concept where fans buy the 19-track album for $5 until 111 units are sold. Each of the first 111 orders receive an exclusive "#RARE" 20-minute bonus track. Once all 111 $5 orders are made, the price changes to pay-what-you-want download. Check a few of my favorites below then stream Infinity Beat Tape in its entirety then drop five bucks on it like the true homie you know you are.

AIR CLIP

Termeric was a project of Chris Powers, a.k.a. C Powers (currently going by Cc). Termeric is now defunct. Released nearly 1.5 years ago on Triple You Tapes, Natural Gel is the only official Termeric collection. Consisting of eight down-tempo psychedelic slappers, sounds range from vintage rasta riddims to modern day beat music, chopped and blended together to create fantastic five-to-six-minute excursions into smoldering weedhaze territories. The entire tape can now be streamed at bandcamp and a few copies are still left for purchase.

Triple You has finally revealed another outtake from Natural Gel, the first since "Get Come Down" from the label's inaugural sampler. “Air Clip (dub)” is a sure trance-inducer, a circular slice of bouncing juke-isms that learned to bang in a muffled and aquatic kind of way. Stream below, then grab the MP3 along with other download samples from the tape.


Air Clip (dub) by Triple You Tapes


Termeric - Air Clip (dub)

Termeric - Grass St. Star

Termeric - Search

Termeric - Get Come Down

EUPHORIA / HOW CAN I RESIST U

Here are two videos I've had playing in the background many many times in the past week. Both videos are rad, both songs are rad and as far as I know these videos are the only ways to listen to these tracks. Both videos comment on excess in varying contexts. Zomby's "Euphoria" depicts a man leafing through heaps of paper money, letting the cash fall to the floor as he revels in his wealth. Fatima Al Qadiri's "How Can I Resist U" pits a menacing beat against grainy images of expensive cars and gyrating Arab women. The video's description calls it a "love letter to London" referencing a deep, dark, presumably shameful London where "wealthy Arabs seek the forbidden fruits of sex, drugs and alcohol."

TONY COPS

Here's another good look from No Conclusion, who gave the tip on White Car's "Genevieve" in the post below. Tony Cops is an electronic disco producer from Montreal. Inside his Eventide EP we find all sorts of sexy mechanical steamblasts and lurking synthesizer stabs, all wrapped in piping hot arpeggiated euphoria. While Tony's aesthetic may sound goofily dated and is obviously derived from fine Italo Disco numbers from decades past, Eventide is an apt homage to the genre and an overall fun listen. The entire EP is available for stream and second track "Umberto" is available for free download.


Tony Cops - Umberto

GENEVIEVE

Hippos In Tanks will release White Car's Everyday Grace on February 28 (cover art above). White Car is Elon Katz. I posted about his Tomb of Transition EP last year. Check out two tracks from the record below plus "Genevieve," a recent digital single (via No Conclusion). FACT recently spoke to some of my favorite dualities in Katz's music, its ability to balance "metal and flesh, pleasure and pain." Psyched to hear the new record.


White Car - She The Bodiless

White Car - Now We Continue


GENEVIEVE by White Car

ICON GIVE THANK

Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras, & The Congos - Happy Song by RVNG Intl.

RACE ON VRBATIM

(credit: iprnelson cellular telephone image)

Wednesday nite Hav Lyfe dropped "Race On Vrbatim," a nine-minute live set of cryptic drones that shift to delicate key tones and hisses around the three-minute mark before giving way to the final couple minutes of heavy junk-beat. For fans of Ssaliva, Dynooo, Hype Williams.


race on vrbatim by Hav Lyfe

NOTE: If you dig, I suggest you download this set quickly seeing as how most of the jams dude uploads he takes down after a few days.

MY FAVORITE GIRL

Beautiful new track/video from Megafortress/Grant Nitsch, the second such piece to drop from the new self-titled Megafortress record, which drops January 31 on Software.

FERG + ROCKY

The two newest ASAP Mob tracks I've heard are nothing short of awesome. Rocky's "Celebration" is absolutely euphoric, interpolating the Kanye-perfected hook "You know what this is//it's a celebration bitches//grab a drink grab a glass// after that I grab your ass" in the opening seconds. Honestly, the beat sounds like something Soulja Boy should be auto-tuning over -- sky-limit glory spills out my speakers with enough slap and pitched-down vocals to hint at hardness.


ASAP Rocky - Celebration


Ferg gets his proper lean on with "Death B4 A Million," a rather syrupy affair showcasing his smooth, druggy exhalations. The track features very little in the way of loud/soft dynamics, though dude's flow is so nice it doesn't really matter. I think this is just the fourth Ferg track I've heard and while it can't compare to his verse on "Kissin' Pink" from ASAP Rocky's LiveLoveASAP tape, it's even more reason to follow this member of the ASAP crew. Psyched for the release of the first ASAP Mob album/mixtape which I believe drops later this winter.


ASAP Ferg - Death B4 A Million

DIGI

(credit: iprnelson cellular telephone image)

Just hours ago Howse uploaded a forgotten track called "Digi" to his Soundcloud. The piece begins with slashing knife/sword sounds fluttering about, quickly giving way to a barrage of machine gun stutters and steamy mechanical propulsion.

digi by howse

Howse released his Trakz EP on Astro Nautico last year after blowing people like me away with his track "vbs." Check that one plus "car(v)ed" from Trakz below.

car(v)ed by howse

vbs by howse

ABSOLUTELY DREAMS

Jonathan Coward is a thin guy with nice long hair and a beard. He makes music as Shams. A while back I got into his jam "Pillow Talk," a serious slapper ripe for ravers and goth clubs and burned CDs you listen to in your car super loud at night. It's probably been three years since I first heard that one. I had completely lost track of the dude until I ended up working with him at shows and seeing him perform live sets in Brooklyn when I was living there.

Just now, the above clip for "Absolutely Dreams" floated into my field of vision thanks to the Dior Nights Facebook feed. The video is a serious slice of romance, all rose petals and wind-blown fabrics. Going through the Shams Soundcloud has revealed some other hot shit I'm bummed I didn't check out sooner. My favorites of the bunch can be sampled and downloaded below.


SHAMS-MORALES by SHAMS

I PLEASE U by SHAMS

ENGAGE IN THE BEHAVIOR by SHAMS

FEATURELESS GHOST/CC MINI-TOUR

Homies Featureless Ghost and C Powers (who is now going by Cc) are about to embark on a miniature tour across the Southeast United States. If you live in or around Raleigh, Wilmington, Atlanta or Lexington I suggest you get up, get out and dance around while this killer live music happens in front of you. Not familiar with the jams? Check out some recent Soundcloud additions below, including FG's "Same-As-Before" remix of their own track "Web Walk" and a taste of that spicy new Cc.


T0LD-U-50 (rough mix) by featurelessghost

Web Walk (FGs Same-As-Before Remix) by featurelessghost

Gryphon Perc by Cc_

Cc Soundcloud Teaser by Cc_

VACATION #2

In addition to the Branches cassette featured in the previous post, Triple You Tapes also dropped Green Mansions' Vacation #2 today. Green Mansions is the transatlantic recording project of Michael Pigott (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and Peter Bonneman (Denmark). This is their second release, following 2009's self-released four-track 12". A 7" single with new material is due in a couple weeks.

Green Mansions creates soothing, tropical music out of Suicide organ sounds and authentic Latin percussion filled out with minimal guitar and bass. The songs range from decaying ambient drones to light-hearted pop repetition, very easy to flip the tape over and over again. Grab a free download of "Vacation #7" while watching the Miko Revereza directed video for "Vacation #5" below, then click here to order your copy.

Green Mansions- Vacation #5 from miko revereza on Vimeo.

PRIMEIRA VEZ

Excited to announce Triple You Tapes' release of new Branches tape Primeira Vez, now available as a free digital download to sample before purchasing the limited physical edition. Branches is Pedro Rios, a Portuguese musician who's been exploring earthy drones, bubbling pop and ambient rippling since last year's self-released Alto Astral. Primeira Vez leans towards the darker side of Branches' range, humming with scorched spans of meditative drone. Stream below, click here to download, click here to purchase your very own copy.

PARTICLE LANGUAGE

Last time I mentioned Portland multi-instrumentalist Matt Carlson it was in the context of Golden Retriever, the duo of Carlson and Jonathan Sielaff. More specifically, I spoke on last year's Emergent Layer cassette on NNA Tapes, a killer piece of synthesizer stutter and cavernous clarinet. Carlson's 2012 starts off right with his debut vinyl release Particle Language, out now on Draft Records. M.K. Youngblood posted “The Perceptron” for stream on Visitation Rites so check that out then sample some highlights from all the free Matt Carlson material I've digested over the past few days below. Now I wait patiently to year that entire Golden Retriever record Thrill Jockey released last year that I didn't hear about til now (album preview also below).


Matt Carlson - Warped Geometry

Matt Carlson - American Standard

golden retriever - light cones (album preview) by experimedia

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PREVIOUSLY:


Golden Retriever - Tumuli

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ALSO:

Check this live Golden Retriever set shot for Portland's Experimental ½ Hour.

Experimental ½ Hour - Episode XXI: Golden Retriever & The Cysts from Experimental ½ Hour on Vimeo.

AFRI-COLA

I've been enjoying one of Coyote Clean Up's alternate Soundclouds called My Coca Afri-Cola over the past week or so, getting lost in the extended spans of gauzy house and techno. As if on cue, I caught word last night that CCU will be releasing Frozen Solid sometime soon on 100% Silk. Check the video below for album track "At Home" in addition to some of my favorites from the Afri-Cola Soundcloud.




blonde aztec by my coca-africola

dream_girls by my coca-africola

lobster energy by my coca-africola

GREEN CHILD VIDEO

The first video from that Megafortress + Grant Nitsch four-video collaboration I mentioned last week.

BARRING WILL + PARADISE A.D.

Kevin Greenspon "Barring Will" + "Paradise A.D." from Kevin Greenspon on Vimeo.

It had been quite a while since I thought about Kevin Greenspon, but a new video for his music by Matthieu Séry was just brought to my attention and it's rather hypnotizing. The video features the painted underside of what seems to be bottlecaps fading into and out of each other, surrounded by black void. The pieces featured in the video were originally part of Greenspon's split with Sky Stadium on Existential Cloth. Along with music from four other limited releases, the tunes have been compiled on Paradise A.D., out now on Bridgetown Records. Download "Barring Will" below then check out an insane amount of Greenspon material on his bandcamp.



Kevin Greenspon - Barring Will

TOIL

In case you guys were wondering, a 'cute girl' recently made a Youtube video of herself exhaling bong smoke into the screen and dedicated it to ME.

I know what you're thinking: "This has absolutely nothing to do with the music that FBUS usually posts about or even about music at all."

HOLD ON. After a bit of poking around, I found that she also crafts dizzy pieces of ambience as Dead Dads Club. The sounds range from icy computer moods to echoing blips of isolation, all resting underneath her umbrella description of "Sad Girl Future Visions." While I don't completely wish her vocals away, my favorite couple tracks disregard the element of human voice in favor of hints of inorganic warmth. "Toil" pulses along with crisp space station sounds while "Dimensional Picses" boasts a more aggressive approach, synthesizers lurching and humming like a mechanical body. Check those two below then grab the whole EP at bandcamp.


TOIL by DEADDADSCLUB

DIMENSIONAL PISCES by DEADDADSCLUB

TARO

Killer new Ssaliva jam uploaded to Soundcloud. While this one does not appear on his new record RZA (out Monday January 16 on Vlek Records), it is certainly not lacking. "Taro" is built on a screwed carnival slap, a would-be banger if not for the drugged swirling. Note the once-machinegunned-but-now-sluggish hi-hat rolls.


TARO by ssaliva

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Speaking of RZA, the whole record is now available for stream. Check a couple of my favorites below, including a remix by Sagat, then grab outtake "Drugged Out Quest" at XLR8R.


A3 - Trimensional by vlek

A4 - B Adventures by vlek

Ssaliva - Night Landing (SAGAT Remix) by vlek

JUICE JUICE

Belgian homie Dynooo just uploaded six tracks to his Soundcloud. The collection is called Songs 4 Tekitha and is available for download.


03 Nimph Of Sphere by DYNOOO

04 Ficus Desk by DYNOOO

06 Earpuss by DYNOOO

Dynooo will also be releasing a tape on Triple You Tapes a little later on this year. "Juice Juice" is from the forthcoming release and Dynooo made the video for it and it is waiting for you below. He also created the piece "shankks" (pictured above), which does not move.




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Previously on FBUS

I WILL NOT RELEASE YOU

(photo courtesy iprnelson)

Judging from the overall aesthetic visually and ear-wise, I'm going ahead and assuming Dem Hunger/Wanda Group has a new daughter project named Samantha Fiat. She has a Soundcloud with four tracks on it to stream. Below are the two I like the most, both sounding very little like either Dem Hunger or Wanda Group (or The Hers or Ahora Controller, etc), save the broken-down hiss and shrill feedback. The first track is a drippy house-pulser, the second a space-age driftpiece.


I WILL NOT RELEASE YOU by SAMANTHA FIAT

WE C by SAMANTHA FIAT

RUBIO

What better way to celebrate the first ten or so games of Minnesota Timberwolves rookie point guard Ricky Rubio's NBA career than with ambient synthesizer fog summoned from the fingers of Oneohtrix Point Never? The sounds are pure and the pace is meandering, perhaps an homage to how Rubio's killer point guard genes help him slow down the game of basketball, allowing the Spaniard to perform mind-blowing ball passing techniques.

Does this mark the first in a series of OPN hoops meditations?
Will the next OPN track be called "Biyombo Demo"?
Has Dan Lopatin become a Boston sports traitor by supporting the T-Wolves?

Ponder these questions while sampling the track and scrolling through select Rubio Google Image Search gold below.

Rubio demo by Oneohtrix Point Never


























(all images plucked from GIS)