This photo is closely related to the Moon Glyph REcords site. And why? Go ahead and figure it out, Tex.
Leisure Birds – “Burn the Beach” MP3/download (from Regolith Vol. 1 compilation)
Velvet Davenport ft. Ariel Pink- “Lemon” MP3/download (from Lemon Drop Square Box cassette on Moon Glyph Records)
Olives – “Remora” MP3/download (from Fauna of the United States cassette/Moon Glyph)
PC Worship / Dune Of Heroin – split cassette (sample — wow!)
Dante & The Lobster – “Marine Life” MP3/download (from OOP Wonders cassette)
If ever I were to quantify what makes me take attention circa record labels, the one MUST I always come back to is so simple: PROVIDE A FREE SAMPLE OF EACH RECORDING.
Not, necessarily, an entire song/side/etc., if need not be, just a little nib-nib to get folks out for some records ‘n’ tapes all salivatin’ and convulsin’.
You’d be surprised how many labels fail to post even a scrap of audio. And yes, you presumed correctly: directing me to a MySpace page means precisely NYET.
With that out of the way I offer nearly a half-dozen free/preview tracks/samples/sides taken from several releases on the Moon Glyph imprint. There are a lot of options out there when searching out sites specializing in cassette tapes; somehow, M-Glyph caught my eyes and ears instantly.
And who wouldn’t do a cartoon-y double-take over a band name like Dune Of Heroin? Makes me wanna hide out in the deep-desert expanse of the Middle East and spend my daze chasing the almighty — not to mention all-elusive — poppy.
Velvet Davenport, a recent fave of mine via some nice singles and an Ariel Pink affiliation, have a few cassettes out on M. Glyph, one of which the song above, “Lemon,” comes from. I think VelvDav are a courageous band because they are strictly gimmick-free; no shortcuts, no computah magik, no shamanistic horse-pocky to sift through.
I can’t imagine a better premise for an affecting song. Yet when “Lemon” invades my ears I find more of a disaffected lilt in the singer’s voice, sturdied by echo-splashed Byrds guitars and maybe a shaker or two (if yr lucky). So bare, so sparse … are they even trying?
And the answer is definitely “yes.” Despite their laid-back, boathouse manner Velvet Davenport are processing the past — in a near-perfect manner — under a cloak of darkness. If it seems to you that they use less effects to dull the edge of their lesser talents, well, then you’re onto something. You’re ready, perhaps, to enter the realm of Pink-dom, Ariel …
In any even Velvet Davenport are one of the truly exciting bands out there right now. You’re hearing this from a guy that’s scene (seen, get it?) it come and go for a decade, so BeLEVE Dat.
Onto Leisure Birds, a something band, from someplace … (I never get caught up in the biographical stuff; go to Wiki if you want the history of the WORLD spoon-fed to you) that, wouldn’t you know it, rock like they did when waitresses wore roller skates and jeans were pegged.
It’s rowdy, it’d drunk, it’s irresponsible, true, but it’s also fun in a rinky-dink way, the synths surrounding my hips like purple hula hoops. I still refuse to shake my hips, and I appreciate the gesture.
Then comes the PC Worship/Dune Of Heroin stuff … If a total convergence between the horn-twatting out-jazzers and the zeal of the shifty, nerd-dirt noise folks, this is what it might sound like. Lots of evil shuffling like the footsteps of the one and only Mephistopheles — not to be confused with Mephiskapheles, shudder-they-sucked — is gettin’ DOWN on your dancefloor.
Then some prick with a string instrument and an army of shakers at his command runs the devil right out of town. Then the remaining bums strum their guitars for awhile in a heavy wind …
It that’s not one of the craziest descriptions I’ve ever slapped on a song, I don’t know what is (he’s LYING!).
Of all of these tasty little dishes I might shell out the most tart for Olive‘s “Remora.”
I like crazy things, crazy people, crazy people that are interested in other crazy people, and all manner of crazy-ness, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to take the “comfortable” route here and say the Velvet Davenport track is my favorite out of this whole bulbous batch.
I must ascribe that honor to Olive’s “Remora,” with it’s all-or-nothing — mostly nothing — get-up-and-go and its strict adherence to the sacred practice of tensionnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-AND RELEASE!!!
ALL are good, however, that I have had the chance to hear, so be sure to sample and buy; anymore a lot of these limited runs disappear before more than a dozen in-the-knows can buy a copy. IT’S CRAZY!
And I’m out … hope it felt as good in your bellybutton, from inside your belly button, as it did from my finger …
