Working between soul, jazz and R&B, Portland, ME-based artist Angelikah Fahray is a rising star of the New England scene, winning attention with a sound willing to embrace both haunting and sensual styles. Latest single ‘In My Coffin’ is the perfect introduction for those unfamiliar. A slow, sultry croon which envelopes the audience, the song occupies an ambiguous tone which never quite shows its hand. Is it romantic, bitter, melancholic? Or perhaps all three spun into an enthralling web?

‘In My Coffin’ is out now and available from the usual places.

Casual Technicians – On A Trip To Nowhere

Though now separated by geography, all three members of Casual Technicians have a long history with the music scene in Portland, Oregon. Tyler Keene and Nathan Baumgartner were founding members of And And And while Boone Howard fronted The We Shared Milk and the Boone Howard band. This experience shined through on Four Corners EP, the latest release from Repeating Cloud, where the band offer a confident and playful sound that’s not only willing to experiment between genres but to meld them together seamlessly. Opener and single ‘On a Trip to Nowhere’ plays something like the bummed-out dispatch from contemporary existence a la talons’ as processed through a laidback Steely Dan warmth.

there’s so many times that I’m tired and I’m in the basement
working on stuff and I take a nap
and I go out in the backyard and cut the grass
and shave it down as close as my old head

I feel beefed up but burnt down
burping up bubbles from a weird old beer
that looks like its been open for a half of a year
imagine that

makes me wish it was later in the day

French For Rabbits – Leech

Towards the end of next month, Aotearoa dream pop band French For Rabbits return with a brand new EP In the End I Won’t Be Coming Home. The follow-up to 2021 LP The Overflow, the four song release was recorded this past summer with strings from Auckland’s The Black Quartet and sees an evolution of the French For Rabbits style that we’ve previous described as “translucent and melancholic and alive.” Latest single ‘Leech’ is the perfect introduction, an exploration of “the push and pull of love” suffused with ethereal harmonies and a soaring atmosphere, at once epic and fragile, the lingering melancholy burning away to reveal the rousing chorus.

Cause your love is my only comfort
And your love is my only reward
But if my heart is a leech and you’re still out of reach
All I’m left with is all of my thoughts.

German Error Message & Noah Kittinger – It’s night and you’re alone

The latest release in Furious Hooves‘ Furhoof Halloween Split Series, It’s night and you’re alone offers two ambient instrumental tracks—one by German Error Message and one by Noah Kittinger (of Bedroom)—which live up to the release’s title and offer the ideal Halloween soundtrack for those looking beyond the cliched and the camp. The songs were written six years, eleven months and one day apart from one another, though despite the gap somehow seem to be in conversation. Paul Kintzing’s ‘10.30.16’ plays as a walk down a lonely forest path as night descends, its slowly gathering momentum mimicking the kind of latent dread which comes down with the dark, while Kittinger’s ‘10.1.23’ offers a different sort of night-time passage. A lonely journey through a darkening countryside as viewed from the window of a train, and furthermore one complicated by the liminal strangeness of such an experience. Time both upended and hauntologically conspicuous, your own reflection mirrored back to you in the glass, both part of the view and not.

It’s night and you’re alone is out now via Furious Hooves. Get it via Bandcamp.

Library Card – Cognitive Dissonance

Drawing inspiration from acts like Protomartyr and Life Without Buildings as well as poets such as Anne Clark, Rotterdam’s Library Card are a band of contradictions. Dissonant yet melodious, rambunctious yet taut, volatile yet cool. Lead by Lot van Teylingen and featuring Emre Karayalçin, Kat Kalkman and Mitchell Quitz, the outfit are now preparing to release their new EP Nothing Interesting, and single ‘Cognitive Dissonance’ serves as a encapsulation of this incongruous sound. An examination of the competing forces which coexist within us, an internal struggle between the desire to be selfish and altruistic.

Unspeakable
Unthinkable
Do we simply stare at what’s horrible and forgive it?
Do we simply notice but not see at all?
Truth is a beautiful illusion
Where is your truth now

‘Cognitive Dissonance’ is out now via AT EASE. Get it from the Library Card Bandcamp page.

MVSO – Hold Clear

A collaboration between songwriter/vocalist duo Mat Vairo and Saumon Oboudiyat, MVSO originated as little more than a space for the pair to experiment with music, though soon developed into something more considered and official. The result is Proprioception, an EP pencilled for release in spring 2024 which sees the artists explore universal themes of life, death and the passing of time through a decidedly personal lens. This allows them to take on the biggest ideas while also recording a specific moment in their lives and the position of their friendship within it. Single ‘Hold Clear’ hints at the evocative, simmering style this takes, where the intimacy of the personal opens out into something cryptic and deep.

MX LONELY – Rest In Salt

With their new EP SPIT coming on Candlepin Records early in 2024, Brooklyn‘s MX LONELY have unveiled single ‘Rest In Salt’ to signal their pivot towards a heavier alt rock/shoegaze aesthetic. With Rae Hass taking over lead vocal duties, the song pitches the listener into a shadowy, foreboding world full of needling intensity and crushing weight, the vocals emerging from within this tumult like the helpless cries of the damned. “’Rest In Salt’ is about being trapped in purgatory, pure and simple,” as Hass explains, “about being ridden with anxiety and stuck to the couch. It’s that feeling of jealousy for the dead and the tinge of guilt that follows. When you lie so still you think you can almost remember the freedom of being nothing at all.”

SPIT is out on the 6th February via Candlepin Records and you can pre-order it now.

See Jazz – 1982

Described as a band for “uncool people everywhere scattered to the edges of contemporary anywheres,” See Jazz might be the solo vehicle of Aaron Pfannebecker, though the endeavor is far from a one-person project. Forthcoming album Is This Anything?, out next month via Flower Sounds, sees the likes of Adam Langellotti (Kurt Vile and the Violators), Jed Smith (My Teenage Stride and Jeanines) and Zara Bode (Sweetback Sisters) lend their talents to bring to life a sound at once ethereal and danceable. Take single ‘1982’, so airy if feels on the verge of drifting upwards and away, though all the while anchored by Pfannebecker’s vocals and their exploration of the stubborn nature of human perspective.

Is This Anything? is out on the 10th November via Flower Sounds and you can pre-order it now.

Wet Fruit – Dandelions at the Gate

Hailing from Portland, OR, Wet Fruit take inspiration from a grab bag of genres to create their own singular sound. New album Dandelions at the Gate, out now via Half Shell Records, has indie rock, punk, psych and experimental DNA. But far from an unwieldy mutant, the result is something honed and cohesive. Take opener and title track, its dreamy textures and harmonies cut through with a propulsive energy, giving the sense of escalating towards some moment of chaos or clarity. But as songs like ‘St. Charles’ show, the band are about more than hectic rhythms, stripping away the frenetic elements in favour of something more drifting. Like a late-night drive, sealed into your own little world and estranged from passing cars, left instead to consider the finer textures of solitude.

Dandelions at the Gate is out now via Half Shell Records.

The post Weekly Listening: October 2023 #5 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

wrote about her album  back in May

“The track[s] gives the image of a distant lover missing her companion, staring at a sky full of shimmering stars and streaks and cosmic dust, impossibly the very same sky as the one above the person she is missing.”

We were lucky enough to ask Heeyoon a few questions about the working with It Takes Time for the reissue and Boosegumps as a whole.

Jon: Hi Heeyoon, thanks for talking to us. How is life in New Jersey at this time of year?

Heeyoon: Hi, Wake the Deaf! Life in New Jersey at this time of year is pretty overwhelming! Well, it’s always overwhelming and fast-paced since I live outside of New York City, but it’s also quite beautiful when you take a break from everything and watch the leaves start to change colors.

First off, I have to ask – what’s the story behind the name? I’ll admit to wanting it to be an R.L. Stine/Fox Kids reference, although Urban Dictionary suggests ‘boosegumps’ has its own meaning.

It IS an R.L Stine reference. I originally gave myself this moniker because at the time, I was making haunted house soundtracks for fun. I wanted a name that was spooky yet kind of silly. The name Boosegumps just stuck, even after I stopped making Halloween music, mostly because I’m really bad at naming things.

How’s it feel to be releasing on cassette with the guys at It Takes Time Records? And do you want to say anything about the collection of B-sides that are going to be included?

It feels really good to be working with It Takes Time Records! I feel really comfortable with working with Jordan. He’s been really supportive through the whole process.

I decided to include the B-Sides after Jordan asked me if I had any unreleased songs I’d like to include on the tape. Well, after the release of “:)” I had recorded some fun experimental stuff that I had hidden away or had uploaded to SoundCloud. I thought it would be really nice to put it on the other side of “:)” I just want people to get sad with me on Side A but then groove with me when they flip the tape.Your music falls into a category (“bedroom pop”) that is pretty prolific at the moment. Do you feel an affinity with other bedroom recording artists? Or is it frustrating to be put in a box? Do you feel it’s even a genre at all, or rather just young people sharing their homemade work a little wider than previously possible?

I’m not sure if I’d call “bedroom pop” a genre because there’s many different genres within the category, but I consider it a broad tag used to categorize some homemade recordings. Personally, I feel comfortable being categorized as “bedroom pop” and playing music with other bedroom recording artists. I definitely feel less pressure as a home-recording artist. It’s just nicer and easier to record whatever I want, however I want and to release it whenever I want, all without me having to leave my warm bed.

As a kind of follow on to that question – what would you list as your biggest influences? Do think you are inspired by any musicians/writers/artists in particular? Or do you draw upon personal experiences more?

Musically, I’m really influenced by different artists at different points of my life. Currently, I’m heavily into Haruomi Hosono and Yellow Magic Orchestra, who are Japanese electronic, synth-pop artists. I’m also really influenced by R&B, even though you might not hear it in my songs. Aside from music, I tend to find inspiration from my friends, my dreams and personal experiences. Also, ever since I got a live band together, I’ve really inspired by the people I make music with. My live band, which is Neil Torman, Andrew Gerber and Adam Kenter, are really talented musicians and I haven’t told them yet, but they inspire me to become a better musician.

Your songs deal with very personal issues, detailing the struggles and anxieties many young people will recognise. Would you say you record the songs as a way to help yourself, or do you have other people in mind when writing? How do you feel about making other people’s lives that little bit easier/better with your music?

I’m not very good at telling people how I feel, so I feel the need to express my feelings through music. Writing music for me is like writing in my diary. It’s a way for me to write down my thoughts and reflect on my experiences. I mostly write songs as a way to help myself but it feels good to know that my songs are helping others as well. I feel less lonely knowing that others can relate.

Finally, could you name 4-5 acts you think we should know about at the moment? They can be old or new, obscure or huge, whatever you find yourself listening to.

Haruomi Hosono

Homeshake

Brittle Brian

Good Morning

Old Maybe

You can pre-order on tape right now from the It Takes Time Records Bandcamp page ready for its release on October 31st. 

The post Interview: Boosegumps appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Whereas most dream pop is dreamy in the sense of those illogical, immensely meaningful sequences familiar to films and novels, Ama Moii’s new album Flown is more reminiscent of the everyday dreams you don’t bother to share. ‘Your Shoes’ sets the tone, a delicate track centred around hushed vocals and simple lyrics, like an Appalachian folk song rewritten to help children sleep, and ‘Snow Bird’ is equally soft, sounding like something by Mountain Man if the band were only allowed to whisper.

“Snow bird
come back to my home.
I’m waiting for you”

‘Lemon’ is a frivolous contemplation of the fruit that could only occur in a daydream during the most boring of afternoons, while ‘She Greeted the Cloud’ plays like a fable with an obscure message. ‘If You Want To Go’ brings to mind a lullaby cover of Andy Shauf, and ‘Wind’ is a gentle instrumental track, playing like a breeze through neighbourhood. The lullaby theme returns on the final track ‘Night Melody’,

“It’s time to go to sleep
laying on bed in the closet”

You can buy Flown now from Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-can basis.

The post Ama Moii – Flown appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The EP is dreamy and hushed and serves to palliate the stresses and worries of modern life with “a distinct desire for understanding and compassion”. If you’re a fan of meditative, experimental, music then I highly recommend having a listen.

You can buy the EP right now over at Patient Sounds.

And one last thing.  I encourage you to familiarise yourself with the rest of the Patient Sounds catalogue. An independent label based in Fort Collins, Colorado, they release music on cassette tapes (like the Earthbound one below) which come in these beautifully designed cases and just look generally amazing. The music itself isn’t bad either! I am yet to explore fully but on early listens I would suggest checking out A Spirit by Pines, Motivated/Unmotivated by Kites Sail High and The Westers by Wellington Downs.

The post Earthbound – Cuddle Formation/The Spookfish appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Their latest release, J.C., is a four song EP with lyrics adpated from ‘Expecting to be Loved for Nothing’, a book of poetry by Jake Core (hence the title initials). This is slow atmospheric music that reminds me a bit of Arrange in the way the vocals unfurl over the ethereal instrumental arrangements, giving something that is otherworldly yet fundamentaly personal, a paradox comparable to daydreaming in an empty room.

You can buy the EP in various formats through Bandcamp. Check out more Why Don’t you Believe Me? artists on this sampler.

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First up is Paul Stewart from Vancouver BC, who makes “Defeatist Folk” and definitely deserves your attention. His latest EP, Permanence, was released in late 2011 (so late in fact that I didn’t find it in time to put it in my Best of 2011 Free Music posts) and has been on steady rotation in my headphones for the last few months. Check out the lead track in the player below. Stewart released another EP, called Parkade Songs, back in 2009 and that record is also well worth your time. Both are available on a name your price basis, including nothing at all, but both records are definitely worth a donation, however small.

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Second is Scott Rudd who is a “Lo-fi Indie Folk” artist from Brooklyn, NYC. Rudd’s bandcamp currently has an album, a set of very promising demos and a brand new track (released last month) for your listening pleasure. Check out the track below and then purchase these releases (very reasonably priced too). He is also starting a UK tour at the end of the month which stretches throughout July and sees him visiting an impressive variety of towns and cities (from Edinburgh to Brighton and many places in between – look at his bandcamp for the full list). Why not pop along and support him?

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Next we have Matthew DeLoach, who also has two great EPs available on his bandcamp which were also criminally left off my 2011 Free Music List. DeLoach still has that bedroom vibe but changes things up with some nice samples and beats, creating an experimental cocktail of downbeat Lo-fi vocals and swirling electronics. The closing track contains no vocals at all, instead using a recording of children yelling and playing as a background to the track.  My current favourite track, Son of God, is available in the player below. As with Paul Stewart, the EPs are available on a pay-what-you-want basis and again I’m sure it would be appreciated if you could donate what you can.

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Last but not least is the latest release by The Wandering Lake (who I featured a few weeks ago here) called Maj Deegan. Brian Kupilass (the artist that works under The Wandering Lake moniker) says the album was inspired by a trip he took on the Maj Deegan Expressway, travelling north to meet a new family member. The cool double exposure photograph on the cover was taken by Euan Baker. The album presents a departure from the ethereal nature of his previous record, sounding far more Lo-fi and grungey (and a lot louder). Listen to my favourite track, One Day, in the player below and then download the album for as much as you please on bandcamp.

The post Lo-Fi Grab-Bag appeared first on Various Small Flames.