mp3s: My Majestic Star, Markus Mehr

RIYL: Tim Hecker, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive

mp3: My Majestic Star - "Crampling"
mp3: Markus Mehr - "Hubble"

I am always ecstatic to see new emails and records from Hidden Shoal Recordings, a Perth, Western Australia-based label who have quickly become one of my favorite experimental music outposts over the past year. They consistently release adventurous ambient/drone, shoegaze and pop that is radiant and textured and expansive and dense with incandescent ticks from around the world. (See our previous post on Rome's Elisa Luu.)

Above, download "Hubble" from Augsburg, Germany-based Markus Mehr's ambient debut, Lava. Also download My Majestic Star's "Crampling," an otherwordly piece of shimmering shoegaze pop with an entrancing cello line from the Perth band's 2009 album I Haven’t Got It In Me.

Big in 2k10: Sweet Bulbs

RIYL: Cocteau Twins, Black Tambourine, Jesus and Mary Chain

mp3: Sweet Bulbs - "Springstung"
mp3: Sweet Bulbs - "Dilated Sleep"
mp3: Sweet Bulbs - "Kissing Clouds"

It's rare that I play a track on the New Afternoon Show that sparks as much interest as one I played yesterday. The track was "Springstung" from Brooklyn's Sweet Bulbs, who make dark and extremely catchy Cocteau Twins-inspired noisepop, or gothwave.

The songs are very 80s and lo-fi, with a lot of texture and fun titles; shoegaze-style with reverby guitars, decisively finished with singer Inna's dark, dreamy vocals. (Also noteworthy: the male-female vox on "Kissing Clouds," above.) Their debut long-player, Cybergaze — at once moody and sharp — drops soon via an undetermined label, and will be sure to grab recent fans of Big Troubles, the Bitters and Veronica Falls. This will make you want to light some candles and dance around during a time when college radio still created bands like this.

Sweet Bulbs includes former members of hardcore noise-makers Michael Jordan — who, aesthetically, they couldn't be further from. The band formed in November when guitarist Mike (of Michael Jordan) decided to put a band together for a show at Silent Barn with Weed Hounds and Coasting, rather than play solo as planned. Vocalist Inna and drummer Ray (of Le Rug) joined and fell in love, followed by 17-year old bassist Jack. Their future plans are to quit their jobs and play more around New York.

Big in 2k10: Sultan

RIYL: My Bloody Valentine, Codeine, Grouper, Ducktails, Nite Jewel, Zola Jesus

mp3: Sultan - Commanded [removed]
mp3: Sultan - Picture
mp3: Sultan - There Goes My Girl

Sultan is the experimental project of Brookyln songstress Kayla Cohen, who fuses stark, airy vocals with droney guitars — her aesthetic is reminiscent of Grouper covering MBV. Playing with loops and reverb, Kayla sculpts sublime soundscapes that are at once ambient, noisy, and pristine, with Codeine, MBV, JAMC and Spiritualized as smart influences.

On her Spring 2010 CDR, openers “Night Loop” and “Small Talk” pair muted, acoustic guitars with high-floating vocals — indecipherable but enchanting whispers that drift over her repetitive guitar progressions. By track three, “Return” hits the CD’s first long-piece — reverby drones and loops build up and down to a hyper-hypnotic place where the stars align and its all mystical and Goth.

That is the CDR cover above — a skyline or graveyard.

“Commanded” stands out as the first track on the CDR with drums, unsurprisingly giving the strongest nod to her influences. Another highlight, the vox-driven “Picture,” showcases her voice breaking out of its super-subtle shell and building to a widening, choir-like hymn. Closers “There Goes My Girl” and “Venture” are some of the CDR’s longest experiments, most closely recalling other contemporary underwater ambience.

Something about listening to sunny, upbeat pop songs during the summertime seems forced to me. Sometimes I’d rather chill out with this and get kinda dark. Though I first got a hold of this CD in April, it’s unsurprisingly been a good soundtrack to my summer studies, which have included John Cage and Edgar Allen Poe.

Sultan's track "There Goes My Girl" appears on the recent Blackburn Recordings compilation Various Deficiencies Vol. 1, alongside City Center, Big Troubles and more. Her most recent self-released tape, The Moon — recently/appropriately spun on Bobka’s Underwater Takeovah — is out now. Sultan's first 7” is out on Blackburn this fall.

(For our “Big in 2k10 series, we previously wrote on Twin Sister and Blackburn Recordings ... both of whom are doin pretty okay.)

MP3: Elisa Luu, "Pixie Space Rock" (Really dope)

Since discovering Elisa Luu's ambient electronica record Chromatic Sigh at WNYU, the Rome-based composer has quickly become one of my favorite artists to play on the New Afternoon Show. Fusing sparkles of shoegaze and downbeat, Luu manipulates self-recorded guitar, flute, saxophone and electric piano samples — organic and gorgeously layered digital instrumentals climax on "Pixie Space Rock," oft-reminiscent of Loveless. Though deep and expansive, this is a warm, accessible record for someone who wants to add some experimental/electronic soundscapes into their regular repertoire.

download: Elisa Luu - "Pixie Space Rock"

Weed Hounds Played WNYU, Ruled ((++Playing Silent Barn on Thursday.))

On Monday, Weed Hounds came to WNYU to play on The New Afternoon Show. Probably my favorite in studio since I started hosting NAS in September. They sounded incredible and even hung out afterward to talk about the Internet, future 7-inches on a Canadian label, and our shared hometown of Massapequa. ((All members of the band are from Long Island, just like us.))

Here's what I said about the band in the WNYU weekly update:

WEED HOUNDS are a New York-based four-piece specializing in melodic, shoegaze-tinged dream pop. Their first demo was recorded to cassette and released on Austin's Crooked Direction Records, earning them comparisons to early My Bloody Valentine, Pixies and The Swirlies. All members are originally from Long Island and attend college in NYC. Weed Hounds are about to drop two 7-inches via Canada's National Archive of Records, and another via Long Island's Rok Lok Records in January. They play Silent Barn on December 10th.

Stream WEED HOUNDS' live set here: ((CLICK))

Stream WEED HOUNDS' interview here: ((CLICK))

Download WEED HOUNDS' interview here: ((CLICK))

You can still download their demo for free at I Could Die Tomorrow: ((CLICK))

Be sure to catch the band at Silent Barn this Thursday — details on how to get in for free here — and get ready to hear a lot more 'bout these kids in 2010.