Animal Collective ft. Vashti Bunyan - Prospect Hummer EP

Following a hugely successful 2004, Animal Collective return with their first release of 2005 - a brand new four-track EP, which features the sweet voice of the near-legendary Vashti Bunyan. Having long been huge fans of her sole album, the recently rediscovered 1970 gem, ‘Just Another Diamond Day’, Animal Collective happened to meet Vashti when they played in Edinburgh on a 2003 tour supporting Four Tet (Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden had recently played as part of Vashti’s band during her first live set in over 30 years at the Royal Festival Hall). Following this meeting, ideas were hatched and conversations began, culminating in the group selecting these three beautiful songs for her to make a home in.

Acoustic-based and once again recorded by their friend Rusty Santos (who co-produced ‘Sung Tongs’ along with the band), ‘Prospect Hummer’ centres around the three harmonised vocal tracks, ‘It’s You’, ‘Prospect Hummer’, and ‘I Remember Learning How To Dive’, all of which were recorded over three days in March 2004 at Idle Luxury Studios in London, immediately before the band set off on their European tour to promote ‘Sung Tongs’. Weaving their luscious, multi-layered web around Vashti’s singing, these three tracks feature Animal members Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Deakin. A fourth track, the instrumental ‘Baleen Sample’ was completed late last year, and includes samples from band member Geologist, who was absent from the Four Tet tour.

Besides a huge mutual admiration, another link that both artists share is their experiences of people attempting to pigeonhole them both into some kind of folk-ish ideal. Whilst rising to critical prominence around the same time as artists like Devendra Banhardt, Iron & Wine, Espers, Joanna Newsom and Vetiver, Animal Collective have always balked at the idea of being part of some kind of ‘Avant/Modern American Folk’ scene – and anything more than the most cursory listen through their back catalogue will amply illustrate the changing nature, uniqueness and breadth of their music. Similarly, whilst obviously remembered for the autobiographical folk settings of ‘JADD’, Vashti is likewise insistent that her music stands on its own two feet, entirely separate from any scene-creation. - FatCat Records

AC ft. Vashti Bunyan - Prospect Hummer EP

High Places - 03/07 - 09/07

High Places channels the spirit of school bus sing-a-longs, back country camping trips, and first prize science fair projects, while conjuring dreams of faraway places through the use of field recordings, contact mics on houshold items, wind instruments and electronic thingamabobs.

High Places - 03/07 - 09/07

The White Lodge - Endless Wilderness

The White Lodge is Steven and Emiliana, a husband and wife duo living and recording on a farm in eastern Appalachia. Together they have gathered and articulated a bucolic palate of sounds, weaving them into a shadowy psychedelic tapestry around the listener. Intricate blends of room noise and incidental sounds mix with the building tides of muffled drones, flutes, and bells surrounding their gentle guitars and organs. The repetitive quality of their simple, woven melodies and atmosphere create a unique pastoral landscape. They make melodic, lonesome, and pretty music that is as gentle and frail as it is dark and curious. It is a turning of the ear, a 'listening' at the winding path through the woods at night, and the mysterious communication it brings with it. Endless Wilderness is their second full-length, a truly powerful music.

The White Lodge - Endless Wilderness

Clipd Beaks - Preyers EP

Using drums, bass, synthesizers, samplers, and one broken guitar, Clipd Beaks create a thick wall of sound that's backed with pulsing beats and spiked with subliminal lyrics delivered in the tense, ecstatic tones of a street preacher. Their debut EP "Preyers" offers a kaleidoscopic view into their collective mind, a sonic galaxy that ensembles ambient krautrock, noise punk, plus acid-damaged special sounds. Melt your brains out.

Clipd Beaks - Preyers EP

Valet - Naked Acid

A follow-up to her Kranky debut Blood Is Clean, Honey Owens' latest release as Valet pursues a similar line of enquiry to the homespun avant-garde songwriting you'd find on a Grouper or Islaja album. There's a more emphatic psychedelic element to Owens' work (you need only look as far as the outlandish sleeve art to realise that), much of which stems from some searing, freeform guitar work, as exemplified by the spiralling blues jam 'F**k It'. While Owens' voice can sound oddly vacant, drifting with a lo-fi reverberation over the course of much of Naked Acid, those wild electric lead parts really inject a distinct sense of character into these songs. There's plenty of variety on this album too, with pieces ranging from straight-up droners like 'Drum Movie' to loop-based electronic cuts like 'Streets', but for all the album's weirdness the main attraction here has to be Owens' more conventional songs, like the wonderful 'Fire' which condenses the Valet sound to one voice and one guitar. Lovely stuff - Highly Recommended!

Valet - Naked Acid

Jane - Berserker

Jane is made up of Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear of Animal Collective) and Scott Mou, a New York City DJ, the two of them basically jamming together, riffing on a theme until they find something they like, something that speaks to their spirit. When writing of the sessions that turned into Berserker, the first full album from Jane, Noah expresses the following: "...its the dance that gets us going on Jane... mostly it was about hanging out together and talking and playing music and thinking and feeling and having fun and dancing most of all." One would likely be forgiven, then, for approaching Berserker and thinking it's going to be a dance album. Because it's not. Not by a long shot. The only people that would have a prayer in the world of dancing to Berserker are the same people who spend long hours in their homes interpretive dancing to sounds of the rainforest.

Jane - Berserker

Soft Circle - Full Bloom

Hisham Bharoocha was a former Black Dice and Lightning Bolt member, and now he is Soft Circle. Soft Circle’s sound can be rightfully compared to contemporaries like Animal Collective, Boredoms and former band Black Dice, but with all its similarities Full Bloom seems a little too equally contrived a slightly watered down. As a drummer, Bharoocha’s method includes an abundant, restrained use of his drum kit along with swirling guitars and Panda Bear vocals circa Young Prayer. The effect is a sort of ambient spiritualism that you would be likely to find on a White Rainbow album.

Soft Circle - Full Bloom

Why? - Alopecia

Why? started off as Yoni Wolf name for touring his hip hop and poet work. But, by 2005 it became much more than that and turned into a full group. He has always worked in the group cLOUDDEAD as just a few of his accomplishments. This album is one that has blended together so many different genres such as hip hop, folk, indie and guitar pop all into one package.

Why? - Alopecia