Moonbell : Figurine

Beam down heavy space-rock-tastic grooves from San Francisco trio Moonbell on their 'Figurine' EP, of which the title track is here to explore.

MP3:
Moonbell 'Figurine'

More at moonbell.bandcamp.com.

Quiet Lights : No More Canyons

Brooklyn-based quintet Quiet Lights are readying a new EP for release in June. In the meantime check out their devotional shoegaze on previous single 'No More Canyons'

Extra Classic : Congo Rebel

San Francisco based, analogue loving duo Extra Classic have released their debut 7" 'Congo Rebel' in a limited run of 300. The dusty psychedelic dub gem was recorded at their studio using classic equipment from the 60s (including Ampex 440 1/4" 2-track, Tascam 48 1/2" 8-track, Roland RE-201 Space Echo, MXR Phase-100, AKG 414, Altec 1567, Memphis-made Auditronics Grandson Console - I love reading lists of kit, don't you?).


Extra Classic 'Congo Rebel'



More at nopalrecords.com

Galaxy Empire : The Void

'The Void' is 7+ minutes of hypnotic astral rumblings by new outfit Galaxy Empire.

SIGNAL SIGNAL : Starcrossed

SIGNALSIGNAL is a solo project by Lewis Young from London whose sound is bred from a love of distortion, minimalism and lo-fi signal processing. This is his score to short film 'Starcrossed'.

Soars : Throw Yourself Apart Video

Here's the new video for 'Throw Yourself Apart' by Soars.

More at la-soc.com.

"Space Rocker Mistaken For Secret Agent By Papuan Rebel Fighters"

Best space-rock referencing story ever!

Greg Jarvis, leader of transatlantic space-rock orchestra The Flowers Of Hell, was nearly killed when he stumbled across a political demonstration in Papua New Guinea recently, after being mistaken for an MI5 man.

While holidaying in the country Jarvis walked past a demonstration by the outlawed OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) with his camera out, unaware that membership of the organisation is punished as treason, and was promptly chased by a large number of protesters. He ran back to his hotel, which was nearby, but the angry mob was soon banging on the doors and windows. Hiding in the kitchen and not seeing any suitable weapons, he decided to face his attackers "Gandhi-style", with hotel staff acting as translators.

"I just kept feeding them Elvis' old Vietnam War-era line: 'Look, I'm just a musician; I don't know anything about politics.' The atmosphere was supercharged as they tried to decide if I really was a musician or if I was a foreign intelligence operative," recalls Jarvis from the safety of his home in Toronto. "I knew the OPM has a history of kidnapping and in some cases killing foreigners, so I asked if I could go to my room at get an instrument – I had a travel ukulele that I'd picked up on Denmark Street. In that moment I just wanted to play, for it didn't look like I'd ever get to play again. I started playing a version of 'Opt Out', our usual set closer, and I played good, like my life depended on it - because it did! Almost immediately the tense atmosphere dissipated. After a couple minutes one of them stood up and yelled and they all left abruptly!

"The hotel manager, receptionist and I all hugged each other with relief. The manager said to me, 'For your safety, Mr Greg, it is best you leave town at sunrise.'"

Following such a tale, the least you can do is check out The Flowers Of Hell's third album, 'O', via Optical Sounds on 15th November. It comes on a double-sided CD/DVD, with a regular stereo mix on the CD side and a 5.1 surround sound mix on the DVD, along with a live concert film and various special features.

MP3:
'O' (edit)



More at myspace.com/opticalsounds.

Soars : Figurehead

Here's another track from Eastern Pennsylvania shoegazers Soars' self-titled debut album. Influences of Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine ring true with hushed vocals and intensely effected guitars. 'Soars' is out next week on limited 12" colored vinyl, CD and digital download courtesy of La Société Expéditionnaire.

MP3:
'Figurehead'

More at la-soc.com.

Tamaryn : Sandstone

Forthcoming on Mexican Summer, Tamaryn release their full length debut 'The Waves' on 4th October. 'Sandstone' floats Tamaryn's sweet vocals over deep oceans of noise and tribal drumming, created with collaborator and producer Rex John Shelverton.

MP3:
Tamaryn 'Sandstone'

More at Mexican Summer.

The Charlatans : Love Is Ending (Horrors Remix)

The Horrors eviscerate The Charlatans' new single 'Love Is Ending' with a drone soundscape *remix*.



More at The Charlatans.

Special Benny : Guestmix

Special Benny Guestmix by Proper Songs on Mixcloud

Special Benny have put together a mix that's "a portrait of Special Benny through the influences we can fairly safely say we share".

1. Jim O’Rourke 'Not Sport Marital Art'
2. The Acorn 'Crooked Legs'
3. Tortoise 'Eros'
4. Sea & Cake 'All The Photos'
5. The Naciente Quartet 'Dr Hombus'
6. Sufjan Stevens 'All Good Naysayers...'
7. Neil Cowley Trio 'Dinosaur Die'
8. Battles 'Tras 2'

Their album 'Toys' is released on 6th September through Proper Songs.

More at Proper Songs.

Special Benny : Toys

I'm very proud to announce the release of Special Benny's debut album 'Toys' on 6th September 2010 through Proper Songs!

The six-piece band are Mat Baynton, Grace Cheung, Tom Corbett, Ben Gates, Rob Smoughton and Matt Turner who hail from Southend, Brighton, Bexleyheath and Hong Kong but now call London home. Most of Special Benny studied music, apart from Mat, who went to clown school. Although five members can distinguish between a Neapolitan 6th, and a French 6th, none can fall over quite so hilariously as Mr Baynton.

The tracks on “Toys” draw from a variety of musical influences. Although they admit their individual tastes differ greatly, the band cites Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, Sufjan Stevens, Battles, Frank Zappa and Steve Reich among their shared favourites.

As might be expected from a band who admire such experimental luminaries, there is a high degree of collaboration and planning involved in their song writing: “We finish all our ideas together, or the band as a whole aren’t interested. Democracy can be hard within a band, it can lead to arguments. But at the same time, the fact that we are always surprised when we play together is an absolute joy.”

Special Benny are not a band to rush things - their ultra-obsessive nature with microscopic detail of sound would send the most hardy of studio hermits around the bend - but even for them “Toys” has been a long time coming. Mat and Ben have been making music together since they were 14, before meeting other members around university and starting Special Benny (named seconds before playing their first gig, the name stuck ever since, somehow). Despite building up a solid live following and self-recording/producing/releasing the “Rumblestrip EP” in 2006, the group struggled to find their natural rhythm and life began to interfere. original drummer Steve Galloway left, Matt Turner took a job in Australia for a year, Mat Baynton’s acting career took off, Ben and Grace started a family – the group even called time on Special Benny with a final gig at their spiritual home of The Fox in Lewisham, South East London. Then in late 2008, they discussed playing seriously again with their friend and drummer Rob Smoughton (who releases as Grovesnor on Lo Recordings and is live drummer for Hot Chip). The resulting rehearsals inspired the group into resuming with renewed focus, leading to the completion of “Toys”.

The release of “Toys” is a testament to their desire and need to create music together, and to do so on their own terms as a group. It is the sound of people discovering common ground despite their differences and disruptions and creating music that’s beautiful, precious, timeless and entirely their own.



More at specialbenny.com

The Boo Radleys : Reissues

The Boo Radleys were my favourite band in the early/mid 90s, and news of reissues sparked of a pang of nostalgia at Proper Songs. They were mainly remembered for their single 'Wake Up Boo!', but The Boo Radleys were more than a one hit wonder. Their finest moment 'Giant Steps' was an ambitious 17 track genre clash that NME's readers voted as album of the year in 1993 and still stands up today.

'Giant Steps' and follow up 'Wake Up Boo!' have been reissued by Cherry Red along with bonus discs containing B-sides and remixes, which include some of their best work.

Here are some nostalgia inducing VCR quality videos from the 90s:









More at cherryred.co.uk

Lost Idol : Guest Mix

A few words about the mix....
“When asked to put together a mix for Proper Songs I felt it right to do just that – haphazardly throw together a selection of songs in the traditional sense of the word, i.e. conventionally structured pieces of music with lyrics, verses, choruses, ends & beginnings. These are all songs that have inspired me over the last year or so & for different reasons too. The Chap kick things off appropriately with ‘Proper Rock’ – an eccentric, chunky-chorded ode to girls & clubbing that properly rocks. Elsewhere there are moments of true beauty, with Talk Talk’s ‘I Believe In You’ surely being one of the most gloriously reflective songs in existence, & The Beach Boys’ ‘Until I Die’ undoubtedly the most heartbreaking song Brian Wilson has ever put his pen to. Later in the mix Animal Collective bring a nugget of contemporary psychedelia that fires straight into the cosmos while Clouddead pull off that rare trick of making the abstract surprisingly accessible. If you’re of an age where friends made you mixtapes & vice-versa when you were young, then this is exactly that - a collection & sharing of songs which I love & wish to pass on to you; proper songs of love, death, girls, dogs & clubbing.”

Selected & mixed by Lost Idol May 2010

Lost Idol's latest album 'Brave The Elements' is out now. More at cookshopmusic.co.uk

Paul White : Ancient Treasures

Paul White pretty much leads the way in psychedelic beatmaking with his "Strange Dreams Of..." album a highlight of 2009. News of a new album "...& The Purple Brain" was announced today along with this typically cosmic-rock infused taster.

MP3:
Paul White 'Ancient Treasures'.

More at Now-Again and One Handed.

Team Ghost : Colors In Time

Team Ghost are ex-M83 founder Nicolas Fromageau, multi-instrumentalist Christophe Guérin and producer/manager Jean-Philippe Talaga. Their inevitably M83 influenced sound takes electronically infused 21st century shoegaze and dirties it with Krautrock and punk sleaze. A EP 'You Never Did Anything Wrong To Me' will be available on limited-edition black and white vinyl 10-inch on 26th April. Here's the first track 'Colours In Time' alongside their remix of label mates Yeti Lane.

Team Ghost 'Colours In Time'
Yeti Lane 'Twice' (Team Ghost Remix)

More at soniccathedral.co.uk.

Mako Sica : Dual Horizon

If you ever catch yourself thinking "I just don't freak out hard enough these days" then Chicago's Mako Sica are the band to flip your crazy switch. Recorded completely live without overdubs, their far out debut album 'Dual Horizon' is released courtesy of La Société Expéditionnaire, limited to 250 LPs. Exploring punk, jazz, avant-gard, drone, chanting, noise and psychedelia - often at the same time - opening track of three 'I'Itoi' (named for a mythological Native American god who lives in a mountain cave and watches over the desert) sets out the band's agenda for dark, ever evolving experimentalism. If you make it through to the other side the full 40 minute cycle of the album is your next journey to take, released 16th February.

MP3:
Mako Sica 'I'Itoi'.

Buy from La Société Expéditionnaire.

Dragon Turtle : Almanac

Dragon Turtle are Brian Lightbody and Tom Asselin, two musical souls split between Brooklyn and rural Northeastern PA. While Lightbody lives in the city as the band's creative director and musician, Asselin works on a tree farm and operates the band's One Forest studio. Their conflicting environments are reflected in their music as ambient folk meets dark refracted noise, aimed at contemplating natural dualities within the universe. Their debut album 'Almanac' is out now.

Download 'Island Of Broken Glass'.



Buy at La Société Expéditionnaire.

Fontän : Winterhwila

From the ever reliable Information label comes the debut album by Fontän, Swedish producers Jesper Jarold and Johan Melin. Recorded in part in Jesper's grandmother's garden shed on broken - then mended - musical equipment, the LP catches the mood of the setting summer sun with pure Balearic vibes, dub-disco and psychedelic Kraut rock. Layered textures of synths and cosmic guitars create otherworldly soundscapes with a strong 80s influence, while keeping a tight reign on the Knopflerisms. The vocal tracks stand up strong, such as 2008 single 'Early Morning' and 'The Bridge' - the illegitimate son of David Bowie's 'Ashes To Ashes'. As should be expected from label mates to the excellent Studio, this is beautiful, timeless music.

Download 'Early Morning'.

Buy at Boomkat.

The Second Release On Proper Songs Is By Special Benny

Available on digital in November, 'Air Filter' is the first track from Special Benny's exceptional debut album 'Toys' out in Spring '010.



propersongs.net/label