Pleasure Curses is a DC electronic duo that just released their new EP Pure / Lust on homegrown label Prince George Records. Recorded in an isolated and unfurnished house outside Chicago, the concept of the three-track EP was to “merge the cold, rigid sounds of new-wave synthesizers and drum machines with the vibrancy and energy of samba-inflected percussion.”
The lead single “Lust” is a minimal, shadowy track with a light dusting of disco. Listen below and if you’re in the ‘hood, catch Pleasure Curses opening for Tei Shi this Saturday, April 25 at DC9, and then May 22 at the Smithsonian.
Purity Ring received plaudits for their second studio album anothereternity, released last month via 4AD. Following their futuristic debut Shrines in 2012, the Canadian duo Megan James and Corin Roddick bring a contrasting, softer style to the table on the new album while maintaining their otherworldiness.
Stream standout single “begin again” below, followed by our favorite track “stranger than earth” (only available via Spotify for streaming).
Purity Ring will be playing two sold-out shows at DC’s 9:30 ClubMay 29, with Braids and Born Gold supporting.
Alex Winston is the New-York-by-way-of-Detroit songstress who generated a decent amount of buzz in 2012 with her debut album, King Con. Now the classically-trained opera singer turned pop singer is set to release her sophomore LP via 300 Entertainment sometime this spring. Whereas on the last effort she used others’ stories for material, the forthcoming album sees the artist step out of her comfort zone by drawing from her own experiences.
“I’ve never been comfortable writing songs about myself,” she revealed to Stereogum. “It’s always been easier for me to tell stories, so I wasn’t used to being as vulnerable, but . . . I felt like I was doing myself a disservice not making the album personal because I’ve had a few tumultuous years.”
Listen to “Careless,” the lead single off the upcoming album below. Also revisit the stellar Starslinger remix of her earlier single “Sister Wife.”
Our DC readers can check out Winston at theAll Things Gold concert series tonight at U Street Music Hall, along with local favorites The Walking Sticks and Louis Weeks.
Trails and Ways taunted us with their tropical, calypso sound a couple of years ago, and now the Oakland outfit is back with the first single off their forthcoming record, Pathology. On “Skeletons”—recorded in their drummer’s bedroom along with the rest of the LP—the quartet wanted to create a “dance banger,” which they achieved through lithe guitar lines and dungeony synth bass twisting over a heavy club groove.
The much anticipated debut album, Pathology will be released on Barsuk Records June 2 and they’ll be on tour in June and July. You can view the full schedule on their website, but locals can catch their set at DC9 on June 14.
Sufjan Stevens, the musical genius from Michigan released his new album Carrie & Lowell March 31, and by this point you’ve likely already heard a few tracks if you consider yourself a fan. Named after his mother and stepfather, the elegiac album is essentially a cathartic meditation on death in musical form — after losing his mother to cancer in 2012.
Regarding the record’s subject matter, in a compelling interview with Pitchfork Stevens said: It’s something that was necessary for me to do in the wake of my mother’s death—to pursue a sense of peace and serenity in spite of suffering. It’s not really trying to say anything new, or prove anything, or innovate. It feels artless, which is a good thing. This is not my art project; this is my life.
Without question Stevens’ most profound and personal album should be listened to as a whole, but you can hear a couple of our favorite dirges — “Should Have Known Better” and “All Of Me Wants All Of You” below.
Stevens is going on tour in support of the album next week, and will be bringing his majestic sounds to DC’s DAR Constitution Hall May 5.
Another singer being hailed as a breakthrough artist after a successful run at SXSW, Tei Shi is on a bit of a hot streak right now. The chanteuse captivated us with her track “Bassically,” and now she’s shared another effort off her forthcoming EP, Verde — due out via Mermaid Avenue / Mom + Pop Music on April 14. Appropriately mellower than the aforementioned single, “Go Slow” is an airy, mellifluous number accompanied by a metered bassline.
Don’t miss Tei Shi on her upcoming North American/European tour, which kicks off in our very own DC on April 25 at DC9. Find the full tour schedule below.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
4.25.15 – DC9 – Washington, DC
4.27.15 – Great Scott – Allston, MA *
4.29.15 – The Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY *
4.30.15 – MilkBoy – Philadelphia, PA
5.1.15 – MIT – Boston, MA
5.2.15 – Theatre Fairmount – Montreal, QC
5.8.15 – Popscene – San Francisco, CA ^
5.9.15 – Lyrics Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
5.11.15 – School Night – Los Angeles, CA ^
5.14.15 – The Great Escape 2015 – Brighton, UK
5.15.15 – Beursschouwburg – Brussels, Belgium
5.17.15 – London Calling Festival 2015 – Amsterdam, Netherlands
5.19.15 – Pop Up du Label – Paris, France
5.22.15 – Dot to Dot Festival 10th Birthday 2015 – Manchester, UK
5.23.15 – Dot to Dot Festival 10th Birthday 2015 – Bristol, UK
5.24.15 – Dot to Dot Festival 10th Birthday 2015 – Nottingham, UK
6.2.15 – O2 Academy Bournemouth – London, UK
6.3.15 – O2 Academy Brixton – London, UK
6.6.15 – Field Day 2015 – London, UK
6.7.15 – The Parklife Weekender 2015 – Manchester, UK
The LA-based quartet Milo Greene released their second LP Control to favorable reviews in January this year. The record marks a shift in tone for the inherently likable indie-pop act, who worked with Joey Waronker (musician for Beck, R.E.M. and Atoms for Peace) and Jesse Shatkin (Sia, Foster The People and Ellie Goulding) on the production. Following their 2012 self-titled debut, which embodies more of an indie folk aura, the new album moves toward a dancier, synth-driven sound that also showcases each of the band member’s individual talents as they share the spotlight, vocally and instrumentally.
Watch the lyric video for the infectious, finger-snapping single “On The Fence” off the new LP below, then check out some of our favorites from the first album.
After a supporting gig for Bombay Bicycle Club last fall, Milo can now be seen on their first headlining tour in North America. DC locals should be sure to catch their set at Rock & Roll Hotel this Sunday, March 15.
Floridian five-piece Hundred Waters first made waves in 2012 with the release of their self-titled debut. Shortly thereafter, they signed to Skrillex’s OWSLA label and have been riding the momentum ever since — touring with Interpol in 2014 and even having their song “Show Me Love” picked up for a Coca-Cola ad in this year’s Super Bowl. Their 2014 sophomore album, The Moon Rang Like A Bell showcases a gorgeous blending of layered electronics and folk instrumentation, in a genre that is hard to pin down but has been coined by Pitchfork as “digital folk.”
Check out the intense standout track “Cavity,” along with the haunting Huxleyremix of “Down From The Rafters” that we can’t get enough of below.
Currently on their biggest headlining tour yet, DC area folk can catch Hundred Waters in concert at U Street Music Hall this Friday, March 6.
ELELis a new eight-piece based out of Nashville that has been building a good amount of buzz this past year. Founded by Ben Elkins, the epithet ELEL is an amalgam of Ben’s surname and his wife’s first name, Eliska (insert requisite “awe” here). Recently signed to Mom + Pop Records (Andrew Bird, Jagwar Ma, Poliça) the indie outfit is also comprised of musicians Zach Tichenor (keys/guitar/vocals), Tim Cook (guitar/keys/vocals), Jo Jo Jackson (bass/vocals), Alex Mojavarian (drums/percussion), Jerry Pentecost (drums/percussion), Fredrick Weathersby (trumpet/vocals), and Stefan Forbus (saxophone/vocals).
Collectively with their array of instruments, ELEL make exuberant indie pop complete with lo-fi sampling and lots of live improvisation. Prior to the group’s showat DC’s Black Cat with opener Avers tonight, we caught up with frontman Ben, post-sound check in Philly to discuss their self-titled EP that released today.
When did ELEL first come together?
It came together over about a six month period starting about two and a half years ago up, until we played our first show in in Nashville. A lot of us worked at Trader Joe’s, and at the time I was putting together a new band and got into kind of a crunch cause I needed people to play a show. I asked around a bit to see if people were available and lo and behold they were also great musicians. Around that same time I also met Zach at a party and we just hit it off. The two horn players were more of a struggle to nail down initially – I had to keep calling and calling, but once Fredrick came to the first practice, he was in. So it kind of came together in a real neat organic sort of way, which is great.
Can you give us a little insight into what all went into recording the EP?
It was a lot of recording at my house on my computer with just headphones. I like to record old instrumental jazz records collected from thrift stores over the years. I’ll listen through the song and chop out small chords and percussion parts, loop this or that and manipulative them in a lot of different ways – that really makes the song come alive more than just me doing that part with my own keyboard or something. It was a lot of messing around with textures just to get the feel of it down, then we would replace those parts in the studio. I did all the vocals at my house because I like to take my time with that kind of thing; plus I tend to get nervous in the studio setting since you’re paying for it and have all these random people listening to you.
Did you have to get a lot of equipment?
No but I mean I should have if I’d had the money! I just kind of worked with what I had. I borrowed this really neat old broadcasting mic from a friend, which is what I sing the vocals through. It’s a real DIY kind of project, that’s kind of one of the reasons that I’m thrilled that it’s resonating with people, ’cause I worked countless hours and put countless amounts of energy into it but didn’t necessarily have the best equipment.
You’ve talked before about the music industry being overly obsessed with perfection. Can you speak to that a bit more?
Definitely, I think the record industry’s drive towards perfection is mostly motivated by fear. The industry is so scared of taking risks right now because as we all know, for 10 or 15 years or so there’s been a decrease in revenue in the music business. So the reaction has been to not take any chances, and what that means to record executives is to make everything sound perfect. And it’s unfortunate because I think that a lot of the music that’s coming out is so perfectly produced that it doesn’t even sound human anymore. It’s like a photograph that gets touched up on a magazine cover, you know.
For sure, everything’s photoshopped these days.
Uh huh, it’s like that Foster the Peoplevideo where this one model is told to manipulate her body, and by the end of it she’s changed so much that she looks really, really weird. It’s pretty intense – but in a way that’s what’s happening to music. When you hear a live band that’s really groovin, it just impacts your heart and soul. But if you took that performance and fixed all the idiosyncrasies, something would be lost. Humans don’t look or sound perfect – and if we get further and further away from that in our art, to me it feels uncomfortable and it doesn’t resonate as much with people.
What music inspires you the most and who are you currently listening to?
Anything that stirs my soul. Can be anything from 90s garage rock, to jazz, soul, and modern indie bands like Beach House or Local Natives. Also the most recent Flume release is pretty freakin’ awesome. And actually, it may sound strange but I’m not a huge music consumer; I probably shouldn’t say that – it sounds snobbish but maybe it’s the music producer in me that makes me want to change things. Nonetheless, when I hear a song that moves my soul – that’s the kind of music I want to make and contribute to this world.
How did you get connected to the Mom + Pop label?
Julia, the A&R person there found our track “40 Watt” in May 2014. That was a huge moment, receiving that email. I was sitting with my bandmate Tim in front of my laptop after an ELEL practice, and just happened to see the email from Mom and Pop and got so excited that as he was talking I hit him in the chest and was just like, look at this! We both started yelling, giving each other high fives and immediately went into the kitchen to pour tequila shots. And that was just an introductory email!
Haha, well luckily it all worked out. What’s next for ELEL?
We’re touring right now and getting ready to release a couple of videos off the EP, excited to be playing in SXSW this month, then heading from Austin up to the Northwest for a few more tour dates before heading back home.
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LIsten to the EP’s lead single “40 Watt” below — along with a great remix by JackLNDN — and support the band by purchasing the EP on iTunestoday.
Brooklyn-based duo Beacon released their EP L1 in December last year, their latest effort since 2013’s full-length debut, The Ways We Separate. Signed to Ghostly International, vocalist/producer Thomas Mullarney and producer Jacob Gossett make minimalist and R&B imprinted electronic music. Look no further than “Fault Lines,” the lead track off the EP for a sampling of their deeply haunting and percussive-heavy, after-dark instrumentation. Listen below along with the stunning “Feeling’s Gone,” from the aforementioned LP.
DC locals can catch Beacon live in concert tomorrow, February 19 at DC9.
poetry in an empty coke can 