Panabrite — Octopus in Your Dreams

from Sub-Aquatic Meditation (Aguirre Records, 2012)

Lovely scuba-diving sounds from Portland’s amazingly prolific Panabrite, aka Norm Chambers, a lover of “library production music, nature/science documentaries, and vintage electronic sounds.”

Analog at its most magical. Get it at bandcamp. (along with a huge number of other slow thrillers!) Or visit Panabrite at soundcloud / blogspot.

Lushlife — Big Sur

from Plateau Vision (Apr 2012)

Lushlife previews a plush, gorgeously produced track from the forthcoming album Plateau Vision. Hat tip to PopThatRocks, who says: “album is out April 17 on Western Vinyl. Don’t forget to grab Lushlife’s free mixtape from last year if you haven’t yet.”

Indeed. And this track is up for grabs at bandcamp. Record release party at Glasslands April 18th.

Walsh — Welcome to 2k12

from Back 2 the High Life (2k12)

Been digging on the new Walsh release all week. Brandon Biondo strikes again! Get yer funk on at bandcamp or the sublime AMDISCS. And pop open a High Life while yer at it.

Francisco y Madero — Poolpartyndo

from acapulco en la azotea EP (2011)

Carlos Pesina has yet another great project to keep track of, in addition to his work as Pepepe and Los Amparito. His newest collaboration, with San Francisco’s Jess Sylvester on guitar, is Francisco y Madero.

Their EP Acapulco en la azotea is a beachy escape, launched, like a resort wear collection, just in time for your daydreams of the tropics.

previously on yerdarlingdaily // bandcamp

via odiolosjueves (Pesina’s tumblr)

Roberto Carlos Lange — Way

from Vesicle Pisces (2011)

Here’s a quiet, thrilling piece of drone from Robert Carlos Lange, aka Helado Negro. A sort of rumbling electro-acoustic odyssey, glued together with pipe organ, a subtle pleasure for your ears. It’s also free for the taking at his bandcamp.

Roberto performs this Friday 12/23 at The Stone in NYC, as part of the dublab/Luaka Bop night of programming.

Nazcar Nation — Hot Girls Have it So Easy

from Hot Girls (Single + Remixes) (2011)

Loving this new track from Nazcar Nation. Bumping beats galore. Grab it for free, along with some shag-carpet-smooth remixes, at their bandcamp.

Hat tip to FRNTROW

Pickwick — Turn the Light Out (Councours d’Elegance cover)

from Covers/Split (2011)

Was digging around bandcamp a bit yesterday and came across Pickwick. I know very little about them other than that they’re from Seattle, and channel a sort of neo-soul, falsetto-laced sound, of which this catchy little ditty is a prime example.

Check ‘em out at bandcamp.

Vektroid — Splash

from Neo Cali (Oct 2011)

This song rises up and spreads its wings, like a little mushroom poking slowly through pine needles on the forest floor, before it opens its cap and shoots spores all over the place. To hear 18-year-old Washington state producer Vektroid tell it:

this is my ode to moody summers transfigured upon pattern diffused lifescapes and brushed off; to fabricated memories of teen hackers of the past and their elementary school computer labs buried deep within the oceans of time. to a new life, experienced more vividly through microsoft encarta and library terminals of the past. we miss you.

Album drops Oct 7th; you can pre-order over at Bandcamp. Til then, why don’t you boot up MS-DOS, sit back, and relax…

DUDES — AS A WOMAN ft. KYNAN & HOOD ZION

from NARCISSISTS ANONYMOUS (2011)

I’ve been listening over and over with great relish to the two EPs by San-Diego dudes DUDES. They hit on a ton of styles and know how to space things out when necessary…and necessity often calls.

This, their latest EP, is a bit lusher, a bit less rough around the edges, than their first one, but it’ll still leave a little sand in yer eyes. This is one of my favorite tracks…I could be wrong but it kinda sounds like Vincent Price cackling at the end. Also don’t miss ‘SOMETHING 2 SAY.’

The narcissist in question on the cover is legendary French realist painter Gustave Courbet. The painting is Self-portrait with black dog, 1842. But my favorite Courbet pose is his Self-portrait (The Desperate Man) from a few years later.

Hat tip to SmokeDontSmoke for bringing my attention to DUDES, with his Parallax mix. Go download that! And grab DUDES material free at bandcamp.

WALSH — Landing Strip

from Don’t Want 2 Fall In Luv (2011)

Everything Brandon Biondo (aka WALSH) touches turns to funk. He literally presses a key on his synthesizer and a leopard-print leotard jumps out of the speaker.

I mean these mechanical drum hits are just TOO MUCH. Kinda nasty. I think Biondo’s officially turned into a robot. And you will too, if you aren’t careful with this song. Also don’t miss the other standout track, ‘Kommissar.’

Like all his work, this EP is a real winner. If you’re feeling generous, grab it over at bandcamp at the pay-what-you-will rate… or you can try it on for free at label Dracula Horse. (follow Dracula Horse on tumblr for more goodies)

Romantic States — The Fourth

from Still Petals (beko lp09, 2011)

Here’s a lovely, noisy pop romp, with some earmelting guitar, from the new Romantic States EP. It’s out now on the beko digital singles label, a goldmine of free downloads of bands you’ve never heard of. (Or, at least, that I’ve never heard of—most of them spectacularly ungoogleable, like GeRmAn ArMy, Healthcare, and Pregnant, or the irresistibly named How I Quit Crack)

Grab the EP free over at beko, where you should go get lost anyway, or on bandcamp.

Mutual Benefit — Wishing

from Mutual Spirits 12” (2011)

Underwater guitars, music box chimes, ships’ cranks, plucking banjo… I’m gonna let these dreamy sounds wash over me tonight at Glasslands, at the Mutual Benefit/Holy Spirits split 12” release bash. See you there?

Jordan of Mutual Benefit mans the helm of two excellent tumblrs…check ‘em out. [Mutual Benefit] [Kassette Klub]

Topographic Maps — Not By A Jugful

from According to Hoyle (2011)

If yer looking for lo-fi, here it is. More lo-fi than a crushed beercan in the desert sand, bleached by the sun. There is an inexplicable amount of hiss on these recordings, an amount that seems almost impossible to obtain these days.

I asked Topographic Maps, aka Marcus from Rogers, Minnesota, about his rig. It’s nothing less than revelatory, and should serve as an inspiration to all those who aspire to low fidelity in this high-tech age. He’s cuing beats on a $12 Casio from Goodwill while fingerpicking his acoustic guitar, and recording all that on a digital camera:

“Take track 1 of “According to Hoyle” as an example. I put my little Casio keyboard on the kitchen table. Then I put my digital camera on the table between the keyboard and the sound hole on my guitar. I’ll pick a beat on the keyboard, hit “video record” on the camera and start playing the chords to my song. Then I hook my camera into my computer and upload the video file into a program called “Any-Video-Converter.” This program allows me to play the drum loop and guitar track through my computer speakers. So I crank the volume on the speakers, and once again hit record on the digital camera. But this time I play leads along with that drum loop/guitar chord combo that I just recorded. It’s a really tedious way of recording multi-layered tracks. I’m not sure yet what the limits are to this method. Hopefully none. Then I convert the whole thing to a sound file and upload it to bandcamp. It took around 4 hours to record each of the two albums you see on bandcamp.”

Can you think of anything more tedious? Then again, in an age where cassette decks are making a comeback I’ll admit there is a certain charm to the process. And dude says “I love that hiss. I love that I can hear my cat in the background, or a car passing, or someone else’s voice as they walk in, not realizing that I’m recording. I want it all there.  So there it is.”

In that vein, Topographic Maps highly recommends scheduling your next hissy fit with cassette-tape tunes from the Beer on the Rug label. “Casino Gardens, World Series, Midnight Television, Arcade Junkies. I love everything those guys put out.” Duly noted. Keep an eye out here for some unpolished gems!

Datahowler — Voltage

from Slowdrifter (2011)

This track’s so short it’s almost like a little business card that says “Datahowler: Synth Squealer, Chillwave Creator” but it’s the kind of business card you look at for a good bit and think “nice card” before shoving it in your pocket.

bandcamp

Teams — Whxt Txrns U Xn? (2011)

video by Shaman

Trippy oil-sheen treatment of melting faces, teamed (sorry) appropriately with the narcotic sounds of ‘Whxt Txrns U Xn?’, a track from Teams’ new AMdiscs album Dxys Xff. Pick it up on vinyl May 25th, or head over to bandcamp to stream.

via Rose Quartz