4AD just released the first single for the forthcoming, as-yet-unnamed record from Ariel Pink’s Haunted Grafitti. The song is smoooooooth, ya’ll – but what the fuck happened to all the sonic bullshit that Ariel stuffs in his usual jams?! I hope 4AD isn’t going to start “cleaning up” the Ariel Pink sound and turn him into something retarded like St. Vincent. Either way, I still love Ariel Pink agape style. I can’t even say something like “he could fart in a mic for an hour and I’d still buy the record,” because he basically already does that (with pop finesse, of course). Ultimately, I’m very glad he’s discovered Yacht Rock in an even more intimate way on “Round and Round.”

MP3 :::
Ariel Pink – Round and Round

You can place Serena Maneesh into a number of columns, but neogaze is not one of them. Their 2005 eponymous record hinted at a band on the verge of realizing their sound, and Abyss in B-Minor is the result of such ephiphanies. Abyss in no way resembles a rehashing of my favorite movement in rock music. Sure, the essential elements are there – hall reverb, dynamic loudness, a blend of ambience and pop sensibility, blurred album art, and all the general ad infinitum shoegaze/dream pop reference points. However, there’s an intrinsic punk-informed aura about the group. They eschew the trends that defined the tongue-in-cheek shoegaze term. There’s no detachment, no navel staring, no aloofness – Serena Maneesh is a rough around the edges, delightfully gutteral collective. They will beat your ass. If you don’t believe that, exhibit A: they recorded this album in a cave outside Oslo. However, outside the album’s epic bookends, Abyss in B-Minor is a body of pop songs, and each one is deceivingly brutal under the shimmering surface. If you could strip away the nasty gale of noise and fuzz that I imagine the apocalypse would sound like, you could possibly play this record around your folks. But since that’s not the case, I don’t recommend it.

Unlike that Raveonettes album that (actually) was entirely in B Minor, Serena Maneesh is all over the place. You’ve already been treated to the bubblegum pop of “I Just Want to See Your Face,” but the following track “Reprobate!” really showcases what makes this band great, demonstrating their sweet and sour technique. The vocals are crystalline, delicate, almost gossamer, yet backed with a wailing squall of noise that’s more apropos to a Wolf Eyes jam session than a traditional dream pop love song. “Melody For Jaana” recalls early Slowdive without replicating it – the band’s visceral harshness still runs afoot even in slower, more ambient numbers. “Honeyjinx” is one of the more interesting moments on Abyss, a song that wavers between dissonance, Swans-style dungeon doom rock, a soaring vocal pseudo-chorus, and a pastiche of electronic snippets as the composition implodes on itself. Intriguing and enjoyable. “Blow Yr Brains In the Morning Rain” captures an uncharacteristic (for these guys) sloppy garage aesthetic and juxtaposes it against a celestial sheen and panning, layered rhythms. “D.O.W.S.W.T.T.D.” shows the band at its most synth-driven, while “Magdalena” ends the album with flutes and surprisingly sunny vibes for a sect of Scandinavian individuals. See? All over the place.

As a whole, Abyss in B-Minor is much more song-focused than their self-titled release, though also a little less cohesive. However, the craftiness in which Serena Maneesh can swing in and out of moods and tones like a sine wave is both jarring and exciting, separating Abyss from previous efforts (not to mention other newgaze groups) and marking a more mature and complex album. Expect to see Serena Maneesh placed among the best of the year.

Abyss in B-Minor is out on 4AD on March 23.

Fagen-Becker Quality Rating

MP3 :::
Serena Maneesh – Reprobate

That’s swell that the rest of the blogololosphere is poppin’ chub for the new Beach House video or whatever. Have fun. Me, I’m over here jamming righteous to 6 big, evil minutes of “Ayisha Abyss,” the first full track released off of Serena Maneesh’s forthcoming S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor, produced by Can’s former sound alchemist Ren Tinner. We heard the excerpt last month, now you can hear the whole track from the new 12″ of the same name, as well as with the MP3 below. This is nightmare-inducing shoegaze.

S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor hits shelves and upsets you on March 23 courtesy of 4AD. This more than makes up for the label’s accidental signing of St. Vincent. I forgive you all.

POSSIBLY RELEVANT :::
So Serena Maneesh… I Can Assume You’re Coming Back?

MP3 :::
Serena Maneesh – Ayisha Abyss

There’s a method to the madness, I tell ya. The blog ran a contest a couple of weeks ago, asking our readers what they’d like to see more of. A sort of suggestion box or comment card. A common theme was “shorter reviews.” Alright then, I’ll try to keep the brevity rocking hard on this one.

In a nutshell, Tune Yards (which is officially denoted as tUnE-yArDs, but since typing toggle case is kind of an ass pain, I’ll stay with MLA style) is one of the most schizophrenic and beautiful records to grace these ears this year. Bird-Brains is completely demented and angular, kinda like Xiu Xiu, but without treading the blurry line between “artistic vision” and “just fuckin’ around” that Mr. Stewart always straddled firmly. Perhaps a better description might be To Live And Shave in LA meets expressive female vocals and a folk-centric headspace. Bird-Brains, on the surface, is mostly constructed from spanish guitar, drum machines, found sounds, broken samples, and a sort of totally fucked, anything-goes “playfulness with artistic purpose” that almost evokes the ethos (though not necessarily the sound) of Captain Beefheart and Sun City Girls. And with this pallette, Tune-Yards explores the vast strata of freak folk, druggy pop, and musique concrete. As a taste, “Lions” almost resembles a sea chanty, “Sunlight” is a sort of brooding acid pop, “News” is a sunny kitchen sink sing-along with panged lyrics and general vibe of “just dropped off a song to the studio on the way to the store,” “Fiya” is a perfect stab at early psych folk, “Jamaican” builds a barely danceable beat around a recording of what I believe to be a child’s cough and a drill, and “Real Live Flesh” is sorta dubby. And that’s less than half the album represented. Oh yeah, almost forgot… there’s yodeling to be found on “Hatari.” Wowzers. So to that end, I love this record. Anything that’s challenging for me to describe always gets two thumps up and repeated listens on the ghetto blaster. I have no idea what’s happening half the time, and that keeps the intrigue level strong.

This statement might sound snobby, but whatever, it’s gotta be said. A lot of people are going to say they like the Tune-Yards album because it’s picking up a little buzz and it’s considered, ya know, arty. And these people will be goddamn liars. This album is as difficult as a Throbbing Gristle record. It just happens to have hooks and deceivingly positive vibes.

So don’t go into this listening experience expecting Dirty Projectors or Grizzly Barrrrr or whatever the fuck. Tune Yards are next level. You’ve been warned.

Anyway, Kenny Bloggins thinks 4AD should give all its St. Vincent budget to Tune-Yards to keep writing, recording, and touring. This shit is gospel. And it’s available this week, so go see about it.

For fans of:  Tickley Feather, Xiu Xiu, Holy Modal Rounders with beats

MP3 :::
Tune-Yards – Sunlight
Tune-Yards – News

Good. It’s been a minute. I was just remarking in a recent post on Joensuu 1685 that I haven’t heard a goddamn peep from ya’llz since that sick eponymous disc dropped on me circa ‘05 and turned my cerebral cortex to Jell-O. Tiny Mix Tapes is reporting that Scandinavian decibel shredders Serena Maneesh have signed to 4AD for a million bucks and will release a new jam hive in March 2010. Good to see you returning to your roots, 4AD! With The Big Pink and St. Vincent, I was beginning to wonder if you guys lost your edge or if there was just some amazing peyote being passed around that made everyone stupid high. Regardless, Maneesh rules. I hope they call their next album All The Big Pink’s Base Are Belong to Serena Maneesh.

MP3 :::
Serena Maneesh – Un Deux

The Big Pink currently enjoy an astounding wave of Intarwebz hype, but I certainly won’t let that affect my opinion of the their debut A Brief History of Love. However, the record itself just happens to suck, all things considered. No, the hype didn’t ruin the listening experience. It just epically blows, hype or not.

Yes, The Big Pink is a true and accurate nod to shoegazing, and yes, I love shoegaze and second-wave shoegaze. However, it’s bad shoegazing, dude. It’s The Jesus and Mary Chain AFTER Darklands. Ya know, when they made rad videos for “Sidewalking” and shit, with, like, their name on a big marquee behind them while the Reid brothers are fuckin’ rawwwkin’ (one of the few unintentional hilarious decisions of the Creation camp). Gross…

There are some worthwhile moments on this album, such as “Velvet,” wherein the band combines their natural pop-centric attitude with truly thick distortion swells and harmonies, coming off more like The Catherine Wheel or The Boo Radleys than, ya know, an even shittier version of Pop Will Eat Itself or somethin’. Maybe The Big Pink could rename themselves Pop Will Shit Itself. That would be poignant. But even if the whole album was packed with songs like “Velvet,” no amount of quality songwriting on A Brief History of Love can make up for “Dominoes.” That song gave me gastric pains. As Jeffrey said while we were listening to the record in the office, “it’s like Jesus Jones goes on a date with Kevin Shields, and JJ tells everyone they slept together, and Kevin is totally embarrassed.” Gotta do better next time, 4AD.

So yeah, this record is doo doo. I’m totally bummed. Gonna listen to the new No Age EP instead for a pick-me-up. Laters.

For fans of:  Jesus Jones, Shitty-period Jesus and Mary Chain, The Jesus (circa Big Lebowski)

Fagen-Becker Quality Rating

MP3 :::
The Big Pink – Velvet

Tomorrow, Deerhunter’s monolithic double disc Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. drops courtesy of Kranky or 4AD, depending on where you live. Yes, it leaked, and we all greedily took. We all witnessed the Lord of the Flies-esque free-for-all, and the subsequent fallout from the blog debacle – in addition to the rueful behavior of the fallible, sinful collective of scalawags and pirates known as your peers and neighbors. And after the dust settled, we all found out that Deerhunter had recorded an incredible collection of music.

So don’t be a jerk, go buy it tomorrow. I’m for serious. I’ll be purchasing it, making good on my word back when the album(s) leaked. Also, for next Tuesday, go vote. It’s your civic duty. And lest we forget that in four Tuesdays, you need to pick up the new GnR concept album about riding bikes and how rad Times New Roman font is, as well as the subsequent free can of Doc Pepper. I’m getting two free Dr. Peppers since I agreed to braid Axl’s hair next time he’s in town. Snarf. So there, your Tuesdays are booked, bro. KTHNXBYE!

MP3 :::
Deerhunter – VHS Dream

I had to go through a labyrinth of amazing old school Geocities websites to find a decent photo of Lush. The mid-’90s was such a golden age for web design, ya’ll. Why don’t designers use wicked animated GIFs anymore? Man… fuckin’ Geocities… oooh weee. I had a Geocities website and it ruled so hard.

Anyway, conventional shoegazing history operates, for all intents and purposes, as follows.  When the “Scene That Celebrated Itself“ collapsed on itself around the same time as grunge (roughly Q3 of 1994) your band did two things: either dismantled or went a very different direction. Lush chose the latter, and released some kinda shitty music toward the end of their career. However, Lush’s Gala compilation, which comprised of the group’s first three EPs collected on one priced-to-own record long before the Beta Band thought of doing it, is not just some of the best dream pop ever recorded – it’s just some of the best rock and roll recorded. Lush, along with Cocteau Twins, established what the 4AD sound was all about.

Few artists truly balanced noise and gentleness, grandeur and intimacy better than Lush did between 1989 and 1992. 1990’s Gala was the introduction of Lush to the world, and 1992’s Spooky, their frist proper album of original material, was just as good. After Spooky, Lush moved toward the more minimal and bubblegum end of the spectrum, riding the wave of the Britpop craze. Lovelife, their final album due to drummer Chris Acland’s tragic suicide, was their best selling, but also furthest removed from anything remotely shoegazing in sound. As such, Lush is often best remembered for “Ladykillers” and stuff like that instead of what the majority of their output sounded like.

No bueno, homes. “Second Sight” is what Lush is about: jangly guitars, sonic cathedral vocals, tinges of psychedelia and punk, and the usual shoegazing flourishes. ”Scarlet” rips so hard that it hurts. It reminds me of how much indie rock sucks this day and age, and how much I bum on my parents for having me in 1984 instead of a decade earlier so I could’ve been around to experience the excellent jams and slackerdom zeitgeist. “Hey Hey Helen” features absolutely gorgeous vocal harmonies on top of a bed of fuzzbox destruction and chorus-heavy examinations underneath the song. It’s an ABBA cover by the way. I don’t want to hear it, I love ABBA. They own. Don’t give a fuck.

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, and perhaps that’s true. But you sure as hell can identify a shoegazing album by its cover. Is it all luqidy and colorful like Gala? It’s probably shoegaze.

Gala still destroys, and holds up well in not sounding terribly dated as so many early ’90s bands tend to do.  All of the following tracks are found on Gala and originally found on their 1989 EP Scar.  Owning a physical copy of either will cost you a pretty penny (the former goes for roughly $70 on eBay), but you can buy a download of the entire compilation courtesy of 4AD here for the right price.

MP3 :::
Lush – Scarlet
Lush – Second Sight
Lush – Hey Hey Helen