As regular readers of this mediocre blog (as well as our Twitter followers) are aware, both Hansen and I are obsessed with LOST. Here’s a photo of me drinking a DHARMA beer. I mention this because the last and current seasons of LOST touch on the ideas of the Multiverse and time travel (by way of the Time Loop Theory). This relates to Steven R. Smith, a.k.a. Ulaan Khol, in two ways. The first and most pedestrian point – dudes who are into shit like time travel, theoretical physics, mysticism, and the like can groove to Ulaan Khol no sweat.

Secondly (and most importantly), Ulaan Khol’s latest, III, practices what it preaches – bouncing about time with great ease like a pandemensional cosmic ball. Sacred mystic moods and Ben Chasney-esque eastern modal tonalities fraternize with apocalyptic noise and ambient bliss blasts from the future. Both sides make a compromise by settling somewhere in ’70s lo fi freak outs a la early Can.  Ulaan Khol is timeless not in the sense that he amalgamates genres from many movements or that he fails to convey what place in time his music exists, but rather, Ulaan Khol has no time. Does that make sense? I promise I’m not stoned.

As evidenced around the 1:15 mark of “Untitled Two,” included below, Ulaan Khol is a bad dude. III is available from Soft Abuse this Tuesday, March 9, and it will dislodge your dome.

For fans of:  Six Organs of Admittance, Can, Flying Saucer Attack, Sir Richard Bishop

MP3 :::
Ulaan Khol – Untitled 2

There are certain sounds synonymous with the Summer of Love, but what about the winter that followed? Bronx trio Pigeons have a decent guess in mind. Their account of classic psychedelia is a much colder affair than most’. Stringing together a bizarrely addictive mix of paranoia, mystery, and seduction, their new 7″ Lunettes is something I could only describe as psych-noir.

Warm tape-splintered reverb follows defeated guitar lines on “Lowest”. Singer Wednesday Knudsen positions herself amongst the debris as a writhing chanteuse, evoking Trish Keenan from Broadcast if she had been coached by David Lynch. The sedate hymn, “Tendress”, with drums set to the rowing beat of a ghost ship, furthers the groups fascinating tension between neurosis and delicacy. This little taste is a pre-curser to upcoming LP Si Faustine dropping on Olde English Spelling Bee in the near future, hopefully in time for Halloween. Highly Recommended.

Lunettes is available now on Soft Abuse.

For fans of:  Broadcast, Pocahaunted, Religious Knives

MP3 :::
Pigeons – Tendress
Pigeons – Lowest

Pumice, aka Stefan Neville or that band from New Zealand who aren’t Flight of the Conchords, has been quietly releasing a steady flow of bittersweet fuzz-folk over the past decade. His insular output fuses lo-fi pioneers like Tall Dwarfs or Guided by Voices with the enigmatic drone craftsmanship of C. Spencer Yeh.

This month, Neville split a new 7″ with current tour mate Grouper on Soft Abuse. Joined in sunken optimism, each side beautifully contrasts the unique approaches of both artists. The art-damaged garage rock of Pumice’s contribution, “Twin Neck Double Kick Bum Chin,” is punctuated by creeping nostalgia. Having gradually abandoned the jeering sense of humor that characterized early efforts like I’ll Take No Chances Near a Volcano, this feels like a natural place for Pumice to be twelve years later.

It’s hard to predict what the next full-length will sound like. Middle-career albums like 2000’s Raft traded off coastal drifts with warm level-peaking explosions, chasing each idea to its polar destination. Since finding a new home on Soft Abuse, Neville has begun to funnel his eclecticism into a concise persona. No less Pumice than the day he kicked things off, the scattered charms were highly concentrated on albums like 2007’s Pebbles and last year’s Quo.  Sometimes, they even resembled the veiled, isolated spaces of The Microphones, like on Quo’s smokey rambler, “Thermos in the Studio”.

Against the tyranny of distance, Pumice has remained tragically under-discovered outside of his homeland. We can only hope Grouper will return the favor and invite him stateside for another tour, but until then, we have a more than sufficient back catalogue to revel in. You can explore Pumice’s albums through Soft Abuse and Last Visible Dog.

MP3 :::
Pumice – Thermos in the Studio
Pumice – Twin Neck Double Kick Bum Chin