The North American deluxe edition on clear vinyl is now available. The deluxe packaging will include a 24-page hardcover LP-sized book with covers featuring a sci-fi landscape populated by a toddler-wearing artist Merritt Johnson’s sculpture Mindset, a VR headset woven from sweetgrass. The interior art was designed by Galanin. This deluxe edition will be available while supplies last.
Ya Tseen’s Nicholas Galanin is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. His work spans sculpture, video, installation, photography, jewelry, and music; advocating for Indigenous sovereignty, racial, social, and environmental justice, for present, and future generations. For Galanin, memory and land are inevitably entwined. His most recent installation for Desert X 2021, on view through May 16, 2021, entitled Never Forget has garnered international media acclaim including from outlets such as The New York Times, TheLos Angeles Times, The Desert Sun, Galerie Magazine, and Time Out. The 45-foot letters of Never Forget reference the Hollywood sign, which initially spelled out HOLLYWOODLAND and was erected to promote a whites-only development. Its timing coincided with a development in Palm Springs that also connected to the film industry: Studio contracts limited actors’ travel, contributing to the city’s rise as a playground and refuge of the stars. Meanwhile, the white settler mythology of America as the land of the free, home of the brave was promoted in the West, and the landscape was cinematized through the same lens. Never Forget asks settler landowners to participate in the work by transferring land titles and management to local Indigenous communities. The work is a call to action and a reminder that land acknowledgments become only performative when they do not explicitly support the land back movement. Not only does the work transmit a shockwave of historical correction, but also promises to do so globally through social media. In connection with this installation, Galanin has organized a Go Fund Me account to benefit the Native American Land Conservancy (NALC.) You can contribute here.
Ya Tseen Indian Yard
Tracklisting: 1. Knives (feat. Portugal. The Man) 2. Light the Torch 3. Born into Rain (feat. rum.gold and tunia) 4. At Tugáni 5. Get Yourself Together 6. Close the Distance 7. We Just Sit and Smile Here in Silence 8. A Feeling Undefined (feat. Nick Hakim and Iska Dhaaf) 9. Synthetic Gods (feat. Shabazz Palaces and Stas THEE Boss) 10. Gently to the Sun (feat. Tay Sean) 11. Back in That Time (feat. Qacung)
Tomorrow, December 10th marks the physical release of Cuntry Covers Vol. 1, the debut from Toronto-based band Bria. This six-song EP of country classics features the standout covers “Green Rocky Road” (Karen Dalton), “Dreaming My Dreams With You” (Waylon Jennings) and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” (The Walker Brothers.) To celebrate the physical release, the band has shared a new video for the famed Lucinda Williams song “Fruits of My Labour.” You can watch the official video by clicking here.
Bria just returned from a two-week US tour, performing with UK band Wolf Alice, and playing iconic venues such as The Vic in Chicago, Paradise Club in Boston, Bowery Ballroom in NYC, and Terminal West in Atlanta. They will be headlining the Paradise Theater on December 17th in Toronto. Click here for the most up-to-date shows.
What people are saying about Bria: “It’s an other-worldly take on the Karen Dalton standard…” [“Green Rocky Road”] - Clash
“Where Dalton’s original is quite lo-fi and scratchy, Bria have added some fidelity and warmth to it through golden-strummed guitars and a lackadaisical but precise beat.” [“Green Rocky Road”] - Beats Per Minute
“Salmena’s raspy tinged voice provides a depth of longing and fractured tenderness on her cover of Karen Dalton’s track, “Green Rocky Road.’” [“Green Rocky Road”] - Ears to Feed
“The band’s version should will win over any Jennings fans, or fans of old country.” [“Dreaming My Dreams Of You”] - Northern Transmissions
“Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 seamlessly drifts between classic country references and a new perspective of reimagining what country could sound like” - Tonitruale
Bria Cuntry Covers Vol. 1
Tracklisting 1. Green Rocky Road (Karen Dalton) 2. Dreaming My Dreams With You (Waylon Jennings) 3. Buffalo Ballet (John Cale) 4. Fruits of My Labour (Lucinda Williams) 5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (The Walker Brothers) 6. I Don’t Wanna Love Ya Now (Mistress Mary)
The new project from Kevin Whelan of The Wrens releases Observatory, the group’s debut record, today worldwide on December 10th, 2021. The 10-track album came together carefully for Whelan, over the course of 14 years, specifically, as clusters of demos and sketches. These were eventually assembled and recorded largely by Whelan himself, with assistance from Wrens’ bandmates Jerry MacDonald and Greg Whelan, as well as Tom Beaujour in his Union City recording space. Additionally, his wife Mary Ann provided backup vocals.
About Observatory: Aeon Station’s Observatory is an epic statement more than a decade in the making, with miles of timeless melodies and the kind of overpowering songwriting that will reaffirm your belief in life itself. Longtime Wrens member Kevin Whelan’s first solo album draws heavily from the perseverance of the soul, resulting in rock music possessing an infectious and inspiring sonic uplift. If you’re familiar with Whelan’s past work, these ten tracks bear a certain and unmistakable familiarity—but they also mark an exciting new chapter in Whelan’s musical career, as he steps out with more vulnerability than ever before.
Observatory came together carefully for Whelan—over the course of 14 years, specifically, as clusters of demos and sketches were eventually assembled and recorded largely by Whelan himself, with assistance from Wrens’ bandmate Jerry MacDonald and Greg Whelan as well as Tom Beaujour in his Union City recording space. Additionally, his wife Mary Ann provided backup vocals. “It’s the best I’ve done and may ever do frankly,” Whelan states. “It’s written over such a long period of my life. Music I did in the past was tinged with expectations or presumptions, but this time, it was just for me.”
The long gestation of Observatory means that a lot of lived experience went into making this album. As time passed, Whelan got married, started a family, and moved to the Asia Pacific region for a period of time; at 15 months old, his son (now eight) was also diagnosed with autism, and the title of Observatory itself is inspired by Whelan’s own relationship with his son. “The moment you’re told your child is not ‘neurotypical,’ your whole world expands in ways you never imagined,” he explains. “Even though he doesn’t speak much at all, or look at anyone directly, you can see him observing everything around him. The album title reflects upon the stories within the songs — each one observing a certain situation or feeling.”
Whelan’s scope of musical vision on Observatory is wide open and free with possibilities—at once recalling the reflective wisdom of Bruce Springsteen, Broken Social Scene’s huge anthemic burn, and the Wrens’ own pulsing-with-life take on rock music. Above all, this is music not only for dreamers but for those who realize and appreciate the enormity of every moment. “It’s about never letting go about those dreams and your passion,” he states. “The album starts from a place of realizing that everything is temporary, what we love eventually changes or leaves us, and regardless we continue to search and find our way back home.”
The pounding “Queens” builds to a truly thrilling climax of huge guitars and frantic drumming, while the steady build of “Leaves” is accompanied by Whelan’s reflections on “Being lost and then found”: “It musically captures the album as it starts small and intimate, crescendos into a peak both musically and lyrically, and then settles down into a repeating mode of a hopeful but uncertain mantra about the future,” he explains while discussing the song’s themes and creation.
Then there’s the gleaming harmonies of “Fade,” a song about breaking past your own insecurities to discover what’s on the other side. “Whether you limit yourself because of your own fears and insecurities, or because what others think and say,” Whelan says, “The song is about when you stop waiting and start believing deeper in your own path.” Observatory ends with the hushed and lush “Alpine Drive,” with Whelan’s voice lit by pinwheel plucked piano strings—a tender moment that packs as much power as the nine songs that come before it.
“I hope people feel a sense of strength when they hear this album,” he states while discussing his artistic aims as a whole. “Most importantly, I hope that it connects to them in some personal way.” And if you’ve ever caught air in your lungs or felt your heart beating in your chest, there’s no doubt that you’ll find some level of connection with Observatory’s open-hearted, instantly classic-sounding rock.
Tracklisting: 1. Hold On 2. Leaves 3. Fade 4. Everything at Once 5. Move 6. Queens 7. Empty Rooms 8. Air 9. Better Love 10. Alpine Drive
You can now hear new Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 6 contributions from Kim Gordon and J Mascis (“Abstract Blues” b/w “Slow Boy”), and BNH Deluxe (“Earth is Somewhere Out There” b/w “Turntable”), out today worldwide on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
Although Kim Gordon and J Mascis have been friends for decades and have performed live together a handful of times, they’ve never released music together. “Abstract Blues” marks the first recorded collaboration as a duo, and was originally written and performed in 2020 for SMooCH, a benefit for Seattle Children’s Hospital. In the video for the song, Fred Armisen plays bass, and Mascis’s son Rory plays drums (J played the drums on the recording). “Abstract Blues” is also being released in celebration of Mascis’s birthday today.
With a career spanning nearly four decades, Kim Gordon is one of the most prolific and visionary artists working today. A co-founder of the legendary Sonic Youth, Gordon has performed all over the world, collaborating with many of music’s most exciting figures including Tony Conrad, Ikue Mori, Julie Cafritz and Stephen Malkmus. Most recently, Gordon has been hitting the road with Body/Head, her spellbinding partnership with artist and musician Bill Nace. Despite the exhaustive nature of her résumé, the most reliable aspect of Gordon’s music may be its resistance to formula. Songs discover themselves as they unspool, each one performing a test of the medium’s possibilities and limits. Her command is astonishing, but Gordon’s artistic curiosity remains the guiding force behind her music.
Near the end of Reagan’s first term, the Western Massachusetts hardcore scene coughed up an insanely shaped chunk called Dinosaur. Comprised of WMHC vets, the trio was a miasmic tornado of guitar noise, bad attitude and near-subliminal pop-based-shape-shifting. The contours of their sound ebbed and flowed and mutated for 13 years - with the one constant being the scalp-fryingly loud guitar and deeply buried vocals of J Mascis - before the name was retired. Near the end of the band’s reign, J began releasing solo material, starting with the live, acoustic album Martin + Me. His solo work allowed the bones of J’s songs to be totally visible for the first time, surprising fans with how melodically elegant his compositions were, even if J still seemed interested in swallowing some of the words that most folks would have sung. While Dinosaur Jr reactivated in 2005, J maintained a concurrent focus on his solo work, resulting in four additional albums presented with a minimum of bombast and a surfeit of cool.
John Stephen RePass, professionally known as BNH Deluxe, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He began producing ambient music/lo-fi hip-hop with nothing but a tablet and a headset, and over time his sound has expanded heavily, incorporating and experimenting with elements of alternative rock, indie pop, heavy metal, lofi, hip-hop, and avant-garde music.
Repass says of his Sub Pop single, “All I can say is that deep places within my heart and mind were the birthplaces of these two songs. I have grown, learned and have flipped many pages of my life since writing these, these songs hold immense value and memories to me. I’m so happy that this single is all of yours’ now. I recommend you listen with your mind wide open, and I recommend you feel along to it.”
The Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 6 series includes twelve subscription-only 7” singles by an exciting array of artists, including John Waters, Jeff Tweedy, Duma, LIDS, Washed Out, Hand Habits, Porridge Radio, Sheltered Workshop Singers, TV Priest, and more. Only 1,000 subscriptions are available, and the series is nearly sold out. Hear music from the series via the Singles Club playlist, and subscribe here!
Kim Gordon and J Mascis “Abstract Blues” b/w “Slow Boy”
BNH Deluxe “Earth is Somewhere Out There” b/w “Turntable”
Today, Beach House is sharing Chapter 2 from Once Twice Melody, the group’s forthcoming double album, out February 18th, 2022.
Once Twice Melody, the first album produced entirely by Beach House, was recorded at Pachyderm studio in Cannon Falls, MN, United Studio in Los Angeles, CA, and Apple Orchard Studios in Baltimore, MD. For the first time, a live string ensemble was used, with arrangements by David Campbell. Once Twice Melody was mostly mixed by Alan Moulder but a few tracks were also mixed by Caesar Edmunds, Trevor Spencer, and Dave Fridmann.
Once Twice Melody features 18 tracks, and in the lead up to the physical release, will be presented in 4 chapters with lyric animations for each song.
Chapter 1 (November 10th, 2021) 1. Once Twice Melody 2. Superstar 3. Pink Funeral 4. Through Me
Chapter 2 (December 8th, 2021 - TODAY) 5. Runaway 6. ESP 7. New Romance 8. Over and Over
Chapter 3 (January 19th, 2022) 9. Sunset 10. Only You Know 11. Another Go Around 12. Masquerade 13. Illusion of Forever
Chapter 4 (full album release, February 18th, 2022) 14. Finale 15. The Bells 16. Hurts to Love 17. Many Nights 18. Modern Love Stories
Beach House have also announced headlining tour dates in support of Once Twice Melody, which begin on February 18th, 2022 (see also November 9th, 2021 announcement).
New international festival appearances include Best Kept Secret Festival in Hilvarenbeek, NL (June 10th-12th), Portugal’s Paredes de Coura (August 16th-20th), and This Ain’t No Picnic in Pasadena, CA (August 27th-28th). For more information on tickets, please visit oncetwicemelodytour.com.
What people are saying about Once Twice Melody: “Chapter One captured that storybook quality with sweeping ballads fit for a baroque fairytale, each guided by Victoria Legrand’s typically enchanting vocals.” - The AV Club
“…Their most cinematic record yet. Working with a live string ensemble for the first time, they summon a sound more surrealistic than anything on 2018’s 7, bringing to mind 1960s psychedelia, Stereolab, and Broadcast’s ‘Come On Let’s Go’.” - Pitchfork
“Beach House’s music contains many gifts, but it’s the group’s ability to magnify life’s small dramas into sky-sized emotions that glitters (“Superstar”).” - New York Times
“‘Like walking into a fairytale — it’s reminiscent of psychedelic ’60s folk and other kinds of evocative vintage pop.” - PAPER
“All of them are amazing. All of them have their proponents. But “Superstar,” while perhaps not the most novel of the bunch, is the one that gave me the spine-chilling sensation of listening to a bona fide Beach House classic for the first time.” (“Song of the Week”) - Stereogum
“Things begin with the stunning title track that mixes low-fi electronics with baroque touches and a stirring string section. You can hear echoes of Broadcast, Stereolab and Spacemen 3 (whose Sonic Boom produced their last album, 7). The hand-drawn animated lyric video, directed by Annapurna Kumar, is great too. From there, it’s the pulsing, kaleidoscopic ‘Superstar’ (video by Nicholas Law), the neon dread of ‘Pink Funeral’ (full of strings right out of a horror film and a video by Scott Kiernan), and the melting arpeggiations of ‘Through Me’ (with a video by San Charoenchai). The visuals for all four songs are fantastic, very different, but majorly psychedelic.” - Brooklyn Vegan
Sub Pop has signed Aeon Station, the new project from Kevin Whelan of The Wrens to release Observatory, the group’s debut record, worldwide on December 10th, 2021. The 10-track album came together carefully for Whelan, over the course of 14 years, specifically, as clusters of demos and sketches. These were eventually assembled and recorded largely by Whelan himself, with assistance from Wrens’ bandmates Jerry MacDonald and Greg Whelan, as well as Tom Beaujour in his Union City recording space. Additionally, his wife Mary Ann provided backup vocals.
On the group’s debut single, “Queens” you can hear the pounding build to a truly thrilling climax of huge guitars and frantic drumming. Whelan shares, “This song was inspired by one of my all-time favorite songs, “The Winner Takes it All” by ABBA. It’s about betting on the real you. Like a game of high-stakes poker, you push all your chips to the center of the table and aren’t afraid to go “all in.” It starts with a solo vocal, framing the story to come, the drums then propel the song forward, with a force working its way to a climax of a repeating line - “You said it was all in.” You can listen to “Queens” by clicking here
About Observatory: Aeon Station’s Observatory is an epic statement more than a decade in the making, with miles of timeless melodies and the kind of overpowering songwriting that will reaffirm your belief in life itself. Longtime Wrens member Kevin Whelan’s first solo album draws heavily from the perseverance of the soul, resulting in rock music possessing an infectious and inspiring sonic uplift. If you’re familiar with Whelan’s past work, these ten tracks bear a certain and unmistakable familiarity—but they also mark an exciting new chapter in Whelan’s musical career, as he steps out with more vulnerability than ever before.
Observatory came together carefully for Whelan—over the course of 14 years, specifically, as clusters of demos and sketches were eventually assembled and recorded largely by Whelan himself, with assistance from Wrens’ bandmate Jerry MacDonald and Greg Whelan as well as Tom Beaujour in his Union City recording space. Additionally, his wife Mary Ann provided backup vocals. “It’s the best I’ve done and may ever do frankly,” Whelan states. “It’s written over such a long period of my life. Music I did in the past was tinged with expectations or presumptions, but this time, it was just for me.”
The long gestation of Observatory means that a lot of lived experience went into making this album. As time passed, Whelan got married, started a family, and moved to the Asia Pacific region for a period of time; at 15 months old, his son (now eight) was also diagnosed with autism, and the title of Observatory itself is inspired by Whelan’s own relationship with his son. “The moment you’re told your child is not ‘neurotypical,’ your whole world expands in ways you never imagined,” he explains. “Even though he doesn’t speak much at all, or look at anyone directly, you can see him observing everything around him. The album title reflects upon the stories within the songs — each one observing a certain situation or feeling.”
Whelan’s scope of musical vision on Observatory is wide open and free with possibilities—at once recalling the reflective wisdom of Bruce Springsteen, Broken Social Scene’s huge anthemic burn, and the Wrens’ own pulsing-with-life take on rock music. Above all, this is music not only for dreamers but for those who realize and appreciate the enormity of every moment. “It’s about never letting go about those dreams and your passion,” he states. “The album starts from a place of realizing that everything is temporary, what we love eventually changes or leaves us, and regardless we continue to search and find our way back home.”
The pounding “Queens” builds to a truly thrilling climax of huge guitars and frantic drumming, while the steady build of “Leaves” is accompanied by Whelan’s reflections on “Being lost and then found”: “It musically captures the album as it starts small and intimate, crescendos into a peak both musically and lyrically, and then settles down into a repeating mode of a hopeful but uncertain mantra about the future,” he explains while discussing the song’s themes and creation.
Then there are the gleaming harmonies of “Fade,” a song about breaking past your own insecurities to discover what’s on the other side. “Whether you limit yourself because of your own fears and insecurities, or because what others think and say,” Whelan says, “The song is about when you stop waiting and start believing deeper in your own path.” Observatory ends with the hushed and lush “Alpine Drive,” with Whelan’s voice lit by pinwheel plucked piano strings—a tender moment that packs as much power as the nine songs that come before it.
“I hope people feel a sense of strength when they hear this album,” he states while discussing his artistic aims as a whole. “Most importantly, I hope that it connects to them in some personal way.” And if you’ve ever caught air in your lungs or felt your heart beating in your chest, there’s no doubt that you’ll find some level of connection with Observatory’s open-hearted, instantly classic-sounding rock.
Aeon Station
Observatory
Tracklisting:
1. Hold On 2. Leaves 3. Fade 4. Everything at Once 5. Move 6. Queens 7. Empty Rooms 8. Air 9. Better Love 10. Alpine Drive
