Monthly Archives: April 2012

“Sometimes you learn more about yourself than someone else when you ask a question. But some people never learn anything. Such is the plight of the questioning protagonist in this little number. Are you real life? As real as my hand crashing into your face. Are you free tonight? I’m not sure that I’ve ever been that way. Etcetera, etcetera.”

I know.

You’re in your office cubicle or somewhere else superficially going about your day then suddenly you’re contemplating the complexities of life via Capgun Coup’s self-described background for their brand new video for “Q&A” which we’re delighted to premiere this afternoon. Who knew gravitas could be so damn catchy?

Capgun Coup’s new release, Contextual Doom is out on May 8 via ORG Music. Doom marks their ORG Music debut after two records with Team Love. The band will be touring out to LA in June with dates to be announced soon. Anticipate a vinyl edition of Contextual Doom later in 2012.
Band photo: Tony Bonacci

It’s not often that a compilation of thirty-year old music is almost as representative of the time of its issue as it is of the artist that originally made it, but that’s the case with Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music from the always suave and ever distinctive musician known to many as simply Esquivel. If the ‘90s fad for lounge and exotica sounds is often perceived as an unfortunate occurrence, it did hold a few pleasant twists and turns. This is one of them.

When Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music, a quite unexpected compilation of material by one-of-a-kind Mexican band leader/composer Juan García Esquivel first hit the racks back in 1994 via Bar/None Records, it was a welcome curveball of smooth lounge/exotica strangeness and a dish unspoiled by the potential taint of contemporary approximation. For outside of Combustible Edison I consider the ‘90s retro-lounge field to be a rather dismal bunch of pikers, and while I do enjoy them in doses I’m not even all that bonkers over Edison (though I am rather taken with Edison members Michael Cudahy and Elizabeth Cox’s non-retro inclined previous group Christmas). For the record I consider the excellent Chicago band Coctails to fall outside the genre.

The only sticky thing about Esquivel’s unlikely rise from obscurity was pondering if people were sincerely digging him (or fellow exotica specialists Martin Denny or Les Baxter); it was always possible they were just being infuriatingly ironic. This situation was sorta similar to the ebbing and flowing penchant of folks attaching themselves to Z-grade movies, but different in that nobody would actually fess up to believing it was “so bad its good.” However, spending too much time wondering about the ultimately innocuous motives of others is a surefire way to end up in a straightjacket. And whenever I would listen to Esquivel’s stuff my concern just evaporated anyway, for it’s a truly inspired and loony trip.

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The finest examples of indie-pop manage to feel deliciously out of step with current trends, leaving their mark by confidently being themselves in a sea of records spinning variations on the latest thing. London’s Allo Darlin’ has a secure handle on this tradition, and their second long player Europe is not only a well-done expression of what makes the genre so appealing, but also bodes well for the band’s future.

In a manner not unlike how zydeco is identified with Louisiana or no-wave is described as a style of New York development, indie-pop is essentially thought of as a form born from the United Kingdom, for that is where its generally acknowledged roots (the melodically inclined punk of The Buzzcocks, pop-savvy post-punkers such as Television Personalities, Josef K, and Orange Juice) are all located, and it’s also the locale that really kick started the whole movement in earnest (think The Smiths, C86, and both Sarah and Creation Records).

Sure, there were certainly a few likeminded groups across the globe (say Beat Happening in Olympia, Washington, The Cannanes in Sydney, Australia, and Shonen Knife in Osaka, Japan) but these outliers weren’t really integrated into the scheme of things until indie-pop spilled out into a global movement in reaction to the post-grunge ‘90s (one instance of a parallel scene, New Zealand’s proliferation of small bands centered largely around the Flying Nun label, rests almost entirely on its own merits and should be looked upon as a scene unto itself).

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While our 10 Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways have come to an end, we’re still in the mood for some giving. Today we have a copy of Hearts, the debut LP of Swedish export I Break Horses, that we want to put in the hands of one TVD reader.

The Stockholm-based I Break Horses, made up of Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck, met each other through an online medical forum for hypochondriacs. In addition to sharing the same disease, the two also learned they shared similar music tastes. They would go on to spend the next three years gathering ideas and recording music before releasing their debut album, Hearts, on Bella Union last year.

The band’s haunting, atmospheric sound has garnered I Break Horses comparisons to the likes of Zola Jesus and My Bloody Valentine, as well as widespread critical acclaim. The Guardian praises the band’s earthy instrumentation and Lindén’s vocals, noting that Hearts is full of “heady, sumptuously textured soundscapes that pulse with feeling.”

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