Dust On Common’ from Led Er Est (Sam De La osa, Shawn O’Sullivan and Owen Hutchinson) was originally released in 2009 by the seminal Brooklyn based record label Wierd Records. The band’s first full-length release showed the three piece clearly breaking out of the minimal synth underground they have been a vitally integral part of since its inception in Brooklyn to create an undeniably contemporary set of highly crafted and restrained, icily psychedelic pop songs.
Erupting from the seamy neon-lit wasteland of Los Angeles, California – Frank Alpine’s self-titled debut offers a darker, sleazier view of the current cold-wave resurgence. In fact this disc might have more in common with the shuddersome compositions of Chris & Cosey than it does with the contemporary Brooklyn indie set. There’s a no-wave grit to Alpine’s pained squeals, and over double-time electrical beats he eulogizes a city in decline. It’s hardly even ‘cold’ at all – the sound of Frank Alpine is soaked in sweat, booze and the remnants of a night out you’d rather forget.
First single to be lifted off Xeno & Oaklander’s forthcoming new album ‘Sets and Lights’. Baroque electronic arpeggios and fast celebratory beats drive the surrealist scenario of ‘The Staircase’ in which a staircase continually leads to dead ends. The delicate ghostly female vocals mirror this eternal motion forwards and backwards and up and down. This dark tale takes flight into warm noise ornaments and glistening synth flourishes and comes right back to its core: minimal electronics. ‘Not Afraid’ is a more haunted and dark waltz which takes you to a private enchanted universe of silk, flowers, leather and lace, sheltered away from turbulence and doom.
The Hipodrome Of Music 