& Announce fall tour dates with Mac DeMarco

photo by Andrew Volk

Walter TV's sophomore album Blessed is out this Friday July 10th on vinyl and digital worldwide via Sinderlyn and streaming all this week on The AV Club!

Click here to stream Blessed

Of Blessed, The AV Club says,  "Though debut LP Appetite is an excellent representation of the band’s sound and style, Blessed, out this Friday, July 10, should be an even better encapsulation. (...) Ten tight tracks of refined wackiness, Blessed is woozy but sharp, the kind of record you’d want to come out of either a Montreal club or a British Columbia beach house." Pre-order the album physically here and digitally here.

TOUR DATES

July 7th | San Diego CA | The Hideout July 9th | Los Angeles CA | Non Plus Ultra (4310 burns ave) Oct 13th | Philadelphia PA | Trocadero * Oct 14th | Washington DC | The Howard Theatre * Oct 17th | New Orleans LA | Civic Theatre * Oct 18th | Houston TX | Warehouse Live * Oct 19th | Dallas TX | House Of Blues * Oct 20th | Austin TX | Stubb's BBQ * Oct 22nd | Tucson AZ | The Rialto Theatre * Oct 30th | Vancouver BC | Commodore Ballroom & * with Mac DeMarco & Alex Calder & with Mac DeMarco & Courtneys

This fall sees the release of Sean Nicholas Savage’s latest record, Other Death. Savage, a master of tenderness, reflection and projection, has released and toured relentlessly in pursuit of the rarer beauties found only in the nuance of pop song and performance.

Other Death is out September 18th on CD, vinyl and digital and vinyl pre-orders come in blood red vinyl and The Fader premiered the first single, Casablanca.

Other Death was recorded over the winter in sunny Santa Monica, Los Angeles in collaboration with Agor, of Savage’s Arbutus labelmates Blue Hawaii, while Errhead of Doldrums plays on much of the record. Ramona Gonzalez Nite Jewel also makes an appearance, as do TOPS' Jane Penny and David Carriere. This is Savage’s highest fidelity recording to date, with daring, captivating, and as always minimal and soft production style. In contrast to his usual introspection, Other Death is immediately more upbeat, uptempo, confident, inspired and delivers more consistent pop singles than any of his previous records.

Savage is not playing to the middle. Here he gives his listeners, those who crave a harder SNS smack, the energy they desire. This is the release fans will turn to when they want to feel the sophisticated, delicate, and enchanted music of Sean Nicholas Savage at its most brave, free and loud. It’s as if upon being tossed a copy ofOther Life, Savage reads the message; “Other Life?” and throws it back at us in blood red, “Other Death”.

His album Flamingo represented ’songs of love’, Savage sounding his most comfortable, at ease and self produced in his element. Conversely the record Other Life saw this comfort stripped, in the form of a ‘break up album’, with songs dealing with destruction and rebirth.

Subsequently Savage found himself disconnected and lost in his own work, touring and playing these memories over and over; the only direction left to go was down deeper, with his ‘dream album’ Bermuda Waterfall.

Other Life? Other Death? I couldn’t resist the thoughtlessness. This is the record with the least ideas, with the least thought. And so is it the worst record? Or does that make it the best? It’d have to be a bit of both, to be either i think. And that’s life! And that’s death too isn’t it? - SNS

In death there is no fear, and the kind of indiscreetness Savage is going on about requires pure faith, a rare and powerful drug, easy to find, hard to swallow.

The record begins aptly with ‘Death’, a brief instrumental in the Joe Hisaishi vein. This is followed by ‘Propaganda’, a ballad in 7/4 timing and less political as the title suggests, with a more philosophical message comparable toRadioheads' ‘Creep'. 'Casablanca' is a Prince-esque pop tune, perhaps the poppiest on the record, with a seemingly simple sentiment: a short lived relationship that, though full of passion, is doomed by life. 'Dont B Sad', produced by David Carriere with guest vocals by Jane Penny of TOPS, is smooth and circular; a gentle pat on the necks of sad folk everywhere, with a disco beat. 'Suburban Nights' is one of Savage’s finest ballads to date, with a special new 6 time beat, fusing reggae, house and bossa nova rhythms. These lyrics, written from the perspective of an average day or night in suburbia, are almost Warhol like in its poetic simplicity. Other Death concludes with another bossa nova derived, and shamelessly sensitive, song titled ‘Young Again’. Epic with strings, and ending the record in a spiritually possessed skat, the principal lyric has Savage crooning “You make me feel like something i’m not; young again, Growing old again”. Describing life slipping away then sliding back, like a pair of lungs or an ocean shore breathing in and pulling out. Beat and pause. Night and day. Sound and silence. Thought and Bliss. Life and death.

OTHER DEATH TRACKLISTING

1. Death 2. Propaganda 3. Casablanca 4. Dont B Sad (prod. TOPS) 5. Promises 6. Romeo 7. 1 More Chance (feat. Nite Jewel) 8. Suburban Nights 9. Delta Fresh N Breezy 10. SOS 11. Why I Love U 12. Young Again

Les Mouches have shared a new track from the reissue of their 2004 album You're Worth More To Me Than 1000 Christians. 

The now defunct band Les Mouches was Owen Pallett, Rob Gordon and Matt Smith. Originally released on CD via Toronto's Blocks Recording Club, You're Worth More To Me Than 1000 Christians was remastered with new artwork and will receive its first ever vinyl release on limited edition pink and gold vinyl on July 28th via Orchid Tapes. Pre-order it here. 

“The track opens on a wobbly, experimental note before softly plucked electric guitars, bursts of percussion and Pallett's gentle croon take the listener on a rootsy, psychedelia-tinged sonic journey.” -Exclaim 

“The track sees Pallett’s vision already formed, the only thing differentiating it from his future endeavors being the name under which it was released.” -AV Club

photo by Andrew Volk

Walter TV are back with Candles, a brand new single from their sophomore record Blessed, out July 10th on vinyl and digital worldwide via Sinderlyn. 

Of Blessed, VICE says, "The band's sound hasn't changed much in the years between albums, but [with Blessed,] they're more solid, refined, and confident this time around". Read the whole interview here.

The trio also announced new west coast tour dates in support of their sophomore album. 

TOUR DATES July 1st | Vancouver BC | The Cobalt July 2nd | Seattle WA | Vera Project / Local 46 July 3rd | Olympia WA | The Guest House (1121 4th Ave W) July 4th | Portland OR | 4th of July street festival outside Bunk Bar July 9th | Los Angeles CA |Non Plus Ultra (4310 burns ave)

Watch the Jason Harvey-directed album trailer:

Orchid Tapes are proud to announce the reissue of Les Mouches' 2004 album You're Worth More To Me Than 1000 Christians out July 28th on limited edition pink and gold vinyl.

The now defunct band Les Mouches was Owen Pallett, Rob Gordon and Matt Smith. Originally released on CD via Toronto's Blocks Recording Club, You're Worth More To Me Than 1000 Christians was remasted with new artwork and will receive it's first ever vinyl release. Pre-order it here.

“True to form, “Carload of Whatever” includes lyrics about giving head and self-mutilation, as well as a few good unintelligible shrieks. It’s a strange headspace to hear Pallett occupy, but it also grounds his contemporary work in a richer history.” -Consequence Of Sound

ABOUTIn the brief spatter of their existence you could always count on Les Mouches for song titles, sardonic moues from an anxious face. “Carload of Whatever,” “Divorce the Ones You Love,” ha ha. “Daddy Needs a Daddy,” inspired by one band member’s middle-aged father coming out, narrated some such event like a candelabra-toting Vincent Price: “Would it amuse my son to know / That on the night of his conception / My jism thought its target was Cary Grant?” You could count on them for that too—the morbidly sexy flourish.

Les Mouches were Owen Pallett, Rob Gordon and Matt Smith. They have the same band together again now, but it was not the same band. “I was playing acoustic guitar back then,” Owen says, “and I was in terrifying, spiky real-love. I hooked up with best-drummer-in-the-city Robbie Gordon and drone-noise-guitar-genius Matt Smith. I wanted the band to sound exactly like US Maple but also exactly like the Carpenters.” Back then Rob liked going off on skittering free-jazz runs. Owen sang in a wan murmur. “[Undecipherable screaming],” the lyric sheets read. Les Mouches described relationships synonymous with a nervous breakdown: “There’s a hundred million boys I could slime / If you’d let me leave.”

Their parents worried about them, not always laughing at lines like: “I’ll photograph myself giving head / And burn myself a new nose,” or laughing at the whole idea of the band. Owen again: “One kid I call a friend got so angry about hearing our music on Guelph radio that he wrote many posts describing us as, among other things, ‘the worst music he’d ever heard.’” But Les Mouches did have a loyal constituency at the 30 or so shows they played, pinballing between Ontario and Quebec from 2003 to 2004. The last one was a Pop Montreal showcase that ended with Owen frantically spinning atop the bar of Casa del Popolo.

Les Mouches broke up, according to Owen, because he had no money and “my life was in shambles.” Before that they still managed to release the Blood Orgy EP and an album called You’re Worth More to Me Than 1000 Christians. It became a favourite of Orchid Tapes’s Warren Hildebrand, who brings Les Mouches to you pressed on vinyl for the first time. There’s this Filipino snack known as balut, a yolk-floating duck embryo seasoned and eaten inside its shell. Trying one might resemble the experience of hearing You’re Worth More to Me Than 1000 Christians again: Intense, a little harrowing, and finally delicious. 

YOU'RE WORTH MORE TO ME THAN 1000 CHRISTIANS TRACKLISTING

1. Cities Become Less Important 2. Carload Of Whatever 3. Daddy Needs A Daddy 4. Behold The Hands Of Men 5. Divorce The Ones You Love 6. Little coup 7. Spalding Man 8. Lucy On Her Birthday 9. What We Know As Buildings Have Always Been Canyons

“The band mix in everything from indie to funk to electro to psychedelia and beyond, but most striking is the band's pop sensibility and it's urgent nature to make you grab a bottle of Rosé, get white-girl drunk, and dance the night away. “ -Noisey

“Since Sundays demand a little rest and relaxation, let this video pay you some well-deserved attention and make you feel like a queen.” -Rookie Mag

photo by Leah Shirley

“Produced in tandem with Terrible Records co-founder and Grizzly Bear member Chris Taylor, their sophomore album, Not Now, goes a long way toward bringing their music's almost Can-like complexity to the fore—and "Ruining My Life" is no exception, with its interlocking guitar parts and seamless blending of live and electronic drums.” -The FADER

“Blessed gets downright creepy on “Neighbour,” a catchy little number that happens to be about stalking a stranger. Get a load of this chorus: “Sing, sing, sing, sing to me, daintily, in the shower, I see, your wet body.” And the best part? Dude doesn’t even live on this street. He’s just passing by, peering into your window when you least expect it. NBD.” -Self-Titled

Having moved all around Canada and settling nowhere, Walter TV are contemporary nomads. They formed their band in the basements and cottage-like houses of a beach town outside Vancouver. Their true start was in a haunted house on 13 acres of brambles and swampland where the TV would turn on to static. The basement where most of their debut LP Appetite was formed would flood often and had a beetle infestation.  

After Joe McMurray and Pierce McGarry moved to Montreal, they shared an apartment with a constant revolving cast of characters. In a space often overpopulated and reeking of cigarettes, they began recording Blessed. Simon Ankenman would come by periodically, and with him they would finish most of the recordings between there and LA. The band’s two members, Joe and Pierce, were also busy touring with Mac DeMarco, acting as his backing band. Mixing and recording turned into a thing to do on the road.  

Although the group prefers tape recordings to digital, they have never been militant. Always trying to uphold their DIY sensibilities, Walter TV believes the music should speak for itself. It should come from wherever and whatever is available. 

Regal Degal just released a new music video for album opener Delicious. The video, directed by Emma Westenberg, is a voyeuristic journey into two lovers' lives, from heated arguments over a shared wardrobe to a playful dance party complete with whipped cream and carbonated drinks. Of the song, Dummy says "Delicious is dreamy and funky. We want to say it's a bit '80s, but we don't mean in that tired retro-revivalist sense: it's more in the way the band pride themselves on their craft (it's a serious earworm), the clean interplay of instruments, and the clarity of voice - all defining features of the intelligent pop music that emerged that decade."

photo by Daniel Dorsa

“Complete with a delicate arrangement of steel drums, “Apophenia” takes listeners on a journey filled with airy vocals and uncertain outcomes. Although it’s not clear what the sisters are trying to get across, “Apophenia” is the kind of track one can easily get lost in. Just make sure to mark your path before you venture out.” via Noisey

Apophenia is from Tasseomancy’s sophomore release Palm Wine Revisited, out on vinyl and worldwide digital on June 2nd via Healing Power Records. Palm Wine Revisited was recorded between the Kensington Market, the Toronto Island and the bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia with the addition of band members, Evan Cartwright on percussion and Johnny Spence on keyboards. Inspired by This Mortal Coil’s It’ll End In Tears, this collection of songs is an introduction to the band’s diverse style, illustrating a wide variety of sound and influence from the pop sentiments of Braid, Apophenia, and Grass Harp to the more sparse electronic arrangements of Reality and What Life must I lead, accompanied by steel pan instrumentals.

photo by Van Robinson

Created by fellow Canadian, Berlin-based artist Tara Dougans, the film is comprised from a series of hand-painted motion sequence, animated frame by frame and stitched together digitally. 

The video serves as a 4 minute visual response to Lydia’s composition. Rather than work with narrative, the focus was to create an interplay with the song – something akin to the invisible dance that takes place within the subconscious mind as an underlying energy takes shape and begins to grow. A dance because the evolution of an idea (a shadow) is often non-linear, traveling miles intuitively up from the depths in trust before suddenly arriving into light.

TOUR DATES June 18th | Toronto, ON | NXNE Festival @ Phoenix Theatre - http://tinyurl.com/nncyuuv June 25th-26th | Calgary, AB | Sled Island Festival - http://tinyurl.com/lfytepn July 3rd | Copenhagen, DK | Roskilde Festival -http://tinyurl.com/lqd2uqo July 4th | Egersund, NO | Egersund Folk Festival - http://tinyurl.com/mx7b2dn

photo by Coey Kerr

Doldrums' The Air Conditioned Nightmare is now available everywhere on CD / LP / DL from Sub Pop. The album, led by highlights “HOTFOOT”, “Video Hostage”, “Loops” and “Blow Away”, was recorded in Montreal and LA and produced by Doldrums’ Airick Woodhead.

You can now watch the official video for ‘Loops’ helmed by director Lily X. The FADER described it as“A trove of trippy imagery that will damn near make your head explode—and it quite nicely fits the project's warped, melted-pop aesthetic”. Doldrums’ previously announced 2-month tour in support of The Air Conditioned Nightmare, begins tomorrow night, April 9th with a hometown show in Montreal and comes to Europe with a run across the UK & Ireland at the end of May. Support for the North American dates (April 15-May 9th) will come from fellow Woodhead-family musical project Moon King. Please find a complete list of tour dates below. Purchases of The Air Conditioned Nightmare are available from Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazonand Bandcamp. All customers who order the LP version of the album from megamart.subpop.com will receive the limited “Loser Edition” on clear vinyl and a limited edition clear 7” which features the songs “IDONTWANNABEDELETED” (feat. Samantha Urbani) and “Market Signals.” Additionally, there is a new T-shirt design available both individually and as part of a bundle with purchases of the new record.