#tapetown

Truly one of the more amazing shoegaze / dream pop acts I’ve come across in a while - it’s no surprise they’re from France either, the country of solid aesthetics. The sound on the production is wonderfully squeezed into a lovely flat piece of pasta which flows right through your mind carrying you into the suburban streets for a day of pure nothingness. 

The track reminds me of a mix of early MEW as well as the newer act Collider, which is both and adventure on record as well as live - I can recommend checking out their live session from Tapetown Studios (a search on youtube will get you there)

 Remember live gigs? We do. We sure do miss them too. The bliss of early 2020 was finally seeing some decent shows after the winter holidays whilst gazing at coming shows on the marquee and dreaming of which ones you were going to haunt. 2020 was looking pretty good – lots of class A international groups coming through town, Summer outdoor activities out the wazoo, Local shows filling up the calendar – but then… The ‘Rona.

Iceage doing a Danish victory lap of larger venues was certainly an early highlight of ’20. They guested Voxhall and brought along fellow Copenhageners: Leizure. Iceage have always done well with carefully selecting their support acts for Danish tours, and normally it’s a group that is hungry for it, up to the task of warming up for one of the most important bands of the last decade, and a star on the ascent. That was Leizure.  

What to call Leizure? There are certainly familiar Scandinavian post-punk elements – echoes of Lower and earlier Iceage, but also the modern twist of art-core meets math rock and avant jazz. Whatever is in the gumbo, it’s high energy without being kitsch, it’s dark without being overly moody, and it’s perfect for a night out and getting fucked up. What more do you want?

Leizure dropped by Tapetown to lay down a few tracks for their live-in-studio series of videos. “Cherry Kiss” is a reminder not only of (probably) the best show we’ll see this year, (probably) the only show we’ll see this year, but also…shows. I don’t mean some dude in his living room begging for money with his paypal, or some group conference calling in a rehearsal. Actual concerts where you are around other people and in the same room as the artists and drinking a beer served to you by a human and the full body high or loud music without having to put a note up in your hall way apologizing to the annoying hippies that live below you or the lesbian divorcee who passive aggressively organizes her shoes at 3am. (Sorry/not sorry Liz).

Blast this shit. Put on headphones if you need. This was made by pros for you. Drink everything in the house and then go get more. Get a little high, tell your friends you love them at 1.30 in the morning on Whatsapp, do what you gotta do.

Go to Leizure’s Bandcamp also and download their EP. You won’t regret it if you’ve made it this far in my coffee rant about missing concerts. Chuck them a few bob. You’ll instantly be cooler. Until next time…enjoy.  

video: 

https://www.facebook.com/Leizuredk/videos/540961876478821/ 

The Murder Capital - ‘For Everything’ [Tapetown Sessions]

Dublin-based The Murder Capital are currently on tour after the successful release of their debut-album in 2019 and they’re selling out venues pretty much everywhere they go. Luckily there’s been a couple of places like 3voor12 in Netherlands who has managed to capture those moments on stage for people to enjoy at a later time in the comfort of their favourite recliner or plushy couch - there are some really nice vids out there on youtube land you should definitely go check out. 

However, now the Danish-based recording studio Tapetown entered the equation and brought the live-experience opportunities of the band to the next level with one of their in-studio ‘Tapetown Sessions’. You get to go close-up with the members and almost feel that nerve that makes them who they are as a band. On top of this the audio quality is, as seems to be the norm, incredibly good!

Under any circumstance, if you’re just somewhat acquainted with the band you really should give this a spin, if you love them - you’ll love them even more.

 Dumb –” Content jungle” [Tapetown Sessions]

Tapetown Studio’s critically acclaimed Tapetown Sessions are back with a new installment. The series latest shenanigans grabbed Canadian post-punk band Dumb for their latest ‘live in studio’ sessions while the band were guesting Aarhus on tour promoting their 2nd full-length LP: Club Nites. The Vancouver based quartet is seen here running through one of the record’s highlights – “Content Jungle”, an angular indie-punk track with stabby guitars, a danceable heartbeat and witty lyrics that of course betray the band’s chosen name. This cut is practically anything but “dumb”.

Dumb themselves have released two full-length albums and a plethora of E.P.s and singles on the respected Mint Records. The label’s roster includes acts such as Neko Case, The Corn Sisters, Andrew WK and Lou Barlow. Dumb’s prolific blend of Post-punk, classic indie rock and tight songwriting and constant gigging have launched them as one of the most exciting bands in North America currently on the scene. Their Show at Aarhus’ hippest venue, TAPE proved just that. You probably weren’t there – but Tapetown’s session hope to at least get ya close.

Tapetown Sessions have been a platform to grab bands of particular quality. Where other live session formats such as KEXP can seem like sometimes the good acts gets drowned out by the large number of artists performing there, Tapetown picks are more delicate and highlights the wide ‘alternative’ spectrum of music in one of the best ways seen in a long time.

Tapetown is also a fully-functional recording studio that focuses specifically on  beating the drum for the authentic, weird, lofi or heavy groups often on the fringe of the scene. 

https://www.facebook.com/dumb41

The Entrepreneurs has with their latest album and the string of live shows that has followed proven that they are indeed a VERY capable live act.

If you haven’t been to a concert yet you should go. The music might not be for everyone and Mathias Bertelsens vocals splits the waters almost as much as Moses parted the Red Sea! However their approach to music and their delivery live can’t in any way be disputed, unless you’’d find yourself enjoying a Michael Bublé concert.

You should have a listen to the song and check out the video, if you’re a doubter in the vocals atleast for the performance and the stellar audio provided by the folks at Tapetown, who really has quite a sound on these live recordings.

The band recently released their debut 'Noise & Romance' on Tambourhinoceros and you can pick up the album right here: 

https://tambourhinoceros.net/artists/the-entrepreneurs

Tapetown homepage: https://www.tapetownstudio.com/

Aarhus’ Tapetown studios has consistently been coming out with some of the best “live in session” videos we can think of in their series “Tapetown Sessions”. The multi-angle shots coupled with their signature flair for producing great sounding Alternative music are a formula that have really created something unique and striking. 

With no exception - the new session featuring Heathe turns a new corner for the project. Heathe is not your typical indie group - instead it’s more of a “doom collective”, a multi-headed beast of an ensemble that rides the fence of being an art ensemble while simultaneously treading the familiar territory of a more traditional “rock” band. 

Heathe performed the climactic 2nd movement (of sorts) of their LP, “On The Tombstones, The Symbols Engraved” - a challenging listen to the uninitiated. In it’s raw and mesmerising live form here - Tapetown captures perfectly the essence of the intense “groove” and dynamic cacophony of this exact moment - the attack and release of a performance that, un-documented - would have otherwise slipped into the ether. 

For me - this is Tapetown’s finest session. Most of us will likely never get to see Heathe perform in person. This is literally the next best thing - in fact, even better in some respects. I was on hand at the taping and the sheer volume of Heathe’s backline was about the equivalent of a jet taking off next to you - and this was a particularly hot day in the sealed tomb of their tracking room with the added weight of lights, tubes buzzing with current and half an army of hairy men plying their trade at 11+ minutes at a time. i don’t mean to lift the wizards curtain - but it felt like a season in hell. You might actually be more comfy watching this wherever it is you are right now, unless you’re being detained by some military junta in a 3rd world country in summer. 

the fact remains that Tapetown never seems to falter when it comes to putting out these quality live sessions. This “warts and all” live-in-studio concept has been fascinating to watch. These sessions serve as a methadone to the heroin of an actual live show - almost a replacement, but a fix nonetheless. (I guess). Whether you’re actually in the studio as a band or one of the lucky handful of people that have witnessed the tapings in person - you are no doubt a part of one of the coolest things happening in Europe - maybe the world. These videos are also anyone who chooses to view’s ticket to a magical place for a few minutes. 

if you’ve read this far and have 11:00 to spare - you’re cool.  

-Words//Bobby McBride

watch here: 

Tapetown homepage: https://www.tapetownstudio.com/

Mavourneen - Bliss [Tapetown Sessions]

This is a treat. If you’ve, like half of the world, was binge-watching the new Chernobyl mini-series on HBO you’d always think that Mavourneen had made this intro an ode to the show - if it wasn’t for that this didn’t air until after this live session was recorded.

First of all that it’s a live session isn’t going to throw you off since it sounds fn’ great in itself. The guitars are biting your head off while being drenched in fx in a beautiful mix of both of those wonderful worlds. And if you’ve ever listened to some live concerts by Nirvana towards the end of their Nevermind tour of 1991 - one thing you will remember is the way Kurts’ screams sound like something from a pit so deep you couldn’t see the bottom.  

There’s a book out by the drummer of the band Captain America, who toured with Nirvana during the UK shows while Nevermind became “famous” - he tells about the surprise of the success, how they were still just playing small venues - and he tells about how a doctor went to see Kurt Cobain before the last week of the tour because his voice was so damaged from more than a month of solid screaming every night. The doctors orders were absolutely no singing and a minimum of talking for the next 2-3 weeks. What did Kurt do? Play the rest of the tour naturally. Listen to some of those recordings and that scream is so fucking epic you won’t ever forget it.

There’s the same kind of belch, depth and force coming from some of the screams of the lead singer in Mavourneen - those words are just gnaving at his face from the inside to get out and it’s impossible to hold back.

Couple all of this with a drummer who plays so amazing dirty - somehow making it seem slightly chaotic while being totally in control (that’s not alot of drummers who do that this cool) - and you have probably one of the best live sessions seen in a while - and definitely a band that have potential.

I can only look forward to the album coming out - apparently it was recorded in NYC at the studios of Sonic youth with Steve Shelley himself sitting in on the drum-recordings. So far there’s been no release-date so we can only wait and see when something will hit the streets. Lets hope sooner than later.

Tapetown homepage: https://www.tapetownstudio.com/