MP3: Confetti Dreams - "The Smoothest Way Is Full of Stones"

Victoria Newsom
Much Burlington, VT love for this lovely who we have loved to love in the past. Formerly Lady Lioness, Erin Cavellier is now making songs as Confetti Dreams. Hear this dreamy beeping jam here:

Confetti Dreams - "The Smoothest Way Is Full of Stones"

And I'll breathe this water down / Wear my demons as a crown Lamenting and beautiful, Cavellier never fails to haunt us with her lovely tunes.

[via No Fear of Pop]

ALBUM: Tape Deck Mountain - Secret Serf EP

It Goes Down
Not to sound too much like Special Agent Dale Cooper, but lately at P-HORSE we've been using our clairvoyance during REM-dream states in order to figure out what music we should pay closer attention to. This involves a delicate balance of the following elements consumed just before bedtime:
- a moderate-to-heavy dose of sleep aid
- Δ⁹-THC mixed with loose leaf tobacco
- approximately 1/3 of an Olde English 40oz
- odd-numbered episodes of 1990's cult TV show Twin Peaks on mute
Then, with iPhone speakers placed 2-3 inches from the ear and a band's music set at full volume, sleep ensues. If somehow - bucking all chemical odds and defying laws of nature - brain activity during sleep still occurs, we revisit their music in a more conscious, sober state of mind.

The last few nights have led us repeatedly to Tape Deck Mountain, whose profile page at their record label's site offers this as an intro:

San Diego’s Tape Deck Mountain first made waves by releasing their debut EP Sparks on the unconventional (but quite fitting for their name) medium, our old friend the cassette tape. Frontman Travis Trevisan wants it to be made clear however, that he doesn’t want this to become a “thing” and that he will be working in all formats.
(via Lefse Records)

Tape Deck Mountain have been referred to as San Diego beach bums, but don't be fooled - there's really no trace of that lo-fi surf-rock trend in their music. And they don't sound like such laid back chillers as "bums" would imply, but rather like guys who would melt your face off with a wall of live sound. They are more likely to be classified along the lines of the West coast noise rock we've been loving so much recently. Matt from Lefse* sent over the new EP they released last week, Secret Serf, and we've playing it nonstop - in dreams AND waking life. You can pick it up from the Lefse here.

Trace your land line calls / Hide in bathroom stalls / You know / I know echoes the very powerful opening track "P.I.":

Tape Deck Mountain - "P.I"

Creepy, exhilarating, and haunting, the album starts out with a blast. The second track "Trevor" is an immediate comedown, retaining the creepy shadow cast by the private inspector and heavy reverb. As we get to the third song "It Goes Down," the pace picks back up a little. Though at first slow and slightly suspicious, looking back over our shoulder into the dark, we soon find ourselves at a run. And the squealing, tinnitus-inducing, MBV-esque guitar sound of "It Goes Down" makes it our favorite pick of the whole record:

Tape Deck Mountain - "It Goes Down"

Play loud.


* Look who is quoted on the front page of the Lefse site. It's ME! And they called us a "smart" blog, which makes YOU smart by association. Yeah that's right, we're all fucking geniuses up in here!

PREMIERE: A Classic Education - "Night Owl"

Shaking Through
PIXELHORSE curated the most recent installment of Shaking Through, a Philly-based music and video web series. It's kicking off right here with A Classic Education and their song "Night Owl." This tune is epic and sprawling, falling and building, and full of a richness that's steeped in melancholy. We can not get enough of this polished gem. You've gotta get it for yourself! Oh hey, here you go:



The opening line, "Boy I think you're right," accompanied perfectly by the guitar... it floors us. Note for note, one can tell how much care they put into matching it up, aligning it aurally, just so. This band's been blasting through the BK scene, playing shows for years. Simply put, you should have heard of these guys by now. On the off chance you have not, here's your first opportunity to get to know these awesome people better. Watch this beautifully shot and edited video of their experience:



Shaking Through aims to accelerate the exposure of talented, emerging indie artists. Based in Philadelphia, it was created by the good folks of Weathervane Music and WXPN. A curator (music bloggers, artists and established members of the music community) nominates bands to be chosen. Selected artists come in to Miner Street Recordings where they get to experience a high-end recording session for one song of their choosing. All recording and mixing is done in just two days with the very talented and very professional producer Brian McTear. The process is captured on really gorgeous video, and the group walks away with an MP3 of the final result, feelin' free and easy.

How could you not love these guys?? Shaking Through and Co. are on board with the way the independent music industry has evolved in recent years to become a group effort, one in which everyone (bloggers, promoters, label folk, and community members alike) collectively lend support to the process of making the music we all love so much. Speaking of support, visit their website.

MP3: Ducktails - "Killin' the Vibe"

Killer StyleQ: What song combines 3 of your favorite dude crooners on the indie scene right now - Ducktails + Dent May + Panda Bear?

A: Ducktails - "Killin' the Vibe"

The special edition of "Killin' the Vibe," which you get when you order Duckies' newest album, Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics, on vinyl here.

And congrats to Matt, who finally moved back out of his parents' house.

MP3: Weekend - "Monday Morning/Monongah, WV" Water Borders Remix

Water Bored
Until recently, I never took the time to check out the band Weekend from San Francisco. I guess I was always too busy or overwhelmed to sort out the confusion between them, Baltimore's Weekends, and the newest Smith Westerns video "Weekend". These things are all quite different. Point is, Weekend are awesome! "Just how awesome are they??" you might ask, to which I reply, "Hold on a second and let me fucking show you."

Weekend is a trio of bay area dwellers who provide you with all the post-punk noise rock jams you could possibly need. Seriously, look no further for that shit. You're done. Their full-length album Sports was released this past November on Slumberland. This album is by far and away their best release yet, starting out strong with the killer single "Coma Summer":

Weekend - "Coma Summer"

In case you missed that, you can buy it from Slumberland Records... here. Get the album. Previous releases include a split 7" on Transparent last May with amaaazing SF babies Young Prisms whom we love dearly, and a 10" put out on Mexican Summer in November of '09.

Last week, a bunch of blogs posted a version of Weekend's songs "Monday Morning/Monongah, WV" that was remixed by Water Borders. (Have to admit I seriously, seriously love that as a band name.) This led me to the video for the original track, which is actually a combination of the third and fourth tracks from the aforementioned album Sports. Download that yet??

This is just what my summers looked like, growing up in New Jersey:

Oil slip-n-side and all.

Admittedly, this video is a little too reliant on the dependably gorgeous look of DSLR footage. I think the whole saturated slow-mo high-def trip is the newest music video blog cliche that will replace the former reigning king - the appropriated nostalgia collage. (See Jamie Harley.) But for now, it's pretty nice to look at, and creepy as hell, in an enjoyable Donnie Darko sort of way.

This brings us to the actual remix of "Monday Morning/Monongah, WV" by Water Borders. An exciting, dub-stepping, witch-housey take on the original more mellow tracks.

Weekend - "Monday Morning/Monongah, WV" Water Borders Remix

Mmmm, suck on all that juicy Weekend!

VIDEO: Magick Mountain - "One for My Ego"

Almighty Portal
While the heavy-handed reference to screensaver visuals is not at all lost on me, I can't help but consider this music video a little more deeply every time I watch it, albeit against my first instincts. The almighty portal, the only true portal. The twisting and pulsating mouth of the canal; that which gives life.

This song gets lost in the video. At points when the sexy translucent words like, "Do you have a lover?" echo in, the sexiness of the video can actually climax.

This video was co-promiered by Altered Zones and Rosequartz Blog!

MP3: Smith Westerns - "Imagine, Pt. 3"

Dye It Blonde
Well, fuck. The weekend is over, and Mondays sorta make us wanna take off our glasses and jump off the ledge. But today actually ain't hurtin' so bad, cos there's still that new Smith Westerns album leak, riiight?

Dye It Blonde is so good it stings a little. Heavy on the glam rock guitar power, this album wears its red lipstick better than Marc Bolan wore his nut-huggingly tight pink leather pants. It was playing on repeat in our house this weekend, prompting a 3:00AM "twirl time" session with my roommate in our living room. Arms out, huge smiles on faces, dancing along to upbeat glitter rock-n-roll tunes until our neighbors came and yelled at us to turn it down.

Smith Westerns - "Imagine, Pt. 3"

This song starts out about 97% "Mr. Blue Sky" and ends totally, totally T. Rex. Those screaming guitar riffs in the final breakdown? Come onnnn.
We love it.

Now streaming all week over on NPR.

MP3: jj - "Kill You"

I Wanna Die...

I wanna die, so I get high...

and I don't wanna go anywhere that you been goin' to

anywhere you goin' to, so... kill you, and take your money

There's an example of a breakup sentiment I can really fucking get behind.

Having just come off of an asskicking sweetheart of a 6-day bingefest, I can vaguely recall hearing this song somewhere in there on one of those 6 days. On repeat. I believe it was one morning around 4pm when my lovely roommate woke me up blasting the new jj mixtape Kills that came out Christmas eve. Sort of sounds like a bad dream right? No. More like a glooorious nightmare. And just what one needs to get her ass outta bed and start binging on fun all over again.

jj - "Kill You"

Waking up repeatedly in a fucked-up stupor to Paper Planes 2.0 could only be made worse if it were actually the original MIA song.

It's like I always say, out with the old, in with the new.

Or more like: out with the old and fucking shitty, in with the WHATEVRRR U GOT, MAN.

BLAH BLAH

BLAH