“Usually Waiting” by These Early Mornings

Day 10 of the 31 days of May New Zealand Music Month marathon madness comes from Auckland outfit These Early Mornings and the gorgeously elliptical “Usually Waiting”.

The eponymous album is a lovely slice of wistful weirdness and rhythmically uplifting low-key stoned minimalist DIY recorded psychedelia. I loved it so much I tracked down one of a handful of lathe-cut 12″ copies of the album.

“Usually Waiting”, with it’s simple circular bass line under a single guitar chord and odd time signature captures the sleepy yet unconventional rhythmic and musical nature of the album. As noted on PopLib back in October 2016 –

“…the loopy, grainy minimalism of the songs and the time signatures …. makes this such a great collection of odd-pop. The closest thing to “Usually Waiting” and “Unco” for example is This Heat, and there’s a whiff of a folk Swell Maps to “Who Knows Nothing”.”

It’s well worth investing a moment of your time to listen to it and then download a copy.

“Running Out Of Money” by These Early Mornings

“Running Out of Money” here, with its captivating Beta Band styled stoned groove and odd time signature, is from a recently released album from These Early Mornings.

These Early Mornings is/ are from New Zealand. The only named to be gleaned from the Bandcamp page for the self-titled album released on 7 October 2016 is one Jim Gaunt.

Whatever and whoever, this is a uniformly warm and weird collection of tunes. It starts with the brief and beguiling lo-fi not-quite rock steady groove of “Visa” before wandering with rhythmic abandon through other not-quite folk idioms in looping, lurching time signatures.

The eponymous third track is fractured stoner folk which might be imagined as an out-of-it Beck playing tribute to Harvest era Neil Young if it were not for the lo-fi recording and seriously off-kilter guitar solos and noise-reprise.

Overall it’s the loopy, grainy minimalism of the songs and the time signatures which makes this such a great collection of odd-pop. The closest thing to “Usually Waiting” and “Unco” for example is This Heat, and there’s a whiff of a folk Swell Maps to “Who Knows Nothing”.

This is the kind of album people will discover in 25 years time and an obscure boutique record label in the USA will re-release. Why wait that long? Get it now!

 

 

“Ed Ruscha” by The Transcendents

“Ed Ruscha” is from 10″ EP of dark & grainy spoken word plus post-punk goodness from Christchurch-based entity The Transcendents.

Ruscha (pronounced roo-shay FYI) is a US artist & this track (and cool video below) references the artist’s ‘Gas Station’/ ‘Burning gas Station’ works from the 1960s.

Hard to describe the sound here, but here goes… There’s elements of a weird kind of glitchy experimental soundscape combining alt-country, experimental music, twangy film-noire guitar, sand-blasted vocals and spoken word sampling. Oh & a cover (re-assembly?) of a Will Oldham song “A Sucker’s Evening” too.

If you need a music geography reference point, the music on “Lay Where You Collapse” sits somewhere between Ry Cooder’s atmospheric “Paris, Texas” soundtrack and UK post-punk song disassembly masters This Heat. These dislocated and fascinating anti-songs have an unsettling air. It’s easy to listen to but it’s the opposite of easy listening.

“Lay Where You Collapse” is available as a free download, or – the real treasure here – a very limited edition 10″ vinyl dub-plate lathe cut. Unlike acetate lathe cuts, these vinyl cuts, made done one-at-a-time in real time, are top quality for sound and durability.

‘No Men’ by Bushwalking

Day 9 of this unofficial Australian Music Month following NZ Music Music Month goes Bushwalking with “No Men” from Bushwalking’s September 2013 album ‘No Enter’ released on Melbourne’s excellent Chapter Music label.

Bushwalking is another new band to me and ‘No Enter’ is straight onto my ‘must buy’ list.

The unconventional and at times abrasive, piercing and angular post-punk guitar from Karl Scullin, together with the sparse construction and bold, lurching but hypnotic rhythms, all carry a glimmer of the industrial churn of the legendary UK art-noise pioneers This Heat.

Yet woven amongst this is almost medieval voices, harmonies and melodies from drummer Nisa Venerosa and bassist Ela Stiles (who has just released a solo album featured here on PopLib earlier this month). It all adds up to all kinds of wonderful.

Here they are live, performing the title track to their album ‘No Enter’: