Moon Gangs - "Sea" & "Sky"

I am remiss to have not posted Moon Gangs immediately upon hearing "Sea" on 20jazzfunkgreats, and further to have not posted it in the interim.  I've been listening to it A LOT.  At least once a day, but usually much more.  Via car stereo, computer speakers, headphones and phone speakers.  Paranoid waves of steely cool sound, placated by warmer oscillations of a sun-burnt hue.  Like the slip of sun that banishes the shiver of night and sets in motion the scurry of a summer's day.  Ambient, kosmische, meditative, New Age, synth, etc.  Free download below; extremely limited run of 50 cassettes from Where to Now?

MP3: Moon Gangs - Sea
MP3: Moon Gangs - Sky

Moon Gangs on SoundCloud / Tumblr

new Magic Places - Melodrama EP

Magic Places sent over his new Melodrama EP at the absolute perfect time.  With the final space shuttle mission in progress, many are focused on celestial travel, which is perhaps the defining theme of Magic Places' epic electronic soundscapes.  It's the first thing I think of whenever I listen to his music, anyway.  That I received the EP on a night when I had no electricity in my apartment and had to listen in the soft candescence of moonlight was a coincidence that was only too fitting.  Like The Time-Traveler's Pocket Guidebook album and 2071 EP before it, the Melodrama EP is another blissful breeze through the land of 80s nostalgia on the back of Falkor, the luck dragon.  Fans of bygone era-beats and shimmering synth pop have got to get on board.  Stream three songs below; grab the whole thing here.  

MP3: Magic Places - Pitchwhite Lumens
MP3: Magic Places - Lovetrial
MP3: Magic Places - On The Verge

Magic Places on bandcamp / Facebook / MySpace / SoundCloud

video: Blondes - "Pleasure"

Pleasure from Blondes on Vimeo.

Blondes get a little crazier, funkier, more tribal and weirder than ever as heard in this Farley Gwazda-directed video for "Pleasure."  Their Business / Pleasure 12" is available for pre-order from RVNG Intl. with a release date of June 14, 2011.

(via Pitchfork)

new Double Entendre - Street Music EP

Rolled out of bed this morning, checked my email and was very happy to see some correspondence from Ryan Daniels, aka Double Entendre.  Daniels' new Street Music EP is now streaming at bandcamp, available for download or in an incredibly limited run of just 15 cassettes.  There's something for everyone here, from the spin-inducing psychedelics of the title track to the more heavenly, harp-like oscillations of "This Perfect Day."  Faltering swells of acidic synths make up "Breathing in the Ether," while the fuzzed-up tin pan workout that is "Sometimes, Happy Times" took me back to Konono N°1's Congotronics in the best way possible.  "3-4 tbsp" is an ambient interlude complete with chirping birds and burnt-out key tones; "Onboard Currency" is an inspirational jam that chugs on and on towards the horizon.  Daniels offers up "Sometimes, Happy Times" and his remix of Andy & Zeus' "MCMLXXXI Choir" for free, but you should support the arts by buying the MP3s for $5 or a tape for just $6.  If you've ever bought anything from The Curatorial Club, NNA Tapes or Sweat Lodge Guru, you simply must buy this. 

new Com Truise - "Polyhurt"

Brand new warble-wave jam from synth wizard Com Truise.  From his three-song Fairlight EP, out digitally May 3 through Ghostly International, with a vinyl release on the horizon.  More info here.

MP3: Com Truise - Polyhurt

Com Truise on Facebook / Last.fm / MySpace / SoundCloud / Twitter

new Sumsun - "Lulla Drone"

I can't imagine a better song to fall asleep or wake up to than this demo from Florida-based beatmaker, Sumsun.  From an upcoming tape release, "Lulla Drone" is composed of "just synths," a tinkering lullaby that twinkles in the night sky or the early morning light.

  Lulla Drone Demo by Sumsun

Follow Sumsun on Facebook / Last.fm / MySpace / SoundCloud / Tumblr

Lee Forest - Leaf Auras EP

I saw Lee Forest on Weed Temple last night, and I've had the melodic, meditative synth meanderings of the Chicago-based artist on repeat all day.  His Leaf Auras EP is available for free download at bandcamp.  The six song EP strikes a perfect balance between disorienting waves of cold, metallic oscillations and warmer, more enveloping transmissions that comfort like a fuzzy blanket.  Stream the whole thing below; grab a free download and follow Lee Forest here.

Pedro Magina - "Miyagi"

The Animal Collective fan in me will likely always remember Lisbon as the place Panda Bear picked to record Person Pitch and to live with his wife and child.  But now I can add Pedro Magina and his music to my list of Lisbon-based associations.  Magina's Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five tape is out now on Not Not Fun Records, and though his music is nowhere near the sunburned, tropic-tinged sounds of Person Pitch, it manages to be just as meditative and every bit as excellent.  Britt of Not Not Fun was nice enough to send over "Miyagi," and its undulating synthesizers have been transporting me ever since.  Fans of the spaced-out sounds of Megazord, Oneohtrix Point Never and Zonotope should enjoy it.  Meanwhile, the other songs streaming at Magina's MySpace sound a bit more subdued.  Regardless, these are blissfully ambient songs that shimmer and soar even as they're soused in Lisbon's coastal waters.  Buy Magina's Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five tape from Not Not Fun.

  Pedro Magina - Miyagi by casketcrashvigil

Hyperdelic Records

Almost a week ago, I got an email from Daniel Smith, who records "face melting" music as Red Electric Rainbow and runs the cassette-only label Neon Blossom. Smith and Matt Kimmel of Acid Marshmallow curated last year's Neon Marshmallow Festival, and now they're collaborating on a new ambient/drone/noise/synth label called Hyperdelic Records.  Hyperdelic's first six releases are available now and include cassettes from Red Electric Rainbow, Mark Bradley, Headboggle, Netherfriends, Seabat and Mike Shiflet.  Other information was hard to come by, but I was able to hunt down tracks from 5 of 6 artists.  Note: not all songs are necessarily featured on the artists' Hyperdelic release.  They were just the most readily available songs and are intended to demonstrate the artists' work. 

Red Electric Rainbow - Ferris Wheel
Mark Bradley - No Words
Netherfriends - Wednesday