Well, we all may me locked up inside our homes right now, but that doesn’t mean we have to be quiet about it! Here’s a handful of new releases that’ll make your time in isolation way more exciting.
Galecstasy – Surprise
Galecstasy’s Surprise is certainly one of the most varied and unexpected releases of the year, touching on countless shades of disparate genres, from ambient music to breakbeats and even experimental soul.
Galecstasy consists of Raquel Bell (The Dialtones, Mesiko, Normal Love, etc) and Jared Marshall (whom you may remember from Primary Mystical Experience), who improvise and construct otherworldly stream of consciousness-styled soundscapes. Whenever a new song starts, you just never know where it’s going to go nor how it will end.
Take “Advanced Civilization,” for example. The song begins with a sound collage intro, which flows into a strange refraction of bossa nova— complete with breezy drums and piano melded with unnerving yet serene vocals and violin. The bowed instrument then takes the spotlight, cutting nervous, near- animalistic solos while a spacey synthesizer trickles in around it, bringing the song to an offbeat close.
A very unique release for Aural Canyon Records, and an equally peerless release for the year in general. Grab the cassette today from ACR or you can also get the album on CD or digitally straight from the band themselves.
Speaking of Aural Canyon, they recently restocked their excellent T-shirt, so why not show your support for this fine label and grab yourself one right now? Grip it here.
The Electric Myrrs – “Wonderland”
Hailing from Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, The Electric Myrrs craft hypnotic, shadowy acid rock that seems to call back to the likes of Dead Moon, Psychic Ills and The Asteroid No. 4.
Their latest single, “Wonderland,” is pure lo-fi minimalist psychedelia that creeps and builds with a subtle tension. It slowly unspools, becoming more disorientating and hallucinatory with each passing second. Droning echos and a hypnotic beat go a long way on this song.
Snag the single here and be sure to keep an eye out for the forthcoming The Adventures of Canvas album.
If you dig their sound on this track, be sure to also check out their mind-frying Myrr Jyrr EP, which was released back in January.
Osmium House – Something Wicked…(Sounds from an Unreleased Film) Vol. 1
Anything new by the lads of Osmium House is bound to be good, but this is something special…something…wicked.
Paying homage to the great cult horror and sci-fi soundtracks of the ’70s and ’80s, Osmium House chills and thrills here with eerie synth soundscapes that bubble and erupt with slashing nightmarish guitar.
Songs like the pitch black pool of drones and guitar that is “Dezember Theme,” sound like if Bobby Beausoleil, Florian Fricke and John Carpenter worked together on a new score for Halloween III: Season of The Witch, while other tracks conjure up everything from Goblin, to Pink Floyd’s More and Tangerine Dream’s early soundtracks. Most of all, this release is a bold leap forward for the group, showing a darker, more atmosphere-focused side of the band. I hope a Volume 2 is not far behind this…
You can get this album here as of now. When you do, I suggest turning off your lights, putting on something like Kenneth Anger’s Lucifer Rising or scenes from Suspria with the sound on mute, and crank this way, way up.
Aaron Dooley – “Nostalgia Burns”
While we’re on the subject of Osmium House, Aaron Dooley, who plays on most, if not all of the group’s material, is gearing up for a solo album. The lead single from said album, “Nostalgia Burns”, is a sure sign that this record is going to be a vastly memorable one indeed.
Melancholic synth pulses bob along to a somnambulist beat, while breathy vocals and flute give the song a dreamy, surrealistic quality. Between the laid back tempo, muffled reverb and other effects, the song easily feels like a foggy memory of something both sweet and painful. This subtly haunting atmosphere really sticks with you for the rest of the day.
Based on the strength of this track alone, you just know that we’re in for something truly wonderful down the road. Keep an eye out for that record, and also the music video for this track, which should be dropping within days from now (I’ll be sure to share it!)
For now, you can grab the song here.
Rowan : Morrison – Lost in Seaburgh
Rowan : Morrison’s Stephen Stannard and Angeline Morrison have shown us many different musical shades of the world of folk horror and old wyrd England over the years, but on Lost in Seaburgh, they deliver us to the spectral world of M.R. James and his legendary ghost stories.
This is indeed the pair’s most ambitious project yet. Together, they conjure the spirit and mood of James’ classic tales, as well as many of the BBC’s infamous and enigmatic TV adaptations of the ’60s and ’70s. They accomplish this through dark keyboard-infused psychedelic folk music and spoken excerpts straight from the original source material.
The album, through its elaborate construction, reaches beyond the level of homage and tribute, and becomes almost like a musical radio tour through James’ work. Songs like the elegant but tense “A Warning to the Curious” and the brooding “The Ash Tree” pull you deep within these timeless, elementally frightening stories.
If you find escapism through the supernatural and classic literature, then Lost in Seaburgh is an essential record during our current period of dread and uncertainty.
Physical copies seem to have sold out at the moment, but you can still get digital copies of the album here.
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