mark schoneveld

CLAAM - Devil in Your Arms

‘Friend of a friend’ recommendations that I get are typically kinda meh. My sweet friends are kind to think of me - “oh, you post about music stuff, right?” - but what can I say, I’m a picky jerk.  This song, however, is a wild exception to that rule.  It was sent to me by my bud Brian Hall from Grubby Little Hands, who is extremely on-point with this pick. The song’s root system supports a mighty tree - deep and fruitful. 

Listen to the rest of the Los Angeles duo’s excellent self-titled EP over on their Sndcld.

Shaking Through : Strand of Oaks

Beautiful beards! Smooth synths! The newest recording session produced by Chris Ward of Pattern is Movement worth every mellow moment.

Get the single here: 

TOPS - Double Vision

So happy that Grimes premiered this song over on her Gorilla vs Bear take-over (all of which has been outstanding).  I’ve been listening to the preview of this record over and over for a week now, and I can honestly say Tender Opposites will be one of my favorite/addicting records of 2012.

Here’s what Claire said:

TOPS are a bunch of weirdos, and I say this in the most affectionate way possible. Riley drums to a metronome for about 4 hours a day and would probably go for longer if he had his own studio, Jane laughs so loud that I can hear her even if I’m in a different building, usually when I see Tom he’s buying weed from my roommates and David is just… indescribable really. Most of their music is really crazy and upbeat, but this song is super touching and quiet. It’s not a single, but my favorite song on their upcoming record.

Previously: “Diamond Looks”

PET - Bench Connection

Mixing the bass way forward in a song is a terrific way to start off a slow jammer like this new one from these Edinburgh ‘gazers.  But it’s the wee jangling guitar hook dropped in at 2:05 that gives me the chills.

Get this new single along with “Wear Black” for a donation on their Bndcmp.

Previously: “Middle Child Syndrome” (aslo included on my last mixtape)

The Trespassers - Living Memories (1967)

Pretty rad indie psych tune that came out on a 7” once back in the day, but the project never went anywhere (they don’t even have a wikipedia entry).  I love this old film footage walking down Haight Street during that era.  It makes me wonder who’s making the modern version of this on, say, Bedford Ave.?

newportfolkfest:

Shepard Fairey takes on folk music.

A Classic Education - Forever Boy

These Italians are nothing if not helpless romantics, and prolific at that. Here, video director Opificio Ciclope paints a classic black & white idolizing the motocicletta.  You’re going to want to share this with anyone you know who’s got a love affair with stunning two-wheelers or 50’s noir films. Total swoonage. 

Get the excellent Call It Blazing LP - who’s album art is ripped straight from this shoot - from Lefse Records.

Previously: “Baby it’s Fine”

Slow Animal - Bliss Brain

Been a busy winter for these garagegazers.  The duo has been drawn out from the depths of their South Jersey roots, moved into Philadelphia town, launched a new website, and recorded their first full-length record.  Here, their single that leads things off with blisters and raw pop the way Pine Barren needles crunch and pin underfoot while still providing a soft bed. 

The new self-titled LP comes out February 29th. They’re on Tumblr here.

Previously: “Heatwave”

Rhye - Open

This new LA-based duo’s debut track alone - stark, minimal pop - makes a whole lot of sense.  Then you watch the video and yr like, oh yeah. Ohhh yeah. Ohhhhh, I really get it now. Hot, hot, hot and definitively NSFW. Sexiest song + vid of 2012, hands down.

Get this single on clear ltd. 12” wax from Innovative Leisure. 

Burn’t - a yvynyl mixtape

You never know when you’re gonna wake up in a burning house or a brand new dimension. Splintering paths you hadn’t even thought possible yeseterday because they were covered up with overgrown weeds.  But then, all of a sudden, you realize this was the only road you were ever supposed to take, the only one you can take.  No going back. This, friends, is the notion and spirit of this group of songs.  Take, eat, and keep the keel deep in the water.

Original artwork by Sydney artist and designer Jennifer Mehigan. Used with permission.

Please support these artists when you enjoy their music.

Tracklist:

1. Mac DeMarco - Rock and Roll Night Club
2. We Can’t Enjoy Ourselves - Winsome William
3. Suburban Living - Give Up
4. Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders - Cold Feet
5. Tiny Victories - Lost Weekend
6. Capybara - Neighbor Crimes
7. White Birds - When Women Played Drums
8. White Fence - It Will Never Be
9. Swiss Alps - Riptide Lore
10. Oliver Tank - Up All Night
11. Grimes - Genesis
12. Lucky Dragons - Existers
13. Trippple Nippples - Golden Road (Oli Chang Remix)
14. Gracie x Steffaloo - Quilts
15. Ingvild Østgård - You Will Never Know
16. CSLSX - Aeromancer (ft. Mountain Man)
17. Conveyor - Mukraker
18. Die Jungen - I Pray to You
19. PET - Middle Child Syndrome
20. Day Joy - New Ordinary
21. True Gold - Undulate
22. Roman Ruins - Mighty Love
23. Megafortress - My Favorite Girl

Download directly here: http://bit.ly/AmzXQk

Stream it here: http://8tracks.com/yvynyl

After downloading the mix folder, please create a new playlist in iTunes and then click and drag the folder to import, thereby maintaining track order.

Check out more yvynyl mixtapes here.

Julia Holter - In The Same Room

mojomagazine:

In the new issue of the magazine, Sonny Baker writes: “[Julia Holter’s Ekstasis] brings to mind out-of body experiences and intense euphoria using disco beats, plucked strings, multi-layered vocals, Middle Eastern drones and, at times, free jazz.”

Video directed by Hilary Walsh. Her Ekstasis LP comes out on March 8th on RVNGIntl.

Algiers - Blood

This song demands attention from the first resounding beat, and the video gives chills from the first cut. This song will iron-brand itself into your head and heart. Absolutely stunning, minimal “gospel no wave soul pulp” by this new Atlanta trio comprised of players Franklin James Fisher, Ryan Mahan and Lee Tesche.

Together, their craft is “a solemn slave-folk incantation set against the depraved atonal wail of Roland S. Howard, Glenn Branca, and Watts ’65.”  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the influence of TV on the Radio here - but what these guys are doing is easily as gutsy, a great deal more raw. Drawn from a dark well; dirty, blistered hands and all.

Get the “Blood” b/w “Black Eunuch” 7” now available from Double Phantom Records.

Melogrand - Ohio

The group of East Austinites spent over a year recording both at Spoon’s Public Hi-Fi as well as their home studio.  The results are a finely crafted body of solid rock songs clearly influenced by their neighbors. This track has the dusty skinny jeans + worn boots that would be absolutely at home at an East 6th Street dive bar + taco truck. 

Get their debut full-length Waves for the Ages on February 21st from the band.

The Bearcat - Learning (Perfume Genius cover)

I feel a little strange blogging a cover of a current band before ever even blogging the band original artist, however, this redux by San Franciscan high school senior Daniel Meyer is so totally worth it.  Let it ride - this one takes a little while to get steaming.

More on his Sndcld.  And of course, don’t miss Perfume Genius gorgeous Learning LP out on Matador Records.

Thurlow - Wedding Song

This work by director Leslie Andrew Ridings for Los Angeles husband and wife duo Augustus Green and Jacqueline Caruso is positively sugar saturated.  It rides that fine, fine line between utter heart-on-sleeve earnestness and ironic hipsterdom. Whatever you make of the honeycombed treatment, the band hopes it’ll be the perfect lil’ inspirational love song for yr Valentine.

They tell me, “We all have a lot to say about love, but this song and video represent how we feel about it. It’s easy to write about heartache and be inspired by pain. We are usually drawing from that place ourselves. This song came out of a challenge to be vulnerable and draw from the emotional place we are in now after six years of marriage. We really do love each other more now than we did at first. And it’s not cool or hip to admit to this, but we’ve found amazing freedom through our commitment. We really want everyone to know what it’s like to be loved.”

Happy Love Day, guys.  Get more on their Bndcmp.

Previously: “Through Your Eyes”

For whatever deeply mystical reason, my email @ yvynyl.com has totally shit the bed. While I was kind of relieved to go from 100+ emails a day to zero - liberating myself from dozens and dozens of crap PR lists - I do miss your lovely, personal notes with fresh and interesting music and stories from around the globe.  Please find my new email address here: http://yvynyl.tumblr.com/pr

Bachelorette - Blanket

Gosh, how did I miss this back in July?

Annabel Alpers’ self-titled album available from Drag City. Video directed by Steven Grisé.

Photos of 1970s rock stars with their parents reveal humble roots in their childhood homes

Ghost Animal - Dreaming of Love & Death pt 1

Michael Avishay, one half of this noise/artrawk duo w Marissa Rowland, hit me on twttr late yesterday evening asking me if I could do a rush premiere for him, and while I’d normally be pfffft, this song fucking rules.  So here I am, showing it to all y’all for the first time outside his bedroom. If this isn’t an ambitious hommage to Sonic Youth, I don’t know what is.  Excellent, raw, charged.

Look for more in the coming months, keep yr eye on their Bndcmp.

Previously: “Fever Not Dead”