Dreaming The Seeds Of An Extra Life

I had no expectations with this record - and the track ' Righteous Seed' floored me. The album - Dream Seeds. The band - Extra Life, a Brooklyn collective with connections to Yukon, Zs and Dirty Projectors. That said, nothing is easy here, and I can't say this will stay with me forever, or even for long. There are elements of Xiu Xiu, Neutral Milk Hotel, VAST, Animal Collective and indeed Dirty Projectors in this acrobatic, verbose, bombastic melange, and some of it comes off as pompous and flowery as it does eloquent and haunting. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the audaciousness of Charlie Looker's quite unique vocal stylings and the religiosity of some of the compositions. Above all, it isn't an easy ride, with many twists and turns, and for that I am grateful for the experience.

Buy Dream Seeds here or here.

Recreating A Papier Tigre

French outfit Papier Tigre (pronounced “Papyeah Teegrr”)'s third album Recreation (out on Africantape) has an element of surprise to it. The band teamed up with John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, the Roots, Bill Callahan, The pAper chAse...) in order to push the limits of their their unit into a devastatingly efficient performance. It is intriguing, and although the vocals grate on me a little, the musical interplay offers some fervent schizophrenia that I like a lot - plus the lack of a bass means they have to work harder to achieve that bottom-end. They just supported Explosions In The Sky in Paris last month, so things are certainly on the up and up.

Recreation is out March 1.

Papier Tigre 'Home Truth' by Murailles Music

Angular Death Hearts, Dressed in Black And White

Swiss-Canadians Peter Kernel have just launched an angular, aggressive little number in LP White Death Black Heart. I played their first single 'Anthem Of Hearts' briefly here, and it is a weird one - Barbara's chants are kinda off putting to me. Well, the rest of the album explodes. Caught between the crossfire of Blonde Redhead at their most Sonic Youth (in no small part to both Aris' nonchalant snarl and viscous guitarmanship), and the Coathangers, White Death Black Heart is a roiling ball of kinky aggression, one that grooves and thrashes in equal measure. I liked the band before - I love their moxy now.


White Death Black Heart is out now on AfricanTape. Its a nice piece of vinyl, for an electric release. Get it.

Peter Kernel - Panico! This Is Love
Peter Kernel - I'll Die Rich At Your Funeral