Hood

It's easy to admit for me that in the whole Hood discography, "Rustic Houses, Forlorn Valleys" is my favorite album.

Because it's not the same band as before and after, with the main members from Empress and Remote Viewer among them, with Matt Elliott as sound engineer. And they explore the more atmospheric, melancholic and ambient sides of their expression. Almost ten years after its recording, this record is still urgent, deeply true and moving.

hood @ derives

Broken Flight

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Broken Flight released one ep and one lp so far, almost self-released.

But the sensitivity, the melancholy, the kindness and subtlety behind their songwriting are incredibly great, recalling early records by Owen, The Apartments or a sparser and ethereal Art of Fighting.

broken flight @ derives

The White Foliage

One of the loveliest bands ever.

The purity of the 4AD aesthetics mixed with the better parts of L'Altra and Khonnor and you come close. Except that some of the songs on this ep have a wonderful complexity - It's impossible to know where the song will go 30 seconds later - and a heavenly charm from out of this world. And both are just nineteen. A very very promising band, never felt like this since the first ep by L'Altra.

the white foliage @ derives

Quintin Nadig

It's a crime that so far Quintin Nadig is so much under the radar, when his records are the equivalents of the Spokane, Hayden or Patrick Phelan ones, with moments of pure bliss and melancholy echoing the best moments of slowcore subtlety.

Deeply moving, don't make the error to not give him the attention his music justifies.

quintin nadig @ derives
quintin nadig @ myspace

Peril Hill

Peril Hill is the musical project of one Mark Gardner helped with a few friends and giving us the most moving and melancholic folk music coming from UK since the early records of Appendix Out and the marvellous debut of Songs of Green Pheasant.

His music is a dream, it makes you float into a cloud of bliss and intimacy.

peril hill @ derives
peril hill @ myspace

Awful Bliss

Awful Bliss is a new promising indie label from Italy.

As a birth act they just released a double compilation. One side with american folk indie songwriters with a roots/americana point of view and the other with italian indie bands and songwriters. A few discoveries and many artists we already know here.

Awful Bliss is also to the point of releasing albums by The Holy Sons and Faris Nourallah. A new Acuarela / Talitres / Fargo ?

awful bliss @ myspace
songs from another place @ derives
holy sons @ derives

Human Television

Next Month, Human Television will release their first album, "Look At Who You're Talking To".

I was deeply in love with their 2004 ep "all songs written by" so it's a record I have big expectations for and it will probably be my best indie pop record of the year, fans of early Pavement, Frank & Walters, Bats, Slumberland and Sarah record stuff, this is for you, and it is the most addictive indie pop you can dream of these days. The new songs on their myspace page and wonderful and the video for the new song "I laughed" is just marvellous no too far from the "Tell me what you want" one. Looks like may will be a sunny and happy month.

human television @ derives
human television @ myspace
I Laughed - video!
Tell me what you want - video!

Cacoy & Rumraket

Cacoy is a new Japanese band featuring two members of the marvelous Tenniscoats (brillant slowcore) and Maher Shalal Hasch Baz along with a certain DJ Klock. I'll feature later a review about their record.

But what is promising it's the fact that it is released on a new label called Rumraket run by members of Efterklang, a band I don't know so far but that I want to explore now. The third name on the label is Grizzly Bear, another wonderful american band I fell in love with last year. All of this is very promising and you are invited to explore.

tenniscoats @ derives
maher shalal hash baz @ derives
grizzly bear @ derives
rumraket
a cacoy video
efterklang @ myspace

Gregor Samsa - 55:12 - Own Records

photo : quentin nicolaï

They finally arrived with their long reported album after a hiatus where everything was unsure.

What is promised is due and 55:12 is exactly the album we expected like a perfect translation of the atmosphere of their last tour in Europe. As good as we wanted it too be, no big surprise then but an important step, something stable and solid where celestial slowcore meets ethereal and melancholic dreampop. Like early Low, Labradford, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive or Spokane, but one generation later with a deep and memorable point of view.

gregor samsa @ derives

Yuko!

Yuko is a promising new belgian band exploring songwriting regions between indietronica and atmospheric post-rock.

They remind me of A December Lake and Wixel with some more melodic aspects that could recall Notwist, Appleseed Cast or Text Adventure.

If Yuko can still grow and develop their songwriting, they have a bright future in front of them .

yuko @ derives

Bexar Bexar - ambient, rural and intimate

I've never been able to find the real name of Bexar Bexar, and at a time I was even thinking of an instrumental side project of Ryan Murphy (Havergal).

But no, it's someone else, even if his universe fits perfectly along other Western Vinyl records, from Thomas & Sampson to early Early Dy Miners records, from Papa M to Tren Brothers.

His music is never directly seductive or ear catching, but listening to "tropism" will find you falling slowly, softly and perfectly under his charm.

bexar bexar @ derives

Sundays in Spring #19 - Bloedrood

This it the third year starting here at Sundays in Spring. What an achievement, what a good way to start in again with our 19th release.

Bloedrood is Wim Maesschalck. One third behind Sundays in Spring. Up to now he used to play as Wixel with three cdrs albums so far and the last one will probably be released again as a real cd later this year. I even reviewed the two first cdrs by Wixel for derives.net but without being 100% satisfied by his instrumental electronica / post-rock, because I’m just someone obsessed by fragile songwriting. And voice.

So from the first days of meeting Wim, way before this netlabel started, during many conversations on instant messaging, I always came back with the boring (for him) and obsessive (for me) idea of him singing.

As he explains himself it was impossible to fit this into Wixel. But I knew he was fascinated by songwriting, so I asked him during the first days of Sundays in Spring (he came with the word Sunday and me with Spring to tell you all) to record, even if it sounded impossible at first, a few acoustic songs as a mp3ep on Sundays in Spring. Maybe it sounded like a joke or a bet at first but it has never been it. It took him two years to build Bloedrood. But now we are there with this official birth act. ‘Roetbloed’ is seven short songs exploring the cracks and blood capillaries between the universes of Wio, Thanksgiving and Hood, as good as I dreamed it. Seven first steps and no false alarms. A new voice is born. I’m deeply happy.

sundays in spring