EXCLUSIVE: Southern Records MP3s from Son Lux, Hella, Mothlite + Club Night News
By: Thomas Hannan
It's the cold hard truth that you can pretty much split most bands in to two distinct camps, those being bands who've had something to do with legendary record label / distro / promoter types Southern Records, and those who haven't. And it's remarkable that everyone lumped into the former category makes consistently remarkable music, whilst those unfortunate to fall in to the second school run a far higher chance of making music that completely stinks the place up something chronic.
With that in mind, you know that the three MP3s you're about to be introduced to, being the product of Southern bands, will at least be worth your time - and might just be the start of life long obsessions. Open minds are essential, and what's more, very attractive.
First up, SON LUX...
Southern says: "A stunning debut wrung from classical precision and good old human gut-wrench. Son Lux's first is a heady collection of songs breathing the same air and sharing the same space; painted from the same palette but set apart still—each is a distinct region of one broad, heaving sonic landscape. From afar, it's an environment characterized by would-be contradictions: the austere grandness of chamber music undercut by undulating electronica; the intricately orchestral assembled via hip-hop collage; a day-plain pop ease silhouetted by deep soul. Up close, it's clear that these contradictions are what hold the entire work together"
Rockfeedback says: Instantly taken aback by how forcefully we've been thrown in to the deep end, the curious beauty of 'Break' actually becomes far easier to stomach within seconds, yet although the melody creeps in and evolves spectacularly, it's actually the menacing feeling you got from that initial impact that stays with you, seated deep in your gut. It's like if Animal Collective argued with Spiritualized about what was sadder, bleak noise or mantric, plaintive vocals, before agreeing to disagree and playing the two off against each other. The track is taken from the LP At War With Walls and Mazes, released on March 24th. MYSPACE.
DOWNLOAD MP3: HERE. (Right click and Save Target As)
Next, none other than HELLA.
Southern says: "Upon recently finding Nevada City-based butchercome-singer Aaron Ross, Spencer and Zach knew that the time was right for a multi-member Hella line-up. Rest assured, the addition of new members has certainly not taken away from the group's precision sound - it only expands on it."
Rockfeedback says: Recently, brilliantly re-imagined and expanded from the original duo, Hella stand as one of the world's most exciting experimental guitar bands, shredding away at guitars and hammering at drums as if they genuinely hate their physical presence and want them to be grated away in to dust. What stops that happening is the strength of the sound the instruments make when Hella are attempting their destruction - like a fleshed out Lightning Bolt or Mars Volta if they were grounded in the brutality that day to day reality can present rather than mystical noodling, the sound made on 'The Ungrateful Dead' is at once disarming and vital, the kind of thing you'll play repeatedly because you just have to, have to listen to it again, because the millions of times you've listened to it already just aren't enough. The track is taken from the LP There's No 666 In Outer Space, out on March 24th. MYSPACE.
DOWNLOAD MP3: HERE. (Right click and Save Target As)
Last but not least, we introduce MOTHLITE:
Southern say: "The Stan Brakhage film Mothlight comprised insects, leaves and other natural detritus fixed directly onto celluloid, creating what Brakhage called 'found foliage'. With their debut album, The Flax Of Reverie, Mothlite reflect both the form and process of Brakhage's work, propelling listeners down the rabbit hole into a world of wilderness and wyrd that is at once English and entirely other. Their use of sonic metamorphosis shifts from shimmering nocturnal panoramas to Escher-like interiors and rooms within rooms; from incandescent polar horizons to dark, tremulous forests."
Rockfeedback say: Listen, Robert Wyatt doesn't invite you round to his house to play on his records unless you've got something about you that's pretty f**king special. It probably also helps to have some common ground with that elder statesman of UK alternative music, and Mothlite certainly share a lot of the sentiment that makes Wyatt so fascinating - a closeness to the listener, fascinating way with melody that makes you question everything you thought you knew about tuneful songwriting, and an ability to be both comforting and unnerving often in the space of one sentence. All are achieved in exemplary fashion on this curiously floaty track 'The One In Water', taken from the LP The Flax of Reverie, released on April 21st. MYSPACE.
DOWNLOAD MP3: HERE (Right click and Save Target As)
If only there was some kind of club where like minded people could enjoy music like this and have a dance and a beer and if they're lucky a kiss and a cuddle but definitely at least a dance and a beer, eh? Well, Southern to the rescue again... we'll let them tell you about it.
BADGE OF FRIENDSHIP vs SOUTHERN RECORDS CLUB NIGHT:
London promoters A Badge of Friendship join forces with Southern Records for the launch of a brand new club night at The Fly (36-38 New Oxford Street, London) on Friday March 7th 2008, continuing on the first Friday of every month thereafter.
Not only do you have the change to see some great underground bands but you also get to witness the Southern Records and ABoF DJs battle it out on the decks of doom!
Come and drink 'n' dance to Lungfish, Fugazi, Les Savy Fav, Faraquet, Shudder to Think, At The Drive In, Battles, Animal Collective, Yeasayer, Beauty Pill, Beck, Weezer, Pixies, Don Cabellero, Minus The Bear, The Lapse, The Appleseed Cast, Architecture in Helsinki, Girls Against Boys, Goon Moon, Queens of the Stoneage, Hoover, Jets to Brazil, Oxes, Pavement, Peaches, Polvo, Killing Joke, Man or Astro-man?, Maps and Atlases, Medications, Bluetip, Boris, Burning Airlines, Check Engine, Blonde Redhead, The Presets, Rival Schools, Soulwax, Sweep the Leg Johnny, Tapes 'n Tapes, Television, These Arms Are Snakes, Tool, Unwound, We Ragazzi, Chrome Hoof, Deerhoof, Mew, Pinback, Boris, The Channels, Q and not U, The Cure, Mr. Bungle, Neurosis, Oceansize, Oneida, Owls, Shellac, Sonic Youth, Deftones, Desprecidos, Devo,Tomahawk, Daft Punk, Trans Am, TV on the Radio, Emperor Penguin, Enon, Far and many more...
Also, playing live... Silent Front / They Died Too Young / Geordi La Force / Shield Your Eyes
Doors 7.30pm - 2am. Tickets £6 in advance (available HERE), £7 on the door until 10.30pm, £5 after 10.30pm
So there you have it - a playlist so impressive it even rivals the rekkids Rockfeedback spins at the Basement Club! More information about Southern can be find on their site here, of if you fancy buying some of their releases, this is where you'll need to go.
Enjoy your MP3s, and your club-attendance - just make sure you explore further.