Birthgiving Toad - For Awkward Company

Tweet

Birthgiving Toad - Eyes Fixed Ahead
Birthgiving Toad - No. 2

Fuzzed-up prog metal fusion jazz-funk from Denmark.
Wonderfully warped in sound and content, For Awkward Company by Birthgiving Toad is one of the best psychedelic records I've had the pleasure to here all year. It's muddy in a cosmic swamp way, the riffs cut and smother, they go off on different tangents but everything is precise free of drawn out jams and indulge.
The stand-out track when reading the track listing is '(You Caught Me) Smilin' a brief and woozy acid funk interpretation of the Sly & The Family Stone track.
In truth, every track on this short collection is a psychedelic wonder. More please!

For Awkward Company by Birthgiving Toad

If There's Hellowe'en Below: Roky Erickson - I Walked With a Zombie

Tweet

Roky Erickson - I Walk With a Zombie

I don't doubt for a second that Roky Erickson has taken a stroll with the undead.

If There's Hellowe'en Below: Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put A Spell On You

Tweet

Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put A Spell On You

Gonna post up a few Hallowe'en treats. I know it ain't Screamin' Jay but... it's fucking CCR.

Video: The Black Keys - Lonely Boy

Tweet

You know what I've always said? I've always said that there was something a bit country rock to glam rock, take Jeepster by T. Rex - straight up glitter honkey tonk stuff. So suppose that goes with The Black Keys and their (well it's not exactly patented) blues rock, which as heard in this new track has adopted a glam rock stomp.

Their new album El Camino is out in December... but you're not likely to miss hearing about it from now until then.

Ewin Starr - Contact

Tweet

 It's Friday innit. This is something that couldn't be played at any other time than a weekend.

Cuss Words - music for people to feel beautiful on the inside to.

Tweet

Like an almighty hardcore garage punk 2 piece buzzsaw for your ears - here is a new Cuss Words release.




Cuss Words - The Dancing Lion

New shit and gigs: Islet

Tweet

photo by Al Harley

Wimmy by Islet was one of our favourite LP's of 2010; all that clattering rhythmic, psychedelic woozy synths and tribe-like chants, get's us all hot hear at If There Is Hell Below HQ.

Islet are very much a live band, there is something about their songs that just comes out at you, that seem spontaneous, chaotic, yet mathematically exact.
They're playing at the Lexington on November 16th and have released a track via renowned curators of musical wonders ATP who are also promoting said gig.

Islet - One Of These Worlds by All Tomorrows Parties

VIDEO: There's only one Elvis and he makes learning fun.

Tweet

Probably the cutest way to enjoy the sheer genius of the only Elvis you'll ever see celebrated on this blog.

And just for a treat here is a song I imagine is going through Arsene Wenger's head as he prepares his RVP plus 10 squad for Saturdays match against the mighty Blues.

Elvis Costello - (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea 

Voyageurs - Big Ritual

Tweet

The thing with being a blogger is sometimes you're not always the proudest of writers, you just knock stuff out sometimes to fill a self-enforced quota (look at my post count of the last few months and you can see I ain't hitting mine). So you use your buzz words, you genre buzz word flavour of the month and gain little writing ticks. I say a few things are hypnotic; usually just means repetitive in a good way or motorik sometimes - I use motorik a lot. Now I feel like if I say this is 'hypnotic' I ain't doing it's wonderful captivating yet slumbersome qualities any justice - are they 'qualities'?
I could say this track is a trip but man do I sound like a cliche, everyone likes a trip though don't they? Everyone likes, dare I say - a Voyage.

Have a listen and give a buck for a download.

VOYAGEURS BANDCAMP

Melodyia Ensemble - Labyrinth

Tweet

Melodyia Ensemble - Labyrinth

Like a Soviet Axelrod: the fuzz guitars, the going into the final battle brass band and the knuckle biting'ly good breaks that have almost no right to be there. When I say it has the Russian/Soviet thing about it, I don't say this with a knowledge of the time, place and what was going on culturally - I mean the horns remind of some I heard in Rocky IV.
A bento box of jazz funk fuzz fusion.
A remarkably good track from a rare LP.

Video: Black Tambourines - Tommy

Tweet

The Black Tambourines came to Lead Soup a couple of weeks ago, delivering some fine beach garage fuzz rock. I've been on about them for the last month or so, since I had a gig to promote, but when these kids keep putting out stuff as good as this, I'm gonna keep on going on about 'em.

This is one of those cool 'this is what we're about' montage video's for their track Tommy.

02 Tommy by The Black Tambourines

If There Is Hell Below Podcast... Pickard's Bell

Tweet

Download: If There Is Hell Below... Pickard's Bell
iTunes
RSS

Rob Morgan and Callum Eckersley would live in Portland but we hear we eat too much meat to be granted the required indie permit. We play a track from the new M83 long-long player and ask whether the double-album requires too much commitment? We finally get round to hearing and loving the new Stepkids LP, there's something new from Grimes, something Beach Boys'y from Minks, a song from Bad Guys who will be bringing their metal riffs and punk rants to Lead Soup on 29th oct and some other delights. Take a listen innit.

Pickard's Bell by Ifthereishellbelow on Mixcloud

Tracklisting
Girls Names - Black Saturday
 M83 - Year one, one UFO
Minks - Little Fawn
Charts - Slow Down Tiger
The Stepkids - Brain Ninja
Roboterwerke - Let's Beam Him Up
Cass McCombs - County Line
Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx - Nightcall
Grimes - Oblivion
Acid Baby Jesus - Tooth to Toe
Bad Guys - Hips
Moscow Olympics - Keeping the Avenues Open

Bee Gees - I Laugh In Your Face

Tweet

Bee Gees - Laugh In Your Face

This is what I like to think of when I think Bee Gees.
Buy Odessa, it's their one truly ace record.

You Win Again is great though isn't it?

Waskerley Way - La Marie Rouge

Tweet

The one-man-band is a species on the edge of extinction. I could not tell you the last time I saw one, perhaps back in my childhood, maybe the pan pipers pushed them off the street; one man with his kick drum on a string, a harmonica and half-sized acoustic is no match for a group of Peruvian pan people.
Or perhaps the creature has evolved like Michael Bridgewater aka Waskerley Way, who, with himself alones creates electronic psychedelic shoegaze soundscapes, the like you can listen to on his new digi release La Marie Rouge.
Red Mage has the motorik rhythms of My Bloody Valentine , Go Hoam is a Dilla/Madlib style Turkish tease and Storm Song sounds like the Avalanches if they had a box full of early Creation records.
You won't find this one man shoegaze/electronic groove outfit asking for your coppers outside BHS.

La Marie Rouge is available to download from the Waskerley Way bandcamp.


07 Red Mage by Waskerley Way


Waskerley Way will be playing Lead Soup on October 29th with Bad Guys. Click the poster for more details.

If There Is Hell Below Podcast... Bears are too uptight to play reggae

Tweet

Download: If There Is Hell Below Podcast... Bears are too uptight to play reggae

iTunes

RSS Feed

Rob and Callum have search the big bucket of shit that is music and have returned with nuggets, gems and gold. There's blue-eyed soul-power-pop-garage-punk from Royal Headache, forgotten shoegaze from Should, the 'meandering' Psychic Ills, songs from our favourite albums of the moment by Thundercat, Girls and The War on Drugs and a few more - you'll have to listen to find out.

Bears are too uptight to play reggae by Ifthereishellbelow on Mixcloud

Tracklisting

Royal Headache - Girls

French Kissing - Let Yourself Go

Wool - It Was Such A Lovely Night

Psychic Ills - Mind Daze

Should - Faded

It Is Rain In My Face - Eyes Open

Thundercat - Walkin'

Lloyd Charmers - Darker Than Blue 

Girls - Myma

The Sun Electric Band - About a URL

Silver Dapple - (pauses)

FIDLAR - Max Can't Surf

The War on Drugs - Blackwater

Adrian Younge - It's Me

Tweet

Adrian Younge's free-re-releasing of his made up soundtrack Venice Beach has been one of our favourite free things of the year.
It's Me is coming out on some Serato edition vinyl in anticipation for Adrian's full-length.
It features vocal's from Erikah Baduh with a captivating 70s Italo soundtrack feel, fuzzy Axelrod guitars and exploitation flutes.

Order your Serato thing from Wax Poetics

03 Laura's Dream (Rhodes Version) by Wax Poetics

Guest Mix: Chapel Club's Lead Mix

Tweet

Chapel Club's Lead Mix

We got Alex from Chapel Club into play some records for Lead Soup on Saturday, I've known the guy long enough to trust his keen ear, ace tunes then and ace tunes on this mix he made for us.

It's a new wave-folk-electronic-indie-crooner affair.

Chapel Club's Lead Mix by Ifthereishellbelow on Mixcloud

Tracklisting

Glenn Branca - Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar
Lcd Soundsystem - All I Want
Arthur Russel - Being It
Bill Callahan - Honeymoon Child
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti 5 - Interesting Results
Gary Numan - Airlane
Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange
Cass McCombs - County Line
Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health
Scott Walker - Copenhagen

LEAD SOUP PRESENTS: The Soft - Live October 8th, Mother Live, Old Street

Tweet

Brass Waves and Orphic Claps Mix by The Soft

Really psyched to see The Soft this upcoming Saturday at our club night LEAD SOUP (check the FB event).

Their sparse, dubby, shoegazed, ethereal synth pop is not gonna be a secret for much longer. This is Fake DIY are talking about them and they've been getting some overseas props from the Spanish arm of Vice.
When we heard them we were blown away by the audio images they paint with their music, they can fill a room with airy synths drones and add flickers of sonic glitches for colour.

The above mix gives you a bit of an idea of where their inspirations are taken from; theirs loose cosmic jazz from, dubby European cuts, desolate synth sounds with deserted brass. It's these ideas that you can hear from the mix that are loosely translated into their music.
  Calmer by The Soft

http://soundcloud.com/thesoft

Noah Wall - Mind Games

Tweet

Noah Wall - Mind Games

Hèloïse is a tribute album to Noah Wall's mum - erm Hèloïse Wall - a collection of, well they're not really covers more a kind of reinterpretation and collage of the song Noah's supposed to be taking off.

I won't give away what he's 'covered' it's part of the fun really, but I've started you off above with an easy one to give you an idea of Noah's direction.

The John Lennon spin begins like a public information science short and then quickly develops some heavy Terminator-like rhythmic synth with cold android like voice.

Pick up Hèloïse on some physical formats here

Video: Branches - Oooooompha!

Tweet
You know that nice bit in a shoegaze/noise song the bit just before it all goes predictable, banging and whirring and clanging? The nice whooshy bit, the white noise bit, the adjusting of the set - it's nice innit?
This song by Branches which is soon to be released on Triple You Tapes does that, it leaves you in that wonderful purgatory of hellish life affirming noise and sonic bliss. It's a nice place to be, the abrupt end is like the end of Lost but a lot less 'oh right, is that it?'

Cheers to our friends at the awesome La caja del diablo for the heads up on this one.


Branches - Cancao para o Andre 

If There Is Hell Below... The 90s - the last decade?

Tweet

Download: If There Is Hell Below... The 90s - the last decade?
iTunes
RSS Feed

There were two types of kids in the 90s: those that had Sky (Rob) and those that didn't (Callum). Rob gives Callum a little window into that illusive world via the wonder that was The Adventures of Pete & Pete. We have music from Charles Bradley and his superior version of a Nirvana song, a new track from Sic Alp, the melancholy beauty of A Grave with No Name, a track from Robert Cacciapaglia's Ann Steel Album, the Spacemen 3'esque Dead Luke, hip hop from Oddisee and more.

The 90s - the last decade? by Ifthereishellbelow on Mixcloud

Tracklisting

Polaris - Hey Sandy

Robert Cacciapaglia - Media

Gathered Ghosts - Feels Like Nothing

Tropical Popsicle - Always Awake in Shadows

Dead Luke - God of Nothing

Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band - Stay Away

Oddisee - For Certain ( feat. Diamond District)

White Birds - Hondora 

Bleached - You Take Time

Sic Alps - Battery Townsley

Diarrhea Planet - Warm Ridin'

A Grave With No Name - Crows