Introducing.. Quebec Antique

Quebec Antique are a half-Brit, half-Canadian electronica band formed in mid-2008 who have been kicking around both my Itunes music collection and my head since their 'Abbey Tapes' came out in January of this year. The band is a duo made up of Michael Blake and Andy Dollerson, Blake providing the organic, Dollerson providing the electronic. The band believe that their music succeeds in balancing the two, not overcomplicating the electronica side of things, but not simplifying to the bland levels of much contemporary pop music.

The combination, whether it achieves its mission statement or not, is lush. The vocal distinctly reminds me of Sjur Lyseid of Monzano and The Little Hands Of Asphalt (an acoustic band i strongly recommend if you haven't heard already), and the music is much like that of Sigur Ros, in more ways than one. The electronics are absolutely mindblowing - at times the ambient noise that Dollerson comes out with can sound like anything from Burial and Sigur Ros, to Boards of Canada. Quebec Antique sound like the next signing to Arts & Crafts.

While the music is awe-inspiring, the song structures remain relatively simple; every sound Quebec Antique make has that timeless feel of antiquity to it, and a grand realisation that the way to make powerful music is not to turn the volume up loud. In no way is the sentimentality of the arrangement lost when glitch-drumming joins towards the end of some of the tracks, the shoegazy element and dubbed down dance music beats simply add to the urgency. Lightly plucked reverbial strings remain dominant, and lyrics remain clear, subtle and well spoken.

You can order the Abbey Tapes, read their review, and preview the album over at CDBaby.

Quebec Antique - Sleep (MP3) (taken from the Abbey Tapes)
Quebec Antique - Right As Rain (MP3) (taken from the Abbey Tapes)

Antlers album remastered, new video for 'Two'

The Antlers are a shoegaze/indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York made up of Peter Silberman, Michael Lerner and Darby Cicci. In March of this year they released Hospice, marking not their first release, but certainly a definitive step towards a full band sound as opposed to Silberman's folkier solo recordings of the last three years.

Silberman had moved to Manhattan around 5 years previously and after an 18 month period of isolation he released The Antler's first album In The Attic Of The Universe under his own name. Soon after, he re-emerged into Brooklyn, and recruited Lerner and Cicci on percussion and other instruments. The Antlers over the next two years would release New York Hospitals and Cold War as EPs, before formulating a collection of material in early 2009 to contribute to the first full Antlers album 'Hospice'.

What emerged was a downtempo post-folk masterpiece, gaining almost unanimous critical acclaim. The independently produced album vastly outsold anything the band themselves expected, they were quickly signed to Frenchkiss records with a series of strong positive reviews behind them.

A remastered version of this stunning album was released on August 18, 2009 by Frenchkiss, along with the video for the lead single 'Two'.



Silberman shares not only part of his life story with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, but also the influence the time in social exile gave him on his resultant music. Silberman's storytelling is desperate and intimate, and coated in lumberous melodies of confused, ambient folk. Some songs appear disorientated and vague, but others drive forwards on a full band post-folk sound. Layers of Cicci's instrumentation (banjo, keyboards, trumpet, bass guitar) engulf the desperate vocals and hypnotic percussion into expansive, reverbial shoegaze pop. They've recorded a My Bloody Valentine cover of When You Sleep, and the storyline of Hospice is a concept album of losing a loved one to cancer. The lyrical themes certainly fit the style.

You can pick up older songs for free on The Antler's Myspace

The Frenchkiss re-issue of Hospice is available through Amazon.

The Antlers - Two (MP3) (from Hospice)
The Antlers - Bear (MP3) (from Hospice)
The Antlers - When You Sleep (MP3) (My Bloody Valentine Cover)

New Pains Of Being Pure At Heart EP

There's certainly no shortage of exciting CD releases this September, but Pains of Being Pure At Heart's latest EP Higher Than The Stars completes the set, certainly for me anyway. The half sized follow up to the eponymous February debut is out September 22 on Slumberland records, and will feature 4 new tracks from the My Bloody Valentine inspired shoegaze band.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart sound as if the members of Slowdive, M83 and My Bloody Valentine were all 17 again, and made a noise pop side project inspired by twee. Whilst the sun soaked sound may not be entirely original, the songwriting is fantastic - Pains of Being Pure at Heart warm you up from the inside with their luscious, reverb-coated sliding melodies. The dubbed down boy/girl vocals are naive and optimistic and this theme convincingly carries on into the new material.

The new single Come Saturday is a fast paced, Jesus & Mary Chain inspired shoegaze track which is out on 7" this August. The follow up, Higher Than The Stars is out on Slumberland records September 22 before a full US tour and then a full UK tour in October through December. Pains are definitely not a band to neglect their UK audience - they've already visited the UK this spring on tour, playing a wide selection of shows nationwide in support of their LP.

Higher Than The Stars is more euphoric, and even cuter than anything they've released before, and that's saying something. For some reason unknown, this track just makes me deeply happy and nostalgic, in the same kind of way that those Graveyard Girl/Teen Angst M83 breakdowns had been doing long before I discovered this band. The new song is much more synth-heavy and guitar-light, as well as being better produced and recorded than any of their other material; its silky electronic execution has a definitive 90s spin on it, unparalleled by any newgaze band i can think of from modern times. Sometimes bands are just born two decades too late - I can't help but feel if this band was from the 90s they would be an undisputed household name.

Higher Than The Stars EP is out September 22 on Slumberland

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars (MP3) (taken from the Higher Than The Stars EP)

Pre-order Pains Of Being Pure At Heart on Amazon.

Tom Allalone & The 78s

Tom Allalone & The 78s are a Kent based indie rock band, whose debut album Major Sins Pt.1 came out on Nettwerk Records on May 5th 2009. Its a quirky and forceful attempt from the debuting foursome of music enthusiasts - they certainly aren't afraid of turning their guitars up loud, and they without a doubt have every bit the confidence and swagger their song structures suggest. From the same label as Ladytron, Datarock and Placebo, Tom Allalone and his 78s have brought the British music scene a high dosage of what can only be described as 'banging' riffs, extrovertive vocals and dirty overdriven indie rock. Tom Allalone's music is one part post-Arctic Monkeys indie rock explosion, one part Jet-style high tempo blues rock and one part near-perfect execution. There is a bluesy edge to everything on this distinctly British album, and you can sample this in the form of a free download of single Get Down and Dirty via the bands myspace.



Members Tom Allalone, Richard Clarke, Si Fawcett and Matt Evans have just finished touring of the UK with Stereophonics and Imelda May and have set some time down in the studio writing for a new album. They have a one-off Oxford Street support slot in mid September with The Magic Numbers, following a 2nd in command slot at Poole Park Festival late August (just down the road from me - i'd attend if it didn't clash with Reading Festival!).

Tom and his 78s are definitely a jazz-influenced punk foursome to watch out for this year, especially with the announcement of several new songs written and ready to go. If they're anything like the last lot they released they'll be punchy, intelligent and more infectious than swine flu.

Album through the myspace, sample mp3 below. Watch Crashland in session live at Phoenix FM above.

Tom Allalone & The 78s - Sign On, You Lazy Diamond (mp3)

Introducing.. Lymbyc Systym

Lymbyc Systym are by no means a new post-rock band. The two brothers Mike and Jared, signed to Magic Bullet Records, formed the band in 2001, and although no material was printed until 2005, they have an EP and two albums out, and an April 2009 split with This Will Destroy You. Looking ahead, they have their latest LP Shutter Release due out in November, following a recently announced September US tour in support of The Books. However this certainly isn't their first prestigious support slot - since they became active in 2005, they've shared the stage with Her Space Holiday, The One AM Radio, Broken Social Scene, Crystal Castles, The Album Leaf and This Will Destroy You - a very diverse set of acts for a post-rock duo to play with.

In terms of sound, they lie somewhere between the speed sections of This Will Destroy You's debut album and the out of time melodic sections of contemporaries such as Explosions In The Sky. They combine the two influences to form guitar driven walls of sound, seperated out by semi-ambient melodies and glitch electronics. The result is not violent but euphoric and intense, partly jazz influenced, and held together by eerily calm ambient drones and bone shattering drumming. As with a lot of post-rock, Lymbyc Systym manage to start off their songs calmly and quietly but seamlessly raise the mood into Broken Social Scene style euphoria in the outro.

The Field Studies split w/ This Will Destroy You is available now on Magic Bullet Records or through Amazon.

The new album is due November on Mush Records.

Lymbyc Systym - Narita (mp3) (taken from the Field Studies Split EP)