New Music from The Antlers: "Drift Dive"

The Antlers know a thing or three about atmosphere. So when they announced earlier this month they’d be releasing an oceanic EP called Undersea that was “an EP in length, but well beyond that in scope”, I was ready to dive in.

The first track from said EP, opener “Drift Dive”, is an exercise in restraint. On last year’s excellent Burst Apart it was impossible not to notice the production flourishes and meticulous level setting. “Drift Dive” has a lot in common with Bust Apart‘s gorgeous centerpiece “Rolled Together”; the lyrics become little more than a vehicle for singer Peter Silberman to flex his pipes. But there’s nothing flashy about “Drift Dive”, just the sensation of sinking slowly into the sea.

Undersea comes out July 24th, a date marking the end of the best week of releases this summer.

Check out “Drift Dive” by clicking here.

Hehe, “dive in”, see what I did there?

No, I Don't Want to Go to Your Show

by Pat Bateman

No I don’t want to go to your friends’ shows. Not even if they’re ‘really good’ and playing off great momentum from their two-state tour. I’d rather get back surgery than stand in line like a blind sheep waiting to listen to ‘musicians’ who’s claim to fame is their falling in line with a pre-packaged fashion and sound. The music begins and the thinking stops. This is the collective unconscious, swaying back and forth like a school of guppies guided by a few people with guitars like fake hard ons, so much for equality among all.

I’ve never been to one concert where I didn’t feel out of place. I never needed to ‘dance’ to let go of my aggression or show my willingness to get fucked. I’ve never judged someone by the bands they like, acting as if liking a certain band is some sort of great personal achievement. Music is made for the masses, to suck their wallets dry and to sedate them. Puttin on a tune sure makes it easier to do such mindless tasks such as: walk places, or exercise, or form an individual identity. It desensitizes you from the feeling of being meaningless and alone.

The only thing lamer than main-stream corporate-branded millionaire-musicians are the local ones, broke losers that play ‘shows’ and then bum cigarettes. To have a hobby that is so self-important they need all their ‘buddies’ to support them. How desperate can someone be for attention? It’s not their love for the instrument that keeps them annoying you. It’s their love of themselves.

‘That song was really sad man… he sure had his heart broken, poor guy.’

Selflessness for selfishness.

‘Man thier lyrics sure had messages and stuff about politics and stuff…’

Self-righteousness for self-love.

‘holy fuck that hardcore band was hardcore, did you see all their tattoos?’

Self-mutilation for self-esteem.

When a ‘musician’ tells me hes playing a show, and I should go, I go directly into social autopilot. The nods and “nice dude”s come out like I’m reading off a teleprompter. Most of the time I’ll say I’ll go to end the conversation quicker. If you want to massage your ego that’s fine, but do it with a pal whose already part of a collective identity. ‘Ya herd?’

Pat Bateman is a blogger and meat salesman from Portland. His blog patbateman can be found here.

More New Purity Ring – "Fineshrine"

Purity Ring are a young Canadian duo who have been making noise for the last year and a half (their debut single “Ungrithed” was number 2 on my top ten songs of 2011).

“Fineshrine” borrows elements from each of the other tracks thus released from the album. Expect Shrines, the debut LP out July 24th, to float around in this kind of electro-hiphop-dreampop-r&b dreamscape.

Frank Ocean – "Pyramids"

This is not a song. Frank Ocean dabbled in this kind of free form structure last year on his brilliant mixtape-cum-album nostalgia/ULTRA. “Pyramids”, like “Novocane” is the story of slippery loveliness, lonely glamour. Ocean’s lady, “for now let’s call her Cleopatra”, is the form of grace and sensuality, but unlike the original, she’s gotta go to work.

Today, Ocean announced the release date of his new album Channel Orange, and July 17th probably just became the most important day of my summer…