Sunday 1 November 2015

Hollow Sunshine - Bring Gold [12", LP]

By coincidence i came across HOLLOW SUNSHINE somewhere on the internet last month and i liked what i heard so much that i decided to order this BRING GOLD album, which was released in summer. It sounds a bit like a mix between Jesu, Nadja and Nothing: generally slow-paced, fuzzy distorted shoegaze with post/sludgemetal influences. Good stuff, but not groundbreaking or anything. My favourite track would be opener Coral, which is also the one that caught my attention online. I've got the "milky clear" edition, of which there were 400 made. There's also an edition of 200 on "black haze & cloudy clear" out there.

Label: Iron Pier
Cat.nr.: IRP15
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Coral
02. Bring Gold
03. Careful Travel
04. Last Chamber

SIDE B:
01. Firmament
02. Morning Green
03. On A Balance
04. Companion

Pauw - Macrocosm Microcosm [12", LP]

MACROCOSM MICROSCOSM is the debut full length by Dutch psychedelic rockers PAUW. An amazingly good album, packed with melodic psychedelic gems. It would very much surprise me if these guys don't break through internationally in 2016.
They had a limited 12" and a 7" out previously, and some of those songs (Visions, Abyss and the simply brilliant Shambhala) are featured on this album as well. The new songs on Macrocosm Microcosm are equally good. They really stick in your head and it's like you already know them for years. Maybe it's because the sound of the music at itself is familiar: Glare has a fuzzy Tame Impala feel to it, Glare Pt.2 although based on the same theme sounds more like Pink Floyd, and (unexpectedly) even Madonna's Beautiful Stranger is not too far away in High Tide. You can say it's all been done before - but then again what hasn't, if you're talking about sixties-inspired retro rock? Fact is that it's rarely done this good. Pauw is definitely right up there with the likes of Tame Impala, Temples and Pond.
Debut album of the year as far as i'm concerned. Also the artwork is amazing, as you can see.

Label: Caroline Benelux
Cat.nr.: 475 180-8
Year of release: 2015

SIDE A:
01. Memories
02. Today Never Ends
03. Visions
04. Glare
05. Intents

SIDE B:
01. Shambhala
02. Abyss
03. High Tide
04. Glare Pt.2