It’s always a pleasure when you get to announce the release of an album made by dear friends. Amandine and Santiago Fradejas operate in two different genres of music – she, in a more ethereal and progressive rock sound and he in a more experimental and improvisational setting. Both of their respective talents compliment each other well, and the record is a very pleasant creative departure for both.
As a more-or-less native Los Angeleno who grew up running around clubs in the late 1980s and early 1990s in clubs like Club F**k, DAS Bunker and the like, hearing synth-pop like this makes me feel a sense of nostalgia.
Southern California-based Doll Klaw has all the hallmarks of a 1980s indie band – the ethereal vocals, the cold synthesizer, the catchy, dance-ready grooves and a fashion sense that screams ‘retro’. As synthwave is making a comeback, the band have managed to come at a perfect time to take advantage of it.
If you like bands like Red Flag, Xymox, Cocteau Twins or even Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), the band will provide you a fix. This is probably one of the few bands I’d make a venture into the city to see play live, should such a thing ever be possible ever again.
I would never have come across Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, a Guadalajara, Mexico-based band without the help of my new friend, Ali, whose taste in music is absolutely impeccable. There is something wonderfully retro about the band, who reference a lot of bands like the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, and even Joy Division in the track Unificado. A worth release.
κτίρια τη νύχτα (Buildings At Night) release an album of mostly instrumental music, though vocals peek through now and then, complementing the shower of guitars that mixes shoegazer, lo-fi, and, believe it or not, a touch of the 4AD Records sound.
It’s a subdued, dark album, maybe not something I would listen to everyday, but it may well serve as a soundtrack to a dark, quiet evening.