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Mono In VCF @ Bumbershoot 2008

David Rheins — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:22:19 +0000

Mono In VCF, originally uploaded by corey_bayless.

Mono In VCF - "Masha"

panicz — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:20:13 +0000

Z ubiegłorocznym debiutem Howling Bells wiązałem wielkie nadzieje. Tu i ówdzie pisano o nim w kontekście głębii My Bloody Valentine czy szlachetnego popu Mazzy Star. Po wydaniu płyty okazało się jednak, że Howling Bells zostawili kilka pustych linijek w notatce, w której miałem opisać jak marzenia przekładają się na rzeczywistość. Dlatego też mocno trzymam kciuki za amerykańską formację Stereo In VCF. Debiutancki album tego pięcioosobowego zespołu dostępny był legalnie w Internecie już w ubiełym roku, lecz z półek sklepowych można ściągnąć go dopiero teraz. Coś, co kiedyś było albumem, a dziś jest już tylko "nośnikiem fizycznym" ukazało się w sklepach dokładnie tydzień temu. Mono In VCF tworzą posępnie romantyczny, shoegazerowy pop inspirowany nagraniami Trespassers William, Mazzy Star czy The Sundays. Kojący, gładki ale mocny wokal Kim Miller roztapia się w atmosferycznych klawiszach, czule drażnionych przez gitary, co miejscami tworzy nawet nastrój chylący się ku psychodelii. Łatwo się zapomnieć, zatracić, zasłuchać. Jarvis Cocker wybrał ich jako swój support podczas ubiegłorocznych koncertów w USA. No cóż, on wie, co dobre.

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/monoinvcf
Mp3 "Masha": rapidshare

New Feature: Diggin

samunsted — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:22:35 +0000

Yes indeed, it's come time for a few regular feature ideas to be trialled on the service. There will be more coming, mostly conventional stuff (reviews, opinion columns etc.)

So Diggin, which is very much a working title for this, is to be a really short interview piece on which we will talk to fellow bloggers, friends and anyone else who'd like to be involved. It will ask really one simple question and take it across three categories.

The question is:

What are you diggin right now? So this works across the lot. Just really a case of listing and elaborating on the choices made. You can pick any music you like at all, no restrictions on EPs, live stuff, unreleased stuff etc. Same with movies and TV from which you can glean choices from both categories. Same with books and comics. You are at no obligation to answer both however.

That's about it. To kick it off for you though, we'll make a quick example feature. In fact, I will ask the question to myself which will do nothing for my sanity. This though will occur on about a fortnightly basis to give you guys little updates as to what me and Beth are loving at this time. For my first, take the jump.

What are you diggin right now, Sam from Electricity & Lust?

Music: As always, there is a whole host of acts I'm loving at the moment. Album-wise, Panda Bear has caught hold of me and refuses to put me back down. Person Pitch though is just beguiling, wonderful and shockingly beautiful. Also for albums, I've rekindled my love for Elliott Smith, Radiohead on CD is better and Drum by Hugo Largo is defining lost classic. For songs, the KEXP podcast by Mono in VCF is great. Also, Girl in a Coma are a rocking little group. Also, worth checking out are Miracle Fortress, Black Kids and Noah & the Whale. Also my housemate John, who will hopefully fill in one of these soon, made a superb piece of evocative, filmic music yesterday. His work can be checked out here.

Film/TV: So The Wire has started again and has lost none of its engrossing brilliance. Best show ever. No Country For Old Men is being previewed over here on Saturday and I loved Gone Baby Gone and Paranoid Park. Other TV shows I must recommend are Mad Men which has perfect tone and Damages which is convoluted, intruiging fun.

Books/Comics: I'm currently reading The Black Dahlia which is just intense, gruelling brilliance. My main recommendation from the last few months goes to Daniel Woodrell who wrote the low-key, familial thriller Winter's Bone last year. Fabulous stuff. I'm also reading Alison Bechdel's fantastic Fun Home which, if you haven't read and enjoy memoirs in comic form, you should get one that one right now.

Anything else: I'm am loving Italian beer at the moment and also the multitude of writing jobs coming up for me to try and get. I'm also looking forward to taking part in some interior design as Betty moves into telecommuting for her new job.

Mono in VCF

erickd — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:32:16 +0000

In quite a humbling moment, we got our first email from a band, Mono in VCF. Let me first start off by saying there are moments when you hear a song and you immediately recognize it as new and unique and you can't help but get excited at the prospect of listening to the full album. That being said, listen to the song Escape City Scrapers right now.

Based out of Tacoma, Washington, Mono in VCF describe their music as "psychedelic, cinematic and romantically dark." Their description is pretty much spot-on. Their songs are full of so much atmosphere and have so many elegant layers that I found myself getting lost in each instrument and getting more out of each song after every listen. The haunting vocals, ethereal strings, intricate yet subtle drums and rhythms all seem to be softly placed with care in each song.

In their songs, it's clear that Mono in VCF is heavily influenced by the "Wall of Sound" production technique developed by record producer Phil Spector. Briefly summarized, it involves the use of natural reverberation and echo to develop a distinct quality and gave a rich and complex sound compared to other mono recordings of the time. "VCF" stands for voltage-controlled filter, a feature on many Moog synthesizers. Drawing influences from composers David Axelrod, John Barry and Ennio Morricone, the band successfully manges to create a classic sound that pushes through modern music and yet be distinctly pop. I've found that many bands come close to achieving this but never quite capture it like Mono in VCF does.

They're nearly done with their debut album, merely tying up loose ends now, and should be finished in August. They happen to be playing Bumbershoot Festival in September, so I would definitely recommend catching them if I could. You can buy your tickets here. You will definitely be hearing more about them.

-Erick

Mp3's

Escape City Scrapers - Yes, you need to listen to it again.

Links