Hydroplane - Failed Adventure 7" (1998)

I'll hastily admit that I bought this one a few years ago solely for its in-store description: "NICE FEMAIL VOCALS, DRONEY, SPACE ROCK..." That's verbatim, friends. I guess record store employees aren't exactly hailed for their literacy. Regardless, here we have a haunting single from Hydroplane, a band that, regrettably, I'm unfamiliar with. Incidentally, I'm am familiar with a band that preceded this one, The Cat's Miaow, a Melbourne twee-pop extravaganza.

Strange, how those sort of coincidences work out sometimes. Even stranger is the blatant musical about face in comparison, with Miaow churning twee... butter (heh, sorry) and Hydroplane conjuring slow-burning, Dead Can Dance-esque minimal dream pop as downer as it comes. I can't speak for their albums as I haven't heard them (yet), but this single gives one a good idea. "Failed Adventure" is creeping and anti-climactic, a long, droning trudge backed with Kerrie Bolton's longing crooning. The flip side, "Now You Know All That You Need to Know," is bare bones, mainly made up of one faint drone and electronic beats, and is a bit of a throwaway, although not without its own melancholy merits. Made me think, perhaps the band recalling its past a bit? Maybe not.

This record was Elefant Records #97. Can't quite place this band next to anything genuinely similar, but it'll come to you.

Hydroplane - Failed Adventure 7" MediaFire

Weed Hounds - Beach Bummed 7"

Weed Hounds, it seems, have quickly become a very familiar name. Their newest 7", this one, has already been passed around, consumed and digested in the so-called blogosphere, but I don't think it'll hurt if I throw my own comments into the mix. Taking obvious influence from 90's fuzz-y giants like My Bloody Valentine, Weed Hounds produce contemporary shoegaze-tinged pop diddys especially reminiscent of Black Tambourine. The big difference is that Weed Hounds seem to travel down a more pop-oriented, summer themed road. Also, as soon as I put on Beach Bummed, I was immediately reminded of the 1991 single Granny 9X by Seam. It was peculiar how similar the introductions to those songs were, although no plagiarism was involved of course; just scary similarities. Besides, Beach Bummed, like its B-side Skating Away From The Cops, is a lo-fi summery tune as opposed to slowcore dynamite. This 7" seems like just the thing for a lonely summer day, when everyone is gone and you're hanging out under the shade... or something. Can't wait to see what's next with this band; if I'm not mistaken, a full-length is coming up.

Weed Hounds - Beach Bummed 7" Mediafire
Weed Hounds - MySpace

Memorize - Demo (re-up)

This was shared previously, but someone requested that I rip the actual tape if I could. I finally got around to doing that, so here it is. The version of "Wave" on the tape is different from the one provided on MySpace/the previous entry. Also, there is a song called "Polar" that is exclusive to the physical tape. I tried as best as I could with my sub par equipment. Enjoy!

Memorize - Demo Mediafire

Swervedriver - Good Ships b/w Hate Your Kind

To anyone who may be a reader: I know, I'm sorry. It's been so long. I just got caught up with real life: school, work, lady friend. But now that all of those are gone (regrettably, all three of them in fact... I don't want to be broke, damn it) I have time to post. I think I'll skip over the rest of the Lengua Armada EPs just because it's been so long and I'm just not feeling it anymore.

Instead, I'm posting one of my favorite and indeed one of the most overlooked Swervedriver singles. The tunes are what you would expect out of Swervedriver, if not a bit more slowed down and melancholy. I found this record, along with many other good ones, some time last summer. It's definitely fitting my state of mind right now, and what better day to post it than on a gloomy day such as this one (it's actually bright and sunny this morning here in California, but yesterday's May rain is remaining in my head.)

This is out of print.

Swervedriver - Good Ships b/w Hate Your Kind Mediafire

Buddha on the Moon - On Holiday 7"

The summer of 2008 was more or less devoid of movement. My town was a bit too stuffy and I was fed up with staying inside, so I decided it was time to take the train out to the city, next to the coast where it was cooler. I made the pilgrimage to Amoeba (and it is a pilgrimage, if you're not from there and you don't have a car) and spent a few hours going through their stacks. That's where I found this gem for about fifty cents.

I knew of Buddha on the Moon from a long time ago, perhaps from Slsk, but I had never heard these recordings. I got it home, put on the A side, and got way more than I bargained for. Maybe it's just me, but simple, straight-forward pop compositions like "Losing" are the sort of thing that twee pop bands and fans of today overlook. When so much goes into an album or even one song and it turns out to be a stinker, it's a shame and a disgrace. But here, it's a few instruments in a bedroom, a few unfortunate circumstances as lyrics, and you have a perfect pop tune. I guess I'm romanticizing, but if you've never had the pleasure of listening to this now-defunct project, check this out and tell me it's not memorable. I wish I could say the same for the instrumental B side, which turns out to be a bit of a throwaway... but even its got its moments.

Buddha on the Moon - On Holiday 7" Mediafire

Memorize - S/T CS

In slight conjunction with my previous entry, here is another shoegaze obscurity that I got on a whim. Memorize are from Oklahoma City, and I have no idea how I found these guys other than mindless browsing through Last.FM pages. I just so happened to stumble upon them and their MySpace one night, and I was blown away completely, particularly by their track "Wave." I ordered their tape immediately and since then it's become one of my favorites. It may be of interest to the reader that this band sits alongside fellow Oklahoma City denizens on a label called DIY United.

Sadly, I haven't seen any movement from this band despite hearing of a possible full-length in the works from a band member on Last.FM, when I still had an account. But that was long ago, and that full-length may very have drifted into the void. A real shame, but four songs is better than none at all.

Memorize - S/T CS Mediafire
Memorize - MySpace

Whirl - Demo

It's not often that I will buy a band's demo on a whim and be really impressed. This is one of those rare cases. Whirl are a new shoegaze band from Northern California (right in the neighborhood for me) that until a couple weeks ago I had never heard of. I still don't know very much about them, but I do know that this two song demo is very good. Balancing between catchy and haunting should be difficult, but this band seems to pull it off with ease. Most of the comments regarding this band's sound are that they aren't playing anything new or groundbreaking, but so what? If you ask me, neither are most shoegaze bands of today; the point, however, is that this particular tape is doing it right. It's not genius, but it's effective; it's a good sign of things to come. I'd really like to see this band go places.

I recommend that you don't just take my meaningless word for it, though, and that you check this band out. Below is a download link for their demo provided by the band from their MySpace, as well as a link to their MySpace.

Whirl - Demo ZShare
Whirl - MySpace