April 29, 2013

Today's Hotness: White Laces, Wild Nothing

White Laces -- Deep Moves(detail)

>> Richmond-based dream pop luminaries White Laces today issued to the wilds of the Internerds a digital single for the tune "Deep Moves." Attentive fans will recall the chilling space-rock number was at the vortex of the band's seemingly slept-on but quite engaging digital-only live EP from earlier this year titled //////Interzone. The live EP is still available at Bandcamp right here, and if you missed it definitely do the due diligence, because it showcases the key creative tension in the band's work, namely the collision of disciplined minimalism and free jamming. White Laces' new studio rendering of "Deep Moves" extends the live composition by an additional 77 seconds, during which the quartet surfs wave after successive wave of the tune's icy vibe, which is powered by spiraling guitar lines and deep, mellow synth filling out the mid-range. White Laces make their live return to Boston May 26, when the quartet will grace the stage at Great Scott with bands that are good, although looking at the Great Scott web site it appears the supports have not been confirmed. We've embedded both versions of "Deep Moves" below; the new studio version will be released as a 7" single -- with the tune "Ascend" on the flip -- later this summer on a label to be determined. Both tracks were recorded at Mystic Fortress in Roanoke, Virginia, for those of you who know the commonwealth well. The last time we caught up with White Laces in Boston -- which may be the last time they made it to Boston -- was at a JP house show in July 2011, and they were incredibly loud and very good. We reviewed White Laces full-length debut Moves right here last August.





>> Sticking with sounds out of Virginia, we were also jazzed by the new direction evident in a bouncy, sax-studded preview track issued last week by Wild Nothing. The new tune, "A Dancing Shell," is part of a forthcoming seven-song EP titled Empty Estate that will be released by Captured Tracks May 14. Wild Nothing mastermind Jack Tatum recorded the extended play collection over the course of 10 days in Brooklyn in January with Al Carlson at Gary's Electric; the complete track listing appears right here. While Wild Nothing built its brand on mannered, melodic dream pop, "A Dancing Shell" marks a surprising turn for the act. It's a mid-tempo, robot-dance-friendly panorama of sparkling synth, choppy rhythm guitar and saxophone which perceptibly echoes The Radio Dept.'s "Heaven's On Fire." The new tune certainly suggests the rhythmic focus of, say, Tom Tom Club, as opposed to the more streamlined sounds on Wild Nothing's acclaimed 2010 debut Gemini. It's the kind of zag we like to hear from a band -- especially when they pull it off. Empty Estate is already available for pre-order via ITunes, for those of you who still enjoy shopping at ITunes. For its part, Captured Tracks is selling the EP in limited edition 12" LP and CD bundles (which are packaged with an obi strip, illustrated insert, red vinyl, poster, hand numbered envelope, 2x sticker pages, button and slap bracelet), as well as in a conventional LP/CD permutation. Stream "A Dancing Shell" via the Soundcloud embed below.

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