higherpowermoment.com

I feel that it’s time for a fresh start in various aspects of my life; dragging this blog off the subject of me and onto the subject of recovery, I suppose I could say that whatever addictive behaviours we pursue, they are always trains with ultimate destinations. Bleak places. Just because that’s where we are going, it doesn’t mean we can’t get off at an earlier station.

In addition to my new-found addiction to Beach House, I’m also probably late to the party that is Wild Nothing, the nom de guerre of Jack Tatum from Virginia. Much as I don’t like to give the little-known blog Pitchfork publicity, there’s a spot-on review of new album “Gemini” which you may care to peruse. The review, enlightening though it is, doesn’t single out my favourite track on the album, “Bored Games”.

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Wild Nothing - Bored Games

You want a report from Primavera Sound??  All the gossip, backstage stories, hot bands to watch??  Top ten lists?  Whacky anecdotes?  Well, buddy, I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place… for reasons far, far too turgid to recount here, my little trip to BCN for this festival was a bit of a disaster, and I spent much of the time hanging round airports, eating late “American Breakfasts” at the Philippino cafe, and just basically being a mopey dick.

So of course now I’m having my own, personal, internet based Primavera Sound post-festival, with no massive crowds of gap year Rahs (where did they come from) and Refrescos that were all ice and no Fanta Limon (gotta love the Fanta Limon).  My personal discovery (yes, I realise after 274,903 other Last.fm listeners) of the festival was Beach House, whose amazing album “Teen Dream” is on constant play on my Spotify, and this track, “Walk In The Park” is on constant play in my head, with its less-is-more combo of drum machine, pulsing organ, cascading guitar tremolos, and Victoria Legrand’s incredible husky, sexy, almost masculine vocal. I know I’m coming to the party late, obviously if you want to read a professional and knowledgeable review, I’ll hand you over to the good offices of my closest rival in the blogging trade, but if you haven’t heard of this band, I’m encouraging you to give them a go.

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Beach House - Walk In The Park

New Sambassadeur album, European (on Labrador), and I love it. Listen to it on Spotify, buy it, improve your life. Pitchfork, as usual lagging behind the cutting edge of cool that is higherpowermoment.com, have of course jumped on our bandwagon, and say “the Gothenburg, Sweden-based indie pop band demonstrates the virtues of cosmopolitanism, craft, and restraint.” Three virtues that Sambassadeur and higherpowermoment.com share, although I think it deserves more than a 7.0.

Here’s the closing track, a cover, Small Parade, and the Tobin Sprout original (Matador). Tobin, for people who don’t know (a category of which I was a member of until about 5 minutes ago) is a member of Dayton Ohio’s Guided By Voices. Tobin’s recently written a children’s book about a rabbit, called “Elliott“. As I have young godchildren, I’ll be purchasing this and will update you as to whether it’s much cop in a future post.

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Sambassadeur - Small Parade

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Tobin Sprout - Small Parade

Yes, it’s more Wayne’s World quotes.

As our regular reader(s) will be aware, higherpowermoment.com is of course on the interweb’s top trend spotting cutting edge music blogs, responsible for making or breaking bands, setting the agenda, and defining the zeitgeist.

Longtime higherpowermoment.com faves are Spanish electro pop with indie guitar sensibilities band Delorean. See here and here. Now some obscure American outfit called Pitchfork has belatedly hitched on our bandwagon, seen which way the wind has been blowing, and given their latest E.P., brilliantly entitled “Ayrton Senna”, 8.4.

All I can say is welcome to the party, Pitchfork, higherpowermoment.com was here yonks before you, and we give this 11.0.

Please note the original Spanish 12″ artwork, not the pants they are flogging in the States. Wooo! We are so special and different! We were there first! I have this record. But no record player.

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Delorean - Seasun