Back in October of 2024, the band announced a vinyl release of their 2001-2002 demos. I snatched it up quick! But it was not available digitally in any form until now. I do not believe these are streaming in any form, you'll have to snag them on Bandcamp. I really can't recommend it enough (clearly).
If you, like me, are a fan of Failure, Autolux, Year of the Rabbit and ON*, get yourself over to NoiseZone on YouTube for a treasure trove of bootlegs, in-studio performances, TV broadcasts and music videos. Rarely am I tempted to download videos off YouTube but, in this case, it feels inevitable these will end up on a harddrive for long term enjoyment.
* There's not actually any ON here but you get what I mean. Also, if you're a fan of Swans, you should click through.
I've been a fan of Autolux since the very beginning. The trio of Carla Azar, Greg Edwards and Eugene Goreshter that formed from the ashes of Edwards leaving Failure (and, presumably, getting clean) has been a staple in my musical diet for over 20 years. Way back in the early aughts, friends of mine living in LA were kind enough to procure earlydemos. You can hear bothonline. I recommend it.
The band announced today that those collection of early demos - plus two unreleased tracks - are being pressed to vinyl as AUTOLUX / DEMOS (2001-2002). The cover art even mimics the original spray painted jewel case. Suffice to say, I'm excited for the release and to revisit the songs.
Davis tipped me off to Julie and their album my anti-aircraft friend. I know nothing of this band but every review I've read makes sure to mention shoegaze, grunge and maybe even Zoomergaze. I don't know that I disagree with any of the labeling but what I hear is Autolux. That's not a slight, it's the highest compliment. Yes, there's a good deal of genre blending going on but the vibe everyone seems to be going for feels exactly like the vibe I get from Autolux.
I'll even go as far as to say that Autolux formed in 2001 and released their first official album in 2004. It's entirely possible that the members of julie were influenced by it. I sure hope so because there's nothing wrong with a world filled with Autolux influenced bands.
TLDR: great new record from julie. Go listen ASAP.
I'm going to be traveling a bit this week so be forewarned that the large form blog posts will likely be a bit on the slim side. That being said, I'll still try to throw a treat out* on the daily.
To start, here's a new edition of the WOTT Music podcast that I curate. The last edition was all cover songs so we're diving back into original music offerings this time around and it's a nice eclectic mix of pop, electronic, hard rock and even an Autoluxian offering in there.
Here's a mix compiling some notable songs from Q3 of 2016. It's actually a little lighter than previous mixes but I think that's because summer time tends to be more outside and less inside listening to new music. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
Stream it here or download it here. I put a version of the mix on Spotify for convenience but, frankly, it's missing a lot of songs - Briley, Mort Garson, etc. So, I implore you to listen here but, obviously, you do you.
There's an unfortunate hurdle to the portfolio of Ryan Converse, aka Cloaking, as he deals in large scale projections and installations, an undertaking that can't be fully appreciated unless you're actually in it. Check his Instagram or this Autolux Colbert performance to get a better of idea of what he's bringing to the table but, on the whole, go find a way to actually see it.
King Kong vs Godzilla vs Lion vs Tiger Nursery Rhyme - Josh sent this over to me last week. It's a series of, somewhat poorly, animated pieces that feature a number of creatures helping kids learn the names of fingers that no one uses. There are hundreds of these and they are all very bizarre.
Lego Falcon Smash - I hate to but I will admit that the fervor surrounding Star Wars is starting to get to me a little bit. I'm legitimately excited for the new movie and I can't help but fear that means disappoint lies in my future.
Robert Rodriguez and John Malkovich made a movie you'll never see - they made a film and put it in a vault for 100 years. The positive side to the story is that the whole thing appears to be an ad for cognac and the film looks dumb. I share this so you know it exists in the world.
80s.mp4 - a five minute 80's commercial onslaught paired with some Flock of Seagulls. Works rather nicely.
Additional weirdness: This Gamewave album came into my life yesterday and I can't explain how weird it is, yet I love it. More classic goodness in that genre here.
I've been following this Nigel Godrich series, From The Basement since 2006 and am quite pleased to see it's made its way to ad supported streaming over on Crackle. If you are not familiar with the performance series it's a great place to see some well contained performances by Radiohead, White Stripes, Autolux, Eels, Sonic Youth, Beck, Jarvis Cocker and a ton more. Yes, it's an early 2000's nostalgia dream come true but that's not such a bad thing.
It's October so, for me, it marks the time for another installment of my Halloween mix. After seven years of making these it becomes increasingly difficult to compile a quality batch of songs actually about Halloween so I've gone with a more atmospheric vibe, sort of like last year. But I digress...
I present Endless Hell, the Halloween 2011 mix intended to created a crazed, spooky, gloomy vibe. I highly recommend the Single MP3 or M4A mix as there is some actual blending going on that I think benefits the whole immersive vibe.
For the past few years I've always put together a mix for the Summer Mix Series called Summer Nights - a collection of songs meant to be listened to on a warm evening; great background music while hanging with friends or just sitting by yourself contemplating whatever it is that you may have to contemplate. Basically, it's a very low key mix of music - originally started as an offset to the more upbeat mixes that I put out regularly.
Long story short, Summer Nights V is available for you to download; either as individual tracks or one single mp3 mix. It's also up on the mix series if you'd like to leave a comment there.
Despite being excited about the From the Basement series for a long time I managed to not realize it had launched in its entirety until just this past weekend. Instead of kicking myself for it I'm enjoying some beautiful looking performances from the likes of Autolux, Eels, Jarvis Cocker, White Denim and a slew of others.
According to this it appears that IFC has picked up the rights to the Nigel Godrich produced TV series From The Basement. I've been waiting for the series to air on some channel that I have access to for sometime and now it looks like it might actually happen. Though IFC isn't broadcast in the beautiful HD quality that the series is intended for I will take what I can get.
For those of you unfamiliar with this project please check the official site and know that the whole concept is audience-free studio performances recorded in high quality featuring the likes of Thom Yorke, The Shins, White Stripes, Autolux, Eels, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Beck, Jarvis Cocker and many more.
Even though I've already posted about the new Autolux track I would be remiss if I didn't inform you that the band is offering the track up in uncompressed WAV format for free (or pay if you want to send them a few dollars) over on their site.
The new Autolux single that I was talking about isn't quite on iTunes yet but since it's made the rounds to radio stations the mp3 is starting show itself. That being said, the track is streamable on the bands Myspace page or you can snag the mp3 below. Enjoy it.