New music guide The Neu Bulletin (Gold Class, Casper Skulls, Pipedream & more)

The ‘something in the water’ cliché doesn’t even come close to summarising Toronto’s musical output this year - there’s brilliance seeping from the Canadian city’s waterways, air, earth, sewers; you name it, and it’s spitting out gold. The latest gem? Casper Skulls, who announced their debut ‘Lips And Skull’ EP with the guttural ‘Devotion’ earlier this week. Discordant and menacing, it pitches this lot right at the top of the 6 God city’s pile. That EP’s out on Buzz Records on October 28th. (Tom Connick)

Like a gothic Parquet Courts, there’s a tautness to Gold Class that they finally let slacken on ‘Kids On Fire’. Debut ‘It’s You’ made them a standout discovery at this year’s SXSW, but this stop-gap single is another level - blacker than coal, it’s the shivering, bent-til-they-break guitar lines of Evan James Purdey that push Gold Class into the next league here. (TC)

Jolting thuds of noise don’t always lend to beautiful, eye-opening experiences, but Kelly Lee Owens’ latest finds new tracks. ‘CBM’ stands for “colours, beauty, motion”, and through repetition and experimentation, the producer does a fine job of bringing out those three strands. ‘CBM’ sounds like it’s constantly capable of change, circuiting in infinity. (Jamie Milton)

The latest signing to Toro y Moi aka Chaz Bundick’s Company Record Label, Tanukichan is the project of Hannah van Loon. On ‘Enough’, she masters a perform storm. The song could be mistaken for raw-as-it-gets shoegaze, such is the wave of noise van Loon commands, but through the melee there’s a sense of clarity and a pop sensibility. (JM)

Feeding off distant synth parts - like Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ title-track or the resplendence of Björk’s ‘Vespertine’ - BUOY’s slant on intimacy is like few others. Empty space is everywhere, but each note of ‘Exit’ serves its own gorgeous purpose. “I’m here, and it’s now,” sings the Sydney newcomer, capturing the vitality of the present day. “And if I die tomorrow, I’m happy.” It’s a beautiful reality check. (JM)

The golden haze of Pipedream’s debut album ‘Secret Beach’ was a far cry from their grey, South Wales home. In the new video for that record’s title track, the escapism is upped. Cut together with worn out footage of thick forestry, it’s a welcome meander through uncharted terrain, set to forlorn, away-with-the-fairies Americana. (TC)

New York City’s Amber Mark coats melancholy in the kind of house-inflected pop that tends to guarantee success in 2016. She’s not ticking boxes, though. ‘Way Back’ is a vitally current delivery of echo-drenched keys and emotion-wrung R&B. Coming to a Disclosure feat. near you? (JM)

With every waking moment, there’s another reason to rage in 2016. On ‘Divide & Conquer’, Idles take their latent frustration with the sickening destruction of the NHS and wield it like a weapon. The track “was written at a time where I watched my mother deteriorate in a hospital that was itself dying,” the band explain, and that writing’s-on-the-wall desperation erupts like a volcano with every towering riff of their bruised post-punk. (TC)

Let’s face it, the Danes are making everyone else look dreadfully uncool. Similarly-styled to future chart-toppers Liss, Silvester are a trio from Copenhagen employing slap bass and shiny synths at the same time, like it’s no big deal. ‘Black Hearted’ packs a genuine soul - don’t mistake it for a mere trendsetter. But there’s something undeniably cool about how it all threads together. (JM)

Tags: Amber Mark, Buoy, Casper Skulls, Gold Class, IDLES, Kelly Lee Owens, Pipedream, Silvester, Tanukichan, Listen, Features, Neu, Neu Bulletin