Neu This Week In New Music (19th January 2013)

One of our many 2013 resolutions was to stop using the word ‘slacker.’ It’s an easy phrase to lump at a band who might sound like they’re having an easy afternoon. The reality is they’re probably stressing out about which wire goes where, whether they’ve got time to pack their stuff for tonight’s show. Even though, fortunately, we’ve never thrown the ‘slacker’ tag at the brilliant Playlounge, they took to Twitter to have a little rant at those who had.

But let’s face it, slackers do exist. So if you’re one of them and you’ve been slacking on the new music front, failing to refresh our pages every 10 minutes to catch up on all the new bands, there’s a solution: This Week In New Music sums up the very best bits from the past seven days. So come on, slacker, at least give this a read.

TRACK OF THE WEEK
Doldrums - Anomaly


When we spoke to Doldrums’ Airick Woodhead, beyond what’s published he said some interesting, fairly profound stuff about a revolution, and it had something to do with technology, and we pretended to understand but really we didn’t. And it all but confirmed that Airick’s on a completely different level to normal folks like ourselves. New track ‘Anomaly’ is the nail in the coffin. How anyone can rummage around in samples, tech glitches, euphoric synths, put all of these things together and make the whole piece sound like a pop track, is frankly beyond us. ‘Anomaly’ is Doldrums at his most immediate and enjoyable. He’s never sounded better. We can’t wait for the ‘Lesser Evil’ debut ( due for release on 25th February, through Souterrain Transmissions (Europe) and Arbutus (Canada, US).)

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Parquet Courts - Borrowed Time


This video probably shouldn’t be enamouring as it is. But when you spend your days holed up on the internet, opening tabs, refreshing Soundcloud, the simple experience of going to a show and observing the instruments, the fans and the reality of music, can be truly exciting. More so than ever. A mere gaze at how Parquet Courts work and how they meet their fans and sell CDs and pack the venues with enthusiasts: It makes for captivating viewing.

DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK
Wampire


Last week’s ‘discovery of the week’ ended up talking to us in-depth about his vast, impressive ambitions and the sudden success of his debut track. We’ll be nagging Wampire to speak to us in no time at all: Their rise is a little different to Jack Magma’s. A selection of tracks appeared on Soundcloud a year back, and any remnants of a full-length are hard to pick up on. They’ve signed to Polyvinyl (home of of Montreal) for a debut proper, and first glimpse ‘The Hearse’ is about as rabid, loony and refreshing as synth-pop can get. Mutterings of Ariel Pink aren’t far off as simple comparisons go, largely because the track’s so full of life and character. And that’s exciting.