(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 197: Rhymies

Rhymies (©Jess Lynn Goss)

Rhymies is the solo project of Lauren Matsui (guitarists with San Francisco shoegaze act Seablite and post-punk outfit Neutrals), and I Dream Watching is her debut EP, out now via Dandy Boy Records. For this project Lauren has traded her two suitcases of guitar pedals for an assortment of Korgs, Rolands and Yamahas. The songs are built on arpeggiated melodies and sequences rooted in the nostalgia of an 80s dance party. The gauzy textures serve as a perfect base for Matsui’s breathy, wistful vocals. Often glimpsed through the mire of swirling guitars on Seablite records, here they take center stage, to great effect. Written, arranged, and recorded at home in her living room, the new EP centers on Matsui’s voice and her synths. The title track brings to mind another artistically successful convert from guitar-to-synth-pop, Patience (Roxanne Clifford of Veronica Falls), while Crashing Lead somehow fuses the bounce of early Madonna with the ethereal, surreal vocals of Cocteau Twins. It’s the closer (and shortest track at 2:40), Hesperian (Again) which points to what we can hope for in the future. It builds one layer at a time to an ecstatic crescendo, before abruptly leaving us with only the memory of the refrain – “When’s it happening?”. For Rhymies, if there’s any justice, the answer is NOW.

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Frank Rabeyrolles – Your Dream (Single)

French musician and singer Frank Rabeyrolles debuted in 2004 with Life behind the window, the first album of his project Double u, with dreamy and hybrid music, oscillating between pop, electronic and songwriting. A prolific and insatiable artist, Rabeyrolles released a solid succession of albums under Double u first then Franklin on different labels such as Sonar Kollektiv, Nocturne, Karat, Plug Research. At the end of 2011, it was under his real name that Frank Rabeyrolles decided to release a new album and with it, a desire to bare himself a little more. Between Experimental Pop, Folk Lo fi, Ambient, Frank never wanted or needed to choose. The sequel arrives in 2021 with A ghost by the sea, a record that asserts itself as Ambient, also endowed with a melodic and contemplative obsession that has been a trademark since its beginnings. In 2022 and 2023 he composed Boat Songs and Minor Blue, bittersweet ballads, in chiaroscuro, built around clear and concise guitars accompanied by Romain Delorme, Sebastien Pasquet in Guitar/Bass/Drums Trio. In early 2024 Frank Rabeyrolles returns to the solitary work of the Home studio in which he lends himself to cultivating a gentle schizophrenia between tenderness, sound roundness, echoes, spleen and hopes. In conversations, his magnificent latest record was released in February 2025 on French label Araki Records and Wool Recordings. Built around acoustic guitars and discreetly ”electronic” textures, it is a lofi songwriting album completely assumed. Sometimes classical, sometimes bedroom oriented this album crosses indie music without complex, both melancholic and sometimes joyful without academicism and fear.
Your dream, taken from the recording session of In conversations, will be out on Wool Recordings on May 14th.

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The Loft – Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same

Un disco di esordio a quarant’anni dal primo scioglimento. Un evento certamente fuori del comune ma che è apparso logico, una volta fatte le proprie esperienze, dimenticati le gelosie e il rancore. Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same è uscito per la Tapete e vede il ricongiungimento in studio di Peter Astor con il chitarrista Andy Strickland, il bassista Bill Prince e il batterista Dave Morgan, quest’ultimo già con lui nei Weather Prophets, altra grande promessa della Creation non mantenuta (almeno a livello commerciale, .n.d.r.).

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Grand Drifter & The Cascarino – Sunrise (single)

Sunrise (out today via The Sunday Pop Society) is a new collaboration between Grand Drifter (Andrea Calvo) & The Cascarino (Sergio Varbella). Grand Drifter is Italy-based Andrea Calvo’s musical project (voice, guitar, instruments). Sometimes as a band, sometimes him alone. In 2018 arrived his electroacoustic and gentle debut Lost Spring Songs on Sciopero Records, while in 2021 the more electric Only Child (Subjangle) was out. Paradise Window, his third record was released again via Subjangle in 2023, adding Sarah Records vibes, Belle and Sebastian popness and Grant McLennan’s melody. Cartoonist, illustrator and graphic designer, Sergio Varbella worked for Internazionale, Electa Mondadori, Edizioni EL Einaudi Ragazzi, Einaudi, Centauria, Fabbri Editori, La Rivista dei Ragazzi and has published some graphic novels: Piccole Donne (Electa Mondadori, 2020)
Bauhuas. L’idea che ha cambiato il mondo, written by Valentina Grande (Centauria, Seuil, Prestel, 2021-22); Dynamic Depero, written by Cappa & Drago (Mart, 2021). As The Cascarino he worked with Grand Drifter and released, in 2023, the wonderful single The Summer Song.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 196: MIEN

MIEN (©Bowen Stead)

Austin TX via Montreal psychedelic supergroup MIEN current line-up is Alex Maas (The Black Angels), Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone), John-Mark Lapham (The Earlies) and Robb Kidd (Golden Dawn Arkestra). Since their inception, MIEN has been a confluence of diverse musical influences and shared histories. The seeds of this collaboration were planted back in 2004 when Rishi Dhir, known for his work with Elephant Stone, crossed paths with Alex Maas of The Black Angels during a serendipitous encounter at SXSW. This meeting sparked a friendship and a series of collaborations. Around the same time, Rishi met John Mark Lapham of The Earlies, whose electronic and production expertise would become a cornerstone of MIEN’s sound. Robb Kidd (Alex Maas, Golden Dawn Arkestra) joined the band on drums in 2018. These connections eventually led to the formation of MIEN, a band that seamlessly blends their varied musical backgrounds into a unique sonic tapestry. Building upon the foundations of their critically acclaimed 2018 self-titled debut while venturing into uncharted territories, their long-awaited second album MIIEN marks a bold new chapter for a band whose alchemical approach to music has redefined the boundaries of psychedelia and pushes the group’s collaborative and exploratory ethos to thrilling new heights.

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