(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 183: Rocky Lorelei

Rocky Lorelei

Rocky Lorelei represents the solo lo fi musical work of Rachel Taylor (also member of Slipper), who was born and raised beside Lake Ontario in Toronto, and is currently set up in Berlin. Her musical processes run parallel to her psychic processes; writing and recording songs is her most vital means of cultivating an understanding of her inner and outer life experiences, bringing a symmetry to her music and her sense of self. Began as just bedroom recordings in Toronto, when Rocky moved to Glasgow in 2016 -encouraged by Sean Armstrong (Spinning Coin, The Yawns, Slipper)- she also moved the project onto the stage. “Rocky Lorelei began as a bedroom recording project in around 2012 in Toronto; a dear friend gifted me a 4-track, and off I went into the strange and tiny world of recording onto cassette, a zone which I have remained in ever since. I figured out how to record and produce my songs on my own (with a little help from my friends) and then spent some time writing, recording, and releasing a couple of EP’s in my room, up until I moved from Toronto to the UK in 2015. I eventually landed in Glasgow (Scotland) and it was there that Rocky Lorelei became a live project as well. Since then I have moved to Berlin, where I continue to document aspects of my psychic life through songs, to record them onto tape, and to play them live. I have co-founded a cassette label here, called Rehberge Records, through which my collaborator Sean Armstrong and I release our work —our most recent release being my new album Bury My Face In A Flower“.

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Soap&Skin – Torso

Se mi venisse chiesto quale è stato l’ultimo disco di debutto ad avermi folgorato fin dal primo ascolto senza mai cedere una briciola in intensità nel corso degli anni, non avrei alcun dubbio su cosa rispondere. Lovetune For Vacuum fu amore puro al primo ascolto, rapimento ed estasi che nel tempo si sono rinnovati, anche se con forza minore, nei lavori successivi firmati Soap&Skin.

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 182: The Ladybug Transistor (The Albemarle Sound 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition special mixtape)

The Ladybug Transistor in Prospect Park (Photo by Erick Schonfeld)

The Ladybug Transistor were a Brooklyn-based indie pop group associated with The Elephant Six Collective. Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, the band quickly released Marlborough Farms on Park N’ Ride Records. With Jeff Baron and Jennifer Baron added to the lineup, they released Beverley Atonale in 1997, this time on Merge Records. Powers left the band, and the remaining members, with San Fadyl and Sasha Bell of The Essex Green, embarked on a United States tour. With a more stable lineup, the band released The Albemarle Sound in 1999, as well as added violinist Julia Rydholm, also of The Essex Green, to the lineup. In 2001, Argyle Heir was released, and the band released a self-titled album in 2003 which was recorded in their own Marlborough Farms studio. In April 2006, Fadyl began fighting serious asthma attacks that led to his death in 2007. The band released its sixth album, Can’t Wait Another Day, the same year. This line-up included Kyle Forester (Crystal Stilts) and Ben Crum of Great Lakes.For their seventh album, Clutching Stems, Olson, Forester and Rydholm gathered new recruits Mark Dzula (The Magic Caravan, Jukebox Radio), Eric Farber (The Lisps), and Michael O’Neill (MEN). The album, recorded once again at Marlborough Farms studio and Sunset Cottage, Poconos, was released in 2011 via Merge Records and was their last record.
The Ladybug Transistor are now back with an expanded 25th Anniversary reissue and tour for their timeless indiepop classic album The Albemarle Sound.  

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(Make Me A) TRISTE© Mixtape Episode 181: Capitol

Capitol

Capitol is a Hamilton, Ontario quintet made up of brothers, RJ and Josh Kemp, Matt and Wes Lintott, and Chris McLaughlin. Over seven years since their debut, they have released one full-length album, Dream Noise, out in 2019 via Meritorio Records, a four-song E.P, All The Rest Of My Heads (2021), an instrumental film score (Light Between Us, 2023) and several singles. Their next effort is their sophomore album, Sounds Like a Place, out November 8th through Meritorio Records. This eleven-song record has been a long time coming, with the initial  recording at Toronto’s Union Sound Company back in the summer of 2022.  Sounds Like a Place bears a mix of the industrial, electric hum of Capitol’s hometown of Hamilton and the shoegazey dream-pop that they’ve been leaning into since their debut single, 2017’s English Girls. This time  heavily inspired by alternative indie artists of the 90s/00s and still  tinged with a dash of 80s New Wave, the album weaves in and out of genre  and decade. Capitol enjoy films, local beer, and making each other cry of laughter with a single glance.

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LOWMOON – Cathedrals (single and video premiere)

LOWMOON is the lofi indie bedroom pop project of Yorkshire based musician/producer Mikey Wilson. Channeling post-punk, dreampop, new wave and shoegaze references LOWMOON exists within its own unique sound. Blending jangly guitars and synths with vintage drum machines and reverb drenched vocals. Embracing a DIY approach Mikey writes, records and mixes the music. His first full lenght album, Monochrome, was out in May this year via Safe Suburban Home, and reminds the dark sound of the 80s, magnificently blended with jangly and bright guitars: eight songs with original and great melodies, drum machine and hazy vocals. LOWMOON’s videos are aptly set to footage from 80s blockbuster movies (The Breakfast Club, Bright Lights, Big City). Cathedrals is the new single to be released tomorrow, November 22nd, through Safe Suburban Home and you can listen to it and watch its video on premiere here!.

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