Saturday Share For All: Dog, Paper, Submarine - Magana - Apeman Spaceman - Big Jesus - Elliot - And Our Own Pixies Cover of "All I Think About Now"

Apeman Spaceman. I must say I liked the name immediately as I thought instantly of a Kinks / Bowie hybrid. They are a UK band, respectively Johnny Cooke on vocals/guitar, Rikki Mehta on Guitar (both founding members of post punk band- Dogs), Carl Dalemo on Bass (from Razorlight) and Ethan Kennedy on drums.

I am really liking their single "This Is A Low" which officially drops on November 4th on D.I.Y imprint Bin Party Records. Such a thick cool sound. The vocal performance made me flash on the later Jam records while the edge of the music has a kind of post rock celebratory tone of the Clash and (go with me on this) there is something in their sound that reminds me of The Black Lips if the Black Lips dare have a more polished sound (by the way I enjoy The Black Lips fucked up sound). Whomever they remind me of you have to check them out as "This Is A Low" has a cool vibe and sound. Upcoming gigs at the Urban Bar in Whitechapel on Oct. 13th and in Camden at The Monarch on Oct. 20th.

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Robb Donker




NEXT: Magana

In  the coming days I will post a full review of the EP Golden Tongue by Magana (Brooklyn musician and photographer Jeni Magana) set to drop on October 28th via South London / South Florida's Audio Antihero Records. Magana's songs are emotionally rich with a lush sonic gaze that looks upward. A pretty stunning debut but for now you can hear one public offering from the EP below.
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Robb Donker

NEXT: Big Jesus

The video for Atlanta's Big Jesus has the band driving across endless desert sands holding bright blue smoke flares and jamming in a non-descript building with metal roll up doors as the backdrop. The track Lock and Key from their recently released debut album "Oneiric" (meaning "of or relating to dreams") on Mascot Label Group / Mascot Records is indeed dreamy and big. In fact, to say it soars might be cliche but it does with massive down beats, awesome double guitar leads, staccato rhythms and thoroughly driving chunky bass and drums. Check it out and I hope to have thoughts on the entire album soon enough. They are touring all over from New Orleans to Frisco To St Louis to Boston and Dallas and all points in between. See tour schedule here.
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Robb Donker




NEXT: American Pancake Basement Acoustic Cover of the Pixies - "All I Want Is Now"

Writing, even writing music reviews can be a lonely endeavor. Sometimes I stare at the screen until my mind darts in a thousand directions while listening to new material. Some of these diversions broaden my knowledge of music and some do not. Other times the obsession with a band or song drives me to want to play the song. First things come first and I have to figure out the song. That is what occurred when I reviewed the latest Pixies record Head Carrier (see my review here). That review eventually turned into a babbling Youtube review (see here) were I did an off the cuff rendition of the Paz Lenchantin sung All I Think About Now, played incorrectly may I add. It was just a corny way to start the video and end the video. After a few days of it being posted a viewer had some nice things to say about the review and my horrid performance and asked that I supply the tabs or chords to the song. I was kind of aghast that I didn't even really take the time to play it correctly so me being a people pleaser I set out to learn the song. In learning it I wanted to play and record it. I soon found out that this is not the kind of song that you can play just acoustically with no accompaniment and before you know it I was ping ponging tracks old school in an effort to track record it. I don't even have decent recording software or mics so I recorded it all on a Lumix digital camera and transferred it to video editing software. I like weird sounding stuff so I purposely over modulated the 5 tracks.

The result is below. A fellow music writer thought it sounded like early Wilco which was nice (thanks Sara) and another musician friend like the vocal tone (me stacking a sort of monotone vocal performance with a falsetto singing). I wanted it to sound kind of depressive, kind of emotionally mute. I am not sure if I succeeded but it certainly made me want to record more and I will though I will likely stick to original material (more on that later).  Hope you check it out and I am so grateful that I have this platform to share it with you all.
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Robb Donker




NEXT: Elliot

Debuting on the New Swedish label ICEA (Icons Creating Evil Art) twenty two year old Swede Ellioth Axelsson as the moniker Elliot creates lo-fi songs with a retro feel pushed through an artful indie noisey dreamy filter. The new single Make Love To Me influenced heavily by the LA experimental pop scene  (Ariel Pink, John Maus) and French singer Soko feels like a pop souls 70's track if not for the sonic fuzz. All the over modulated tones creates for an abstract atmosphere on the fringe of darkness. Check it out. -
Robb Donker





NEXT: Dog, Paper, Submarine

The jagged proto punk attack that Dog, Paper, Submarine deliver on their album Trouble On Earth (Small Bear Records) rocks with the proggy abandon of heavy weights like the Pixies, Pavement, Sabadoh and Guided By Voices. Look out for my full review and believe you me there is so much to love here. Check out their bandcamp page below:
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Robb Donker