A Feast of Beast

Terror Bird - She Kissed Me (and I Fell Ill)

Super stoked to see sophomore LP from Terror Bird on the way this month!!! Nikk Never produces an excellent mix of snyth goth pop, making it dark, and yet still so accessible.  After a super rough (& +++ awesome) cassette from Night People back in 09’, a 2nd demos cassette next year, a string or four 7”s and counting, and then finally a full length LP jointly released through NP & Adagio830, the two before mentioned labels are joining again for the sophomore release of Secret Rituals.  Hadn’t checked on Nikki in a while, and frankly had no idea she was in the works on a followup album so soon, but when I saw the music video for this track on some Paris venue’s email list that I somehow got added too, and starting digging down the rabbit hole, lo & behold.

This track appearing on the Secret Rituals LP was originally released on the Waiting for Nothing 7”  from Verulamium Records

Refreshing to see an artist crack out so many quality releases in only the last 3 years, quite a catalog including all those cassette tracks.  Check out of most of the tracks on their BnDcMp 

Terror Bird - Secret Rituals LP is out on super Ltd to 100 copies Purple vinyl from Adagio 830 exclusively now with the rest on black from Night People eventually.  Word of warning with the Adagio 830 site, I hope your German skills are passable.

p.s. introducing FeastOfBeast.com! no more .tumblr! Does this make it a real website?…prolly not

Dirty Beaches - White Sand

P.S. the embed is temporarily broken while Tsien-Tsien Zhang gives me permission.  Direct link here

White Sand Music Video, from 2008-2009 Night People Tape

Music: Dirty Beaches - Alex Zhang Hungtai
Cinematography: Christopher Doyle
Directed by: Tsien-Tsien Zhang

Another tense video to accompany an early Dirty Beachestrack from a Night People cassette.  Silhouetted pov voyager shots follow around Tsien-Tsien, drinking wine from the bottle on a roof top, dressing, undressing, and showering.  So you know, all of the essentials in life.    

p.s. Keep an eye open for the Chris cameo (?) at 2:51.

Terror Bird - Dream For Your Bathwater

Dirty Beaches - God Speed

So I’ve been waiting on this long playing split for too long ever since it was just a coming soon teaser on Night People eons ago; thanks to Atelier Ciseaux for the very organized email sent out.  One part Dirty Beaches: dark, midnight lost highway, Lynchian chase scenes filled with paranoia and dread, balanced out with some a dose from Ela Orleans, a La Station Radar veteran filling our ears with ghoulish baroque pop, driven by soft piano ballads and vocals.

Double Feature 12” Split featuring Dirty Beaches and Ela Orleans is out June 21 from La Station Radar, Atelier Ciseaux, and Night People. 

Vinyl is Ltd to 500 copies on clear vinyl with silk-screened covers on recycled paper; artwork by Shawn Reed.

If you’re in the states, snatch it with much cheaper shipping from Night People here.

Track Listing:

Side A: Ela Orleans
Tides and Shadows
Neverend
Somewhere
Vertigo
In the night
I know

Side B: Dirty Beaches
God speed
Crosses
Death valley
Don’t let the devil find you
L train
A train

Ela Orleans - Neverend

Video by Grace Denis and Movies for Ears

still comin…

Dirty Beaches - God Speed

Video by Grace Denis and Movies for Ears

More to come…

Terror Bird - Can’t Tell What’s Real

Posted on the excellent and most free beko/la station radar collaboration last week.  Includes lots of exclusive tracks from Dirty Beaches, Terror Bird, Jeans Wilder, & Wet Hair among others.  I couldn’t resist not posting the new Terror Bird track, so good.  You can download the whole 42min of blissfulness here.   

Terror Bird have their debut Human Culture LP coming out very soon via Night People and Adagio830, and there’s a scant 200 copies on clear vinyl.  Little strange now:

Rough Trade has a pre-order up with no release date.  Previously the cost was $0.00 GBP to pre-order till they fixed that up.

Night People, the label releasing this title just have a vague coming soon notice, but from from the rad album art screen printed by Shawn Reed, it clearly matches their catalog. 

I ordered my clear vinyl copy from Adagio830’s German mail order partner here, and supposedly it shipped 6 days ago.  But be prepared to place your order all in German, mmm gtranslate.  Keep your eyes peeled for more Terror Bird soon as I get my paws on it.

I <3<3<3 nikki never

Jeans Wilder - International Waters

Arriving to lucky pre-orders Today: heavy vinyl, cardboard sleeve with nifty back artwork from fleur, beautiful microfiber insert with lyrics; you’re looking at the long awaited debut Nice Trash LP by Jeans Wilder.  Grab it here or here before it is most certainly gone like nearly every prior release.  Cause let me tell you, its damn good.  

The talented man also known as Andrew Caddick has put out many prior releases including, a split 12” w/ Jen Paul, his Simpler Times 7”, many cassettes on Night People - Bathetic Records - Trivial Pursuit (mystery cassette???), and his 7” Split w/ Best Coast. 

That last one was my first exposure to Jeans Wilder.  I snatched that lucky 7” from Atelier Ciseaux barely knowing Best Coast, but loving their first 7” from Group Tightner.  To my great surprise from the gt 7”, Jeans Wilder track > Best Coast track. 

The new LP Nice Trash was well worth the wait, and as always this co-release by Atelier Ciseaux & La Station Radar is of the highest quality.  Simple pop hooks with washed out (but not indecipherable) lyrics make this his greatest departure from past lo-fi limited release cassettes, and it doesn’t suffer in the slightest.  I know many people have scoffed at the recent trend of lo-fi, beachy, best coastian music claiming it all sounds the same.  Honestly I <3 Best Coast (and snacks!), and I believe Beth & Bruno just happened to be at the front of new emerging mirco-trend in music.  Yes plenty of beachy nonsense blows, but just cause they became most mainstream doesn’t make them bad.  With that said respectfully, the bc 7”s were best, and although not bad, the LP is slightly disappointing.  Jeans Wilder on the other hand had only matured and grown to put out a fantastic debut LP building better from his past.  His still present lo-fi roots are not hiding any lack of talent here, but better grab it on vinyl yourself for the proper experience.   

Wet Hair - In the Garden of the Pharoahs

Long-in-the-works 100th release for the endlessly epic Night People label is a split 12 inch with NP bosses Wet Hair on the A and Australian ghost-rock duo Naked On The Vague on the B. Prime split LP from Iowa City’s Wet Hair and Naked on the Vague from Sydney Australia. Both bands have a slew of releases on a host of good labels but this might be the best offering from both yet. The release feels cohesive despite being a split long player with the similarities in aesthetic ideas and sounds of the two groups being taken into consideration. Despite both bands recently taking on new members beyond there duo origins both stick to the duo lineup for this release. Wet Hair is at their most composed taking on more pop sensibilities then prior recordings, focusing on the melodies both vocally and musically but retaining the psychedelic pulse of older material. Naked on the Vague follow with the focus on melody but draw things out as well into instrumental addition and subtraction, letting the effected variety of sound sources battle it out only to decay together in the end.  Clear vinyl in radical screened sleeves by Shawn D. Reed.  Grab your copy here from Not Not Fun. 

Wet hair’s 1st two vinyls available here, with their 2nd LP Glass Fountain on opaque lavendar vinyl.

A split 7” from Wet Hair and Rene Hell is available from Bathetic here.

SLEEP ∞ OVER - The Key

A new short & sweet pop tune from the furtive but lovely SLEEP ∞ OVER, one of the earlier bands of recent to make use of incoherent symbols in a more conservative manner.  They have a long gone 7” from Forest Family Records, definitely the second best release from those guys after the Cults Go Outside 7”.  Apparently Cults got a hot LTD to 500 repress so act quick here if you missed the boat months ago.  Also if you still got a hankering for some SLEEP ∞ OVER try their C20 cassette from Night People or 7” with Pure Ecstasy from Light Lodge

whew.

Terror Bird - Shadows in the Hall

Skulls on a silk shirt. Dark dark dark. Again. A little hope crossed out with a tipp-ex on a denim jacket.  Keyboard worn out by the 80s, pop romance, the future combined with the past, Gloomy dances for phantom mirrors.  TERROR BIRD is still Nikki Never.  Sometimes, Jeremiah Haywood too. Vancouver behind rainbow-coloured sunglasses.

I listened to this at least 15 times last night, and played it twice on my radio show tonight. Yes its that addictive.  Grab the Shadows in the Hall 7” from atelier ciseaux here while it lasts, only 300 copies and sure to disappear in a flash.  A forthcoming album on Night People / Adagio 830 soonish?

New Terror Bird/Certain Breeds 7” split on translucent blue (mine was opaque marble purple) vinyl, around 300 copies according to Nikki & only $4 + shipping?!? What a deal.  Message Nikki via wasteospace and get yours too before they’re gone.