Corduroy EP

Baltimore indie pop band Corduroy released this new EP of six songs early in 2019 and it is the antidote for winter blues & entropy. These tunes harken back to an earlier era of home recording & artisan jangle pop - they have built a solid homestead on the foundation of Sarah Records (or insert your favorite indie label here). The tunes alternate between laid back ballads & high energy songs, just the right mix of melancholy and energy. Welcome the new year with a new musical friend. Corduroy feels snug and warm.

https://corduroyyy.bandcamp.com/album/corduroy-ep

Foliage // Andrew Younker: The Split Cassette

This is the real deal - shimmering shoegaze guitar, scintillating keyboards, melodic echo from the left hemisphere of your consciousness. Beautiful songwriting, craft honed from a bygone age, perhaps the previous century. Timeless and current, six pieces for your autumnal wintry summerish commute. All too brief, like all things ephemeral and gorgeous.


Side A:
Forever - (Manuel Joseph Walker) 
Be Transparent - (Manuel Joseph Walker) 
Nervous To Exist Around You - (Cover by Manuel Joseph Walker, 
Written by Andrew Younker) 

Side B:
Thankful - (Andrew Younker) 
Unhook The Stars - (Andrew Younker) 
Value - (Cover by Andrew Younker, Written by Manuel Joseph Walker) 

https://ztapes.bandcamp.com/album/foliage-andrew-younker-the-split

Fog Lake / Euphoria Again split cassette

Fog Lake is the perfect name for this hazy band -whispery vocals that rise through clouds of memory, tunes that weaves moonlight and autumn into its melodies. There's lo-fi production, chiming guitars, pianos half submerged in water. Brilliant A side from Fog Lake , but the "split" side from Euphoria Again was so pedestrian that I fast forwarded through most of it. 

https://foglake.bandcamp.com/album/fog-lake-euphoria-again

Mandala Eyes - Road Memory (digital release)

...and now for a rare digital release on this cassette (and sometimes zine) review blog. The music of Mandala Eyes has been mesmerizing me for a few years now: homegrown, heartfelt, real to the point of aching and ecstasy. Road Memory is a trip through the musical consciousness of Alex, who writes "as 2018 ends and i find myself living in my home state again for the first time in 4 years, i was combing through the debris and found these old demos, intended to be played on the road. i reflected on the thousands of miles and versions of self i've driven through in these last few nomadic years, and thought of how i currently struggle with navigating life. i drew from those memories of significant travels and on-the-way times for texture and inspiration, when i polished the best of the tunes into a finished listenable state. now those memories are sounds, and i hope they help soundtrack the possibilities and changes of our future trip". 

Road Memory is a soundtrack for the highway of the mind, all winter, wind & angled light. 


https://mandalaeyes.com/album/road-memory

Alternate Skies - Pacific Forecast

This could be the ultimate nerd / geek soundtrack. During the 1980's, I spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME obsessing over weather and watching the then newly launched Weather Channel on cable TV. And yeah - somewhere deep in the nether-regions of my brain, the innocuous instrumental tunes that accompanied forecasts took up residence. And now they're back in cassette form. Is this music nostalgia? Or is it the perfect soundtrack to our hectic, plugged-in lives? Five stars from ye olde DJ.

https://alternateskies.bandcamp.com/album/pacific-forecast