TPR Featured Releases: Dead Leaf Echo 7″ Single + Whoarfrost Sophomore Album

Written By: Chris Parsons

Today, we have are ears tuned into two channels– dreampop, “nouveau wave” from NY’s Dead Leaf Echo and Baltimore, MD’s experimental rock free-jazzists, Whoarfrost— as they are both celebrating the release of brand new material. Both underground artists are eminently artistic and established projects that have been releasing new material in some form or other at a fairly constant and prolific rate, thus cementing their effective presence in the contemporary underground rock communities, especially in their respective local scenes. Definitely take the time to listen to one if you’re a fan of the other, and vice-versa, as their audiences are constantly growing, and why would you want to be left out of all the fun of some fresh, quality jams– and just the kind that your collection is missing!

Dead Leaf Echo
is expected to release their debut LP, Thought & Language, on March 5, 2013 via Neon Sigh Records. In the meantime, the quintet had released 7″ single, “Kingmaker” b/w “I Belong,” in September 2012 and, now, their single “Birth” b/w “Etiolated,” both serving as extended-play precursors to the forthcoming, highly anticipated real deal, coming next week. “Kingmaker,” was an released digitally and on vinyl, as well as the appearing in the production and premiere of a music video, directed in collaboration with fellow New Yorker, Patrick Ryan Morris. The new “Birth” 7″ single is also being release via Bandcamp, as well as vinyl (pics), plus the internet easter egg of a live recording of “Birth” for KEXP 90.3FM. If you’re in the New York area be sure to head to late show tonight  (Wed. 2/27) @ Mercury Lounge to catch Dead Leaf Echo‘s Record Release Party, also featuring D.C.’s Lorelei opening up the bill.

Whoarfrost
has officially released their 7-track sophomore album, You Say Yes, for streaming and download via Bandcamp! This professional studio recording of the trio captures their live sound, but with amazing clarity and deliberate pace– every sound explored is both experimental and super-natural, as if executed on the first take, and we can assimilate there were likely little to no overdubs necessary– capturing a pure improvisational and methodical performance, which was further expertly mastered in-house, by the singer-guitarist, Jon Lipscomb, himself. If you are in the Baltimore, Maryland area tomorrow (Thurs. 2/28), you should head over to The Windup Space to catch Whoarfrost‘s Record Release Party, including appearances by Canary oh Canary (VA) and The Inbetweens (NY).

TPR Featured Artist: The Pink Pearl Dragon

Written By: Andrew James

Toronto, Canada’s The Pink Pearl Dragon is the solo project of electronic artist, Rina Rosen. That’s right folks, it’s just a one-woman show; a single mind, free of all the boundaries set in place by proper music education, whose creativity takes the form of a lush, electro indie-pop. She describes her work as “Heart Broken Punk” as well as “Sardonic Pseudo Pop,” and whilst the punk isn’t immediately apparent the richly layered harmonies instantly bring on little knots and butterflies, and maybe even goosebumps on occasion, slightly and gently breaking our hearts.

The Pink Pearl Dragon‘s style of arrangement has a very pretty sound in all areas, from the individual instrument sounds, to the compositionof each part; from the richly-layered vocals, to the lyrics themselves; and even beautiful in the subtle, yet significant presence of reverb, liberally applied throughout. She uses simple, programmed drum beats as the foundation for her tunes, and builds songs upon them, thick with sounds as varied as one might expect her influences to be, including tortured and angry electric guitar sounds, carefully processed keyboard hooks, and several layers of beautifully composed, aria-like vocal parts.

The Pink Pearl Dragon‘s most recent release is titled Lo-Fi Dragon High Electro, and has a kind of consonance that is only possible when a single individual endeavors to make a deeply personal, and equally deeply honest, statement about who they are as an artist. The overall feeling of the album is very intimate, giving an inside look at the solo artist’s mind, and at times has a tendency to evoke a melancholy empathy.

Interestingly enough, Lo-Fi Dragon High Electro opens with a piece titled “A Happy Song” which sounds somewhat like the 80’s on MDMA, combined with a hearty dash of contemporary indie and vocals that feel like a sunny-day view of a majestic mountain range in all its infinite beauty and sadness. The Pink Pearl Dragon‘s ability to compose beautiful harmonies really shines on “Rest Your Head” and “Save My Heart”; both are gorgeous instances where two individually beautiful vocal melodies merge to form a complex harmony, each one playing off of the subtleties of the other in a playful manner. A darker side emerges on “Word” which showcases a sharp change in timbre introducing a coarse, distorted guitar sound, which adds a surprisingly haunting and dark quality to the piece. Lo-Fi Dragon High Electro ends strongly with a piece aptly named “Play Again”, perfectly fusing all the above elements, almost leaving you pining for more and contemplating a replay in the near future, shamlessly leaving the CD in the car stereo for another week or two.

Overall, Lo-Fi Dragon High Electro has a quality that is as richly colored as the magical moments of driving on an empty beachside road at sunrise or sunset, as if she’s attempting to paint a picture for us or perhaps score a scene in a silent film. The Pink Pearl Dragon expertly captures an empathy within the listener that parallels the experience of such gorgeous colors and the sort of emotional content that makes tears slightly sting the eyes as they well up, but feeling relaxed and unburdened all at once.