TPR Featured Band-to-Watch: Dråpe

Written By: Chris Parsons

Olso, Noway’s Dråpe (pronounced: “Draw-peh”) is a brightly psychedelic, up-and-coming quintet working largely in the vein of dreamesque pop and shoegaze. Since the turn of the new year, the group has already released two singles, “Blue Skies b/w Wash Away” (Jan ’13) and “Memories b/w When It’s Cold Outside” (March ’13), in anticipation of their forthcoming debut LP, Canicular Days, to follow up 2011’s early, self-titled extended play. From the tracks’ titles it seems Dråpe is battling a case of spring fever, dreaming of the summer sun that inspires their sound as they wait for the winter to wane and snow to wash away, pining for the beautifully inspiring nature of Norwegian landscape to flourish. The dreamy and full wash of sound that Dråpe sculpts is warm and fuzzy with colorful tones, definitely serving as a vehicle for summer vibrations.

“Memories” opens with a curiously bright, yet dissonant, earworm on guitar that builds into an easy groove with throbbing bass and steady, upbeat drums. This song seems bright, yet somber– sunny, but nostalgic– but the good vibes prevail, clearly taking the cake as the instrumentals’ jamming chemistry will have anyone’s feet itching to dance. The female vocals certainly lend additional warmth to Dråpe‘s sound, at times reminiscent of Phantogram‘s Sarah Barthel. The lyrics are at the heart of the nostalgic memory, but the way the vocal harmonies blend into the rich sound makes for a sweet symphony of psychedelic pop.

While Dråpe recorded “Memories”  at Greener Productions in Trondheim, NO, the short and and more ambient B-side, “When It’s Cold Outside,” is a simple 4-track recording, this time featuring a downtempo ballad and soaring, yet soft, male vocals. The drawn out melody, in both the instrumentals and vocals, ebbs into a beautiful and gripping structure, evoking a similar sound to their arctic neighbors,  Sigur Rós. Dråpe are sure dropping a lot of cool hints about this debut record as well as appearances at upcoming festivals as the warm air of spring begins to settle in, while we’re left to cope with this hankering for summer sun! Canicular Days is due out April 19 and will be released both digitally and on 12″ vinyl via Norwegian label Riot Factory and further distributed internationally by EMI Music.

TPR Featured Video: “Tangerine” – Electric Eye

Written By: Chris Parsons

The psychedelic supergroup quartet, Electric Eye, hailing from Norway, have released a brand new music video for “Tangerine” in promotion of their forthcoming, debut album, Pick-up, Lift-off, Space. The highly anticipated full-length album is set for release by their native, Klangkollektivet Records, as well as international distribution supplemented by Fuzz Club Records on April 5, 2013. A few other tracks have already been leaked to preview Electric Eye‘s unique brand of neo-psychedelia and knack for layered, krautrock vamping; at times sparse, and, at other times, heavy with a collage of underlying grooves and ragas with garage rock energy. The album will serve to showcase, for the first time, the talents of seasoned musicians (Oystein Braut, guitarist of The Alexandria Quartet; Njal Clementsen of Bergen noise-rockers, The Megaphonic Thrift and Low Frequency in Stereo; underground studio-guru and guitarist in art-rocker act, Hypertext, Anders Bjelland; and Jazz/Noise/Drone-drummer, Oyvind Hegg-Lunde) that have emerged and grown within Norway’s musical capital, Bergen, finally coming together all in one room!

Really, need we say more? The “Tangerine” music video is as warm and aesthetically pleasing as Electric Eye‘s heady, propulsive sound. There is no plot offered, but rather a seemingly ambient, kaleidoscopic display of a summer roadtrip through a barren, desert landscape. The vision seems to experimentally and sufficiently capture the artistic moods and chemistry of the musicians. The eye candy video manipulation seems to evoke similar vibrations to how one experiences Electric Eye‘s mind-manifesting sound; as the audience, you don’t have to try to experience the art, but are able to just exist, for the sole purpose of soaking in the collage of sensual energy, like a sponge, or the overwhelming sense of a kid in a candy shop.

TPR Featured Collaboration: 2013 Kurt Vile album + ESPO Graffiti Artist

Written By: Chris Parsons

In the celebration and promotion of arts through all mediums, we have a special treat for you today! Aurally, Kurt Vile officially announced his forthcoming 2013 LP, “Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze,” set to be released by Matador Records this spring as a follow-up to 2011’s “Smoke Ring for My Halo.” And visually, Kurt teamed up with local-to-Philadelphia graffiti artist, ESPO (a.k.a. Steve Powers) for the production and installment of the El ride’s latest mural. If you are local to the “City of Brotherly Love,” especially the music scene based around Fishtown (also the home for the mural), or frequent SEPTA’s light rail while making pilgrimages from the suburbs, you would be familiar with ESPO’s cozy sign-painting graffiti work, littered throughout the brief ride’s skyline. You probably also spend those rides tuning out the industrial clang of the train and passengers’ chatter by jamming the warm, summer sounds of Kurt Vile through your cans, so the collaborative marriage of these two artists was only a matter of time and one that will be well received by the community.

Not many other details about the album have surfaced just yet, but Matador says there is more on the way “very soon.” This recently completed mural offers a collage of iconic clues and tributes to some of the new album’s various lyrics, and the mini-documentary captures the artistic vision of both artists on the project’s release. ESPO and Kurt seem to be old friends, probably growing up together around the city, so the way each of them interacts and jams with the surrounding culture, and each other, creates an intimate aesthetic for its inhabitants. Throughout the mini-doc there are also a few clips of unmistakably Kurt Vile tunes in the background, but their subtle and fleeting moments make it hard to pinpoint if we are being cleverly teased with a preview of Kurt’s forthcoming “prog pop” or simply graced with a piece of the constant hitmaker’s healthy discography. Whichever the case may be, we are highly anticipating the heady feeling of “Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze,” and will be closely tuned-in to this frequency the next couple of weeks!