Friday, April 30, 2010

MP3: Guilty Ghosts - "Grand Illusions"

Re-Ups
Last week over a delicious home-cooked meal at Visitation Rites' house, I was played a song by Brooklyn artist Guilty Ghosts. It opens with a super simple Garage Band beat which loops just a measure too long for comfort. The resulting effect is an eager listener's total unpreparedness for what follows: a jolting sonic boom of delicious, sinister noise a la Salem. (Which might account for our immediate affection for the tune.)

Guilty Ghosts - "Grand Illusions"

Check out Guilty Ghosts' (aka Tristan O'Donnell) website for release info, and you can pick up his tight little mix of some good familiar tracks, including one of P-HORSE's fave Cocteau Twins jams.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

MP3: Weed Diamond - "Snowmelt"

"Tap the Rockies"Weed Diamond be a groupa cuties from Colorado who you may or may not have seen at the sweet Shake Some Action SXSW showcase, where we fell in love with these babies. They combine vocal stylings and repetitively janglin' guitar lines similar to lo-fi brethren Beach Fossils with the bells-heavy, animalistic percussion that drives Pill Wonder. Dig this pop-infused track and feel good about lyfe:

Weed Diamond - "Snowmelt"

Cos it's sunny out and getting sunnier all the time here in New York. You can imagine the CO mountains' melting snowy caps dripping shimmery liquid silver down their peaks. Tap the Rockies - chill on Weed Diamond.

Monday, April 26, 2010

VIDEO: Pure Ecstasy - Live at Tortilla Factory

"Caught You Lookin' Twice"
(photo via Erez Avissar)

Pure Ecstasy make music that I can best describe as music to make love to. I've tried to keep this thought private. Private meaning between me, my man, and my roommates. (Thin walls, naah I'm sayin??) Cos it feels creepy to tell dudes in a band, "Hey I make sweet sweet love on the regular to 5 MP3's of your music which loop on my iTunes 'Sexy Time Playlist' for hours," but I must now publicly attest: this is baby-makin' music. Serious. Try it.**

It's no secret that we love these guys. Nate Grace, Jesse Jenkins, and Austin Youngblood are three Texas-born gentlemen with Texas-sized hearts. You'll never meet better partiers, performers, story-tellers, lovers***, anywhere.

Last Saturday (04/17/10) they played the Tortilla Factory in Bushwick with Twin Sister and Weed Hounds, a show hosted by McGuzzle of Choc Bob. We captured this pure gold ecsperience via video tape-cassette-ribbon-media love:



Audio by Matthew Johnston. Get the whole set here.


** The ladies of PIXELHORSE ask that you please practice safe sex.
*** The ladies of PIXELHORSE do not know this from personal experience.

Monday, April 12, 2010

VIDEO: LA BIG VIC - "FAO Schwartz" Live at Cameo Gallery

"Heavy Zones"
LA BIG VIC are Emilie Friedlander, Toshio Masuda, and Peter Pearson. They make political music from the future in a distant city you haven't heard of yet. Their shows are thoroughly experiential and bring a feeling of fullness to every audience member who is lucky enough to bear witness to such a psychedeli-Japafrench-fantasia.

We poured a lot of love into this video and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Watch full screen, volume up, please.



Thursday, April 8, 2010

MP3: Twin Sister - "Lady Daydream" + Live Video

"It Could All Be A Dream"
Lately I can't stop listening to this lovely Twin Sister song "Lady Daydream" off of their Color Your Life EP:

Twin Sister - "Lady Daydream"

Next week, after I've compulsively listened to this song on repeat a gazillion times, I will surely move onto another track off the album and develop a private obsession with that one. Just as it went down with Vampires With Dreaming Kids.

And I know I'm not alone on this! I remember at one point I heard from a few friends when we were all having this experience with "I Want A House," and soon after, another friend told me she too was listening to "Nectarine" on repeat for hours that morning. Which is great, because I felt like less of a freak, but it begs one question...

What is it about Twin Sister's songs that allures you into developing intense, obsessive crushes with each individual tune? Is it... the charmingly heartbreaking lyrics? The honey and smoke combination of Andrea and Eric's vocal harmonies backed by a gentle yet powerful driving rhythm section? By the time you've crushed heavily on each song, you've fallen so very in love with the entire album, you haven't had a chance to realize it.

Color Your Life was made available for free digital download by the band on March 30th. This warrants some explaining. The record's release, via Infinite Best Recordings, was originally slated for this date, March 30th, but was pushed to May 25th. However, a certain taste-makin' music site pre-emptively posted a lovely and praising album review on the 30th. Oops! Who's the goose! Thus the band - who are not only very talented and skilled musicians but wonderful people, each of them - graciously offered the free download. It will only be up there for less than a week longer now, so hurry up and start falling in love.

Whooaaa it's totally Kismet -- just as I was ruminating on my love for this song, Vistation Rites' Resident-Video-Chick-and-All-Around-Rad-Mamma-Jamma Sam Cornwell sent over this short and sweet video of Twin Sister performing "Lady Daydream" at the MICRO-PIXEL-RITES Unofficial SXSW Backyard Showcase Party:


Yum.

So buy Twin Sister's Color Your Life EP from Infinite Best Recordings. Personally, we have pre-ordered the vinyl are verrry anxious for our copy to arrive.

'Til then, we will be waitin'.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

MP3: Candy Claws - "Catamaran"

"Crashing Waves and Sunlight"
"Catamaran" may be the most popular tune and closest to a "single" that Fort Collins, CO band Candy Claws has. Though it's definitely made its rounds to the uzh' music blogs, we wanted to post it ourselves, because it's made its way into our hearts. This is one charming pop song:

Candy Claws - "Catamaran"

You can also check out the video for "Catamaran" here, as well as the rest of the band's vids. Adorbs!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

SHOW: LA BIG VIC @ Goodbye Blue Monday Tomorrow 04/07/10!

"HEY YO!"LA BIG VIC is playing a show tomorrow night at Goodbye Blue Monday (1087 Broadway in Bushwick) opening at 8pm. They're headlining with sweet psych openers such as Chmmr When Agitated and Moonwalk. This will be such an enjoyable evening, full of long beautiful electronic tunes that will pull your head in so many different directions you won't be able to get home on your own. So basically what I'm saying is you're guaranteed to get laid. Oh, and it's fucking FREE.

Here's a peek at one of our favorite recent sounds:

LA BIG VIC - HEYO (Silver Morning).mp3

There's even a F-book invite. How lovely!

MP3: The Ponys - "Check The Door"

"Everything Is Cool"
(via Matablog)

The Ponys are coming out with a new EP, to be released as digital download on 4/20 and vinyl 12" on 5/25 via Matador Records. It's the first material they've come out with since 2007. At that time, a young and very puffy-faced P-HORSE lady (yours truly) caught the Ponys show with Spoon at Roseland Ballroom, directly after having her wisdom teeth taken out. Vicodin, shitty beer, and balcony chillspot-seating are definitely the way to scope these guys. By the way.

Preview this new track from the upcoming EP. Lead singer Jared Gummere's gloomdoom vocals retain their signature British, Ian-Curtis-esque tone. We are fucking crazy about this song:

The Ponys - "Check The Door"

Also, you can see the Ponys when they come to town in June with Disappears and Woven Bones. Friday 06/18 they will play Mercury Lounge and Saturday 06/19 they will be at Union Pool.