Check the new cd: it’s hot, and masterfully mixed.

Enough said, shut up and dance:

How long? Until One: is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

In honor of the recent, hugely successful run of Hair on our campus, we’ve got some Danes who love to play with their hairs! Under Byen’s latest full-length, Alt Er Tabt, is out on Paper Bag Records. Below you’ll find a video that recalls the nightmarish visits to the barbershop from my early years. Their prog-y ethereal  sound is a far cry from Aquarius, but this is all about the hairrrrr.

Under Byen ‘Kapitel’ from the album ‘Alt Er Tabt’. from Paper Bag Records on Vimeo.

Under Byen’s Barbershop Cinematheque is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Yep that’s a kid wearing a Chewbacca mask. Totally adorable, right?! Well, this is the cover of Active Child’s new Curtis Lane EP (Merok), and its just as creepy and lovable  as this photograph implies. Active Child is Pat Grossi, a Philadelphia Boys Choir alumnus, who layers Antony-esque choral harmonies over luscious synths and drum samples. Grossi’s bold instrumentation reminds me of M83 with a darker, more New-Orderly underbelly.

Active Child have a couple hard-to-find releases under their belt (a cassette, Sun Rooms, on the tape-only label Mirror Universe, and a 7-inch on Transparent), but this EP is totally worth your record-finding efforts! On track 3, “When Your Love Is Safe,” Grossi’s haunting vocals reverberate against a foggy soundscape of 80′s neon synths and perky hand claps (or booty slaps?)! And the siren swells of “Wilderness” are downright terrifying and enchanting.

Check out the vid below for a taste of Grossi’s talents as a harpist!

Active Child @ SXSW

Active Child Spooks and Spoils is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

This is incredible. Gayngs comes out with an album called Unrelayted and the jams are unbelievably good. See below video for proof, and whatever you do get your hands on “The Walker.” It deserves some volume. Check out the video for “Cry” (a Godley & Creme cover) below. Yes, it is just like the original. But hopefully it should bring your attention both to the former and the later makers of the song. Explore.

Cry

GAYNGS | MySpace Music Videos

Gayngs is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Tetherhorse video is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Jónsi – Go Do from Jónsi on Vimeo.

Jonsi! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

This is one of those records that is sure to get a huge amount of love at our station: Golden Triangle‘s “Double Jointer” album. Check out the video below to get why. It’s a mix of sweaty sweaty garagey post-punk with lots of pretty girls. Really, it’s a very special KZSC recipe for success.

Golden Triangle: sex thrash is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Fang Island just hit our station! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Oh No Ono!

Another new favorite at the station is Oh No Ono with their lovely Danish psych pop. (The song “Swim” is making me completely blissfully nuts–listen to it here!) Apparently the Danish love this band. I’ve only just heard of them, but their new album “Eggs” is fantastic and will hopefully continue to be in heavy rotation here at the station.

Recently the quintet paired up with When Saints Go Machine to cover the biggest song of 2009: “My Girls” by none other than Animal Collective. Here’s a video of the craziness, which includes a multitude of toys and a good dash of crazy:

Thanks to Matthew from Terrorbird for linking me to this, and thanks to I’m the Internet for posting this at all!

Oh No Ono: girls and eggs! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Woods – “To Clean”

This video is darling, charming (or charming, dahling–whichever you prefer) and I really did used to play this song whenever the living room needed a good thorough cleaning. Listen to it, love it, and keep in mind that really pale yellow-white hazy color that sounds like early morning.  (kind of like this:

Samara York

but gives a feeling more like this:

yep.

got it?)

To a happy weekend! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz