"Spring" by Maria Sommerville

Ah, what lovely, dreamy sounds..."Spring" from Irish musician Maria Sommerville can be found on "Luster," her brand new release on the legendary 4AD label (home of Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and This Mortal Coil among other incredible artists).

She is on tour this spring/summer and, for us locals, will be in San Francisco on May 23!

https://mariasomerville.com/

"the slab" by Sowdive

Ah, glorious, majestic ambient shoegaze dream pop...this is the stunning track "the slab" by shoegaze pioneers Slowdive. This will be on their forthcoming release "Everything Is Alive" out on September 1, 2023.

Photo by Ingrid Pop

http://www.slowdiveofficial.com/

"Pretty Bones" by Yeule

Here is some lovely dream pop by London-based Yeule (Nat Ćmiel): "Pretty Bones" boasts some dazzling, bejeweled, encrusted, fecund, Baroque still lives.

yeule is a project by nat ćmiel started in 2012.
yeule is a parallel sphere to connect to when low on power
yeule is a cut in dimensional fabric
yeule is a disappearing space

yeule is loading...

Don't you go leaving me
You still got a life to go
Sunken eyed, hollow
Teary eyed, pretty bones
I could never run from it
You know how it feels to be
Tired from the weight of it
Wake up and you don't feel home
Say you need to rest but go
Snort a line a little bit
Then you think you own the world
But you can't control your fit
I don't know how to tell you,
I don't know how to tell you,
You tell me

https://www.yeule.jp/

"Dark Spring" by Beach House

Interesting video for "Dark Spring" by dream pop outfit Beach House.

http://www.beachhousebaltimore.com/

Tropic of Cancer at The Attic

Tropic of Cancer playing a live set for The Attic...recorded at The Control Room, Bucharest, Romania. Set list: "Children of a Lesser God," "Court of Devotion," and "Stop Suffering."

Fronted by Camella Lobo, the band's sound is a marvelous mix of Cocteau Twins, Bauhaus, and Velvet Underground. I adore the way Lobo's vocals are mixed down in a reverb haze. Dark, atmospheric, moody...

https://www.facebook.com/tropicofcancerband/

"Out Of Touch" by Brothertiger

I love the easy, slightly melancholy 80s vibe of "Out Of Touch" by Brothertiger (John J.).

Of Brothertiger, mush.com says, "As a live performer in the Athens house party scene, he’s gained a reputation for intense joyfulness. Recorded, his songs are more precious, with details and ideas that only reveal themselves with repeated listens. Buoyed by his voice--which contains both adult timbre and youthful disposition--Jagos’ songs combine layered, interweaving electronics with warm, satisfying melodies."

http://www.brothertiger.net/

"Proud" by Jam City

Jam City (the nom de musique of London DJ/producer and musician Jack Latham) has released a new record, "Dream A Garden," and its sound is quite different from what Latham has created in the past. I am liking the mash-up of styles in this track, "Proud." It's a bit ambient, a bit electronic, and a bit 80s funk (slow jam Prince?). The repetitive groove is lulling, soothing...

His manifesto for the new collection is quite inspiring. Latham  believes in a neoliberal perspective. He told Crack Magazine, “As part of an underground culture, even if it is global now, it’s important to realise the power in not being immediately monetised or having capital expectations of ourselves. We can honestly take things wherever we want. We have this huge opportunity to talk about these things, to open up conversations. I really want to contribute to that, to start a dialogue.”

“It comes from learning to love yourself, to love others, reclaiming your ability to dream. I don’t know how we can change this world systematically, but I do know that it’s possible. The first step is resisting, saying no to a lot of the awful ideologies of this world, selfishness, greed, money, to reclaim the dream. The society we live in tries to buy our bodies and sell them back to us in a strange form. It conspires to estrange us from our own bodies, our sexualities, our own capacities to love and genuinely respect one another. It’s important to begin a process of saying no to this. While I don’t have the direct solution to dismantle the apparatus, it’s a starting point to realise that as a world we’re allowed to dream, we’re allowed to create a space that hasn’t been colonised, been alienated from us yet. A dream is the first step, allowing love into your life in whatever capacity, and trying to live according to those principles in a way.”

http://www.jam-city.net/

"When You Sing" by School of Seven Bells

Ever since my post a few days ago about the new School of Seven Bells release, I have been on a School of Seven Bells kick. And I have been returning again and again to their amazing song "When You Sing" from their album "Ghostory." It starts in a dreamy, ambient space but launches into a driving, powerful trajectory while still retaining a gauzy drone--and the contrast between the dynamic rhythm and Alejandra Dehaza's floating, smooth, long tones is delicious.

http://www.sviib.com/

"Ablaze," "On My Heart" and "Open Your Eyes" by School of Seven Bells

OH. MY. GOD. I love School of Seven Bells and I am thrilled they are releasing a new album called "SVIIB" on February 26th, 2016. I have missed hearing the gloriously compelling, dreamy, layered sounds and the gorgeous voice of Alejandra Dehaza. But the new album is released in the dark shadow of the death of her bandmate-friend-partner Benjamin Curtis who sadly passed away at the waaaaaaay-too-young age of 35 from cancer. The album was recorded in 2012, with all of Curtis' work completed. He died in 2013, and Dehaza finished the album alone; after three years, she is finally ready to release the end result. The thought of that makes me quite emotional.

So School of Seven Bells is now a solo act and while Dehaza will certainly continue to make music, we wonder if it will be under the School of Seven Bells name...

http://www.sviib.com/

"To Know You" by Wild Nothing

Wild Nothing (Jack Tatum) (previously here). "To Know You" (first song in this video of two tracks) from his new album "Life of Pause" out on February 19, 2016. LOVE it.

http://www.wildnothingmusic.com/

"Last Happy End" by Alice Rose

Danish musician Alice Rose is lovely. This is her new song "Last Happy End" filmed by German duo Lenny Grade and Christian Diekmann. The pair projected an animation of a heartbeat over floral bouquets frozen in crystal clear blocks of ice. The resulting image is a poetical interpretation of a song about death and loss.

http://www.alicerosemusic.com/

"Waterfall" by Vök

This one has worked its way into me: "Waterfall" by Icelandic dream-pop trio Vök.

https://www.facebook.com/Vokband

"Whatever" by Haunt

Newcomers Haunt (Victor Pakpour and Wyatt Ininns) have released their song "Whatever," a gently poppy little ditty with a chilly, retro-80s synth weaving throughout.

https://www.facebook.com/welovehaunt

"Headbanging In The Mirror" by Ducktails

Ducktails is an American band from New Jersey that began in 2006 as the solo recording project of Matt Mondanile. Music journalists have described their music as "hypnagogic pop," "woozy, horizontal pop," "lo-fi," "chillwave," and "a typically giddy blend of psych, drone, summer jams, tropical riffs and hazy vocalisms." It is a lazy pop sound that seems on the surface to be somewhat upbeat but leaves a melancholy taste in the mouth...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ducktails/78029223987

"Umi" by Pinkshinyultrablast

A little Dream Pop ditty for you today: "Umi" by Pinkshinyultrablast.
Of their music, they say: "Happy songs for happy zombies."
!

https://www.facebook.com/Pinkshiny

"Magic Hour" by Trailblazer

OH. MY. GOD.

I am LOVING this hypnotic new track called "Magic Hour" by Trailblazer (Coleman Guyon a.k.a. Harry Talin) from his collection "Regret." Just the right amount of reverb and distortion...dreamy, float-y, yet still with a groove... stunning.

https://harrytalin.bandcamp.com/

"Midnight Moon Pt. I and II" by Kan Wakan

Wow. I am kind of blown away by this song and the video...

Kan Wakan are a new L.A.-based group, a trio consisting of composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui I. Linev, vocalist Kristianne Bautista, and producer/guitarist Peter Potyondy. At this point, they have only released four songs but a full-length release entitled "Moving On" is scheduled for June of this year, 2014. Visit their website for more information or to pre-order.

This video is eleven minutes long, so watch when you have some time, but it is definitely worth it. It's a rather mysterious story which seems to be describing a psychological state more than actual events. But having said that, there is an actual central event that is rather distressing and relentless...which offers a reminder that we can't always prevent bad things from happening, but we can be present and offer comfort and compassion when they do. Watch in full screen mode.

The band list their influences (a fascinating mix,and I think they can almost all be heard in this single grand, ambitious, sweeping, jazzy/orchestral-symphonic, and at times ambient track):
Bill Withers, Pink Floyd, Wilco, Nina Simone, Nick Drake, Brad Mehldau, Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass, Jim O'Rourke, Brian Eno, Moondog

http://www.kanwakan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KanWakan

"Capitol" by Trust

Loving this retro-sounding gem called "Capitol" by Trust (Robert Alfons) from his recently released "Joyland."

And Alfons is simply gorgeous...

...that HAIR... *sigh*

http://www.ttrustt.com
https://soundcloud.com/ttrustt
https://www.facebook.com/dressedforspace

"Wait" by M83

The son returns...

...a bit of "Tree of Life," a bit of "2001: A Space Odyssey"...

..."Wait" by French artist M83 (Anthony Gonzalez).

http://ilovem83.com/

"Stay With Me" by Drowner

"Stay With Me."
Drowner.
Dark dream pop.

http://saintmarierecords.bandcamp.com/album/youre-beautiful-i-forgive-you