Lymbyc Systym

If you'll notice our masthead we list the names of the cities in which each of our writers reside. Well, close enough. I don't actually live in Huntington Beach. I live in the small city that rests in the geographic elbow of Huntington Beach: Fountain Valley. There are no physical features distinguishing the city from Huntington Beach, with the exception of the mile square park smack in the middle of the city, and the great Vietnamese restaurants on the north end of town. How, you ask, does this have anything to do with Lymbyc Systym's instrumental, post-rock, debut album on Mush Records? When I first heard Lymbyc Systym it immediately brought to mind Fountain Valley's bland, generic motto: "A nice place to live." Simply put, Lymbyc Systym is nice music to listen to. Yet it's neither bland, nor generic. And unlike FV's relationship to the L.A. metropolis, Lymbyc Systym is anything but an insignificant blip on Mush Records' sprawling, musical landscape.

Truth Skull [MP3, 3.9MB, 128kbps]
Carved By Glaciers [MP3, 7.0MB, 128kbps]
Birds [live] [MP3, 8.8MB, 224kbps]

www.mushrecords.com
www.lymbycsystym.com

Caural

Caural is short for Chicago's Artful Underdog Resists Abstract Labeling. Okay, I made that up. Caural is the stagename for multi-talented musician Zachary Mastoon whose off-kilter beats, found samples, and moody synths often find him compared to Four Tet, Prefuse 73, and Daedelus. Flattering company as far as I'm concerned, but not necessarily satisfying as a description. He's got a sound all his own and each track packs its own little surprises if you listen carefully.

from Mirrors for Eyes (2006):
I Won't Race You [MP3, 4.2MB, 128kbps]

from Remembering Today (2005):
Entre Chien et Loup [MP3, 4.2MB, 128kbps]

www.mushrecords.com
www.chocolateindustries.com
www.myspace.com/caural
www.caural.net

Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory

SoCal meets NoCal, baby. This collabo between LA fixture Elvin Estela (aka Nobody) and Santa Cruz couple Chris Gunst (Beachwood Sparks) and Jen Cohen (The Aisler's Set) sounds as good as it appears on paper. Nobody brings his taste for unforced rhythms, textures, and beats. Chris and Jen bring pastoral pop vocals and timeless instrumentation. Really groovy, brilliant, and warm. Don't think, just listen.

Coyote's Song (When You Hear It Too) [MP3, 2.7MB, 128kbps]
Broaden a New Sound [MP3, 3.9MB, 128kbps]

www.mushrecords.com
www.myspace.com/mysticchordsofmemory
www.nobodybeatsthebiz.com

Clue to Kalo

You know that expression "the cobbler's children have no shoes"? That's kinda been the story of my household on the digital music front...until yesterday, when the Bose Sound Dock and my wife's silver iPod Mini showed up on our doorstep. I don't know who was more excited, her or me, but let's just say I already had a 125-song playlist ready to for the occasion. The pulsing strains of Clue to Kalo's "Empty Save the Oxygen" were the first to emerge from the Sound Dock. Velia's jaw dropped as she turned to me and said, "This sounds amazing." I'm sure she was talking about the speakers but she was right on both counts.

Empty Save the Oxygen [MP3, 7.8MB, 192kbps]
As Tommy Fixes Fights [MP3, 6.1MB, 128kbps]

www.dirtyloop.com
www.cluetokalo.com

Scientific American

It's good to see Andrew Rohrmann (formerly of Hush Harbor) take on The Establishment by opting for the proper, if copyrighted, spelling of Scientific American. (Those who know him from his bedroom-beats-turned-commercial-beds on Slabco, know he used to drop the first "c" in Scientific, presumably to keep the lawyers at bay.) Those who don't know the score can get caught up real quick. Simply set aside 109MB of hard drive space and bask in the generosity of Slabco's free music policy.

Drift in Place [MP3, 5.7MB, 160kbps]

www.slabco.com
www.dirtyloop.com

Bibio

A funny thing happened while listening to Bibio's exquisite, organic guitar arrangement: I accidentally opened it up in two browser windows and let both downloads play simultaneously...and it was beautiful. Rather than a clash more disconcerting than a skipping CD, the lilting loops — and here's where I'm going to say something I try to never say about sound — danced with each other in perfect harmony. The great thing is that playing the track just one at a time is an equally calming, inspiring, uh, dance. If only there were more downloads to get us through the weekend.

Looking Through the Facets of a Plastic Jewel [MP3, 2.9MB, 160kbps]

www.dirtyloop.com

Busdriver

Rapping about the rap lifestyle anymore comes off as uninspired straw-grasping. But when it's rolling off Project Blowed crewman Busdriver's tongue it sounds more like the demon spawn of Cornel West, H.L. Mencken, and Jon Stewart — and believe me, that would be some demon friggin' spawn. In a genre full of cultural critics, Busdriver is the guy whose intelligent sarcasm almost always exceeds his peers yet is funky enough to let the masses in on the joke. I wouldn't want to be holding the other microphone in a rap battle with this cat, but I'd sure want to be in the studio audience.

Avantcore [MP3, 2.8MB, 160kbps]

www.dirtyloop.com

Daedelus

Cacophonic intro track to Daedelus' hip-hop record, Rethinking the Weather, layers a psychotic amount of voices over noodles of acoustic guitar, clattered beats, and flute loops. It's but a small, imperfect glimpse into Daedelus' expanding, eclectic universe.

Fin [MP3, 5.1MB, 192kbps]

www.dirtyloop.com
www.daedelusdarling.com

Thavius Beck

Collages of stuttering breaks and swirling samples, along with extended doses of "spoken word" culled from the underbelly of American pop culture. A potentially played-out formula turned downright entrancing.

(Music Will Be) The Death of Us All [MP3, 7.8MB, 192kbps]
To Make Manifest [MP3, 4.2MB, 160kbps]

www.dirtyloop.com
www.midheaven.com