Cavern of Anti-Matter

Cavern of Anti-Matter | blood-drums | 3hive.com

Cavern of Anti-Matter | blood-drums | 3hive.com
If you happened to catch Tim Gane’s Tim Gane’s two-hour takeover of the Solid Steel podcast, you know he digs deep. His set was a mesmerizing tour of rare birds in the vinyl collecting kingdom, including a sinister track by Detroit electro pioneer Shifted Phases that will run you $200 for a decent copy. Gane covers a musical spectrum so wide that his SS mix broke into Mixcloud’s Electronic, House, Jazz, and Techno charts when it dropped last spring.

All this to say, Tim Gane is gonna bring some pretty esoteric reference points to whatever he does – as proven by Stereolab’s history of puzzling the critics – and his Cavern of Anti-Matter project is no exception. The debut, blood-drums is a love letter to kosmische musik, leaning toward the all-analog synth sounds of Tangerine Dream and skittering beats of Kraftwerk, but also borrows from psych rock, improvisational jazz, and early industrial at times. The result is a thrill ride for your ears, best enjoyed with a fat pair of headphones or over a club PA.

Fitting of its crate-digging founder, copies of blood-drums had been selling for $150+ as it was pressed in a limited run on German label Grautag. Now it has been reissued as a 6-sided LP on Stereolab’s house label, Duophonic, which also released the equally compelling follow-up, void beats/invocation trex.

[Psst, you can buy a copy of Cavern of Anti-Matter’s blood-drums reissue at the 3hive Co-op Shop.]

Hand Habits

Hand Habits | Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void) | 3hive.com

Meg Duffy, aka Hand Habits, is known for her work with Mega Bog and as part of the Kevin Morby Band. Now the singer/multi-instrumentalist has ventured into a solo career releasing her self-produced debut, Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void), with Woodsist Records.

Wildly Idle is an intimate, lo-fi affair. It’s easy to hear that great care was given to its production. Give the standout, slow burner “All The While” (below) a spin, it’s a great taste of Duffy’s skills and one of my favorite songs of the year so far.

Wildly Idle is available February 10 via Woodsist. I highly recommend it.

Hand Habits “All The While” from Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void) (2017)

You’re Jovian

You're Jovian | Stereochronic | 3hive.com

Virginia’s You’re Jovian’s swirling, reverbed guitars and pounding drums immediately brings to mind shoegaze classics like My Bloody Valentine and Swervedriver. You can get a taste below.

Their incredible 2012 Punkadelia Records release, Stereochronic, is getting reissued on cassette by Funny / Not Funny Records. It’s also available digitally on You’re Jovian’s Bandcamp page.  Give these guys a try, you’ll be glad that you did.

You’re Jovian – Sentimental Doubt from Stereochronic (2012/2017)

You’re Jovian FB

Introducing the 3hive Co-op Shop!

3hive Co-op Shop | shop.3hive.com

Hey friends,

Do you still love buying vinyl in this age of all-you-can-stream music subscription services?

Yeah, so do we. That’s why we’re introducing the 3hive Co-op Shop – so we can buy records together!

Here’s how it works: when we buy records for ourselves, we buy a couple extra for the Co-op.
This allows us to get wholesale rates from labels and distributors. Then we sell these records – brand new, sealed, unplayed – at a “co-op” discount on a first-come, first-served basis. Share the buying, share the savings!

There are lots of other things we can do as a co-op but saving money on records we all want to buy sounds like a good start, right?

We’re going to kick this off with some of our top albums of 2016:

Todd’s Top 3 Bundle

Monster Rally Mystery Cove LP (Gold Robot GRR046)

Woods City Sun Eater in the River of Light LP w/ download code (Woodsist 085)

Doug Tuttle It Calls on Me LP (Trouble in Mind TIM105)

Co-op price for all three is $50 ($68 retail)

Buy Now

Sean’s Top 3 Bundle

Charlie Hilton Palana LP (Captured Tracks CT-229)

Ultimate Painting Dusk LP (Trouble in Mind TIM117)

Beach Slang A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings LP limited edition green vinyl (Polyvinyl PRC-319)

Co-op price for all three is $48 ($63 retail)

Buy Now

Sam’s Top 3 Bundle

Tyvek Origin of What LP w/ download code (In the Red ITR296)

Homeboy Sandman Kindness for Weakness LP w/ download code (Stones Throw STH2369)

ot to, not to Goshen LP (Other People OP044)

Co-op price for all three is $48 ($68 retail)

Buy Now

Clay’s Top 3 Bundle

Real Numbers Wordless Wonder LP limited edition white vinyl (Slumberland SLR223)

Soccer Team Real Lessons in Cynicism LP w/ download code (Dischord 182)

Bent Shapes Wolves of Want LP limited edition colored vinyl w/ download code (Slumberland SLR218)

Co-op price for all three is $42 ($62 retail)

Buy Now

Shipping costs (USPS Media Mail) are included in the bundle prices.

Quantities limited. Once we sell out, we’ll move on.

If there’s a 3hive artist you’d like to buy with us, send us an email at co-op@3hive.com

Thanks for entertaining our latest experiment in sharing the sharing.

We look forward to buying records with you.

Your friends at 3hive

Tyvek

If the name Tyvek sounds familiar you’re either already up on one of Detroit’s finest art punk outfit or you’re in the construction business. Maybe both, who knows? Tyvek have been called “Detroit’s Talking Heads”, probably due more to singer Kevin Boyer’s hypnotic, poetic lyrics than their mostly raucous garage sound. Last year’s Origin of What is the band’s sixth studio album in eight years, though they’ve sold scads of CD-Rs and tapes on tour to document the creative process between proper label-backed efforts. Having released his other band’s debut (a raw, psychedelic gem in its own right) on the same day as Origin of What, Boyer clearly has no problem working with a revolving cast of characters. For the latest Tyvek release, he reunited with Fred Thomas (drums/engineer), Larry Williams (bass), and Heath Moerland (guitar) – the latter two also played on The Intended record – to hone a sound that sounds both urgent and considered at the same time. There are so many great tracks to choose from, it’s hard to pick just one – though I suppose I did for my Top Songs of 2016 post. I posted a couple more below, but from there you’re on your own…

PLRLS

PLRLS | Have You Seen My Fancy Pony | 3hive.com

Baltimore’s PLRLS (pronounced “PLURALS”) are a zany 5-piece punk-wave band that sound like Devo having a backyard pool party with the B-52s.

Their new album Have You Seen My Fancy Pony is a 30 minute romp of heavy as hell bass lines, hand claps, his and her vocal harmonies, angular guitar blasts and enough keyboard to make you believe you just took the DeLorean back to 1980.

Get a load of the bombastic “Oh What  A World” (below) in either downloadable MP3 form or via their new music video (why not partake in both?), it’ll have you pogoing (pogo-ing?) ’til you drop.

Have You Seen My Fancy Pony is out on Friday (Jan 27). You’ll be able get it from their Bandcamp page.

PLRLS’ music deserves to be in your ear holes! Enjoy.

PLRLS – Oh What A World from Have You Seen My Fancy Pony (2017)

PLRLS FB

ot to, not to

When James Blake first came on the scene, he was exactly what I needed to resolve my schizo relationship with modern R&B: tuneful and earnest with just enough glitch to appeal to my appetite for imperfection. Then he relied too much on his formula, as have numerous followers on, and things became predictable once again.

Along comes Ian Mugerwa – a/k/a ot to, not to – and his debut album of intimate, deconstructed R&B “experiments”, Goshen, on Nicolas Jaar’s Other People label. The compositions take turns evoking dirt-floor blues, avant-garde jazz, even Pablo-era Kanye. The unifying thread is Ian’s vocals which read as personal, hypnotic journal entries, sung/muttered/chanted as he carries us through his coming-of-age years.

This nuanced, eclectic effort could’ve easily veered into self-indulgent territory if it didn’t so clearly yearn to connect. It’s soul music in the most literal sense of the word. In fact, when recommending Goshen to a friend I said, “Listen closely.” It’s the best (and only) way to appreciate this album.

Pollen Rx

Pollen Rx | Sunbelt Emptiness | 3hive.com

Pollen Rx | Sunbelt Emptiness | 3hive.com

Austin, TX 4-piece, Pollen Rx, play a tasty brand of hook driven, scuzzy punk rock. Their new LP Sunbelt Emptiness is a frantic 29 minutes of angular guitars and crashing cymbals swirling around his and her vocal melodies. You can the title track “Sunbelt Emptiness” a spin below, I think you will dig it.

Sunbelt Emptiness is out on Friday (Jan 27) via Austin Town Hall Records. I highly recommend it.

Pollen Rx – Sunbelt Emptiness

January Mixtape

13 songs of inversion clearing goodness. Enjoy.

1. The Rebel Set – Trails! [hidden volume]
2. Helens – Just Like Pet Sounds [self]
3. RUMTUM – Good Places [self]
4. L’Orange – Rest Like Pollen [self]
5. MF DOOM – Charnuska [high times]
6. Palmas – Sweet Water [lost colony]
7. Emma Russack – My Own Friend [spunk]
8. Cub Country – You Want It All [them are good]
9. BADBADNOTGOOD – In Your Eyes (feat. Charlotte Day Wilson) [innovative leisure]
10. GABI – Distance Makes Me Disappear [self]
11. I Am The Polish Army – David Bowie [self]
12. The Staches – Total Commitment [bongo joe]
13. Uranium Club – Who Made The Man? [fashionable idiots]

Proper Ornaments

The Proper Ornaments | Foxhole | 3hive.com

We are big fans of Veronica Falls and Ultimate Painting here at 3hive, so when the new Proper Ornaments (another project of James Hoare’s) landed in the inbox I was quite stoked to give it a spin and I really haven’t stopped listening to it since.

Foxhole, their latest release with Slumberland Records, has a lo-fi, groove-pop vibe reminds me a lot of Ultimate Painting – especially when the noodly Velvet Underground style guitar play is in full effect.

Give their chilled-out single “Memories” a spin (below) and head over to Slumberland Records and get your hands on a copy. Enjoy.

[Psst, you can buy Proper Ornaments vinyl in the 3hive Co-op Shop.]

Proper Ornaments – Memories from Foxhole (2017)