The Sight Below - Glider - Available Now

November 11, 2008

The leaves are changing colors and floating to the ground, the days are getting shorter, the sunlight is paler – fall is here, which means that winter can’t be far behind. Ushering in the season’s chill is The Sight Below’s Glider LP, a full album of the reclusive Seattle-based producer’s exquisite ambient works, released today on Ghostly. On Glider, washes of treated guitar drift through achingly subtle beats, building into the sort of melancholy symphonies that could only originate within a chilly, solitary soul. XLR8R says, “Sunny music this is not, but it’s easy to picture the reclusive, unnamed producer behind the album hard at work in drizzly Seattle,” and the Wired blog says, “These expansive instrumental epics start out icy, but melt easily enough with proper application of the human ear.” We say it’s so gorgeous it hurts.

CROSS-POLLINATION: GHOSTLY ON OTHER LABELS

November 7, 2008

Matthew Dear’s contribution to Get Physical’s Body Language mix series, whose alumni include M.A.N.D.Y., Jesse Rose, and Junior Boys, is out now, and it’s a beaut. Dear uses Asa Breed’s fusion of house-music production and oddly processed vocals as a springboard, gliding through an hour and a quarter of tight, cavernous 4/4 grooves. XLR8R fell captive to its sorcery, and Phonica Records said “Matthew Dear takes no prisoners. The man who can do no wrong, does no wrong.” We couldn’t agree more.

Kiln and Cepia both contributed exclusive tracks to Asthmatic Kitty’s Habitat compilation. The album, whose tracks all address the concept of “architectural space”, was compiled by label directors Lowell Brams, Michael Kaufman, and Sufjan Stevens, and benefits Habitat for Humanity.

Lastly, Dabrye’s stumbling, rumbling remix of King Midas Sound’s “One Ting” (out now on Hyperdub) was dubbed “the best thing he’s ever done” by online music haven Boomkat. Not bad.

GOODBYE HALLOWEEN, GOODBYE CMJ

November 4, 2008

Ghostly’s party-packed October has finally drawn to a close. Our Studio B Halloween party with Throne of Blood was a terrifyingly good time: Daniel Wang ripped it up, Audion debuted some new material, and the costumes were pleasingly out of control. (Hi there, creepily accurate Frida Kahlo.) Our CMJ showcase at (le) poisson rouge featured the heavenly School of Seven Bells, a rather dapper Matthew Dear and his Big Hands, and a killer live set from Michna. Check out a few pictures from Metromix’s Halloween photobooth, and Nicky Digital’s shots of Matthew Dear and Michna’s respective CMJ performances.

More Ghostly events to come – in NYC and beyond!

Alpinisms Arrives

October 28, 2008

After many rumblings and murmurs, School of Seven Bells’ full-length debut, Alpinisms, will be released Today. The album is an absolute tour-de-force, a meticulous mix of shoegaze guitars, globe-spanning electronic beats, and sophisticated pop songcraft. Blonde Redhead’s Simon Pace guests on the eleven-and-a-half-minute epic “Semipiternal/Amaranth.”

The band’s revelatory performance at CMJ earned them a front-page nod from the New York Times’ Arts section, and SPIN magazine says that “Alpinisms’ sweeping, ethereal pop reveals a range of influences and a sophisticated approach to arrangement that sets the trio well apart from less imaginative latter-day shoegazers.” Blender’s on board as well, saying, “Match the Deheza sisters’s angelic vocals to a thick plodding beat and Edge-like guitars, and you’ve got something close to nirvana.”

School of Seven Bells travel to London for a few shows tonight and tomorrow, and launch an extensive November tour with Ghostly faves M83 afterwards. Check out all of SVIIB’s tour dates here.