Spencer Krug is a serial collaborator. Simultaneously a member of Montreal groups Wolf People and Sunset Rubdown he also formed Canuck art-rock super-group Swan Lake with Dan Bejar of Destroyer and Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes (another band that Krug used to feature in too). So it shouldn’t be a surprise that his third solo release under the Moonface moniker is not in fact a solo record but one in which he is backed by Finnish kraut-rock outfit Siinai (formed from the ashes of Joensuu 1685 ). So in response to the enquiry ‘what are you listening to?’ the answer ...

Другой альбом, о котором много писали на этой неделе – изрядно озадачившая всех совместная запись Avey Tare из группы Collective">Animal Collective и Kria Brekkan из исландского коллектива Mum. Носит он название «Pullhair Rubeye» и обладает одной маленькой «особенностью»: он записан задом наперед. Зачем Эви и Криа решили так поступить; что это – шутка, серьезное намерение или просто «защита от копирования» - стало одной из тем обсуждения в блогах Gorilla vs Bear, Harmonium, Muzak For Cybernetics. Но всех переплюнул Tiny Mix Tapes; его написанный также задом наперед пост об этом диске просто надо видеть! Также частых упоминаний удостоились: «прог-поп»-альбом «Tones of Town ...

Mann im Mond Moonface ist ein Projekt von Spencer Krug (u.a. Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes). Für seine dritte Veröffentlichung hat er sich Unterstützung geholt. Das Ergebnis nennt sich "With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery" und liefert einen kosmischen Trip der Extraklasse. Mehr Rock | Pop

The many incarnations of Spencer Krug have eventually narrowed themselves down to just one. Krug is a prolific, multi-talented man with a noticeably high quota of music released, so it probably won’t last. But the most surprising thing here is to find Moonface as the chosen entity to carry on as an output for his work. Of the many brilliant acts Krug has been involved in – Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes, to name but a few - you felt Moonface was the one that didn't quite have the legs or quality deserving of his attention and warranting another ...

Next week, Jagjaguwar will release With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery , the latest full-length offering from Spencer Krug's Moonface project. It's a chilly breakup album that finds the Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown/Frog Eyes/Swan Lake musician collaborating with Finnish,

Siinai are Finland's greatest krautrock band. Which is no frivolous praise — the country's crisp air is currently pulsing with electric muesli motorik . Besides this Helsinki quartet, there's the shimmering restraint-core trio K-X-P, pulse-pop melodramatists Zebra and Snake, and Mercury Revved-up space cases Joensuu 1685. These bands share members and managers and most likely record collections, as they're seemingly fueled by a similar penchant for night-driving grooves and cloud-swallowing hooks. Rhythmically, it's Can, it's Neu!, it's La Dusseldorf, it's chin-stroke, bong-hit, zone-out, bliss-out, nod-off, stargazing comedowns. But these bands' almost comically oversized melodies ...

Been yearning for some Blackout Beach? Well, today’s your day, then! Carey Mercer and company have released a pay-what-you-want digital album called 11 Pink Helicopters in the Coral Sky on Bandcamp that you can go and download RIGHT NOW! For fans of Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach, this unexpected morsel of guitar noodling and muffled reverb should come as a welcome surprise. To those out there that are downright frightened of Mercer’s intense vocal style, you should also check this out, as the record features none of Mercer’s trademark yelps or shrieks (though they’ve still attributed ...

Spencer Krug just doesn't seem to be able to relax.  Rapidly becoming the Robert Pollard of Canadian music, the Wolf Parade / Sunset Rubdown / Swan Lake / Frog Eyes member is back with his other other outfit, Moonface . On the new record, Krug collaborates with Finnish band Siinai .  The resulting album, With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery , comes out on April 17th. Listen to "Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips" here: Here's the track list: Continue reading »

carey mercer hatte ich, wenn ich das richtig recherchiert habe, zuletzt im februar 2009 auf dem sender. auch in jener notiz ging es um das blackout beach benannte projekt, mit dem sich der umtriebige frog eyes verantwortliche und das swan lake mitglied nebenher beschäftigt. damals ging es um die ideale frau, die er einer griechischen sage nach beschrieb. auch mit dem neuen album "fuck death" ist eine intensive thematische auseinandersetzung verbunden. diesmal suchte mercer die verbindung von schönheit und krieg, er ließ sich über drei jahre für diese aufgabe zeit. inspiriert wurde er von einem gemälde des amerikanischen malers leon ...

Posting a year-end list in December is, for me, an admission of defeat. It goes against my real feelings about year-end lists and their potential viability and reveals me as an all-too-willing cog in the grips of the blog-o-sphere hype machine. Which is no huge reveal. I am easily one of the most hyperbolic (and nonsensical) writers on the internet and Forest Gospel is not even a blip on the radar of music taste-making--as well it shouldn't be. So I suppose it's not a big deal if I allow myself to get sucked into the pomp and confetti ...

As 2011 winds down, you may be taking a moment or more in the next couple of weeks to reflect on all the great music you heard this year. Remember James Blake's debut LP ? That was in January! Everything since then has all been this year! Many, many great albums and singles were released in 2011. I've never tried to compile a list of favorite songs from a year before, but I decided to do a two-week special highlighting my top 50 songs of the year on my radio show this January. Making that list turned out to ...

Blackout Beach is Frog Eyes frontman Carey Mercer’s solo project, and its third album, Fuck Death, shares many characteristics with the work of his full band. There are the requisite unintelligible lyrics and obscure cultural references, nods to Agamemnon and “Chinese soldier poems.” There is the deliberate and sometimes frustrating obliqueness. The songs are [...]

Blackout Beach Fuck Death Dead Oceans Records [2011] Fire Note Says: Blackout Beach does not disappoint on third LP as Carey Mercer once again will challenge your brain. Album Review: I don't think there is any argument that Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes, Swan Lake) has released some complex records and on his third long player, under his Blackout Beach moniker, you may add Fuck Death to the list. This record is about beauty and war while exploring cowardice at the perspective of a deserter. Heavy stuff but the material really does make for an interesting listen, as most of ...

This here's a mix I made about this time last year, a ballet about a man lost on foot in a mountain forest during a severe blizzard. Don't worry, the narrative's totally legible. Stay cold: Black Sky Black Snow by ForestGospel Black Sky Black Snow from Mediafire tracklist, as best I can: Mouthus - "The Duration Myth" Zs - "Concert Black" Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - "Dark Night of the Soul" Tom Waits - "Falling Down" The See Through Boy - "Interview" John Wiese - "Circle Snare" Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky - "Act I: Scene and Waltz of the Snowflakes" Mount Eerie - "Wind Speaks" The ...

by teepoo Blackout Beach is Carey Mercer from Frog Eyes and Swan Lake which I never really was very fond of so was never posted here, but his latest solo project Blackout Beach is pretty intriguing. It sort of reminds me of the reasons why I love Timber Timbre, that sort of folk-eeriness. Blackout Beach [...]