Obsessively devoted to excavating the unjustifiably overlooked, forgotten, hidden in plain sight & truly underappreciated in the musical universe, old and new.
Ed Zed speaks on the meaty, beaty, spaced out, and hazy Long Distance Dan.
Limeyland’s very own Long Distance Dan thrusts a venerable paw into his luscious cornucopia of bugged-out electronics, fragmented funk and psyche-tinged beats, rummaging around for a hot moment before extracting the exotic and delicious fruit that is The Dust Man Stirs. Dust Man was named by Dan’s 2 -year old son (clearly a man in possession of a poetic soul which belies his ultra-youth), and appears to feature vocal cameos from the young scamp throughout this nebulous yet sparkling album.
Fall under the Long Distance family spell right here :
“I think this is what it must sound like in heaven”
Okay so, that is an actual vintage quote from my “young person’s” diary upon hearing the Cocteau Twins for the first time, and the song “Lorelei” in particular. That’s not hyperbole, I admit I totally, teenage-edly meant it from the core of my angst ridden soul, yup. See I’d never come across anything quite like it before and hearing it emanating through the speakers gave me a total physical rush, as in I had to stop what I was doing and just stand there and be awestruck and overwhelmed by its plush beauty… so of course that meant it had to be aligned with the ultimate place and space. The #1 song in heaven, for real.
“Are you there God ? Judging by the sound of this record I think you are.”
And while there are loads and loads of wonderful things out there, that transcendent feeling is still a pretty rare occurrence…which brings me here. William Brittelle is a composer, and multi-instrumentalist as well as the co-artistic director of the New Amsterdam label in NY. Back in 2010 he released a gorgeous, something else pop song called “Dunes of Vermillion” which is a whole lotta things at once: Beach Boys heavenly, late 70’s West Coast Am radio windy and epically classical in construction. It also features the most regal and sweetest use of autotune you’re ever gonna hear. Plus the guitar solo is a siren song within a siren song. That’s a lot, I know. I was completely obsessed with it for a long while and it still ranks high in my horrifyingly geeky “best records of the century” list. The album it ultimately appeared on, Television Landscapes also turned out to be a pretty special thing, all wonderfully weird, tuneful, and orchestral.
And so I offer an an eternal bow to at least the # 2 song in heaven; thank you, and please explore below, hello, hello, hello….
Here’s “Dunes of Vermillion” :
Here’s the amazing Television Landscapes album in it’s entirety, go get your headphones :
And lastly, here’s the Cocteau Twins “Lorelei” that I crushed on to ludicrous extremes :
Yes ! And now for some glorious pop music of the highest order, which is to say here are some fine, recently discovered things all neatly compiled for your listening pleasure. The playlists include songs we’ve featured plus ones we haven’t so there’s still some discovering to be done ! As usual there’s some stuff that is only on Soundcloud, and some that is only on Spotify, which is why there are playlists for each because we absolutely 100% don’t want you to miss a damn thing ! And so you are actively encouraged to listen to both !!
Unfolding slowly in a most angelic manner, “Limb by Limb” is a truly precious thing that feels not unlike following a trail of of paper hearts on the ground and being unsuspectingly lead into a maze. Like that kind of precious. Like a lonely waltz done by Savage Garden in a cloud. It’s medicine, and honestly, today is perfect for it, pretty sure we can all use it, so just close your eyes and get lost in here.
The gentlest of jangles, the sweetest of synths, and an unmistakable New Order twang, all add up to the most handsome of tunes. “Fernweh” is the German word for wanderlust, that uncontrollable urge to roam to other places, and as this has truly transportive qualities, that’s kind of perfect.
Radio Wolf is Oliver Blair, and this, his latest single, glitters oh so brightly. It instantly brought to mind Psychic TV’s 1985 pop-tastic classic “Godstar”, as well later 80’s purveyors of colorful and shiny indie-ness, The Adult Net, and Danielle Dax. It’s a picture sleeve as much as it is a song. And hell yes, it features vocals from Sarah Blackwood, late of 90’s band Dubstar, who are freakin’ awesome, and we’ve written about before, and are absolutely worth your time as well.
Gorgeous and hazy. Vast and woozy. A bit psych and a bit Quiet Storm, a real soft focus beauty here from the New Zealand band off their new album “Lizard Tears”. And hey, gotta bow gently in honor to the vocal here, which sounds simultaneously anesthetized and sad and is supremely lovely.
This is a song of no fixed time…as in it could’ve been made in any of the past 4 decades and still sound precisely as it does right now. It’s a marriage of Daughter to Cocteau Twins to Moodswings cult hit from 1992 with Chrissie Hynde, “Spiritual High” and is ineffably pretty, full of space and soul, and ready for you to completely lean upon it in times of need.
From the gorgeous and lingering held notes in the verses and chorus, to the vocal descents into the deep basement, to the mournful piano keys that recall “Inner City Blues ( Make Me Wanna Holler)”, this is a real stunner…it’s also, dare I say, even better than anything on her pretty fine debut from back in 2014, “Yellow Memories”. Beauty.
Here is some medicine to relieve the stress, pain, and tears that this seemingly worldwide mayhem has caused over the past year for all of us. The Dynamic Superiors were a latter era Motown act, who recorded 4 albums for the label from 1975-1977. Their lead singer, Tony Washington’s sweet falsetto was every bit as beautiful as that of his contemporary, Russell Thompkins Jr., lead singer of the million selling Stylistics i.e. utterly angelic and not of this world. Still the Dynamics never achieved near the Stylistics level of success. They did however have one shining moment in the sun, releasing one of the most perfect slices of ’70s soul ever, “Shoe Shoe Shine”, written by the legendary Motown songwriting team of Ashford & Simpson. And so, we invite you to please watch this sublime and insane performance by yours, The Dynamic Superiors from “Soul Train”, December 21st, 1974 because there is so much bad sh*t happening right now and we could all use a little medicine. As long as the earth is turning, these guys will be here for us, in all their yellow suited glory. And for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, that slow spin will make everything feel okay.
PICKING UP ROCKS 