greenpoint duo free spirit, recently outed by dazed and confused magazine as our pals mcgregor of chocolatebobka and jonah maurer of wet dream/family portrait, are brewing up some seriously celestial ambient sounds, which mcgregor breaks down as 90% improv and 10% layered tracks set by jonah. the following is one of the latter, and one of the prettiest, most mollifying passages we’ve encountered in recent memory:

mp3:
free spirit – the event

the neighbors have been quietly uploading tracks, videos, mixtapes since last fall, with mcg has also been creating solo work as meadowlands. his minimalist grosskopf redux was apparently given the nod by rvng, and is currently at work on a meditational ambiance/instructional series, including music for sleeping, for mass transporation, for office environments, for asian fusion restaurants, etc.

high-concept, yes. and don’t expect to catch them live unless you live in europe or japan [update: now willing to play south america, too], as those are the only two places they’re willing to play. in the meantime, zone out:

Free Spirit – The Event from Free Spirit on Vimeo.

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free spirit tumblr
meadowlands

la big vic, one of our favorite bands in the cosmos, debuted a new track today set to pixels by videomulch freak luke wyatt, it’s an exquisitely psychedelic joyride through the heavens. the track is absolutely epic and we’ve long been fans of luke’s mangled video work, with his mi ami and autre ne veut clips immediately coming to mind.

their first full-length lp, entitled actually, lands may 10th on underwater peoples. above, behold the just-finished robert beatty cover art, with the just-confirmed tracklist below. overjoyed to watch this band continue their rapid ascension.

la big vic – actually:

01 LYNY
02 Heyo (Silver Morning)
03 FAO
04 Chinese Wedding
05 Mr. Broken Bird
06 Bobka Chocka
07 Musica

mp3:
mp3: la big vic – lyny

more lbv:
newtown sessions: “musica”
past lbv sightings

just added to this bill of avant-pop genius alongside lovers international tapes. curated by popgun. glasslands is the place. stay late and dance, we’ll be handling the afterparty.

aside from john maus, who we’ve caught a bunch recently but will never tire of, we are particularly psyched for holy shit‘s return from isolation (we’ll devote a whole post to that later in the week). will be a night to remember, without a doubt.

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PopGun Presents…

Mon, May 9th @ Glasslands Gallery

__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/

JOHN MAUS
GARY WAR
HOLY SHIT!

*********************************************

DJ SETS by INTERNATIONAL TAPES DJs

afterparty by WEIRD MAGIC

__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/

21+, Doors at 8:30pm

$10 ADV / $12 DOS
TICKETS

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200743383293436

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that new john maus, which u should be listening to on repeat:

john maus – believer

view photos:

• pitchfork
• facebook

all photos by erez avissar.
view gallery on pitchfork

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i helped film the first episode of season 2 of ourshow with elliot aronow last night at santos party house, and snapped some photos in the process (with help from will colby‘s amazing 24mm/1.4 lens). guests included mndr and skerrit bwoy. house band harsh toke included Andy McLeod (ex white magic, brightblack morning light), Peter Schuette (silk flowers), Sammy Bananas (telephoned), Hisham Bharoocha (ex black dice, soft circle), and Nick Zinner (yeah yeah yeahs). all photos by erez avissar.

MORE »

we asked claire/grimes, author of some of the most hauntingly beautiful music in recent memory, what she’s been listening to lately, and her picks show inspiration coming from some very diverse places, but somehow making perfect sense:

grimes – weird magic mix (mixed by rezzie) – [download as zip]

01. Prince – Computer Blue
02. Hamza – Wassila
03. Doldrums – Thinking of This snippet
04. Katy B – Louder
05. Blue Hawaii – Dream Electrixra
06. Seany Mac – One of Those Days
07. Tadeo – Bateria Lup!
08. Aretha Franklin – I say a Little Prayer

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grimes’ split w/ d’eon is out today on hippos in tanks / arbutus records: buy here or stream the full thing below. her glorious halfaxa lp still available for your chosen price. both include “vanessa,” check the self-directed video below. grimes’ current live set consists of all-new material and the last few times we’ve seen her (incl. at our own sxsw show) we’ve been blown away by the new stuff. what a talented lady.

[RELATED: photos/videos of grimes djing our party at 285 kent with asap rocky, arca et al]

clams casino – all i need
clams casino – gorilla
lil b – i’m god (instrumental) [prod. clams casino]

download: instrumental mixtape / b-side instrumentals and remixes

matthewdavid – like you mean it

new lp outmind out this week on brainfeeder.

st. vincent – marry me (etherea remix)
snoop dogg – drop it like it’s hot (etherea remix)

balam acab before he was balam acab. download: freeetherea zip.

samurai buck – sunset
teebs – arthur’s birds

Dem Hunger – Rainwater Tea by m.r.t

who’d we leave out?

chicago’s finest footworkers are invading new york: lit city, brand new label by the ghetto teknitianz, dave quam and azizaman, have brought out some of the heaviest hitters: ghettotek founder and legend in his own time dj rashad, seasoned veterans/pioneers traxman and clent, and underage producer/footworking double-force dj manny are here to hold it down. the best juke still comes from its birthplace of chicago, and the ghetto teckz are at the very forefront of this, producing some of the most interesting/progressive/rhythmically innovative music on the planet, period. they are blessing santos’ mammoth sound system this friday, as well as tonight at the cove for the warmup. these guys don’t come out here as much as they should, and last time i saw dj rashad spin my eyes were rolling in the back of my head, i literally couldn’t make sense of the sounds coming out of the speakers, but i was completely arrested by them nonetheless. come out and taste the future.

wednesday, 04.13.11 @ the cove, brooklyn (sans dj clent) – $3

friday, 04.15.11 @ santos party house, nyc (12-4am upstairs) – $10

dj rashad – feel da soundz [see also: rinse.fm & reverb, love u found]
traxman – slip fall / mix
dj clent – drop low / mix
dj manny – i’m da shyt b [see also: aw shit]

1st edition in a series of playlists of our favorite new medicines.

the greatest thing i’ve ever heard right now (this early backstage take infinitely superior to the original), and reminder that good vocal harmonies = one of the greatest things in life. (thx elise for reminding me)

dj milton – house-o-matics

chicago dance mania ripper. my jam. [thx boylan]

secret birds – pink nites

a certified psych classic… wait no, a new track by secret birds, a tokyo-based group on a boutique brisbane indie.

Mae by Magic Mountain by The Pop Manifesto

seems we can’t help but post everything this man does. he is a force. single out today on itunes.

you’re dancing while ascending space. gem off last year’s great purple brain comp.

sunday brunch: midsummer night

you’re raving all night on a beach somewhere in europe, and this track comes on as the sun spills into the skies.

> pictureplane – full vrelease / live mix @ ghe20 gothik

mr. egedy has been holding back for too long, and he’s being generousssss with this one. half remixes, half new stuff. set at ghe20 gothik = really fucking good too. (via dismagazine)

> godspeed you! black emperor Live at Paradiso on 2011-01-19

why aren’t more talking about the recent godspeed reemergence? archive.org’s got a slew of live recordings of all stripes of quality, but this one may be the best-sounding of ’11 so far. [via archive.org live music archive]

weird magic’s own aaron/boots delivers this new video for mane mane‘s “twinkl sr,” out on triple you tapes, earning the title of “Bushwick’s most talented AfterEffects guru“. easy to get completely lost in this world he creates:

Mane Mane – Twinkl Sr from Aaron Katsnelson on Vimeo.

weird magic turned a half-year-old recently, and that half-year has been packed with highlights. eternal gratitude for all the support. this blog was born with every intention of having it progress, shapeshift, and evolve, and today we are announcing a few changes:

• in thinking of ways to improve our reader’s experience, we believe posting music in the form of short “playlists” is more effective than individual music posts, so we are going to try out a new way of posting great music in clusters rather than one at a time. we believe this will allow more room for photos, features, and exclusives, and make it easier to find/consume what you want. the first of these posts will go up later today.
• we have decided to stop doing the radio show. we’d prefer to deliver quality content when it is ready and have people listen to it or download it for keeps whenever they like, in the highest quality possible. it was a great excuse for us to get some awesome mixes and exclusives, but still pledge to actually step up the frequency of both artist mixes/sessions/features, as well as mixes of our own (weird magic mix #2 to drop soon, in the meantime check our past ones), and there are a ton of improvements that i can’t wait to make to the site itself as soon as i find some time.
• today aaron “boots” moves forward from regularly posting/generally being half of the blog. he wants to focus more on his video work and will still contribute and continue to collaborate on music stuff with me. and we’re still best friends. oh, and he dropped a new music video today.
• weird magic could use some help! looking for skilled writers willing to help out with music posts on a very flexible basis, to write about great tracks, conduct interviews, edit, and the like. we could also use a helper/intern in brooklyn down to hang with us a couple times a week, photo edit, help plan events, music, pushing envelopes, etc.
• and lastly, of course, if you’ve got any suggestions/feedback for us, please let us know!

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[animorph by aixzana]