Monsieur Cabinet on the Porch

The other day I came across a wonderful set of illustrations depicting awesome things. It turns out they’re done by Monsieur Cabinet, a dude named Dave from Leeds. We invited him to the Porch so he could tell us a little more about what he does. BONUS: he says stuff like “a bit shit” and “having a go!”

Anthony Zinonos

Anthony Zinonos is a young artist from South Africa now living Norwich.  He has an incredible collection of paper. I really admire his ability to make such simple and charming pieces. Continue reading and check out more of his work….

Toro y Moi on the Porch

Here at the Porch we’re into all kinds of hazy psychedelia. And though we’ve had a lot to choose from lately, South Carolina’s Toro y Moi has stood out from the pack. Chaz Bundick, the man behind Toro y Moi, melds together layers of washed-out samples and sings with an earnestness that places him right between Ariel Pink and Panda Bear on the musical spectrum. We recently spoke with the 23-year-old Chaz about his wobbly, nostalgic jams, being a music blog sensation, and his near future.

City Center on the Porch

City Center makes effects-driven experimental pop, the staple niche for many groups nowadays such as High Places and Animal Collective, but with more experiments, and less pop. Not a disadvantage by any means, rather each song seems to swim, and they realize this as well with their sea-centric artwork, through layers of indecipherable, yet warm sounds. Throw in some acoustic strumming or tribal percussion, hell sometimes even both, to pull it all back together, and you’ve got City Center at their best. Without further Delay, please check out the interview.

Mp3: City Center – Gladest

Themselves on the Porch

 

My first instinct when I get an interview back with no adherence to capitalization, punctuation, or sentence structure is to clean it up, fix the ‘errors,’ and in this particular case, rewrite the whole thing. Then I thought, ‘Wait, Themselves‘ music seems to mirror this interview-in-the-raw too well to lay the grimy hands of grammar on it.’ Below is an interview with the dudes that have long been known for letting their unbridled muse loose to thrash about inside their songs – now it is on the Porch.

 

Mixtape (zip-file): Themselves – FREEhoudini

Cold Cave on the Porch

Cold Cave plays gloom-synth-pop constructed from the thin air that floats between the hard-knock city of Philadelphia and the bright, dirty NYC. Wes, the central conspirator of Cold Cave, came by the Porch to ruminate about astrological signs as inspiration, beauty & sorrow, but the main reason he’s here is to practice his conversation skills.

Mp3: Cold Cave – Cebe & Me

Silk Flowers on the Porch

In only a few weeks Silk Flowers have embedded their morose pop carnival far enough into my psyche’ to make me think “Won’t children still want candy at the end of the world?” Silk Flowers are giving the sticky stuff away with a smile. On the Porch today they talk about their New York residence, dream dictionaries, and the all important aspiration to dull the isolation between us.

Mp3: Silk Flowers – Shadows in Daylight

Men & Women on the Porch

Chances are you’ve never listened to Men & Women, a four piece noise/dance band from Brooklyn, but you can believe they are creating music you will enjoy. A few weeks back I caught their set which consisted of heavy doses of shredding and feedback with a beat that steadily bubbled underneath the chaos pulling the sounds back together into an enjoyable mass. Unfortunately, the song below is not very indicative of their current sound, but should give some idea of where these guys are coming from.

Mp3: Men & Women – Flowing Blood

Crime Novels on the Porch

I was more open minded than normal because of the general strangeness that lingered in the Halloween-night air, but I was still taken aback by Crime Novels‘ set, which consisted of Ellery Samson parading around the multi-neon painted garage/venue in scrubs, weaving in and out of the crowd, while screaming lyrics over a glitchy pattern of drum machine pops and bass bumps. That was over a year ago, and since then I’ve come to appreciate Samson’s act without under-standing the gist of it until now; a one man show dedicated to sadness.

Mp3: Crime Novels – Cats & Rats

Alessi Stops By The Porch

I first came across Alessi, and her subworld of child-like fantasy and sincere kindness, through her fascinating zine, the Brain Bulletin. Since then I have learned that she also has talents in music making. Through a voice as delicate as the guitar she softly plucks and picks, and songwriting that massages the imagination, she creates a world all her own, one worth a vacation to. She stopped by the Porch to chat about such things as her new album, “Notes from the Tree House,” out on March 30th, Dr. Seuss, and London, her hometown.

MP3: Alessi – The Horse