Vibrato 11.01

The theme for this compilation could be “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here”, as a majority of the featured artists are friends and acquaintances of mine from the shoegaze.co.uk forum.

The original ink to a downloadable version expired 12am PST, Friday, 4 February 2011.

Vibrato 11.01
01. “Consolation” by Skylight from Skylight EP (©2010 Skylight)
Skylight was formed in Boston in 1991 by Perry Pelonero and Mike Bunnell. The current lineup features Perry: Bass and Vocals, Pete Konto: Guitars and Mixing, and Brent Martino: Guitars and Drum Programming. Kim Welsh supplied the backing vocals on “Consolation”. The self-titled EP is due to be released Spring of 2011, with a full-length to follow in the summer.
myspace

02. “Mainlines” by Ports of Call from Fractals EP (©2010 Ports of Call)
Ports of Call is a band from Philadelphia. The soon to be released Fractals EP is the followup to Ports of Call‘s 2008 debut album, Like Thieves….
bandcamp | myspace | facebook | twitter

03. “Infection” by Morpheme (©2010 Morpheme Music)
Written, recorded and performed by by Kim, Perry, and Dean.
Produced and Mixed by Dean Garcia at The ELaB
Recorded at ELaB and The Scumpit

Kim: Vox and Lyrics
Perry: Guitars and porn
Dean: Bass, Drums, and Programming

Dean was in Curve and is currently in SPC ECO
Perry is in Skylight, bliss.city.east, and writes an occasional song for others
Kim was in Skylight, currently in bliss.city.east
myspace | facebook

04. “Idiot Savant” by Figurehead from Pinion (©2010 Figurehead)
Inspired by a DIY ethic, Figurehead set out to record a big record in a bedroom. What resulted was Pinion, a diverse collection of songs which actually predate the band’s official formation in 2004. Alternating between wandering soundscapes and sonic fury, Pinion is the first in a series of planned recordings from the band, and is available to download free or at whatever price you name on Bandcamp.
bandcamp | myspace | facebook | website

05. “Golden Now” by Fleeting Joys from Despondent Transponder (©2009 Only Forever)
This one is a bit tricky. According to Rorika, “Golden Now” was always meant to be on Despondent Transponder, but they forgot about it. It is now listed as the eleventh track on that release, and I would imagine that it will be present on the upcoming vinyl reissue. The song is also available as a free download from Bandcamp.
bandcamp | myspace | facebook | website

06. “Lunar” by Stumbleine from Stumbleine EP (©2010 Stumbleine)
Stumbleine is one producer. based in Bristol, who wishes to go unnamed for now. Stumbleine claim these influences: Burial, How to Dress Well, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. This first, self-titled EP was released in December 2010, and is available to download free (and in several formats) from Bandcamp.

07. “Sea Sickened” by White Woods from Bellplay (©2010 Sensory Projects)
From the album Bellplay, on sale now through Sensory Projects.

08. “Brighton Beach” by Milk from Milk (©2009 Milk)
Making music in London, Milk layer walls of feedback and delayed guitars over computerised granular noise, pounding bass, and drums. Mixing the melodic with the chaotic, the band draw from Shoegaze, Post Rock, and Ambient Electronica to create a distinctive texture cut through with doubled androgynous vocals.
bandcamp | facebook | website

09. “This Is Something New” by Stellarscope from Call Me Destroyer (©2010 Stellarscope)
The Call Me Destroyer EP is a prelude of what the next full length from Stellarscope will sound like.
bandcamp | myspace | reverbnation

10. “The Prince William Sound” by The Hope Slide from The Hope Slide (©2010 The Hope Slide)
Michaela Galloway (vocals, keyboards) and John Lucas (guitar, bass, keyboards, drum programming) played together in the band Hinterland, and they carry on their collaboration as a duo, traversing a bridge between electronic rock and dark, dreamy pop. The Hope Slide‘s self-titled debut is something of a concept album, featuring songs about disasters and upheavals of every sort. There is darkness here, but also the hope that humankind, and nature itself, will endure.
bandcamp | myspace | radio3 | website

The cover is a detail from Francoise Hardy by Dan Ness

Dan is a friend and an ex-coworker of mine. He is the
only person I know of who sorts his CDs by the color of
the spine. True story.

Check out some more of his art here.

All copyrighted materials used with the permission of the copyright holders.

Acknowledgments:
I am grateful to all the artists who participated in making the music found on this compilation. Special thanks go out to those individuals who acted as the liaisons between the bands and me: Perry (Skylight and Morpheme) – you wouldn’t believe how much work he had to go through to get Skylight onto this compilation; Tom (Ports of Call) – contacted me, when I wasn’t sure he’d even remember who I was; Jason (Figurehead) – gave a nice interview to promote the compilation; Rorika (Fleeting Joys) – has a kick-ass name and was very supportive; X (Stumbleine) – is giving away some seriously good tunes; Steve (Sensory Projects) – represents the first label to say “yes” to my request for a song; Adam (Milk) – provided some balance by supplying me with a fourth song featuring a female vocalist, that it happens to be a great song is incidental; Tom (Stellarscope) – another who approached me with several good songs to choose from; John (The Hope Slide) – let me have my pick from his fine (and reasonably priced) album.