meg elsier • forlyleinsanfrancisco • 2024

Hailing from New England and now based in Nashville, meg elsier has emerged as one of the most exciting new voices in the indie-rock space. Juxtaposing her sweet vocals and opulent melodies with grungy guitars and weighty production, meg is carving out a sonic lane all of her own. Her wit and self-awareness shines through in her lyrics, seamlessly weaving into the fabric of her ethereal shoegaze sound.

Website

ifitbeyourwill S03 E10 • American Analog Set

https://www.amanset.com/

The music of American Analog Set is a captivating blend of indie rock, dream pop, and synth undertones. With their latest record, "For Forever," they continue to mesmerize listeners with their lush soundscapes and hypnotic melodies. The album effortlessly transports listeners to a dreamy sonic landscape, filled with shimmering guitars, ethereal synths, and intricate rhythms. Each track is a sonic journey, inviting listeners to get lost in the band's signature atmospheric sound. Lead singer and guitarist, Andrew Kenny joined me from his Texas home to share his incredible musical timeline, and be sure to catch the first track of For Forever at the end of our chat. Enjoy 🎙️ 

Lo-fi, low budget, and low key, The American Analog Set’s suite of hypnotic, neo-psychedelic, Texas sloth-kraut LPs appeared briefly on Austin’s Emperor Jones label and slunk quietly into the sprawling indie underground as the old millennium crested. Gathered here are The Fun Of Watching Fireworks, From Our Living Room To Yours, and The Golden Band albums, garnished with period b-sides, outtakes, and demos. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this early-career spanning 5xLP box includes lyrics, photos, and ephemera from the before times. 

https://numerogroup.com/products/new-drifters

The American Analog Set • For Forever • 2023

What is For Forever ?

That’s a great question. For Forever is our first album in a long time. 18 years, if anyone is counting and we sincerely hope they are not.

Is it real?

It is. On October 27th, it is. You can preorder it here, and it will ship to you on the 27th. It will also be available for streaming the following day. If you’re in Austin and would like to hold one in your hands (I’ve done this… it’s incredible), you can do this at Breakaway, End Of An Ear, or Waterloo Records on or after October 27th. 

Are these new songs?

They are! 

When was it made? 

 We started playing together again in 2013 and began work on For Forever in 2015. We finished it in 2019 and left it under the couch for a few years while the world was on fire.

Soft Kill • "Sky" • 2021

"Much like a dealer will place themselves on the fringes of social graces, Soft Kill operates outside of the industry laws with no care for opinions of genre cops. They run their business like rappers, tour with hardcore bands, and sound like a rock bottom Morrissey. If you are unfamiliar or curious about the seedy underbelly of post-punk, [Soft Kill] is your gateway drug." - Clint Gee, Outburn Online

Super Pyramid • Jewels Away • 2020

“While the basic formula of vulnerable intonations over a lush amalgam of electronic loops and live instrumentation has not changed, the mood of "Jewels Away" is markedly, if subtly, more assured than the songs from Super Pyramid's debut EP Devoid. The first release’s melancholy waltz, “There’s Nothing Wrong with You,” feels at pains to convince the listener of its title’s claim, expressing a seemingly unresolvable tension between intellectual and emotional knowledge. On the other hand, “Jewels Away” observes anxiety-induced inertia with perceptive grace through singer Ben Rowey and new member Chelsea Mei Lee’s repeated declaration that “nothing’s holding you back, but it’s easier than moving forward.”

Yak - This House Has No Living Room ft. J Spaceman

"This is the last song we recorded at RAK and it's definitely my favourite. It sums the whole record up. I guess it's inspired by mortality and memories of loved ones past and present. It also features my good friend John Coxon on piano and harmonica without whom I doubt the band would be where we are today. If it's the last piece of music I ever make I'll be happy."

Chatham Rise - Meadowsweet - 2018

 A distinctive presentation of lucid dreaming delivered with psychedelic splendor, defining a journey that while earthbound on this outing, will have listeners returning again and again for these nocturnal slumbers where sound is made up of colours, and the colours go on about defining and redefining an organic pastoral reflection that washes and ebbs effortlessly, filled with bewildering slow motion luscious intoxication. - Jenell Kesler

Vast Robot - Dinner Music - 2017

Sitting in a kitchen at a house party in early spring of 2017. sitting with a bunch of friends around the  kitchen table, when one of the friends uttered the words “well, I wouldn’t call it ‘Dinner Music’ per se…” For some reason this phrase immediately resonated with Jason and the ironic setting it was presented in. Jason got up, excused himself and grabbed a guitar in the next room. ...15 mins later he had emerged with all the bones of “Dinner Music”. the song just unfolded in front of him. and after arranging the structure he sent the music to John Agee in Missouri. 3 days later John and Joe sent Jason the demo back with the vocals. as soon as he heard it, he declared.

"Well damn, that’s some dinner music! "

Numbers Are Futile - Sunlight on Black Horizon - 2015

“Numbers are Futile have clearly achieved that rare mind-altering power that we often dub ‘psychedelic’, without banking on handy signposts like wah pedals or drug references.” – Drowned in Sound 8/10 

“Spacey, fuzzy electronica, full of cascading synths, juddering, tribal drums and faraway vocals singing of fire and oblivion.” – The List ☆☆☆☆ 

“Errors, Steve Reich, Tangerine Dream and Vangelis flash past the windscreen as adrenaline injections pummel the heart over and over again.” – Sunday Herald 

“Unusual and very interesting” – Vic Galloway, BBC Radio Scotland 

“A true kaleidoscope of sound” – Glasgow Podcart 

“I was blown away. I found them utterly arresting” – Through the Wire 

“Synths squelch from the large control desk, while drums thunder away as if someone is about to sacrifce a lamb.” – WOW 24/7 

Crown Larks - Blood Dancer - 2015

“… exists at the intersection of the free rock, avant-garde jazz, and outre improvisation scenes which have long been a hallmark of the city’s music culture. “Blood Mirage” is the first taste of their upcoming debut Blood Dancer. A lumbering, slow-burn intro is worth the wait as Crown Larks launch into an unexpectedly tight groove, smearing healthy dollops of saxophone over an energetic percussion attack that reframes the preceding skronk as a storm-before-the-calm palate cleanser. in an admirable display of patience they have waited until now to unleash their debut long-player. The authentic chemistry that results from hours upon hours of gigging is heard throughout Blood Dancer.” - AdHoc 

“… an avant-garde melting pot that depicts what happens when musicians on the same wavelength fuse mind, energy, and talents together as a unified communal-like force. ‘Overgrown’ is not your parent’s side b singular jam band track, but Crown Larks’ experimentation in creating plant and tree like textures that grow before your ears and eyes upon listening. Jack’s voice guides you through the evergreen tall grass, wild grown hedges, the thick of the woods until the Larks transform the entire soundscape into a jungle of amplified orations. Guitars grind against the droning meditation, as synths make circles like a dizzying swarm of birds, buzzards, and scuzzed out fuzz that blares and beats like scuffed up trainers stomping on a yoga mat. In under eight minutes you will have felt as if an entire natural habitat bloomed before you.” - Impose

Vast Robot Armies - Little Creatures - 2015

A mutual appreciation between 2 bands, Sundiver (John Agee, Joseph Wells) and the original line up of Vast Robot Armies (Jason Thomson) led to a conversation between all parties. This conversation quickly turned into discussion about partnering up. After demos were exchanged and goals solidified, it was evident it was far more than just a collaboration between 2 bands. It was the beginnings of a new band. 

Throughout the summer of 2014 the "J's" began crafting what would become Little Creatures (March 2015). The final piece of the puzzle came in the form of monster drummer Chris Metcalf (The Life and Times) who was very interested in finishing the band off as they made it way into Electronical studios in Chicago, IL. (Oct 20140

3 cities. 2 countries. 1 band. That is Vast Robot Armies.