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LP
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MIA 047LP
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Restocked. For their first album since 2015, Zelienople turns on the current time with a record of low-key decaying songs wrapped in hypnotic, driving rhythms. The Chicago-based trio is back with a stunner of an underground pop album. Their most reverb heavy bombast is gone in favor of pure Earth-bound intimate tunes that feel like they summon the spirit of the late Mark Hollis. Shrouded tribal percussion and rippling vocals are at the forefront, while looped atmospheres echo in the distance. Since the release of their last album, vocalist Matt Christensen has been known for pouring his soul out in countless Bandcamp releases of singer/songwriter, experimental, and ambient offerings. It's hard to keep up with him, but one can't but to admire the dedication and extremely high-quality of it all. Mike Weis on the other hand is less prolific, but has become a focused student of Korean Shaman and Buddhist music, often performing in Zen-based percussive rituals when he's not involved in side projects of improvisational music. Brian Harding is perhaps the most anonymous of the three, yet he is the steady, grounding element on bass that keeps them as one. Together, they create a beautifully realized own voice that feels especially close on their new album. Hold You Up is like a slow walk through a withering world, though one with a sense of refuge. This is music with heart -- navigating darkness through light. Includes download code; Edition of 400.
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CD
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TYPE 054CD
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Chicago-based trio Zelienople present their second album for the Type label. Zelienople have been around for quite a while now, and in that time have become staples in the underground music architecture. Percussionist Mike Weis has appeared on recent recordings with alt-folk legend Scott Tuma, and Weis, Tuma and guitarist/vocalist Matt Christensen form the band Good Stuff House. Despite all this activity, their passion still lies in Zelienople. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Harding completes the trio, which has forged its most essential work to date with Give It Up, a record which succeeds as a perfect summation of their progress. With previous albums, the band have garnered no shortage of comparisons to Talk Talk, Slowdive and Bark Psychosis, and while these comparisons still stand, here Zelienople have pushed the influences into the background to reveal a daring and fresh sound. Poppier than its predecessor His/Hers (TYPE 024CD), Give It Up is a collection of rolling songs, from the Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore-esque opener "Aging" to the doomed Americana of "All I Want Is Calm," and the hazy ambience of "Water Saw." As we pass through the effortless percussive shuffle and dream-like riffing of "I Can Put All My Faith In Her," perhaps the closest the band have ever come to writing a pop song, it's hard not to fall under their spell. It is a record with scope and an enviable restraint, and a record which revels in the band's experience and pedigree. This is an album of crystalline, mysterious beauty; it is something which might take multiple listens to truly uncover, and is infinitely rewarding once you do. Cinematic, but startlingly unpretentious, this is music perfectly primed for the colder seasons. Light a log fire and enjoy.
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CD
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TYPE 024CD
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Zelienople (named after a borough in Pennsylvania) is the moniker of Chicago-based musicians Matt Christensen (guitar/vocals), Mike Weis (percussion) and Brian Harding (guitar/clarinet) and between them, in a desolate suburban basement, they have come up with a record of pure psych-rock sludge. Now on their fifth album, the band has struck upon their finest moment yet, honing their skills to create something singular and utterly unique. There is certainly no shortage of acts willing to throw down waves of experimental guitar noise and clattering percussion, but with the benefit of focus and experience, Zelienople sound like something totally out of time and almost impossible to place. Residing in a hazy drunken world in-between slow-core pioneers Low, psych-folk outsiders Charalambides, Japanese overlords Boris and Dead Man-era Neil Young, His/Hers is a faded photograph of rock music past, yet still manages to keep a firm footing in the present. Guitars echo like disappearing ghosts and vocals moan and wail mercilessly while percussion bubbles up in glorious waterlogged waves. Fusing the warring factions of blues, noise, metal, folk and jazz, the trio has made as breathtaking a psychedelic album as you're likely to find. This is an album made for listening, for enjoying and sinking into, an album that is made as an illicit treat for the discerning music fans among us. Grab hold and step aboard, Zelienople are just about ready to take you on a universal journey into the subconscious, and it's gonna be quite some ride.
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