Missed Releases: Fugue, Hrishikesh, Ohsaurus, Smojphace

Screw the holidays. Way too much seems to go wrong around this time, assholes crowd the roads and stores, pressure and stress abound, but work and life is being quite a bitch to me lately so maybe I'm just grouchy. The new Estrogen Highs LP is still sitting next to the turntable waiting for a listen. I got a killer release from someone called Thank You Mr. Keating called The Baxter Special waiting for attention. Just need things to calm down before touching those.

Meanwhile, a handful of releases came in throughout 2010 that didn't get mentioned. There was a plan to do a review column type thing to cover all these that never panned out. So, here's a quick rundown of a few of those that got neglected.

Hrishikesh (aka David Scaramella) is a solo folk-ish-indie-pop-like project that someone sent in who wasn't Hrishikesh. The album called A Blossom in the Snow was put together at somewhere called the "Yellow Room" in Cromwell between 2007 and 2008. Scaramella did all the instrumentation. His vocals are effeminate, with oo's and ah's as harmonies, and lines like "fucking tasteless joke." He pulls it off pretty well. Timing and pitch get a little wobbly here and there, but it's a good enough release to put on with your toast and coffee in the morning. I am not sure where to find this release, though. I don't think I can post the download link. Maybe visit the Hrishikesh MySpace if interested.

Ohsaurus sent in a few things. Mentioned one, but missed the Mazecity Records link. Pay a visit for some relaxed minimal idm. There's also been the Grappa Frisbee guys jumping in to the mix these days. The insanely named Smojphace has some abstract bugged out chill electronics to check out on Grappa. Smojphace is based in New Haven, and had played Stella Blues the first week of December.

Fugue's Siblings

Fugue have some sick tracks up on their bandcamp. Their math-rock is similar to the Dischord band Faraquet. Actually, they're like post-hardcore yacht-rock, if there could be such a thing. Well, probably not, because they do get heavy. Definitely a tight band pulling some brave moves without sounding like eggheads. The jazz influence gets ground up by strong Chavez-like indie rock influences. Fugue will no doubt end up getting big if they keep at it.