Tag: Genjing

Carsick Cars/Flavor Crystals – 19th April 2014

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cat #: 150TZM

On the flip side, Minneapolis psych-rock vets, Flavor Crystals, offer up Mirror in My Mind, a drone smeared, carefully considered, morotik ripper that mines the depths of exploratory shoegaze with aplomb, not unlike an auditory visage of one of Frederik van Eeden’s exercises in lucid dreaming. The band’s most recent full length release, a triple LP psych monster, coincidentally titled Three [Mpls. Ltd.], may well be one of the more criminally overlooked wax platters of the past couple years – self-engineered and produced by the band following a lengthy US tour in support of like-minded sonic sojourners, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Three captures Flavor Crystals in a vulnerable, metacognitive state and the results are nothing short of staggering! 

Flavor Crystals are:
Josh Richardson
Nat Stensland
Vince Caro
Jon Menke

Special guests on this recording:
Ricky Maymi: drums, blender guitar
Stephen Lawrie: percussion, oscillations

Produced by Ricky Maymi
Recorded by Nat Stensland
Nov-Dec 2013 in Minneapolis
Mixed with Neil Weir at Old Blackberry Way
Mastered by Bruce Templeton

Copyright 2014 Flavor Crystals
ASCAP/Sterling Songs

Special thanks to Christian Fritz/mpls ltd, Nevin Domer/Genjing, Ricky and Stephen

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Carsick Cars are:
Shouwang Zhang
Fan He
Heting Sun

Produced by Sonic Boom (Pete Kember) & Hamish Kilgour
Recorded by Matt Boynton
April 2013 in Vacation Island Recording Studio, NYC
Mixed by Ping Li at Busy Bee, Beijing
Mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound

Special thanks to Nevin Domer and Ricky Maymi

The Dyne – Swim . Fly Roots – 14th May 2013

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cat #: 144TZM

With it’s shimmering guitars and bubbling bassline structured by crisp percussion work, the instrumental “Swim” glides along like a hot rod on a starless night, seductive, deadly and ready to pounce.

On the flipside, “Fly Roots” showcases the pair’s theory that vocals are best used sparingly, in this case, as another tool in the duo’s melodic toolbox, one that neatly accentuates that atmospheric, cascading tremolo and abrupt tempo changes marked by crisp percussive work.

Recorded over a weekend in Nov 2012 with acclaimed Genjing Records producer Yang Haisong, Swim. Fly Roots triumphantly emphasizes that Beijing’s musicians are spearheading an East Asian creative renaissance. “We’re currently in the era of a new enlightenment,” guitarist/bassist Si Yunge cooly remarked from behind his trademark shades. “We hope that more and more people will learn more about what we’re doing here in China.”