MUSIC: Summer of "Neon"

It looks like my last post was waaaaaaaay back in March and it was for another music release that's near and dear to my heart, my man Matthew Mercer's second full-length solo album, 'Supernatant,' an album of winter beauty, ambient, droney, and melancholic. It was an album for that season and a beauty you should check out here.

Winter gave way to spring gave way to the hottest summer on record in Portland, Ore. (so far; we did break the June record for heat.) Summer gives way to partying and dancing and fun and shaking off those rainy blues. We, as a band, welcomed the chance to bring out something shiny and new. It had been two years since our last album release, 2013's AggroPastels. We'd been making tracks since the Christmas holidays and perfecting a ten-song release that moves away from the more complex, lush, and sometimes downbeat, sometimes broken beats of the last album. Less pastel, more neon.

For this new album, '1,000,000 Neon Hz' we decided to make the songs more streamlined, less noisy and full, and more sleek, slick, and glossy. Hence the title's operative word: neon.

We start the album off with 'If You're Waiting for That Kiss (You'll Be Waiting for the Rest of Your Life)' a fun, housey jam reminiscent of Basement Jaxx but with less clutter; we made an eye-popping lyric video for the single (above).

We wanted to make a ten-track (our shortest album since our debut) piece that really concentrates on the dancefloor. No ballads or midtempo songs. Even the haunting sounds of the closing track 'Unreliable Narrator' has a 4/4 beat underneath. The whole album has that cold, bright glow of neon. That was the goal. Mission accomplished.

You can buy the album on Bandcamp for $9; on iTunes for $9.99. If streaming is your thing, take a listen at Soundcloud.

We appreciate you listening and purchasing if you can. We're a DIY, word-of-mouth band and this is how we keep going. Please support if you can. Thanks! xo MK

MUSIC: 'Supernatant' is Supernatural

Matthew Mercer releases his second full-length album 'Supernatant' today. Where his last full-length, Pianissimo Possibile was a collection of beautiful pieces based around cut up piano recordings and stuttering electronic beats, Supernatant is an even starker collection. Waves of ambient drones and tones, beatless and haunting, flow through 11 tracks.

This giant mood piece definitely shifts in subtle ways. Headphones and patience are a must to really immerse yourself in all the detailing that Mercer has put into each track. The press release asks the listener to "play loud" and I agree.

If the audio only atmospherics aren't enough for some of you visually needy out there, Mercer has filmed a video piece for each track. Yes, that is 11 separate video pieces that satisfy the filmmaker in Mercer and the idea of soundtracking such an immersive headphone trip. Natural snow coated forests, urban transportation tunnels, stormy intense skies, desolate ocean shores, twinkly city lights, menacing stark woods, every one of these makes appearances in the video album. The full video playlist can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNJQIqf8idY&list=PLvV_NsZF_UopVJKLfXTYElY66g24KdgQN

As winter fades into spring (or fades back to winter for the East Coasters), Supernatant plays a perfect soundtrack.

Listen/buy the album here: https://matthewmercer.bandcamp.com/

If you enjoy it, please repost about the release. Word-of-mouth makes these musical adventures work.