Daily Doses: Flashing Red Lights “Weekdays” From Faster Horses (2011)

This is the best noise you’ve ever heard.

On Flashing Red Lights’ last E.P., Various Successes I’ve Had (2011) , Mack played hard with programmed beats over stunningly intimate vocals to beautiful effect.

And from the clattering ambient distance in “Conviction 1” to the soaked sadness in “Gold Light”, I have to admit, I kinda thought he had conquered sound about as much as was possible given the restraints of recording every part himself in his bedroom.

Little did I know he was just showing off his control of it.

Here he let’s it run wild.

I’d say Faster Horses sounds like Industrial smashed into Instrumental Hip-Hop, bled over with singer/songwriter before it’s drowned in a pool of Eno’esque (it’s a word) ambient noise.

In other words, it sounds like nothing else I can put my finger on.

Album opener “Weekdays” opens with a guitar that sounds like caged beast, raging against the world in the middle of an iron factory. Meanwhile a mournful vocal waxes and wanes with lines as poetic as:

“I come home from work and you come home from work, and we lie dead as leaves and dull as Winter.”

And as bluntly honest as:

“You spent Christmas Day getting drunk alone.”

It’s a track that captures the feeling fading connection and increasing emotional distance by counter-pointing the softly sung vocals with all the rage smashing into the background.

And ain’t that just the way it is?

Download Flashing Red Lights “Weekdays” from Faster Horses (2011)

Download Flashing Red Lights Faster Horses From His Bandcamp

New WeGet.By Release: Flashing Red Lights Various Successes I’ve Had (2011)
Track: “All Our Borders”

When Mark over at YVYNYL introduced us all to Nightlands, he mentioned that he’d been friends Dave, the man behind the project for a long time. This meant that when the record was finally dropped in his lap, he was afraid.

As he put it:

You know the feeling. Whenever you hear about something that a friend has been laboring away at, you *want* to like it. You know what it means to them. You pray that its gonna be as good as your expectations. You don’t want to let them down.

~YVYNYL

Growing up in and around a lot of Los Angeles bands, I couldn’t have agreed more with statement. What if one of them dropped their new created work of art in my lap and I just didn’t like it? 

Fast forward to about a month ago when a good friend of mine, Mack Slevin of Flashing Red Lights finished his E.P. and asked if I wanted to meet up and give it a listen. As we sat there, about to fire up the session and hear it for the first time, Mark’s post just kept floating through my head, what if I didn’t like it?

Then the first song dropped in and those fears just melted away. From chord one I was in love… And it just got better.

Through four songs I didn’t say a word as sampled beats from classic punk albums, to classic rock, to 90’s emo flawlessly built worlds around pulsating bass blasts as heavily affected acoustic guitar and toy pianos darted in and out as a melodic counterpoint. All of this underneath lyrics that built up dark wounds and worlds of loss and obstacles that were not overcome, just understood. 

 The combination of the D.I.Y production aesthetic paired with lyrical concentration of David Bazan with a tinge of James Murphy.

And this is the epitomy of D.I.Y. Put together solely by Mack in his bedroom on Protools, there isn’t a sound here that wasn’t created, or warped into use by him.

So there you go. I’m happy to announce this tape will be the first non-mix release on WeGet.By. The tape will have the four songs listed on the E.P, and on b: side, acoustic versions of the songs that will be exclusive to the tape printing.

Hope you enjoy!

You can download the song from it’s premiere over at Weekly Tape Deck

The four songs from the E.P. will be up for free around April 1st on the Flashing Red Lights Bandcamp, but anyone that sends a request over to mike@weget.by will get them 5 days ahead of time, just for being on the ball.

Download Flashing Red Lights “All Our Borders” From Weekly Tape Deck

Order Flashing Red Lights Various Successes I’ve Had from WeGet.By (Limited Edition Of 100, No Reprints)

Daily Doses - First Drafts: Mack Slevin “I Think Of You” 

A little back story on this song may put it in perspective a little more. Mack Slevin (AKA Flashing Red Lights) usually writes verbose, episodic movements of doubt and remorse that more often than not end in tragedy (See All Our Borders and Two Crimes). 

However, recently on a film project I was working on, the need for “A song that could fit on the mix-tape for a 16 year-old girl” reared it’s ugly head. Not wanting the typical crap that would normally embody that endeavor, I asked Mr. Slevin to see what he could do. In response he threw this song together.

It might be a bit world weary to fit the needs of the film, but it charmed the hell out of me, so I thought I’d share it here.

Enjoy!

“When we die, we will turn into songs, and we will hear each other and remember each other.” - Rob Sheffield

Every couple of weeks we pull our nets up from the internet seas, bringing in the best of the tracks that we’ve heard recently. Then we painstakingly put them together in the best mixtape order we can muster.

Out of respect for the blogs, or labels, we link you directly to the post or page on the blog, label, or band sites that we found these tracks from, and ask that you download them yourself. All Downloads are free, though some require you to give your e-mail.

Dead As Digital WebTape #2:

                                  ”All Those Things We Love”

1- Twin Sister (From Color Your Life) – All Around And Away We Go

2 - Cults (From Go Outside Digital 7”) - Go Outside - (Via GorillaVsBear)

3 - Phosphorescent (From Here’s To Taking it Easy) – It’s Hard To Be Humble When You’re From Alabama

4 – David Bazan (From Live At Electric Audio) - Magazine Live

5 – Here We Go Magic (From Pigeons) - Collector - (Via Pitchfork)

6 – The Hold Steady (From Heaven Is Whenever) - Hurricane J

7 – Pearl Harbor (From Slivers Of You/California Shakedown 7”) - California Shakedown - (Via GorillavsBear)

8 – Local Natives (From Daytrotter Sessions) - Airplanes (Via Daytrotter)

9 – Flashing Red Lights (From “Glass Sessions”) - All Our Borders Are Crumbling – Dead As Digital Mp3 exclusive - Watch Video Here

All Those Things We Love by Dead As Digital

We hope you enjoy the tape, and maybe find some great new bands and blogs.