Maria Minerva - 'Ruff Trade'

"When you can deconstruct the music of others so easily-- and your own-- then it's kinda hard to make it at the same time. But this sounds annoying only in theory; in practice, it's something you can actually forget about. Because the best thing about music is that it's beyond words. It's on the level of sensations, and it's very easy to forget everything I've learned when I'm listening to or making music. That's why I love it so much."
- Maria Minerva, interview with Altered Zones

Cabaret Cixous is the latest excellent release from Estonian-born, London-based Maria Minerva, following her Tallinn At Dawn cassette and 'Noble Savage' 12". Released on Amanda Brown(of Pocahaunted/LA Vampires)'s Not Not Fun label, she fits right in with its prevailing aesthetic: this is smudgy, reverbed, hypnotic not-quite-dance music with a skewed h-pop sensibility. 'Ruff Trade'is the superb closing track; other standouts include 'These Days' and 'Pirate's Tale'.

She also contributed a mix to FACT.

Some older tunes:

Maria Minerva - Disko Bliss by nofearofpop.net

Maria Minerva - Hop Hop Gone In Spring by nofearofpop.net

In general, there really is an amazing amount of great music coming from both Not Not Fun and its sub-label 100% Silk.

LA Vampires Goes Ital - Streetwise

(Not Not Fun 12")

Amanda Brown can do no wrong. Formerly one half of the "Olsen twins of blissed out drone" Pocahaunted (the other half being Bethany Consentino who went on to form Best Coast), she's also the co-founder of Not Not Fun Records and sub-imprint 100% Silk. As LA Vampires, she's pursued a collaborative approach: a split LP with San Francisco's Psychic Reality was followed by the dubbed-out goth-drone of LA Vampires & Zola Jesus and the woozily hypnotic tape-loops of So Unreal (which featured input from Matrix Metals).

LA Vampires Goes Ital - Streetwise from Not Not Fun on Vimeo.

This time around she's teamed up with Ital (Daniel Martin McCormick of Mi Ami/Sex Worker) for Streetwise. It's got that familiar hazy, warped sensibility we've come to expect from LA Vampires' output, but it's warmer and more melodic than what's come before - the title track sounds almost summery, with chiming loops and catchy, tuneful vocals echoing in and out of the mix. 'A Woman Is A Woman', meanwhile, is anchored by a rhythmic, limber bassline, with Brown lyrically pursuing the themes of femininity and glamour that are a feature of the LA Vampires visual aesthetic.

Stream the record via Altered Zones:

LA Vampires Goes Ital: Streetwise by alteredzones


Check the Coyote Clean Up remix of 'Streetwise'.


Ital, incidentally, are/is responsible for this beaut of a tune:






Zola Jesus + LA Vampires, "Eulogy" by selftitledmag

Diva - 'Glow Worm'

Ex-members of LA-based psychedelic-dub-drone band Pocahaunted include Amanda Brown (of LA Vampires/Not Not Fun) and Bethany Cosentino (aka Best Coast). Diva Dompe now looks set to make her mark solo-wise: 'Glow Worm' is taken from her cassette The Glitter End, which Ariel Pink voted as his 3rd favourite album of last year and which is now getting a re-release. 'Glow Worm' is a hypnotic, warped and trippy tune that's very reminiscent of Brown's LA Vampires material, although this has a warmer tone to it, partly because of Dompe's beguiling vocals.

DIVA - GLOW WORM from Lily X. Wahrman on Vimeo.